Thank you, dear.

In December of 1989,

federal court judge Robert Vance and his wife

were preparing for the busy Christmas holiday.

Who sent the box?

I don't know. It doesn't say. It was a delivery he never expected.

Robert and Helen Vance lived with their family in an affluent suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

For more than a decade, Robert Vance had been a federal court judge for the 11th district,

presiding over cases from Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

He was very bright.

Not only the book smart, kind of bright,

but he had just amazing common sense, street smarts.

Judge Vance undoubtedly had his share of enemies,

but had never received any threats, which explains why

he wasn't suspicious of the package mailed to him a few days before Christmas.

The package contained a pipe bomb, with nails wrapped around the pipe, which acted like shrapnel.

The blast killed Judge Vance instantly.

His body was thrown clear across the kitchen.

Miraculously, Helen Vance survived the explosion,

and she was able to get to a neighbor's home for help. Mom suffered some severe injuries from the explosion.

She had several cuts in the flesh from the nails that the bomb had been bound with.

And she had had several internal injuries from nails actually penetrating the body,

...