FBI probe required inventing new type
of forensic science
Washington Post Oct 27, 08 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The anthrax poisoning case against Bruce Ivins won't be made in court, but it is compelling, the FBI says. Although the late Army scientist's lawyer dismisses the case as “heaps of innuendo,” federal records reveal a far-reaching, exhaustive investigation that required newly invented technology and depended on mutant bacteria, reports the Washington Post .
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Letter addressed to editorial editor
New York Times Oct 22, 08 2:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A New York Times employee found white powder inside an envelope earlier today, prompting police to evacuate that floor, close the office lobby, and ask three workers to bag their clothing and shower, the paper's City Room reports. The letter was addressed to editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal. The newspaper had a similar scare in October 2001, but that substance tested harmless.
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Denver Post Oct 20, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Several Chase banks in Detroit and Oklahoma were evacuated today after receiving threatening letters containing white powder, the Detroit Post reports. The letters "basically indicated that the person who opened the letter was going to die" because of "an action the bank may have taken," an FBI spokesman said. Medics checked out bank workers but officials said the powder did not seem dangerous.
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Lawmakers raise doubts that suspect acted alone
Washington Post Sep 17, 08 2:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Senators cast strong doubts today on the FBI's conclusion that Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax scare, reports the Washington Post, with many demanding a more public vetting of the investigation into America’s largest bioterror attack. "There are others out there who should be charged with murder," said Sen. Pat Leahy, himself the target of an anthrax-laced letter.
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But acknowledges 'spore on a grassy knoll' sentiment
Baltimore Sun Aug 19, 08 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The FBI revealed unprecedented details about its investigation of army scientist Bruce Ivins yesterday in a move to counter skepticism in the scientific community. The agency laid out how it brought together top scientists from the public and private sector to trace samples of the deadly anthrax of 2001 to Ivins, who killed himself before being indicted, the Baltimore Sun reports. Ivins' attorney again disputed the government account.
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Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect
Los Angeles Times Aug 15, 08 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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glossies
FBI evidence full of holes and contradictions
Newsweek Aug 10, 08 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The FBI's case against alleged anthrax killer Bruce Ivins is full of gaps and contradictions, Newsweek reports. Ivins is said to have sent anthrax to NBC's Tom Brokaw—but was retaliating against a reporter at ABC. He also passed a polygraph in the probe and had no anthrax in his cars, clothing, or home. "I'd say the vast majority" of his ex-colleagues "think he had nothing to do with it," a former supervisor said.
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Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness
Washington Post Aug 8, 08 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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 therapist—but his supervisors at an Army lab were never informed. Lawmakers are demanding security be tightened.
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'Split personality' Ivins was being 'eaten alive inside'
New York Times Aug 7, 08 2:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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."
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UPDATED
Suspect sought to mislead FBI, released documents show
Associated Press Aug 6, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(AP)
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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.
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How feds traced attack to Ivins is key question
Associated Press Aug 6, 08 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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As feds closed in, Ivins drank, popped pills, perhaps planned to kill
Washington Post Aug 6, 08 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser)
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As FBI agents closed in on Bruce Ivins last fall, the anthrax suspect’s life was falling apart, the Washington Post reports. Ivins would sometimes drink a liter of vodka while downing sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs. He “was emailing me late at night with gobbledygook, ranting and raving,” a fellow scientist said. Ivins went to rehab twice before his death, as the scientist tried to help him through a 12-step recovery program.
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Device was made to render spore powder from culture samples
Washington Post Aug 5, 08 10:11 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The government’s lead suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Bruce Ivins, borrowed a device from his Army bioweapons lab designed to turn germ cultures into dry powder, the Washington Post reports. The machine, known as a lyopholizer, was not commonly borrowed, and had to have been formally checked out—leaving a paper trail now being pursued by investigators.
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Used intimidation to home in on 'weakest link,' some argue
New York Times Aug 5, 08 6:23 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Pressure is mounting for the FBI to publicly explain why its 2001 anthrax investigation focused on scientist Bruce Ivins, reports the New York Times, as some question the bureau's methods. Ivins simply “looked the most susceptible to pressure,” insisted one scientist. Bureau officials say they will make details public as early as tomorrow.
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