Amerithrax, Anthrax Laced Letter, 2001

Laboratory technician's hands shown safely opening anthrax laced letter addressed to Senator Leahy at the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick bio-medical research laboratory in the Amerithrax investigation. The 2001 Anthrax Attacks occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic Senators (Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy), killing 5 people and infecting 17 others. Bruce Edwards Ivins, senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, became a focus of investigation around April 4, 2005. He was put under periodic surveillance and an FBI document stated that Ivins is an extremely sensitive suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks. On July 29, 2008, Ivins committed suicide with an overdose of acetaminophen. On August 6, 2008, based on DNA evidence leading to an anthrax vial in Ivins's lab, federal prosecutors declared Ivins to be the sole culprit of the crime. The FBI formally closed its investigation in early 2010. December 5, 2001

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Actions Agency Analyst Anthracis Anthrax Attacks Bacillus Biological Bureau Democrat Enforcement Examiner Forensic Forensics G-man Germ Infamous Intelligence Investigation Laced Leahy Maryland Notorious Technician Terrorism Terrorist Threat Twenty-first Unconventional

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