United Press International - A U.S. government scientist and suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks has died in Maryland of an apparent suicide, colleagues said.
Bruce Ivins, 62, died as the U.S. Justice Department was preparing to file criminal charges against him in the attacks, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Ivins, who worked at the government's biodefense research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md., and helped the FBI analyze samples in the attacks, knew of the pending prosecution, people who knew Ivins, his death and the investigation told the Times.
Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital after ingesting a huge amount of prescription Tylenol with codeine, a friend of Ivins said.
The FBI didn't disclose publicly that Ivins was a suspect.
The anthrax mailings killed five people and spread a fear of terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In June, the government reached a settlement valued at $5.82 million to another former government scientist, Steven Hatfill, the FBI's chief suspect despite a lack of any evidence that he had ever possessed anthrax. Colleagues said soon after the settlement was announced, Ivins began to show signs of strain, the Times reported.
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Bruce Ivins, 62, died as the U.S. Justice Department was preparing to file criminal charges against him in the attacks, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Ivins, who worked at the government's biodefense research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md., and helped the FBI analyze samples in the attacks, knew of the pending prosecution, people who knew Ivins, his death and the investigation told the Times.
Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital after ingesting a huge amount of prescription Tylenol with codeine, a friend of Ivins said.
The FBI didn't disclose publicly that Ivins was a suspect.
The anthrax mailings killed five people and spread a fear of terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In June, the government reached a settlement valued at $5.82 million to another former government scientist, Steven Hatfill, the FBI's chief suspect despite a lack of any evidence that he had ever possessed anthrax. Colleagues said soon after the settlement was announced, Ivins began to show signs of strain, the Times reported.
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