Jobless Plumber Pleads Not Guilty in Bombing of Courthouse

An Escondido man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of planting a bomb that blew out the front doors of the downtown Federal Courthouse.

David Kevin Cox, who was sentenced last month in another bombing case, faces five federal charges in connection with the Sept. 15, 1990, pipe-bomb explosion.

The unemployed plumber was indicted Aug. 23 by a federal grand jury, which accused him of detonating the device, possessing two unregistered explosives and illegally manufacturing the bombs.

The courthouse blast caused minor damage to the main entrance of the Front Street building, which also houses the offices of the U.S. attorney. However, the attack forced visitors to use a downstairs entrance for several weeks, and damage to a ceiling is still visible.

Investigators were first drawn to Cox in February when Escondido police discovered a bomb in his garage after Cox’s wife had called to report a burglar, according to Larry Burns, the federal prosecutor in charge of the case.

At the time of the discovery, Cox was already in custody in another case in which he was later convicted of cruelty to an animal and throwing a homemade bomb at a cable TV repairman. The 36-year-old Cox was sentenced last month to four years in state prison.

Burns said the bomb recovered in Cox’s garage was tested and compared to the remnants of the bomb that exploded at the courthouse.

“Our experts have concluded that one person made both bombs,” Burns said.

No trial date has been set.

If convicted on all five counts, Cox could be sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and fined $1.25 million.