A man accused of igniting a pipe bomb outside a building in Colorado Springs occupied by the NAACP has entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the case.
A federal court document indicates that Thaddeus Cheyenne Murphy has agreed to change his not guilty plea in connection to a Jan. 6 bombing.
A change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 3 in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge William Martinez.
Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Walsh, said Wednesday he could not comment about the plea agreement.
Before the plea, Murphy faced up to 20 years in prison for a federal charge of igniting an incendiary or explosive device that damages or destroys a building and 10 years for a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. He is being held without bail.
The Colorado Springs man had told investigators he was angry at his accountant, but there are at least two major problems with that scenario.
Henry Allen Jr., president of the Colorado Springs branch of the NAACP, has said he is suspicious of Murphy’s claimed motivation.
For example, the accountant Murphy had referred to, Steven Douglas DeHaven, had died six months earlier. Second, building tenants say there were no tax preparation businesses there for at least 17 years. In fact, records indicate DeHaven worked out of his house, not in the building that was bombed.
Allen said he believes Murphy had targeted the NAACP office.
Allen said on the day of the blast, two NAACP volunteers and the building owner were the only people working in the building at 603 S. El Paso St. It contains only two operating businesses, the NAACP and Southerland’s hair salon, called Mr. G’s Hair Design Studio. No one was hurt in the bombing.
