Ohio man pleads guilty to attacking ‘romantic rival’ with a handmade bomb
Ohio man has pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges after he admitted to putting a homemade bomb inside a gift-wrapped package on his rival’s doorstep
In the United States, an Ohio man has pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges after he admitted to putting a homemade bomb inside a gift-wrapped package on the front doorstep of his ‘romantic rival’ in Maryland, which caused significant injuries to the victim.
According to the Associated Press report, in connection with the 2020 explosion at the victim’s home in Carroll County, Maryland, 32-year-old Clayton Alexander McCoy of Chesterland, Ohio, entered a plea of guilty on Wednesday in Baltimore to transferring explosives with the intent to cause harm as well as to possessing an unregistered firearm/explosive device. When he is convicted, he faces 30 years of jail term.
US Attorney Erek Barron stated in a press release that as part of McCoy’s guilty plea, he acknowledged making a pipe bomb at his home in Ohio and transporting it to the victim’s house with the intent to kill him and his girlfriend. As per court filings, McCoy got to know the victim and his girlfriend through a live-action role-playing game, known as ‘Dagorhir’.
Clayton Alexander McCoy planned the bomb attack
According to the prosecutor, McCoy had expressed his love sentiments for the woman in October 2020, but she told him that she was already in a relationship and didn’t share McCoy’s romantic feelings. Prosecutors further claimed that McCoy then came up with a plan to make and send a bomb to the woman’s boyfriend in order to eliminate him as a romantic rival.
Late that month, McCoy drove to the man’s house with the bomb comprised of shrapnel and BB’s and put it in a gift-wrapped box on the doorstep. The explosive detonated as the person opened the box, leaving him with life-threatening injuries, Associated Press reported.
According to the prosecution, the victim required multiple surgeries to remove shrapnel from his body, spent over two weeks in the hospital, and needed to use a walker.
Meanwhile, earlier in the month of August, an Ohio neighbourhood saw the deaths of four people. on August 5 just before noon, according to Butler Township police in Montgomery County, officers were summoned to the area on a complaint of gunfire. Four people with gunshot wounds were discovered at “multiple crime scenes,” according to Chief John Porter, and all were declared dead there.
As per the Associated Press report, following the incident, the police were searching 39-year-old Stephen Marlow who was believed to have left the area in a sport utility vehicle.
