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Breaking News Alert: Report questions scientific evidence in FBI's anthrax case
February 15, 2011 11:04:10 AM
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A panel of prominent scientists is casting new doubt on scientific
evidence that was a key part of the FBI's case against Bruce E. Ivins,
the deceased Army scientist accused of carrying out the deadly 2001
anthrax attacks.
The National Academy of Sciences, in a report issued Tuesday by its
research arm, questioned the link between a flask of anthrax bacteria in
Ivins's lab at Fort Detrick, Md., and the anthrax-infested letters that
killed five people and sickened 17 others.
The Justice Department has said genetic testing conclusively linked the
letters to spores in the
flask -- labeled RMR-1029 -- found at the laboratory, where Ivins was a
longtime researcher before committing suicide in 2008. The government
closed the case last year after concluding that Ivins had
single-handedly prepared and mailed the deadly anthrax spores, which
terrorized a nation still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks.
For more information, visit washingtonpost.com
