OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The family of a Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president says he has struggled with mental illness for years.

Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was expected to appear again in federal court Friday. His attorney said he was innocent during a brief appearance Thursday.

Ex-wife Laura Curtis says he is bipolar and an attentive father who visited their four children often. She says he must not have been taking his medication.

An attorney for the family, Jim Waide, represented Curtis in the past when Curtis claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy to traffic in body parts. The attorney says Curtis believed everyone was out to get him.

Officers in protective suits searched his home Thursday, but it wasn't known what they found.

 
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(Photo: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)