Posted on 08/14/2002 5:50:27 PM PDT by Mohammed El-Shahawi
Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 Editor's note: See part one in this series, FBI and Anthrax: Another TWA 800 in the Making?
By now, there should be no dispute as to where the anthrax that killed Bob Stevens and nearly killed Ernesto Blanco came from. If you follow the spores found by the EPA in the samplings it took at the AMI building, even the most obtuse investigator would have to conclude that they arrived by mail.
Begin at the Boca Raton, Fla., post office that serviced AMI. Anthrax spores matching those found at AMI were found there.
Once in the AMI building, the mail was sorted. Either because the letter was addressed to the Sun tabloid, or because Blanco determined that it should go to the Sun even if addressed to the National Enquirer, he put it on his cart and began his regular route.
That route is marked by a trail of anthrax spores. It begins at the mail room, wends its way up to the second floor and ends up at the Sun offices on the third floor, where it is given to a Sun employee. Anthrax spores found on Bob Stevens' computer keyboard show that he handled the letter.
This much is known and beyond dispute. The source of the anthrax that killed Stevens and infected Blanco was a piece of mail. What cant be pinned down is where the letter came from.
'Weird Love Letter to Jennifer Lopez'
On its Web site, Newsweek magazine reported that on Sept. 4 AMI received a "weird love letter to Jennifer Lopez" containing a "soapy" powder and a star of David, addressed to the singer-actress c/o The Sun tabloids.
That report is the only source of information concerning the date of receipt of the letter, or that it was addressed to Lopez specifically in care of the Sun.
Inside the Lopez letter was a "soapy, powdery substance" and a cheap Star of David charm, Sun employees confirmed. Knowledgeable sources told NewsMax.com that the letter, which Blanco had taken to the Sun, was opened by one of the editors in the absence of an editorial assistant who would have ordinarily opened it.
The editor looked at it and then tossed it into a wastepaper basket. Another Sun staffer, who NewsMax.com was told had a daughter who is a Lopez fan, retrieved it, found the contents amusing but of no interest to his daughter, and passed it around to other staff members, according to our sources.
The last person to touch the letter, they told NewsMax.com, was probably Bob Stevens.
At the time the AMI editorial director, Steve Coz told reporters that because his eyesight was faulty, Stevens held the envelope close to his face and probably inhaled the deadly spores. Stevens, or somebody else, threw the letter away. It was never recovered, leaving forever open the question of its being the source.
Cozs account of Stevens' bad eyesight and his tendency to hold written material close to his face was confirmed by one of his best friends, who told NewsMax.com that Stevens read material that way.
Evidence Lost
Because the letter that may well have been the source of the anthrax at AMI no longer existed, a vital piece of evidence was lost. That a letter was the source is indicated by the fact that the trail of anthrax spores in the AMI building matches the exact route it took from the mailroom to the Sun tabloid office, but it cannot be proven that the anthrax carrier was the JLo letter.
The incident made little or no impression the Sun staff at the time. Wacko mail frequently comes to the tabloid and is sometimes passed around. Few paid any attention to the letter, and only a couple of Sun employees even recalled that specific piece of mail.
FBI's Strange Reaction
Moreover, the FBI, which dismissed the letter out of hand and denied it had any significance, for reasons not disclosed asked AMI not to go into detail about it with the media or anyone else. The whole thing just vanished from the investigative radar screen.
The Newsweek report that the Lopez letter arrived Sept. 4th, seven days before the events of the terrorist hijacking attacks, would have assumed enormous significance had the letter been kept. It would seem to point the finger of guilt directly at the 9-11 hijackers, most of whom lurked nearby until leaving for their deadly rendezvous with the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Next: AMIs sinister neighbors.
One died (Stevens), another was hospitalized (Blanco) and about half a dozen employees tested positive for exposure.
I recall this was the letter that spurred the "powdery substance" panic.
Good point. You can bet it wasn't a junk mailer.
Personally, I'm satisfied with the assumption that the J-Lo letter was the source. Which makes the "soapy powder" an important clue. Obviously something was added to "cut" the spores and bulk them up. Something that invited touching and smelling.
And I recall the one piece of hard information we've gotten about the chemical testing of the spores -- they incorporated "a surprising ingredient". Some kind of detergent or surfactant...or a fabric softener, with its anti-static properties?
The Newsweek report that the Lopez letter arrived Sept. 4th, seven days before the events of the terrorist hijacking attacks, would have assumed enormous significance had the letter been kept. It would seem to point the finger of guilt directly at the 9-11 hijackers, most of whom lurked nearby until leaving for their deadly rendezvous with the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Hmmm, now what could the FBI be hiding?
...If the science offers few leads, old-fashioned police work might. In Florida, investigators focused on a one-page, handwritten love letter addressed to Jennifer Lopez, NEWSWEEK first reported on its Web site. It was sent to The Sun, says a source, in Lantana, Fla. It reportedly arrived sometime after Sept. 17. Staffers laughed over it and passed it around the third-floor editorial offices. Enclosed was a small Star of David and a tablespoon or so of a bluish substance that resembled dishwashing powder. Bob Stevens was among those who handled the letter. As one staffer recalled to NEWSWEEK, The only difference between Bob and those who watched him open it was that Bob [who had poor eyesight] held it up to his face. Stevenss spartan workstationMacintosh computer, a mousepad decorated with photos of his friends, crayon drawings from a colleagues young sonwas a hot spot of anthrax. So was a receptacle in the mailroom, where Blanco and Dailey worked. But how five additional employees were exposed (blood tests came back positive over the weekend) is a mystery: some work for The National Enquirer, whose offices are way the heck down the hall and around the corner, says The Suns Carla Chadick
Newsweek (per your post): It was sent to The Sun, says a source, in Lantana, Fla. It reportedly arrived sometime after Sept. 17.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Sure would like to get those dates straight...
THE ANTHRAX ATTACKS: SO WHAT IS THE FBI DOING ABOUT IT?
Again, what kind of letter would get to these office workers other than the J.Lo. letter? Assume it was another letter...targeting mid-level employees? Wouldn't the perp address it to the publisher or the editor if anyone at this institution were to be targeted?
...If the science offers few leads, old-fashioned police work might. In Florida, investigators focused on a one-page, handwritten love letter addressed to Jennifer Lopez, NEWSWEEK first reported on its Web site. It was sent to The Sun, says a source, in Lantana, Fla. It reportedly arrived sometime after Sept. 17. Staffers laughed over it and passed it around the third-floor editorial offices. Enclosed was a small Star of David and a tablespoon or so of a bluish substance that resembled dishwashing powder. Bob Stevens was among those who handled the letter. As one staffer recalled to NEWSWEEK, The only difference between Bob and those who watched him open it was that Bob [who had poor eyesight] held it up to his face. Stevenss spartan workstationMacintosh computer, a mousepad decorated with photos of his friends, crayon drawings from a colleagues young sonwas a hot spot of anthrax. So was a receptacle in the mailroom, where Blanco and Dailey worked. But how five additional employees were exposed (blood tests came back positive over the weekend) is a mystery: some work for The National Enquirer, whose offices are way the heck down the hall and around the corner, says The Suns Carla Chadick..."
I don't know if receptacle would be a trash can, or not.
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