Bruce Ivins, scientist set for prosecution in US anthrax attacks, commits suicide


Bruce Ivins, a government scientist whom federal agents were preparing to prosecute in connection with the anthrax attacks that killed five in 2001, apparently committed suicide on Tuesday after learning authorities had identified him.

The death in Maryland of Ivins, who helped the FBI analyze anthrax samples used in the attacks, may bring to a close a long-running mystery in the US "war on terror". Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the anthrax assaults crippled the US mail system and sowed fears the US was under attack from al-Qaida terrorists who had acquired biological weapons.

Ivins, whose name had not surfaced publicly in connection to the attacks, was a long-serving civilian bio-defense researcher at a top military research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

According to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the death, Ivins had recently been informed of his impending prosecution. He died Tuesday in a Maryland hospital after ingesting a large dose of prescription Tylenol with codeine, a friend told the Los Angeles Times.

The FBI declined to comment on the matter.

"We are not at this time making any official statements or comments regarding this situation," Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office, which is investigating the anthrax attacks, said today. "When we are able to give out any pertinent information we will certainly let the public and the media know."

In autumn 2001, as the US recovered from the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, letters filled with white, powdery anthrax were sent to politicians and media figures.

Targets included prominent Democratic senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, then leader of Senate Democrats. NBC News, the New York Post and magazine publisher American Media also received letters containing the deadly bacterium.

Two US postal workers, a woman from the Bronx in New York, an American Media editor and a Connecticut woman eventually died, and at least 17 others fell ill. Americans rushed to purchase Cipro, an antibiotic that fights the germ.

Investigators soon began to suspect the anthrax samples were made in the same laboratory in Maryland. Suspicion fell on Steve Hatfill, a former Army bio-defense researcher whom the FBI named a "person of interest" in the case. He was eventually cleared, and the US justice department in June announced it would pay him $4.6m to settle a lawsuit he filed against the government. Hatfill also worked at Fort Detrick.

The FBI began scrutinizing Ivins after he failed to report anthrax contaminations at the lab, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ivins told investigators he believed the contaminations were caused by a sloppy lab technician.

Ivins' attorney said Ivins had been cooperating with investigators for more than a year, and said the scientist was innocent. "We are saddened by his death, and disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to defend his good name and reputation in a court of law,'' Paul Kemp told the Associated Press.

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