FBI arrest martial arts instructor over deadly ricin letters sent to Obama and U.S. Senator: Former friend of previous suspect is held in dawn raid

A Mississippi man whose home and business were searched as part of an investigation into poisoned letters sent to the president and others has been arrested in the case, according to the FBI.
Everett Dutschke, 41, was arrested about 12:50am on Saturday at his Tupelo home in connection with the letters, FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden said.
The letters, which allegedly contained ricin, were sent last week to President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and earlier to an 80-year-old Mississippi judge, Sadie Holland.

Disappeared: Everett Dutschke, the chief person of interest in the case of deadly ricin letters being sent to President Obama, was arrested on Saturday. He went missing earlier this week

Arrested: Everett Dutschke (pictured left and right in previous mugshots) had been under surveillance this week. An FBI spokesman said he was arrested without incident early on Saturday

Madden said Dutschke was arrested without incident. She said additional questions should be directed to the U.S. attorney's office. The office in Oxford did not immediately respond to messages Saturday.
Dutschke's attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said on Saturday in a text message that 'the authorities have confirmed Mr. Dutschke's arrest. We have no comment at this time.'

Basham also said via text that she didn't know what the charges against Dutschke were.
She said earlier this week that Dutschke was 'cooperating fully' with investigators.
Dutschke has previously insisted he had nothing to do with the letters.

Monitored: Everett Dutschke, working on his mini-van in his driveway in Tupelo Mississippi on April 26, had been under surveillance this week, police said

Defense: A lawyer for Dutschke told the AP that she didn't know what the charges against Dutschke were

Ryan Taylor, a spokesman for Wicker, said on Saturday that 'because the investigation is still ongoing, we're not able to comment.'
Charges in the case were initially filed against an Elvis impersonator, Kevin Curtis, but then dropped. Attention then turned to Dutschke, who has ties to the former suspect and the judge and senator.
Curtis' attorney, Christi McCoy, said on Saturday: 'We are relieved but also saddened. This crime is nothing short of diabolical. I have seen a lot of meanness in the past two decades, but this stops me in my tracks.'

Suspect: Federal agents search the property of Everett Dutschke in Tupelo, Mississippi on Tuesday

Investigation: A hazmat official enters a taekwondo studio previously operated by James Everett Dutschke in Tupelo, Mississippi on Wednesday

Search: Officers search the grounds of the home of Melvin Kitchens as they try and help federal authorities locate Everett Dutschke near the town of Kirkville, Mississippi on Thursday

Authorities said on Thursday that Dutschke had been under surveillance but slipped away on Wednesday, according to Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson who is working with the FBI.
Itawamba deputies searched a home in Ozark, Mississippi where Dutschke was believed to have been on Wednesday and found no one.
The local sheriff said he believed a friend of Dutschke was 'helping him to lay low.'
Dutschke did not answer his cellphone when attempts were made to contact him on Thursday.
Charges in the case were dropped against earlier suspect Curtis, an Elvis impersonator had been charged with sending the poison letters last week.
He said he may have been framed by Dutschke, an accused child molester, martial arts instructor and political candidate with whom he has been rivals for several years.
Federal authorities on Tuesday dropped all charges against Curtis and spent several hours searching Dustschke's house in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Dutschke addressed the media and denied he sent the ricin letters.
'I don't know how much more of this I can take,' he told reporters.

Accused: Everett Dutschke, right, had his home raided by federal agents on Tuesday after Curtis lawyer alleged he might be behind the ricin attack. He is seen here with Senator Roger Wicker

While the drama plays out in a series of baffling TV interviews given by both sides, the FBI has said little about its investigation.
One possible connection is Judge Holland, a common link between both Dutschke and Curtis. The two men also both know Wicker.
Holland was the presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2004. Holland sentenced him to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.
Holland's family has had political skirmishes with Dutschke.
Her son, Steve Holland, a Democratic state representative, said he thinks his mother's only other encounter with Dutschke was at a rally in the town of Verona in 2007, when Dutschke ran as a Republican against Steve Holland.
Holland said his mother confronted Dutschke after he made a derogatory speech about the Holland family. She demanded that he apologize, which Holland says he did.
Steve Holland said he doesn't know if his mother remembers Curtis' assault case.

Denial: Dutschke has said he had nothing to do with the ricin attacks and is a 'patriotic American'

Southern-fried feud: Everett Dutschke, left, and Kevin Curtis, right, are both caught up in the federal investigation over poison letters sent to the president. They are both also martial arts rivals

However, he admitted a longstanding animosity with Curtis.
Dutschke says he is a member of MENSA, the society for high-IQ individuals. Curtis claims to be a member of the group, as well.
'He is not a MENSA member,' Dutschke emphatically said as federal agents and hazmat crews combed his house. 'The certificate he posted online is a lie.'
During a strange and rambling press conference on Tuesday, Curtis said Dutschke 'hates him.' He offered several reasons why.
'I don't if it’s a martial arts kind of conflict and he thinks you’re better than him and he wants to challenge you in the rink. I don’t know,' he said.

Both men are trained in the Korean martial art of taekwondo and they agreed to a showdown at a local martial arts studio in Tupelo.
'At one point on the phone I did say, "If you wanna meet somewhere just you and I..." and he said, "Taekwondo Plus, Main Street." I said, "I’ll be there in 20 minutes."'

'Framed': Kevin Curtis, who works as an Elvis impersonator, may have been set up by a man who was once his brother's business partner, his lawyer says

Sweet relief: Paul Kevin Curtis, who had been in custody under suspicion of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and others, left, hugs his attorney Christi McCoy following his release Tuesday

BIZARRE WORDS FROM SUBJECTS IN RICIN CASE

• 'He is not a MENSA member. The certificate he posted online is a lie,' J Everett Duschke said of Kevin Curtis as reporters as federal authorities searched his home
• 'I've never heard of ricin or whatever. I thought they said rice. I told them I don't eat rice,' Curtis said at press conference
• 'Christie McCoy was amazing. In the jungle of the law and court, you have monkeys, you have kangaroos and you have lions. She was the lion queen. She was just amazing,' Curtis told CNN's Piers Morgan
• Curtis on his first meeting with Duschke: 'I said "Here I am. You want to interview me about how I found body parts in a refrigerator of the North Mississippi Medical Center and you will publish my story?"'
• Curtis describing his attorney to CNN's Chris Cuomo: 'She's like Perry Mason on crack.'

'I drove there. He wasn’t there. Then he sent me an email, "Come back tomorrow at 7 and the results of you being splattered all over the pavement for all the world to see what a blank blank blank blank you are." And then at that point I knew that I was dealing with a coward.'
Both men are also musicians. Dutschke plays blues guitar and has released several albums under the name Dusty and the Robodrum. Curtis tours across the south as an Elvis impersonator. 
It's all nonsense, Dutschke told reporters on Tuesday.
'He’s crazy. He’s just a little nutty. I don’t have a relationship with him,' Dutschke said.
Curtis, for his part, said Dutschke is 'delusional.'
In a CNN interview on Tuesday, Curtis' lawyer Christi McCoy said her client has mental issues. Federal authorities wanted to have him evaluated for competency before trying him in court.
Curtis heaped praise on his lawyer for fighting for him and ensuring he was quickly exonerated.
'In the jungle of the law and court, you have monkeys, you have kangaroos and you have lions. She was the lion queen. She was just amazing,' he told CNN's Piers Morgan.
'I've never heard of ricin or whatever. I thought they said rice. I told them I don't eat rice,' Curtis said at a press conference Tuesday, describing the moment he was questioned by federal authorities.

McCoy said whoever framed her client was able to lead the FBI to his door simply by including Curtis' catch-phrase 'I'm KC and I approve this message' and a few other clues in the threatening notes that were mailed to Washington. Musician: Kevin Curtis works as an Elvis impersonator and performs music for a living. He once performed for Senator Roger Wicker, one of the politicians who received ricin in the mail  

McCoy suggested in court on Monday that federal authorities should instead investigate Dutschke.
She later told CNN that federal agents have not recovered any physical evidence tying Curtis to the poisoned letters.
On Tuesday afternoon, six days after Curtis was arrested, the U.S. Attorney dropped terrorism charges against him. He had been accused of sending letters laces with the deadly poison ricin to the offices of Obama, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker and Lee County Judge Sadie Holland.
'I respect President Obama. I love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official,' Curtis said Tuesday.
McCoy suggested in federal court on Monday that Dutschke is one of the men who the FBI should investigate in the ricin case.
Dutschke, she said, is a former friend of Curtis and that the two had a falling out over a book Curtis wrote called 'Missing Pieces.'
On Friday afternoon ten local officers and federal agents raided Dutschke's house in Tupelo and searched it. Dutschke denied any involvement in the ricin case on Tuesday.
'I'm a patriotic American. I don't have any grudges against anybody. I did not send the letters,' Dutschke said.
He said he was asked to take a lie detector and that police had previously questioned him as well.
Dutschke and Curtis are both musicians, are both politically active and are both heavily interested in martial arts. 
Dutske was arrested early this year and charged with molesting three girls - including a teenager he 'touched' between 2007 and 2011, an eight-year-old girl and a seven-year-old girl.
He has not yet stood trial for the charges and is free after posting $25,000 bail.

McCoy said that whoever framed her client dropped obvious clues that led federal investigators to arrest Curtis.
Curtis made several posts on Facebook about the 'organ donation industry.' He signed each of his posts with the phrase 'I'm KC and I approve this message.'
He also authored a book on organ donation called 'Missing Pieces.' The poison-laced notes included a reference to the book, as well.
A day earlier, FBI Agent Brandon Grant testified searches on Friday of Curtis' vehicle and house in Corinth, Mississippi, found no ricin, ingredients for the poison, or devices used to make it. A search of Curtis' computers found no evidence he researched making ricin.

'There was no apparent ricin, castor beans or any material there that could be used for the manufacturing, like a blender or something,' Grant testified. He speculated that Curtis could have thrown away the processor.
McCoy believes the only explanation is that somebody else set her client up.
'It's horrific that somebody would do this, but yes, I believe that's what happened,' McCoy said. 
Still, Grant testified that authorities believed they have the right suspect.
'Given the right mindset and the Internet and the acquisition of material, other people could be involved. However, given information right now, we believe we have the right individual,' he said.

Suspect: The FBI has arrested a suspect accused of sending letters laced with ricin to President Obama, pictured on Wednesday, and a Mississippi senator

Hound dog: Curtis posted hordes of pictures on his Myspace page showing him from the 1980s and 90s

Grant said lab analysis shows the poison in the letters was in a crude form that could have been created by grinding castor beans in a food processor or coffee grinder.
Grant testified Friday that authorities tried to track down the sender of the letters by using a list of Wicker's constituents with the initials KC, the same initials in the letters.
Grant said the list was whittled from thousands to about 100 when investigators isolated the ones who lived in an area that would have a Memphis, Tennessee, postmark, which includes many places in north Mississippi. He said Wicker's staff recognized Curtis as someone who had written the senator before.
All the envelopes and stamps were self-adhesive, Grant said Monday, meaning they won't yield DNA evidence. He said thus far the envelopes and letters haven't yielded any fingerprints.

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