Forty-five years in the past immediately — at 3:46 p.m. on Aug. 27, 1980 — the Harvey’s Resort Resort and On line casino in Stateline, Nev. was spectacularly rocked by one of many largest and most audacious bombings in US historical past. The offender: a disgruntled degenerate gambler making an attempt to extort $3 million.
The Harvey’s Resort Resort and On line casino in Stateline, Nev. is unintentionally imploded by bomb specialists who have been hoping for a distinct consequence. (Picture: FBI)
The day earlier than, at 5:30 a.m., two males in coveralls — later recognized as Willis Brown and Terry Corridor — wheeled what seemed to be an IBM copier into the on line casino’s second-floor government places of work.
Slot shift supervisor Bob Vinson observed the 2 steel containers they left behind — a smaller one bristling with switches perched atop a bigger one.
There was additionally an envelope. It was addressed “To Harvey’s Administration.” Inside was a three-page typed letter with calls for that gave Harvey’s employees 24 hours to behave.
“Any deviation from these circumstances will go away your on line casino in shambles,” the letter warned.
This was the biggest home made explosive ever detonated on US soil on the time. (Picture: FBI)
Harvey’s executives tried to conform, however the FBI intervened, refusing to permit the ransom to be paid.
For hours, spectators watched as specialists tried to disarm the bomb, which contained 1,000 lbs. of dynamite. One native entrepreneur even bought T-shirts studying, “I survived the blast at Harvey’s.”
At 3:43 p.m. on Aug. 27, technicians made the fateful choice to detonate a small cost on the highest field, hoping to disable the triggering mechanism.
It didn’t go the way in which they hoped.
The catastrophic explosion that resulted despatched chunks of concrete flying. Mud and ash billowed out of a three-story gap within the constructing’s aspect. The bomb was the biggest home made explosive ever detonated on US soil on the time.
Luckily, nobody was damage or killed, as Harvey’s and all neighboring companies had been evacuated the day earlier than.
“It was a extremely good factor that safety didn’t begin to transfer it,” Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini informed the Reno Gazette Journal in 2015. “If they’d have tried to maneuver it, it could have exploded. It had mercury switches and it was set in such a approach there have been 37 switches. Most have been up, however some have been down. If it had gone off once they first discovered it, 600 folks would have been lifeless.”
The Speedy Aftermath
John Birges Sr., a former steelworker and landscaping contractor, is photographed following his arrest by the FBI. (Picture: FBI)
Harvey’s and different Stateline casinos posted a $200,000 reward for info resulting in the arrest of the accountable events.
Investigators rapidly recognized John Birges Jr. because the proprietor of the white van used to move the bomb. However the FBI initially dismissed him as incapable of orchestrating such a classy assault.
Solely after the reward was raised to $500,000 did a brand new tip emerge. The ex-boyfriend of Birges Jr.’s former girlfriend informed brokers to have a look at his father. That man — John Birges Sr., a Hungarian immigrant and former steelworker and landscaper — had gambled and misplaced closely at Harvey’s and was already planning a second bomb.
With assist from Birges’ sons, the FBI constructed its case. Birges Sr., his girlfriend Ella Williams, and accomplices Brown and Corridor have been all arrested and convicted. Because the mastermind, Birges Sr. obtained the most important sentence: 20 years in federal jail, the place he died of liver most cancers in 1996.
Rebirth and Legacy
The previous Harvey’s because it seems immediately. (Picture: Caesars Leisure)
Regardless of $18 million in harm, Harvey’s core construction survived. The resort was rebuilt and reopened as Harveys Lake Tahoe, persevering with to function for many years.
In August 2001, Harrah’s Leisure (now Caesars Leisure) acquired the property from Harveys On line casino Resorts. And in July 2025, the resort was rebranded as Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe, a part of a sweeping $160 million renovation.
Investigative strategies developed through the Harvey’s bombing would later inform federal responses to the 1993 World Commerce Middle bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma Metropolis bombing, making this weird extortion try a pivotal second in US counterterrorism historical past.
