* Soon after the first anthrax letters were mailed in 2001, Iowa State University destroyed its entire collection of anthrax strains. Nobody seems to know why.

Destruction of such valuable samples, which might have provided significant assistance in tracing the source of the attack anthrax, was inexplicable to me at the time, and remains so to this day. Scientists I know would never destroy evidence in what was clearly a criminal matter without some truly compelling reason; I am not aware that any such reason has ever been given.

Marcia Chambers was a student at Iowa State University in the 1990s. She observed some strange and ultimately suspicious events on November 29, 1990 and in the weeks which followed. She has been troubled by these events ever since, and has done considerable research to try to determine the meaning of what she saw and its possible connection to the anthrax attacks of 2001.

It is Marcia’s theory that the anthrax powder used in the 2001 mailings originated from a 1990 theft of anthrax from the laboratories at Iowa State University.

Marcia has presented, or tried to present, her observations, evidence and analysis to the FBI and to U.S. Postal Inspectors, but so far as she knows, there has been no serious investigation related to her disclosures. Frustrated by the lack of attention paid to the questions she has raised, she has decided to present her story in a series of postings on this blog. It is a fascinating story, part observation, part conjecture, and possibly not, in the end, relevant to the 2001 anthrax attacks.

But maybe it is.

Maybe some of you who read Marcia’s account will remember additional facts, or be motivated to come forward with information you have long held closely. If so, you are of course welcome to post your comments on this blog, or if you feel it is more appropriate, to take your information to law enforcement authorities.

It is my belief that we still do not know the truth about the anthrax attacks or the FBI’s subsequent investigation. That’s why I wrote CASE CLOSED, a fictional scenario of what might have happened in the anthrax attacks and the FBI’s failed anthrax investigation. CASE CLOSED will be published in June 2009.

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Lewis M. Weinstein

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