EVERETT — Traces of the deadly toxin ricin were found in samples taken from a south Everett man’s home and in his wife’s urine, court documents released Monday said.
The man, Jeffery C. Marble, 48, was jailed Saturday for investigation of first-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment. On Monday, Marble was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail.
FBI agents have joined Everett police in the investigation that began with a domestic violence call on June 1.
Evidence now is being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to confirm the ricin findings, court papers said.
For the past year, the wife has suffered from an undiagnosed illness, she told police. She thought Marble was trying to poison her, Everett police detective Tim O’Hara wrote in the eight-page affidavit filed Monday in Everett District Court.
The wife recently learned Marble was trying to hide dire financial problems facing the couple, O’Hara wrote.
The case has been slowed by the possible presence of ricin in the couple’s home, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
Detectives “still have a lot of investigating to do,” he said.
The man allegedly told investigators he bought the deadly toxin to eradicate moles from the family’s yard.
Marble’s wife told police she had stayed home from work on June 8 so the couple could meet with bankers to discuss their money issues, court documents said.
Around 11:30 a.m., Marble allegedly grabbed her and started beating her with a two-pound dumbbell. The assault lasted more than five hours.
At one point, she tried to escape by jumping out a two-story bathroom window, but Marble wouldn’t let her go, the documents said. He didn’t say a word during the assault.
The couple’s 16-year-old son came home around 5 p.m. He found his mother covered with blood and his father slumped on the ground. The man reportedly had collapsed.
Marble was unresponsive and his wife was severely injured, the documents said. She was taken to the hospital and required stitches and staples to hold her wounds closed.
Marble also was hospitalized. Court papers don’t explain Marble’s five-day hospital stay, but mention he has high blood pressure. Doctors cleared him for release Saturday and he was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
Two days after the alleged assault, Marble’s wife and her sister returned to the home and found items they suspected Marble had used as poison, the court documents said.
They called police and described four white trash bags full of about 100 empty bottles of Visine, ant killer, powdered lye, a mortar and pestle and a small plastic baggy with about 20 beans of some variety in it.
Ricin is a derivative of castor beans.
When questioned by police, Marble said he had tried to have castor beans shipped to his home. His wife showed officers a letter from the Department of Health in Miami. The letter said officials had intercepted 300 castor beans because they hadn’t been inspected for insects, court documents said.
It’s against federal law to possess or manufacture ricin, FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said. Marble told police he had no memory of the assault. He said the couple risked losing their home and he had planned on telling his wife the bad news the day of the assault, court documents said.
He started crying and said he loved his wife and never wanted to hurt her, O’Hara wrote in his affidavit.
Marble admitted to looking up a recipe to make ricin on the Internet and knew the toxin was deadly, court documents said.
He told police he once found his wife using his mortar and pestle, which concerned him. The wife told police she had an electric pepper grinder and no need to use the mortar and pestle, documents said.
On Saturday, a court commissioner ordered Marble held on $100,000 bail. Additional evidence, including the ricin threat, was presented to a judge pro tem Monday. Marble’s bail was increased to $1 million.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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