Bomb plot suspect gets mental health eval

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MIAMI, Okla., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- An Illinois man charged with plotting to blow up 48 Oklahoma churches faces a mental health evaluation, prosecutors said.

Gregory A. Weiler is being held without bail at the Ottawa County (Okla.) Jail where he awaits a transfer to Eastern State Hospital in Vinitia, Okla. Doctors are expected to determine whether Weiler is fit to stand trial. His family told the Miami (Okla.) News-Record he has a long history of mental illness.

He is accused of plotting to bomb all 48 churches in Miami. Weiler purchased materials to make firebombs and traveled from his home in Illinois to Miami, where he checked into a motel. A worker at the motel became suspicious and called police who found materials to make the bombs in a Dumpster nearby. When they searched Weiler's room, they allegedly found explosive devices and a detailed map of each church in the area. It remains a mystery why Weiler targeted the town, a place to which he had no apparent contact or prior relation.

Weiler is charged with violating the Oklahoma Anti-Terrorism Act and possession of an explosive device. A preliminary hearing has been put off pending the mental health evaluation, the paper said.