Transmitted: 11/2/95 1:02 AM (tm00hd06)

By Gary Marx and John O'Brien

Tribune Staff Writers

Copyright Chicago Tribune (c) 1995

From the start, authorities believed the crude bomb mailed to a federal judge
was the work of a man locked up in an Illinois prison, though they assumed
that someone on the outside had actually built and mailed the bomb for him.

On Wednesday, investigators revealed something startling: They believe there
was no accomplice. The convict apparently built the bomb in his cell at
Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, using materials readily available
to someone doing hard time.

He then wrapped the device, addressed it to U.S. District Judge Blanche
Manning, wrote "legal and confidential" on the package and simply dropped it
into the prison mail and it was delivered Tuesday, authorities said.

An X-ray machine used to inspect mail at the prison did not detect the
device, but a similar machine at the Dirksen Federal Building did.

                        ............................

Howell said prison records show that Saunders mailed a package to Manning on
Saturday. Prison officials routinely open and read all mail entering and
leaving the prison, but Saunders' package wasn't opened because he indicated
on the envelope that it was material relating to a legal matter--something
that is protected by law from regular search by prison officials.

Instead, the package was passed through an X-ray machine, but the bomb was
not detected.
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