Episode 4: Machine 17

Summary

Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer
Episode 4: Machine 17
Release Date: April 9, 2025

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Introduction

In the turbulent aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the United States faced a new and insidious threat: anthrax-laced letters systematically sent to government officials and institutions. Episode 4: Machine 17 of the CBC-produced series Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer delves deep into one of the most perplexing and tragic chapters of this period. Hosted by Jeremiah Kroll and produced in collaboration with Wolf Entertainment, USG Audio, Dig Studios, and CBC, this episode unpacks the intricate investigation led by the FBI, the human toll on postal workers, and the profound political ramifications that followed.

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The First Wave of Fear: Thomas Morris Jr.’s Tragic Call [00:40 – 05:04]

The episode opens on October 21, 2001, with a harrowing 911 call from Thomas Morris Jr., a seasoned mail sorter at the U.S. Postal Service:

Thomas Morris Jr. [00:46]: "Breathing is late labor. My chest feels constricted. I am getting here, but to get up and walk and what have you feels like I might just pass out."

Thomas had been exposed to anthrax approximately a week earlier when a coworker opened a suspicious letter containing a white powder. Despite assurances from his superiors that there was no cause for concern, Thomas's declining health raised critical alarms:

Thomas Morris Jr. [02:13]: "They never let us know whether the thing had whether anthrax or not. I couldn't even find out if the stuff was or wasn't. I was told that it wasn't. But I have a tendency not to believe these people."

His untimely death marked the second victim of the anthrax attacks, amplifying the urgency and desperation of the FBI's investigation.

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FBI Under Fire: Agent Scott Decker's Struggle [03:26 – 05:33]

FBI Agent Scott Decker, portrayed as a dedicated yet beleaguered investigator, is introduced battling immense pressure from all fronts:

FBI Agent Scott Decker [03:26]: "It was really a reactive investigation. There was no proactive. There wasn't time. I mean, if this person was going to infect more people with anthrax, it could happen anywhere. There was no real way to plan for it."

Working under the newly appointed FBI Director Robert Mueller, Decker faces unrealistic expectations in a climate rife with fear and misinformation:

FBI Agent Scott Decker [04:16]: "To not show progress was very unnerving, embarrassing...he looked at you and you knew, you better get your butt in gear."

The strain of the investigation takes a personal toll on Decker, highlighting the human cost behind the bureaucratic machinery.

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Capitol Hill Under Siege: The Daschle Letter [07:21 – 13:05]

A pivotal moment occurs when a threatening anthrax-laden letter is intercepted in Senator Tom Daschle's office on Capitol Hill. Grant Leslie, an intern, inadvertently exposes herself to the deadly spores:

Grant Leslie [07:53]: "I remember holding the letter with two hands down by my feet... white powder immediately fell out all over me, on my skirt, on my shoes, on my hands, just all over my lap."

FBI Agent Scott Stanley arrives promptly to manage the crisis, emphasizing the high stakes involved:

FBI Agent Scott Stanley [09:19]: "The individual who opened that letter was still sitting in a chair. We did not enter the suite... she held it upright so nothing else spilled out."

The episode graphically portrays the chaos and fear that engulfed Capitol Hill, where decisions crucial to national security were being made under the shadow of bioterrorism.

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Unveiling Machine 17: The Heart of the Contamination [23:08 – 32:19]

The investigation zeroes in on Brentwood Mail Processing and Distribution Center, particularly Machine 17—a Delivery Barcode Sorter responsible for processing vast quantities of mail. Through testimonies, the series reveals how this machine became the epicenter of anthrax contamination:

FBI Agent Scott Decker [31:08]: "The machines actually squeeze the envelopes as they're pushing them down the line... they build up a lot of paper dust, and periodically they'll clean the machines with an air hose."

This mechanical process inadvertently aerosolized anthrax spores, unsuspectingly spreading them to vulnerable postal workers like Joe Kerseen and Thomas Morris Jr.:

Grainger Representative [27:27]: "That was the first time I had ever seen my dad with tears in his eyes. It was very difficult... I just wanted to close up and be away from people at that time."

The series does not shy away from critiquing the USPS’s response, highlighting failures in protective measures and timely interventions that could have saved lives.

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Political Fallout: The Passage of the USA PATRIOT Act [34:17 – 37:13]

The intense fear generated by the anthrax attacks catalyzed significant political action. President George W. Bush leveraged the crisis to push through the USA PATRIOT Act, a piece of legislation aimed at expanding governmental powers to combat terrorism:

President George W. Bush [35:21]: "This law will give intelligence and law enforcement officials important new tools to fight a present danger."

Senator Tom Daschle, under immense pressure, reflects on the delicate balance between security and privacy:

Senator Tom Daschle [36:59]: "We did the best we could given the circumstances we had. But that balance between security and privacy will be an ongoing one for decades to come."

The episode underscores how the anthrax attacks not only reshaped security protocols but also had lasting implications on civil liberties.

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Conclusion: An Ongoing Struggle [37:13 – 40:09]

As October 2001 comes to a close, the FBI remains beleaguered by the complexity of the case. Agent Decker grapples with fragmented evidence and the looming possibility of a second letter:

FBI Agent Scott Decker [39:54]: "Next time it very likely could be somebody we know."

The episode concludes on a somber note, emphasizing the unresolved nature of the investigation and the enduring legacy of fear and mistrust seeded during this period.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Thomas Morris Jr. [00:46]: "Breathing is late labor. My chest feels constricted."
• FBI Agent Scott Decker [04:42]: "He had a tiger by the tail... he wanted answers and he wanted them quick."
• FBI Agent Scott Stanley [09:32]: "The individual who opened that letter was still sitting in a chair."
• President George W. Bush [35:21]: "This law will give intelligence and law enforcement officials important new tools."
• Senator Tom Daschle [36:59]: "The balance between security and privacy will be an ongoing one."

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Final Thoughts

Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer meticulously reconstructs the events surrounding the 2001 anthrax attacks, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of the investigation’s complexities and the broader societal impacts. Through personal stories, expert testimonies, and critical analysis, Episode 4: Machine 17 serves as a poignant reminder of the vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure and the delicate interplay between security measures and individual freedoms.

For those seeking an in-depth exploration of one of America’s most challenging bioterrorism cases, this episode provides invaluable insights and a compelling narrative that underscores the enduring quest for justice and safety.

Transcript

[Grainger Representative]

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[Narrator]

By Granger for the ones who get it done. This is a CBC podcast.

[911 Operator]

911 emergency.

[Narrator]

It's October 21, 2001. Thomas Morris Jr. Is calling for help.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

Breathing is late labor. My chest feels constricted. I am getting here, but to get up and walk and what have you feels like I might just pass out.

[Narrator]

Thomas tells the operator that about a week earlier he'd been close by when a co worker opened a suspicious letter.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

I suspected I might have been exposed to anthrax. Woman found the envelope and I was in the vicinity. It had powder in it.

[Narrator]

With all the recent news, 911 was already getting a lot of panicked calls.

[911 Operator]

In the current atmosphere, anthrax scares and hoaxes rather than real attacks have all but paralyzed parts of the United States.

[Narrator]

But Thomas call is different because he's an employee of the US Postal Service, and America's mail system over the last two weeks has been transformed into a kind of terrorism delivery service.

[911 Operator]

It turns out that there's another letter. We believe that there may be other envelopes. Don't shake it. Don't taste it. Don't sniff it. Nicole.

[Narrator]

A few days after Thomas's colleague at the mail facility handled that letter with powder in it, Thomas started feeling achy and came down with a headache. And now it's 4:39am on a Sunday and he can't stop vomiting. He tells the 911 operator how all week he's been hearing from his bosses that there's nothing to worry about.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

They never let us know whether the thing had whether anthrax or not. I couldn't even find out if the stuff was or wasn't. I was told that it wasn't. But I have a tendency not to believe these people.

[Narrator]

His tendency not to believe these people is well earned. Their actions are about to put many people's lives in danger because these people, Thomas bosses, oversee a mail facility with more than 2,000 employees, all of whom are now at risk of exposure to whatever has made Thomas sick. And on top of that, the mail that comes through this facility gets delivered right to Capitol Hill in Washington. D.C. right to the Supreme Court and the entire U.S. congress. I'm Jeremiah Kroll and from Wolf Entertainment, this is the hunt for the anthrax killer. Episode 4 Machine 17. Two weeks before that 911 call, FBI agent Scott Decker and all of America had watched as one man died of anthrax. And now at least eight more people are infected in Florida and New York.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

It was really a reactive investigation. There was no proactive. There wasn't time. I mean, if this person was going to infect more people with anthrax, it could happen anywhere. There was no real way to plan for it.

[Narrator]

At this moment, the FBI has essentially no evidence, zero suspects, and a lot of pressure to solve this. Pressure from the public, from the White House, and especially from decker's boss, the FBI's new director, Robert Mueller.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

He had a tiger by the tail, and he was brand new at the job. I mean, he looked frazzled and tired, but I don't think he went home to sleep. If he did, I never saw him leave.

[Narrator]

Decker is working with Mueller at FBI headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover building in downtown dc. The Director's office is just a few steps down the hall. And Decker can almost feel the weight of Mueller's expectations bearing down on him.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

To not show progress was very unnerving, embarrassing. And Bob Mueller is not a joking person. He wants answers and he wants them quick. He wants you to immediately say what you know and say it with confidence. And if we didn't have results to show in those meetings, it was uncomfortable. I mean, he didn't have to say anything. He just looked at you and you knew, you better get your butt in gear.

[Narrator]

Decker's spending long nights at the office, too. He just separated from his wife, so he's throwing himself into the anthrax case. And the stress was getting to him.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

It affected me. I got in a fair amount of trouble during that time. I just lost my temper a couple times, which you're not supposed to do in the FBI. You gotta keep cold.

[Narrator]

To catch the anthrax mailer, Decker and the FBI need to figure out what the mailer wants. So far, there are no demands. And the best physical evidence they have is a letter sent to NBC calling for Death to America and the now empty envelope it came in. Not a lot to go on. And on top of that, their job has just gotten much more complicated because the American public has become paranoid. People start seeing what they think is anthrax everywhere, all across the country today.

[911 Operator]

It was precaution in the face of peril. The FBI says it has dealt with more than 2,300 reported anthrax incidents.

[Narrator]

For anything will a white residue inside.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

Are causing stores, streets and buildings to.

[Joby Warrick]

Be shut down and panic to erupt.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

If a janitor spilled Tide powder in the hallway and didn't clean it up before he went home, that would get a phone call, whereas two or three years before this, they just would have wiped it up and went about their business.

[Narrator]

This anxiety over powder spills is making it hard for the FBI and local officials to know what's real and what's not. But even more alarming and more strange letters with white powder start showing up in cities all over the country filled with laundry detergent or baking soda or really any white powder folks can get their hands on.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

Whenever something like this gets in the news, there's always a spurt of copycats. It's just the way people are, unfortunately.

[Narrator]

But hoax or not, every time the FBI gets a call about a white powder threat, Decker and his colleagues have to investigate.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

We had three groups, three different groups analyzing each and every threat. And that was the edict from the Director's office. So an anonymous tick could be called in with zero credibility from our standpoint. But it had to be run down, and that's a huge use of resources.

[Narrator]

And unfortunately, it's only going to get worse. A few miles away From FBI headquarters, U.S. senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is heading into work on Capitol Hill. It's Monday morning, October 15th, and now, about a month after 9 11, as he arrives at the Capitol that morning, the senator from South Dakota gets news that brings America's fears right to his doorstep.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

My chief of staff told me I better sit down because an intern had just opened up an envelope in my Senate office.

[Narrator]

That intern is a young woman named Grant Leslie, who works in Senator Daschle's main offices on the fifth and sixth floors of the Hart Senate Building. Their office had been crowded that morning, so Grant had taken a chair to the middle of the room and started opening a big pile of mail in her lap. In an interview with PBS Frontline a decade later, she's still able to recall in vivid detail the moment one particular letter caught her eye.

[Grant Leslie]

I remember looking at it, and it looked like children's handwriting. And the return address was the fourth grade class. So I remembered thinking, oh, this is from kids. This is going to be pretty cute. I can't wait to see what they're writing to Senator Daschle about. And I turned the letter over, and there was just a piece of Scotch tape on either side of the letter. Nothing weird or unordinary. Just sort of a thick letter that needed scotch tape to keep it closed is what it looked like. So I took the scissors and cut into the corner of the letter just about an inch and white powder immediately fell out all over me, on my skirt, on my shoes, on my hands, just all over my lap.

[Narrator]

She gently moved the envelope far from her face.

[Grant Leslie]

I remember holding the letter with two hands down by my feet, and I said, hey guys, I just spilled white powder all over myself. And everybody sort of froze and looked at me.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

This aerosolable anthrax had pervasively covered and got into the atmosphere around her. There were, I think, 27 people at the time in the office, and they were all exposed.

[Narrator]

The FBI arrives within minutes.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

We were escorted up to the suite where the letter was open.

[Narrator]

Arriving on the scene is another FBI special agent named Scott. This one, Agent Scott Stanley.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

We have a white Potter letter. We have somebody who's been exposed, and everybody in that suite has been exposed.

[Narrator]

And just like Agent Scott Decker, he's a scientist with a PhD in biomedical sciences.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

The individual who opened that letter was still sitting in a chair. We did not enter the suite. She was still sitting in a chair holding the envelope with the powder on her lap. I think fortuitously this individual had just been trained on what to do if you open up a white Potter letter. And she remained very calm, held it upright so nothing else spilled out of it.

[Narrator]

Agent Stanley takes stock of the room, still crowded with members of Daschle's staff.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

How do you protect them? You know, what do you do? What do you tell them? And the fact of the matter is that if you ultimately want to protect them, you got to go do your job right?

[Narrator]

First he's got to safely get that envelope out of this room. So a hazmat officer carefully places it in a container and they send it to the lab for testing to make sure this is indeed anthrax. Then first responders give Grant, Leslie and everyone in the room nasal swab tests and a detailed decontamination showers. Their clothing gets bagged and they're given a three day supply of Cipros. Then they have an agonizing wait to know if they've been infected. Test results could take up to 24 hours. And they may not be the only ones exposed because looking around the room, Agent Scott Stanley sees a problem. Air vents.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

Anthrax particles will act as a gaseous material. They will just circulate through the air and move as A gas. Right. If you have heating, ventilation and air conditioning on, you can move that through the whole building very quickly at all costs.

[Narrator]

The FBI wants to contain the anthrax because if it gets into the ventilation system, it's not only this building they've got to worry about. Unless you're an insider, you wouldn't know this, but there are underground ventilated tunnels that connect a bunch of the buildings in D.C. including Senate offices within the Capitol itself. And inside those Capitol buildings, as many as 20,000 staffers, lawmakers, and visitors walk in and out every day. They shut the air conditioning off, but it might be too late, Stanley. The FBI and the White House can only hope they've done enough.

[911 Operator]

As the deadly bacteria have now turned up in the American cup.

[President George W. Bush]

I just talked to leader Dashiell. His office received a letter, and it had anthrax in it. The staffers that have been exposed are being treated.

[Joby Warrick]

I was heading to work that morning and listening to reports coming in on. On the local radio news station.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

It's been reported that the office is.

[Narrator]

People that again, on the ongoing anthrax investigation.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

My office opened a suspicious package.

[Narrator]

Joby Warrick is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who covers national security for the Washington Post.

[Joby Warrick]

By the time I get to work, we have reporters down at the scene. I'm working on the phones to try to figure out what a story would say, but colleagues are there physically at the building, and the pictures that are coming back are of people in moon suits.

[Narrator]

Joby had investigated biological and chemical weapons threats in war zones and dicey basement labs all over the world. But he never expected this.

[Joby Warrick]

You know, investigators coming in dressed up like it's the hot zone and they're heading out to check on a plague with her walking into a Senate office, a building that we all know so well, we've been in dozens of times. That meant that the government was also under attack and that, you know, among the possible victims could be any member of Congress or any elected official.

[Narrator]

It's a little hard to remember now, but hazmat suits, ppe, even the idea of interacting with an airborne invisible killer were all extraordinarily rare then. So the moon suits. The panic, the very strangeness of this attack. It almost felt like an alien invasion, like you'd see in a movie. And just like one of those movies, it's now playing out in Washington, D.C. the country's leaders pretty much powerless against an unknown, amorphous and formidable enemy that might just take over. And Agent Scott Stanley knows the stakes are high. If Anthrax spreads through Capitol Hill. What's going to happen or not happen?

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

There's a lot of national business that needs to take place. And if you shut down the nation at that point in time, does that business proceed or not?

[911 Operator]

We aren't going to let terrorists or kooks drive us out of our Capitol or prevent us from doing our job.

[Narrator]

The Senate decides to stay in session. Senators relocate to different areas of the Capitol complex so they can keep working. And top of mind for them, now more than ever, is a controversial piece of new legislation that President Bush has been urging Congress to pass. Created in the wake of 9 11, this bill is meant to give the government more power to track down its enemies.

[President George W. Bush]

We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don't conduct business, where people don't shop. That's their intention. Their intention was not only to kill and maim and destroy. Their intention was to frighten to the point where our nation would not act.

[Narrator]

The bill the Senate has been debating is called the USA Patriot Act. And as Senate Majority leader, the weight of this bill is falling heavily on Tom Daschle.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

It's just very, very intense. There was a daily, hourly cacophony of voices and ideas and demands in the Senate.

[911 Operator]

I urge you to take a look at this. This is not security versus privacy. This is a major national security threat.

[Narrator]

Some senators, like Daschle do see it as security versus privacy. They're afraid the Patriot act may go too far in loosening privacy laws. But anthrax showing up in the Capitol has turned up the pressure.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

The Bush administration was pressing Congress very hard, saying it was urgent.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

This is a bill that is vitally needed. The president has called for it.

[911 Operator]

The attorney General has called for it.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

And we shouldn't delay in passing it.

[Narrator]

While Congress is debating the legislation to fight terrorism, the FBI is reckoning with the actual impact on the ground. They're still trying to figure out the reach of the anthrax spores from Daschle's office.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

Good morning. Lieutenant Dan Nichols with U.S. capitol Police wanted to call a press conference this morning to update you on the situation we have ongoing in the Hart Senate office building. We don't think it came into the ventilation system. What we want to do, though, is make sure that it did not. And we were going to err on the side of caution on this.

[Narrator]

To do that, the FBI and the CDC have to test for anthrax in other parts of Daschle's building and neighboring buildings, too. They're going to be sweeping Senate buildings today. And we just will do a routine methodical sweeping of buildings the day after the Senate makes its stand. The test results from Daschle's office are officially confirmed.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

Late Last night, the U.S. capitol Police was notified by Fort Detrick that the substance was in fact anthrax.

[Narrator]

So as they'd feared, the intern was indeed exposed to anthrax. And so were many of the people who were in the office with her when she opened the envelope. But then the news gets worse. The test results show that several people who were working down the hall from Daschle's office were infected too. Agent Scott Stanley's fears about the ventilation system may be coming true. The anthrax has spread.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

You know what is everybody a dead man walking? You know, it was a human experiment in progress. Nobody knew how it would come out.

[Joby Warrick]

The latest letter to have been discovered.

[Narrator]

Addressed to a congressman is thought to.

[Grainger Representative]

Contain literally billions of spores of the deadly disease.

[Narrator]

We live in a new era where.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

Someone is using the deadly bacteria as.

[Narrator]

A form of terror. And then when the rest of the test results come in, the really bad news comes.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

It was discovered that a sample came back from the Ford House Office Building mail room as positive for anthrax.

[Narrator]

So they now know there's anthrax not just in multiple rooms of Daschle's building, but in several neighboring buildings as well.

[911 Operator]

The US House of Representatives is closing offices today.

[Narrator]

Nothing like this has ever happened. The last time Congress was interrupted and the Capitol shut down was more than a century earlier for the War of 1812.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

Our national capital region was just chaotic. It, it was a buzz. There was people everywhere. There was absolute fear, hysteria.

[911 Operator]

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

[Joby Warrick]

It was deeply unsettling. It was terrifying. It made it feel that much more personal, that much more threatening to us.

[Narrator]

Joby Warrick, the Washington Post reporter, saw all of this unfold over the next few days in real time, just blocks from his office.

[Joby Warrick]

To see them shut down, to see yellow police tape, to see soldiers and police officers around, to see images of investigators coming into the building with their biohazard suits.

[Narrator]

Agent Scott Stanley watches hundreds and then thousands of people line up in another building to get nasal swabs and a three day supply of Cipro.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

There was just a tremendous surge capacity that came into the Capitol from the military, from the Coast Guard. We had strike teams, we had decon teams, we had people going in nasally swabbing thousands of patients. And this was all at the Capitol at the United States. Everybody who was responding at the time had been dealing with for 20 plus hours a day. Nobody was getting any sleep. Everybody was working themselves to the bone. This is the worst biological attack in this country's history.

[Narrator]

About 36 hours after the dasha letter was opened, much of the U.S. capitol complex is evacuated and closed. But in this catastrophe, there's a tiny silver lining for the FBI. They now have another envelope, this one with some anthrax remaining in it. And now a second letter.

[911 Operator]

It's reported to contain the words death to America, Death to Israel. Allah is great. You cannot stop us. We have this anthrax. You die now are you afraid?

[Narrator]

The FBI compares the D.C. letter to the New York letter. And there are striking similarities. First, some of the letter's wording. Death to America, death to Israel, Allah is great is the exact same language and so is the way it's written.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

It was the same style of handwriting, very, very similar, if not identical. To my view, it looked the same person had written it.

[Narrator]

This basic evidence is a big break. It's the first time the FBI can really start to hone in on the person who's mailing these letters. And on the envelope, Decker finds even more.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

There's a series of invisible dots, squares and lines and circles. And those are visible under black light. And the Postal service puts them there and that's the way they track mail.

[Narrator]

So with the help of the Postal service, they can now use these barcodes to trace the exact path the DASHA letter traveled after it was mailed. It first arrived in D.C. in a mailbag at a sorting facility called Brentwood. The mail in that bag got separated into bins after midnight on October 12th. And the letter was scanned at 7:10 that morning and moved on a metal cart to one of the facility's giant high speed mail sorters. This one called machine 17. Machine 17 can sort about 37,000 letters an hour. It spat out the dasher letter and then mail carriers delivered it to the Hart Senate building around noon. All of this tells the FBI how the DASHA letter got to Capitol Hill. But it's the mailing facility itself that grabs everyone's attention. Because Brentwood, the place that processed and delivered the letter, that shut down Capitol Hill, it's still open and running.

[Grant Leslie]

At 24. I lost my narrative, or rather it was stolen from me. And the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family, family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes and politics. 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 Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Reclaiming early and.

[Narrator]

Ad free right now by joining Wondery.

[Grant Leslie]

Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Narrator]

The Brentwood Mail Processing and Distribution center has about 2,000 employees. It's a massive building with two floors and 14.5 million cubic feet of space. And for a long time, this station has been a steady source of union jobs for D.C. workers. The staff at Brentwood, unlike that at the Hill, is largely made up of people of color. For these families, the US Postal Service is a way of life.

[Grainger Representative]

We grew up in southeast Washington, D.C. in an area called Anacostia. And back during that time, it was, as a friend of mine used to say, it was like Sesame Street. Everyone was close. Just about everyone's parent worked for the federal government.

[Narrator]

Joan Jackson's brother Joe had followed in their dad's footsteps and spent his entire career working for the Postal Service. He even leads a Bible study group at the postal facility.

[Grainger Representative]

Joe never called in sick in 15 years. And he was a hard worker. He worked just like my dad. And a lot of them started off taking mail door to door, but then he ended up working these really huge machines.

[Narrator]

Officially, these really huge machines are called Delivery Barcode Sorter machines, or DBCS machines. And the DBCS machine Joe worked that day was machine 17. That's the machine that had sorted the envelope with anthrax in it, addressed to Tom Daschle. Even without knowing any of these details, his sister Joan was worried.

[Grainger Representative]

I spoke to Jo on the phone. I said, jo, please be careful. Please be careful. I don't know whether it was intuitive on my part or what, but. And he said, I will. I'll be careful. No, don't worry. It'll be fine.

[Narrator]

The US Postmaster General pulls together a press conference to address concerns.

[911 Operator]

I want to thank you for joining us here today at the Postal Service.

[Narrator]

Note that this is the day after most of the Capitol complex was shut down.

[911 Operator]

As you know, one letter from among the more than 3.5 million pieces of mail handled here each day contained anthrax.

[Narrator]

One letter handled there contained anthrax. After consulting with the cdc, the USPS decides the mail facility is still safe to remain open, that its employees are safe.

[911 Operator]

And behind me are some of those employees who work in this facility. So as a precautionary measure, we will be conducting appropriate testing in this facility so we can reassure ourselves, our employees and our customers of its safety.

[Narrator]

The key phrase there is appropriate testing. The USPS chooses not to test everyone for anthrax. They don't see a reason to.

[911 Operator]

According to them, that letter was extremely well sealed, and there is only a minute chance that anthrax spores escaped from it into this facility, however.

[Narrator]

But two days after that press conference, Joan Jackson gets a call from her brother's wife.

[Grainger Representative]

Celeste called and said that Joe was in the bed. He was sweating and his sweat drops were like the size of a quarter. He was sweating profusely, but he didn't want to go to the hospital. He was like, I'm fine. I'm fine.

[Narrator]

Joe has the day off. It's a Saturday, and he stays in bed all day. But he's a devoted Catholic and wants to attend mass that evening. Joe's family attends Our lady of Perpetual Help. It's a church founded by black Catholics, and it sits on a hill with a panoramic view of D.C. he passed.

[Grainger Representative]

Out in church and they stopped the mass. They were going to call the paramedics.

[Narrator]

Yet Joe presses on through the end of church and then, never one to miss work, he does his shift at Brentwood that night. The next day, though, he's feeling so bad, he drives himself to a hospital where he's diagnosed with stomach flu. They send him home. There, his wife Celeste sends him to bed.

[Grainger Representative]

Celeste woke up and found Joe sprawled on the bathroom floor. And she called the paramedics and they came and got him and rushed him to Southern Maryland Hospital.

[Narrator]

Joan is so worried, she can't bring herself to watch the news. And then when Monday morning comes and she hasn't heard anything, she fears something is very wrong.

[Grainger Representative]

And something. I just had a feeling because I called the house, my parents house, and I couldn't get ahold of them. Couldn't get ahold of them. And finally I got through and my mother said, joe is dead, and I must have gone into shock or whatever. I'm like, what? And she said it was from anthrax.

[Narrator]

Seven days after the capillar was infected, postal worker Joe Kerseen dies. He was 47.

[Grainger Representative]

That was the first time I had ever seen my dad with tears in his eyes. I. It was difficult. It was very difficult. I felt. I just wanted to close up and be away from people at that time.

[Narrator]

That weekend that Joe was sick was a terrible time for postal workers at Brentwood. Two other employees from the facility show up in a D.C. emergency room with flu like symptoms. At least one of them had been working in the same area around Machine 17 near Joe. And that Sunday morning is when Thomas Morris, another one of Joe's co workers made that call to 911.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

I suspected I might have been exposed to anthrax. My bleeding is labored. My chest feels constricted.

[Narrator]

Thomas Morris Jr. Had been working as a mail sorter for the U.S. postal Service for 28 years. Part of his job was to verify the Senate's mail by hand and place it into a particular tray. By the time he called 911 he'd been home for a couple of days with what doctors had told him was a virus. They'd so far suggested only tylenol. Now it's 4:40 in the morning on a Sunday and he's worried. He tells the 911 dispatcher about a suspicious letter. Not the one that made it to Daschel, a different letter with powder in it that one of his colleagues had opened near him.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

They never let us know whether the thing had further anthrax or not. They never treated the people who were around this particular individual and the supervisor who handled the envelope.

[Narrator]

You can hear it in his voice this time around, the frustration, his understanding that at least in this moment, the only person looking out for Thomas is Thomas.

[Thomas Morris Jr.]

I couldn't even find out if the stuff was or wasn't. I was told that it wasn't. But I have a tendency not to believe these people.

[Narrator]

It turns out that letter had been sent off for testing and had come back negative. But somehow Thomas is still sick. The 911 operator sends an ambulance to his home in Maryland. Later that day he dies of inhalation anthrax at the age of 55.

[911 Operator]

These two postal employees join a list of public servants who have died over the past two months while serving their country. Our hearts are heavy knowing that two co workers have become the latest victims of terrorism.

[Narrator]

Thomas Morse and Joseph Kersine are the second and third victims to die of anthrax inhalation in less than three weeks.

[911 Operator]

This huge facility is now closed and likely to remain so. But 2,000 people worked here and the authorities admit they have no idea just how many of these may have been infected.

[Narrator]

Brentwood finally closes and the CDC runs tests. The results are both surprising and not surprising. Government anthrax tests at this postal sorting center in Washington reveal 14 so called hotspots rendering the facility officially contaminated. Those hotspots are clustered on the first floor, all right around one spot delivery barcode sorter machine 17. Agent Decker says that it was only in the weeks that followed that the CDC and the FBI uncovered, too late, really, a heartbreaking discovery.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

The machines actually squeeze the envelopes as they're pushing them down the line, reading the addresses, the zip codes. So they build up a lot of paper dust, and periodically they'll clean the machines with an air hose.

[Narrator]

Which means it didn't matter that the Daschle envelope had been sealed. Even well sealed, these machines had squeezed the anthrax spores out, and the compressed air hoses had sprayed them into the air for mail workers like Thomas and Joseph to breathe. That's only one of the ways the anthrax could have ended up in the lungs of Joseph, working machine 17, or Thomas, who rifled through the mail by hand. But what's clear to many is that the Postal Service's faith in a sealed envelope was misplaced. And now many of their other choices are called into question. During hearings, the chief of the Centers.

[President George W. Bush]

For Disease Control and Prevention faces criticism.

[Narrator]

And defends decisions to not immediately treat.

[President George W. Bush]

Washington postal workers with these antibiotics.

[Narrator]

We had had no cases of inhalation.

[911 Operator]

Anthrax in a male sorting facility, and.

[Narrator]

There was no reason to think, based on everything we had seen so far.

[911 Operator]

That this was a possibility.

[Narrator]

Local postal union leaders said the two deaths might have been prevented if officials had respected workers requests for earlier testing and antibiotic distribution.

[911 Operator]

Among the thousands of postal workers being checked out here today, there's real anger that while last week staff on Capitol Hill were screened, they were not.

[Narrator]

The difference between the way the two threats in D.C. were handled was striking.

[Grainger Representative]

They shut down, you know, both houses immediately for that. Why? Why? The postal workers were not immediately, you know, told to go home when there was even the threat of anthrax going through. I don't know. I think it's. It's. It's shameful. It's just happened. So, yeah.

[Narrator]

The Brentwood facility was kept open four days after most of Capitol Hill was shut down. Two other postal workers went to the ER that week and were diagnosed with anthrax. Their cases were more mild. They both lived on Capitol Hill despite what seemed at first like a death sentence. Senator Daschel's intern, Grant Leslie, who opened the letter and got anthrax all over her, she survived. She was one of 30 people on Capitol Hill who were exposed to anthrax, and none of them died. All of them were treated immediately with Cipro. That simple step may have saved lives in the postal facility. About two weeks after the Daschle letter showed up on Capitol hill, Joseph Kerseen Jr. S funeral is held at his same beautiful church overlooking the city.

[Grainger Representative]

They had, you know, the little trucks that postal workers carry mail to people people's homes. They had a procession of them in front of the hearse to take Joe to Mount Olivet Cemetery. And he's buried now with my sister and my mother and father.

[Narrator]

The archbishop of Washington D.C. presides over the service. The mayor shows up and scores of postal workers attend to honor their fallen colleagues. Ultimately, decontaminating Brentwood would take 26 months and cost $130 million. Machine 17 was dismantled and destroyed in the process. Today the Brentwood mail center is called The Joseph Kerseen Jr. And Thomas Morris Jr. Processing and distribution Center. On the very same day as Joseph's funeral, there's a major development in the Bush administration's fight against terrorism.

[President George W. Bush]

Good morning and welcome to the White House. Today we take an essential step in defeating terrorism while protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans.

[Narrator]

The Anti Terrorism USA Patriot act, the legislation that had been fiercely debated for weeks before the attacks now passes with my signature.

[President George W. Bush]

This law will give intelligence and law enforcement officials important new tools to fight a present danger.

[Narrator]

President Bush links the deaths of the postal workers directly to his efforts to stop the growing terror in America.

[President George W. Bush]

Our country is grateful for the courage the Postal Service has shown during these difficult times. We mourn the loss of the lives of Thomas Morris and Joseph Cursine, postal workers who died in the line of duty. And our prayers go to their loved ones. But one thing is for certain. These terrorists must be pursued. They must be defeated and they must be brought to justice. And that is the purpose of this legislation.

[911 Operator]

If the terrorists intention is to spread fear and panic, then sending anthrax here to the very seat of government is certainly having that effect.

[Narrator]

And that effect helped pass a controversial law.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

The anthrax attack just further exacerbated our anxious and very deeply troubling perspective as we considered just how best to defend the country and ourselves. We felt the need to act in large measure because of the grave concern we had about another attack sometime soon.

[Narrator]

For better or worse, the Senate Majority leader and anthrax target got the votes to pass the Patriot act which is still largely enforced today. The bill gave the government more power to spy on its citizens phone calls and emails and it let the government collect Americans financial records and track them online.

[Senator Tom Daschle]

We did the best we could given the circumstances we had. But that balance between security and privacy will be an ongoing one for decades to come.

[Narrator]

It's still only late October 2001. In less than a month, the anthrax letters have killed three people and now help change American law. For the FBI, the stakes couldn't be higher, but they're still largely outmatched.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

This is a unbelievably complicated threat. How do we respond to this? And it can kill tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. So at that point in time, you are on an absolute war footing. You are trying to do everything within your power to stop that next incident and to mitigate and respond to the crisis that you have in your own backyard.

[Narrator]

As for Agent Decker, he knows what the playbook should be. Focus on the evidence. But it's not that simple.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

It wasn't just simply, gee, let's sit down calmly and plan how to use this tiny bit of evidence. It was, shit. Look what's going on in Capitol Hill. What the heck's coming up next?

[Narrator]

The fear the letters were causing seemed to the FBI to be at least part of the mailer's motivation. That media and politicians were targeted suggests the anthrax letters were aimed at trying to do more than kill. They're angling for attention. It's a clue, but it doesn't get them much closer to the killer. As for evidence, the FBI now have letters from New York and D.C. so they know the handwriting looks similar, but there's no human DNA, no fiber traces, no fingerprints, nothing that points to the killer. There's no way to know when the next attack will come. And the FBI isn't even close to being able to stop them. And in Washington, D.C. they don't have anything but a giant mess to clean up.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

We had a lot of hazmat teams that were taking samples on Capitol Hill, and their job was to identify what was contaminated so he can shut it down and then clean it.

[Narrator]

Their testing identifies seven buildings that will need to be cleaned. And as Agent Decker and his colleagues are making their assessment, one of the agents sees something that doesn't make sense.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

He looked at it in terms of mail flow. He looked at it, and he said, I can see the path for the dash envelope, but it looks like there's another path of contamination, and we don't have an envelope for that.

[Narrator]

This new trail of spore disbursement can't be attributed to the Daschle letter. If Decker's team is right, a second DC Letter loaded with anthrax is still out there. It seems the FBI simply, simply can't stop these letters from coming. And while a clear picture of the anthrax killer is about to come into focus. It's not the image the White House wants.

[FBI Agent Scott Decker]

Next time it very likely could be somebody we know.

[Narrator]

They broke the front door. There are agents with Uzis and moon suits with gun in front.

[FBI Agent Scott Stanley]

The fifth anthrax death and the second.

[911 Operator]

Without any rhyme or reason.

[Narrator]

I sat down in my chair and I thought, this is it. I'm done. 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 Wolf Entertainment, Josh Block at USG Audio and Jonielle Kastner at Spoke Media. The series is produced by Kelly Kolf, story editing by Janiel 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.