Eric Rudolph Reaches Plea Deal In Bombings

[MDM4AU 336]

Eric Rudolph Reaches Plea Deal In Bombings

POSTED: 2:13 pm CDT April 8, 2005

UPDATED: 2:57 pm CDT April 8, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eric Rudolph has agreed to plead guilty to the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and three other blasts, a source close to the case told The Associated Press on Friday.

Rudolph faced capital charges in a fatal blast in January 1998 at a Birmingham abortion clinic. He also faced charges of killing a woman with a bomb at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and setting two bombs that went off in metro Atlanta in 1997.

The plea agreement allows Rudolph to avoid the death penalty. He will instead receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. Neither U.S. Attorney Alice Martin nor Rudolph defense lawyer Bill Bowen was immediately available for comment.

Details of the agreement are still sketchy, but law enforcement officials have told NBC13 that part of the plea agreement included Rudolph's disclosure of the whereabouts of several caches of explosives Rudolph had hidden before he was arrested in May 2003.

The explosives were unstable and had been detonated in place in North Carolina over the past few days, according to the officials.

Emily Lyons, a nurse who was injured in a January 1998 blast at a Birmingham abortion clinic, told NBC that she and her husband were disappointed by the plea bargain. "But we knew it was the best move to protect the lives of others. For me, four life sentences in prison is not enough."

Police Officer Robert Sanderson was killed in same bombing and his widow, Felicia Sanderson, told NBC13 on Friday afternoon, "Today is a good day. I knew this day was coming. I was just waiting."

NBC 13 - Birmingham

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I was a little surprised by the quote by the nurse who was maimed in the Birmingham bombing. I certainly understand her feelings, as her life has been changed forever by that day. And I am not saying that I disagree with it, I was just a little shocked at the apparent venom in her words. Never having been in that situation, I guess I can't fathom how deep her hatred apparently goes. I hope I never have to experience anything like that.

Personally, I don't know which would be worse punishment for me, life in prison or the death penalty. Both would make for a miserable existence for years to come.

This guy needed to be gotten off the streets forever, one way or the other.

[BustemBigBlue 178]

I think I might rather get lethal injection than spend the rest of my life being Bubba's bi***. I think they should give him life without parole with the possability of death at any time. That way he would spend every day wondering if it was his last. He deserves it.