An employee has been arrested and charged in connection with a reported explosion last month at Northeastern University, the FBI said Tuesday.
The FBI said Tuesday that Jason Duhaime, 45, of Texas, the former New Technology Manager and Director of the Immersive Media Lab at Northeastern University, was charged in the reported explosion on Sept. 13.
Boston police responded to Holmes Hall, at 39 Leon St., shortly before 7:20 p.m. on Sept. 13. A Northeastern University employee, later identified as Duhaime, reported that a Pelican-style case exploded when he opened it. The incident prompted evacuations and fear across the campus and city.
Shortly after the incident, investigators began to question the verity of Duhaime’s claims because no explosive material found at the scene inside Holmes Hall, and the man’s injuries were not consistent with those typically suffered during an explosion.
“I have probable cause to believe that certain information provided by Duhaime to the 911 operator and to the federal agent—namely that he was injured by ‘sharp’ objects expelled from the Subject Case and that the case contained a threatening letter — was fabricated by Duhaime,” an FBI Special Agent wrote in an affidavit filed on Monday. “Evidence discovered during the FBI’s ongoing investigation indicates that Duhaime himself authored the threatening letter. I believe, based on the ongoing investigation, that the Subject Case contained no ‘sharp’ objects, that no objects were expelled from the case when Duhaime opened it, and that Duhaime sustained no injuries as a result of opening the Subject Case.”
In an interview described in the affidavit, Duhaime allegedly told investigators, “As soon as I opened it up, all this energy and, like, these things come flying out. And I had a long sleeve shirt, and they flew up underneath, basically, and hit my arm. The case went up and then it came down.”
The evidence refuted Duhaime’s claims. According to the affidavit, investigators found the case in question was empty and did not show any signs it had been exposed to an “explosive discharge of any time or magnitude.”
“The Subject Case was empty. The inside and outside of the case did not bear any marks, dents, cracks, holes, or other signs that it had been exposed to a forceful or explosive discharge of any type or magnitude. Likewise, aside from several fold marks, the Letter was pristine. It bore no tears, holes, burn marks, or any other indication that it had been near any sort of forceful or explosive discharge,” the agent wrote in the affidavit.
A school-owned laptop in Duhaime’s Northeastern office contained a file of the bomb threat letter, written hours before the incident, investigators said.
“Forensic analysis of one of the computers seized during a search of the office at Northeastern University revealed the word-for-word electronic copy of the letter stored in a backup folder. Metadata associated with this file reflected a created date and time of Sept. 13 at 2:57, roughly four hours prior to when he called 911 to report the explosion,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said.
“Throughout the course of our investigation, we believe he repeatedly lied to us about what happened inside the lab, he faked his injuries, and wrote a rambling letter directed at the lab threatening more violence,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said.
Bonavolonta said Duhaime “wanted to be the victim,” but would not comment on a possible motive or ideology.
“In this case, we believe Mr. Duhaime wanted to be the victim, but instead victimized his entire community by instilling fear at college campuses in Massachusetts and beyond,” he said.
Duhaime faces charges of conveying false information and hoaxes related to an explosive device, making materially false and fictitious statements to a federal law enforcement agent. Each charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Duhaime was arrested Tuesday morning in San Antonio, and is expected to be in a Texas court Tuesday afternoon before being returned to Massachusetts.
No other persons are expected to be charged in connection with the incident.
Duhaime formally resides in Texas but slept in his office or the Northeastern Lab while in Massachusetts, according to the FBI affidavit.
In a statement, Northeastern said Duhaime was no longer employed by the university.
“Northeastern would like to thank the professionals in the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office, and Boston Police Department for bringing this investigation to a close. Knowing what we know now about this incident, we would like to make it clear that there was never any danger to the Northeastern community. As always, the safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our highest priority,” the university said in a statement.
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