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DIY Explosives Experimenter Blows Self Up, Contaminates Building (fdlreporter.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the everyones-evicted dept.

Long-time Slashdot reader hey! writes: Benjamin D. Morrison of Beaver Dam Wisconsin was killed on March 5 while synthesizing explosives in his apartment... The accident has left the apartment building so contaminated that it will be demolished in a controlled burn, and residents are not being allowed in to retrieve any of their belongings.
It was just five years ago that Morrison graduated from Pensacola Christian College in Florida with a degree in pre-pharmacy and minors in chemistry and math. Though a local reverend believes 28-year-old Morrison was "not a bomb maker," USA Today's site FDL Reporter notes that "Officials assume he was making bombs that accidentally exploded and killed him... They have not publicly disclosed what chemicals were in apartment 11 where Morrow lived, only describing them as 'extremely volatile and unstable explosives.'"

4 of 366 comments (clear)

  1. beliefs by bugs2squash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The man just blew himself up with explosives he made yet...

    local reverend believes 28-year-old Morrison was "not a bomb maker,"

    I wonder if the reverend believes anything else that flies in the face of reality

    --
    Nullius in verba
    1. Re:beliefs by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I understand what you've teed up here, and I choose not to swing at that particular pitch, I do have to wonder why a 'reverend' is commenting on this. Anyway, my dad was a chemistry major in college among other things, and so had a lot of textbooks lying around when I was a kid. I remember looking through them to see if I could find a recipe for something that would go boom.

      I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the guy is a terrorist. He may just have been playing around.

    2. Re:beliefs by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I remember some of the stuff that I had in a chemistry set back in the 60's that I got for Christmas when I was 10. It would get me on a watch list today if I ordered that stuff. I did blow some stuff up back then but it was out in the back 40, not in my house. My mom didn't let me cook up stuff in her kitchen.

  2. Re:Fishy by Alypius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I posit lawsuits as a driving factor. Door #1 has "condemn the building as an EPA SuperFund site and settle up with the insurance companies after they pay out." Door #2 says, "Be stuck with the medical bills after we cleared people to go back in." There's certainly risk assessment going on, it's just not with the tenants' best interests in mind.