Local News

WASHINGTON (WJZ/AP) ― Authorities are confirming that a Maryland anthrax researcher killed himself with an overdose of acetaminophen, the active drug in Tylenol.

Bruce Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital, as prosecutors were focusing on him as a top suspect in the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings.

The Justice Department is expected to decide within the next few days whether to close its probe into the attacks that killed five people.

The government's working theory is that the brilliant but troubled Army scientist was behind the anthrax-laced letters and may have done it to test his cure for the toxin.

Friends and family knew him as a scientist, a volunteer and music director, but the FBI believed Dr. Bruce Irvins was a terrorist and a killer responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Kelly McPherson reports Irvins worked at the Army's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick for 18 years until his death on Tuesday.

He had a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers recently filed in local court by a social worker.

The developments marked an unexpected turn in an episode that rattled a nation shaken only a few weeks earlier by the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Letters containing anthrax powder turned up at congressional offices, newsrooms and elsewhere, killing five and sending numerous victims to hospitals with anthrax poisoning.

Ivins' attorney asserted the scientist's innocence and said he had been cooperating with investigators for more than a year. "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," said Paul F. Kemp.

For more than a decade, Ivins worked to develop an anthrax vaccine that was effective even in cases where different strains of anthrax were mixed, which made vaccines ineffective, according to federal documents reviewed by the AP. In his research, he complained about the limitations of testing anthrax drugs on animals.

Several U.S. officials, all of whom discussed the ongoing investigation on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said prosecutors were closing in on the 62-year-old Ivins for the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Authorities had been investigating whether the anthrax was released to test new drugs. They were planning an indictment that would have sought the death penalty for the attacks, officials said. For years, the only known suspect in the investigation dubbed "Amerithrax" had been Steven Hatfill, a colleague of Ivins, who has since been exonerated.

The Justice Department released a brief statement Friday afternoon saying, "substantial progress has been made in the investigation by bringing to bear new and sophisticated scientific tools."

The statement did not identify Ivins. It said investigative documents remain sealed but the department expects to release more information soon.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to close the investigation, officials said, meaning authorities are still not certain whether Ivins acted alone or had help. One official close to the case said that decision was expected within days. If the case is closed soon, one official said, that will indicate that Ivins was the lone suspect.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said President Bush was aware there were "about to be developments" in the case but did not elaborate.

Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital.  Tom Ivins, a brother of the scientist, told The Associated Press that his other brother, Charles, had told him that Bruce committed suicide and Tylenol might have been involved. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported that Ivins was under suspicion, said the scientist had taken a massive dose of a prescription Tylenol mixed with codeine.

Kemp said his client's death was the result of the government's "relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo"

Friends, colleagues and court documents paint a picture of a brilliant scientist with a troubled side. Maryland court documents show he recently received psychiatric treatment and he was ordered to stay away from a woman he was accused of stalking and threatening to kill.


"We weren't sure what exactly was happening, but we knew there was something going on on our street. But we never suspected Bruce," said neighbor Natalie Duggan.

"Bruce was a quiet individual, but he was also one of the individuals who would step forward to help with any disaster or volunteer activities that we had around here," said Keith Roberson, Red Cross.

Social worker Jean C. Duley filed handwritten court documents last week saying she was preparing to testify before a grand jury.

She said the FBI was involved and that Ivins would be charged with five capital murders.

"Client has a history dating to his graduate days of homicidal threats, plans and actions towards therapists," Duley said, adding that his psychiatrist had described him as homicidal and sociopathic.

Dr. W. Russell Byrne, a who worked in the bacteriology division at Fort Detrick for 15 years, said police forcefully removed Ivins from his job recently because of fears he had become a danger to himself or others. Byrne said he said he did not believe Ivins was behind the anthrax attacks. 

Fort Detrick released a statement to Eyewitness News Friday morning. 

"The USAMRIID family mourns the loss of Dr.Bruce Ivins, who served the Institute for more than 35 years as a civilian microbiologist. In addition to his long and faithful government service, Bruce contributed to our community as a Red Cross volunteer with the Frederick County chapter. We will miss him very much."


Ivins, who received three degrees including a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, co-authored numerous anthrax studies, including one published in July that described efforts to treat mice deliberately exposed to anthrax. The scientists complained of the limited supply of monkeys available for testing and said testing on animals is insufficient to demonstrate how humans would respond to treatment.

"Bruce was one of those who was intent on finding the answers whether these were true anthrax spores they were finding...and certainly I'd say he's a patriot," said Norman Covert, former Fort Detrick spokesperson.

The Fort Detrick laboratory and its specialized scientists for years have been at the center of the FBI's investigation of the anthrax mailings. In late June, the government exonerated Hatfill, whose name has for years had been associated with the attacks.

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft called him a "person of interest" in 2002.

The government recently paid Hatfill $5.82 million to settle a lawsuit contending he was falsely accused. Hatfill's lawyer, Tom Connolly, said he would not discuss the case until the FBI has time to speak with the family members of victims of the anthrax attacks.

Unusual behavior by Ivins was noted at Fort Detrick in the six months following the anthrax mailings, when he conducted unauthorized testing for anthrax spores outside containment areas at the infectious disease research unit where he worked, according to an internal report. But the focus long stayed on Hatfill.

Investigators have been watching Ivins for some time. His brother, Tom Ivins, said federal agents questions the scientist about a year and a half ago. Neighbors said FBI agents in cars with tinted windows conducted surveillance on his home. A colleague, Henry S. Heine, said that over the past year, he and others on their team have testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that has been investigating the anthrax mailings.

In occasional letters to the local newspaper, Ivins discussed his strong religious faith. He played keyboard and helped clean up after masses at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Frederick, where a dozen parishioners gathered after morning Mass to pray for him Friday.

The Rev. Richard Murphy called Ivins "a quiet man. He was always very helpful and pleasant."

Five people died and 17 were sickened by anthrax powder in letters that were mailed to lawmakers' Capitol Hill offices, TV networks in New York, and tabloid newspaper offices in Florida. Two postal workers in a Washington mail facility, a New York hospital worker, a Florida photo editor and an elderly Connecticut woman were killed.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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