More than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”
Leo Burt was placed on the FBI's most wanted list immediately after the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall and remains the last fugitive sought by the FBI in connection with radical anti-Vietnam War activities.
The bombers parked a stolen van packed with fertilizer and fuel outside the university’s Army Math Research Center in Sterling Hall and lit the fuse in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 1970. The bomb attack, which was the nation’s most powerful until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, killed 33-year-old graduate student Robert Fassnacht, who was doing research in the middle of the night. It also injured other people and caused millions of dollars in damage. The bombers fled to Canada.
Three of the four wanted men were captured in the 1970s after trying to live underground. They were convicted, served short prison terms and resumed their lives.Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters. Burt, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, came to Wisconsin on an ROTC scholarship and joined the rowing team, vanished. One former prosecutor called him “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”
The FBI received tips and alleged sightings from all over the world for decades, often spiking around anniversaries of the bombing. Some theorize that Burt is dead, while others compare him to D.B. Cooper, the hijacker who disappeared after parachuting out of an airliner with $200,000. There was even a theory in the 1990s, proven untrue with Theodore Kaczynski's arrest, that he may have been the Unabomber.
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FBI releases age-progressed photo of 1970 bombing suspect known as ‘Wisconsin’s state ghost’Leo Burt was placed on the FBI’s most wanted list immediately after the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall and remains the last fugitive sought by the FBI in connection with radical anti-Vietnam War activities.
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FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 yearsMore than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”
Read more »
FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 yearsMore than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”
Read more »
FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 yearsMore than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”
Read more »
FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 yearsMore than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”.
Read more »
FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 yearsMore than 50 years after a Vietnam War-era bombing on the University of Wisconsin campus that killed a researcher, the FBI has released age-processed photographs of a suspect who has evaded law enforcement for more than half a century and been referred to as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.”.
Read more »