Ricin suspect in 'body parts' claim

It has been reported that a US man accused of mailing letters with suspected ricin to national leaders including Barack Obama believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market, and claimed “various parties within the government” were trying to ruin his reputation.

Paul Curtis, 45, was arrested yesterday at his home in Corinth, Mississippi, near the Tennessee border.

Authorities are waiting for tests on intercepted letters that were addressed to president Obama and Republican senator Roger Wicker, which an FBI intelligence bulletin said were postmarked Memphis, Tennessee.

Preliminary field tests can often show false positives for ricin, which is derived from the castor plant that makes castor oil. There is no antidote and it is deadliest when inhaled.

Both letters said: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”

They were signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”

The letters were intercepted before reaching the White House or Senate, but the scare set the US capital on edge a day after the Boston Marathon bombings.

As the authorities hurried to investigate three questionable packages discovered in Senate office buildings, reports of suspicious items also came in from at least three senators’ offices in their home states.

The activity came as tensions were high in Washington and across the US following Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170.

The FBI said there was no indication of a connection between the letters and the bombing. The letters to Mr Obama and Mr Wicker were postmarked April 8, before the marathon.

Mr Obama’s press secretary Jay Carney said mail sent to the White House is screened at a remote site for the safety of the recipients and the general public.