Ft. Detrick Scientist May Be Responsible for Anthrax Mailings
Did anyone read the CNN article today? According to the article, the FBI believes it finally identified the person responsible for the anthrax mailings.
A top U.S. biodefense researcher apparently committed suicide just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him in the anthrax mailings that traumatized the nation in the weeks following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a published report.
The scientist, Bruce E. Ivins, 62, who worked for the past 18 years at the government’s biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Maryland, had been told about the impending prosecution, the Los Angeles Times reported for Friday editions. The laboratory has been at the center of the FBI’s investigation of the anthrax attacks, which killed five people.
Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick (Maryland) Memorial Hospital. The Times, quoting an unidentified colleague, said the scientist had taken a massive dose of a prescription Tylenol mixed with codeine.
The article also states that the suspect and his wife owned a home right outside the main gate of Detrick. When I read that, I was a bit taken aback. That’s my neighborhood.
~Fungusblogs~
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. The FBI really screwed up this investigation didn’t it?
Yup, crazy. Their house is right on Military Road. You can still find the address on whitepages.
Steven Hatfill was unavailable for comment.
To me, this sounds like a Fahrenheit 451-type scenario. The FBI, having taken a black eye after the whole Hatfill fiasco, needed a fall guy. At least this is what it smacks of.
I could be wrong, but after the rush to judgement against Hatfill, I’m loath to believe this.
BTW, the original article appeared in the LA Times.
This is wild. I saw it on the Today show this morning! It is just crazy!
This whole story is destined to be explored many times over in future “Unsolved Mysteries” type programs. Or should I say “Dateline”? (Robert Stack’s been gone a while now!)
Why don’t you take seat. Take a seat.
Frog wrote an excellent post on this subject on his Biotech blog today. It’s a different perspective than what the media is reporting. In case you are interested…
http://fredcobio.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/another-side-to-todays-story/
Saw it on the news yesterday. Glad the right guy has been caught.
I knew Bruce Ivins. He`was a kind and generous man. I cannot imagine that he is guilty of this horrible crime. The FBI aggresively harrassed him and his family for many years. I believe that they drove him to psychosis and to ultimately commit suicide. I feel great sadness for him and his family, and I in no way think that the this is a victory for the FBI.
Despite initial outward appearances, we don’t in fact know that “the right guy has been caught.” And if Ivins was involved, we don’t know if he was the sole participant.
Without full due process, we still may be engaging in a rush to judgment, which has taken us down the wrong path many times before.
I certainly didn’t mean to sound like I was jumping to conclusions. Yes, there could have been more than one person involved. We will know soon. I read this article today: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/03/anthrax.case/index.html