Ricin investigation shifting to Utah, FBI says

[Ian David]

Source: Deseret Morning News

By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
Published: Monday, March 3, 2008 4:20 p.m. MST

The focus of the FBI's investigation into vials of suspected ricin found in a Las Vegas motel room has shifted to Utah.

The FBI on Monday said agents continue to work leads in the case involving Roger Von Bergendorff, who remains comatose in a Nevada hospital with symptoms similar to ricin poisoning.

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The FBI's investigation has been focused in three parts: determining any public health threat from the deadly toxin; learning about Bergendorff's life (agents said Monday that Von is his middle name); and continuing a criminal probe into the deadly toxin.

The FBI would not comment on the outcome of its searches at the Riverton home of Bergendorff's cousin, where he lived for a short time, and three West Jordan storage units rented by the man.

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Federal agents and emergency responders spent all day Sunday searching the home of Bergendorff's cousin, Tom Tholen. Dressed in protective gear, they went through the home but declined to say what, if anything, they took from there or the storage units. A federal search warrant has been filed under seal, and authorities would not rule out future searches.

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Also:

Ex-Neighbors: Sickened Vegas Man a Loner

By ACE STRYKER – 1 hour ago

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A hospitalized man who may have been sickened by the deadly toxin ricin was described by former neighbors on Monday as an introvert who often moved around and who loved animals.

<snip>

She said Von Bergendorff wasn't social with neighbors and often didn't return a friendly wave. But while Von Bergendorff could be awkward around people, he loved animals, she said. She said he returned to Utah several times after he moved to Las Vegas to search for a lost cat.

"We had a few more conversations about how much his cat meant to him, and how he would do anything for this cat," she said.

<snip>

He described Von Bergendorff as quiet and generally nice but said he could be inexplicably "vindictive" at times. He told the newspaper that Von Bergendorff mentioned owning a gun but never acted violently, and declined invitations to Sunday dinners at the house.

<snip>

Von Bergendorff declared bankruptcy in San Diego in 2000, court records show. In 1993, a civil judgment was entered against him for an unpaid auto loan of about $13,000 in Orange County, California.

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