Investigators looking into the mail bomb that killed a retired lawyer Monday at his Tennessee home and critically injured his wife may have found a clue amid the debris: a note officials believe was attached to the bomb.
Jon Setzer, 74, was killed and his 72-year-old wife Marion was in critical condition after a package Jon Setzer retrieved from the mailbox at his Lebanon home exploded.
"With a note in there, it very well may be some intentional revenge or something, that the attacker, the bomber, wanted to send them a message," Former ATF agent and bomb expert Joseph Vince told CNN. "This is a very important piece of evidence, because now you may have handwriting."
Law enforcement authorities are looking into how the package was delivered -- whether it was by private carrier or commercial delivery.
According to FOX 17, the blast was powerful enough to rip through windows and scatter debris inside and outside the home.
"With a note in there, it very well may be some intentional revenge . . ."
- Former ATF Agent Joseph Vince
Along with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were investigating at the home on a rural cul-de-sac. Crews in white haz-mat suits were walking around the property, and official vehicles filled the yard of the red brick two-story home with white dormers on Tuesday.
"We will be here night and day trying to come to the quickest resolution to this issue as we can," TBI Director Mark Gwyn said.
Earlier, alcohol bureau spokesman Michael Knight said investigators had ruled out accidental causes like a gas leak or electrical malfunction. Later authorities confirmed it was a package.
Police announced an $8,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in the case, FOX 17 reported.
A neighbor of the Setzers, David Hughen, arrived at his house about an hour after the blast on Monday, and noticed that the front and back windows of the Setzer home had been shattered.
"With the house as well-built as it was, it had to be a huge explosion," Hughen, a contractor, said of the home built four years ago. "It's just a huge mystery that a terrible thing has happened to good people."
Another neighbor, Charles Thompson, said the blast in the small neighborhood has left him shaken.
"It didn't appear that they were the kind of people this would happen to," Thompson said. "It's very scary."
Rev. Mike Ripski, senior pastor at Lebanon First United Methodist Church where the couple attended, said they will be sorely missed.
"This horrific tragedy has left the members of the church and all who know them in disbelief and profound sorrow," Ripski said. "Our prayers continue for their children and grandchildren."
Officials -- some with dogs -- continued to search for evidence late into the evening Tuesday.
"Anything that was in that area will have to be methodically removed," Knight said. "We have to decide is this something that was part of the residence, or is this something that was part of the item in question."
In a release, TBI officials asked residents to contact police if they locate any suspicious packages.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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