Times Square Bomb Plot SUV Bought Off Craigslist

[HardOCP News]

Just great, now I don’t want to sell anything on Craigslist anymore. Damn, what happened to the days when hookers and getting robbed (or both) were the worst things about Craigslist?

The last registered owner of a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder containing a homemade bomb and found in Times Square on Saturday night told authorities that he recently sold the vehicle to a "Middle Eastern"- or "Hispanic"-looking man for $1,300 cash in $100 bills via Craigslist.

 

[RangerXML]

Great more ammo for the witch hunt against Graigslist. On a side note, LMAO!

You forgot stolen goods on Graigslist.

 

[WBurchnall]

I have an odd suspision/feeling that the guy who sold the vehicle could be a home-grown terrorist. It would be pretty clever to put up an add for 'the gun' that was used to 'kill my wife' and claim you sold it to 'some minority looking guy'. So it couldn't have been me who killed my wife with my own gun cause I had sold it...on craigs list. See? Here's the add that says I want to sell it. Someone emailed me but I didn't keep the email once I finished the sale. Yep. That's the truth.

 

[meme]

I have an odd suspision/feeling that the guy who sold the vehicle could be a home-grown terrorist. It would be pretty clever to put up an add for 'the gun' that was used to 'kill my wife' and claim you sold it to 'some minority looking guy'. So it couldn't have been me who killed my wife with my own gun cause I had sold it...on craigs list. See? Here's the add that says I want to sell it. Someone emailed me but I didn't keep the email once I finished the sale. Yep. That's the truth.

Nope. Anyone who is in any way linked to this would have enormous amounts of government investigation done on them, so if they had half a brain they would make sure there were no links to them.

You can see what happened here. The guy paid cash for a car on craiglist, then didn't register it. He got a license plate from a car in a junk yard somehow, stuck it on the car and drove it to times square.

No way of linking anything back to him at all, as long as he was smart enough not to leave fingerprints or other such evidence.

 

[RangerXML]

No way of linking anything back to him at all, as long as he was smart enough not to leave fingerprints or other such evidence.

I don't know if this is for sure, but it was already confirmed that they found fingerprints. I think the suspects weren't expecting to leave fingerprints in a car that went boom. Then again it could be the prior owners.

 

[Sikkyu]

I don't know if this is for sure, but it was already confirmed that they found fingerprints. I think the suspects weren't expecting to leave fingerprints in a car that went boom. Then again it could be the prior owners.

assuming just makes an ass of u and me...


epic fail

 

[az_max]

Nope. Anyone who is in any way linked to this would have enormous amounts of government investigation done on them, so if they had half a brain they would make sure there were no links to them.

You can see what happened here. The guy paid cash for a car on craiglist, then didn't register it. He got a license plate from a car in a junk yard somehow, stuck it on the car and drove it to times square.

No way of linking anything back to him at all, as long as he was smart enough not to leave fingerprints or other such evidence.

Easy to get licence plates with current tags. Give me a day and a couple teenagers and we'd have 100 that wouldn't immediately be missed. (junkyards, back lots of car dealers, repair places, etc).
You'd think the seller would have phone numbers or email addresses of buyer, as most CL ads don't list the private addrress of the seller. I'm betting on a dumb criminal who used a cell registered in his own name. Phone numbers are more easily traced and can lead to the buyer quicker. Email addresses may be harder, depending on what service he used and how he accessed it.

 

[evilsofa]

No way of linking anything back to him at all, as long as he was smart enough not to leave fingerprints or other such evidence.

Whatever the perp is, he cannot be described as smart. Besides that he DID leave fingerprints as mentioned above, he thought that filing part of the VIN under the windshield would obscure the trail, not knowing that's not the only place to find the VIN.

He also thought that firecracker powder and gasoline cans would be enough to make propane tanks BLEVE. It's not. Hell, he wasn't even able to get the gas cans to light. How difficult is that?

And in a real "I'm a dork that doesn't know how to use search on the Internet" move, he even threw in a half dozen bags of the kind of fertilizer that does not work for fertilizer/diesel fuel bombs, and forgot the diesel!

 

[Hornet]

Nope. Anyone who is in any way linked to this would have enormous amounts of government investigation done on them, so if they had half a brain they would make sure there were no links to them.

You can see what happened here. The guy paid cash for a car on craiglist, then didn't register it. He got a license plate from a car in a junk yard somehow, stuck it on the car and drove it to times square.

No way of linking anything back to him at all, as long as he was smart enough not to leave fingerprints or other such evidence.

Spot on
This guy certainly knows how to cover his track.

Though I'm glad he wasn't smart enough to make a working bomb.Could have been a disaster

 

[Bgrngod]

Terrorist dude will be caught and probably catch a beating in the process of it.

Still, the Craigslist connection is not really all that important. It's no different than having bought it through a classified ad in the newspaper.

 

[Insula Gilliganis]

If I were that CL seller, I would REALLY check out those $100 bills to make sure they were legit!!

 

[evilsofa]

Still, the Craigslist connection is not really all that important. It's no different than having bought it through a classified ad in the newspaper.

On the news tonight, it could turn out to be important after all. Whoever bought the SUV responded to the Craigslist ad by email, and that email address is now known to investigators.

 

[bucket]

Is there some extra significance in a non-white dude purchasing a used vehicle with cash?

 

[SpeedRunner]

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the "attack". The problem for them is, they don't really have any prior experience of attacking outside of South Asia. I basically think they told one of their guys to come over here and blow something up. They probably didn't give him the knowledge or resources to make it successful. I think they sent over a terrorist, just an bad terrorist. That's what I think happened.

 

[BBA]

I'm betting on a dumb criminal who used a cell registered in his own name.

Ohone numbers are untraceable if you get the cash for sim cards on sale at the local 7-11 convenience store. Money talks, no id required...

 

[BBA]

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the "attack". The problem for them is, they don't really have any prior experience of attacking outside of South Asia. I basically think they told one of their guys to come over here and blow something up. They probably didn't give him the knowledge or resources to make it successful. I think they sent over a terrorist, just an bad terrorist. That's what I think happened.

I tend to agree with you on that.

 

[bsoft]

He also thought that firecracker powder and gasoline cans would be enough to make propane tanks BLEVE

Interestingly, the MythBusters episode that aired two weeks ago actually focused on exactly this. Obviously it could be a coincidence, but it's also possible that we have a stupid criminal who watched MythBusters and decided to replicate the explosion themselves.

What I really want to know is whether or not the pressure relief device was removed or disabled in the propane tanks. If it wasn't, the tanks basically had zero chance of becoming a BLEVE, regardless of how hot they became.

 

[westrock2000]

Why did he even buy the car to begin with? I mean, national news, all over the Internet. You dont think the person that sold the car was going to go "hmmmmm..."? That immediatly will already put you in "he was somewhere between here and here" situation.

Come on ppl, if your going to do something *extremely* illegal, watch CourtTV for a year before you do it. You'll stay clear of these rookie mistakes.

Thought the dash was the ony place a VIN was located......seriously??? We'll never win against these people, they are too stupid to know they lost. Its bad enough that the biggest war that is going on in the world right now is between country A who has the most advanced air force in the world and country B who doesn't even have 1 fighter.

 

[chinmi]

maybe he advertised it on craiglist is like this :

"For Sale !!! Super Cheap !!

(photo's courtesy of google image finder, real car color and shape may vary)

Buy this 1993 Nissan Pathfinder and you'll get a free homemade bomb inside. This Nissan is best if parked in Times Square on Saturday night, and it will make you look super awesome and super powerful... For as low as $1,300 this awesome could be yours !!

PS : Be sure to stay away from your car approximately 250m from it after you park it in central park !!!"

 

[RangerXML]

assuming just makes an ass of u and me...


epic fail

I heard it on the news and this morning they confirmed it again, I just wasn't sure. Scratching my head here at the 'epic fail' part.

I think this joke is appropriate; so this really makes an ass out of u, not me.

 

[Sergius64]

They caught the guy already.

 

[RangerXML]

Still wondering if suspects family is being held hostage in Pakistan, the guy may be devoted, but he didn't go all darkside until after his visit where his family went back and never came back with him. I hear nothing but bad things about the region he went to visit, as in not tourist friendly and he has family there.

 

[viqas]

As a pakistani decendent, i can tell you for sure that there is not much tourism in pakistan. However majority of the people there love america and love americans.

Karachi does have a lot of police corruption and also have gang violence. Also pakistanis in the tribal area love guns. they love guns more than rednecks here.