Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
FORT WAYNE - The Pierceton man charged with making a bomb that killed a 17-year-old will be taken to Vermont to stand trial.
A federal magistrate in Fort Wayne ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to send Chris William Dean to Vermont where the boy was killed to stand trial.
An agent from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms testified at the hearing that the government had probable cause to arrest Dean for the bombing.
Prosecutors say a credit card receipt for gunpowder, materials that could be used to make a pipe bomb, and witnesses who say threats were made against Christopher Marquis provided probable cause to arrest Dean.
Dean's court-appointed attorney disagreed, saying it is nothing more than a series of coincidences.
'I believe there is probable cause that a crime was committed and that the defendant, Chris William Dean, committed it,' Magistrate Roger B. Cosbey said.
Dean, 35, will be transported to Vermont within 10 days. He faces federal charges there of interstate transportation of explosives with intent to kill or injure, and placing an explosive device on an airplane knowing it could endanger the safety of the plane.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Christopher Marquis, 17, was killed last Thursday when a package he was opening exploded. The package, delivered by UPS, contained a pipe bomb. Marquis' mother, Sheila, was severely injured in the explosion.
Investigators said they focused on Dean after finding a slip of paper in Marquis' room with his name, address and telephone number on it.
Marquis' mother and a former girlfriend reportedly told authorities the teen had been having troubles with Dean, who even threatened to come to Vermont to settle their dispute, Stephen Herkins, a special agent with the BATF, testified.
Dean reportedly was angry with Marquis because he felt he'd been cheated in an Internet-arranged trade of CB radio parts, but Dean's attorney said several other people had complained that Marquis was making shady deals.
Patrick Arata, Dean's attorney, asked whether investigators were looking for other suspects because someone else might have wanted to harm Marquis.
When Herkins said no, Dean's mother, Grace Lussmyer, shook her head. She showed no emotion when Cosbey made his ruling, but she threw up her hands as she left the courtroom.
'This is just such a rip off, a setup,' she said. 'It's a setup.'
A friend of Dean's told authorities Dean learned how to build a pipe bomb from the Internet and planned to send it to Marquis to 'teach (him) a lesson,' Herkins said.
Logs from Dean's employer show Dean was in Mansfield, Ohio, at noon on March 18, less than a half-hour before the package was dropped off at the UPS center there. A co-worker saw Dean carrying a package of similar size earlier in the day and said Dean said he was going to mail it UPS, Herkins said.
Investigators found several items at Dean's house that could have been used to build a pipe bomb, including thumbtacks, tape and batteries, Herkins said. There also is a credit card receipt showing Dean bought gunpowder from a gun store in nearby Warsaw.
Patrick Arata, Dean's attorney, said all of those things could probably be found at anyone's house. There is no concrete evidence linking Dean to the bomb, Arata said.
'They have a coincidental, circumstantial case that hasn't been backed up by testing of any kind,' he said.
