Adel Mohamed Arnaout (born 1970) is a Lebanese immigrant living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, who was convicted of sending three

letter bombs A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with ...

out to residents of the Greater Toronto area in August 2007. Found guilty also of 11 counts of attempted murder and considered to have 'little hope of rehabilitation', he was sentenced in 2012 to indefinite detention. Some of the charges related to sending four cases of poisoned water to talent agencies, a bank and a judge. The water had been laced with the poisonous industrial solvent

dimethyl sulfide Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or methylthiomethane is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH3)2S. Dimethyl sulfide is a flammable liquid that boils at and has a characteristic disagreeable odor. It is a component of the smell produced from co ...

. The first recipient of the letter bomb was Abdelmagid Radi on August 11, who sustained minor injuries on opening the letter. The second bomb was sent to real estate lawyer Terrence Reiber on August 19, who called police after noticing a petroleum-type odour coming from the letter. Police destroyed the letter bomb. Reiber had represented Arnaout in a previous criminal matter. The third bomb was received by

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

building contractor John Becker on August 22. The device failed to explode. When residents complained about Arnaout, and he was eventually evicted, he wrongly blamed Becker. Arnaout had a previous conviction for criminal

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...

in April, 2003, for which he received a conditional discharge. The charge stemmed the harassing of managers of a Toronto modelling agency with which he had signed, hoping for a career as a model. When Arnaout failed to get any work as a model, he allegedly began calling the agency repeatedly and threatening them, claiming to be a member of the Russian mafia''.'' Police were already investigating Arnaout since June 2007 after harassment complaints by Toronto resident Steven Scott. Arnaout was wanted on an arrest warrant which had been was issued on June 26 charging him with criminal harassment of Scott, a former employer. On August 30, 2007, Arnaout was taken into custody in connection to the letter bombs. At the time of his arrest, a rental car driven by him was found with 3 similar explosives inside. The

Toronto Police The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

bomb disposal unit did not defuse the explosives but instead transported them to the

Leslie Street Spit The Leslie Street Spit, or officially the Outer Harbour East Headland, is a human-made headland in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, extending from the city's east end in a roughly southwesterly direction into Lake Ontario. It is about long. The Spit ...

where they were destroyed in a controlled explosion. The transport of the explosives by police closed the

Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway r ...

and parts of the

Gardiner Expressway The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends ...

for several hours. After his arrest, police also searched his rental apartment in an

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

home, nicknamed the ''Bombay Bunker''. Police indicated the bombings were not due to racial or terrorist motives. Arnaout faced three counts of attempted murder, three counts of attempt to cause an explosion, one count of illegal possession of explosives, and one count of criminal harassment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnaout, Adel 1970 births 21st-century Canadian criminals Canadian male criminals Canadian people of Lebanese descent Living people People convicted of harassment Prisoners and detainees of Canada Serial bombers