Bombing, Robbery Suspects Indicted Arraignment On 12 Charges Scheduled For Dec. 18; Investigation Continues Into Possible Additional Suspects
Three North Idaho men now are formally charged in a 12-count federal indictment accusing them of two Spokane Valley bank robberies and three bombings.
An indictment was returned Thursday in Spokane by a grand jury that spent 2-1/2 days listening to federal agents outline evidence against the trio.
Verne Jay Merrell, Charles H. Barbee and Robert S. Berry are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 18.
The three were arrested by FBI agents Oct. 8 in Union Gap, Wash., after a failed attempt to rob a U.S. Bank in Portland.
They are being held in the Spokane County Jail without bond.
Even though formal charges are filed, federal authorities say the investigation isn’t over.
“We believe there are at least four individuals responsible for these crimes,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice.
No other suspects have been identified.
If additional evidence is developed, the case could be returned to the grand jury next month for additional charges.
Defense attorneys for the three didn’t have any comment on the indictment.
The indictment sheds little new information into an FBI domestic terrorism investigation of a group of religiously driven extremists known as Phineas priests.
A group claiming to be Phineas priests left notes after bombings and later mailed threats, promising retaliation if a $130,000 reward wasn’t rescinded.
Two informants whose identities haven’t been divulged apparently are in line to split that reward money.
The indictment accuses Merrell, Barbee and Berry of conspiracy and two counts of destruction of a building used in interstate commerce.
Those last counts refer to April 1 and July 12 bombings at Spokane Valley offices of The Spokesman-Review and Planned Parenthood, both of which preceded robberies of a U.S. Bank.
The indictment also includes four counts of using firearms and pipe bombs during crimes of violence, including two bank robberies at U.S. Bank, 9208 E. Sprague.
Two counts of armed bank robbery also are included.
The April 1 robbery was carried out by masked, paramilitary gunmen who detonated a bomb in the bank and fled with $72,000. They shouted references to the so-called freemen, who at the time were engaged in a standoff with authorities in Montana.
The same gunmen returned to the same bank July 12 and escaped with $36,666, the indictment alleges.
It also accuses each of the men of two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle and one count of possessing grenades.
Federal prosecutors were granted a 30-day extension before taking evidence to the secret grand jury panel that decided there is reason to believe crimes occurred.
The delay was sought on Nov. 1 because of the “extensive scope” of the investigation and a backlog of scientific tests at the FBI laboratory.
Unless attorneys seek delays, the case likely will be presented to a U.S. District Court jury in mid-February.
The federal judge who will preside won’t be decided until Monday, when chief Judge Frem Nielsen returns, court officials said.
The trial judge may be asked to decide whether the three defendants should have separate trials and whether the trial should be moved elsewhere because of pre-trial publicity.
, DataTimes