Editor’s Wife Found Rental for 2 Suspected in Hijackings

Several months before a tabloid employee died from anthrax, the wife of the publication’s editor helped two of the suspected hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks find an apartment, according to media reports.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Sunday that it appears to be a mere “coincidence” that real estate agent Gloria Irish helped to rent an apartment this summer at the Delray Racket Club to suspected hijackers Marwan Al-Shehhi and Saeed Alghamdi. The connection was first reported by the Washington Post and Miami Herald.

Irish is the wife of Michael Irish, editor of the Sun tabloid, published by American Media Inc., where eight employees have tested positive for exposure to the anthrax bacteria. One of the staff members, photo editor Bob Stevens, 63, died Oct. 5 after inhaling the deadly spores.

Orihuela said it was the first “link” between the terrorist attacks and the publishing company whose Boca Raton headquarters have been shuttered since Oct. 7 by the anthrax incidents.

After the first anthrax incidents were discovered at American Media, there was immediate speculation that they might be part of a second wave in the terrorists’ assault on the United States. Many of the 19 suspected hijackers had lived for a time in Palm Beach and Broward counties, and alleged ringleader Mohamed Atta rented a plane in mid-August at a small airport one mile from where Stevens, the deceased photo editor, lived.