This letter was sent to the warden of the prison warehousing Eric Rudolph. Do you know what he had to say about it? Neither do we, as he did not reply.

 

Warden R. Wiley

USP Florence AdMax

U.S. Penitentiary

5880 Hwy 67 South

Florence, CO 81226

 

Dear Warden Wiley,

Eric Rudolph claims to be a poor political prisoner, who’s only crime has been to target the evil government in Washington DC. I am enclosing some photographs of the impact Rudolph’s “political statement” had upon my wife.

Even though he continues to claim his efforts have been against Washington politics, he detonated bombs in Atlanta and Birmingham aimed against ordinary citizens. His crimes resulted in the deaths of three people and injuries to over 100. As far as I know, none of his victims were leading political figures.

My wife and I are average working nobodies, other than the notoriety inflicted upon us by Rudolph’s attack. We are not politicians and we do not control Washington beyond voting on Election Day like everyone else. Perhaps Rudolph would have received the sentence that fit the crime if he had attacked an important politician, but he made the decision to kill and injure people he could easily get to. The majority of his victims were simply walking through a park during the 1996 Olympics. The lives he destroyed could have could have been anybody’s. This could have happened to you, your spouse, your parents, or your children.

Eric has hurt is in so many ways. Emily sees the result of the crime every day she looks at her disfigured face in the mirror with her one remaining eye. We feel his presence when we see another couple going for a walk in the neighborhood and know that Emily can’t stroll with me the way they do. Emily has had 22 painful operations and there are more to come because his handiwork continues to harm us.

Rudolph complains about the conditions there. He is not in the constant physical pain that my wife is. Eric watches TV with both eyes though Emily’s left eye was torn out by the blast and her right eye was damaged. He says he has limited social contact, but touts learning Arabic from the foreign terrorists. He does not have to lay down every few hours because of the swelling and pain in his legs. Rudolph can obviously write based on the venomous letters he has sent out, while Emily’s hand is managed and painful.

Like Rudolph, Emily has no chance for parole. Unlike Rudolph, she did not get to set the terms of the result of the bombing. The legal system failed to give Rudolph the sentence he deserved and is now failing to protect us. Is it too much to ask to expect the legal system to keep him from continuing to harass, endanger, humiliate, antagonize, and aggravate us?

Eric provided a written statement saying prior to sentencing saying his work was undone. He wanted to live so the government would pay for him to continue to attack people like my wife. It appears that is exactly what he is doing.

Emily and I wanted Rudolph to be sentenced to death. This was not out of revenge. This was because it was the legal sentence that fit the crime. Seeing that the prosecutors assigned to the case were outgunned by the defense and had no hope of being able to secure the proper sentence, we settled for the illusion that he would be sent away were he could not harm us or anyone else. Sadly, the legal system has failed at that as well. Eric continues to harm us, endanger others, profit from his crime, and is directly funding terrorism while taxpayers are providing for his care at your facility.

Rudolph provides stories mocking his victims to a group of terrorists known as The Army of God. These stories pull people into AOG websites, where the viewers are asked for donations. The AOG has a handbook that details how to terrorize using methods ranging from superglue in door locks and cement in sewers to how to build and deploy bombs. They even call for suicide bombers by suggesting that the terminally ill should strap dynamite to their bodies and detonate themselves in buildings. The government’s current emphasis is on foreign threats. The fact that the members of the AOG are domestic terrorists does not in any way lessen the fact that they are terrorists. Eric is directly providing funding to these people with the stories he is being allowed to send from his cell.

The AOG maintains a list of “Heroes of the Faith” that include terrorists now in prison, including Rudolph and some who have been executed. They encourage others to follow in the footsteps of these “heroic” murderers.

The AOG directly endangers us and others by encouraging followers to commit violent acts like Rudolph’s. Rudolph’s stories keep our names in the minds of those who read and admire his bombings. This increases the very real chance that one of Rudolph’s admirers will finish the job of murdering my wife.

Perhaps you have seen some of the various recent articles about “Lax Max.” You may have also read the article in Time magazine a few weeks ago. You may not know that much of this is the direct result of the book Eric Rudolph wrote. The Time Magazine article was written by Marryanne Vollers. This was part of the publicity campaign to push her new book, Lone Wolf, which is based on correspondence from Rudolph.

One of the basic ideas of the law is that a criminal should not profit from his crime. Perhaps Eric is not receiving money from Ms. Vollers, but he is certainly gaining fame and the enjoyment from spreading the gospel according to Rudolph. He is being immortalized by this book at our expense and it is based on letters he was allowed to send while in prison.

In a handwritten letter, Eric complains about the conditions there including the censorship of his outgoing mail. He then goes on to gloat about his success of sending a recent story about us to the AOG. It appears that he may have sent this document as “special mail” or legal mail, which I would think is a violation of the rules. He complains of not being able to correspond with his friends, but fails to mention that his friends are either other criminals or those who encourage terrorist acts.

When Eric sauntered into the courtroom to accept the plea bargain, he gave a big defiant wink at the prosecutors because he knew he had beaten then. He won and he was quite proud of it, yet he now complains of the conditions of his victory. He knew up front that he would be sent to your facility and he agreed to it. He did not have to take the plea bargain, and he knew where his new home would be if he did. He signed up for whatever conditions are imposed on him when he detonated the bombs and again when he agreed to the plea.

I firmly believe in free speech. What was done to my wife and Eric’s other victims was not free speech. It was murder and attempted murder.

All that I am asking is that you show the enclosed photographs to those who interact with Rudolph and read his mail. I want them to understand that his attack and continued attacks are not political statements or free speech. Rudolph is a cold blooded murderer, not a political prisoner.

Rudolph has mentioned that there might be additional restrictions planned for outgoing mail. If so, Eric is the poster child of why the new regulations are needed. He is proof that more needs to be done to incapacitate these dangerous felons. If these new restrictions are open for public comment, please let me know how I can send a letter of support.

Even though I felt that Rudolph should have been executed, we accept the legal system’s decision. I am not sending you this letter in the hope that you will exact some form of vengeance against Rudolph for his original attack. I am asking you to help me protect my family from his continued assaults.

Eric said he wanted to live so he could continue his contributions to the world. It is clear that his desire is to keep hurting us and he intends to endanger other people. He wants to encourage others to commit crimes. At least one person has already been arrested for an attempted bombing, claiming that Rudolph was his roll mode. Are his efforts to solicit murder something the taxpayers should foot the bill for?

There are some good people in prison. They either made the mistake of their lives or they grew up with no one to guide them. Given the chance, I firmly believe that a large percentage of these can go back into the world and live a clean life if we encourage them to do so. Some regret what they did and sincerely want to turn things around. Eric isn’t one of them. Please do whatever you can to limit Eric’s continued attacks.

Thank you,

Jeff Lyons