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A 57-year-old graphic designer and pizza deliveryman, Roger Von Bergendorff, remained in a coma in a Las Vegas-area hospital March 5, nearly two weeks after he apparently inhaled ricin powder, a biological toxin that later was found among his belongings. The FBI is investigating the case to determine how the potentially deadly substance came into Von Bergendorff’s possession —and, more important, what he planned to do with it....

Deadly poison CDC test confirms substance is ricin FBI in Salt Lake City still investigating link to house in Riverton By Jason Bergreen The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 03/05/2008 01:27:51 AM MST A substance found in Roger Von Bergendorff's Las Vegas hotel room and tested Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was confirmed to be the deadly toxin ricin. The new results confirm initial tests conducted by the Southern Nevada Health District.     Jennifer Sizemore, a spokeswoman for SNHD, confirmed Tuesday that the CDC sample came back positive.     Police found vials of ricin, firearms and...

Breaking news alert, there is a hazmat team at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas, presumably connected to the ongoing ricin investigation

The feds are saying flatly that the Vegas ricin case is not related to terrorism but I’m not so sure. The man who was staying at the Vegas hotel and is in the hospital in critical condition, who almost certainly manufactured the ricin from raw castor beans by following instructions in what authorities described as an “a book on anarchy,” is apparently obsessed with domestic animals: Neighbors in Utah described Mr. Von Bergendorff as a peculiar loner commonly seen in brown slacks and a brown shirt. Pauline and Grant Dansie, who live three doors down from Mr. Tholen, said Mr....

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

Utah home search planned in ricin case By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer LAS VEGAS - FBI agents hope to search a Utah house linked to a man whose hospitalization led to the discovery of deadly ricin in a motel room he had occupied. Roger Von Bergendorff, the focus of the investigation, had lived in the house near Salt Lake City for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago, said Tammy Ewell, who lives across the street. "He just barely got by in life. He'd just barely make it," Ewell said Saturday of the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today it has entered the investigation of a 57-year-old man who is hospitalized in critical condition who may have been exposed to the deadly plant toxin ricin. The Centers for Disease Control says it is working with the Southern Nevada Health District’s Environmental Health Division, the FBI and other public health and law enforcement agencies investigating a former resident of the Extended Stay America motel. CDC investigators believe the man may be the victim of deliberate ricin poisoning, which may be injected, ingested or inhaled. Metro Police said that they do not...

The ricin found in Las Vegas is almost certainly part of a deliberate plot of some kind; authorities continue to insist there was “no link to terrorist activity,” but now they’ve found firearms and an “anarchist cookbook.” LAS VEGAS - As police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital. Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an “anarchist type textbook” were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later. Capt. Joseph Lombardo...

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Police say there is no indication of any link to terrorist activity involving the discovery of the deadly poison ricin that was found in a hotel room near the Las Vegas Strip. Seven people were sent to the hospital to be tested for poisoning, including three officers who first responded to the 911 call. All seven people are fine and have been released from the hospital. There was also a dog and two cats found in the room. The cats survived, but the dog had to be put down because of starvation. The room belonged to...

LAS VEGAS - Firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same motel room where several vials of the deadly toxin ricin was found, police said Friday. The room was most recently occupied by a 57-year-old man who has been in critical condition with breathing problems at a hospital for more than two weeks. Las Vegas police said there was no apparent link to terrorist activity, and no indication of any spread of the deadly substance beyond the several vials of powder found in a plastic bag in the man's room on Thursday. But what the ricin was...

Detectives may be looking at the discovery of a poison-infested vial at a Las Vegas motel as a murder plot that has left one man gravely ill, FOX News has learned. The toxin known as ricin turned up at the Extended Stay America Motel, leaving one person in critical condition and in the hospital, with some reports suggesting that he may be in a coma. No one else has exhibited signs of ricin poisoning to date, police said Friday. Law enforcement officials told FOX that the Las Vegas Police Department is leading the probe and the investigation appears to be...

Police are now revealing that firearms were found in that hotel room, along with an anarchist handbook tabbed to "Ricin." Also, that this person also apparently spent some time at the Excalibur Hotel/ Casino. They sent a team over there to check for contamination and say nothing was found. When the official was asked why they didn't mention the firearms in the earlier presser, he said: oh, I didn't know we didn't mention that. The victim (terrorist on a dry run, perhaps) is 57 yrs. old. The male who came to claim his belongings is also in his 50's. No...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29, 2008 – A National Guard civil support team was on scene within an hour last night after Las Vegas authorities sought help with a suspicious substance that later turned out to be deadly ricin. Two members of the 92nd Civil Support Team take a sample of a simulated hazardous substance in a Sparks, Nev., shopping mall during training Nov. 25, 2005. The Nevada National Guard’s civil support team was called to assist Las Vegas Metro Police on Feb. 28, 2008, with a suspicious substance that was later identified as deadly ricin. The team is one of...

A man who stayed in a Las Vegas hotel room where ricin was found is in critical condition at a hospital, where he has been since mid-February, said a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department official. A man is in critical condition after exposure to ricin at a Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Preliminary tests indicate that a package found at a motel contained the toxin ricin, and seven people have been taken to hospitals, authorities said. Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, Officer Ramone Denby said. Two preliminary tests indicate it contained ricin, he said. Results from further tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected Friday, police said. Homeland Security officials joined local police in the...

(CNN) -- Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are investigating the discovery of what they believe to be ricin at an extended stay hotel Thursday. Authorities were called to an Extended Stay America hotel after staff found a suspicious substance in one of the rooms. "They determined it might be some biological agent, and through presumptive tests, we determined it to be ricin," said Capt. Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. "We don't know who it belongs to or why it would be here at this time." Three hotel employees and a fourth person who came to the...

There have been a number of threats this summer : some potentially serious, others clearly faked. All tend to distract us from more serious matters.

PATASKALA, Ohio - Federal agents searching the home of an accused rapist on Friday were working to determine whether he was intending to make the lethal poison ricin. On Thursday, authorities converged on the Mink Street home to arrest Stanley Elliott on charges including rape and gross sexual imposition, 10TV's Laura Cole reported. SLIDESHOW: Images From Scene The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state fire marshal were called to the home at about 5 p.m. after there were reports of chemicals inside. A hazardous materials crew erected a decontamination tent and put on protective suits, Cole reported....

The al-Qa'ida connectionPolice killer alleged to be 'key' terror suspect wanted over chemical attack plot By Jason Bennetto and Ian Herbert 16 January 2003 The terror suspect who stabbed to death a police officer in Manchester is alleged to be a "key" al-Qa'ida member who was wanted by MI5 for plotting chemical attacks in Britain. Yesterday the police set up an inquiry to examine a series of apparent security and intelligence blunders that led to the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake. DC Oake's widow, Lesley, spoke of her "total devastation" at the death of her husband. The couple had...