2 Arrested in Bomb Blasts That Killed 5 in New York : Crime: Officials believe one of suspects had a vendetta against family. Woman, her husband and daughter died.

Federal agents arrested two men Wednesday in a series of family feud terror bombings that killed five people and injured two others in Upstate New York.

The four explosions, which occurred within 90 minutes of each other Tuesday night at widely different locations, decimated a working class family. The shrapnel and dynamite bombs were each packed in fishing tackle boxes.

Federal agents arrested Michael Stevens, 53, and Earl Figley, 56. Authorities said that the two could face the federal death penalty if found guilty of transporting the explosives allegedly used in the slayings across state lines. The men, both of whom are ex-convicts, were charged in U.S. District Court in Rochester and held without bail.

Eleanor Fowler, 56, her husband Robert, 38, and Pamela Epperson, 32, her daughter from a previous marriage, were killed in separate explosions when they unwrapped the packages, detonating the bombs by opening their lids, police said. Also killed were two non-family members who were present when the bombs went off.

Epperson’s uncle, William Lazore, 62, was wounded in the leg and chest by a bomb mailed to him in Hogansburg, hundreds of miles away in northeastern New York.

Several buildings also were damaged Tuesday night by the explosions and the fires that followed.

Bomb disposal experts managed to defuse two other devices sent to Fowler relatives.

Stevens was reportedly either the estranged husband or boyfriend of Brenda Lazore, the daughter of Eleanor Fowler. Figley was described as a friend of Stevens from prison.

The Washington Post quoted unnamed authorities Wednesday night who said they believed that the incidents occurred after tension between Stevens, who is white, and Lazore’s family, members of the Mohawk tribe, over the upbringing of the couple’s 2-year-old child.

“It was a family feud,” said one. Stevens “had concerns that the family objected to his influence over the child.”

Police in western New York said the bombs may have been built to silence Stevens’ critics in the Fowler family.

“That’s what we feel . . . at this point, but we’re still getting bits and pieces of information,” said Erie County Sheriff’s Chief of Patrol Thomas Staebell.

State Police Supt. Thomas Constantine said investigators believed the bombings were the result of “some kind of vengeance factor or a vendetta or financial (motive), we are not sure of which” aimed at the Fowlers.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Rochester charged that Figley at the request of Stevens bought 55 pounds of dynamite and 50 blasting caps in Mt. Vernon, Ky., on June 30 using the false name Leslie V. Milbury. Figley then transported the explosives to Rochester, where both men built several dynamite bombs, prosecutors charged.

Dynamite and other explosives are sold over the counter by federally licensed dealers. Although purchasers must complete federal forms listing their names and addresses, no background checks are made on buyers.

According to the court papers, Figley told federal agents that he and Stevens had one of the bombs delivered to an apartment complex in Rochester, where Epperson and Richard Urban, 42, her companion, were killed.

Six bombs in brown cardboard boxes were dropped off by delivery companies or by the U.S. Postal Service, authorities said, and four exploded.

Investigators said that when the latch of the tackle box was opened, a circuit apparently was closed and the bomb was triggered. They described the bombs as anti-personnel devices, filled with shrapnel, and designed to kill. The arrangement showed sophistication.

“Whoever did this knew what they were doing,” said FBI agent David Webster.

Fowler was killed when she opened the package in the kitchen of her suburban home in West Valley, south of Buffalo. About seven miles east of Buffalo, her husband, Robert, was blown up in an armored car depot where he was employed. John O’Donnell, a co-worker, also was killed and a third employee was wounded.

About 250 miles northeast of Buffalo, William Lazore apparently was suspicious of the package and at first tried to unwrap it with a rake. He was wounded when it exploded.

Other Fowler relatives also were suspicious when their packages arrived. In New Albion, south of Buffalo, Lucille Fowler, the daughter of Eleanor and Robert Fowler, called police, who defused the device. Another package was addressed to Scott Kemp, 29, her boyfriend. But a guard at the gate at the Lakeville Correctional Facility, where Kemp is a corrections officer, refused the package. It was eventually disarmed in a delivery service van.

The bombings shocked quiet upstate communities. Crowds of shaken neighbors stood in snow and bitter cold in front of the fire-scorched buildings.

Firefighters had the grim task of telling the Fowlers’ youngest son, Jonathan, 16, his mother had been killed when they stopped him as he was heading home.

Federal agents and police conducted a joint investigation.

Several of the bombs carried the return address of the Liberty Iron & Metal Co. of Erie, Pa. A company spokesman said he had no idea where the boxes were obtained by the bomb makers.

Neighbors described Eleanor and Robert Fowler as a quiet couple, and police said they had received no complaints from them that they were in any danger.

Danger in the Mail

The U.S. Postal Service receives a dozen or so reports of letter or package bombs a year and says there are some signs to look for to avoid danger. Among the possible tip-offs:

* Special instructions such as “personal” or “private” or other notations such as “rush” or “fragile” when such an endorsement might be considered unusual.

* An addressee’s name misspelled or an incorrect title.

* No return address or one that doesn’t coincide with the postmark.

* A poorly handwritten address or one distorted by homemade labels or letters.

* Oil stains or a peculiar odor.

* Excessive postage.

* Envelopes with rigid, lopsided appearance, or poorly wrapped, irregular shaped packages with soft spots or bulges.

* Ticking, buzzing or sloshing sounds.

* Noticeable pressure or resistance when contents are being removed.

Source: Postal Service, Times wire reports