Bomber pleads guilty

last updated 8 January 2015

Birmingham, Ala.

Eric Rudolph agreed to plead guilty this week to a series of bombings, including one that killed a spectator and injured 111 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also was accused of bombing an abortion clinic and a nightclub in Atlanta, as well as an abortion clinic in Birmingham, where an off-duty police officer died. Rudolph, a survivalist and white supremacist, hid in the North Carolina mountains for five years before he was caught. Authorities believe locals may have helped him—some began wearing “Run Rudolph Run” T-shirts—but nobody has been charged. A plea deal spared Rudolph from the death penalty, but he will spend the rest of his life in prison.