CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sheriff's deputies arrested Eric Rudolph the fugitive charged with the 1996 Olympic Park bombing and in bomb attacks at a gay nightclub and an abortion clinic, the FBI said. Rudolph was digging in a trash bin in the small town of Murphy in the western North Carolina mountains early Saturday when he was stopped at about 4:30 a.m., said Special Agent John Iannarelli in Washington. He said the man appeared to be homeless, but the deputies believed he was Rudolph.
| The two aren't exclusive, are they? |
Authorities were doing fingerprint analysis on the man Saturday morning to determine if his prints matched Rudolph's, Iannarelli said. His identity has since been confirmed.
| Bingo. He's maybe not in the ululating category, but it's nice to know he's nabbed... |
A law enforcement source in North Carolina who has been tracking Rudolph for years said he had seen the man. "There's a number of things that have to be done ... confirmation of fingerprints, other things. We have a lot of work to do," the source said. Rudolph, a 36-year-old Army veteran and experienced outdoorsman, hasn't been seen since July 1998 after he allegedly stole supplies from a health store owner in North Carolina. His truck had been spotted there early that year. Authorities spent years searching the rural mountains and caves of North Carolina for any trace of Rudolph. They ran across some camping sites believed to be his and found cartons of oatmeal and raisins, jars of peanuts and vitamins, and cans of tuna they said were the same brands Rudolph ate.
| The only two brands I can think of off the top of my head are Bumblebee and Starkist, so that's not really conclusive, unless he eats only Bob's of Maine Brand Tuna... |
Rudolph is believed to adhere to Christian Identity, a white supremacist religion that is anti-gay, anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner and mostly illiterate. Some of the four bombs Rudolph was charged with planting included messages from the shadowy "Army of God." Authorities believe that on July 27, 1996, Rudolph placed a bomb hidden in a knapsack in Atlanta's crowded Centennial Olympic Park during the summer Olympic games. The explosion at the crowded park killed one woman and injured 111 other people. Rudolph was charged in 1998 with that bombing and three others — at a gay nightclub in Atlanta, an office building north of Atlanta and an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., where a police officer was killed. In all, the bombings killed two and wounded more than 150 people. Rudolph eluded a massive manhunt and remains on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The FBI also had offered a $1 million reward for his capture.
| Guess who's buying donuts this week? |
Pockets of western North Carolina have had a reputation as a haven for right-wing extremists. Some there mocked the government's inability to find Rudolph with bloodhounds, infrared-equipped helicopters and space-age motion detectors — and some said they would hide him if asked. |