Oregon Public Broadcasting

Prosecutors delivered their opening statement Wednesday morning to the jury that will decide the fate of Joshua and Bruce Turnidge.

The two men are on trial for a lethal bank bombing in Woodburn in December 2008.

Marion County Prosecutor Katie Suver outlined the focus of the case against Bruce and Joshua Turnidge.

Her opening statement took three hours. She says extensive physical evidence has been gathered that links material from both Turnidges’ homes to the explosion at a West Coast Bank branch.

Investigators combed everything from bomb fragments to cell phone records to bits of wire shop-vacced from the crime scene. But prosecutors will also have to show the defendants had intent to commit murder.

Suver said several witnesses will talk about anti-government statements the Turnidges allegedly made, and their reported dislike for police officers. 

She says one witness heard Bruce Turnidge say thirty years ago that he fantasized about setting a bomb at a police memorial, so he could kill many officers at once.

Attorneys for the defendents will make their opening statements Wednesday afternoon.