Las Vegas Ricin Mystery
Still more confusion is coming out about the ricin discovered in a Las Vegas hotel room. Weapons and a textbook described as anarchist in nature that described how to make ricin were also discovered. But the narrative by police is increasingly weird. It seems police had searched the room and found the weapons and book at an earlier date than the ricin finally turned up.
Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later.
Capt. Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference late Friday that the book was tabbed at a spot with information about ricin. Police found the firearms and books on Tuesday after a manager at the Extended Stay America motel called police upon discovering weapons, he said, without elaborating.
After authorities seized the book and weapons, tests for ricin were conducted but came back negative, Lombardo said.
He said a 53-year-old friend or relative of the sick man contacted motel management on Feb. 22 to inform them about pets in the room.
Earlier Friday, police Deputy Chief Kathy Suey said the friend or relative found two vials of ricin on Thursday after going to the motel to retrieve the hospitalized man's belongings. Authorities on Friday confirmed that the vials contained ricin.
It was unclear how long the vials were in the unoccupied motel room, and whether they might have been overlooked when ricin tests were conducted on Tuesday. Lombardo did not address such questions during the brief news conference.
Officials continue to insist that there is no terrorism involved. But absent any information on the man who is still in a coma, it's getting more murky as news trickles out. With the news that the book and weapons were found in addition to the ricin, it certainly does not look like some sort of harmless prank, does it?
By Sam, Saturday, 1 March , 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Has Gil Grissom gotten back from vacation yet?