Researcher found guilty in missing plague case Scientist accidentally destroyed samples, reported them stolen

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A jury on Monday found a researcher guilty of 47of the 69 charges he faced after reporting samples of plague bacteriahad been stolen from his Texas Tech University lab.

Thomas Butler, 62, closed his eyes, shook his head and appeared tofight back tears as the verdicts were read after two days ofdeliberations.

The charges stemmed from an investigation following his report topolice Jan. 14 that 30 vials of the potentially deadly …