Threatening letters, possibly containing cyanide, sent to drug firms, newspaper

Hope they catch the idiot who did this!

Bitcoins are traceable.

Why "won"? Maybe someone was over-leveraged in their BT speculation?

Bitcoins are traceable.

Bitcoins are, but the owners aren't - by design. However, someone who has registered their identity on a bitcoin trading exchange can potentially be traced back through that registration. But such registration is not a requirement of using bitcoin.

no copycats please. It is difficult enough to send a letter now.

Sounds like terrorism, not blackmail.

they couldn't do a quick test to see what the substance was?

"Won" is South Korean money. The perpetrator(s) may be Korean.

they couldn't do a quick test to see what the substance was?

Unfortunately, life takes longer than 42 minutes plus commercials, wrapped up in an hour. There’s no quick test to determine what an unknown substance is. If you have an idea of what you think it probably is, and test specifically for that and are correct, it will be faster. But when you’re starting with ‘unknown’, particularly when it’s likely to be toxic, it takes time to figure out what it is. Days or weeks.

@Strangerland

There is an insider joke in US courtrooms about what’s called the “CSI Effect.”

Jurors’ expectations of forensic processes being extremely misled by shows like CSI, they expect DNA testing and database matching to happen overnight, and grainy security camera footage to be “enhanced” with the click of a mouse and rapid mashing of the keyboard. Sometimes juries will absolutely refuse to vote guilty without “DNA evidence,” even though there is more than sufficient evidence elsewhere.