Man who did $40K in damage to Catholic church in Wichita pleads guilty

The man who was arrested for vandalizing St. Patrick Catholic Church in north Wichita has pleaded guilty, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Michael Angel Gonzalez pleaded guilty to two felonies: burglary and criminal desecration and two misdemeanors, theft and criminal damage to property. There was more than $40,000 of damage done, including burning an American flag, knocking down and destroying a large statue of St. Patrick, knocking out chunks of drywall and writing “satanisgod.org” on a pillar in the back of the church, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit released in the case.

Also broken were a glass window, glass frames and candles, court records say.

The church was locked up overnight and the damage was found the next day, March 15.

Gonzalez’s fingerprints were found at the scene, court records show, and blood was found as well. Police checked with the emergency homeless shelter and learned Gonzalez had been there on March 14, was told to leave after being found in the women’s restroom and then came back at 3 a.m. on March 15 “dripping blood from his left hand,” the court document says.

He was arrested the next day at Union Rescue Mission. After denying he did it, an investigator asked about the oil on his pants that looked like the same oil spilled in the church. Gonzalez then admitted he did it, the document says.

Gonzalez alluded to there being “another entity inside of him that was animalist in nature,” a detective wrote in the document.

This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 5:06 PM.