March 14, 2002: 'No hoax -- bomb found outside county morgue
By Yolanda Jones
March 14, 2002
A bomb and two smaller explosive-type devices were found Wednesday morning in the stairwell outside of the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center on Madison, which houses the morgue and the Medical Examiner's Office.
"This was no hoax," said Gene Marquez, resident agent in charge of the Memphis federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office. "This was the real deal."
A cleaning man found the devices sitting in an aluminum pan on the west side of the building at 1060 Madison about 10 a.m.
He said he thought it was "a pan of food," but a closer inspection revealed the pan contained some sort of explosive devices, said the man, who was told by his supervisor not to give his name.
Dr. O. C. Smith, the county medical examiner, was called to examine the devices, confirmed they were explosives and called police.
"We have done several high-profile cases from (missing Harvard researcher) Dr. (Don) Wiley to Katherine Smith but there has been no indication that we offended anyone," Smith said. "We just don't know if we were the intended target or not.''
Smith, a driver's license examiner, was found burned to death in her car last month after she was charged in a federal inquiry with conspiracy to obtain fraudulent driver's licenses.
"We don't know if this had anything to do with these cases, and are continuing our investigation," Marquez said.
Officers surrounded the brick building, and blocked traffic on Madison and the Interstate 240 exit ramp with squad cars soon after the devices were found.
ATF agents, along with the Memphis Police Bomb Squad and the Memphis Fire Department, swarmed around the building and evacuated the seven employees inside. They also used a bomb-sniffing dog as they tried to determine if there were any other explosive devices in the building.
Marquez said an explosive device was found and described the other two objects as "destructive devices" that were not as damaging.
Police Deputy Chief Charles Cook said the devices found were not "sophisticated," but did not elaborate, including not revealing whether they had a detonator or a timer.
"It potentially could have been a large blast if exploded," Cook said. "We can't speculate on who left this and why, but we don't think it was a terrorist act. We aren't sure if the employees in the forensic center were the targets or not."
Cook said the devices were taken to the Memphis police gun range at O. K. Robertson Road in northwest Shelby County, where they were detonated.
The results will be sent to the ATF lab in Atlanta for analysis, Marquez said.
After it was determined there were no other devices in the building, the forensic employees were allowed to go back to work.
Smith, who was preparing for court when the devices were found, said the incident was upsetting for his staff.
But Smith, who has an extensive military background, said he recognized the device as a bomb immediately.
"We have gotten threats in the past because we work a lot of cases," said Smith. "But nothing like this has been found at our building. Like I said, I am not even sure we were the targets."