The FBI wants us to consider the case closed.....

[FormerOstrich]

and I see it disappearing quickly from the public consciousness. Personally, I think we should all be horrified at the bits and pieces of a mans life being presented as damning evidence. Think of all the things you have said or done (say or do) which might tend to make you seem a bit batty.

The combination of personal oddity (presented out of context), individuals rushing to add their two cents (for whatever has motivated them) about how odd/scary/dangerous you are, and you conveniently not being there to defend yourself could make any one of us appear sinister.

What irks me is how everything is presented as so damning when, in fact, it does not prove anything. For instance:

Ivins told investigators he retreated to the lab "to escape" from problems at home, the postal inspector said

There was a period in my life I did just as he claimed to have done. This may be proof positive Bruce and I were not very good at facing up to personal problems or that we prefer escape to confrontation but certainly doesn't indicate we are prone to killing people. Working late does not make you and your work invisible.

Investigators homed in on Ivins for several reasons, according to an Oct. 31, 2007, sworn statement from Postal Inspector Thomas Dellafera. That document appeared to serve as a blueprint for the government, laying out critical arguments against Ivins.

I suppose I never really gave the job description of the Postal Inspector much thought but is it common for the inspector to seemingly be in charge of FBI investigations?

Investigators pointed to other odd behavior by Ivins in early June (2000).

He walked into his yard in the rain at 10:30 p.m. and "was observed making a raking or digging motion" in "an untended area of grass and other vegetation."

Wow...who reported this activity and remembered the month/year? Just frightening, I tell ya!!

AZRepublic Article

But while the media seems to be pandering to the inconsequential aspects let's talk turkey.

One doesn’t have to look very far to find a powder that more closely resembles the Senate anthrax. The U.S. Army’s newest batch of anthrax simulant is a closer match...
....
The amateur anthrax scenario appears to have lost some credibility with the failure of the FBI’s attempt to reverse engineer a highquality powder using basic equipment. If the Army couldn’t do it in a top-notch laboratory staffed by scientists trained to make anthrax powders, skeptics ask, who could do it in a garage or basement?

This article from November 2003 seems to be much more damning to the FBI and thier case, than the FBIs case against Ivins.

http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Anthrax_Science.pdf">ScienceMag

But of course he must be guilty, because he stalked this lady....

Ivins kept in touch with Haigwood via phone calls, letters and e-mails, and while some of the correspondence made her uncomfortable, she never cut off contact with him, a decision she later regretted. She said she sent him polite but curt replies.

she never cut off contact??? she later regretted? When? Last week? Last Month??

that cinches it....he musta done it

[EFerrari]

1. That's the new smear, he "stalked" her.

She may have felt uncomfortable but there's no evidence that he stalked her. It's just one more smear.

I just finished reading a compilation of his email that Slate put together. They read like posts we read here.

http://www.slate.com/id/2197043/

[glowing]

3. I'm sure she has some pressure on her to say these things.. I mean really,

who would hang out with a terrorist? AND is she involved? I think most people assume, we will never have an answer, the real answer is fake, and we cannot trust our govt and that is a shame because its supposed to be OUR govt.

[FormerOstrich]

4. Hiya sfexpat2000..

What timing, I just returned from reading the same Slate article.

The only truely disturbing thing I saw there were the last posts by "brucivi" were being attributed to Bruce Ivins without anything to substantiate the alias belonged to him. I suppose there are no other Bruces in the world that juggle. I wonder if Bruce Ivins, is in fact a GodFather to "Jen". Doesn't seem he was trying to hard to "hide" if that was the case.

I have probably sounded much more crazed, on a greater number of posts here at DU than the posts published on Slate!

:hi:

[barbtries]

2. this should not go away

i would seriously believe that this man was murdered as a patsy considering how snappily the feds are jumping to put the whole story to rest. read this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93423750

it's an interview with ivins's attorney. this case stinks to high heaven.

[FormerOstrich]

5. Thank you very much...

I just read the entire interview. I just feel terrible for his family. I am convinced they put that family through hell and back.

There really isn't much said on why they decided this was a suicide (I have not heard mention of a note or other indicator). I had read where he had started drinking/drugs (prescription) after a decade of sobriety. Based on what I read, I started believing he might have accidentally killed himself. Either way, I believe the FBI pushed him into it.

[FormerOstrich]

6. I'm kicking my own thread...

if nothing else but to make sure GD is something other than JE.

:kick:

[EFerrari]

7. I was rereading the stalking story.

The "victim" says that Ivins had to stalk her to find out where she lived --except he was living on the same street two blocks away. So maybe all he had to do was walk in his own neighborhood.

Also, the article says: "Their e-mail correspondence from 2002 on was brief and cordial, although Ivins did reveal that he was under a lot of stress."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080809/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/anthrax_investigation_172

Have you ever been stalked? I have. How do you have a "brief and cordial" exchange with a stalker? They usually want more and more contact, not less and less. And they have a sense that you owe them or, that they own you. Again, this doesn't make sense to me.

[FormerOstrich]

8. Yes, absolutely there is a connection...

as I mentioned above...

Ivins kept in touch with Haigwood via phone calls, letters and e-mails, and while some of the correspondence made her uncomfortable, she never cut off contact with him, a decision she later regretted. She said she sent him polite but curt replies.

ackk..he was stalking me but I didn't cut off contact. I'm with you sfexpat2000...that's not how stalker/stalkee usually interact.

Plus, I noticed on some other threads you've gotten the word out about the time discrepancies for the drive to Princeton and back. I have read in some subsequent reports (and I'm sorry I didn't save the url) that now it was suspicious that he like to take long drives, late at night, to mail things (good God can you believe them?)

...I'm back...had to go through my history to find at least one of the links for you afterall...beyond belief!

The evidence will show that Bruce Ivins regularly drove long hours at night to deliver or mail packages, just as he did in this case. It will show his obsession with the sorority whose office is mere feet away from the mailbox in Princeton, N.J., where he posted the letters. It will show that the pre-stamped envelopes used to mail the anthrax, despite being mailed in New Jersey, very likely came from a post office near his home.


http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE3gWBRPzOs6bKy53wkx9riORFzgD92EQQM00

[EFerrari]

9. I sort of can't blame anyone who believes she was being stalked

for how she decided to handle it. It's very, VERY stressful.

But, if you look at the facts, her viewpoint may well be honest but not exactly the whole picture. And it's easy to say anything now that he's not here to defend himself.

Ivins was active in his community. Between that and his two adopted kids and his job, there's not very much time left to invisibly stalk someone, let alone, to have cordial, brief conversations with them. :crazy: