FBI to give details in arrest tied to fatal Aliso Viejo blast

The FBI is set to release details about the arrest of a Long Beach man in an explosion that killed his ex-girlfriend and injured two others last year.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says authorities arrested 59-year-old Stephen Beal in connection with the May 15 bombing that killed Ildiko Krajnyak in her Aliso Viejo spa. The FBI busted down Beal's front and garage doors at his home in Long Beach and searched it.

Eimiller declined to detail the new charges against Beal but said they were in connection with the blast and that more information would be released at a news conference today.

Beal had been arrested on suspicion of possessing explosives after the bombing last year but was released after prosecutors dropped the charge, saying they had questions about whether material found in Beal's house met the legal definition of a "destructive device."

At the time, investigators said they found two improvised explosive devices, three firearms and more than 100 pounds of explosive material during a search that Beal allowed of his house.

After prosecutors dropped the charge, Beal was freed. He wasn’t named a suspect.

Beal, a model-rocket hobbyist, told investigators he hadn’t made any bombs and didn’t have material for an explosion as powerful as the one he saw in news coverage.