| Home-made bombs that were intended to kill law enforcement officers in Clay County have led to the indictment of Samuel Todd Murphy, 37, of Wallback, a small village on the Clay-Roane line near I-79.
A federal grand jury indicted Murphy yesterday in Charleston.
He was charged with having the bombs in August, 2005 at or near Wallback and Eagle Bend near Dundon Bridge, in the upper section of the Town of Clay.
One of the bombs near Clay exploded when local resident Ronnie Hamm found the device in the woods while he was collecting pop cans.
The blast was heard all-over Clay.
The state Fire Marshal's Office said the bomb was meant to maim or kill a law enforcement officer. "We feel certain that it was built to intentionally injure or kill law enforcement in Clay County," said state Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis.
Investigators never said for whom the bomb was planned, but locally there were indications it was intended for Clay Sheriff Randy Holcomb.
The federal grand jurors also indicted a Roane County man, charging him with having methamphetamine ingredients and illegally having firearms.
Christopher Coe, 33, of Spencer allegedly had the meth-making materials last December in Spencer.
Grand jurors allege Coe had a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in his possession while manufacturing the drug with six other guns in his possession, despite a March 2000 conviction for burglary in Marion County.
He had been ordered not to possess firearms as a felon.
HUR HERALD ARCHIVES
8/9/2005 Explosions Rock Clay
8/10/2005 Arrests Pending In Clay Explosion
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