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Olympic bomber stole grain to survive while on run, posting says

An Internet posting, reportedly by Eric Rudolph, tells of the killer's narrow escapes during 5 years in hiding.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The antiabortion extremist awaiting sentencing for the 1996 Olympic bombing and three other attacks says in an account posted on the Internet that he survived on the run for five years by stealing grain from silos.

Eric Rudolph also says a group of hunters and their dog nearly discovered his cache of grain one time, but then the dog got hit by a car.

The 5,500-word account appears on a Web site maintained by a Virginia-based abortion opponent, along with the manifesto Rudolph distributed in April that cast the bombings as a protest against abortion.

In the Internet account, the former Army explosives expert said he used wheeled garbage containers and bags to steal grain from silos near Murphy, N.C., where he was captured in 2003 after more than five years on the run.

"It was the best of foods. It was the worst of foods. Whole corn, wheat and soybeans this was the staple that sustained me for many years," he wrote.

He put the grain in garbage cans and once, he said, he feared the stash would be discovered by a hunting party with a dog named Lil. But when Lil was killed by a speeding car, the hunters drove off.

One time, he said, a squirrel hunter happened by, and Rudolph fled so quickly that he forgot about his campfire. He said he expected searchers to soon swarm the area, but nothing ever happened.

More installments are promised. The current installment ends: "Just wait until you hear about the time the cops took me to get some gas for my stolen truck. Maybe next time."

Rudolph is scheduled to receive life sentences on July 18 after pleading guilty in April to killing two people and injuring more than 100 at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and a Birmingham, Ala., abortion clinic in 1998. He has also admitted bombing a clinic and a gay bar in Atlanta in 1997, wounding a total of 11 people.

Web site administrator Donald Spitz, a minister whose site includes photos of aborted fetuses, said Friday that he had been writing to Rudolph in jail for months and that Rudolph mailed him the 21-page handwritten account, titled Lil, after his plea.

Spitz said he posted the story with Rudolph's approval.

Emily Lyons, a nurse who was critically injured in the Birmingham clinic bombing, said Friday that Rudolph seems to be "a puppet" of Spitz and other antiabortion activists who accept donations through their Web sites. "Eric Rudolph does the time and those creating the Web sites get money for publishing Rudolph's ramblings," she said in a statement.

Authorities can do little about Rudolph's writings appearing on the Web, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Whisonant said.

[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:35:14]