TPMMuckraker

Why Was Accused Man In TX Pipe Bomb Case Angry At The Government?

Justin Elliott April 9, 2010, 12:54 PM

Could Larry North’s alleged spree planting pipe bombs in East Texas mailboxes have some connection to the savings and loan crisis of two decades ago?

Yesterday, one of the prosecutors on the case told TPMmuckraker that North “was disenchanted with the federal government, and … he was disenchanted with an individual who he perceived that had wronged him.”

But exactly why North, who is charged with illegal possession of a pipebomb, and who prosecutors claim distributed 36 explosive devices around East Texas, would be angry at the government was not clear.

We have a few new tidbits to pass along, which, while they don’t provide a full explanation for why North may have been disenchanted with the government, do offer some interesting background.

First, an official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said that North’s “apparent anger with the government stems from some sort of court dispute,” the AP reports.

And KLTV in East Texas reports that those who know North say that he won a large settlement after a work accident, but lost the money after he put it in an uninsured account in General Savings Association in Henderson, Texas. General Savings has since gone under.

KLTV also reports that the head of General Savings was Mark Hale, a man who was pardoned by George W. Bush in 2006 for the crime of savings and loan fraud — for which he received three years of prison in 1991.

In the federal court record database, the only civil suit that shows up for North is a 1991 case in which the plaintiff was the Resolution Trust Corporation, — the government-owned company set up to liquidate the assets and clear the wreckage left by the savings and loan crisis. In the case, Resolution Trust is listed as receiver for General Savings Association.

Details of the case are not available beyond that the judge found in favor of the plaintiff, against North. The nature of the suit is listed as “290 Real Property: Other.”

One of the neighborhoods where North allegedly dropped off a pipebomb is Lake Cherokee in Henderson — the same neighborhood where Hale resides, according to KLTV.

Late Update: The Tyler Morning Telegraph adds another detail to the developing story: North still owed taxes on the money that he reportedly lost in the S&L fraud. That could explain why the federal agency charged with protecting IRS employees is involved in the case.