Instead of waking U.S. to bioterror, he woke the FBI

Star-Ledger ^ | 8/8/04 | KEVIN COUGHLIN AND JOE MALINCONICO

[TrebleRebel]

Instead of waking U.S. to bioterror, he woke the FBI Sunday, August 08, 2004 BY KEVIN COUGHLIN AND JOE MALINCONICO Star-Ledger Staff For Kenneth M. Berry, 1999 was a very big year.

The Teaneck native hosted a conference in Washington, D.C., in which he crusaded for better training against biological attacks. He filed for patents on two systems to shield buildings from biochemical agents.

And he was charged in a forgery scheme -- a sordid episode that, an accomplice says, was meant to fund Berry's fight against bioterror.

Five years later, these strange cross-currents have splashed more mystery onto the maddening hunt for whoever is the anthrax killer.

After FBI searches last week of homes in Dover Township and Wellsville, N.Y., Berry is in the cross hairs of the same federal government he courted during the late 1990s.

Suddenly, he shares a dubious spotlight with Steven Hatfill, another crusading physician whose bio- defense career ended when authorities dubbed him a "person of interest" in the anthrax-by-mail killings that claimed five lives late in 2001.

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Rutgers University professor Leonard Cole, author of "The Anthrax Letters," said he hopes the FBI has more evidence against Berry than it appears to have against Hatfill -- for the bureau's sake.

"If they're just making a big show, if they don't come up with anything, what kind of confidence do we have in the FBI? It's not good for them or the country," Cole said.

Staff writers Brian T. Murray, Joe Ryan and Brian Donohue contributed to this report.

[TrebleRebel]

Rutgers University professor Leonard Cole, author of "The Anthrax Letters," said he hopes the FBI has more evidence against Berry than it appears to have against Hatfill -- for the bureau's sake.

"If they're just making a big show, if they don't come up with anything, what kind of confidence do we have in the FBI? It's not good for them or the country," Cole said.

I tend to agree with Dr Cole.

[TrebleRebel]

ping

[DirtyHarryY2K]

"If they're just making a big show, if they don't come up with anything, what kind of confidence do we have in the FBI? It's not good for them or the country," Cole said.

Not me, Better safe than sorry, A large percentage of arsonists are Volenteer firefighters or ex-firemen, to concider the posibility of this guy wanting to gain fame for his work in his field of expertise gives him the motive, JMO

[eno_]

SO far they have come up dry. This is Amerithrax II. I hope the names of the FBI people who think this is a productive use of their time come out.