Posted on 04/08/2005 4:04:32 PM PDT by BenLurkin
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Eric Rudolph has agreed to plead guilty to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and setting off three other blasts in a deal that allows the anti-government extremist to escape the death penalty, Justice Department officials said Friday.
"The many victims of Eric Rudolph's terrorist attacks ... can rest assured that Rudolph will spend the rest of his life behind bars," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.
Rudolph, 38, is scheduled to admit his guilt Wednesday in court. The plea deal calls for four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Rudolph had faced a possible death sentence.
Defense lawyer Bill Bowen did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Rudolph, thought to be a follower of a white supremacist religion that is anti-abortion, anti-gay and anti-Semitic, was charged with carrying out a series of blasts in Georgia and Alabama in the late 1990s that killed two people and injured more than 120.
One woman was killed and more than 100 people were injured in the Olympic blast, caused by a bomb in a backpack. In the next two years, he allegedly set off bombs at a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta and at two abortion clinics — one in Birmingham and one in Atlanta. The Birmingham attack killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.
Rudolph then slipped away into the mountains of western North Carolina, where the former soldier used survivalist techniques to live off the land for more than five years — all while being on the FBI's list of 10 Most Wanted fugitives. Then in May 2003, he was captured after being seen scavenging for food near a grocery store trash bin in Murphy, N.C.
Jury selection in the Birmingham bombing began this week.
Linda Bourgeois, administrator at the Birmingham abortion clinic, said a couple of employees "jumped and down and screamed" in excitement over the news of the plea deal. "We think it's a victory for all women everywhere," she said.
Under the plea deal, Rudolph also provided authorities with the location of more than 250 pounds of dynamite buried in the mountains of North Carolina, including one fully constructed bomb with a detonator. The Justice Department said the explosives were located and safely disposed of.
Jeff Lyons, whose wife was left blind in one eye in the Alabama bombing, said he and his wife were "extremely disappointed" in the life sentences. "As they say, let the punishment fit the crime. That was a death sentence," he said.
But Lyons said he understood prosecutors' reasons for agreeing to a plea deal since Rudolph directed them to explosives — something that likely would not have happened had the case gone to trial. The government said some of the explosives were found "relatively near populated areas."
Rudolph became an almost a mythic figure to some residents of the region during a search across 550,000 acres of Appalachian wilderness that at one time involved 200 agents. Many mocked the government's inability to root him out. He inspired two country-western songs and a top-selling T-shirt bore the words "Run Rudolph Run." A $1 million reward offer from the government went unclaimed.
Investigators suspect that sympathizers in the countryside may have assisted Rudolph during his time on the run.
Charles Stone, a retired Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who helped oversee the Rudolph bombing probe, said a life sentence may be a more fitting punishment for a man who thrived in the outdoors.
"He'll be caged for the rest of his life, and from a retribution aspect, that's probably worse than a death sentence for him," Stone said.
After the Olympic bombing, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that security guard Richard Jewell was being investigated in the bombing. But he was cleared by the FBI three months later and eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the newspaper that is still pending.
Jewell's attorney said Friday that the plea deal should be a final vindication. "One does not have to speculate a great deal to imagine how he will feel when he does receive this final and total vindication," attorney L. Lin Wood said.
Justice Department officials chose the Birmingham bombing as the one to try first, and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft decided to seek the death penalty if Rudolph was convicted. Right after Rudolph's capture, Ashcroft predicted the Alabama trial would be "relatively short and straightforward."
For those who forgot. Here is Richard Jewell's story.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sports/jewell_10-28.html
Wasn't Clinton in command at this time?
What the media did to Richard Jewell was contemptible. He deserves every penny he can get from these irresponsible media outlets.
Sounds like Stone really has some respect for Rudolph. Rudolph could have taken the easy way out with a death sentence, but chose the worse option, life in prison.
I don't think so- Rudolph is a coward and did plenty of harm to the pro-life movement. He's detestable.
I'm just glad that this terrorist is behind bars.
Not only is he a terrorist, he's also a murderer. A woman was killed, leaving behind a a husband and teenage daughter. If there is justice, this man [and all like him] will die miserably.
I'm still having a hard time believing he is the Olympic bomber because his targets are gays and abortion clinics.
I also don't recall any linkage to white supremacist groups. Why didn't he target minorities if he really is a racist? I am perfectly willing to change my mind in accordance with facts. Terry Nichols is married to a non-white woman but they still called him a racist.
I am certainly willing to change my mind on this if anyone has any legitimate links to enlighten me.
Good questions.
Maybe he will give a "death row" interview to Larry King?
I did a little research myself and apparantly he is a racist. I still think he was asked to close the case on Atlanta in exchange for life. I could be wrong though. He should just tell the whole truth and take the DP like a man.
Being butt candy is worse punishment anyway. "Revenge is mine and mine alone"--God. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I'm sure the baby killers feel safe now that Rudolph's fate is sealed.
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