US anthrax suspect commits suicide

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US government scientist has committed suicide just as he was about to be charged in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks that sparked widespread panic in the United States, US media reported Friday.

Bruce Ivins, 62, had worked for 18 years at the US biodefence research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he prepared anthrax used in vaccine experiments, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Prosecutors were mulling whether to seek the death penalty against Ivins, who was never publicly named as a suspect in the seven-year-old case that left five people dead and spooked the country just weeks after the September 11 attacks, The Washington Post reported.

The FBI had no immediate comment.

“We are not making any official comment or statement at this time,” Debbie Weierman, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington field office, told AFP.

In a statement, Ivins’ attorney, Paul Kemp, confirmed the investigation and asserted his client’s innocence.

“For more than a year, we have been privileged to represent Dr Bruce Ivins during the investigation of the anthrax deaths of September and October of 2001,” Kemp said.