Letter Bomb Suspect Charged With 8 Counts Of Attempted Murder Over Tampered Water Bottles
Posted November 6, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An incident that paralyzed the city for a day, sent fear through the mail, forced a takedown on a busy street and resulted in a series of bombs being detonated on the Leslie St. spit has taken another startling turn.
The man accused in all those crimes is now facing eight new charges of attempted murder. His alleged weapon: tampered water bottles. Cops aren’t saying much yet about their latest case against 37-year-old Adel Arnaout. He was arrested last August 31st at a gas station in the Thorncliffe Park area, after cops allegedly connected him to a series of letter bombs that injured several people in Toronto and Guelph earlier that month.
His takedown led to an equally stunning follow-up, as heavily protected vehicles proceeded slowly down the Don Valley Parkway to the Leslie St. Spit, where cops detonated several explosives allegedly found in the suspect’s car.
Detectives have been probing his actions ever since and now accuse Arnaout of deliberately injecting a chemical into some water bottles in June and July of 2004, and then delivering them as a “promotional offer” to two modelling agencies – one, the Christen & Associates Model and Talent Management Agency on Irwin Ave., the other Blitz Models and Talents on Adelaide St. W. Those who work at the locations spotted the tampering and didn’t consume the contents, calling police instead.
“The cellophane wrap had sort of a crusty sort of, you know, ring around where each bottle top cap reached the cellophane. So I’m like, ‘Nobody drinks anything. There’s something wrong with this water,’ ” said David Christen, whose agency was targeted.
Christen knew something was wrong as soon as he tried to open one and water started squirting through the pinhole in the cap.
The motives for all of the incidents remain unclear, although Christen admits his agency represented Arnaout for extra work in movies.
“Four years later, we still have no idea, you know, why,” Christen adds.
Another talent agency that received tainted water says the accused became angry at them when they tried to explain to him that he couldn’t star in the movies as a principal actor and would have to work his way up.
The suspect is slated to make a court appearance on these latest charges on November 16th. In the meantime, police are asking anyone with knowledge of his activities over the last few years to call them at (416) 808-3500 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers. The number there: (416) 222-TIPS (8477).
Court graphic courtesy: Toronto Sun
