Ex-Army Sniper Sought In Bombings Fbi Looking For Fourth Suspect Who Lived In Sandpoint Area

Authorities are looking for a former U.S. Army sniper who is identified as a fourth suspect in last year’s bombings and bank robberies in the Spokane Valley.

The suspect is Brian Edward Ratigan, 38, who lived with his wife and two children in Sandpoint until late last year, law enforcement sources confirmed Monday.

Ratigan and his family disappeared shortly after three other North Idaho men were arrested Oct. 8 near Yakima.

Those men - Charles H. Barbee, Verne Jay Merrell and Robert S. Berry - are on trial in U.S. District Court in Spokane on charges related to domestic terrorism.

Ratigan is identified in sealed court documents filed in Spokane while the FBI conducts a nationwide manhunt for him, the sources said.

FBI regional supervisor Burdena Pasenelli said she couldn’t comment on the case when reached Monday at her Seattle office.

The FBI, however, has widely distributed a Teletype alert asking various law enforcement agencies to be watchful for Ratigan. It says he is wanted in connection with the Spokane bombing and bank robbery case.

Ratigan, a sergeant, was being trained as an Army sniper-assassin in Korea when he was honorably discharged in 1989 after his wife became ill, the sources confirmed.

Ratigan is believed to be from New York.

He is an associate of Barbee, 45; Berry, 42; and Merrell, 51, who are charged with 12 federal charges related to April 1 and July 12 bombings and bank robberies in Spokane.

Berry’s brother, Loren Berry, 41, formerly of Sandpoint, testified Monday that he suspected his brother and friends may be involved in the crimes.

He said he knew the fourth member of the group only as “Brian.”

Loren Berry said he was told “Brian” slipped getting into a getaway van used in the July 12 robbery of a U.S. Bank branch in the Spokane Valley.

The bank was robbed minutes after a pipe bomb heavily damaged a nearby Planned Parenthood office.

Loren Berry also testified that “Brian” would have been with his friends the day they were arrested, but “he was kicked out because his household and his family were not in order - not living right with God.”

Ratigan is believed to have moved to the Sandpoint area in about 1994 from Whidbey Island, in Western Washington.

After he was discharged from the Army, Ratigan moved to the 60-mile-long island in Puget Sound, near Seattle.

He lived near the spot on Whidbey Island where Robert Mathews, widely regarded as a martyr in extremist circles, died in a 1984 shootout with the FBI.

Law enforcement authorities on the island confirmed Monday that they have been alerted to watch for Ratigan.

“He’s just one of those people who drift through our county here,” said Island County Chief Deputy Ed Proft. “We really didn’t pay any attention to him.”

Ratigan worked as a welder at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders at Freeland, Wash.

“He was a real pleasant individual,” recalled boatyard supervisor Mike Crotty. He couldn’t immediately provide Ratigan’s dates of employment, but said he resigned and wasn’t fired.

, DataTimes