Luke Helder

Luke Helder, a Wisconsin college student and Minnesota resident, earned notoriety as the midwestern pipe-bomber of May 2002. Helder tried to replicate a smiley face in his pattern of pipe bombs. His bombs were found in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Texas and Colorado. Helder was captured before he completed the smile itself. When arrested he was wearing a Nirvana tee-shirt and had a smile on his face.

Luke Helder is a believer in reincarnation. He once wrote in an essay to the Badger Herald of the University of Wisconsin: "There is no such thing as death". He was born on May 5, 1981, the day when convicted IRA terrorist Bobby Sands died on hunger strike in prison.

His trial for the pipe bomb campaign has been repeatedly delayed, pending psychological reports. His attorney stated she intends to use an insanity defense if the trial goes ahead. (See February 2004 news report.)