IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

California man re-arrested in bombing that killed ex-girlfriend

An FBI spokeswoman said Stephen Beal was arrested Sunday morning.
Image: Alison Viejo Explosion
Orange County first responders investigate the scene of an explosion in Aliso Viejo, Calif., on May 15, 2018.Mindy Schauer / The Orange County Register/SCNG via AP

A man arrested and released last year in a fatal Southern California bombing is back in custody in the same case, federal authorities said Sunday.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the latest charges against 59-year-old Stephen Beal will be detailed Monday.

Image: Stephen Beal
Stephen Beal in Newbury Park, California on Feb. 24, 2018.Melanie Grunder via AP file

Agents were searching Beal’s Long Beach home after he was arrested on Sunday morning, she said.

Beal was charged last year with being in possession of an unregistered destructive device after a May 15 explosion killed Beal’s ex-girlfriend, Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, at her Orange County spa.

Image: Ildiko Krajnyak
This undated selfie taken from Facebook shows Ildiko Krajnyak.Ildiko Krajnyk / Facebook via AP

Two of Krajnyak’s employees were also injured after opening a box that exploded.

Investigators found two improvised explosives, three guns and more than 100 pounds of explosive material during a search of Beal’s home, but prosecutors dropped the charges after the FBI said it wasn’t sure that material satisfied the legal definition of “destructive device.”

Beal, a model-rocket hobbyist, said at the time that he didn’t have enough supplies to cause the kind of explosion that occurred at the spa.