Feds Search Utah Home in Ricin Case

[March 03, 2008]    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The FBI searched a home in Utah and three storage units linked to a man possibly sickened by the deadly toxin ricin that was discovered in his motel room, but kept quiet about what they found.

Authorities believed they had recovered all of the ricin in several vials found last week from the Las Vegas Strip motel where Roger Von Bergendorff had stayed, but they wanted to also check the home in Riverton, where Bergendorff had lived.

Nearby homes were evacuated Sunday as FBI agents, covered from head to toe in full hazardous-material protection suits, meticulously searched the home outside Salt Lake City belonging to Von Bergendorff's cousin Thomas Tholen.

No results of the ongoing searches were announced at a press conference, but FBI Special Agent Timothy Fuhrman reiterated what authorities have said for days: "There is no indication of any terrorist act or activity."

Bergendorff, the focus of the investigation, had lived in the house for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago, said Tammy Ewell, who lives across the street.

Von Bergendorff had been staying in the motel room where the ricin was found and has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. He has been unconscious, so police and the FBI have not been able to question him about the ricin found in his room.

Health officials are still trying to confirm whether Von Bergendorff's respiratory ailment stemmed from ricin exposure.

As little as 500 micrograms of ricin, 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.

Fuhrman would not say whether the FBI suspected that Von Bergendorff had manufactured or stored ricin in the home or the rented storage units.

Las Vegas police said that firearms, an "anarchist-type textbook" and castor beans, from which ricin is made, were found in the room where the poison was discovered. The book was tabbed at a spot containing information about ricin.

Fuhrman said investigators were still trying to figure out why Von Bergendorff would have ricin but said there was no indication of any terrorist activity.

Police and health officials have tried to assure Las Vegas residents there is no public health threat. There was no indication of any spread of the deadly substance, they said.

[Associated Press; By DOUG ALDEN]

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