up next on the second look, terrorism plot with ties to the bay area. the break that lead to his arrest. a man who wanted to start the resolution, but ended up in a shootout. the man that set a series of bombs in the south bay targeting the officials. the suspect still on the fbi most wanted list. and the man who told police that he was trying to create a

smiley face mask when he put bombs inside mailboxes in five states. all ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look. and two weeks ago the well- known attorney joined the defense team of dzhokhar tsarnaev. the 19-year-old suspect in the boston marathon bombings. she has helped defend the gunman who severely wounded gabrielle giffords. they plan ain't -- they began planting with several in the bay area. and for nearly two decades, they conducted a massive search to identify the man dubbed the unibomber. it was not until the brother read the manifesto in the newspaper. they were finally able to find the case. and that is because they told authorities that they thought that the brother might be the unibomber. leading to the arrest in 1996. now here are the reports that they will find in the days

after the arrest. last june the unibomber mailed their manuscript to the washington post in the new york times, threatening to plant more bombs if they did not publish it. in september they did. and the society in their future, they called for a worldwide resolution against the modern industrial society. he also had three typewriters in his cabin. investigators reportedly believe that one of them matches the type on the original map ewe script. he was first brought to the attention of the fbi by their own brother david, after reading the manifesto and became suspicious. the former u.s. attorney says that finding the manuscript would provide just the kind of linkage that they will need to make their case. and they will deflect the person of the author of the manifesto for the person that

plant the bombs. >> reporter: they tributed to april of last year. and that the president of the california forestry association was killed by the bomb. that's one of the two deaths contributed to it in new jersey. today, the new details emerged about how the fbi was able to get the suspect to open up the door of the remote cabin. the undercover fbi agents came to the cabin the morning of april 3 with the forest service worker that he had seen before. when that employee shouted, he opened up the door and the fbi grabbed him. >> and he was asked by one of the agents if there was anything in the cabin that would endanger the lives of the search team. he declined to answer that. so we took that to mean yes. in the end we were right because there was a live bomb inside there. >> reporter: now the suspect

was an assistant professor of mathematics here on the campus. the age of 25. that was 29 years ago. and his tenure was short. he came in 1967, resigned in june of 1969. one of the unibomber victims himself wonders why. >> yeah, the staff here, they would need to leave them. >> and theyth engineering department, they know what one of the devices could do. it was damaged from a bomb about 14 years ago that he accidentally picked up in the coffee room. a bomb made to look like something that they would leave behind. >> and it is the one. you could still see some gun powder still in there because it has not come up. but they had to reconstruct that with just flesh, but i use

the wood processing computer. >> reporter: another victim was heard far worse. as the bomb left in a lab and the blue part of the hand away ending his career of space technology. they are glad that the suspect is finally in custody. >> if it means that someone else will not be hurt, then i'm very pleased about that. >> for all the people that have worked on this case, it will be a real sense of relief that they are now in custody and they will not hire anybody else that it will be over. >> it's the lead investigator on campus. they had haunted this campus for nearly two decades that the captain was not surprised by the university connection to the suspect, but he says that they had no contact for them and the campus police when he worked. >> and i always believed it as well as others that there is a big connection to their campus by the uni womanner. he was very comfortable to move

throughout the campus and the east bay. and he is familiar with this area. and so it does not surprise me that he is a faculty member and a staff member or a former student. >> reporter: they drew little attention. no one seems to remember him. they believe that learning more about the suspect's time may be the key. >> but something set them off as there must have been a falling down of the failure at that point. he had such a strong background, a success story. we don't see too many like that. >> reporter: someone we love went over the edge, or so it seems. in the middle of everything that has happened since, there has been times i must confess when the whole world looked bleak and hopeless. >> he pleaded guilty to 13 federal charges, related to the bombings. receiving about four life

sentences. and she serving his sentences at the federal prison in florence, colorado. he'll turn 71 years old. still to come tonight on a second look as he told authorities that he wanted to start a revolution. but instead he got into a shootout with the officers in the east bay. and a bit later, the men convicted of targeting the city officials with the series of the pipe bombs.

tonight on a second look as we are recounting the stories of the politically motivated plots. this summer he is scheduled to go on trial in alameda county. he's accused of trying to kill about four chp officers after stopping them for speeding on interstate 580. as they questioned williams, he told them that he was on his

way to bomb the aclu and the environmental group in san francisco. here is mike's report from the time of william's arrest in july of 2010. an estimated 150 rounds were fired. >> when you see something like this, it is very frightening. when we come to work, we come to work believing we're going to come back home. >> reporter: tonight, the convicted bank robber was a man on a mission as he relayed his mission to the officers. >> we talked about that dissatisfaction with the way that the country is doing with what he perceives. >> reporter: the 45-year-old from the county told them that he wanted to start a revolution, which his plan was to wait until monday morning to start their killing spree. and the investigators say that they had two targets.

the american civil liberties union of california and the foundation located in the city area. >> we have certainly heard that, you know, the adverse comments about our work from the various parties in the past, but never anything like this. no, nothing close. >> reporter: and the ceo said that the non-profit promotes the social justice, as he added that they have never heard of them here. and that is not until they notified it of their apparent intentions. >> i wouldn't even try to explain this kind of behavior. it was very unbalanced. >> reporter: they never made it to san francisco, pulling them over as they said that they were drugged, wearing the body armor and they wanted to kill, but they never did. as they said that highway patrolofficers, they stood their grounds. >> they are to be commended for their bravery and for intercepting this guy and stop him from infecting that great

orderly area to many innocent civilians and p perhaps other law enforcement personnel. when we come back on a second look, how authorities attracted a man for setting up a series of the powerful pipe bombs. a bit later, he told authorities he was trying to create a smiley face mask when he planted bombs inside mailboxes in five states. why shop t.j.maxx and marshalls? one. you get all the awesome brand names. two. you get them for less than department stores, and that's awesome. three. she'll think you look stylish and awesome. four. you'll actually be awesome. which is awesome. t.j.maxx and marshalls. two awesome ways to score.

tonight on a second look. violent plots here in the bay area. in 1998, a former police technician from chicago planted a series of pipe bombs in the south bay. upset with public officials there. they brought us this account of the case in 2001. >> reporter: fremont's high dollar bedroom community has hardly seen like the stalking ground for a serial bomber. but in the early morning hours of march 29, 1998, the first of the string of bombings

shattered the quiet and rocked the serenity. the first a fire bomb went off in the pre-dawn darkness on the front porch of the city's police chief. >> i don't think that my neighbors have anything to worry about. i think it's directed against me. >> reporter: less than four miles away the city's former police chief will find a second fire bomb on his front porch as it was disarmed before it could ignite. >> if it had detonated, it would have cause serious damage to the residence. >> reporter: just after 8:00 that night a pair of pipe bombs flew through the floor boards of this brand new million dollar home. fortunately no one was hurt at the time. >> we are trying to make sense of it. the timing is awfully unusual. >> reporter: surely afterwards someone called an unlisted phone number at the fremont police department to say two more bombs would go off. the next day they found the

remains of a pope bomb that had exploded next to a water tank. and police, they found yet another pipe bomb. this one unexploded in the crawl space of a home under construction. authorities said that the pipe bombs being used were some of the biggest that they had ever seen. the local bomb squad in the federal bureau of tobacco and firearms were called in to deal with the bomb. designed to explode if anyone touched it. >> we believe that it was set to kill the person that was going to come near it to try to render. sure enough that's what happened. thank god no officers were killed. >> no one killed because investigators backed off a safe distance and shot the device with a water cannon as it immediately blew up. >> the device went off high order. the boom you heard spotlight ground shook. >> reporter: for the

investigators, the explosions were the beginning, not the end, facing a monumental task, reassembling the evidence. >> it was huge. he was a big scene. i thought it would take a lot of work through the roof and the windows and the walls, owning every part of the house that had timing in it. >> in general it's a lot of galvanized pipes in the living room area and throughout the entire house based on the projectile as it went everywhere in the house. little pieces of the pipe. >> reporter: investigators began to suspect right away that the bombings were related. the first clue was the timers. they were all built from digital wristwatches. >> these are not the simplest form of the pipe bombs. very high-tech, electronically set, preset to go off at a certain time, which will take some technology. on the builder's part. >> reporter: they had to admit a search grudging recognition

of whoever was planting the devices. >> i personally had never encountered anything as sophisticated as these bombs. to determine what we're looking for, it took a lot of time and a lot of expertise as we end up bringing our real bomb tech experts. our headquarters expert. as it took them months and months and months to recompile these things, building bombs themselves for 20 years. >> reporter: as the investigations continue, they began to focus their attention on this man. a former civilian evidence technician for the chicago police department. investigators say he accused the fremont police chief and former police chief of botching the investigation into blach's complaint of the home foundation. suing the home's builder and sued the city for approving the construction. and he also said to have called the subdivision cocaine cal lee. an accused -- accusing of police drug trafficking. there after months of

investigation, police arrested blach. a tip lead them to a storage locker where they discovered the bomb making materials. >> there was one element that was a very highly explosive chemical and a bottle of that found inside. my understanding from the agents involved is that the bottle had the destructive power to destroy a 100-foot circumfrance. >> in fact agents were so concerned that they used a robot to enter the storage locker and retrieve the materials. they say it's the type of technology that continues to make their jobs safer. >> and we can x-ray the device from the robot. you can set up the water shot cannon disrupter on that device. and so technology thank god has increased their make. and a little saver. >> reporter: in june, a jury con sixtied blach of 11 counts ranging from arson to attempted murder. >> it was a big puzzle when you

put the pieces together as it kept coming back to rodney blach. >> a judge sentenced him to 37 years life in prison. >> no guilt, no remorse. >> reporter: during the course of the proceedings, blach accused the jury of misconduct. he said that he is not a bomber. investigators say that the evidence told the different story. i'm craig heaps for a second look. when we come back on a second look, how this bay area environmental activist became the first american on the fbi's most wanted terrorist list. [ male announcer ] we gave the new e-class some of the most advanced driver systems ever made. stereoscopic vision... distronic plus braking... lane keeping and steering assist...

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on a second look tonight, violent plots here in the bay area. the first american ever listed on the fbi's most wanted terrorist list is daniel andrea san diego. accused of setting bombs at two companies here in the bay area in 2003. and in 2005, the fbi released

new information in the case in hopes of catching him. here's what we told you at that time. >> we have a very active investigation throughout the united states and in fact in several foreign countries. designed specifically to locate him. >> reporter: the animal rights activists who grew up in qut sa is wanted in a connection of series bombings at two east bay companies. investigators say that he planted two homemade bombs at the headquarters of the kyron cooperation in emeryville back in august of 2003. a month later san diego struck the shackley corporation. no one injured or killed, but the building sustained minor damage. in a new development the fbi just released these sketches. they developed new information about the distinctive markings on the body after the extensive interview with the case. they are are rather graphic and the ones around the small of

his back, appeared to be picked in the middle of the fire. >> reporter: san diego, they might be going by their middle name. if you recognize him, they said to contact your nearest police department right away. investigators identified san diego as a suspect after authorities found him near one of the crime scenes. >> and a very alert pleasanton police officer engaged him in a traffic stop. >> reporter: a short time later fbi agents raided this home that san diego rented in sonoma county, but he wasn't there. a few days later investigators armed with an arrest warrant spotted the pomming suspect in -- the bombing suspect in san francisco. he parked his car near 12th and market and eluded capture by disappearing into a crowd at a nearby bus station. investigators say they searched san diego's car and found

crucial evidence linking him to the bombings. >> and we found components that were essentially identical to those in the actual exploded devices at shackley and kyron. >> so that tells >> that this is highly likely that we have our man. >> reporter: in 2002 they notice the a string of 18 mailbox bombings across five states in one weekend. federal agents from here in the bay area were among those investigating the case. leading to to the 21. they p captured them outside are the eno. he told he may have been choken. here is the report that rita williams filed on the day of helger's arrest. >> lucas john helger age 21

from wisconsin, has been charged in a criminal complaint with one count of using an explosive to maliciously destroy property affecting interstate commerce. and one count of using a destructive device to commit a crime of violence. the complaint was signed this evening in cedar rapids, iowa. >> reporter: those charges alone could land the suspect in prison for life. and more charges are expected in other states. luke helders peaceful capture late today in reno is what his father hoped for when he issued airplay to his son this afternoon when the families home near minneapolis. >> look, you need to talk to someone. plead don't turn anyone else. it's time to talk as you have the attention that you wanted. luke, we love you very much. we want you home safe. please call mom, john, and i, we need you very much. >> reporter: he said that his son was just trying to make a statement about the way that

the government is runed and that the pipe bombs does the rural mailboxes were a way to get people to listen, which is what the handwritten notes with the pipe bombs seemed to say. "mailboxes are exploding. why, you ask? attention, people. if a government controls what you want to do, then they will control what you can do. when 1% of the nation controls 99% of the nation's total wealth, you wonder why there are control problems. more info is on its way. more attention getters are on the way. sincerely someone who cares." >> and he's been described as an intelligent young man with strong family ties. >> reporter: since friday, 18 pipe bombs have turned up in mailboxes in five states starting in illinois. four mail carriers and two customers were injured. none seriously. robert martinez found the last pipe bomb yesterday in his mailbox in the texas panhandle city of amarillo. >> it was like a bike, and they

got there today and a big needle in the middle. and a whole bunch of wires. >> he was headed to california. i don't now exactly where, but it's the place -- i don't know exactly where, but it is a place where he was heading for. >> it became a sobering situation for him. again, i don't think that he understands how serious this is a big problem. in 2004 a federal judge ruled that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. he is still being held at a federal medical facility. and that is it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener. thank you for watching. look at them kids. [ sigh ]

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