# So what's the Eric Rudolph/Olympic bombing connection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055 "2003-06-02T03:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/1 "2003-06-02T03:06:26Z")
Other than he seems to have a history of making things that go “Boom!” Is there any evidence to connect him? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/2 "2003-06-02T03:12:47Z")
Ah, that’s what his trial will be about. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/3 "2003-06-02T03:14:31Z")
I believe the bombs had very similar “signatures”. Looking for cites now. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/4 "2003-06-02T13:51:15Z")
I remember they were the same type bombs, something about the nails being the same. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/5 "2003-06-02T15:28:50Z")
The nails were different in each bomb. The bombs weren’t all that similar, either. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution gave detailed descriptions of the different bombs in an article over the weekend.) It will be interesting to see what kind of case prosecutors can make against Rudolph for the Olympic bombing (or the other bombings in Georgia). The evidence revealed in the papers so far looks to be largely circumstantial. For that very reason, Janet Reno (when she was in office) had planned to extradite Rudolph first to Birmingham, where the evidence against Rudolph is apparently stronger. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/6 "2003-06-02T15:32:24Z")
Let me backtrack a bit. The nails in the Birmingham bomb were supposedly similar to the nails in the abortion clinic bomb in Atlanta, but NOT to the nails in the Olympic bomb (the subject of the OP). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/7 "2003-06-02T15:37:00Z")
One other bit of evidence: Prior to the Olympic bombing, there was a warning call to 911. I expect there will be some evidence, either via expert testimony or through testimony of persons familiar with Rudolph’s voice, to try to tie the 911 call to Rudolph. ---
**Author:** ![Nate\_the\_Great](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@Nate\_the\_Great](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nate_the_Great)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/8 "2003-06-02T15:57:33Z")
> **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. This is an MSNBC article with some links to related articles. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/9 "2003-06-02T16:45:04Z")
I haven’t seen anything about this guy and his motives. Is there any theories as to whether or not he had some political agenda or is he supposedly just a whack-o? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/10 "2003-06-02T17:54:18Z")
Well, I used to work with someone that had a son who was a bomb forensic guy, and who actually did some work on this case. From what I was told, (this is second hand, so I could be misremembering or using bad terminology) there was a unique substance in the bombs (not the nails) - it was some type of powder or residue or something - that was found in all the bombs he’s accused of making go “boom” and that was traceable to Rudolph. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/11 "2003-06-02T18:51:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there any theories as to whether or not he had some political agenda or is he supposedly just a whack-o? Two abortion clinic bombings and a gay nightclub? Sounds like he’s a right-wing wacko of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/12 "2003-06-02T20:00:26Z")
I would tend to think the Richard Jewel fiasco would be brought up as often as possible. It might create enough reasonable doubt in how the investigation was performed to keep the jury from convicting. I’m basing that on how the OJ defense team hammered away day after day on how the investigation was handled. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-eric-rudolph-olympic-bombing-connection/179055/13 "2003-06-02T21:45:42Z")
[Article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution](http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/rudolph/0603/02case.html) on building a court case against Rudolph.