Man in failed Mormon church bombings up for release

Greg Tuttle

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 10:33 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who was allowed to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity four months ago following a string of failed bombing attempts at area Mormon churches could be back on the streets within days.

James Carbullido appeared in U.S. District Court Monday where his defense attorney said he should be released from a federal mental hospital because he never suffered a mental illness.

Federal prosecutors are hoping to convince Judge David Hagen that Carbullido is still dangerous despite the latest medical evidence that he was a drug addict and not mentally ill when he planted nine homemade bombs at Mormon churches.

Hagen said he would make his decision within two days.

It was the latest twist in a strange case that began two years ago.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms began investigating the case in June 1998 when the first in a series of crude, homemade bombs was found at a Mormon church. During the next year, eight more bombs were found at Mormon facilities in the Las Vegas Valley.

Most of the devices were one gallon milk or water jugs filled with gasoline with a fuse attached. In two of the cases, the bombs ignited causing smoke and heat damage. The other devices failed to ignite, and no injuries were reported in any of the incidents.

Investigators got a break in the case last summer when several Post-it notes claiming responsibility for the bombs appeared in downtown Las Vegas. The notes, including one found in an elevator at the Clark County Courthouse, referred to church fires with the message, "We need to talk about Mormons."

Fingerprints on the notes led investigators to the 45-year-old Carbullido, who has a 1996 drunken driving arrest. He was arrested at a Las Vegas hotel, where investigators also allegedly found a cache of weapons that included a pistol and crossbow.

According to court records, Carbullido told investigators he targeted Mormon churches because "they conspired against him and had planted an electronic device in his brain in an effort to control his mind and body." He complained that he heard voices in his head for 10 years that commanded his actions.

Carbullido was indicted on one count of attempted arson and one count of using a gun while committing a crime.

But the case took a turn last fall when two defense experts and one government expert diagnosed Carbullido as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. As a result, he was allowed to enter the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in March and was placed in a federal mental health hospital.

Now doctors say his mental illness was caused by a severe addiction to methamphetamine that caused the delusions. Without the drug, Carbullido is healthy, they said.