Updated

A man who left homemade bombs around Aspen New Year's Eve, forcing the evacuation of most of downtown, appeared set on more mayhem, including deaths, says the sheriff who got the man's last letter.

James Blanning, a 72-year-old former resident, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a few hours later east of Aspen.

Blanning wrote in a letter to Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis that he wandered around town watching the mayhem unfold after he left bombs at two banks and two more in an alley. The letter, which also names Braudis and an attorney as his heirs, was left in his vehicle.

Braudis believes Blanning intended to kill people and cause destruction.