In a bizarre case that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said resembles “a Hollywood script,” an Australian man strapped what appeared to be a neck bomb to a Sydney teenager’s neck and then fled to the home of his American ex-wife in Louisville.
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A few weeks ago, Paul “Doug” Peters, allegedly broke into an upscale home in the Sydney suburb of Mosman and strapped what he claimed was a bomb around 18-year old Madeline Pulver’s neck. The suspect then fled the scene, setting off a 10-hour ordeal involving scores of bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives – as well as a neighborhood evacuation – before the device was removed and it was determined to be a fake. The suspect left a note indicating he wanted money from the teenager’s father, the wealthy CEO of an IT firm, William Pulver.
An immediate manhunt ensued that led New South Wales police across the pond to an equally upper-middle class suburb in Louisville, Kentucky, where Peters reportedly spent about 6 months out of the last two years living with his ex-wife and daughters.
Details are still coming in as to how and why Peters knew or knew of the Pulvers, but it’s being speculated that Peters involvement with several Australian businesses could have led him into this bizarre plot to extort money from the family.
“This has been a baffling and frightening experience,” said Pulver, who described his daughter as “a bright, happy young woman who for reasons we still don’t understand had her life turned upside down going through this dreadful experience.”
Source: The New York Times.
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Kathy Drasky regularly writes about online culture. Her marketing and communications work with the ANZA Technology Network, Advance Global Australians and with various Australians and Australian enterprises has led to at least a dozen trips Down Under.
An accomplished digital photographer, her photos have appeared in 7×7 Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Google Schmap.
