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Model Citizen or "Terrorist"?: Anthrax Letters Suspect Commits Suicide
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by Rhonda J Mangus | August 2, 2008 at 09:50 am
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Model Citizen or "Terrorist"?: Anthrax Letters Suspect Commits Suicide
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Federal Prosecutors will not have a chance to indict and seek the death penalty against Bruce E. Ivins who they believe was responsible for sending letters that contained anthrax that killed five people and sickened 17 others shortly after September 11, 2001.
A biodefense scientist who worked for the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick for 35 years, Ivins committed suicide this past Tuesday.
"The relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo takes its toll in different ways," his attorney, Paul F. Kemp, said in a statement. "In Dr. Ivins' case, it led to his untimely death."
Ivins had worked for the past 35 years at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick. For more than a decade, he worked to develop an anthrax vaccine that worked even when different strains of anthrax were mixed, which made vaccines ineffective.
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Dr. W. Russell Byrne, a colleague who worked in the bacteriology division of the Fort Detrick research facility, said Ivins was "hounded" by FBI agents who raided his home twice, and he was hospitalized for depression earlier this month.
According to Byrne and local police, Ivins was removed from his workplace out of fears that he might harm himself or others.
"I think he was just psychologically exhausted by the whole process," Byrne said.
Still, Byrne did not think the probe would result in charges' being filed. "If he was about to be charged, no one who knew him well was aware of that, and I don't believe it," Byrne said.
Neighbor Bonnie Duggan, who brought her daughter, Natalie, to Ivins' home near Fort Detrick on occasion to see the family's elaborate gardens, was also incredulous at the charges.
"It's not the Bruce that I knew," Duggan said. "It doesn't jibe with anything about the Bruce that was my neighbor."
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Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (14)
at 15:43 on August 2nd, 2008
Hi Luiz! You are very welcome!
at 15:48 on August 2nd, 2008
I've run into an editing glitch -- my own:)! Thank you for your patience!
at 15:50 on August 2nd, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
I fixed your highlight box as well.
at 16:52 on August 2nd, 2008
Prior extensive NP coverage here and before that, here. As noted in those resources, Sen. Tom Daschle wants public answers.
at 17:02 on August 2nd, 2008
Excellent coverage, Pep! Thanks! It seems I missed NP contributor Emilio Lizardo's coverage too: http://www.nowpublic.com/world/who-was-dr-bruce-edwards-ivins I'm glad Senator Daschle wants answers! We all should be asking questions!
at 17:23 on August 2nd, 2008
Well not surprising you missed my coverage--the entire staff did too, despite the members' GS flags and two days of my coverage. Daschle's comments are getting a lot of attention--and he's right on.
My earlier coverage contains the then-exclusive from the NY Times, where they found evidence that he was considered to be a potential revenge killer, and that he was sociopathic.
Have a great weekend!
at 17:45 on August 2nd, 2008
There's a lot going on, PEP! Thanks! You have a great weekend too!
at 17:46 on August 2nd, 2008
Thank you, zichi!
at 21:06 on August 2nd, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 03:56 on August 3rd, 2008
Paschen, thank you!
at 22:13 on August 2nd, 2008
at 02:05 on August 3rd, 2008
Quote - Joby Warrick, Marilyn W. Thompson and Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 3, 2008; Page A01
"Yet, colleagues and friends of the vaccine specialist remained convinced that Ivins was innocent: They contended that he had neither the motive nor the means to create the fine, lethal powder that was sent by mail to news outlets and congressional offices in the late summer and fall of 2001. Mindful of previous FBI mistakes in fingering others in the case, many are deeply skeptical that the bureau has gotten it right this time.
"I really don't think he's the guy. I say to the FBI, 'Show me your evidence,' " said Jeffrey J. Adamovicz, former director of the bacteriology division at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, on the grounds of the sprawling Army
fort in Frederick. "A lot of the tactics they used were designed to isolate him from his support. The FBI just continued to push his buttons."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/02/AR2008080201632.html?hpid=topnews
at 07:43 on August 3rd, 2008
PS The link you provided points these facts out.
at 04:03 on August 3rd, 2008
Hi Bob C! Thank you for your contribution to this story. Many people think Ivin's is innocent. If so, why do you think the FBI was determined to indict a US Biodefense Scientist? Too, if he had the "means to create" a vaccine, don't you think he also had the "means to create" the fine, lethal powder", or at least had access to it?