Has there been a update in the case of the unidentified man who mailed bombs to two televangelists? I believe the televangelists were Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts(?) The bombs themselves were concealed in nondescript packages that exploded upon being opened.

I was wondering that myself. :confused:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/BigTMan/snapshot_d1cf9f19_11f78417.jpg

Just saw this story.

The 2 televangelists were Pat Robertson and John O'Stein or something like that.

Firstly, Pat Robertson is a moron and an idiot. Most of his comments are just wrong and inappropriate and I feel he has no right to make them.

Secondly, I believe ALL televangelists are fake and should be banned. I am against anybody who uses religion as an exploitation tool to take money from innocent, gullable followers. I believe this is all televangelists do. They are just sucking innocent followers out of their money whilst making themselves richer and richer. It should be common sense not to trust anyone on TV who starts a sentence with "God came to me and said...", especially if they are stinking rich because we all know how much God loves the rich, the powerful and the greedy.

As for the case, I think these bombs could have been done for any reason. It could have been a crazed fan (highly unlikely since televangelists are greedy scum), or someone who had given all his money to these boofheads and now wants revenge, it could even be someone who is just doing it for attention.

Now it's time for my famous catch phrase: Any updates on this story?

That's John Osteen......father of Joel Osteen (who's wrote a few books I think).

I'm surprised that husband/wife duo from Texas (their name escapes me---one/both of em went down for embezzling I think) didn't get a 'package'.......

John Osteen died of a heart attack in 1999. His son Joel took over the family business.

AVERMAN, I couldn't agree more with your post about Pat Robertson. That guy is your typical blowhard conservative pig who gets joy out of causing controversy (like when he blamed feminists, abortionists and gays for the 9-11 terrorist attacks.... sheesh, get over yourself.)

But anyway, I haven't heard any updates on this case. I hate to be negative but I doubt it has much chance of being solved. Luckily, neither of the bombs caused any deaths. That's something to be thankful for.

I just rewatched this case, I would also like to know if there was an update :confused:

I found this blurb about Lisa Osteen (the one who was injured in the attack) in an article from 2002 and apparently neither case was ever solved:

"In fact, it may have been the nationwide TV exposure that led to a bizarre incident in January 1990, when Lisa Comes, Joel's older sister, opened a pipe bomb that had been mailed to the church in a shoe box. The box was sent from a tiny town in North Carolina, and when Lisa opened it, the bomb exploded out the sides of the box and shot nails into the walls.

"If she'd opened it the other way...," remembers Osteen, shaking his head. His sister underwent surgery on her leg and abdomen, and spent about a week in the hospital. Not long after the incident, a similar bomb sent from the same town arrived at Pat Robertson's offices, where the employee who opened it was injured. Neither case was ever solved.

While the church followed police suggestions to get a mail scanner, which it still uses, the Osteen family closed ranks and didn't comment publicly on the scare. Even now Joel Osteen refers to it as "a weird thing," stressing that nothing like that has ever happened again."

What I think is sad is how people are suggesting televangelists should be banned. Excuse me, we arent in a communist country here when you can ban free speech just because you happen not to agree with it.

I agree Pat Robertson is a self righteous pig, but lets remember, people are responsible for their own lives. People give tons of money to Robertson and Osteen and many others and these TV ministers are millionaires because of it. So what??

It is almost like some people here because they have such a dislike of these guys are almost saying these TV ministers deserve to get bombs mailed to them. I mean how sick is that? Personally, I am a fan of Osteen, I watch his services every weekend on cable television.

I am not religious in any way and also hate the TV preachers/conmen but it is no justification or excuse for sending bombs- anybody could get injured or die, from somebody in the sorting office to the postman or another innocent who works in the mail room at the station, very rarely in these cases is it the intended target who gets hurt or killed but some poor individual just trying to earn a living.

I know, that is why I said it was *almost* like they were saying it. No one actually said that, but some people were giving the impression that it wasnt a huge deal that these guys were getting the bombs sent to them. Maybe I am misunderstanding, if I am than I apologize.

It is just some people take their hatred and personal dislike of certain people and things too far. Like these nuts that protest at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ironically they are an ultra conservative church, yet they protest at soldier's funerals because somehow they tie soldiers deaths to their hatred of homosexuals. Apperantly they think God is killing our soldiers as punishment for America tolerating gays, it is a messed up belief.

Well lets be careful and not get off topic here but mainly focus on the UM segment concerning televangelists and the mail bombs. I do get what you're saying Kadrmas. I kinda wondered how hard police looked for this person who sent them or just chalked it up to how some people hate televangelists and left it at that. I certainly hope they didn't do that.

I am somewhat surprised to see that no information, outside of the UM segment, has been revealed for the church bombs.

I'm surprised that husband/wife duo from Texas (their name escapes me---one/both of em went down for embezzling I think) didn't get a 'package'.......

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were one of the more outrageous examples of televangelizing. I was just thinking about Tammy Faye as I watched a PBS special called The Powder and the Glory (little slow, but excellent social history) about Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, and it mentioned how a little makeup is a *good* thing which can all too easily be overdone (like Tammy Faye and her caked-on face--the show didn't mention her, she just popped into my mind as the worst case example.) Remembered a t-shirt from the time reading, "I ran into Tammy Faye at the mall" depicting a smeared face as if Tammy Faye had just hit the shirt! :lol:

I remember that Tammy Faye t-shirt, too! lol

Back on post #3 from two years ago, Averman is NOT pleased with televangelists and their trickery. I was reading the bible yesterday, book of Matthew, and guess what? There's a whole big bunch of stuff in there about how God is gonna kick their butts! lol

So, I'm guessing that the thieving, whoring, lying ones must be very serious athiests. I only had enough time yesterday to read the first 7 chapters of the new testament. Surely they have gotten that far into the book and know what fate awaits them. They must not believe the bible, so their plan is to rip off as many people as they can and get as rich and famous as they can before they croak.

And speaking of Tammy Faye, my DH's grandma, widowed and living in a teeny house with a 15 year old rotting car for transportation was giving the Baker's almost all of her money. Back then, she had no idea it was being used to air condition the Baker's dog houses, when she herself didn't even have air conditioning.

I am somewhat surprised to see that no information, outside of the UM segment, has been revealed for the church bombs.

Google is your friend. :rolleyes:

Bomb at Pat Robertson Offices
AP
Published: Saturday, April 28, 1990

A bomb in a package addressed to the Rev. Pat Robertson exploded today at the headquarters of his Christian Broadcasting Network, injuring a security guard.

The guard had cleared the mailroom of all other employees only moments before, and no one else was hurt.

Federal and local officials would not give details, saying that to do so might jeopardize their investigation.

But Frankie Abourjilie, a spokeswoman for the network, said that all packages arriving at its headquarters were routinely X-rayed as a security precaution and that one X-rayed today, bearing a North Carolina postmark, was considered suspicious.

The guard, Scott Sheepers, was summoned, and the bomb exploded when he opened the package, she said.

Mr. Sheepers, 33, was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He was accompanied there by Mr. Robertson.

Mr. Sheepers was in stable condition with shrapnel wounds to the left leg, said Rhonda Hoover, a hospital spokeswoman.

Mr. Robertson, who was a candidate for the 1988 Republican Presidential nomination, said the package had been addressed to him.

''This could be part of a pattern of attacks against evangelical Christians,'' said Mr. Robertson. He noted two recent attacks: the explosion of a package bomb at the home of the Rev. John Osteen of Houston, and an arson fire at the Indiana recording studio of Sandi Patti, a gospel singer.

The Houston package, like the one that exploded today, bore a North Carolina postmark.

Mr. Robertson, whose ''700 Club'' TV program is seen by an estimated 965,000 households daily, said he did not plan to tighten security.

A version of this article appeared in print on Saturday, April 28, 1990, on section 1 page 10 of the New York edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/28/us/bomb-at-pat-robertson-offices.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FR%2FRobertson%2C%20Pat

Pipe Bomb Explodes in Houston Church
By ROBERTO SURO, Special to The New York Times
Published: Wednesday, January 31, 1990

A pipe bomb apparently mailed to one of Houston's largest churches exploded this morning, injuring the pastor's daughter, the police said.

Federal and local investigators spent much of the day trying to determine whether there was any connection to four mail bombings in the South recently, including two bombs in December that killed a Federal judge near Birmingham, Ala., and a civil rights lawyer in Savannah, Ga.

In a statement issued this evening Andrew J. Duffin, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Houston, said a preliminary investigation indicated that ''there does not appear to be any similarities to those bombing devices recovered in the states of Florida, Alabama and Georgia.''

The bomb today exploded at the Lakewood Church, an independent charismatic congregation that has a membership of more than 15,000 people almost evenly divided among white, black and Hispanic congregants.

Victim in Good Condition

Sgt. J. C. Mosier, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, said, ''There is no reason to necessarily make a connection to the other bombs, but that possibility cannot be overlooked, and it is being investigated.''

The pastor's daughter, Lisa Osteen, suffered relatively minor burns and bruises after opening the package that contained the bomb, but she did not loose consciousness. A spokesman for Ben Taub Hospital, where Miss Osteen received emergency treatment, said she was stable and in good condition.

The Rev. John Osteen, a former Southern Baptist minister, said of his daughter's injuries: ''The Devil did his best but his best was not enough. We are just going to go on and do the Lord's work. We'll pray for those who have done this. We know that they are sick and that they need help and that Jesus is the answer to their needs.''

Miss Osteen, the 30-year-old director of ministries for the church, was opening the package, which was addressed to her father, in the church offices when the bomb exploded at 10:40 A.M.

Bomb Contained Nails

Sergeant Mosier said investigators were still trying to determine whether the package had been sent to the church through the mail or by a private delivery service.

He said investigators were not aware of any threats to the church or its ministers. While the church is known throughout the city as a multiracial congregation, the police sergeant said, ''We don't believe it was politically active or involved in civil rights to any large degree.''

The bomb contained nails about 7 or 8 inches long, Sergeant Mosier said. Federal investigators said that the bombs that killed the judge in Alabama and the lawyer in Georgia also contained nails, but that in those cases the nails were less than 2 inches long.

Officials of several Federal agencies are taking part in the investigation here, Sergeant Mosier said, because ''we have an explosive apparently sent through the mails, so this is clearly the kind of thing other law-enforcement agencies need to get involved in.''

Target Differences Noted

All of the previous bombings took place within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which covers Alabama, Georgia and Florida, and were aimed at the court itself or at people associated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Jack Killorin, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Washington, noted in a telephone interview that the target of today's bombing ''is outside the 11th Circuit'' and is very different from the previous targets.

The church complex, situated in a working-class area northeast of downtown Houston, stands out in a neighborhood dotted with truck stops and industrial parks. A 8,200-seat sanctuary completed 19 months ago includes rooms for the broadcasting of weekly services to 18 television stations around the country.

Among those who have attended services at the Lakewood Church are the King and Queen of Tonga; Charles W. Colson, the Watergate defendant who turned evangelist, and Pat Robertson, the television evangelist who sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 1988.

Mr. Osteen left the Southern Baptist ministry in 1959 to found his own congregation. Services at the church often involve faith healings and speaking in tongues.

Anyway, surprisingly the bomber was never found. Here's part of an article from 2002.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2002-04-04/news/power-house/3

In fact, it may have been the nationwide TV exposure that led to a bizarre incident in January 1990, when Lisa Comes, Joel's older sister, opened a pipe bomb that had been mailed to the church in a shoe box. The box was sent from a tiny town in North Carolina, and when Lisa opened it, the bomb exploded out the sides of the box and shot nails into the walls.

"If she'd opened it the other way...," remembers Osteen, shaking his head. His sister underwent surgery on her leg and abdomen, and spent about a week in the hospital. Not long after the incident, a similar bomb sent from the same town arrived at Pat Robertson's offices, where the employee who opened it was injured. Neither case was ever solved.

While the church followed police suggestions to get a mail scanner, which it still uses, the Osteen family closed ranks and didn't comment publicly on the scare. Even now Joel Osteen refers to it as "a weird thing," stressing that nothing like that has ever happened again.

"It was weird, because my dad was uncontroversial," he says. "I don't know."

So I take it there have been no more bombs to any churches since then that can be linked to these two cases.

So I take it there have been no more bombs to any churches since then that can be linked to these two cases.

Or linked to any fool who may have blown himself up with a pipe bomb.

I am not surprised that this guy has not been caught yet. He only committed two acts and killed nobody. It's not like he was the Unabomber or Amerithrax or anything.

On a light note, that composite photo had to be the most friendliest face I have ever scene. He looked like Donnie Osmond.:D

On a serious note, I think there is too much focus on the fact that it was evangelists as to the fact that it was two prominent TV personalities. He could easily have sent pipe bombs to Dan Rather or Peter Jennings, IMO.

I tend to feel that this guy probably called in to their shows at some point and sent a letter and got so ticked off at being rebuffed that he sought vengeance.

I don;t think it was someone with was anti-religuous or atheistr. In fact I think this guy on the contrary is very religious and probably watches televangelists often. Maybe even tried to be one.

I was just watching this segment today and for some reason, Eric Rudolph (the anti-abortion/anti-gay bomber) came to mind.

Wikipedia and online copies of the news articles say that he moved to NC when he was 11 years old. The televangelist bombs were mailed from that state. The person who delivered them was described as a neatly dressed white male with brown hair, between 160 and 175 pounds, and 5'10" to 6' tall. Eric Rudolph is 6 feet tall.

His known bombs used nails as shrapnel, like the televangelists bombs, but I think that would be a pretty common item for people making shrapnel type bombs to use. The bomb sent to Osteen had nails that were 8" long.

Rudolph is quoted as saying that he is against "materialism" and, imo, most televangelists sure seem to wallow in excessively gaudy and ostentatious clothes, jewelry, homes, planes, and even a hotel and theme park designed so they could skim millions off that project. :eek:

After his incarceration, he complained of born again Christians trying to "sell [him] a ticket to heaven". I guess he could have viewed the televangelists as doing the same thing, by begging for donations in exchange for a free pass to the pearly gates.

I wonder if these people were his early targets or if he was ever investigated in those attacks.

I think his first known bombing was the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

The Osteen's church received the package bomb January 30, 1990, exactly one year after Rudolph was discharged from the army for drug use. The next bomb, sent to Pat Robertson, was 3 months later, in April 1990.

Rudolph enlisted in the army in August 1987, and UM first aired the televangelist bombing segment later that year, in October.

At the time of the Osteen bombing, their church was said to be about evenly split racially between white, black, and hispanic congregants. Rudolph is a white supremacist. If he's the perp, it could probably add another motive for attacking that particular group.

In another sort of coincidence, when he was finally arrested he was in the west side of NC (Murphy). The two bombs sent to the TV preachers were mailed from the west side of the state, although I couldn't find what city and post office they went through or why the same guy who was not a postal employee would be delivering US mail packages in two different states.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Eric_rudolph.jpg/220px-Eric_rudolph.jpg

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110914224930/unsolvedmysteries/images/5/51/Pat_robertson_bomb_attempt2_suspect.jpg

I was just watching this segment today and for some reason, Eric Rudolph (the anti-abortion/anti-gay bomber) came to mind.

Wikipedia and online copies of the news articles say that he moved to NC when he was 11 years old. The televangelist bombs were mailed from that state. The person who delivered them was described as a neatly dressed white male with brown hair, between 160 and 175 pounds, and 5'10" to 6' tall. Eric Rudolph is 6 feet tall.

His known bombs used nails as shrapnel, like the televangelists bombs, but I think that would be a pretty common item for people making shrapnel type bombs to use. The bomb sent to Osteen had nails that were 8" long.

Rudolph is quoted as saying that he is against "materialism" and, imo, most televangelists sure seem to wallow in excessively gaudy and ostentatious clothes, jewelry, homes, planes, and even a hotel and theme park designed so they could skim millions off that project. :eek:

After his incarceration, he complained of born again Christians trying to "sell [him] a ticket to heaven". I guess he could have viewed the televangelists as doing the same thing, by begging for donations in exchange for a free pass to the pearly gates.

I wonder if these people were his early targets or if he was ever investigated in those attacks.

I think his first known bombing was the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

The Osteen's church received the package bomb January 30, 1990, exactly one year after Rudolph was discharged from the army for drug use. The next bomb, sent to Pat Robertson, was 3 months later, in April 1990.

Rudolph enlisted in the army in August 1987, and UM first aired the televangelist bombing segment later that year, in October.

At the time of the Osteen bombing, their church was said to be about evenly split racially between white, black, and hispanic congregants. Rudolph is a white supremacist. If he's the perp, it could probably add another motive for attacking that particular group.

In another sort of coincidence, when he was finally arrested he was in the west side of NC (Murphy). The two bombs sent to the TV preachers were mailed from the west side of the state, although I couldn't find what city and post office they went through or why the same guy who was not a postal employee would be delivering US mail packages in two different states.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Eric_rudolph.jpg/220px-Eric_rudolph.jpg

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110914224930/unsolvedmysteries/images/5/51/Pat_robertson_bomb_attempt2_suspect.jpg

wow!!! composite and pic look SO similar...I think you are on to something!!!

wow!!! composite and pic look SO similar...I think you are on to something!!!

Cool... I was afraid folks would think that my tin foil hat might be on a little too tight. lol

Got a bit more info...

UM said the suspicious man was seen MAILING the bombs, not delivering them as the newspaper articles had said. If that's the case, it makes more sense than some guy mailing the package from NC then showing up in 2 different states to swipe them from the USPS truck and deliver them personally.

The first church bomb was sent in January of 1990. The suspect was described as being between the ages of 28 and 35 years old. Eric Rudolph would have been about age 24. If the description is accurate, that kind of messes up my theory of Rudolph being involved and I doubt that he would have had an older accomplice do the mailing for him.

I can't remember if it was the news articles or the UM segment that said the bombs were mailed from the west side of the state. Rudolph was eventually caught on the west side of the state about 360 miles from the cities where the bombs were mailed from: Elizabethtown, NC and Blandenboro, NC.

Both of those cities is on the far eastern side of the state and are only 13 miles from each other. They are a long way from Murphy, NC. I don't know how official stories can report that these things happened on both the east and west side of the state. A quick look at a map shows exactly where those cities are, so somebody goofed up that info.

I dont think they pursued this one much. Afterall he was bombing televangelists. I mean really do we need more of these people or less? lol

I re-watched this one again recently. I just finished a book on the prosperity gospel movement in the U.S., and have researched individual figures on and off over the past couple of years as it's a topic that fascinates me. Throughout all my reading and research, I'm somewhat surprised to have not once found a single reference to these two bombings.

Both occurred in 1990. This was largely after several of the "big" televangelist and prosperity gospel scandals transpired: the fall of the Bakkers and Swaggart, and shortly before the disgrace of others such as Robert Tilton and W.V. Grant. That is, the bombings occurred right in the middle of a wider maelstrom of controversy. But I have to say that I don't see a particular pattern upon consideration of the targets other than the two share a certain kind of Christianity and utilized TV to evangelize.

Pat Robertson has been on national television since at least the '70s, but I'm unsure how widespread John Osteen's broadcasts from Lakewood Church were in the late '80s and early '90s: that is, were the broadcasts available regionally, or nationally? If the former, I would suspect the bomber would have to be someone with awareness of Osteen's broadcasts and/or Lakewood Church. This could be limited to somebody living in an area the broadcast region serviced, somebody from Houston or the surrounding area (where Lakewood Church is located), or both. But without knowing this information, it's impossible to speculate well. I just don't understand why John Osteen would've been a target alongside Pat Robertson when there were so many other, better-known televangelists to "choose from", as it were.

I wonder, has anyone dug into Eric Rudolph's background and found any connections or info that would lead to a motive?? In the back of my mind, he's the most likely suspect.

I never thought Eric Rudolph was a good suspect. Rudolph's motivation was rooted in anti-gay and -abortion beliefs. Frankly, both those televangelists have publicly espoused sentiments that would have been in general harmony with Rudolph's own stated beliefs on those matters. I don't know why he would've chosen to target them.

Those packages were seen mailed from the east end of North Carolina; Rudolph lived in the extreme western end, and as far as I can tell had never visited nor lived in that area. I did become curious about the Fayetteville angle (RS had mentioned that both mailing locations were within 25 miles of the city) and wondered if Rudolph had ever been stationed there while in the Army, but he hadn't, and was discharged in 1989 before the bombings a year later.

It's interesting they made a composite sketch of the guy who mailed the bombs so obviously U.M seemed to know more than it was telling us.

I wonder, has anyone dug into Eric Rudolph's background and found any connections or info that would lead to a motive?? In the back of my mind, he's the most likely suspect.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/unsolvedmysteries/images/5/51/Pat_robertson_bomb_attempt2_suspect.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/280?cb=20170709165119

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wjsp/files/styles/medium/public/201607/Eric_rudolph.jpg

Does bare some resemblance, has a part in his hair too.

I never thought Eric Rudolph was a good suspect. Rudolph's motivation was rooted in anti-gay and -abortion beliefs. Frankly, both those televangelists have publicly espoused sentiments that would have been in general harmony with Rudolph's own stated beliefs on those matters. I don't know why he would've chosen to target them.

Yes... Meg, you hit this right on the head. Eric Rudolph was on the fringe right, where these televangelists also reside. I don't know why he would bomb people that share his (or very similar) beliefs. The only reason he might have done that would be to draw on sympathy for them, but that seems risky and dumb.

To me, this case almost seemed more personal, like someone who was personally harmed by them (I use that term loosely) or felt they were led astray by these people. Perhaps someone who followed them, then had bad luck, and then blamed them/God.

To add to what others have said: in the years leading up to the Atlanta Olympics bombing, Eric Rudolph was targeting abortion clinics and the LGBT community on behalf of a Christian terrorist and white nationalist organization called Army of God.

There are many examples of the televangelist ilk attributing everything from hurricanes to 9/11 as retribution for abortions and homosexuality. There's just no way these guys would be targets of Eric Rudolph's attacks.

If anything, whoever did this would be the anti-Eric Rudolph.

To me, this case almost seemed more personal, like someone who was personally harmed by them (I use that term loosely) or felt they were led astray by these people. Perhaps someone who followed them, then had bad luck, and then blamed them/God.

This is what I feel personally, too.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/937683872757641219/TFKW13xK_400x400.jpg

Damn Lisa looks hot now :)
she looked alright in the segment apart from the hair though haha. She's still involved in the church and has a podcast (no I haven't listened to it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNEoNNJ3Wbg Lisa talks about the bombing during one of her online psalm readings (skip to 25:52).

To me, this case almost seemed more personal, like someone who was personally harmed by them (I use that term loosely) or felt they were led astray by these people. Perhaps someone who followed them, then had bad luck, and then blamed them/God.

I would assume it was someone who invested a lot of time and money in these televangelists only to realize they only "God" they represented was greed and was out for blood.

I will say as a non-religious person who is often puzzled at how important religion is in the USA compared to Canada and Western Europe that they all came across as very genuine, likeable people. No matter what we feel about televagelists nobody involved did anything to justify that level of violence and they deserve justice.