Man who died in Beaver Dam apartment explosion had white supremacist literature, guns, bomb lab

BEAVER DAM - The man who died in an explosion in his Beaver Dam apartment last month had white supremacist material along with an array of explosive chemicals, guns and ammunition, according to search warrants unsealed in Dodge County.

Benjamin D. Morrow, 28, of Beaver Dam, was killed when his unit in Village Glen Apartments' building 109 exploded on March 5. There were no other deaths or injuries.

In search warrants released Thursday, investigators found that Morrow had a "homemade explosives laboratory" in the apartment. They found his body in the kitchen by the stove, which had a burner on.

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Morrow, who had a background in chemistry, had jars and bottles of chemicals used to make bombs, as well as what appeared to be finished explosives in the apartment. There also were instructions on how to make bombs as well as timers and gunpowder, the warrant said.  

Agents also recovered at least three long guns, two handguns, more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition, a ballistic helmet and vest, and masks from his apartment, the warrant says.

Among the items recovered in a search of Morrow's apartment was literature concerning white supremacist groups. The warrant does not provide details about the groups or other specifics. Officials declined to provide more details than what was in the warrants.

The discovery of the white supremacist material, in part, prompted agents to search computers and other electronics to see if Morrow was acting alone or in concert with others.

Department of Justice Special Agent Kevin Heimerl said in the warrant that someone with the kind of material found in Morrow's apartment may be acting alone to "commit some type of attacks with those explosives."

But people also may work with others to conduct surveillance and carry out attacks in concert with accomplices, Heimerl said. 

Beaver Dam Lt. of Detectives Terrence Gebhardt said investigators are not seeking other individuals but the investigation remains open to follow leads. He did not elaborate.

Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg said no one has been referred to his office for prosecution. 

Officials also searched a storage locker rented by Morrow but found nothing of importance to the investigation. Morrow saw the owner of the storage company the day of the explosion and told her he would be moving his items out by the end of March. 

A native of Black Creek, Morrow had worked at Richelieu Foods in Beaver Dam for 10 months before his death. His co-workers reported that Morrow often came to work smelling like mothballs, which investigators said could have been an attempt to disguise the odor of working with explosive material.

Morrow previously worked as a scientist at PPD Inc. in Madison, a research company specializing in drug development, from 2014 until last year.

Morrow went to Pensacola Christian College in Florida, graduating in 2013 with a degree in pre-pharmacy and minors in chemistry and math.

After the explosion that killed Morrow, a controlled detonation was conducted March 7 in an effort to eliminate remaining chemicals, and a smaller explosion occurred the following day.

When the controlled detonation failed to eliminate the threat, authorities took the unusual step of burning the 16-unit apartment building on March 15. Officials said the presence of dangerous chemicals on-site made it unsafe to try to salvage the building, citing the risk of another explosion or chemical exposure to workers. 

As part of the preparation for the burn, bomb techs from the FBI removed ammunition and hazardous materials from the building.

During that sweep, bomb techs also retrieved some property in other units, including important papers, jewelry, money and other family heirlooms. That was a change from an earlier position taken by authorities, which called for no one to retrieve personal items for the roughly 30 other residents from the building prior to its burn.

Klomberg, the district attorney, said the decision to burn the building was correct but it was very difficult to see residents have "much of their lives burned up."

"It was one of the most heart-wrenching things that I have been involved in," he said.