I haven't seen ol' Wapcaplet lately.Man arrested in 'Bishop' pipe bomb case
CHICAGO - Authorities arrested a man Wednesday suspected of mailing dud pipe bombs to financial companies in Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., and threatening letters that were signed "The Bishop," federal officials said.
Prosecutors identified the man as John P. Tomkins, 42, of Dubuque, Iowa, an employee of an Iowa manufacturing company.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago released a complaint 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. An afternoon hearing scheduled before a U.S. magistrate in Chicago.
Investigators have said "The Bishop" mailed more than a dozen letters to financial institutions for 18 months and appeared to have ties to the Chicago area.
The letters include references to heaven and hell and threatened recipients if the prices of certain stocks did move to certain levels, often $6.66; the number '666' is associated with Satan.
The two 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 they have said each contained all the components of a workable device. Both were mailed in white cardboard boxes in late January from a post office in the Chicago suburb Rolling Meadows.
A sketch of a man considered to be a person of interest in the case was released in February, based on a witness description of a man seen in the post office lobby that day.
According to postal inspectors, one of the pipe bombs went to American Century Investments in Kansas City, and the other was sent to Janus Small-Cap in Denver and was forwarded to an office in Chicago.
p.s. I hate it here when people here call it Ioway.
