Audio By Carbonatix
Michael Turney, the stepfather of a girl missing since 2001, was sentenced today to 10 years in a federal prison for possessing a large cache of fully functional, homemade bombs.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
He pleaded guilty back in April.
Federal agents who raided Turney’s home at 17218 North 34th Street in December of 2008 were shocked to find more working bombs then they’d ever seen before. They found three fire-bombs and 26 pipe bombs fitted with steel shot to enhance the shrapnel. The guy also had plenty of handguns and rifles, plus silencers and a ballistic vest.
Turney had an “operational plan” to attack the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ union hall by driving an explosives-laden van into the building, then shooting any survivors who came out the front door, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.
Agents evacuated homes around Turney’s neighborhood after finding the cache of weapons, which could easily have destroyed Turney’s home.
“The cache of dangerous
weapons found in Turney’s house were not for decoration-they put hundreds of
Arizonans at risk,” said Dennis Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of
Arizona, in the written
. “Turney was living in a world of delusion, was armed to the max with live bombs and ammunition and had formulated a plan to harm Arizonans. I commend the prosecutors and investigators for removing this dangerous individual from our community.”
Turney’s stepdaughter, Alissa, a Paradise Valley High School student, disappeared in 2001.
Investigators have said in the past that Turney isn’t a suspect in the girl’s case. But police quoted in a recent East Valley Tribune story about the case think he knows something — or may have even killed and buried her.
Clearly, the guy’s capable of murder.
