© Facebook
The letters, which were intercepted by sorting facilities before they reached their intended targets, were signed: "I am KC and I approve this message."
"We have an investigation that is going on that has got local and federal authorities working together," said Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson.
A few hours before federal officials announced the arrest, TheBlaze was contacted by bloggers at Lady Liberty 1885 who had noticed some key similarities between a "Kevin Curtis" from Tupelo, Miss. and the person suspected of sending the ricin letters.
Among several other similarities, Kevin Curtis used the phrase "This is KC and I approve this message" in a previous Facebook post - the same exact phrase included in the ricin-laced letters.
Additionally, the person who sent the ricin letters used this particular quote from Dr. John Raymond Baker to make his point: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." Kevin Curtis uses the same quote in the "About" section of his Facebook page.
The same individual lists an address in Tupelo, Miss. - the city authorities say the suspect currently resides. The last message posted on Curtis' Facebook page was roughly two hours before his arrest was reported.
Kevin Curtis describes himself as a Christian, but not a "bench warming church going judgmental hypocrite." Under political views he lists himself as an "Independent." A call made to the phone number provided on his Facebook page went unanswered.
© Facebook
© Facebook
Photo found on Kevin Curtis’ Facebook page with the caption, “say hello to my little friend.”
"If it's Kevin Curtis, we've had him in our jail about 4 times, mostly misdemeanors like simple assault. But in 2008 for telephone harassment and stalking," Prentiss County Sheriff Randy Tolar said. "I think he has some very serious psychological issues from my dealings with him. In the past I had read some of his Facebook postings and it was very far out there. He'll get down on you and bash you with everything he's got, even making up stuff, and I've seen that side of him."
Curtis uploaded the photo of the gun to his "singer/songwriter" page on Tuesday.
In April, Curtis made the following Facebook post on gun control, which was accompanied by a Huffington Post article:
Hmmmm..This is just a crazy guess on my part (and what do I know, I'm just a performance artist with a fetish for pretty arched feet) buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...I'm thinking that no matter WHAT laws are EVER passed thru the REVOLVING doors of our justice $y$tem & Congress.....that BAD PEOPLE who refuse to allow God into their hearts will ALWAYS find a way to get their cowardly little hands on a weapon......I might also ad that if a person spends enough time on thinking how to take another person's life, he or she could do so with a hair pin, a thumb tack or a wall clock (they just don't have the "CLIP" like those ole nasty assault weapons do. I'll leave you with one question..............."WHY IS IT GOOD OLE SAM WALTON CAN INSTALL THE EYES OF HEAVEN CAMERA SYSTEM IN EVERY WALMART OF THE WORLD WHERE THEY CAN SEE THIEVES COMING AND/OR GOING FROM A MILE AWAY AND CATCH 98% OF THOSE WHO TRY TO STEAL THEIR MERCHANDISE YET WE CAN'T APPLY THAT SAME TECHNOLOGY TOWARDS SECURING OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND PROTECTING OUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET WHICH IS OUR CHILDREN..............LEADERS OF THE FUTURE"? HMMMMMMMMMMCurtis also refers to himself as a "Singer/Entertainer" on Facebook and goes by the nickname "Elvisguy." A video uploaded to DailyMotion.com by "Paul Kevin Curtis" shows a man, presumably Curtis, performing Elvis' "Baby Let's Play House" live at some sort of club.
Watch below:
In a separate 2007 post on RipOffReport.com, a man going by the name "Kevin Curtis" references sending several letters to Sen. Wicker and other lawmakers about some legal troubles. He also claims he ran into Sen. Wicker on another occasion:
I sent letters to State Representative Roger Wicker, Senator Trent Lott and Thad Cochran. I never heard a word from anyone. I even ran into Roger Wicker several different times while performing at special banquets and fundraisers in northeast, Mississippi but he seemed very nervous while speaking with me and would make a fast exit to the door when I engaged in conversation leading up to my case against NMMC.The Kevin Curtis from Mississippi who wrote the post on RipOffReport.com is clearly disgruntled over allegedly being fired years ago from the North Mississippi Medical Center after he claims he found "dismembered body parts" and a "severed head" backing up the hospital's drainage system. He claims he received death threats and was threatened by police over the incident.
More from that post:
I escorted a young radiology technician to the morgue as she did not believe me. When she saw the body parts and severed head, she could not believe it either. We told every single person in Radiology what was in the old upright refrigerator.He goes on to claim he was forced to endure a years-long battle in court over the incident.
I immediately noticed a change in the atmosphere. Security guards were all of a sudden around me...walking behind me and I could hear video camera's zooming in on me as I walked down the hallways that night. Security followed me to the time card machine that night for the first time in 14 months.
The following day, I was called over the loud speaker for the first time since joining the team at NMMC. I was questioned by men I had never met in my life. I was asked to sign several false documents stating I was in an area of the NMMC that I was not authorized to be in and would be hereby suspended without pay while the matter at hand was investigated. I did not go to law school like my sister but I knew better than to sign something like that.
"3 Years of research lead to countless court battles, cops harassing me weekly, death threats, personal & financial losses, several thefts, my home burned down, car exploded, marriage dissolved & bankruptcy," Kevin Curtis writes on the website.
"I have no faith left in the Mississippi Justice system. I feel my coming forward with my story and releasing it to news media all over the USA in 2001 has helped expose the illegal body parts and organ trade market world-wide," he concludes. "I personally sent out more than a million emails in one year detailing what happened to me when I found the body parts at NMMC."
The suspect in the ricin letters is also accused of sending a tainted letter to a Mississippi justice official.
It is unclear whether any of the claims made by that Kevin Curtis on RipOffRepot.com are true or entirely fabricated. However, the author of the post refers to himself as a "local entertainer."
On Curtis' Facebook page, he also refers to making a "discovery", "legal fees" and makes accusations of hospitals harvesting human body parts for profit. It seems to be the same Kevin Curtis:
I'm on the hidden front lines of a secret war. A war that is making Billions of dollars for corrupt mafia related organizations and people. (bone, tissue, organ, body parts harvesting black market) when we lay our loved ones to rest....we hope and pray their bodies are not violated but I am here to tell you, as long as the bone, tissue & organ harvesting indu$try is NOT REGULATED....on any level(s) whether it be local, state, federal or national...........your loved ones body parts are NOT $AFE. It's not fun for me to be the Me$$enger here. It was not fun in 1999 when I made accidental discovery and became a "Person of interest"."Paul Curtis" apparently also filed a petition on Change.org about two years ago calling for federal regulations of organ harvesting. Here's the text of the petition tipped to TheBlaze by TavernKeepers.com:
My mother wants me to SHUT UP. My brothers fear me. My sister hates me. My cousins have hostility towards me (they work in healthcare) I have lost most of my friends. I have spent more than $130,000.00 on legal fee's in 13.5 yrs. They burned down my home, killed my dogs, my cat, my rabbit, blew up my 1966 Plymouth Valent. They destroyed my marriage, they distracted my career, they stalked, they trolled, they came in to my home, took my computers, had me arrested 22 times and guess what? I am still a thorn in their corrupt anals! I will remain here until Jesus Christ decides its time for me to go. (ur welcome and amen. :)
To:Though it has not been officially confirmed that Kevin Curtis and "Paul Kevin Curtis" are one in the same, the vast amounts of evidence sure seems to indicate that to be the case.
The President of the United States
The U.S. Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives
The Governor of MS
Sen. Thad Cochran, MS
Sen. Roger Wicker, MS
Rep. Travis Childers, MS-01
I am petitioning for legislation on a federal level as well as investigations into the secret world wide business of illegal bone, tissue, body parts and organ harvesting.
In 2000, I was fired & banned from the largest non-metropolitan charity hospital in the United States of America after questioning unfair employment practices and ethics. I filed suit against this organization, was re-hired for a period of two months and then ultimately terminated and banned for life from the hospital as well as every government affiliated business associated and/or connected to this so-called charity, tax exempt health care organization.
It is my firm belief I was terminated & banned in an effort to silence me immediately after I questioned several employee's in the ER about a refrigerator full of body parts, organs, bones and tissue. I further believe hospital administrator's manipulated employment records & documents in an effort to reduce risk of public attention & legal actions in which I informed hospital CEO Dr. Jeff Barber & Director of Human Resources would be taken by myself. Dr. Jeff Barber was terminated within a few months upon my filing lawsuit along with a dozen other hospital employee's. Two high profile Mississippi millionaire attorneys I turned to for help are now in prison. These and other questions remain by myself and others. If something illegal was not taking place in the hospital in December of 1999, then why was I forced into a private room, interrogated by administrative officers, threatened & told to forget about the body parts I saw? Death threats followed.
Since 2000, I have investigated the secret world of illegal organ harvesting while contacting hundreds of investigator's, reporters & news media outlets via fax, telephone & internet connection all over the United States and I am confident that my research, countless court hearings & tireless efforts to take a stand, make sense & expose this horror has contributed to class action lawsuits & investigations all over the United States of America thus bringing criminals such as Michael Mastromarino to Justice.
Why should the lives & careers of innocent people be at risk and/or destroyed due to legal loop holes and an industry which is yet to be regulated by our federal government?
I urge you today to take action and help pass House Bill 6631 into law making it illegal to remove, distribute, buy or sell any bones, tissue, body parts or organs from any person(s) in the United States of America before and/or after victim's death.
Thank you in advance & God bless.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
"Kevin Curtis" signs the following Elvis-themed YouTube video, "This is KC & I approve this video." The video also provides the same booking number as the previously mentioned Facebook page. There are several other Elvis performances on the YouTube account.
Here's some background on the ricin scare:
The letter, received by Wicker's office on Tuesday, had a Memphis postmark and no return address, Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer wrote in an e-mail to senators and aides. Tupelo's mail is routed through Memphis.Sen. Wicker is ideologically opposed to President Obama. As of this writing, it's a mystery why the two of them were sent poisoned letters.
The ricin was confirmed by preliminary tests on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Obama received a similar letter, and once again, preliminary tests showed there was ricin in it.
An FBI bulletin stated that both letters, postmarked April 8, included the identical phrase: "to see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."
Where did he get the ricin?