Held in Attempt to Bomb Clinic : Church Group Asks Funds to Defend Jailed Pastor

Members of the Bible Missionary Fellowship church in Santee have sent a three-page letter to ministers and laymen in San Diego and across the country lambasting the federal government for jailing their preacher in connection with the attempted firebombing of an abortion clinic and urging financial assistance to bolster the “Pastor Owens Legal Defense Fund.”

The letter, printed on blue paper, is titled “An Urgent Message for Pastors and Laymen Concerned with the Furtherance of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” according to a copy obtained Friday by The Times.

It contends that the Rev. Dorman Owens was tricked by the government into visiting a church member jailed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center for the purpose of being accused of tampering with a witness.

‘Pastors Beware’

And the letter warns pastors that they can no longer feel safe performing normal prison chaplaincy duties. “Pastors Beware,” the letter proclaims. “Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

However, Larry A. Burns, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting Dorman Owens and seven other church members in the attempted bombing of a San Diego abortion clinic, characterized the allegations in the letter as “ridiculous” and “preposterous.”

He said two tape-recorded jailhouse visits by Owens show clearly that the fundamentalist Baptist preacher wanted to cover up his involvement in the attempted bombing of the Family Planning Associates Medical Group.

“I’m glad in this case there is such a tape,” Burns said. “It can be relied on as the truthful account of what occurred that night.”

The letter also discusses Owens’ street ministries that protest the San Diego gay community and pornographic bookstores. But the letter does not mention his or the church’s picketing of anti-abortion clinics, for which the Bible Missionary Fellowship is perhaps best known.

Paul Owens, Dorman Owens’ son and acting pastor of the church, declined to reveal specifics about why the letter was written and how many copies were mailed. He did say it was drafted recently and mailed “nationwide.”

“We know churches here and in different places,” he said. “And it was not just sent to churches, but individuals, too. You know how you send a letter. You know people. You contact them.”

Sent by Members

He said the letter was not officially drafted by the church’s board of directors, but by concerned church members.

“It’s been sort of a community effort,” he said. “It didn’t go out from the church, I can tell you that. It was individuals that sent it out.”

But, he added, “the church is not against it.”

Paul Owens conceded that the response to the letter has not been dramatic. “It’s been slow,” he said. “There has not been a whole lot of response. It’s not been real peppy.”

The case first developed in July when Eric Svelmoe, a church member, was arrested after placing a pipe bomb near the entrance to the clinic on Alvarado Road. Police have said the bomb would have detonated had a candle placed next to the wick not blown out.

Hidden Microphone

On Nov. 2 and 3, Dorman Owens visited Svelmoe in the Metropolitan Correction Center. With Svelmoe’s cooperation, federal authorities placed a hidden microphone on him and recorded the conversation.

The pastor and six other church members were subsequently indicted on conspiracy in the attempted bombing. Dorman Owens was also indicted for witness tampering, as a result of information obtained on the tape recordings.

Svelmoe has since pleaded guilty to a single charge of maliciously attempting to damage and destroy the clinic. Four other charges against him have been dismissed in return for his government cooperation, and he has been set free pending his sentencing Jan. 25.

While the other indicted church members have been released on bail, Dorman Owens remains in the Metropolitan Correction Center because two federal judges have refused to allow him bail.

Letter Details Visits

According to the letter mailed by church members, Dorman Owens twice visited Svelmoe in jail, but only after receiving a phone call that Svelmoe was seeking “spiritual guidance.”

“Although Pastor Owens was very ill, he agreed to see him,” the letter says. “On this second visit, the former parishioner (Svelmoe) was incessant in his efforts to enlist Pastor Owens’ advice. Numerous times Pastor Owens quoted scripture and gave Biblical examples in his rendering of spiritual advice. Before Pastor Owens departed from this second visit they prayed together.

“Pastor Owens had no idea that the man with whom he prayed was a ‘Judas’ who had cooperated with a federal prosecutor in an attempt to get a technical charge against Pastor Owens, ‘tampering with a witness.’ ”

But prosecutor Burns disagreed that Dorman Owens went to the Metropolitan Correction Center to render spiritual guidance.

“If that was the purpose,” Burns said, “then it has been completely lost on a number of federal agents who know what he said, several federal prosecutors who evaluated the evidence, the grand jurors who considered the evidence and voted to indict him, and two federal judges who have now reviewed those tapes and on the basis of what he said determined that he’s a threat to society and must be detained in custody.”

The letter states that “neither Pastor Owens, nor his church, has ever advocated violent means to achieve an end.”

Instead, the letter contends that “the only crime committed by Pastor Owens was one of caring.” It then adds, in capital letters:

“If this case is lost, every pastor in America will have cause to fear that any spiritual advice used in the counseling of an individual could result in their own confinement.”

The letter asks for prayers and “financial assistance for the legal expenses incurred by Pastor Owens.” Checks are asked to be made payable to the Bible Missionary Fellowship on behalf of the Pastor Owens Legal Defense Fund.