Somewhat disconcerting

June 6, 2005

I think that's a fair thing to say when somebody tells you that a local man has been arrested for developing ricin as a weapon.

June 7, 2005

A day later and the story has morphed. Rather than feared as a potential terrorist (foreign or domestic I care not), Casey Cutler is more rightly viewed as a nut:

An FBI affidavit says Cutler had neither motive in mind when he used a Mesa Community College computer to look up instructions for making the substance. Rather, he told police he concocted ricin for self-defense and perhaps to get even with a trio of assailants who beat him up in April. A Mesa police report says Cutler suffered cuts and bumps when attackers kicked him and punched him in the face while stealing his wallet. An affidavit by FBI Special Agent Philip Thorlin says that Cutler put some of the crystallized chemical into a vial he wears on a necklace, planning to use the substance as a weapon in future attacks."

Additionally, he believed if the assaulters took the vials believing them to contain cocaine, and snorted the substance, they would get their 'just desserts,' " the affidavit says.

June 8, 2005
Life is never dull here in America's 5th largest city...