May 22, 2008

SPRINGFIELD – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Mountain Grove, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for mailing a pipe bomb with the intent to injure and intimidate another person. Donald W. Schamber, 60, Mountain Grove, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to 10 years in federal prison without parole, which is the statutory maximum sentence for the violation. Schamber pleaded guilty on Feb. 8, 2008, to mailing a pipe bomb. A postal carrier found the pipe bomb in a mail collection box in West Plains, Mo., on June 1, 2007. The explosive device was wrapped in brown packing paper and addressed to the West Plains Police Department.. A mail carrier notified law enforcement officers about the suspicious package, which was x-rayed to reveal the pipe bomb. The functional explosive device was designed to initiate upon the opening of the box. Investigating officers learned that Schamber (who had not yet been identified) had purchased the materials to make the pipe bomb from a local Wal-Mart Supercenter. Photos from the store’s surveillance video were placed on a reward poster, which was distributed to the media. A citizen contacted the West Plains Police Department on June 3, 2007, and identified Schamber from the reward poster. Schamber was arrested the next day when he was encountered by law enforcement officers in front of the police department. Schamber told investigators that he mailed the pipe bomb as part of a plot to incriminate his ex-wife’s current husband, in an effort to restore his relationship with his ex-wife. Schamber also deposited the remnants of the items used to make the bomb in his ex-wife’s yard as part of the plot. This case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Oliver. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Missouri State Highway Patrol; the Howell County Sheriff’s Office; the Oregon County Sheriff’s Office; the Texas County Sheriff’s Office; and the West Plains Police and Fire departments.