WASHINGTON // Anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and severely rattled the United States after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a US Army scientist's warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin, officials said yesterday. The brilliant but troubled scientist, Bruce E Ivins, committed suicide this week, knowing prosecutors were closing in and readying an indictment. The letters contained anthrax powder turned up at congressional offices, newsrooms and elsewhere, leaving a deadly trail through post offices on the way.
In addition to the five deaths, numerous victims went to hospitals and caused near panic in many locations. The sudden naming of scientist Mr Ivins as the top - and perhaps only - suspect in the anthrax attacks marks the latest bizarre twist in a case that has confounded the FBI for nearly seven years. Last month, the Justice Department cleared Mr Ivins' colleague, Steven Hatfill, who had been wrongly suspected in the case, and paid him US$5.8 million.
Mr Ivins worked at the Army's biological warfare labs near Washington for 35 years until his death on Tuesday. He was one of the government's leading scientists researching vaccines and cures for anthrax exposure. But he also had a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers filed last week in local court by a social worker. Workers in protective garb that made them look like space men decontaminated US Capitol buildings after anthrax letters were discovered there.
Major postal substations were closed for years. Newsrooms were checked all over after anthrax letters were mailed to offices in Florida and New York. The Justice Department said on Friday only that "substantial progress has been made in the investigation". The statement did not identify Mr Ivins. However, several US officials said prosecutors were focusing on Mr Ivins, 62, and planned to seek a murder indictment and the death penalty.
Authorities were investigating whether Mr Ivins, who had complained about the limits of testing anthrax drugs on animals, had released the toxin to test the treatment on humans. The officials all discussed the continuing investigation on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The Justice Department is expected to decide within days whether to close the "Amerithrax" investigation now that its main target is dead. If the case remains open, that could indicate there still are other suspects.
Mr Ivins' lawyer asserted the scientist's innocence and said he had co-operated with investigators for more than a year. "We are saddened by his death, and disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to defend his good name and reputation in a court of law," said Paul F Kemp. Mr Ivins died on Tuesday at a hospital. Relatives said that he killed himself. Mr Kemp said his client's death was the result of the government's "relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo".
For more than a decade, Mr Ivins had worked to develop an anthrax vaccine that was effective even in cases where different strains of anthrax were mixed - a situation that made vaccines ineffective - according to federal documents. In 2003, he shared the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service for his work on the anthrax vaccine. The award is the highest honour given to Defense Department civilian employees.
Mr Ivins conducted numerous anthrax studies, including one that complained about the limited supply of monkeys available for testing. The study also said animal testing could not accurately show how humans would respond to anthrax treatment. The biodefense laboratory and its specialized scientists for years have been at the centre of the FBI's investigation of the anthrax mailings. In late June, the government exonerated Mr Hatfill, whose name has for years had been associated with the attacks. Then-Lawyer General John Ashcroft called him a "person of interest" in 2002.
Investigators also had noticed Mr Ivins' unusual behaviour at the laboratory in the six months following the anthrax mailings. He conducted unauthorized testing for anthrax spores outside containment areas at the infectious disease research unit where he worked, according to an internal report. But the focus stayed on Mr Hatfill. Mr Ivins' friends, colleagues and court documents paint a picture of a flourishing scientist with an emotionally unstable side. Maryland court documents show he recently received psychiatric treatment and was ordered to stay away from a woman he was accused of stalking and threatening to kill.
Social worker Jean C Duley filed handwritten court documents last week saying she was preparing to testify before a grand jury. She said Ivins would be charged with five capital murders. "Client has a history dating to his graduate days of homicidal threats, plans and actions towards therapist," Ms Duley said, adding that his psychiatrist had described him as homicidal and sociopathic. Authorities have been watching Mr Ivins for some time.
His brother, Tom Ivins, said federal agents questioned the scientist about a year and a half ago. Neighbours said FBI agents in cars with tinted windows conducted surveillance on his home. A colleague, Henry S Heine, said that over the past year, he and others on their team had testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that has been investigating the anthrax mailings. *AP
