Luke Helder

Luke John Helder is a former University of Wisconsin–Stout college student who became a serial bomber, labeled by the media as the Midwest Pipe Bomber.

History
Helder was born on May 5, 1981 in Pine Island, Minnesota.

Helder was a member of a grunge band named Apathy. While the band was successful only on a local scale, they recorded a CD named Sacks of People at the end of their first summer together.

When Helder was revealed to be the serial bomber, the media frequently mentioned his status as a musician. Many music critics scrambled to acquire copies of Apathy's CD, some of which were auctioned on Ebay for as much as $200.

Bombings
As a student of the University of Wisconsin–Stout, Helder planned to plant pipe bombs in mailboxes across the United States to create a smiley face shape on the United States map. The bombs were rigged to detonate as the mailboxes were opened. Bombs were discovered in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Illinois and Iowa. In Iowa, Helder injured six people when the bombs detonated. Helder had planted 18 bombs and covered 3,200 miles. He was arrested in Nevada before he could complete the full smile. The bombings were heavily covered by the United States media.

Trial
In April 2004, a federal judge found Helder incompetent to stand trial. He is institutionalized at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota

Modus Operandi
Helder used pipe bombs, which were packed with BBs and nails. The detonated when mailboxes were opened.

Profile
At the time of his arrest, police were looking for an unknown suspect driving around in a black Honda Accord and newspapers reported that he was wearing a Kurt Cobain T-Shirt.

On Criminal Minds
Helder was mentioned in the novel Killer Profile