Austin Police Chief Brian Manley
© CBS AustinAustin Police Chief Brian Manley
The Austin serial bomber admitted in a recording he left just before he killed himself this week that 'I wish I were sorry but I am not.'

Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, terrorized the Texas state capital for over two weeks by sending package bombs to a number of people around town, killing two and wounding several others.

Austin police said on Wednesday that Conditt left a 28-minute audio 'confession' which he recorded on a cell phone on Tuesday, hours before he died after detonating one of his own devices in his car.

The details are among those to emerge about Conditt after he blew himself up as police tried to arrest him on Wednesday over a string of deadly package bombs that have terrorized Austin for weeks.

So far, authorities are not saying what specific contents were on the recording, but law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation leaked bits and pieces of the statement, according to the American-Statesman.

Conditt is heard describing himself on the recording as a 'psychopath' who has been mentally ill since childhood.

He is also heard saying that if he feels police are close to arresting him, he would end his life by blowing himself up inside a crowded McDonald's.

In the audio, Conditt is heard blaming himself for tipping off investigators as to his whereabouts.

Conditt entered a FedEx store and shipped one of the parcels using an alias. In his recording, he says he realized that this was a mistake, since it allowed surveillance cameras to see him as well as the license plate of his car parked outside.

In the recording, the bomber is heard saying that his actions and resulted in deaths and families losing loved ones as well as injuries, though he did not add much else.

The recording did not include any clues as to why Conditt sent the bombs.


Comment: Maybe his only motivation was that he finds it fun to destroy.


Earlier on Thursday, it was learned that the serial Austin bomber had been part of a Christian survivalist group that would discuss weapons and dangerous chemicals.

Authorities also revealed he had a target list of future locations to continue his reign of terror.

Conditt took part in the conservative club called Righteous Invasion of Truth (RIOT) as a teenager, which involved home-schooled youth studying the bible and being taught gun skills.

At the time of his death, he was an unemployed college dropout who bought bomb-making materials at Home Depot.

Police are still trying to understand the motive behind the series of bombings that left two dead and injured five others - and that the phone recording offered a key insight into why Conditt embarked on the killing spree.

Cassia Schultz, a childhood friend who was in the same RIOT group as the bomber, told BuzzFeed that Conditt would regularly attend the group with one of his younger sisters.

'A lot of us were very into science; we would discuss chemicals and how to mix them and which ones were dangerous,' Schultz, now 21, said.

'We were into weapons and stuff. A lot of us did role-playing, and (role-playing games); we'd have foam weapons and act out a battle.'

Schultz, who described Conditt as a 'normal kid', said she couldn't recall bombs or bomb making ever being discussed at the RIOT groups. She added that other members of their group were shocked to hear Conditt was behind the deadly Austin bombings.

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said that in the 28-minute audio Conditt recorded he did not explain why he had targeted his victims but spoke in detail about each and every bomb he created.

'He mentioned seven explosive devices, and we have identified those devices and those are no longer in play. We can account for every bomb, and he did individually identify each bomb,' Manley said.

'There were no indications of why these specific addresses, or those that were placed in the community, there was no reasons given for why he selected those individuals.'

Police did however discover a 'target list' when they raided his home. The list had 'additional addresses we believe he was using for future targets', according to US Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The FBI said they were confident that suspect would have continued to cause more death and destruction if he had not been caught.

Conditt was eventually tracked down using store surveillance video, cellphone signals and witness accounts of a customer shipping packages in a disguise that included a blond wig and gloves.

Police obtained CCTV footage of him posting two devices disguised as parcels at a FedEx office on Sunday night. Law enforcement sources told ABC that Conditt had posted those two parcels under the alias name Kelly Killmore.

Despite this, authorities had already obtained surveillance footage of him purchasing supplies at an electronics store nearly two weeks ago, KXAN reports.

Manager of Fry's Electronics Jen Meyer said investigators had obtained the video with a subpoena and agents had been back at her store almost daily ever since.

'They were looking for any invoices that we may have or surveillance video that we may have on him,' Meyers said.

A receipt from the store shows that Conditt had purchased 10 resistors and five battery cases on February 27 - three days before the first bombing.

Conditt's three week reign of terror came to an abrupt end on Wednesday when he detonated a bomb inside his own car when police closed in on him near a hotel on the interstate highway.

'What is clear from listening to that video, is that this was very troubled young man who was talking about the challenges in his life that led him to take the actions he took,' Manley said

Chief Manley revealed that Conditt was aware the cops were closing in on him and made a 25 minute video on his phone in the hours before his death. Police say they do not plan to release the confession during the investigation.

'There were indications, that he stated in the video, that he felt like we were getting very close to him,' he said.

'It was a confession, because he was admitting to what he had done,' he explained.

Manley said that officers had shot Conditt dead after he detonated a bomb inside his own car, injuring surrounding officers, when they knocked on his window.

But Manley hinted that it's likely the suspect would have died from his self-inflicted wounds even if he hadn't been shot, saying: 'The injuries he sustained from the explosion were significant.'

It appears Conditt's devout Christian family had no idea of his problems.

'What is clear from listening to that video, is that this was very troubled young man who was talking about the challenges in his life that led him to take the actions he took,' Manley said, adding that there were no mentions of terrorism or hate in the clip.

'There were also indications of actions he was willing to take in the future,' Manley continued.

'He doesn't mention anything about terrorism or anything about hate. It's an outcry of a challenged young man.'


Comment: Sounds more like the outcry of an entitled criminal mind who never learned how to take responsibility for his life.


Investigators say Conditt's Google search history indicated he was researching other addresses, and it appears he was planning other attacks before SWAT teams cornered him.

SWAT teams searched Conditt's home on Wednesday afternoon fearing there could explosives there. Police also questioned his two housemates.

However, police now believe that all Conditt's live bombs are accounted for.

The bomber had gone on a three week bombing spree stretching back to March 2. The series of bombings killed two people and injured at least five others.

Police say the suspect wasn't previously known to law enforcement. Police believe Conditt, who previously worked as a computer repair technician and at a manufacturing company, made all the bombs himself.