Details of Australian Bomb Hoax Emerge

Posted August 16th, 2011 at 2:25 pm (UTC-5)
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Court documents in the United States are giving new details on an alleged extortion plot that targeted the teen daughter of an Australian businessman.

The documents, released Tuesday by a court in the eastern U.S. state of Kentucky, allege 50-year-old Paul “Doug” Peters entered the Sydney, Australia home of 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver earlier this month wearing a woolen hood and wielding an aluminum baseball bat.

The documents say Peters told Pulver no one would get hurt as long as she sat on her bed. He then attached the fake bomb to her neck and left, warning he would be able to see her if she moved. He also left instructions for paying the ransom.

U.S. officials, along with Australian police, arrested the 50-year-old Peters Monday in Louisville, Kentucky, at the home of his ex-wife.

Peters appeared in court Tuesday, shackled at the ankles and wrists. The judge ordered Peters to remain in jail until an extradition hearing October 14.

The 18-year-old Pulver spent 10 terrifying hours chained to the device before a bomb squad was able to free her. She was not hurt, and the device was later found to contain no explosives.

Officials say after the attack, Peters flew to the central U.S. city of Chicago before traveling to the home of his ex-wife in Kentucky.

U.S. court documents say Peters once worked for a company that had ties to Pulver's businessman father. They also say authorities were able to track Peters using an email account that was accessed the day of the attack.

Australian police have said they will ask for the man's extradition to Australia to face trial in connection with the case.

A lawyer representing Peters says his client makes his living as an investment banker.

Peters has worked in both Australia and the United States.