SIMI VALLEY : Acquitted Bombing Suspect Files Claim

A Moorpark man who was acquitted of trying to kill his wife’s ex-husband and another woman with a homemade bomb has filed a claim against the city of Simi Valley, alleging that the police have been harassing him.

James R. McKeever, 43, also claims that he suffered permanent nerve damage because of poor medical care in police custody from his Nov. 21 arrest until his May 6 acquittal.

Simi Valley police declined to comment on the case, referring all inquiries to the city attorney’s office.

Assistant City Atty. Marjorie Baxter also declined to reply to McKeever’s accusations, filed Aug. 6 in the form of a civil claim, which often precedes the filing of a lawsuit.

McKeever could not be reached for comment.

The bomb, made out of a bottle of gasoline, a propane tank and a pipe bundled together with duct tape, exploded in the bedroom of McKeever’s wife’s former husband--John Monroe. Monroe damped the blast by throwing blankets over the device, but he and his wife, Charlene Mayer, were injured.

McKeever spent nearly six months in the Ventura County Jail before a Superior Court jury found him not guilty of two counts of premeditated attempted first-degree murder and other charges in the Nov. 21 bombing.

His claim alleges that Simi Valley police “have been harassing me and my family since I was detained . . . and are continuing even after my acquittal and release.”

The claim against the city also charges that McKeever suffered permanent nerve damage because he was denied proper medical care while in custody--most of which was spent in the County Jail. McKeever often appeared in court in a wheelchair, and at least once on a hospital gurney.

--MACK REED