CHICAGO – An Iowa man was arrested this morning in the investigation of two dud pipe bombs that were mailed to companies in Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., according to federal officials. The packages were similar to those mailed to Janus Funds in Denver in February.
John P. Tomkins, 42, of Dubuque, Iowa, an employee of an Iowa manufacturing company, was arrested in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago said. It released a complaint filed in U.S. District Court by the Postal Inspection Service charging Tomkins with one count of mailing a threatening communication with intent to distort and one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device.
Tomkins is to appear this afternoon in federal court in Chicago.
The postal inspection service has said a suspect in the case calls himself “The Bishop” in letters and mailed them to financial institutions for 18 months. That person also has ties to the Chicago area.
About half of the 15 threatening letters known to have been sent to Chicago-area postmarks and two pipe bombs were mailed from the post office in suburban Rolling Meadows.
The letters include references to heaven and hell and threats made to recipients if their stock did not move by $6.66. The number “666” is associated with Satan. Two dud pipe bombs mailed to companies in Chicago and Kansas City in January included threatening letters with phrases such as “Bang you’re dead” and “Tic-toc.” Authorities have declined to discuss specifics of the bombs, but have said each contained all the components of a workable device, although with some unconnected wires.
A sketch of a man considered to be a person of interest in the case was released in February, based on the description of a witness who saw the man in the lobby of a suburban Chicago post office in late January.
He was wearing tan pants and a dark gray or olive military-style jacket.
Postal inspectors said one bomb went to American Century Investments’ midtown Kansas City, Mo., mail facility, a few blocks from its national headquarters. The other was sent to Janus Small-Cap in Denver and was forwarded to a company in a Chicago high-rise with ties to the Denver company.
