Suspect’s farmhouse yields explosives

SALEM – Investigators found explosives in the rural home of a 57-year-old man accused of killing two police officers in a bank blast last week, as well as items like those used in the bombing, according to a court document released Tuesday.

Bruce Turnidge and his 32-year-old son, Joshua, have both been arrested and face charges of aggravated murder, among other counts.

Bruce Turnidge made his first court appearance on Thursday, was appointed an attorney, and held without bail.

A court document released after his court appearance shows that a police search of the rented farmhouse where he lives turned up two tubes of the explosive Tovex, which manufacturer Web sites say is a replacement for dynamite used in mining and excavating.

Bruce Turnidge has worked as an excavator, among other jobs.

Other items turned up in a search of his home and shop and the nearby Santiam River were angle iron, sheet metal, metal grating, bolts, wiring and plywood with green spray paint matching the color of a metal box containing the bomb that exploded at the West Coast Bank in Woodburn, the document said.

Several of the items matched materials used in the bomb, the document said, but aside from the paint it did not say which items matched.

The document said U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents believed “some type of black or smokeless powder was used in the fabrication” of the West Coast Bank bomb.

State Police bomb technician William Hakim and Woodburn police Capt. Tom Tennant were killed in the blast. Woodburn police Chief Scott Russell lost a leg and is listed in critical condition.

Turnidge appeared in court for the first time Thursday; his son did so on Tuesday. A lawyer for Bruce Turnidge declined to comment after the court appearance.

Police have refused to divulge a possible motive, or to say whether they think the elder Turnidge or his son planned the bombing.

“It would not be helpful to the investigation to reveal sensitive details, such as motive, that could arguably color any of the information that we gather at this point,” Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer said Thursday.

Records show that Bruce Turnidge accumulated debt after having to pay tens of thousands of dollars over the years for various claims related to his previous businesses, including money owed to a bank – not the one that was bombed or one that was threatened the same day.

Investigators were not saying whether they think his financial situation had anything to do with the bombing.

On Dec. 12, the day a bomb went off at the West Coast Bank branch in the agricultural town of Woodburn, a caller threatened a bank next door. Investigators found a package they determined to be a hoax explosive device at that bank, then found the green box as they continued searching the area. A bank employee reported seeing Hakim trying to open the box while Tennant held it when the bomb exploded.

Joshua Turnidge, a former Navy serviceman, was arrested Sunday at his home in Salem. His father was arrested Tuesday near Jefferson about 15 miles south. An officer said in the document released Thursday that he overheard Joshua’s girlfriend telling Bruce Turnidge on the telephone Sunday that officers had inquired about welding equipment and barrels.

When police arrived at the rented farm home Sunday night, Bruce Turnidge was gone, and his wife said he had gone for a walk.

He returned “several hours later, offering no explanation for his sudden disappearance,” it said.

The search on Tuesday also turned up a burned laptop computer, welding machinery and a blasting cap, the document said.

Public documents show that Bruce Turnidge has suffered a series of financial setbacks over the years and that he is in debt.

Marion County Circuit Court records show that a company called Resource Funding Inc. collected about $40,000 from him and his wife in January 2006.

Records also show he was ordered to pay $9,953 in a civil judgment about a year ago. The Oregonian reports the money was a credit card debt owed to U.S. Bank. The Oregonian also reports that in January, Bruce Turnidge’s account at a credit union was garnished for $15,161 to satisfy the debt as well as accrued penalties.

Bruce Turnidge has had at least three different businesses, including one he called US Congress Inc. that erected cell phone towers.

Public records show that US Congress Inc. was ordered to pay more than $30,000 for a claim in 2002. The Oregonian reports the claim was filed by a Wireless Alliance Inc. after Bruce Turnidge failed to pay the subcontractor for repairs it had made to several wireless towers.

A bonding company covered $15,000 of the claim, leaving Turnidge with nearly $13,000 worth of debt. Public records show the debt was outstanding.

Turnidge’s contractor license was also suspended in 2002, according to the records, after a required bond lapsed.

A Web site for small businesses shows he owned another business, Turnidge Excavating, in Orovada, Nev.