Australian teen 'collar bomb' victim relieved at arrest of suspect in US

SYDNEY - An Australian teenager who spent 10 hours with a fake bomb chained to her neck said Wednesday she is relieved the FBI has arrested a man accused of breaking into her home and tethering the device to her as part of an elaborate extortion plot.

Paul Douglas Peters was arrested in Kentucky on Monday in connection with the attack on 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver, who was studying at home when a masked man carrying a baseball bat broke into her house and attached the bomb-like device to her neck. The man left behind a note demanding money, along with an email address that appeared to refer to a novel about a ruthless businessman in 19th-century Asia.

Bomb specialists spent 10 hours working to remove the device, which was later found to contain no explosives.

A smiling Pulver told reporters outside her home in the wealthy Sydney suburb of Mosman that she was "very relieved" to hear of Peters' arrest.

"I'm glad it's all over," Pulver said.

Asked whether she was wondering why she'd been targeted, she replied: "I think we're all wondering why."

Peters, a 50-year-old Australian investment banker who travels frequently between the U.S. and Australia, was arrested by the FBI at his ex-wife's house in a well-heeled suburb near Louisville, Kentucky. On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin ordered Peters jailed pending an extradition hearing set for Oct. 14 in Louisville.

What ties Peters has to the wealthy Pulver family remain unclear, although federal court documents released Tuesday say he once worked for a company with links to the Pulvers. William Pulver, Madeleine's father, was once the president and CEO of NetRankings, a pioneer in tracking online exposure and readership for companies advertising online. He left after the company was sold to ratings giant Nielsen in 2007. He is now CEO of Appen Butler Hill, a company that provides language and voice-recognition software and services.

New details of Pulver's chilling ordeal were unveiled in the arrest complaint released Tuesday. According to the documents, the teen was studying for her high school exams Aug. 3 in her bedroom when she saw the intruder walk in carrying a black aluminum baseball bat and wearing a striped, multicolored balaclava. "Sit down and no one needs to get hurt," he told her.

Pulver sat on her bed and the intruder placed the bat and a backpack next to her. She noticed he was holding a black box. He forced the box against her throat and looped a device similar to a bike chain around her neck.

The gray-haired intruder, dressed in beige trousers and a light-colored dress shirt, locked the box around her neck and placed a lanyard and a plastic document sleeve around her neck. It contained a handwritten note with demands, the email address and a USB digital storage device.

"Count to 200," he said as he left, taking the bat and the backpack with him. "... I'll be back ... if you move I can see you I'll be right here," she told authorities, according to the complaint.

Pulver was "crying and hysterical" when bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives rushed to the scene, but she eventually calmed down, the complaint said.

The note around Pulver's neck said the fake bomb contained "powerful new technology plastic explosives" and was booby trapped. Details for delivering "a Defined Sum" would be sent "once you acknowledge and confirm receipt of this message," it said. The USB device contained the same note.

The email address the attacker left is dirkstraun1840(at)gmail.com. Dirk Struan is the main character in James Clavell's 1966 novel "Tai-Pan," about a bitter rivalry between powerful traders in Hong Kong after the end of the First Opium War.

Australian authorities determined that the email account was established May 30 from an Internet Protocol address linked to a Chicago airport. Travel documents obtained from immigration authorities showed that Peters had been at the airport that day.

The email account was accessed three times on the afternoon of Aug. 3, beginning almost two hours after the hoax device was placed around the teenager's neck, the complaint said.

Surveillance cameras at the library and at a liquor store next to the video store recorded a man matching Peters' description around that time, the complaint said. A video store employee said a "well-dressed" man came in twice to use one of the store's Internet computers because he was "waiting for an email."

Records from two stores show that in July, Peters bought a black baseball bat, and a USB device and lanyard identical to those left with Pulver, the complaint said.

The arrest complaint said Peters left Australia on a one-way flight from Sydney to Chicago on Aug. 8 and then flew to Kentucky the next day. Peters is an Australian citizen who has lived in the U.S., including Kentucky.

On Aug. 11, a Louisville FBI agent spotted Peters in the backyard of his ex-wife's house, the complaint said.

The FBI arrested Peters without incident Monday in the normally tranquil subdivision of Heather Green near La Grange, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Louisville.

He showed no emotion, spoke quietly to his attorney and glanced briefly at his ex-wife, Debra, who sat alone in the front row, weeping quietly.

Asked by reporters if he had any message for Pulver, Peters said, "I hope she's well" as he was placed into a police van.

His attorney, Scott Cox, said Peters will contest the charges in Australia, but he did not know whether his client will fight extradition.

Authorities said Peters has been involved in various businesses, but they would not elaborate. Cox said Peters is an attorney who makes his living as an investment banker in Australia and owns his own company.

Peters and his ex-wife divorced in 2007 and have three school-age children together, Cox said. He didn't know how long they were married.

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