Posted on 03/01/2008 5:33:46 AM PST by Brilliant
LAS VEGAS - As police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital.
Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later.
Capt. Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference late Friday that the book was tabbed at a spot with information about ricin. Police found the firearms and books on Tuesday after a manager at the Extended Stay America motel called police upon discovering weapons, he said, without elaborating.
After authorities seized the book and weapons, tests for ricin were conducted but came back negative, Lombardo said.
He said a 53-year-old friend or relative of the sick man contacted motel management on Feb. 22 to inform them about pets in the room.
Earlier Friday, police Deputy Chief Kathy Suey said the friend or relative found two vials of ricin on Thursday after going to the motel to retrieve the hospitalized man's belongings. Authorities on Friday confirmed that the vials contained ricin.
It was unclear how long the vials were in the unoccupied motel room, and whether they might have been overlooked when ricin tests were conducted on Tuesday. Lombardo did not address such questions during the brief news conference.
"The only positive tests (were) on the powder in question" in the vials, he said.
Authorities said there was no apparent link to terrorist activity, and no indication of any spread of the deadly substance beyond the vials.
The 57-year-old man was the last to stay in the room, and has been in critical condition since calling an ambulance on Feb. 14 complaining of respiratory distress.
Authorities offered little more about the man's identity: He left pets in the room and was not considered a suspect. A dog was found dead, but the animal had gone at least a week without food or water, Suey said.
"We don't know an awful lot about him," she said. "We don't even know that it was him that was in possession of the ricin." Suey said she could not say how much ricin was in the vials.
Lombardo said precautionary tests were also done in a room at the Excalibur hotel-casino, on the Las Vegas Strip, where the friend or relative had been saying. He said they came back negative.
The only legal use for ricin is cancer research. A pinprick is enough to kill.
Police, National Guard, Homeland Security and FBI officials responded when the substance was found Thursday.
Seven people, including the man who found the ricin, the manager, two other motel employees and three police officers, were decontaminated at the scene and taken to hospitals for examination. None have shown any signs of being affected by ricin, Suey said. All have been released.
Along with the ricin, police found castor beans possibly used to make the substance. Suey said the manufacture of ricin is a crime.
Greg Evans, director of the Institute for Biosecurity at Saint Louis University in Missouri, said the man's respiratory illness suggested he was exposed to a powder fine enough to float in the air.
"If he went to the hospital with difficulty breathing, he actually inhaled it," Evans said. "For some reason, he opened the vial and it must have been aerosolized."
Multiple vials would probably contain enough ricin to sicken many people if it was spread, for example, around a buffet table or sprayed in a closed room.
"If it was aerosolized in a confined space then it certainly could harm dozens of people," he said.
As little as 500 micrograms of ricin, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
In March 2003, a Las Vegas man committed suicide by injecting himself with liquid ricin. He was a retired gaming executive and former chemist.
For the most part, however, the toxin has more of a cloak-and-dagger reputation linked more closely to spies and assassins.
“To professionalize you must federalize”.
opps..sorry..did not open the whole search links. never mind. Tholen has about 800 search items. Most of them link to this news story though.
I agree with you. A typical Extended Stay America is not a fleabag hotel for transients.
This article is so poorly written, it’s hard to tell what’s going on.
Also, and just supposition on my part, a business traverller would not arise suspicion if other business travellers were routinely coming and going from his room. My meaning, no one stays there long enough to get to know their neighbors, so different people coming and going wouldn't seem odd. Just my two cents...
A ‘Thomas Tholen’ bought some real estate in New York almost one year ago today.
Of course, there is no telling if it is coma dude’s friend. Most of the ‘Thomas Tholen’ search items have swiss links.
Ignatz, click on the link here in this posting at #82. In this article it says the Animal Control had came and picked up 2 cats and a dog. It says the dog was in such bad condition because of lack of food and water that they (Animal Control) put it to sleep.
THIS IS VERY INTERESTING! What is the ‘Astra Organization’?
A ‘Thomas Tholen’ is a member and they have an associate by the name of (paste): Ugur Sezerman of the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering group at SabancI University, Istanbul, Turkey.
BRB
Could be multiple Thomas Tholen’s of Swiss heritage...but (call me Capt. Obvious) Swiss heritage...Swiss banking? Hmmmmm (I know a leap...but kind of a logical one).
I think you might be on to something here!
penelope, are you the next buckhead? Great sleuthing!
I agree.
Why are the authorities withholding the identity of the perp?
Or possibly an Hispanic name. They are obviously very anxious to sweep this under the rug.
Bear in mind that Atta et al were educated in Europe...
Check out this “brilliant” comment from Deputy Chief Kathy Suey, who leads the Las Vegas Police Department’s Homeland Security Division.
(from the article)
Suey said people could have any number of reasons for wanting to make ricin.
“It could be experimental just to see if they can,” she said.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/16142962.html
You are right..could be many by the same name....and by this afternoon..it will be almost impossible to find any info on the name because the internet will be awash with the name linked to this story...LOL
No buckhead here...just a curious story that peaks my digging interest. I go down lots of dead ends when I get obsessed with these stories...LOL
Just putting it out there so some other Freeper sleuths can ‘dig’ too if they so choose.
*Only humans can perform an "autopsy", and only on another human's remains. If the remains of another creature are examind, it is a "necropsy". Unless, of course, say, the dog was examined by another dog...then I suppose THAT would be an "autopsy" as well.
wrong
His name (Fox)
Roger Van Burgen Dorff
too many threads on this!
They probably released the name after realizing that by withholding it, they were encouraging speculation that he was Muslim or Hispanic. Don’t want to do that.
Agree. It’s hard to keep up with so many, but most of each of the (many) threads contain little nuggets if interesting info. Maybe some enterprising soul could start a sort of running thread with all the latest updates, plus maybe a pinglist.
sounds like the lunatics are running the asylum
what interesting info is in the other threads that aren’t in this one...I thought this was the latest update
Agreed. I've noticed they do that all the time. First thing out--"We don't believe this to be terror related." Homeland Security's arrogance toward the public manifests itself daily, especially as you also mentioned their politically correct methods of screening passengers.
If the man's name is Hussein, they are not legally allowed to say it.
Of course this may not be connected at all, but is interesting:
The war on terror : implications for the future of U.S. relations with France and Germany
by Thomas S Tholen
http://worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/57453223
Do we have a middle initial for Tholen yet?
As I am link challenged (and admit it) would it be possible to link the other thread to this one? (And vice versa?)
I’ve been working n lurking for the last couple of hours and am now thoroughly lost!
We need one thread for this.
UNLESS- we find out this fellow was diagnosed with cancer, has no way to pay for treatment and decided to treat himself with homemade ricin!
“Bear in mind that Atta et al were educated in Europe...”
Yep...
Here is another angle to sleuth:
A thesis (book) by a Thomas S. Tholen (on terrorism):
Sure would be nice if we could get coma guy’s ‘friend’s’ middle name or initials?
maybe we can add a link to his name and then ask the mods to update the title, and bump it to breaking news?
As will some of the other Shamnesty supporters.
Full Disclosure: Bumper sticker / T-shirt idea -- Mary Jo was waterboarded, or "Chappaquiddick Waterboard Club"
Cheers!
It almost sounds like someone esle
with a key was bringing things (and
pets) in and taking things out of the
room at different times, changing the
room’s contents. The police just can’t
be that hapless. Does not add up.
This is the standard pap denial by the US Govt everytime there is a leak at a nuclear facility...........no danger from radiation. Everything is ok! People who are glowing in the dark please contact NRC!
LOL..That’s why I am staying on this thread only this morning. I have my desktop loaded with pages from all over the darn internet right now...LOL
I like the idea of making a thread on the guys names in a chat room or something. I am working on this Thomas Tholen guy..have not gotten around to Bergendorf or what ever his name is yet.
Ping me if you get it going please.
i am skeptical of the relative who goes there and finds the ricin. perhaps he was in on it and decided to pin everything on the guy in the hospital. i am pretty sure the feds tore that place apart.
Mohatta Batta Bama Hussein Mohammed Ram-A-Lam-A-Ding DONG!
Hey, that’s Polish, isn’t it???
That's what I thought.
Would you object to making this the “OFFICIAL THREAD” for this crazy story? Perhaps locking the others and send them here? It’s getting tough to keep up with developments and posts on the many threads.
Maybe add ONGOING or OFFICAL THREAD to the title?
...snicker...:)
I agree. If the police reasonably knew that there was no one else in the room at the time they first (or even second time) went there, at there were then pets/animals present, they would have called the Humane Society.
They would have also written down the condition of the pets...as to their being inside with no one in attendance to care for them.
I bet you there is a law on the books that had that NOT called the Humane Society, with a reasonable assumption that the pets would be neglected (because the pet owner was obviously incapacitated at the hospital), the pets would be intentionally neglected BY the police.....
Makes no sense that they’d have been left to die by the police....not when that would likely have been a crime had they done that.
OT: Here’s another one:
“Mary Jo Kopechne Wishes She Had Merely Been Waterboarded”
or
“Why Couldn’t Ted Kennedy Just Waterboard Her and Let Her Live?”
Granted, it would be less confusing, but
then the burden of time would be on our
wonderful, long-suffering mods. They be
busy .. ;)
This always happens in active stories.
The keyword RICIN should be in every
thread posted, and if anything new
arises, it could be posted here as
it’s found.
Currently, ricin is a keyword in these
threads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=ricin
**
Vegas is a keyword in these threads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=vegas
**
Las Vegas is a keyword in these threads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=lasvegas
People: remember to put in the prominent keywords
when you post an article .. ;)
thanks for the help (not)
Did anyone find it coincidental that a Vegas hospital was recently accused of re-using needles, hence all previous patients need to be tested for Hepititis A,B,C, etc?
Could there be a connection between the ricin and the hospital?
4. “Torture” or “cruelty” includes every act, omission or neglect, whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted.The language which states "shall" means that an officer is REQUIRED to take action concerning the animal. It is not a discretionary decision...the officer is ORDERED, by law, to act upon the discovery of an animal which is being treated cruelly. Cruel treatment is defined as "every act, omission or neglect, whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted." This would mean, in this case, that if there was no one home at this room (because the owner is incapacitated at the hospital), and there was reason to believe no one else would be there to take care of the animals present, leaving those animals to "fend for themselves" would be an act of cruelty...through "no fault of the incapacitated/coma man."NRS 574.055 Taking possession of animal being treated cruelly; notice to owner; lien for cost of care; disposition of animal; liability of officer; limitations and procedure when animal is located on agricultural land.
1. Any peace officer or officer of a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals who is authorized to make arrests pursuant to NRS 574.040 shall, upon discovering any animal which is being treated cruelly, take possession of it and provide it with shelter and care or, upon obtaining written permission from the owner of the animal, may destroy it in a humane manner.
Doesn't make sense that the police, who are ordered to obey the above law, would ignore that law....if the animals were indeed present both times they went and searched the room. And, if it is true that the dog was so sick from starvation that they had to "put him down," then the dog did not get like that overnight.....
I’m trying to keep up - have you heard anything about a water plant being near the hotel?
Lots of details too. The guy in the hospital is named 57 year-old man. The guy who called the cops is 53 year-old friend or relative.
Move along folks nothing to see here.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Exactly. The story becomes to look more and more like one of Pinochio's!
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