On Oct. 14, 1998, convicted serial bomber Eric Rudolph was officially charged with a series of terrifying bombings, including a fatal attack at the Atlanta Olympics. But in an unsuccessful, last-ditch effort calling for his resentencing earlier this year, his attorneys argued the lethal crimes weren't actually violent.
In addition to the deadly incident at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Rudolph, now 58, also admitted to the bombings of an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and at an Atlanta gay club in 1997. He also confessed guilt to the fatal 1998 explosion of another abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, according to prosecutors.
Rudolph's crimes resulted in the deaths of two people and the injuries of hundreds of others, and in 2005, he formally pleaded guilty to six federal arson charges and four counts of use of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Rudolph also agreed to waive all appeals.
But earlier this year, Rudolph seemingly had a change of heart, and sought to vacate his punishments, arguing his arson offenses were no longer considered crimes of violence under a new federal statute, according to court documents.
A three-judge panel for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals responded in February and shot down his longshot bid for resentencing, dismissing his claim.
"We cannot, in good conscience, seriously suggest that Eric Rudolph is 'actually innocent' of using an explosive device during and in relation to a crime of violence," Judge Britt Grant wrote in the opinion of the court, in part. "Eric Rudolph is bound by the terms of his own bargain. He negotiated to spare his life, and in return he waived the right to collaterally attack his sentences in any post-conviction proceedings. We will not disrupt that agreement."
The FBI believed Rudolph was motivated by his anti-government, anti-abortion, anti-gay, personal ideology in carrying out the attacks.
His bold actions landed him on the agency's 10 Most Wanted List in 1998.
After five years on the lam, Rudolph was arrested while rummaging through a dumpster behind a grocery store in May 2003.
He continues to serve his sentence at a Colorado supermax prison.
