Bruce Ivins

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Report Blames Army for Ivins' Anthrax Attacks

They should have realized Bruce Ivins was a time bomb, investigators conclude

(Newser) - The anthrax attacks that so spooked the country in 2001 “could have been anticipated—and prevented” had the Army paid enough attention to alleged perpetrator Bruce Ivins, a panel of behavioral analysts has concluded. In a new report obtained by the LA Times , analysts found that Ivins had an...

FBI's Anthrax Case Not 'Conclusive:' Report

Scientists find long-criticized case against Bruce Ivins has holes

(Newser) - The FBI’s scientific evidence against Bruce Ivins in the 2001 anthrax attacks isn’t as compelling as advertised, the National Research Council concluded yesterday, after an exhaustive $1.1 million review. The case against Ivins has long been criticized (Glenn Greenwald gives a nice history of it here ),...

FBI Closes Anthrax Case
 FBI Closes Anthrax Case 
UPDATED
Feb 20, 2010 8:55 AM CST

FBI Closes Anthrax Case

Bruce Ivins acted alone; critics still not buying it

(Newser) - Wrapping one of its most vexing investigations, the FBI yesterday concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five and unnerved a nation reeling from the 9/11 attacks. But the findings rang hollow for critics. "The evidence the FBI produced would not,...

FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case
 FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case 
Feb 19, 2010 12:48 PM CST

FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case

Bruce Ivins acted alone, they conclude

(Newser) - The FBI will formally end its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, sources tell NPR . They will conclude that army scientist Bruce Ivins sent the tainted letters, which killed five and sickened 17 others, and that he worked alone. Victims have already been notified, and the Department of Justice will...

Mutant Anthrax Cells Led, Slowly, to Ivins

FBI probe required inventing new type of forensic science

(Newser) - The anthrax poisoning case against Bruce Ivins won't be made in court, but it is compelling, the FBI says. Although the late Army scientist's lawyer dismisses the case as “heaps of innuendo,” federal records reveal a far-reaching, exhaustive investigation that required newly invented technology and depended on mutant...

Senate Grills FBI on Anthrax, Ivins

Lawmakers raise doubts that suspect acted alone

(Newser) - Senators cast strong doubts today on the FBI's conclusion that Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax scare, reports the Washington Post, with many demanding a more public vetting of the investigation into America’s largest bioterror attack. "There are others out there who should be charged...

FBI Tries to Dispel Anthrax Probe Doubts

But acknowledges 'spore on a grassy knoll' sentiment

(Newser) - The FBI revealed unprecedented details about its investigation of army scientist Bruce Ivins yesterday in a move to counter skepticism in the scientific community. The agency laid out how it brought together top scientists from the public and private sector to trace samples of the deadly anthrax of 2001 to...

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues
 FBI Missed Anthrax Clues
Aug 15, 2008 9:29 AM CDT

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

(Newser) - The FBI's obsessive focus on the wrong anthrax suspect caused the agency to miss some important clues pointing to Bruce Ivins, the Los Angeles Times reports. Records of key-card swipes show that Ivins, who killed himself last month before being charged, spent hours in a "hot suite" with access...

Case Against Ivins Looking Thin
 Case Against Ivins Looking Thin
glossies
Aug 10, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

Case Against Ivins Looking Thin

FBI evidence full of holes and contradictions

(Newser) - The FBI's case against alleged anthrax killer Bruce Ivins is full of gaps and contradictions, Newsweek reports. Ivins is said to have sent anthrax to NBC's Tom Brokaw—but was retaliating against a reporter at ABC. He also passed a polygraph in the probe and had no anthrax in his...

Anthrax Security Gap: 'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness

(Newser) - The case of anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins has raised fears about security protecting Americans from the world's deadliest germs, the Washington Post reports. The scientist thought to be behind the deadly 2001 attacks had serious mental health problems and expressed homicidal thoughts to his frightened therapist—but his supervisors at...

Emails Reveal Anthrax Scientist's Delusions

'Split personality' Ivins was being 'eaten alive inside'

(Newser) - Dozens of emails released by the FBI reveal that scientist Bruce Ivins was losing his grip on reality long before the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the New York Times reports.  The Army scientist and anthrax suspect, who committed suicide last month, wrote to a colleague in 2000 that he...

Ivins Had Anthrax 'Identical' to '01 Attack

Suspect sought to mislead FBI, released documents show

(Newser) - Army scientist Bruce Ivins is the sole person responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks, and he had custody of highly purified anthrax spores with "certain genetic mutations identical" to the poison that killed five people, the Justice Department says. Ivins was unable to give investigators "an adequate explanation...

As Families See Evidence, FBI Set to End Anthrax Probe

How feds traced attack to Ivins is key question

(Newser) - The FBI began releasing details of its investigation into the 2001 anthrax mail attacks to families of the victims today, the AP reports, with information to be made public within hours on judge’s orders. The agency is ready to end its probe, with sources telling the Wall Street Journal ...

Anthrax Suspect Was on Brink Before Suicide

As feds closed in, Ivins drank, popped pills, perhaps planned to kill

(Newser) - As FBI agents closed in on Bruce Ivins last fall, the anthrax suspect’s life was falling apart, the Washington Post reports. Ivins would sometimes drink a liter of vodka while downing sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs. He “was emailing me late at night with gobbledygook, ranting and raving,...

Ivins Borrowed Anthrax-Drying Machine

Device was made to render spore powder from culture samples

(Newser) - The government’s lead suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Bruce Ivins, borrowed a device from his Army bioweapons lab designed to turn germ cultures into dry powder, the Washington Post reports. The machine, known as a lyopholizer, was not commonly borrowed, and had to have been formally checked out—...

FBI's Methods Questioned in Anthrax Search

Used intimidation to home in on 'weakest link,' some argue

(Newser) - Pressure is mounting for the FBI to publicly explain why its 2001 anthrax investigation focused on scientist Bruce Ivins, reports the New York Times, as some question the bureau's methods. Ivins simply “looked the most susceptible to pressure,” insisted one scientist. Bureau officials say they will make details...

Anthrax Suspect Was Obsessed With Sorority

Link to Kappa Kappa Gamma helps explain some puzzling details

(Newser) - The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was fixated on a sorority that has a chapter within 100 yards of the New Jersey mailbox from which the toxin-laced letters were sent, the AP reports. Federal officials say scientist Bruce Ivins had been obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma since his...

DNA Links Scientist to Anthrax Attacks

Anthrax traced to flask in Ivins' Maryland lab

(Newser) - Investigators have DNA evidence that links biodefense expert Bruce Ivins to the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, but the case is largely circumstantial, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors have linked the anthrax used in mailings targeting news networks, newspapers, and Congress with a flask used by Ivins at his Maryland...

Is Bioresearch Making Us Less Safe?

Scientist's suicide highlights easy access to burgeoning field

(Newser) - Bruce Ivins was one of a handful of scientists with access to deadly agents of biowarfare—until the 2001 anthrax attacks in which he was suspected. In the wake of the researcher's suicide, the New York Times takes a look at the nation’s bioterror infrastructure—which has ballooned in...

Mad Anthrax Scientist Plotted to Kill Peers in 'Blaze of Glory'

Ivins a homicidal sociopath: therapist

(Newser) - The Maryland scientist linked to the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings who committed suicide last week had a “detailed homicidal plan” to kill his co-workers, his therapist testified. Bruce Ivins was diagnosed as a “sociopathic, homicidal killer” by several psychiatrists, she told a judge July 24, in seeking a...

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