Spokane Valley man suspected of making biological weapons06/19/2002
NWCN.com
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - FBI agents have arrested a man in Spokane Valley for allegedly making a biological weapon using ricin, a deadly derivative of the castor bean.
Agents arrested 47-year-old Kenneth Raymond Olsen around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning nearby his home, located at the 3800 block of Mercy Way in Spokane Valley. FBI agents raided his house and searched his vehicle and former place of employment for ricin or any bomb making materials. After searching the areas for several hours, agents said they found evidence of ricin, a deadly toxin used in biological warfare.
|
KREM FBI agents searched the Olsen house for the toxin ricin and bomb making materials. |
Olsen, a computer expert in Spokane, was charged Wednesday afternoon with manufacturing a biological weapon. Newly released court documents details his activities and suggest Olsen was making ricin to eventually kill his wife.
Authorities became very suspicious after searching Agilent Technologies, Olsen’s former employer.
Co-workers noticed bizarre items in his cubicle. When Spokane detectives searched it, they found strange things which included an Internet site printout about poisons, a pamphlet called “How to Kill,” several jars and test tubes with residues, and a copy of “The Poor Man’s James Bond” with instructions on how to use ricin. Later lab testing revealed traces of the ricin poison itself.
While traces of ricin have been found by U.S. troops in Afghanistan at suspected al-Qaida biological weapons sites, there were no sign that this case is connected with terrorists. FBI spokesman Norm Brown said neighbors and the general public were in no danger. FBI crews searching the Olsen house felt it was safe enough to not wear the protective white suits.
“We don’t believe the public needs to be alarmed, “ said Norm Brown, FBI spokesman. “It appears to be an isolated incident and we have no knowledge that the individual is affiliated with any national organizations or movements.”
Olsen told investigators he is a masseuse working at a massage parlor in Spokane and that he was looking into different herbs and different chemicals to be used in his massage practice. Olsen’s attorney told KING 5 News that there is no proof his client was trying to make ricin.
The arrest leaves neighbors stunned.
“(He seemed) very normal. I’ve seen the wife out working and she’s very pleasant. Who’d of thought,” said one of Olsen’s neighbors. “It’s scary. You wouldn’t think something like this would take place in a neighborhood like this.”
The brand new joint terrorism task force set up by the FBI, the Spokane Valley County Sheriff’s Department, the Spokane Police Department, the Coeur d’Alene FBI, the Washington State Patrol, and the Idaho State Police detected the plot. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Olsen last August, before the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, Brown said. The FBI later entered the case.
Ricin second most deadly toxin known to man
Ricin is an untraceable poison that is twice as deadly as cobra venom. It comes from the beans of the castor plant, considered an ornamental plant and is not hard to find and not illegal.
The beans are very poisonous and could kill a small child, even an adult, if ingested. Castor beans are grown all over the world and the toxin is relatively easy to produce. It can be used to poison water or food, sprayed into the air or injected into a person. Ricin can kill within three days of exposure and there is no vaccine.
In very small doses, it causes the human digestive tract to convulse — hence the laxative effect of castor oil. But in larger doses ricin causes diarrhea so severe that victims can die of shock, as a result of massive fluid and electrolyte loss.
Originally manufactured in Russia, ricin was used by British scientists during World War II to develop a special type of bomb, but it was never used in battle.
During the 1990s, U.N. weapons inspectors found ricin in Iraq, where it was being developed as part of Saddam Hussein’s arsenal of weapons.
During the 1998 trial of Thomas Leahy in Janesville, Wis., accused of manufacturing ricin, prosecutors said two-thirds of a gram of the poison could have killed 125 people if inhaled.
KREM TV's Erik Loney, NWCN.com's Liza Javier, KING 5's Susannah Frame and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
