Therapist testified she feared Ivins

. -- Bruce E. Ivins, the late microbiologist suspected in the 2001 anthrax attacks, had attempted to poison people and his therapist said she was “scared to death” of him, according to court testimony that emerged Saturday.

Social worker Jean Duley testified at a court hearing in Frederick on July 24 in a successful bid for a protective order against Ivins -- who died five days later in an apparent suicide -- that he “actually attempted to murder several other people.”

An audio recording of the court session was obtained by the New York Times and posted on its website.

“As far back as the year 2000, the respondent has actually attempted to murder several other people. . . . When he feels that he’s been slighted . . . he plots and actually tries to carry out revenge killings,” Duley said.

She added that Ivins had been “forensically diagnosed by several top psychiatrists as a sociopathic, homicidal killer. I have that in evidence. And through my working with him, I also believe that to be very true.”