A lengthy 20-year prison sentence was handed down to Thomas James Zajac by a federal judge on Thursday for his act of detonating a pipe bomb at a commuter train station in the Chicago suburbs, rocking a peaceful morning commute back in 2006. The explosive, hidden in a trash can at the BNSF Railway station in Hinsdale, Illinois, severely injured a station agent when it went off.
During the sentencing at a Chicago federal court, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly expressed his verdict, sanctioning Zajac to two decades behind bars following the completion of another sentence he is currently serving. This second conviction traces to a different act of violence — bombing a public library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Zajac will not to have the chance to start serving this new sentence till the first one is through.
The layers of investigation that eventually led to Zajac's sentencing were a joint effort melding the capabilities of various agencies, including the Hinsdale Police Department, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, among others.
Still, the proceedings laid bare more profound reasons behind Zajac’s lethal actions — a personal vendetta against the Hinsdale Police for the arrest of a family member that Zajac felt was disrespectful. Following the bombing, he went so far as to taunt the authorities with an anonymous letter, revealing a misguided sense of revenge and a desire to subsequently threaten further violence.
Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, alongside Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the ATF’s Chicago Field Division, formally announced the sentencing. According to the official statement, Zajac's cold threats and reckless endangerment of lives were dealt with fittingly by the justice system.
Zajac, 70, formerly residing in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, was convicted on three counts, including attempting to damage property using an explosive, possession of an unregistered destructive device, and threatening to kill or injure someone with an explosive through the mail. His trial in Chicago last year unfolded evidence that painted a picture of a man who allowed anger to push him to violence, an action now leaving him years to contemplate behind bars.
