Alleged Crimes
Sampson was one of nine foreign nationals arrested on allegations of involvement in a series of car bombings targeting Western expatriates in Riyadh. British engineer Christopher Rodway was killed and his wife injured in one explosion, and a second bomb injured Britons Mark Paine and Steve Coughlan. The Saudi authorities claimed that the bombings were part of a turf war within a Western liquor trafficking ring, though the men were further forced to confess to being spies for the British government. The widow of Christopher Rodway, Jane Rodway, denied that her husband was involved in liquor trafficking.
In his videotaped confession, broadcast internationally on February 5, 2001, Sampson said:
I admit and acknowledge that I participated with Mr. Alexander Mitchell in setting up an explosive device on the vehicle belonging to Mr. Christopher Rodway, a British national. I detonated the explosive device using a remote control switch. Mr. Mitchell and I then headed South towards Al-Jazeera. Two days later, Mr. Mitchell ordered me to set up a second explosion with the participation of Mr. Raf Schyvens, a Belgian national. —William SampsonRead more about this topic: William Sampson (author)
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