It appears the smirk is off the face of our Mailbox Bomb Boy, Luke John Helder. The local folks and media who attended the hearing on Friday night said the area surrounding the Cedar Rapids Federal Courts Building was a media circus.
According to the Des Moines R&T: A newly somber Luke Helder made his first appearance in an Iowa federal courtroom Friday night on charges tied to a series of pipe-bomb attacks. His demeanor contrasted with earlier public glimpses. The smirk was gone, and he didn't chat with U.S. marshals who ushered him in. Wearing leg shackles, handcuffs and a white jail jumpsuit, Helder barely glanced at the crowd of 50 in the courtroom. He kept his eyes downcast during much of the five-minute hearing, apparently reading along as Chief Magistrate John Jarvey outlined the charges against him - using an explosive to maliciously destroy property and using a destructive device to commit a crime of violence. If convicted, Helder could face life in prison. Helder is held without bond.
May be spending several hours in the company of the US Marshalls in shackles and cuffs while flying from Reno to Cedar Rapids did the trick? Or is it possible he's finally detoxing from whatever he had been taking?
This just in... from the Des Moines R&T: The account by the rural Davenport witness is the first that documents activity tied to bombings.
Davenport, Ia. - A rural Davenport resident saw a car speeding from a nearby house last week, about five hours before a pipe bomb was discovered in the homeowner's mailbox, according to court documents. At 2 a.m. on May 3, the witness reportedly saw a bright flash of light from near the mailbox of Darin and Shelli Engelbrecht. The car's headlights then came on and the vehicle sped away, running a stop sign on the gravel road, according to the federal court documents prepared this week by Quad Cities-based FBI Agent Elizabeth Baren.... The documents, which don't name the witness, are the first indication that anyone saw activity that could be related to someone leaving the pipe bombs.
Toward interstate: The car seen at the Engelbrechts sped in the direction of Interstate Highway 80, which is just a few miles from the rural Davenport farmhouse. "I don't know what that means at this point," the FBI's Baren said. "I don't know whether it might have been the first one left or the last" that day.
It appears we now have at least one or two pieces of information that tells us where he
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To-- News came this weekend that an old family friend and mentor, Forrest Kilmer, former County Supervisor and retired Managing Editor of the Quad-City Times had passed away at the age of 81 years young. Forrest was in an elite league of journalists who came up through the ranks after WWII, crew-cut, shirt-n-tie and all-- and was what I call, an old time reporter. He gave me my first research job one summer when I was still wet behind the ears, and taught me how to ferret out good information. He always reminded me that when I reported on something I needed to be "damn sure of the facts" on whatever topic I was writing/saying, because it is important to be both fair and accurate. It is a lesson many journalists should learn.
Today Bill Wundrum wrote about his old friend: "News was like catnip to Kilmer, and I hail him as the best reporter — and later the best, toughest, fairest editor — that I shall ever work with, and for. Of course, there are investigative reporters today, a rather high-falutin word in the lexicon of Kilmer who was one of the nosiest snoops of all. He and detectives sat in the windows of the old Standard Hotel with a telescope to catch tolltakers pocketing change on the Centennial Bridge. He broke the story, cadging me into crossing the bridge and handing tolltakers the edition that told in bold headlines of their thievery. What a jolt it was for the miscreants to read of their deeds under the byline of Forrest Kilmer."
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To-- News came this weekend that an old family friend and mentor, Forrest Kilmer, former County Supervisor and retired Managing Editor of the 