A rural Texas County resident accused of sending a bomb through the U.S. Postal Service appeared Monday morning before a judge in U.S. District Court in Springfield.
Donald W. Schamber made a seven-minute appearance before Judge James C. England, who read the charges against the suspect and heard arguments whether the county man should continue to be jailed. England took the incarceration matter under advisement.
Schamber, 60, a southwestern Texas County resident who lived on Highway EE, is charged with mailing a package to West Plains police that contained a pipe bomb. An alert U.S. Postal Service employee picked it up from a drop box and became suspicious.
Authorities allege Schamber hatched the plot in an attempt to implicate his ex-wife’s husband.
The Texas County Sheriff’s Department executed two searches at Schamber’s resident and another one occupied by the suspect’s son, where evidence linked to the crime was found. The son is not charged.
Those familiar with the investigation said Schamber planned to frame his ex-wife’s husband and had planted evidence at her home.
Schamber’s picture and a vehicle captured on video at West Plains’ Parkway Shopping Center and a $100,000 reward were keys to linking the bomb to the suspect by officers from several federal, state and county agencies. Authorities are saying he is line to receive the money.
U.S. Attorney John Wood said Schamber could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison without parole, plus receive a fine of up to $250,000.