Matthew Bjornholt's Lawyer Says "It's All Made Up." A Court Found Probable Cause Anyway.

A 27-year-old Valley man is charged with planning to bomb a Jewish or Muslim house of worship on the next major religious holiday. According to prosecutors, the plan was to set off one bomb, then a bigger one nearby, and have an accomplice shoot the people who ran. His lawyer says the whole case comes from a man he threw off his couch. A Maricopa County court commissioner heard both sides and found enough evidence to move the case forward.

Matthew Bjornholt of Chandler faces one felony count of making a terrorist threat. No building has been named. The alleged accomplice has not been named. Bjornholt has not been convicted of anything. Every allegation below is an allegation.

According to court documents reported by Perry Vandell of The Arizona Republic, Bjornholt told someone in late September about a planned mass attack on houses of worship. The first bomb would go off at one place of worship to draw attention. A larger bomb would go off shortly after at a nearby one. Then Bjornholt and an accomplice would start shooting the people who fled. Prosecutors described that part as "picking off people."

The friend made two more allegations. First, that Bjornholt called his copy of The Anarchist Cookbook his "Bible." Second, that he regarded the man who carried out the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand as a god.

The FBI tip went further. It said Bjornholt's family was so worried about his behavior that some of them stayed away from their own home, and that he was associated with white supremacists.

Police searched the house and found three firearms and documents with bomb-making instructions, according to records. No bomb-making materials have been reported.

This case reached the federal government before it reached the county. Bjornholt's attorney told the court that the FBI executed a search warrant at Bjornholt's home on Sept. 29, and that Bjornholt gave agents his phones, his devices and his passwords.

The defense says the FBI went through all of it and recommended no federal charges. Jail records show Bjornholt was booked on the state charge on Oct. 16, more than two weeks later.

That gap is the most important unanswered question in this case. What did the county see that the federal government didn't act on, or what changed between Sept. 29 and Oct. 16? Neither the Maricopa County Attorney's Office nor the FBI has said publicly.

Attorney Charles Shell, whose name some outlets spell Schell, gave the court a very different account at the Oct. 16 initial appearance.

On the source: Shell said the tip came from a man Bjornholt called a "homeless alcoholic." Bjornholt had let him sleep on his couch and then kicked him out on Sept. 27, two days before the FBI search.

On the guns: Shell said Bjornholt owned all three legally, had no more than 20 rounds for each, and had no bomb-making materials.

On the family: Shell said Bjornholt's father called law enforcement on Sept. 29, but did so because he was worried about his son's own well-being, not about a threat to anyone else.

On the statements: Shell said Bjornholt never made any terroristic statements to anybody, and that "it's all made up."

Prosecutor Stephen Garcia asked for a $500,000 cash-only bond. He cited the nature of the charge, the danger to the community and the risk that Bjornholt would flee. He also pointed to Bjornholt's criminal history and what prosecutors described as a history of failing to appear in court.

The defense countered that Bjornholt made every court appearance in his earlier case. That earlier case was a 2022 first-degree murder charge that was dismissed. Prosecutors say it was dismissed after a plea deal. The defense says it was dropped for lack of evidence, and that Bjornholt finished a sentence on a drug charge that came out of it and had his civil rights restored. That restoration is the basis for the defense's claim that he could legally own the three guns.

Commissioner Daniel Fenzel split the difference. He said the state's early evidence leaned heavily on hearsay, and he still found probable cause. He rejected the $500,000 cash request and set a $100,000 secured appearance bond.

No outlet has reported whether that bond was posted or whether Bjornholt is still in jail. For Phoenix-area synagogues and mosques, that is the question that matters this week.

Oct. 22: status conference.

Oct. 26: preliminary hearing. This is where the state has to show more of its case than a friend's account and an FBI tip.

The open questions:

Is Bjornholt in custody or out on bond? If he is out, what are the release conditions? Is there a no-contact order, a ban on weapons, or a ban on going near houses of worship?

Who is the alleged accomplice? And is that person under investigation?

Was a specific building ever named? Did the alleged plan identify a particular synagogue, mosque or neighborhood?

Which holiday was the alleged target date?

Why did the FBI pass? If the FBI declined to bring federal charges, why does the county believe a state case holds up?

Built from The Arizona Republic's Oct. 20 story by Perry Vandell, carried by the Arizona Daily Star, and from FOX 10 Phoenix and AZFamily coverage of the Oct. 16 hearing, all based on court filings and statements made in open court. We have not yet reviewed the filings ourselves. The accounts conflict on the attorney's name (Shell or Schell) and on whether Sept. 29 was the date of the arrest or of the FBI search. Bjornholt is presumed innocent. We are looking for the charging documents, the release conditions, and anyone who knows the identity of the alleged accomplice or a named target. Questions are going to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, defense counsel and the FBI's Phoenix field office, and their answers will be added with a dated update. The Arizona Inquirer is reader-supported and runs no paid placement in editorial. Tips: [email protected]. Corrections: [email protected].