Ohio man pleads guilty to trying to kill romantic rival with gift-wrapped bomb

BALTIMORE (TCD) -- A 32-year-old Ohio man pleaded guilty to traveling to Maryland with the intent to kill his romantic rival with a homemade bomb.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Clayton McCoy built an explosive bomb at his home in Ohio and then drove to the victim’s home in Carroll County, Maryland, with the intent to kill him. McCoy reportedly said he knew the victim and his girlfriend through a "live action role-playing battle game/social club."

McCoy developed romantic feelings for the victim’s girlfriend, and when he confessed those feelings, she did not reciprocate, the Attorney’s Office said.

After the rejection, McCoy looked up the materials he would need to deliver a bomb to the victim’s home so that he could win her over.

According to the Attorney’s Office, McCoy went to various stores and bought substances to create explosive powder, and he purchased single items from multiple stores and paid in cash to avoid law enforcement detection.

McCoy reportedly used an angle grinder saw to cut scrap metal and make shrapnel to go inside the bomb. The Attorney’s Office said McCoy "inserted the homemade shrapnel and BB’s into the metal pipe to increase the deadliness of the pipe bomb when it exploded."

To disguise the bomb, McCoy allegedly gift-wrapped it, and he tied a red ribbon with a firing mechanism around the box, so that when it was opened, it would explode. McCoy even tested the bomb by creating a prototype to make sure it would detonate, the Attorney’s Office said.

McCoy drove seven hours from Ohio to Maryland on Oct. 30, 2020, with the homemade pipe bomb, and he placed it on the porch of the victim’s home, according to the Attorney’s Office. The victim’s grandfather reportedly found the package outside the front door, brought it inside, and he kept it on the kitchen counter.

When the victim returned home, the Attorney’s Office said he opened the box, and it detonated. He was reportedly hit in the front of his body by shrapnel, and he suffered injuries to his chest, legs, and front of his body.

The victim was treated at the hospital, underwent multiple surgeries, and was released on Nov. 17, 2020. The victim had to use a walker for two weeks after his hospital release, according to the Attorney’s Office. The explosion reportedly caused $46,690 in home damages as well, forcing the grandparents in the home to move out and live elsewhere during repairs.

On March 10, 2021, several months after the explosion, investigators reportedly searched McCoy’s home in Chesterland, Ohio, and recovered items used to make the bomb. Initially, McCoy said he knew the victim but did not know where he lived.

According to the Attorney’s Office, McCoy told authorities he heard about the bombing through some friends, but he said he had nothing to do with it. Law enforcement reportedly presented McCoy with maps of his movements on the day of the bombing, and he eventually admitted that he created and delivered the device.

According to the Attorney’s Office, on Oct. 12, McCoy officially pleaded guilty to transporting explosives with intent to injure and possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for transporting explosives with intent to injure and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device.

MORE:

• Ohio Man Admits to Making a Bomb and Driving it to Carroll County, Maryland with the Intent to Kill His Romantic Rival - U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland