Suspect in explosives case worked in Iraq

ORLANDO, FLA. —  A Jamaican man accused of carrying pipe-bomb parts in checked luggage at Orlando International Airport is a U.S. Army veteran who recently served as a contractor in Iraq, sources said.

Kevin Christopher Brown, whom FBI agents quoted as saying he wanted to show friends in Jamaica “how to build explosive devices like he saw in Iraq,” worked as a contractor there through late 2007.

Friends and family described Brown, 32, as a troubled man who has taken medication for depression and has struggled to cope with the killing of his mother in Jamaica in 2005.

Brown’s behavior when he arrived Tuesday for a flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica, resulted in a partial shutdown of the Orlando airport’s main terminal and sent investigators on a quest to determine why he would bring pipes, BBs and flammable materials on his trip.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Vincent Citro raised questions Wednesday about Brown’s “mental health status” during a brief federal court hearing in Orlando. Citro was granted a delay until today so federal agents could check Veterans Administration records on the suspect, who recently lived in Gainesville, Fla. Citro would not elaborate.

Brown’s mother-in-law, Karen Holt of North Charleston, S.C., linked the arrest to psychological problems.

“This is not him,” she said in a phone interview. “It has to be a mental issue for him. I know if they looked through his medical records . . . I’m sure they will see . . . he’s not a terrorist.”

Brown married Holt’s daughter, Kamishia, 25, about three years ago. They met while serving in the Army and separated a year later.

Brown wasn’t the same after returning from Iraq, she said her daughter told her.

“When he doesn’t take [his medication], he’s off the chain,” Holt said. “When you don’t take it and drink alcohol, it makes it worse.”

Brown was questioned and detained Tuesday by Transportation Security Administration officials and Orlando police officers after he was deemed to be acting strange during check-in for Air Jamaica Flight 80.

Orange County Sheriff’s Det. Kelly Boaz said a luggage search turned up everything needed to build a pipe bomb -- glass bottles with nitromethane, a model rocket igniter, batteries, galvanized pipes with caps drilled to fit a fuse and even instructions. Authorities and airline officials said passengers were never in danger.