Sun coverage: The anthrax case

Sun coverage of the death of Bruce E. Ivins, a Fort Detrick scientist who committed suicide in July 2008 as federal investigators were preparing to charge in the 2001 anthrax mailing attacks that killed five people.
Home of Bruce E. Ivins

The Frederick home of Bruce E. Ivins is on Military Road and is located adjacent to Fort Detrick. (Sun photo by Christopher T. Assaf / August 1, 2008)

The Anthrax Investigation

Video coverage
Authorities meet with victims families after Bruce E. Ivins' apparent suicide

Photo gallery
Frederick neighbors of Bruce E. Ivins react after the suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks dies in an apparent suicide.

How the Ivins case developed
Key dates: Investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks
On the Web: View the anthrax court documents

Army lab workers getting security refresher

The Army announced additional security training today for workers handling some of the world's deadliest germs and toxins, part of its response to an FBI finding that an Army scientist was responsible for deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.

Doubts persist on Ivins' guilt

A day after the Justice Department released hundreds of documents purporting to link Bruce E. Ivins to the 2001 anthrax killings, scientists and legal experts criticized the strength of the case and cast doubt on whether it could have succeeded.

Jean Marbella: Holes in anthrax case not novel

In case I ever turn up dead while being investigated by the Feds, and they release all the suspicious stuff they've uncovered about me, let me explain right now why I recently Googled "novel kill scientist poisoned strawberry."

Anthrax survivors satisfied

Victims of the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks said yesterday that they were satisfied with the investigation's outcome that pinned the blame on an Army scientist. And now, the widow of a dead photo editor says, it's time for the government to settle her lawsuit and pay up.

All files pointed to Ivins, FBI says

Federal authorities released hundreds of pages of documents yesterday in an effort to show that they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bruce Edwards Ivins, the Army scientist who killed himself last week, was the sole person responsible for the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.

Scientist troubled by depression

In the months leading up to the 2001 anthrax scare, Bruce E. Ivins had sought help from a psychiatrist, started taking antidepressants and repeatedly told a friend he was frightened by bouts of paranoia and depression.

Analysis: Case against Ivins not airtight

Lacking hard proof, federal prosecutors relied on the process of elimination and circumstantial evidence to finger Bruce Ivins as the anthrax killer.

Survivors, relatives wonder if dead scientist was truly the culprit

Survivors of the 2001 anthrax attacks and relatives of those killed by the deadly powder said yesterday that they want a full accounting from the FBI of its investigation to date, and they are not yet convinced that Bruce Ivins, the government scientist who killed himself last week, was responsible.

New technology may have aided FBI probe

A new technology that can quickly distinguish between subtly different strains of anthrax might have been central to the FBI's investigation of the deadly anthrax letters that killed five people and sickened many more in the autumn of 2001.

DNA led FBI to anthrax researcher

DNA taken from the bodies of people killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks helped lead investigators to Bruce Ivins, who oversaw the highly specific type of germ in an Army lab, a government scientist said yesterday.

Hometown digging

Ivins' old neighbors questioned in anthrax case

Ivins case reignites debate on anthrax

Boom in biodefense research spurs concerns on increased access to dangerous germs

Long under suspicion

Detective Sgt. Bruce DeGrange of the Frederick City Police Department talks with members of the news media outside the home of Diane and Bruce Ivins. Bruce Ivins, a research microbiologist at Fort Detrick, died Tuesday of a drug overdose. Ivins had had been under suspicion for five murders related to the 2001 anthrax attacks for more than a year and was recently accused of making "homicidal threats" as the pressure built and investigators closed in.

For colleagues, a 'quiet, giving kind of guy'

Friends and colleagues expressed shock yesterday that Bruce E. Ivins - an award-winning scientist who played guitar in his church folk group - would kill himself after being targeted in a federal anthrax probe, even as a contrasting portrait emerged of a man who in his final months spiraled into depression and bizarre behavior.

Death brings questions

The apparent suicide of a suspect in the 2001 anthrax mail attacks this week is spurring questions from legal observers of the 7-year-long federal investigation: Was Bruce E. Ivins' death a sign of guilt or the act of an innocent man unwilling to endure public accusations?

Ivins' widow, family avoid glare of media

The bespectacled widow appeared in the doorway of her home early yesterday, to all appearances bewildered by the battery of camera lenses pointed at her from the sidewalk. She stepped outside for a moment and then seemed to think better of it. Turning, the widow re-entered the house as quietly as she had emerged.

Ivins stood to gain financially from anthrax scare

Bruce E. Ivins, the government biodefense scientist linked to the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001, stood to gain financially from the huge federal spending in the fear-filled aftermath of those killings, the Los Angeles Times has learned.

Closure difficult for anthrax survivors

For some, like Leroy Richmond, this is the end, closure to the mystery that left him infected with anthrax and two of his friends dead.

Variety of research carried out at Fort Detrick

Fort Detrick, where scientist Bruce E. Ivins worked for more than three decades, is the largest U.S. government research center focused primarily on biodefense.

Scientist linked to anthrax case dies in apparent suicide

One of the nation's top biodefense researchers has died in Frederick, apparently in a suicide, just as the U.S. Justice Department was to file criminal charges against him in the anthrax mailing assaults of 2001 that killed five, the Los Angeles Times has learned.

Anthrax investigation timeline

Key dates in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks

Anthrax scare: Fear by mail in a season of terror

Death, it seemed, was coming through the mail.

Archive: Anthrax coverage from 2001


Photos and archived coverage of Barack Obama's historic run for the White House

Obama's inauguration
Stories: How to get tickets | Find a place to stay
Local homeowners cash in on inauguration
Photos: Preparing for inauguration

Road to the White House
Photos: On the trail | Clinching the nomination
Victory rally | Front pages | Cabinet choices

The first family
Series: Obama's family roots to his political rise
Photos: Obama's early years | Michelle Obama
Sasha and Malia Obama | The Obama family


Be a part of the inauguration celebration
Click to enter the 2009 inauguration contest

Images in the news

Day in pictures
The day in pictures | Photo search