
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 28, 1994                   TAG: 9409280059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: HAMPTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOMB CHARGES ARE BROUGHT

The state trooper whose specially trained dog uncovered bombs in the Hampton General District Courthouse two weeks ago was charged Tuesday with planting the explosive devices there and at two shopping malls.

Roy Richards, 41, emerged as a hero Sept. 13 when Master Blaster, the bomb-sniffing Labrador retriever, found two pipe bombs at the courthouse. Richards, a state trooper whose duties include work in the canine unit, was called to the scene after someone found a pipe bomb in a second-floor restroom.

Police now believe Richards planted all three bombs at the courthouse, along with explosive devices found June 17 at Coliseum Mall in Hampton and July 16 at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.

At a news conference Tuesday, Hampton Police Chief Pat G. Minetti read a statement announcing the charges but declined to elaborate on how authorities came to suspect a trooper whose work days earlier was heralded by the state police.

Minetti said investigators became suspicious Sept. 15 when Richards ``recovered evidence that was completely dry in an area that was moist with heavy dew.''

A search warrant for Richards' state-issued police car and his residence indicated that authorities think Richards may have planted evidence in a car driven by high school senior Eric Lee near the courthouse.

The warrant also stated that Richards and his dog found a film canister containing gunpowder and nail fragments later in Lee's yard but that authorities became suspicious because the canister was dry.

As the probe into Richards mounted, police sent the trooper and Master Blaster to a rental storage unit that was free of explosives and equipped with a hidden video camera. The camera recorded Richards as he and the dog stopped at a cardboard box, according to the warrant.

``The video tape recorded Trooper Richards reaching into his pants pocket and placing something in the box and later positioning the item in the box,'' the warrant stated.

Afterward, Richards pointed out some primer caps inside the box.

Richards was arrested at 2:21 a.m. Tuesday and was being held without bond at the Virginia Beach jail.

by CNB