Bombings suspect ' reaches plea deal'
The man arrested in the deadly 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and three other blasts has agreed to plead guilty, according to reports today.
A person who was briefed by the Justice Department on the agreement said Eric Rudolph would receive four life sentences under the deal. Rudolph had faced a possible death sentence.
A Justice Department official in Washington, confirmed the plea agreement. An announcement was expected later Friday.
In addition to the Olympic bombing, Rudolph also has been charged with setting off a blast in 1998 at an Alabama abortion clinic that killed an off-duty police officer and critically injured a nurse. Jury selection in that case began this week.
He is charged in two other 1997 bombings in Atlanta – one at a lesbian bar and one at a building that housed an abortion clinic.
One woman was killed and more than 100 people were injured in the Olympic bombing, which tore through Olympic Centennial Park during the Summer Games.
Word of the deal came amid reports that federal agents have been in western North Carolina this week detonating explosive materials in the region where Rudolph spent more than five years as a fugitive.
