Men’s News Daily exclusive

In the previous MND article on the recent bombing incident in Nashville, a Federal agent had confirmed this writer’s analysis of the vehicle’s burned-out shell. That analysis was that the primary explosive device was a high-order explosive; and, that the device was placed at the right-rear-bottom corner of the driver’s seat. Now, an exclusive Men’s News Daily examination of the crime scene has turned up key physical evidence that police officers, detectives, bomb-squad members, and Federal agents apparently overlooked.

The remains of the vehicle were removed sometime after MND last visited the crime scene on the afternoon of Thursday, 22 July. When a camera crew from WKRN TV-2 went to the scene early that evening (to take video of the vehicle’s cleanly-cut frame, which MND had alerted the station to), the vehicle remains were already gone. The crime scene was cleared the following morning.

On the afternoon of Thursday, 29 July, this writer returned to the scene to take a look around, now that the area was freely accessible. A supervisor from the electrical sub-contractor for the construction site gave this writer permission to go anywhere in the vicinity, including to climb atop the office-trailer. The bombed vehicle had been parked adjacent to the electrical company’s trailer, which sustained minor blast damage. The supervisor also stated that a clean-up contractor had washed down the trailer’s exterior, along with other areas of the crime scene. He further stated that the contractor had been retained by the Opryland Hotel, owner of the parking lot where the bombing occurred.

Because the scene had been cleared by police, and permission had been obtained from the on-scene site supervisor, any debris found at the scene would be “fair game” for this exclusive examination. This writer climbed atop the office-trailer, and found several pieces of vehicle parts, along with glass fragments and charred bits of asphalt. Other evidence viewed at the scene — both in this examination and the previous one — suggest that the powerful blast was ventilated upwards.

Damage done to a pickup truck, which the bombed vehicle had been parked next to, shows that the explosion’s significant power had been contained to a fairly small circle around the victim’s vehicle. Among that evidence, the outer half of the pickup’s right-front tire had been flash-charred, but the inner half of the tire retained the normal suppleness of rubber. And, the charring was in an arc pattern, showing the actual shape of the fireball that radiated from the blast. (In fact, not even the entire outer portion of the tire had been charred.) The fireball had been hot enough to burn the asphalt, but left unscarred portions where the target vehicle’s wheels had fallen to the pavement. The burn pattern on the pavement indicates that the rims had already been blown off the wheels, allowing them to hit the ground. (That is consistent with this writer’s previous observations of the vehicle. The wheel lugs were bent, and the rims were missing.)

On top of the trailer, this writer found several fragments, which were later identified to be consistent with a 2001 Land Rover Discovery, like the target vehicle. Also found on top of the trailer was a small evidence flag, indicating that someone from the police had been on top of the trailer during the investigation. (Or, that the flag had been tossed up there at some point.) This writer gathered the fragments, and took them to the same two Land Rover technicians that had assisted Federal agents at the scene.

Most of the fragments were of no major consequence, having come from parts of the vehicle that would be expected to come loose in a blast. But, one small metal bracket was of interest. The bracket was two-layered, and showed the same type of clean-cut blast damage as the frame observed by this writer during the previous examination. The bracket was identified as coming from the right-rear-bottom corner of the front seat frame. The technician explained that, in that model of Land Rover, both front seats are identical. Thus, there was theoretically no way to determine which front seat the bracket came from. But, the type of blast damage indicates that it was close to the source of the explosion. And, the corner of the seat frame is the same corner where a Federal agent confirmed last week as the area where the bomb was planted behind the driver’s seat. So, the bracket most likely came from the driver’s seat.

Once these facts were confirmed by the Land Rover technicians, it became apparent that the metal bracket could be a significant piece of evidence. This writer contacted the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), and spoke with a homicide detective. The detective made arrangements for an officer from the Mobile Crime Scene Unit to pick up the bracket. The officer expressed surprise at the discovery of the bracket, and noted the location of its discovery. He stated that it would be turned over to the ATF for lab analysis, to determine if there is any residue on the bracket. The residue could help investigators to specify the type of explosive that was used.

On Wednesday, the MNPD Public Affairs Section told Men’s News Daily that there were no new details available for release. Multiple attempts, over several days, have not resulted in any follow-up interviews with the victim’s family. For the past two days, the home phone was not answered. Calls to the cell phone number now result in a recording that it is not a working number. Men’s News Daily will continue to follow leads on this story, because unconfirmed reports point to the existence of other new evidence. If the evidence is confirmed, it could explain the motive for the bombing.