They also said he was obsessed with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and the street box in Princeton from which the letters were posted is just 60 feet from a Kappa Kappa Gamma office. Among other evidence presented in the affidavits, one of the documents quotes a posting on a Web site last year in which Ivins wrote that the sorority had "labeled me as an enemy decades ago, and I can only abide by their 'Fatwah' on me."
Furthermore, investigators determined that the pre-stamped envelopes used in the mailings were bought from a Frederick post office where Ivins had a box. He was also a prolific writer to Congress and the media. A search of his house last fall turned up 68 such letters.
Officials acknowledged lacking direct evidence to connect Ivins to the anthrax attacks but said the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.
"We have a flask that's effectively the murder weapon from which those spores were taken that was controlled by Dr. Ivins," Taylor said. "The anthrax in that flask was created by Dr. Ivins. We have the suspicious behavior that he had undertaken over the years.
"Circumstantial evidence, sure. Some of it is," Taylor continued. "But it's compelling evidence and in our view would have helped us prove the case against Dr. Ivins beyond a reasonable doubt."
Daschle said yesterday that he would not comment until he had a chance to review the evidence released. Rep. Rush Holt, whose central New Jersey district includes Princeton, said the evidence was "compelling" after receiving a briefing from the FBI director.
But, Holt said, "a number of important questions remain unanswered, such as why investigators remained focused on Dr. Hatfill long after they had begun to suspect Dr. Ivins of the crime and why investigators are so certain that Ivins acted alone."
stephen.kiehl@baltsun.com
david.nitkin@baltsun.com
MENTAL ILLNESS:
Ivins kept security clearance during treatment. PG 7A
HOW THE CASE DEVELOPED
September-October 2001
* Researcher Bruce Ivins' evening use of his laboratory at the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick spikes. It is used for research on dangerous animal and human pathogens, including anthrax.
* Anthrax is mailed to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and members of the news media in New York and Florida. By late November, five people are dead and 17 sickened. The victims include postal workers and others who came into contact with the anthrax.
