Federal investigators say a Chicago man accused of making threats against Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a former student.
Twenty-one year old Derrick Dawon Burns is accused of mailing threats of rapes, killings, bombings and beheadings at SIU, and investigators say his own actions made them look more closely at him.
Burns was arrested Monday on eight charges related to a series of seven threatening letters mailed between September 2012 and September 2013. SIUC Spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith tells The Associated Press Burns attended the university for four semesters.
According to the criminal complaint, originally filed under seal on September 25th in US District Court at Benton, the hand-written letters were found in USPS mail boxes in Carbondale, at the main post office in Carbondale, and at the postal collection center in St. Louis. Each of the letters referenced "The War on SIU." Court documents show that Threat Letter 3, found in early October 2012, indicated the writer had raped and killed seven SIUC students, 4 of which their bodies were buried in mass graves in Thompson Woods. The letter also claimed the writer had hanged two students in a basement and the seventh body was dumped in Thompson Lake. Court records also show Threat Letter 3 contained threats to shoot various staff members and was signed "Terrorist of America"
In the complaint, FBI investigators say Burns demonstrated detailed knowledge of the content of the threat letters and claims made by the writer of the letters including details that had not been made public. During an interview with the FBI this month Burns insisted that his statements were true and denied having any involvement in writing the letters. Investigators also say that seven latent fingerprints belonging to Burns have been identified on four of the seven threat letters.
The FBI says Burns drew investigators' scrutiny in July when he separately called SIU-Carbondale police and the FBI and insisted a man called ``Big Russ'' told him about the threats. The FBI alleges investigators traced those calls back to Burns.
Online court records don't show whether Burns has an attorney. He's jailed without bond, pending a hearing Wednesday.
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A Chicago man has been charged with making bomb and violence threats against students, faculty and staff of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Federal prosecutors announced Monday 21-year-old Derrick Dawon Burns is accused of making the threats on October 10, 2012, October 15, 2012, December 6, 2012, and October 1, 2013.
The charges were filed in the southern district of Illinois. However, Burns appeared Monday in a Chicago federal court, where he was ordered held without bond pending a Wednesday detention hearing.
U.S. Attorney Stephen Wigginton didn't reveal a motive for the threats, nor what led to Burns' arrest.
Prosecutors say if convicted, Burns faces ten years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each of eight counts filed against him.
It wasn't immediately known if Burns has an attorney.
