America Banned Biological Weapons—But the CIA Hid a ‘Heart-Attack Gun’ Made From Shellfish Toxin

Key Points Key Points Mary Embree discovered saxitoxin as a poison for a secret CIA “heart attack gun” that could kill undetectably while mimicking natural causes during covert operations. The Church Committee exposed the CIA’s illegal heart attack gun in 1975 televised hearings, revealing it violated President Nixon’s ban on biological weapons development. It was there that Senator Frank Church pressed CIA Director William Colby about a secret weapon the CIA had developed, the “heart attack gun.”