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Man Behind Muslim Family Terror Convicted
HAYWARD, CA, June 2, (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Rodney Joel Blach, 54, a former police technician, has been convicted Friday of planting and exploding a series of bombs in Fremont, California in 1998.
His terror victims included a Muslim family against whom Blach had a personal grudge.
Blach, a former Chicago police evidence analyst, described as a conspiracy theorist, was found guilty of all 11 felony counts including premeditated attempted murder, arson and possession of explosives by a Hayward jury.
Fremont city officials and a Muslim family were his intended targets in the three bombing spree of 1998. Using astrological charts, Blach reportedly planned his attacks months in advance against Terry Lee Ritter, 48, and his wife Shamim Siddiq, 48, a real estate loan agent.
According to prosecutors Blach wanted to attack the Ritters on a day coinciding with a Muslim holiday.
Blach had woven a conspiracy theory in which he believed that the Ritters was involved in real estate fraud and police-sanctioned drug running as part of what he called "Afghan Mafia." He made the Ritters one of his targets after Fremont authorities refused to believe his theories.
According to District Attorney Tom Rogers, Blach was further angered by his unrequited crush on Mina Siddiq, Shamim Siddiq Ritter's sister-in-law.
Blach had planted time-delayed pipe bombs at a million dollar Corte del Sol home in Fremont's Mission San Jose district. He was hoping that the Ritters who had made a bid on the house would soon occupy it.
The Ritters never did and instead Chin-Chan Chi and his family moved in. When the bombs exploded Chi's teenage daughter barely escaped injury, prosecutors said.
Blach also had planted bombs at the homes of Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler, City Councilman and former Police Chief Robert Wasserman, an under construction home in Vista el Sol and a water tower. Even though no one was hurt in these bomb blasts, District Attorney Tom Rogers described Blach yesterday as a "very dangerous individual."
Blach had more experience and training than convicted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski or Timothy McVeigh, Rogers said. Blach faces a possible life sentence and his next court hearing is set for Aug.27 when his attorneys plan to file a appeal.
The bombings attracted nationwide attention to the relatively quiet Fremont, Bay Area's fourth-largest city, which has so far been unaccustomed to such high profile crimes. The bombings also led to one of the most intense criminal probes in the city's history. An estimated 20% of the US' estimated seven million Muslims live in California.
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