Military veteran charged with attempting to make ricin to remain jailed

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge has ordered a Marine Corps veteran and former militia member to remain jailed pending trial on charges he attempted to make ricin, a biological toxin ricin. Forty-two-year-old Russell Vane 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 his home. Vane came to authorities’ attention after a Virginia-based militia, the Kekoas, severed its ties with Vane because they were alarmed by what they considered his loose talk about homemade explosives.