FHP Officer Jimmy Fulford Fields Pipe Bomb Intended for Young Mother with His Bare Hands and Dies Instantly

by Mike Roche

Jimmy Fulford grew up in Madison County, Fla., with the dream of someday becoming a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP). His dream was realized in 1978, and he was initially assigned to the Bradenton, Florida. It was here that he met his future wife, Keith Ann. Jimmy and Keith Ann were eventually transferred to Monticello, Florida, where Jimmy would patrol the same state highways that he negotiated when he first learned to drive. Coming home again was a joyous occasion for Jimmy. Keith Ann had given birth to a son and a daughter and Jimmy, a devout Christian, was wrapped up in fatherhood and was active in his church where he sang in the choir and taught Sunday school.

On Saturday, February 1, 1992, Trooper Fulford stopped a speeding car driven by Lester Watson on I-10 near Tallahassee. It was a rental car and had been rented in the name of Paul Howell of Fort Lauderdale. Watson provided a false name and birth date to Fulford The trooper, acting on intuition, asked the dispatcher to make contact with the renter of the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle had not been stolen. Paul Howell who had rented the car informed the dispatcher that he had given permission for Watson to drive the vehicle but was not aware that Watson was planning to drive the car out of South Florida.

Trooper Fulford placed Watson under arrest. Two Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies transported Watson and a passenger to the county jail. The trooper remained with the rental car to inventory the contents. Valuables were removed from the vehicle including a gift-wrapped box found in the trunk that contained a microwave oven. Unbeknownst to the trooper, a pipe bomb in the microwave oven was set to explode when the door was opened. The booby-trapped microwave exploded in Officer Fulford’s hands, killing the trooper instantly. A depression in the road provided evidence of the force of the explosion. Trooper Jimmy Fulford, at the age of 35, was a father and a husband.

The investigation revealed that the bomb was intended for a woman who lived in an apartment complex with her baby. The young mother, Tammie Bailey, was a witness against Paul Howell in a drug-related murder. Howell was a Jamaican drug trafficker living in Fort Lauderdale. He had hired Lester Watson for $200 to drive the rental car to Marianna, Florida, where Bailey and her baby lived, and deliver the gift. Watson thought the box might have contained drugs, but denied knowledge that he was carrying a bomb. Most people would not knowingly carry a bomb from one end of the state to the other for a mere $200.

The intended victim had previously told Howell that she needed a microwave oven to heat the formula for her infant. Howell, who had acquired his bomb-making skills in the Army, was attempting to silence a witness to his killing of another drug dealer. According to testimony at trial, if the booby-trapped microwave had exploded in the closed space of the intended victim’s apartment, she and her baby would have obviously been killed, plus there was the likelihood of additional injuries and possibly deaths in nearby apartments as well.

Trooper Jimmy Fulford sacrificed his own life and saved at least the life of a young mother and her child as well as others in adjacent apartments. The accolades describing Fulford were consistent with an individual with a high degree of integrity who always tried to help others. Madison County Sheriff Ben Stewart, who grew up with Fulford and worked alongside him said, “He was very kindhearted and very much believed in enforcing the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law. He just believed in helping people, he was just a strong Christian guy and just a country boy, but he always wanted to be a trooper.”

A joint federal and state investigation after the explosion disrupted a South Florida drug enterprise and led to the indictment of 28 people. Lester Watson testified that while he saw Howell wrapping the box that contained the microwave oven, he never knew it was a bomb. Watson was convicted of second-degree murder and he is currently serving a 40-year sentence. Howell’s brother Patrick, who helped him build the bomb, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Howell was sentenced to death and was executed on February 27, 2014.

We often take for granted the hazards of the job of police officers. Their every action is scrutinized and they are always expected to be virtually flawless. They are rarely thanked for their actions. It is only after a tragedy like this that the public pauses to realize that law enforcement officers are also spouses and parents and sons and daughters trying to make the planet a better place to live. They sometimes lose their life while protecting others.

Please click here to view Mike Roche’s previous posts:

Fire Department and California Highway Patrol Go 9 Rounds: Win, Lose or Draw?

The Boston Bombers: A Tale of Two Troubled Brothers

Don’t Text at the Movies, The Life You Lose May Be Your Own!

Killers and the Catcher in the Rye

Mike Roche has over three decades of law enforcement experience. He began his career with the Little Rock Police Department, and spent twenty-two years with the U.S. Secret Service. The last fifteen years of his career were focused on conducting behavioral threat assessments of those threatening to engage in targeted violence. He is the author of three novels and two nonfiction works on mass murder and also rapport building. Retired, Mike is currently a security consultant at Protective Threat LLC, and an adjunct instructor at Saint Leo University. He resides in Florida with his family.