The man suspected of being involved in the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and shut down the Senate has died of apparent suicide, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

According to the Times article, Justice Department officials were on the verge of filing criminal charges against Bruce Ivins, a 62-year-old scientist who worked in the Army’s biodefense research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md.

The Times reported that Ivins died after ingesting a massive dose of prescription Tylenol mixed with codeine.

The anthrax-laced mailings put the country on alert in 2001, and when one was sent to then-Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle’s (D-S.D.) office, police shut down the Senate building and swept offices for the substance. Hundreds of people were checked for exposure, and dozens tested positive, but none died.