Bruce Edwards Ivins (; April 22, 1946July 29, 2008)
was an American
microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...
,
vaccinologist,
senior
biodefense
Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generall ...
researcher at the
(USAMRIID),
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and the suspected perpetrator of the
2001 anthrax attacks
The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...
.
Ivins died on July 29, 2008, of an
overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. of
acetaminophen
Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. Common brand names include Tylenol and Panadol.
At a standard dose, paracetamol only slightly decreases body temperature; it is inferior ...
(
Tylenol Tylenol may refer to:
* Paracetamol (acetaminophen), a medication used to treat pain and fever
* Tylenol (brand)
Tylenol () is a brand of medication, advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, ...
) in a
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
after learning that criminal charges were likely to be filed against him by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) for an alleged criminal connection to the attacks.
At a news conference at the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
(DOJ) on August 6, 2008, FBI and DOJ officials formally announced that the Government had concluded that Ivins was likely solely responsible for "the deaths of five persons, and the injury of dozens of others, resulting from the mailings of several anonymous letters to members of Congress and members of the media in September and October 2001, which letters contained ''
Bacillus anthracis
''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ...
'', commonly referred to as anthrax." On February 19, 2010, the FBI released a 92-page summary of evidence against Ivins and announced that it had concluded its investigation. The FBI conclusions have been contested by many, including senior microbiologists, the widow of one of the victims, and several prominent American politicians. Senator
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...
(D-VT), who was among the targets in the attack, Senator
Chuck Grassley
Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States sen ...
(R-IA), Senator
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from ...
(R-PA), Representative
Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Representative
Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...
(D-NY)
[ all argued that Ivins was not solely responsible for the attacks. No formal charges were ever filed against Ivins for the crime, and no direct evidence of his involvement has been uncovered.][
The FBI subsequently requested a panel from the ]National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(NAS) to review its scientific work on the case. On May 15, 2011, the panel released its findings, which "conclude that the bureau overstated the strength of genetic analysis linking the mailed anthrax to a supply kept by Bruce E. Ivins." The NAS committee stated that its primary finding was that "it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion about the origins of the ''B. anthracis'' in the mailings based on the available scientific evidence alone."[ (includes complete text of letter from Rep. Jerrold Nadler).]
Early and family life
Bruce Ivins was born, and spent his youth, in Lebanon, Ohio
Lebanon is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,841 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
History
Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. The first European settler ...
, about northeast of Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
.[ His parents were Thomas Randall Ivins and Mary Johnson (''née'' Knight) Ivins, and he was the youngest of three brothers.] Ivins's father, a pharmacist, owned a drugstore and was active in the local Rotary Club
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
and Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
. The family went regularly to Lebanon Presbyterian Church, although Ivins was later a Catholic parishioner. According to C.W. Ivins, one of Ivins' older brothers, their mother Mary was violent and physically abusive to all three children. When she discovered she was pregnant with Bruce, a pregnancy that was unplanned and unwanted, she repeatedly tried to abort the child by throwing herself down a set of stairs. Ivins would eventually hear the story of his mother's attempt to abort him.
Avidly interested in science, Ivins was an active participant in extracurricular activities in high school, including the National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
, science fair
Science and engineering fairs, hosted by schools worldwide, offer students the opportunity to experience the practices of science and engineering for themselves. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards makes experiencing the ...
s, the current events club, and the scholarship team all four years. He ran on the track and cross-country teams, worked on the yearbook and school newspaper, and was in the school choir and junior and senior class plays.[
In December 1975, Ivins married nursing student Mary Diane Betsch (known as Diane), to whom he remained married until his death.] The couple had two children.[ Diane Ivins was a homemaker and full time parent who also ran a daycare center out of the family's home. His wife, children, and brothers were all still alive at the time of his death; his parents were deceased.]
Education and career
Ivins graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
(UC) with a B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
degree in 1968, an M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree in 1971, and a Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
degree in 1976, all in microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
. Ivins conducted his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Dr. Peter F. Bonventre. His dissertation focused on different aspects of toxicity in disease-causing bacteria.[
Ivins was a scientist for 36 years] and senior biodefense
Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generall ...
researcher at the (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...
, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
for 18 years. After conducting research on ''Legionella
''Legionella'' is a genus of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria that includes the species '' L. pneumophila'', causing legionellosis (all illnesses caused by ''Legionella'') including a pneumonia-type illness called Legionnaires' disease and a mi ...
'' and cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, in 1979, Ivins turned his attention to anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
after the anthrax outbreak in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk (now known as Yekaterinburg), which killed at least 105 after an accidental release at a military facility.
Ivins had published at least 44 scientific papers dating back to May 18, 1969. His earliest known published work pertained to the response of peritoneal
The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesothe ...
macrophage
Macrophages (abbreviated as M φ, MΦ or MP) ( el, large eaters, from Greek ''μακρός'' (') = large, ''φαγεῖν'' (') = to eat) are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that engulfs and digests pathogens, such as cancer cel ...
s, a type of white blood cell, to infection by ''Chlamydia psittaci
''Chlamydia psittaci'' is a lethal intracellular bacterial species that may cause endemic avian chlamydiosis, epizootic outbreaks in mammals, and respiratory psittacosis in humans. Potential hosts include feral birds and domesticated poultry, ...
'', an infectious bacterium that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Ivins often cited the 2001 anthrax attacks in his papers to bolster the significance of his research in years subsequent to the attacks. In a 2006 paper published in the prestigious journal ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', he wrote with his co-authors
Ivins was a co-inventor on two United States patents for anthrax vaccine
Anthrax vaccines are vaccines to prevent the livestock and human disease anthrax, caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''.
They have had a prominent place in the history of medicine, from Pasteur's pioneering 19th-century work with cattle ...
technology, and . Both of these patents are owned by his employer at the time, the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. On March 14, 2003, Ivins and two of his colleagues at USAMRIID received the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service — the highest award given to Defense Department civilian employees — for helping solve technical problems in the manufacture of anthrax vaccines.
Alleged involvement in 2001 anthrax attacks and investigations
The 2001 anthrax attacks involved the mailing of several letters proclaiming, "Death to America ... Death to Israel ... Allah is Great", and contaminated with anthrax, to the offices of U.S. Senators Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...
and Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...
, as well as to the offices of ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
, CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
, NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', and the ''National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years.
The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
''.
Initial investigative role
Ivins became involved in the investigation of the anthrax attacks because he was regarded as a skilled microbiologist. Starting in mid-October, he and his colleagues worked long hours testing samples to distinguish real anthrax letters from the numerous hoaxes that were sent out at this time. Ivins also helped the FBI analyze the powdery material recovered from one of the anthrax-tainted envelopes sent to a U.S. senator's office in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Results of the investigation were initially distributed to the public via ABC News, claiming "four well placed sources" had confirmed that "trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite
Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-mon ...
" were found in the anthrax samples, and that this was the chemical signature of Iraqi-made anthrax. However, it was later confirmed that no bentonite was ever found in the anthrax samples. While it is presumed that Ivins was one of ABC News' four sources, ABC refused to reveal their identities, which has contributed to a mystery surrounding Ivins' role in the initial investigation and its widely reported findings.
2002 Fort Detrick anthrax containment breach
In 2002, an investigation was carried out as a result of an incident at Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...
where anthrax spores had escaped carefully guarded rooms into the building's unprotected areas. The incident called into question the ability of USAMRIID to keep its deadly agents within laboratory walls seven months after the anthrax mailings.
A coworker reportedly told Ivins that she was concerned she was exposed to anthrax spores when handling an anthrax-contaminated letter. Ivins tested the technician's desk area that December and found growth that had the hallmarks of anthrax. He decontaminated her desk, computer, keypad and monitor, but did not notify his superiors.
2008 investigation
For six years, the FBI focused its investigation on Steven Hatfill, considering him to be the chief suspect in the attacks. In March 2008, however, authorities exonerated Hatfill and settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
a lawsuit he initiated for $5.8 million. According to ABC News, some in the FBI considered Ivins a suspect as early as 2002. FBI Director Robert Mueller
Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer and government official who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013.
A graduate of Princeton University and New York ...
changed leadership of the investigation in late 2006, and at that time Ivins became the main focus of the investigation.
After Hatfill was no longer considered a suspect, Ivins began "showing signs of serious strain". As a result of his changed behavior, he lost access to sensitive areas at his job. Ivins began being treated for depression and expressed some suicidal thoughts
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. On March 19, 2008, police found Ivins unconscious at his home in Frederick and sent him to the hospital.[
In June 2008, Ivins was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. The FBI said that during a June 5 group therapy session there, he had a conversation with a witness, during which he made a series of statements about the anthrax mailings that the FBI said could best be characterized as "]non-denial denial
A non-denial denial is a statement that, at first hearing, seems to be a direct, clearcut and unambiguous denial of some allegation or accusation, but after being parsed carefully turns out to not be a denial at all, and is thus not explicitly unt ...
s". When asked about the anthrax attacks and whether he could have had anything to do with them, the FBI said that Ivins admitted he suffered from loss of memory, stating that he would wake up dressed and wonder if he had gone out during the night. His responses allegedly included the following:
:: "I can tell you I don't have it in my heart to kill anybody"
:: "I do not have any recollection of ever have doing anything like that. As a matter of fact, I don't have no clue how to, how to make a bio-weapon and I don't want to know."
:: "I can tell you, I am not a killer at heart"
:: "If I found out I was involved in some way, and, and ..."
:: "I don't think of myself as a vicious, a, a nasty evil person."
:: "I don't like to hurt people, accidentally, in, in any way. And everal scientists at USAMRIIDwouldn't do that. And I, in my right mind wouldn't do it aughsnbsp;... But it's still, but I still feel responsibility because it he anthraxwasn't locked up at the time ..."
Late in July 2008, investigators informed Ivins of his impending prosecution
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...
for alleged involvement in the 2001 anthrax attacks that Ivins himself had previously assisted authorities in investigating. It was reported that the death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
would have been sought in the case. Ivins maintained his security clearance until July 10; he had been publicly critical of the laboratory's security procedures for several years.
W. Russell Byrne, a colleague who worked in the bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...
division of the Fort Detrick research facility, said FBI agents "hounded" Ivins by twice raiding his home and that Ivins had been hospitalized for depression earlier in the month. According to Byrne and local police, Ivins had been removed from his workplace out of fears that he might harm himself or others. "I think he was just psychologically exhausted by the whole process", Byrne said.[ "There are people who you just know are ticking bombs", Byrne said. "He was not one of them." However, Tom Ivins, who last spoke to his brother in 1985, said, "It makes sense ... he considered himself like a god."]
The ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said that Ivins stood to profit from the attacks because he was a co-inventor on two patents for a genetically-engineered anthrax vaccine. San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-area biotechnology company VaxGen
VaxGen was a biopharmaceutical company based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Founded in 1995 and based in South San Francisco, California, the company was engaged in the development of vaccines that immunize against infectious disease, notably AI ...
licensed the vaccine and won a federal contract valued at $877.5 million to provide the vaccine under the Project Bioshield Act
The Project Bioshield Act was an act passed by the United States Congress in 2004 calling for $5 billion for purchasing vaccines that would be used in the event of a bioterrorist attack. This was a ten-year program to acquire medical countermeas ...
. However, biological warfare and anthrax vaccine expert Meryl Nass expressed skepticism about this purported motive: "Historically, government employees do not receive these royalties: the government does."
On August 6, 2008, U.S. Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
Jeffrey A. Taylor, officially made a statement that Ivins was the "sole culprit" in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Taylor stated that Ivins had submitted false anthrax evidence to throw investigators off of his trail, was unable to adequately explain his late laboratory working hours around the time of the attacks, tried to frame his co-workers, had immunized himself against anthrax in early September 2001, was one of more than 100 people with access to the same strain of anthrax used in the killings, and had used similar language in an email to that in one of the anthrax mailings. Ivins was also reportedly upset that the anthrax vaccine that he had spent years helping develop was being pulled from the market.
Death
On the morning of July 27, 2008, Ivins was again found unconscious at his home. He was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital and died on July 29 from what was then called an overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. of Tylenol Tylenol may refer to:
* Paracetamol (acetaminophen), a medication used to treat pain and fever
* Tylenol (brand)
Tylenol () is a brand of medication, advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, ...
with codeine
Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...
, an apparent suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. No autopsy was ordered following his death because, according to an officer in the local police department, the state medical examiner "determined that an autopsy wouldn't be necessary" based on laboratory test results of blood taken from the body. A summary of the police report of his death, released in 2009, lists the cause of death as liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
and kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
, citing his purchase of two bottles of Tylenol PM (containing diphenhydramine
Diphenhydramine (DPH) is an antihistamine and sedative mainly used to treat allergies, insomnia, and symptoms of the common cold. It is also less commonly used for tremor in parkinsonism, and nausea. It is taken by mouth, injected into a vein ...
), contradicting earlier reports of Tylenol with codeine. His family declined to put him on the liver transplant list, and he was removed from life support.
The FBI declined to comment on the situation. Ivins' attorney released a statement saying that Ivins had co-operated with the FBI's six-year investigation and was innocent.
Anthrax investigation, post-death
Criticism of the official findings
Paul Kemp, Ivins' attorney, stated that the government's case against Ivins was "not convincing." Justice Department official Dean Boyd stated that Ivins mailed anthrax to NBC in retaliation for an investigation of Ivins' laboratory's work on anthrax conducted by Gary Matsumoto, a former NBC News journalist. At the time, however, Matsumoto was working for ABC, not NBC. Also, Ivins passed a lie detector test
Lie detection is an assessment of a verbal statement with the goal to reveal a possible intentional deceit. Lie detection may refer to a cognitive process of detecting deception by evaluating message content as well as non-verbal cues. It also ma ...
in which he was questioned about his possible participation in the anthrax attacks. Boyd responded by saying that the FBI now believes that Ivins used countermeasures to deceive the polygraph examiners. "There are clearly a lot of unanswered questions," said Senator Chuck Grassley, who called for a congressional investigation into the allegations that Ivins was the anthrax killer.
Those who argue for Ivins' innocence say that the anthrax used in the attacks was too sophisticated to be produced by a lone researcher without relevant training. Richard O. Spertzel, a microbiologist who led the United Nations' biological weapons inspections of Iraq, wrote that the anthrax used could not have come from the lab where Ivins worked. "In my opinion, there are maybe four or five people in the whole country who might be able to make this stuff, and I'm one of them," said Spertzel, who was also the former deputy commander of USAMRIID. "And even with a good lab and staff to help run it, it might take me a year to come up with a product as good." The spores in the Daschle letter were 1.5 to 3 micrometres across, many times smaller than the finest known grade of anthrax produced by either the U.S. or Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
bioweapons programs. An electron microscope
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...
, which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, would be needed to verify that the target spore size had been consistently achieved. The presence of the anti-clumping additive silicon dioxide in the anthrax samples also suggests a high degree of sophistication as specialists working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...
were unable to duplicate this property despite 56 attempts.
While not outright rejecting the theory of Ivins' involvement, Senator Leahy said that "if he is the one who sent the letter, I do not believe in any way, shape or manner that he is the only person involved in this attack on Congress and the American people. I do not believe that at all."
Allegations of mental illness
On August 6, 2008, the FBI released a collection of emails written by Ivins. In some, Ivins describes episodes of depression, anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
, and paranoia
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...
for which he was medicated; these are referenced in the summary of the case against Ivins. A psychiatrist engaged by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' to analyze the released documents found evidence of psychoses
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...
, but could not rule out the possibility that Ivins was feigning or exaggerating mental illness for purposes of attention or sympathy.
A United States government investigative panel, called the Expert Behavioral Analysis Panel, issued a report in March 2011 which detailed more of Ivins' mental health issues. According to the panel's report, the Army did not examine Ivins' background adequately before clearing him to work with anthrax, and such clearance should not have been given. The report endorses the government's implication of Ivins: circumstantial evidence from Ivins' psychiatric history supported the conclusion that Ivins was the anthrax killer.
Allegations by Ivins' counselor
Social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
er Jean C. Duley applied for a protective order, writing that Ivins had stalked and threatened to kill her and had a long history of homicidal threats. Duley stated that she had treated Ivins for six months, after which she said he threatened to "go out in a blaze of glory". When she forwarded this information to the FBI, she said he left rants on her voicemail that blamed her for his legal issues.
Duley had been set to give testimony against Ivins on August 1, 2008. Ivins, however, had no criminal record, whereas Duley had a history of convictions for driving under the influence
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
and charges of battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
of her ex-husband. The charges forced her to quit her job, and attorney costs used up her savings, according to her fiancé. In a 1999 newspaper interview, Duley described herself as a former motorcycle gang
An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, a ...
member and drug user: "Heroin. Cocaine. PCP. You name it, I did it."[Goldstein, Amy,]
Tales of Addiction, Anxiety, Ranting
, ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', August 6, 2008. According to an article originally appearing in the ''Frederick News-Post
''The Frederick News-Post'' is the local newspaper of Frederick County, Maryland. In addition to discussing local news, the newspaper addresses international, national, and regional news. The paper publishes six days a week.
History
On October ...
'' on August 12, 2009, Duley was under house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
when she tape recorded Ivins' allegedly threatening messages.[Heerbrandt, Katherine (August 12, 2009]
A Shocking Mockery
, ''Frederick News-Post
''The Frederick News-Post'' is the local newspaper of Frederick County, Maryland. In addition to discussing local news, the newspaper addresses international, national, and regional news. The paper publishes six days a week.
History
On October ...
''. The ''News-Post'' also made available a recording of the allegedly threatening calls. The newspaper characterized the messages as not being threatening but instead "the sad ramblings of a broken man who felt betrayed".
In her July 2008 restraining order, Duley alleged that Ivins had a history of threats. She further alleged a "detailed homicidal plan" to kill his co-workers after learning he was going to be indicted on capital murder charges and stated that, upon hearing of his possible indictment, Ivins had purchased a gun and a bulletproof vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. T ...
. Ivins was subsequently committed for psychiatric evaluation
Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
and his home was raided by federal agents who confiscated ammunition and a bulletproof vest. He was released from his committal on July 24, five days before his death.
Statement by Henry S. Heine
Henry S. Heine, a microbiologist who was Ivins' fellow researcher at the USAMRIID, told a National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(NAS) panel on April 22, 2010, that he considered it impossible that Ivins could have produced the anthrax used in the attacks without detection. Heine told the 16-member panel that producing the quantity of spores in the letters would have taken at least a year of intensive work using the equipment at the USAMRIID laboratory. Such an effort would not have escaped colleagues' notice, and laboratory technicians who worked closely with Ivins have told him they saw no such work. Heine also stated that if biological containment measures where Ivins worked were inadequate to prevent the spores from floating out of the laboratory into animal cages and offices, saying "You'd have had dead animals or dead people".
Heine said he did not dispute that there was a genetic link between the spores in the letters and the anthrax in Ivins' flask, which led the FBI to conclude that Ivins had grown the spores from a sample taken from the flask. Heine pointed out that samples from the flask were widely shared. Accusing Ivins of the attacks, he said, was like tracing a murder to the clerk at the sporting goods shop who sold the bullets. Asked by reporters after his testimony whether he believed there was any chance that Ivins had carried out the attacks, Heine replied, "Absolutely not." At the USAMRIID, he said, "among the senior scientists, no one believes it."
National Academy of Sciences scientific evidence review
The FBI asked the NAS to review the Bureau's scientific work on the case. A panel was created, chaired by Alice P. Gast, president of Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
. On May 15, 2011, the panel released its findings, which "conclude that the bureau overstated the strength of genetic analysis linking the mailed anthrax to a supply kept by Bruce E. Ivins."
Calls for further investigation
Following the release of an NAS report in February 2011, Congressman Rush D. Holt, Jr.
Rush Dew Holt Jr. (born October 15, 1948) is an American scientist and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party and son of former West Virginia U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt Sr ...
(D-NJ), a physicist from whose district the anthrax letters were mailed, re-introduced legislation "to create a 9/11-style Commission, complete with subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
power, with a mandate to review the entire matter." Senator Chuck Grassley told ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'': "There are no more excuses for avoiding an independent review." Journalist Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...
, who was vocal in his criticism of the anthrax investigation, argued that " her than a desire to avoid finding out who the culprit was (or to avoid having the FBI's case against Ivins subjected to scrutiny), there's no rational reason to oppose an independent investigation into this matter."
Interests and beliefs
Personal life
Ivins was a Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. The ''News-Post'' made public several letters to the editor
A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail ...
written by Ivins dealing with his religious views. These were cited in the Department of Justice summary of the case against Ivins as suggesting that he may have harbored a grudge against pro-choice
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
Catholic senators Daschle and Leahy, recipients of anthrax mailings. In a letter, Ivins stated, "By blood and faith, Jews are God's chosen, and have no need for 'dialogue' with any gentile
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ...
." Ivins praised a rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
for refusing a dialogue with a Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
cleric.
Ivins's pastimes included playing keyboard at his local church, Saint John the Evangelist; he was a member of the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
; he was an avid juggler
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...
and founder of the Frederick Jugglers. Ivins played keyboards in a Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
band and would often compose and play songs for coworkers who were moving to new jobs.
Obsession with sororities and stalking allegation
According to multiple former colleagues and acquaintances, as well as FBI investigators, Ivins maintained a decades-long obsession with college sororities
Fraternities and sororities are Club (organization), social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, but conti ...
, particularly Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
(KKG), and with particular women. Ivins' attorney, Paul Kemp, described this fixation as dating back to Ivins' time as a college student at the University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
, when he was rebuffed by a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. But according to Dr. Rick Sams, a pharmacologist and former school friend, Ivins had described feelings of resentment toward women stemming from his high school years.
During the 2001 anthrax investigations, FBI investigators learned (in part from information provided by Ivins himself) that after college, Ivins had made uninvited visits to Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority houses at multiple universities, including the University of North Carolina, the University of Maryland, and West Virginia University, and had once stolen a sorority chapter’s ritual book and cipher device. In more recent years, he made extensive online posts about Kappa Kappa Gamma using various pseudonymous handles, including edits to Wikipedia on the topic.
Dr. Nancy Haigwood, the director of the Oregon National Primate Research Center and a Kappa Kappa Gamma member who was a colleague of Ivins at the University of North Carolina when he was a post-doctoral fellow, later recounted to the New York Times a series of intrusive and unsettling interactions with Ivins in the late 1970s and 80s, claiming that "he damaged my property, he impersonated me and he stalked me". A United States government investigative panel, called the Expert Behavioral Analysis Panel, issued a report in March 2011 which described in more detail Ivins' obsession with the sorority and his alleged violations of Haigwood, which including stealing a notebook documenting her doctoral research and vandalizing her residence. Such behavior does not appear to have been anomalous for Ivins, who himself admitted to FBI investigators that he once drove through the night to Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
, to leave gifts for a young woman who had left her job in his laboratory to attend Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
.
Authorities investigating the anthrax attacks found anthrax spores in a postal drop box located at 10 Nassau Street in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
, a mere from a storage facility where the Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma kept rush paraphernalia, initiation robes, and other property as of 2001. However, no evidence was found to place Ivins in Princeton on the day the letters were mailed.[ Katherine Breckinridge Graham, an advisor to KKG's Princeton chapter, stated that there was nothing to indicate that any of the sorority members had anything to do with Ivins.]
Biography
In 2011, journalist David Willman
David Willman (born October 18, 1956) is an American Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist.
Biography Early life and education
Willman was born in California and graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Journalism in 1 ...
's book on Ivins, ''The Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, the Anthrax Attacks, and America's Rush to War'', was published. The book details Ivins' troubled history and mental problems.
In popular culture
The 2001 anthrax attack was featured in the TV series The Hot Zone
''The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story'' is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was P ...
.
The 2022 Netflix documentary, “The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11”, features Bruce Ivins prominently and shows him portrayed by actor Clark Gregg
Robert Clark Gregg Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Iron Man'' (2008), ''Iron Man 2'' (2010), ''Thor'' (2011), ' ...
in re-enactments.
Patents
* November 13, 2001 Asporogenic ''B anthracis'' expression system
* May 14, 2002 Method of making a vaccine for anthrax
References
External links
PubMed Ivins BE as author
Google Scholar Bruce E. Ivins publications
*
in convenient form
*
News articles of Bruce Ivins
in the ''Frederick News-Post
''The Frederick News-Post'' is the local newspaper of Frederick County, Maryland. In addition to discussing local news, the newspaper addresses international, national, and regional news. The paper publishes six days a week.
History
On October ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivins, Bruce Edwards
1946 births
2001 anthrax attacks
2008 suicides
American medical researchers
American microbiologists
Catholics from Maryland
Catholics from Ohio
Drug-related suicides in Maryland
Jugglers
People from Frederick, Maryland
People from Lebanon, Ohio
Terrorism in the United States
Suspected criminals
Suspected serial killers
University of Cincinnati alumni
Vaccinologists