Thomas Lavy

Not to be confused with Thomas Levy.
Thomas Lavy
Lavy, from a 1995 newspaper article.
Born
Thomas Lewis Lavy

(1941-12-18)December 18, 1941
Winfield, Missouri
DiedDecember 23, 1995(1995-12-23) (aged 54)
Little Rock, Arkansas
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFarmer

Thomas Lewis Lavy (December 18, 1941 – December 23, 1995) was an American farmer who attempted to cross the Canada–US border into Canada from Alaska with several firearms, ricin toxin, and $89,000 in cash in 1993. He was turned away at the border, and the toxin impounded. Lavy claimed at the time that the ricin was to poison the coyotes on his farm. More than two years later he was arrested by the FBI on terrorism charges relating to the border incident, and Lavy hanged himself in his jail cell four days later.

Some media outlets called the incident a "thwarted terrorist attack" resulting in the death of the perpetrator,[1] while others have suggested Lavy was the innocent victim of a "tragic case" of an overzealous FBI agent and prosecutor.[2][3] One journalist opined this may well be "another case where the government hounds some poor guy without mercy...until he kills himself".[4]

  1. ^ "Terrorist attacks and related incidents in the United States". Johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  2. ^ Deadly Poison, Fatal Mystery Toxic terror or overkill? Probers seek answers; suicide blocks way By Michael Dorman
  3. ^ SUICIDE LEAVES QUESTIONS IN POISON CASE SOURCE: William C. Lhotka Of the Post-Dispatch Staff, Some information for this story was provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. PUBLICATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) DATE: December 31, 1995
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference poke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).