LOCAL

1 week later, here's what we know about would-be AVL bomber

Dillon Davis
The Citizen-Times

ASHEVILLE — The man suspected of leaving an explosive device at the Asheville Regional Airport had been in jail just 20 days prior, according to public records.

Michael Christopher Estes was incarcerated for attacking a man with a hatchet and knife in Swain County earlier this year. Incident reports show that just days before, he was charged with breaking and entering and larceny.

Last week, the 46-year-old added more to his checkered history of criminal charges. He was charged Tuesday with attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosive materials in an airport.

Other than criminal records, little is still known about the man federal authorities have linked to an explosive device left Oct. 6 near an airport terminal containing ammonium nitrate, a bulk industrial explosive, as well as fuel oil and an alarm clock. 

Michael Christopher Estes

Before last week's incident, Estes was released from prison Sept. 28, according to N.C. Department of Public Safety's offender records. The online database shows he began his sentence Sept. 21. 

It's unclear why Estes would have served seven days, despite being sentenced to up to 21 months. A public information officer for the Department of Public Safety did not immediately return calls and emails requesting clarification.

In incident reports, Cherokee Indian Police Department officers said Estes walked onto a man's Swain County property on July 31, 2015, chasing him into the single-wide trailer before attacking him with a 16-inch knife and hatchet. 

The victim reportedly had lacerations to his right temple, his left check from his mouth to his ear lobe, and his left tricep. He also suffered a puncture wound to his chest, according to the reports.

The incident came 17 days after Estes was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and larceny, both felonies, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran said. Estes pleaded them down to misdemeanor charges.

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Federal authorities claimed in a criminal complaint that Estes has admitted to placing the explosive device at the airport. He reportedly had secured materials for the device at Walmart and Lowe's stores in Arden, outside of Asheville.

The device was a Mason-type jar with a lid locked down, the complaint states. It had prills, described as "pellets or solid globules of a substance formed by the congealing of a liquid during processing," inside the jar and two plastic cups containing an unknown liquid substance authorities believe to be the fuel source.

Once ammonium nitrate forms into prills, it can absorb the fuel oil needed for an explosion, the complaint states. The clock within the device was set to go off at 6 a.m.

Video footage from the airport showed an individual, identified as Estes, walking onto airport grounds at 12:39 a.m. Oct. 6. He was wearing black clothing and a black cap and carrying a bag. Estes told investigators he "staged" in the woods near the airport several days before placing the device at the airport.

"Estes claimed that he was getting ready to 'fight a war on U.S. soil,' but also claimed that he did not actually set the alarm clock," the complaint states. 

Estes' history shows, at one time, he lived in Tazewell, Tennessee, with his parents, Jimmie and the late Barbara Estes, who died in 2012. His last known address was in Asheville, authorities say.

A number listed in Tazewell for Estes reached Jimmie Estes, who identified himself as Michael Estes' father. Jimmie Estes said he and his son haven't spoken in "several years," their relationship fractured since Michael Estes joined the Navy.  

He was unaware of the incident at the Asheville Regional Airport. He also said he did not know whether his son was married, where he was living or whether he had a job. The one detail he could share was that Michael has a brother, Robert, with whom he also does not speak.

Asked about his son's childhood, Jimmie said his son did well in school and was "gifted," but he doesn’t know if that carried into adulthood. 

"I don’t really know him anymore," he said. 

Through a public records search, the Citizen-Times was unable to confirm Estes has a brother. Fredilyn Sison, an assistant federal public defender who said Tuesday she likely would represent Estes, declined to comment on the case.

Estes’ case has been the subject of local, regional and national news coverage, though it has been a point of outrage for some who argue it has not been covered to the extent of other similar incidents. 

The incident has been reported by NPR, the Associated Press and CNN anchor Jake Tapper, among others. It also was fact-checked by Snopes as an incident some people criticized as going “unreported.”

Reporter Shaun King for The Intercept was critical of the lack of response to Estes by the national news media and President Donald Trump, which he argued was related to race.

“We hear nothing at all — almost exclusively because the man who planted an improvised explosive device, just like ones that have been used to murder and maim people all over the world, was white,” King argued. “His guilt starts and stops with him.”

County jail records list Estes as both American Indian and Alaskan native.

However, Jimmie Estes refutes both, saying the family is white and of European heritage, which is consistent with information in a state database.

Citizen-Times reporter John Boyle contributed to this report.