One morning, Steve Kurtz woke up to find his wife lying dead beside him. He called 911, but when the emergency workers came to his home, they noticed his supposedly highly suspicious laboratory and reported its existence to the FBI. Steve Kurtz was subsequently arrested under suspicion of murdering his wife and manufacturing biological weapons. His house was searched and his laboratory, hard disk and cat were all confiscated.It so happened to be that at the time, Steve Kurtz was researching biological warfare and bioterrorism and for this reason was in possession of many books on the subject as well as the three bacteria bacillus globigii, serratia marcenscens and e.coli. Bacillus globigii is used as a biological tracer for anthrax, because even though it is harmless, its particle size and dispersal characteristics are similar to those of anthrax. Serratia Marcenscens can grow on old bread kept in a damp place, and e.coli is a bacteria found in human intestinal flora.
It turned out that Steve Kurtz's wife died of a tragic heart failure, and the Food and Drug Administration stated that no dangerous agents were found in Steve Kurtz's house. But instead letting Steve Kurtz go after it was known that he was not posing a threat to society in the form of bioterrorism, the FBI charged him with mail fraud and wire fraud, with a possibility of up to 20 years in prision.
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