DOJ Foiled Again, As Anthrax Suspect Commits Suicide

[WSJ_law_blog]

A researcher at Fort Detrick processes anthrax samples in this Nov. 2001 photo. Scientists at the Army’s biodefense laboratory in Fort Detrick opened an anthrax-contaminated letter sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy, on Dec.5, 2001. (AP Photo/US Army)

The Justice Department just can’t win in the long-running Anthrax investigation. Last month, the DOJ agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with former Army scientist Steven Hatfill, whom the government had called a ?person of interest? in the 2001 anthrax attacks, which killed five people, sickened 17, and to this day remains unresolved. Hatfill sued the government for violating his privacy by leaking information to the press.

Today, the L.A. Times reports, that Bruce Ivins, a biodefense researcher who the DOJ was close to filing criminal charges against, has apparently has committed suicide. (The link to the LAT story is broken, though you can access the AP story here.) Ivins, 62, was a leading military anthrax researcher who worked for the past 18 years at the government’s biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Md. (Click here for a handy history of the facility.) According to the LAT, Ivins had been told of the impending prosecution, the paper said.

Just minutes ago, the AP reported that the prosecution had planned to seek the death penalty against Ivins. We’ll update the post as this story unfolds.