Anti-abortion ‘terrorist’ learns hoax missed target

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, November 22, 2003

PHILADELPHIA — A self-described anti-abortion "terrorist" accused of sending hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to women’s clinics learned during his trial that one of the letters went to a group that counsels women against abortion.

Clayton Lee Waagner, who is acting as his own attorney, learned Friday that the Pregnancy Resource Clinic of North Penn does not provide abortions.

Denise Orlowski, who opened a powder-filled letter sent to the clinic under the name "Army of God" on Oct. 16, 2001, testified that she had heard of the Army of God from an anti-abortion news service.

"So you’re familiar with my name as a radical who fights to stop abortion?" Waagner asked Orlowski.

Orlowski seemed angry as she replied, "I believe we both can agree that abortion is murder, but I don’t agree with the methods the Army of God uses."

Other witnesses testified that an ophthalmologist and a psychologist also received the bogus threat letters, apparently because their names were mistakenly listed in the Yellow Pages under "abortion providers."

Waagner, 47, previously claimed responsibility for the letters, but suggested it was possible he lied about his involvement to take the pressure off other anti-abortion activists.

Waagner already is serving a 30-year jail term for weapons violations, and other charges are pending in several states. He was on the FBI’s most wanted list when he was arrested in Ohio in December after 10 months on the run following his escape from an Illinois jail.

Prosecutors said that during his flight, Waagner mailed at least 550 threatening letters — all claiming that the powder was anthrax. Some contained flour and others contained an insecticide harmless to humans that can create a false-positive test result for anthrax.

FBI agents said the stolen Mercedes-Benz that Waagner was driving at the time of his arrest was stocked with envelopes and threatening form letters purportedly from the "Army of God," along with a bag of the type of insecticide found in some of the letters.

The trial continues Monday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

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