BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 3 (UPI) -- Eric Robert Rudolph pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of bombing a Birmingham abortion clinic, killing an off-duty police officer and severely wounding a nurse.
Rudolph, 36, was expected to be tried in Atlanta for three bombings there after the Birmingham trial is completed.
Rudolph was restrained and polite during the 20-minute hearing Tuesday, promptly answering questions by Chief U.S. Magistrate T. Michael Putnam.
After he entered the innocent plea, a detention hearing was set for next Tuesday to determine whether bond would be set, an unlikely eventuality given his reputation as a flight risk.
An accomplished woodsman and survivalist, he was captured Saturday at Murphy, N.C., after hiding out for five years in the hills and woods of western North Carolina. He was moved to Birmingham Monday.
The trial was set for Aug. 4, in accordance with speedy trial guarantees, but it was not expected to take place for several months. He was accompanied by his two court-appointed attorneys, but there was little communication among the three.
Rudolph could face the death sentence if he is convicted.
Rudolph told police in Murphy that he survived in the woods of western North Carolina by eating deer, turkeys and bear he shot along with salamanders, acorns and edible vegetation.
He said he dried the excess meat to preserve it and would eat it later. He was captured near a dumpster behind a shopping mall before dawn looking for fruits and vegetables to eat and to preserve.
He directed police to a campsite in the hills that he had been using for public safety reasons.
During his stay in Murphy, he was kept under guard in a room used to give breathalyzer tests rather than in a cell.
After he was taken to Birmingham he was kept in a solitary cell under guard 24 hours a day. He was checked every 15 minutes. But he also had access to a telephone, a television set and a table.
Rudolph was charged with the bombing at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in July 1996, killing one woman, along with bombings at the Sandy Springs Professional Building -- which contained an abortion clinic -- in Atlanta in January 1997 and the Otherside Lounge in Atlanta in February 1997, a reputed hangout for lesbians.
Rudolph was also charged in February 1998, with the bombing at the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, Ala., the Justice Department said. That attack Jan. 28, 1998, killed Robert "Sande" Sanderson, an off-duty Birmingham police officer, and severely injured Emily Lyons, a clinic nurse.
Overall, Rudolph is charged with four explosions that killed two people and injured more than 150 others.
Rudolph will be tried first in Birmingham because the evidence appears to be stronger in the Birmingham case. Rudolph's truck was seen leaving the vicinity of the abortion clinic after it was bombed.
After his indictment, the FBI said it had information he was hiding out in western North Carolina. A massive manhunt was launched and a $1 million reward was posted.
At one point, 200 agents manned a command post near Andrews, N.C., but that was later scaled down. He had last been seen July 7, 1998, when he when he tried to stock up on supplies at a health food store.
It has been reported by several media outlets that Rudolph had ties to an organization known as Christian Identity that expresses philosophies that are anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-Semitic.
