An explosive device was transported in the course of a scheme by a 32-year-old man to murder the partner of a lady he admired.
Clayton Alexander McCoy of Chesterland, Ohio, admitted manufacturing a bomb in Ohio and transporting it to Maryland, where he planned for it to explode, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
According to authorities, he wrapped the gadget in a red ribbon and put it inside a white gift box to make it seem to be a present. When the package was opened, the bomb was programmed to detonate.
Prosecutors said that even though the incident did not result in death, the victim’s body still contains several shards of shrapnel two years after the assault.
Erek L. Barron, the US Attorney for the District of Maryland, and the case’s investigators, including many officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, announced the guilty plea on Wednesday.
Authorities said that McCoy had made approaches toward the lady he had met via his participation in role-playing battles set in the Middle Ages.
The victim, whose identity has not been made public, was the recipient of the man’s confession in October of 2020.
According to DOJ authorities, she informed him that she was in a committed relationship and wasn’t interested in him romantically.
Later, the lady disclosed to law police that, prior to McCoy confessing his feelings, she had planned a camping trip with him. Later, the trip was postponed.
McCoy was better acquainted with the lady for whom he had affections, but via the role-playing group, he had also known the other person “for a number of years.”
The Ohio guy resolved to murder the competitor after she turned him down in order to pursue a relationship with the lady.
To avoid tipping off the police, McCoy studied the components required to construct the explosive device before making cash payments at a variety of shops.
He used an angle grinder to chop tiny bits of metal into shrapnel, which he then put into the metal pipe “to heighten the deadliness.”
Using his mother’s pickup, McCoy traveled more than 300 miles and six hours to carry his homemade explosive device to Maryland.
On October 30, 2020, he sent the product in a bigger box with no return address to the Carroll County, Maryland, address.
Just before 8.30am, the device was left on the porch and was later taken inside by the victim’s grandpa. Later that day, when the victim got home, he opened it and saw the smaller gift inside.
The guy contacted his girlfriend to see whether she had sent him anything before opening the white package. To open the boxes alone, he brought them to his room.
Upon opening, the explosive exploded as McCoy had planned, according to authorities.
The man was hit by the shrapnel and was rushed to the hospital with injuries to “his chest, legs, and front of his body.”
The victim’s grandmother told KCTV that her grandson was “mutilated” by the bomb and that she felt the blast from a distance of several rooms after the explosion.
She remembered, “I’m in the kitchen when I hear an explosion and my grandson cry.”
In the 2020 interview, the lady declined to provide her name.
Have you ever been punched in the back of the head or pushed so quickly that your glasses fly off? she continued. Three walls away from his room, that is how it felt in the kitchen.
The person who opened the box suffered severe injuries from the bomb that are still present today.
After undergoing many procedures to remove the shrapnel and fix the damage to his hand, the guy was finally allowed to leave the hospital after two weeks.
The severity of his injuries necessitated him using a walker for many weeks following the occurrence.
The house suffered damage that cost an estimated $46,000 and rendered it “uninhabitable” for months. While repairs were being completed, the victim and his grandparents were forced to relocate.
After the event, “S.B.”, the victim’s girlfriend, was questioned to see if she knew who could have been responsible. She admitted to knowing McCoy for a number of years via the role-playing group to the police.
Before meeting up in person, the Dagorhir gang members would communicate online in order to act out intricate medieval battles and situations.
Further inquiries into the Dagorhir group revealed that McCoy often spoke with the victim and his girlfriend through the Discord online chat platform.
Investigators examined McCoy’s Chesterland, Ohio, home in March 2021 and discovered materials within the house, including explosive powder.
Although the Ohioan originally acknowledged knowing the victim, he then denied being aware of his residence.
McCoy once suggested a different member of the live-action role-playing group as a possible suspect when speaking with the detectives.
The individual McCoy pointed the finger at “did not like” the victim, McCoy reportedly informed police.
However, law police was able to follow McCoy’s phone from his residence in Ohio to the victim’s house.
The guy followed a defined path that was intended to avoid tolls.
McCoy didn’t confess to constructing and transporting the device until police showed him maps of his travels.
For carrying explosives with the intent to do harm, McCoy may spend up to 20 years in federal prison, and he could also spend up to 10 years behind bars for having an unregistered weapon or explosive device.