THE MAILINGS: Two pipe bombs and 16 threatening letters were sent to financial services companies and others, ordering them to raise the share prices of two small companies or face deadly retaliation. The bombs would have blown apart, scattering fragments and metal shot, if just one wire inside the casing had been attached. The letters were signed “The Bishop.”
THE ARREST: A complex federal investigation that involved bank and stock trading records as well as a sophisticated analysis of a photo included with one of the letters led to the arrest of former part-time mailman John P. Tomkins, 42, of Dubuque, Iowa, a machinist at a manufacturing plant, a family man with a swing in the back yard and daughters who sold Girl Scout cookies.
THE CHARGES: Tomkins is charged with mailing an explosive device and possession of an unregistered explosive. The first charge carries a maximum of 20 years and the second 10 years. Both carry a maximum fine of $250,000. Tomkins is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending a Monday hearing on whether he should be released on bond pending trial.
