R-C photograher Jay Aldrich took this photo of the blast going off at Harvey's Casino on Aug. 27, 1980, in Stateline.
Jay Aldrich | R-C File Photo
An official from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission responded to a bomb found by a Harvey’s Resort Hotel employee on Aug. 26, 1980, according to an article appearing on the front page of the Aug. 28, 1980, edition of The Record-Courier.
It’s in the nature of weekly deadlines that the 1,000-pound bomb planted by disgruntled gambler John Birges Sr. had already exploded by the time the paper hit the streets.
Tuesday marks the 44th anniversary of the explosion.
R-C News Editor Ed Moore reported on a news conference where then-Douglas County Sheriff Jerry Maple said the bomb wasn’t expected to explode because it didn’t have a timing device.
It would be Sept. 4 before Moore could update the story at the weekly. By that time, a construction crew was tearing down portions of the hotel as people poked through the rubble left by the bomb, which was estimated to cause six times more in damage than the $3 million sought by Birges and his gang.
The R-C published Birges’ three-page extortion letter in that edition.
“Do not move or tilt this bomb, because the mechanism controlling the detonators in it will set it off at a movement of less than .01 of the open end Richter scale,” the note said. “Do not try to take it apart. The flathead screws are also attached to triggers and as much as ¼ to ¾ of a turn will cause an explosion. In other words, this bomb is so sensitive that the slightest movement either inside or outside will cause it to explode.”
The note said the bomb couldn’t be dismantled or disarmed without blowing up, not even by Birges. In exchange for the ransom, Birges’ note said he would provide instructions on to allow for it to be moved to a location where it could be exploded.
“I repeat do not try to move disarm or enter this bomb,” Birges warned. “It will explode.”
Setting forth “Conditions of the Business Transaction” Birges insisted “all news media, local or nationwide, will be kept ignorant of the transactions between us and the casino management until the bomb is removed from the building.”
Whoops.
The bomb went off doing $18 million damage in one of the largest terrorist attacks on American soil until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
The bomb Birges constructed was wheeled into Harvey’s executive offices on Aug. 26, 1980, disguised as an IBM computer, including a logo.
Birges was a frequent guest at the hotel. He’d even dined at owner Harvey Gross’ ranch north of Genoa. But at his trial, prosecutors said Birges wanted to get even for being kicked out of the high roller’s suite
The payoff was supposed to be delivered by Gross’ personal helicopter that was actually piloted by an FBI agent. The suitcase carried aboard was mostly fake money. The agent flew the helicopter to a Lake Tahoe airport next to a telephone booth with instructions for the drop.
“The money is to be delivered by helicopter,” Birges wrote. “The helicopter pilot is to park at 2300 hours as close as possible to the LTA building by the light at Lake Tahoe Airport. The pilot is to get out and stand by the chain link fence gate.”
Instructions were for the pilot to shine a flashlight inside of the helicopter.
“We must be able to see it from a distance with binoculars,” the note read.
The plan was for the helicopter to fly toward Placerville and turn at a certain compass reading and then land next to a flashing red beacon in a meadow.
But when the pilot flew over the area, there was no beacon.
That’s because Birges and his son found that they’d left a 12-volt battery for the beacon in Fresno. They tried to buy a new one in Placerville, but got into an argument with a salesman, who was trying to sell them the correct battery for the Volvo they were driving.
By the time they got back to the meadow, the copter pilot had given up his search and headed back to Stateline with the ransom.
After the drop failed, the sheriff's office, bomb squad and FBI agents made the decision to try to disarm the device.
A shaped charge was set off to try and disable the bomb, but it went off.
No one was injured as a result of the blast and according to The R-C, within hours after the bomb went off, T-shirts saying “I Got Bombed at Harvey’s” were on sale on the streets of South Lake Tahoe.
The explosion put hundreds of people out of work while they waited for Harveys to reopen, which occurred May 13, 1981.
Birges was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 1996 of liver cancer at the age of 74.
