WASHINGTON – Former Army biowarfare researcher Steven Hatfill yesterday denied he’s ever set foot in Princeton, N.J., after FBI agents showed his picture to merchants near a mailbox where traces of anthrax were discovered this week.
FBI officials confirmed last night that they have been circulating Hatfill’s photograph in downtown Princeton over the last three days to determine whether anyone saw the 48-year-old scientist last September and October, when the bacteria-laced anthrax letters were mailed to the media and two senators.
Hatfill’s lawyer issued an immediate denial that his client has ever been to Princeton, and FBI officials said their inquiries produced no hard evidence linking him to the attacks that killed five people and sickened 13 others last fall.
The FBI has described Hatfill as one of 30 people with expertise in handling biological weapons whom it is looking at.
But merchants said Hatfill’s photograph was the only one circulated by FBI agents and Postal Service inspectors following this week’s discovery of anthrax spores in the mailbox.
The discovery of the spores was described by a law-enforcement official as “potentially a major breakthrough” in the case.
Princeton mail is fed into the Hamilton, N.J., processing facility, which handled the bacteria-tainted letters mailed to The Post, NBC’s Tom Brokaw and Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy last fall.
The amount of anthrax found in the mailbox could determine if it was the source of bioterror attacks or if the deadly bacteria were there because of cross-contamination.
Federal agents were testing 600 mailboxes hoping to find exactly where four letters containing anthrax were first mailed.
Federal authorities refused to say how much of the bacteria was found in the Princeton mailbox.