Officials: Sorority obsession seen in anthrax case

[deminks]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080804/ap_on_go_ot/anthrax_investigation_22

WASHINGTON - The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was obsessed with a sorority that sat less than 100 yards away from a New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent, authorities said Monday. Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that former Army scientist Bruce Ivins was long obsessed with the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati.

(snip)

An adviser to the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Princeton University confirmed she was interviewed by the FBI in connection with the case.

U.S. officials said e-mails or other documents detail Ivins' long-standing fixation on the sorority. His former therapist has said Ivins plotted revenge against those who have slighted him, particularly women. There is nothing to indicate, however, he was focused on any one sorority member or other Princeton student, the officials said.

Despite the connection between Ivins and the sorority, authorities acknowledge they cannot place the scientist in Princeton the day the anthrax was mailed. That remains a hole in the government's case. Had Ivins not killed himself last week, authorities would have argued he could have made the seven-hour round trip to Princeton after work.

(end snips)

[librechik]

1. so he sent the anthrax to Leahy because ...?

how long was Leahy a member of the sorority?

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. LOL

:thumbsup:

[spanone]

3. so now we're getting the 'he was a pervert too' story???

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. It's always the fallback when "He was a quiet sociopath" makes no sense at all

Dozens of friends and colleagues say the "quiet sociopath" story is ridiculous, so now we get the weirdy perv story. It's boo-hack, as we used to say.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. Beat me to it.

This should come as no surprise at all. Psychopaths usually have deep-seated psychosexual issues.

[EFerrari]

10. "Despite the connection" -- did you notice that?

What connection? None has been shown. @ssholes.

[spanone]

22. correct and the only connection is 'what????' this is a stinky fish

[BeHereNow]

25. Just like they tried to smear Scott Ritter-

These guys aren't real skilled at coming up with
anything original, are they?

What next, a report that he was having sex with
the family dog?
From an unofficial source, naturally.

BHN

[EFerrari]

26. This makes me so angry for his family. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. He thought he was sending congressional anthrax to

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. So the guy's a creepy misogynist in addition to being an operative for the neocons?

Shocker. :eyes:


Oh but guess what will get far more attention in the press now. :puke:

[EFerrari]

9. We don't know that he was their operative at all.

They've tried to tar him with greed and with craziness. Now they seem to be going for the perv smear. :shrug:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. Also possible.

I'm probably inclined to assume guilt because of the crazy RW LTTEs he wrote, but you might be right too.

[EFerrari]

15. I found his letters. They're more thoughtful than crazy or rw.

He defends women in the priesthood, being gay at birth, all kinds of things.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=78274

[Julius Civitatus]

34. What "crazy RW letters"?

His letters didn't seem "crazy" or "right wing".

What are you talking about?

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=78274

[Julius Civitatus]

37. His letters make him seem reasonable, almost liberal

Not sure why anyone would refer to these letters as "crazy" or "RW rants".
They sound reasonable, typical of someone involved in his community, and his positions seem moderately liberal.

Nothing seems to be right in this story.

:shrug:

[deminks]

12. Classic Bushco, throw everything out there and see what sticks.

[EFerrari]

16. If this fails, next we'll hear he was a crack addict

with a gambling problem. :crazy:

[Wickerman]

14. A greedy bastard who drove an aging van

ummm, yep, FBI analysis spot-on. :eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

18. That was my first thought

They probably threatened him with prosecution or exposing this to the press.

Another thing to drive him to suicide.

[Virginia Dare]

30. Sounds like John Hinckley Jr doesn't it?...n/t

[maxsolomon]

7. i wouldn't say i was "obsessed" with Kappas

but at Northwestern, they were the smoking hot sorority, and my dorm was next to their house.

[wuushew]

13. If you drive for seven hours in most cars don't you need to fill up at least once?

Shouldn't there be a credit card transaction record somewhere or a record of a cash withdrawal near the alleged dates of the mailings? :shrug:

Most people fall into fairly regular patterns of commuting and gasoline use.

[KharmaTrain]

19. I Asked That Question, Too

The other question involves his employ...was he working the day these letters were postmarked? Surely working in such a secure facility there has to be a both written and video records of his whereabouts.

You could pay cash for gas...I do...so that might be looking down a "dry hole".

Now, we learn about this sorority...and that somehow he'd been lurking around for years. Now how would we know that? Were there polic reports filed? Or was he doing a John Belushi bit of climbing up trees?

Yep, things are more curious here, not less. Creeps don't operate in a vaccuum...and it still doesn't address why this case is being closed.

[spanone]

23. it's all bunk imho

[librechik]

29. FBI says no evidence he was there

guess that's what they mean.

[suffragette]

17. "e-mails or other documents"

Or? What an odd way of specifying this. Kind of like saying "we have something or another" that proves what we're saying.

Not buying it.

[autorank]

20. And what might this mean...

"An adviser to the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Princeton University confirmed she was interviewed by the FBI in connection with the case."

Did she say the guy showed up, called, etc. It said anthrax was mailed to that box 100 yards away from the KKG house. OK, what else was there?

I'm not sure what's going on in this case. But that lonely line just hung there - what does it mean, nothing much. What might one expect that it could mean -- that's the point. They had a talk with the FBI and it's a BIG SECRET.

This is really starting to stink.

[Iris]

38. "OK, what else was there" - good question since sorority houses don't tend to stand alone

Or, to be more clear - usually where there's one sorority house, you'll find at least 2 or 3 more.

[Supersedeas]

21. at what point should it be blatantly obvious to Journalist with integrity (are there any left), that

the government is reaching.

[EFerrari]

27. It may be that Ivins was guilty as sin but I haven't seen a shred

of anything that indicates that he was.

The only thing we've seen are the same tactics FBI used on Hatfil. I guess he feels like he dodged a bullet by staying alive and forcing reparations. :grr:

[Supersedeas]

33. It would be interesting to get Hatfill's response to Ivin's 'investigation'--more Media incurosity

[Rex]

24. It is so sad, Cheney's FBI now kills people and then invents a lame story.

I thought that was the CIAs job. :shrug:

[TexasObserver]

28. that's a real eye roller

They don't even bother to try to make up cogent stories any more. They just pull something they can tie in some strained way to their narrative, and hope it sticks to the wall.

[Julius Civitatus]

31. "Multiple U.S. officials"? More anonymous sources?

Give me a break. This is part of the problem: they are playing the media like a fiddle.

[screembloodymurder]

32. Kappa Kappa Gamma ...

it's like they're making bets on how stupid we are. Every time I think the last explanation can't be beat, they up the ante. I'll bet there's semen on his protective coveralls that leads straight to Gramma Kappa herself.

[Supersedeas]

35. so, is Mukasey still in charge of what the DoJ leaks??

[Marie26]

36. Makes no sense at all

This totally explains why he'd drive 200 miles to Princeton, NJ to mail a letter. Oh, wait, it doesn't.