Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. – Blog postings by the suspect for three recent pipe bombing attacks in Stafford County and Fredericksburg depict a man disgusted by the legal system and willing to “commit some crimes” and “have some fun.”
WTOP has learned investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Virginia State Police Department and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department are aware of Internet writings of Laurence Stewart II, who was arrested in Montana on Thursday after a nationwide manhunt.
Sources say Stewart was spotted near Great Falls, Mont. and authorities attempted a traffic stop. Stewart then set off a pipe bomb and fled. Nobody was hurt.
Stewart is charged with three counts of attempted capital murder, weapons charges and terror charges. The charges are in connection with three pipe bombings Tuesday — two in Stafford County, one in Fredericksburg.
Investigators say the bombs targeted a detective and deputy who arrested Stewart in an earlier domestic violence case, as well as his former fiancee’s home.
Nobody was hurt in the blasts.
The blog posting, written before this week’s explosions, details Stewart’s disdain for the law enforcers who arrested him in June 2010 for domestic violence.
Stewart refers to the sheriff’s department deputies as “idiots” and describes others with racial slurs.
Stewart, 25, now of no fixed address, describes the legal system as corrupt, and writes, “I feel like I do not have a chance for justice.”
“They’re treating me like a murderer,” Stewart blogs.
Stewart writes, “At this point I might as well commit some crimes… If I am blamed for wrongdoing I should at least have some fun and do whatever I want, without regard.”
In a Wednesday news conference, officials described the pipe bomb attacks as premeditated, and vowed to capture Stewart.
“This system disgusts me,” writes Stewart.
“There is clearly no presumption of innocence.”
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