Pa. killer linked to grenade incident

PITTSBURGH - The man who carried out a massacre in a women's aerobics class had been questioned a week earlier by police because he matched the description of a man seen pulling what appeared to be a grenade from a computer bag, authorities said yesterday.

George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, was ultimately let go by Port Authority of Allegheny County police because they could not confirm that he was the man on the bus July 28, authorities said.

Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said Sodini wrote in one of his many diaries: "Don't worry about it, it was a false grenade."

"We've never found a grenade, so nobody can tell you right now it was him on that bus. We believe it was him on the bus," Moffatt said.

Sodini fatally shot himself after killing three women and wounding nine others attending an aerobics class at the L.A. Fitness club in Collier Township on Aug. 4.

Since Sodini did not relate the entire grenade incident in his writings and no grenade was found in his home or among his belongings, there is no way to be certain he was the one on the bus, Moffatt said.

Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said transit police did not charge Sodini because the witness who reported seeing a man with a grenade could not confirm Sodini was the one. Sodini denied it when police found and questioned him two days later.

"It wasn't until two days later that our sergeant found a guy matching the description," Ritchie said yesterday. "There wasn't much more we could do at that point."

Two people injured in the shooting remained hospitalized Monday, one in fair condition and one in serious condition, hospital officials said.

Funeral home visitation was scheduled today in Franklin for the third woman killed by Sodini, Jody Billingsley, 37, of Mount Lebanon. Her funeral will be tomorrow in Franklin. Funerals for the other two victims, Heidi Overmier, 46, of Carnegie, and Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Green Tree, were held Saturday.