Collar bomb on high schooler in Sydney.

[weemadando]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-03/s ... ce/2823278

On mobile, so can't do much in the way of quotes etc, but news reports say its the daughter of "Australia's richest family".

[wautd]

Sadly, not a Hollywood movie.

I cannot imagine how traumatic this must be for this girl.

[weemadando]

Australia has had some extortion masquerading as domestic terror in the past and I hope that this one gets nipped in the bud and that the girl survives.

[Broomstick]

Holy crap! That's awful!

Reminds me of that business with the pizza delivery guy in the states awhile back. Just hope this one ends better.

[Jawawithagun]

Update says they done it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-04/p ... nt/2823730

[White Haven]

Useless post says nothing informative. Let's try that again.

After 10 hours Sydney police have managed to free a young woman who was attached to a potentially explosive device in a house in the suburb of Mosman.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said the 18 year old was successfully separated from the device and reunited with her parents shortly after 12.00am on Thursday morning.

Police were called to the house on Burrawong Avenue at 2.30pm (AEST).

Earlier reports suggested the device was placed on the woman's neck by a man in a balaclava. There were also reports the man left a note in what is suspected to be an extortion attempt.

During the efforts to free the woman the house was evacuated, with the exception of four police officers who stayed with her.

The Robbery and Serious Crime Squad, which deals with extortion and kidnap for ransom, are leading the investigation.

Police have confirmed, however, that they have not been in contact with the person that left the device with the young woman.

Streets in the were cordoned off and houses were evacuated in the street on Sydney's leafy North Shore, which is also home to horse trainer Gai Waterhouse.

Police are calling for witnesses and anyone who might have information about the situation to call CrimeStoppers on 1300 333 000.

More to come.

What, are words tightly rationed where you're posting from?

[Hamstray]

Useless post says nothing informative. Let's try that again.

The thread title is a bit unfortunate (the "high schooler" part). The first think that it made me think is that this could be something they put on her for poor achievement in class, you know like in Battle Royal. That would have been very perverted. Still awful though. Those things irk me out, never knew they existed for real.

[UnderAGreySky]

I saw this in the morning and went "I've seen a movie about this..." Turned out I was recalling not Battle Royale but a B-Grade movie called Wedlock starring Rutger Hauer.

The weird thing about this news was that I checked thrice at different points in the day and the collar was STILL on. It apparently took ten hours to defuse - I'm glad it did not blow up in all that time. Precludes a short time timer and if it was remote controlled, the guy either split or the police jammed all signals. Either way I'm glad she made it. Bizarre situation.

[weemadando]

Apparently there were no explosives, but police aren't saying if it was purely a dummy device or something else.

Seems like someone is probably wanting to skip the country right now if they haven't already.

And as for word rationing - that's the ABC, dudes report facts.

[Flagg]

MSNBC.com is reporting that it was a hoax.

[weemadando]

I think they mean the device was a hoax/not a real bomb, not that the situation was a hoax.

[weemadando]

Apparently the father is the head of a large computer security firm and is a consultant to multiple governments, police forces and the UN.

So its possibly a motive other than just money.

[Lord of the Abyss]

I think they mean the device was a hoax/not a real bomb, not that the situation was a hoax.

Yes.

A device attached to a terrified Sydney teenager for 10 hours yesterday was not a bomb, police have confirmed.

"A very, very elaborate hoax as it turned out," NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said today after police released Madeleine Pulver, 18, from the device in a delicate operation.

"But it was made and certainly gave the appearance of a legitimate improvised explosive device," he told the media outside the young woman's home in Mosman on Sydney's north shore.

"We had to treat it seriously until we could prove otherwise and that's exactly what we did and that's why it took so long."

[Korto]

A device attached to a terrified Sydney teenager for 10 hours yesterday was not a bomb, police have confirmed.

"A very, very elaborate hoax as it turned out," NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said today after police released Madeleine Pulver, 18, from the device in a delicate operation.

Which makes sense. If it's meant to be a once-off, not some campaign, there's absolutely no advantage for the perpetrator in having it be a real bomb, and many advantages for it to be a fake.
A Real Bomb:
1) Can be difficult to get ingredients for without alerting police
2) Can go off while you're putting it together
3) Is difficult to explain if your house should get raided by the police in the lead-up to your caper.

A Fake Bomb
1) Is just as scary as a real one
2) has infinitely less chance of going off accidentally and killing your victim when you didn't want it too.
3) Will mean you get less years in prison should you get caught

The only time that bomb is supposed to go off if if your scheme fails, and then what's the point of that? To be a bad loser?

The interesting thing is, is whether this is really over. What was the point of this from the perpetrator's POV? If it was just extortion, then why was the girl allowed to call the police? (Could have been just a dumb mistake, but still...) Was someone trying to put the frighteners into the family? Will there be a phone call one night soon "I'm the man who put the bomb on your daughter. I can do it again, and the next one will be real. The police can't help you. Now, here's what I want you to do..."
Oh well, baseless speculation for fun and profit. May never know.

[Alkaloid]

Quick update, Australian man was arrested in Kentucky this morning (3:30 local time) over the incident. Be interesting to find out what his demands were now, if any.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-collar ... 1iv7m.html

Sydney collar bomb hoax: police name Australian suspect arrested in US
Glenda Kwek
August 16, 2011 - 11:31AM

Live from 11.30am: The father of Madeleine Pulver speaks about the news that the FBI have arrested an Australian man in relation to the bomb hoax incident.

In an extraordinary breakthrough in an extraordinary case, a 50-year-old Australian man named as Paul "Doug" Peters has been arrested in the United States over the collar bomb hoax on Sydney schoolgirl Madeleine Pulver.

Mr Peters, who police say does business in Australia and the US, was arrested near Louisville, Kentucky, about 5.30am AEST today (3.30pm Kentucky time on Monday) by an FBI SWAT team and two detectives from the NSW Robbery and Serious Crime Squad's Strike Force Haddon.
Advertisement: Story continues below
One week after her ordeal, Madeleine Pulver on her way to school. Two weeks after her ordeal, police make an arrest in the USA.

Madeleine Pulver on her way to school one week after her ordeal. Police have now made an arrest in the US. Photo: Nick Moir

FBI special agent Elizabeth A. Fries, who named the man, said he had been staying at his ex-wife's apartment in Heather Green Boulevarde, La Grange, a town of 5000 people 48 kilometres north-east of Louisville.

Do you know more? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764) or email us with information or images.

Police confirmed the man, who they did not name in a Sydney briefing, had not been a suspect until he left Australia on August 8, after which he was placed under surveillance.
Madeleine Pulver ... 10-hour ordeal.

Madeleine Pulver ... 10-hour ordeal. Photo: Simon Alekna

He is now in custody and NSW police will seek his extradition to Australia to face charges of aggravated breaking in and entering, and kidnapping.

The fake bomb was attached to Ms Pulver's neck by a balaclava-clad intruder in her family's home at Mosman on Sydney's north shore on August 3. After 10 hours, during which police officers sat with the teenager while specialists worked on the device, the collar was found not to contain any explosives.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Hudson told a packed media conference in Sydney today that the suspect was surprised when he was confronted by police today.

View Collar bomb arrest in a larger map

The apartment was still being searched, he added.

"A fairly detailed chain of circumstantial evidence led us to making the arrest ... it's fairly compelling," Mr Hudson said.

Mr Peters, who flew between Australia and the United States for work and has family in both countries, had been living in Sydney for six weeks before August 3.

While he declined to elaborate on what made police suspect Mr Peters, Mr Hudson said police were "confident that he is responsible for the crime" and that no other suspects were being sought.

The bomb hoax was still being treated as an extortion attempt and Mr Peters had not been known to police before this case.

Mr Peters had some connection to the Pulver family, but no "direct links". He was not believed to have been inside the Pulver home before.

Mr Hudson would not comment on questions about whether Mr Peters had any business links with Bill Pulver, Ms Pulver's father and the chief executive of Appen Butler Hill, a linguistic software company that specialises in voice recognition software.

"The ins and outs of motive are yet to be determined and that's part of our ongoing investigation," Mr Hudson said.

"We will allege through the courts ... [he] was responsible for entering the Pulver home and placing the device around [Ms Pulver's] neck."

He would not outline exactly how police came to identify Mr Peters and would not comment on whether his fingerprints were found on the device.

Mr Hudson said the extradition process was "not an exact science" and it could take some time.

He said police had treated the bomb hoax as a "true offence" from the beginning and Ms Pulver's statement helped them make the arrest.

A delighted NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione praised his officers and those of the FBI.

''They have worked with us [over] every request. ... They made our job just that little bit easier,'' he said.

He added that this was a ''very good day for the NSW Police Force'' and, quoting the NSW Police motto, said: ''Justice swiftly follows crime.''

Today's arrest came after reports a computer was seized by police on the NSW central coast over the weekend.

On Friday, police confirmed reports that investigators had a suspect, but had not spoken to the person yet. It followed a report Ms Pulver told police her attacker had "old, wrinkly eyes".

Shortly after the incident, it was also revealed that a long, typed note with strict instructions and signed by fictional character Dick Struan from the 1966 novel Tai-Pan had been pinned to Ms Pulver, 18, during her ordeal.

The Pulver family was based in New York for a few years from 2002 when Mr Pulver was president and chief executive of NetRatings, an audience ratings company.

Mr Pulver will hold a press conference this morning.

- with Stephanie Gardiner and AAP