The Scientist & The Anthrax

The United States was shaken by anthrax during the fall of 2001. The man behind the anthrax fever was Bruce E. Ivins. He was a juggler, a gardener, a church musician, a Red Cross volunteer — and a suspected multiple murderer, according to federal authorities. Recently, report said that he received psychiatric treatment.

Ivins had worked for the past 35 years at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick. For more than a decade, he worked to develop an anthrax vaccine that worked even when different strains of anthrax were mixed, which made vaccines ineffective.

Ivins, 62, committed a suicide this week, as he was the federal prosecutors’ prime suspect in 2001 anthrax attacks. Reports said that he mailed letters enclosed with anthrax powder to different people via post office.

Ivins' brother Tom, conceded the possibility that Bruce may have been the anthrax mailer.

His lawyer believed that Bruce’s untimely death was due to the relentless pressure of accusations. His colleague, Byrne, think that he was just psychologically exhausted, thus, suicide occurred.

source: yahoo! News