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William Rogers was suspected of helping plan an arson attack on the Vail Ski Resort.

Sheriff: Accused Eco-Terrorist Kills Himself In Jail

Affidavit: Rodgers Attended Meeting To Plan Vail Arson

POSTED: 4:52 pm MST December 22, 2005
UPDATED: 5:38 pm MST December 22, 2005

An Arizona bookstore owner charged with ecosabotage in Washington state and suspected of arson in Colorado was found dead in a Flagstaff, Ariz., jail cell Thursday.

The Coconio County Sheriff's Office said that William Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, committed suicide. The county medical examiner determined that Rodgers suffocated after placing a plastic bag over his head while he was being held in a one-person cell.

Rodgers was one of six people arrested this month in connection with eco-terrorist attacks in Oregon and Washington State in recent years. He was charged in the firebombing of a government wildlife lab in Washington state.

In an affidavit filed in federal court last week, an FBI agent said Rodgers attended a meeting of Earth Liberation Front members in western Colorado where the arson of the Vail Ski Resort was planned.

Rodgers and Chelsea Gerlach, 28, of Portland, Ore., were the first people to be named as suspects in the 1998 Vail Mountain fires, which did $12 million in damage. No indictments have been returned in that case.


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