The FBI has arrested the former owner of a martial arts studio in Mississippi who has been the latest focus of the agency’s tumultuous, three-week long search for the person responsible for sending ricin-laced letters to the White House, a U.S. senator and a county judge.
James Everett Dutschke, 41, was taken into custody by federal agents without incident at about 12:50 a.m. Saturday at his home in Tupelo, Miss. He became a suspect earlier this week when the original suspect — a man with whom he has had a long-standing feud — fingered him , saying Dutschke may have framed him.
“It is my understanding that the authorities have confirmed Mr. Dutschke’s arrest,” said Lori Nail Basham, Dutschke’s attorney. “We have no comment at this time.”
Federal authorities turned their attention to Dutschke on Tuesday, after they dropped charges against Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, a well-known Elvis impersonator in Mississippi.
After Curtis was released from custody earlier this week, he said he and Dutschke had had a falling out and described e-mail exchanges between them that culminated in his challenge to meet Dutschke for a fight that never occurred. “Where his anger and hate started from, I don’t know,” Curtis said of Dutschke.
Dutschke acknowledged his conflict with Curtis and told the Associated Press that their last contact was in 2010, when Dutschke threatened to sue Curtis for saying that he, Curtis, was a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs.
FBI spokeswoman Deborah R. Madden declined to provide details about the investigation, including what evidence prompted this latest arrest. Madden said additional questions should be directed to the U.S. attorney’s office in Oxford, Miss., but that office did not immediately respond to messages Saturday.
Dutschke went into hiding on Thursday to escape the media attention, prompting the FBI and local law enforcement officials to launch a five-hour-long manhunt for him. He has insisted he had nothing to do with the letters.
Federal authorities officials searched his home Tuesday for more than 10 hours and spent Wednesday searching the site of his former studio. Several people at the scene were wearing respirators, and a portable laboratory was set up nearby. Dutschke’s studio closed in January when he was under a child-molestation investigation. A grand jury indicted him this month. The alleged victim is a 7-year-old girl who had visited his studio, Basham said.
Law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity on the day Curtis was released, said they believed Curtis had been framed.
The evidence that led the FBI to arrest Curtis included several details that could be found on social media sites or were known to Dutschke.
The letters concluded with a phrase — “This is KC and I approve this message” — that was similar to language Curtis has used to end posts on Facebook and other online forums. They also referenced a novel Curtis is writing titled “Missing Pieces,” in which he espouses a theory about underground trafficking in human body parts.
James Everett Dutschke, 41, was taken into custody by federal agents without incident at about 12:50 a.m. Saturday at his home in Tupelo, Miss. He became a suspect earlier this week when the original suspect — a man with whom he has had a long-standing feud — fingered him , saying Dutschke may have framed him.
“It is my understanding that the authorities have confirmed Mr. Dutschke’s arrest,” said Lori Nail Basham, Dutschke’s attorney. “We have no comment at this time.”
Federal authorities turned their attention to Dutschke on Tuesday, after they dropped charges against Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, a well-known Elvis impersonator in Mississippi.
After Curtis was released from custody earlier this week, he said he and Dutschke had had a falling out and described e-mail exchanges between them that culminated in his challenge to meet Dutschke for a fight that never occurred. “Where his anger and hate started from, I don’t know,” Curtis said of Dutschke.
Dutschke acknowledged his conflict with Curtis and told the Associated Press that their last contact was in 2010, when Dutschke threatened to sue Curtis for saying that he, Curtis, was a member of Mensa, a group for people with high IQs.
FBI spokeswoman Deborah R. Madden declined to provide details about the investigation, including what evidence prompted this latest arrest. Madden said additional questions should be directed to the U.S. attorney’s office in Oxford, Miss., but that office did not immediately respond to messages Saturday.
Dutschke went into hiding on Thursday to escape the media attention, prompting the FBI and local law enforcement officials to launch a five-hour-long manhunt for him. He has insisted he had nothing to do with the letters.
Federal authorities officials searched his home Tuesday for more than 10 hours and spent Wednesday searching the site of his former studio. Several people at the scene were wearing respirators, and a portable laboratory was set up nearby. Dutschke’s studio closed in January when he was under a child-molestation investigation. A grand jury indicted him this month. The alleged victim is a 7-year-old girl who had visited his studio, Basham said.
Law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity on the day Curtis was released, said they believed Curtis had been framed.
The evidence that led the FBI to arrest Curtis included several details that could be found on social media sites or were known to Dutschke.
The letters concluded with a phrase — “This is KC and I approve this message” — that was similar to language Curtis has used to end posts on Facebook and other online forums. They also referenced a novel Curtis is writing titled “Missing Pieces,” in which he espouses a theory about underground trafficking in human body parts.