Freeper Research on Anthrax Perps - Updated 9/17/01

Various FR Posters | 9/17/01 | Various FR Posters

[terilyn]

There isn't very much information on the Florida anthrax at AMI. I did find an article from the Florida Sun Sentinal dated October 9, 2001.

Excerpt:

Newsweek also reported on its Web site Monday that the American Media office received a ``weird love letter to Jennifer Lopez'' a week before the Sept. 11 attacks. Inside was what was described as a ``soapy, powdery substance'' and a Star of David charm. The letter was handled by both Stevens and Blanco, according to unidentified workers cited by Newsweek

The article also mentions the intern and the e-mail left but indicates that the FBI doesn't believe he was involved. link to cached article here

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the article! The intern was later cleared as I recall.

[terilyn]

Yes, the intern was later cleared. I have been searching for an article I read but cannot find it. It was an article indicating that later that same intern had been admitted to a Florida hospital for what they believed was pneumonia. I remeber posters here, (including myself), wondering how a young man would develop pneumonia in Florida during the months of September/October, (I can't remember the exact date and can't find the article!), when the weather was still very warm. I never did see a follow up article.

[Alamo-Girl]

I recall that also. And my recollection is that he did not have anthrax.

[ConservativeLawyer]

The letter is probably a bogus copycat letter, unrelated to the real anthrax attack.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how can this "copycat" letter be dismissed as "unrelated" to the real anthrax attack? If this was received on the same date the real anthrax letters where mailed, then how could the copycat copy something that wasn't yet made public?

Unless they had prior knowledge of what was going to be mailed from New Jersey a few days later.

[ConservativeLawyer]

Great work as usual, Alamo-Girl!

[Yellow Rose of Texas]

Excellent as usual AG, keep up the good work!!!!!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for your analysis!!!

The outbreak of anthrax, and death of Robert Stevens, at AMI preceded the hoax St. Petersburg letters. I wonder if the St. Petersburg mailer was a copycat to that event.

Even so, the selection of targets, letter style and such would point to some coordination with the New Jersey mailers, i.e. terror network, even though the St. Petersburg letters were a hoax.

In the hunt for the anthrax mailers, the St. Petersburg lead is not applicable. They should however be prosecuted - fiercely IMHO if indeed a part of a terror network.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much! Hugs!!!

[ConservativeLawyer]

You're welcome.

You state that "In the hunt for the anthrax mailers, the St. Petersburg lead is not applicable."

While I agree that since the St. Pete letter contained no anthrax, it was a hoax. I am not, however, so quick to agree with you that it should be dismissed as not applicable.

Your point that it could be a copycat of the AMI attack is well taken. But it is my recollection that in the time period soon after the death of Bob Stevens no one was sure how the anthrax got into AMI (indeed, I don't think the method of transmission has ever been firmly established). I remember speculation about it being placed in the air conditioning unit.

The selection of a media target for the St. Pete letter, the downward sloping block lettering on the envelope, the broken English make me think the connection is more than coincidental.

What I'm trying to say is I don't see the St. Pete letter as a red herring but as another piece of the puzzle. But then again, what do I know?

Two other things I've not seen mentioned: 1) have law enforcement been able to obtain any fingerprints off the envelopes or letters; 2) I thought I heard Sean Hannity mention on his radio show that he had received suspicious letters with similar handwriting postmarked from Indiana and New Jersey. He didn't open them and they were turned over to authorities.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Since the A and the two T's are highlighted, maybe the writer has a grudge against the phone company.

[Alamo-Girl]

I haven't heard a peep about fingerprints! They did however seize latex gloves when they busted the accountant in Chester, PA. That makes me wonder if they have no prints.

I'm not aware of any followup on the Hannity letters.

And I certainly agree with you that the style of the St. Petersburg letters is akin to the real New Jersey anthrax letters! And one of the cars involved in a bust there had Florida plates.

IMHO, we are likely seeing how an Al Queda operation works - with cells in multiple states and locations and some coordination between them. In this case, the terror is multiplied by the hoax letters intermingled with the real ones.

I didn't mean to dismiss the St. Petersburg letters altogether - only that the profile of the anthrax perp is a separate project from the profile of the hoax perp... maybe. The network may include both - or it may be the same perp! Hmmmm....

[ConservativeLawyer]

Indeed, the St. Pete letter is outside the focus of this thread, i.e. the profile of the perps who actually mailed the anthrax.

I suspect you are right that they have found no prints. And I suppose if someone saw a person mailing letters wearing rubber gloves they would have come forward by now. I was hoping maybe the fingerprints of the mail carrier who first retrieved the letter from whatever mailbox it was mailed from might be found so that the site of the mailing could be better pinpointed.

[daves_brother]

You bring out some excellent points.  You are correct.  Based on the timing, I would say this was a hoax, and not a copycat.  If the St. Petersburg Times letter was opened by Troxler on Tuesday, October 9, that would mean it would have to have been mailed on Monday, or perhaps Saturday -- the day after Robert Stevens died.  I would tend to believe that the letter writer's reference to "1st case of disease" was in reference to Bob Stevens, and the letter was sent in a follow-up to Steven's death.

If this was received on the same date the real anthrax letters where mailed...

The Daschle and Leahy letters were postmarked October 9, but the Brokaw and New York Post letters were postmarked on September 18 -- long before Troxler received his letter.  As you mention, though, the information about the Brokaw and Post letters were not public at the time the Troxler letter was mailed.  (I believe that information was put forth on October 11 or 12.)

Interestingly enough, originally the focus of the NBC case was on a letter postmarked from St. Petersburg on September 20.  So it appears that there may be some connection between the two sets of letters (Trenton/anthrax and St. Pete/hoaxes).  I'm not sure I believe there is a connection, but it would not surprise me to find out there is.  The proximity of the postmarks (9/18 and 9/20, and 10/9 and 10/8 or 10/6) is certainly enough to pique my interest.

As I was typing this reply, I noticed you had posted again and said "Indeed, the St. Pete letter is outside the focus of this thread", but now that you have pointed out the possible connection, perhaps it is not outside the focus.  I mean, if there is a connection between the two, the St. Pete letters might have an impact on the profile of the Trenton mailer.

Like I said, I'm not sure I tend to believe there is a connection, but then again...

[Mitchell]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how can this "copycat" letter be dismissed as "unrelated" to the real anthrax attack? If this was received on the same date the real anthrax letters where mailed, then how could the copycat copy something that wasn't yet made public?

The letter to Troxler was received on the same day the letters to Daschle and Leahy were mailed. But Bob Stevens of American Media had already died of anthrax (a week earlier, I think) by that date. It was already thought that American Media might have been sent the anthrax in a letter. And this was when there was a spate of letters with white powder that turned out to be hoaxes, many presumably by random copycats. (It's possible that the sender of the letter to Troxler was aware of the N.Y. Post letter and/or the Tom Brokaw letter, but I think it was a few days too early for that, if I remember correctly.)

I see nothing to connect this particular letter with the real anthrax letters. The handwriting is different (and looks American to me). The message in the letter was very different too. None of the real anthrax letters was from St. Petersburg (although I think other hoax letters were, including one to the N.Y. Times).

I think the only things that distinguish this hoax letter from others are that we have a photograph of the envelope and that the threat in the letter itself was memorable. It may also have been one of the earlier hoaxes.

I do think that it is possible that some of the letters with white powder that turned out not to be anthrax were mailed by the actual anthrax senders, to sow additional fear and uncertainty, and also to tie up investigative and medical resources on checking them out. It may also have been hoped that people would get complacent and end up ignoring suspicious letters.

[NixNatAVanG InDaBurgh]

There was no letter found at American Media. What they found was powder containing anthrax spores inside a computer keyboard.

No one has mentioned that Microsoft also received an anthrax letter. It has major business relationships with Israel and Intel released the Intel 4 Processor in Israel.

This from an Arab Website:
Updated Alert: Intel support of Israeli ethnic cleansing : (July 22)

DASCHLE:
Article

Daschle holds the Senate seat once occupied by Arab-American Sen. James Abourezk, for whom Daschle formerly served as legislative assistant. When Abourezk retired, Daschle asked him if he thought Arab-American donors would help Daschle's run for the Senate. "Not as much as the other side would," Abourezk replied bitterly. Daschle obviously is a good listener. While in the Senate he has received $392,630 in donations from pro-Israel political action committees, according to filings by those PACs with the Federal Election Commission

Wondering why no Anthrax for Joe or Al?

GORE-LIEBERMAN HIRE ANTI-SEMITE:

A senior adviser to the American presidential campaign of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman is now lobbying the State Department to reduce military aid to Israel. The demands include a possible halt to the supply of helicopter gunships to Israel if they are used against Arabs - the same Arab mobs that have been shooting and killing Jews during the past ten days. The Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein said, "Vice President Gore claims to be pro-Israel, yet his new campaign adviser is lobbying to slash US military aid to Israel." James Zogby, who was appointed last week as Senior Advisor to the campaign on Ethnic Americans, has praised the Hizb'Allah terrorist group as "the Lebanese armed resistance;" Hizb'Allah is now holding three kidnapped Israeli soldiers. He is the founder and president of the Arab American Institute and has written many articles condemning the nation of Israel. He is considered the leading lobbyist for the Palestinians and has publicly urged the Arab nations to refrain from normalizing relations with Israel. Zogby has come to the defense of Muslim terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. A search of 'James Zogby' on the Internet wields a massive amount of literature backing the claims of his anti-semitism.

From Islamic Website:
MORE THAN 90 US SENATORS STAND BY ISRAEL
AIPAC hailed a bipartisan letter to President Clinton from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and 94 US Senators. It expresses solidarity with the state and people of Israel and condemns the Palestinian leadership for encouraging the violence. The letter encourages US envoys to Egypt to stand solidly with Israel against the terrorist activities supported by Yasser Arafat.

* The U.S. should cease delivery of all armaments and military and economic aid to Israel immediately.

CALL, EMAIL, AND FAX YOUR LETTERS TO:

* President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
E-mail: president@w...

* Secretary of State Colin Powell
E-mail: secretary@s...
Bureau of Near East Affairs

* Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ranking
E-mail: senator_leahy@l...

Please cc your correspondence to Al-Awda-Alerts@m...

Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition
P.O. Box 1172
Orange, CT 06477

BTW:
The "Leahy Law," a provision in recent appropriations legislation, prohibits U.S. military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. Known by the name of its principal sponsor, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, the provision has become the most important legal tool used to promote respect for human rights through U.S. security assistance programs.

The Leahy Law's jurisdiction has slowly expanded since it first appeared as part of the 1997 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (P.L. 104-208). Initially, the law applied only to the State Department's International Narcotics Control (INC) program. It was broadened in Fiscal Year 1998 to include all security assistance programs funded through the Foreign Operations Act, and in Fiscal Year 1999 was extended to include training programs authorized under the Defense Department Appropriations bill.

The Leahy Law in the 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (Sec. 563 of P.L. 106-429) states:

None of the funds made available by this Act may be provided to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible evidence that such unit has committed gross violations of human rights, unless the Secretary determines and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the government of such country is taking effective measures to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice.

While the Foreign Operations law covers both training and assistance (such as weapons grants), the Leahy Law in the 2001 Defense Appropriations Act (Sec. 8092 of P.L. 106-259) covers only training, and states:

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to support any training program involving a unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of Defense has received credible information from the Department of State that a member of such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights, unless all necessary corrective steps have been taken.

He meant this to hurt, but those it could hurt the most turn out to be the *friendly* Arab Countries we have armed to the teeth, most particularly Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

On to the other letters:

VIACOM, Parent company of CBS was also the parent company of Medscape. Medscape is in Oregon.
Customers
--------

Many of our customers are key players in the healthcare industry.

Allina Health System, Minneapolis, MN
Arizona Medical Clinic, Peoria, AZ
Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Little Rock, AR
Austin Diagnostic Clinic, Austin, TX
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, TX
Blair Medical Associates, Altoona, PA
Capital Region Healthcare Corporation, Concord, NH
Cardiology Associates of NE Arkansas, Jonesboro, AR
Carilion Health System, Roanoke, VA
Central Maine Healthcare, Lewiston, ME
Children's Hospital, Birmingham, AL
Christiana Care Health System, New Castle, DE
Christus Health Care System, Houston, TX
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Community Hospitals, Indianapolis, IN
Cox Health System, Springfield, MO
East Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville, NC
Eastern Maine Healthcare, Bangor, ME
ElderHealth, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Evans Internal Medicine & Pediatrics, Evans, GA
Health First, Inc., Melbourne, FL
Memorial Hermann Hospital System, Houston, TX
MeritCare Health System, Fargo, ND
The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX
Mid-America Cardiology, Kansas City, MO
NASA, Houston, TX
New York University Medical Center, New York, NY
Noran Neurological, Minneapolis, MN
North Memorial Health Care, Minneapolis, MN
North Texas Medical Group, The Colony, TX
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR
Page-Campbell Cardiology Group, Nashville, TN
Palmetto Health Alliance, Columbia, SC
Promina Health System, Atlanta, GA
Providence Health System, Portland, OR
Queens Health Management, Honolulu, HI
Riverside Health System, Newport News, VA
Saint Vincent's Health System, Erie, PA
Sentara Enterprises, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA
Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX
Trumbull Memorial Hospital, Warren, OH
Union Health Center, New York, NY
Union Hospital Health Group, Terre Haute, IN
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
University Community Hospital, Tampa, FL
**University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, Newark, NJ
Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven, CT
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC
Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
Woodcreek Pediatrics, Puyallup, WA

Suddenly:
Title: Medscape Announces Termination Of Relationship With Viacom Inc

HILLSBORO, Ore., Nov 8, 2001-- Medscape, a leading provider of digital health record applications and online medical information, today announced that, effective immediately, it has agreed to a termination of its relationship with Viacom Inc.
???

Tom Brokaw was also the anchorman who wrote "The Greatest Generation".
Not exactly a terrorist's best friend.

New York Post is more often than not, pro-Israel. It could also have been a mis-send meant for the Jewish Post of New York.

ABC is an Eisner run company, Eisner being best known for his promotion of gays at Disney. Although there is no word for homosexual in Arabic, it IS one of those things they hypocritically condemn the US for.
Though addressed to Rather, he never got HIS missive nor the disease, (but he surely got a lot of PR mileage.) A child at a birthday party did. It could very easily have been picked up on a piece of TAPE in a mailroom and used to seal a gift or card. Not enough to infect an adult, perhaps not even touched by an adult, but enough to infect a 2 year old.

Hannity is an unswerving Netanyahu fan, and an uncompromising critic of the Muslims in this country who have so far refused to back this country.
How long between the Saudi Prince's visit and the *mystery* case of the Manhattan hospital worker? Might she have been in a crowd of Muslims who showed up at Ground Zero to see him?
And lastly for the moment, what exactly is it we call ex-pres bill?...As in:
"All the President's women (x42) [Free Republic]"
What is the return address on all the envelopes? Why does it have to be a route number?
There's more, but this is some stuff.

[NixNatAVanG InDaBurgh]

> And lastly for the moment, what exactly is it we call ex-pres bill?...As in: "All the President's women (x42) [Free Republic]" What is the return address on all the envelopes? Why does it have to be a route number?

I should have explained this, but for this set of things, it has meaning only if you are an avid abacus user. Re: SETS.

[archy]

Since the A and the two T's are highlighted, maybe the writer has a grudge against the phone company.

Well, that narrows it down to around 250 million possible suspects....

Possibly he was confusing those letters with the *muscle memory* of frequently writing some similar character in Arabic or another non-Roman character script language? Or perhaps a similarly shaped numerical character?

-archy-/-

[archy]

I am looking at your letters.

Specifically the New York Post letter.

Look at the E

Clearly it was printed from bottom to top, every time.

No native born American ever would print an E that way, but it would be the natural way an Arabic printer would do it.

(Arabic script goes from right to left, from bottom to top).

Yes it could be a native trying to imitate the way an Arab would print, but would he be that clever?

By the way, the 3 letters and 3 envelopes were NOT all printed by the same person.

</i Note that there are some Americans with markedly different writing styles than most. See the following for an illustration, but railroad/Morse telegraphy has fallen pretty much into disuse since the midpoint of the 1950s [a pity; the beautiful cursive script was both highly readable and artistic in its own right] But I've also seen many Army message center pads with horrible hand-printing generally similar to that of the *anthrax letters*- from native English speakers. A well-studied graphologist would note major differences, I'm sure, though in the past I've worked with two documents examiners, and I ran some of this info past them, with two inconclusive and differing opinions about the handwriting in this case.

But check the following as an example of *industrial* or other influences on handwriting and penmanship, [and note the *rippled* lines/dashes- clearly the anthrax letter slinger is NOT an old-time railroad or Western Union *lightning slinger*] and other trades or subcultures also offer other differing examples of such specificality:

[amom]

thanks for this

AG: heads up post 116.