Anthrax Security Gap: 'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 8, 2008 9:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – The case of anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins has raised fears about security protecting Americans from the world's deadliest germs, the Washington Post reports. The scientist thought to be behind the deadly 2001 attacks had serious mental health problems and expressed homicidal thoughts to his frightened... Read full story »

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FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

(NEWSER) - The FBI's obsessive focus on the wrong anthrax suspect caused the agency to miss some important clues pointing to Bruce Ivins, the Los Angeles Times reports. Records of key-card swipes show that Ivins, who killed himself last month before being charged, spent hours in a "hot suite" with access to anthrax late at night before the 2001 anthrax mailing. More»

Emails Reveal Anthrax Scientist's Delusions

'Split personality' Ivins was being 'eaten alive inside'

(NEWSER) - Dozens of emails released by the FBI reveal that scientist Bruce Ivins was losing his grip on reality long before the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the New York Times reports. The Army scientist and anthrax suspect, who committed suicide last month, wrote to a colleague in 2000 that he was having "incredible paranoid, delusional thoughts" and was being "eaten alive inside." More»

Ivins Had Anthrax 'Identical' to '01 Attack

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(AP) - Army scientist Bruce Ivins is the sole person responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks, and he had custody of highly purified anthrax spores with "certain genetic mutations identical" to the poison that killed five people, the Justice Department says. Ivins was unable to give investigators "an adequate explanation for his late laboratory work hours around the time of" the attacks, and he apparently sought to mislead investigators, according to an affidavit. More»

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(NEWSER) - The FBI began releasing details of its investigation into the 2001 anthrax mail attacks to families of the victims today, the AP reports, with information to be made public within hours on judge’s orders. The agency is ready to end its probe, with sources telling the Wall Street Journal spores found on a laboratory flask link the fatal attacks to Bruce Ivins, the researcher who committed suicide last week. More»

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Anthrax traced to flask in Ivins' Maryland lab

(NEWSER) - Investigators have DNA evidence that links biodefense expert Bruce Ivins to the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, but the case is largely circumstantial, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors have linked the anthrax used in mailings targeting news networks, newspapers, and Congress with a flask used by Ivins at his Maryland lab, but at least 10 people had access to the flask, a source tells the Times. Ivins is also linked to prestamped envelopes used in the attack, which were sold at a Maryland post office he frequented. More»

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Anthrax Security Gap: 'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness

national security • anthrax • biological weapons • Bruce Ivins • biodefense

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More Newser Stories

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

Emails Reveal Anthrax Scientist's Delusions

'Split personality' Ivins was being 'eaten alive inside'

Ivins Had Anthrax 'Identical' to '01 Attack

Suspect sought to mislead FBI, released documents show

As Families See Evidence, FBI Set to End Anthrax Probe

How feds traced attack to Ivins is key question

DNA Links Scientist to Anthrax Attacks

Anthrax traced to flask in Ivins' Maryland lab

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