Ivins worked at the U.S. biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland, and helped federal investigators analyze anthrax samples used in the attacks. Today, Ivins's attorney issued a statement saying the scientist was innocent and had fully cooperated with the FBI's investigation for six years.
``We assert his innocence in these killings, and would have established that at trial,'' said Paul Kemp, a partner at the Venable law firm in Rockville, Maryland. ``The relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo takes its toll in different ways on different people, as has already been seen in this investigation. In Dr. Ivins's case, it led to his untimely death.''
The deaths from anthrax spores anonymously mailed to news organizations and members of Congress shook the U.S. seven years ago as the nation was still reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Postal facilities and some U.S. Senate offices were closed during the initial investigation. Television news anchors Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather were targeted along with U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy.
No AutopsyIvins's death is being investigated as an apparent suicide from a drug overdose, said Lieutenant Shawn Martyak of the Frederick Police Department's criminal investigation division. Based on laboratory test results of blood taken from the body, the state medical examiner ``determined that an autopsy wouldn't be necessary'' to determine the cause of death, Martyak said.
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