Maybe Ivins Was Obsessed with New Jersey

Though the FBI declared Ivins the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks, closing the case on Aug. 6, Ivins' attorney Paul Kemp maintains his client's innocence. The Justice Department must think Kemp is onto something because it's keeping the investigation open. Among the reasons why Kemp thinks Ivins might not be guilty of mailing anthrax-stuffed envelopes from a mailbox outside of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority: the mailbox was not really located outside of the sorority.

20 Nassau Street, the location of the Kappa outpost near the mailbox, is an office that holds "rush paraphernalia, initiation robes and other materials." It does not hold live Kappas.

In the Daily Princetonian, Kemp says:

The only thing that exists at 20 Nassau Street is a business office. They don’t have sorority offices. There is no sorority house. If the idea of this salacious report is that he went because there were girls ... there aren’t any girls at 20 [Nassau Street]. It’s bullshit.

Why would Ivins drive all the way from Fort Detrick, MD to Princeton, NJ if the mailbox has no Kappa connection? Well, Kemp's argument is that he wouldn't. Of course, Ivins could have been satisfied by 20 Nassau's weak Kappa connection. Or it could be a coincidence, with Ivins picking 20 Nassau at random. You decide!

After the jump, various Kappa chapters closer to Maryland where Ivins may have been able to find mailboxes. Read the rest of this entry »

The First Rule of Kappa Is Don’t Talk About Ivins

The sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma refuse to comment on alleged bioterrorist Bruce Ivins' purported obsession with the Princeton sorority. Presumably, most sisters are just being cautious, with the exception of Katherine Breckinridge, a Kappa alum and advisor to the Princeton chapter, who signed an FBI nondisclosure agreement requiring her not to comment. But in a Monday interview with the AP, Breckinridge came dangerously close to commenting, revealing that she had been interviewed by the FBI "over the last couple of years" about the case and maintaining that the only connection between Kappa and Ivins was in the guy's mind.

Except for the talkative Breckinridge, the Kappas have publicly held their tongues about the case. But Ivygate has learned that behind closed doors, these Kappas are actually real Chatty Cathys when it comes to the subject of alleged bioterrorist Bruce Ivins.

An anonymous current Kappa sister writes:

i dont really get why he would be so interested in Kappa...i mean of all the sororities on campus we are the most diversely boring...and also the most unworthy of obsession.

But is there any real diversity on Ivy League campuses?

Nevermind, back to bioterror and hot girls. Through another anonymous source, Ivygate has acquired an email from Kappa Diana Norton, '09, telling her sisters their Facebook group will be made private for "at least a week" and "if a reporter contacts you, through facebook or any other means, do not speak with them." The whole email after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dead Anthrax Scientist Linked to Princeton Sorority

Anyone familiar with Bruce Ivins, the U.S. Army biodefense researcher responsible for sending the anthrax-infected letters of 2001 that killed five people and infected 17 others? In an after-the-fact aside to the F.B.I.'s seven-year investigation, which ended prematurely with Ivins' suicide last week, multiple unnamed sources told The Associated Press that our favorite Unabomber wannabe "was obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati when he apparently was rebuffed by a woman in the sorority."

This might explain why four of the infected letters were sent from a mailbox close to the Princeton chapter. But whether there's a deeper meaning to this we'll never know, since Kappa Kappa Gamma members aren't talking, and because Ivins allegedly peaced out with the help of a bunch of Tylenols with Codeine.

I guess this gives Princeton the dubious honor, along with Harvard, of being somewhat tenuously associated with postal-using psychopaths. If you hear of any others make sure to contact us at tips@ivygateblog.com. Oh, and the F.B.I.

CORRECTION: Ivins died before the Justice Department could formally press capital murder charges.