21 years ago a Pine Island man sent pipe bombs around the country. He's still being held in Rochester
Apr. 17—ROCHESTER — For a short time in May 2002, the nation held its breath as bomb after bomb exploded in mailboxes across middle America.
In less than a week, 18 pipe bombs packed with lead shot and nails were either found or detonated in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. At least six people were injured in Iowa,
four of whom were mail carriers
.
With a country still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the FBI got involved and began the task of putting the pieces together. This time, the war on terror would lead investigators not to foreign lands but right here in Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin.
Law enforcement would get their break when a man contacted the Menomonie (Wisconsin) Police Department on May 6, 2022, to report that he believed his adopted son, Luke Helder was responsible for the bombings.
Helder's roommate and friends investigated Helder's room in his Menomonie apartment and found bomb-making equipment.
Family and friends also read several writings by Helder that detailed his anger towards the government.
The FBI issued an alert for the college student after his father called authorities.
Helder, a Pine Island resident, Wisconsin college student, musician and now an alleged domestic terrorist, would be arrested on May 7, 2002, following a 40-mile
high speed chase
that ended about 20 miles from Reno, Nevada.
Police recovered several pipe bombs from his vehicle, along with a shotgun that he was holding to his head when he stopped for police. He dropped the gun after talking to FBI negotiators.
He told an undercover police officer he was attempting to make
a smiley face across the United States
once all his bombs had been planted shortly after his arrest, according to former Pershing County Sheriff Ron Skinner.
"His demeanor was very jovial. He didn't seem to be taking anything seriously at the time," the sheriff said at the time.
Helder has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of using a pipe bomb in a crime of violence and destroying property used in interstate commerce — mailboxes. The charges carry a life sentence.
His trial in Iowa would be delayed multiple times for
psychological testing at the Federal Medical Center
in Rochester.
Helder was declared incompetent to stand trial in 2004 by a federal judge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was remained at the Rochester FMC ever since.
He was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.
If, at some point, Helder is declared competent, the federal charges remain and could be reinstated.
Helder, who was attending the University of Wisconsin Stout, fronted a rock band based out of Rochester called Apathy. Their only CD "Sacks of People" was highly derivative of Nirvana, stemming from Helder's obsession with the band's lead, Kurt Cobain.
Interest in the band's CD spiked following Helder's arrest, though Kevin Adams, owner of the now defunct Broadway Records,
told the Post Bulletin in May 2002
that he had to give the band's CD away a month before the bombings started because they weren't selling.
"With it having such huge national attention, I think it will be pretty big the next few days," he said.
A screed found with multiple bombs and also sent to the UW school newspaper is eerily reminiscent of Ted Kaczynski's manifesto, Helder's contemporary.
Helder, like most dime-store philosophers, explains through his disconnected writings that society is getting worse, the planet is dying and if you dream about something, you can simply will it into being.
Despite his manifesto, a former bandmate of his told the Post Bulletin in 2002 that while he has anti-government views, he didn't think Helder planted the bombs.
"Half the kids I go to school with have that belief,"
said Mike Stanton, a Century High School student
at the time. "I don't think he's out to get the government."
Delores Werling, of Tipton, Iowa,
told the Post Bulletin in May 2013
that she has no "ill feelings" for the former college student. She lost her hearing when a pipe bomb allegedly put in her mailbox by Helder exploded. That morning the only thing that probably saved her life is that she got her mail while sitting in her vehicle. She usually grabs it on foot.
"I hope for his sake that things are going better and of course we don't want this to happen again," she said. "I just want him to get well so that he can live a prosperous life. I feel for his family."
Werling died in September 2022 at West Ridge Care Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Date
Location of pipe bomb
Result
May 3 Dubuque, Iowa Caused injuries
May 3 Farley, Iowa Detonated by law enforcement
May 3 Anamosa, Iowa Caused injuries
May 3 Tipton, Iowa Caused injuries
May 3 Eldridge, Iowa Detonated by law enforcement
May 3 Elizabeth, Illinois Caused injuries
May 3 Mt Carroll, Illinois Caused injuries
May 3 Morrison, Illinois Caused injuries
May 4 Columbus, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 4 Seward, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 4 Ohiowa, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 4 Davenport, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 4 Dannebrog, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 4 Scotia, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 5 Albion, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 6 Hastings, Nebraska Detonated by law enforcement
May 6 Salida, Colorado Detonated by law enforcement
May 6 Amarillo, Texas Detonated by law enforcement
