This Is a Bomb: The Nevada Casino Heist review – the dark, deadly tale of a $3m extortion scheme

A home-made bomb the size of a photocopier, a huge ransom and a messy tale of exploitation. This true-crime documentary is tragic On 26 August 1980, a huge metal box was delivered to Harvey’s Wagon Wheel casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, disguised as an IBM photocopier. An X-ray confirmed that the complex explosive inside contained 1,000lb (450kg) of dynamite. An attached ransom note demanded $3m (£1.3m) within the next 24 hours. An FBI scientist, Kirk Yeager, says the fear was that this “metal b...

By Hannah J Davies