19 vials of deadly toxin from McHenry Co. house missing, feds say

Nineteen vials of a lethal toxin obtained illegally by a Lake in the Hills man are missing and unaccounted for, federal authorities said Monday.

Authorities believe the vials contained some of the 64 milligrams of tetrodotoxin the FBI says Edward F. Bachner had acquired since November 2006 for reasons that remain largely undisclosed.

Asked Monday whether he could say anything to reassure the public about the missing toxin's whereabouts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Karner replied, "No."

Also disclosed Monday was the list of materials authorities said they seized during last week's raid on Bachner's McKenzie Drive home: dozens of weapons, fake CIA identification and materials to make another deadly poison.

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Bachner, 35, faces a felony charge of unlawful possession of tetrodotoxin as a result of a federal probe that culminated with a June 30 raid on his home by agents from the FBI's anti-terrorism task force.

On Monday a judge ordered the Lake in the Hills man held without bond while awaiting trial.

"The defendant's recent behavior shows him to be acting in an unpredictable manner," U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney said. "It's hard for me to develop conditions (of bond) that could handle that manner of acting."

Also known as TTX and most commonly found in the puffer fish, tetrodotoxin can cause paralysis and death if inhaled or ingested in even very small quantities. The FBI began investigating Bachner last month after a New Jersey chemical company reported that a Lake in the Hills man claiming to be a doctor doing marine research had placed an unusually large order for the toxin.

In court Monday, Karner said agents discovered 45 full or partially full vials of TTX during last week's Lake in the Hills search. Evidence, he said, indicates Bachner had obtained at least 19 more vials, but those were missing.

When questioned about why he had the toxin, Bachner indicated he had been contemplating suicide "or some other things," FBI Special Agent Mark R. Mahoney said.

Also found in the Bachner home, Karner said, was a handgun, more than 50 knives, five garrotes, a phony CIA badge, a precursor to the poison Ricin and books on how to poison people, make gun silencers and hand-to-hand combat.

Authorities previously had disclosed that FBI agents interviewed Bachner in 2006 about a murder-for-hire plot targeting a 32-year-old Chicago area woman. On Monday they said for the first time that the subject of the plot was his wife. He never was charged in connection with those claims, however.

Karner also revealed Monday that Bachner was the beneficiary of his wife's $5 million insurance policy and a second policy that would pay him if she died in a terrorist attack.

His wife, Rebecca Bachner, and other family members in court Monday declined comment. Bachner's attorney, James Marcus, called the claims "fanciful" and noted that FBI agents never notified Bachner's wife of the alleged plot.

"If that indeed occurred, don't you think they would have told her about it?" Marcus said. "They've been living together ever since and supposedly he had a gun and all these vials of TTX, but she's still walking around."

Karner declined comment on what authorities believe Bachner planned to do with the toxin. He said the investigation is ongoing, but would not say whether further charges are likely.

Bachner, who could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, is scheduled to return to court July 29 for a pre-trial status hearing.