Netflix’s “Catching Killers” has been diving into the cases of one serial murderer after another since its premiere in 2021 in an effort to shed light on the dark side of human nature. This means that ‘Manhunt: The Olympic Park Bomber,’ the third episode of season three, which tells the chilling story of none other than domestic terrorist Eric Robert Rudolph, is obviously not any different. We now have the information you need if you just want to discover more about this prisoner, paying particular attention to his upbringing, his crimes, and his current situation.
Who is Eric Rudolph?
Although Eric was born on September 19, 1966, into a loving, devoted Christian family in Merritt Island, Florida, his early years were regrettably not as tranquil or secure as many may have anticipated. That’s because his father Robert tragically passed away in 1981 when he was just 15 years old, prompting the family’s decision to move to Macon County, North Carolina, in an effort to start again. In actuality, he proudly persisted in his studies here but left after a year to concentrate more on providing for the family by working alongside his brother Daniel in the carpenter trade.
Eric didn’t realise it was time to get his GED until he turned 18 and voluntarily went with his mother Patricia to the Church of Israel Christian Identity property in Missouri. According to reports, the young man reportedly enlisted in the US Army virtually as soon as he completed his elementary education in order to be eligible, unaware that this would immediately turn his world upside down. This is due to the fact that, despite his dedication and hard work, he was dishonourably dismissed less than a year later, in January 1989, for marijuana smoking.
According to official records, Eric was serving at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with the 101st Airborne Divisi on at the time, but this disciplinary action abruptly caused him to become radical. He reportedly started dipping in and out of white nationalist organisations, developed into an anti-government zealot, and wasn’t even afraid to say he opposed liberal “ideas.” The LGBTQ+ community, “abortion on demand,” and “global socialism” were just a few things that, it’s fair to say, drove the former soldier insane and inspired him to come up with a heinous scheme.
Early on July 27, 1996, while Atlanta, Georgia, was hosting the Summer Olympics, Eric exploded a bomb at Centennial Park. This occurred shortly after making two anonymous 911 calls. An foreign television cameraman died of a severe heart attack while rushing to the scene just minutes after the incident, which left one spectator dead and 111 others injured. As if this wasn’t enough, over the course of the following two years, he planted five more bombs: four in Georgia (near an abortion clinic and a lesbian bar), one in Alabama (outside another abortion clinic, where a police officer was killed), and one in Georgia (near a lesbian lounge).
Where is Eric Rudolph Now?
It should come as no surprise that Eric was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on May 5, 1998, given his horrible deeds, but regrettably, he was able to elude capture for five years. He had already been named as a suspect a short while earlier, and when the same was announced at a news conference, he escaped into the North Carolina woods before authorities could apprehend him. Although it was the authorities’ clear opinion that he had been living alone in the woods, on May 31, 2003, a rookie police officer in Murphy, North Carolina, discovered him skip diving and made a permanent arrest.
In the end, Eric admitted guilt to multiple federal and state counts in order to avoid the death penalty. He also disclosed the locations of the 250 pounds of dynamite, his bomb-building materials, and at least one additional working explosive he had hidden in the woods. Thus, on July 18, 2005, he received two consecutive federal life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 1998 murder of a police officer, and on August 22, 2005, he received an additional two life sentences for his bombings in Atlanta. Eric is still imprisoned at the Administrative Maximum Facility-Florence (or ADX Florence) in Fremont County, Colorado, at the age of 56.
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