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Anthrax: Hoax Suspect Captured A man suspected of sending anthrax hoax letters to abortion providers last month was captured by the U.S. Marshals service yesterday. Also yesterday, investigators examined the tainted letter sent to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Clayton Lee Waagner was arrested yesterday at a Kinko’s copy store outside Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the Los Angeles Times. Federal marshals had sent wanted posters with Waagner’s face on them to Kinko’s stores across the country on the suspicion that Waagner was checking his e-mail there, the Times reported. “Clayton Lee Waagner’s run from justice is over,” said U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. “We can write across the face of that [wanted] poster: ‘Apprehended’” (Simon/Jackson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6). Waagner is suspected of sending the anthrax hoaxes while being on the run following an escape from a Clinton, Ill., jail in February, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 30). He had been convicted in 1999 on federal firearms and auto theft charges. Waagner said during his 1999 trial that he had monitored abortion clinics for months and stockpiled guns after God asked him to “be my warrior” and kill abortion providers, the AP reported (Larry Margasak, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 5). FBI Profile Disputed The former head of U.N biological weapons inspectors in Iraq yesterday disputed the FBI’s profile of a lone person being responsible for the anthrax incidents (see GSN, Dec. 4), according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The idea that one person with scientific knowledge is responsible is “a lot of hokum,” said Richard Spertzel, who led U.N. biological weapons inspection teams in Iraq following the Gulf War. “I don’t believe that the material was made by some nut,” Spertzel said. “It’s not the kind of thing you mess with in a university laboratory … The level of knowledge, expertise and experience required … to make such a quality product takes time and experimentation to develop.” During his testimony yesterday before the House Committee on International Relations, Spertzel said the anthrax was probably made by some group with ties to a state-run biological weapons program, such as Iraq. “Iraq has the equipment, facilities, material and expertise to have an active biological weapons program,” Spertzel said. The FBI supports its profile, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. Based on “the analysis of the letters, done in consultation with the investigators, this is the ongoing belief of who the person might be,” Carter said (Eunice Moscoso, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 6). Leahy Letter Opened After weeks of careful planning (see GSN, Nov. 27), investigators yesterday opened the anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senator Leahy, the New York Times reported. Scientists at the U.S. Army’s biomedical research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., carefully slit open the letter using a scalpel and began removing what is suspected to be anthrax, the Times reported. Specialized equipment was set up to help neutralize the tendency of the spores to float in the air, according to the Times. After decontamination, the letter and envelope will be searched for possible clues such as DNA or fingerprints (Miller/Johnston, New York Times, Dec. 6). Congressional Mail Will Be Double-Checked Mail sent to the U.S. Congress will be both irradiated and visually checked for evidence of contamination, congressional aides said yesterday. Mail will first be sent to private companies in Ohio and New Jersey for irradiation. Afterwards, the firm Pitney Bowes will check for suspicious powders, aides said. Any letters containing suspicious powder will be turned over to police. The process of irradiating the mail takes two days, and the new inspections will add an additional three-day delay to delivery, according to aides (Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6). New Alert Issued on Handling Mail The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue an alert today on steps people can take to reduce the risk of contracting anthrax from potentially cross-contaminated mail, according to the Washington Post. The new recommendations will likely be similar to ones issued in the past, which included being alert for suspicious packages and washing hands after opening mail. Last month, CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan said it was “highly unlikely to virtually impossible” for someone to contract inhalational anthrax from a piece of cross-contaminated mail, according to the Post. While the CDC still has no proof that cross-contamianted mail poses a health hazard, officials have become concerned that it may indeed pose such a risk, the Post reported. Findings in the investigations into the deaths of Kathy Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren (see GSN, Dec. 4) “have raised concerns that the two unsolved cases of inhalational anthrax may be due to contact with cross-contaminated mail,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. “This could make some people feel nervous about opening their mail,” Skinner said. “We’re saying people who think they may have gotten a cross-contaminated letter and are concerned about opening the mail may take the following steps to help reduce the already low risk” (Connolly/Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6).
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