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Something's really fishy about this
story...why would the professor 'destroy' the bacteria and then
report it as missing?
If indeed all the vials were 'destroyed'
(and how does one 'destroy' vials of plague?), how then could authorities
'account' for all of them?
June
-------Original Message-------
Professor Arrested in
Plague Vials Case
By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press Writer
January
16, 2003, 8:32 AM EST
LUBBOCK, Texas -- When 30 vials of a deadly
bacteria that causes bubonic
plague were reported missing from Texas
Tech University, anxiety here was
palpable. Homeland Security chief Tom
Ridge contacted the mayor, a
terrorism alert was triggered and dozens
of investigators from the FBI and
other agencies converged.
But
officials said Wednesday the bacteria wasn't missing after all.
They
alleged a Texas Tech professor had destroyed the vials before
reporting
their disappearance.
Dr. Thomas C. Butler was arrested
Wednesday on a complaint of giving false
information to the FBI.
According to U.S. Attorney Dick Baker, Butler said
Tuesday that vials
containing bacteria obtained from tissue samples from
East Africa were
missing when "truth in fact, as he well knew, he had
destroyed them
prior to that."
Butler was booked into the Lubbock County Jail. He
was scheduled to make
his initial court appearance Thursday.
"We
have accounted for all those missing vials and we have determined
that
there is no danger to public safety whatsoever," Lubbock FBI Lupe
Gonzalez
said. |
