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James Everett Dutschke has pleaded guilty to sending President Barack Obama ricin-tainted letters.
The 42-year-old Mississippi man admitted he also sent poisoned letters to Republican Senator Roger Wicker and a Mississippi judge.
James Everett Dutschke is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Police initially arrested a local Elvis impersonator in the case but later determined James Everett Dutschke had framed him.
James Everett Dutschke has pleaded guilty to sending President Barack Obama ricin-tainted letters
The two had known each other but had developed a rivalry and enmity.
Ricin is a naturally occurring protein found in the castor oil plant that is highly toxic. It is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide.
The letters to Barack Obama and Roger Wicker were intercepted. The Mississippi judge received the ricin-tainted letter, but she was not harmed.
In separate cases last year, letters containing ricin were sent to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to President Barack Obama and to the CIA.
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Everett Dutschke from Mississippi has been arrested and charged in connection with the sending of letters containing ricin to President Barack Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and Judge Sadie Holland.
Everett Dutschke, 41, was detained at home in Tupelo on Saturday and handed over to US Marshals, police said.
He has been charged with possessing a biological agent with intent to use as a weapon.
Everett Dutschke has links to Paul Kevin Curtis, the man against whom charges were filed and later dropped, as well as the senator and judge.
Ricin is a naturally occurring protein, found in the castor oil plant, which is highly toxic. It is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide.
Tupelo Police Chief Tony Carleton said Everett Dutschke was taken into custody without incident at 01:00 on Saturday. His home had been under surveillance since Friday afternoon.
A law enforcement official told WTVA that Everett Dutschke was being held at the Lafayette County Detention Center.
Everett Dutschke from Mississippi has been arrested and charged in connection with the sending of letters containing ricin to President Barack Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and Judge Sadie Holland
The US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Mississippi said in a press release that Everett Dutschke had been charged with developing, producing and possessing “a biological agent, toxin and delivery system for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin”.
If convicted of the federal charge, he faces a maximum life term in jail and a $250,000 fine.
The office said Everett Dutschke was expected to appear in a district court in Mississippi on Monday.
Agents from the FBI and the US Capitol Police, as well as members of an anti-terrorist response team from the Mississippi National Guard, had searched Everett Dutschke’s home on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the premises of a former martial arts studio he ran in Tupelo.
Attention turned to Everett Dutschke after charges were dropped on Tuesday against Paul Kevin Curtis, a local Elvis impersonator.
A search of Paul Kevin Curtis’ home in nearby Corinth revealed no evidence to suggest he had sent the ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and Mississippi Judge Sadie Holland, officials said.
Hal Neilson, a lawyer for Paul Kevin Curtis, said Everett Dutschke’s name had been submitted on a list of people who might have had a reason to hurt his client.
Paul Kevin Curtis said he had worked with Everett Dutschke several years ago, and that they had discussed publishing a book called Missing Pieces, about an alleged conspiracy to sell body parts on the black market. Everett Dutschke decided not to publish the material, Paul Kevin Curtis added.
But Everett Dutschke told the Associated Press that he did not know Paul Kevin Curtis well, and that the last time they had contact was in 2010.
Judge Sadie Holland’s family is reported to have confronted Everett Dutschke at a political rally in the town of Verona in 2007, when he ran as a Republican against her son, Steve Holland, a Democratic state representative. Steve Holland said Everett Dutschke had made a derogatory speech about the Holland family, and that his mother had forced him to apologize.
Everett Dutschke said Steve Holland had exaggerated the incident, telling AP: “Everybody loves Sadie, including me.”
He is also reported to know Senator Roger Wicker.
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Ricin suspect Paul Kevin Curtis has been released from jail as the US authorities have dropped the charges against the Mississippi man accused of sending letters poisoned with ricin to President Barack Obama and Senator Roger Wicker.
Paul Kevin Curtis was freed on Tuesday after prosecutors revealed the investigation had uncovered “new information”.
The letters addressed to Barack Obama and Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker tested positive for the presence of the lethal toxin this month.
Meanwhile, investigators in the case are searching the home of another man.
Paul Kevin Curtis was arrested last week at his home in the town of Corinth, Mississippi and charged with sending letters to Barack Obama, Roger Wicker and a judge from Lee County.
But on Monday authorities searched Paul Kevin Curtis’ home and found neither ricin nor ingredients for the poison, an FBI agent testified in court. A search of his computer yielded no evidence he had researched how to make the toxin, the agent said.
Ricin suspect Paul Kevin Curtis has been released from jail as the US authorities have dropped the charges against him
In a news conference outside the courthouse on Tuesday, Paul Kevin Curtis thanked his family, friends, Jesus, Senator Roger Wicker and President Barack Obama.
Referring to investigators’ questions, he said: “I thought they said rice and I said, <<I don’t even eat rice>>.”
Paul Kevin Curtis, a musician and Elvis impersonator who also said he was a certified reflexologist, added: “I love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to [Barack Obama] or any other US official.
“I would like to get back to normal, which for me means being the best father that I could be for my children and entertaining through my music.”
He was already well known to Senator roger Wicker because he had written to the Republican senator and other officials.
Paul Kevin Curtis’ lawyer Christi McCoy, whom Curtis described as a blonde, blue-eyed angel sent by God, told reporters she believed the FBI agents who had arrested and charged her client had “acted in good faith”.
Christi McCoy said she was unsure what new information prosecutors had but that the plot to frame her client was “very, very diabolical”.
According to an FBI affidavit released on Thursday, the letters read: “Maybe I have your attention now even if that means someone must die. To see a wrong and not expose it is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”
The letters were signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
As the case against Paul Kevin Curtis appeared to collapse on Monday and Tuesday, another man in nearby Tupelo, Mississippi, told the Associated Press authorities were searching his home in connection with the ricin letters.
Everett Dutschke said he was innocent, and the Associated Press reported agents from numerous law enforcement agencies had established a mobile crime lab near his home.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Everett Dutschke said.
No charges have been filed against him nor has he been arrested.
The search team also combed through an area of woods and ditches about a block from Everett Dutschke’s property.
Everett Dutschke said he and Paul Kevin Curtis had had a dispute, cutting off contact in 2010, after he threatened to sue Curtis for saying he was a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs.
“I’m a patriotic American,” Everett Dutschke, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representative in 2007, said.
“I don’t have any grudges against anybody. I did not send the letter.”
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
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Paul Kevin Curtis from Mississippi has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama, after allegedly sending a letter containing suspected ricin to him.
Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was arrested on Wednesday after letters were found addressed to Barack Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker.
Initial tests on the letters, identified at remote facilities, showed the presence of the lethal toxin.
The FBI has said there is “no indication of a connection” between the letters and Monday’s Boston Marathon attacks.
The letters addressed to President Barack Obama and Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker were both postmarked Memphis, Tennessee, and dated April 8.
Paul Kevin Curtis has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama after sending a letter containing suspected ricin to him
According to US media citing intelligence sources, the letters read: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”
They were reportedly signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
The FBI said Paul Kevin Curtis also allegedly sent a third letter positively identified for ricin to a Mississippi justice official.
The contents of the letter intended for President Barack Obama were being sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis, the FBI said, with results expected in 24 to 48 hours.
Paul Kevin Curtis’ relatives earlier expressed shock at the news of his arrest, describing him as a natural musical performer who would impersonate Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
Paul Kevin Curtis has been arrested in Mississippi after letters containing suspected ricin were sent to President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker.
The alleged sender, Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, is a resident of Mississippi.
Initial tests on the letters, identified at remote facilities, showed the presence of ricin, a lethal toxin.
The FBI has said there is “no indication of a connection” between the letters and Monday’s deadly attack in Boston.
The letters addressed to President Barack Obama and Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker were both postmarked Memphis, Tennessee, and dated April 8.
Paul Kevin Curtis has been arrested in Mississippi after letters containing suspected ricin were sent to President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker
According to US media citing intelligence sources, the letters read: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”
The letters were reportedly signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
The FBI said Paul Kevin Curtis also allegedly sent a third letter positively identified for ricin to a Mississippi justice official.
The contents of the letter intended for Barack Obama were being sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis, the FBI said, with results expected in 24 to 48 hours.
Earlier, police questioned a man in the near the Capitol who had a backpack containing sealed envelopes, but he was not taken into custody.
Reports of suspicious packages and envelopes also led to areas within two Senate office buildings being cleared temporarily.
Meanwhile Democratic Senator Carl Levin said an aide had received a suspicious-looking letter and that the authorities were investigating. The staff member had no symptoms, Senator Carl Levin said in a statement, but was staying overnight in hospital as a precaution.
All congressional mail has been sorted and tested off-site since letters laced with anthrax were posted to two senators in 2001.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, which protects the US president and his family, said it was liaising with the Capitol Police and the FBI to trace the origins of the letters.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
The toxin can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
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A letter posted to Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker at the US Senate has been tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin or another poisonous substance, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said.
The letter was intercepted at a centre handling post for the Capitol in Washington DC, US media report.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
Roger Wicker issued a statement on Tuesday acknowledging the letter.
“This matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the United States Capitol Police and FBI,” he said.
“I want to thank our law enforcement officials for their hard work and diligence in keeping those of us who work in the Capitol complex safe.”
An official quoted by AP news agency said two tests had shown positive for ricin but the results are not deemed conclusive without further testing.
A letter posted to Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker at the US Senate has been tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin or another poisonous substance
The letter was detected during a routine inspection of mail and did not reach the US Capitol or Senator Roger Wicker’s office, a Senate leadership aide was quoted as saying.
Senators were informed of the letter at a closed-door briefing by FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the Boston Marathon bombings, the aide added.
There is a heightened sense of alert in the US capital after the attacks in Boston but there is no indication so far of any connection between the two incidents.
It is also not clear why the letter was sent to Senator Roger Wicker.
The Senate’s chief security office told Reuters: “The exterior marking on the envelope in this case was not outwardly suspicious, but it was postmarked from Memphis, Tennessee.”
All mail sent to members of Congress has been screened off-site since letters laced with anthrax were sent to Capitol Hill in 2001.
In 2004, three Senate office buildings were shut after tests found ricin in letters that had been sent to the Senate majority leader’s office.
Ricin was the poison used for the infamous murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in September 1978.
Georgi Markov was waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge, London, when a stranger jabbed him in the leg with an umbrella.
The umbrella injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet into Georgi Markov’s leg and he died three days later in hospital.
Ricin:
- Can be fatal when inhaled, ingested or – most dangerously – injected
- One to three castor beans chewed by a child, or just eight seeds chewed by an adult, can be fatal
- The toxin is part of the waste produced when castor oil is made
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