THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501050424
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Virginia State Trooper Vernon R. Richards pleaded guilty Wednesday to planting seven bombs in Hampton Roads, acts he said were an effort to further his career on the bomb squad and were never intended to hurt anyone.
Richards faces up to 70 years in federal prison for the hoaxes in which he and his bomb-sniffing dog found the planted bombs in courthouses and malls, and were hailed as heroes.
None of the devices exploded, and no one was injured. One explosive planted by Richards - a makeshift hand grenade hidden under a soft-drink can - was discovered by a maid at Hampton's Coliseum Mall before Richards could get to it. The detonator misfired; the maid was not hurt.
Richards' black Labrador, ``Master Blaster,'' has been reassigned to another handler, the state police said Wednesday.
After Richards pleaded guilty Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Mike Smythers argued that he should be kept in jail until he is sentenced in April.
``I don't think any community would feel safe with this defendant loose,'' Smythers said. Police found copies of the ``Terrorist's Handbook'' and the ``Anarchist's Cookbook'' during a search of Richards' home on Stonewall Terrace, a quiet residential street in the Northampton neighborhood of Hampton, Smythers told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.
Richards' Hampton attorney, Ron Smith, argued that Richards' motivation for furthering his career ended when he was terminated by the state police.
Richards told police he had committed the ``reprehensible acts'' so he could be promoted from a street officer to a training officer working with dogs.
``I wanted to be doing what I love best, working with animals and living with my wife in the country,'' the 14-year police veteran told police in his confession, which was read in court by the judge. Richards did not issue a statement Wednesday.
Richards, 41, may have had an abnormal need for public notoriety as well as an unhealthy ambition, according to evidence admitted in court Wednesday.
Those psychological problems, combined with concern about suicide and his extensive knowledge of explosives, led the judge to order Richards held without bail until sentencing.
Richards was arrested Sept. 27 after he recovered a bomb - a canister containing nail heads and powder - from a dew-covered yard. Hampton detective Randy Seals became suspicious when the powder in the bomb was dry.
Investigators then rigged a video camera inside a shed and called on Richards to search for a bomb. The tape captured Richards planting explosives. He confessed when confronted.
Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 8 to 10 years for each of the seven charges of unlawfully and maliciously attempting to damage and destroy by means of fire and explosives. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Associated Press/File
Virginia State Trooper Vernon R. Richards and his bomb-sniffing dog,
``Master Blaster,'' are shown searching for bombs at the General
District Courthouse in Hampton Sept. 14. Richards faces up to 70
years in federal prison for planting explosives.
Graphic
Virginia State Trooper Vernon Richards pleaded guilty Wednesday
to planting the following explosive devices:
Aug. 18, 1993. A hand grenade found by a maid at Coliseum Mall in
Hampton.
March 23. A pipe bomb at Coliseum Mall.
June 10. A bomb at Richmond Coliseum that Richards ``found''
after planting it earlier. It contained glass marbles and explosive
powder.
July 16. A device at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.
Sept. 13. Three explosives at Hampton General District Court - a
cardboard tube bomb hidden in a towel dispenser, a pipe mine
containing more than 80 nails with the heads removed, and a pipe
bomb.
KEYWORDS: EXPLOSIVES ARREST by CNB