Father helped catch son

Associated Press

RENO, Nev. – The FBI zeroed in on 21-year-old Luke Helder as the suspect in the string of pipe-bomb attacks after his father called police about a disturbing letter in which his son warned, “Mailboxes are exploding,” authorities said Wednesday.

Helder was captured Tuesday in Nevada after holding a shotgun to his head during a car chase and telling a friend by telephone, “I might have to blow myself away,” authorities said.

The FBI used the signal from his new cell phone – and a tip from a motorist who spotted his Honda Accord – to pinpoint his location 1,400 miles from his home in Pine Island, Minn.

Wednesday, the FBI said Helder confessed to making a total of 24 pipe bombs out of tape, paper clips and Christmas tree bulbs and placing 18 of them in mailboxes in five states, along with anti-government notes. Helder had the six other bombs with him when he was arrested, authorities said. They said the 6-inch bombs were packed with smokeless gunpowder and BBs or nails, and were wrapped in black electrical tape.

Six bombs in all exploded, injuring six people in Iowa and Illinois. The FBI said the final 10 bombs – found in Nebraska, Colorado and Texas – were not rigged to detonate.

Helder faces federal charges in four states. At a brief hearing in Reno on Wednesday, he was ordered held without bail for transfer to Iowa. He could be sent to prison for life if convicted.

Asked by the judge if he understood that he does not have to make any statement, Helder replied, “Most definitely.” Asked if he understood that any statements he made can be used against him, he replied, “For sure.”

The FBI issued an alert for Helder after his father, Cameron, called police late Monday night about letters from his son that included references to death, anti-government comments and the phrase “Mailboxes are exploding.”

Before Helder’s arrest, criminal profiling experts had speculated that an older man was responsible. But the improbable suspect who emerged proved to be a guitar player in a punk rock band called Apathy and a junior studying art and industrial design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis.

His capture ended a virtually nonstop driving stint during which he did little to conceal his identity. He checked into a Nebraska motel under his own name and used his credit card at a gas station.

Washoe County Sheriff Dennis Balaam said he arranged for Helder to talk with his parents by telephone Wednesday morning. He said Helder was put on a suicide watch overnight.

“In my conversation with him, I asked whether he was on any medication or thought he would do himself any harm,” the sheriff said. “He said, ‘No,’ that he was ready to face the day,” he said.