Atlanta

Top agent who led serial bombing investigation talks about execution of bomber

ATLANTA — The FBI agent who led a serial bombing investigation in metro Atlanta is now walking us through the day they found an explosive at the federal courthouse downtown.

Walter Leroy Moody, 83, sent bombs to a federal judge and a civil rights attorney, killing both men.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne was at the Russell Federal Building the day police removed another one of Moody’s bombs in 1989.

Bill Hinshaw said he had just become the FBI agent in charge in Atlanta when a mail bomb was intercepted at the 11th Circuit courthouse.

Moody was ultimately convicted of sending that bomb as well as a bomb that killed 11th Circuit Judge Robert Vance at his Alabama home. Vance was at his kitchen table when he opened a package after a morning of errands and yard work.

The explosion ripped through the home near Birmingham, killing Vance instantly and severely injuring his wife, Helen.

Another of Moody’s bombs killed civil rights attorney Robbie Robinson in Savannah. Still another bomb was intercepted at a Florida NAACP office.

“He thought he was smarter than everybody else,” Hinshaw told Winne.

Ed Tolley represented Moody in two federal cases. Tolley did not handle the case in Alabama for Vance's murder, which led to Moody’s execution in Alabama on Thursday night.

Tolley told Winne that he believes Robinson's murder was part of an elaborate smokescreen and Moody never reached his ultimate target.

“I could be mistaken, but I’ve always believed that his ultimate goal was to get revenge against a federal judge that had sentenced him when he was in his early 20s,” Tolley said.

Bruce Harvey represented Moody during most of the federal investigation but not in his trial. He told Winne that he stayed in touch with Moody throughout the years.

“I heard from him last week. He wanted me to get involved in his last-ditch efforts to save his life, but I was otherwise engaged,” Harvey said.

Tolley said the bombings changed security procedures at court houses.

“He changed the way we get into court houses. He changed the way marshals protect judges. He changed the way we think about the death penalty,” Tolley told Winne.

Moody was pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m. following an injection at the Alabama prison at Atmore. He had no last statement and did not respond when an official asked if he had any last words shortly before the chemicals began flowing.

Moody was convicted in 1991 in federal court of bomb-related charges and sentenced to seven life terms plus 400 years. Moody had always maintained his innocence.

Moody became the oldest U.S. inmate put to death since executions resumed in the U.S. in the 1970s, according to the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center. His attorneys argued in court filings and a clemency petition to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey that his age and vein condition would make lethal injection more difficult.

The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed execution plans Thursday evening to consider Moody's late appeals, but later lifted the stay without comment, allowing the execution to go forward.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday night that after nearly 30 years, "Tonight, Mr. Moody's appeals finally came to a rightful end. Justice has been served."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.