FBI Leo Burt. On right is an age-progression photo of Leo Frederick Burt released by the FBI.
A website run by a regional publisher is claiming that Leo Burt, the accused Sterling Hall bomber missing since 1970, has been found alive and living in Canada under a fake identity.
The bombing occurred on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus during the height of protests against the Vietnam War.
However, the website provides very few specific details, not revealing the journalist’s name or Leo Frederick Burt’s supposed new identity or location in Canada. It’s also unclear what the website is trying to accomplish or whether it is the precursor for a book.
“Interested in the full story? Contact us for more information on this historic discovery,” a contact form on the website, LeoBurt.com, says. Heavy has submitted a request for more details through the website and the publisher. The website says it is powered by “Kapptive & Tagona Press.” Tagona Press’s website says, “Tagona Press is a digital platform dedicated to providing you with the finest content on a wide array of topics.” It’s based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
“We are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement at this time, but I can tell you that an experienced, accomplished investigative journalist based in Ontario has assembled a compelling case regarding Leo Burt and what happened after he escaped to Canada in August 1970,” said Bryan Davies, Publisher of Tagona Press, in an email to Heavy. “We are working with the journalist to publish his book detailing the entire Burt investigation. I will be pleased to share more details with you as I am permitted to reveal them. I know this story remains an intensely interesting one for the public at large.”
On February 15, Tagoma Press promoted the website on its newly created X page, which only has 19 followers. “New story coming soon from Tagona Press! Unveiling the Shadows: The Stunning Story of How Fugitive Leo Burt Was Finally Found After 53 Years,” the post reads.
Burt was one of four University of Wisconsin-Madison students who were accused of blowing up Sterling Hall on campus to protest the Army Mathematics Research Center housed there. Physics student Robert Fassnacht was killed in the blast. The four accused bombers went on the run; the other three, David Fine, Karl Armstrong and Dwight Armstrong, were eventually captured, sentenced, and freed. The FBI trailed Burt to Canada, but he disappeared in 1970, never to be seen again. He is sometimes called the “Ghost of Wisconsin,” and for a time he was falsely accused of being the Unabomber by authors.
The FBI released age-progression photos of Burt in August 2023, sparking a new round of media attention.
“In September 2, 1970, four men were charged in the bombing, which was a protest to the war in Vietnam (Sterling Hall housed an army mathematics research center). Three of the four men were later arrested and convicted; the fourth man—Leo Burt—remains wanted by the FBI. At the time, the bombing of Sterling Hall in Madison was the largest act of domestic terrorism in the U.S., prior to Oklahoma City in 1995,” the FBI wrote.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Website Claims That a Journalist Worked Briefly With Leo Frederick Burt Years Ago & Realized His Identity While Watching an Episode of ‘America’s Most Wanted’
A new story coming soon from Tagona Press! Unveiling the Shadows: The Stunning Story of How Fugitive Leo Burt Was Finally Found After 53 Years
The website claims that a “stunning breakthrough” from an unnamed journalist “is soon to bring closure to one of the most enduring mysteries in American criminal history.”
“Our investigative journalist has successfully located Leo Burt, the fugitive implicated in the 1970 Sterling Hall bombing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After more than five decades on the run, Burt has been found living under an assumed identity in Canada, marking the end of a 53-year manhunt,” the website says, but it does not name the journalist.
“In an extraordinary twist to an already remarkable story, the journalist responsible for locating Leo Burt, the elusive fugitive of the 1970 Sterling Hall bombing, had unknowingly crossed paths with Burt in his younger days,” the website continues.
Do you think Woody Harrelson could play Leo Burt in a movie?
“The two had worked together briefly, forming a professional acquaintance without the journalist ever suspecting Burt’s true identity. It wasn’t until 30 years later, while watching an episode of ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ that the journalist recognized Burt and was shocked to learn of his fugitive status. This delayed realization sparked a deep sense of personal connection to the case, fueling the journalist’s determination to uncover Burt’s whereabouts,” it says.
“This revelation not only resolves a long-standing fugitive case but also reopens chapters of American history, reminding us of a turbulent time of political activism and the lengths to which some individuals went to protest government actions,” the website says.
“The capture of Leo Burt will close a significant chapter in the FBI’s history of fugitive pursuits, providing a poignant reminder of the persistence of justice, no matter how long it takes.”
A Historian at UW-Madison Recently Told Student Journalists That a Man Told Him, ‘Leo Burt’s Alive’
FBILeo Frederick Burt wanted poster.
In December 2023, a group of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee journalism students published a major project on Leo Burt and the Sterling Hall bombing for the journalism program’s website, Media Milwaukee.
The project quoted a man named Troy Reeves, who runs the oral history program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s archives.
The article noted that Reeves “was manning a table for the 40th history of the Sterling Hall bombing when a man walked up, looking like ‘he had come right out of the ’60s’ or a ‘Grateful Dead’ concert.”
“He…put his hand on the table and leaned in and said: ‘Leo Burt’s alive and knows what you’re doing. Leo Burt’s alive and loves what you’re doing,’” Reeves told the journalism student.
“The only thing I remember about that person for sure is that he looked like he was male or that he identifies as a male, so that’s how I saw him, and he had a tie dye shirt on,” Reeves told the students, saying he did not get the man’s name.
The student journalists also spoke to Leo Burt’s brother, Donald Burt, who lives in Pennsylvania, where Leo Burt was from. “He’s been out of our lives for 53 years. He did it, and that’s the last we’ve heard of him,” Donald Burt told Media Milwaukee. “The story is ancient history. As far as the FBI knows, they think he’s dead.”
Richard Colagiacomo, a former high-school classmate of Burt’s, told Media Milwaukee that people who grew up with Burt in Havertown, Pennsylvania, think it’s possible that Burt “went to Canada,” saying, “I don’t know. He could be anywhere. He could be walking around amongst us.”
Karlton Armstrong, one of the convicted bombers, also spoke with Media Milwaukee’s student journalists. “You know better than to ask that question,” Armstrong said when asked in winter 2023 if he knew where Burt was. “I have no idea where he is, but… my standard answer: He doesn’t send me Christmas cards.”
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