Ex-Radical in Bomb Plot Has Count Reduced

Former anti-Vietnam War radical Terry Jackson, accused of attempting to bomb an ROTC building at the University of Washington in 1970, pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge in a plea-bargain with prosecutors.

Jackson, who has legally changed his name from Silas Trim Bissell, eluded authorities for 17 years before his capture on Jan. 20 in Eugene, Ore.

The former fugitive pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court to a state charge of second-degree assault for striking a Seattle police officer at a November, 1969, anti-war demonstration. In return, a charge of attempting to destroy property is expected to be dropped.

Sentencing Set for June 19

U.S. District Judge Walter McGovern set sentencing for June 19. The maximum sentence Jackson faces on the federal charge of possessing an unregistered destructive device is 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Superior Court Judge Robert Winsor set no sentencing date on the state charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Jackson and his estranged wife, Judith Emily Bissell, fled after being charged with conspiracy to damage federal property by placing a bomb at the university’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps building on Jan. 18, 1970, and with possessing an unregistered firearm. The bomb did not explode.

Judith Bissell was convicted on the charges in 1979, years after the two separated. While underground, Bissell adopted the name Jackson, went to school and obtained a degree in physical therapy.