Scientist Says Anthrax Suspect Stalked Her

Microbiologist Says Bruce Ivins Was Obsessed With Her Sorority; Stalked Her For Decades

(AP)  A microbiologist claims she was stalked for decades by Bruce Ivins, the suspect in the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001 who, according to court documents, was obsessed with the sorority she joined in college.

Nancy L. Haigwood and her former husband, Carl J. Scandella, also think Ivins may have wanted to get close to her when he moved in down the street from the couple in the suburbs of Washington in the early 1980s.

Ivins, an Army scientist, committed suicide last week as federal authorities prepared to charge him with killing five people by sending anthrax spores in the mail. The letters were dropped in a mailbox near a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority office in Princeton, New Jersey, and prosecutors have suggested Ivins chose that location because of its proximity to the office.

In another development, the Justice Department sent a letter to the lawyer for Steven Hatfill, another military scientist who was a colleague of Ivins, formally exonerating Hatfill after saying earlier this week that Ivins was the only suspect. In 2002, law enforcement officials called Hatfill a "person of interest" in the investigation, a claim that brought a lawsuit from Hatfill the following year.

The federal government awarded Hatfill $5.8 million to settle his violation of privacy lawsuit against the Justice Department earlier this year. Hatfill claimed the Justice Department violated his privacy rights by speaking with reporters about the case.

In the case of Haigwood, now the director of the Oregon National Primate Research Center, she said she suspected Ivins in the anthrax mailings as early as November 2001, when he e-mailed her, his immediate family and other scientists a photo of himself working with what he called "the now infamous 'Ames' strain" of anthrax, which was used in the attacks. She reported her suspicions to the FBI in 2002 and, at the behest of investigators, kept in touch with Ivins by e-mail and shared their correspondence with investigators.

Haigwood, 56, met Ivins in the late 1970s when he was doing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina, where she earned her doctorate. She was cordial to him, but she noticed that he took an unusual interest in her Kappa membership.

In the summer of 1982, Haigwood moved in with Scandella, then her fiancee, in a townhouse in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Montgomery Village. On Nov. 30 that year, Scandella awoke to find the Greek letters "KKG" spray-painted on the rear window of his car and on the sidewalk and fence in front of the home. Although a police report filed by Scandella does not mention any possible suspects, Haigwood quickly concluded that Ivins was responsible.

"My address wasn't published, and I only lived there a short while before Carl and I got married and moved out of state," Haigwood said Friday. "No one knew my address or my phone number. You had to stalk me to figure this stuff out."

Records show that Ivins was living on the same street, about a block away, shortly after the incident. It was not clear when he moved in. Scandella did not know that Ivins had been their neighbor until he was told Friday by a reporter.

"I was blown away by that," Scandella said. "I had no idea he lived anywhere in the vicinity ... I wonder if it's possible that Ivins moved to that location to be close to Nancy."

Soon after the vandalism, Haigwood bumped into Ivins - she doesn't remember where - and accused him.

"I said, 'This happened and I'm sure you're the one who did it,' and he denied it," Haigwood said. "And I said, 'Well, I'm still sure you did.' What can you do at that point?"

Ivins kept in touch with Haigwood via phone calls, letters and e-mails, and while some of the correspondence made her uncomfortable, she never cut off contact with him, a decision she later regretted. She said she sent him polite but curt replies.

"He seemed to know a lot about myself, my children, things I never remembered telling him, which always disturbed me," she said. "I kept him at arm's length as best I could."

She also suspected Ivins of writing a letter in her name to The Frederick News-Post that defended hazing by Kappa members.

Haigwood passed on her suspicions about Ivins to the FBI after the American Society for Microbiology noted that a microbiologist was probably responsible for the anthrax mailings and asked its members to think of possible suspects.

Their e-mail correspondence from 2002 on was brief and cordial, although Ivins did reveal that he was under a lot of stress.

Investigators have said that between 2000 and 2006, Ivins was prescribed antidepressants, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs. The Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, where Ivins worked, has offered no explanation for why he was allowed to work with some of the world's most dangerous toxins while suffering from serious mental health problems.

It wasn't until November 2007, after the FBI raided his Frederick home, that Fort Detrick revoked his laboratory access, effectively putting him on desk duty. In the meantime, Haigwood said she worried about what Ivins was up to in the lab.

"After a while, after I decided that he was probably the perpetrator, I was afraid of him," Haigwood said. "I thought that if he found out I had turned him in, he would go after me. And he knew how to do that. This is something his colleagues don't seem to recognize in him."

Haigwood said she was not aware of Ivins stalking any other Kappa sisters.

In an interview Friday, Kappa Kappa Gamma executive director Lauren Sullivan Paitson said the FBI asked in August 2007 for help documenting decades' worth of Ivins' contacts with the sorority, including breaking into the now-closed chapter house at the University of Maryland. The sorority disbanded at Maryland in 1992.

But before being contacted by the FBI, Paitson had been engaged in an editing war on Wikipedia.com with a writer by the name of "jimmyflathead" who threatened to post secret rituals and bad publicity about the sorority on the Web site. Court affidavits listed "jimmyflatheadyahoo.com" among Ivins personal e-mail addresses.

Only after the government asked for the sorority's help did Paitson realize that the online Kappa nemesis was the top suspect in the anthrax investigation.

"We already had firsthand experience with him, going back and forth," she said.

The sorority did not threaten Ivins with legal action as a result of the Wikipedia editing dispute, and Paitson said she was assured by the FBI that none of the Kappa chapters or members nationwide would be targeted with anthrax letters.

She declined to give more details, citing the privacy of the members of the sorority.

In another development, the Justice Department sent a letter to the lawyer for Steven Hatfill, another military scientist who was a colleague of Ivins, formally exonerating him.

[txgrouch2006]

Just like every other weird stuffs we''''ve seen with this Bush''''s regime, this anthrax is nothing but the FBI and CIA and Bush worked together to scare the people. We have total distrust of this most corrupted goverment.
Posted by lambor59 at 01:09 PM : Aug 10, 2008
-------------------

And you STILL trust the Clinton administration like a little lamb.

RIGHT???????????????

[lambor59]

Just like every other weird stuffs we''ve seen with this Bush''s regime, this anthrax is nothing but the FBI and CIA and Bush worked together to scare the people. We have total distrust of this most corrupted goverment.
Now they had killed the last witness, the truth will never come out.

[babooph]

The govt. hires a guy to make mass murder pathogens & is shocked to find he is a dangerous nut-I guess other nations are just as deluded.

[txgrouch2006]

they find out that some of what they thought had to be done with delicate manipulations will actually happen automatically in some circumstances.
Posted by SusanHelit at 11:49 PM : Aug 09, 2008

So, then a simple demonstration by an FBI agent actually producing identical anthrax powder in a short time using only equipment in Ivins'' lab would convincingly put this objection to rest.

I''ll be looking forward to seeing this.

Ivins doubtless destroyed his notes on his process, so the FBI can also show how Ivins could have invented the process using only information available to him in August 2001. And do it in secret, working only evenings for only two or three weeks.

I''ll REALLY be looking forward to seeing that.

[susanhelit]

Here''s one of many sites to get the answer to how credible suicide by tylenol is:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080802090226AA37GQM

Although a few seconds of searching the internet will turn up an uncountable list of sites.

[susanhelit]

The suicide is trivial - he used a drug quite commonly used to suicide - and no it isn''t reversible easily or at all if a little time has passed. A few seconds of internet research would show anyone that. Not only will any ER nurse tell you about the suicides they see come in, still alive, but dying and no one can stop it - but when you search on this drug, you see tons of references to suicide. It''s a commonly used drug, and as a scientist, Ivins no doubt researched his easiest way to go.

As to fellow scientists - they don''t want to believe - people never do - whether it''s the serial killer''s neighbors who had no idea - he seemed such a nice guy! And thinking the task was more difficult that it was is another common thing. Remember cloning? The method used was nothing scientists thought would work, it''s too complex to start the cell division, etc. - then when it actually works, they find out that some of what they thought had to be done with delicate manipulations will actually happen automatically in some circumstances.

[txgrouch2006]

And since growing and working with anthrax are all part of his job, hiding it wasn''''t that difficult. A fully equipped lab sure made the job much easier.
Posted by SusanHelit at 11:08 PM : Aug 09, 2008

This will EASILY turn into another Lee Harvey Oswald story unless the FBI can CONCLUSIVELY point to the equipment he used and show that he had developed the method AND used it, all in a few weeks of evenings without attracting ANY attention from coworkers.

The other scientists in the lab say there''s no way he could have done it without being noticed. They suggested that his lab didn''t even have all the necessary equipment. They also said the lab hadn''t developed the process to make anthrax powder, so Ivins would have had to invent the process himeself. That''s VERY hard to do alone in only one month of evenings.

The circumstances of his "suicide" are also VERY suspicious. Some say the drugs he used had readily available antidotes. There will have to be a thorough report of the reason why he wasn''t saved to face justice.

[txgrouch2006]

they have to watch him closely to be sure he doesn''''t kill again.
Posted by SusanHelit at 10:44 PM : Aug 09, 2008

%u201DThe international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again. "

Speech from the Oval Office by President William Clinton, explaining his attack on Iraq
reported by The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 16, 1998

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/clintontext121698.htm

[susanhelit]

Late nights at the lab are how he made the anthrax. And since growing and working with anthrax are all part of his job, hiding it wasn''t that difficult. A fully equipped lab sure made the job much easier.

Conspiracy theorists always overestimate how difficult things are, to create their conspiracies. Simple truth is that a smart, driven, or obsessed person can do quite a bit.


One more simple truth - if you look at this with unbiased eyes it''s easy enough to see that this guy is the last person the government wanted to charge, the last person they wanted to say was responsible. If they''re going to go to all the work to frame someone, they''d have kept spreading the lie that the anthrax had Iraqi markers. No way would it be an American researcher paid for by our government, making us look like fools. A trace of common sense says that the person the government would frame would be someone who fits their story of how they want us to see the world - a muslim, an iraqi, or if neither was available, it''d be a Democrat, or an atheist - absolutely the last person they wanted to see as responsible was an American, Christian, Republican, Government funded, high security clearance scientist. The only reason they went with him is prosaic but more common than the conspiracy theorists would believe - he did it.

[txgrouch2006]

Ivins rushing to dispose of evidence in his house or otherwise showing signs of guilt that would be more evidence for the jury. And, of course, knowing he was the killer, they have to watch him closely to be sure he doesn''''t kill again.
Posted by SusanHelit at 10:44 PM : Aug 09, 2008

Hey, wait, I''ve heard that before.

Oh, yah. It was BILL CLINTON''S WMD LIE speech.

The LIE that Saddam had WMD, but he rushed to dispose of evidence. That''s why NO EVIDENCE OF WMD WAS EVER FOUND after Bush finally moved into Iraq WITH THE FULL AUTHORIZATION OF CONGRESS.

But that sure was a convenient lie in 1998 for Bill Clinton, knowing that he was up for impeachment only days later.

[txgrouch2006]

He took the cowards way out.
Posted by SusanHelit at 10:44 PM : Aug 09, 2008

Oh, I get it. You work for the FBI.

Then you can tell me - HOW did Ivins hide the MASSIVE effort it took to make the anthrax powder?

[susanhelit]

Ivins was smart enough to make it hard to prove the case against him - it took an entirely new DNA process to identify exactly which anthrax was used. And even so - there''s always a chance a technophile, illiterate, anti-science type on a jury will reject the evidence. So, the FBI put pressure on, hoping for some type of break - Ivins rushing to dispose of evidence in his house or otherwise showing signs of guilt that would be more evidence for the jury. And, of course, knowing he was the killer, they have to watch him closely to be sure he doesn''t kill again.

Too bad he killed himself - but it was no coincidence. He knew they were closing in, and he was afraid of jail or worse. He took the cowards way out.

[txgrouch2006]

I see no reason to think he didn''''t do it.
Posted by SusanHelit at 10:34 PM : Aug 09, 2008

Do your coworkers call you "gullible?" Or just "airhead?"

[susanhelit]

I see no reason to think he didn''t do it. He had access to the lab. A recorded history during that time of coming in after hours and working unobserved. He had all the materials, motivation, opportunity, everything. The manager no doubt thought he was just working hard - something not uncommon for scientists who will indeed get an idea and spend a great deal of time over and above the minimum 40 hours a week, trying to make it work.

[txgrouch2006]

This was NOT a one-man job.

Scientists say there''''''''s no way anyone could have produced this much powder form anthrax in secret. It would have been a MASSIVE AND CONSPICUOUS effort. And it DID OCCUR somewhere. Where?

It required cooperation of lab management to set up a secret lab for such a massive effort. And lab management, not a lab scientist, would have been motivated by increased funding from a public scare.

One deranged scientist could not have done this alone. Whether Ivins was involved or not, he COULD NOT have acted alone.

Start at Ivin''s boss, and WORK YOUR WAY UP. WhereEVER it leads...

[lambor59]

Anthrax is part of the scare tactics invented by 2 SOB Bush and Cheney, now they have killed the only witness who was ready to testify against them, no one will ever know the truth unless the white house turn the requested informations with no deletions whatsoever to the congress for investigation which they always barked and refused.

[txgrouch2006]

I cannot wait for the election.
Posted by BajaJohn1 at 08:43 PM : Aug 09, 2008

Why? You want to VOTE BACK IN the REAL CROOKS BEHIND 9/11????

[txgrouch2006]

lets see the PROOF like a police report or retraining order.
Posted by newster1 at 06:49 PM : Aug 09, 2008

She''ll show hers just as soon as the FBI shows ANY PROOF WHATSOEVER in the form of physical evidence firmly connecting Ivins to the anthrax attack.

The only evidence presented is that the anthrax and the envelopes were traced back to the lab where Ivins worked. Nice work, guys! That narrows it down to A FEW HUNDRED INDIVIDUALS who had access to the office supplies. Now, HOW DID YOU SINGLE OUT IVINS???

And HOW DID A LONE SCIENTIST MAKE THAT MUCH ANTHRAX POWDER??? It was a massive and conspicuous job. NOBODY REPORTS SEEING IT HAPPEN. But it did. WHO PROVIDED THE SECRET LAB?????

Ivins COULD NOT have acted alone.

[nothappyatall]

Yeah well, now that the guy is dead and cant defend himself, anyone who wants to get their name in the news can claim like this woman that he ''stalked'' them, lets see the PROOF like a police report or retraining order.

[txgrouch2006]

Another story that only reinforces my realization that HE NEVER DID ANYTHING VIOLENT IN HIS LIFE.

He was clearly goofy. He moved in a block away from a girl, and she never knew he was there. He never actually DID anything to physically harm anybody.

But we''re supposed to believe HE SUDDENLY COMMITTED ONE OF THE WORST DOMESTIC TERRORIST ATTACKS IN HISTORY??????????

It just doesn''t add up. He was a patsy.

WHO REALLY DID COMMIT THE ANTHRAX ATTACK???