Suspect said he knew who sent anthrax

WASHINGTON - Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist accused of masterminding the 2001 anthrax attacks, e-mailed himself last year, saying he knew who the killer was, according to court documents unsealed yesterday.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!!!" Ivins wrote in the e-mail dated Sept. 7, 2007, according to an FBI affidavit. "I finally know who mailed the anthrax letters in the fall of 2001. I've pieced it together!

"I'm not looking forward to everybody getting dragged through the mud, but at least it will all be over," Ivins allegedly wrote. "Finally! I should have it TOTALLY nailed down within the month. I should have been a private eye!!!!"

The e-mail did not say whom Ivins thought the anthrax killer was.

Ivins committed suicide in July as prosecutors prepared to charge him in the mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others.

The e-mail, signed "bruce," was sent from an America Online address by the name of "KingBadger7." Authorities said it was one of at least six e-mail addresses registered to Ivins.

Ivins's lawyer, Paul Kemp, has asserted that Ivins would have been cleared if the case had gone to trial. Attempts to reach Kemp yesterday were not successful.