Posted on 08/20/2008 10:11:36 PM PDT by Gondring
DENVER -- A Canadian national found dead inside an upscale Denver hotel with a pound of highly toxic sodium cyanide had killed himself, the deputy coroner said Wednesday.
However, a spokesman for Dirie's family said he finds the idea that it was suicide "ridiculous."
Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, was found dead inside the Burnsley hotel on Aug. 11. In his hotel room, firefighters found nearly a pound of sodium cyanide -- the crystal form of cyanide
"This office completed an autopsy. The test results have been returned to our office and the decedent was positive for ingesting cyanide. The manner of death is suicide," said Denver Chief Deputy Coroner Michelle Weiss-Samaras.
Family members told reporters that Dirie, a Somali refugee, had been depressed and suffered from schizophrenia. However, Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said he "strongly disagrees" with the coroner's ruling.
"The Advocacy Center is still involved in this case and finds the suicide idea ridiculous. If Mr. Dirie's intention was to commit suicide, he could have done so in Canada," Jamal said. "The community finds this recent ruling very strange. I am saddened and still puzzled by this ruling and hope we will go to the bottom of the case soon."
With the approaching Democratic National Convention, there were fears that Dirie's death may have been part of a terrorism plot. The FBI's terrorism task force was called in to investigate, but FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright told 7NEWS there was no apparent connection to terrorism. Denver police said Dirie's death is an isolated incident and no foul play is suspected.
Investigators still have not said how Dirie obtained the cyanide, how he came to the United States, and why the Ottawa man was staying at a luxury hotel in Denver.
Dirie, a Muslim, was buried last Thursday after a service at the Colorado Muslim Society's Abu Baker mosque.
Jamal said Dirie was unemployed and not particularly religious.
"He had no money. Whoever gave him the money for that hotel may have also given him the cyanide. We need to find that person," Jamal told the Denver Post.
However, Denver police spokesman John White assured that the kind of cyanide Dirie had could be purchased anywhere, since it's the primary ingredient in rat poison.
Dirie told family members that he was going to Denver for vacation. Dirie's sister told CanWest News Service that her brother had been on medication for the past three years to treat his schizophrenia, but that he was not a terrorist.
He was dead for six days inside Room 408 before he was discovered. After the coroner alerted police that cyanide was suspected, firefighters and hazmat crews shut down the hotel for hours and cordoned off the neighborhood.
Cyanide could be fatal if it is inhaled, ingested or touched. It prevents the body from processing oxygen, so it can quickly damage the heart, brain and other organs. It can also be used as a chemical weapon and was used as a genocidal agent by the Nazis in World War II, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The upscale Burnsley Hotel is about two miles away from the Pepsi Center, where the DNC will be held from Aug. 25-Aug. 27. However, it is not on the list of hotels where delegates are staying.
The SJAC (or at least the Exec Dir) evidently don't like the fact that the suicide of a Muslim wasn't covered up properly, and they actually took time out from their criticism of the US Federal government to criticize some locals!
Omar Jamal, Executive Director
of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center
Dirie, a Muslim, was buried last Thursday after a service at the Colorado Muslim Society’s Abu Baker mosque.
Why would there be a terrorism threat against the terrorists best advocates in the US?
I don’t know but it sure looks to me like he had second thoughts and killed himself.
That answer is disingenuous. Rat poison contains warafin, not cyanide. Plus, this guy had a pound of the stuff. That's a bit much for a suicide.
> Plus, this guy had a pound of the stuff. That’s a bit much for a suicide.<
Yes.
More things that make you go hmmm.....
Didn’t know Coumadin was a rat poison. In any case a pound of this stuff is a lot and not something you get at the home depot.
Every time I've bought it, I never got less than a pound (500g)...don't recall it ever being an option.
Note the following...I grabbed this from a common retail chemical supplier's webpage for technical grade NaCN...the smallest amount they have listed is 500g (about 1 pound). Also note the extra packaging and shipping charges...if they are gonna ship it, few people want only a little bit (and I imagine they'd wonder why you wanted only a small amount!).
Yes, since he died in Denver and has family there.
Second thoughts?
Well, if those who want to do us harm are so desperate that they are relying on psychotic, depressed people, and a poor agent like cyanide, then I feel more encouraged that the threat from terrorism is pretty dang low.
It says “he had no money” “unemployed” “who gave him money for a hotel”
hmmm Was he trying to back out of a plot? Is there more out there?
Yes. Cyanide isn't used as a rat poison that often. It's far more often used in the gold extraction business.
Want a good murder mystery that involves Denver and gold and cyanide? Try "An Eye for Gold," by Sarah Andrews, P.G. (Professional Geologist).
In any case a pound of this stuff is a lot
Actually, it's not much. Have you ever bought it, or were you just speculating? I suspect the latter. :-)
***That answer is disingenuous. Rat poison contains warafin, not cyanide. Plus, this guy had a pound of the stuff. That’s a bit much for a suicide. ***
My thoughts exactly when I read it. You beat me to this post.
but FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright told 7NEWS there was no apparent connection to terrorism. Denver police said Dirie's death is an isolated incident and no foul play is suspected.
Investigators still have not said how Dirie obtained the cyanide, how he came to the United States, and why the Ottawa man was staying at a luxury hotel in Denver.
Dirie, a Muslim, was buried last Thursday after a service at the Colorado Muslim Society's Abu Baker mosque.
Jamal said Dirie was unemployed and not particularly religious.
"He had no money. Whoever gave him the money for that hotel may have also given him the cyanide. We need to find that person," Jamal told the Denver Post.
However, Denver police spokesman John White assured that the kind of cyanide Dirie had could be purchased anywhere, since it's the primary ingredient in rat poison.
So what we have here is we don't know how he got into this country. We don't know why he killed himself. We don't know what he was doing with a pound of cyanide. We don't know where he got the stuff from. We don't know who paid for his luxury hotel room.
But we DO know that it wasn't terrorism.
We DO know that he was a muslim, but we DO also know that there's not the minutest chance that this was a terrorist incident. Not no way, not no how could it be related to terrorism.
Do these cops and FBI agents realize how downright stupid and incompetent they sound?? Obviously not.
And the more desperate they are to make people believe this, the more skeptical I become.
ping
Yes...we have to rely upon the Canadians, who HAVE said how he got into the US, etc.
Probably.
Nothing to see here, move along folks.
“Plus, this guy had a pound of the stuff. That’s a bit much for a suicide.”
Sounds more like someone tried to ‘front’ him a ‘drug’, like cocaine or meth, so he could make some money.
He sampled some of the product, and oops, he be dead.
Maybe some dealer thought he was a narc.
FOUR in ten people diagnosed with schizophrenia attempt suicide. He was also noted to be depressed lately, too.
We don't know what he was doing with a pound of cyanide.
Uh, killing himself.
I’m not into drugs...is it typical that you’d stir some of it into a glass of water an drink it?!?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.