Man in ricin case awakes
LAS VEGAS (AP) - March 14, 2008 Roger Bergendorff, 57, remained in critical condition in a
hospital, where he has been since Feb. 14. Several vials of ricin
powder were found in his room two weeks later.
Investigators were speaking with Bergendorff for the first time,
said Special Agent David Staretz, an FBI spokesman. Neither he nor
Las Vegas police would provide more information.
Authorities hope Bergendorff can provide information about the
discovery of the deadly powder, along with castor beans from which
it is derived, at an extended stay motel where he had been living
several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip.
Officials insist they've found no contamination anywhere, and no
link to terrorism, but they consider ricin a "biological weapon."
"It is our understanding that there is no established link to
any terrorist organization or terrorism at this time," Rick Eaton,
Nevada state homeland security director, said in a statement
Friday. "We defer to Las Vegas police and the FBI concerning the
details of this case."
Authorities suspect Bergendorff was exposed to ricin, and
experts have said his symptoms appeared consistent with ricin
exposure. The poison breaks down in the body within days, however,
making it difficult to trace.
Before Friday authorities had variously described Bergendorff as
comatose and unconscious. Family members said he was sedated when
they visited him Feb. 23.
A younger brother, Erich Bergendorff of Escondido, Calif., said
Roger Bergendorff was moved Wednesday from intensive to
intermediate care in the critical ward of Spring Valley Hospital
Medical Center.
Erich Bergendorff said his brother was receiving dialysis for
failing kidneys, and might still be on a ventilator to help him
breathe.
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Associated Press writer Allison Hoffman in San Diego contributed
to this report.
