Hazmat crews recover ricin at Hatboro home

Nicholas Helman's apartment was again a hotbed of law enforcement activity, authorities said.

Helman, 19, is currently being held without bail at Bucks County Prison after his arrest yesterday, according to court records. He's being charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, risking catastrophe and related offenses after police foiled his alleged plot to poison his ex-girflriend's new flame with a ricin-coated letter, Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said.

The teen is scheduled to undergo a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, Heckler said.

About 5 p.m., hazmat crews and local police visited Helman's apartment on Byberry Road near New Street in Hatboro to recover a container of ricin that the teen had stashed in a gas pipe near his home.

"Crews have found it and shouldn't have any trouble retrieving it," Heckler said. "The container is intact, and isn't in a place where it could be spread to the wide world."

The leftover toxin doesn't pose any safety threat, he added.