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| S P E C I A L | Olympic Bombing - One Year Later |
FBI releases photo of clinic bombing 'material witness'
Eric Robert Rudolph Sources: Growing evidence of link to Atlanta attacks
Latest developments:
February 4, 1998
- Public warned not to approach witness
- Sources: Nails in Birmingham, Atlanta bombs similar
- 'Army of God' may be lone bomber
- In '80s, 'Army of God' linked to series of crimes
- Nurse undergoes more surgery to save sight
- Related stories and sites
Web posted at: 12:12 a.m. EST (0512 GMT)BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- The FBI on Tuesday released a new photograph of the man identified as a "material witness" in the fatal bombing of a Birmingham women's clinic last week. Sources said there was growing evidence that the attack may be linked to a series of unsolved Atlanta bombings.
Meanwhile, the clinic -- a focus of anti-abortion protests -- was preparing to resume treating patients on Thursday, a week after the bombing that severely wounded a nurse and killed an off-duty police officer working as a security guard.
Federal investigators are looking for 31-year-old Eric Robert Rudolph. A gray 1989 Nissan pickup truck with a white camper shell registered to Rudolph was seen near the clinic following the Thursday explosion.
Fifty to 60 agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have combed the hills of western North Carolina looking for Rudolph, a recent resident of Marble.
Public warned not to approach witness
The agents met Monday with local law enforcement officers in the area. Agents also interviewed Rudolph's mother, Patricia Rudolph, a widow.
Townspeople described Eric Rudolph as a quiet, shy high school dropout. The FBI said he is white, 5-foot-11, weighs 150 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes. The pickup bore North Carolina license plate KND 1117.
The FBI is asking anyone with information about him to call 1-888-ATF-BOMB.
"Although Mr. Rudolph is being sought only as a witness, due to the violence associated with this crime, he should not be approached by anyone outside of law enforcement," said a joint statement released by the FBI and the ATF.
Authorities emphasized that Rudolph is being sought not as a suspect, but as a "material witness" -- someone who is considered necessary to solving a case and can be arrested and held against his or her will.
Nails in Birmingham, Atlanta bombs similar
Investigators believe the bombing is linked to a series of unsolved bombings in Atlanta, law enforcement sources told CNN, mainly because the Birmingham bomb contained nails that were similar to those used in the Atlanta bombs.
Three-inch-long nails were used in a bomb that exploded in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Games and in a bombing the following January at a suburban Atlanta clinic where abortions are performed.
Nails also were found at the bombing of a gay nightclub in Atlanta in February 1997.
Investigators say they are awaiting laboratory results from tests on explosive residue from the Birmingham bombing before they can make a more positive forensic link to the Atlanta attacks.
'Army of God' may be lone bomber
In addition to the nails, another indication of a possible link are letters sent to two news organizations Monday in which a group calling itself the "Army of God" claimed responsibility for the bombing of the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham.
Similar letters claimed responsibility for the Atlanta clinic and nightclub bombings.
Letter from "Army of God" FBI spokesman Craig Dahle said it was too soon to comment about the authenticity of the letters. There have been no arrests in the Atlanta or Birmingham bombings.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that the letters were postmarked from Birmingham Thursday afternoon, just hours after the explosion.
Little is known about the Army of God, but law enforcement officials told CNN it is not believed to be a large organized group. Instead, it may be a lone bomber or a handful of people using a name popularized by anti-abortion protesters in the 1980s.
In '80s, 'Army of God' linked to series of crimes
Army of God was used then in reference to radical anti-abortion actions, including circulation of a manual containing information on how to make bombs. It is not clear who makes up the organization, but various anti-abortion activists have either been linked to it or claimed to be part of it.
The group apparently started on May 29, 1982, with fires set at two Florida abortion clinics. On June 6, 1982, an explosion ripped through a clinic in Falls Church, Virginia.
The Army of God's manifesto gives detailed bomb-making instructions. Two months later, Dr. Hector Zevallos, who performed abortions, was kidnapped along with his wife from their Edwardsville, Illinois, home.
The Army of God claimed responsibility in each case. Don Benny Anderson, an Oxford, Wisconsin, father of seven, was convicted of all the crimes. He called himself the group's leader.
Nurse undergoes more surgery to save sight
Kathy Spillar, national coordinator for the Feminist Majority Foundation, said the Birmingham letters "must be taken very seriously." She said the letters sent after the Atlanta clinic bombing warned that "the next facility targeted may not be empty. Clearly that is what happened in Birmingham."
The owner of the Birmingham clinic said Tuesday that the clinic is taking calls and counseling patients and may resume treating patients Thursday. Repairs of shattered windows and other bomb damage were under way, with police stationed outside for protection.
"All our employees are here and we have people from all over the country who have come to help," said owner Diane Derzis. The outpouring of support "really gives you a good opinion of humanity."
On Monday, hundreds of police officers gathered for the funeral of Robert Sanderson, the officer killed in the Birmingham attack. Sanderson, 34, was the first person to die in a clinic bombing in the United States.
On Tuesday, the clinic's head nurse and counselor, Emily Lyons, 41, underwent a second round of surgery aimed at saving the sight in her right eye. She lost vision in her left eye in the bombing and suffered injuries to her abdomen, legs and a hand.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Witness in Alabama clinic blast still missing - February 1, 1998
- Search continues for witness in clinic bombing - January 31, 1998
- Women's clinics on alert after Birmingham bombing - January 30, 1998
- Witnesses questioned in fatal clinic bombing - January 29, 1998
Related sites:
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- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Birmingham Post-Herald
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
- U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
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