JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Sedalia, Mo., man has pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing a destructive device after he planted a home-made bomb behind a car in the parking lot of a Warsaw, Mo., Wal-Mart store.

Nathan Louis St. Cyr, 22, of Sedalia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 to the charge contained in an April 25, 2012 federal indictment.

According to court documents, St. Cyr attempted to return some items at a Wal-Mart store in Warsaw, but after a confrontation with employees, left the store. Surveillance video captured him walking to a nearby Murphy USA gas station and purchasing $2.16 worth of gas in an orange container. St. Cyr placed some wooden matches inside the container, placed the container on the ground, and left the parking lot. A Warsaw police officer arrived at the scene and examined the device, which he described as having a push button propane igniter hanging by its wiring with a portion of the wiring remaining inside of the container.

The device, which was later identified as an incendiary bomb by ATF investigators, was rendered safe and placed into evidence for safe keeping.

A state trooper identified St. Cyr driving northbound on Highway 65 near Highway 52 and became involved in a pursuit, according to court documents, with speeds reaching 109 miles per hour. After St. Cyr’s vehicle stopped, he exited his vehicle and began to flee on foot. The trooper pursued and took St. Cyr in custody.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Warsaw, Mo., Police Department, the Benton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

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