Last Updated

20 Aug 2003

Source: Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2002.

No Anthrax Found In Home Of Former US Army Scientist

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Federal investigators indicated they have found no anthrax in material seized a week earlier from the home of a former Army scientist who has been questioned in connection with last year's deadly mailings.

Had anthrax spores been found in Dr. Steven J. Hatfill's Frederick apartment, he would be in jail, a law enforcement official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The FBI has identified Hatfill as one of 20 to 30 scientists and researchers with the expertise and opportunity to conduct the anthrax attacks. However, investigators say Hatfill is not a suspect.

His lawyer, Thomas C. Carter, said Hatfill was upset by the attention generated June 25, when FBI agents, some in protective clothing, removed computer components and at least a half-dozen garbage bags full of material from his apartment just outside the Fort Detrick gate.

"We have cooperated with them over and over, as have many other scientists," Carter said.

The FBI says it has searched about 25 homes or apartments after getting permission from the person interviewed.

Hatfill worked for two years at Fort Detrick in the virology division of the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Disease, center of the nation's biological warfare defense research program. He stopped working for the Army in September 1999 and was employed by Science Applications International Inc., a government contractor, until March 4.

While at SAIC, Hatfill commissioned a 1999 report that included information about how an anthrax attack could be carried out through the mail. Five people died from inhaling anthrax spores sent through the mail last fall.