"Computer geek" sentenced to 13 years for making ricin

Ken Olson, a former employee of Agilent in Spokane Washington, was sentenced to 13 years for making ricin, a highly toxic chemical derived from castor beans. It's very easy to make ricin and castor beans are legal to possess and are readily available. Prosecutors say Olson was plotting to kill his wife and take up with his mistress. Olson's wife and mistress have teamed up to defend him.

The trouble began Aug. 21, 2001, when a co-worker at Agilent found an 80-page document on how to make a bomb. The co-worker took the document to supervisors, who traced it to Olsen's computer. Company investigators examined his Internet logs and discovered Olsen had spent more than a year researching explosives and poisons. They found books in his cubicle on how to kill people without leaving a trace and a piece of paper with calculations of dosages for a 150-pound person — the approximate weight of his wife.

Link