Former propane mogul, 78, dies

LEBANON, Mo. -- Robert W. Plaster, a Missouri business leader who was accused in the 1970s of plotting to bomb a competitor's truck in an effort to dominate the propane business, died Saturday. He was 78.

Plaster died of natural causes at his home south of Lebanon, Laclede County Coroner Steve Murrell said.

He made his fortune by turning Empire Gas into one of the nation's largest propane distributors.

In the 1970s, he was acquitted after the U.S. Justice Department accused Empire of antitrust violations by using a variety of tactics to acquire a monopoly of the propane market. The Justice Department also accused Plaster, Empire and another man of working with two other men to use dynamite to destroy a competitor's tank truck.

Plaster was defended by famous lawyer F. Lee Bailey and acquitted after a three-week trial.