The 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia, occurred on July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympic Games. Two people, Alice Hawthorne and Turkish cameraman Melih Uzunyol, lost their lives in the bombing. Over 100 others were injured in the explosion.
Investigation and Conviction
Eric Robert Rudolph was convicted of the bombing. He was named as a suspect in February 1998 and was formally charged in connection with the Olympic Park bombing in October 1998. Rudolph was also a suspect in a bombing at an abortion clinic in Alabama.
Rudolph was captured and arrested on May 31, 2003, in Murphy, North Carolina. He pleaded guilty to the Birmingham, Alabama, abortion clinic bombing and the three Atlanta-area bombings, including the Olympic Park bombing, on April 13, 2005. Rudolph released an 11-page statement blaming the violence on the legalization of abortion.
Rudolph was sentenced to serve four consecutive life sentences plus 120 years in prison for the three Atlanta-area bombings. In July, Rudolph was sentenced to two life terms for the Alabama bombing.
Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.
