An ingenious criminal could have packed deadly anthrax spores into envelopes without killing or sickening himself by partially submerging the necessary equipment, sources close to the investigation told the Post.
A piece of equipment and other evidence recovered this winter from ice-covered ponds in Frederick Municipal Forest have reinvigorated the 18-month-old case, the report said.
Some involved in the case believe that the killer may have waded into shallow water to delicately manipulate anthrax bacteria into envelopes, working within a partly submerged airtight chamber, leaving the evidence under water.
Publicly, the FBI has said nothing about material that divers recovered during the elaborate search missions in December and January.
But sources close to the case said the discoveries were so compelling that the FBI now plans to drain thousands of gallons of water from one of the ponds.
Additional agents have been assigned to the case, code-named Amerithrax.
Two sources familiar with the items recovered from the pond described a clear box, with holes that could accommodate gloves to protect the user as he worked. Also recovered were vials wrapped in plastic.
Others involved in the case believe that the killer could have completed his tasks on land and simply disposed of the materials into the pond.
These investigators contend that the water theory is the result of the FBI's interest in one subject, Steven Hatfill, a medical doctor and bioterrorism expert who formerly worked as a researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, the Post reported. Hatfill has repeatedly denied any connection with anthrax. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has described Hatfill as "a person of interest" in the investigation.
Hatfill's attorney, Thomas Connolly, called the water theory "far-fetched" and said Hatfill had nothing to do with the anthrax crimes.
Hatfill, who lives eight miles from the ponds, remains under round-the-clock FBI surveillance.
The attacks claimed five lives, sickened 13 other people and exposed thousands more to the deadly bacteria.
The attacks involved a series of letters mailed in pre-stamped envelopes to media outlets in Florida and New York and to the offices of Sens. Thomas A. Daschle,D-S.D., and Patrick J. Leahy,D-Vt. While en route, the letters passed through various post offices and postal distribution centers along the East Coast and left a trail of contamination.
The FBI's latest theory could explain why numerous searches of homes, buildings and open land yielded nothing, the Post said.
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