Woman in bomb threats case ruled competent

BANGOR – A Hampden woman charged with making bomb threats that shut down three area schools for a day in March is competent to participate in her own defense, Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk ruled Friday.

Jodi Lynn Holmes, 46, was arrested in May and charged in U.S. District Court with mailing bomb threats to Hampden Academy, John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, and Bangor Christian Schools prompting them to shut down on March 28, the day the bombs allegedly were set to go off.

No bombs were found during searches of the schools.

Holmes allegedly told investigators she sent the letters during what was “a bad mental health week” and that her goal was to terrorize the recipients.

At the hearing Friday, Holmes waived her right to a competency hearing after spending more than two months being evaluated over the summer at a federal mental health facility in Texas.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, who was filling in for Kravchuk, ordered the psychiatric evaluation on May 24 at Holmes’ first court appearance due to her mental health history. The results of that evaluation were filed with the court last month but are not public.

A detention and bail hearing is scheduled to be held on Nov. 16. Holmes will be held at the Penobscot County Jail pending the outcome of that hearing.

Administrators from the three schools attended the hearing Friday. No members of Holmes’ family were there.

The Hampden mother allegedly mailed three nearly identical bomb threats to the schools on March 23. All three included the sentence, “The first bomb will go off at 1:45 p.m. on March 28th.” They were signed “Radar,” according to court documents.

Each letter also said that one section of each school would be safe. For Hampden Academy, it was the “portables,” for John Bapst, it was the auditorium; and for Bangor Christian, it was the gym.

“The week of March 23rd I was feeling angry feelings of terrorizing,” Holmes allegedly said in a written statement included in the affidavit filed in federal court. “Either bomb threats or threatening phone calls to hospitals or schools.”

Holmes wrote the letters while her husband and children were sleeping, according to court documents, and took precautions to keep from being detected. She allegedly wore latex gloves and sealed the envelopes with a wet cloth.

If convicted, Holmes faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. She also could be ordered to pay restitution to the schools to reimburse them for the cost of the shutdown. Administrators at Hampden Academy in May placed their costs at about $22,400.

If Holmes were found not guilty by reason of insanity, she could be sent to a federal or in-state facility at federal expense until she was deemed no longer a danger to herself or others.