Dead gardener suspected of planting multiple bombs to get revenge

Authorities in Germany are warning the public after one person was killed and two others were injured by bombs apparently planted by a disgruntled gardener before he died.

Westpfalz police spokesman Bernhard Christian Erfort told the Associated Press that his department has set up a hotline for anyone who may have had a conflict with gardener Bernhard Graumann, who was found dead in his bed in the southwestern town of Mehlingen on Friday.

Prior to his death, Graumann allegedly planted an explosive device near the front door of a 64-year-old physician's office in the nearby town of Enkenbach-Alsenborn that exploded Friday morning, killing the victim.

Police say that Graumann also rigged a piece of firewood with explosives that went off on Sunday morning in nearby Otterberg when a 37-year-old woman put the log in her wood-burning stove. Both the woman and her 4-year-old daughter were hurt in the explosion, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Police say both the doctor and the mother were previously involved in disputes with the deceased gardener.

"The investigation of the criminal police showed that in both cases Bernhard Graumann is suspicious," police said in a statement obtained by the BBC. "He had a personal or business connection with the victims. In both cases, there had been conflicts in the past."

Police would not comment on Graumann's cause of death, which local media outlets have speculated was suicide.

The Associated Press reports that the police hotline has already received upwards of 60 calls from people who had interacted with Graumann before his death.

Anyone who has had a "problematic private or business relationship with Graumann" is still being urged to contact authorities immediately.

"It cannot be ruled out that the deceased made other preparations that could endanger further people," police said.