Suspect left note about plan to kill Trump, say US court documents

The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida left behind a note saying that he intended to kill the former president, the justice department said yesterday.

- Edward Helmore

The new allegations were included in a detention memo filed before a hearing later in the day at which the justice department was expected to argue that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh should remain locked up while the case is pending.

The details are meant to bolster prosecutors' assertions that Routh had set out to kill Trump before the plot was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where the former president was playing on 15 September.

The note, addressed "Dear World", was placed in a box that was dropped at the home of an unidentified person who contacted law enforcement officials after last Sunday's arrest.

It appeared to have been based on the premise that the assassination attempt would be unsuccessful.

The box, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe and other items, was not opened by the person until after Routh was taken into custody. The person who received the box was not identified in the justice department's detention memo.