Vancouver man put celery salt and corn starch in threatening letters to Congress members, police report indicates

christophercarlson.JPGView full sizeChristopher Lee Carlson, a Vancouver man accused of mass-mailing threatening letters to members of Congress.

The Vancouver man accused of mass-mailing threatening letters to members of Congress fell under FBI suspicion after his wife reported to police that he laced the envelopes with a powdery mixture of celery salt and corn starch and mailed them from a Portland post office, according to police reports.

FBI investigators zeroed in on Christopher Lee Carlson last week after a

officer tipped them about a March 4 interview she had with Carlson's wife about her husband's recent run of emotional troubles.

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The veteran politicians were just two recipients of more than 100 letters that reached political offices and media outlets late last month. The letters, laced with a mysterious white powder, warned that there was a 10 percent chance the recipient had just been exposed to a lethal pathogen.

Investigators later reported the powder was harmless, but cautioned recipients not to open the letters.

Carlson's mother, Rose Hatch, and his stepfather, Bryce Hatch, said he had a somewhat contemptuous view of politicians and was disappointed that President Obama had not lived up to his high expectations.

The Hatches said Carlson is extremely bright: He was a chess phenom as a child, valedictorian of his high school in Ellisville, Miss., and won a four-year presidential scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he graduated with honors. But he is mistrustful of people and has a tendency to isolate himself, said Bryce Hatch.

Carlson earned a nursing degree and went to work at

in Vancouver in November 2008. He worked there until July 2010, when he started teaching other nurses how to use Legacy Health's electronic medical records system, said Brian Terrett,  Legacy's chief spokesman.

Carlson took a leave of absence last December and, according to a Vancouver police report, admitted himself to a Portland psychiatric center as suicidal. On Dec. 14, an officer removed four guns and boxes of ammunition from the apartment he shared with his wife, police said. On Jan. 23, another police officer said he found Carlson barricaded inside the apartment.

Then on March 4, Officer Leah Supriano was on patrol when a dispatcher reported concerns about possible domestic violence at the Carlson home. Supriano phoned Adrienne Carlson, who said her husband had verbally abused her and left. Then she gave the officer a statement about suspicions her husband had committed a crime.

"Adrienne told me that a few months ago, Chris had talked about sending letters to members of the Senate and the media to express his frustration with certain things," Supriano reported. "About two weeks ago, they were driving in Portland ... and when they passed a post office somewhere off Stark (Street), he pointed at the post office and told her that he was worried and wondered if they had surveillance cameras."

"Oh no, you didn't send those letters did you?" Adrienne Carlson said, according to the report.

Christopher Carlson acknowledged that he did, his wife reported.

Adrienne Carlson told the officer that the letters her husband mailed were signed MIB, meaning Man in Black, and that he told her he had filled the envelopes with a mixture of celery salt and corn starch. She also said he was planning to send a second round of letters that would contain lye.

Vancouver police forwarded Adrienne Carlson's suspicions to the FBI, which worked with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police to investigate.

Christopher Carlson is expected to be arraigned this week in Portland's U.S. District Court.

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