Posted on 08/04/2008 8:00:01 PM PDT by Shermy
WASHINGTON — After four years of painstaking scientific research, the F.B.I. by 2005 had traced the anthrax in the poisoned letters of 2001 to a single flask of the bacteria at the Army biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., according to government scientists and bureau officials.
But at least 10 scientists had regular access to the laboratory and its anthrax stock — and possibly quite a few more, counting visitors from other institutions, and workers at laboratories in Ohio and New Mexico that had received anthrax samples from the flask at the Army laboratory.
To get that far, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had helped invent what was virtually a new science, microbial forensics, the use of biochemical clues to track a germ weapon to its source.
...But at that point, the science had largely reached its limits. To figure out who in the narrowed pool of scientist-suspects was the perpetrator, the F.B.I. would have to rely on traditional gumshoe investigative methods: interviewing colleagues and family members, searching houses and cars, doing surveillance, and assessing personalities.
About 18 months ago, investigators appear to have sharpened their focus on Bruce E. Ivins, a veteran anthrax researcher, whom they placed under intensive surveillance as they examined every aspect of his life and work.
Since Dr. Ivins’s suicide last week, F.B.I. officials have said prosecutors were preparing to indict him for sending the anthrax letters, which killed five people, although charges appear to have been a few weeks away.
...But the investigators found some personal quirks, according to law enforcement officials and people who knew the scientist well. They found that Dr. Ivins, who had a history of alcohol abuse, had for years maintained a post office box under an assumed name that he used to receive pornographic pictures of blindfolded women.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Must read article here.
“had for years maintained a post office box under an assumed name that he used to receive pornographic pictures of blindfolded women.”
There’s a motive you may have been looking for—for his suicide. Deeply Catholic man surely wouldn’t want that publicized.
M-here’s your sorority answer. In 1981 and earlier he visited chapters of the sorority. doing what, not clear, maybe he was drunk and yelled out his college sweetheart’s name. He passed years of later security clearances nevertheless.
But as part of his plan 20 years later to frame the sorority he chose a mailbox in Princeton that was within 100 yards of the Princeton Chapter’s storage locker, or whereever they keep their materials since they don’t actually have a house at Princeton.
They had even intensively questioned his adopted children, Andrew and Amanda, now both 24, with the authorities telling his son that he might be able to collect the $2.5 million reward for solving the case and buy a sports car, and showing his daughter gruesome photographs of victims of the anthrax letters and telling her, “Your father did this,” according to the account Dr. Ivins gave a close friend.
They seemed to have used pressure, rather than investigation, as their chief tool, as I said on an earlier thread. They followed him around, got him fired, sat outside his home in cars, accused him of being a murderer to his children, and otherwise made life miserable for him until he finally snapped. Unfortunately, he didn't snap by coming in and confessing; he snapped by killing himself.
It doesn't seem to me that that is the proper way to investigate a crime. And completely untouched, of course, are several apparent links to Muslims, or curious coincidences, in Florida and New Jersey, that camee out in some of the earlier stories.
I believe the FBI needs to start divulging info immediately.
L
“On the scientific angle, I think the writers are echoing the FBI story,”
That they DNA sequenced not the anthrax powder found, not anthrax lodged in lungs, but supposedly got the anthrax from Stevens’ blood.
Some FReeper scientist has got to explain that one.
Did they accidently destroy the other anthrax?
BTW, the reporters site the Beecher letter for the proposition that the FBI says the anthrax had no additives. First problem, any non-scientist can tell Beecher’s short comment showed no evidence, AND, the footnoted cites go to an article that say completely the opposite.
But I guess we’ll never know, right? I bet the “anthrax in the blood” that got through from the lungs wouldn’t carry the silica or whatever additive into the bloodstream.
The Beecher article is reaching its predicted usefulness. A way for the FBI to claim by some authority says there was no additive, although the authority is totally baseless, unsupported, and spoken by a person without the appropriate expertise.
Really now, they only tested anthrax from blood?
Who would dare to question the FBI about honor, integrity, honesty, ethics, morals, character, judgement?
Worse than that. They put in years, and millions of dollars of taxpayer money, tormenting his family and driving him nuts until he killed himself--and then they blame him when he's no longer around to defend himself.
It's their "anything but Muslim terrorists" fallback plan.
“There’s a motive you may have been looking for—for his suicide. Deeply Catholic man surely wouldn’t want that publicized.”
And yet, catholics have been taught suicide is a surefire ticket to a very warm place.
Catholics are also taught that you can go to a priest, and in sacred confidentiality - admit these shortcomings.
Catholic priests have heard it all - porn in a P.O. box is probably the least of what they’ve been told in confidence.
This article is disturbing.
It is looking, more and more, that this man was driven to mental collapse.
And the fact he has such a miserable brother making terrible remarks makes it all the more depressing.
Amazingly the Leftwingtards were able to get the FBI to look at the wrong guy in the wrong part of our biodefense establishment.
Guess they thought that was the best way to cover their "source" ~ and recall, please, the FBI now says there are only FOUR possible sources, Ivins being one of them (and they also claim they've known that for 5 or 6 years, even when they were out there draining a pond to find out if Dr. Hatfill was involved in this.)
I'm sure they've got everything down pat, and organized, and neat, and have still to explain why some of the envelopes also had very fine beach sand typical of that laid down at Sugar Sands park in Boca Raton. They dredge it out of Ice Age deposits several miles out in the ocean.
Oh, there'll be other "errors" and "ommissions" and "mistatements" and whatever, and they'll either explain it away or attack the bearer of the bad news.
The case isn't done until they've rounded up a bunch of commies and their buddies in AlQaida.
See, when the world lost the USSR they lost the "discipline" that body could exercise on these pukes, and then they just get out of control and commit mayhem for no reason at all.
“had for years maintained a post office box under an assumed name”
According to a relative of mine who works at the post office, since 9/11 there are regulations against that sort of thing. You have to satisfy the postmaster that you who rent the box are a real person who lives in the area; and that everyone whom you list as an addressee for that box really lives in the area. They actually look very closely at box rental documentation, and ask for photo ID even from customers they are familiar with. This includes customers renewing box rentals after the regulations came into being.
And I’m talking about a post office in a rather small town.
(Or do I live in a paranoid part of PA?)
Certainly the "fibbies" have people with the investigative accumen of Freepers (who took down Dan Rather as we all recall), but this is kindergarten stuff they're coming up with.
Does the Director perhaps want us to knock this stuff down step by step? Maybe he could finally come out in the open and discuss it with us where we can focus on his understanding and not a ignorant blather in the press.
BTW, in other places they say the daughter they confronted is mentally ill.
The rules have been tightened since 911.
I wrote the previous rules such that released felons and professionl prostitutes (who have a very high relocation rate) could rent PO Boxes.
The rationale was that this would reduce postal forwarding costs by tens of millions of dollars every year, and might well help to regularize life for released felons and professional prostitutes.
That's all gone now. The criminals and whores find it much harder to get their mail delivered.
Puts 'em on the internet eh!
Time marches on.
“If they only tested the anthrax in one victim’s blood that would hardly be a comprehensive picture.”
And this is not the only article mentioning only the blood.
And it is not the first article to spin the Beecher paper story.
The Beecher paper was discuss much here by scientists like TR. The paper was not about science, I recall, but about safety. The statement that public commentary about additives, much discussed by Ed Lake, TR, is wrong because the FBI says so. It was a sentence or two. I read it, it wasn’t difficult to see there was absolutely no support in the paper for the statement of no additives. Yet the FBI or someone keep pushing it as some kind of science.
Ivins colleague rejects therapist’s description (Anthrax)
Sorority info
The mailbox just off the campus of Princeton University where the letters were mailed sits about 100 yards away from where the college's Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter stores its rush materials, initiation robes and other property. Sorority members do not live there, and the Kappa chapter at Princeton does not provide a house for the women.
So what is their motive?
You'll notice that so far the FBI has not apparantly release any information about Dr. Ivins' political leanings. Or, they've told the reporters who've refused to publish it ~ and we can only imagine what those political leanings might well be if the MSM doesn't want to tell us.
“I believe the FBI needs to start divulging info immediately.”
Here’s some, lurkers free to use.
Did you find a vest and gun Duley claimed Ivins said he purchased?
Did other members of Duley’s group therapy group confirm Duley’s claims? Did they believe Ivins was serious?
Did you conduct DNA testing on anthrax not derived from Stevens’ blood? Results?
Did any testing of the anthrax ever indicate in any regard the presence of additives? What testing showed there were no additives present?
The sorority’s storage space in Princeton - describe it.
How did he get to Princeton? What did his work records indicate about attendance?
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