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And, there should be absolutely no doubt that Bruce Ivins sent the anthrax letters.
Ivins was fascinated with secret codes. He put a hidden message in the anthrax letters he sent to the media.
When he became afraid of getting caught, he was observed throwing away the book and the magazine he had used to develop the coded message in the media letters.
The hidden message in the media letters related to two of Ivins' colleagues, one by name (PAT) and the other by attacking her favorite city (FNY).
Ivins had used similar DNA-based coding in an email sent to a colleague.
The anthrax letters were placed in the mailbox nearest to the Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) office in Princeton, NJ. Ivins had an obsession with the KKG sorority.
Ivins used ZIP Code 08852 on the senate letters. That ZIP Code is for Monmouth Junction, NJ, where Ivins' family on his father's side came from. And, Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL, is where the KKG sorority was founded.
Ivins' father graduated from Princeton University, which was across the street from where the letters were mailed.
Ivins frequently drove long distances to mail things so they couldn't be traced back to him.
Ivins frequently drove long distances at night without the knowledge of his wife and family.
Ivins drove long distances to burglarize KKG sorority houses, stealing ritual books and coding materials.
Ivins repeatedly harassed KKG member Nancy Haigwood as a result of an obsession that lasted for thirty years. She told the FBI that Ivins was someone likely to have sent the anthrax letters.
Two of Ivins' psychiatrists believed he should never have been allowed to work with anthrax.
Ivins' first psychiatrist (from 1978 to 1979) immediately thought of Bruce Ivins as a possible suspect when she first read about the anthrax attacks.
Ivins' second psychiatrist (from February to May 2000), Dr. David Irwin, diasgnosed Ivins to be "homicidal, sociopathic with clear intentions."
In June of 2000, Ivins told his psychiatric counselor that he planned to poison a "young woman" if she lost a soccer game. The counselor called the police, but no one knew who the young woman was.
Ivins had multiple motives for the attacks.
At the time of the mailings, Ivins believed that the Ames strain was used in labs all over the world and was totally untraceable. That's why he used it.
Ivins contracted an infection on his hand around the time of the attacks and failed to report it, although it was required that he report any infections.
The infection on Ivins hand was cured with the antibiotic the CDC recommends for anthrax.
Ivins had no alibi for the times of the mailings.
Ivins couldn't explain the long hours he worked in his BSL-3 lab at night and on weekends at the time the anthrax letters were being prepared.
The anthrax spores used in the attacks were not "weaponized" and could easily have been made by Bruce Ivins.
Ivins suggested to the CDC that Bob Stevens could have contracted inhalation anthrax from various natural sources, even though Ivins knew such sources couldn't give anyone inhalation anthrax.
In an email to a colleague written just days before the anthrax mailings, Ivins used terms similar to what were in the anthrax letters.
One target of the media mailing was The National Enquirer. Ivins wrote about the National Enquirer in emails before the attacks, and he had a stack of Enquirers in his office.
The anthrax letter sent to the National Enquirer used an obsolete address. The stacks of Enquirers in Ivins' office contained that obsolete address.
"Greendale School" was the second line of the return address on the senate letters, and Ivins had just donated money to a cause related to an incident at a Greendale School in Wisconsin.
The Greendale School incident in Wisconsin involved a 4th grader. The first line of the return address on the senate letters was: "4th Grade"
One of the targets of the senate mailing was Senator Daschle, who had been critical of the anthrax vaccine Ivins had helped develop.
Senator Leahy, the other target of the senate mailing, was concerned about the civil rights of Muslims being questioned after 9/11, and this upset Ivins.
On September 22, 2001, before the anthrax letters were found, Ivins joined the American Red Cross and mentioned his expertise in anthrax research (which he'd never mentioned before).
On September 26, 2001, before the anthrax letters were found, Ivins wrote to Mara Linscott, "You should feel good about having received anthrax shots."
Ivins controlled the flask that was the source of the spores used to grow the attack anthrax.
Ivins had all the necessary skills and equipment for making the attack anthrax.
Ivins tried to mislead the investigation by submitting a sample to the FBI from Flask RMR-1029 in February 2002 that was improperly prepared and could not be used as evidence.
The other samples Ivins prepared for the FBI in February 2002 were all properly prepared.
The replacement sample submitted in April of 2002 was apparently not from Flask RMR-1029. He falsified evidence.
In December of 2001, Ivins performed an unauthorized cleaning of areas where he may have left evidence behind. He destroyed evidence.
In April of 2002, Ivins performed a second unauthorized cleaning of areas where there may have been evidence. He again destroyed evidence.
Ivins lied about why he did the unauthorized cleanings. The areas he cleaned didn't match with his explanations.
In attempts to mislead the FBI, Ivins identified many of his colleagues as potential suspects in the case.
Ivins deleted all of his emails from 2001 from his work computer and claimed he didn't know how it happened. (Some of the emails were recovered from other computers.)
Ivins attempted to intimidate potential witnesses in the case.
In later years, Ivins said that, if he sent the anthrax letters, he didn't remember doing it.
Before his suicide, Ivins stated that he planned to murder his co-workers for what they'd done to him and go out in a "blaze of glory."
Ivins committed suicide so he wouldn't have to stand trial and be found guilty.