No Health Threat At Ricin Suspect House
The FBI said Monday that no health threat was found at the home or the storage units linked to a man possibly sickened by the deadly toxin ricin.
Authorities searched a Utah home and three storage units linked to Roger Von Bergendorff, who has been hospitalized since Feb. 14.
Health officials are still trying to confirm whether Bergendorff’s respiratory ailment stemmed from ricin exposure.
He has been unconscious, so police and the FBI have not been able to question him about the ricin that was discovered in his motel room.
FBI special agent Juan Becerra gave no further information about Sunday’s searches, during which nearby homes had been evacuated as agents in hazardous-material protection suits checked the property for ricin.
Authorities believed they had recovered all of the ricin found last week in several vials in the Las Vegas motel where Bergendorff, 57, had stayed. But they wanted to check the home in Riverton, where Bergendorff had lived with a cousin, Thomas Tholen.
Tholen, 53, said Monday he had not spoken with investigators, but declined to comment further.
“He’s a cousin and he’s holding his own,” Tholen said in a brief telephone interview. “He’s just in the hospital in intensive care. I really don’t want to say any more.”
Authorities have said there is no indication of any terrorist act or activity, and no evidence that the deadly substance had spread.
“At this time, there is no indication of any threat to the public or individuals residing in the (Salt Lake) area,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Fuhrman.
Ricin is made from processing castor beans, and can be extremely lethal. As little as 500 micrograms - an amount about the size of the head of a pin - can kill a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only legal use for ricin is cancer research.
In recent years, terrorists have used ricin, reports CBS News correspondent Drew Levinson. In 2003, the Secret Service intercepted an envelope filled with the substance that was addressed to the White House. It was also found in the Senate mailroom and a postal facility in South Carolina.
It was unclear if the FBI suspected Bergendorff had manufactured or stored the ricin, but investigators were trying to figure out why Bergendorff would have the toxin.
Las Vegas police said that firearms, an “anarchist-type textbook” and castor beans were found in the motel room. The book was tabbed at a spot containing information about ricin.
Former neighbors and acquaintances in Utah and California described Bergendorff as a hotheaded child who grew up to be an introverted adult who loved animals.
Bergendorff also has been beset by financial problems, filing for bankruptcy in 2000.
He had lived in the Riverton house for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago, said Tammy Ewell, who lives across the street.
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