Old Court Cases Sifted for Clues After Bombing Attack on Judge

Police and postal inspectors spent Sunday reviewing evidence in a bomb attack that injured a Washington County judge, sifting through old court cases to see if a criminal he sentenced might have held a grudge.

U.S. postal inspectors took over as the lead investigators after determining Saturday that one of two package bombs that injured Judge John P. Corderman on Friday was delivered by a postal carrier.

Corderman, 47, continued recovering in the Washington County Hospital on Sunday from surgery to remove shrapnel that was embedded in his abdomen when the bomb exploded in his apartment. He was in good condition and was expected to be released in a few days, possibly as early as today, said Sheran White, a hospital spokeswoman.

Robert Morgan, the Postal Service’s inspector-in-charge in Baltimore, said the Postal Service would test fragments from the explosives at their Washington, D.C., lab this week, once the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms completes its review.

“We are using every lead, and obviously, with a judge that hears 100 to 150 cases each year, (old cases are) part of our investigation that we’re looking into,” Morgan said. He acknowledged that the Christmas holidays would delay some aspects of the investigation.

Investigators were quoted in Sunday’s Baltimore Sun as saying they planned to focus on drug cases Corderman has heard, but Morgan said the review wouldn’t be that limited.

“We’re not focusing on any particular type of cases,” he said. “I think it’s a common sense approach to the investigation, looking at anyone who might possibly have a grudge against the judge. He hears more than drug cases, you know.”

Corderman has a reputation for delivering tough sentences, and has taken a hard line in the past in cases involving drugs, gambling and illegal gun use.

In addition to performing surgery on Corderman’s abdomen, doctors at Washington County Hospital removed an eighth of an inch of his middle finger and said he suffered damage to his eardrums from the bomb blast.

While hospitalized, he remained under police guard and officers have been assigned to watch his immediate family as well.