TYNDALL, S.D. (AP) — A Tabor man accused of building pipe bombs made his first court appearance Tuesday.
29-year-old Joseph Hanson has been charged with the sale, possession, or transportation of a destructive device and unauthorized possession of substances to make a destructive device. He appeared in Bon Homme County Circuit Court Tuesday morning. His arraignment was set for Sept. 7.
According to court documents, Hansen’s neighbor called police on Friday after hearing an explosion and seeing Hanson lying in his driveway. First responders found Hansen unresponsive and suffering from burns.
Witnesses said they had seen Hansen with a pipe bomb earlier in the day and he had been boiling gasoline. Hansen told the witness that he was making napalm.
Hansen told police after he was released from a hospital on Saturday that he was planning to make 12 pipe bombs and had completed three to five bombs before one exploded.
Hansen was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2011 after prosecutors accused him of planning to blow up Sisseton High School.