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September 14, 2005
Olympic bomber Rudolph calls Supermax home
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD THE GAZETTE
He was once among the most wanted fugitives in the United States, a domestic terrorist who killed two people, injured 120 and eluded the FBI for more than five years.
Now Eric Robert Rudolph is inmate number 18282-058 and a resident of southern Colorado.
Rudolph, 38, arrived at the federal Supermax prison in Florence on Aug. 22, the same day he was sentenced to four life terms plus 120 years for the 1996 bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta and similar attacks at abortion clinics in Atlanta and Alabama, and a gay club in Atlanta.
His bombs consisted of dynamite wrapped in nails to act as shrapnel.
Rudolph pleaded guilty, but his public defenders in Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala., still cost U.S. taxpayers at least $4 million, according to a court document filed last week. One of his attorneys said it would have cost three times that to take it to trial.
His incarceration in Supermax will cost about $32,000 a year.
Known as the �Alcatraz of the Rockies,� the prison, which opened in 1994, houses the most dangerous criminals in the federal prison system.
Many have tried to escape other prisons or killed a fellow inmate.
Supermax is home to other bombers, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, shoe-bomber Richard Reid, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and several terrorists who carried out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
It could be years before Rudolph meets them or any other inmates � if he ever does.
At Supermax, inmates are kept in their cells 22� hours a day.
Prison spokeswoman Krista Rear, responding in writing to questions about Rudolph�s incarceration, said he will be allowed out of his cell five times a week for �structured recreation� � an hour and a half alone in a small yard.
Over the years, he may be allowed greater freedom of movement. The prison operates on a three-step program, based on inmates� behavior, and Rear said Rudolph eventually could be eligible for �group recreation.�
Some Supermax inmates can eat in a dining room after three years of good behavior if they are also eligible to be transferred to another prison, but it is unlikely Rudolph will be eligible for transfer.
His remaining years will be spent in a soundproof 80-square-foot concrete cell � even the beds are made of concrete � where he will eat, sleep, shower and go to the bathroom.
He will be permitted visitors on a limited basis, and Rear said he will have access to religious texts and books and magazines sent from publishers �that do not pose security threats and that do not disrupt the orderly running of the institution.�
Rear declined to provide details about Rudolph�s daily routine or whether he has been a discipline problem since arriving there.
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or
srappold@gazette.com
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