Prosecutors will seek a new indictment against a Madison County man suspected of making a bomb that was found outside a Carroll County church in June, according to a motion filed Friday by a U.S. attorney.
Mark Stephen Krause, 40, remains in the Benton County jail on a federal charge of possessing a destructive device.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Johnson on Friday filed a motion asking to postpone Krause’s trial, which is scheduled March 4 in Harrison. Further, the motion states that the U.S. attorney intends to ask for a superseding indictment at the next grand jury.
FBI forensic examiners need more time to study 70 items of evidence, the motion states. The FBI also wants to demonstrate the power of the bomb Krause is suspected of building by conducting test explosions, according to the motion.
The motion does not state how the new indictment is expected to differ from the initial one.
A grand jury in Fort Smith on Jan. 14 indicted Krause on a charge of possessing a destructive device not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. The charge is a violation of U.S. Code, Title 26, Section 5861(d) and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The explosive device found at Osage Baptist Church was built inside a Pepsi can, authorities have said. It was placed outside the door of the church gymnasium after 6 p.m. June 7. The gym was being used as a polling place the next day, and several people handled the device before someone discovered on June 9 that it was a bomb, according to court documents.
Federal agents have said the device was filled with shotgun pellets and powered by eight AAA batteries designed to ignite flash powder and serve as shrapnel. The bomb incorporated three switches, including an “improvised anti-lift switch,” according to prior testimony in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
The device did not explode because one of the switches was not properly connected, FBI agents said.
Krause was arrested Dec. 3 in Seattle based on a twocount criminal complaint that accused him of possessing the bomb and trying to use it to kill poll workers. However, he was not indicted on the latter charge, which is a violation of U.S. Code Title 18, Section 245(b)(5).
The FBI tracked Krause to Seattle, in part based on items found in his house in Forum, which was in foreclosure. Authorities used items that FBI agents recovered from the house to link Krause to the crime.
Krause is a metalworker and artist, friends have said.
He has twice been denied bond in separate hearings, the first of which was before his indictment. During that hearing, held Jan. 6-7, Johnson said Krause faced a potential life sentence for attempting to kill a poll worker.
After the indictment, prosecutors would not say whether the grand jury declined to indict Krause on the other charge or if it was presented.
The superseding indictment is similarly off-limits for discussion, said assistant U.S. attorney Deborah Groom, who serves as a spokesman.
Groom said superseding indictments are common and could amend a clerical error, or add or reduce charges.
“In the spectrum of things, it could be anything from a correction, or change in wording, to additional charges — more or less,” she said.
At Krause’s second bond hearing Jan. 28, federal agents testified to finding machine guns and silencers that had been removed from his house by a friend. The weapons — like the bomb he is accused of making — were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, agents said.
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