Ohio Cosplayer Who Gift-Wrapped Handmade Bomb, Drove To Love Rival’s Home To Kill Him Pleads Guilty

A 32-year-old Ohio Cosplayer pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges for trying to murder a romantic rival with a gift-wrapped homemade pipe bomb.

Clayton McCoy, a medieval combat reenactor from Ohio, pleaded guilty to transporting explosives with intent to injure. He also pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device, said federal prosecutors.

McCoy knew the victim and his girlfriend for many years through Dagorhir. It is a live-action medieval role-playing battle game and social club. Prosecutors said that he professed his love to the woman in October 2020. But she told him that she was in a relationship and said that she did not share his romantic feelings.

After his advances were rejected, McCoy came up with a plan to kill the woman’s boyfriend. He thought of using a bomb “to remove him as a romantic rival,” said prosecutors. He then looked for materials and plans for building a pipe bomb, which would be detonated by the victim himself, said prosecutors. The cosplayer bought single items from different stores to avoid getting caught. He also paid for his purchases in cash.

The Department of Justice stated that McCoy made shrapnel for the "inside of the bomb by using an angle grinder saw to cut scrap metal into small, triangular pieces." He inserted the "homemade shrapnel and bb’s, into the metal pipe, to increase the deadliness of the pipe bomb when it exploded.”

New York Post reported that when the bomb was ready, McCoy placed it inside a white gift box. He tied a red ribbon around it and armed the firing mechanism so that the bomb would go off when the box was opened. McCoy had made a prototype and tested it in his yard before delivering the bomb to the victim, said prosecutors.

On Oct. 30, 2020, McCoy placed the bomb packaged inside a cardboard shipping box in the back of a pickup truck. He drove seven hours from his home in Ohio to the victim’s home in Carroll County, Maryland. He left the package on the porch. The victim’s grandfather picked up the box and carried it inside the home. It remained sitting on the kitchen table until McCoy’s romantic rival returned home around 5.30 p.m.

Prosecutors wrote said he opened the cardboard box and "observed a smaller white box with a red ribbon inside." The prosecutors added that the victim texted his girlfriend to ask her if "she had sent him a present, then took both boxes into his bedroom to open his ‘gift’ in private.” When the man opened the gift box, the bomb exploded. It pelted the victim with shrapnel that punctured his chest, legs and the front of his body. He was released from the hospital on Nov. 17, but had to use a walker for two weeks. He underwent several surgeries to remove the projectiles from his body.

Fox 45 News reported that McCoy faces a maximum of 30 years in jail, but his sentencing is yet to be scheduled.