Documents, Feds: Ivins Sole Anthrax Killer
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — An army scientist, Bruce Ivins, “was the only person responsible” for anthrax attacks in 2001 that killed five and rattled the nation, the Justice Department said today, backing the claim with dozens of documents all pointing to his guilt.
Documents made public alleged that Ivins, who committed suicide last week, had sole custody of highly purified anthrax spores with “certain genetic mutations identical” to the poison used in the attacks. Investigators also said they had traced back to his lab the type of envelopes used to send the deadly spores through the mails.
RELATED: Documents from the ‘Amerithrax’ Investigation.
Ivins killed himself last week as investigators closed in, and a U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Taylor, said, “We regret that we will not have the opportunity to present evidence to the jury.”
The prosecutor’s news conference capped a fast-paced series of events in which the government partially lifted its veil of secrecy in the case that followed closely after the airliner terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The newly released records depict the scientist as deeply troubled, bordering on desperation as he confronted the possibility of being charged.
“He said he was not going to face the death penalty, but instead had a plan to kill co-workers and other individuals who had wronged him,” according to one affidavit.
The affidavits also said Ivins submitted false anthrax samples to the FBI, was unable to give investigators “an adequate explanation for his late laboratory work hours around the time of” the attacks, and sought to frame unnamed co-workers.
He was also said to have received immunizations against anthrax and yellow fever in early September 2001, several weeks before the first anthrax-laced envelope was received in the mail.
The documents were released as the FBI held a private briefing for families of the victims of the episode, and officials said the agency was preparing to close the case.
“We are confident that Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for these attacks,” Mr. Taylor told a news conference at the Justice Department.
Noting that Ivins would have been entitled to a presumption of innocence, Mr. Taylor nevertheless said prosecutors were confident “we could prove his guilt to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Ivins’ attorney, Paul Kemp, has repeatedly asserted his late client’s innocence.
