A: Here's a recap of the case, as reported in an Associated Press obituary published in The Bee on Sept. 6, 1996: John Birges Sr., convicted mastermind of a 1980 extortion attempt that resulted in a huge explosion at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino, has died of liver cancer in a Nevada prison. Birges, 74, died last week at the Southern Nevada Correctional Center in Jean - 16 years and one day after a 1,000-pound, homemade bomb was rolled into Harvey's Resort Hotel/Casino with a $3 million extortion note. Birges was convicted in 1981 on federal bombing and extortion charges. In 1985 he was convicted on separate but related state charges. First held in federal custody, he was in ill health when transferred to the Nevada prison system in 1993. A self-described Hungarian freedom fighter, Birges immigrated to the United States in 1957 with virtually nothing. By 1971, he had become a millionaire as a result of a successful landscaping and sprinkler business in the Fresno area. But Birges turned to gambling, running up an $800,000 debt at Harvey's. He was identified by Harvey's dealers as a high roller who would lose thousands of dollars at blackjack tables while being treated to free rooms, food and liquor. On Aug. 26, 1980, casino employees found the bomb, disguised as computer equipment, in an office area. The extortion note demanded $3 million in used $100 bills in exchange for information on how to stop the bomb from exploding. Birges never got the money he demanded. After 33 hours of analysis by bomb experts, authorities tried to defuse the device with an explosive charge designed to dismantle an elaborate switch system. The resulting explosion ripped a huge hole in the side of the 11-story hotel-casino. The resort had been evacuated in advance of the attempt to defuse the bomb, and there were no injuries. Harvey's was closed for about eight months while the hotel-casino was rebuilt at a cost of about $12 million.