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Suspect in 5 anthrax-letter deaths kills self
WASHINGTON - Anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and severely rattled the post-9/11 nation may have been part of an Army scientist's warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin, officials said Friday. The brilliant but troubled scientist committed suicide this week, knowing prosecutors were closing in.
The sudden naming of scientist Bruce E. Ivins as the top — and perhaps only — suspect in the anthrax attacks marks the latest bizarre twist in a case that has confounded the FBI for nearly seven years. Last month, the Justice Department cleared Ivins' colleague, Steven Hatfill, who had been wrongly suspected in the case, and paid him $5.8 million.
Ivins worked at the Army's biological warfare labs at Fort Detrick, Md., for 18 years until his death on Tuesday. He was one of the government's leading scientists researching vaccines and cures for anthrax exposure. But he also had a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers filed last week in local court by a social worker.
... @_@
WASHINGTON - Anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and severely rattled the post-9/11 nation may have been part of an Army scientist's warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin, officials said Friday. The brilliant but troubled scientist committed suicide this week, knowing prosecutors were closing in.
The sudden naming of scientist Bruce E. Ivins as the top — and perhaps only — suspect in the anthrax attacks marks the latest bizarre twist in a case that has confounded the FBI for nearly seven years. Last month, the Justice Department cleared Ivins' colleague, Steven Hatfill, who had been wrongly suspected in the case, and paid him $5.8 million.
Ivins worked at the Army's biological warfare labs at Fort Detrick, Md., for 18 years until his death on Tuesday. He was one of the government's leading scientists researching vaccines and cures for anthrax exposure. But he also had a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers filed last week in local court by a social worker.
... @_@
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From:
no subject
EDIT: Also, the journalist who broke the story was David Willman of the Los Angeles Times [/local pride]
From:
Cool, cool on Mr. Willman
Although it did have all the marks of someone opportunistic.
This was the part that really caught my eye, though:
a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers filed last week in local court by a social worker.
OUR GOVERNMENT WORKERS ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DEATH THREATS! ALL GENIUSES HAVE THEIR QUIRKS!
Guh ... guh ... guh ... guh ... guh ...
From:
no subject
Well the news channels (that happen to find McCain rather creepy) were kind enough to play clips from December 2001 where McCain went on David Lettermen and said (in reply to "how's the war in Afghanistan going?") "and next up we're after Iraq [...] I have sources that say the anthrax came from there."
Opportunistic sounds about right. :\ But with their main suspect dead, the investigators say they want to just shut the case completely.