Massive cache of explosives, bomb manuals found in Maryland home

Anne Arundel County, Md., Fire Department

Maryland authorities on Tuesday showed off materials seized from the home of Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. on New Year's Day.

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

     A Maryland man was being held on $400,000 bond Tuesday after local, state and federal authorities discovered working bombs, more than 100 pounds of bomb-making chemicals and numerous manuals for creating bombs and booby traps in his home, police said.
     The man, Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr., 28, of Glen Burnie, in the Washington suburbs, was held on two counts of making explosives, two counts of possessing explosive materials and one single count of reckless endangerment. Federal charges were pending.

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The fire department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in, and in the past week, they've been removing and cataloging all of the dangerous materials stashed in the suburban house, which they showed off to reporters Tuesday:

• Numerous completed bombs.
• More than 100 pounds of chemicals, including acids, fuels, oxidizers and explosives precursors.
• Glass jars labeled "ammonium chloride," sulfur" and "potassium chlorate."
• Additional components of destructive devices, including igniters and detonators.
• Instruction manuals and books detailing explosive manufacturing and booby traps, with titles like "The Poor Man's James Bond," "Booby Traps," "Deadly Brew" and "Highly Explosive Pyrotechnic Compositions."
• Miscellaneous weapons, including an automatic Ruger Mini-14 rifle, other guns and knives.
• Unspecified "controlled dangerous substances" and packaging materials.

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