A Maine woman pleaded guilty Friday to killing her husband, who she said had wanted to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb" during the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama, the Bangor Daily News reported (see GSN, Feb. 12).
Amber Cummings, 31, entered a plea for domestic violence manslaughter in Knox County Superior Court in Rockland. Sentencing is scheduled for January; as part of her plea agreement, she is expected to serve a maximum of one year behind bars.
Cummings shot her husband James Cummings, 29, on Dec. 9, 2008. She said her husband was abusive and had planned on bringing her and their 9-year-old daughter to his suicide attack in Washington, where they also would have been killed. An FBI memorandum also states that James Cummings abused his wife over a 10-year period.
Authorities collected explosive and radioactive materials from the couple's Belfast home after James Cummings' death. They also found information on preparation of a dirty bomb, which would use conventional explosives to disperse a radioactive substance.
Additional documents taken from the home pointed to James Cummings' terrorist sympathies, according to the Daily News. Police also recovered a shotgun and several handguns, along with a significant amount of child pornography (Walter Griffin, Bangor Daily News, Nov. 16).