‘Collar bomb’ man had link to victim’s family
Arrest charges against Paul “Doug” Peters filed in US federal court in Kentucky indicates the email account was created at an internet address linked to a Chicago airport.
Peters once worked for a company with ties to the victim’s family, according to documents.
Peters was arrested on Monday by the FBI at the home of his ex-wife in a Louisville suburb.
Alongside the fake bomb he left a hand-written note with demands, an email address and a USB digital storage device.
The complaint says the email account was accessed three times — all on the afternoon that Peters allegedly broke into the teenager’s home in a wealthy Sydney suburb and chained a device looking like a bomb to her.
The complaint also gives details of the frightening incident for Madeleine Pulver, the 18-year-old daughter of Australian internet executive William Pulver.
It says the teenager was studying for exams in her bedroom when she saw the intruder walk into the room. He was carrying a black aluminum baseball bat and wearing a striped, multicoloured balaclava over his head. The man told her to sit down and no one would get hurt.
The girl sat on her bed and the intruder placed the bat and a backpack next to her. She noticed he was holding a black box. He forced the box against her throat and looped a device similar to a bike chain, also attached to the box, around her neck.
The man locked the box into position around her neck, placed a lanyard and a plastic document sleeve around her neck. The man started to walk away, and the girl asked him where he was going.
“The man responded by saying, ‘Count to 200. I’ll be back. If you move I can see you, I’ll be right here,” she told authorities, according to the complaint.
He then left, taking the baseball bat and backpack.
Bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives rushed to the scene. Neighbouring homes were evacuated, streets were closed and medical and fire crews waited nearby. Pulver spent 10 hours chained to the device before the bomb squad was able to free her. She was not hurt, and the device was later found not to contain explosives. Australia’s prime minister said the event resembled “a Hollywood script”.
The teenager described her assailant as being in his 60s, about 5’7’’ to 5’9’’ tall, with a medium build and a slightly protruding stomach and weathered skin. His eyes were saggy and wrinkly.
Australian authorities determined that the email account was established on May 30 from an internet protocol (IP) address linked to a Chicago airport. Travel documents obtained from immigration authorities showed Peters had been at the airport that same day.
The email account was accessed three times on the afternoon of August 3, almost two hours after the hoax device was placed around the teenager’s neck, the complaint said.
The first access took place at 4:09pm from an IP address registered to Kincumber Library in New South Wales. The next two were at 5:25pm and 5:51pm on the same day, from an IP address registered to the Avoca video shop in New South Wales.
Peters is an Australian citizen but has lived in the US, including Kentucky. He is a father of three who was educated at The Scots College in Sydney.
The Pulvers were relieved to hear of the arrest. Mr Pulver described his daughter as “a bright, happy young woman who for reasons we still don’t understand had her life turned upside down going through this dreadful experience”.
The normally tranquil town of La Grange, about 30 miles north-east of Louisville, was taken aback at the sight of armed SWAT members descending on their quiet neighbourhood.
A local, who refused to give his name, said his two daughters were at home doing homework when the SWAT team “came in heavy and hard” to the house next door. “We had guys with machine guns in our back yard,” he said.
No shots were fired and no sirens sounded, he said.
He and his wife estimated that Doug Peters had probably spent about six months out of the last two years at the house. They did not know him or his ex-wife very well but said there were no problems and they were both congenial. Peters had been involved in various businesses, but authorities would not elaborate on what they were.
Peters had indirect links to the Pulver family but had never been in their home before the incident, said New South Wales State Crime Command head, Assistant Commissioner Dave Hudson.
Peters, 50, faces charges in Australia that include kidnapping and breaking and entering, said Luke Moore of the New South Wales Police. According to authorities, the extradition process will take about two months.
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