Lake in the Hills toxin suspect linked to murder-for-hire plot
The Lake in the Hills man accused Monday of obtaining a highly deadly poison was investigated two years ago in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, according to federal court documents made public Tuesday.
The documents, part of a criminal complaint against Edward F. Bachner of 5704 McKenzie Drive, indicate FBI agents questioned him in early 2006 about allegations he was offering $8,000 and an AK-47 assault rifle over the Internet to have a Chicago-area woman killed.
Court documents also state that federal anti-terrorism agents who raided Bachner's home Monday found six empty vials of the substance tetrodotoxin, along with needles, syringes and a book that deals with the effective doses for poisoning people.
Bachner, 35, is in federal custody charged with unlawfully possessing the toxin, a felony. He is scheduled to appear in court today.
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The investigation into the murder-for-hire plot began in July 2005 when a Tennessee resident came forward, claiming a man he had contact with online was offering $8,000 for help in a murder.
The man, who identified himself as "Mark" from Algonquin, Ill., told the Tennessee resident he would provide an untraceable AK-47 assault rifle with which to kill a 32-year-old woman, FBI Special Agent Mark R. Mahoney says in an affidavit included in Bachner's court file.
Investigators traced the messages to Bachner, Mahoney says, and FBI agents interviewed him at his home in January 2006.
Bachner, according to the documents, initially denied any knowledge of the murder-for-hire plot. But when pressed he told agents "I was bored. I had no intent."
Court records indicate Bachner was not charged in connection with the investigation.
FBI spokesman Ross Rice said Tuesday that investigators still are working to determine what Bachner planned to do with the tetrodotoxin he was arrested for possessing Monday.
"Obviously we're continuing our investigation into what his intended use was," Rice said. "We haven't completed that part of our case yet."
Tetrodotoxin, also known as TTX, is a powerful poison obtained from the internal organs of the puffer fish. If ingested or inhaled it can cause paralysis and death.
Members of the FBI's anti-terrorism task force arrested Bachner on Monday after searching his home as part of an investigation into claims he illegally tried to obtain 98 milligrams of TTX from a New Jersey chemical supplier.
Federal authorities said Bachner, described as a financial consultant who formerly worked for his father's Naperville-based wireless communications firm, posed as a doctor named Edmund Backer and ordered 98 milligrams of the substance also known as TTX at a cost of $7,056.
An employee of the company, Ascent Scientific, became suspicious because of the unusually large size of the order and contacted authorities, the FBI said.
FBI agents arrested Bachner Monday morning when he arrived at an Algonquin UPS Store to pick up his order, documents state.
It is not the first time Bachner has obtained TTX, according to Mahoney's affidavit.
As part of the investigation, agents learned that between November 2006 and May 2008, Bachner placed numerous orders for TTX with the California-based Biotium Inc. According to the company's records, federal documents state, Bachner received at least 64 milligrams of TTX from Biotium.
When Biotium refused on June 11 to fill an order for 100 milligrams, Bachner the next day placed an order with Ascent, Mahoney says.
"Need tetrodotoxin quickly for marine antitoxin research purposes (our current supplier ran into inventory/supply issues and we are on the verge of a breakthrough)," Bachner said in an e-mail to the company, according to court records.