SECOND MAN CHARGED IN ATTEMPT TO BOMB CLAY SHERIFF

(09/01/2006)

A second man has been charged in a conspiracy to kill or injure Clay County sheriff Randy Holcomb. Twenty-five-year-old Donnie "Junior" Welch was named in a four-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Charleston. Authorities say Welch and 37-year-old Samuel Todd Murphy built a bomb and placed it in a wooded area last year near the town of Clay, attempting to lure Holcomb to the site with a phony tip about a meth lab. Holcomb was allegedly targeted because he has led a major effort against meth making in Clay, resulting in dozens of arrests. The bomb was detonated before Holcomb could respond to the tip, injuring a Clay man who was picking up pop cans. Samuel Murphy pled guilty last week to possession of an unregistered destructive device and an unrelated charge of use of a communication facility to facilitate a conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He faces up to 18 years in prison and a $750,000 fine when he is sentenced in November. Welch is to appear today in federal court.

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