Two years after his 2002 graduation with honors as a double major in physics and math, Cottrell was charged and convicted as one of the nation's first ecoterrorists of the post-Sept. 11 era. He was found guilty of conspiracy and arson in the 2003 firebombings of Hummer and other sport-utility vehicle dealerships in the Los Angeles area to advocate a radical environmentalism. Two conspirators remain at large... In what prosecutors say was an example of his brazenness -- his supporters say it evidenced his behavioral disorder, one that's akin to a high-functioning autism -- Cottrell became a remorseless braggart while...
