Anthrax Hoax Suspect Refused Bond
Dec. 6 -- A man accused of sending hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics appeared today before a federal magistrate in Cincinnati, who ordered the former fugitive held without bond.
Clayton Lee Waagner, 45, who had been on the FBI's most-wanted list, chatted with reporters during his initial appearance in court on a charge of being in possession of a firearm after having been convicted of three or more violent felonies. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
He "also has a number of charges pending throughout the United States," said W. Kelly Johnson, the assistant federal public defender who is representing Waagner. "The U.S. Department of Justice is determining how they will handle the [additional] charges and in what order the charges will be handled."
Attorney General John Ashcoft announced last week that Waagner is suspected of sending more than 280 letters to health clinics that perform abortions on the East Coast during the second week of October. The letters purported to contain anthrax, but all such threats to date have proven to be hoaxes.
Until he was captured Wednesday, Waagner had been on the run from authorities since February, when he escaped from an Illinois jail where he was awaiting sentencing on federal weapons charges. He unsuccessfully used an insanity defense during that trial, saying he received multiple messages from God instructing him to kill abortion doctors.
Authorities said he was arrested in Springdale, Ohio, after he was spotted at a Kinko's store, and it was Waagner's use of the Internet that ultimately led to his capture, sources told ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas.
Spotted at Kinko's
U.S. marshals had recently learned Waagner was using computers at Kinko's to view anti-abortion sites, and they were monitoring the Internet for any activity. The Justice Department, officials said, had sent Waagner's wanted poster to every Kinko's in the country, and that enabled a clerk at the Springdale store to recognize him.
