The Inside Story of the Olympic Park Bomber: Uncovering the Motives Behind the Infamous Attack

Eric Robert Rudolph was born in 1966 in Merritt Island, Florida. When his father, Robert, passed away in 1981, Rudolph and his family moved to Nantahala, which is situated in western North Carolina.

The Rudolph family placed great importance on their Christian faith, but the passing of Rudolph's father due to cancer in 1981 challenged their belief in God. He also hated the government because he believed that a medication, which was not approved by the government, could have saved his father's life.

Rudolph attended Nantahala School for one year, where he completed ninth grade. However, he dropped out after that year and began working as a carpenter alongside his older brother, Daniel. However, he later got his GED, and later joined the U.S. Army.

During his time stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Rudolph gained significant knowledge of explosives. However, his career as a soldier was brief as he was discharged for using marijuana in 1989. He subsequently returned to Nantahala, where he worked in carpentry, all the while becoming increasingly paranoid about the government.

Over time, Rudolph delved into several extremist groups, including those with white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay ideologies. One of the groups he was particularly drawn to was Christian Identity, which espouses the belief that Anglo-Saxons are direct descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and are, therefore, the chosen people of God. This is a fundamental teaching of the movement.

Rudolph Becomes a Bomber

In 1996, Eric Rudolph started using fake names like "Bob Randolph" and "Bob Rudolph". Since he had planned to attack the Summer Olympics on July 27th, Rudolph, who was 29 at the time, was likely aware that he would soon become a fugitive.

On July 27, 1996, during the 1996 Summer Olympics, Rudolph carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. He made two anonymous 911 calls to warn about the bomb before it exploded.

Rudolph, wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt and jeans, positioned a backpack containing three pipe bombs filled with gunpowder and nails beneath a bench at the Atlanta Olympics location. He proceeded to set an alarm for 55 minutes and left, allegedly making a 911 call from a nearby payphone.

At that juncture, Richard Jewell, a security guard, had already detected the bag and assisted in evacuating the nearby bystanders.

The bag exploded by 1:25 a.m.

The Sad Twist For Richard Jewell

Despite being initially hailed as a hero for his quick thinking, which undoubtedly saved lives, Richard Jewell soon found himself under suspicion of orchestrating the attack himself.

This false accusation subjected him to intense scrutiny for a staggering 88 days as law enforcement officials investigated his potential involvement.

Meanwhile, Eric Rudolph managed to evade the authorities and returned to North Carolina undetected. While the FBI was preoccupied with investigating Jewell, Rudolph purportedly planned his next three bombings: targeting an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta during the early months of 1997, and another abortion clinic in Alabama in January 1998.

At the Olympic Games, Eric Rudolph caused the deaths of two individuals and injured 111 others. Furthermore, he had injured seven individuals at an Atlanta abortion clinic and four individuals at a nightclub. Tragically, he also took the life of a 35-year-old off-duty police officer, Robert Sanderson, during an attack on an Alabama abortion clinic.

Thankfully, eyewitnesses had observed Rudolph's truck departing the location just before the last explosion, leading to the issuance of a federal warrant for his arrest on February 14, 1998.

Rudolph Becomes a Fugitive

Eric Rudolph was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list as the 454th fugitive on May 5, 1998. The FBI deemed him to be both armed and exceedingly hazardous and therefore offered a reward of $1 million for any information that could lead to his direct capture.

Rudolph managed to elude authorities for over five years in the Appalachian wilderness, despite the tireless efforts of federal and non-professional search teams who combed the area without success.

Despite the mounting evidence against him, Rudolph's family remained steadfast in their support of him and believed that he was innocent of all accusations. As a result, they were questioned and subjected to surveillance by the authorities.

In a bizarre display of protest against the FBI and media, Rudolph's older brother, Daniel, recorded himself on March 7, 1998, severing his own left hand using a radial arm saw. His intention was to convey a message through this extreme act. Fortunately, surgeons were able to successfully reattach his hand later on.

As per Eric Rudolph's own accounts, he managed to survive during his fugitive years by residing in the Nantahala National Forest, located near Cherokee and Graham Counties in North Carolina.

The arrest of the Fugitive

Eric Rudolph's time on the run came to an end when he was apprehended by a rookie police officer named Jeffrey Scott Postell of the Murphy Police Department. The arrest took place in Murphy, North Carolina on May 31, 2003, while Rudolph was rummaging through a dumpster located behind a Save-A-Lot store at approximately 4 a.m.

It's worth noting that despite being considered armed and dangerous, Eric Rudolph did not resist arrest and was found to be unarmed at the time of his apprehension.

He Pleads Guilty to All Charges

In April 2005, Eric pleaded guilty to all charges in order to avoid the death penalty.

The plea agreement was finalized after the FBI discovered 250 pounds (110 kg) of dynamite that Eric Rudolph had stashed away in the forests of North Carolina.

Eric Rudolph was sentenced to four consecutive life terms and sent to the ADX Florence Supermax federal prison where he is bound to spend 23 hours a alone everyday.