Lucas John Helder (born May 5, 1981) also known as the Midwest Pipe Bomber, is a former

University of Wisconsin–Stout The University of Wisconsin–Stout (UW–Stout or Stout) is a public university in Menomonie, Wisconsin, United States. The Institute of technology, polytechnic university of the University of Wisconsin System, it enrolls more than 6,900 stude ...

student from Pine Island, Minnesota, known for being the suspect in a series of pipe bombings. He was arrested in 2002 as a suspect in pipe bombings in mailboxes, which injured several people. In 2004, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and is still incarcerated in a federal medical facility.

Bombings

In 2002, while attending the University of Wisconsin–Stout, Helder planned to plant pipe bombs in mailboxes across the United States to create a

smiley A smiley, sometimes called a smiley face, is a basic ideogram representing a Smile, smiling face. Since the 1950s, it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram or as a form of communication, such as em ...

face shape on the United States map. The bombs, which were packed with BBs and nails, were rigged to explode as the mailboxes were opened. Completed and rigged bombs were found in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. In Iowa, six people, including four mail carriers, were injured when the bombs detonated. Ultimately, Helder planted 18 bombs and covered . He was stopped by police in Nebraska,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and Colorado for speeding and failure to wear a seat belt, but was not arrested. Eventually he was captured in rural

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

before he managed to complete the full smile. At the time of his arrest, police were looking for an unknown suspect driving a black

Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...

. Many newspapers reported that he was wearing a

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

T-shirt. When he was intercepted after a 40-mile

car chase A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automotive industry i ...

, Helder held a gun to his head, but was convinced to lower it by

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

negotiators. Law enforcement discovered more IEDs in his vehicle. The bombings were widely covered by the US

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include News agency, news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, News broadcasting, news channels etc. History Some of the fir ...

Personality, writings and theories

Helder was not at the top of his college class, but his professors described him as a reasonably good, quiet and polite student, and at first there was confusion as to what the motivation for the bombings could be. Family, friends, and many acquaintances referred to Helder as normal and without a propensity to hurt people. But his roommate noted that Helder had recently become obsessed with death, had begun smoking

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, and had been reciting extended monologues about his new spiritual beliefs to his friends (which they had mostly "laughed off"). Within the year prior to his arrest, Helder had become passionate about

astral projection In Western esotericism, esotericism, astral projection (also known as astral travel, soul journey, soul wandering, spiritual journey, spiritual travel) is an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) in which a subtle body, known as the astra ...

techniques and came to believe that death of the flesh and body is not the end of existence, as evidenced by the

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

he sent to ''

The Badger Herald ''The Badger Herald'' is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community, founded in 1969. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year and occasionally during the summer. Available at newsstands acros ...

'' of the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

at the beginning of the bombing spree. The essay also includes statements such as

"I'm taking very drastic measure in attempt to provide this information to you... I will die/change in the end for this, but that's ok, hahaha paradise awaits! I'm dismissing a few individuals from reality, to change all of you for the better"Lagorio, Christine. "News Analysis: Newspapers receipt of shady mail a daily occurrence." ''The Badger Herald'' May 10, 2002

Notes attached to the bombs denounced

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

control over daily lives, denied that anyone who had died was really dead, and promised more of the same kind of message.

Trial

In April 2004, a federal judge found Helder incompetent to stand trial. While a judge could free Helder if doctors find he is not a threat to society, legal experts doubt this possibility due to the violent nature of his crimes. He has been diagnosed with

schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of both schizophrenia (psychosis) and a mood disorder, either bipolar disorder or depression. The main diagnostic criterion is the presence of psychotic symptoms for at leas ...

. In 2013, a federal judge ordered Helder re-evaluated for competency to stand trial. Helder remains incarcerated in the Federal Medical Center in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

, as of March 2025, with BOP Register Number 36460-048.

Musical background

Prior to his bombing spree, Helder was a member of Apathy, a

, three-piece

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

band. Although the band was successful only on a local scale, they recorded a CD, ''Sacks of People'', at the end of their first summer together. They funded and released the album themselves. Helder was a fan of

. He heavily decorated his dorm room with

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

posters and ephemera. A bandmate in Apathy remarked Helder had "an interesting style of singing" and would write much of the lyrics of the group's tracks, not having a full understanding of their meaning. When the news broke that Helder was the pipe bomber, the media made significant mention of his status as a musician.

References

External links