Extremist pleads guilty to Atlanta Olympics bombings

Right-wing Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty on Wednesday to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks.

He admitted to one of the crimes with a hint of pride in his voice and a wink at prosecutors.

Rudolph, 38, entered his pleas during back-to-back court appearances -- first in Birmingham, Alabama, in the morning, and then in Atlanta in the afternoon -- after working out a plea bargain that will spare him from the death penalty. He will get four consecutive life sentences without parole.

The four blasts killed two people, including a police officer, and wounded more than 120 others.

When asked in Atlanta whether he was guilty of all the bombings, Rudolph politely and calmly responded, "I am."

"The purpose of the attack on July 27th [1996] was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand," Rudolph said in a statement, which quoted the Bible throughout.

"I am not anarchist. I have nothing against government or law enforcement in general. It is solely for the reason that this govt has legalized the murder of children that I have no allegiance to nor do I recognize the legitimacy of this particular government in Washington."

The downtown Atlanta courthouse where Rudolph entered his pleas is only two blocks from Centennial Olympic Park, where a bomb hidden in a knapsack exploded and sent nails and screws ripping through a crowd at the height of the 1996 Atlanta Games. A woman was killed and 111 other people were wounded.

Rudolph that he had planned a much larger attack on the Olympics that would have used five bombs over several days. He said he planned to make phone calls well in advance of each explosion, "leaving only uniformed arms-carrying government personnel exposed to potential injury." But he said poor planning on his part made that five-bomb plan impossible.

"I had sincerely hoped to achieve these objections without harming innocent civilians," he said. He added: "There is no excuse for this, and I accept full responsibility for the consequences of using this dangerous tactic."

He said he blew up four other bombs in a vacant lot in Atlanta and left town "with much remorse."

In the Atlanta courtroom, as prosecutors read details about the bomb that killed 44-year-old Alice Hawthorne at the Olympics, Hawthorne's daughter, Fallon Stubbs, 22, crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her feet. Hawthorne's widower, John, rocked slightly and covered his head with his hands. Other family members wept.

Afterwards, Stubbs described the day as "exhausting, to say the least" and said she would address the court at Rudolph's sentencing.

"It'll be my time to get it out," she said.

Richard Jewell, the security guard who was initially hailed as a hero for helping evacuate the park just before the blast, but was later reported to be under FBI investigation, was also in the courtroom but refused to comment on the plea.

Jewell eventually cleared by the FBI and now works as a police officer.