Brother: Man Blames Ricin for Illness

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Brother: Man Blames Ricin for Illness

By ALLISON HOFFMAN (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

March 17, 2008 7:40 AM EDT

SAN DIEGO - A man who has been hospitalized since Valentine's Day with

respiratory ailments and failing kidneys told his brother he believes he

was contaminated by the deadly ricin poison found in his Las Vegas motel

room.

Roger Bergendorff regained consciousness on Wednesday but remains in

critical condition at a Las Vegas medical center.

His younger brother, Erich Bergendorff, told The Associated Press that

they spoke briefly on the telephone Sunday for the first time since the

ricin was found, and said Roger claimed he had never had any intention of

endangering anyone with the toxin.

" He did mention that he would have never done anything to

anybody, " said Erich Bergendorff. " He himself is under the

impression he was contaminated by it - he did mention the ricin and

seemed to say something like, 'Gee, it sure worked on me.' "

Erich Bergendorff said his brother told him the ricin was easy to make.

But he added that his brother, who was on a ventilator until last week,

still had a hard time speaking clearly, so it was not clear whether Roger

Bergendorff made it himself or watched someone else manufacture the

powder.

" He did talk as thought he just had it there, he was almost kind of

casual about it, " said Erich Bergendorff, who talked to his brother

on the phone from his home in Escondido, Calif., north of San Diego.

" It's almost as though in his own mind it wasn't that big of a

deal. "

Roger Bergendorff, 57, was questioned by investigators from the FBI and

the Las Vegas police on Friday in hopes that he could provide information

about the Feb. 28 discovery of the ricin powder and castor beans, from

which it is derived.

Officials from both agencies declined to comment about what they

learned.

Doctors have not formally diagnosed Roger Bergendorff. Experts said his

symptoms appeared consistent with ricin exposure, but the poison breaks

down in the body within days, making it hard to trace.

Ricin can be lethal in amounts the size of the head of a pin. It has no

antidote and is only legal for cancer research.

In court documents, police described the amount of ricin found in the

vials as " a large quantity " and characterized the poison as a

" biological weapon. " But officials have said they have not

found evidence in the motel room or elsewhere of contamination and have

downplayed the possibility that Bergendorff posed a threat.

Friends and family members described Bergendorff, an illustrator, as a

loner who struggled to pay his bills while moving around California,

Nevada and Utah with his beloved dog, Angel, and pet cats. He had lived

in recent months at the Extended Stay America motel several blocks off

the Las Vegas Strip while waiting for a freelance job contract.

Erich Bergendorff said his brother was deeply saddened by the death of

their older brother in January, but insisted Roger Bergendorff had not

been suicidal.

" He did say he felt very empty with his loss, " said Erich

Bergendorff, who added that his brother was lonely in the hospital and

newly distraught after learning that his dog was euthanized after the

Humane Society found her starving and without water in his motel

room.

Police say a cousin, Thomas Tholen, of Riverton, Utah, was collecting

Bergendorff's belongings from his room on Feb. 28 when he gave a motel

manager a plastic bag containing several vials of what turned out to be

ricin powder. Police later found four " anarchists cookbooks " in

the room marked at sections describing how to make ricin. Firearms also

were found in the room.

Authorities said they found no traces of ricin in the room, in the motel

manager's office, in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room where Tholen stayed, or

in vehicles belonging to Tholen and Bergendorff.

Bergendorff had, by that time, been hospitalized for two weeks. Police

said he summoned an ambulance Feb. 14, complaining of respiratory

distress. He was taken to the Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center,

where his condition was variously described later as comatose and

unconscious.

From AP