U.S. Media Claims that Suspected Anthrax Killer Bruce E. Ivins Has Killed Himself

Fort Detrich Anthrax Researcher Bruce E. Ivins (April 22, 1946-July 29, 2008)

"As far back as the year 2000, [Ivins] has actually attempted to murder several other people, [including] through poisoning...He is a revenge killer, when he feels that he's been slighted . . . especially towards women. He plots and actually tries to carry out revenge killings"---Jean Duley

"The Justice Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) today announced that there have been significant developments in the investigation into the 2001 anthrax mailings, which killed five individuals and injured 17 others. In particular, we are able to confirm that substantial progress has been made in the investigation by bringing to bear new and sophisticated scientific tools.

We are unable to provide additional information at this time...We anticipate being able to provide additional details in the near future."--Department of Justice Press Release (8-1-08)

The media is reporting that a brilliant but sociopathic "mad scientist" named Bruce E. Ivins, who researched anthrax and developed vaccines at Fort Detrick Maryland, is suspected by the FBI of sending the 2001 anthrax letters that killed 5 people and made 17 sick. The story was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, but the FBI isn't talking.

Ivins reportedly killed himself by overdosing on Tylenol with codeine because he was about to be charged with the 2001 anthrax attacks. Although some scientists who worked with Ivins don't believe that he was capable of this crime, The Washington Post (8-3-08) reports that his therapist testified in court that Ivins was "homicidal and obsessed with the notion of revenge."

According to The Washington Post:

The records also suggest that a Frederick social worker, Jean Duley, passed on her concerns to the FBI after receiving death threats from Ivins.

Duley became so worried that she petitioned a local judge for a protective order against Ivins. According to an audio recording of the hearing, she said she had seen Ivins as a therapist for six months, and thought he had tried to kill people in the past.

"As far back as the year 2000, [Ivins] has actually attempted to murder several other people, [including] through poisoning," she said "He is a revenge killer, when he feels that he's been slighted . . . especially towards women. He plots and actually tries to carry out revenge killings," she told a judge.

She described a July 9 group therapy session in which Ivins allegedly talked of mass murder.

"He was extremely agitated, out of control," she said. Ivins told the group he had bought a gun, and proceeded to lay out a "long and detailed homicidal plan," she said.

"Because he was about to be indicted on capital murder charges, he was going to go out in a blaze of glory; that he was going to take everybody out with him," she said.

One of the people who rushed to comment for the BBC on the latest developments in the anthrax case is the former CBS anchor Dan Rather. One of his employees opened a letter intended for Mr. Rather that was infected with anthrax.

According to Mr. Rather, the FBI mishandled the anthrax investigation and was too slow to find the killer.

Of course, Dan Rather is not exactly the world's authority on how to investigate the case that the FBI calls Amerithrax since he used unsubstantiated and probably fabricated documents on 60 Minutes that embarrassed George W. Bush shortly before the 2004 Presidential election.

It will be interesting to see what the DOJ, FBI, and Postal Inspection Service say in the days to come. As of today, these agencies didn't confirm the media reports about Bruce Ivins, but the FBI did post this 8-1-08 DOJ press release:

[T]here have been significant developments in the investigation into the 2001 anthrax mailings, which killed five individuals and injured 17 others. In particular, we are able to confirm that substantial progress has been made in the investigation by bringing to bear new and sophisticated scientific tools.

Probably the DOJ is referring to a new technology mentioned in an AP (8-3-08) article:

DNA taken from the bodies of people killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks helped lead investigators to Bruce Ivins, who oversaw the highly specific type of germ in an Army lab, a government scientist said Sunday...

The new genome technology used to track down Ivins was either not available or too expensive to use often until about three years ago.

Samples of cells taken from the bodies — and perhaps specifically from Bob Stevens, a 63-year-old tabloid photo editor in Boca Raton, Fla. — looked at the type of Ames strain anthrax that killed them.

Researchers then looked at DNA strands of the Ames strains and noted very subtle differences within them, the scientist said. Investigators then matched the strain found in the victims' bodies to Ivins, who oversaw the Ft. Detrick labs that used it in research, the scientist said.

Ivins' Wikipedia has links to his research.