PANACA — The suspected bomber who killed himself in an attack targeting his former boss in a rural Nevada town had a series of setbacks in his personal life and at work.
Despite the setbacks, those who knew Glenn Jones best told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they never expected such a violent end for the former nurse from a small Colorado town.
Jones, 59, killed himself on July 13 in Panaca after setting off bombs inside his former supervisor Joshua Cluffs’ house and in a rental car in front of the house in the Mormon enclave near the Utah border, authorities said.
Authorities haven’t indicated a motive. They said the bombs used in the attack were sophisticated enough to hurl car parts, building materials and bomb fragments across the town. Some debris landed up to a mile away.
Jones’ third ex-wife Sue Ellen Hogan said she left him because she was scared of him, but she did not believe he was capable of violence. She says she loved Jones but he had a temper.
“When we first got married we were so happy,” Hogan said. “And we really did have a lot of good times together.”
Hogan, who now lives in Walsenburg, Colorado, said she had not talked to Jones since their 2012 divorce. She said Jones never hurt her, making the bombs in Panaca last week even more shocking.
“I could never even imagine that,” Hogan said. “I couldn’t even imagine himself shooting himself in the head.”
Jones had worked at the Grover C. Dils Medical Center in Caliente, about 15 miles southwest of Panaca, since 2012. He left the medical center in august. Hospital administrator and CEO Jason Bleak said Jones left his job voluntarily and on good terms.
The timing of his departure, however, coincides with a loss of his license. The State Board of Nursing stripped Jones of his license and barred him from seeking reinstatement for five years in March after he was accused of mishandling morphine at the medical center at least three times.
By the time his nursing credentials were taken, Jones had moved to an RV park in Kingman, Arizona, where authorities now believe he assembled explosives.
Kevin McCumber, manager of the Zuni Village RV where Jones lived before the attack, said he finds it strange that Jones targeted Cluffs. Cluffs’ name and phone number was listed as Jones’ emergency contact information when he registered for the RP park residency.
“You think you know somebody,” the manager said. “He seemed like a real friendly guy, and then you learn this.”