Military veteran charged with attempting to make ricin to remain jailed

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge on Friday ordered a Marine Corps veteran and former militia member to remain jailed pending trial on charges he attempted to make ricin, a biological toxin.

Russell Vane, 42, of Vienna, Virginia, was arrested two weeks ago after authorities searched his house and found traces of ricin along with lab equipment and castor beans, from which ricin is derived, in a laundry room in a home he shares with his wife and two young children, according to court papers.

Vane came to authorities’ attention after an online news outlet, News2Share, reported that the Virginia Kekoas militia had severed ties with Vane because they were alarmed by what they considered his loose talk about homemade explosives.

The Kekoas questioned whether he might be a government informant, according to court papers.

The news account prompted a federal investigation and a search of Vane’s northern Virginia home. He was arrested after agents found a plastic bag with castor beans along with a handwritten recipe for extracting ricin from the beans, according to an FBI affidavit.