Man Convicted Of Storing Explosives In His Reseda Home

April 7, 2011 6:21 AM

(credit: AP Photo/Sacramento Bee/Chris Crewell, POOL)

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Chemicals, Convicted, Edward Wyman, Explosives, Gunpowder, Home, Reseda

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury has convicted a Los Angeles man of illegally storing toxic chemicals and explosive hazardous waste, including unstable gunpowder, in his home.

The cache of dangerous materials was discovered in June 2009 when a fire broke out at 64-year-old Edward Wyman’s home in the San Fernando Valley community of Reseda. Exploding ammunition forced firefighters to wear bulletproof vests while battling the fire.

Prosecutors say the home contained thousands of rounds of corroded ammunition, lead-contaminated waste from shooting ranges, hundreds of pounds of decades-old gunpowder, military cannon powder and industrial solvents classified as hazardous waste.

Wyman, who was convicted Tuesday, faces up to 15 years in prison when he’s sentenced July 11.

Man Convicted Of Storing Explosives In His Reseda Home

http://losangelesforme.com/2011/04/man-convicted-of-storing-explosives-in-his-reseda-home/ Man Convicted Of Storing Explosives In His Reseda Home | Los Angeles for Me

[...] A federal jury has convicted a Los Angeles man of illegally storing toxic chemicals and explosive hazardous waste, including unstable gunpowder, in his home. More from: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com… [...]
Richter Belmot

as long as he didnt have any ill intentions, I cant see why this would be a crime. Sure it MIGHT expose some to danger, but who really cares? We live in a society where we put “I” first and F everyone else. The time to be kind to others passed about 20+ years ago. This recession can be blamed, it has taught us a harsh lesson – Every man for himself! trolol.

Big H

I agree
Nic

I wonder what his intentions were…??

Craig

Ed had a small business selling reloaded ammo at gunshows to help support his family. Sloppy storage, but innocent intentions.

An Old Black Marble

What is “An Old Black Marble”? Google it to find out.
Mason Jefferson dot com

‘what do you mean you cant store gun powder in your house. How are we to make our own bullets if we cant store gunpowder. Repeat after me. I would kill to protect my second amendment right to bear arms and the right to protect myself from overbearing goverment rules. Mason Jefferson dot com

Nic

Gun powder should never, ever be mixed; that is a “recipe for disaster” — I quote the Government Attorney Williams… It is a miracle no one was hurt or killed.

Eric

I can almost guarantee that this guy is/was simply a hobbyist who enjoyed guns and handloading. Most such folks – and there are millions in the U.S. – have “thousands of rounds of ammunition” (that’s four bricks of .22, available at Wal-Mart for maybe $75) and many pounds of gunpowder. “Military cannon powder” is probably old surplus that was once sold to the public by the military and used to reload common rifle cartridges. And “industrial solvents” could mean just about anything, including paint stripper or mineral spirits.

Oh, and cartridges exposed to heat don’t fire as if they were in a gun. They just pop and send little bits of brass case flying a few feet. The shards could put out an eye or open a cut in the skin, but there’s no reason in the world the firefighters need “bullet proof” vests.

Eric

Oh, and the “lead contaminated waste” is just recycling. Reloaders sift through the berms at shooting ranges, looking for spent bullets. They take these home, melt them down, and cast them into new bullets.

Funny how the media can shape reality through careful choice of words…

Cook Smith

As is usual, we abandon the people we trained and sent to Vietnam, spit on them when they came home, and treated them like failures when they were unable to come to terms with all those they had to kill in the name of patriotism. This Vietnam veteran found a way to support his family by using what he learned in the Army without harming anyone around him and now he is incarcerated, cannot support his family and, again, has been spit on by those who have no compassion or understanding. Yes, he broke environmental laws, but that is now cleaned up and removed permanently. What good does it do to keep a sick and ailing veteran in jail? What good does this do for his family? What benefit do the taxpayers of this state receive except to pay the guards, food service and all other services for a man who doesn’t understand why he is being punished for trying to support his family?

Nic

The waste was cleaned up at a cost of a whopping $800K to the government. It was indicated it was not a clean up job one person could handle by any means whatsoever. If he was such an essential part of the family, I wonder why was he, according to his own daughter, delegated to living in the backyard barn with his 18 year old (& thereby endangered) grandson because of his hoarding tendencies? I sincerely want to know, and my heart goes out to them all. I do agree with you: the defendant seemed absolutely clueless as to why he was on trial in the first place.

Nic

I am juror #8; he described his situation as a “hobby that got out of control.” Based on the evidence, that’s an understatement. Morelike an unsuccessful business that never got off the ground, because he did indeed have customers who purchased his reloaded ammunition. He endangered others by his improper storage of hazardous waste. I am sorry if what happened to him in Vietnam affected him psychologically, but I suspect his issues go much farther back than the war…

Matthew Wyman

I am his grandson and it was a hobby for him,just because he had customers doesn’t mean it was an unsuccessful business,on weekends just to get rid of stuff he doesn’t need anymore he would sell off at gunshows and earn some extra cash.And it was not hazardous waste until the fire happened.

Nic

I understand, Matthew. Please don’t think I am unsympathetic to your family’s plight. We deliberated in sincerity. Edward Wyman indicated his activities were a “hobby”. Something about that rang false to me when he said it on the stand, I am sorry to say. When I was discharged by the Judge & permitted to discuss the case, it did not take long to find many customers who called him “Fast Eddie”. That goes beyond the context of a hobby & I classify it as an “unsuccessful business” because it didn’t take off, according to his testimony, enough to allow him to get all that stuff off the property (all over the place where there should be lawn) & open a store.
Nic

Matthew, it was hazardous waste prior to the fire, the evidence indicates. The solvents & exposed containers of lead had been on the property for decades…

JULIE WHITE

DEAR JUROR #8
UNLES YOU ARE A CERTIFIED DR. WITH A DEGREE, YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ON MY FATHER’S MEDICAL HISTORY MEAN NOTHING! HE WAS DENIED TO BE EVALUATED BY A DR. PRIOR TO TRIAL SO OF COURSE YOU WOULD ASSUME THE WORST OFF OF A BUNCH OF PHOTOS THAT WERE TAKEN AFTER THE FIRE! LET YOUR HOUSE BURN DOWN AND YOU TELL ME IF IT WILL LOOK PRETTY? THE MEDIA HYPED IT UP AND YOU GOT YOUR 10 SECONDS OF FAME AND NOW HIS KIDS AND GRANDKIDS HAVE DON’T HAVE HIM HERE. THANK YOU SO MUCH JUROR #8 FOR CONVICTING A MAN THAT HELPED FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND THE RIGHTS OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS. ONLY IN AMERICA, LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE NOT!!

Nic

According to my understanding, there was a very small section of property that burned. The unburned portion of the properties depicted in the photographs we saw appeared to have so much brush overgrown, it had to be very messy for decades. He said himself there was a lot of stuff he hadn’t gotten around to for years. The corroded bullets scattered on the property indicate this is not a condition that cropped up overnight.

JULIE WHITE

TO ALL JURORS:
ALLOW ME TO THANK U ALL FOR RIPPING MY FAMILY APART AND HURTING HIS GRANDCHILDREN. MY FATHER IS A 64 YEAR OLD MAN WITH HEART CONDITIONS AND WILL NOW SIT IN A FEDERAL PRISON BEACUSE OF YOU.NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE WILL LIVE HIS LAST DAYS IN JAIL SO THANK YOU SO MUCH. I PRAY TO GOD NO ONE ELSE WHO HAS FAMILY FIGHTING IN THE WAR GOES THROUGH THIS…GET THEM HELP WHEN THEY COME HOME! HOW DO YOU TAKE A MAN FROM HIS FAMILY AT 64 YEARS OLD?
YOUR LOVING DAUGHTER!

Nic

I believe we are not the cause of his troubles. We didn’t create this; we merely analyzed it.
juror12

Hi Julie,
I was also a juror on this case, and I want you to know that we all felt terribly about the repercussions of our decision. Though we weren’t privy to any of the sentencing details, we all knew that Mr. Wyman likely faced jail time pending our verdict.

That said, our job was not to make a compassionate decision. Or to take pity on an old veteran. Or to provide for your family.

We were charged by a federal judge with the sworn duty of carefully listening to and weighing evidence and testimony and then coming to a very specific conclusion on two counts: 1) did Mr Wyman store hazardous waste without a permit and 2) by doing so did he knowingly place others in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death?

We did that to the best of our ability based on the information afforded us. I’m sorry for your family as a person, but as a juror, I believe I did my civic duty.