Oklahoma City bomb-making chemicals in Fairfield house Warrant offers details of Fairfield man's knowledge of explosives

Bronson Road in Fairfield is reopening on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, a day after police discovered a stash of firearms, explosives, ammunition and potentially dangerous chemicals inside of 1625 Bronson Road. Bronson Road in Fairfield is reopening on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, a day after police discovered a stash of firearms, explosives, ammunition and potentially dangerous chemicals inside of 1625 Bronson Road. Photo: Cathy Zuraw Photo: Cathy Zuraw Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Oklahoma City bomb-making chemicals in Fairfield house 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

FAIRFIELD -- From the minute police entered Joseph C. Callahan's Greenfield Hill home, he freely discussed the array of bomb-making chemicals he collected in his house.

When they asked about some large containers in his garage, which contained about 100 pounds of a substance Callahan readily identified as ammonium nitrate, he couldn't have been more helpful.

"That's the chemical used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing," police said he explained to them.

Then he pointed to vats that he said contained the same kind of chemicals used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday, Callahan also talked to police about how he liked to build rockets and had detonation cords in his house.

Oh, then there was the large bomb Callahan said he had been making for rocker Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones. It was in the garage next to the spray tank. Callahan couldn't remember if he had attached a fuse to it yet.

Richards, who lives in Weston, was unavailable for comment, said his publicist at L.D. Communications, of London.

On Monday, Callahan, 69, of 1625 Bronson Road, was charged with 112 counts of illegal possession of explosives, six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of the manufacture of bombs.

Free on bond, Callahan is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 16 in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

Callahan's lawyer, Richard Meehan, said he hadn't seen the arrest report and couldn't comment on it.

"He is a delightful gentleman who never had any intention to make a bomb and never intended to hurt anybody," Meehan said.

The arrest report notes that police visited Callahan's home, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods along Fairfield County's gold coast, twice on Oct. 1.

Callahan's ex-wife, Mary, called police early that day, saying she had not spoken to him in over a day and asking them to check on him. They checked and everything seemed fine, the report said.

Later that day, Callahan himself called, complaining that he thought someone had broken into his home and stolen his prescription pills and a check.

Police determined that no burglary had occurred, but while walking through the white clapboard colonial they saw a rifle case lying on the living room floor, the affidavit states. Officers went into the detached garage after detecting a strong chemical smell. Police later found 142 guns in the home, all of which were registered to Callahan.

In talking to officers, police said Callahan admitted to taking numerous prescription medications, along with a mixture of medications that had not been prescribed for him, but he said he is a chemist and knows how to order medications from the Internet.

Callahan also admitted to playing with explosives as a hobby. He told officers he made homemade explosive devices by filling tubes with flash powder and attaching a fuse on his basement work bench, the affidavit states. Police found several homemade explosive devices there and another 112 explosive devices spread around other areas of the house.

Neighbor Tom Bruderman told officers he was concerned Callahan was going to blow up the neighborhood, according to the police report.

All the guns were owned legally, but Meehan said Callahan agreed to turn them over to police.

"We are making efforts to cooperate with police and the state's attorney's office," he added.

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