Woman Sought in ’80 Parcel Bomb Death Seized on Landing at Airport

An Israeli woman who arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday with her two children was arrested and ordered held without bail on charges that she mailed a bomb that killed a Manhattan Beach secretary in 1980, authorities said.

Rochelle Ida Manning, 48, was charged in Los Angeles federal court with aiding and abetting the mailing of an explosive through the U.S. mails and with conspiracy to send an explosive device through the mail with intent to kill, federal officials said.

Although Manning was represented by the federal public defender’s office, Lee S. Smith, a Beverly Hills attorney who appeared at Manning’s hearing Wednesday, said her children, ages 2 and 13, were in the custody of juvenile authorities.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Nancy Wieben Stock said Manning and her husband, Robert Steven Manning, 36, conspired to kill the parcel bomb’s recipient. The package was addressed to a “Ms. Brenda Crouthamel” at Prowest Computer Corp. in Manhattan Beach.

In a court affidavit, U.S. Postal Inspector Glenn M. Porter said the Mannings sent Prowest the bomb, claiming in an accompanying letter that it was “a new invention” that would “open a new age in computer sales and advertising.”

The letter also said that the device only had to be plugged into an electrical outlet, and “a prerecorded tape will tell its many functions.” When the firm’s secretary, Patricia Wilkerson, 35, the mother of two children, plugged the “invention” into an outlet, it exploded, killing her instantly.

Porter’s affidavit said Robert Manning’s fingerprints were found on the parcel containing the bomb.

“The position of the fingerprints could indicate Manning was wrapping and/or preparing the parcel,” Porter said.

The inspector added that Robert Manning had been arrested by Los Angeles Police in 1972 for using an explosive device with the intent of injuring a person or destroying property. He was placed on three years’ probation and fined $200.

He also said that Rochelle Manning’s fingerprints were found on the letter included with the parcel bomb.

“I can’t explain what they’re doing,” the attorney said of the government. “She (Rochelle Manning) can’t explain what they’re doing. What she’s trying to do is make sense of an arrest she doesn’t understand.”

Manning emigrated to Israel from Los Angeles around 1980, Smith said.

Smith contended that Rochelle Manning’s fingerprints are insufficient to convict her, adding that there is no evidence of any criminal intent on Manning’s part.

Rochelle Manning faces a potential maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted, prosecutors said.

U.S. postal inspectors are offering up to $10,000 for information contributing to the arrest and conviction of Robert Manning.