# Bomb planted on girl in Sydney **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319 "2011-08-03T13:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/21 "2011-08-05T00:24:03Z")
I was a bit annoyed by the Sydney Morning Herald’s coverage. How many synonyms can you use for upper-class neighborhood full of rich bastards? Bonus points if you can think of more to say her dad’s loaded. We get it, Mosman’s got expensive houses. Ugh. (I’m in North Sydney, up the street from Mosman, but I live in Newtown like god intended people to do.) 😃 Good the kid’s ok, though. Bet her parents are wrecks! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/22 "2011-08-05T02:19:15Z")
Worst EVER advertisement juxtaposition in that link…above her picture was an ad for the Cold Chisel “Light The Nitro” Tour…complete with a picture of an explosion. So tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/23 "2011-08-05T03:14:07Z")
I’m glad no one got hurt. It must have been a nail biter for the bomb squad techs and the girl. Any suspicions the girl was in on it? Maybe she was looking to score money off her parents? I only ask because this crime makes no sense. I can’t imagine any parent calmly paying a ransom while that bomb was around a child’s neck. One coughing spell… very bad news. The perps should have known the cops and bomb squad would be called. There was almost zero chance of any profit in this for a criminal. It sounds more and more like something a bunch of dumb ass teens would cook up. They see this stupid stuff in movies and think it works in real life. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/24 "2011-08-05T04:09:45Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > I was a bit annoyed by the Sydney Morning Herald’s coverage. How many synonyms can you use for upper-class neighborhood full of rich bastards? Bonus points if you can think of more to say her dad’s loaded. > > We get it, Mosman’s got expensive houses. Ugh. > > (I’m in North Sydney, up the street from Mosman, but I live in Newtown like god intended people to do.) 😃 > > Good the kid’s ok, though. Bet her parents are wrecks! Yesterday evening’s [commercial channel] news went for about ten minutes on the topic. Fair enough if it was still in progress but the safety of the girl was assured by then and it was well known that the ‘bomb’ was a fake. I could only conclude that they focussed on the story so much because of the rich + attractive + blonde + caucasian teen angle. I think that means I spend too much time on The Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/25 "2011-08-05T04:49:07Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I could only conclude that they focussed on the story so much because of the rich + attractive + blonde + caucasian teen angle. For once probably not. The story is odd enough and has enough unanswered questions to attract media attention even if it had been a poor black boy. Probably a bit less attention, but it would still have gotten a lot. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/26 "2011-08-05T05:05:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > For once probably not. The story is odd enough and has enough unanswered questions to attract media attention even if it had been a poor black boy. Probably a bit less attention, but it would still have gotten a lot. A lot of attention while it was happening - fair enough. But after it was all over, the girl was safe, the ‘bomb’ wasn’t a bomb and still they went on and on and on and on about it. If it had been a poor, plain girl from a less salubrious suburb, I think it might have rated about thirty seconds air time. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/27 "2011-08-05T06:10:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Any suspicions the girl was in on it? Maybe she was looking to score money off her parents? That was certainly one of the popular theories in my office…“the girl and her (presumed) boyfriend were in it together to get money out of the rich parents”. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/28 "2011-08-05T06:23:02Z")
If this were a movie, I’d expect the Russian Mob to be involved. Those jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/29 "2011-08-05T08:17:55Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Yesterday evening’s [commercial channel] news went for about ten minutes on the topic. Fair enough if it was still in progress but the safety of the girl was assured by then and it was well known that the ‘bomb’ was a fake. I could only conclude that they focussed on the story so much because of the rich + attractive + blonde + caucasian teen angle. > > I think that means I spend too much time on The Dope. How many times did they mention that Gai Waterhouse (celebrity racehorse trainer) has a house on that street? I swear that was in every news article I read. How is that in any way relevant?! ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/30 "2011-08-05T08:51:40Z")
No relevance at all unless to re-emphasize how much it would cost to buy a house in that street. And it was the lead story again this evening. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/31 "2011-08-05T09:01:32Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > How many times did they mention that Gai Waterhouse (celebrity racehorse trainer) has a house on that street? I swear that was in every news article I read. How is that in any way relevant?! We all know that if it was Gai Waterhouse they would have put a horses head in her bed. As for the white rich girl aspect causing it to be newsworthy- well if it had been a not rich girl of any colout there would not have been much point in making extortion demands would there? As for the involvement of the girl, the police are playing it down. However it is pretty clear that that it is in the minds of just about everyone who discusses it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/32 "2011-08-05T11:09:12Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > For once probably not. The story is odd enough and has enough unanswered questions to attract media attention even if it had been a poor black boy. Probably a bit less attention, but it would still have gotten a lot. Exactly. In the American case, the middle-aged guy delivered pizzas for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/33 "2011-08-05T12:23:27Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > That was certainly one of the popular theories in my office…“the girl and her (presumed) boyfriend were in it together to get money out of the rich parents”. My theory is that some of her high school peers hate her and decided to play a ‘‘prank.’’ According to the bomb squad she was stuck in a very uncomfortable position for 10 hours. It seems if she was in on it, she would have made sure her position was bearable for all that time. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/34 "2011-08-05T12:25:59Z")
Depends if she got to select her position. Maybe she was told how to sit or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/35 "2011-08-05T15:10:02Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > There was [this case in 2003](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wells_%28bank_robber%29), but it turned out the “victim” was involved in the plotting. > > I hope this ends in a batter way. Now that it’s over I can comment on this from way back in post #2 … “… a \*batter \*way”? As in liquid & solids pureed to a smooth consistency? I nominate this for typo of the year. Instant meatshake anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/36 "2011-08-16T02:57:24Z")
Update: They think they’ve [caught the guy](http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-collar-bomb-hoax-police-name-australian-suspect-arrested-in-us-20110816-1iv7m.html) behind it. > [@](#): > > ``` > * 50-year-old arrested in Kentucky home > * NSW police identify links to Pulver family > * 'Chain of circumstantial evidence' > * Extradition may take some time > * 'Very quiet neighbourhood filled with children' > > ``` > > In an extraordinary breakthrough in an extraordinary case, a 50-year-old Australian man named as Paul “Doug” Peters has been arrested in the United States over the collar bomb hoax on Sydney schoolgirl Madeleine Pulver. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/37 "2011-08-16T03:20:24Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Update: They think they’ve [caught the guy](http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-collar-bomb-hoax-police-name-australian-suspect-arrested-in-us-20110816-1iv7m.html) behind it. Completely nuts. Especially since I have lived in that town in Kentucky! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/38 "2011-08-16T04:34:14Z")
One thing that gets me is why this took 10 hours. Doesn’t the Sydney Police Department have a bomb-sniffing dog? Seems simple enough - bring in dog, dog sniffs collar, dog indicates there is no explosive in collar, everybody happy. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/39 "2011-08-16T05:00:05Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One thing that gets me is why this took 10 hours. Doesn’t the Sydney Police Department have a bomb-sniffing dog? Seems simple enough - bring in dog, dog sniffs collar, dog indicates there is no explosive in collar, everybody happy. That was covered in a GQ thread IIRC; dogs can’t detect all explosives. And no one dog is trained to detect all the ones they can detect. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319/40 "2011-08-16T17:49:04Z")
They made an arrest. Here in the U.S. Aussie guy that had an American wife & kids. They got him by tracking the email account he left for payment contact. [http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110816/NEWS01/308160038/Extensive-sleuthing-led-police-Australian-bomb-hoax-suspect?odyssey=nav|head](http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110816/NEWS01/308160038/Extensive-sleuthing-led-police-Australian-bomb-hoax-suspect?odyssey=nav%7Chead) > [@](#): > > A complaint unsealed in federal court in Louisville Tuesday shows that Australian police identified and tracked down Peters in Kentucky through extensive sleuthing that included computer forensics and closed circuit TV footage at several locations in Australia > [@](#): > > But Australian police found that the Gmail account had been established on May 30 at a Chicago airport and used only three times – all on the day of Pulvey’s ordeal and in towns near her home. > > The first time was at a public library, where closed circuit TV footage showed a man entering the library that matched the description given by the victim, It also showed the man had driven up in a Range Rover manufactured between 1996 and 2001. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-planted-on-girl-in-sydney/591319.md?page=3)