The Frederick County scientist who killed himself days before federal prosecutors reportedly planned to charge him with five murders related to the 2001 anthrax attacks had been under suspicion for more than a year and was recently accused of making "homicidal threats" as the pressure built and investigators closed in.
Bruce E. Ivins, a 62-year-old microbiologist who was part of an elite team of researchers at the U.S. Army's biochemical laboratory at Fort Detrick, was being linked to the same deadly mail-borne anthrax attacks that his lab helped to investigate. Justice Department prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty against Ivins, according to sources close to the case, and had convened a federal grand jury to hear evidence.
According to a neighbor, federal agents had been monitoring Ivins' house for a year.
Federal investigators disclosed few new details yesterday about their interest in Ivins, whose association with the anthrax case was first reported yesterday by the Los Angeles Times. Ivins' attorney released a statement declaring his client's innocence, blaming his suicide on the "relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo."
But details pieced together from court records, Army investigative reports and interviews with dozens of family members, colleagues and acquaintances paint a sketch of a respected, if rather intense scientist who seemed to unravel as prosecutors' intention to pursue a criminal case against him became clear.
Court records show that Ivins briefly entered Sheppard Pratt Services at Frederick Memorial Hospital, a 15-bed psychiatric unit, around July 10, less than three weeks before killing himself with an overdose of prescription-strength Tylenol and codeine.
Also around that time, he called Jean C. Duley, a social worker in Frederick, and left a threatening message, the records show. It was unclear yesterday what, if any, relationship existed between them.
On July 24, Duley sought a protective order against Ivins in Frederick County District Court, saying the scientist had a "history ... of homicidal threats, actions [and] plans." A judge granted the protective order, finding that Ivins had placed Duley "in fear of imminent serious bodily harm." The order was dismissed Thursday, two days after Ivins' death.
Duley also said in her handwritten petition that she was scheduled to testify yesterday before a federal grand jury and that she expected Ivins to be charged with five murders.
