Traces of ricin were found in a martial arts studio used by the man accused of sending poisoned letters to President Obama and two other officials, and on a dust mask he chucked in a trash bin, FBI investigators revealed Tuesday.
An affidavit outlining the evidence against James Everett Dutschke also alleges he ordered castor beans — where ricin originates — on eBay in November and December.
The Mississippi man is being held without bond in the case, which has featured several bizarre twists — including the arrest and subsequent release of an Elvis impersonator, Paul Kevin Curtis, who has long been locked in a personal feud with Dutschke.
Curtis, who like Dutschke lives in Tupelo, has said someone framed him to make it appear that he was the person who sent the ricin-laced letters to Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Judge Sadie Holland of Lee County, Miss.
Charges against Curtis were dropped before Dutschke, a martial arts instructor, was arrested Saturday in Tupelo and charged with attempted use of a biological weapon.
An FBI agent testified in court that the ricin in the letters was not very potent and looked like castor beans ground in a blender.
Dutschke, 41, has denied being the culprit.
“I wouldn’t recognize ricin if I saw it,” he told reporters last week. “Would you?”
