RICIN CRACKPOT WAKES UP: Talks to brother and FBI for jailhouse prep
"A man who has been hospitalized since Valentine's Day with respiratory ailments and failing kidneys told his brother he believes he was contaminated by the deadly ricin poison found in his Las Vegas motel room," reported AP today.
"[Roger Bergendorff] did mention that he would have never done anything to anybody," the suspect's brother, Erich Bergendorff, told Associated Press. "He himself is under the impression he was contaminated by it — he did mention the ricin and seemed to say something like, 'Gee, it sure worked on me.'"
In original coverage of the news, your friendly neighborhood GlobalSecurity.Org Senior Fellow mentioned that one could not absolutely rule out extreme stupidity or the possibility that the sick man had snorted or consumed a significant amount castor mash.
Readers will now be advised to wait for the FBI to charge the annoying crank who has worn out his fifteen minutes of fame in his fiddling about with attempting to make a biological weapon. And Bergendorff will be put in prison for a few years. In the past, the US government has even jailed a mentally handicapped individual for ricin production, so the pleading of ignorance, the expressing of no desire to cause harm, cooperation with authorities or even diminished mental capabilities are not generally defenses which have been shown to get one off the hook.
"Roger Bergendorff, 57, was questioned by investigators from the FBI and the Las Vegas police on Friday in hopes that he could provide information about the Feb. 28 discovery of the ricin powder and castor beans, from which it is derived, continued the wire service.
"Officials from both agencies declined to comment about what they learned."
In addition to castor beans and a large amount of castor powder police "found our 'anarchists cookbooks' in the room marked at sections describing how to make ricin. Firearms also were found in the [Bergendorff's Las Vegas flophouse] room."
Previously:
Castor seeds and ricin: Not much of a threat.
"A man who has been hospitalized since Valentine's Day with respiratory ailments and failing kidneys told his brother he believes he was contaminated by the deadly ricin poison found in his Las Vegas motel room," reported AP today.
"[Roger Bergendorff] did mention that he would have never done anything to anybody," the suspect's brother, Erich Bergendorff, told Associated Press. "He himself is under the impression he was contaminated by it — he did mention the ricin and seemed to say something like, 'Gee, it sure worked on me.'"
In original coverage of the news, your friendly neighborhood GlobalSecurity.Org Senior Fellow mentioned that one could not absolutely rule out extreme stupidity or the possibility that the sick man had snorted or consumed a significant amount castor mash.
Readers will now be advised to wait for the FBI to charge the annoying crank who has worn out his fifteen minutes of fame in his fiddling about with attempting to make a biological weapon. And Bergendorff will be put in prison for a few years. In the past, the US government has even jailed a mentally handicapped individual for ricin production, so the pleading of ignorance, the expressing of no desire to cause harm, cooperation with authorities or even diminished mental capabilities are not generally defenses which have been shown to get one off the hook.
"Roger Bergendorff, 57, was questioned by investigators from the FBI and the Las Vegas police on Friday in hopes that he could provide information about the Feb. 28 discovery of the ricin powder and castor beans, from which it is derived, continued the wire service.
"Officials from both agencies declined to comment about what they learned."
In addition to castor beans and a large amount of castor powder police "found our 'anarchists cookbooks' in the room marked at sections describing how to make ricin. Firearms also were found in the [Bergendorff's Las Vegas flophouse] room."
Previously:
Castor seeds and ricin: Not much of a threat.
posted by George Smith at 3:14 PM
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