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Posted on 12/05/2001 11:59:53 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Wednesday December 5 2:55 PM ET
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Clayton Lee Waagner, one of the FBI (news - web sites)'s 10 most wanted fugitives and the prime suspect in mailing hoax anthrax letters to women's health clinics, was arrested in the Cincinnati area, U.S. law enforcement officials said on Wednesday.
They said Waagner, who claimed responsibility for sending more than 280 letters purporting to contain the potentially deadly bacterium to East Coast clinics that perform abortions, was taken into custody by local law enforcement authorities.
Waagner, a self-described anti-abortion ``warrior,'' escaped from the Dewitt County jail in Clinton, Illinois, in February. He was awaiting sentencing and faced a possible prison term of 15 years to life, the FBI said.
The threatening letters were mailed around the same time anthrax-laced letters turned up at media organizations and the Capitol Hill office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The FBI has said it considered Waagner's letters to be separate from those that actually contained anthrax.
Five people have died and 13 others have been infected with anthrax since early October, adding to the nation's jitters following the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday offered a $50,000 reward for information about Waagner. The FBI also has offered a $50,000 reward.
Waagner previously had been convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle. Since his escape, he is believed to have committed a number of bank robberies, and has been formally charged with one in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the FBI said.
Besides the 280 letters mailed during the second week in October, a second series of more than 270 letters, also falsely claiming to contain anthrax, was sent to more than 270 clinics in the first week in November, the FBI said.
Earlier Stories
Reward Offered for Suspected Anthrax Hoaxer (December 4)
Fugitive Clayton Lee Waagner, wanted by the FBI for allegedly mailing anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics, was arrested in the Cincinnati area, federal law enforcement officials said December 5, 2001. They said Waagner, who claimed responsibility for sending more than 280 letters purporting to contain the potentially deadly bacterium to East Coast clinics that perform abortions, was taken into custody by local law enforcement authorities. (FBI via Reuters)
FILE--Clayton Lee Waagner is shown in this Dec. 15, 1999 file photo. Waagner, a fugitive suspected of mailing hundreds of fake anthrax letters to abortion clinics was captured Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001, in Cincinnati the FBI said. Waagner was among the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Prisons)
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