Oregon Hands Dad-Son Bombers Death Sentences

Would-be militiamen killed two police officers
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 26, 2011 4:30 AM CST
Oregon Hands Dad-Son Bombers Death Sentences
This Nov. 16, 2010, file photo, shows Bruce Turnidge listening to testimony during his trial at the Marion County Circuit Court in Salem, Ore.    (AP Photo/Brent Wojahn, Pool, File)

An Oregon judge has signed death warrants for a father-son team that planted a homemade bomb in a bank, killing two police officers. Bruce Turnidge, 58, and his 38-year-old son, Joshua, were found guilty last month of planting the device that killed a police bomb technician and another police officer, CBS reports. The town's chief of police lost his leg in the blast.

Prosecutors said the pair—who maintained their innocence, turned on each other in the courtroom, and claimed they didn't receive a fair trial—idolized Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and, fearing President Obama would take their guns away, planned to rob banks and found an anti-government militia. "Bill will be known for being and dying an honorable man, you will be known for dying as cowards," the bomb technician's widow said.
(More militia stories.)

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