ハワイ旅行･ホテル･ショッピング･グルメ･求人

Bruce Ivins, a US Army scientists working at the biodefense research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Maryland, committed suicide after learning that he was to be charged with the 2001 anthrax letter murders. A spokesman for Maryland's medical examiner made the declaration official today, stating that the death was indeed a suicide.

The investigation into Ivins stems from anthrax spores sent through the mail soon after the September 11th terror attacks. Powdered anthrax was sent by mail to national media outlets and politicians, killing five people and sending seventeen others to the hospital. The letter scare sent panic through the nation and caused billions of dollars in damages. At the height of the crisis, Senate offices were shut down and postal service around the country ground to a halt.

Ivins had been questioned previously about the case by the FBI, as had other US scientists. Investigators focused on researchers and believed the culprit might be a scientist because of the amount of knowledge needed to process the anthrax, but it was only recently that Ivins came under police scrutiny. Early in the case, attention had focused on a civilian researcher named Steven Hatfill. Hatfill, however, was never charged and strongly denied involvement with the poisonings.