Bond reduction denied for accused pipe bomber; trial set for Dec. 17

A Cape Girardeau County circuit judge on Tuesday denied a defense motion to reduce bond for a man accused of detonating a pipe bomb on North Spanish Street.

David Salzmann, 44, faces charges of second-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, unlawful possession of a weapon and violation of an order of protection in connection with a June 9 explosion in the 1200 block of North Spanish Street.

Salzmann's attorney, Christopher Heeb, told Judge Benjamin Lewis his client intended to commit suicide but was not trying to hurt anyone else when he set off the homemade bomb in a Cadillac parked in front of the house where his estranged wife was staying.

"At no point was he ever attempting to harm anybody other than himself," Heeb said.

Heeb asked Lewis to reduce Salzmann's bond from $75,000 cash to $5,000 cash or surety so Salzmann could seek mental health treatment.

"He does have some mental health issues that are not currently being addressed," Heeb said, adding if Salzmann were released on bond, he would stay with his mother in Jackson and submit to electronic monitoring, leaving home only for court appearances or counseling appointments.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff said Salzmann is too dangerous to release.

"The state opposes any change to Mr. Salzmann's bond," she told Lewis. "He is certainly a threat and a danger not only to himself, but to the community at large."

Prosecutors have said Salzmann detonated the bomb as Cape Girardeau police patrolman Ryan Droege approached the Cadillac.

The explosion, which left Salzmann with non-life-threatening injuries, prompted authorities to evacuate the block around the car while the FBI, Southeast Missouri Regional Bomb Squad and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped Cape Girardeau police officers search for other devices in the vehicle and elsewhere in the neighborhood.

In his argument for bond reduction, Heeb cited an ATF agent's assertion Salzmann's pipe bomb was too poorly constructed to pose a threat to anybody but himself.

In June, Trista Frederick, a special agent and public information officer for the ATF, told the Southeast Missourian a better-constructed bomb could have been far more dangerous.

"Had it been constructed a little bit better, it could have killed ... the suspect ... and the one officer as he approached," she said.

Lewis rejected Heeb's argument.

"I'm not inclined to reduce the bond of an alleged incompetent bomb maker who doesn't know the strength of the bombs he allegedly makes," especially if the suspect in question has mental health issues, Lewis said. "Request for bond reduction is denied."

Salzmann waived his right to a jury trial. Lewis set the case for bench trial at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17 in Cape Girardeau.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1200 North Spanish Street, Cape Girardeau, MO