Many early clues to anthrax suspect

The long delay in focusing on Ivins and solving the case also left elected officials guessing about the origin of the threat that had traumatized the nation as they debated multibillion-dollar policies intended to counter bioterrorism. In the end, the FBI and the Justice Department concluded that the mailed anthrax came not from a foreign state or a terrorist group -- but from someone within the U.S. government.

The mailings -- which killed five people and injured 17 soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- crippled deliveries of U.S. mail and shut down a major Senate office building for cleanup. The mailings also prompted private companies nationwide to invest in costly preventive measures.

Ivins, employed by the Army since 1980 as a civilian microbiologist, had routine access to anthrax because his research focused on developing a better vaccine for troops who might face anthrax on the battlefield.

The discovery of anthrax spores outside restricted areas at Ft. Detrick prompted an Army investigation, ending with a 361-page report in May 2002 that described Ivins' earlier, undisclosed cleanup efforts. In sworn statements to the Army, Ivins suggested that a sloppy lab technician may have spread anthrax from a hot suite to other work spaces, including Ivins'.

An Army officer who had firsthand knowledge of the events told The Times last week that Ivins' sworn statements and all other investigative details gathered for the report were available at that time to the FBI.

Army officials had regarded the anthrax contamination at Ft. Detrick as accidental and non-life-threatening. They called for improvements in safety and lab practices but recommended no discipline against Ivins or anyone else.

Viewing the circumstances found by the Army report alongside the other evidence that was brought into public view last week, the Army officer concluded that Ivins' stealth bleaching of his work area was related to the anthrax mailings.

"Of course I think it was a coverup," said the officer, who did not want to be identified because external reviews are pending. "He was trying to clean up the material" that may have been used in the anthrax mailings.

Ivins, 62, died July 29 in what Maryland health officials have ruled a suicide. His lawyers have said that they believe Ivins would have been acquitted if he had lived to stand trial on murder charges.