EVERETT — Several pieces of evidence removed from an Everett home Thursday are being shipped to an FBI lab for analysis to determine if agents found ricin, a highly lethal biological toxin.
The material will go to a laboratory on the East Coast that specializes in forensic testing of contaminated items, FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said Friday.
It may take some time before the test results are complete.
A declaration filed in court Wednesday suggested that the poison may have been in the home as part of a murder plot. The man who lives in the home is being investigated for first-degree assault against his wife.
FBI agents dressed in protective gear searched the house in the 1200 block of 50th Street SW until about 1 a.m. Friday.
Officials do not believe neighbors are at risk and the incident does not appear to be a terrorist plot, Burroughs said.
County health officials on Friday sealed off the home out of an abundance of caution, she said.
Meanwhile, state environmental officials performed a decontamination clean-up at Everett police department’s evidence room — just in case, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
The investigation began Monday night when Everett police were first called to the house to investigate an assault.
A woman, 43, was bleeding. She was taken to the hospital where doctors used stitches and staples to treat her wounds, according to court documents.
The woman alleged her husband, 48, struck her with a dumbbell and was trying to kill her with ricin, lye and rat poison, the declaration said.
The husband, 48, was hospitalized Monday with an undisclosed medical condition, Goetz said.
“As soon as he’s released from the hospital he’s going to jail,” Burroughs said.
He likely will be locked up for investigation of first-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment, Goetz said.
If the FBI determines the man had ricin, he likely will face federal charges, Burroughs said.
When the woman returned home Wednesday, she found suspicious items in her husband’s office and called police. That’s what prompted Everett officials to call the FBI.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com
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