Charges were dropped against ricin letter suspect Paul Kevin Curtis on Tuesday hours after he was released from federal custody.
The surprising move was announced during a press conference on Tuesday evening, as well as in a brief document filed in federal court in Oxford.
The document explained that the ongoing investigation into the ricin letters has revealed new information. That information was not specified.
Attorneys for Curtis, 45, a Mississippi resident, suggested that he was framed for the ricin letters . An FBI agent also testified on Monday that no evidence of ricin was found in searches of the suspect’s car and home.
Shortly after the announcement of dropped charges, authorities searched another man’s home in connection with the case. Numerous police officers converged on the home of another man in Mississippi. Some donned hazmat suits for the inspection.
Curtis repeatedly denied his involvement in the ricin letters case, which were sent to President Obama, US Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and a state judge. On Monday, defense lawyer Christi McCoy added, “The searches are concluded, not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate Kevin could have done this.”
The main evidence pointing to Curtis was the signature on the letters, which read, “I am KC and I approve this message.” The phrase is often used on the former suspect’s Facebook page. But a search of the man’s vehicle and house turned up no ricin, ingredients for the poison, or devices used to make it.
Investigators also searched through Paul Kevin Curtis’s computer. There was no evidence he researched how to make ricin. He was arrested last Wednesday, two days after the first of the ricin letters were found.
The man whose house was searched on Tuesday was Everett Dutschke. He stated that the FBI was at his home, but that he is innocent in the ricin letters case as well. He added that he has no idea what the ingredients to ricin are. Dutschke, who hasn’t been arrested or charged in the case, added, “I’m a patriotic American. I don’t have any grudges against anybody. I did not send the letters.”
With the charges dropped against ricin letters suspect Paul Kevin Curtis, authorities will now continue their search for the real culprit.