SIMI VALLEY : Man to Pay Damages After Bombing

A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that a Moorpark man must pay damages for injuries that a homemade bomb caused to his wife’s ex-husband and another woman, even though a court acquitted him last year in the 1992 bombing.

James R. McKeever, 44, must pay medical and punitive damages of $5,000 apiece to his wife’s former husband, John Monroe, and Monroe’s wife, Charlene Mayer, Judge William L. Peck ruled. Peck’s ruling upheld an earlier small-claims verdict in the couple’s damage suit that was reached Dec. 27 by Municipal Court Commissioner David W. Long.

“I feel a little justice has been done,” said Mayer, who had to undergo skin grafts to repair flesh wounds to her leg caused by the homemade firebomb that exploded near her bed on Nov. 21, 1992. “Having him walk and tell everyone he wasn’t guilty was hard to handle when the judgment came down on acquittal,” she said.

McKeever, who was acquitted May 6, 1993, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

His lawyer, William Robinson, said: “I unequivocally believe from everything I have seen and know that Mr. McKeever is absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing.”

The bomb, made out of a bleach bottle full of gasoline and other materials, exploded in the couple’s bedroom at their Simi Valley home. Monroe threw blankets over the device, but he and his wife were injured in the blast.

Robinson argued in court that Monroe built the bomb as part of an ongoing battle for custody of his son with his ex-wife, who is married to McKeever. He also argued that the eight-inch hole that firefighters found in the couple’s bedroom window could not have been caused by the nine-inch-diameter device.

However, Mike Kwasigroch, attorney for Monroe and Mayer, argued that Simi Valley police found materials identical to the bomb’s components at McKeever’s house.

“I feel good for my clients because they didn’t bring this to court so much for monetary gain as to have it decided once and for all whether or not Mr. McKeever was culpable, and they feel vindicated,” the attorney said.