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Posted: August 6, 2003
On July 2, 2003, Robert J. Kubisch, who is suspected of blowing up dozens of mailboxes in two states over the past five years, was charged with various weapons violations and 15 counts of bias intimidation and vandalism in Somerset County, New Jersey. He is also accused of writing anti-Semitic graffiti threatening public officials.
Kubisch, 48, was arrested on June 28 by police in Bernardston, Massachusetts, who said they saw him blow up two mailboxes and a tree. He was charged with six criminal offenses and transferred to the Somerset County jail after posting bail.
On June 30, local, state and federal authorities searched Kubisch's home, which he shares with his parents, in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. Investigators found over 100 homemade bombs and chemicals used to make explosives as well as racist and anti-Semitic literature and newspaper articles describing incidents of racist graffiti and mailbox bombings in the area.
Kubisch was arraigned in Somerset County Superior Court two days later and charged with one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of destructive devices, and two counts of criminal mischief along with the 15 counts of bias intimidation.
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said that Kubisch is also accused of writing anti-Semitic graffiti that threatened Bridgewater's Mayor, James Dowden, and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.
Law enforcement officials suspect Kubisch is also responsible for blowing up mailboxes in Massachusetts, where he would travel to exhibit his collection of antique engines at conventions.
Michael Kelly, a Bernardston police detective said that from 2000 to 2002 about 30 explosions destroyed mailboxes in Bernardston and nearby Orange, Massachusetts, and that all of them were set off within a mile of an engine show.
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