Occupant allegedly said he would burn judge’s house

By Diana McFarland

Managing editor

Pushing explosives into the house through a doggie door was allegedly part of accused bomber Joseph “Andy” Wright’s plan to destroy the home and family of Isle of Wight County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Farmer, according to court documents unsealed Monday. 

The search warrant affidavit tells how Wright told an informant that Farmer was responsible for “the loss of everything in his life, to include his marriage, family and home.”

Farmer was the commonwealth’s attorney when Wright was having a series of disputes with a former neighbor that ended up in court, and according to his video, “Polygraph Rap,” Wright did not achieve his desired results.  {mprestriction ids=”1,2,3,4,5,6″}

The affidavit states that the suspect showed the informant large plastic orange containers and talked of his plans to fill those with materials, such as gasoline, flares, fuses and other materials and put those in Farmer’s house through the doggie door.

At the time of his arrest, Wright was living in a rented house 400 yards from Farmer, according to the affidavit. 

The plan described how the suspect would set the house on fire and how he would create obstacles along the way to keep fire and rescue personnel from gaining access, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that the informant returned to the suspect’s home and obtained video of the orange containers. 

A search warrant on Wright’s Gurwen Drive home found a box of multiple switches, fuses, an elite rocket kit, cannon fuse, paint hand grenades, 14 containers of smokeless powder, PVC pipe, a 2-pound jar of explosives, five boxes of CO2 cartridges, two books titled, “Spite, Malice and Revenge,” and “Book of Dirty Tricks,” as well as 21.4 grams of suspected marijuana and other items. 

The individual who obtained the search warrant had bomb response training and knew that the materials and statements indicated that the suspect had the potential to create bombs, according to the affidavit. 

The search warrant states that the suspect has made vague threats prior to his arrest, and as a result, Farmer’s house has been under surveillance by the Sheriff’s Office. 

Wright is charged with threatening to bomb or damage a building, a felony. He is scheduled for arraignment in Isle of Wight County Circuit Court on April 18. 

Wright is currently being held in the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.  {/mprestriction}