SIMI VALLEY : Acquitted Man Wants Bomb Case Reopened

A Moorpark man acquitted almost a year ago on charges that he attempted to kill a Simi Valley couple with a homemade bomb said Thursday that the investigation should be reopened.

“They botched the case the first time when they tried to pin it on me,” said Jim McKeever, 43. “That investigation was mishandled and misdirected, but that’s no reason to let the real guilty party continue to walk the streets.”

But prosecutors reached Thursday stood by their work on the case, and while Simi Valley police would not respond directly to McKeever’s criticism of the investigation, they made it clear that the case is closed.

“There are no suspects left, and the case is pretty much inactive,” said police spokesman Sgt. Andy McCluskey.

McKeever was tried on charges of throwing a bomb into the bedroom of his wife’s ex-husband during a bitter custody battle. The victims in the bombing, John Monroe and Charlene Mayer, were not seriously injured in the explosion.

Despite his acquittal on criminal charges, McKeever recently lost a civil case filed by the injured couple and had to pay them $10,000 for their injuries. McKeever plans to appeal the ruling.

During the civil case, Simi Valley police detectives testified that they still believed that McKeever was guilty of the crime. McKeever said a “proper” investigation would end continued speculation about his guilt in the case.

“I was acquitted. I spent six weeks on trial and the jury deliberated for less than an hour and found me not guilty,” he said. “They lost big time, but that doesn’t seem to make any difference. I’m still guilty in their mind.”

McKeever has assembled evidence, including videotape filmed by the Police Department at the crime scene, that he says will show that someone else was involved in the bombing.

“I’m not saying who I think it was,” he said. “The point is that this is not hearsay. This is evidence that the Police Department chose to ignore.”

McKeever said he still plans to push for an independent investigation into the case. Next week he said he will begin the process of filing a lawsuit against the county and the Simi Valley Police Department.