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CNN Saturday Morning News

Luke Helder to Be Held Without Bond

Aired May 11, 2002 - 08:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The suspect in that five state mailbox bomb spree is settling into his jail cell in Iowa. Luke Helder being held without bond.

CNN's Jeff Flock joining us now live from Cedar Rapids with the latest on the case -- hello, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

An unpleasant morning here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the rain falling and the wind blowing. Back over my shoulder there perhaps you see the beige brick building. That is the Linn County Jail. That is where Luke Helder is now being held here in Cedar Rapids.

As you reported, he made his way here, a 1,500 mile trip from Reno to Cedar Rapids yesterday, arriving at the courthouse at about, oh, I guess it was about 6:30 or so yesterday, and made his first appearance. It was a short one, about six minutes. The two counts were read against him. It was revealed that he has decided to go with a public defender. He asked for and was appointed a public defender to represent him. She was with him in court yesterday.

If we, the first look we got at Luke Helder was of a smirking, smiling, almost laughing man being taken into custody back in Nevada. This Luke Helder is a very different one, almost tears in his eyes. He appeared to be trembling almost in court yesterday, and certainly I think the, it's fair to say that the enormity of, and the seriousness of the charges against him are now beginning to hit home.

It was reported that when he first talked with his mother on the phone about this he said do you think I'll get prison time? Well, the answer to that, I think, can be given in the sentence that is set forth in the two counts so far that he is facing. The first one is destruction of property. The second one is the more serious one, committing a violent act with a bomb, and that is a mandatory, one conviction on that is a mandatory five years. Each subsequent conviction is a mandatory 25 years and they must be served consecutively. So if he has, in fact, admitted to placing 18 pipe bombs, you do the math, it's a long time.

That's the latest here from Cedar Rapids, Miles. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jeff Flock, appreciate that.

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