I've now read the government's case against Dr. Bruce Ivins. I read it carefully. I also listened to his attorney discussing some of the holes in the case. I think they blew it. I don't think they could have proved that case beyond a reasonable doubt, with any kind of a competent defense attorney bringing up the unanswered questions. They say they're convinced that he sent the anthrax letters. They haven't convinced me; not beyond a reasonable doubt.
I heard opinions on NPR, and I'd have to agree with you. They hadn't narrowed the field of possible suspects with access to the specific strain of Anthrax culture--apparently there were dozens of others who could have taken it. Also, I haven't heard anything about motivation--he didn't have any history of anti-government, anti-Israel, or anti-anything as far as I've heard, just some mental instability with no specific etiology. Why is he supposed to have done it?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand--why commit suicide if you're innocent? Yes, it's a great stress, but he'd have to have been quite fatalistic to have committed suicide, unless there was something he just didn't want to admit to.
Bottom line, they should either have charged him or left him alone. It looks like they were trying to intimidate him--a technique often employed by prosecutors short on hard evidence.