There are no med uses for ricin. There are research uses, and although the research can be for med applications, it's use is always in the lab. There's no legitimate reason for a lab guy to be transporting only ricin and the beans themselves and staying in an extended stay motel. Yes, the beans were found in the room also. The place must have a valid name cc# that was used for the stay., so they have an ID on the perp.
Not sure they had a “valid” name on the cc—just one that didn’t alert anyone. It’s not that difficult to set up a false id, get credit cards, etc.—it’s done by illegal aliens and others all the time. As long as they make payments on the cc’s, it wouldn’t alert anyone.