Preacher Held Without Bail in Bomb Plot

A fundamentalist Baptist preacher who was arrested and indicted last week in an alleged conspiracy to bomb a San Diego abortion clinic will remain in jail until he is tried on the charges, a federal magistrate has decided.

Granting a request by federal prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Barry Ted Moskowitz ordered that the Rev. Dorman Owens, leader of the Bible Missionary Fellowship Church in Santee, be detained without bail at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Moskowitz said his ruling Thursday was based on “clear and convincing” evidence that Owens has “attempted and will continue to attempt to obstruct justice” by urging other defendants in the case not to cooperate with prosecutors.

6 Others Charged

Owens, 54, and six members of the Bible Missionary Fellowship are charged with conspiring to bomb the Family Planning Associates Medical Group in July. The defendants face six charges ranging from conspiracy to bomb and commit arson to manufacturing an explosive device. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In a separate indictment, Owens is accused of witness tampering for allegedly urging an co-conspirator to lie to prosecutors to protect fellow church members.

The other defendants are free on bail.

Congregation members and Owens’ relatives, some of whom bowed their heads as the judge announced his decision, marched from the courthouse with little comment after the hearing. The pastor’s son, Rev. Paul Owens, who has assumed leadership of the 400-member congregation, said he was “disappointed but not shocked” that his father’s release had been denied.