Return address led authorities to Quebec
The return address on the envelope sent to U. S President Donald Trump from Canada — containing a potentially deadly poison — included a postal code leading right to the Quebec apartment the RCMP searched last week, where traces of ricin were allegedly found.
The surprising inclusion of such a potentially incriminating clue suggests the sender wasn’t intent on remaining anonymous for long, or masking their preparation for what a U. S. judge characterized as an assassination attempt.
The strange letter inside, seen here for the first time, is handwritten in English in all capital letters. It is stained in blotches and speckles of light and dark brown, presumably residue from the toxic, powdery ricin poison authorities say was inside.
In a photograph of the letter, obtained by National Post, the paper is being held with plastic tweezers by someone wearing latex gloves, over the top of a large glass petri dish.
The initial greeting at the top of the letter is torn away, presumably from when it was opened. It looks as if the letter’s sides had been taped or sealed closed. Only two letters of the greeting remain: “HE” which could have been the start of Hello.
The rest of the letter, in its entirety, says:
“I found a new name for you:
‘ The ugly tyrant clown’ I hope you like it.
You ruin USA and lead them to disaster.
I have US cousins, then I don’t want the next 4 years with you as president.
Give up and remove your application for this election.
So I made a ‘ special gift’ for you to help you to make a decision. This gift is in this letter.
If it doesn’t work, I’ll find a better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I’ll be able to come. Enjoy!
Free Rebel Spirit”.
The return address on the envelope says the sender is “FRS”, presumably the initials for the way the letter was signed off: “Free Rebel Spirit”.
The return address is written as “1050 Lib. Av., S Hub. QC, J3Y 0T6, Canada.”
J3Y 0T6 is a legitimate postal code for St.- Hubert, the Montreal suburb where the RCMP searched an apartment last week, wearing hazmat suits, and where, court was told Monday, officers seized a pestle and mortar that tested positive for ricin.
It is a postal code that includes units of the same apartment property that was searched, although the apartment is on Boulevard Vauquelin.
The envelope shows signs of containing something suspicious. Round, oily blotches have soaked through along the bottom.
The letter carried the correct postage — $1.30 for a letter to the United States — in the form of a routine stickon stamp, not a stamp that needs licking.
The stamp bears an image of British Columbia’s Kootenay National Park, issued to mark its 100th anniversary, which appears on Canada Post coils of 50 stamps for U. S.-bound mail. That stamp design was issued Jan. 13.
The envelope is postmarked in Quebec and bears a stamp showing it was received at the U.S. postal sorting facility on Sept. 17.
The letter did not make it to the White House, where it was addressed to, nor to Trump. Instead, it was examined and found to be suspicious by U. S. Secret Service the next day.
As police were investigating the letter, a woman arrived at the Peace Bridge border crossing between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y., on Sept. 20, and told U.S. border guards she was wanted by the FBI for the ricin letters, U.S. authorities said.
Pascale Cécile Véronique Ferrier, 53, of St- Hubert, Que., was arrested on the spot. She had a gun tucked in her waistband and a knife in her pocket, prosecutors allege.
In a backpack, border guards found a semi- automatic handgun loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, a knife and a backpack
stuffed with 294 bullets, a stun gun, pepper spray, a collapsible baton and a fake Texas driver’s licence.
Although Ferrier is a dual citizen of Canada and France, where she was born, she had only her Canadian passport with her at the border, court heard.
Along with photos of the letter and envelope addressed to Trump, photos of the guns and ammunition, and a Texas driver’s licence bearing her photo but the name Jane Ferrier were also entered into court as exhibits.
The gun is a silver and black 9- mm semi- automatic Luger, manufactured in Florida and bearing a “Made in USA” stamp.
The knife is a well- worn silver folding knife, described in court as a “spring knife.”
Ferrier pleaded not guilty to the charge of threatening the life of the President of the United States in a Buffalo, N.Y., courtroom on Monday, in the jurisdiction of the border crossing between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo.
She was ordered to remain in the custody of the U. S. Marshals until she is transported to face court in Washington, D.C.
Other letters containing ricin and written in similar style as the letter to Trump were received by several U. S. law enforcement agencies in southern Texas, where Ferrier was previously arrested in 2019 and jailed for 20 days before the charges were dismissed and she returned to Canada.