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Poison Pen Reveals An Angry Loner

By DAVE GOLDINER Daily News Staff Writer

Handwriting experts say the fiend who penned the addresses on the anthrax-tainted letters to Sen. Tom Daschle and NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw is a violent loner who grapples with depression.

"The person is moody, and there is definitely a lot of depression," said Arlene Leachman, a handwriting expert based in Minnesota.

"There's a lot of anger and other issues here," declared Bart Baggett, an expert with handwritinguniversity.com.

The two letters instantly provide analysts with a wealth of clues to the personality of the sender.

For one thing, handwriting experts said the same person almost certainly wrote both letters because of similarities in several key letters and numerals.

But the most striking features about the two pieces of tainted mail are the block letters and the downward slope of the words on each line.

The lettering may have been an effort to disguise the writer's true handwriting. But the choice of lettering offers clues of its own.

A Matter of Ego

Patricia Siegel, a handwriting analyst from Great Neck, L.I., cautioned that it is difficult to make definitive judgments based on such a small handwriting sample. "The use of block capitals usually implies a capitalization of oneself, an effort to make oneself important," she said.

Despite the awkward lettering, experts said they cannot tell for sure whether the writer is a foreigner or perhaps learned to write using a language with a different alphabet, such as Arabic.

Although analysts said the writer shows signs of being a loner, they did not rule out his being part of a terrorist group like the Al Qaeda network, which many authorities suspect is behind the letters.

The downward slope of the writing is generally a sign of depression. "The handwriting droops down, just like our voice would trail off," said Baggett.

In the Daschle letter, which was sent after the one to Brokaw, there is a barely perceptible up-and-down in the baseline of the words — a sign of moodiness.

Perhaps most ominous are two characteristics that the ordinary person might never notice: the pressure applied to the page and the capping of many words with a slightly larger letter.

Violent people often end their words with slightly larger letters.

"It could be a bluff, but I see some violence or brutality here," Leachman said. "This is someone who needs to try and take control."

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001

Answers

Er...I tend to print in block letters because my handwriting is hard to read. I learned this technique in programming class. In the "old days" programmers used to code on coding sheets and the programs would be punched on cards by secretaries. Block letters were standard...and I vaguely remember that in the old days all programming languages were case-sensitive.

So it could be a geek, ya know. >;)

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001

I think this whole thing is BS. Arabic does not use the same alphabet. Therefore this person has learned to print english but does not use it enuff to develope his/her own style. This printing is typical of anyone learning to print english letters. You can take 6 people that do not use our alphabet and you will get the same style of printing. My husband NEVER writes anything. Never has. Its all up to me. ANYONE can forge his name because he writes in the basic 3rd grade cursive writing. He has never written enuff to develope his own style. Just write like they teach in 3rd grade and you have his signature. Same with these letters. Taz

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001

I guess they have to start somewhere, but, the postmarks don't necessarily mean they were maild that day. mail can and does get delayed despite my expert handling. heh heh

Really, the postmark is just the date that it went thru the machine that cancels stamps. The letter could have been delayed in handling at any point in processing by something as silly as falling to the bottom of a mail cart and not being found for a few days. It happens. sorry.

The writing could have been copied so as to lead these 'analysts' astray. There are plenty of websites available to help with this.

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001

October 19, 2001

Handwriting analysts detect a passionate man on the edge

By Frank J. Murray THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Two handwriting analysts independently concluded yesterday that the person who addressed the envelopes containing anthrax to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is dangerously depressed and determined.

"The writer is very tired and at the breaking point emotionally," said graphologist Glenda Ross of Olympia, Wash. "The writer is too violent and unable to listen" but feels he is doing the right thing.

In separate analyses for The Washington Times, Ms. Ross and Margaret L. Webb of Reading, England, each settled on the words "determination" and "depression" to characterize the writer of the letters.

They both said the downhill baseline and identical teetering block letters, notably the E's and B's, show that the same person addressed both envelopes.

The graphologists agreed the writer likely is a man, but both said that steps were taken to mask identifying traits in the handwriting. Both analysts said they initially thought a child did the writing.

"Many men who wear a uniform write with all capital letters," said Mrs. Webb, education officer of the British Institute of Graphologists whose previous analyses included serial murderer Dr. Harold Shipman. This habit can indicate a person feels "self-important, dominating, self-focused and independent."

"The writer is a physical kind that would strike out with a physical blow rather than an intellectual debate," said Ms. Ross, a 40-year veteran of her profession.

Except for one small detail — the serifs on the number 1 that appear in the zip code — Ms. Ross said the handwriting is not evidently that of a foreigner.

"The overall impression is that the writer has lived a long time in America. The numeral 1 is the only indication on the envelope that it could be written by someone from another country, as the American numeral 1 is just a straight line," she said.

She believes the writer could be either an elderly American or a longtime foreign resident.

"This type of formation of the number also is found in the older generation of American writers, age 70 and up, but the rest of the writing does not have any other indication that the letter is not written by an American," Ms. Ross said.

Both Ms. Ross and Mrs. Webb said they could tell a great deal more if they had access to the original writing — which shows how much pressure the writer put on the pen — rather than to FBI photographs.

Mrs. Webb said determining the sender's sex was difficult and that the best clue to that is the use of all block letters, which is "more likely to be found in males than females."

She said that writing the first capital letter larger than the other capitals indicates pride, although she emphasized that efforts to disguise the handwriting may create false impressions.

"As this writing is slow and not of a very high form standard it may have been written by a person with limited intelligence," Mrs. Webb said. This was her only real disagreement with Ms. Ross, who believes the writer may be intelligent but likely does not have a well-rounded education.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2001