EUSTIS, Florida—A Eustis man is facing 10 serious charges after the Lake County Sheriff’s Office found numerous homemade bombs in his home in Royal Trails in unincorporated Lake County Saturday.
On Friday, LCSO received a tip from a witness who said Markus Fricke, 55, had built several devices recently with the intent of “blowing up the residence” and was waiting for a shipment of chemicals to finish, according to an arrest affidavit.
The witness saw a shipment arrive marked “Ammonium Nitrate” weighing about 50 pounds; The shipment, along with statements made by Fricke scared the witness and she fled the home at 30927 Tulip Avenue and called law enforcement.
Ammonium Nitrate, a fertilizer, was one of the main components used in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.
The witness met with LCSO and said Fricke had been making bombs and booby traps and he was planning to blow the entire street up, including himself and his home. She drew deputies a map showing where Fricke kept chemicals and devices, the affidavit states..
Fricke, who has “an extensive history of unusual and concerning behavior” believes people live in his attic and trespass on his lawn, and law enforcement has responded to his home numerous times in the last few years.
While LCSO was interviewing the witness, Fricke left his home, and he was stopped by deputies who found a homemade device on his floorboard. The device, a metal tube with a 12-gauge shotgun shell, was designed to trigger via spring tension activated by a trip wire. The device was later determined to be a destructive device by the LCSO Hazardous Device Team.
Fricke was Baker Acted and LCSO secured a search warrant for his home and due to the witness advising the home may be booby-trapped, the LCSO HDT utilized a robot to make entry. Four destructive devices were found, and all designed to activate by a tripwire. A fuel bomb that was fashioned to act as a flammable grenade was also found.
A lot of fuel, materials, and tools were discovered in addition to “copious amounts” of firearms, including a short-barreled shotgun and ammunition,” and a “significant amount” of anti-Semitic literature, the affidavit states. It is unknown if Fricke had a specific target.
Neighbors spoke with LCSO and said they heard and saw Fricke detonate devices on his property, one explosion so violent last week, it shook the neighbor’s home.
Fricke was arrested Monday, following his Baker Act. He is facing six counts of making or possessing a destructive device, one count of threat to discharge a destructive device, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. He is being held in LCJ on no bond.
