Burt, left
Leo Frederick Burt is a murderer
whose preferred weapon of choice is a bomb. In 1970, Burt took part in the Sterling Hall bombing at the University of
Wisconsin–Madison campus. He wanted to protest the war in Vietnam….so he used a
bomb to protest a war. Burt’s bombing killed physics researcher Robert
Fassnacht, the father of three very young children, and injured several others and
caused $2.1 million in damage.
The group assembled a stolen Ford Econoline van and packed it with 2000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. One of the killers, Fine, phoned the police and warned them about the impending bomb attack.
“OK, pigs, now listen and listen good. There’s a bomb in the Army Math Research Center at the University, set to go off in five minutes. Clear the building. Get everyone out. Warn the hospital. This is no bull . . ., man.”The explosive-filled van, which was parked at the side of Sterling Hall went off at 4:30 in the morning, causing an explosion big enough to hollow out the bottom of the building.
Burt, who was then 22, justified his action by claiming to have become radicalized after being beaten by a policeman while covering a protest against the Kent State shootings.
Rather than face the music for his horrific crime, they fled and disappeared into the underground and eventually went to Canada. In 1972, Karl Armstrong was arrested in Toronto. Fine was apprehended in California in 1976. Dwight Armstrong was captured in Toronto in 1977. Remarkably, Dwight Armstrong and Fine served under three years for the murder. Karl Armstrong served only seven years of a 23-year sentence.
A
total of less than 13 years for the murder of a promising young father of three.
Karl
Armstrong now operates a healthy-juice stand near the site of where the
building he destroyed once stood. Fine
moved to Portland (Of course) and works as a paralegal and Dwight Armstrong
died of cancer in 2009. He still outlived his murder victim by 29 years.
The FBI tracked Burt down, but he
managed to slip their trap.
In 2010, near the fortieth
anniversary of the bombing, several tips on Burt's possible location included Denver
homeless shelter, others spotted him in Lakewood, Washington, one tipster
placed him as a waiter in a resort in Costa Rica and others claim they spotted
him near St. Catharine’s in Ontario. Some who actually knew him said that he attended
his father's funeral several years ago.
The Justice Department is
offering a $150,000 reward for the 6 foot four Burt, who, as cowards will, is
probably armed and considered dangerous by the FBI.