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Narrator
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Guest Expert/Foreign Correspondent
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Narrator
Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre for suggested phone numbers, for confidential support, and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Retirement didn't suit 63 year old photojournalist Robert Stevens. He lasted just six months before boredom drove him back to his beloved former job as a photo editor at the sun tabloid newspaper. By October 2001, Robert was settling back into the routine at the paper's editorial headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, when he was struck down by a persistent illness. Suffering from fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and intense muscle aches, Robert assumed he had come down with a particularly severe strain of the flu. But as his condition rapidly worsened, he was taken to hospital. By then he had become incoherent and delirious, and a seizure soon left him in a coma. Doctors carried out urgent tests, including an examination of Robert's spinal fluid. The normally clear liquid had turned cloudy with white blood cells A sign that his body was fighting a serious infection. Under a microscope, the cores appeared as clusters of rod shaped bacteria, almost worm like in form. Their presence left medical staff stun. Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacteria typically found in the blood of grazing animals. When infected animals die and decompose, the bacteria are released as toxic spores that are invisible to the naked eye and can contaminate soil, plants and water. Outside a host. These spores are metabolically inactive, essentially dormant, which makes them extraordinarily resilient. They can withstand extreme environmental conditions and remain viable for decades. But once inside a warm, nutrient rich environment such as the human body, they activate into germinating bacteria and begin to multiply. Although anthrax was not something the average person encountered in everyday life, Robert Stevens had clearly been exposed to it somewhere. As an avid outdoorsman, the possibilities seemed endless. He had recently fished by a lake, pulled weeds in his vegetable garden, cycled through a park with a friend, taken his granddaughter to the beach, and eaten steak at a restaurant. The weekend before he was hospitalised, Robert travelled to North Carolina with his wife and daughter. During a hike through Chimney Rock State park, he took a detour that led him to a waterfall. Leaning over the clear, cool water, he cupped his hands and drank two mouthfuls. As doctors deliberated the source of Robert's infection, news of the highly unusual case reached the press. Experts were quick to reassure the public that the situation was under control. The threat was considered low because anthrax is not contagious and Robert's illness appeared to be an isolated incident. One of Robert's doctors said, there is no reason to believe at this juncture that this is anything other than a manifestation of a rare and obviously very serious illness that has found its way into the life of one individual. But one epidemiologist wasn't so sure. His job was to analyse patterns, trends and data related to disease, using them to assess risk and anticipate what might come next. Naturally occurring anthrax had become exceedingly rare in developed countries after the widespread introduction of vaccines for both animals and humans half a century earlier. Historically, the highest risk regions in the United States were rural areas with large livestock populations and extensive grazing land, not densely populated coastal cities. Florida was not considered an endemic region, and nearly three decades had passed since the state's last known case. In recent years, anthrax infections were typically linked to industrial settings involving contaminated imported animal products such as wool hides, hair, air or meat, not mountain streams, vegetable gardens or steak dinners. Most concerning of all, an X ray revealed that Robert Stevens had swollen lymph nodes between his lungs and spine, a hallmark sign of inhalation anthrax. Inside the lungs are macrophages, specialised white blood cells that act as the body's first responders by patrolling the airways and destroying foreign particles and bacteria. When anthrax spores are inhaled, macrophages engulf them as they would any other pathogen. But unlike most microbes, anthrax spores can survive inside these cells as part of their normal immune function. The macrophages travel to nearby lymph nodes, inadvertently carrying the spores with them. There, the spores germinate into active bacteria that enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. Their growth is rapid. What begins as a small number of bacteria can multiply into trillions within days. Early symptoms often resemble a mild respiratory illness, one of the disease's greatest clinical challenges, as it can easily go undetected. Meanwhile, the bacteria release toxins that damage tissue and disrupt vital bodily functions, attacking the body on multiple fronts and overwhelming its natural defences. If the exposure dose is low and antibiotics are administered promptly, patients can recover. But if the dose is high and treatment is delayed, the disease can progress with terrifying speed. By the late stages, anthrax bacteria can account for roughly 30% of the patient's blood weight. Nausea becomes violent. Bloody vomiting. Swollen joints make even the slightest movement, excruciating. The face becomes so inflamed it is almost unrecognisable. Bloody fluids squeeze the space between the brain and skull, causing immense pain and delirium. The lungs, kidneys and eventually heart begin to fail. Even with medical intervention, it is almost impossible to treat inhalation anthrax once it reaches this stage. Such was the case for Robert Stephens. He was diagnosed with inhalation anthrax on Thursday, October 4, 2001. He died the next day. A sample of the anthrax that killed Robert Stevens was sent to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. Using a recently developed genetic technique, scientists extracted DNA from the sample and worked overnight to compare it against a database of more than 1,000 anthrax specimens collected from around the world. The results both surprised and unsettled them. The sample was genetically indistinguishable from a specific strain of anthrax known as Ames. This finding was striking on multiple fronts. First, Ames was not an obscure foreign strain discovered in nature, but a well known laboratory strain. Considered the gold standard for anthrax because of its extreme virulence, it was among the most potent strains ever studied. Most significant was the strain's origin. Ames had first been isolated from a dead cow in Texas in 1981 before being sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, where it received its name. The strain had only ever been identified in that single infected cow and had never again been found in nature. This meant that the Ames anthrax inhaled by Robert Stevens was almost certainly originated from a laboratory. By the early 2000s, the Ames strain was restricted to a small number of laboratories operating under strict security and regulatory controls. Anthrax of this quality was primarily used in biodefence research, including vaccine development, where highly concentrated spores were needed to rigorously test effectiveness. Records showed that fewer than 20 laboratories possessed live cultures of Ames, all but three of them located in the U.S. however, the samples were stored either as liquid slurry or on vegetative cell slants, not in a dry inhalable form. That meant that someone couldn't simply have stolen a ready made quantity of dry Ames off the shelf because no such stock was known to exist. The use of the Ames strain did not necessarily prove that the anthrax which killed Robert Stevens had originated in the US Samples of the strain had been shared with laboratories in Canada, the United Kingdom and France. More broadly, as investigative journalist Bob Cohen observed in his book Dead Silence, biological materials were historically exchanged between research laboratories with minimal documentation, weak oversight and limited regulation. According to Cohen, this lack of control extended even to dangerous pathogens. During the 1980s, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly shipped hazardous viruses internationally by express mail to a range of countries, including geopolitical adversaries such as Iraq, South Africa, Cuba, the Soviet Union and China. Investigations in the 1990s were reportedly unable to determine whether such transfers reflected legitimate scientific collaboration or something more concerning. Robert Stephens home was cordoned off and thoroughly inspected, with his belongings removed in biohazard bags for testing. But no trace of anthrax was found. The search then extended to his office at the Sun. Although there was no obvious reason for anthrax to be there, a swab taken from Robert's computer keyboard tested positive. Investigators knew that a highly lethal laboratory strain of anthrax couldn't have ended up on Robert's work desk by mere accident. As more sinister explanations were considered, his colleagues were questioned. They were shocked by the circumstances of his death, describing Robert as kind, generous and funny. It was clear that he was genuinely well liked and that no one at the sun appeared to have any reason to harm him. Inspectors in hazmat suits began a thorough examination of the building, while staff were asked to leave behind their personal belongings and undergo nasal Swab tests. The investigation took a dramatic turn when two of Robert's colleagues also tested positive for anthrax. Through them, a possible source of the contamination was identified. On Wednesday, September 19, 2001, two weeks before Robert Stephens was hospitalised, a bulky manila envelope arrived at the Sun. It had been postmarked the day prior and was addressed to the paper's managing editor, Joe west, with the instruction, please forward to Jennifer Lopez, care of the Sun. When Joe picked the envelope up, he felt something cylindrical inside and instinctively decided not to open it, tossing it straight into the bin. But the package piqued the interest of Joe's news assistant, Bobby Bender, whose daughter was a fan of American pop star Jennifer Lopez. Bobby retrieved the envelope, insisting, I want to open it. The exchange caught the attention of several nearby staff members, including Robert Stevens. Bobbie opened the envelope to find a folded sheet of paper. As he carefully unfolded it, a pile of what looked like talcum powder was revealed at the centre, partially concealing a small gold object. A handwritten message expressed the author's admiration for Jennifer Lopez and a desire to marry her. The envelope also contained a cigar tube with a cheap cigar inside, an empty can of chewing tobacco, a cigarette rolling device and a small box of laundry detergent. Why the sender wanted the newspaper to forward these random items to Jennifer Lopez became the subject of amused discussion around the office. Given the Sun's tendency to publish sensational stories, from claims that Elvis Presley was still alive to reports of celebrities impregnated by aliens, the tabloid was no stranger to receiving bizarre mail. But the letter to Jennifer Lopez particularly intrigued Robert Stevens. Let me see that, he said, taking the paper back to his desk for a closer look. He placed it on top of his computer keyboard, studying the powder and the small gold object buried within it. Gee, it looks like a Jewish star, he remarked. A photo assistant editor named Ros Suss wandered over to Robert's desk and reached into the powder, plucking out the object with her fingers. It was indeed a Star of David, a recognised symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism. Made of plastic, it featured a small loop that allowed it to be worn on a necklace or bracelet. The Star of David, along with the letter and the other contents of the manila envelope, were discarded long before Robert Stephens was dying, diagnosed with inhalation anthrax. As a result, investigators had nothing left to examine after his death. No one could remember the letter's exact wording, only its general tone. Because the package had seemed like a harmless curiosity at the time, staff had paid little attention to details such as the author's handwriting or whether a return address had been included. In addition to the anthrax spores found on Robert's keyboard, more were discovered in the building's mail slot where the package had been deposited. Spores were also detected at the local post office, specifically in the area where mail bound for the sun was sorted. This confirmed that the anthrax had arrived through the mail. As a precaution, everyone who might have been exposed, from newspaper staff to postal workers, was immediately given antibiotics. Of the many people who handled the Jennifer Lopez letter, only two others were found to have contracted anthrax. 73 year old Ernie Blanco, who received the package in the son's mail room, passed it to 36 year old Stephanie Daly at the administrative desk. Both tested positive for the disease, while Ernie became seriously ill. Afterwards, Stephanie showed no symptoms at all. This was not unusual inhalation. Anthrax can incubate for up to 60 days after exposure, and a healthy person would typically need to inhale between 8,000 and 10,000 spores for the infection to become fatal. Brief contact with the package likely spared Ernie and Stephanie from receiving a more dangerous dose. Investigators were more puzzled by the cases of Joe West, Bobby Bender and Ros Susse, all of whom had handled the envelope without falling ill. Ros had even touched the suspicious powder while retrieving the Star of David. Further complicating matters were inconsistencies in witness accounts. Most staff remembered the suspicious powder arriving with the Jennifer Lopez letter, but Bobby Bender insisted that the powder, cigar tube, cigarette, rolling device, chewing tobacco, detergent and Star of David had come in an entirely separate package. He recalled the powder as pink in colour and said it smelled like detergent leaking from the box. This led investigators to question whether the Lopez letter and its contents were truly the source of the outbreak. They considered the possibility that another genuinely contaminated letter had arrived at the sun around the same time, but that memories of it had later become overshadowed or muddled by the bizarre Lopez package. Anthrax mailings weren't entirely new in the US in 1998, powder filled letters bearing the message anthrax, have a nice death were mailed to abortion clinics across the country over the course of a week. That same year, a Florida magazine received a white powder accompanied by the warning, you have been exposed to anthrax poison. In both cases, the substances proved harmless. These incidents were just two among hundreds of anthrax hoaxes reported before 2001. As part of his role as photo editor, Robert Stevens routinely received photographs through the mail, which he opened himself if he had received any unusual or threatening letters. He never mentioned them to anyone. A search of his office uncovered nothing suspicious, although anything significant might already have been misplaced or discarded. Still, investigators couldn't rule out the possibility that the Lopez letter was connected to the outbreak and that those who handled it without falling ill had simply been lucky. Robert reportedly began showing symptoms the day after examining the package. He then continued working through his worsening illness for nearly two weeks before seeking medical attention, ultimately waiting too long for treatment to save him. Since 1990, there had been 18 documented cases of inhalation anthrax in the United States, and only two of those infected individuals had survived. All were accidental infections linked to the animal industry. Robert Stephens death was entirely different. It marked the first known homicide in the US Carried out using anthrax sent through the mail. Anthrax is an effective biological weapon because it can be produced relatively cheaply and with relative ease in a laboratory. While only a small quantity is needed to infect large numbers of people, its microscopic spores can be dispersed through powders, sprays, food, air or water, often without detection because they are odorless and tasteless. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies anthrax as a Tier 1 biological agent, meaning it poses a high risk of deliberate misuse with the potential to cause mass casualties such as and severe disruption to infrastructure, the economy and public morale. The resulting infection can be so horrific that the United nations has described the intentional use of anthrax as repugnant to the conscience of mankind. As news of the anthrax outbreak spread through medical circles, doctors across the US Became increasingly cautious and vigilant. Patients presenting with suspicious symptoms were tested more readily and soon another positive case emerged. Investigators were surprised to learn it was not connected to the sun offices or even to Florida. The case surfaced more than 1,000 miles north in the heart of New York city. On Tuesday, September 25, 2001, 38 year old Erin O' Connor noticed a sore on her chest. By early October, it had developed into an oval shaped ulcer roughly an inch long, capped by a coal black crust. The lymph nodes in her neck were also swollen and she felt weak, feverish and fatigued. When Erin visited her doctor, he was alarmed by her symptoms given the deadly anthrax outbreak unfolding in Florida. Although her illness differed from the fatal inhalation case, the possibility of anthrax quickly crossed his mind. Erin's painful spreading lesion suggested the cutaneous form of the disease in which the bacteria enter the body through a cut or break in the skin. A sample taken from the wound on her chest later confirmed the diagnosis. While still serious, cutaneous anthrax is both more common and far less lethal than inhalation anthrax. The immune response usually confines the infection to one area, and the incubation period is typically less than a week. What begins as a small, itchy, pimple like bump gradually develops into an ulcer surrounded by swelling and marked by a distinctive black scab. Despite its alarming appearance, the lesion is usually painless, slow to progress, and rarely fatal because it is detected early. Standard antibiotics and clean gauze are generally enough for recovery, with the black scab eventually falling away within a week or two. If left untreated, the infection can spread into the bloodstream and become fatal, though this is extremely rare. As investigators searched for the source of Erin o' Connor's infection, she described a recent incident at her workplace. Erin worked at the Manhattan headquarters of the television network NBC, home to numerous late night talk shows, sitcoms, dramas, game shows and news programs. On Tuesday, September 18, an envelope had arrived at the studios addressed to Tom Brokaw, host of the flagship evening news program NBC Nightly News. Inside was a folded sheet of plain white paper. When it was removed, a heavy granular substance resembling a mixture of brown sugar and sand fell out. The paper contained a short, handwritten message written entirely in capital letters, with each sentence placed on a separate line at the top. The author had written a date from the previous week. September 11, 2001, the letter read. This is next. Take penicillin now. Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great. 23 year old NBC intern Casey Chamberlain opened the letter as part of her desk assistant duties. What is this? She asked those around her who were equally puzzled. The author hadn't provided their name or a return address. The handwriting was messy and childlike, and the word penicillin, the antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, had been misspelled. Why did the note insist it be taken immediately? And what connection did Tom Brokaw have to any of it? As a veteran newscaster and household name across the U.S. tom Brokaw routinely received mail from the public, ranging from love letters and gifts to hate mail and even packages containing faecal matter. This threatening message appeared to be just another letter from a disgruntled viewer, perhaps a prank or the ramblings of an unwell individual. In the days that followed, Casey Chamberlain woke in intense pain and discomfort. The glands in her neck became so swollen that her chin was nearly obscured. She developed a high fever, a rash, and an unusual tingling sensation that ran through her veins. Casey suspected she was having an allergic reaction to acne medication she had recently begun taking. In reality, she had contracted cutaneous anthrax. Fortunately, she sought medical attention as her symptoms worsened. Although her doctor didn't initially suspect anthrax, he prudently prescribed antibiotics. Of the more than 400 employees tested at NBC Studios, Casey Chamberlain and Erin O' Connor were the only staff who tested positive. Both recovered. Investigators soon learned about the letter sent to Tom Brokaw in mid September, the one Casey had opened and Erin had later handled. Although Casey had immediately discarded the strange powder inside, the envelope and letter itself had remained in Erin's office. Both items were promptly tested and confirmed to contain anthrax. The risk of contamination was significant. Anthrax spores were also detected in the nasal passages of a police officer and a laboratory technician who handled the letter, while another technician was found to have spores on their face. There was little doubt that the NBC outbreak had been intentional, especially given the short, cryptic message accompanying the deadly powder. Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great. The wording appeared closely tied to the date written at the top of the letter. September 11, 2001. On that day, multiple coordinated jihadist terrorist attacks were carried out against the United States, commonly known as the September 11 attacks, or 9 11. Four commercial airliners were hijacked and deliberately flown into locations of major symbolic and strategic importance. Two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade center in New York City, causing both skyscrapers to collapse. A third aircraft crashed into the Pentagon headquarters of the U.S. department of Defense in Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control from the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, making 911 the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history. The anthrax laced letter had been mailed to NBC just one week later, but investigators soon discovered it was not an isolated incident. 30 year old Joanna Hewden worked as the editorial page assistant for the New York Post and was responsible for opening the papers mail. On Friday, September 21, she noticed an itchy red bump on the middle finger of her right hand. Over the following days, it became swollen and eventually burst, releasing fluid. Johanna covered it with a bandaid, assuming it was one of the skin conditions she was prone to. When she later removed the bandage, the wound had turned jet black. The Santa was dry and the discolouration was spreading down her finger. It was not especially painful, and with so much else happening in New York at the time, Joanna dismissed it and carried on with her life. But the Wound continued to worsen, eventually prompting her to seek medical attention. Doctors initially suspected a spider bite and prescribed antibiotics. Joanna assumed the problem had been resolved until she learned about the recent anthrax infections. After reading about the symptoms, she realised she might have also been exposed. Subsequent tests confirmed she had contracted cutaneous anthrax. This third outbreak was traced to a letter sent to the New York Post on the same day that NBC received its anthrax laden envelope. Unlike the NBC letter, which had been addressed to a specific recipient, the Post envelope was addressed simply to editor. Unsure which colleague it was intended for, Joanna had left it unopened on her desk rather than passing it on. When authorities examined the envelope weeks later in October, a small quantity of brown granular powder spilled out and tested positive for anthrax. It was accompanied by the same threatening message sent to NBC Nightly News, with both letters being photocopies of an original. Because Joanna hadn't opened the envelope, she hadn't inhaled the toxic powder inside and had only come into contact with trace amounts on its exterior. The envelopes from both letters bore postmarks showing they had been mailed from Trenton, the capital of New Jersey. 48 post offices and 625 public collection boxes fed into the Trenton Postal Processing facility and each was swabbed for anthrax spores. A blue street side mailbox positioned across from the main entrance to Princeton University was found to be heavily contaminated. Authorities concluded that this was the box from which the anthrax letters had been mailed. The discovery appeared to strengthen possible links to the September 11 attacks. Several of the hijackers had spent time in New Jersey before boarding the flight that later crashed in Pennsylvania. Others had lived in Florida, not far from Robert Stephens office in Boca Raton. There were also unconfirmed reports that some of the hijackers subscribed to tabloids owned by American Media Incorporated, which included the Sun. The letters themselves referenced Allah, the Arabic word for God in Islam, and contained anti American and anti Jewish rhetoric commonly associated with jihadist extremism. There were also unverified reports that a dark skin lesion had been observed on one of the hijacker's legs. Weaponised anthrax has a long global history. At various times, many nations have produced, experimented with or stockpiled it. Hundreds of strains have been documented worldwide, differing in resilience, virulence and susceptibility to antibiotics. Although anthrax research was often conducted for defensive or preventative purposes, the bacterium had also been used in warfare. However, the 2001 attacks marked the first known instance of anthrax being used for hostile purposes within the United States. Early statements by government officials fuelled speculation that the mailings had been orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden, the jihadist leader behind the September 11 attacks. Vice President Dick Cheney stated, we know bin Laden has over the years tried to acquire weapons of mass destruction, both biological and chemical weapons. He has trained people with respect to how to deploy and use these kinds of substances. If not Bin Laden himself, officials suggested that members or sympathisers of his militant extremist group Al Qaeda, might have been responsible. This suspicion formed part of the broader justification for U.S. and allied military action in Afghanistan, where the government had been accused of harbouring Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Attention also turned toward Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein, a long standing geopolitical adversary of the us. Iraq had previously admitted to weaponising thousands of litres of anthrax and other biological toxins for use in warheads. The possibility that September 11th had marked the beginning of a broader campaign against the us, one now extending into biological warfare, was deeply upsetting. The government warned that another terrorist attack on American soil could occur in the immediate future, raising fears that a far larger and more devastating threat was unfolding. For a nation traumatised by 9 11, the warning was a crushing blow. President George Bush urged Americans to continue living as normally as possible, stating, our government is doing everything we can to make our country as safe as possible. One bioterrorism expert urged the American people to remain calm, saying, whoever is doing this wants everyone to panic. If the media panic and the public panics, you're completing the attack for them. Despite these assurances, fear and anxiety spread rapidly across the country. People with flu like symptoms flooded hospital emergency rooms, While others called 911 and doctors offices demanding antibiotics, which quickly vanished from pharmacy shelves. Some businesses discarded all incoming mail opened or unopened, while others suspended deliveries altogether. Celebrities stopped accepting fan mail as investigators dealt with a wave of hoaxes involving harmless powders mailed to high profile figures. Newspapers carried the message, this paper is not printed in the state of Florida to reassure readers following Robert Stephens death. While the US Postal Service issued guidance on identifying suspicious mail. Citizens were advised to watch for items that were unexpected, unusually heavy, misshapen, stained or odorous, marked with restrictive instructions such as personal confidential, to be opened by addressee only or lacking a return address. The atmosphere was described as a whole new dimension of unreal. One New Yorker angrily told reporters, we've done nothing, nothing, and now we're living in fear of our own mail. Tom Brokaw addressed his close call on air during NBC Nightly News, saying, this is so unfair and so outrageous and so maddening, it's beyond my ability to express it in socially acceptable terms. Personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and partner agencies joined forces to investigate those responsible, forming a task force codenamed Amerithrax. But bioterrorism presented unique challenges for criminal investigators. Such incidents are treated first and foremost as health emergencies, with criminal investigations often taking secondary priority until public safety is restored. As a result, resources are initially directed toward disease diagnosis, treatment and containment rather than identifying and apprehending perpetrators. Multiple agencies may handle the same materials as they are rapidly transported for testing and decontamination, making strict forensic tracking difficult to maintain. Trace evidence can be destroyed, samples may not be preserved under ideal conditions, and patterns become harder to analyse once interventions begin altering the scene. Decontamination procedures and the disposal of potentially dangerous materials can also hinder efforts to reconstruct events. Leads often develop slowly, while interviews become increasingly difficult as the number of possible exposure sites, witnesses and victims expands with each new discovery. The method used to deploy the anthrax further complicated the investigation. Although the postal system was not the most efficient means of dispersing the spores, it offered major strategic advantages. Authorities didn't even realise a crime had been committed until weeks after the letters had been mailed, giving the perpetrator a substantial head start to evade capture or carry out additional attacks. As authorities began the painstaking process of interviewing thousands of people connected to the three known outbreaks, an incident unfolded at the Hart Senate Office building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, October 12, one week after Robert Stephens death. A group of Alaska natives arrived at Democratic Senator Tom Daschle's office carrying a Ziploc bag filled with fur. They described it as a gift for the senator in recognition of his opposition to oil drilling. The group asked 21 year old intern Grant Leslie to take a handful of the fur as a symbolic gesture of thanks to claiming it came from an animal that would become endangered if the drilling proposal were approved. Aware of the ongoing anthrax scare, Grant acted cautiously. She asked the group to place the fur into an envelope and after they left, alerted the office manager who contacted police. Subsequent tests confirmed that the fur didn't contain any anthrax. Relief swept through the office, but the incident had interrupted mail delivery, leaving Grant and her colleagues with twice as much mail to process when they returned on Monday, October 15th. That morning, staff crowded into the sixth floor mailroom of the Senator's office suite, where a long narrow table was piled high with unopened letters and packages. Grant sat in the middle of the room with a stack of mail on her lap. At the top was an envelope addressed to Senator Daschle. She carefully scanned it for the telltale signs of an anthrax letter, including a Trenton, New Jersey postmark dated September 18th and the absence of a return address. But this envelope appeared different. It had been mailed on October 9th and listed a return address in the upper left corner. 4th grade Greendale School, Franklin Park, NJ Opening mail was often monotonous work, but Grant felt a flicker of excitement. A letter from school children would probably be cute and light hearted, a welcome contrast to the hostile and threatening correspondence the office routinely received. She turned the envelope over and noticed it had been sealed with tape, a fairly common precaution intended to keep its contents secure during transit. As Grant cut into one corner with a pair of scissors, a fine white powder spilled out, coating her hands, skirt and shoes. Nervously, she announced, I just spilled white powder all over myself.
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Guest Expert/Foreign Correspondent
Foreign.
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Narrator
Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors the youth mental health crisis has become increasingly evident, and we know social media plays a big role. Teens spend an average of 9 hours a day on screens outside of school, and the US Surgeon General has warned that kids who spend more than three hours a day online are twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression. As a parent, it's something I think about more as my child gets older. Technology is such a big part of growing up now, and figuring out how to introduce it safely can feel overwhelming. The good news is there's another option. A company called Gab has taken a different approach with something they call tech in steps. That means phones and watches designed specifically for kids with no social media and features that are matched to their age. 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It just makes having a great dinner ready to go feel a whole lot easier. Plus, every order is backed by their 100% satisfaction guarantee so you can order with confidence, taste the Omaha Steaks difference and never settle for grocery proteins again. Get flavourful high quality proteins delivered by visiting omahasteaks.com/35 off when you use promo code CASEFILE at checkout. That's omahasteaks.com code casefile terms apply. See site for detail. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The room fell silent as tension filled the air. Grant Leslie froze, careful not to disturb the powder any further. While police were contacted, the partially opened envelope was taken away for examination. Inside was a letter written in the same handwriting as the ones sent to NBC and the New York Post in September. Like those, it bore the date September 11, 2001 at the top. But this message abandoned the warning to take penicillin, now replacing it with a series of new threats. You cannot stop us. We have this anthrax. You die now. Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great. The powder inside the envelope, roughly the size of a grape, tested positive for anthrax. Unlike the brown, granular and heavy powder sent to New York city, the Washington, D.C. sample was white, lightweight and capable of Remaining airborne test scenarios showed that opening a letter containing this form of anthrax caused spores to disperse instantly, heavily contaminating everyone nearby. Within 45 seconds, spores had spread throughout the entire room. The powder itself was highly concentrated, containing an estimated trillion spores per gram. It had been refined to an optimal particle size approximately 1 to 3 micrometers wide and 2 micrometers long, small enough to bypass the body's natural respiratory defences, which typically filter out larger particles. By comparison, the microscopic pores in a standard paper envelope can exceed 20 micrometers in size, allowing the spores to escape even from tightly sealed ladders. In practical terms, this anthrax had been engineered for maximum infectivity. The change seemingly reflected an effort to overcome the shortcomings of the earlier attacks, which had infected fewer people than intended. This time it worked. Grant Leslie was infected along with 20 of her colleagues, six first responders and several employees from a neighbouring office. All received immediate treatment and the building was locked down for extensive decontamination. With these measures, the fourth outbreak appeared to have been contained before any lives were lost. Nine days later, on Sunday, October 21, a 911 call was placed by 55 year old Thomas Morris Jr struggling to breathe, he told the operator, I suspect that I might have been exposed to anthrax. Thomas had worked for years at the United States Postal Service Processing and Distribution center on Brentwood road in Washington D.C. the facility handled mail destined for Capitol Hill, including correspondence bound for the office of Senator Tom Daschell. When Thomas first began experiencing symptoms, he contacted postal officials to ask whether he might have been exposed to anthrax, but received no response. A doctor who initially examined him noted his fever, sweating and muscle aches and suspected an ordinary viral illness, recommending over the counter pain relief. Over the following days, however, Thomas health rapidly deteriorated. His head and body ached intensely, he vomited repeatedly, his chest tightened and breathing became increasingly difficult. By the time he called 911, he was bedridden with even slight movement, causing such extreme pain that he thought he might lose consciousness. Thomas was rushed to hospital and correctly diagnosed with inhalation anthrax, but treatment came too late. He died before the night was over. Investigators quickly began screening the more than 2,000 postal employees working at the Brentwood facility. Three additional workers tested positive for anthrax, each having suffered varying degrees of illness. One of them was 47 year old Joseph Kersine. In the days beforehand, Joseph had become so sick he could no longer work. After he fainted during church, his wife took him to hospital. Doctors initially believed the fatigue, nausea, and excessive sweating he was experiencing were symptoms of a stomach virus and sent him home to rest. On the morning of Monday, October 22, Joseph's wife found him doubled over on the bathroom floor, struggling to breathe and barely able to speak. She rushed him back to hospital, where tests revealed his bloodstream was teeming with anthrax bacteria. By then it was too late to save him. Within six hours of arriving at the hospital, Joseph Kercine, too, had passed away. Neither Thomas, Joseph, nor their colleagues had knowingly opened a threatening letter or come into contact with suspicious powder, yet the Brentwood facility processed around 2 million pieces of mail each day. Letters passed through a vast system of whirring belts and rollers that read barcodes and sorted envelopes into delivery bins with the machinery capable of processing up to 13,500 letters an hour. During this process, the mayor was compressed for efficiency, forcing air and loose particles outward. Mechanics periodically cleaned the machines using blasts of compressed air, sending accumulated dust and debris, including microscopic spores cascading onto employees working below. Although investigators strongly suspected the postal workers had been exposed through the letter sent to Senator Tom Daschle, they took no chances. All mail destined for Capitol Hill was impounded and sealed inside barrels for examination at a secure containment facility. In total, hazardous materials teams wearing full protective suits and respirators faced the daunting task of searching through 280 barrels of unopened mail. Attempting to inspect every letter by hand posed serious risk. Disturbing contaminated mail could release spores into the workspace, endangering investigators and contaminating the entire facility. The sheer scale of the operation also increased the likelihood that fatigue or lapses in concentration could cause dangerous items to be overlooked. Investigators remained mindful of the mysterious Jennifer Lopez letter sent to the sun. If additional anthrax mailings existed, they might not even resemble the dashiell envelope at all. To simplify the search, the effort shifted away from identifying specific letters and toward detecting anthrax itself. The mail from the barrels had been consolidated into 635 trash bags. Because the dashiell letter had contaminated large areas wherever it travelled, investigators reasoned that any other anthrax laced letters would probably have spread spores throughout the bags containing them. Each bag was carefully jostled to loosen any spores trapped inside. A small opening just large enough to insert a swab was then cut into the plastic. The swab was rubbed around, the interior, removed, and the hole immediately sealed with duct tape before the sample was sent for testing. This method streamlined the search. Instead of individually inspecting thousands of letters, authorities only needed to test the several hundred sealed bags. Around 50 bags were ultimately found to contain trace amounts of anthrax. Seven were labelled hot, indicating unusually high concentrations of spores. To measure contamination levels more precisely, air was drawn from each bag for two minutes and bubbled through water so individual spores could be counted. Most of the hot bags produced between 100 and 300 spores. One bag contained more than 23,000. If another infected letter still existed within the postal system, it was almost certainly inside that bag. As expected, the bag contained an anthrax laced envelope. It was addressed to another Democratic senator named Patrick Leahy and included a photocopy of the same message previously sent to Senator Tom Dashiell. Neither man had any understanding of why they had been targeted or who might be responsible. The head of the FBI's Washington field described the perpetrator as a cold blooded murderer, emphasising that three innocent people had already died and that none of them were the intended targets. Senator Patrick Leahy told reporters that the one bright light in the ordeal was his hope that the letter intended to harm him might instead help authorities identify whoever was behind the attacks. At first, that possibility seemed promising. Both Washington, D.C. letters carried the same return address, a supposed fourth grade class at Greendale Elementary School in New Jersey. But the lead quickly collapsed when authorities discovered no such school existed anywhere in the state. It became clear that the sender had deliberately tried to make the envelopes appear harmless by disguising them as letters from school children, increasing the likelihood they would be opened. Even so, New Jersey remained critically important to the investigation, since the letters sent to NBC and the New York Post had also originated there. The first anthrax letters had entered the postal system on September 18. By late October, the two major mail facilities responsible for processing the contaminated correspondence, one in Trenton, New Jersey, and the other in Washington, D.C. had both been shut down. During that time, the facilities had processed roughly 85 million pieces of mail bound for every state in the country and even destinations overseas. Authorities were left grappling with the terrifying possibility that millions of contaminated letters might now be circulating through the vast labyrinthine postal network. Still, there was some reassurance in the fact that every known exposure up to that point had been identified quickly and managed effectively. 61 year old Cathy Nguyen worked as a clerk in the storage supply room in the basement of the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. She occasionally emerged to restock the pharmacy and operating rooms above. On Thursday, October 25, Kathy confided to a friend that her eyes were sore and she was feeling unusually tired. A dedicated employee who often volunteered for overtime. She was not someone who typically complained. Kathy continued going to work, but by Sunday, the aches, chills and fever she had developed had become unbearable. It hurts to breathe, she admitted to a colleague, who urged her to seek medical attention. Although Kathy worried about missing work and inconveniencing her employer, she eventually agreed. At the hospital, Kathy described worsening chest pain and shortness of breath over the previous two days. There was no obvious explanation. She had no history of asthma or respiratory illness, and an initial X ray suggested her heart was normal. All she could say was, it just hurts. When her condition failed to improve, a doctor reviewed the X ray again and noticed swelling between her lungs and spine. The implication was immediate and deeply alarming. Kathy was suffering from inhalation anthrax. Despite aggressive treatment, she died a week after her symptoms first appeared. Kathy became the fourth known victim of inhalation anthrax since the outbreak had begun four weeks earlier. Her death came only three days after that of Joseph Kerseen, marking three lives lost in less than a week. Cathy Nguyen's case was particularly troubling because she was the first person in the country to contract inhalation anthrax without any direct connection to a known target, whether a media organisation, politician or postal facility. How and where she came into contact with the bacteria remained a mystery. Her life revolved around work, and outside of that, she kept to herself in the apartment where she lived alone. Though well liked by neighbours and colleagues, Kathy was a private person, making it difficult to retrace her movements and determine the source of her exposure. Before her death, Kathy never mentioned handling suspicious mail or encountering strange powders. And no anthrax was found in her apartment or mailbox. That didn't entirely rule out earlier contamination. As a notably tidy person, she might have unknowingly wiped away or discarded trace spores before investigators arrived. It was also possible that any spores present had simply been displaced or filtered out each time her mailbox was opened, opened and closed. The closest authorities came to an explanation was Kathy's workplace. Her stock room in the hospital basement was located near the mail room, yet no anthrax was detected there either. None of the hospital's roughly 2,000 employees were infected and no suspicious letters were discovered on the premises. Kathy appeared to have no identifiable connection to any of the previous outbreaks. Her death raised a deeply unsettling possibility. Just a week earlier, the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had assured the public that anthrax cross contamination, the accidental transfer of spores from one person, place or surface to another was highly unlikely to virtually impossible. That assessment was based on several accepted scientific assumptions. Unlike respiratory viruses, anthrax is not a contagious airborne disease that spreads easily through everyday activities such as talking, coughing or sneezing. Anthrax spores also do not multiply outside a host and tend to settle quickly, meaning infection generally requires direct exposure to a contaminated source. Up until that point, every confirmed case had been linked to a clear exposure pathway that could be identified and contained. Kathy Nun's isolated death forced officials to confront the possibility that cross contamination was not only possible, but potentially far more dangerous than previously believed. Kathy's daily routine mostly consisted of commuting to and from work, including two train rides and a short walk through New York City. Anthrax spores could have escaped from a contaminated letter, adhered to a person or surface, and ultimately reached Kathy in that way. And unlike many respiratory viruses, anthrax spores don't lose infectivity over time. If Kathy had in fact contracted anthrax through incidental contact with a contaminated surface, it raised a terrifying possibility. The existence of an unknowable number of invisible carriers and exposure points scattered throughout the city, making containment appear almost impossible. That fear deepened as additional spores and infections began appearing across New York City without any clear source. One particularly alarming case involved a producer for ABC's World News Tonight. On Friday, September 28th, she brought her seven month old baby to the company's studio in New York City, where several people held and cuddled the infant. The following day, a red sore appeared on the back of the baby's left arm. By Monday, October 1, his condition had deteriorated so severely that he required hospitalisation. Tests confirmed he had contracted cutaneous anthrax. His red blood cell count dropped and his kidneys began to fail. After several days of blood transfusions and antibiotic treatment, his condition finally improved and he recovered. By this stage, fear was spreading faster than the infection itself. Americans began stockpiling antibiotics, gas masks and chemical protection suits. Mailboxes were scrubbed with bleach. The Federal Reserve, Department, of state, Supreme Court and Pentagon were all evacuated in incidents later determined to be false alarms. For the first time in modern history, Congress was effectively shut down. One anxious New Yorker said, I see anthrax in the toothpaste, I see it in the orange juice, I see it in the sugar. They're going to kill me with a heart attack before they kill me with anthrax. The state governor declared. It's obvious we're in a new war and it's a war of nerves. Whenever a new infection appeared, authorities responded with rapid large scale tracing, testing and treatment. The strategy appeared effective and gradually no further cases emerged. Although Kathy Nguyen's unexplained infection had initially shaken confidence that the outbreak could be contained, the crisis ultimately subsided without additional loss of life. The director of Homeland Security stated, I'm hopeful, like the rest of America, that the anthrax has stopped permanently. 94 year old Otillie Lundgren lived in the small farming town of Oxford, Connecticut. Despite her age, she remained sharp and alert. When she wasn't reading travel or mystery novels, she enjoyed reciting poetry. But in November 2001, something changed. Ottilie developed a mild cough and fever and appeared noticeably weaker than usual. When her condition failed to improve, concerned relatives urged her to see a doctor. On Friday, November 16th, she finally agreed. At first, doctors were unsure what to make of her illness. Otilie didn't appear critically unwell. She joked with hospital staff and her symptoms seemed relatively mild. A chest X ray appeared normal. It was only after her blood was examined that alarms spread through the hospital. A rod shaped bacterium was detected. One infectious disease specialist thought, this looks exactly like anthrax. But what are the odds? Otillie was a widowed woman with no children, living alone in a quiet rural town in a state where no anthrax outbreaks had been reported. Although her niece, neighbours and friends occasionally visited to help around the house, she rarely travelled far. Her daily life mostly revolved around the local supermarket, church, beauty parlour and diner. The infectious disease specialist visited Ottilian Hospital and asked a series of urgent questions. Did you receive any mail with powder in it? Did you see any powder in the mail? Did you travel to New York? Ottilie answered no to every question. While further tests were conducted. Doctors administered antibiotics as a precaution. The specialist's suspicions were soon confirmed. Otillie had contracted anthrax. Given that her symptoms were relatively mild and treatment had begun immediately, doctors remained optimistic, but her condition deteriorated rapidly. Five days after being admitted to hospital, Ottilie Lundgren became the fifth victim of inhalation anthrax. Until that point, all known victims had been connected to the three major outbreak areas. Florida, Washington, D.C. and in New York City. Although Connecticut lies roughly 100 miles northeast of New York, Attili had not travelled. Every local place she had recently visited was examined, yet no anthrax was found. A possible explanation only emerged after spores were discovered on four mail sorting machines at the postal distribution centre serving Oxford, Connecticut. Additional spores were found in a collection bin used to hold mail destined for Otilie's street. Trace amounts were also detected at her local post office. Each day, Otillie collected her mail from the mailbox outside her home, carried it inside, and sorted through it at her dining table using a letter opener. Unwanted mail was torn up and placed into a wastebasket before later being discarded in the outdoor rubbish. No anthrax was found inside Otillie's home, but as with Kathy Nguyen's case, spores might already have been cleaned away, discarded, or dispersed before investigators arrived. The inability to detect spores in the homes or workplaces of infected individuals didn't necessarily rule anything out. For people with weakened immune systems, even an extremely small number of spores could prove devastating. As one epidemiologist put it in theory, one spore in the right place at the right time can kill. Fortunately, the weeks passed with no further infections or suspicious letters, and it appeared that Ottilie Lundgren had become the final fatality in the anthrax attacks. It became increasingly clear that the threat was limited rather than the beginning of a nationwide biological outbreak. The panic that had gripped the country gradually subsided, giving way to adaptation and eventually, a fragile sense of stability. Public attention shifted toward the wider aftermath of the September 11 attacks, including the escalating in Afghanistan and the broader trauma left by 911 itself. With the immediate public health emergency easing, the Amerithrax investigation could finally put its entire focus into identifying whoever was responsible. Only four anthrax letters were ever recovered, the two mailed to NBC and the New York Post in September and the two sent to Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy in October. No foreign fingerprints, hair, or DNA were found on any of the envelopes. The paper itself contained no identifying watermarks or impressions. Amerithrax evolved into a vast multidisciplinary effort involving microbiologists, biodefence scientists, counterterrorism analysts, forensic specialists, and linguistic experts. Experts. The investigation faced intense political, public, and institutional pressure to connect the mailings to 9 11. But investigators remained cautious. Premature conclusions risked diverting resources, compromising both investigations and inflaming public fear. They also carried the potential to influence foreign policy and military decisions in ways that could later damage confidence in intelligence agencies if those those conclusions proved wrong. The reality was that no direct forensic evidence matching materials, identifiable suspects, or operational overlap linked the two attacks. Their apparent motives also differed significantly. The September 11 attacks represented the largest act of terrorism the Western world had ever experienced. They involved extensive coordination and strategic planning designed to project power, inflict mass psychological shock, disrupt the global economy and reshape international politics. Each target had been carefully selected for its symbolic importance to the us, representing the country's financial, governmental or military power. The attacks were highly visible and intended to maximise both civilian casualties and worldwide attention. Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were quickly implicated through intelligence histories, operational evidence and intercepted communications. Yet by the end of 2001, nothing substantial had emerged linking them to the anthrax mailings. No other foreign adversary or extremist organisation had claimed responsibility either. That absence was strategically unusual and didn't align with the typical objectives associated with groups like Al Qaeda, which generally sought clear attribution in order to optimise propaganda value and send an unmistakable political message. In contrast, the anthrax letters were anonymous, limited in number and unevenly distributed, targeting just two US Senators and a small group of media organizations that weren't even considered the most prominent in their industry. The sun was one of the smaller tabloids published by American Media Inc. With a national circulation of roughly 226,000. The New York Post performed better, selling an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 copies daily, though its readership was concentrated largely in New York City. And it lacked the prestige and national influence of broadsheet rivals such as the New York Times. One of the country's most widely read newspapers, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, represented a far more prominent national platform. As one of America's big three evening newscasts, it regularly attracted between 8 and 10 million viewers per night, with ratings climbing even higher during the peak of 911 coverage. Senator Tom Daschle was among the most influential politicians in Washington as Senate Majority Leader, serving as the public face of the Senate's Democratic leadership. His colleague Patrick Leahy was less publicly visible, but nevertheless wielded substantial influence as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, overseeing judicial nominations, civil liberties, intelligence, oversight and anti terror legislation. Even so, the pair represented only two of the 100 members of the US Senate, alongside another 435 representatives in the broader Congress. As one expert observed, to go to all the lengths of creating a virulent anthrax and getting it into form, that's dangerous. Just doesn't make sense. If you're just going to target a few people, I can think of a hundred easier ways just to target a few people. Don Foster, a text analyst and forensic linguist, initially accepted the prevailing belief that the anthrax letters were probably the work of foreign extremists. That changed when Amerithrax investigators asked him to personally examine the letters and provide a professional linguistic assessment. After Reviewing the material, Don developed a theory and timeline of the attacks. He proposed that the perpetrator first sent anthrax to the sun in Florida in September, possibly through the strange package addressed to Jennifer Lopez that staff dismissed. Or perhaps through another seemingly ordinary letter that went unnoticed. When this failed to produce the desired impact, the center escalated by mailing a second batch of letters to major media organisations in New York City. This time, the threats were explicit with the phrase death to America. Yet again, the attacks failed to generate the grand outcome apparently intended. When Robert Stevens died from inhalation anthrax in early October, news coverage largely focused on the theory that his infection had occurred naturally, while officials reassured the public that no broader danger existed. At the same time, several other victims were developing the less severe cutaneous form of the disease, though few recognised the wider threat. What had begun as a deliberate large scale attack risked becoming a quiet and anticlimactic failure. The perpetrator responded by escalating further, producing a new lightweight powder engineered to spread far more effectively. The targets also shifted from media outlets to politicians, presumably because attacks on elected officials would provoke greater public attention and notoriety. One detail in particular intrigued Don Foster. The sender clearly appeared intent on causing widespread fear and harm. Yet the early letters had still instructed recipients to take penicillin, now, almost as though the author didn't initially want to kill anyone outright. Although the later letters omitted that warning, suggesting fatalities had become less of a concern, they still openly identified the substance by declaring, we have this anthrax. The contradiction was striking. It almost seemed as though the perpetrator wanted terror, disruption and attention more than mass death. Without fully considering the possibility that random bystanders could be caught in the crossfire, Don Foster began drawing his own conclusions about the identity of the perpetrator, conclusions that many investigators and experts involved in Amerithrax also considered plausible. The anthrax letters were short, crude and grammatically simplistic. Although the author instructed recipients to take penicillin, penicillin was not considered the preferred treatment for anthrax. In 2001, the broad spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin had become the standard frontline therapy. Instead, the incorrect reference to penicillin, combined with its misspelling, initially appeared to support the theory that the writer was a non native English speaker from abroad. Yet Don cautioned against taking the letters at face value. He noted that the messages were so brief and deliberately vague that almost anyone could have written them. More importantly, he argued that anyone capable of orchestrating such a sophisticated, untraceable anthrax operation would almost certainly have been far more intelligent, knowledgeable and calculating than the letters suggested. After all, the perpetrator possessed either the access or scientific capability to obtain or produce the AIM strain. They also demonstrated the technical expertise required to safely handle, process, and disperse anthrax spores that demanded specialised microbiological knowledge, laboratory equipment, and a highly specific skill set entirely different from the operational planning involved in hijacking aircraft. Given the potency of the material, it was also highly likely the perpetrator had exposed themselves to anthrax spores during the preparation or mailing and had therefore taken precautions against infection, whether through vaccination, antibiotics, or both. In other words, this was not a crime an ordinary person could easily commit. Don Foster believed the person responsible was most likely a scientist or someone with advanced scientific training. The intended targets also struck him as unusual. A television news anchor, several relatively obscure tabloid editors, and two Democratic senators, all while the country was led by a Republican president, seemed like oddly selective targets. He questioned whether outsiders would even know that American fourth grade students sometimes write letters to elective representatives as school projects. To Don, the entire operation reflected a level of cultural familiarity with American society that felt unusually precise for foreign extremists. Then there was the repeated reference to the date of the September 11 attacks. Every anthrax letter prominently displayed 091101 at the top, despite none of them actually being mailed on September 11th? Don found that detail deeply suspicious. Why, he wondered, did the author feel compelled to include the date at all unless they wanted investigators and the public to forcefully draw a connection between the two events? As Don put it, when an offender gives you unnecessary information that tells you what to do, think, you probably want to think twice. The numerical format of the date also stood out. It was written in the month, day, year style. Much of the world instead uses day, month year formatting, including many countries in the Middle east where the date would ordinarily appear as 110901. Writing the date as September 11, 2001 reflected a style commonly used in the United States. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors.
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Narrator
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The possibility that the anthrax mailings were the work of a domestic terrorist didn't come as a complete surprise to the Amerithrax task force. Recent history had already shown that the US had its own homegrown extremists willing to threaten anthrax attacks in the pursuit of ideological causes alongside the anti abortion hoax letters of the late 1990s. An American microbiologist linked to right wing radicals had been arrested five years earlier after claiming he possessed a enough anthrax to wipe out the city of Las Vegas. Tests later revealed the substance was merely a harmless vaccine strain obtained through a biological supply company. As one expert observed, crises such as 911 tend to bring out, quote, all sorts of wackos, from pranksters and attention seekers to apocalyptic groups that interpret catastrophic events as signs of the end times and attempt to fulfil those beliefs themselves. FBI criminal profilers came to suspect the perpetrator was likely a socially isolated older man living in the US with advanced scientific and laboratory expertise, but no direct ties to organised terrorist groups. A $2.5 million reward went unclaimed as months passed without any arrests. By early 2002, Amerithrax faced mounting criticism over what some described as a slow moving inquiry, while others accused the FBI of a cover up. Officials strongly denied the allegations, insisting the investigation had not stalled. There are no easy answers or instant gratification, one official said. Another added, you can't be in a hurry on this stuff. Much of the delay stemmed from the extraordinary scientific complexity of the investigation. Traditional forensic analysis was of limited use because the primary evidence was lethally contaminated, while rigorous testing of the anthrax and related samples required painstaking, time consuming verification before any conclusions could be drawn. Since October 2001, investigators had generated thousands of leads and were pursuing hundreds simultaneously, most of which ultimately led nowhere. The inquiry was further burdened by approximately 17,000 hoaxes and false alarms reported across the country. Tens of thousands of searches, interviews and polygraph examinations were conducted as attention increasingly focused on personnel working at the small number of US research facilities authorised to possess the Ames strain of anthrax. Eventually, investigators narrowed their attention to a small pool of individuals believed to have the scientific expertise, access or authority necessary to obtain or produce the material. An estimated 30 to 4040 scientists. Among them was Stephen Hatfill, 48 year old. Hatfill was a biodefence specialist who worked as a consultant on classified projects for multiple Federal agencies. His work focused on biological threat preparedness, including the development of biodefence training materials and response planning for biological weapons scenarios. Prior to 1999, he had spent several years working at a research institute where samples of Ames anthrax were stored. In January 1999, amid the anti abortion anthrax hoax mailings, Hatfill and a colleague sought to better understand the feasibility of a terrorist attack involving anthrax sent through the mail. They commissioned William Patrick to produce a report on the subject. Patrick, the former head of the US biological weapons program, was widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in weaponising biological agents, including techniques for refining anthrax into a fine, dispersible, inhalable powder. Although retired, he continued working in an advisory role on biodefence and biosecurity matters and was considered Stephen Hatfill's mentor. The resulting report, completed in February 1999, later drew intense scrutiny because some viewed it as resembling a blueprint for the 2001 anthrax attacks. One detail that attracted particular attention was its estimate of the maximum amount of anthrax powder that could be placed inside an envelope without creating a suspicious bulge. 2.5 grams. Every known anthrax letter mailed in 2001 contained less than that amount. Hatfill also drew attention after eight separate individuals identified him to the FBI as a possible suspect. According to those accounts, he had openly discussed his knowledge of weaponising anthrax, questioned colleagues about their understanding of the subject and frequently warned others about the dangers posed by biological weapons. This combined with reports that Stephen Hatfill had begun taking the Primary antibiotic used to prevent and treat anthrax. Shortly before the 2001 mailings led him to become a person of interest in the Amerithrax investigation, Hatfill voluntarily participated in multiple interviews and polygraph examinations during which some of his answers about the attacks were described as elusive. Suspicion intensified further when a search of a pond near his home uncovered an airtight plastic container and a rope that initially tested positive for anthrax. Investigators suspected the items might have been used to safely handle and transfer anthrax powder into the envelopes. Hatfill also consented to extensive searches yet, but no trace of anthrax was found in his home, vehicles or other locations connected to him. He was placed under continuous surveillance for an extended period but no incriminating behaviour was observed. The investigation suffered a setback when follow up testing failed to confirm the presence of anthrax on the rope recovered from the pond, with authorities later attributing the original result to laboratory error. Hatfill consistently maintained his innocence. He stated that he had never visited the location in New Jersey where the letters were mailed and explained that he had been taking antibiotics to treat an unrelated chronic sinus and bronchial infection. Ultimately, the investigation into Hatfill reached a dead end, with the case against him remaining entirely circumstantial. Still, some observers found it suspicious that no further anthrax letters, infections or deaths occurred while he was under intense scrutiny. Although there was insufficient evidence to charge Hatfill with any crime, the US Attorney General publicly identified him as a person of interest, fuelling widespread media speculation that severely damaged his reputation and career. Hatfill later sued the Department of Justice and filed defamation claims against several journalists and news organisations, arguing that he had been unfairly portrayed as the anthrax attacker. He ultimately received multi million dollar settlements. By the time Hatfill was effectively ruled out, the FBI had spent nearly six years focused largely on him. It became increasingly clear that Amerithrax needed a new direction following a leadership change in late 2006, the investigation essentially started over and earlier leads and suspects that might not have received sufficient attention were revisited through advances in genetic analysis and forensic testing. A major breakthrough finally emerged in 2007 when scientists succeeded in tracing the spores used in the letters. Rather than originating from some unidentifiable engineered variant of Ames, they were linked to a highly specific laboratory batch designated RMR1029. Records showed that RMR1029 had been created and maintained at the United States Army Medical Medical Research Institute of Infectious diseases by a microbiologist named Bruce Ivins. 55 year old Ivins had a lifelong passion for science. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy, all in microbiology. With his doctoral research focusing on toxicity in disease causing bacteria. Ivins went on to work as a scientist for nearly 40 years, including 18 years at the U.S. army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, a major military installation and the centre of the country's biological defence program. There, Ivan served as a senior researcher on a specialised six member biodefence team within the Bacteriology division and developed a reputation as a skilled vaccinologist. After conducting extensive research into Legionella and cholera, he focused increasingly on anthrax, eventually becoming one of the nation's leading experts on the bacterium's growth, sporulation and purification. Over the course of his career he published more than 50 professional papers on the subject. In the immediate aftermath of 9, 11 colleagues began noticing unusual changes in Ivan's behaviour. Normally shy and soft spoken, he appeared to be under mounting professional pressure. His two decade long anthrax vaccine research program was facing growing criticism amid concerns about effectiveness and safety. Another military vaccine project he was involved in was also attracting allegations that it had caused harmful side effects in some soldiers. Without a critical solution, there were fears the program could be shut down. Ivins was deeply invested in his work and highly sensitive to criticism. He began working irregular late night hours in the laboratory, sometimes remaining there past midnight and returning on weekends when no one else was present. The pattern was considered unusual for him and reportedly stopped abruptly once the anthrax letters were discovered. When questioned about the after hours activity, Ivins was unable to provide a clear explanation and had not properly documented the work in his lab notebooks. He only stated that he sometimes went to the lab to escape difficulties at home. At the same time, Ivins appeared to be experiencing growing personal and emotional strain. One colleague he had become emotionally dependent on had recently left and another was preparing to move to a new job. He viewed them as his only close friends and important sources of emotional support. However, he could become resentful and vindictive towards them when he felt ignored, excluded or betrayed. Ivins was characterised as a man driven by obsessions, particularly involving women for whom he developed unreciprocated romantic feelings. In emails sent to his two close colleagues, both women he apologised for his behaviour, expressed profound loneliness and wrote that he felt truly and completely alone. He also described episodes of paranoia and what he called terrifying mental instability, noting that he was seeking help, Ivins visited a psychiatrist who suggested that he might be suffering from paranoid personality disorder, a condition associated with persistent distrust and suspicion of others, often without justification. Shortly before the anthrax mailings, his antidepressant dosage was doubled. At work, Bruce Ivan's expertise in anthrax made him a valuable asset once the Amerithrax investigation began. From the outset, the Institute assisted the inquiry by providing scientific expertise, laboratory testing and decontamination support, among other contributions. Ivins and his colleagues worked long hours testing samples to distinguish genuine anthrax from the hoax substances sent during that period. He also personally analysed the anthrax recovered from the letter mailed to Senator Tom Dash. Privately, Ivins continued exhibiting signs of troubled and erratic thinking. The day after the Daschle letter arrived for testing, one researcher emailed another. Bruce has been an absolute manic basket case these last few days. By December 2001, Ivins was sending unusual poems to France in which he described having two personality. As the crisis intensified, Ivan's team expanded to roughly 85 scientists, many of whom had to learn anthrax handling procedures on the fly. At the height of the emergency, dozens of staff members slept in their cars or on cots at the lab to keep pace with the constant flood of incoming specimens. Over the following months, the team tested around 30,000 suspicious envelopes, packages and other materials, along with approximately 320,000 environmental samples from locations including the Brentwood postal facility where anthrax victims Thomas Morris Jr. And Joseph Kerseen had worked. When investigators started concentrating heavily on Steven Hatfill as a possible suspect, Ivan's life stabilised. His anthrax vaccine program, previously at risk of being discontinued, was revitalised in the aftermath of the attacks. He referenced the mailings in scientific papers presenting his theory that combining antibiotics with vaccination could provide a more practical strategy for responding to future bioterrorism events. Ivins went on to co invent two patents relating to genetically engineered anthrax vaccines. In 2003, he received the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, the highest honour awarded to civilian employees of the Department of Defence for his contributions to solving technical problems in anthrax vaccine production. Everything changed in 2007 when Stephen Hatfill was fully exonerated after the spores used in the letters were traced to RMR 1029. Hatfill had no realistic means of accessing the batch, which had been created by Bruce Ivins and stored in a flask inside a walk in refrigerator in his lab. Investigators consequently shifted their focus toward the institute its six member bio defence team and Ivins himself. Ivins began showing signs of serious strain and spiralling out of control. His increasingly troubled behaviour, including comments about suicide, alarmed colleagues and led to him losing access to sensitive areas within his workplace. Ivins had long struggled with mental health issues, stemming in part from a traumatic childhood marked by an abusive mother who told him he was unplanned and unwanted. He found comfort in education and science, eventually marrying and having two children. Yet his psychological difficulties persisted into adulthood, and he periodically sought professional treatment. In the year before the anthrax attacks, Ivins attended a mental health clinic where he regularly met with a counsellor. In one session, he reportedly spoke in a flat, detached manner about a young woman he was attracted to who lived out of town. He said he had travelled to watch her play in a soccer match and had brought with him a mixed poison he had created. Ivins claimed he intended to poison the woman if her team lost the game, adding that he was a skilled scientist who knew how to do things without people finding out. The counsellor reported the comments to the clinic director, a psychiatrist who had also treated Ivins, as well as to police. However, because Ivins had not identified the woman by name or provided any details about where she lived, authorities concluded there was little they could do. Ivan's mental state deteriorated significantly when Amerithrax began closing in on him. In March 2008, his wife found him unconscious after he overdosed on medication. He was hospitalised and recovered, but two days later, he sent disturbing and rambling emails to his friends that reflected growing paranoia and emotional instability. In one, he accused those around him of abandoning him, writing, I lose my connections, I lose my years, I lose my health, I lose my ability to think, I lose my friends. What do I have left but eternity? Two months later, colleagues observed Ivins alone in his office, behaving erratically and talking to himself. He was also active online, posting violent comments about decapitating a woman on a reality television program whom he disliked, among other disturbing statements. He even sent the woman an email claiming to be her biggest fan and expressing a desire to meet her, signing the message with a pseudonym. Investigators discovered that Ivins had used more than a dozen aliases over the years to conceal his identity when communicating with others, often for deceptive or inappropriate purposes. On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, during a group therapy session, Ivins appeared especially distressed. He revealed that he was a suspect in the Amerithrax investigation and expressed intense anger toward investigators, the government and the broader system. His fears were well Founded after months of surveillance, forensic analysis, searches of his home and computers, and interviews with people close to him, Ivins had been informed that prosecutors were preparing to charge him over the 2001 anthrax mailings. Alongside concerns about Bruce Ivins behaviour before, during and after the attacks was his expertise and access to anthrax, specifically RMR1029. The batch couldn't be legitimately accessed without Ivan's authorisation, and no one else in his lab possessed both the opportunity and technical ability to use, prepare or store the material without attracting attention. When investigators requested samples of RMR1029 for comparison with the anthrax used in the letter, Ivins intentionally submitted specimens that produced inconclusive results, complicating efforts to establish a definitive match. He was unable to provide a clear explanation for why those particular samples had been selected. Ivins also minimised his technical capabilities in ways considered inconsistent with his expertise. He repeatedly insisted that he could not produce anthrax spores of the quality used in the attacks, stating that nothing he had ever created was as good. He further claimed he lacked the knowledge to operate a sophisticated machine used to dry spores and said he had no training in producing powders. Records showed that Ivins was the custodian of the drying machine, and the instruction manual stored with it was marked property of Dr. Ivins. In an October 2000 email, a fellow microbiologist asked whether he could demonstrate how to use the machine, to which Ivins replied, absolutely, anytime. The machine took hours at a time to use, meaning it was not a process that could be carried out quickly or discreetly in a busy lab without attracting notice. Ivins was never observed using the machine suspiciously while working alongside colleagues. But the long, unscheduled and undocumented periods he spent alone in the lab after hours gave him ample opportunity to conduct such work unnoticed. Ivins was also discovered to be a prolific letter writer. More than 60 letters he had mailed to members of Congress and news organisations over two decades were recovered, including one sent to NBC in 1987 at the same address later used for the anthrax letter sent to Tom Brokaw. While no clear motive was ever established for why Ivins would target any of the anthrax recipients, his personal beliefs might have influenced the selection of Democratic Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. Ivins, a devout Roman Catholic, reportedly opposed their liberal positions on issues such as abortion rights. He was also known to express hostility toward Muslims, which could help explain why the anthrax letters attempted to frame Islamic extremists. Through the use of jihadist rhetoric. After the infection of Robert Stephens became public, Ivins emailed the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, suggesting that he might have contracted anthrax naturally through contaminated creek water or infected alpaca wool in clothing. These explanations were implausible, given that Robert had already been diagnosed with inhalation anthrax caused by the Ames strain. Several experts viewed Ivan's suggestions as laughable, noting that they made little scientific sense coming from a leading leading anthrax specialist, while another described them as fishy. Ivins expressed vastly different opinions in an email to a friend sent around the same time, he warned of a potential bioweapons attack by terrorists. In a message written before the anthrax letters were discovered, Ivins claimed that Osama bin Laden possessed anthrax and had decreed death to all Jews and all Americans, language that closely resembled phrases later used in the anthrax letters themselves. Ivins was also known to drive long distances late at night to mail or deliver packages from remote post offices. The anthrax letters had been deposited outside Princeton University in New Jersey, several hours from his home home, and Ivins already had a reason to frequent the area. By his own admission, he had an unusual fixation on the all female sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and would drive for hours to visit different chapter houses, briefly observe them and then return home. The mailbox used in the anthrax mailings was located just 300ft from the office of Kappa Kappa Gamma's Princeton chapter. Another suspicious element was Ivan's known fascination with codes, secrets and hidden messages. He enjoyed playing detective and would mail anonymous packages containing unusual objects and cryptic notes to friends, challenging them to identify the sender. This behaviour echoed aspects of the mysterious Jennifer Lopez package sent to the sun, which was believed to have contained the anthrax that killed Robert Stephens. In the anthrax letters, the letters A and T appeared to be bolded, raising speculation that they might have formed part of a hidden code. Ivins owned a book on coded communication that discussed hiding messages through the use of bolded letters. And the structure and formatting of the anthrax letters resembled the techniques described in that text. Notably, A and T were also significant letters in genetics and microbiology. The night after investigators first searched Ivins home, he was Observed at around 1am Stepping outside in his underwear to check whether his curbside trash had been collected. Unknown to Ivins, his rubbish had already been secretly intercepted, and among the items recovered were the book on coded communication and a 1992 issue of American Scientist magazine containing an article titled the Linguistics of DNA. Ivins was also found to be in possession of three handguns, two stun guns, a taser, a bulletproof vest, a homemade reinforced body armour plate, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, smokeless handgun powder, an electronic detection device and computer surveillance software. Part of his basement had been converted into a makeshift firing range. As for motive, Ivans benefited indirectly from the attacks. Heightened fears surrounding anthrax bioterrorism increased the government priority and demand for vaccines, elevating the importance of his research, which was on the brink of being scrapped entirely. The two anthrax vaccine patents he went on to co invent had already been licensed by a biotechnology company that secured a federal contract worth more than $850 million. When questioned about his possible involvement in the attacks, Ivins made non denial denials statements that appeared to reject the accusations without actually explicitly doing so. Among them were comments such as I can tell you I don't have it in my heart to kill anybody, I don't have no clue how to make a bioweapon and I don't want to know and I do not have any recollection of ever having done anything like that. All of which addressed character, intent, knowledge, willingness and memory rather than flat out denial. While the use of double negatives such as don't have no clue further obscured his meaning, Ivins raised the possibility of memory loss on several occasions, telling agents he experienced blackouts and describing incidents in which he allegedly woke up addressed as though he had gone out during the night. Despite the growing scrutiny, Bruce Ivins consistently denied involvement in the anthrax mailings and repeatedly attempted to redirect suspicion toward friends and professional colleagues through speculative theories. At one point, he emailed himself a list of 12 reasons why the two former colleagues he considered his best friends might have been responsible, despite the claims being easily disproven. As the investigation against Ivins intensified, he sent himself an email that read, yes, yes, yes, I finally know who mailed the anthrax letters in the fall of 20041 I've pieced it together. Now we can finally get all of this over and done with. He claimed he only needed to confirm a few details before turning the information over to authorities, adding, I should have been a private eye. No such evidence was ever produced. When Ivins voiced his fears about facing charges for the anthrax attacks in his group group therapy session on July 9, 2008, other attendees asked why he was so concerned. If he was truly innocent, he had nothing to worry about. Ivins just smiled in response. He questioned whether he would face the death penalty and also made threatening comments about taking out colleagues and others he felt had wronged him. He noted that with with planning it was possible to commit murder without leaving a mess. He stated that he had a bulletproof vest, a list of targets, and that he intended to obtain a handgun, adding that he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Following these remarks, Ivins was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility. A subsequent report stated that he had a history dating to his graduate days of homicidal threats, actions and plans, and referred to him as a homicidal sociopath with clear intentions. Despite this, and over objections from, among others, the counsellor who reported the group therapy threats, the hospital released Ivins from its care on Thursday, July 24, 2008, concluding that he was not a danger to himself or others. 48 hours later, Bruce Ivins fatally overdosed on painkillers. In the aftermath of Ivan's suicide, the US Department of Justice released the Amerithrax Investigative summary, a near 100 page document providing a comprehensive account of the entire investigation. Amerithrax was an extraordinarily complex inquiry. In the seven years following the attacks, the task force expended more than 600,000 investigative work hours, conducted over 10,000 witness interviews across six continents, executed 80 searches, issued more than 5,000 federal grand jury subpoenas, and recovered over 6,000 items of potential evidence. Investigators scrutinised more than 1,000 individuals as possible suspects, both in the US and abroad, ultimately concluding that Bruce Ivins was solely responsible. The conclusion was met with mixed reactions. Ivan's brother said the findings made sense, claiming Ivins had always considered himself like a God. Others who knew Ivins personally were less convinced, with one colleague suggesting the investigation placed intense pressure on him and worsened his mental health, contributing to unstable behaviour misinterpreted as suspicious. The release of Ivan's emails documenting increasing depression, anxiety and paranoia was viewed by a psychologist consulted by the New York Times as consistent with psychosis, raising questions about the extent of his culpability. However, the psychologist also noted the possibility that Ivins might have exaggerated or even feigned aspects of his mental illness to attract attention or sympathy. Ivan's mental state became the focus of an investigative review which concluded that, at the very least, the US army hadn't adequately assessed his background before granting him clearance to work with anthrax and that such clearance shouldn't have been approved. Some observers used these findings to question how someone perceived as mentally unstable as Ivan's could carry out such a sophisticated attack alone. According to one researcher, it would have taken at least a year of intensive lab work to produce the spores used in the attacks. Yet none of Ivan's colleagues observed him working on anything secretive or unusual during that time. Others who accepted that Ivins produced the anthrax still argued that this didn't necessarily mean he was responsible for mailing it. While he maintained authorisation over RMR 1029, they suggested that someone else might have accessed the flask containing it. Some go even further and point to the possibility of a broader conspiracy in which Ivan's was a convenient fall guy. Given its historical context, the anthrax mailings remain surrounded by extensive conjecture and conspiracies due to their contribution to the highest heightened political and security climate in the US post 9 11. Although they weren't attributed to any foreign state or adversary, they reinforced concerns about weapons of mass destruction and contributed to the urgency of the broader war on terror, forming part of the context in which the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq took place. These major events overshadow the case, leaving survivors and grieving loved ones feeling as though they are an afterthought, compounded by the fact that no one has ever been held accountable. In total, more than 10,000 people considered at risk of anthrax exposure received precautionary treatment as a result of the mailings. Of these, 22 ultimately contracted the disease 11 cases of inhalation and 11 of cutaneous five people died. Survivors describe enduring trauma, lingering physical problems and ongoing psychological distress. One survivor of inhalation anthrax from the Brentwood postal facility recalled the moment he was diagnosed saying, my head was swirling. I could not believe that it was me. And the bottom line on everything I read was no one survives from the anthrax bacteria. Workers at the facility later sued the U.S. postal Service, alleging officials withheld information about contamination risks and left them exposed. Newscaster Tom Brokaw reflected on the ordeal faced by his assistants Aaron o' Connor and Casey Chamberlain in a Newsweek article, writing, the emotional wounds will always be with that them wounds brought on by a craven attack, meant for me that they paid the price, is a guilt I will carry forever. Casey Chamberlain herself described how the experience changed her life. I had carried anthrax back on my clothes and had contaminated my home. I chose to have all of my things destroyed. I lost my most personal belongings, my pitches and mementos. I worry that I'll have to see doctors for the rest of my life. I'll never have an overall sense of security again. That's what I lost. I wish I could sit in a courtroom and look someone in the eyes and say, you did this. I don't feel closure over it today. I'm not sure any of us ever will. Foreign.
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