Sage Six
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, June 1 6,1976
Letter bombs blamed on ,a
terrorist extortion scheme
W A S HI 1 N fG T I) N It -
FBI tDirector Clarence Kelley
yesterday btmed one or
more terrorists dem mding mit-
lians of dollars ifrnn U. S. cor-
porations for a series of letter
bombs which began appearing
Monday,.
Kelley, who said the 11I does
not yet know who is responsi-
ble, told a news conference
that sotoe 200 corpora1ions re-
ceived extocrtimn letters begin-
ning last fall.
THE SERIES of letter bombs,
which have been delivered to
corporate offices and to the
home of at least one execu-
tive. "apear to be part of this
contintting crime," he said.
A knowledgeable source said
the extortion letter sent to one
of the companies which subse-
guently received a bomb order-
ed that money be delivered
over a period of months to a
point in Mexico.
So far, Kelley said, out of 13
letter bombs delivered to com-
panies or their executives, one
has exploded. That one was
opened at the Ness York office
of Merrill, Lynch, Inc., and
foor persons were injured
Ketley declined to answer
ac-stions, noting that the mat-
ter is stilt onder investigation.
I1S REMARKS were similar
'i a statement from the Postal
Sertice earlier in which offic-
ials also said the bombs ap-
sear to be related to the earlier
'xtortion letters.
1osI- Ioffici-ils said all recip-
ients of the earlier threats were
notified quickly after the first
bomb was received.
"Over a period of several
months, numerous large corpor-
ations in the U. S. have receiv-
ed a series of extortion letters
vherein demands have been
made for large sums of money
to be paid with the threat of
terrorist tactics unless these
demands were met," Kelley
said.
HIE SAID that none of the re-
cipients of the letters has com-
plied with the demands.
"We do not know as of yet
just what is the genesis of this.
It could be a single person or
it could be an organization,"
he said.
lIe tdescribed the letters as
"a terrorist attempt to evoke
fears in the hearts of every-
one."
BUT HE refused to say how
the letters were signed, or whe-
ther they appeared to be the
work of any political group.
"It is a threatening communi-
cation and whether or not
there's any revolutionary con-
notation is something I cannot
discuss," he said.
He said the money demanded
totals millions of dollars, but he
would not give out the total or
say what the average amount
was.
HE ALSO refused to name
'the firms receiving either the
bombs or the extortion de-
mands.
"To date, with one possible
exception, only companies re-
ceiving prior correspondence
. . . have received the letter
bombs," he said. Kelley de-
clined to discuss the exception.
Spokesman Tom Harrington
said later that all the current
recipients of letter bombs pre-
viously had received the ex-
tortion letters. He said he
didn't know what Kelley meant
in the reference to an excep-
tion.
HE DID not discuss the link
between the letter bombs and
the earlier extortion demands
except to say that "they are
substantially he same as far
as the context and the de-
mands."
He said he FBI lab is ana-
lyzing the bombs and a pre-
liminary check indicates that
the explosives are "low order
in nature."
the " arborfh cociperative
TONIGHT-CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S
MODERN TIMES 1936) AUD. A-7 & 9
A biting social comedy, Chalin's Little Tramp made his last
appearance in this film, Charlie gets a job in a factory and
winds up sabotaging the machinery. A mostly silent film-with
the exception of Charlie's famous nonsense song. PAULETTE
GODDARD, CHESTER CONKLIN.
ADM. $1.25
* * WOODY ALLEN'S * *
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO
KNOW ABOUT SEX
but were afraid to ask
WED., JUNE 16-7 & 9
MILB AUD. 3-$1.25
Peoples Bicentennial Commission
DALY EARLY BIRD MATINEES - Adults $ .oo
ONTHUSAT.tO. MISOS AS.& su & S 11s. SN EOONTL1.e I.
STUDENT DISCOUNTS (Exc. Fri.& Sat..Eves. I
AP Photo
Ear we go!
Hector, the bassett hound, looks a bit apprehensive as he
prepares to try out his new roller skates. The two-year-old dog
took part in the fun as he Bob Hamilton family of Winnipeg
held a skating party for the whole neighborhood.
Jar emits mysterious fumes
HOUSTON (P-It was just a figure out how to counteract the John Sealy Hospital in Galves-
little jar, lying in an empty lot. fumes and what the jar was do- ton. "We have asked several
But when a tractor ran over it, ing there. national agencies to tell us. All
the mysterious fumes that spew- "WE KNOW what it is, but we know is that it acts very
ed out made 20 people so sick have no idea what it is used much like cyanide."
they had to be hospitalized. for," said Dr. Leo Schallaci of Civil Defense officials asked
Now authorities are trying to the poison control center at residents within a mile of the
area where the chemical was
accidentally exposed on Satur-
day.in the suburb of Alief to
- :check with their family physi-
UIJIMAlf lIC fANTAS ' cian.
Dr. Walter Quebedeaux, coun-
THI STAROf "CHINA GIRL"ty pollution control director,
ANN1T1f HA-S ,.said the chemical was known
as orthochloro-benzylidene-mel-
onitrile. Dr. Ralph Coleman of
the Westside General Hospital
said: "I know small amounts
are dangerous and I know it is
used in drug manufacture and
in the manufacture of chemicals
XXX for chemical warfare."
WHAT OFFICIALS were try-
, ing to learn was what the chem-
ical might have been used for
T ALL AM KAN in this case. Coleman said au-
TE A GILthorities were also checking with
pLjAGROUND Army officials in Washington.
Gary Stevenson and his father,
R. K. Stevenson, stumbled into
- ,the chemical when they were
clearing an empty lot near their
home.
"Gary was on a tractor mow-
ing the lot and the tractor broke
INTRODU~G this little jar," the elder Steven-
ABIGAILlson said from his hospial bed
LAYLON yesterday. "There was this yel-
lowish powder and dust and
IN EXPLCT COLOR within s e c o n d s Gary's nose
I X CIstarted burning and his face
began to swell. He said he
L W WASHINGTON ST. couldn't breathe. I tried to help
S482-3300 him and then I got this burning
sensation on my face and nose
THEATRE DOWNTOWN YPSILANTI too. It felt like 100 bees had
stung me."