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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Bruce Ivins

Bruce Ivins stories: 19 news summaries

Mutant Anthrax Cells Led, Slowly, to Ivins

FBI probe required inventing new type
of forensic science

Oct 27, 08 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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FBI • federal investigation • forensic science • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

 Senate Grills FBI 
 on Anthrax, Ivins 

Lawmakers raise doubts that suspect acted alone

Sep 17, 08 2:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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investigation • FBI • Robert Mueller • Patrick Leahy • anthrax • DNA evidence • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

FBI Tries to Dispel Anthrax Probe Doubts

But acknowledges 'spore on a grassy knoll' sentiment

Aug 19, 08 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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FBI • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • genetic testing • Department of Defense • anthrax • National Institutes of Health • Bruce Ivins

 FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

Aug 15, 08 9:29 AM CDT
(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... More »

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national security • investigation • FBI • anthrax • biological weapons • Steven Hatfill • Bruce Ivins

glossies

 Case Against Ivins Looking Thin

FBI evidence full of holes and contradictions

Aug 10, 08 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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FBI • crime • court cases • anthrax • Tom Brokaw • Bruce Ivins

Anthrax Security Gap:
'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal  scientist's mental illness

Aug 8, 08 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 therapist—but his supervisors at... More »

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

Emails Reveal Anthrax
Scientist's Delusions

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

Aug 7, 08 2:25 AM CDT
(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... More »

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FBI • anthrax • psychiatric disorders • biological weapons • domestic terrorism • Bruce Ivins

UPDATED

 Ivins Had
 Anthrax
 'Identical' to
 '01 Attack

Suspect sought to mislead FBI, released documents show

Aug 6, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(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... More »

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investigation • FBI • United States • anthrax • biological weapons • domestic terrorism • Bruce Ivins

As Families
See Evidence, FBI Set to End Anthrax Probe

How feds traced attack to Ivins is key question

Aug 6, 08 12:43 PM CDT
(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 ... More »

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War on Terror • FBI • federal courts • anthrax • biological weapons • domestic terrorism • Bruce Ivins

Anthrax Suspect Was on Brink Before Suicide

As feds closed in, Ivins drank, popped pills, perhaps planned to kill

Aug 6, 08 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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,... More »

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drug abuse • anthrax • Bruce Ivins

Ivins Borrowed Anthrax-Drying Machine

Device was made to render spore powder from culture samples

Aug 5, 08 10:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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—... More »

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anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

FBI's Methods Questioned in Anthrax Search

Used intimidation to home in on 'weakest link,' some argue

Aug 5, 08 6:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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FBI • federal investigation • anthrax • intimidation • Bruce Ivins

Anthrax Suspect Was Obsessed With Sorority

Link to Kappa Kappa Gamma helps explain some puzzling details

Aug 4, 08 4:05 PM CDT
(AP) - The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was fixated on a sorority that has a chapter within 100 yards of the New Jersey mailbox from which the toxin-laced letters were sent, the AP reports. Federal officials say scientist Bruce Ivins had been obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma since his... More »

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sororities • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism • Fort Detrick • Kappa Kappa Gamma

 DNA Links Scientist
 to Anthrax Attacks

Anthrax traced to flask in Ivins' Maryland lab

Aug 4, 08 6:16 AM CDT
(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... More »

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anthrax • DNA evidence • 9/11 attacks • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism • Fort Detrick • US Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases • biodefense

Is Bioresearch Making Us
Less Safe?

Scientist's suicide highlights easy access to burgeoning field

Aug 3, 08 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bruce Ivins was one of a handful of scientists with access to deadly agents of biowarfare—until the 2001 anthrax attacks in which he was suspected. In the wake of the researcher's suicide, the New York Times takes a look at the nation’s bioterror infrastructure—which has ballooned in... More »

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research • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

Mad Anthrax Scientist Plotted to Kill Peers in 'Blaze of Glory'

Ivins a homicidal sociopath: therapist 

Aug 3, 08 6:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Maryland scientist linked to the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings who committed suicide last week had a “detailed homicidal plan” to kill his co-workers, his therapist testified. Bruce Ivins was diagnosed as a “sociopathic, homicidal killer” by several psychiatrists, she told a judge July 24, in seeking a... More »

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suicide • FBI • crime • anthrax • murder plot • Bruce Ivins

Anthrax Expert Could Have Cashed In on Panic

Ivins had share in patents for a vaccine

Aug 2, 08 8:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bruce Ivins, the government scientist linked to the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings who committed suicide this week, stood to profit from a panic set off by the killings, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ivins, who was close to being charged by the FBI when he killed himself, was listed as... More »

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vaccine • anthrax • biological weapons • motive • Bruce Ivins

Anthrax Suspect Was Eccentric, Respected

Colleagues say scientist was innocent; others recall dark side

Aug 1, 08 4:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bruce Ivins, the government scientist who committed suicide this week as FBI investigators working the case of the 2001 anthrax attacks were closing in, was known as a quiet, introverted researcher, the Washington Post reports. One ex-colleague described him as "a well-respected scientist” although he “always seemed on... More »

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suicide • FBI • indictment • infectious diseases • scientist • anthrax • domestic terrorism • Bruce Ivins

Feds Were Closing In on Anthrax Expert

They planned to indict, seek death penalty;
scientist killed himself

Aug 1, 08 10:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - If Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins hadn’t killed himself, he might have been executed. Federal prosecutors were on the verge of indicting Ivins in the 2001 anthrax mail attacks that killed five people, and they would have sought the death penalty, the AP reports. One official says an ongoing grand... More »

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suicide • FBI • scientist • anthrax • biological weapons • Bruce Ivins

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