Keycard Information

The museum closed at 4 pm on January 20, and all workers, except security guards and researchers were gone by 4:30.

All of the professors who were at the meeting used their keycards to enter the restricted area before the meeting. After the meeting ended, we have the following records:

●7:05: James Bittner’s keycard is used to exit the restricted area through the main door.

●7:10: Katherine Henderson’s keycard is used to exit the restricted area through the main door.

●7:30: Ronald Thompson’s keycard is used to exit the restricted area through the rear door.

●7:30: Marcus Silver’s keycard is used to exit the restricted area through the main door.

●7:35: Susan Vidor’s keycard is used to exit the restricted area through the rear door.

●7:47: Michael Swanson’s keycard is used to enter the restricted area through the rear door.

Also, there is another entry and exit by keycard in the middle of the night after the murder. The details of this keycard are harder to track down because it is used by several people, including grad students and visiting researchers. It will be described in a separate document.

There was one security guard who typically stayed in the exhibit area, even in hours when the museum was closed. He would make rounds in the locked area at 6 pm, 9 pm, midnight, 3 am, and 6 am. One security guard would finish a shift at 11 pm, and another would come on at that time. On January 20, the security guard made rounds on the first floor locked area (where the offices were), but not the second floor at 6 pm, because the Museum Director told him they were having a meeting and would keep their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.

Summary of Lab B-22 security camera tape:

The video shows normal activity in Lab B-22, leading up to the 6 pm meeting. All of the professors/researchers listed in our materials were seen in the room during the day, working on various items or seated at work stations going over documents. Everyone had left the room by 4:45 pm.

Between 5:50 and 6:00, the following people entered the lab for the meeting: Susan Vidor, Michael Swanson, James Bittner, Katherine Henderson, Benjamin Foster, Marcus Silver, Sheldon Greene, Ronald Thompson, Wendy Krieger. During the meeting, all of these people are seen drinking from bottles.

At 7:00 pm, those in the meeting left in the following order:

  • James Bittner
  • Sheldon Greene
  • Benjamin Foster
  • Katherine Henderson (left at 7:05 after reading over her notes)

At the end of the meeting, Ronald Thompson is seen going to a cabinet and pulling out several bottles. He uses a dropper and places a few drops of various liquids on two documents. He shakes his head and then walks over to a group consisting of Susan Vidor, Michael Swanson, Marcus Silver, and Wendy Krieger. This group talks until 7:25 and leaves together, except for Susan Vidor who stays behind. She goes to a file cabinet and pulls out a file and puts it in her bag. Then, she leaves the room.

At 7:55, Michael Swanson enters the lab and goes to his work area. He sets his bag on a nearby counter and pulls a jar and bottle from a cabinet and sits down. He appears to be working on a sample of some sort. At a few seconds before 8:00, he looks up suddenly. The video camera goes off for the system reboot at 8:00.

At 8:10, the video camera comes back on. The lights in the room are off, but there is a small flickering light in the middle of the room. The light gets more intense, and at 8:13, a figure in a dark coat is seen picking up Dr. Swanson’s bag and backing out of the room. This person’s face is never seen.

At 8:15, the lights come on and the sprinklers begin to spray water into the room.

To: (Michael Swanson)

From: (Susan Vidor)

Re: That letter

Michael,

Wow! This could be a pretty big bombshell. So, they didn’t name it for almost two decades, but they knew about it. How long will it take you to work up some ideas on why it’s more virulent now? I like the climate change as a stimulus for insect population booms idea. Wendy should be able to work on that angle.

I’ve looked at the letter, and I have no doubt that it’s authentic. The formal governmental language is very 1950s. I’ve looked at a lot of later forgeries trying to sound like they’re from this period, but they always sound “off.” This one’s the real deal. We’ll have to let Ron look at the ink and paper. While this isn’t my area, the ink looks like it bled into the paper like we would see from that time. We can ask him at the meeting.

I can’t be much help with the other document. It’s so new that anyone trying to fake it would have an easy job. They would just write like people write today. Maybe, Ron can shed some light on that too. I don’t know, maybe something about the printer ink or, I guess that’s all I have.

Susan

To: (Susan Vidor)

From: (Michael Swanson)

Re: Blown away

Susan,

You are not going to believe what I got ahold of. There’s a letter that went outside normal channels from someone inside AI to a friend. They wanted to release the info, but they got nervous. It looks right in medical terms, but I need you to see what you think about the language. If this is real, it’s huge. The old guy who brought it to me has a wild story.

I don’t want to attach a copy here. I’ll drop it by your office this morning.

Michael

[This e-mail thread was found on Dr. Swanson’s computer]

September 17, 1957

Bob,

I need help. We’ve found something that’s really dangerous. I thought we were working on cures, but it looks like someone is steering the research to use this in biological weapons.

I think you can understand why I hid this letter when I sent it to you. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get out of here, but you have to think of a way to get this information to the press. Someone needs to know.

R

[This letter was found in a file in Dr. Swanson’s house]

List of Graduate Students in Mountain City Case:

MS = Master of Science student; PhD = PhD student. If a student is listed as working with a professor, that means that the professor is that student’s primary advisor, and the student may be working on one or more of the professor’s research projects. All grad students have keycards that are assigned to the general area of study in the museum (i.e. Forensic Analysis, which covers the work of all of these professors). The keycards are not traceable to an individual grad student, but rather to the group of grad students.

  • Jared Brown: (MS), works with Dr. Bittner.
  • Dan Albertson: (MS), works with Dr. Foster.
  • Jennifer Armstrong (MS), works with Dr. Krieger.
  • Richard Boggs (PhD), works with Dr. Swanson.
  • Phil Drummond (PhD), works with Dr. Silver.
  • Ellen Cunningham (PhD), works with Dr. Vidor.
  • Paul Ridley (MS), works with Dr. Henderson.
  • Denise Palmer (PhD), works with Dr. Thompson.

Keycards from this group were used to enter the back areas of the museum 11 times on the day of the murder, and there were also 11 uses to leave the restricted areas. At 4:15 am on the morning following the murder, one of the group keycards was used to enter the building. The lab was blocked off with “crime scene” tape, but the security cameras show a single individual ducking under the tape and going to the file cabinet that Dr. Vidor was seen at the night before. After a few minutes in front of this cabinet, the person leaves without taking anything. The keycard is then used to leave the building. The person’s face never appears on the camera footage, but the person appears to not be the same person seen at the time of the murder.