Maryland

Pipe Bombs Found in Maryland Connected to 2000 Stalking Case

Authorities linked active pipe bombs found in the woods in Maryland to a stalking suspect who killed himself after he was convicted in 2001

Authorities have linked active pipe bombs found in the woods in Maryland to a stalking suspect who killed himself after he was convicted in 2001.

A man with a metal detector came across an old bucket Sunday in Frederick County, and when he dumped it out, he found six old pipe bombs.

“They had been sitting there for quite some time,” Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci said. “There was a lot of rust on them and those types of things.”

Fire marshals determined the bombs were still active and could have gone off.

Investigators found links to Alan Chmurny, who, in 2000, was charged in Howard County with pouring mercury into the vents of a car of a coworker he was accused of stalking, according to Howard County police.

“We found some writings and things like that that had his name and those types of things,” Geraci said.

After his conviction in 2001, Chmurny took cyanide in court and later died at a hospital.

The coworker was not harmed.

The bombs were found in the woods behind Mark Renn's property.

“I think I've walked by that white bucket many times and didn't go over,” he said. “Just thought, 'Oh, it's an old white bucket laying in the woods.'”

Chmurny lived about a half-mile from where the pipe bombs were found.

“We are glad that these dangerous materials were discovered and could be destroyed safely,” Geraci said in a police press release. “It was quite a surprise to learn they were connected to an old criminal stalking case in which a woman could have been seriously harmed.”

Contact Us