A Rockville teen’s father taught him how to build the pipe bombs the 19-year-old later provided to Collin McKenzie-Gude, who prosecutors say was planning to use the explosives to assassinate then-Sen. Barack Obama, court documents said.
Patrick Yevsukov has already pleaded guilty in the bomb making case and is scheduled to be sentenced next month. According to court documents filed in Maryland’s federal court late Tuesday, Yevsukov’s father, Serafim, not only taught Patrick how to make the pipe bombs, but also bought the supplies for him.
Yevsukov’s attorney, Rene Sandler, went a step further Wednesday, saying, “Serafim taught both Patrick and Collin how to build the pipe bombs.” Serafim Yevsukov has not been charged and is in a coma after his Ford Excursion slammed into a utility pole in Derwood the day before Thanksgiving, Sandler said.
Prosecutors have relied heavily on Patrick Yevsukov’s statements to law enforcement officials in their case against McKenzie-Gude. On Monday, prosecutors said in court documents that Yevsukov had told them McKenzie-Gude was planning to use the pipe bombs in an elaborate plan to kill Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
On Tuesday, McKenzie-Gude attorney Steven Kupferberg fired back in court documents, citing other sections of Yevsukov’s statement.
Specifically, Yevsukov reportedly told authorities that “Serafim, Yevsukov’s dad, took Yevsukov to the store to buy black powder, gun shows to buy red dot powder and Home Depot to buy pipes for bombs.” They went to another store to buy electric rocket igniters and a fireworks shop in Pennsylvania to buy fuses.
“Serafim showed Yevsukov how to make the products safely,” the statement said. At times, Yevsukov’s father also accompanied his son to set the pipe bombs off in a field, court documents said.
Prosecutors used Yevsukov’s claim that McKenzie-Gude was planning to kill Obama as part of their argument for lengthy prison time when the now-20-year-old is sentenced.
But prosecutors tossed statements from Yevsukov that exonerate McKenzie-Gude, Kupferberg wrote.
0n July 29, 2008, Yevsukov told authorities that “from the day I met [McKenzie-Gude], he gave me no reason to believe that he had any bad intentions or attack plan.”
