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Stratfor's Security Team Aids in 'The Bishop' Arrest
| Source: Stratfor
AUSTIN, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 25, 2007 -- Stratfor's early warning of the threat posed by
an individual calling himself "The Bishop" helped lead to the suspect's
arrest this morning by U.S. Postal Inspectors. The suspect is a 42-year-old
former postal worker in Dubuque, Iowa.
Stratfor first alerted postal authorities and the FBI in October 2005 to a
figure calling himself The Bishop who had sent threatening mail to Stratfor
clients in the financial sector. Stratfor's belief in the potential danger
posed by The Bishop stemmed from the threatening and disturbing language
used in the letters -- coupled with the Stratfor security team's experience
with profiles in similar cases. As a result, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the
FBI opened an investigation.
The Bishop sent a series of letters in March 2006 and again in June 2006 to
a Stratfor client. The threatening letters indicated an escalation in the
potential danger. The letters were an attempt to control stock prices
through intimidating the financial firms and demanding that certain stock
prices be set at $6.66 per share.
The Bishop stated in one letter, "It is so easy to kill somebody, it is
almost scary...it could be as simple as mailing a package just like The
Unibomber..."
Fred Burton, Stratfor's VP of Counterterrorism and Corporate Security,
said, "You have to take these types of things seriously until proven
otherwise. Stratfor had a system in place to help examine the patterns that
could become threatening and identify characteristics in personality
profiles. I felt back in 2005 that this individual was unstable and that
his threats would escalate over time."
In February 2007, The Bishop mailed hoax devices containing a pipe bomb
filled with explosives and the pattern was proven to be escalating. There
is strong evidence that the person arrested is the one who sent the
letters. The evidence leading to the arrest was gathered through what was
described as "old-fashioned police" work including the examination of stock
trading records.
Contact:
Media requesting further information may contact Stratfor at
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Stratfor (www.stratfor.com) is the world's largest private geopolitical and
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