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Rudolph to be charged in Birmingham blast
February 13, 1998
Rudolph
Web posted at: 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT)BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- Eric Rudolph, the man authorities have been seeking as a material witness in a fatal bombing at a Birmingham clinic where abortions are performed, will be charged with the crime, CNN has learned.
Based on information from witnesses and forensic evidence, agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have drawn up a criminal complaint and affidavit formally charging Rudolph, 31, of Marble, North Carolina, with the January 29 bombing.
Senior law enforcement officials have told CNN that the completed documents are now in the hands of the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, who is expected to sign them and announce an arrest warrant for Rudolph at a press conference Saturday morning.
Rudolph still at large
Until now, Rudolph, whose truck was seen in the vicinity of the clinic around the time of the blast, was described only as a material witness. He has not been located, despite an intensive manhunt in the mountains of western North Carolina, where Rudolph lives.
Rudolph's truck was found stuck in the mud near his home in Marble, North Carolina His truck was found last weekend in the woods near Murphy, North Carolina. One source tells CNN that evidence collected from the truck is part of the basis for the charges against Rudolph.
Among the items in the truck was a small shovel. Investigators have been comparing soil samples on that shovel with soil samples collected from near the New Woman All Women Clinic in Birmingham.
Sources say the bomb was partially buried outside the clinic, hidden by a flower pot on top of it.
The early morning blast at the New Woman All Women clinic killed Robert Sanderson, 35, a police officer working there as a security guard, and seriously injured Emily Lyons, 41, a clinic nurse.
Two news organizations subsequently received letters from a group calling itself the Army of God, claiming responsibility for the blast. They were mailed from Birmingham on the day the clinic was bombed.
'Be advised, the Army of God is more than one'
Friday, federal agents seized a letter sent to a weekly newspaper in Murphy, the Cherokee Scout, which was also purportedly from the Army of God. It read: "Be advised, the Army of God is more than one," and bore an Asheville, North Carolina, postmark.
A group calling itself the Army of God has also claimed responsibility for two bombings last year in Atlanta, one at a clinic that performs abortions and another at a lesbian nightclub.
Federal investigators have said there are similarities between those blasts and a bombing at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympics that killed one woman and injured 110 others.
Correspondent Brian Cabell contributed to this report.
Special Section:
Related stories:
- Shovel could provide some clues in Birmingham bombing - February 13, 1998
- FBI says Rudolph sighting was a false alarm - February 11, 1998
- Search for clinic bomb witness expands to Georgia - February 11, 1998
- Door-to-door search for clinic bombing witness - February 9, 1998
- Authorities find truck of man sought as bombing witness - February 8, 1998
- Agents search home of material witness in Birmingham bombing - February 4, 1998
Related sites:
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- FBI - Witness to Birmingham Clinic Bombing
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
- U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
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