text:
* there is apparently no evidence to support the arrest of Paul Curtis in the recent Ricin mailing … just as there is no evidence against Dr. Bruce Ivins in the 2001 anthrax case
Posted by DXer on April 24, 2013
Maybe it's time to recollect that, although the FBI asserts Dr. Bruce Ivins was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks, they have presented absolutely NO EVIDENCE to support that assertion, or even any evidence that Dr. Ivins was involved in the attacks at all. Specifically, there is …
no physical evidence of any kind linking Dr. Ivins to any aspect of the crime, other than that he had access to the anthrax (as did hundreds of other scientists)
- no scientific evidence linking the attack anthrax to Dr. Ivins (as confirmed by an NAS review)
no witnesses who ever suggested that Ivins was the culprit
We can only hope that the on-going but long-delayed GAO review of the FBI's investigation will eventually be completed and will lead to an understanding, not only of the deficiencies of the FBI's case against Dr. Ivins, but also the reasons the FBI has stuck for so long to such an untenable position.
144 Responses to "* there is apparently no evidence to support the arrest of Paul Curtis in the recent Ricin mailing … just as there is no evidence against Dr. Bruce Ivins in the 2001 anthrax case"
September 20, 2020 at 8:26 pm
AP sources: Woman accused of sending ricin letter arrested
WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to White House, has been arrested at New York-Canada border, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The letter had been intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House. The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, the officials said.
September 21, 2020 at 2:04 pm
A Canadian woman who was arrested this weekend on charges of mailing the poison ricin to the White House, had been deported back to Canada from South Texas after overstaying her visa in 2019, according to a report in The New York Times.
- September 21, 2020 at 2:04 pm
September 20, 2020 at 5:18 am
Letters containing the poison were also sent to local law enforcement agencies in Texas. The letters are believed to have come from Canada, and investigators have identified a woman as a possible suspect, according to the New York Times.
Comment: Such a mailing seems a pointless and stupid crime, accomplishing nothing but the mailer's eventual arrest.
September 19, 2020 at 6:51 pm
A package addressed to Trump containing the deadly poison ricin was intercepted this week
September 19, 2020 at 6:54 pm
Other letters that also tested positive for ricin were discovered elsewhere, but only one was apparently addressed to a political figure. The others were addressed to prisons, a law enforcement official said. The official did not say how many letters were found.
September 20, 2020 at 10:34 am
Detention facility and Sheriff's office in Texas received letters. That narrows things down a lot.
- September 20, 2020 at 10:34 am
- September 19, 2020 at 6:54 pm
November 8, 2018 at 1:52 am
The Hunt: Ricin attacks, what's old is new
By J.J. Green | @JJGreenWTOP November 7, 2018
WASHINGTON — Recently two suspicious packages arrived at the Pentagon's mail screening facility that. After testing, it was revealed they contained a precursor for ricin, a dangerous poison.
In this week's edition of "The Hunt" with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Robin Simcox, Margaret Thatcher fellow at the Heritage Foundation, noted that a case of actual ricin use in Europe in May could have created the opportunity for lone wolves in the U.S. to learn how to use the deadly poison.
Robin Simcox: 'A significant story that has not really received attention in the media that it probably should have'
WTOP's J.J. Green
November 8, 2018 at 2:13 am
Islamist extremist ricin plot foiled by German police
Police officers of a special unit wearing protective clothes and respiratory masks raid a flat in Cologne, Germany Credit: DAVID YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images
• Justin Huggler, Berlin
14 June 2018 • 3:14pm
A suspected Islamic extremist arrested in Cologne succeeded in making ricin and was planning a "biological weapon attack" in Germany, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Sief Allah Hammami, a 29-year-old Tunisian, was held on Wednesday along with his German wife after police found large quantities of the deadly toxin his apartment.
It is believed to be the first time Islamic extremists in Europe have succeeded in manufacturing ricin, which is one of deadliest biological agents known to man.
"This is the biggest potential threat ever found in Europe," Bild newspaper quoted a source close to the investigation as saying.
Much about the suspected terror plot remains unclear. German authorities say they do not know how advanced the plans were, or what was to be the target of the attack.
Most disturbingly, they say they do not know if the arrested man was working with a larger network.
"We don't know how, or how widely, the ricin was to have been distributed," Markus Schmitt, a spokesman for prosecutors said.
Policemen enter an apartment building in Cologne, where a Tunisian suspected of trying to build a biological weapon was arrested Credit: OLIVER BERG/AFP/Getty Images
The suspect, identified only as Sief Allah H by officials but named as Hammami by the German press, is not a member of a known terrorist organisation. But prosecutors said he "had contacts with people on the jihadist spectrum".
The authorities did not comment on a report in Bild which claimed some of the ingredients he used to produce the ricin were missing.
Ricin is extremely toxic, and a dose as low as 25mg can be lethal to a 13 stone adult. It is toxic if inhaled, ingested or injected, and can cause multiple organ failure. The first symptoms of vomiting and severe nausea can appear within hours. It was first developed as a biological weapon by the US during the First World War.
It was the poison used in the notorious Cold War assassination of the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markhov on a London street, when Bulgarian intelligence fired a pellet containing the toxin into the dissident's leg using a weapon disguised an an umbrella.
A person holds seeds of the castor oil plant Credit: JENS KALAENE/AFP/Getty Images
Islamic extremists are believed to have wanted to manufacture ricin for some time. "As far as I know, this is the first time we see it made effective, but certainly not the first time we have seen aspiration in this direction," Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said.
Authorities in France said last month they had foiled a planned terror attack using ricin after tracking a suspect who was trying to learn how to make the poison online. French police were able to arrest the man, who is of Egyptian origin, before he could manufacture the toxin.
In 2015 a 31-year-old man from Liverpool was jailed for eight years after he attempted to buy ricin on the internet. He had in fact been in contact with an undercover FBI agent.
In 2003 police raided a flat in Wood Green and arrested seven men on suspicion of planning an attack on the London Underground using ricin. It later emerged initial reports ricin was found at the flat were unfounded. One man, Kamel Bourgass, was later sentenced to 17 years for planning to spread ricin in London. None of the other suspects were convicted in connection with the plot.
A police car stands outside the suspect's apartment block Credit: OLIVER BERG/AFP/Getty Images
Hammami made ricin in his Cologne apartment using castor bean seeds, which can be easily bought online, and an electronic coffee grinder, according to German prosecutors. The shell of the seeds is highly toxic and can be used to manufacture ricin.
Officials did not comment on German press reports that he used instructions for making a ricin bomb posted online by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
Nor did they comment on claims he was arrested after a tip-off from the American CIA, after it spotted he was making unusually large orders for castor bean seeds online.
Police wearing biological hazard suits were seen entering Hammami's apartment in an 18-storey builing in Cologne's Chorweiler district on Wednesday evening.
He is believed to have moved to the area in 2015 after he met his German wife on the internet. His 43-year-old wife, named only as Jasmin D, was also arrested on Wednesday but has since been released. She is a convert to Islam and has lived in the apartment since 2012, according to German press reports.
The couple live with their four children and claim benefits. Jasmin D is reportedly pregnant.
- November 8, 2018 at 2:13 am
October 6, 2018 at 6:05 pm
Logan man charged with sending Ricin to Trump — and maybe Queen Elizabeth II and Putin — makes first court appearance
The first count carries a penalty of up to life in prison — and up to 10 years for each of the additional counts.
According to an affidavit from the FBI, Allen admitted to mailing the envelopes — which included his return address — and placing a castor bean in each one. He added that he'd sent "letters with the same contents to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Queen of England, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the secretary of the Air Force."
Huber did not say whether there's any evidence of more than the four letters that were intercepted; the investigation is ongoing. And, he added, the five charges against Allen are "temporary in nature," and there may be more at a hearing set for Oct. 18.
"It's about me helping my wife put her shoes on in the morning," Allen said, breaking into tears as he looked at his wife, who was in a wheelchair in the back of the courtroom, and mouthing, "I love you."
"You've been a big help to her," Pead said, noting that Allen's wife has spina bifida.
Allen, who had looked calm and smiled often to that point, tearfully added, "I was looking forward to General Conference, but that's all right." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' twice-yearly gathering is set for Saturday and Sunday.
Allen told investigators he had purchased 100 castor beans online and that "he wanted to have them in case World War III broke out."
According to the FBI affidavit, Allen has "issued numerous threats" against government officials. In 2015, he emailed the CIA threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama "if the agency did not stop infringing on his constitutional rights"; in 2017, he emailed a bomb threat to Lackland Air Force Base" in Texas; and, in 2018, he sent an email to the Utah Department of Public Safely about "multiple imminent radiation attacks."
October 5, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Utah man charged in ricin threat against Trump, FBI chief, Pentagon officials
Thomson Reuters
Oct 5th 2018 5:02PM
"Each envelope bore Allen's name and return address, and he confessed sending the letters with castor beans he had purchased online, the affidavit said.
A motive for the threats was unclear. The affidavit said Allen told investigators he mailed the letters "to send a message" but did not elaborate.
The Pentagon has said the two envelopes intercepted there were found to contain only ground castor seeds, which are harmless but triggered the ricin alert.
Authorities said Allen has threatened the government before, including an email he sent the CIA in 2015 threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama, and a bomb threat he made against an Air Force Base in Texas last year."
October 4, 2018 at 12:11 pm
FBI Director Wray was also sent the castor beans.
"He told them he had purchased castor beans and sent the letters that had the beans in them.
State investigators working with the FBI said the envelopes with ground castor beans were mailed last week to the president, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the Navy's top officer, Adm. John Richardson.
Last year, he sent a vague email threat to the Air Force, said Logan police Capt. Tyson Budge, though military officials did not believe he was capable of carrying it out.
Another letter sent to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert in July blamed him for health problems Allen's wife was suffering, Budge said."
October 4, 2018 at 6:29 pm
Note included in one of the letters. As I recall the image, the note said Jack the Missile Bean Stock Powder.
- October 4, 2018 at 6:29 pm
October 3, 2018 at 9:15 pm
Police say Utah man confesses to sending ricin-laced letters to Trump and other top government leaders
Authorities say Allen confessed to having purchased castor beans, which can be turned into the poison ricin, and having sent the letters, according to the probable cause statement. …
Early reports said those letters included the deadly poison ricin, though a Pentagon spokeswoman said Wednesday that two of the letters included castor seeds.
Allen, 39, served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002, working as a damage control fireman apprentice. According to Utah court records, in 2005, he was convicted on two counts of 3rd degree felony child abuse, a case that involved accusations of child-sex abuse of two girls. In 2008, Allen was convicted of attempted aggravated assault. He was released from prison in 2011.
October 3, 2018 at 5:27 pm
Utah man arrested in ricin investigation involving letters mailed to Trump and the Pentagon
By Scott D. Pierce
· Published: 2 hours ago
Updated: 23 minutes ago
The U.S. attorney's office for Utah announced the arrest of William Clyde Allen III of Logan and said that a criminal complaint will likely be filed Friday in Salt Lake City's federal court.
October 3, 2018 at 7:50 pm
A religious neighbor suggests that Bill goes to church, is married, and smokes some weed and drinks a bit.
October 3, 2018 at 8:33 pm
October 3, 2018 at 8:37 pm
The link above is his mug shot. This local broadcast report says he confessed.
Logan, Utah man suspected of mailing ricin to president, Pentagon; FBI investigating
by Alyssa Roberts
Allen confessed to sending four letters laced with ricin, a poison made from castor beans, to U.S. government officials. Letters were reportedly sent to the White House, the FBI Director, and two to the Pentagon.
He also confessed to having purchased castor beans, from which the poison is made. …
State court documents indicate Allen also had past trouble with the law.
He pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault in 2008 in a Davis County justice court, and was sentenced to spend one year in jail.
- October 3, 2018 at 7:50 pm
October 3, 2018 at 4:32 pm
BREAKING: Man suspected of mailing ricin to Pres. Trump, Pentagon arrested in Logan [Utah]
Staff and wire reports 2 hrs ago
October 3, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Members of the Logan, Utah police department and the FBI are at the home of a former Navy sailor and questioning him as a suspect in the ricin seed packages sent to the Pentagon and White House, sources told Military Times.
There have been no arrests, but police are searching the home and interviewing the suspect inside his home, said Logan police spokesman Capt. Tyson Budge.
— amacavinta (@amacavinta) October 3, 2018
The packages, which were addressed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson were intercepted by the Pentagon's mail screening facility. A third package was mailed to the White House, addressed to President Donald Trump but was intercepted by the Secret Service.
"We are still going through the house, still doing interviews," Budge said.
In an impromtu press conference in Logan, law enforcement officials said the address in question was 308 N. 200 West Logan, Utah.
- October 3, 2018 at 4:35 pm
October 3, 2018 at 3:40 pm
Suspected ricin-laced letters did not contain finished form of poison
Instead, the letters contained a primitive form of ricin, which is not very hazardous.
by Pete Williams / Oct.03.2018 / 1:43 PM EDT
Letters suspected of containing deadly poison that were sent to the White House and the Pentagon did not contain a finished form of ricin, a poison made from castor beans that can be deadly, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
Instead, they contained a primitive form or precursor that is not very hazardous, the officials said.
Asked if other similar letters have been found, one official said that's being looked into, but nothing yet definitive.
"According to our preliminary analysis, the substance was castor seeds, from which ricin is derived," Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana White said in a statement about the two letters at the Pentagon mailing center. "The FBI is still investigating."
The officials also said they now believe a separate letter found yesterday at Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., campaign's office in Houston is not related.
October 3, 2018 at 3:37 pm
an hour ago
Pentagon: 'Suspicious' Substance Was Castor Seeds, Not Ricin
October 3, 2018 at 9:34 am
Former Navy sailor suspected of sending ricin to Pentagon
Officials say a tip from the White House led the Pentagon to discover the two packages sent to the Pentagon.
Wednesday, October 3rd 2018, 10:09 AM EDT
Suspect very considerately included return address on poisoned packages sent to the Pentagon
Packages sent to Pentagon that tested positive for ricin are suspected to have been mailed by a former Navy sailor, officials say
By Lucas Tomlinson | Fox News
October 3, 2018 at 9:37 am
Packages with suspicious substances — at least two of which tested positive for ricin — sent to the Pentagon, White House and Sen. Ted Cruz's office in Texas this week were part of a coordinated effort by a former Navy sailor, officials told Fox News.
Investigators said one of the envelopes, addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis or the Navy's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, contained a return address leading them to believe it came from the sailor, whose name has not been disclosed.
Officials say a tip from the White House led the Pentagon to discover the two packages sent to the Pentagon.
Both initially tested positive for ricin but are now in the hands of the FBI for further testing.
October 3, 2018 at 10:26 am
Ricin attacks will continue
By Dr. Amesh Adalja, opinion contributor — 10/03/18 11:15 AM EDT 0
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
- October 3, 2018 at 9:37 am
October 3, 2018 at 7:05 am
What is the point of sending ricin to symbolic positions? It seems about as pointless as a crime can get. It seems that today either the letters will, upon further testing, prove to have been a false negative or additional symbolic targets will be revealed — for example, at the Capitol or CIA.
I mean, how many people even know the name of the head of Naval operations?
October 3, 2018 at 7:06 am
Errata – I mean perhaps the letters today will turn out to have been a false positive.
October 3, 2018 at 7:27 am
From 2004:
Ricin poison discovered in letter to leader of US Senate
By David Rennie in Washington
12:01AM GMT 04 Feb 2004
October 3, 2018 at 7:38 am
2003 ricin letters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- October 3, 2018 at 7:06 am
October 2, 2018 at 5:08 pm
There would tend to be some main logical possibilities of the development of the story.
First, there needs to be confirmation that it was ricin and not a false negative. The reporters have missed the relevant story at this juncture — where an expert tells us of the type test done and chance of false positive.
Second, if confirmed, in a day or two, we may learn of additional letters. Symbolic, political letters tend to be sent in batches.
Then the FBI — if tests are positive and a symbolic, political pattern is established — hopefully begin release the address of the purported sender and any content.
This is the part that is fun — focusing on the possible solutions to the whodunnit.
At any point, serious reporters may write some background pieces on the use of ricin — like in Germany. There are all sorts of good pieces — like Combating Terrorism from West Point in August. But they should save their ink until the first two steps are cleared.
False positives are the most wasteful way to spend a day following the news.
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
October 2, 2018 at 5:39 pm
A federal official said the ricin indication was based on a field test, and those are often unreliable. At this point, the official said, concern about these envelopes is low.
October 2, 2018 at 7:00 pm
Ricin Suspected in Mail Sent to Trump and Pentagon Officials
The Secret Service did not specify that the envelope contained ricin, but said agents were "working jointly with our law enforcement partners to fully investigate this matter."
October 2, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Secret Service intercepts suspicious envelope sent to Trump
• 57 minutes ago
- October 2, 2018 at 5:39 pm
October 2, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Combating Terrorism
The June 2018 Cologne Ricin Plot: A New Threshold in Jihadi Bio
October 2, 2018 at 4:19 pm
Where's Abby when you need her?
- October 2, 2018 at 4:19 pm
October 2, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Packages sent to Pentagon suspected of containing ricin
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating at least two envelopes containing a substance believed to be ricin discovered Monday at the Pentagon's mail sorting center, a Defense Department spokesman said.
The envelopes were addressed to an official or officials at the Pentagon, said Chris Sherwood, a Defense Department spokesman. They never entered the building. The mail center is located on the Pentagon grounds but in a separate facility built after anthrax was found in government mail in 2001.
article continues below
The FBI took custody of the envelopes, which were undergoing further testing Tuesday, an FBI spokeswoman said. She declined additional comment.
Sherwood declined to identify to whom the packages were addressed. No one was believed to be harmed, he said.
October 2, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Ricin Suspected in Envelopes on Pentagon Campus
Two suspicious envelopes were addressed to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, a source said
By Andrea Swalec
Published 50 minutes ago | Updated 1 minute ago
October 2, 2018 at 1:02 pm
What was the return address of the mailings ot the Pentagon? What was the content of the message, if any?
The New Frontier in Jihadi Bio Terrorism
An alleged German ricin plot was the first time a jihadi terrorist in the West produced the toxic agent, illustrating the threat of bioterrorism in Europe.
Florian Flade
On June 12, 2018, heavily armed German special forces police with gas masks raided a residential building in the city of Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia) in Western Germany. A Tunisian national named Sief Allah H., who lived at the premises, was arrested. His wife, a German convert to Islam named Yasmin H., was also taken into police custody and was later accused of helping her husband in a terrorist plot. Police investigators and bio-chemical experts of the Robert Koch Institute, wearing full protective gear, then entered the residential block and searched several apartments. They were looking for the poison ricin.
Terrorist suspect Sief Allah H. had been monitored by German security services for a number of weeks prior to his arrest. Investigators discovered Sief Allah H. had ordered suspicious material and believed he was working to build an explosive device containing the deadly substance ricin. German intelligence had learned that Sief Allah H. had bought various materials via the internet, including more than a thousand castor beans and an electronic coffee grinder. During the police raid, a powdery substance was found, which subsequently tested positive for ricin. Holger Münch, head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), stated shortly after the raid, "There were pretty specific preparations for such a crime, using, if you want, a bio-bomb. This is a unique case, at least for Germany."
October 2, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Suspected Ricin-Laced Mail Sent to U.S. Defense Secretary
Oct. 2, 2018, at 1:23 p.m.
U.S. government building have sporadically received packages with suspected ricin, including in 2013, when ricin-laced letters were addressed to a U.S. senator, the White House and a Mississippi justice official.
Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, letters containing another deadly substance – anthrax spores – were mailed to the Washington offices of two senators and to media outlets in New York and Florida.
October 2, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Ricin Detected in Mail Sent to Pentagon Facility
Mail was addressed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, an official said.
The FBI is leading the investigation, along with Pentagon Force Protection Agency. The FBI is expected to conduct a second test to confirm the initial finding. …
A defense official said the mail raised alarms because it contained a sticky substance.
October 2, 2018 at 1:29 pm
Đức ngăn chặn phần tử thánh chiến âm mưu tấn công khủng bố bằng chất kịch độc ricin
Yến Chi | 30/09/2018 15:29
Ngày 12-6-2018, cảnh sát đặc nhiệm được trang bị mặt nạ phòng độc đã đột kích một tòa nhà dân cư ở thành phố Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia), phía Tây nước Đức. Sief Allah H. (29 tuổi), công dân Tunisia sống tại đây đã bị bắt vì âm mưu tấn công bằng chất độc ricin. Đây là một ví dụ điển hình cho mối đe dọa của khủng bố sinh học ở châu Âu.
Hôm đó, cảnh sát điều tra và chuyên gia hóa sinh của Viện Robert Koch, trang bị đầy đủ đồ bảo hộ đã lục soát một số căn hộ trong khu chung cư. Vài tuần trước khi bị bắt, Sief Allah H. đã nằm trong tầm ngắm của lực lượng an ninh Đức.
Lực lượng tình báo Đức phát hiện Sief Allah H. đã đặt hàng hạt thầu dầu cùng máy nghiền cà phê qua Internet. Từ những vật liệu đáng ngờ này, cơ quan chức năng tin rằng anh ta đang tìm cách chế tạo thiết bị nổ có chứa chất độc ricin gây chết người.
Trong cuộc đột kích của cảnh sát, một chất bột được tìm thấy, sau đó kết quả xét nghiệm dương tính với ricin. Ông Holger Münch, người đứng đầu Cơ quan Cảnh sát Hình sự Liên bang Đức (BKA), đã tuyên bố ngắn gọn sau cuộc đột kích: "Có những sự chuẩn bị cụ thể cho một tội ác mang tên bom sinh học. Đây là trường hợp độc nhất, ít nhất là ở Đức".
Lịch sử các âm mưu tấn công bằng ricin
Ricin là một sản phẩm phụ của hạt quả thầu dầu trong quá trình chiết xuất dầu sử dụng trong các ngành công nghiệp. Ricin là chất kịch độc, một lượng nhỏ cũng nhanh chóng gây tử vong cho con người khi ăn phải hoặc đưa vào máu vì nó cản trở quá trình sản xuất protein. Mức độ độc của nó được đánh giá là gấp 6.000 lần cyanide và không có thuốc nào giải được độc.
Vào tháng 1-2003, Anh đã phát động chiến dịch chống khủng bố nhằm vào một mạng lưới liên quan đến al-Qaeda bị cho là có âm mưu tấn công các đường phố của Anh bằng ricin và các chất độc khác. Người ta phát hiện 22 hạt thầu dầu tại địa chỉ ở Wood Green, phía Bắc London, cũng như công thức và thiết bị cần thiết khác để bào chế ricin.
Nghi phạm chính người Algeria, Kamel Bourgass, sau đó bị kết án 17 năm tù vì "âm mưu gây mất trật tự an ninh do sử dụng chất độc hoặc chất nổ gây ra sự gián đoạn, sợ hãi hoặc thương tích".
Tờ New York Times hồi tháng 8-2011 cũng đưa tin, các quan chức chống khủng bố của Mỹ "ngày càng quan ngại" rằng al-Qaeda ở bán đảo Ả Rập (AQAP) đang cố sản xuất chất độc nguy hiểm ricin, được bọc trong vật liệu nổ nhỏ để tấn công chống lại nước Mỹ. Tuy nhiên, việc chế tạo thiết bị nổ có thành phần ricin vẫn được coi là rất khó.
Nếu các cáo buộc được chứng minh, vụ việc ở Cologne đánh dấu sự kiện lần đầu tiên một tên khủng bố thánh chiến ở phương Tây sản xuất thành công ricin. Nghi phạm chính, Sief Allah H., sinh ra ở Tunisia.
Vẫn chưa rõ, anh ta đến với con đường cực đoan như thế nào. Thời gian vẫn sống ở Tunisia, Sief Allah gặp một phụ nữ Đức trên internet. Vào tháng 10-2015, cặp đôi này kết hôn ở Tunisia. Sief Allah H. đã nhập cảnh Đức một cách hợp pháp lần đầu tiên vào ngày 24-11-2016 và chuyển đến một căn hộ ở Osloer Straße, Cologne-Chorweiler cùng với vợ. Tại thời điểm bị bắt, cặp đôi này có hai con.
Cảnh sát và chuyên gia sinh hóa trang bị mặt nạ phòng độc khám xét căn hộ của nghi phạm ở Cologne, Tây Đức hôm 12-6-2018
Lọt vào "tầm ngắm" vì báo cáo mất hộ chiếu
Sief Allah H. bắt đầu bị lực lượng chống khủng bố của Đức để ý đến là vào ngày 12-12-2017, khi anh ta báo cáo đã làm mất hộ chiếu Tunisia. Mối nghi ngờ nổi lên ở chỗ Sief Allah H. có thể đang tìm cách thay hộ chiếu vốn đã được dán tem nhập cảnh hoặc thị thực những vùng chiến sự để che giấu các hoạt động khủng bố.
Chính quyền Đức yêu cầu các nhà chức trách Tunisia cung cấp thêm thông tin về anh ta thì được cho biết rằng khi sống ở Tunisia, anh ta bị nghi ngờ là người theo đuổi tư tưởng phục hưng trong Hồi giáo Sunni.
Văn phòng Bảo vệ Hiến pháp Liên bang Đức (BfV), cơ quan tình báo nội địa nước này sau đó thu thập được thông tin, mùa thu năm 2017, Sief Allah H. đã 2 lần cố gắng đến Syria, có lẽ để gia nhập đội quân Nhà nước Hồi giáo (IS) tự xưng nhưng đã bị chặn lại ở Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ.
Theo Văn phòng Công tố viên Liên bang, vợ của Sief Allah H, Yasmin H., ban đầu cũng lên kế hoạch đến Syria. Vì lo cho sự an toàn của con mình, người phụ nữ này chỉ mua vé máy bay cho Sief Allah H.
Những tuần sau đó, hai vợ chồng họ nảy ra tranh cãi. Ngày 8-1-2018, Yasmin H. trình báo với cảnh sát Cologne về tình trạng"bạo hành trong gia đình". Cùng ngày, cảnh sát đến căn hộ của hai vợ chồng và ra lệnh cho Sief Allah H. rời đi trong ít nhất 10 ngày. Vào ngày 25-1-2018, Yasmin H. và Sief Allah H. đến đồn cảnh sát để thẩm vấn. Lần này, Yasmin H. rút đơn khiếu nại và tuyên bố các vấn đề với chồng đã được giải quyết.
Vào ngày 11-6-2018, BfV đã triệu tập các cơ quan liên quan để chia sẻ thông tin. Qua điều tra, Sief Allah H. đang chuẩn bị cho một cuộc tấn công khủng bố có thể sử dụng chất độc ricin. Vài tuần trước đó, một cơ quan tình báo Anh đã cảnh báo nhà chức trách Đức về các hoạt động mua sắm trực tuyến đáng ngờ của một người Tunisia sống ở Đức.
Dư luận Nga: Đại diện EU "sợ" Nga, đến cà phê cũng không dám uống vì lo ngại có Novichok?
Giám sát điện tử cho thấy, vào tháng 5-2018, Sief Allah H. đã mua ít nhất 1.000 hạt thầu dầu và một máy xay cà phê điện tử trên Amazon Market place. Được sự thông báo của người Anh, các cơ quan an ninh Đức bắt đầu theo dõi các hoạt động của Sief Allah H. Điện thoại của anh ta bị nghe lén và anh ta bị giám sát 24/7.
Bị bắt trước khi định gây án rồi bỏ trốn
Ban đầu, các nhà điều tra tin rằng Yasmin H. không biết về việc làm của chồng mình nhưng sau đó họ cáo buộc Yasmin H. đã giúp Sief Allah H. bằng cách dùng tài khoản PayPal của mình để đặt mua vật liệu cần thiết cũng như vé máy bay đến Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ cho chồng.
Theo các nhà chức trách Đức, cặp vợ chồng này thậm chí đã mua một con chuột để thử nghiệm tác động của ricin. Khi cảnh sát Đức đột kích căn hộ, họ tìm thấy con chuột còn sống trong lồng. Theo một quan chức an ninh Đức, ricin được Sief Allah H. điều chế có khả năng gây tử vong.
Hơn nữa, các nhà điều tra phát hiện ra rằng Sief Allah H. đã đặt mua trực tuyến một túi ngủ và một pin dự phòng. Anh ta cũng bảo vợ đưa cho 1.000 Euro tiền mặt. Hành vi này dẫn đến lo ngại rằng anh ta có lẽ sẽ bỏ trốn sau khi thực hiện một cuộc tấn công ở Đức.
Sáng 12-6-2018, Tổng Công tố viên Đức đã khởi tố Sief Allah H về tội "Chuẩn bị một hành vi bạo lực nghiêm trọng gây nguy hiểm cho Nhà nước". Tối cùng ngày, Sief Allah H. rời khỏi tòa chung cư ở Osloer Straße, Cologne-Chorweiler thì bị bắt giữ. Ngay sau đó, cảnh sát đã lục soát các căn hộ. Tang vật được tìm thấy lớn hơn rất nhiều so với 22 hạt thầu dầu phát hiện được tại nơi cư trú của Wood Green ở London vào năm 2003.
Đó là hàng nghìn hạt thầu dầu, trong đó 2.100 hạt được mua qua Internet; 250 quả bóng kim loại nhỏ, hai chai tẩy sơn móng tay có chứa axeton, bóng đèn, dây cáp và 250 gram bột màu xám (bột nhôm và các chất từ pháo hoa). Ba điện thoại di động cũng bị tịch thu trong quá trình điều tra, trong đó có chứa khoảng 180.000 hình ảnh, 2.000 tệp video, âm thanh và khoảng 33.000 tin nhắn, 11.000 số liên hệ cùng một số tệp chứa hướng dẫn tạo bom trong thiết bị lưu trữ.
Theo Tổng công tố viên Đức, Sief Allah H. đã liên lạc với những người ủng hộ và thậm chí có thể là thành viên của IS kể từ mùa thu năm 2017. Vào đầu tháng 8-2018, Bộ Nội vụ Tunisia tuyên bố bắt được 2 nghi can khủng bố có liên quan đến âm mưu tấn công bằng chất độc ricin ở Cologne.
Hiện cuộc điều tra vẫn đang tiếp diễn. Tang vật và tài liệu bị tịch thu đã được đưa đến Viện Robert Koch để điều tra thêm. Nhưng rõ ràng, âm mưu khủng bố ở Cologne đã cho thấy một ngưỡng mới của mối đe dọa khủng bố sinh học từ các phần tử thánh chiến ở phương Tây.
Mặt trận khủng bố mới – vũ khí sinh học
Nếu các cáo buộc được chứng minh, Sief Allah H. sẽ là nghi can khủng bố đầu tiên ở châu Âu sản xuất thành công ricin. Điều đó cũng có nghĩa là một phần tử cực đoan nào đó có thể tự sản xuất vũ khí sinh học bằng cách sử dụng hướng dẫn trên Internet. Mặc dù đội quân IS đang thất bại tại Syria và Iraq, nhưng các sách hướng dẫn cách sử dụng thuốc nổ và vũ khí vẫn có sẵn trên mạng và vẫn có tiềm năng truyền cảm hứng cho những kẻ cực đoan trên toàn cầu.
Hơn nữa, vụ việc ở Cologne nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc giám sát điện tử các phần tử có liên quan đến IS. Chỉ vì mua hàng trực tuyến, Sief Allah H. bị cơ quan tình báo phát hiện để từ đó cảnh sát vào cuộc ngăn chặn một cuộc tấn công có thể xảy ra.
Link gốc bài viết tại đây.
October 2, 2018 at 1:33 pm
Foiled Ricin Plot Raises Specter of 'More Sophisticated' IS-inspired Attacks
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 16 Issue: 16
By: Christian Jokinen
August 10, 2018 05:03 PM Age: 2 months
The arrest by German police of a 29-year-old Tunisian immigrant in Cologne may have foiled what Herbert Reul, the interior minister for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, claimed had the potential to be "the biggest terrorist-attack Europe has witnessed" (Kölnische Rundschau, June 20; Frankfurter Allgemeine, June 29). Prosecutors accuse Sief Allah Hammami of planning an attack using the poison ricin, which he had manufactured at his home.
While such an attack would constitute a new escalation in terms of the terrorism threat in Germany, there are echoes of similar plots elsewhere in Europe. With international operations becoming increasingly important for Islamic State (IS) as it contemplates its own decline, some fear that the group is planning a major headline-grabbing attack in the West, possibly one involving a biological or chemical agent.
Arrest in Cologne
Hammami was arrested at his home, a nondescript high-rise building on Osloer Street in Köln-Chorweiler, on June 13 (Bild, June 26). The subsequent search of the premises was conducted by police dressed in full protective gear and assisted by a specialist unit from the fire services and toxicological experts from the Robert Koch Institute, a German federal government agency responsible for disease control and prevention. Hammami had, it appeared, turned his home into a laboratory where he had manufactured ricin from around 1,000 castor oil beans. During the subsequent search of the flat, authorities found 84.3 milligrams of the highly poisonous substance, as well as 2,000 unused castor oil beans. Altogether, Hammami had successfully acquired 3,150 castor oil beans (Generalbundesanwalt, June 20; Tagesschau, June 20; Welt, June 20).
The authorities also secured 250 metallic balls, fishing hooks, two bottles of acetone nail polish remover and 950 grams of what was described as a mix of aluminum powder and pyrotechnic material (Welt, June 20, Generalbundesanwalt, July 24). According to the German state prosecutor's office, Hammami—who arrived as an immigrant in Germany in 2016—had been planning to combine the deadly toxin with a bomb, although the timing of the attack and its intended target appear to be unknown (Generalbundesanwalt, August 3).
Hammami's wife, a German convert to Islam identified in the German media only as Jasmin H, was arrested along with her husband (Bild, June 18). She was released shortly after but was then rearrested in July, being suspected of supporting Hammami's alleged plot (Generalbundesanwalt, July 24; Generalbundesanwalt, August 3).
Intelligence Sharing
Preventing this planned attack came down to a successful combination of international collaboration and local police work. In May, Germany's Internal Security Service (Bundesamnt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) received information from a U.S. intelligence service—presumed by German media to be the CIA—that a Tunisian national who was residing in Cologne had made an online order for ricin castor beans and an electric coffee grinder (Welt, June 19). At the same time, the German security service had received a tip-off through an established public anti-terror hotline. As a result, the BfV had already identified Hammami as a threat before receiving the information supplied by U.S. officials.
The information BfV had received led the service to believe that Hammami was planning to travel abroad, either to Syria or Egypt, to join a jihadist group. Indeed, he had failed on two occasions in 2017 to travel to Syria with the alleged intention of joining IS. He attempted to get to the border via Turkey, but was picked up by Turkish authorities and sent back to Germany, where the authorities were informed of his attempts (Express, June 15; SWR, June 20). Despite this, German authorities did not regard Hammami as a potential attacker (Gefährder) or suspected IS member, only changing their assessment after they received the information about Hammami's online purchases. Consequently, the BfV intelligence operation was handed over to the federal police (BKA) at the beginning of June who moved to arrest him (Welt, June 19; Welt, June 26).
According to German State Prosecutor Peter Frank, Hammami had been "deeply connected to the Islamist spectrum", although no accomplices—except his wife—have been arrested in Germany. Instead, it has been reported that Hammami's connections to the jihadist milieu date back to his time in Tunisia (SWR, June 20; NTV, June 20). After his failed attempts to travel to join IS, Hammami linked up successfully with members of the group through social media. There, he pledged allegiance to the IS leader, according to the German state prosecutors office (Generalbundesanwalt, August 3).
Poison Plots
While a ricin attack would constitute a new escalation in terms of the terrorism threat in Germany, similar plots have been detected in Europe. In mid-May, French authorities arrested an Egyptian–born student in Paris after intercepting messages on the secure messaging platform Telegram. According to French authorities, the student possessed "instructions on how to build ricin-based poisons" (France24, May 18).
In January 2003, British authorities disrupted an alleged ricin plot led by the suspected al-Qaeda operative Kamel Bourgass. His plan, prosecutors said, was to produce a ricin-based paste that the plotters would smear in small quantities on surfaces in public places in the British capital—such as the doors of taxis, handrails on the London Underground system, and in buses. Bourgass was convicted of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance at a trial in 2005, and two others were convicted of possessing false passports, while the others accused in the plot were acquitted (BBC, April 13, 2005). In comparison to the suspected Cologne plot, the authorities confiscated "only" 22 castor oil beans, and while equipment and recipes needed to produce ricin were found, the alleged plotters had yet to weaponize the poison.
Compared to these, the suspected plot in Cologne appears to have reached a dangerously advanced stage. German State Prosecutor Frank warned that jihadists have for some time contemplated the use of biological weapons and have "in the last years distributed time and again different manuals for the manufacturing of these, including for the production of ricin from castor oil beans" (Tagesschau, June 20).
The arrests in France and Germany show the continued interest jihadists have to acquire and use biological and chemical weapons, but the BfV believes that IS has already manufactured ricin with traces of it secured in Iraq and the Iraqi-Syrian border. In Iraq, IS had access to laboratories at Mosul University and some of Saddam's chemical weapons engineers among its membership. There the group reportedly conducted deadly tests using thallium sulphate and a nicotine agent on human subjects (The Times, May 20, 2017).
Al-Qaeda has already experimented with producing poison from nicotine, largely because of its easy availability. The Egyptian-born bomb-maker and chemist Abu Khabab al-Masri developed a procedure for extracting nicotine poison from cigarettes in the late 1990s, as witnessed by former al-Qaeda member and later MI6 spy Aimen Dean. [1] In 2004, a jihadist cell in the UK contemplated applying nicotine poison to the door handles of expensive cars. [2] In addition, IS appears to have experimented with chlorine and sulphur mustard attacks in Syria and Iraq, becoming the first non-state actor to have developed a banned chemical warfare agent and combining it with a projectile delivery system, according to the London-based IHS Conflict Monitor.
IS has encouraged the use of these unconventional weapons abroad. In a plot uncovered in 2017 in Australia, two Lebanese Australian brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, were allegedly planning to build an "improvised chemical dispersion device" that would release highly toxic hydrogen sulphide. The plotters had allegedly received instruction from an IS controller in Syria, who had been put in touch with them by a third brother, Tarek, who was with the group (The Australian, August 5, 2017).
The Cologne plot shows some similarities with the one prevented in Australia. The German authorities allege that Hammami received instructions on how to prepare the ricin and construct the explosive device from two different individuals via social media (Generalbundesanwalt, August 3).
Europe on Edge
Although happily prevented, the alleged Cologne ricin plot appears to alter and expand the spectrum of IS tactics in Europe. IS-directed attacks, such as those in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016, have been conducted using firearms and explosives, while the spate of low-tech, IS-inspired attacks seen in Europe have involved knives and vehicles used as weapons. Often these have been carried out by lone actors, have required limited preparation and often resulted in only a small number of casualties. The suspected Cologne plotter seems to fall into a category of being initially IS-inspired, but then becoming a remotely guided attacker.
Hammami's plot demonstrates a new level of ambition and complexity. It highlights the creativity of IS jihadists, their willingness to test a wide range of asymmetric possibilities, and the desire to achieve a much higher number of casualties with such attacks. Describing the alleged Cologne plot, BfV director Hans-Georg Maaßen warned Hammami could have "wounded, if not even killed, hundreds of people" (Welt, June 26). At the same time, the Sydney, Cologne and Paris cases also underline the risk of biological and chemical weapons knowhow spreading in the jihadist milieu.
Islamic militancy is set to remain the primary terrorism threat in Europe in the coming years. As IS comes under pressure after losing the territory it held in the Middle East, the group or one of its supporters could try to launch a spectacular attack to reinforce its image as an important actor on the international jihadist scene. Such an attack could involve using biological or chemical weapons in order to make that point.
Dr. Christian Jokinen received his doctorate from the Department for Contemporary History at the University of Turku in Finland. He specializes in political violence and terrorism.
[1] Aimen Dean, Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister "Nine Lives. My time as MI6's top spy inside al-Qaeda (2018), p.103.
[2] Ibid, pp.304-307
October 2, 2018 at 2:31 pm
We are maintaining our vigilance for all packages coming into not just the Pentagon but facilities worldwide," a defense official said,
October 2, 2018 at 2:38 pm
Mattis fikk konvolutt med mistenkelig pulver
for 2 timer siden
Sist oppdatert:
for 22 minutter siden
Ricin er 6.000 ganger mer giftig enn cyanid og det fins ingen effektiv behandling eller vaksine.
Ricin is 6,000 times more toxic than cyanide and there is no effective treatment or vaccine.
- October 2, 2018 at 12:54 pm
June 14, 2018 at 5:33 pm
Jihadist Made Ricin With Web-Bought Castor Bean Seeds, Police Say
By David Brennan On 6/14/18
Police say the man produced the ricin from 1,000 castor bean seeds bought online along with an electric coffee grinder.
The suspect is not believed to have been a member of any terror group, but Schmitt said he did have contact with "people in the jihadist spectrum." He would not elaborate as to whether these contacts were in person or online.
Sief is believed to have started buying the materials needed for a bomb in mid-May, and successfully produced the ricin this month. Police found the ricin in a paste form in his apartment, Spiegel Online reported.
May 20, 2018 at 1:31 pm
Claim/Ricin in the news:
Egyptian was planning explosive, biological attack, May 18, 2018
"An Egyptian national detained by French security services was preparing an explosive attack or attack with the deadly ricin compound…"
February 9, 2017 at 9:58 am
Does Paul Curtis face a time bar problem?
Curtis seeks damages in ricin case
by Jebb Johnston
a month ago
Read more: Daily Corinthian – Curtis seeks damages in ricin case
The Corinth man framed for sending ricin-laced letters to the president, a congressman and a Mississippi judge recently filed a new lawsuit seeking damages for the ordeal.
The new suit filed in U.S. District Court by Paul Kevin Curtis seeks damages from the U.S. Government, including the FBI, Department of Justice, and Homeland Security, for violation of civil rights.
While this suit generated new headlines in the provocative story of bad blood between two men, another suit filed in Alcorn County Circuit Court remains open. In 2013, he sued James Everett Dutschke, the Tupelo man who was eventually indicted for the crimes, seeking damages for defamation of character, intentional infliction of emotional distress and intentional interference with a business relationship. That case has seen no filings since 2014, according to court records.
February 9, 2017 at 6:41 am
The FBI is investigating after a toxic substance showed up in a north Georgia community.
According to Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby, 27-year-old William Gibbs went to the hospital saying he had been exposed to a toxin and was seeking medical treatment.
The sheriff, along with the Georgia Army National Guard team that performed presumptive tests on the substance in Gibbs' car, confirm ricin was present.
It was sent to a lab for further testing and confirmation.
Sheriff Kirby said it was contained to Gibbs' car.
"As far as, I know there was nobody else involved," he said.
He said he did not know what Gibbs was allegedly doing with the substance.
Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/34461695/fbi-investigating-after-ricin-found-in-fannin-county-mans-car#ixzz4YBfA3nB8
February 9, 2017 at 6:51 am
Who is William Christopher Gibbs? How do authorities know he hasn't already used the ricin?
Ricin Found in Car of Georgia White Supremacist
White supremacists and anti-government extremists alike have attempted to obtain or to make it, as well as plotted ways to use it. In 2014, for example, members of a north Georgia militia group were sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of conspiring to make ricin to be used as a weapon and possessing a biological toxin for use as a weapon.
It may come as no surprise, then, that Gibbs, too, appears to have extremist connections. On one social media profile, Gibbs identifies himself as belonging to the Georgia Church of Creativity. On another profile he repeatedly posted Creativity graphics and he also shows up on the website of the Creativity Alliance, where he has posted photos of himself wearing a Creativity jacket.
The Creativity Movement is a hardcore white supremacist group that dates back to the 1970s, notable for its attempt to assume the guise of a religion as a way to promote its racist and anti-Semitic views. Originally known as the Church of the Creator, then the World Church of the Creator, it collapsed in 2003 after its then-leader Matt Hale was arrested for soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Hale received a 40-year prison sentence for the crime in 2004, after which his group broke up into various factions and remnants.
Comment: Even if Mr. Gibbs convinces authorities that there was no use, it can be expected, I imagine, that very serious charges will indeed follow. Does his phone indicate his recent movements and locations?
February 9, 2017 at 6:57 am
If he says it was all a chemistry experiment, he should have stuck with silly putty.
Soraya Yazid Retweeted
Shower Thoughts @TheWeirdWorld Feb 1
The more I learn about Chemistry, the more I realize how little of something it takes to kill you
February 9, 2017 at 7:18 am
Why Is This Neo-Nazi With Deadly Poison Not A Security Threat?
His Facebook profile reveals the man, who is white, is a member of Georgia Church of Creativity and is a self-professed "White Racial Loyalist." The "church" is not a real church but a white supremacist, white separatist organization, first known as the Church of the Creator. The movement was found in 1973 by Ben Klassen, a former Florida legislator to promote the "inherent superiority and 'creativity' of the white race."
The SPLC also placed the Creativity Alliance as an active neo-Nazi group.
Gibbs' Facebook also contains a profile photo with the words "100 years from now when someone finds one of these trees thay [sic] will know that there was once a White Race."
Gibbs was arrested on Feb. 2 on reckless conduct and violation of probation charges, according to Fox News. In the police report, it was stated the man suffered from various mental issues, including schizophrenia.
February 9, 2017 at 7:24 am
Here is background on the World Church of the Creator
February 9, 2017 at 7:32 am
FBI investigates after man says he was exposed to ricin
• Ellen Eldridge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In that report, deputies wrote that his mother said Gibbs suffers from various mental health issues, such as schizophrenia.
February 9, 2017 at 9:54 am
We will continue to investigate any leads associated with this case, and encourage any citizens with any information to contact the FBI," Horn said.
U.S. Attorney releases statement about ricin scare
Wed, 02/08/2017 – 1:37pm News Observer
Comment: It seems that anyone who has emailed or posted to the fellow should contact the FBI and report what they know — that is, assuming they are not complicates in a crime.
- February 9, 2017 at 7:24 am
- February 9, 2017 at 6:57 am
February 10, 2017 at 4:37 am
NU lab plays key role in biocybersecurity
Updated: 10:25 PM CST Feb 9, 2017
God forbid that hackers would permit a generic to be made for a ricin vaccine — so that the company could not make billions.
It is galling that so much money is spent on biodefense and the Department of Justice is so lame in document retrieval that it cannot even produce Dr. Ivins' Lab Notebook 4282 with notations at the time of mailing.
Thought question: how much money is being spent to map the social network of wannabe ricin warrior, William Christopher Gibbs, so as to round up any conspirators?
Let's start with an easy question: where did he get the castor beans?
What has he been arrested for previously? Who was involved in those crimes?
If he is schizophrenic, then the FBI might start by arresting his imaginary friends who are in contact with him (and delve into the nature of their paranoia).
- February 9, 2017 at 6:51 am
May 30, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Breaking Badly: Pharmacist Pleads Guilty to Stockpiling Homemade Poison
He should've paid attention in chemistry class
By Dashel Pierson | 05/30/14 10:59am
Former NJ pharmacist admits developing deadly toxins for a violent confrontation
By Thomas Zambito/The Star-Ledger
May 29, 2014 at 2:49 PM, updated May 30, 2014 at 7:21 AM
Comment: This week my sister-in-law got the autograph of Bryan Cranston. He is on Broadway with the play LBJ and they were discussing the LBJ museum in Texas. My sister-in-law says the play was tremendous. He signed the autograph "Study chemistry."
In interviews this week, he is hinting that "Breaking Bad" may not be over. My wife and I binged on the show one long weekend.
June 3, 2014 at 6:18 am
FBI arrests California explosives suspect after manhunt
Published June 03, 2014FoxNews.com
I let Walter White get to me. I thought I was done. That's it. No one was ever in danger. And recently I was all better. I owe my friends and my girlfriend for that. But I guess I did enough for the damage to be done. I'm so sorry everyone."
See the trouble that binge-watching TV can get you in? I was at first pleased last night to see that the third season of SHERLOCK is on Netflix and so was disappointed in the first one or two episodes of this new batch. I hope they get back to cases and clues and spend less time on the relationship between our two protagonists.
A mass show of force upon such arrests is the most prudent way to proceed.
- June 3, 2014 at 6:18 am
April 20, 2014 at 8:24 am
Another ricin plot. This one murder-for-hire. They are coming to be so common that they are begininng to lose their newsworthiness.
Test Results Confirm Ricin Found In Murder-For-Hire Suspect's Home
Posted: Apr 19, 2014 7:38 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 19, 2014 9:27 PM EDT
By Matthew Nuttle, News9.com – email
Arrest Made In Oklahoma City Murder-For-Hire Investigation
Posted: Apr 17, 2014 11:06 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 18, 2014 10:49 AM EDT
March 21, 2014 at 5:04 pm
Georgetown student charged with possessing ricin
A Georgetown University student has been charged with possessing the powerful toxin ricin after it was discovered in his McCarthy Hall dormitory room on Monday, according to court documents.
Daniel Harry Milzman, 19, of Bethesda, is facing federal charges for possessing more than 120 milligrams of the poison — more than enough to kill a person.
Milzman informed his residential advisor that he had created ricin and showed the advisor a plastic bag containing what he claimed was the substance, according to court documents. The residential advisor notified school counselors, who alerted police. …
He wore goggles and a dust mask during the production, which authorities later found in the room, according to the court documents. Milzman stored the ricin in plastic bags secured with hockey tape.
March 31, 2014 at 7:29 am
In Georgetown ricin case, a portrait of a student with a sharp mind, many trouble
Government Appeals Decision to Release Georgetown Ricin Suspect
By Chris Gordon| Tuesday, Mar 25, 2014
- March 31, 2014 at 7:29 am
March 20, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Cops: Pennsylvania man sent poisoned card to rival
HATBORO, Pa. (AP) — A man sent a birthday card laced with the deadly poison ricin to a romantic rival in hopes of winning back his ex-girlfriend, authorities said.
Nicholas Helman, 19, was arrested at his home in Hatboro, outside Philadelphia, Wednesday on an attempted murder charge and other counts, authorities in Bucks County said.
Helman told a Target store co-worker earlier this month that he sent the toxic card to his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend, investigators said. The co-worker notified police, who called the recipient's home and spoke to his mother, who said her daughter was outside getting the mail at that moment. Authorities then went to the home to confiscate the card.
Helman was questioned March 7 and told investigators only that he had coated the card with a substance that resembled anthrax, authorities said in an affidavit of probable cause. He said he intended to scare his ex-girlfriend in hopes of reconciling with her, police said. He initially was charged with terroristic threats and harassment and spent four days behind bars before making bail.
Authorities said Helman had ingredients for making ricin, a poison that occurs naturally in castor beans, but that initial tests didn't turn up the toxin itself. Authorities then sent the card away for more lab tests, and prosecutors were told Tuesday that traces of ricin had been confirmed on the card, the district attorney's office said. Police accompanied by hazardous materials teams and the FBI then arrested Helman.
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the toxin was "very potent."
"He made ricin, and if you lick that card, you're dead," he said.
Court documents don't list an attorney for Helman, who was jailed without bail after his arraignment Wednesday night. He has a March 27 preliminary hearing.
His father, Douglas, told The (Doylestown) Intelligencer that he knew nothing about the charges. He said his son had been good at science and math in school and made Eagle Scout last year.
March 20, 2014 at 1:22 pm
In a ricin story this week (that I think is unrelated but maybe not):
Powder in Georgetown room tests positive for ricin; 'no immediate threat,' university says
By Clarence Williams and Nick Anderson, Published: March 19 E-mail the writers
A white powder found Tuesday in a Georgetown University dorm room tested positive for ricin, school officials said Wednesday, and a D.C. police report indicates that a 19-year-old man told authorities he had produced the substance.
In an e-mail sent campuswide, the university said there was no danger to the community. Law enforcement officials said they did not think that the case was connected to terrorism. ***
FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire said no arrests had been made as of Wednesday, but officials continued to investigate.
March 20, 2014 at 3:20 pm
FBI investigating ricin incident at McCarthy Hall
Posted on March 20, 2014
After the powdery substance was found, the University evacuated 21 residents who occupied the 13 rooms on the east side of McCarthy Hall. According to an email forwarded to the Voice, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Director of Residential Education Ed Gilhool told residents they had to leave their rooms by 11:30 a.m. "out of an abundance of caution."
These residents were not permitted to return to their rooms for 30 hours and were provided with overnight accommodations at the Savoy Hotel.
Resident of the sixth floor of McCarthy Josh Tsung (COL '15) was not displaced and saw much of the FBI's investigation on the floor. He described the initial investigation as low activity and observed "just one policeman sitting out in a chair."
"It wasn't until 11:30 [a.m.], actually, that everything happened with the FBI," Tsung said. "I think the hazard control people came and surveyed the area and asked the police to notify everybody to move."
Tsung saw FBI officials in hazardous materials suits near and inside the subject's room. He said police and FBI officials were on the floor for four hours and estimated 50 people were on the floor at one time.
At 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, ResLife gave the students the all-clear and let them return to their rooms. Throughout the incident, the University stressed there was no immediate danger to any students.
"In an abundance of caution, the University secured contractors who specialize in the decontamination of biological threat agents to clean the room under investigation where the contained substance was recovered," Gruber wrote in the community-wide email.
Gruber also wrote that anyone poisoned by ricin would have to have shown severe symptoms within 24 hours of poisoning. "This window has passed and there are no reports consistent with ricin exposure," Gruber wrote.
"We [the FBI] did swabs of all sorts of surfaces in the area and those all came back negative," Maguire added.
As the Voice went to press, the subject in the case had not been charged with a crime and has not been identified as a suspect in the investigation of a crime.
March 20, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Georgetown incident:
"An alleged confidante of the FBI interviewee described tipping off university administrators on Tuesday. The informant recounted raising the possibility that the subject possessed ricin, and "intended to use the substance on another student."
- March 20, 2014 at 3:20 pm
- March 20, 2014 at 1:22 pm
January 13, 2014 at 11:59 am
There is some clarity in a different ricin case. Interestingly, in 3 out of 3 the ricin cases, there was an obvious and clumsy attempt to frame someone else. In each of the 3 cases, there was actual ricin used. This sort of crime is even more stupid than a white powder letter.
As I recall this Seattle case, there is what seems to have been sure-footed investigation leading to a decisive result and quick arrest.
January 11, 2014
Ricin-laced mail sent in stolen law firm stationery
Kip Hill The Spokesman-Review
Matthew Ryan Buquet, 34, has been in federal custody since a few days after mailings that tested positive for the castor bean-derived poison started showing up at the courthouse, a Spokane post office, Fairchild Air Force Base and the White House mail facility. The courthouse letter, which read, "We have a bomb placed we are going to kill you! Hezbollah," arrived in an envelope from Lukins and Annis, according to federal court filings.
The Spokane branch of the firm employs 32 attorneys; Lukins and Annis also has offices in Moses Lake and Coeur d'Alene. …
Mike Maurer, president of the firm, said Friday he was aware of the court filing and declined to comment further. Documents, which have subsequently been sealed, identify the firm only by initials, though the company Buquet worked for before his arrest, ABM, cleans Lukins and Annis' offices.
FBI officials questioned one of the firm's female employees whose name also appeared on the envelope. The message inside, appearing on a half-sheet of paper, was written in block letters and stained with a "white substance with black dots," according to the U.S. District Court employee who opened the mail. Upon opening the letter, the employee immediately donned a respirator and called postal officials, according to court documents.
The law firm employee denied sending the poisoned letter but pointed investigators to a "secret admirer" who had been leaving love notes and an unopened can of Coca-Cola on her desk at night. ABM told FBI agents that Buquet was transferred from the building and had been disciplined before for similar behavior in 2006, according to court documents. He was fired a week after his transfer.
I just learned recently that apple seeds contain a form of cyanide — and so the family dog should not be given an apple unless it is cored. It is inside the seed and so the small amount of the substance related to cyanide would need to be masticated and broken — and then accumulated from regular eating. But dogs die from eating too many raisins or grapes (for reasons unclear to me) and so it seems something that dog-owners should heed.
December 19, 2013 at 6:37 am
Consider the wild parallels between the Pine County, MN case and the two ricin cases, especially the Texas ricin case in which the divorcing wife sought to frame her husband.
"Lab tests revealed the white powder was a relatively common bacteria, used as an insecticide, but it was uncommonly pure and processed. Along with a white powder was a note that said, in part, "You have failed the citizens of America…you have failed to arrest Johnnie Long…I hope you all rot in HELL right with John!!!"
The address on the envelope was listed to Long's home in Braham, Minn. That's where the FBI and a weapons of mass destruction team found the same white powder, as well as materials used to make fake explosives.
The sheriff said it was all part of a bizarre and convoluted plan to frame Long's ex-wife and her new boyfriend. What concerned the sheriff is that Long's behavior was escalating from fake bombs to white powder to something he's unwilling to yet reveal.
"In our estimation, it wasn't going to end well," Sheriff Cole said.
There is a $10,000 reward for Syracuse cases where I believe yet undisclosed return addresses are thought to have been intended to frame someone.
There are such a wide range of forensics and investigative methods to be brought to be bear.
For example, in Amerithrax, the FBI could publish instead of withholding the Ivins 302 from October 2001 in which they interviewed about his how he had been spending his time. (See Henry Heine February 2010 interview on wfmd radio in which he says numerous USAMRIID scientists were interviewed in October 2001 regarding their activities.) Dr. Ivins had the largest collection of Ames and so why wouldn't he have been interviewed in October 2001?
27 terrorism charges for Pine County courthouse mailings
Read more: Pine County man won't confess to creating white powder – KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/24232683/johnnie-long-wmd-white-powder-charges#ixzz2nv3UZZoK
Sheriff Robin Cole said Long had already become one of the usual suspects in Pine County, allegedly faking his own kidnapping and planting fake explosives around town. Then came the six letters with white powder, addressed to two judges, the county attorney, the sheriff and two of his deputies.
The mailings led to the evacuation of the courthouse and some tense hours for workers exposed to the white powder.
Lab tests revealed the white powder was a relatively common bacteria, used as an insecticide, but it was uncommonly pure and processed. Along with a white powder was a note that said, in part, "You have failed the citizens of America…you have failed to arrest Johnnie Long…I hope you all rot in HELL right with John!!!"
The address on the envelope was listed to Long's home in Braham, Minn. That's where the FBI and a weapons of mass destruction team found the same white powder, as well as materials used to make fake explosives.
The sheriff said it was all part of a bizarre and convoluted plan to frame Long's ex-wife and her new boyfriend. What concerned the sheriff is that Long's behavior was escalating from fake bombs to white powder to something he's unwilling to yet reveal.
"In our estimation, it wasn't going to end well," Sheriff Cole said.
Read more: Pine County man won't confess to creating white powder – KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/24232683/johnnie-long-wmd-white-powder-charges#ixzz2nv3RTEPg
December 19, 2013 at 6:45 am
We certainly know that something wild is going on — with powder being found, the return address etc.
And we have the FoxNews "exclusive" report that the Sheriff says that Johnnie Long has confessed.
But I think our experience in the two ricin cases counsels a wait-and-see until we get confirmation from the Sheriff and/or prosecutor that he has confessed.
December 19, 2013 at 8:06 am
On Dec 13, 2013 Fox9 reported he confessed in an article updated Dec 13, 2013 10:13 AM EST
Pine County man arrested in white powder mailing, fake bombs
Pine County Sheriff Robin Cole told Fox 9 News Long confessed during an interview with police, and although no motive has been specifically given, Fox 9 News has learned exclusively that the man may have been trying to frame others for the crime.
Read more: Pine County man arrested in white powder mailing, fake bombs – KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/24209341/man-arrested-after-white-powder-mailed-to-pine-county-courthouse#ixzz2nvQyYNb8
But then in an article has a headline "Pine County man won't confess to creating white powder – KMSP-TV" but when you click through there is no mention of any confession (or the lack of one).
Updated: Dec 17, 2013 9:22 AM EST
Did he confess? Or not? Did he confess and recant?
December 19, 2013 at 8:11 am
As Mr. Nemmers, who had the license plate JOHN 7:24, would say: judge not on appearance, but judge righteously.
Let's start with something easy. Isn't the pure BT or whatever it is something that can be bought commercially over-the-counter? Who bought it and where did they buy it?
What is Johnnie Long's skill set? Are they suggesting he cultured it?
December 19, 2013 at 8:18 am
Braham Man Charged in Courthouse Envelope Incident
Created: 12/16/2013 10:58 PM WDIO.com
A man arrested for allegedly sending powder-filled envelopes to the Pine County Courthouse last month, is now charged with 21 felonies and 2 misdemeanors.
Besides the charges stemming from that incident, 45-year-old Johnnie Earl Long of Braham also faces several charges for making terroristic threats with real or simulated weapons of mass destruction.
The criminal complaint alleges that Long placed weapons made to look like explosives in several driveways and mailboxes.
- December 19, 2013 at 6:45 am
November 24, 2013 at 6:17 am
If you read the transcript of the FBI Agent's testimony in the ricin case — when the FBI was accusing Curtis — you may hear echos of Amerithrax in the confidence the Agent showed in his assertions and conclusion.
There are new developments in both cases in which mailers of ricin sought to frame someone else.
In Amerithrax, the USG reasons that Bruce Ivins was trying to frame Al Qaeda.
To many, that seems analogous to Dutschke trying to frame Paul Kevin Curtis even though Curtis was actually working to use ricin as a weapon; or if the pregnant lady's husband had separately ordered castor beans from the internet and stored his ricin in a different tupperware container in the fridge.
A different view of Amerithrax is that any scientist who knew of the experiment with the mice and rabbits — or knew of porn surfing in the B3 on the laptop installed that summer — was trying to frame Bruce Ivins. It seems for AQ to frame Ivins (rather than USG generally) there would have to be actual knowledge of the experiment with the 52 rabbits, trips to Covance etc. — which would require a connection or hacking of email.
Similarly, my source regarding the Syracuse hoax letters is that someone is trying to frame someone else. Better understanding the suggestion might require disclosure of the return addresses. There is still a $10,000 reward in that case that my intelligence source tells me that blogger Ed is still fervently hoping to collect. :0) He also argued to the FBI that I was responsible for the Goldman Sachs letters — when he wasn't arguing that a First Grader wrote the Fall 2001 anthrax letters. He has argued the First Grader and I are guilty without even a possibility of a reward. He's such a civic minded guy. A worthy adversary of any First Grader, to be sure.
The alleged additional attempted frame from prison by the Dutschke/Elvis impersonator is especially stunning because of the overwhelming evidence against him — relating to what was found in his karate studio. In hindsight, the Elvis impersonator seems way too goofy and likable and chatty to be guilty — although in the FBI's defense the use of the signature phrase certainly was dramatic evidence.
Man who 'framed Elvis impersonator after sending ricin to Obama and other politicians tried to do it again from behind bars'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511697/James-Everett-Dutschke-framed-Elvis-impersonator-sending-ricin-Obama-tried-again.html#ixzz2lYf7Zjlv
The martial arts instructor and Elvis impersonator is alleged to have tried to frame rival Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis by including slogans in the letters that Curtis had used on his Facebook page.
The new indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Oxford, alleges Dutschke, who has been incarcerated since April, tried to recruit someone to make more ricin and send it to Senator Wicker, thereby putting Curtis back under suspicion.
The new indictment, dated Wednesday, said Dutschke also wanted a message in the subsequent letter: 'It doesn't matter the Fife types have the wrong one. D. had to be sacrificed to show the corruption in the system. I tried to warn you. Ha. K.'
see also
Texas woman accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and others in an attempt to frame her husband has reached a plea deal.
Shannon Richardson — an actress who was pregnant at the time of her arrest in June — signed a guilty plea, admitting her role in ordering the components to make the ricin and also in mailing the letters, her attorney said today.
In exchange for her plea the federal government has agreed to not sentence her to more than 18 years.
December 11, 2013 at 11:02 am
Texas Woman Admits To Sending Ricin To Obama
By NOMAAN MERCHANT 12/10/13
Her attorney, Tonda Curry, said last month that she and prosecutors agreed to a deal capping Richardson's sentence at 18 years. Prosecutors say Richardson faces life in prison for the charge to which she pleaded guilty.
Curry has said that Richardson wanted to "tell the government who else was involved in those offenses," but declined to name anyone. In the document filed Tuesday, known as a factual resume, Richardson does not name anyone else but says that the supplies she ordered "were used to make ricin" — not that she made the ricin herself.
Nathan Richardson has not been charged in the case, even though Shannon Richardson has repeatedly tried to blame him, said John Delk, Nathan Richardson's attorney.
"He was interviewed the very first day, and he's been cooperative since Day One," Delk said.
Nathan Richardson has temporary custody of the couple's newborn son, who is healthy and steadily growing, Delk said. The couple's divorce likely will not be finalized until next year.
A federal judge ultimately will sentence Shannon Richardson at a later sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
- December 11, 2013 at 11:02 am
October 8, 2013 at 12:54 am
Dr. Vahid Majidi writes:
"Owing to the lessons learned from the anthrax attacks of 2001, the FBI has successfully managed the hundreds of cases involving biological substances and suspicious powders."
Unlike Amerithrax, in the Curtis case, the FBI admitted its mistake and then moved on to solve the case.
In Amerithrax, the FBI is still in a defensive, CYA ostrich-head-in-the-sand mode. And Dr. Majidi is its spokesman and proud banner carrier.
July 14, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Forensic Applications of Light-Element Stable Isotope Ratios of Ricinus communis Seeds and Ricin Preparations†
• Helen W. Kreuzer Ph.D.‡*,
• Jason B. West Ph.D.§,
• James R. Ehleringer Ph.D.
Article first published online: 6 NOV 2012
Journal of Forensic Sciences
Special Issue: The American Academy of Forensic Sciences and Wiley-Blackwell have published this supplement without fi nancial support
Volume 58, Issue Supplement s1, pages S43–S51, January 2013
Additional Information(Show All)
How to CiteAuthor InformationPublication HistoryFunding Information
• †
This work was funded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, BAA Solicitation Number: BAA-0034104, Interest Area 103. H.W.K. also received support from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a multiprogram laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. Funding from the National Science Foundation (Grant no. 0743543) to J.B.W. provided partial support for this work.
Seeds of the castor plant Ricinus communis are of forensic interest because they are the source of the poison ricin. We tested whether stable isotope ratios of castor seeds and ricin preparations can be used as a forensic signature. We collected over 300 castor seed samples worldwide and measured the C, N, O, and H isotope ratios of the whole seeds and oil. We prepared ricin by three different procedures, acetone extraction, salt precipitation, and affinity chromatography, and compared their isotope ratios to those of the source seeds. The N isotope ratios of the ricin samples and source seeds were virtually identical. Therefore, N isotope ratios can be used to correlate ricin prepared by any of these methods to source seeds. Further, stable isotope ratios distinguished >99% of crude and purified ricin protein samples in pairwise comparison tests. Stable isotope ratios therefore constitute a valuable forensic signature for ricin preparations.
May 29, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Yet another apparent ricin case.
Letters to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg test positive for ricin, police say
Do wannabe terrorists appreciate that they only are going to incur some more erudite derision from Dick Destiny about hapless bean pounders?
It has to be one of the stupidest crimes around.
May 31, 2013 at 3:49 am
So there are no fewer than three ricin cases from this past month. ABC in the link below is reporting on a possible lead in the castor bean letter sent to Mayor Bloomberg.
The FBI and associated agencies did good work in correcting their course in the case in Mississippi involving the mistaken allegation against Elvis impersonator named Paul Curtis. But the FBI agent's testimony that first day is a fascinating case study — the FBIl used speculative theory to fill gaps in proof in supporting a zealous prosecutor's charge. The FBI should never lend its prestige and authority to speculative theory. Instead, the FBI should always collect the greatest possible amount of information consistent with civil liberties and then do its utmost to connect the dots. In the Elvis impersonator case in Mississippi, to the prosecutor's and investigator's great credit, they worked quickly to ensure the public's safety but never stopped seeking the best evidence possible.
In Amerithrax, US Attorney Taylor left for a high-paying job, the head of the FBI Field Office Persichini left upon accusation that he cheated on an open book test on how to conduct a national security investigation (being texted teh answers by his lawyers during the test), and the lead AUSA Kenneth Kohl was found guilty of prosecutorial misconduct in a historic federal district court decision. AUSA Kohl literally was consumed by the Blackwater defense counsel led by none other than the former counsel for Steve Hatfill. The junior AUSA in turn had been embroiled in a very tumultous and upsetting matter that involved the departure of the lawyer who assigned female associates cases. She was reprimanded when she went to visit a jihadi in jail because a "deal had been cut" in another matter and he was off-limits in Amerithrax. (Thus, I blame the superiors and credit her good faith in going to visit the jihadi in jail). But there simply was no one in a position to correct the course of the investigation that tragically led to the suicide of Dr. Ivins. There was a failure of leadership. The lead investigator was "comfortable" with an Ivins Theory — when he had no reason to be. It was the withholding of the documents and information relating to why Ivins was in the lab those nights that constituted especially egregious conduct. Anyone involved in the continued withholding of documents or in the delay of their production to GAO is responsible for the botched conclusions in Amerithrax.
Here is the ABC story on the crushed castor bean letter to Mayor Bloomberg. Ricin cases are covered only to the extent that they shed light on the FBI's conduct of Amerithrax — to include forensics. I find the one from the gun nut uninteresting but am still totally unclear on what the motive might be with the ricin letters from Spokane.
June 1, 2013 at 3:40 pm
So the husband says the wife is setting him up. He says they are getting a divorce and she was away for a couple of days and then it is when she came back she found the ricin. They are scheduled for polygraphs. We can expect the FBI now to conduct search(es) at the location his wife was located.
The polygraphs have not been shown to be scientifically reliable but I suppose we should be glad that the FBI hasn't yet brought in the ricin smelling dogs.
It is a fascinating mystery but I have little doubt that the FBI will be able to definitively resolve it — given the computer forensics and other records. Even things like traffic cameras and ATM cameras and store cameras.
For example, she should look to see if she can prove that she was elsewhere when the google searches for the Bloomberg and other addresses were searched. He should also. Phone records, including cell tower records, are the type of thing that will lead to an arrest. Not polygraphs.
In Amerithrax, the FBI concluded Dr. Ivins passed both his polygraphs. Later when they developed a theory he was guilty — based on made-up and contrived arguments — they reinterpreted the same results and concluded he had engaged in deception and used countermeasures.
Pseudo-scientific crap.
Patricia Fellows certainly did screw Dr. Ivins, though, by hiding the ball about Dr. Ivins work with the animals. An Ivins Theory does not survive those lab notebooks, protocol, and other contemporaneous documents.
There may be other men or women in the same circle who need to be ruled out.
June 2, 2013 at 4:18 pm
As a logical matter, the 19-year-old will have to be excluded too. It is a very stupid and pointless crime.
Woman who ratted out hubby suspect in ricin-mailing probe says she wants a divorce
• By REBECCA ROSENBERG in New Boston, Texas, KIP GROSENICK in Jefferson, Ga., and DAN MacLEOD in New York
• Last Updated: 10:04 AM, June 2, 2013
Her son, Brenden Guess, 19, told The Post that his mother was paranoid that her husband was trying to poison her with ricin.
Shannon Rogers Guess and Nathaniel Richardson.
"She thought he was injecting it into her food and drinks," he said, adding that she became suspicious after discovering on his computer an order for castor beans, from which ricin is derived.
"She told me she was trying to be as careful as possible. She didn't eat unless it was straight from the store to her hand, basically."
Investigators couldn't find enough evidence to hold Richardson, the sources said. …
Richardson told investigators that his wife claimed to have found the ricin after returning home from being away for a few days, and that they were going through a divorce.
But Guess said she never left town and had only discussed ending the marriage.
"I didn't go anywhere. I'm laughing at some of the stuff I'm reading," she said as she took her four kids to lunch at McDonald's.
June 7, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Texas actress arrested in ricin case, sources say
By Joe Johns, Susan Candiotti and Carol Cratty, CNN
updated 4:22 PM EDT, Fri June 7, 2013
June 9, 2013 at 5:16 am
The letter to Obama allegedly contained slightly different text (again, sic throughout):
"You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns.Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face.I served in the united states army and because your muslim ass will probly never be able to retire.i will have to work until I take my last breath.I deserve better and so do my wife and kiddos.I will take care of this myself and make sure you wont be runnin this country in the ground any further. What's in this letter is nothing compared to what ive got in store for you mr president.
Spiropoulos said Shannon Richardson was "re-interviewed" on May 31 and "it was determined that she had been deceptive via a polygraph examination regarding her involvement in sending the letters." When investigators made Shannon aware of the polygraph results, Spiropoulos said she told them she "had been aware" her husband sent the letters and, as a result, "took deliberate steps to ensure that he would be apprehended" including placing castor beans near a golf cart he had been working on. Spiropoulos said subsequent searches did not turn up traces of ricin in the locations Shannon said she had placed the beans.
Inside the Richardsons' home, Spiropoulos said investigators found incriminating material including a box containing "20-30 beans" that were labeled as castor beans, "three or more syringes containing an unknown liquid," "four or more needles," "a bag containing approximately one teaspoon of an orange-brown unidentified substance," a cup with "milky, white liquid," and an "SD data storage card." According to Spiropoulos' affidavit, many of the items taken from the home tested positive for ricin.
Comment: Putting aside lack of scientific reliability, the polygraph has proved its investigative usefulness in the case of a stupid, guilty polygraph subject. But hopefully she kept talking to give details that could be corroborated.
June 13, 2013 at 10:24 am
"I'm sitting there thinking I don't even know what ricin is," Nathaniel Richardson said. "I wasn't even saying it right at first. I was calling it licin. Really, everything I've learned about it I've learned from [the FBI]."
Richardson claims he didn't even know who Bloomberg was.
"No sir, I thought it was [N.J. Gov.] Chris Christie," he said.
The wrongly accused Elvis Presley similarly said he thought they said "rice." He told the FBI he didn't even like rice.
Similarly, the fellow from Wisconsin — the theory had promptly dismissed by the FBI Director as "baloney" but for nearly a decade one prolific blogger insisted the FBI Director was lying — similarly did not know that anthrax was a bacteria.
- May 31, 2013 at 3:49 am
May 17, 2013 at 1:06 pm
In a different case involving two letters characterized as ricin-laced, why would someone mail a ricin tainted letter to the Post Office?
May 16, 2013 in City, Idaho
Two ricin-laced letters seized in Spokane
Mike Prager The Spokesman-Review
Feds investigate ricin-tainted letters in Spokane, Washington
By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 7:16 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Postal Service management told employees they weren't at risk from handling the letters because the suspected substance was not in a form that could be inhaled or readily ingested, the union said. Preliminary lab tests showed the substance to be ricin, the union said.
May 17, 2013 at 1:32 pm
The letter was post-marked Tuesday (which was the May 14th) in Spokane.
But this says both were postmarked the 13th.
One reason the date of the postmark is of special interest is that bears on the possibility others are en route to locations further away.
May 17, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Here is the initial report that the Post Office to Postal employees:
Mandatory Stand-Up Talk May 15, 2013
Employee safety paramount following suspicious letter report
Click to access 13-061-ricin-spokanel-130515-sut.pdf
May 18, 2013 at 2:29 pm
May 18, 2013 in City
FBI, Spokane police swarm Browne's Addition
The search occurred in an older apartment building on the north side of First Avenue between Oak and Elm streets in Browne's Addition.
May 20, 2013 at 8:00 pm
FBI officials tight-lipped about Spokane ricin case
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Published: May 20, 2013 at 2:02 PM PDT
This is not Spokane's first brush with the poison. In 2002, Kenneth R. Olsen of Spokane was arrested for possession of ricin in his office cubicle at a high-tech company.
A co-worker tipped off the FBI about the software engineer after discovering documents about poisons and bomb-making that Olsen had printed from his computer. Olsen insisted his research was for a Boy Scout project.
He was sentenced to almost 14 years in federal prison for possessing a chemical weapon and possessing a biological weapon.
May 20, 2013 at 9:09 pm
Wall of secrecy around ricin case
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The FBI has dropped a wall of secrecy around its investigation into the discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin in Spokane.
FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich said Monday that legal documents in the case may also be sealed.
May 31, 2013 at 4:12 am
"The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said all four envelopes were postmarked May 13 in Spokane and are in the possession of law enforcement. Three contained active ricin toxin, and the Air Force base letter continues to undergo testing. Each was addressed by hand in red ink."
Red ink,huh. The Goldman Sachs letters were written in red ink. In the Goldman Sachs matter, in obtaining handwriting exemplars, the FBI agents asked people to provide handwriting exemplars — and for example will hand them a red and green ink pen. The person being interviewed then would be faced with a dilemma if they followed the news and had read that a red pen was used from reading the report. Do they reach for a red pen?
What would be of interest at the Spokane air base to the recently discharged maintenance person? The President? The CIA location in McLean? What CIA location is there in McLean? I used to go regularly to a used book store in McLean because they had the best spy novels and there were a lot of CIA employees who resided in the area.
But what is the perceived connection between these letters and the fellow who up until recently worked in maintenance? What evidence was the FBI relying upon in arresting him on the charge of writing a threatening letter to the judge? Although he did not seek bail, he was very ease at the hearing, joking with his attorney. I have read extensively on the fellow's background but I am not up-to-date and have no insights on the FBI's theory in the Spokane matter.
May 31, 2013 at 4:57 am
From a FAQ online:
"Where is the Central Intelligence Agency's Headquarters? Is it in Langley or McLean, Virginia? Technically, you could say CIA headquarters is in both. "Langley" is the name of the McLean neighborhood in which the CIA resides.
In 1719, Thomas Lee acquired the land where the CIA headquarters is located today from the Fairfax family and named it Langley after his ancestral home. The town of McLean was founded in 1910 and despite the name change "Langley" still lingers today."
Thus, absent more information, I am presuming that the letter thought to have been sent to a CIA facility in McLean was sent to its main headquarters which is on the wonderful George Washington Parkway. I lived down the road in Arlington, VA for 15 years and it was when I hit the George Washington Parkway and passed the CIA building that I knew I was home.
June 19, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Ricin letter: "We have a bomb placed, we are going to Kill you! Hezbollah"
The same statement was found in addressed to a judge in Spokane according to court documents.
Investigators said Buquet allegedly sent four other letters. The letters were addressed to Fairchild Air Force Base, a judge in Spokane, the CIA, and the Downtown Spokane post office. All of the letters tested positive for ricin.
- May 17, 2013 at 1:45 pm
May 22, 2013 at 6:44 pm
FBI says 37-year-old man arrested in Spokane, Wash., ricin letter scare
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, May 22, 7:36
May 22, 2013 at 6:51 pm
FBI: Arrest Made in Wash. Ricin Scare Last Week
Matthew Ryan Buquet was expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Spokane following his arrest Wednesday afternoon.
- May 22, 2013 at 6:51 pm
May 31, 2013 at 3:13 am
Letters containing ricin were not just sent to the federal judge, they were also sent to the local air force base in Spokane, President Obama, and a McClean VA location for the CIA.
May 31, 2013 at 3:05 pm
As to the Spokane defendant:
Asked how federal authorities would be in a position to know about the existence of the CIA letter if it hadn't yet been recovered, the officials pointed to interviews and other evidence. Pressed further, one official told Fox News: "Because we know how many castor beans he had in his house, how many he ordered online, et cetera."
Officials cautioned that there is "a significant difference" between a trained scientist weaponizing the ricin extracted from castor beans and an individual "taking some castor beans, running them through a coffee grinder, and soaking them in acetone" – a crude and ineffective homemade process that officials said would only be liable to induce, in a recipient foolish enough to go so far as to swallow the contents, symptoms as mild as diarrhea.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/31/texas-man-questioned-but-not-charged-over-possible-ricin-letters/#ixzz2Uu1ABGEZ
As to the Texas POI in the unrelated case:
Texas man held by FBI in Obama threat, Bloomberg ricin letter cases revealed
Army veteran Nathan Richardson, 33, being questioned by the FBI, is married to 'The Walking Dead' and 'Vampire Diaries' actress and Dallas beauty queen Shannon Rogers Guess — who turned him in.
The Texas man being grilled in connection with the ricin-laced letters mailed to President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg is married to an actress who played a zombie in "The Walking Dead."
Richardson, an Army veteran who works at the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, has not been charged with a crime, sources said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/texas-man-held-fbi-obama-threat-bloomberg-ricin-letter-cases-revealed-article-1.1359795#ixzz2UthZ7MfQ
As to the Amerithrax case, he edited Wikipedia about a sorority.
May 31, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Texas case:
A Texas woman has told investigators her husband may have sent ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bloomberg's Washington-based gun control group, CBS News' Anna Werner reports. But the woman's husband has accused his wife, saying he was set up.
The couple was being questioned Friday at a home in New Boston, Texas. Investigators told Werner the wife knows specific details about the letters.
Here, in the case of Texas man and wife, we have a fascinating Law and Order episode. What forensics would differentiate between a husband and wife, where both had access to the same computer, credit card information etc.
I believe the point of mailing was 100 miles away from their home.
The time that the computer was used to google the addresses and instructions for ricin would be precise and so it seems a starting point would be who was where at those times. In Amerithrax, Dr. Ivins' old computer could contain precious information about the times he was surfing. Employees were instructed to bring home a copy of their computer — and so copies should have been made of the computers in the B3 even if the laptop went missing. (If he was surfing porn, as some men in privacy commonly do, that would be a great alibi if it were not a firing offense).
In the Texas case, it is to be expected that a guilty husband might point to his wife, with no other viable explanation given the likely forensics.
On the other hand, it seems highly improbable that a wife would have the balls to set up her husband that way because of the low probability of getting away with it — and the senselessness of the crime from the start.
In Amerithrax, where a former Zawahiri associates thanks a scientist for her technical assistance, as Tarek did in thanking Pat Fellows, her mind might start racing to point the finger at the geeky colleague with some personal issues. The DOJ should never have shredded her civil deposition. That really was quite beyond the pale under all the circumstances.
Spokane case:
So it seems we know from a stray comment by an official that the defendant ordered some castor beans. Perhaps that is how he was tracked. Perhaps they looked for shipments from castor bean sellers for shipments to Spokane in the last few months. What would be his best defense? Making home-made motor oil? Loss of his job, his unusual consulting business of precision blasting, makes for an interesting profile. But we are waiting to hear from the FBI as to motive and details of the evidence. We otherwise haven't heard any evidence yet other than a passing unattributed mention relating to purchase of castor beans. Maybe the secrecy was due to their perception that other letters were en route and they wanted to avoid copycats.
In GAO's review of the science in the Amerithrax investigation, it is important that GAO review not only the science selectively relied upon by the FBI — which for example narrowed the field to 100-200 at USAMRIID, 38 or so at Battelle etc. — but that they review the forensics that were exculpatory of Dr. Ivins — to include the findings on the paper, ink, toner etc. For example, if it is true that the paper was of European origin, then it is important that it be disclosed. If it is true that the photocopy toner analysis shows that the photocopiers at USAMRIID were not used, it is important that it be disclosed. If it is true that no exermplar was a match as to the ink used, that should be disclosed.
All the documents and information relating to the scientific investigation should be disclosed — and not merely that the FBI provided the NAS, which didn't point to Dr. Ivins in particular at all.
The handwriting was not even close to a match.
The theory was concocted and centered around false claims that Dr. Ivins had no reason to be in the lab — when the evidence shows that during the period he had an experiment that involved killing 52 rabbits and tending to business at night was a one man, two hour job. See Mara LInscott 302 statement.
- May 31, 2013 at 3:05 pm
June 8, 2013 at 5:50 pm
FBI: 5th Spokane letter discovered in ricin case
The FBI says investigators have located a fifth letter sent from Spokane in connection with a ricin investigation.
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. —
The FBI says investigators have located a fifth letter sent from Spokane in connection with a ricin investigation.
Frank Harrill, the supervisory senior resident agent of the FBI in Spokane, said in an email that workers at a post office in the city discovered the letter Saturday after it was returned as undeliverable. It had been addressed to the Central Intelligence Agency.
- May 17, 2013 at 1:32 pm
April 30, 2013 at 4:36 pm
The affidavit of the Everett Dutschke provides overwhelming evidence of his guilt. Congratulations again both to the FBI, the prosecutors and Mr. Curtis' defense counsel.
April 30, 2013 at 4:38 pm
And also congratulations to the many other investigating agencies for their speedy resolution and conclusive wrapping up of the matter as to Mr. Dutschke.
Now what does one make of the allegation regarding his wife's texts? Does the DOJ view her as an accessory after the fact?
May 21, 2013 at 4:43 am
J. Everett Dutschke's journey to ricin suspect,
By Kimberly Kindy, Published: May 20
July 4, 2013 at 1:53 am
Ross, represented by attorney Covert, then from WNY sold Dutchke the home-grown castor beans.
"he's given receipts and postal confirmation slips to the FBI, helping them build their case against Dutschke.
"So this is very, very strong evidence that this Dutchke had lied previously to the FBI and had indeed purchased, had possessed castor beans," said Covert.
Miller says he's never spoken to or met Dutschke and that he feels good about going to federal authorities immediately about the sales. Miller says he'll stop selling the castor beans online and find another hobby.
"It's not worth it," he said.
- April 30, 2013 at 4:38 pm
April 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Some highlights from the Affidavit In Support of Criminal Complaint, unsealed today.
The ricin letters had a printed address label.
"Field tests conducted on the suspicious granular substance presumptively provided positive and inconclusive field tests for Ricin." 3 were positive and 1 field test was inconclusive.
Further analysis for a member of the Laboratory Response Network advised the substantive was "highly reactive" by PCR/TRF for Ricin.
The envelope to the President was addressed to President Barak (sic) Hussein Obama, The White House." [Note: In a webpost he deleted I retrieved from archives, Dutchke referred to the President by his full name, including his middle name Hussein.]
Para. 16 describes the arrest of Paul Kevin Curtis. [Note: Based on the described previous Facebook posting and correspondence by Mr. Curtis, there would have been probable cause because the contents of the letter fit his standard signature and his discussion of his manuscript "Missing Pieces."
That probable cause then evaporated due to the FBI's continued investigation as noted below.]
Para. 18 explains that a witness said that Dutschke years ago told the witness that the Dutschke could manufacture a "poison." Dutschke stated that "he could place the poison in envelopes and send them to elected officials." "According to the witness, on or about the same occasion, Dutschke made reference to having "a secret knowledge" for "getting rid of people in office."
"The witness also disclosed that he had had an altercation with Dutschke after Dutschke made sexual advances toward the witness's daughter. Judge Holland dismissed a civil suit filed by Dutschke against the witness in 2006."
Para. 19. "different types of yellow paper, address labels, and a dust mask" were recovered" from "the trash receptacle from the curtilage of Dutschke's residence."
"Some of the paper appears very similar in color to the above-described letters; however, they are of different shades of yellow. While the address labels that were found are larger than the labels on the threatening letters, it appears that the labels on the letters were cut from a larger label. Thus, the seized labels could have been cut to size and placed on the letters."
[Note: in time, analysis can determine the precise composition of the paper and labels and make a comparison. The forensic analysis of the paper in Amerithrax was exculpatory of Ivins and never produced.]
Para. 20. Dutchke on April 22 told the owner of the property that housed his former business that he needed to extinguish a fire extinguisher, a mop and a bucket. He then was observed by surveillance personnel removing items from the location and driving a short distance where he disposed of them in a garbage receptable. Retrieved were a box for a Black and Decker Smart Grind coffee grinder, a box containing latex gloves, a dust mask, and an empty bucket of floor adhesive."
"Based on my training and experience, I know that a coffee bean grinder could be utilized in the process of extracting ricin from castor beans. Furthermore, latex gloves and a dust mask could be utilized as personal protective equipment while the castor beans are being crushed to protect the product from an accidental exposure."
April 30, 2013 at 4:18 pm
The test, both preliminary and final, was positive for ricin. (Para. 22)
April 30, 2013 at 4:26 pm
On his computer, someone had downloaded a publication, Standard Operating Procedure for Ricin. And approximately two hours later someone downloaded on his computer,
Immunochromotography Detection of Ricin in Environmental and Biological Samples, which describes a method for detecting ricin.
Now this, again, was on December 31, 2012.
April 30, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Para. 23 states:
DUTSCHKE's residence was searched pursuant to a federal warrant on April 23, 20l3. Before execution ofthe warrant, DUTSCHKE was interviewed. DUTSCHKE had previously been interviewed on April 18, 2013. In the course ofthe April 23 interview, DUTSCHKE stated that he had never purchased castor beans, nor had he even seen a castor bean. DUTSCHKE also told agents that, prior to his FBI interview on April 18, he had never researched or read articles regardingcastorbeansorricin. Initially,DUTSCHKEstatedthathehadnotbeenbacktothe Taekwando dojo since on or about April 15, 2013. When confronted with agents' knowledge of his April 22 visit to the dojo, DUTSCHKE changed his answer. DUTSCHKE told agents that he had returned to the dojo only to remove a mop bucket, two pails, and a fire extinguisher; he emphatically stated that he never stopped after leaving the dojo on his way to a pawn shop. When he was confronted with being observed throwing items in a trash can, DUTSCHKE attempted to change the subject, and he ended the interview.
April 30, 2013 at 4:32 pm
24. Among items seized from DUTSCHKE's residence were a computer and a printer. The computer's manufacturing information indicates that it was manufactured in January 20l3. However, a preliminary search indicated that the computer's operating system had been reinstalled on April 22, 2013, and that a printer driver had also been installed on April 22, 20l3. I understand, from others involved in the investigation, that persons wishing to delete the contents oftheir hard drives will often reinstall a computer's operating system.
April 30, 2013 at 4:32 pm
25. On April 24, 2013, DUTSCHKE's former business, Taekwondo Plus, located on Rankin Boulevard Ext. in Tupelo, Mississippi, was searched pursuant to a federal warrant. The search team removed drain traps from two rooms within the building, and they also took swabs from several locations within the building. These items were tested by FBI personnel at NBFAC. Tests performed on removed items preliminarily tested positive for the presence of ricin. The preliminary tests were subsequently confirmed as to five o f six items submitted: (1) the mask from the trash pull, (2) liquid removed from a drain in the dojo, (3) a swab taken from inside the dojo, (4) another swab taken from inside the dojo, and (5) one trace filter, that is items vacuumed from the floor ofthe dojo.
April 30, 2013 at 4:33 pm
26. Also, on April 24, 2013, agents obtained records indicating that DUTSCHKE ordered castor bean seeds utilizing eBay and paid for the seeds via PayPal. Specifically, DUTSCHKE paid for 50 red castor bean seeds on or about November 17,2012. He made a second purchase of 50 red castor bean seeds on or about December 1,2012. United States Postal Service records confirm that the order paid for on December 1,2012, was mailed on December 3,2012, and delivered to DUTSCHKE's South Canal Street residence on December 5,2012. I understand that the number ofcastor beans ordered is more than sufficient to extract the quantity ofricin found in the three letters.
April 30, 2013 at 4:34 pm
Not a good day for wives, to be sure.
27. In the course ofthe investigation FBI agents obtained, pursuant to legal process, a series ofhistorical text messages between the cellular number for DUTSCHKE's wife, and a cell phone alsosubscribedtobyDUTSCHKE'swifeandusedbyherson. Inthetextexchangewhichtook place on Saturday April 20, 2013, the person using the wife's cell phone sent messages to "get a fire going" because "we're coming over to burn some things." When asked what was being burned, the individual using the wife's phone replied, "my paperwork and personal bills."
28. Pursuant to legal process, agents obtained further historical texts from the cellular phone subscribed to by DUTSCHKE's wife. In another exchange from Saturday April 20, 2013, someone using the wife's cellphone texted a second cell phone with a (662) area code, believed to be a friend of DUTSCHKE's wife, stating, "we are gonna clean house," "you still need to come clean," "search is on. Call [another person]'s cell." The wife's cell phone was also used to text DUTSCHKE's cell phone, stating, "cameras goneT' and "searching school I'll bet as well." I believe the word "school" is a reference to DUTSCHKE's Taekwondo dojo.
April 30, 2013 at 4:35 pm
29. On April 26, 2013, document examiners employed by the FBI Laboratory had examined one third of approximately 400 documents seized in the search of DUTSCHKE's residence and trash pull. The ongoing examination has found that numerous printed documents bear the same corresponding "trashmarks" as the three ricin letters sent to President Obama, Senator Wicker, and Judge Holland.
- April 30, 2013 at 4:18 pm
April 30, 2013 at 3:19 pm
ricin investigation update:
04/30/2013 9 MOTION to Unseal Document by USA as to James Everett Dutschke. (wsm)
04/30/2013 10 ORDER granting 9 Motion to Unseal Document as to James Everett Dutschke (1) Signed by S. Allan Alexander on 4/30/13. (wsm)
April 30, 2013 at 3:24 pm
Comes now the United States of America by and through its attorney for the Northern District ofMississippi, and moves the Court to unseal the AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT and all court entries and documents regarding the entry of the above affidavit and any search warrant, application and affidavit upon which a return has been received by the Court. The concerns set forth in our Motion To Seal have been addressed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The building has been sealed and is secure. The defense has no objection to this Motion.
The interests ofjustice would be served by unsealing the AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT and any search warrant, application and affidavit upon which a return has been received by the Court and all court entries and documents pertaining the same, including any docket entries along with this Motion To Unseal and Order To Unseal.
The government has moved to unseal the Affidavit In Support Of Criminal Complaint and any application, affidavit or search warrant upon which a return has been received by the Court and all court entries and documents regarding them, including any docket entries.
Having duly considered the motion, the court concludes that it is well taken. It is ORDERED that the Clerk of Court unseal the Affidavit In Support Of Criminal Complaint and any application, affidavit or search warrant upon which a return has been received by the Court and all court entries and documents regarding them, including any docket entries.
- April 30, 2013 at 3:24 pm
April 30, 2013 at 7:42 am
A Temporary Detention Order has been entered in the ricin investigation as to James Everett Dutschke.
The order states:
Having conducted an initial appearance in this cause, and being advised that the government is seeking a detention order in this cause, the Court finds that the defendants shall be remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal's Service for temporary detention pending a preliminary and detention hearing before United States Magistrate S. Allan Alexander on May 2, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in Oxford, MS.
SO ORDERED, this the 29th day of April, 2013. /s/ S. Allan Alexander
Recent docket entries:
04/29/2013 Oral MOTION to Seal Affidavit until 9:00 a.m. on 5/2/13 by USA as to James Everett Dutschke. (wsm)
04/29/2013 Text ORDER granting [] Motion to Seal Affidavit as to James Everett Dutschke (1)until 9:00 a.m. on May 2, 2013.Signed by S. Allan Alexander on 4/29/13. (wsm)
April 29, 2013 at 8:25 am
The "Conspiracy Theory" That Prompted Kevin Curtis' Earlier Letters to Politicians
By: Jim White Wednesday April 24, 2013 9:38 am
Yesterday, charges against Paul Kevin Curtis that he sent letters testing positive for ricin to Senator Lowell Wicker and the White House were dropped. It is quite encouraging that the FBI would this time choose not to continue harassing Curtis once they realized they had no evidence against him, unlike their behavior in the Amerithrax case where they pursued Steven Hatfill for years (until paying out a $2.8 million dollar settlement) and drove Bruce Ivins to his grave on the basis of evidence that couldn't withstand scrutiny.
April 29, 2013 at 10:50 am
UPDATE: Dutschke hearing slated for Thursday in Oxford
byPatsy R. Brumfield / Daily Journal
OXFORD – J. Everett Dutschke, accused of sending poison-laced letters to President Obama and others, appeared briefly in federal court today wearing orange jail garb and chains.
His initial hearing was re-set for 9 a.m. Thursday before Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander.
Dutschke, a 41-year-old Tupelo man active in martial arts and politics, will be charged with conspiring and possession of a biological weapon to threaten officials.
The official paperwork is sealed, but likely will be unsealed later today, said prosecutor Chad Lamar, assistant U.S. attorney.
Today, Dutschke was represented by public defender George Lucas.
Dutschke, who has maintained his innocence in the case, responded briefly to a couple of the judge's questions today, saying he had only briefly had time to look at the federal charges against him.
Magistrate Alexander will hear government evidence against Dutschke on Thursday and decide whether to bind the case over to a grand jury to consider whether to indict him.
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – UPDATE Dutschke hearing slated for Thursday in Oxford
April 29, 2013 at 11:30 am
No bond for martial arts instructor charged with sending ricin letters
"Law enforcement officials said they found traces of ricin after searching Dutschke's home, business and cars."
- April 29, 2013 at 11:30 am
- April 29, 2013 at 10:50 am
April 26, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Saving Kevin Curtis: Legal duo, client bask in media spotlight after hard fight to free him
In Amerithrax, Hatfill's attorney has proved himself a star more than once — against the same Amerithrax prosecutor Kenneth Kohl. Once in Amerithrax and then in Blackwater.
Dr. Ivins' attorney, Paul Kemp, also effectively presented Dr. Ivins case — although he never had a real chance because Dr. Ivins never even was charged.
Attorney Paul Kemp: the FBI investigation revealed no evidence against Ivins because he was not guilty
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 3, 2011
Paul Gordon reacts to Paul Kemp's speech … if the FBI could do this to Dr. Bruce Ivins, they can do it to any of us
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 9, 2011
April 26, 2013 at 12:56 pm
Mr. Dutschke prudently taken down his videos on Holland etc. In his 2007 campaign, he appears to have nowhere addressed the merits in a very nasty political campaign in which he misrepresented Mr. Holland's statements (for example, by creative editing).
In 2008 he ran unsuccessfully for some office as a democrat.
At the same time, now Paul Curtis' counsel should get him to shut up about missing organs. He instead should be marshalling evidence that supports his version of the past half decade. Given material discrepancies in their descriptions of email exchanges, one of them appears to be getting his facts wrong.
Speaking to the media or to investigators without counsel is often a fine idea if you are both innocent AND you take scrupulous care to get your facts right.
April 26, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Here are some different videos. They are on a different channel.
And here is a well-spoken, reasonable discussion of merits by Dutschke in his campaign against Mr. Holland — focused on Mr. Holland's votes in favor of additional fees and taxes. Mr. Holland was the incumbent – for a quarter century.
April 26, 2013 at 4:18 pm
How the FBI Went After The Wrong Man In Ricin Case
Posted on: 4:04 pm, April 24, 2013, by Dennis Turner,
It became clear, the FBI agent testifying got very uncomfortable when defense attorneys began pointing out weaknesses in the government's investigation.
Searches of a home belonging to Curtis turned up nothing, and even some of his alleged targets had doubts.
"He's written me letters over time, mostly in support of ideas that I've had. He's always been a big letter writer, a guy who's involved in the political process and wanted his opinions expressed and I always welcomed people like that," said Steve Holland who ran against the new suspect in the case, Everett Dutschke, and took a lot of criticism.
Holland's mother, a justice court judge, got one of the ricin letters.
"Freeman, who investigated Germany's Baader-Meinhof and Black September terrorist groups warns us to get ready for more investigations like this, "That kind of offends the sensibilities sometimes for Americans, but this has been going on in other countries for many, many years and we'll see more of these type strikes, I believe in the future."
He warns, the pressure to arrest first and investigate later, is intense, but standard in terrorist cases."
Family of Ricin Target Still Has Questions
Posted on: 4:08 pm, April 24, 2013
Steve Holland describes Dutschke as always opinionated and pushy, "I saw him, maybe, during that campaign, 4 to 6 times and he was always very invigorated, always attacking me, always on the defensive about everything.'
The attacks went on until, as Holland puts it, Dutschke's election bid went "down like the Titanic."
Despite Dutschke's run-ins with the Holland family during the campaign, nothing ever ended up in court, either State of Federal.
Holland says his mother is widely loved and respected, a pioneer in every sense of the word, with a work ethic that would shame a 20-year-old, even though she's 80.
He says his mother's been put off by an abundance of media attention and would just like everything to go away, "I'd just about as soon jump into a bed of cobra snakes as have to put up with this. I'm very tired of it".
April 27, 2013 at 10:29 am
James Everett Dutschke arrested in connection to ricin letters case
Tupelo Insurance agent Jack Curtis, brother of Kevin Curtis and former employer of Dutschke, said Saturday morning he was interested in seeing any evidence authorities collected related to the new arrest.
"If they have the evidence, let the chips fall where they may," Jack Curtis said. "I hate to speculate on anyone's guilt until the evidence comes out, but it would further vindicate my brother."
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – James Everett Dutschke arrested Tupelo Police say
April 27, 2013 at 10:37 am
While Rep. Rush Holt beat IBM's "Watson" at Jeopardy, Everett Dutschke, judging by this December 2012 post, reports that he "created a machine that will save the world from the Mayan Apocalypse." The catch was that he needed donations immediately before it can be turned on before December 21st. "It has additional Zombie protection." He adds: "Feel free to thank me (via donation) on Dec 22nd."
Created by Everett Dutschke
I created a machine that will save the world from the Mayan Apocalypse. If you donate NOW, we can afford to turn it on December 21st. – It has additional Zombie protection. Feel free to thank me (via donation) on Dec 22nd
Everett Dutschke
I created a machine that will save the world from the Mayan Apocalypse. If you donate NOW, we can afford to turn it on December 21st.
It has additional Zombie protection.
Feel free to thank me (via donation) on Dec 22nd
Like ·Comment ·Give ·December 19, 2012
I presume Mr. Dutschke intended the post to be humorous rather than an attempt to raise defense funds.
April 27, 2013 at 2:23 pm
"Martial arts instructor charged with attempted use of biological weapon"
"A Mississippi martial arts instructor arrested early on Saturday was charged with possession of the biological agent ricin and with attempting to use it as a weapon, the U.S. Department of Justice announced."
"If convicted, Dutschke faces maximum possible penalties of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and 5 years of supervised release."
- April 26, 2013 at 3:57 pm
April 26, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Turning to the web archive for Mr. Dutchke's TellTupelo.com, we can see that on May 3, 2008, Mr. Dutschke posted about his "friend and honorary Black Belt Mike Huckabee." Mr. Huckabee would be a fun interview on the subject.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Join Me and my friend Mike Huckabee for Breakfast!
Next Saturday, May 3rd, I hope you'll make plans to join my friend and honorary Black Belt Mike Huckabee for a campaign breakfast in Tupelo as we rally to win the 1st Dist House seat.
I'll keep you posted on the details as they are worked out.
J Everett Dutschke
Jamie Franks
Tonight I had a chance to have a long conversation with Jamie Franks at the Karate school.
I wont go reveal everything that we talked about, but hedid flatly state to me is that he will be seeking chairmanship of the State Democrat party!
I forgot to ask him, since we covered so much, if he will be the kind of chairman that kicks out Conservatives.
11:34 pm cdt
Also it would be interesting to learn whether President Obama's healthcare proposal caused Mr. Dutschke to lose his livelihood as he feared.
"Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Fired by Barack Hussein Obama
I guess I should look for another job since Barack Hussein Obama is going to heal all the sick and save us all.
His universal health care will insure that there is no place for a health insurance agent like me.
Oh well… Barack Hussein Obama will take care of me. He will heal the sick… heal the planet… and civilization finally has a chance to survive…
I have helped almost a thousand families get their affairs financially in order. But with our new savior, Barack Hussein Obama will see it fit to can me.
Maybe I can go back into radio…
11:44 pm cdt"
April 26, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Paul Curtis has two attorneys. One, the former FBI supervising agent for the Oxford office, had a long-running feud with the former U.S. Attorney.
FBI agent files suit against former U.S. Attorney
Philip "Hal" Halbert Neilson, the former FBI supervising agent for the Oxford office, has filed a suit in the Circuit Court of Lafayette County against retired U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee, claiming Greenlee did everything in his power to "destroy" Neilson while he was in office. (January 6, 2012, Page 2A)
Mr. Neilson had been indicted but was acquitted.
Patsy Brumfield writes about bad blood between Hal Neilson and Jim Greenlee
"Patsy Brumfield has an interesting gloss on the Hal Neilson indictment– that there are hints that it is part of a personal issue between Neilson and Greenlee about an issue on which Neilson sought whistleblower status. FBI Agent Hal Neilson of Oxford, whose indictment became public Thursday, asked the Department of Justice for whistleblower protection a couple of years ago after accusing the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oxford of wrongdoing."
In Amerithrax, Hatfill recruited Attorney Connolly, a former DOJ attorney himself, to go to war with the Department of Justice. (Mr. Connolly had no feud with the DOJ; if anything, his contacts gave him insight into the dubiousness of the Hatfill Theory). DOJ ended up settling for millions of dollars.
Mr. Connolly then later obtained dismissal of a murder indictment in the Blackwater matter — in a case involving Amerithrax AUSA Ken Kohl — on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
Here, in the ricin mailings case, probable cause existed for Mr. Curtis' arrest. Mr. Curtis' female attorney emphatically praised the good faith and professionalism demonstrated by the DOJ prosecutors and investigators.
New information, however, was deemed to warrant dropping of the charge. One small bit of new information we know about is that there was indented writing on two of the envelopes that included Mr. Curtis' two old addresses — with the street address of one spelled wrong. Handwriting comparisons have been done as to that indented writing. We also know that based on evaluation of the results of the search there was nothing found yet to add to the fact that Mr. Curtis' long-time signature phrase was used, the threatening message had started with the title of his manuscript etc. Anyone would have had access to his online signature — it would have been decidedly against his interest, however, to use such a signature in sending a dangerous substance.
Both of Mr. Curtis' attorneys have demonstrated the valuable role that defense counsel can play — as was also demonstrated by Connolly and Kemp in the Amerithrax investigation.
Sometimes the wheels of justice grind even more slowly where the target commits suicide and prosecutors and investigators, afraid of getting in trouble, then choose to close the case.
- April 26, 2013 at 12:56 pm
April 26, 2013 at 11:56 am
Jack Curtis seeks answers related to ricin mailings
byRobbie Ward/NEMS Daily Journa
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – Jack Curtis seeks answers related to ricin mailings
Between checking messages on Facebook, reading the latest national news stories about his brother and Dutschke, a former employee, and answering questions from friends, Curtis still wonders how things will unfold.
"He was never a problem here," Jack Curtis said on the phone to someone asking about Dutschke, a rival of Curtis' brother and a current person of interest related to the poison-laced letters investigation. "He was a genius."
Jack Curtis recalled the outgoing, smart and Republican-leaning Dutschke working at his office for more than a year, until Curtis retired from a larger insurance company and began working for himself.
While he can't recall whether he donated cash or materials to his former employee's state House of Representatives political campaign to unseat Steve Holland, who is Judge Sadie Holland's son, Jack Curtis said he wanted to support Dutschke's efforts.
Jack Curtis doesn't believe his brother would have been capable of producing ricin, a produced from castor beans, and said he never believed that he was guilty of the crimes. However, Jack released a statement on behalf of his family on the day of Kevin's arrest saying how they'd struggled to help him cope with bipolar disorder.
With Kevin released from jail and making media rounds telling his side of the story, Jack Curtis said he'll explain to his brother when things settle down why he made public Kevin's medical struggles.
"I was trying to help him legally," Jack Curtis said Thursday. "And it's the truth. I was afraid he was going to be railroaded by the government."
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – Jack Curtis seeks answers related to ricin mailings
In Amerithrax, the contemporaneous emails and lab notes and other documents — along with the forensics (and there were none that implicated Dr. Ivins) — are far more important than the conclusory assertions and spin being offered by investigators, prosecutors and commentators.
Here, too, the emails to and from Mr. Dutschke and Mr. Curtis are the most probative evidence relating to their feud. Presently, there are discrepancies in the stories being told. It is in the interest of the party that the emails favor — whoever that is — to release them to the public.
At the end of the day, hyperbole and cool confidence will not be a substitute for the contemporaneous records that support — or do not support — the party's offered narrative.
April 26, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Bruce Ivins was fortunate to have a lot of learned friends who recognized his quirks and fragilities but did not shy away from pointing to the facts and science that contradicted the FBI's theory.
"Poison Letters Probe: Curtis Thankful for Natchez Residents Who Stood By Him," Natchez Democrat, April 24, 2013
On his Facebook page, Jack Curtis posted Wednesday:
Jack Curtis
I want to thank every person from around the world who has kept our family in your prayers this last week. I am amazed at the support from our community as well as those following this story from around the world. I thank God for being there when I needed him most during this ordeal. I was never alone….
Jack is also a sometimes Elvis impersonator
- April 26, 2013 at 12:15 pm
April 26, 2013 at 4:33 am
In a good recap of the feud, Daily Beast adds this additional tidbit about email in January 2013. In Amerithrax, USAMRIID has uploaded thousands of Dr. Ivins emails. Produced months, even years, after Dr. Ivins committed suicide, they contradicted the government's spin at its press conference and in a summary. By the time the correspondence was produced, Dr. Ivins and the lack of support for the theory was buried and forgotten.
Paul Kevin Curtis and J. Everett Dutschke: Epic Feud and Ricin Letters
by Winston Ross Apr 25, 2013
By the time Dutschke got arrested in January, the two pretty much hated each other electronically. When Curtis learned the news, he emailed Dutschke, Laura tells The Daily Beast:
"How's it feel to be on that side?" the email read. On a completely unrelated YouTube video of Dutschke's, Curtis wrote, "C U in court."
"Of course Everett went ballistic," Laura Curtis says.
That's why, when the FBI came knocking at Laura Curtis's door last week, she was convinced of two things: her ex-husband's innocence and that he was framed. Kevin Curtis is nowhere near smart enough to figure out how to make ricin, she tells The Daily Beast.
"Kevin would blow up half of Mississippi trying to make something like that," she says. Plus, he's not a violent person. "He'll send you a thousand emails, but he's never going to cause you harm."
(Lest you worry that this comment might offend her ex-husband, he told Piers Morgan on CNN Tuesday night that when the FBI first told him what they thought he'd done, he responded, "I don't even eat rice!")
April 25, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Those who have long followed Amerithrax may remember when Steve Hatfill was thought to have gone "missing" – as Mr. Duschke now has in the ricin letter investigation. (according to the AP and local reports).
As I recall,Dr. Hatfill was just having some fun, coming to be frustrated by the conspicuous surveillance..
Mr. Dutschke similarly has gone "missing" but given he has not been charged, it is of no legal significance.
The FBI likely has a GPS locator on any vehicle he is using and can readily ping even his friend's cell phone.
Under the terms of his bond governing release on another charge, he is not allowed to go below Route 82 (south of Tupelo).
So he likely will be found taking a break from an admittedly very stressful week and period of several months.
In the meantime, the vehicles that were at the staging area at a nearby Baptist church presumably have moved to the cabin or residence of a friend that I do not think was occupied.
Associated Press |
Authorities in Mississippi say they are searching for the chief person of interest in the investigation of poisoned letters sent to President Barack Obama …
Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson says he is helping the FBI, which told him Everett Dutschke had been under surveillance but slipped away on Wednesday.
April 25, 2013 at 4:32 pm
Mr. Dutschke's counsel confirms that his whereabouts are in fact known.
The search of this new location, not occupied year-round, is reminiscent of the search of the famous cabin in Maryland that was the subject of so much excitement.
The FBI needs to be allowed to go about their collecting of factual information and exploration of hypotheses without breathless headlines that only interfere with a reasoned exploration of potential leads.
April 25, 2013 at 4:36 pm
The hunting cabin searched in connection with a Hatfill Theory — in Virginia rather than In Maryland I believe – was the subject of excitment upon report of the rumor that Dr. Hatfill had told a joke about cipro. His being on cipro was in fact later determined to be due to dental surgery.
April 25, 2013 at 9:52 pm
In Amerithrax, when Dr. Hatfill would give the agents conducting surveillance the slip (or give them a chase), it may have motivated the agents. The Bureau, it's been said, doesn't like being embarrassed. In fact, when early on his counsel did not consent immediately to the search one Friday, it seemed to add fuel to the fire under a Hatfill Theory. By the time they did search there was a news helicopter overhead.
OTOH, Dr. Ivins bent over backwards cooperating and then the FBI used every irrelevant but embarrassing fact in his background to cobble together a theory that made him look bad.
And so there are no easy answers as to the best way to handle things under scrutiny.
But turning on the tv and slipping out the back door is probably not wise — especially with other unrelated charges already pending.
"They went inside the home on Twenty Mile Bottom, turned on the television, and left out the back door.
Kitchens said they then got into a vehicle after walking through bottom land.
Dutschke's attorney informed the FBI where her client could be found.
He appeared to arrive home on his own around 5:30 p.m. Thursday."
- April 25, 2013 at 4:36 pm
- April 25, 2013 at 4:32 pm
April 25, 2013 at 11:59 am
In Amerithrax, dozens of searches were conducted pursuant to a warrant — involving numerous different individuals. Those of us following the case remember well the dog and pony show that accompanied the raid on the home of a New York doctor named Berry as the federal authorities worked in good faith to explore the possibilities and narrow the field.
By analogy, in the ricin mailing, "Itawamba County officials confirmed to Adam Armour of the Itawamba County Times that the FBI is preparing to search a home in the Ozark community in northwest Itawamba County. They are waiting on a search warrant.
Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson said authorities have been in the area since last night. A man outside the home identified himself to the Daily Journal as the owner and said his name is Melvin Kitchens of Pontotoc. He said his grandson was a former karate student of J. Everett Dutschke. Melvin Kitchens said his son is Kirk Kitchens. Melvin Kitchens said the home in Itawamba County is a weekend residence he goes to visit.
"I don't why they are here," Melvin Kitchens said. "This is a wild goose chase."
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – Federal agents are preparing to search an Itawamba residence
April 25, 2013 at 8:36 am
From Laced Letters to Terror Attacks, This Feels a Lot Like 2001
Tom Daschle, who was then the Senate Majority Leader, received one of those anthrax letters in 2001 and watched multiple members of his staff infected and placed on emergency doses of cipro, a powerful antibiotic effective against anthrax. In his book, Like No Other Time: The Two Years That Changed America, the South Dakota Democrat wrote that he also interpreted the initial anthrax letter as a sign that al-Qaida's "next phase had begun, that they were out to prove they could attack us whenever and wherever they chose." And that was before the white powder flew out of a letter from the "4th Grade. Greendale School, Franklin Park. New Jersey."
Coincidentally, the man who calmly oversaw Daschle's office's response to that attack was Pete Rouse, who was then his chief of staff and today is a senior adviser to Obama.
Another man living through this a second time is Tim Mitrovich. Then a Daschle staffer, he was standing next to the intern when the anthrax letter was opened. He was one of 23 Daschle aides exposed and placed on Cipro.
In his only interview on the incident, Mitrovich told Copley News Service in 2001 that key to the response was everybody following procedure. "They said someone had just opened a letter with white powder in it," he recalled then. "My initial thought was it was a hoax. But not knowing, we all followed protocol." Within 30 minutes, the white powder had been field-tested and found to be positive for anthrax. Mitrovich and his coworkers were given nasal swabs and received their first doses of Cipro. Two days later, Rouse called Mitrovich at home to give him the bad news that he had tested positive for anthrax exposure.
The treatment was effective. But Mitrovich, who still works for the Senate today, said the impact was powerful. "It's changed my life in a lot of the same ways that Sept. 11 changed my life. You reevaluate your life, and you try and concentrate on the things that are most important to you."
April 25, 2013 at 6:03 am
Factbox – FBI revisiting bioterror case lessons
Factboxes – Ayman Zawahiri, Anwar Awlaki, Anthrax, and Amerithrax: The Infiltration Of US Biodefense
April 24, 2013 at 10:00 pm
Absent finding forensic evidence, investigators face a difficult puzzle in both the ricin and the anthrax cases.
Here is an ABC story on the ricin case.
Judge Holland has declined to comment on the case.
She was presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2003. Holland sentenced Curtis to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.
Running as a Republican, Dutschke lost a lopsided election to Steve Holland in 2007, and observers say the judge publicly chastised Dutschke at a political rally that year.
Brandon Presley, Mississippi's northern district public service commissioner and a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, attended the 2007 political rally in Verona. He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he remembers Dutschke giving a "militant" speech with personal and professional attacks on Steve Holland.
Presley, also a Democrat, said he doesn't recall details of the speech — just the tone of it, and the crowd's reaction.
"I just remember everybody's jaw dropping," Presley said.
Dutschke said his speech included sharp criticism of Steve Holland's record in public office.
Steve Holland said earlier this week that his mother made Dutschke get down on his knees at the 2007 rally and apologize. On Wednesday, he said he was mistaken about her telling Dutschke to kneel.
"She just got up and said 'Sir, you will apologize," Steve Holland said.
Dutschke said Steve Holland exaggerated the incident. Presley said he remembers Judge Holland chastising Dutschke.
Presley said of the judge: "I don't believe the woman has an enemy in the world…. I don't know anybody who doesn't love Ms. Sadie Holland, except whoever this fool is who sent the letter. Whoever it is, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, picking on Ms. Sadie."
Dutschke — who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for Lee County election commissioner in 2008 — told AP on Tuesday that he has no problem with Sadie Holland. "Everybody loves Sadie, including me," he said.
April 25, 2013 at 4:57 am
Holland said his mother has been trying to go about her daily routine and ignore the hoopla, saying he saw her driving a tractor home about sundown one night this week. Instead of talking about investigation, Holland said his mother wanted to talk about planting new grass in the family graveyard.
"She's fiercely independent, unbelievable independent," Holland said. "Mother doesn't want the FBI or anyone else here," he said.
"She just wants life back to normal."
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Ricin-laced-letters-leading-to-a-Miss-mystery-4462377.php#ixzz2RT0jC7Du
While I have no idea who mailed the ricin letters — it is a very interesting puzzle — I believe the case will be solved so long as they have been able to cast a sufficiently wide net in obtaining and cloning the hard drive of computers. In Amerithrax, if they had cloned the laptop that was in Dr. Ivins' B3, they would have had contemporaneous evidence of goings-on in that lab. The laptop had been installed in July of that summer and had access to the internet. The forensic examination of the computers in the B3 was incredibly important but the FBI made any disclosures on the subject — such as what webpages were searched and the time they were accessed. It was the B3 where the largest repository of Ames in the country was known to be kept. Its contents should have been preserved. Was it? What happened to that laptop? Weren't copies pf all the computers in Building 1412 and 1425 kept?
In the ricin matter, a deep forensic examination of the contents of the computers here are being involved — and will be useful in many ways.
April 25, 2013 at 5:33 am
When he made his first court appearance earlier this year [Mr. Dutschke] signed his appearance papers with a smiley face, said James Moore, a prosecutor in Tupelo.
As background to the colorful story of each of these two men, in the 2007 election, Mr. Holland greatly outspent Mr. Dutschke. A majority of the contributions came from medical-related donors. Mr. Dutschke thus understandably would not want to print the body parts story. As it was, in 2007, he had contributed about 40% of his election while Mr. Holland had something like $89,000 in donations, much of it from local businesses.
On the body parts story, which has not been addressed, it has never been explained why Mr. Curtis thought that something illegal was being done. Body parts in a morgue is not evidence of wrongdoing — that could not be judged without knowing the authorizations. The person cleaning the morgue would not be in a position to know that. Moreover, it is totally wrong for someone cleaning a morgue to think it is okay to open a refrigerator and go looking for a Dr. Pepper.
In the Amerithrax case, with respect to the issue of 52 rabbits killed in Dr. Ivins lab that first week in October 2001, a former bioweaponeer Serge once told me it would not be uncommon for dead animals to be bagged and stored temporarily in a freezer. Thus, it is not clear that the autoclave necessarily had to be run daily at the end of the day. A hospital spokesman says that the center was not paid for body parts — but was obligated to honor the requests of organ donors. The spokesman has said that as a matter of policy body parts were promptly shipped but all of us have had the experience of having something to ship where we then delayed in seeing it out the door. Indeed, on some days, mail does not even go out.
A fascinating aspect of the ricin mailing case is the indentation on two envelopes of Mr. Curtis' past addresses — with one of the streets addresses spelled wrong. It would be reasonable for FBI investigators to credit based on that indented writing that someone was trying to frame Mr. Curtis.
On the other hand, iIn the "Law and Order" fictionalized episode, a final twist at the end might have someone being framed for framing someone. They will be able to check past writings to see that Mr. Curtis knew how to spell the street he once lived on.
Of course, the state court judge might have a long list of enemies in light of the court cases she handles. One side often is very unhappy with the result.
The deep forensic examination of the computers likely will resolve the numerous factual discrepancies creeping into the stories being reported about the feud. Moreover, the feud between these two men may turn out to be irrelevant altogether if it turns out the mailer is someone else entirely.
In Amerithrax, there was nothing in the thousands of emails that incriminated Dr. Bruce Ivins. To USAMRIID's great credit, the thousands of emails eventually were uploaded to the FOIA reading room.
While theories based on mental instability have surface appeal, a deep examination of documents often serves to establish the facts,
In the ricin case, the man was arrested and the charges quickly dropped. In Amerithrax, they did not even have grounds to arrest Bruce Ivins. They had to withhold the documents about the 52 rabbits in order to create a false narrative about him having no reason to be in the lab. The DOJ then avoided the narrative being contradicted by shredding the depositions of his assistants.
- April 25, 2013 at 4:57 am
April 24, 2013 at 4:22 pm
On Wednesday, FBI agents and members of the National Guard searched a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., run by Everett Dutschke, the new focus of the investigation into the ricin letters, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. The newspaper also reported Tupelo police were on the lookout for a green 1998 Dodge Caravan, which records show is the model of car owned by Dutschke.
Mr. Dutschke's group Dusty and the Robodrum has a lot of great music. They were doing regularly gigs each week until Mr. Dutschke's legal troubles started.
April 24, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Ricin probe: Dutschke found at Tupelo business after BOLO issued earlier
Local Taekwondo instructor reappear at his dojo
A statewide "be on the lookout" (BOLO) was issued this morning around 10:15 a.m. for a 1998 Green Dodge Caravan in relation to an FBI investigation. A copy of the BOLO obtained by the Clarion-Ledger gave the licence plate number and Dutschke's name and address.
The BOLO instructed officers if they saw the van to stop and hold for Tupelo Police Department. [Note: Tax records show Dutschke owns that kind of vehicle.]
Comment: He is carrying his cell phone and so I presume they can track his whereabouts.
April 24, 2013 at 4:32 pm
Mr. Dutschke is out on a $25,000 bond in connection with an earlier charge. One of the conditions is that he stay north of Highway 82.
April 24, 2013 at 5:17 pm
Patsy Brumfield of the Daily Journal has made a very important contribution to the public's ability to follow the facts of the case. Her efforts are much appreciated by those trying to follow the details.
For those interviewing Mr. Curtis this week, the issue that would be nice to have answered is: why did he attach that news article to the email to the pastor?
I have added some captions and dashes in presenting some of the highlights from her raw notes. See the original article for the passages I've omitted.
UPDATE: Dutschke denies any involvement with ricin-letter plot
byPatsy R. Brumfield / Daily Journal
From a hearing in the Curtis matter, the transcript indicates that although the postmark is Memphis (the processing center in Tupelo was closed in late January), the codes across the back of the envelope specifically indicate that it was mailed from Tupelo.
It was placed in the mail and collected by postal workers. Working to narrow down exact location.
–They discussed IP addresses associated with Curtis' Facebook. He typically accessed it from his residence.
–"(Search of Corinth residence … ) JUDGE – (Asks about why two different IP addresses.) (Lamar – Could be two different modems.) Grant says one could be to computer, one could e for a telephone.)"
–As to the testing of the ricin, according to the reporters notes, the FBI agent testifies that it
"it is preliminarily testing as ricin, a crude form. Appears that someone took castor beans, put them in blender. Looks like sand. (Lamar – same as coffee bean grinder?) That would be a low-tech way to do that. Doesn't require much science, to get ricin inside out.
–(Weapons?) Yes. Two, being traced by ATF. One was 9mm and other a 380.
— computer forensics
Initially searched for "dirty word" search …. terms about ricin. All negative. Searched RAM .. with most recent searches. Now doing a deep dive. Preliminary… nothing yet. Shows were external hard drive and thumb drive plugged in and weren't recovered.
(Searches… for internet addresses from that computer. Google, Yahoo?) Yes, full diagnostic searches. One computer hadn't been used for a while. (Recall saying on Friday … informed that "to see a wrong…. continuance" passage … not on his main FB site? Passage in the letter?) Yes. (Not prior to April 8 postmarking of letter?) ON that one site. (True now?) No, additional analysis. Quote appeared on his space on Internet. (Main FB site? Not there?) I don't know. (But?) Found on other sites. (Also "I am KC" … signature?) Yes
indentation on envelope –
(Talked about indentions on outside of envelope to President and Sen. Wicker?) Yes. (Did you learn that another indentation found?) Yes. (Where?) What understand, on Holland letter. President – 202 Millford. Wicker – 109 Inez Drive. Holland – 109 Inez Dr. A former address.
on social security disability –
Social Security Admin letter to our office… says Curtis on SS benefits, which he admitted initially. (Disability?) Lists … headaches bipolar, back aches, head, neck. (When applied for SS for mental disability?) Dec. 29, 2009. Approved June 20… can't make out what he's saying] Nov. 30, 2012… went back about verification.
(When interviewed Curtis, did you ask him … about SS?) Yes, office aware of some kind. He said over $700/month from headaches from motorcycle accident when he was 16. Not bipolar.. more from head and neck injuries. (Introduce Exhibit 6 into evidence.) MCCOY – NO OBJECTIONS.
— on probation for intoxication
(Aware now Curtis is on some kind of probation? Intoxication in Leeds, Ala.?) Yes, public intoxication matter. (How long on probation?) 24 months. (Date ?) Or not past May 2015. (When he was convicted … was he fined?) Yes, fine and court costs. (Information to … MCCOY – OBJECTION… CONTINUING LEADING OF WITNESS.) LAMAR – I am. Rules permit that. JUDGE – Try not to do that.
(Did he pay fine?) Yes. A processing company received it. Two or three money orders. Most recent in March – $140. He wrote his name, address as 2503 Ewell Ave., Tupelo 38801. His mother and step-father's. (Used throughout process?) Yes, listed as primary address. [Curtis is shaking head and talking to McCoy]
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – UPDATE Dutschke denies any involvement with ricin letter plot
— correspondence with pastor (he should be asked about why he attached the article)
(Lamar – [shows exhibit to McCoy] Shows document to Grant… email, seen before?) Yes. Email is correspondence between Curtis and … a church.. Rev. Mike HIcks at a local church in north MS…. Tupelo. (Summarize it?) From KC Justice for You, email address .. to several addresses including some to Curtis, others at St. Luke's Church in Tupelo. When I read this … at bottom in 2003, Curtis approached Hicks to tell him about what occurred at NMMC … body parts, his wife. I don't see his wife. Not allowed to give testimony. March 8, 2009, says to see message to Hicks. "He never answered me or called me." Attached is an article about the killing of a pastor at an Illinois church.
— difficulties
(Lamar – I gave defense stack of copies to be copied. McCoy – We didn't see this one. Lamar – I can't say I gave her every one.) (Exhibit – did you or team ask questions about passage … about a Booneville police officer saying Curtis was investigated before? From Capitol Police report. Did you ask Booneville?) Yes, this exhibit. (Summarize?) Yes, various reports where Curtis is either complainant of subject of a complaint. Oct. 2008, report he pulled weapon from his waistband.. simple assault charge. Oct 2008, he complained against Mr Pardue for cyberstalking Sept. 2008, Curtis filed about garbage can through his window. Aug. 2008, Pardue against Curtis, cyberstalking. April 2008, Curtis complained about Crown Victoria in front of house and watching him. He called at least once or twice, say he'd taken photos of it. Nov. 2007, he and ex-wife disagreed after power was turned off. She asked him to leave, daughter called police with concerns.
— correspondence with Dutschke
(Lamar – exhibit, emails. Exhibit 10. Recognize?) Yes, obtained by court search of his residence. Emails between Curtis and … J. Everett Dutschke. Appeared to engaged in debate about who is the biggest liar, putting fake info on their websites. Appears all boiled over from earlier interaction… Dutschke perhaps agreed to publish or try to publish Curtis' manuscript on Missing Pieces Talk about fake accounts, man up and be real men… Curtis family member tells Dutschke to leave Curtis alone. (Who do those people purport to be?) Ed and Elois …. his stepfather and mother. (Claim who they are?) Yes, Kevin's parents.
(Their response to Dutschke … ?) They say never know what's going to show up on your doorstep, so just keep it up. (Exhibit 11 – what is that?) Document from search … appears to be a petition … for legislation to President, Senate, House, Gov. MS, Cochran, Wicker, Rep. Travis Childers – to regulate bones and tissues, to regulate organ harvesting in U.S. Discussion about the trade and urged them to take action … to make it illegal … before or after person's death. Signed Nov 2006, by Curtis and others in Tupelo.
[FYI – Dutschke ran against Rep. Steve Holland for the state House in 2004. Judge Sadie Holland is Rep. Holland's mother.]
— bipolar diagnosis and meds
(Exhibit 12 – seen that before?) Reporting from ongoing matter… haven't seen it except this. Daily Journal. Family is concerned about arrest, claims he suffers bipolar disorder and doesn't take his medication. (Say he regularly medicates?) Says three years ago, convinced him to take meds. Says he doesn't. (11:27)
— housing dependent on receiving SS
(Aware, aren't you, that Curtis has secured housing?) Yes. (It is dependent on his receiving SS?) Yes.
— more on letter to pastor and issue reason it was attached
Ask about Exhibit 7 – purports to be an email … sent by Kevin Curtis?) My understanding. (To a church in 2003?) Yes, original sent 2003 … (This email 2009 – he complains about 2003 email?) Yes. (What bearing on this proceeding?) Shows Curtis holds on to things. Concerned me … when attach an article … he was upset, not allowed to give testimony. When attach 6 years later, an email back to same church … newspaper article about pastor being killed … causes us to evalutae whether this is a veiled threat. (Did you?) Yes, it's ongoing. (Any information he has threatened anybody at St. Luke?) This is the only one, still investigating. (Email is very respectful?) Yes. More attachment of article, which has no bearing about his testimony about NMMC.
(You said he has no bearing?) Article .. why would he send article about pastor being killed. Attached to email about wanting to give testimony. (Why?) I don't know. (Is it possible that people at church death had some prior connection to St. Luke's?) Perhaps. Just unusual manner of which email sent. Unusual. (Exhibit 8 – civil commitment proceedings by Laura Curtis …
— lack of relevance of diagnosis of mood disorder
(His mental state in question. Again, how does that make it more likely than not that he committed crime he is charged?) It doesn't. Still conducting our investigation to obtain evidence to point to Curtis. (Agree that sane people commit crimes?) Yes. (Mentally ille?) Yes. (Do you ahve evidence that someone who suffered mood disorder is more likely to do something like this?) No.
— more on computer forensics
(You testified … had conducted prelim tests on computer at home?) Yes. (At this stage nothing to indicate searched for "ricin" or making of it?) At this time, Iv'e been informed … no information to suggest that. (You mentioned dirty-word search… it was negative?) Yes. (Deep dive planned… what will it show?) I'm not a computer person … terms may e wrong. But full forensics will show log-ins, websites, what's been erased. How found out about hard drive we can't find. (You said, hard drive and thumb drive… don't hae it.) We have one thumb drive but understand there's another one. Hardware plugged in that we have no access to
Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal – UPDATE Dutschke denies any involvement with ricin letter plot
April 24, 2013 at 6:08 pm
April 24, 2013 at 8:29 pm
"Elvis-impersonating former ricin suspect sings Randy Travis song on CNN"
- April 24, 2013 at 4:32 pm
- April 24, 2013 at 4:30 pm
April 24, 2013 at 3:49 pm
It was a very low-grade preparation. Maybe 1%, I think. An agent said in an Affidavit that he speculated that the processor might have just tossed out the blender. Which might make evidence of castor pulp down the disposal the best bet. Perhaps they will find evidence that drain cleaner was used instead.
But if it is true that the 3 letters on yellow paper were typed — which to me may suggest use of a typewriter rather than a computer and printer — that may be huge. I don't think many people use or even own typewriters any more. Find the typewriter and the perp's goose is cooked because upon magnification (say 200X) the typed font becomes distinctive.
Given the money they are burning through in terms of manpower, maybe they could offer a reward so someone is motivated to say: "Oh, yeah, I sold a fellow a typewriter at a yardsale two weekends ago" for $5. Blenders are very common at thrift stores but typewriters, in my experience, are not. Many people have a blender in their closet that seemed like a good idea at the time but it turned out they never used.
In their searches, the FBI is cloning the hard drives. If anyone is deleting records, the data will be recovered.
The neat thing about email is that record of it exists on both ends — and on the server.
April 24, 2013 at 3:25 pm
The FBI used a mini throwable drone with a camera in their search for evidence relating to the preparation of ricin.