Dad, Son Get Death Penalty In Bank Bombing
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SALEM, Ore. -- A jury has recommended the death sentence for a father and son who planted a bomb that killed two police officers at a Woodburn bank.
Joshua Turnidge and his father, Bruce Turnidge, placed the bomb at a West Coast Bank in Woodburn in December 2008. The explosion killed a state police bomb technician and a Woodburn police captain.
The two men stood with their lawyers and showed very little emotion when Marion County Circuit Judge Tom Hart read the jury's recommendation.
During testimony, prosecutors said the Turnidges celebrated the Okalahoma City bombing and that Bruce Turnidge viewed Timothy McVeigh as a hero.
Over the course of the trial, the father and son turned on each other. Each placed the blame on the other.
Prosecutors had argued that a death sentence was the only way to protect the community from the Turnidges' violent actions. They portrayed the father and son as anti-government.
On Dec. 12, 2008, police responded to a suspicious device found at West Coast Bank in Woodburn. After they took it inside, it exploded.
Capt. Tom Tennant and OSP Senior Trooper William Hakim were killed. Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was wounded and woke up from a coma one week later.
Almost two years later, a jury convicted the Turnidges on 18 counts each of aggravated murder and other charges in connection with the bombing.
<broken link removed>
SALEM, Ore. -- A jury has recommended the death sentence for a father and son who planted a bomb that killed two police officers at a Woodburn bank.
Joshua Turnidge and his father, Bruce Turnidge, placed the bomb at a West Coast Bank in Woodburn in December 2008. The explosion killed a state police bomb technician and a Woodburn police captain.
The two men stood with their lawyers and showed very little emotion when Marion County Circuit Judge Tom Hart read the jury's recommendation.
During testimony, prosecutors said the Turnidges celebrated the Okalahoma City bombing and that Bruce Turnidge viewed Timothy McVeigh as a hero.
Over the course of the trial, the father and son turned on each other. Each placed the blame on the other.
Prosecutors had argued that a death sentence was the only way to protect the community from the Turnidges' violent actions. They portrayed the father and son as anti-government.
On Dec. 12, 2008, police responded to a suspicious device found at West Coast Bank in Woodburn. After they took it inside, it exploded.
Capt. Tom Tennant and OSP Senior Trooper William Hakim were killed. Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was wounded and woke up from a coma one week later.
Almost two years later, a jury convicted the Turnidges on 18 counts each of aggravated murder and other charges in connection with the bombing.