North Suburban Bureau

Puffer Fish Toxin Suspect In Court Today

FBI: Edward F. Bachner Had Book On How To Kill With Toxin, Was Interviewed About Murder Plot

ROCKFORD, Ill. (CBS) ― A Lake in the Hills man accused of ordering a big shipment of poison was in court today at his hearing in Rockford.

CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports that family members and friends of 35-year-old Edward Bachner had little to say outside of court after the brief, preliminary hearing.

"We're here to support the family because we love them, and I cannot make any comment beyond that at this time," said Jeff Block, family friend.

"They're very concerned," said James Marcus, Bachner's attorney. "His parents were there and they are very concerned about the allegations and the circumstances surrounding their son."

Bachner grinned and nodded to his family, including his wife, inside the courtroom. He hasn't seen them since his arrest on Monday while picking up a delivery at a UPS Store in Algonquin.

FBI agents say he was posing as a doctor doing research when he ordered 98 milligrams of tetrodotoxin, or TTX, the poison from a puffer fish that is deadly in 50 to 60 percent of cases and has no known antidote.

A criminal complaint from the FBI alleged that Bachner masqueraded as a doctor named "Edmund Backer" at the fictitious "EB Strategic Research," for which he used an address in Algonquin that was really a box at a UPS store. He attempted to purchase TTX from the chemical company Ascent Scientific, alarming an employee who said orders of more than 2 milligrams are rare, the affidavit said. The Ascent employee contacted the FBI on June 17, the affidavit said.

On Tuesday, agents were searching Bachner's home for a second day. The criminal complaint said agents were looking for, among other things, "any and all records and materials bearing any connection to the shipment, possession, manufacture or delivery of poisons, chemicals, chemical warfare agents or nerve agents."

To capture Bachner in the TTX possession case, agents set off a small sting in which a small controlled amount of the toxin was delivered to him at the UPS Store. When he accepted delivery he was arrested for illegal possession of a toxin, which is a felony offense. That led to the search of his home.

TTX can be deadly in 6 to 24 hours.

"If it's injected, say, under the skin, it would probably take 8 to 10 milligrams," said Dr. Stephen Belknap of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "They would become weaker and weaker, and eventually stop breathing and die from that."

"He's never had any contact with law enforcement, prior to this," Attorney Marcus said. "He's never been arrested, or had any dealing with anything like this, so this is a surprise to everyone."

Actually, the FBI said Bachner was investigated two years ago for an alleged murder-for-hire plot, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence.

In that instance, a cooperating witness detailed a conversation on the Internet with someone who needed help in a murder. The evidence prompted to seize records from Hush Communications, a service that allows for encrypted messages that expire after a short time, the affidavit said. The affidavit did not specify who the woman targeted in the plot was.

The IP address associated with the messages was traced back to Bachner, and the FBI interviewed him about the alleged plot after tracing his IP address. FBI agents suspected Bachner was lying about not being involved, and he later told them: "I was bored. I had no intent," the affidavit said. Bachner was never charged in the case.

FBI agents and Hazmat teams spent two days combing through his Lake in the Hills home. The FBI said, so far, the search of Bachner's house has yielded six empty vials of TTX, needles, syringes, and a book spelling out the effective doses for killing people.

They have not said what they think he planned to do with the deadly substance. He is currently facing felony charges of possession of a toxin.

"This is extremely serious," Marcus said. "He's taking it as such and he recognizes the gravity of the charges that are placed before him."

Bachner dismissed an appointed public defender at the hearing, and has instead, hired a private attorney.

"The family retained me, it's certainly an interesting case, a little unusual," Marcus said.

Bachner will be back in court Monday for a bond hearing. The judge also denied his request today for a contact visit with his family right at the courthouse. Instead, he agreed they can set up a time for visitation at the Ogle County Jail, where Bachner remains in custody.

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