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#: 103
11-Dec-86 20:25 MST
Sb: APca 12/08 Church Bomb
Fm: Executive News Svc. [72135,424]
To: 72135,424
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Police held a man without bail in the
attempted bombing of a church criticized by some former members for
alleged claims to cure disease.
"We have an idea what the motive might be, but I'm not at
liberty to discuss it," said Sgt. Paul Milovich, who said up to 10
sticks of dynamite were in the device that only partially exploded.
Thomas T. McCoy, 26, was arrested and booked early Sunday after
he was seen by church members sitting in a car near the Morningland
Temple of Cosmology, Ontology and Metaphysics, police said.
Milovich said it had not been determined whether McCoy was ever
a member of the sect, which has been criticized by former members
in recent newspaper stories.
McCoy was booked for investigation of igniting a destructive
device, possession of a destructive device and carrying a concealed
weapon, said Lt. Rod Mickelson. The weapon was .45-caliber
automatic gun, he said.
The bomb, left on a ledge separating the church from an adjacent
facility, apparently failed to go off Saturday because the wiring
got wet during an early morning rainstorm, said Morningland
attorney Edward Masry. He said 10 people were inside the church at
the time.
"The strip between the buildings was drenched by rain," Masry
said. "That probably saved a lot of lives."
Only the device's detonator went off, police said. The bomb was
made of sticks of dynamite wired to a car battery, and Mickelson
said it could have leveled the church and possibly nearby buildings
if it had gone off.
Nearby residents were evacuated until a Los Angeles County
sheriff's bomb squad removed the bomb. The dynamite was taken to
the beach at the foot of Cherry Avenue and detonated.
The church was established in 1973 and run by "Sri Donato," a
52-year-old Long Beach woman whose real name is Patricia Sperato.
The church blends Christian and Eastern religious beliefs,
astrology and popular culture. The Long Beach Press-Telegram was
told by former Morningland members that the church is a cult which
claims to cure any ailment including AIDS.
The newspaper also reported that former members have said male
church members are pressured into undergoing vasectomies,
heterosexuals are talked into engaging in homosexual relationships
and members are asked to go to prostitutes.
"I have no knowledge of any such activities," Masry has said.
Long Beach is 20 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.