Episode 3: Anthrax This!

Summary

Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer
Episode 3: Anthrax This!
Release Date: April 9, 2025

Hosted by Jeremiah Kroll
Produced by Wolf Entertainment, USG Audio, Dig Studios, and CBC

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Introduction: A City on Edge

The podcast episode opens in September 2001, just days before the catastrophic events of 9/11. Dr. Marcy Layton, the Assistant Commissioner for the New York City Health Department, and her team are orchestrating a large-scale bioterrorism drill aimed at preparing for potential biological attacks, with anthrax as a primary threat. The intense preparations include setting up emergency hospital beds and simulating mass antibiotic distribution using M&Ms to represent medications like ciprofloxacin and doxycycline.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Marcy Layton (00:34): “All of this was to make sure that they were ready in case of a large scale biohazard attack, like the release of a lethal toxin gas or maybe powder that could kill thousands of people. And one kind of toxin was front and center in her mind. Anthrax.”

The Convergence of 9/11 and Anthrax Attacks

On September 11, 2001, the world’s attention shifts dramatically as two airplanes crash into the World Trade Center towers, followed by an attack on the Pentagon. The emergency preparations by Dr. Layton’s team pivot instantly from a simulated exercise to a real-life crisis. The sudden surge in emergencies transforms the planned anthrax drill into a backdrop against which a new terror unfolds: the anthrax attacks.

Notable Quote:
Special Agent Scott Decker (05:12): “That two airplanes struck the two large towers of the World Trade Center.”

Initial Anthrax Cases in Florida

One month after 9/11, the FBI faces a baffling new challenge: three individuals at a news office in Florida have been infected with anthrax. Initial theories suggest a possible link to Al Qaeda, akin to the 9/11 attacks, but the evidence remains inconclusive. Special Agent Scott Decker is tasked with uncovering the truth behind these infections, navigating through a maze of scientific data and dead-end leads.

Notable Quote:
Special Agent Scott Decker (04:21): “Some people will say, well then it could have been, it could have been a lot of things, but we don't have any proof that it was.”

Anthrax Strikes in New York City's Media Outlets

As panic simmers in Florida, anthrax rears its head in New York City, targeting prominent media organizations like NBC, ABC, CBS, and the New York Post. Johanna Houden, a reporter at the New York Post, becomes a central figure when she develops a mysterious lesion on her finger, later confirmed to be cutaneous anthrax. The discovery of a contaminated letter at 30 Rockefeller Center addressed to Tom Brokaw links the attacks directly to the US mail system.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Marcy Layton (08:37): “The Hazmat team seals off the area. There's no return address on the envelope, but there’s a postmark. September 18th from Trenton, New Jersey.”

The Story of Johanna Houden

Johanna Houden's personal ordeal exemplifies the human cost of the anthrax attacks. Initially dismissing her symptoms as a spider bite, Johanna’s condition deteriorates, leading her to seek emergency medical care. Her subsequent infection becomes a high-profile case, especially after her editor orchestrates a New York Post front-page article that inadvertently turns her into a symbol of the bioterrorism crisis.

Notable Quote:
Scott Payne (28:14): “They wanted me to write a piece... Tonight, we find ourselves in the unusual and unhappy position of reporting on one of our beloved colleagues who has contracted a cutaneous anthrax infection.”

FBI Investigation and Breakthrough

Special Agent Decker and his team finally secure a critical piece of evidence: an envelope containing zillions of anthrax spores with unmistakable ties to the Ames strain, the same strain found in the Florida cases. This breakthrough confirms the use of the US mail system as the delivery mechanism for the anthrax attacks, solidifying the case as an act of terrorism.

Notable Quote:
Special Agent Scott Decker (20:17): “Finding it proved that it was an act of terrorism.”

Laboratory Contamination Setback

Just as the investigation gains momentum, a significant setback occurs when the FBI laboratory in Manhattan becomes contaminated with anthrax from the Brokaw letter. This mishap forces the lab to shut down, destroying crucial evidence and delaying progress in tracing the source of the attacks. The contamination not only hampers the investigation but also highlights the challenges faced by law enforcement in handling such dangerous pathogens.

Notable Quote:
Special Agent Scott Decker (24:47): “We had hardly any of the powder left, and I think somebody lost their job over that.”

Ongoing Investigation and Continued Threat

Despite the contamination, the FBI persists in its efforts. Genetic analysis reveals that both the New York and Florida anthrax strains are identical, suggesting a common source or perpetrator. However, advancements in DNA analysis are insufficient at the time to pinpoint the exact individual responsible. Meanwhile, fear escalates as additional anthrax letters are discovered, including one in Washington D.C., indicating that the attacks may be far from over.

Notable Quote:
Special Agent Scott Decker (24:07): “We said, yeah, tracking the DNA, that just might do it for us.”

Public Fear and Media Portrayal

The relentless spread of anthrax stokes public fear and anxiety. Media coverage becomes a double-edged sword, providing necessary information while also amplifying panic. Johanna’s experience is particularly poignant, as her unintended portrayal in the New York Post serves as a stark visualization of the threat, yet it also leads to personal and professional repercussions that weigh heavily on her.

Notable Quote:
Scott Payne (29:01): “I was terrified because I'd actually named my boyfriend at the time who later became my husband.”

Conclusion: An Unresolved Crisis

By mid-October 2001, the anthrax attacks have claimed multiple lives and infected numerous individuals, leaving the FBI scrambling for answers. The identification of the Ames strain links the attacks across different locations, but the inability to secure fingerprints or trace the source of the letters leaves the investigation at a standstill. As another contaminated letter surfaces in Washington D.C., the sense of urgency and fear intensifies, underscoring the unresolved nature of the crisis.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Marcy Layton (33:36): “If the terrorists incorporate intention is to spread fear and panic, then sending anthrax here to the very seat of government is certainly having that effect.”

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Key Takeaways:

• Preparation Meets Reality: Dr. Layton's preparedness for a biological attack becomes tragically prophetic as the anthrax attacks materialize amidst the chaos of 9/11.

• Mail as a Vector: The revelation that anthrax was delivered through the US mail system underscores vulnerabilities in national security infrastructure.

• Human Impact: Johanna Houden's story personalizes the broader terror, illustrating the profound personal toll of bioterrorism.

• Investigative Challenges: The FBI's struggle with contaminated evidence and limited forensic technology highlights the complexities of bioterrorism investigations.

• Persistent Fear: The ongoing discovery of anthrax letters fosters a climate of fear and uncertainty, affecting both individuals and institutions.

Notable Quotes Summarized:

• Dr. Marcy Layton (00:34): Preparedness for bioterrorism was a reality they had to face before and after 9/11.

• Special Agent Scott Decker (20:17): The discovery of anthrax spores in mail confirmed the act as terrorism.

• Scott Payne (29:01): Personal fears intertwined with professional vulnerabilities in the wake of the attacks.

This episode meticulously chronicles the intersection of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent anthrax terror, shedding light on the multifaceted challenges faced by public health officials, law enforcement, and ordinary citizens during one of America’s most harrowing crises.

Transcript

[Scott Payne]

Scott Payne spent nearly two decades working undercover as a biker, a neo Nazi, a drug dealer, and a killer. But his last big mission at the FBI was the wildest of all.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

I have never had to burn Bibles.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

I have never had to burn an American flag, and I damn sure was never with a group of people that stole a goat, sacrificed it at a.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Pagan ritual, and drank his blood. And I did all that in about.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Three days with these guys.

[Scott Payne]

Listen to Agent Palehorse. The second season of White Hot Hate, available now.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

This is a CBC podcast. It's a breezy day outside a warehouse on a pier on the west side of Manhattan. It's September 2001, before 911 and before anthrax showed up in Florida. A group of health officials are setting up hospital beds inside the warehouse.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

It was the first time, I think, that we were planning to do a large scale exercise.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Dr. Marcy Layton was the assistant commissioner for the health department in New York City.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

The consequences were quite high if something was released in a place like New York City with the potential to cause, you know, hundreds of thousands or more cases.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Which is why Marcy and the team set up those emergency beds all around them. They've been planning a drill for months, and now it's time to set it in motion.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

It's one thing to sort of talk about it and have a written plan. It's another thing to set this up quickly.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

All of this was to make sure that they were ready in case of a large scale biohazard attack, like the release of a lethal toxin gas or maybe powder that could kill thousands of people. And one kind of toxin was front and center in her mind. Anthrax.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

Part of the preparation for a large scale aerosols release of anthrax was the recognition that we would need to give antibiotics out quickly to potentially a large number of people.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Marcy and her team were designing a simulation of a bioterror attack on New York to try to understand how the city could respond effectively. And to accomplish that, they'd hired hundreds of police academy cadets and fire department trainees to act as victims.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

The plan was the cadets would go through but then get back in line as new people.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The whole thing was nearly ready to go. The nypd, firefighters, the FBI, fema, all the volunteers, and even the mayor at the time, Rudy Giuliani, were all going to show up in two days. There was now a sea of stretchers and a bunch of medical equipment on the pier. There was even a delivery of fake antibiotics on the way.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

We didn't want to Waste true antibiotics, ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. So instead of using real medications, they just had two different kinds of M&Ms. One for Cipro and one for Doxy's.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

70,000 MMs divided by color to stand in for the medicine. They were scheduled to arrive the next day, a Tuesday. Tuesday the 11th of September. They never arrived. All that we know right now is.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

That two airplanes struck the two large.

[Scott Payne]

Towers of the World Trade Center.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

We spoke to the White House. There also apparently was an attack on the Pentagon. All of those white hospital beds became er, stretchers for victims of 9 11. And in the wake of that, Marcy, who had spent so much time preparing for a hypothetical biological attack, was about to face the real thing. I'm Jeremiah Kroll and from Wolf Entertainment, this is Aftermath the hunt for the anthrax killer. Episode 3 Anthrax this one month after the attacks of 9 11, the FBI is caught in a conundrum. Three people at a news office in Florida have been infected with anthrax. And despite lots of signs that suggest it may have been a second wave attack by Al Qaeda, the FBI doesn't have any evidence to support that theory. And on top of that, unlike the plot of 9 11, there's no clandestine chatter or public statements that link Al Qaeda to anthrax.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Some people will say, well then it could have been, it could have been a lot of things, but we don't have any proof that it was.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Special Agent Scott Decker is charged with helping find that proof. He's at the center of it all at FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. his office was just down the hall from Robert Mueller, who was the new director of the FBI and by sheer bad luck had been sworn in only one week before 9 11. Now, less than a month into the job, he was facing both the 911 and anthrax cases, which would soon become two of the largest investigations in FBI history.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

The new Director Mueller was in a little room off to the side. You could see him in there. I don't think he ever went home. I think he just lived there. But he was bound that no stone would go unturned.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

But so far, none of those stones are turning up much. All the FBI knows at this point is that a letter with white powder that made its way through that Florida news office may have been what infected the victims.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

The areas that were highly contaminated were the mail folders where they would sort the mail. And those were very, very hot.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

There's something maliciously simple about using the US mail to Poison US Citizens much like there was about exploiting American airplanes to crash into American buildings. But was the mail really the delivery mechanism? One month after waiting for those M&Ms. On September 11, Dr. Marcy Layton is still bracing the city for a fight against an enemy she can't even see.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

So I think it was a Friday. It's always Friday. And so it was like 3:00 in the morning when I got a call from a friend of mine who worked at cdc. Marcy, this is David. I'm calling because the director of CDC wants to talk to you. We're going to call you back in a few minutes. We'll give you a couple minutes to wake up for the call.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Marcy's lab had sent out dozens of bio samples in the last few weeks, monitoring for anthrax and other biohazards. And now the phone was ringing before dawn.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

And I'm like, David, if you're calling me to tell me at 3:00 in the morning that the CDC director wants to talk to me, you're basically telling me the result is positive.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Marci's office had tested a tissue sample from a woman who worked in Midtown. The woman had found a black lesion on her chest. Doctors had been back and forth on what it was, and now the CDC's verdict was in.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

They took one look at the lesion and were convinced that it was anthrax.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Anthrax had gotten through the gates of New York City. Put yourself in Marcy's shoes for a minute. She's been theorizing about hypothetical bioterror attacks for years, planning for a second wave attack after 9, 11 for weeks. And now it's go time as the city comes to life. Early that morning, a police car races to pick up Marcy. She opens the car door and finds members of the CDC and the nypd. She gets in and they speed towards midtown.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

I will never forget it because we went lights and sirens while he was yelling into the microphone for cars to get out of the way.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Their destination is in some ways as scary as the anthrax itself. Marcy is racing towards one of the most iconic buildings in New York City. 30 Rockefeller center, aka 30 Rock. It's a skyscraper full of thousands of people smack dab in the heart of Manhattan. And on top of that, Marcy's also struck by where in the building the victim worked. NBC News.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

The fact that it was a media site was really concerning to us.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

NBC is the second news company to be hit in 10 days, and Marcy worries there could be many more anthrax infections about to show up. She learns the victim here is an assistant for legendary news anchor Tom Brokaw. She'd spilled white powder on herself when she'd opened a letter addressed to Brokaw. Remember that? In Florida, the FBI and local investigators had suspected that a letter had been the source of infections, but they'd never found one. So if Marcy, the FBI and police can find an envelope at 30 Rock, they'd have the case's first physical evidence.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

So part of the response at NBC that Friday was to try and find what the source of exposure was. So that letter, there was an intensive investigation done by NYPD and FBI and.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The CDC and a hazmat team. Together, they start scouring the building looking for that envelope or anything that can tell them how anthrax got inside the building. As they search, NBC finds itself in an unusual spot. Not just reporting the news, but being the news. Somebody want to give me a cue? When we're ready. When we're good to go. We all set?

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Good morning.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

I'm Andy Lack. I'm with NBC.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

I'm here with the mayor and with Bob Wright and Tom Brokaw and some.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Of the mayor's key colleagues this morning. As many of you know now we. We received a positive test for cutaneous anthrax for one of our colleagues who works on Nightly News.

[Scott Payne]

Good evening.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Tonight, we find ourselves in the unusual and unhappy position of reporting on one of our beloved colleagues who has contracted a cutaneous anthrax infection. The reaction in New York City is bonkers. Another infection, this time at NBC News. And Rockefeller Media Building in Florida was targeted.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

One man died eight days later.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

It has been, as I'm sure a lot of you know, a very strange day here in New York. Investigators say it's too soon to tell whether the same person is responsible for the anthrax attacks in both Florida.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

And suddenly today, the anthrax scare that is sweeping this country turned up on its own.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

An NBC employee tested positive for what's known as cutaneous anthrax. Today, there's been another case of reported case of anthrax in New York City at NBC News. And it has got to cause concern for our nation. But I want everybody in the country to know we're responding rapidly. What President George Bush doesn't say here, but what many Americans are beginning to fear is that with anthrax surfacing in both Florida and New York, these exposures aren't accidents. An attack is unfolding. And what no one knows yet is that NBC isn't the only new case. About a week after 911 and well before the FBI or anyone knows anything about anthrax in New York or even Florida, someone else also had a suspicious lesion.

[Scott Payne]

It was so strange at first it was just red and itchy, and then it started to look like white cauliflower.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Johanna Houden was 30 years old at the time. And before she got that lesion, before 911 happened, she had her dream job writing a column at one of New York City's fabled tabloid, the New York Post.

[Scott Payne]

I covered drink trends, nightlife trends, and I also sat next to the Cheap Eats restaurant critic. And we'd all get dishes and we'd all kind of share it because she had to try all of the dishes. So it was fun.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Then September 11 happened. Suddenly, she and everyone else at the paper was on the 911 beat, covering terrorism full time. The newsroom turned into a microcosm of the city itself.

[Scott Payne]

It was almost silent. It was so strange. And we would all just kind of look at each other and. And not a lot of phones were ringing.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Then anthrax showed up in Florida. The target there had been a tabloid newspaper, one with big, loud headlines, just like Johanna's paper, the New York Post People were dying.

[Scott Payne]

There was a photo editor in Florida that had dropped dead because of this. I did feel that journalists and reporters and editors even had a mark on their back.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

What Johanna didn't realize is that by this time, she'd already become part of the story, because three weeks before anthrax even shows up in Florida, Johanna had developed that strange cauliflower lesion. It was about the size of a penny on the knuckle of her right middle finger.

[Scott Payne]

It was like nothing I'd ever seen on a human being. And it had this texture to it with these ridges. And then that started to fill with fluid.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Still, she went about her business. Remember, this is happening before the case in New York and before the case in Florida. So Johan is freaked out, but she doesn't know what to make of it. She hopes it'll just go away, but it doesn't. She goes to a doctor. He tells her it's probably a spider bite. He gives her antibiotics and tells her to come back if it gets worse. It does.

[Scott Payne]

I was actually at a wedding out on Long island, and all of a sudden it popped. And, like, this white liquid oozed out all over my hand and the skirt I was wearing. And I thought, that's strange. You know, there's something going on Here.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Soon the whole midsection of her middle finger is black and raw. Johanna goes to the emergency room.

[Scott Payne]

So a doctor came in to examine me again. Looked at it quite a while, but didn't biopsy it or anything. And then he said he was going to remove it. And they didn't give me any anesthesia, I guess because it was necrotic. Yeah, they just took it right off.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

After that, she thought maybe she'd put the whole strange infection thing behind her. But less than a week later, on Friday, October 12, Johanna is working late at the New York Post.

[Scott Payne]

You know, I have my back to the tv. You always have the TV going on in the newsroom. It wasn't until I was sitting in the newsroom and the NBC case broke.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Tonight we find ourselves in the unusual.

[Scott Payne]

I just slowly turned around and started watching and my heart started pounding. I was like, that's exactly what I had.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

She's terrified. She's had symptoms for weeks. Johanna rushes back to the er, but the hospital is now packed with people, many panicking that they have anthrax. Once she finally gets in to see a doctor again, he's got a very different take than her last visit.

[Scott Payne]

And he's like, you know what? I think that spider bite you had was anthrax.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

This doctor sends a biopsy for testing to confirm his suspicions. Until then, he can't say for sure it's anthrax because previous doctors had already cut out the lesion. But Johanna, she's got no doubt.

[Scott Payne]

You know, my skin had turned black, so it just shifted everything I saw and everything I touched. And it was terrifying.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The doctor had prescribed the only antibiotic that might help her. By now, it's the middle of the night, she heads out to find it.

[Scott Payne]

I ended up going to a 24 hour drain read in midtown Manhattan to try to get Cipro.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The pharmacy is packed with people scared about anthrax. They're also trying to get Cipro.

[Scott Payne]

It was going on and on. I was there for an hour and finally I was like, look, I have anthrax. I need Cipro. And it was like a real New York moment. People were like, give the girl the Cipro.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

They bump her to the front of the line and finally she gets the Cipro. But now on her way back home, she's consumed by the thought of what else might be contaminated.

[Scott Payne]

I mean, anthrax spores. I was worried that they would be in my house or in my hair or on my body or God forbid, in my boyfriend's house. And it's just this absolutely warped reality where you're looking at your coffee table and you're wondering if it could kill you.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The fear that she's feeling now is the same fear gripping New York now that everyone knows anthrax has hit the city. What started as hope that this might be an isolated incident in Florida has turned into the grim realization that once again, the nation is under attack and no one knows where the next trace of white powder will appear or who will be the next to get sick or die. At 24, I lost my narrative, or rather, it was stolen from me.

[Scott Payne]

And the Monica Lewinsky that my friends.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And family knew was usurped by false.

[Scott Payne]

Narratives, callous jokes, and politics.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

I would define reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen, and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the.

[Scott Payne]

Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

You can listen to Reclaiming early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. The Brokaw letter appearing at 30 Rock has left new York City in a state of fear and panic, and the FBI is feeling powerless. They still have no evidence in their possession. There's nothing yet to examine or hope to get clues from. So back at 30 Rock, the search is on. A CDC agent and a security director are now going through the building floor by floor, literally asking everyone where suspicious mail might have been sent. Agent Decker says that this trail, it leads to the basement.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

They walked in a security office, and there was a security guard with his feet up on a desk and he's eating a sandwich. And his boss, the director, said something to him. Do you have any letters to Brokaw, something to that effect? And he reached into the drawer of the desk and he pulled out a plastic bag, and there was an envelope, and it was addressed to Tom Brokaw.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

They can see there's visible powder leaking inside the bag. The Hazmat team seals off the area. There's no return address on the envelope, but There's a postmark. September 18th from Trenton, New Jersey. And inside this envelope is a handwritten letter. It's written in black ink, and the handwriting looks blocky, like a child in grade school wrote.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

It starts out 09-11-019-1101. This is next. Take penicillin now. Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great and penicillin is misspelled. So we don't like America, we don't like Israel, and we sure do like Allah. So it must be Islamic. Whoever did this was an Islamic fundamentalist fanatic, I would call it.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

There's a lot to unpack there. But right at this moment they have a baggie with possible anthrax sitting in it. They need to know what they're dealing with. So Decker's colleague from the CDC packs it up carefully and gets it to the lab for testing.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

They blew what we say, blue light. They got a police car and a blue bubble and a siren. And they took it to the Manhattan Laboratory of Public Health and they said, could you analyze this for anthrax? I think this powder may be anthrax powder.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And then they wait.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

And about midnight he gets a call. This letter is zillions of spores. There's zillions of spores in here. Those are his exact words, zillions. It was a very big deal investigating for us.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The FBI now knows for certain that anthrax is being distributed on purpose.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

It was the first letter tied to the anthrax mailing. Finding it proved that it was an act of terrorism.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And they now have the physical proof that their theory about the letter in Florida was correct. Someone is using the mail to deliver anthrax. It's a huge break for investigators. But that doesn't quiet the rising panic in New York City. Since this morning at 7:00, we've had 122 calls for suspicious packages in New York Yesterday there were 84 anthrax emergency calls in just seven hours. The mayor tried to reassure the population this was just an isolated case. It is likely that this issue all began way back on September 25th.

[Scott Payne]

So one piece of good news is.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

That if anyone else was going to be infected, it would have happened by now. That reassurance was short lived.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

We did find a second case relatively quickly. The person who actually opened most of the letters had a lesion that was not obvious. That was the second case at NBC.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And that same Friday afternoon, while this is all happening at NBC, at abc, a producer's seven month old son who had a sore on his arm after visiting the office a couple of weeks earlier, now tests positive for anthrax. At CBS, a NEWSaid who had a mark on her face, also test positive. And then finally, reports of our New York Post reporter Johanna Houden's infection come in. The people at NBC, ABC and now CBS also have people who have contracted.

[Scott Payne]

Anthrax and in most cases are people who handle mail.

[Jeremiah Kroll]

So by the end of that one day that started at 3:00 in the morning, we had Evidence of anthrax at four other media sites in the city.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

With the infections mounting, the only shot at stopping them is now finally in the hands of the FBI. They've got the letter and the envelope from NBC, the one with zillions of spores. Which means they have access to a bunch of new forensic clues.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

We had Ian writing ink analysis, possibly errors, and fibers inside the envelope. Maybe a particular type of ink would have been used that wasn't so common. Maybe the guy licked a stamp, maybe human DNA.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

There's also the language Allah is great and Death to America. Certainly make it seem like it was written by an extremist, maybe even someone from Al Qaeda. But for Decker, it's what's leaking out of the envelope that has the biggest possibility for clues.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Now, we had an actual litter filled with anthrax.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And something about the powder itself catches his eye.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

It was crude stuff. Crude powder? It wasn't really a powder. It was more like sand, I guess. It didn't aerosolize very well, if at all, but it could grind into your skin pretty easily. So if I open a letter, it falls on my desk, and then I lean on my desk to use the computer. I'll probably pick up cutaneous anthrax.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Decker didn't see the anthrax from Florida. Remember, they hadn't found any physical evidence for that case, but he knows that victim had died from inhaling it. That anthrax had to have been lighter than this. A finer powder, something that could float through the air.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

I tell people, think about when you pour oatmeal into a bowl, you get a puff of little smoke. Some of the oatmeal is so fine, it goes up into the air in your kitchen. That's what these spores do.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

So, given the different consistencies, was this grainy anthrax made by the same person? The FBI hopes to figure that out by analyzing it under a microscope. And right away, they find a clue.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

When we did the strain typing, it.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Was the Ames strain, the Ames strain, the same strain that was found in Florida. That suggests that though there are two different textures, it might, in fact, have been made by the same person. They'd need to try and match the DNA to know for sure.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

We all agreed on genetics. We said, yeah, tracking the DNA, that just might do it for us. We knew that if we're going to solve this thing, that was our best shot at it.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

But there were two problems. That kind of DNA analysis that could trace an anthrax strain's precise genetic makeup still didn't exist. Yet the other problem at that crucial moment, there was a major mishap in the lab.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

They contaminated the lab in Manhattan with the Brokaw letter, with the powder it got out of the safety cabinet, spread around the lab. I don't know where, but floors, desks, somewhere. They contaminated the laboratory, and they had to shut the laboratory down. We had hardly any of the powder left, and I think somebody lost their job over that.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

It takes weeks of cleaning and revalidating protocols. That mistake is an unbelievable setback for the FBI. Agents have so little powder left to analyze, but there's at least one lead they can still follow.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

I remember sitting down with one of the FBI laboratory bosses, and we said, well, we have this letter now. We'd sure like to look for fingerprints. How are we going to do that? This is pretty dangerous stuff. I said, you know, we're going to have to neutralize the little bit of anthrax that's left there. We're going to have to kill it before we can analyze anything in this letter.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

If he wants to analyze the letter, Decker has to destroy any remaining anthrax to make sure it doesn't infect anyone in the forensics lab.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

We said, well, we got to do it because we got to look for fingerprints.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Much like cancer treatments use radiation to damage the DNA of cancer cells, the FBI lab uses radioactive cobalt cel to deactivate the anthrax spores. It works so they're finally safe to examine the envelope for a print. And the result is nothing. No legible fingerprints on the letter or envelope.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

One fingerprint found in the database of the FBI in the case would have been solved.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Probably all they've got is the mechanism by which anthrax has been infecting people. The mail. They finally know the how, but the why and critically, the who still remain mysteries.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

Once we found out it was Ames, we did not know how widely that existed in laboratories. We didn't know how far it had spread in other research laboratories in this country and the world. And that was a big, big question for us in October of 2001.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Part of that big question, really the biggest part of that big question is whether one of those labs is linked to the Middle East. So far, the FBI has no evidence to point the finger at Al Qaeda. But the White House doesn't hesitate. One of President Bush's cabinet members says that given the timing, he thinks it beyond coincidence that these attacks are not linked to the al Qaeda network. For weeks, the public message in Florida had been isolated incidentally and no connection to Terrorists. But now that New York is under attack, things change. The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let the terrorists lock our country down. The New York Post takes that cue and runs with it. What happens next is not something Johanna Houden likes to discuss.

[Scott Payne]

It was such a pitiful moment and I felt like I'd totally been used.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

It took weeks before she would even talk to us and months to agree to be interviewed. Here's why. She told us that the trouble began a day or two after she had that blister removed. That her editor saw the bandaged finger and got an idea. A way to bring Johanna and the New York Post right into the anthrax story itself.

[Scott Payne]

They wanted me to write a piece.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The piece was a short first person article about being infected with anthrax.

[Scott Payne]

I didn't see the copy before it went out.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

The article and Johanna's photo go on the front page. Full cover of the New York Post. It's her face and in the foreground, her bandaged middle finger sticking up. There's a headline, huge in bright white letters that says anthrax this.

[Scott Payne]

And here I am on every corner of New York, on every newsstand and on tv, over and over and over again, giving the finger to Osama bin Laden. I mean, you look up and see your photo and not only do you see your photo, but you see yourself flipping the bird on the COVID of the New York Post.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

And along the bottom there's a subtitle that reads, stricken New York Post Girl's Message to the Terrorists. A full half of the COVID is Johanna's face. She's looking directly at the camera with her forearm raised, her middle finger pointing at the sky. So, yeah, it looks a lot like she's flipping off Osama bin Laden. The New York Post didn't respond to our request for comment. As for Johanna, she hadn't looked at the piece she wrote for years. But during our interview, we asked if she'd read it.

[Scott Payne]

Here it is. Okay. I haven't looked in this a while. It's crazy. Fighting words.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

It ends like this.

[Scott Payne]

I'll be okay. Am I quitting my job? Am I leaving town? Absolutely not. I've been kicking butt in this town for seven years trying to make it as a journalist in the biggest and best city in the world. And I will. Too bad, Osama. I didn't write the last line.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Johannes says there are a few things wrong with this article. First, it wasn't what she wrote. She never mentioned bin Laden. She says her editors changed it making it sound like she personally made nasty accusations against him. And the even bigger surprise was the photo.

[Scott Payne]

I asked if my head was going to be in the picture and they said no, they said my face wouldn't be in it. I thought it was some sort of close up of my finger that had this cast on it. And then it was on the front page of the New York Post. And I was furious because it looks.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Like she's now personally antagonizing the terrorists.

[Scott Payne]

I literally thought that some jihadist was going to scale my fire escape and come and just like slice my throat.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

I'm not kidding today if that sounds a bit over the top, it's not. In New York, like many places after 9 11, honestly, anything seemed possible. Planes had just been flown into skyscrapers. Letters with anthrax were showing up seemingly everywhere. The question, what's next? Was on everyone's mind.

[Scott Payne]

I was terrified because I'd actually named my boyfriend at the time who later became my husband.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Johanna's worst fears never came true. No one ever harmed her, at least not physically.

[Scott Payne]

I was this kind of minor player at this newspaper and then to see my face everywhere. I mean, this was supposed to be a stepping stone to like the New York Times or something like that. And here I am preserved forever. It'll follow me forever.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Despite what the ending of her article says about not leaving, Johanna did quit her job. And she did move away from the city of her dreams. So Johanna survived the anthrax infection itself. But what started as that little blister, it took a toll for the FBI. By that mid October weekend in New York, things had gone from bad to to shit show. A few cases in Florida had now been joined by five more in America's densest city. And Decker and the FBI are nowhere close to finding out who's doing it, much less stopping it. The anthrax sample they had was contaminated. They haven't found any fingerprints. And all they've got is an empty envelope and a letter. And they know that the perpetrator has the entire US mail system at their disposal. The only question is when and where will the next letter show up? And how can they possibly stop it? The FBI couldn't know it. But one more thing happened on that wild Friday, October 12th. That same day that all those new cases of anthrax were found in 30 Rock. And all around New York. Down in Washington D.C. an intern inside the nation's capital finds a letter with blocky grade school handwriting at the top of the mail stack. She doesn't open it yet? There's so much mail. It's going to have to wait until Monday. Next time on the Hunt for the Anthrax Killer I just talked to Leader Daschle. His office received a letter and it had anthrax in it.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

The U.S. house of Representatives is closing offices today. Our national capital region region was just chaotic. It was really a reactive investigation. There was no proactive. There wasn't time.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Two deaths might have been prevented if officials had respected workers requests for earlier.

[Scott Payne]

Testing why the postal workers were not immediately told to go home.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Like so many instances in this country, we don't get anything done until we have a crisis. Now we have a crisis.

[Special Agent Scott Decker]

If the terrorists incorporate intention is to.

[Dr. Marcy Layton]

Spread fear and panic, then sending anthrax here to the very seat of government is certainly having that effect. The Hunt for the Anthrax Killer is a production of Wolf Entertainment, USG Audio and Digg Studios in collaboration with CBC Podcasts. The series is hosted by me, Jeremiah Kroll. It's created, written and executive produced by Scott Tiffany and me at Digg Studios. Aftermath is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Elliot Wolf and Steven Michael at Wolfe Entertainment, Josh Block at USG Audio and Jonielle Kastner at Spoke Media. The series is produced by Kelly Kolf, story editing by Joniel Kastner, sound design and mix by Evan Arnett original Composition by John O'Hara Production by Spoke Media Production support for USG Audio by Josh Lalonghi Tanya Springer is the Senior Manager of CBC Podcasts. Arif Narrani is the Director of CBC Podcasts. Thank you for listening. Tune in next week for an all new episode of the Hunt for the Anthrax Killer. Or you can binge the whole series ad free by subscribing to CBC True Crime Premium on Apple Podcasts. For more CBC Podcasts go to CBC CA Podcasts.