Highly explosive material found in apartment of Colorado man who blew self up near football game

9news ^ | 11/19/05 | AP wire

[Fizzie]

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - FBI agents found the same type of volatile high explosive believe to have been used in the suicide bombings in London inside the apartment of a University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up near a packed football stadium, according to newly released documents.

The FBI also discovered "explosive experiments and paraphernalia" and 0.4 pounds of a white powder that turned out to be triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which is composed of hydrogen peroxide and acetone, according to warrants to search the home of Joel Henry Hinrichs III.

The documents were made public Friday after U.S. Magistrate Valerie Couch ruled "there is no longer any necessity" for records of the search of Hinrichs' apartment, e-mail account and nine OU computers to remain sealed.

Hinrichs, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Oct. 1 when an explosive device went off about 100 yards from Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

FBI officials have said in the past the probe didn't uncover any links between the student and terrorist organizations. They have said they may never know whether the student wanted to get inside the stadium.

Federal agents found mixing bowls, a slow cooker, a thermometer, plastic containers, a hobby fuse, a circuit board, six tape rolls, chemicals used to make TATP as well as the TATP in the apartment, the documents showed.

An Oklahoma City police bomb technician, who was not involved in the investigation, told The Oklahoman the amount still in the apartment was enough to "very easily take both your hands off."

Hinrichs' laptop computer was still on and screen notes apparently written by Hinrichs to himself were visible, the records show. At the cursor was a phrase that began with profanity and continued " ... all this. None of you are worth living with. You can all kiss my ass."

The FBI also found Hinrichs downloaded from the Internet "numerous text and image files" on weapons and explosives, including one on TATP four days before his death.

One video on his computer depicted a lit match being placed above a white powder then a bright flash.

According to the FBI, OU student Lawrence R. Kincheloe III told agents Hinrichs liked explosives, frequently experimented with building and detonating explosive devices and once showed off a detonator.

Kincheloe and Hinrichs were members of the Triangle Fraternity, an organization of engineers, architects and scientists

"Kincheloe told the agents that Hinrichs would drive out to remote areas to try to detonate bombs, but that he never accompanied Hinrichs," the FBI reported. "Kincheloe stated Hinrichs did show him the remains of some ... devices he detonated, which Kincheloe described as pieces of plastic soda bottles."

OU student Fazal Cheema told agents that Hinrichs had responded to his Internet advertisement for a roommate, and said the two didn't socialize.

Cheema said Hinrichs was quiet and kept to himself and that he wasn't aware of Hinrichs' interest in bombs.

A chemistry book; a crescent wrench; a white sock with at least two protruding wires; a screwdriver with a sock stuffed in the handle; unused wooden matches and other items were found at the bomb site.

The student's father, Joel Hinrichs Jr., said again Friday his son intended to kill only himself.

He is still waiting for the release of his son's remains, after DNA testing is completed. He plans to cremate the body.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

ping

[caryatid]

Just a simple suicide, huh?!

[anymouse]

ping

[bkepley]

Just a simple suicide, huh?!

Not a very simple suicide but if they didn't find links to Al Qaeda I'd just as soon they not say they did.

[Myrddin]

Gee, no mention that he had attended the nearby Mosque. The most radical of Islamists are found in the ranks of engineering students. This is no surprise at all.

[Cicero]

He was making bombs in his room and driving out to remote areas to detonate them, but his Pakistani roommate never noticed?

This still smells. The problem is, most likely, that because the FBI is already hip deep in complicity with the Oklahoma City bombers, some of whom worked as FBI "informers," that they desperately want to sit on the whole thing. They can't afford to find these people or the earlier connections and coverups might come out.

[OldFriend]

The father's pronouncements are meaningless. He has no idea whether his son intended to kill others with his bomb.

[SpaceBar]

They found a handwritten memo from Bill Clinton to Jamie Gorelick instructing her to put up intelligence barriers between law enforcement agencies?

[PhiKapMom]

Saw this article -- lot of Bravo Sierra floating around.

[varyouga]

"Kincheloe and Hinrichs were members of the Triangle Fraternity, an organization of engineers, architects and scientists"

Damn. I used to hang out at the local chapter of this Frat and the burnout rate for engineering is very high. Some guys crack after thinking engineering is not for them and they get depressed after "wasting" 3 years.

[taxesareforever]

told The Oklahoman the amount still in the apartment was enough to "very easily take both your hands off."

Much like the large firecracker M1000. Just to lend perspective to this statement.

[Ohioan from Florida]

I wish that I could say that I trust the FBI and mean it, but I can't.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

OUbombing info

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Sorry for the doubleping

[Strategerist]

He was making bombs in his room and driving out to remote areas to detonate them, but his Pakistani roommate never noticed?

Plenty of college students, myself included, have shared apartments with people they barely ever saw, had no idea what they did or where they went, and frankly who they had trouble remembering their last names.

[popdonnelly]

"This still smells."

So does TATP, and his Pakistani roommate never noticed that, either.

[jimbo123]

http://www.newsok.com/article/1682269/

A bombing witness, bus driver Donald Wayne Laughlin, reported seeing Hinrichs "hunched" over on a park bench, leaning over a backpack on his lap, just before the explosion. The driver said he walked on and looked back to the bench after the explosion in time to see "a cloud of gray smoke as well as a human arm."

The FBI reported the backpack had to be destroyed later to be made safe after an X-ray showed a meter device and tools.

Found at the blast site were a chemistry book, a crescent wrench, a white sock with at least two protruding wires, a screwdriver with a sock stuffed in the handle, a large number of unused wooden matches, and an empty match box, the records show.

Also found was a pen with an attached razor and a nine-volt battery. Behind the bench was a black plastic container with "Cross Country" and "lubricant" on the label. On the bench was a pink pen with two protruding wires and on the sidewalk was a green circuit board.

The student's father, Joel Hinrichs Jr., said again Friday his son intended to kill only himself. He is still waiting for the release of his son's remains, after DNA testing is completed. He plans to cremate the body.

The father, who was shown photos of his son's body by the FBI, said, "He sat there on the bench with one arm wrapped around the explosive looped around his neck and the other hand holding some kind of device to make it go off."

[Mo1]

FYI

[null and void]

Not a very simple suicide but if they didn't find links to Al Qaeda

Well, they did find a crescent wrench...

[Sidebar Moderator]

Do you have a direct link to this story?

[Fizzie]

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=a97f3641-0abe-421a-0115-84ce0ca1d217&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

[AmeriBrit]

"a cloud of gray smoke as well as a human arm."

"one arm wrapped around the explosive looped around his neck and the other hand holding some kind of device to make it go off."


Did he have 3 arms?

[NonValueAdded]

LOL

[operation clinton cleanup]

a screwdriver with a sock stuffed in the handle

That is completely normal, isn't it?

[rolling_stone]

nothing to see here....
http://www.newswithviews.com/Briley/Patrick19.htm
http://www.zombietime.com/oklahoma_suicide_bombing/

[taxed2death]

This stuff sounds like it is EXTREMELY dangerous and unstable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TATP

[Nam Vet]

...lot of Bravo Sierra floating around.

Hey Mom, what kind of language is that from a PhiKap? Methinks some of we ol' crusties is rubbin' off on ya !
(BTW....I agree with your assessment)

Nam Vet

[albee]

"The FBI also discovered "explosive experiments and paraphernalia" and 0.4 pounds of a white powder that turned out to be triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which is composed of hydrogen peroxide and acetone, according to warrants to search the home of Joel Henry Hinrichs III.

Fortunately, there will not be a Joel Hinrichs the IVth.

[SauronOfMordor]

The father, who was shown photos of his son's body by the FBI, said, "He sat there on the bench with one arm wrapped around the explosive looped around his neck and the other hand holding some kind of device to make it go off."

The explosive was looped around his neck? Was he trying to set it off? Was he trying to move it out of his backpack and under his clothing to conceal it better, and try to get it into the stadium, and it went off by accident? Or was the bomb someone else's idea, he was trying to get it off or disarm it, and it went off (either by accident or remote detonation)?

The first time I read the above paragraph from the article, my thought was "The FBI had photos of him hunched on the park bench? From where?" Then I figured they were talking about after-explosion photos of what was left of the body

[LS]

This is puzzling. I always operate on the premise that MOST of the people in government, no matter what the agency, are honest, hard-working people, and that SOME in every department are conniving, scheming, and possibly traitorous individuals with ulterior motives for working there.

Now, why would so MANY in the FBI---who are honest, and who have a reputation to maintain (and I've known some) go along with a cover-up of OK City? And now this? On the other hand, how in the world can they NOT raise questions about a Middle Eastern roommate, visits to a mosque, and London-style explosive attacks??

I don't think we are yet seeing the picture here.

[jimbo123]

He had tried to enter the stadium and security refused to let him in because he refused to let them search his backpack. So he was probably strapping the bomb onto his body so he could enter the stadium without a backpack when in blew up.

[VOA]

bump

[Right Wing Professor]

This stuff sounds like it is EXTREMELY dangerous and unstable.

It is. Hit about 1/1000 of an ounce of it with a hammer, and it sounds like a large caliber rifle shot.

[bboop]

It's not the whole picture, yet. That's why it doesn't make sense -- the important details are not yet released.

[null and void]

The first adjustable wrenches of this type:

Were made by the Crescent Tool company. The name stuck...

[TN4Liberty]

The problem is, most likely, that because the FBI is already hip deep in complicity with the Oklahoma City bombers, some of whom worked as FBI "informers," that they desperately want to sit on the whole thing. They can't afford to find these people or the earlier connections and coverups might come out.

Yeah, that's probably it...

[Cicero]

I agree that there are probably a lot of honest people in the FBI, but it's a hierarchical agency, and they pretty much have to do what their bosses tell them. That's my explanation.

Mueller has been totally useless at weeding out the bad guys. He hasn't even tried.

[JOE6PAK]

Do they make a left handed crescent wrench?

[wolficatZ]

Tiny stories in local media only. Here today, gone tomorrow.

[null and void]

Oddly enough, yes. The adjustment screw is left hand thread, so it can be easily tightened with the left thumb.

[Elsie]

Is it as nasty as ammonium iodide?

[Right Wing Professor]

I think you mean 'nitrogen triiodide'. That's actually pretty harmless; it mostly crackles, and the biggest danger is getting an iodine burn from it. TATP is just stable enough to use as a terrorist explosive, but unstable enough only a suicide bomber would risk it. And you can make pounds of it from stuff you can buy in a hardware store. Much of the lore about it is crap, BTW, including about half of what's on the Wikipedia page.

We handle it in 200 mg quantities, tops.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Calpernia]

ping

[Hoosier-Daddy]

That's my understanding of it as well. It becomes more unstable in larger quantities.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I think we made something like this in college. We made stuff with iodide, when wet it was OK, but when dry it was a contact explosive. We'd put it in people's locks to scare them when they inserted keys, and dribble it on the floor so kids in the morning would step on it.

Nobody really hurt, but obviously not a good thing to be doing I suppose. We never blew anything up with it. I can't remember what we made, or how we made it. We had a guy in our group that had all the knowledge and I think probably he did most of the work. He was also really good at picking locks and got us into some places were weren't supposed to be.

[Itzlzha]

An Oklahoma City police bomb technician, who was not involved in the investigation, told The Oklahoman the amount still in the apartment was enough to "very easily take both your hands off."

Allow me to fininsh the sentence...

"...from inside your a$$ 20 feet away!"

TATP is so damn volatile...any "engineering" student would have access to the chemicals that make more stable explosives...hell ANFO would be commonly available and producable.

TATP is the signature of the Islamazis though...maybe that mosque was where he was attending some "extracarricular" training!

Time for a new childhood saying...nice and preventative!

"See a Mosque; blow it up!

And then Mohammed's out of luck!"

[PhatHead]

for the ping list...