Substance sent to Missouri lawmaker identified as rat poison

In this Aug. 10, 2014 photo, Missouri State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal talks with protesters who blocked South Florissant Road in front of the Ferguson, Mo., police station.
In this Aug. 10, 2014 photo, Missouri State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal talks with protesters who blocked South Florissant Road in front of the Ferguson, Mo., police station.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Law enforcement has determined that an unknown, green granular substance sent in an envelope to a Missouri lawmaker earlier this year was rat poison.

Missouri Senate Administrator Patrick Baker on Wednesday said Capitol police determined the substance sent to Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal was rat poison after further review. Initial analysis suggested it contained a bacteria commonly found in pesticides.

Baker said investigators determined the package was mailed from a Springfield, Illinois post office. But Baker says police were unable to pull fingerprints or other forensic evidence from the package to help identify who sent it.

A Cole County hazmat team was called to the Capitol in April after a staff member for Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat of University City, spotted the envelope.

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