Student Sentenced In Toilet Blast

A Washington State University student who blew up a dormitory toilet has been sentenced to four months in jail.

Whitman County Superior Court Judge Wallis Friel also ordered Nathan M. Whitcomb to pay $617 in restitution. The sentence, ordered Friday, allows Whitcomb to be released during his jail term so he can attend school.

Whitcomb, 20, was convicted of second-degree arson in a May 6 explosion that destroyed a toilet at Stephenson Hall.

Campus police arrested Whitcomb after interviewing acquaintances who said he had bragged about blowing up mail boxes in Richland, his hometown, and had shown off the device used in the toilet bombing.

At the site of the explosion, police found a carbon dioxide cannister that had been filled with explosives and a fuse. The bombing caused $400 damage.

, DataTimes