The suspect in a 2018 break-in and vandalism at Wright City Middle School has been ordered to pay $14,700 in restitution.Brendan W. Goulette, 21, Warrenton, pleaded guilty April 4 to the charges of second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage. He allegedly broke into the school Aug. 11, 2018, by throwing an outdoor light fixture through a glass door, then did thousands of dollars more in damage once inside.After Goulette agreed to a plea deal with the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, court records state Presiding Judge Jason H. Lamb ordered him to pay restitution for the damages and serve five years of supervised probation.Damage to property within the middle school included a copy machine that was smashed with a paper cutter, shattered glass doors of a trophy case, and a bass drum in the music room that had been punctured by a music stand, according to a police report from the incident.Graffiti and blood was also located throughout the building.Goulette was identified as the suspect by a witnesses from a local pub, who told police Goulette also had caused property damage there earlier in the evening.In a public statement released after Goulette’s sentencing, Wright City Police Department revealed that it had been able to positively match Goulette’s DNA to blood left at the school after Goulette cut himself. A DNA testing lab returned a match with extremely low probability of error, police said.One positive development came from the night of vandalism. Students in art teacher Jennifer Zgiet-Burtelow’s classes turned the vandal’s random paint splatter on the walls of the room into the foundation for sprawling murals that have since spread beyond the damaged areas.

Brendan Goulette