The Crime and Investigation

A 1996 ATF investigation of decaying dynamite, detonation cord and blasting caps found in an Ohio storage locker, let to Mourad Topalian and the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG). JCAG was reportedly responsible for numerous bombings and murders of Turkish Officials in the United States and Canada. This investigation helped to unravel JCAG related bombings in California; Philadelphia; Pennsylvania; New York City, New York; and the original theft of the dynamite stolen from Kalkaska, Michigan, in 1976.

The Arrest and Adjudication

ATF's three year investigation, assisted by the Bedford (Ohio) Police Department, culminated in the arrest of Mourad Topalian, a college vice president and chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America. Topalian, linked to the overall contents of the storage unit, pled guilty to possession of stolen explosives and possession of automatic firearms. At sentencing, he was given an upward enhancement for knowing the stolen explosives would be used in a bombing.