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

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.

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!"

OU bomber left a final message: 'None of you are worth living with'

By Nolan Clay
The Oklahoman

The University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up Oct. 1 used the Internet to research bomb-making, had experimented setting off bombs and left a computer message that read, "None of you are worth living with," the FBI reported.

The FBI reported finding "explosive experiments and paraphernalia" and 0.4 pound of a white powder that turned out to be TATP -- the same volatile high explosive used in the London subway bombings -- in a search of his Norman apartment.

Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III, an engineering student, died when his bomb went off about 100 yards from OU's packed football stadium during the second quarter of OU's night game against Kansas State.

New details emerged Friday when U.S. Magistrate Valerie Couch made public the records on the FBI search of Hinrichs' apartment, his e-mail account and nine OU computers.

Federal prosecutors told the magistrate "there is no longer any necessity" for the documents to remain sealed.

FBI officials have said in the past that the probe did not 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.

Hinrichs, 21, was from Colorado Springs, Colo. He had a reputation as a loner who was fascinated with ammunition and bombs.

The FBI found in his apartment mixing bowls, a slow cooker, a thermometer, plastic containers, a hobby fuse, a circuit board, six tape rolls, chemicals used to make TATP and TATP itself.

TATP, triacetone triperoxide, is made from hydrogen peroxide and acetone. 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."

During the search of Hinrichs' apartment after the blast, the FBI found the student's laptop computer was still on and had on the screen notes apparently written by Hinrichs to himself, 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 lighted match being placed above a white powder, then a bright flash.

The FBI reported a 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 belonged to 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."

Hinrichs' roommate, Fazal Cheema, told agents the two had lived together since June 6 but did not socialize. Cheema said Hinrichs had responded to his Internet ad for a roommate.

Cheema also said Hinrichs was quiet and kept to himself. He told agents he did not know of Hinrichs' interest in bombs.

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."

Contributing: s Randy Ellis and Ken Raymond

I agree that Cheema had to be extremely dense (which I doubt) to not know what was going on in that SMALL apartment.

Another interesting thing in the article is that the quote they have regarding the amount of TATP involved comes from an officer not even involved in the investigation - why even bother? His comments are nothing more than hearsay, why is it reported as if he was there and knew exactly what was taken out of the apartment that day?

All media sources reported on the day of the removal of the explosives that it required several trips by the bomb squad to safely remove it all due to its volatile nature. I would guess that needing several trips would indicate more of the explosive than enough to JUST blow off your hands. Also, witness descriptions of the detonation that Sunday night said it was quite loud - heard for miles and rattling windows all over Norman.

I also agree with your assessment regarding the FBI in Oklahoma. IMHO I don't think there's any hope that the FBI will ever fess up to the truth of the OKC (Murrah) Bombing. Seeing as they are so desperate to deny the connection in that case makes it hard for one to believe they are really pushing for a complete investigation into this one...

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