TUPELO, Mississippi — A second man investigated in connection to ricin-laced letters sent to the president and a U.S. senator said Wednesday that investigators “ripped” through his house during an hourslong search the previous day after charges were dropped against another man in the case.
No charges have been filed against Everett Dutschke, and he hasn’t been arrested. Both he and Paul Kevin Curtis, who had faced charges in the case, say they have no idea how to make the poisonous ricin and had nothing to do with sending the letters to President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Mississippi county judge Sadie Holland.
Dutschke and Curtis know each other. Dutschke said the two had a disagreement and the last contact they had was in 2010. Dutschke said he threatened to sue Curtis for saying he was a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs.
Dutschke’s home was searched Tuesday by dozens of officials, who declined to comment on what they had found or on the next phase of the investigation.
No investigators appeared to be at the home Wednesday morning, and Everett Dutschke said he’d gone to a friend’s house to rest. Piles of items could be seen all over the floor through the window.
At one point, two FBI agents and two members of the state’s chemical response team left Dutschke’s property and began combing through ditches, culverts and woods about a block away from his house in the neighborhood of single-family detached homes.
Dutschke, who spoke with The Associated Press by telephone during the search, said his house was also searched last week. He said he and his wife had gone to a friend’s Wednesday because they didn’t feel safe at their home.
“They ripped everything out of the house,” he said Wednesday morning, adding: “I haven’t slept at all.”
Curtis, a 45-year-old celebrity impersonator, has maintained his innocence since his arrest.
A one-sentence document filed by federal prosecutors said charges against Curtis were dropped, but left open the possibility they could be reinstated if authorities found more to prove their case. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment, but the document said the ongoing investigation had revealed new information. It did not elaborate.
Dutschke and Judge Holland know each other: In 2007, Dutschke lost his Republican bid for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives to Holland’s son, Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland, who was the incumbent.
Steve Holland previously said that during a political rally in the small town of Verona in 2007, Dutschke gave a speech disparaging the Holland family, including him, his mother and his wife.
Since Curtis’ arrest at his Corinth home on April 17, his attorneys have said their client didn’t do it and suggested he was framed. An FBI agent testified in court this week that no evidence of ricin was found in searches of Curtis’ home.
The dismissal is the latest twist in a case that has been strange from the beginning and rattled the country during the same week as the Boston Marathon bombing and a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.
Hal Neilson, an attorney for Curtis, said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis.
“Dutschke came up,” he said. “They [prosecutors] took it and ran with it. I could not tell you if he’s the man or he’s not the man, but there was something there they wanted to look into.”
An FBI intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said the two ricin-laced letters addressed to Obama and Wicker said: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.” Both were signed, “I am KC and I approve this message.”
Curtis was already well known to Wicker because he had written to the Republican senator and other officials. Curtis also wrote a novel called “Missing Pieces,” about black-market body parts he claimed to have found while working at a hospital — a claim the hospital says is untrue. Curtis posted similar language on his Facebook page and elsewhere. The documents indicate Curtis had been distrustful of the government for years. He told the AP on Tuesday that he realizes his writings made him an easy target.
Multiple online posts under the name Kevin Curtis on various websites that could be seen by anyone refer to the conspiracy he claimed to uncover when working at a local hospital from 1998 to 2000. In one post, Curtis said he sent letters to Wicker and other politicians. He signed off: “This is Kevin Curtis & I approve this message.”
Christi McCoy, another attorney for Curtis, said she doesn’t know what new information prosecutors have, but said the plot to frame her client was “very, very diabolical.”
Curtis, dressed after his release Tuesday in a black suit, red shirt, necktie and sunglasses, said he met Dutschke in 2005 but that for some reason Dutschke “hated” and “stalked” him. “To this day I have no clue of why he hates me.”
Ricin is derived from the castor plant that makes castor oil. There is no antidote and it is at its deadliest when inhaled. It can be aerosolized, released into the air and inhaled. The Homeland Security handbook says the amount of ricin that fits on the head of a pin is enough to kill an adult if properly prepared.
Tuesday’s events began when the third day of a preliminary and detention hearing for Curtis was canceled without officials explaining the change. Within two hours, Curtis had been released.
FBI Agent Brandon Grant said in court Monday that searches last week of Curtis’ vehicle and house in Corinth, found no ricin, ingredients for the poison, or devices used to make it.
