An Alabama pastor indicted earlier this month in connection with a fire at his church has died.

Ricky Van Mitchell, 50, suffered a fatal heart attack Monday night, said his lawyer Tommy Spina. He was pronounced dead at Grandview Medical Center.

Mitchell was to appear in a St. Clair County courtroom Tuesday morning on a bond revocation hearing. He, along with his wife, 46-year-old Angela Mitchell, were charged with first-degree insurance fraud, second-degree arson and criminal conspiracy, according the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office. Ricky Mitchell was pastor of Emmanuel Fellowship Church.

Also indicted on arson and criminal conspiracy charges was Heather Rich Whitten, 45, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to second-degree rape.

The indictments stem from a Jan. 12, 2019 blaze at a building owned by the Mitchells. The building, authorities said, was occupied by Longview Institute and Emmanuel Fellowship Church. Few details have been released by investigators about the fire or the charges against the trio of suspects.

A St. Clair County judge on Tuesday morning issued an order for a funeral home to preserve Mitchell’s body and that it was only be released for autopsy to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, the Jefferson County Medical Examiner, St. Clair County Coroner or the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. A motion by Jefferson County prosecutors cited the “unusual circumstances” concerning Mitchell’s death and requested the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office take possession of Mitchell’s body body “due to the belief that anything that may have caused the defendant’s death may have occurred in St. Clair county.”

Spina countered with a request to dismiss the cases against Mitchell, and stated in his motion, “There is nothing unusual about having a heart attack.”

Whitten was arrested on her indictment July 31 in Riverside. The Mitchells turned themselves in to authorities on Aug. 3. All three were been released on bond from the St. Clair County Jail.

The two-count indictment against Whitten stated she did “intentionally damage a building, by starting or maintaining a fire or causing an explosion” which damaged the building at 11012 U.S. Highway 78 in Riverside. It also claims she was in agreement with the Mitchells to do so.

The three-count indictments against the Mitchell makes the same claims against the couple, as well as stating they, with intent to defraud, presented a false claim to an insurance company in excess of $1,000. All of the charges against the Mitchells and Whitten are felonies.

Whitten is a convicted sex offender after she was arrested in 2012 on charges that she had sex with a 14-year-old. Whitten at the time was a fifth-grade teacher at a Pell City elementary school but her attorney at the time said the charge against had nothing to do with Williams Intermediate School or the Pell City school system.

She later pleaded guilty to the second-degree rape charge. Charges of sodomy and enticing a child for immoral purposes were dismissed as part of the plea. She was sentenced to four years, 11 months and 30 days in prison with one year and one day to serve.

A judge this ordered that Whitten have no contact with the Mitchells. According to court records, prosecutors on Aug. 16 filed a motion to have Ricky Mitchell’s bond revoked amid allegations he sent a letter to Whitten in an effort to prevent her from giving statements to and/or cooperating with law enforcement in the case. That hearing was to have been held at 8:30 a.m.

AL.com journalist Kent Faulk contributed to this report.