FBI claims Columbia man tried getting deadly chemical without permission
A Columbia man was charged in federal court today after he allegedly tried to buy toxic poison on the internet. According to Timothy Garrison, the attorney of the Western District of Missouri, the poison was intended to be used as a chemical weapon.
Jason William Siesser, 43, allegedly tried to buy the substance, which is redacted in court documents, on two different occasions between June 14 and Aug. 23, according to an affidavit. An FBI investigation found Siesser paid for the chemical with Bitcoin.
While the affidavit redacts the name of the chemical, it references an American Council on Science and Health article on Karen Wetterhahn, a Dartmouth College professor that died after exposure to drops of dimethylmercury. Wetterhahn, according to the article found by ABC 17 News, died five months after two drops of the chemical fell on her gloved hand.
The chemical is capable of “causing death in minute quantities,” and Siesser purchased 30 milliliters – enough of the substance to kill approximately 300 people, according to the affidavit. However, Garrison said there is no imminent threat to the community.
“There is no allegation in the charging document, that any sort of public attack was planned,” Garrison said. “Federal agents maintained safeguards from the time they were alerted to a potential threat during an undercover FBI investigation, to the controlled delivery of a safe, inert substance to the residence in Columbia.”
Siesser is charged with one count of attempting to possess a chemical weapon and is still in federal custody.
The affidavit does not say how agents became aware of Siesser’s purchase, but said an undercover operation started on July 4. Siesser allegedly contacted someone online to buy the chemical, and used the name of a juvenile that lived in his home to place the order. Siesser told agents he wanted to use the chemical for “bio-hacking,” or a form of gene splicing, but the affidavit said Siesser had none of the equipment to do such an experiment.
The package, however, contained an “inert substance,” according to the affidavit.
During the search, agents found notes that “articulated heartache, anger and resentment over a breakup and a desire for the unidentified cause of the heartache to die.” Siesser later told investigators that a divorce in 2017 and sudden end to another relationship left him depressed and getting mental health help.
A juvenile living in the house told investigators that Siesser had talked about wanting to kill his ex-wife, who lived in the Netherlands, but “wasn’t sure if Siesser was serious.”
