Suspect
Paul "Doug" Peters was held in shackles at the Federal Court house in
Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday, August 16 for his involvement in a fake collar
bomb incident in Australia earlier this month.
The
50-year-old Australian native was caught on Monday, August 15 at the home of
his ex-wife, Debra Peters, in a suburb of Louisville. Email addresses which
Australian police had linked to the bomb assisted in tracing Peters.
Recent revelations show that he worked for a company with ties to the victim's family.
William
Pulver, the father of the victim, is the current chief executive of Appen
Butler Hill, a company that provides language and voice recognition software
and services. In the past, he was the president and CEO of NetRankings, a
pioneer in tracking online exposure and readership for companies advertising
online.
Madeleine Pulver, the 18-year-old victim, was strapped with the collar bomb for 10 hours.
According to a released court document, Pulver was in her room studying on August 3 when Peters stormed in and began giving orders. He had a black aluminum baseball bat and wore a striped, multi-colored mask over his head.
He forced a black box against her throat and twisted a bike chain-like rope around it. Locking the box into position, he placed a lanyard and a plastic document sleeve around her neck and began to walk away.
"Count
to 200...I'll be back...If you move I can see you. I'll be right here," said
Peters after Pulver asked where he was going. He never returned.
Nearby residents were evacuated from their homes, streets were closed and medical and fire crews remained close by.
Bomb
technicians, negotiators and detectives arrived on the scene to free Pulvers
who was unharmed. They soon confirmed that the bomb was a hoax.
Pulver is the daughter of one of Australia's richest families. Nevertheless, investigators have not yet found any motive for Peters' crime.
Peters' hearing is set for October 14 in Louisville as ordered pending extradition by U.S magistrate Judge Dave Whalin.