CORPUS DELICTI

A Corpus of Forensic Linguistics Cases

A Corpus of Forensic Linguistics Cases – Compiled by TFG STUDENTS AT THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT UGR

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The Amerithrax Operation

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BREAKING NEWS: TERRORIST ATTACK 🚨

09-11–01 

THIS IS NEXT 

TAKE PENACILIN NOW 

DEATH TO AMERICA 

DEATH TO ISRAEL 

ALLAH IS GREAT 

 

09-11-01 

YOU CAN NOT STOP US 

WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX 

YOU DIE NOW. 

ARE YOU AFRAID? 

DEATH TO AMERICA 

DEATH TO ISRAEL 

ALLAH IS GREAT 

 

These were the letters that Tom Brokaw, Tom Daschle, Patrick Leathy and the New York Post received almost a month after the terrorist attack against the Twin Tower, perpetuated by Al-Qaeda group. These letters were infected with anthrax, a biological agent able to kill all beings in a quick and silent way. Although the main victims were not infected, twenty-three people was, and just five of them died due to pulmonary anthrax.

The letters were anonymous, so it was necessary to do a linguistic analysis for a later profile in order to identify the author behind the messages. The FBI and James R. Fitzgerald were the heads of this analysis. So, the most remarkable features were:

  • The use of ”can not”
  • Use of punctuation in one letter and the non-use of it in the other one.
  • Ts and As highlighted: relationship with the three aminoacids of DNA.
  • Chronological change of R indicating unfamiliarity with this alphabet.

After the analysis the linguistic profile looked as follows:

As the letters were infected with anthrax, it had to be someone working with anthrax in that time. All the scientists working with it were male so the author had to be an adult male. In addition, the fact that he decided to send letters points that he was someone who cannot confront people face to face. The fact that he knew about the three aminoacids of DNA determines that he was someone related to medicina or science, so he had to be a doctor or scientist.

The FBI decided to focus on the anthrax and the people working with it, leaving aside the linguistic features of the letters.  So, the main suspect was Dr. Bruce E. Ivins. At that time, he was a recognized doctor working in the anthrax vaccine. Also, he had mental health problems like paranoid, anxiety and depression, said by himself to his colleagues via email. In these emails, there was a determining message in which he talks about Al-Qaeda and anthrax days before the letters were discovered.

“I just heard tonight that the Bin Laden terrorist for sure have anthrax and sarin gas’’ and ‘’Osama Bin Laden has just decreed death to all Jews”.  Bruce E. Ivins. 

Unfortunately, when the FBI presented charges against the doctor, he committed suicide so they decided to classify the case as there were not enough evidence to investigate another person. Nowadays, we do not even know if Dr. Bruce E. Ivins was the actual author of the letters or if there was another person or group behind them.

If this brief description of the case has awakened any interest in you, you can find more information watching the following TV serie: The Hot Zone: Anthrax. Also, there are some interesting videos about the linguistic analysis of the letters such as Anthrax letters handwriting analysis by Ed Lake.