Police: Teen arrested after break-in claims he sent anthrax-laced letters

By The Associated Press

FREMONT, N.H. – A teen-ager arraigned on burglary charges Saturday told police he sent an anthrax-laced letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and was planning to send more, authorities said.

Officials do not believe the 18-year-old sent the letter that was opened in Daschle's office on Thursday, and preliminary tests on another letter found with the teen were negative for anthrax.

Police said they found Elijah Wallace hiding in a closet of a vacant home he had allegedly broken in to. He was armed with a gun and two knives, and he told police he was preparing to send anthrax-laced letters and already had sent four, Fremont Police Chief Neal Janvrin said.

Investigators found five letters addressed to local businesses and a bag of white powder in the house with Wallace. Preliminary tests on one letter were negative for anthrax, Janvrin said.

The letter opened in Daschle's office Thursday contained a white powdery substance and a threatening message. Daschle had been sent a letter heavily contaminated with anthrax Oct. 15, but Army scientists and the FBI said Friday that the substance in the latest letter was talc and contained no trace of the deadly bacteria.

Police said they do not believe Thursday's letter was sent by Wallace. The teen-ager claimed to have sent the letter last week, police said, but because of heightened security it would have taken up to three weeks for mail to reach congressmen.

"The suspect made a statement that nothing we could do to him would equal what the Feds would do to him after last week," Janvrin said.

He said Wallace claimed to have sent letters containing anthrax to Daschle, the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles in Concord and two local businesses.

Wallace is charged with burglary and could also face federal charges. He entered no plea at his arraignment and was returned to the county jail, where his bail was doubled to $50,000.

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