Phineas 'priests' commit bombings and bank robbery

Contrary to the episode's narrative, the Phineas Priesthood is not a formal "terrorist group". Individuals might claim to be Phineas 'priests', but there is no organization among the pawns who follow the racist dogma put forth in the 1990 book Vigilantes of Christendom by Richard Kelly Hoskins.

Origins of the Phineas Priesthood

Phineas was a character in the Christian Bible who notoriously committed a double-murder. In the book of Numbers, chapter 25, the Israelites were going through one of their idolatrous phases and exasperating God. They were fornicating with Moabite and Midianite women, so God subjected them to  a(nother) plague. Following an Israelite man and his Midianite partner into their tent, Phineas speared them both through the belly with one stroke. This supposedly pleased the easy-to-anger God of the Old Testament, so he called off the plague – though he'd allowed it to kill 24,000 people.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Often looking for a biblical reason to support their personal racist views, ignorant men have cited Phineas as a stand-out character. His lack of tolerance for a multicultural couple and God's approval of his murdering them are the foundations of perpetuating intolerance of those who differ from them. As usual, these bigots miss (or ignore) the larger meaning of all the biblical narratives when they cherry-pick a mere few.

Christians typically support the Old Testament as a history of the peoples that Jesus and they themselves descend from. As "good Christians", one hopes they're not proud of the genocides, infanticides, and other gruesome mass slayings of helpless people that occur through the Old Testament. But along with taking their ideology almost entirely from one character in part of one chapter of one book of the Bible, Phineas 'priests' (at least those following Hoskins' creed) believe the bizarre notion of "Christian Identity".

Attempting to justify racism

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I could spin an entire diatribe about this backward belief system. But in a nutshell, Christian Identity interprets the "Jews" that had God's favor in the Old Testament as different from folks of the Jewish persuasion today. They in fact believe that only today's "white" people are the true descendants of Abraham and therefore of the biblical Israelites. This degree of wishful thinking fulfills and justifies their deep-seeded racism against non-whites and Jews (read: intelligence and tolerance).

An interesting parallel can be drawn from this type of intolerance. The so-called Phineas 'priests' were willing to kill innocent people by bombing a Planned Parenthood in Spokane to make known their outdated views on mixed-race relationships. In the Forensic Files episode Covet Thy Neighbor (s13e35), we saw Maurice Wallace murder 21-year-old student Olamide Adeyooye over her relationship with a white man. Despite barely knowing each other, Wallace was very forthcoming about his feelings regarding Olamide's dating choices. He also shared his own disestablishmentarian thoughts while being recorded in the police's interrogation room.

Militias in the Inland Northwest

Back to our episode, Merrell, Berry, and Barbee shared this belief system – seemingly Verne Merrell strongest of all. Not all right-wing militants have these ideals, but their shared opinions on race, government, and firearms have led many of them to the Inland Northwest. Sandpoint, Idaho is a picturesque resort town with roughly 5000 residents. Our trio called Sandpoint home as well. Recall that Paul Gruber had moved to Sandpoint after retiring from his teaching job in If I Were You (s11e28). Thankfully, we've had no indication that Paul was like-minded.

I've actually spent some time in Idaho, but not up in the panhandle area. Sadly, the events and perpetrators in this region have created a self-fulfilling prophecy that seems to lure other narrow-minded actors. In nearby Coeur d'Alene, the Aryan Nation had set up headquarters in the 1980's and 90's. Infamy was also brought to the area with the 1992 Ruby Ridge shootout near Naples, north of Sandpoint.

The Phineas Priesthood's symbols

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

The unofficial symbol of the Phineas Priesthood was described as a combination of the letter 'P' with a cross. My own research described a letter 'P' with a line through it – thought to symbolize the spear with which Phineas committed his murders. Another version of the gang's symbol was used in the note sent to Planned Parenthood after the bombing. In this case, color ink (from Verne Merrell's inkjet printer) indicates two clear symbols: A blue Celtic cross overlaid with a red letter 'P'.

I pondered the significance of the matchbook left at the Planned Parenthood bombing scene. It could've easily been overlooked as garbage. The criminals intentionally left printed letters at the scenes of their first two crimes in April, and they were deliberate in their message mailed to Planned Parenthood. So why a matchbook with cryptic verses from Psalms? My only guess is that delusional people like these are so indoctrinated by their absurd cause that they "doodle" their cause's semi-related nonsense. Perhaps one of them had jotted these verses down on something handy (the matchbook) and simply discarded the item.

The FBI examines the evidence

Richard Vorder Bruegge was the FBI analyst charged with reviewing the video surveillance from the April U.S. Bank robbery. The episode described his process of determining three-dimensional data from two-dimensional images as "perspective analysis". In other cases, similar processes seem to use the term "photogrammetry". My research indicates that photogrammetry includes a broader array of input and conclusions. I've also observed Forensic Files using this term more frequently.

The FBI should have an increased awareness of owners of windowless, white vans. These seem to be a frequent vehicle of choice for the nefarious. It was the gang's van that was seen pulling up to the Spokane Planned Parenthood and throwing their homemade pipe bomb inside. A manager from New York described it as the "worst bombing" of one of their facilities he'd ever seen. It's sad that there are enough bombings these beneficial service providers to make a comparison relevant.

Well-trained but inexperienced?

The perpetrators in this case were called "organized", "well-trained", and "not amateurs" thoughout the episode. But some of their actions belie these ideas:

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

• After the Planned Parenthood bombing, the trio brought a bomb made from a compressed gas tank and a taser to their second hit on the U.S. Bank. But this contraption failed to detonate. #wileecoyote
• An image shared in the episode showed that the group's letter to Planned Parenthood after the bombing was registered "Undeliverable". A close look reveals they'd neglected to include the destination's zip code. #returntosender
• The gang tried to recruit a new agent, and they shared details of their next robbery. Meanwhile, a reward for $130k was offered by U.S. Bank, and it's certain the crooks were aware of this. Despite the prospective member not joining their slapdash organization, the trio did not change the target nor date of their heist. #backupstrat
• After the informant identified the three suspects, authorities set up surveillance on the team. With their watchers going unnoticed, the bandits proceeded to Portland for their crime and were followed for the entire six-hour trip. Then their devious plot was thwarted by a single locked door. The crew had not considered this extraordinary possibility and could think of nothing better than to make the six-hour drive home. They were again tailed on the ground and in the air for three hours until they were finally nabbed at a gas station without incident. #reviewmirror

And what was the group's beef with U.S. Bank? Why strike the same location in Spokane twice? On one hand, maybe to make use of intel and experience from the first robbery. But on the other, having gone through the ordeal, the bank might've increased security, and hopefully the staff were trained in handling the crisis should it occur again.

The right and the wrong

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has been providing information and services to anyone in need. They make no judgements based on race, religion, or sexuality. They're about achieving successful outcomes for people's health with no additional agenda – non-profit and nonpartisan. Targeting a Planned Parenthood operation for harm is akin to targeting a church. Some people might not agree with the tenets Planned Parenthood teaches, and it's their right to believe so. I don't always agree with the tenets a church may teach, but they're doing what's right for the folks who want it. It's stunning how misguided these white men were when choosing Planned Parenthood at a victim of their domestic terror. Hypocritical.

Thankfully an institution, in this case U.S. Bank, was able to offer enough incentive to encourage someone to come forward to disclose the identities of these common criminals. That's a fun irony, given that these perpetrators railed against organized institutions. Their motivations were disgusting, and thankfully all were charged with federal crimes that carried mandatory sentences. Keeping offenders of such an erroneous ideology out of society is likely the best possible outcome. It's unreasonable to think such a dysfunctional state of mind could ever be rehabilitated.

Where are Verne Merrell, Robert Berry, and Charles Barbee now in 2024?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

The trio's first trial ended in a hung jury thanks to one idiot hold-out who was later found to be sympathetic to the defendants' cause. Three months later, a jury found all three men guilty of a number of federal crimes including robbery and arson. Each received a mandatory life sentence.

In 1997, a fourth man, Brian Ratigan was convicted in a separate trial of similar charges. He'd aided the three in the Planned Parenthood bombing. His original sentence fixed his release in 2044, but a Supreme Court ruling on the vagueness of long sentences for violent felonies in 2015 gave Ratigan a new hearing. He was resentenced and finally released after only 23 years in federal custody in the summer of 2020.

Since the Merrell, Barbee, and Berry had participated in the earlier bombing of the Spokesman-Review newspaper, their resentencing did not allow for an early release from their mandatory life sentences.