‘Rainbow Man’ Guilty in Stink Bombings : Courts: Defendant, seen on TV at sports events, says he acted to draw attention to ‘the Rapture.’

Rollen Frederick Stewart, the flamboyant “Rainbow Man” recognized nationwide for donning a multicolored shock wig and waving religious placards during televised sports events, was found guilty Wednesday of setting off stink bombs at four Orange County locations.

Stewart, 48, could face as long as five years in prison for placing homemade, acid-filled bombs with timers at three religious facilities and in the lobby of a local newspaper in 1991.

An Orange County Superior Court jury listened to five days of testimony and deliberated Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning before handing down the decision. Stewart was convicted on four felony counts each of discharging a gaseous, nauseating substance in a public place and placing a fake bomb with the intent of making people fear for their safety.

Stewart testified Tuesday that his stunts were meant to draw attention to the looming arrival of “the Rapture”--the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Last July, Stewart was sentenced to prison after being convicted of taking hostages at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport in September, 1992. He told police that incident was also intended to publicize his message about the approaching Judgment Day.

Wednesday’s conviction stemmed from stink bomb attacks at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, a Christian bookstore in the same city, the Trinity Broadcasting Network studios in Tustin and the lobby of the Orange County Register in Santa Ana.

Stewart’s attorney, public defender Sheryl Beasley, said Stewart’s goal was always to spread his fervent religious belief and save souls, not to cause mayhem.

“Everybody should know Mr. Stewart is not some kind of evil, mean demon or anything of the type,” Beasley said after the verdict. “Just the opposite, he’s very much a humanitarian.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. M. Marc Kelly said he was pleased with the verdict, particularly because Stewart made “a calculated move” to threaten lives by setting off the bombs on religious holidays when crowds at some of the sites would be the largest.

“He would have been a lot better off sticking with wearing the wig at sporting events,” Kelly said. “Because what he did with these bombs posed a serious danger to the public of Orange County.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 25. Because Stewart will be eligible for parole on the hostage-taking conviction in 1999, Kelly has said he would try to have Stewart serve his sentence for the stink bomb attacks first.