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Case Closed ... why the FBI failed to solve the 2001 anthrax case
In 2001, one or more persons unleashed a series of attacks - letters filled with deadly anthrax powder - five people died and 22 more were infected.
In seven years, the FBI failed to solve the case. Then, in the summer of 2008, the FBI announced that a scientist who had never in those seven years been formally accused or even designated as a "person of interest," and who had just the week before allegedly committed suicide, was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks.
According to the FBI, this one scientist prepared the lethal anthrax powder, got it out of the U.S. Army lab near Washington, D.C. where he worked, put it into multiple envelopes, and took those envelopes to a mailbox in Princeton, N.J.
There are no witnesses or forensic evidence to connect this scientist with the attacks. It seems impossible that he could even have been in Princeton to mail the letters when the FBI says he was there.
And the science the FBI says it used to prove its case is very much unproven.
CASE CLOSED presents one possible (fictional) sequence of events to explain the FBI's failure. Says one well-placed source in the Intelligence Community: This story, unfortunately, is "all too plausible."
In seven years, the FBI failed to solve the case. Then, in the summer of 2008, the FBI announced that a scientist who had never in those seven years been formally accused or even designated as a "person of interest," and who had just the week before allegedly committed suicide, was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks.
According to the FBI, this one scientist prepared the lethal anthrax powder, got it out of the U.S. Army lab near Washington, D.C. where he worked, put it into multiple envelopes, and took those envelopes to a mailbox in Princeton, N.J.
There are no witnesses or forensic evidence to connect this scientist with the attacks. It seems impossible that he could even have been in Princeton to mail the letters when the FBI says he was there.
And the science the FBI says it used to prove its case is very much unproven.
CASE CLOSED presents one possible (fictional) sequence of events to explain the FBI's failure. Says one well-placed source in the Intelligence Community: This story, unfortunately, is "all too plausible."
- GenresFiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2009
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Lewis M. Weinstein
11 books600 followersReading the reviews of my GR friends, and sometimes adding a comment, is a great way for me to start my day in a literary frame of mind. Then I turn to my own research and writing.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 12, 2015
*** 6/12/15 ... a new edition of CASE CLOSED has been published, and at a most opportune time.
Two recent events make this book even more important for Americans to read ...
1. The FBI Agent who headed the investigation has recently claimed that the FBI has kept hidden huges amounts of documents which are exculpatory to the person (Dr. Bruce Ivins) who they assert is the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins, by the way, was never actually brought to trial, since he had conveniently committed suicide a few days before the FBI held a press conference to charge him and announce that the case was closed.
2. The loose handling of anthrax by government labs has resulted in shipments of live anthrax to dozens of unsuspecting labs over the past decade; the number of labs put at risk keeps increasing. This laxity was even worse in 2001, when it was impossible to know who had access to the attack anthrax despite the FBI's ridiculous claims to the contrary.
The FBI's case against Dr. Ivins is a travesty ... no evidence ... no witness ... no science. Why does the FBI refuse to tell the truth?
I believe it is most likely that the FBI knows who produced and mailed the fatal anthrax in 2001, but refuses to make this information public. If I'm right, this refusal is a matter of vital consequence in our efforts to avoid future biological attacks.
CASE CLOSED offers a fictional re-investigation of the FBI's case that provides what many readers believe is a far more plausible scenario than what the FBI continues to assert. Each aspect of the FBI's flawed investigation is evaluated. CASE CLOSED will surely raise enough doubts to make you think ... and worry.
Also included in this edition is a detailed point-by-point examination of the flaws in the FBI's real case by Ross Getman, the leading producer of documents in the real case obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ... and the statement from the former FBI agent Richard Lambert denouncing the FBI investigation.
The new edition is available in ebook ($3.99) and paper ($14.95) formats.
***
UPDATE 12/31/14 ... I am re-reading CASE CLOSED in preparation for its re-issuance in early 2015.
The GAO has recently confirmed the earlier NAS findings that the FBI has no scientific evidence to support its pathetic case against Dr. Bruce Ivins. We are left with an unsolved biowarfare attempt to murder two Senators, Tom Brokau and numerous other US citizens.
As the years have gone by and the case against Dr. Ivins has withered, many regard my novel as far more plausible than anything the FBI has asserted.
***
I wrote CASE CLOSED after I heard the FBI announce (in 2008) that Dr. Bruce Ivins was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks ... after Dr. Ivins had committed suicide and without offering a single credible piece of evidence. Case Closed presents an alternative scenario for what might have happened which many, including a person highly placed in the US Intelligence Community, say is more plausible than the version presented by the FBI.
Included in this edition is an author's foreword which describes the current status of the FBI's failed investigation of the real anthrax case (as of April 2012) as described on the CASE CLOSED blog at http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordp...
Read more reviews of Case Closed at ... http://www.amazon.com/CASE-CLOSED-Lew... ...
CASE CLOSED is available in KINDLE format at $4.99.
Two recent events make this book even more important for Americans to read ...
1. The FBI Agent who headed the investigation has recently claimed that the FBI has kept hidden huges amounts of documents which are exculpatory to the person (Dr. Bruce Ivins) who they assert is the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins, by the way, was never actually brought to trial, since he had conveniently committed suicide a few days before the FBI held a press conference to charge him and announce that the case was closed.
2. The loose handling of anthrax by government labs has resulted in shipments of live anthrax to dozens of unsuspecting labs over the past decade; the number of labs put at risk keeps increasing. This laxity was even worse in 2001, when it was impossible to know who had access to the attack anthrax despite the FBI's ridiculous claims to the contrary.
The FBI's case against Dr. Ivins is a travesty ... no evidence ... no witness ... no science. Why does the FBI refuse to tell the truth?
I believe it is most likely that the FBI knows who produced and mailed the fatal anthrax in 2001, but refuses to make this information public. If I'm right, this refusal is a matter of vital consequence in our efforts to avoid future biological attacks.
CASE CLOSED offers a fictional re-investigation of the FBI's case that provides what many readers believe is a far more plausible scenario than what the FBI continues to assert. Each aspect of the FBI's flawed investigation is evaluated. CASE CLOSED will surely raise enough doubts to make you think ... and worry.
Also included in this edition is a detailed point-by-point examination of the flaws in the FBI's real case by Ross Getman, the leading producer of documents in the real case obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ... and the statement from the former FBI agent Richard Lambert denouncing the FBI investigation.
The new edition is available in ebook ($3.99) and paper ($14.95) formats.
***
UPDATE 12/31/14 ... I am re-reading CASE CLOSED in preparation for its re-issuance in early 2015.
The GAO has recently confirmed the earlier NAS findings that the FBI has no scientific evidence to support its pathetic case against Dr. Bruce Ivins. We are left with an unsolved biowarfare attempt to murder two Senators, Tom Brokau and numerous other US citizens.
As the years have gone by and the case against Dr. Ivins has withered, many regard my novel as far more plausible than anything the FBI has asserted.
***
I wrote CASE CLOSED after I heard the FBI announce (in 2008) that Dr. Bruce Ivins was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks ... after Dr. Ivins had committed suicide and without offering a single credible piece of evidence. Case Closed presents an alternative scenario for what might have happened which many, including a person highly placed in the US Intelligence Community, say is more plausible than the version presented by the FBI.
Included in this edition is an author's foreword which describes the current status of the FBI's failed investigation of the real anthrax case (as of April 2012) as described on the CASE CLOSED blog at http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordp...
Read more reviews of Case Closed at ... http://www.amazon.com/CASE-CLOSED-Lew... ...
CASE CLOSED is available in KINDLE format at $4.99.
March 31, 2015
In 2008 a recently deceased scientist was declared the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. It was a convenient way to shut down an investigation that was extensive as it was shallow. Author Lew Weinstein has written a speculation of what could have been going on behind the scenes following the announcement.
Being fictional, the alleged culprit is no longer Dr. Ivins, but Dr. Ingram and there are corporate fingerprints of Hillboro and not Halliburton, but the real life elements in question are there. There are plausible answers to some big questions: Why was the “Ames strain” of anthrax (prime evidence) destroyed at the investigation’s start? What of the $5+ million settlement to the first suspect? Why was the Bin Laden family so smoothly evacuated from the US after 9/11? Most important is the plausible answer to why such an extensive investigation over 7 years resulted in an acting alone scientist who “committed” suicide several days before the “Case Closed” announcement.
The book does not show the haste in its creation that the author describes in the Forward. The story evolves a good pace. It relies heavily on dialog making it an easy conversion to a film, which I would like to see.
Apparently a new edition is in the works. If so, I would recommend a list of characters. A lot of names come at you quickly.
June 17, 2009
My biggest problem with CASE CLOSED is it is too d**mned believable. I would not be at all disappointed if Lewis Weinstein's fictionalized novel about the FBI's anthrax investigation turned out to be more truth than fiction. This predisposition sometimes would get in my way while reading, and I would have to remind myself that "this is just a novel."
Lew's 144-page story is a quick read. In July 2008 a physician employee of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases dies. The FBI immediately not only declares the death a suicide, but also announces that the doctor had been their prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax murders by mail. "I don't fucking think so!" says the director of the nation's Defense intelligence Agency (DIA) and a covert investigation of the FBI itself begins.
The trail leads to where some of us always thought it would lead -- but it's best to let you follow the discoveries yourself. It is a well-written, well-developed investigation.
It has been interesting to follow Mr. Weinstein's modern promotional techniques. For instance, the book came out on Kindle before it was available in paperback. His blogs and utilization of online resources such as "Good Reads" have been inspirational for authors looking for unique ways in which to get the word out regarding their writing.
If one follows Mr. Weinstein's blog, it becomes clear that the CASE is far from CLOSED for a number of his readers.
Lew's 144-page story is a quick read. In July 2008 a physician employee of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases dies. The FBI immediately not only declares the death a suicide, but also announces that the doctor had been their prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax murders by mail. "I don't fucking think so!" says the director of the nation's Defense intelligence Agency (DIA) and a covert investigation of the FBI itself begins.
The trail leads to where some of us always thought it would lead -- but it's best to let you follow the discoveries yourself. It is a well-written, well-developed investigation.
It has been interesting to follow Mr. Weinstein's modern promotional techniques. For instance, the book came out on Kindle before it was available in paperback. His blogs and utilization of online resources such as "Good Reads" have been inspirational for authors looking for unique ways in which to get the word out regarding their writing.
If one follows Mr. Weinstein's blog, it becomes clear that the CASE is far from CLOSED for a number of his readers.
August 25, 2012
Conspiracy theory fan? This book’s for you.
George W. Bush hater? This book’s for you.
While the politics are pretty clear as to what administration was to blame for the anthrax cover-up, that is because of the incidents taking place during Bush’s administration. Those on the left side of the political spectrum will love the way Bush’s administration is portrayed as the guilty party here. They’ll just eat that up. Those on the right side of the spectrum, if we are to read the book and not write it off as a bash job of the Bush administration, will have to forget the time markers and just read it as a conspiracy novel.
While I usually try to not pay a lot of attention to an author's political agenda when I read a novel, this one was very hard to do so. Major administration players of that era are very thinly disguised. The president is the nephew of a former president instead of son. The Vice President is also a former Secretary of Defense (Cheney served as both) and his Chief of Staff is his hatchet man (Scooter Libby). The former, uncooperative Secretary of Defense, would be Rumsfeld. There is even a reference, near the end, to Craig Unger's work, House of Bush, House of Saud.
Pretty faced paced book, but then it has to be as it is very short
Also for a book that centers around the DIA, and the investigation being headed up by an army general, the author should have made use of military, 24 hour clock with meetings beginning at 0600 as opposed to 6am. Minor point, but details are the difference between good writing and very good writing.
George W. Bush hater? This book’s for you.
While the politics are pretty clear as to what administration was to blame for the anthrax cover-up, that is because of the incidents taking place during Bush’s administration. Those on the left side of the political spectrum will love the way Bush’s administration is portrayed as the guilty party here. They’ll just eat that up. Those on the right side of the spectrum, if we are to read the book and not write it off as a bash job of the Bush administration, will have to forget the time markers and just read it as a conspiracy novel.
While I usually try to not pay a lot of attention to an author's political agenda when I read a novel, this one was very hard to do so. Major administration players of that era are very thinly disguised. The president is the nephew of a former president instead of son. The Vice President is also a former Secretary of Defense (Cheney served as both) and his Chief of Staff is his hatchet man (Scooter Libby). The former, uncooperative Secretary of Defense, would be Rumsfeld. There is even a reference, near the end, to Craig Unger's work, House of Bush, House of Saud.
Pretty faced paced book, but then it has to be as it is very short
Also for a book that centers around the DIA, and the investigation being headed up by an army general, the author should have made use of military, 24 hour clock with meetings beginning at 0600 as opposed to 6am. Minor point, but details are the difference between good writing and very good writing.
February 13, 2015
This novel is a study of the FBI's investigation into the anthrax letters incident of 2001. The author believes the FBI falsely accused the scientist who supposedly perpetrated this terrible and terroristic crime, after he was dead and could no longer mount a defense, and without evidence--after seven years of ineffectual investigation. Weinstein uses what is known about the incident to construct this novel as an investigation by the Defense Intelligence Agency and agents in the FBI into what "really" happened, because the DIA felt the FBI's explanation (or lack thereof) was unsupported. Although it is presented as fiction, it is also clear that the reader is meant to be persuaded that this is a more plausible account of what happened and who committed the crime than the one presented (or rather, not presented) by the FBI--and leading to a justification for the invasion of Iraq with involvement at the highest levels of government. I was certainly convinced that this is a realistic account of what could have happened, with the caveat that I wished the author had been clearer about what aspects of the book were total fiction and what was thinly disguised or undisquised fact--perhaps in an afterword. Nevertheless, the book reads like a thriller and a credible expose of a tragic miscarriage of justice on many levels. And, at 128 pages, it didn't take long to read and enjoy at the level of fiction, and ponder and wonder about at the level of possible fact.
December 26, 2012
I have only vague recollections of the anthrax attacks that took place in 2001 and little knowledge of the subsequent FBI investigation, but I didn't have to look far to catch up. It isn't essential to know the details before reading Case Closed as the author gives a brief introduction explaining his reasons for writing the novel, although reading up on the "facts" elsewhere may lead to a greater understanding.
The FBI investigation into the anthrax attacks was long winded and controversial. Case Closed is a fictional scenario where some officials are angry enough at the outcome of the investigation to do something about out it. Due to Lew Weinstein's style (in this particular book) and attention to detail, Case Closed has a very authentic feel. It doesn't read like a novel, more like an account of events which despite being fictional sound credible.
The word that most comes to mind after finishing Case Closed is "fascinating". If presented to a reader unaware of its fictional status, it could easily be mistaken for a factual account of events. That what makes it stand out. A well thought out, well written and intriguing read for those seeking something a little different.
The FBI investigation into the anthrax attacks was long winded and controversial. Case Closed is a fictional scenario where some officials are angry enough at the outcome of the investigation to do something about out it. Due to Lew Weinstein's style (in this particular book) and attention to detail, Case Closed has a very authentic feel. It doesn't read like a novel, more like an account of events which despite being fictional sound credible.
The word that most comes to mind after finishing Case Closed is "fascinating". If presented to a reader unaware of its fictional status, it could easily be mistaken for a factual account of events. That what makes it stand out. A well thought out, well written and intriguing read for those seeking something a little different.
December 6, 2012
I wrote CASE CLOSED after I heard the FBI announce (in 2008) that Dr. Bruce Ivins was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks ... after Dr. Ivins had committed suicide and without offering a single credible piece of evidence. Case Closed presents an alternative scenario for what might have happened which many, including a person highly placed in the US Intelligence Community, say is more plausible than the version presented by the FBI.
Included in this edition is an author's foreword which describes the current status of the FBI's failed investigation of the real anthrax case (as of April 2012) as described on the CASE CLOSED blog at http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordp...
Read more reviews of Case Closed at ... http://www.amazon.com/Case-Closed-Lew...
CaseClosed is available in paper and in KINDLE/NOOK formats ($5.00).
Included in this edition is an author's foreword which describes the current status of the FBI's failed investigation of the real anthrax case (as of April 2012) as described on the CASE CLOSED blog at http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordp...
Read more reviews of Case Closed at ... http://www.amazon.com/Case-Closed-Lew...
CaseClosed is available in paper and in KINDLE/NOOK formats ($5.00).
May 11, 2014
Conspiracy novels usually have suspense, plausibility and complexity. Initial unsuspected contacts are gradually revealed to be causes, and the truth is revealed. Case Closed has two of the three, plausibility and complexity, but not much suspense. However, this is intentional, since it is not really a conspiracy novel, but rather part of the indictment genre.
Indictment novels often begin with a hypothesis and develop it by logic and reason. These tools are used remarkably effectively by Mr. Weinstein to lay out the case that high placed government officials used the events of September 11, 2001 for their own personnel purposes and sacrificed the innocents to to cover up crimes that floated close to their homes.
The author jetsons suspense in the forward where the conclusion is largely revealed, and then employs plausibility and complexity to paint a fictional but credible account that is chilling.
Well worth reading and thinking about.
Indictment novels often begin with a hypothesis and develop it by logic and reason. These tools are used remarkably effectively by Mr. Weinstein to lay out the case that high placed government officials used the events of September 11, 2001 for their own personnel purposes and sacrificed the innocents to to cover up crimes that floated close to their homes.
The author jetsons suspense in the forward where the conclusion is largely revealed, and then employs plausibility and complexity to paint a fictional but credible account that is chilling.
Well worth reading and thinking about.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews