Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> Ron Thomas / Associated Press  (click to enlarge) A hazardous materials unit worker is hosed down on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 23, 2001, as workers inspect buildings and offices for anthrax contamination. Travis Pratt / The Frederick News-Post  (click to enlarge) Army scientist Bruce Ivins plays the keyboard with the band Celtic Live at Bushwaller's in Frederick, Md., on St. Patricks Day in 2006.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Thursday, August 7, 2008 Dead scientist had purified anthrax Documents reveal his mental struggles. The Baltimore Sun WASHINGTON -- Bruce Ivins, the microbiologist who was at the center of a federal anthrax probe when he committed suicide last week, had custody of the strain of the bacteria that killed five people in 2001 and sent an e-mail at the time claiming that Osama bin Laden intended to use the deadly spores to attack the United States and Jews, according to dozens of documents released Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department. The documents detail the deterioration of Ivins' mental state as the investigation progressed, his obsessions and the advanced scientific methods used to trace the anthrax found in the deadly mailings back to Ivins' lab at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. At the time of the attacks, in September and October 2001, Ivins was spending an unusual amount of time in his lab at night by himself, according to a released affidavit. Ivins could not explain the extra time in the lab except to say that he was trying to "escape" life at home. The documents say Ivins was "the custodian of a large flask of highly purified anthrax spores that possess certain genetic mutations identical to the anthrax used in the attacks." However, the scientist's former colleagues have said that at least 10 people had access to it. But the Justice Department amassed pages of circumstantial evidence. For instance, the anthrax letters, sent to U.S. senators and news organizations, contained warnings that said, "WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX ... DEATH TO AMERICA ... DEATH TO ISRAEL." Investigators said that language is similar to an e-mail Ivins wrote Sept. 26, 2001: "Bin Laden terrorists for sure have anthrax ... Osama Bin Laden has just decreed death to all Jews and all Americans." The letters were all mailed from a mailbox in Princeton, N.J. Ivins lived in Frederick, across the street from Fort Detrick, but investigators said he frequently traveled long distances to mail packages. They also note the mailbox where the letters were posted is just 60 feet from the Princeton offices of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, with which Ivins long had an obsession. On Feb. 20, 2007, using one of his alternate e-mail addresses, he wrote on a Web site regarding members of the sorority: "Unfortunately, they labeled me as an enemy decades ago, and I can only abide by their 'Fatwa' on me." Ivins reportedly had entered rehab centers for alcohol abuse twice in the past year. In July, just before his death, he spent several weeks in a psychiatric ward at Frederick Memorial Hospital. His e-mails, released Wednesday, document his struggle with mental health issues. "The thinking now," he wrote July 4, 2000, "by the psychiatrist and counselor is that my symptoms may not be those of a depression or bipolar disorder, they may be that of a 'Paranoid Personality Disorder.' " The strain spore batch used in the attacks was determined to be RMR-1029. That batch was stored in a suite at Fort Detrick to which Ivins had unrestricted access. The affidavit said Ivins "has been the sole custodian of RMR-1029 since it was first grown in 1997." In the months before his death, Ivins began telling friends that he was a suspect. According to an affidavit from July, at a group therapy session July 9, Ivins "said he was not going to face the death penalty, but instead had a plan to kill co-workers and other individuals who had wronged him." The affidavit said that Ivins had a bulletproof vest and a list of co-workers, and that Ivins planned to obtain a Glock firearm from his son because federal agents were watching him and he could not obtain it on his own. Ivins' lawyer, Paul Kemp, has asserted his client's innocence.

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