The Anthrax Killer: Nobody Noticed He Was A Nut Job
Bruce Ivins, who, as a child, was abused by his mother, became a respected Army scientist and an authority on lab use of anthrax -- and had a penchant for vendettas, especially against women who wouldn't go out with him, writes David Willman in the Los Angeles Times.
Five people ultimately died from the anthrax in his mailings. Ivins was given "secret" level security clearance by the army, sans any evaluation of his mental health. He killed himself with an overdose of Tylenol at age 62.
Amazingly, as with mass murderer for Allah, Major Hassan, none of the mental health "professionals" he had contact with seem to have made a peep about him to anyone:
Near his new place of work, the Defense Department's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., Ivins spilled out his feelings about Haigwood to a psychiatrist, Dr. Naomi Heller. He said he experienced Haigwood's brush-off as a replay of his mother's mockery of him during childhood.Ivins confided that he had thought through plans to kill Haigwood.
...Over the years, he sought help from psychiatrists and counselors and was prescribed a battery of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs.
A psychiatrist who treated him in the late 1990s, Dr. David Irwin, confided to a therapist that Ivins was the "scariest" patient he had ever known.
Army officials seemed oblivious to his instability -- even if he was not. In emails to his current and former lab technicians, Ivins described disturbing thoughts and impulses and said he was struggling to control his behavior.
On July 18, 2000, Ivins told a mental health counselor that he had recently planned to poison his former assistant, Mara Linscott. In addition to having cyanide, he said that he had once obtained ammonium nitrate, to make a bomb.
He saw himself, Ivins said, as an "avenging angel of death."
But, did the government get the right guy? Noah Schactman writes at WIRED:
There's still the possibility that the government was as wrong about Ivins as it was about Hatfill. If that's the case, the anthrax mailer is still at large. And that means someone launched the deadliest biological attack in the history of the United States--and got away with it.
"He killed himself with an overdose of Tylenol"
I know a guy who tried that. After he took the first two he felt better.
Vinnie Bartilucci at May 29, 2011 7:55 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/05/the-anthrax-kil.html#comment-2190373">comment from Vinnie BartilucciHah! (I think it's hard to get the codeine version. I bought some in the pharmacy in France, OTC, but then, when I was sick, I read about side-effects from codeine and decided not to take them.)
Amy Alkon
at May 29, 2011 8:01 AM
I dont think there is anything sadder than someone who knows they are (going) crazy and cant get help no matter how mcuh the ask for it.
lujlp at May 29, 2011 4:27 PM
lujlp that's exactly what happened to me. One therapist basically told me I was spoiled and lazy. Turns out I needed antipsychotics.
Ppen at May 29, 2011 10:44 PM
He was working with bioweapons, and only cleared to Secret level? I'm surprised. Secret is only a mid-level clearance. I'm surprised that bioweapons aren't classified higher than that. I guess they figure that cultivating anthrax isn't a technology that gives us a big advantage.
Nonetheless, it's inexcusable that nothing was done. Secret is still a pretty damn high classification if you consider the number of people who have that clearance as a percentage of the total U.S. population. I'd be very curious as to when he received his clearance, and to what extent he disclosed his psych problems on his application. Yes, they do investigate your psychological background (don't ask me how I know this); it's not necessarily a disqualifier just because you've been to therapy, but any indication of antisocial personality disorder should have been a red flag. Doctor-patient confidentiality doesn't apply because you have to give them permission to access your medical records when you apply for a clearance.
And: his behavior can't possibly have totally escaped the attention of his co-workers. Did none of them feel that any of this constituted adverse information, which they were/are required to report? Or maybe they reported it and the security officer did nothing.
Lots of things that need explaining here.
Cousin Dave at May 29, 2011 10:45 PM
Read that article a while back. Along with the "If he wasn't the one, then the guilty one is still running around" is the unpleasant matter that if this is the case, the FBI deliberately pushed someone they KNEW was unstable way over his limit; which would mean the agents involved are directly complicit in his death.
Firehand at May 30, 2011 11:43 AM
So what did all these shrinks do? Listen to him, send him on his way and bill the insurance company? I don't understand this inaction.
KateC at May 30, 2011 9:29 PM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/05/the-anthrax-kil.html#comment-2195551">comment from KateCThat makes two of us.
Amy Alkon
at May 30, 2011 11:16 PM
Leave a comment