Article Last Updated: 12/22/2005 04:39 PM

Suspect in ecoterror case found dead

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_3335286
By The Associated Press
DenverPost.com

Phoenix -An Arizona bookstore owner charged with eco-sabotage in
Washington was found dead in a Flagstaff jail cell early Thursday,
authorities said.

William C. Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, Ariz., committed suicide, according
to the Coconino County sheriff's office. The county medical examiner
determined that Rodgers suffocated after placing a plastic bag over his
head while he was being held in a one-person cell.

Rodgers was one of six people arrested this month in connection with
eco-terrorist attacks in Oregon and Washington in recent years. He was
charged in the firebombing of a government wildlife lab outside Olympia,
Wash.

In an affidavit filed in federal court last week, an FBI agent said
Rodgers attended a meeting of Earth Liberation Front members in western
Colorado where the arson of a Vail, Colo., ski resort was planned.