Ohio man pleads guilty to trying to kill romantic rival with gift-wrapped bomb in Maryland
A 32-year-old man has pleaded guilty to building an explosive bomb in Ohio and then driving to Maryland, with the intention of killing a romantic rival, according to authorities. Clayton McCoy intended to kill the boyfriend of the woman he liked, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
McCoy had known the couple for years through a live-action role-playing game social club, investigators said. He confessed his feelings for the woman in October 2020 but the woman informed McCoy that she was in a relationship and did not reciprocate his feelings, authorities said.
This rejection prompted McCoy to devise a plan to build and deliver a bomb to her boyfriend's house, thereby eliminating his competition, Department of Justice officials said.
Investigators say that McCoy researched the necessary materials and plans for building a pipe bomb. He went to multiple stores in search of the ingredients to make the required explosive powder and other bomb materials, according to authorities.
Investigators believe that McCoy tried to evade the attention of law enforcement officers by buying the items at various stores and paying in cash.
The Department of Justice said McCoy made shrapnel for the bomb by using an angle grinder to saw to cut scrap metal into small, triangular pieces, according to authorities. Then he inserted that homemade shrapnel into the metal pipe, to increase the deadliness of the pipe bomb when it exploded, officials said.
To mask his criminal intentions, McCoy put the bomb into a white gift box and tied a red ribbon around it, according to authorities.
Investigators say that he had rigged the gift box so that the bomb would explode whenever somebody opened it.
On Oct. 30, 2020, he put the bomb in the back of a truck and drove it from Ohio to the residence of his romantic rival in Maryland, Department of Justice officials said.
McCoy then left the "gift" concealed in a box on his rival's front porch. The grandfather of his rival discovered the box and put it on the kitchen counter where it remained until the rival returned home, according to authorities.
That evening around 5:30 p.m., the romantic rival noticed the box. He opened it and saw a smaller white box with a ribbon in it inside, Department of Justice officials said.
The romantic rival sent a text to his girlfriend asking if she had sent him a present and then took both boxes to his bedroom to open the gift in private, according to authorities.
As he opened the gift box, he heard a hissing sound right before the bomb detonated, Department of Justice officials said.
Investigators say the shrapnel from the bomb ripped into the romantic rival's body, injuring his chest, legs, and other body parts. He had to go to a hospital to receive treatment for his injuries and wasn't able to leave the medical facility until Nov. 17, 2020.
After the explosion and subsequent medical treatment, the romantic rival was forced to use a walker for two weeks, and multiple pieces of shrapnel remain inside his body, authorities said.
Additionally, the explosion caused an more than $46,000 of damage and the house was uninhabitable—requiring a multitude of repairs—until March 2021, authorities said.
That same month, investigators obtained a warrant to search McCoy's home in Ohio. During the search, they seized items that McCoy used to build the bomb, including the explosive powder, Department of Justice officials said.
McCoy admitted to investigators that he knew the man who had been injured by the bomb but denied knowing where he lived at the time of the explosion, according to authorities.
Investigators showed McCoy maps of his movements on the day of the bombing, indicating that he traveled from Ohio to the bomb site in Carroll County and back to Ohio again. He then admitted to delivering the bomb to his romantic rival, authorities said.
After his arrest last year, Carroll County Sheriff James T. DeWees said the incident created fear among residents as it was several weeks before Christmas when many were expecting packages through the mail, CBS Baltimore reported.
"Many in this region may recall how frightening this incident was and in the days following," said DeWees.
McCoy faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for transporting explosives with the intent to injure someone. Additionally, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device, the Department of Justice said.
