Attorney: Activist had received death threats

? A Jewish Defense League activist who was killed in a federal prison had received death threats and needed more protection, his former attorney said.

Earl Krugel, 62, was killed Friday evening at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix, where he was imprisoned for his role in a bomb plot against a mosque and the office of a Lebanese-American congressman.

Attorney Mark Werksman questioned why Krugel was transferred to the medium-security prison last week.

“There were death threats against him precisely because he was a militant Jewish activist,” he said.

Werksman couldn’t recall details of the threats.

FBI Special Agent Richard Murray said a homicide probe was under way.