Destruction of Evidence

NYT, Nov 9, 2001:  Shortly after the first case of anthrax arose, the F.B.I. (Mueller) said it had no objection to the destruction of a collection of anthrax samples at Iowa State University, but some scientists involved in the investigation now say that collection may have contained genetic clues valuable to the inquiry.

Last month (Oct), after consulting with the F.B.I. (Mueller), Iowa State University in Ames destroyed anthrax spores collected over more than seven decades and kept in more than 100 vials.  A variant of the so-called Ames strain had been implicated in the death of a Florida man from inhalation anthrax, and the university was nervous about security.

New Yorker, Nov 12, 2001:  Around 5:30 P.M. on October 12th, college staff members wearing biosafety gloves removed the anthrax specimens from the laboratory cabinet and placed them in an autoclave, a steam sterilizer about the size of a filing cabinet.

Roth had wondered about the possibility (of the) .. more than 100 vials being evidence .. and .. contacted the F.B.I. and the Centers for Disease Control before killing the specimens.  Both agencies approved the destruction.

NYT: (A) precise match between the anthrax .. and a particular strain in the collection might have offered hints as to when that bacteria had been isolated and, perhaps, how widely it had been distributed to researchers. And that, in turn, might have given investigators important clues to the killer's identity.

James Roth:  They may be having some second thoughts about that, but it's too late now,

James Roth, Distinguished Professor of veterinary microbiology, preventative medicine, Iowa:  On Oct. 9, a media report out of Florida stated that the anthrax that killed a man in Florida was stolen from a lab in Iowa. .. Several days later the FBI reported the connection was false.*

The decision to destroy vet med's collection of anthrax cultures was made by Vet Med Dean Norman Cheville, Associate Dean Don Reynolds and Roth.

New Yorker:  The school's anthrax collection had been stored in cabinets in the teaching laboratory, the doors of which were routinely locked at night. .

When an associated laboratory nearby, run by the United States Department of Agriculture, had outgrown its building space a few years earlier, it had moved some of its work on anthrax and mad-cow disease to a rented space in an Ames strip mall.

Pentagon Bio-defense Preparedness board: Dr. James Roth, Distinguished Professor, The Department of Veterinary and Microbiology and Preventative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University and member of the National Academy of Medicine; Dr. William Karesh, Vice President for Health and Policy, EcoHealth Alliance and Interproject Liaison for the USAID emerging threats.