Local News in Brief : Bail Set for Woman in Bomb Death Case

Reversed by a federal appeals court, a Los Angeles judge Wednesday reluctantly agreed to set bail for a woman who is accused of involvement in the 1980 bombing death of a Manhattan Beach secretary.

U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian set bail at $500,000 for Rochelle Ida Manning, 48, who has dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and has been in jail since June when she was arrested upon her arrival at Los Angeles International Airport.

The judge, saying Mannning “poses a flight risk,” ordered her placed under house arrest at a sister’s home in the San Fernando Valley when she posts bail, requiring the defendant to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor her whereabouts. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered her release last week after defense attorney Michael Adelson argued that she was entitled to bail.

Manning and Hawthorne real-estate dealer William Ross are scheduled for a Dec. 20 trial on charges that they conspired to mail a package bomb to the owner of a Manhattan Beach computer company, who was in a court fight with Ross over the sale of a bungalow. Patricia Wilkerson, 35, a company secretary, opened the package and was killed by the blast.

Manning’s husband, Robert Steven Manning, 36, is also charged in the case but is a fugitive in Israel.