Armed Woman Killed in UC Chancellor’s Home : Berkeley: The machete-wielding political activist was shot when she lunged at an officer, officials say. She was awaiting trial on an explosives possession charge and had history of psychiatric care.

A young machete-wielding political activist awaiting trial on charges of possession of explosives was shot and killed by police Tuesday after she broke into the campus residence of UC Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien.

University officials said that Rosebud Abigail Denovo, 19, entered the residence and triggered a silent alarm at 5:51 a.m. Campus police telephoned Tien, who quickly locked his second-floor bedroom doors. Authorities arrived with an Oakland police canine unit, began a search and then escorted the chancellor and his wife, Di-Hwa Tien, from the residence.

About 7 a.m., authorities said, Denovo was discovered in another second-floor bedroom, a short distance from the Tiens’ room. Officials said that as Oakland Police Officer Craig Chew opened the door, the woman lunged at him with a machete. Chew fired three times with a handgun in self-defense, officials said.

Denovo was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

Denovo and Andrew Barnum, 31, had been scheduled to go on trial Sept. 14 in Alameda County Superior Court on felony charges of possession of destructive and explosive devices, a cache of which was found at a campsite in the nearby Berkeley Hills last summer.

Denovo and Barnum were among the local activists who protested the University’s recent building of volleyball courts and other planned facilities at People’s Park, which had been the scene of protests in the 1960s. The two were free on $3,000 bail pending trial.

According to court records, investigators found an array of explosives materials at the campsite that they traced to Denovo and Barnum. They also found a manual called the “Anarchist’s Cookbook” detailing bomb-making methods, and a diary apparently kept by Denovo. One diary entry described Tien’s residence and apparent methods for attacking it (“firebomb--may need wheels”). Another entry said, “Tien, you’re not getting off that easy.”

UC Berkeley Police Lt. Patrick Carroll said Tuesday that Denovo had entered the mansion by using a blowtorch to melt a plastic window pane. Police said that in a later search they found a hunting knife and a black duffel bag belonging to the woman.

Carroll said the contents of the bag included a note, signed with the title People’s Will Direct Action Committee, referring to the People’s Park controversy. The note demanded removal of the volleyball courts and other UC construction, concluding, “We are willing to die for this piece of land. Are you?”

The lieutenant said there was no indication as yet that anyone had assisted Denovo in breaking into the mansion, which is on the north edge of the campus.

David J. Beauvais, a Berkeley attorney who had represented Denovo, said he could offer little explanation for her actions. “It’s unclear to me whether she intended to do evil or wanted to speak with the chancellor--what about, I don’t know,” he said.

Beauvais described the woman’s philosophy as that of a revolutionary. “That might encompass this kind of act,” he said. “In a philosophical way, it’s always been clear she wanted to destroy the government . . . but there’s a huge difference between saying that and doing a concrete act.”

A probation report filed in the explosives case said Denovo’s real name was Laura Miller and that she was the daughter of a Lexington, Ky., couple. Over the years, she had been seen frequently by psychiatrists, run away from home and become interested in left-wing political causes, the report said.

UC officials said Denovo had been arrested on various charges at least seven times since June, 1991.

Word of the bizarre incident spread quickly on campus Tuesday, the day before classes were to begin for the fall semester. Police cars lined the street outside the chancellor’s residence.

Robert L. Sanders, a university spokesman, said Tien and his wife--the only people in the ornate mansion at the time--were unharmed in the incident. A police bomb squad searched the building later as a precaution, Sanders said.

In a statement, Tien called Tuesday’s event “an isolated incident” and expressed regret over the death “of a troubled young woman.”

People’s Park has been controversial for more than two decades. Plans to build a dormitory there in 1969 sparked riots in which one person was killed and more than 100 injured. More recently, the park turned into a hangout for the homeless and drug dealers.

Times education writer Larry Gordon contributed to this report.