Man admits placing bomb outside Colorado Springs NAACP office
By Keith Coffman
DENVER (Reuters) - A 44-year man charged with setting off a pipe bomb in January outside the building that housed the Colorado Springs chapter of the civil rights organization NAACP pleaded guilty on Monday to arson and a weapons charge, prosecutors said.
Thaddeus Murphy entered his plea in Denver federal court to damaging a building used in interstate commerce by explosives or fire, and for being a felon in possession of firearms, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a statement.
No one was injured in the Jan. 6 blast which charred an exterior wall of the building that also housed a hair salon.
Federal authorities said at the time they were investigating whether the bombing was a racially motivated crime aimed at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation's oldest civil rights group.
Murphy denied targeting the NAACP, and told investigators that he was in financial straits and planted the homemade bomb while in a “rage” at his former accountant, who once had an office in the building, according to a plea agreement filed with the court in June.
Murphy was arrested after eyewitnesses provided a description of a man fleeing the scene and his vehicle, and surveillance video showed Murphy’s distinctive pick-up truck.
Police found the truck parked outside Murphy’s home, and his driver’s license photograph matched the description provided by witnesses.
Federal agents then obtained a search warrant for Murphy’s house, where they found bomb-making components and firearms.
“When they executed the warrant, agents found seven (7) firearms inside the residence, including two assault rifles, a handgun, two shotguns, and a WWII era Russian made battle rifle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement said.
Murphy was previously convicted of two felony theft counts, leading to the weapons charges, court documents showed.
U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez set a Nov. 3 sentencing date.
Murphy faces a maximum 20-sentence on the explosives charge, and up to 10 years in prison on the weapons charges. He could also be fined $250,000 for each charge.
(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Eric Walsh)
