FBI Hunting Man Linked to 12 Bombings

SALT LAKE CITY — Federal agents on Monday released a composite sketch of a man wanted in a dozen bombing incidents that have taken place over nine years.

The most recent blast, last week, injured a man here.

“It now has been determined that there is an absolute link between this bombing . . . and 11 other bombings that have occurred across the country since 1978,” said Robert Bryant, an FBI agent in Utah. The blasts have injured 21 people and killed one man, a Sacramento computer store owner.

The sketch was drawn from descriptions given by two store employees who saw a man place a device next to a fellow worker’s vehicle an hour before it exploded, Bryant said. Authorities said the suspect is between 25 and 30 years old and between 5 foot 10 and 6 feet tall, has blond or sun-bleached hair and a reddish complexion.

Bombs Sent in Mail

He may live in the immediate area, because four of the bombs used, including three sent through the mail from Utah, were traced to Salt Lake City, Bryant said.

Federal agents conducted a quiet search for the bomber until December, 1985, when Hugh Campbell Scrutton touched a package left outside his store and was killed as it exploded. Officials then went public with the search, hoping to get new information.

Police said the bomber might be a disgruntled academic or computer worker, because the apparent targets of the 12 bombs included university professors and individuals involved with computers, airlines and aircraft production, electrical engineering and computer science, Bryant said.