‘The Bishop’ convicted of sending dud pipe bombs


May 4, 2012 at 1:00p.m.

‘The Bishop’ convicted of sending dud pipe bombs

CHICAGO (AP) — A former Iowa letter carrier who signed threatening letters ‘The Bishop’ has been convicted of sending dud pipe bombs to investment advisers in a scheme to boost values of stocks he owned.

Jurors deliberated just hours before finding John Tomkins guilty of all charges. The conviction could mean more than 200 years in prison.

Tomkins represented himself at his two-week trial and often spoke of himself in the third person. He even called himself to the stand to admit sending the packages to suburban Chicago investment advisers. But the 47-year-old insisted he designed them to never explode.

Prosecutors say the Dubuque, Iowa, man threatened to kill recipients, their families or neighbors unless they took steps to raise share prices of stocks he owned. Packages included notes reading, “BANG! YOU’RE DEAD.”