Feds Arrest Paul Kevin Curtis for Allegedly Sending Ricin-Laced Letters Signed 'KC'

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Federal agents took a man from Corinth, Mississippi into custody on Wednesday evening under suspicion of sending letters covered in ricin to the president and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker. Citing an FBI bulletin, NBC News reports that the suspect's name is Paul Kevin Curtis, and anyone who's been following the story will immediately realize that the suspect's initials match those in the sign-off on both letters: "I am KC and I approve this message." Both letters also contain the phrase "to see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance," and both were sent from Memphis, Tennessee on April 8, 2013. (Update: There's now much more information known about Curtis, an Elvis impersonator and organ-harvesting conspiracist.)

Open and shut case right? We'll see. It's so far unclear if there's a harmful amount of ricin on the letters. To give the suspect the benefit of the doubt, one federal official told NBC News that the sender of the letters "may have stumbled onto something." We're not sure exactly what it means, but it sort of sounds like they're not ruling out the possibility that this person wasn't exactly a seasoned terrorist. 

A few suspicious packages remain on Capitol Hill, and this is obviously the early stages of a longer investigation and, eventually, trial. One thing's for sure, though. If Paul Kevin Curtis is the guy, he's not the brightest crayon in the box for signing his real initials at the end of the letter. Then again, people want to get caught sometimes.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story cited an NBC News report that identified the victim as a Kenneth Curtis from Tupelo, Mississippi. The FBI has since confirmed that the suspect in custody is Paul Kevin Curtis from Corinth, Mississippi. As such, NBC News has updated its story, and so have we.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.