Mark Anthony Conditt recorded a 25-minute "confession" video on his cellphone shortly before blowing himself up early Wednesday, but five big questions still remain unanswered by police, state and federal authorities, and reporters poring over everything known so far about the Austin serial bomber.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Conditt went into such detail in the video about each bomb – information that was never made public – that he considers the recording a confession of the bombings that killed two people and terrorized so many around the Texas capital, NBC News reported.
"It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his life that led him to this point," Manley told reporters on Wednesday night, per NBC News.
But the confession didn’t shed much light on these unanswered questions:
1. Motive? – In the 25-minute confession video, Conditt never talked about a motive, his politics or what led him to make and plant the bombs around Austin. Manley said those answers probably died with Conditt, per NBC News, telling reporters: "I know everybody is interested in a motive and understanding why. And we're never going to be able to put a (rationale) behind these acts."
2. Hate Crimes? – There were questions early on whether the bombings were part of a hate crime spree. Anthony Stephan House, 39, and Draylen Mason, 17, both African-American, died after packages left at their homes exploded, CNN reported. Mason's mother was injured in the blast that killed him. A third package injured a 75-year-old Hispanic woman, whose name has not been released.
A fourth bomb, left on the side of a road in southwest Austint, was triggered by a tripwire, police said, an injured two white men walking in the neighborhood, per CNN. A fifth bomb blew up on a conveyer belt at a FedEx facility in the San Antonio suburb of Schertz, injuring a female FedEX employee on March 20. That blast reportedly gave authorities a key lead that helped lead them to Conditt, CNN noted.
3. Who Else Knew? – Conditt lived with two roommates, who have both been questioned by police but neither have been arrested, KXAS-TV reported. Investigators told the television station that one room where they lived was full of material used to make homemade bombs.
Jennifer Withers, the mother of one of Conditt's roommates, told KXAS-TV said her son lived in Conditt's home for about three months and "didn't suspect anything."
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents told KXAN-TV the roommates had separate rooms inside the house they shared, but authorities haven’t made any public comments yet about the roommates.
4. Family? – Conditt grew up in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, according to CNN. How close was he to his family and did they notice any signs that could have tipped them off or authorities?
His grandmother Mary Conditt told CNN said she never seen any signs of malice and violence in him. "If anything, he's low-key and peaceful. … From a family that is so tight, that works so hard to raise their children correctly. It's just horrible."
5. Bomb Building? -- Authorities said Conditt was unemployed, but National Public Radio said records show he was formerly an employee of Crux Manufacturing, which bills itself as a "manufacturing solutions company" in Pflugerville.
Authorities will likely try to find out how Conditt was could afford to order "exotic" batteries from Asia reportedly used in the bombing along with other materials. Authorities early on called the bombs skillfully made and began to draw comparisons to the Unabomber, per KXAN-TV. How did he learn these skills sand where did he get the money to finance the alleged activities?