When the trio appeared in court the complaining witness against them was Omaha detective Jack Swanson, who allegedly found dynamite in Mondo we Langa's basement several weeks later. All three men were in jail at the time of the bombing so could not have directly participated in the crime.
The court files of the three men caught in possession of dynamite tell no details of the case. However, an Omaha Police captain testified to a Congressional committee in October 1970 and explained the police view that the dynamite used in the bombing was the same as that recovered from Payne, Mitchell and Gray.
"Dynamite similar to that stolen from Quick Supply in Des Moines was found in the home of one of the above. It is believed it is part of the supply from which the bombs were made."
"On July 28, 1970, three young Negroes, one who is an ex-Panther, were arrested with 41 2½ inch by 16-inch sticks of dynamite in the car. This is also similar to the dynamite taken in burglary in Des Moines of Quick Supply."
After Duane Peak's preliminary hearing and the case against Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa was underway, the three men were allowed out of jail on bond. The cases were continued until after the April 1971 trial that sent the two Panther leaders to jail and Peak to a juvenile detention facility, and then were quietly dismissed within a week after the trial.
The jury that convicted the two Black Panther leaders was not told about the cache of stolen dynamite that matched the explosives that killed Minard. The jury did not know of the three men arrested who would walk free with their cases dismissed in exchange for their silence following jury deliberations.
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