PHOTOS OF THE ANTHRAX LETTERS

Yahoo ^ | October 16, 2001 | FBI

[TheOtherOne]

The FBI released this photo on October 16, 2001 showing the letters that were sent to NBC in New York and to Sen. Tom Daschle's office on Capitol Hill and were found to contain the anthrax bacteria. Anthrax was confirmed in the letter opened on October 15 in Daschle's office, but so far none of the staff in that office has tested positive for exposure to the potentially deadly bacteria, Capitol police said. REUTERS/HO/Fbi

[Fred25]

Hmmm, that’s a good idea. The FBI might have some special search software that will allow them to do that. One thing the FBI is good about is conducting investigations after people have been murdered. In the old days, the FBI under Hoover would have tried to prevent the murders by infiltrating all sorts of radical organizations, but the FBI doesn’t do that much any more. That kind of stuff was stopped during the Carter Administration. However, I predict that that technique will again be used in the future.

That handwriting looks “American” to me, but I’ve never seen the handwriting of an English-speaking Arab.

[steve-b]

The thing I really don't understand is why they didn't use a printer (especially an ink-jet, which naturally blurs enough to obscure any clues that could identify the individual printhead).

I think that pretty much rules out anybody who expected to still be alive when the letters were delivered (yes, they were mailed after 9/11, but arranging a dupe to drop the letter into the mail on a prearranged date would be trivial).

[steve-b]

Some postman might remember selling the envelopes recently, since they usually aren’t sold very often.

They sell them in vending machines.

[Fred25]

They sell them in vending machines.

Oh.

No wonder I flunked out of the Academy.

[BigBobber]

This is fascinating. Do you think the letter writer might live near there? Or was he possibly very culturally astute? Sometimes criminals want to show how smart they are, and leave obscure clues to taunt the police. The Zodiac Killer is probably most famous for this. The return address could be such a clue. I would love to see the letters themselves. Perhaps more clues?

[Fredgoblu]

And all the letters are capital ones....

That should've been a tip off to Daschle's staff right away: a fourth grade class would be using a mix of caps and lower case.

For me, the R's, K's and the 2's appear very similar. The clincher is the pre-posted envelopes.

[Fredgoblu]

Looks like a draftsman's hand writing.

I disagree, for a number of reasons. To me, it simply looks like it was done by someone trying to come across as child-like.

First, the generalities:
-Too sloppy and uneven for a draftsman. -Draftsmen would tend to use crisp, parallel strokes, and not the generally loopy, skewed letters. Look at the HLE in DASCHLE--not a parallel stroke in the lot.
-Draftsmen would tend to be anal retentive regarding their ability to follow a line. Draftsmen revel in their ability to draw evenly sized letters that don't decay as they write across a page.
-All drafting letters would be started at the top. Some of this guy's letters appear (I'm uncertain, here) to start in the lower left: His M's, and possibly the R's and B's.

Specifics. First the numbers:
-The 2 is a single-stroke, loopy 2. Draftsmen would aim for the point in the lower left, with a two (if-not three) stroke 2. Even my latter-day, quickly drawn 2 has a point.
-The 8's are single-stroke design, as we learned them in grade school. Draftsmen are retrained to draw two circles. Believe me, it's hard to go back, once you switch to this style.
-The O's are pretty asymmetric. Draftsmen would have a more elliptical O.
-Now, I'll throw you one bone, here. The 4 IS similar to a draftsman 4, since it is closed. I would argue that the cross bar is much too high for a draftsman, but they would definitely use the closed style.

Letters.
-G is single stroke, and rather loopy. Should resemble the left half of an O with a two stroke cap at the bottom right.
-D is too weak and shallow a curve. In addition to keeping letters the same height, a draftsman would keep the widths consistent, too.
-Generally inconsistent mix of single stroke and multi-stroke letters. As you write more, and start taking shortcuts, sure, some three-stroke letters become two-stroke letters, and so on. But, to fully simplify the G to a one-stroke style, yet retain the separate feet on the R's and K's is inconsistent...you've got to lift the pen off of the page to do it.

Too many things tell me it's not a draftsman here.

[Fredgoblu]

As for the slanting address -- who wants to bet the guy was writing with his opposite hand?

I think the lettering is too neat to have been done with the opposite hand. The Troxler address, on the other hand, DOES appear to be done with the opposite hand.

[Loopy]

What effect, if any, would being a native arabic speaker have on writing in English. They write from Right to Left, No? Wouldn't it be common for such people, writing in English, to make the same stylistic errors such as sloping to one side?

[infowarrior]

...Daschle and Brokaw would be dead men...

Assuming, of course, that that was the desired end. This assumption fails to take into account that personages such as Daschle and Brokaw never open their own mail. It isn't rocket science to figure out that "targeting" Daschle or Brokaw in this manner would be futile, if the intent was to kill them.

No, the logical rationale would be to "fire a warning shot" at them. In Daschle's case it's rather elementary as to why he would be targeted in this manner. As Senate Majority Leader, and current political head of the Democratic Party, he, and he alone, could put the brakes on any initiaives by President Bush against Al-Qaeda, or others...

the infowarrior

[piasa]

Wonder if writer is left-handed because of the slant.

Lefties slant their writing upwards towards the end of a line, not downwards.

The slant is so exaggerated in these that it is probably intentionally done in order to deceive.

[piasa]

Not true- I'm ambidextrous but when writing as a lefty (and I know a lot of them in the art field)- we slant our writing upwards. (If we slant at all)- most of the time we tip the paper to compensate. Some lefties contort their hand in a weird way up over the top of the line, but not all of us do since ink dries faster these days.... some, like myself, just run their left hand straight across the ink from the side and risk smudges.) We also write the letters with a different order of strokes, or by reversing the direction of the penstroke. In fact, it is in the construction of individual letters where 'handedness' is most likely to show, though if the person has had a drafting class this might alter the old habits. The resolution of the photos, unfortunately, doesn't give us that kind of detail.

[Clinton's a rapist]

Most likely a foreigner, (learned writing outside of the USA) makes European ONES, with the little flag at the top and a base at the bottom....make a bet this person makes European SEVENS with a slash through them.

Anybody who goes through US Immigration regularly will recognize where Atta learned to write his numerals.

[Ann Archy]

Of Course!! The "ones" 1's....No ONE in America learns to do "ONE's" that way....that's how foreigners do it. I was focused in on the accentuated "A'and "T'S"...but the ONES would NOT be from an American. Very good.

[antivenom]

Excusssse me (LOL) I caught that little piece of evidence...(while brushing my nails across my chest). Went away to school with many Europeans, and I too went the way of slashed sevens and tailed ones...I also slash my Z's to avoid confusion with 2s and tail my Ss to avoid confusion with a 5. Funny what we see in others handwriting, I saw that immediately. Good piece of evidence showing the US Custom's paperwork...in fact it is creepy.

[Ann Archy]

I still think that the "tailed ones" show it was a foreigner...or one that went to school with a lot of foregners!! LOL....really, tho, it's VERY unusual.

[Fred25]

[Fred25]

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