Scientist in anthrax case said to kill self

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army scientist who apparently committed suicide this week was close to being charged in connection with a series of deadly anthrax attacks in 2001, federal law enforcement officials said on Friday.

They said Bruce Ivins, 62, who worked for the last 18 years at government biodefense research laboratories at nearby Fort Detrick, Maryland, took an overdose of painkillers over the weekend and died on Tuesday in an apparent suicide.

A lawyer representing Ivins said the scientist had fully cooperated with the government's anthrax investigation for six years, that he was innocent and they would have established that at trial.

"We are saddened by his death and disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to defend his good name and reputation in a court of law," attorney Paul Kemp said in a statement.

"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' case, it led to his untimely death."

The finely powdered anthrax was sent through the mail to media organizations and politicians shortly after the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda militants in 2001.

The anthrax mailings killed five people and sickened 17, shut down a Senate office building and spread fear of further biological attacks among Americans already reeling from September 11.

The only deadly biological attack to take place on U.S. soil, it severely disrupted the national postal service, forcing billions of dollars in changes to its operations and turned ordinary envelopes into something to be feared.

The law enforcement officials said the death of Ivins could lead to the end of the FBI's long-running and much-criticized criminal investigation.

Earlier, suspicion centered on another government scientist, Steven Hatfill, but he was not charged and the government agreed in June to pay him $5.85 million to drop his lawsuit against the Justice Department.

SKILLED MICROBIOLOGIST

The Los Angeles Times said Ivins had been informed of his impending prosecution shortly before his death.

Viewed as a skilled microbiologist, Ivins helped the FBI analyze materials recovered from one of the anthrax-tainted envelopes sent to a senator's office in Washington, the newspaper reported.

The Justice Department, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a brief statement that "substantial progress has been made in the investigation," but declined to give details now.

Court documents detailing the evidence against Ivins have yet to be unsealed, and law enforcement officials said they were briefing victims and families of the victims as well as members of Congress.