Copyright 1994 Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation
The Toronto Sun
December 13, 1994, Tuesday, Final EDITION
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 41, WORLD WATCH
LENGTH: 950 words
HEADLINE: WORLD WATCH COLUMN
BODY:
BOMBING PUZZLE
ADMAN'S DEATH LINKED TO OTHER ATTACKS
NORTH CALDWELL, N.J. (AP) - Thomas Mosser had reached a high point in his career - newly promoted to a top job at the giant advertising agency Young and Rubicam Inc.
Already he had been involved in a number of high-profile campaigns: Handling the news media during the Tylenol poisoning scare, helping promote the disastrous new Coke formula and the reintroduction of the classic drink and organizing the 1984 cross-country Olympic torch run.
Outside of Madison Avenue, he was probably unknown to anyone but a very close reader of the business page.
LATEST VICTIM
Somewhere in his list of clients may lie a clue to why the 50-year-old New Jersey native was sent a mail bomb that killed him in the kitchen of his mansion Saturday in a New York City suburb.
The FBI believes Mosser is the latest victim of the man the bureau calls the Unabomber: Someone who since 1978 has killed two people and injured 23. Investigators could not say yesterday exactly why Mosser had been targeted by the Unabomber, whose previous targets had connections to universities, airlines or computers.
Investigators were searching for any link between Mosser and the rest of the victims.
FBI CALLED IN
Young and Rubicam spokesman Richard McGowan said there was no indication the bombing was related to Mosser's work, but the FBI said it is reviewing his client list.
The FBI said yesterday the bomb had a return address and Dec. 3 postmark from San Francisco.
Over the years, Mosser helped Johnson and Johnson handle media inquiries during the Tylenol painkiller poisoning cases in 1982.
Seven people died after taking Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide.
Mosser also handled Coca-Cola's introduction of its new Coke in the mid-1980s - one of the biggest blunders in marketing history - and the launching of Coca-Cola Classic.
He also organized the 1984 cross-country Olympic Torch Run, was hired to help South Korea act as host of the Olympics and was a member of the New York City Bicentennial Committee.
Mosser was promoted Dec. 1 to general manager of Young and Rubicam Inc., also retaining his executive vice-president title.
Mosser's promotion brought him notice in the trade press.
O.J.'S JUDGE OKAYS PROSECUTOR
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The judge in the O.J. Simpson trial refused to remove a prosecutor from the case yesterday, rejecting arguments that his work on the investigation of a Simpson friend gave him an advantage.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Darden headed a grand jury investigation of Al "A.C." Cowlings, who drove the white Ford Bronco with Simpson inside last summer while police followed. The grand jury completed the investigation without indicting Cowlings.
Superior Court Judge Lance Ito said "there appears to be no conflict of interest" stemming from Darden's role in both cases.
"The judge only affirmed what I already knew," said Darden, "that I acted appropriately before the grand jury."
GLASGOW FLOODED
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - The worst flooding in more than a century forced 645 people in and around Glasgow to flee their homes.
Three people were believed swept away in rain-swollen rivers.
About 11 cm of rain fell over the weekend at Glasgow Airport, the most since records began in 1888, and rain continued to fall yesterday, the Glasgow Weather Centre reported. It said flooding was the worst in at least 106 years.
Two 17-year-old boys were missing after their car was swept off a bridge over the swollen River Kelvin, north of Glasgow, Strathclyde police said.
A search was under way in Dumfries for a 35-year-old man who was believed to have fallen into the River Nith.
WORLD BRIEFS
U.S.: RESEARCHER DISCIPLINED FOR VIRUS
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Yale researcher who was infected with a dangerous virus during a lab accident and then failed to report it was disciplined because he put himself and others at risk.
Jean-Paul Gonzalez, a visiting scientist from France, was infected with the rodent-borne Sabia arenavirus during an accident Aug. 8 at the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit.
Gonzalez became only the third person in the world known to have contracted the virus. One of the other two died.
MEXICO: JAILBIRDS BURROW BELOW JAIL
CIUDAD JUAREZ (AP) - Seventeen inmates are still at large after they escaped Sunday from a Mexican prison near Texas through an elaborate tunnel dug beneath a prison wall.
The men took three to six months to dig a tunnel almost 75 metres long from a cell in the CeReSo prison to a nearby orchard, police said.
SWEDEN: FERRY AND BODIES STAY DOWN
STOCKHOLM (AP) - A ferry believed to contain more than 800 bodies should not be raised from the Baltic Sea, an ethics panel unanimously advised yesterday.
More than 900 people perished after a storm ripped off the Estonia's front cargo door on Sept. 28. Rescuers recovered 94 bodies, and 137 people survived.
BRAZIL: FORMER PREZ ACQUITTED OF CHARGE
BRASILIA (CP) - The Brazilian Supreme Court acquitted former president Fernando Collor de Mello of corruption charges yesterday, citing a lack of evidence.
The eight-judge panel voted 5-3 to absolve Collor of charges that he funnelled millions of dollars for public works projects into bank accounts for his personal use.
AUSTRALIA: MURDER TRIAL FOR WORKER
SYDNEY (Reuter) - A court yesterday ordered Sydney roadworker Ivan Milat to stand trial for the murder of seven backpackers - five from Europe.
Magistrate Michael Price ordered Milat, 49, to stand trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court next year on nine charges following a committal hearing in Campbelltown Magistrates Court in Sydney.
GRAPHIC: 1. photo by Reuter THE LOW ROAD ... An abandoned, soggy Christmas present floats down a flooded street in Paisley, Scotland, yesterday. 2. photo of THOMAS MOSSER Blast in kitchen 3. photo of SUSPECT Mystery man 4. photo of O.J. SIMPSON Attorney flap