Alleged Mosque Plotter Had Long History Of Crime, Mental Illness

[cali]

Ryan J. Reilly | January 31, 2011, 10:30AM


Roger Stockham, the 63-year-old Vietnam vet who was arrested last week for allegedly plotting to attack the largest mosque in North America, has a long history of run-ins with the law and mental health issues.

Contemporaneous news reports spanning the past five decades chronicle a number of troubling incidents that resulted in both state and federal charges. Stockham has frequently argued that he's insane and has been put in a variety of programs.

In 1979, Stockham kidnapped his son from a foster home and took him aboard a rented plane, which he crashed in Los Angeles. He was deemed insane after setting fire to some oil storage tanks. After sending threatening letters to President Jimmy Carter, Stockham escaped from a state mental hospital in 1981.

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Then in 2002, Stockham sent obscenity-laced letters to employees in the South Burlington Veterans Affairs office, according to Vermont's Burlington Free Press, which also received threatening phone calls. Stockham threatened to "take out'' the VA office in White River Junction.

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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/alleged_mosque_plotter_had_long_history_of_crime_m.php

From another article:

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The Detroit News reported Sunday that Stockham served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans’ clinic in 2002. Stockham pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to federal charges stemming from the case in Vermont in 2004. That included threatening the president, mailing threatening communications, threatening by use of the telephone to use explosives, and threatening witnesses.

A psychiatric examination found that Stockham suffered from bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorder with anti-social features.

In May 2005, a federal order of conditional release was issued for Stockham. It said the warden of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Miss., certified that Stockham had recovered from his mental disease and that his conditioned release under a regiment of treatments would not create a risk of bodily injury or harm to others.

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http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/man_arrested_with_explosives_p.html

[sufrommich]

1. Yes, he defiantly has some mental issues. Kudos to the local

bartender who was concerned enough to call the police.

[cali]

2. I remember this guy from the incident here in VT

He's quite sick.

[sufrommich]

3. I'm pretty amazed at his ability to get around. I live a couple of

miles from the mosque he went to,I think this was their first real threat of violence. I'm happy it didn't come from our local community.