Not Guilty Plea in Fish Poison Case

A northwest suburban man pleaded not guilty Thursday for a second time to purchasing a deadly puffer fish toxin as part of a plot to kill his wife.

Edward Bachner pleaded not guilty to the 16-count superseding indictment which was filed against the former of Lake in the Hills resident Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn. Bachner, 36, was initially charged and arrested on June 30, 2008, for possession of the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX).

He was indicted in July 2008 on five counts of possessing a biological agent for use as a weapon and five counts of possessing a biological agent without any justifiable research or other peaceful purpose. In August 2008, he pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The superseding indictment contains the same 10 charges and adds six new counts. The newest accusations allege that Bachner engaged in a scheme to obtain TTX to kill his wife to collect $20 million in life insurance proceeds, solicited another person in 2005 to murder his wife and filed filing false claims for income tax refunds. The indictment alleges Bachner purchased the toxin five times between November 2006 and June 2008 "for use as a weapon."

The substance is usually reserved for use in research, but in an affidavit, an FBI agent claimed Bachner posed as a researcher, using a fictitious name and lab name to buy it for $7,000 from a New Jersey company.

According to a criminal complaint filed in June 2008, the FBI had undercover agents stationed in the UPS store where Bachner maintained a post office box to confirm he picked up the package. FBI agents arrested him outside the store after he signed for a package containing a vial of the substance.

Agents also searched his Lake in the Hills home and found six empty TTX vials, syringes and needles, as well as a book that addressed " the effective doses for poisoning people," the criminal complaint alleged.

It can take as little as four milligrams to cause death in a human, and Bachner allegedly ordered 98 milligrams, the complaint states.

Bachner is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 6 for a status hearing.