A 92-year-old man living in the ghost town of Turret, Colo. appeared to have been killed when a bomb he was making in his home accidentally detonated, the local sheriff’s office told The Denver Post on Sunday.
The man, Edwin Bartheld, was found in the crawl space of his home on Friday by friends who hadn’t had contact with him in over a week, according to a release posted by the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators found an assortment of explosive devices and chemicals used in the production of bombs in the home, according to the release. It was unclear why the man had been making the bombs.
Prior to this discovery, the statement said, officials believed Bartheld, who had apparently been dead for several days, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The release said the Colorado Springs Regional Explosives Unit and two HAZMAT teams responded to the home once explosives and chemicals were found. The responding unit removed the explosives and carefully detonated them while the HAZMAT teams evaluated the chemicals for stability before safely removing them from the home. Only then was Bartheld’s body removed, the statement said.
Chaffee County sheriff’s commander Derek Bos told the Post that the sheriff’s office doesn’t “feel there is any threat to the public or even a targeted person.”
Bos also told the paper that the sheriff’s office believes “it was an accidental explosion that killed” Bartheld.
An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
