Poison letters suspect apparently in hiding

SALTILLO, Miss. -- A Mississippi man whose home was searched in the investigation of poisoned letters sent to the president and others apparently has gone into hiding, but his attorney said he is cooperating and the FBI knows how to get in touch with him.

Everett Dutschke, 45, had his home and former business in Tupelo searched in connection with the letters, which allegedly contained ricin. They were sent last week to President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and earlier to an 80-year-old Mississippi judge, Sadie Holland.

Charges initially filed against a celebrity impersonator were later dropped. Attention then turned to Dutschke, who has ties to the former suspect and the judge and senator.

On Thursday, investigators looked through a home about 20 miles away.

A friend of Dutschke's said both he and Dutschke stayed at the home for a while Wednesday before slipping through the woods to rendezvous with someone who drove Dutschke elsewhere. He said Dutschke was trying to escape the news media.

"I just helped him get out of the spotlight," Kirk Kitchens said Thursday at his home in nearby Saltillo.

Dutschke has not been arrested or charged in the case. The FBI has said nothing about the searches or Thursday's developments.

Dutschke's lawyer, Lori Nail Basham, said there is no arrest warrant for her client, who continues to cooperate with investigators.

Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson said agents told him Dutschke had been under surveillance, but authorities weren't sure where he had gone.

Dutschke did not answer a call to his cellphone Thursday. He had previously kept in touch with reporters.

It was yet another strange turn in the case that began when charges were filed against 45-year-old entertainer Paul Kevin Curtis, whose lawyers now say he was set up for the crime.

Charges against Curtis were dropped Tuesday after authorities said they developed new information. His attorney, Christi McCoy, said she does not know what new information led the FBI to abandon the charges.

The focus then turned to Dutschke. He said he was cooperating.

Curtis attorney Hal Neilson said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis, and Dutschke's name came up. He said prosecutors "took it and ran with it."

Dutschke and Curtis were acquainted. Curtis said they had talked about possibly publishing a book on an alleged conspiracy to sell body parts on a black market. He claimed they later had a feud.

Judge Holland is a common link between two men who have been investigated and both know Wicker.

Holland was presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2004. Holland sentenced him to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.

Holland's family has had political skirmishes with Dutschke in the past.

Steve Holland, a state representative, said he believes his mother's only other encounter with Dutschke was at a rally in the town of Verona in 2007, when Dutschke ran as a Republican against Steve Holland.

Holland said his mother confronted Dutschke after he made a derogatory speech about the Holland family. She demanded that he apologize, which he did.

Steve Holland said he doesn't know if his mother remembers Curtis' assault case.