Bruce Edwards Ivins
Bruce Edwards Ivins was an American microbiologist, vaccinologist, senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, and the person identified by the FBI as the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins died on July 29, 2008, of an overdose of acetaminophen in a suicide after learning that criminal charges were likely to be filed against him by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for an alleged criminal connection to the attacks.
At a news conference at the United States Department of Justice on August 6, 2008, FBI and DOJ officials formally announced that the government had concluded that Ivins was likely solely responsible for the deaths of five people, and the injury of dozens of others, resulting from the September–October 2001 mailings to members of Congress and to members of the media of several anonymous letters that contained Bacillus anthracis, commonly referred to as anthrax. On February 19, 2010, the FBI released a 92-page summary of evidence against Ivins and announced that it had concluded its investigation. The FBI conclusions have been contested by many, including senior microbiologists, the widow of one of the victims, and several prominent American politicians. Senator Patrick Leahy, who was among the targets in the attack, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Arlen Specter, Representative Rush Holt, and Representative Jerrold Nadler all argued that Ivins was not solely responsible for the attacks. No formal charges were ever filed against Ivins for the crime, and no direct evidence of his involvement has been uncovered.
The FBI subsequently requested a panel from the National Academy of Sciences to review its scientific work on the case. On May 15, 2011, the panel released its findings, which "conclude that the bureau overstated the strength of genetic analysis linking the mailed anthrax to a supply kept by Bruce E. Ivins." The NAS committee stated that its primary finding was that "it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion about the origins of the B. anthracis in the mailings based on the available scientific evidence alone."
Early and family life
Bruce Ivins was born and spent his youth in Lebanon, Ohio, about northeast of Cincinnati. His parents were Thomas Randall Ivins and Mary Johnson Ivins, and he was the youngest of three brothers. Ivins' father, a pharmacist, owned a drugstore and was active in the local Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. The family went regularly to Lebanon Presbyterian Church, although Ivins was later a Catholic parishioner.According to C.W. Ivins, one of his older brothers, their mother Mary was violent and physically abusive to all three children. When she discovered she was pregnant with Bruce, a pregnancy that was unplanned and unwanted, she repeatedly tried to abort the child by throwing herself down a set of stairs. Ivins would eventually hear the story of his mother's attempt to abort him.
Avidly interested in science, Ivins was an active participant in extracurricular activities in high school, including the National Honor Society, science fairs, the current events club, and the scholarship team all four years. He ran on the track and cross-country teams, worked on the yearbook and school newspaper, and was in the school choir and junior and senior class plays.
In December 1975, Ivins married nursing student Mary Diane Betsch, to whom he remained married until his death. The couple had two children. Diane Ivins was a homemaker and full time parent who also ran a daycare center out of the family's home. His wife, children, and brothers were all still alive at the time of his death; his parents were deceased.
Education and career
Ivins graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati with a B.S. degree in 1968, an M.S. degree in 1971, and a Ph.D. degree in 1976, all in microbiology. Ivins conducted his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Dr. Peter F. Bonventre. His dissertation focused on different aspects of toxicity in disease-causing bacteria.Ivins was a scientist for 36 years and senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland for 18 years. After conducting research on Legionella and cholera, in 1979, Ivins turned his attention to anthrax after the anthrax outbreak in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk, which killed at least 105 after an accidental release at a military facility.
Ivins had published at least 44 scientific papers dating back to May 18, 1969. His earliest known published work pertained to the response of peritoneal macrophages, a type of white blood cell, to infection by Chlamydia psittaci, an infectious bacterium that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Ivins often cited the 2001 anthrax attacks in his papers to bolster the significance of his research in years subsequent to the attacks. In a 2006 paper published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he wrote with his co-authors
Ivins was a co-inventor on two United States patents for anthrax vaccine technology, and. Both of these patents are owned by his employer at the time, the United States Army. On March 14, 2003, Ivins and two of his colleagues at USAMRIID received the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service — the highest award given to Defense Department civilian employees — for helping solve technical problems in the manufacture of anthrax vaccines.
Alleged involvement in 2001 anthrax attacks and investigations
The 2001 anthrax attacks involved the mailing of several letters proclaiming, "Death to America ... Death to Israel ... Allah is Great", and contaminated with anthrax to the offices of U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, as well as to the offices of ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer.Initial investigative role
Ivins became involved in the investigation of the anthrax attacks because he was regarded as a skilled microbiologist. Starting in mid-October, he and his colleagues worked long hours testing samples to distinguish real anthrax letters from the numerous hoaxes that were sent out at this time. Ivins also helped the FBI analyze the powdery material recovered from one of the anthrax-tainted envelopes sent to a U.S. senator's office in Washington, D.C.Results of the investigation were initially distributed to the public via ABC News, claiming "four well placed sources" had confirmed that "trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite" were found in the anthrax samples, and that this was the chemical signature of Iraqi-made anthrax. However, it was later confirmed that no bentonite was ever found in the anthrax samples. While it is presumed that Ivins was one of ABC News' four sources, ABC refused to reveal their identities, which has contributed to a mystery surrounding Ivins' role in the initial investigation and its widely reported findings.
2002 Fort Detrick anthrax containment breach
In 2002, an investigation was carried out as a result of an incident at Fort Detrick where anthrax spores had escaped carefully guarded rooms into the building's unprotected areas. The incident called into question the ability of USAMRIID to keep its deadly agents within laboratory walls seven months after the anthrax mailings.A coworker reportedly told Ivins that she was concerned she was exposed to anthrax spores when handling an anthrax-contaminated letter. Ivins tested the technician's desk area December 2001 and found growth that had the hallmarks of anthrax. He decontaminated her desk, computer, keypad and monitor, but did not notify his superiors.
2008 investigation
For six years, the FBI focused its investigation on Steven Hatfill, considering him to be the chief suspect in the attacks. In March 2008, however, authorities exonerated Hatfill and settled a lawsuit he initiated for $5.8 million. According to ABC News, some in the FBI considered Ivins a suspect as early as 2002. FBI director Robert Mueller changed leadership of the investigation in late 2006, and at that time Ivins became the main focus of the investigation.After Hatfill was no longer considered a suspect, Ivins began "showing signs of serious strain". As a result of his changed behavior, he lost access to sensitive areas at his job. Ivins began being treated for depression and expressed some suicidal thoughts. On March 19, 2008, police found Ivins unconscious at his home in Frederick and sent him to the hospital.
In June 2008, Ivins was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. The FBI said that during a June 5 group therapy session there, he had a conversation with a witness, during which he made a series of statements about the anthrax mailings that the FBI said could best be characterized as "non-denial denials". When asked about the anthrax attacks and whether he could have had anything to do with them, the FBI said that Ivins admitted he suffered from loss of memory, stating that he would wake up dressed and wonder if he had gone out during the night. His responses allegedly included the following:
Late in July 2008, investigators informed Ivins of his impending prosecution for alleged involvement in the 2001 anthrax attacks that Ivins himself had previously assisted authorities in investigating. It was reported that the death penalty would have been sought in the case. Ivins maintained his security clearance until July 10; he had been publicly critical of the laboratory's security procedures for several years.
W. Russell Byrne, a colleague who worked in the bacteriology division of the Fort Detrick research facility, said FBI agents "hounded" Ivins by twice raiding his home and that Ivins had been hospitalized for depression earlier in the month. According to Byrne and local police, Ivins had been removed from his workplace out of fears that he might harm himself or others. "I think he was just psychologically exhausted by the whole process", Byrne said. "There are people who you just know are ticking bombs", Byrne said. "He was not one of them." However, Tom Ivins, who last spoke to his brother in 1985, said, "It makes sense ... he considered himself like a god."
The Los Angeles Times wrote that Ivins stood to profit from the attacks because he was a co-inventor on two patents for a genetically engineered anthrax vaccine. San Francisco-area biotechnology company VaxGen licensed the vaccine and won a federal contract valued at $877.5 million to provide the vaccine under the Project Bioshield Act.
On August 6, 2008, eight days after Ivins' self-inflicted death, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor officially made a statement that Ivins was the "sole culprit" in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Taylor stated that Ivins had submitted false anthrax evidence to throw investigators off his trail, was unable to adequately explain his late laboratory working hours around the time of the attacks, tried to frame his co-workers, had immunized himself against anthrax in early September 2001, was one of more than 100 people with access to the same strain of anthrax used in the killings, and had used similar language in an email to that in one of the anthrax mailings. Ivins was also reportedly upset that the anthrax vaccine that he had spent years helping develop was being pulled from the market.