07.05.13
Castor bean salesman speaks out
A Buffalo family was not pleased to find they had sold castor seeds to accused ricin mailer J. Everett Dutschke.
From a Buffalo newspaper, an interesting story, in which an alert couple notified authorities they’d sold castor seeds to him:
Earlier this year, [Ross Miller of Elma, NY], [a] 44-year-old artist and small-businessman assisted the FBI as a witness in a case involving letters that were poisoned with a deadly substance called ricin and mailed to President Obama, a judge and a Republican senator, Roger F. Wicker of Mississippi.
Miller, who has been visiting loved ones in East Aurora and Elma this week, said he was shocked and upset to learn that someone may have used beans he sold to make a substance intended to hurt or kill public officials.
“We were very upset. It was irritating and nerve-racking. I found it offensive that somebody would use a bean product that we sold them to try to kill someone,??? Miller told The Buffalo News.
The Millers, meanwhile, had been following news reports in the case. They realized that ricin could be made from ground-up castor bean shells …
“We’d been … hoping that nobody used any beans that were bought from us to make ricin,??? Miller said.
“We checked our records to see if we’d ever sold any beans to anyone in that part of Mississippi. My wife keeps extensive records, and she found out that we had sold some beans to??? Dutschke last year.
He was a faceless Internet customer who spent about $20 on about 100 castor beans the Millers sent to him.
The realization that they may have sold beans used to make ricin that was sprinkled on a letter to the world’s most powerful leader scared and deeply concerned the Millers …
[The Millers, after making inquiries, were put in touch with] W. Chad Lamar, the federal prosecutor in Mississippi who was handling the ricin case …
“The Millers’ information was very helpful, especially after Dutschke had denied ever buying castor beans,??? [a lawyer friend of the Millers] said.
The Millers told the newspaper their craft business will no longer sell castor beans. They were not very profitable, anyway, Ross Miller informed.