A former Brigham Young University student pleaded guilty Thursday in 4th District Court to blowing his own car up with a pipe bomb last year.
Phillip J. Hatch, 22, pleaded guilty to constructing an infernal machine, a second-degree felony. Hatch was originally charged with possessing an infernal machine, a first-degree felony. He will be sentenced June 8 before Judge Boyd L. Park. As part of the plea bargain prosecutors might recommend reducing the charge to a misdemeanor if Hatch successfully completes probation.Hatch's Volkswagen Golf exploded in a ball of flames Aug. 22 in the parking lot of East Windsor Apartments, 776 E. 750 North, while Hatch was working under the hood. One of two pipe bombs placed under the front seat detonated while Hatch removed wires from his fan. Hatch was uninjured.
Police originally suspected someone tried to kill Hatch. Investigators later said Hatch was going to attempt suicide but changed his mind and was dismantling the explosives when one detonated.
Hatch, a resident of Oregon, has been receiving therapy for depression since the incident. Prosecutors say the plea bargain is warranted because of Hatch's depressed condition at the time of the incident.