Isotope Evidence to Link a Suspect with a Pipe Bomb Multimurder in Austria 1995

• NCJ Number: 233519
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 56 Issue: S1 Dated: January 2011 Pages: S188-S191
• Author(s): Wolfgang Papesch, Ph.D.; Dieter Rank, Ph.D.; Micha Horacek, Ph.D.; Roland Tesch, M.Sc.
• Date Published: January 2011
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Case Study
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A bomb attempt in Oberwart, Austria, on February 4, 1995, was the culmination of several pipe and letter bomb attempts mainly in Austria.

Abstract

The pipe bomb had been mounted on a self-made gypsum (plaster of Paris) pedestal and exploded when touched, killing four persons. With a level of 200 tritium units (TU), the water extracted from the gypsum pedestal was unusually enriched in tritium (³H) compared to an environmental level of about 20 TU at that time. Investigation of the ³H content of air moisture in the living room of an arrested suspect showed values of about 1000 TU (normally, 50 TU is not exceeded). Additionally, water used as sealing liquid in a glass with nitroglycerine found in the living room was also significantly enriched in ³H (greater than 400 TU). The living room therefore offered the high ³H level environment necessary to lead to elevated ³H concentrations in the gypsum pedestal. (Published Abstract)