Student planted bombs 'in pattern of a smiley face'

The college student charged with planting 18 pipe-bombs in mailboxes across five American states chose his targets so that they would make a "smiley face" when plotted on a map, police said yesterday. The announcement did little to clarify the motives behind a spate of attacks that has baffled the country.

Lucas Helder, a 21-year-old art student at the University of Wisconsin, has admitted planting the bombs, the first 16 of which appear to form two circles that might be eyes, over stretches of Illinois, Iowa and Nevada. The last two, discovered in Colorado and Texas, could be the beginnings of a mouth.

"There was a comment made to one of my officers about his hope to make his smiley face when he was all finished," said Sheriff Ron Skinner, of Pershing county in Nevada.

Mr Helder was arrested on a road near Reno, Nevada, on Tuesday, after a week of bombings which injured six people, although no one was seriously hurt. Twelve of the packages did not even explode. Notes left with the devices were lengthy and highly literate but did not carry much explanation for the scheme.

The most lucid passages - including lines such as "in avoiding death, you are forced to conform, if you fail to conform, you suffer mentally and physically" - were described by police as "anti-government propaganda", though the term perhaps implied more coherence than the notes displayed. "I will die/change in the end for this," the writer added, "but that's OK, hahaha, paradise awaits!"

Mr Helder has conducted himself bewilderingly since his arrest, grinning broadly for the cameras as he is led from city to city as part of a collaborative prosecution across all five states.

He was due to appear in court yesterday afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in connection with two charges that carry a penalty of between 37 years and life in prison, along with fines of up to $250,000 (£171,300). He faces similar charges in Chicago and Nebraska.

"His demeanour was very jovial," sheriff Skinner said. "He didn't seem to be taking anything seriously at the time."

Cameron and Pamela Helder visited their son on Thursday at a jail in Reno where he was under suicide watch.

"We are here to see our son in his hour of need," Cameron Helder told a press conference. "We told him we love him. I feel a lot better after speaking to him."

The accused bomber's college classmates said they were confused by his apparent transformation from a polite, high-achieving student who had previously confined his darker thoughts to lyrics he wrote for his band.

"He never made any mention about government views, never even said what he thought about the elections," fellow student Bill Sampson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "If you were to pick someone that the FBI is looking for in that class - he would not be on the list."