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No problem PuPP. When I first learned of the first seven deaths, I began to keep track of the deaths of any microbiologists or related scientists that might of died under mysterious circumstances and managed to find a few that not too many people noticed.

One of the earliest deaths that I was able to track down happened in 1998 and one that I'm a little bit suspicious of because he was a well respected microbiologist.


January 7, 1998

Sidney Harshman, well-respected microbiologist, dies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sidney Harshman, an internationally renowned microbiologist, whose career in research, teaching and administration spanned nearly 40 years at Vanderbilt University, died Dec. 25 at his home from complications of diabetes. Harshman, professor of microbiology and immunology, emeritus, was 67.

"He was the world's leading expert on staphylococcal alpha toxins," according to Conrad Wagner, professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt and a close friend of Professor Harshman. "He also deeply cared for other people and was always eager to help his students and colleagues."

Harshman grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and attended Western Reserve University, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry in 1950. He received a Doctor of Science degree in biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University

School of Hygiene and Public Health in l959. That same year he began his career at Vanderbilt as an instructor. He served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School from l976 to 1981.

His work was published in numerous journals. He attended national and international conferences, including the Warsaw International Staphylococcal Conference and the Gordon Conference on Toxins.

He lectured at Dumont in Brussells and at UNESSCO in London. He served as editor for a volume on "Microbial Toxins" of "Methods in Enzymology." He, with his wife, Joan Schwartz Harshman, spent a sabbatical year in Paris, France, as Visiting Professor at the Pasteur Institute.

"Sidney was a scholar in the truest sense of the word and took almost childish delight in academic pursuits," said Jim Snapper, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt, and a neighbor of the Harshmans. He noted that Harshman was proud of his administrative work at Vanderbilt, where he chaired the Faculty Senate for two terms and served on numerous committees.

"He was a very upbeat person who always tried to encourage people beyond their limits, and he was a genuine colleague in the truest sense of the word," said John Hash, professor of microbiology and immunology, emeritus.

Harshman was remembered by his colleagues as being very close to his family. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters: Amy Green, Brentwood, Tenn.; Rachel Harshman, of Dublin, Ireland; one son, Dr. David L. Harshman, New Bern, North Carolina; and five grandchildren. He is survived by one brother, Dr. Morton L. Harshman, Cincinnati, Ohio; and two sisters, Ethel Sherman, Youngstown, Ohio; and Sarah Rosenzweig, Los Angeles, Calif.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Vanderbilt University Graduate School, 411 Kirkland Hall, 37240; or to the Social Justice Committee of the Jewish Temple, 5015 Harding Road, 37205.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News/news/jan98/nr2.html

Here is one that I was just told about. Dallas County's chief epidemiologist Dr. Assefa Tulu was found dead at his desk and apparently died of a stroke hours after he was seen talking on the telephone. Before he became chief epidemiologist he just happened to have designed a system for detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents.



Dallas public health expert died of stroke

Epidemiologist was found Thursday at his desk

08:56 PM CDT on Friday, June 25, 2004
By SHERRY JACOBSON / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas County's chief epidemiologist, who was found Thursday afternoon at his desk, died of a stroke, according to a preliminary autopsy report released Friday.

Dr. Assefa Tulu was found about 5 p.m. by a colleague at the county Department of Health and Human Services offices, said Sgt. Don Peritz, a spokesman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.

Dr. Tulu, 45, was last seen by a co-worker around noon Thursday, sitting at his desk and talking on the telephone. He missed a staff meeting at 1:30 p.m. and was not seen all afternoon, said Zachary Thompson, director of the department.

"At 5 p.m., another epidemiologist went into his office and found him, fallen face down by his chair," he said. "You could not see his body from the door, so anyone who looked in during the afternoon would not have known he was there."

Mr. Thompson said there had been no hint that Dr. Tulu might have been ill, although he had complained in recent days of a sore back.

The death left Dr. Tulu's co-workers devastated, Mr. Thompson said. County workers were seen leaving the health department in tears late Thursday.

"He was a wonderful person, so knowledgeable, intelligent and gentle," said Dr. Karine Lancaster, who retired this week as the county's medical director. "I came back to the office this afternoon when they called me because I just could not believe it."

Family, friends grieve

The department's top officials traveled to Dr. Tulu's home in Mesquite to inform his wife of his death. More than 20 relatives and friends were gathered there Thursday night.

His wife and other female relatives, dressed in black, cried inside the home while others stood on the lawn, making phone calls, trying to find out how Dr. Tulu died.

The couple has three young sons.

"We didn't expect such a disaster. Oh my God," said Yalew Mitiku of Sachse. "He is one of the best men ever seen in our community. He is so respected. He left behind his three kids and his wife."

Family friends said Dr. Tulu often spoke on health issues such as communicable diseases during Ethiopia Day and other events.

"He was so reserved, so gentle. He never drank or smoked," Ayal Atnafu of Dallas said. "Nobody expected this to happen, that Dr. Assefa is going to be dead."

Bioterrorism work

Dr. Tulu joined the health department in 1997 and served for five years as the county's lone epidemiologist. He was charged with tracking the health of the county, including the spread of diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents.

Dr. Tulu received his medical degree from Addis Ababa University in his native Ethiopia in 1984. He earned a doctorate in epidemiology at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London in 1996.

More recently, he was an adjunct professor in epidemiology at the Dallas campus of the University of Texas School of Public Health.

Normally a quiet, mild-mannered man, Dr. Tulu acknowledged his frustration in November 2001 when anxiety over anthrax showed no signs of abating. Even though there were no signs of the dreaded spores in Texas, the local health department tested about 1,000 objects that people believed were tainted, including facial tissues, dusty liquor bottles and junk mail.

Until the 2001 terrorist attacks, the health department was considered understaffed to handle a major catastrophe, such as an anthrax attack. However, a $6.5 million infusion from the federal government added 34 positions, including two new epidemiologists.

For the last two summers, Dr. Tulu oversaw the response to West Nile outbreaks that claimed six lives in the county and caused serious infections in dozens. At weekly news briefings, his was the voice of calm when questions were raised about the need for aerial spraying and other precautions against the virus, which is carried by birds.

"Dr. Tulu was one of the most knowledgeable and aggressive epidemiologists in addressing public health issues in Dallas County," Mr. Thompson said. "This will be a great loss to the citizens here."

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price echoed those sentiments.

"He was a consummate professional," he said. "During the bioterrorism frenzy, he was a steady hand. It's a real tragic loss for this community."

Staff writers Gretel C. Kovach and Margarita Martín-Hidalgo contributed to this report.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw....294884841.html

Here is some more information on Tulu and why I find his death just a bit suspicious.


Dr. Assefa Tulu


Career: Medical director of Gode Hospital in Ethiopia, 1984-85; field coordinator, deputy director and director of the National Organization for the Control of Malaria and Other Vector-borne Diseases, Ethiopia's Ministry of Health, 1986-91; research fellow at the University of London, 1996; chief epidemiologist for Dallas County's Health and Human Services Department, 1997-2004.

Education: Medical degree from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, 1984; master's in community health from the University of London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1989; doctorate in epidemiology at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1996.

Career highlights: Initiated a program to vaccinate children against hepatitis A in Dallas County.

Helped identify and contain outbreaks of SARS and the West Nile virus in Dallas County.

Educated Dallas County officials about the threat of bioterrorist attacks and the medical measures that would be necessary to contain them. His department received a commendation from the FBI for its work during a 2001 anthrax investigation.

Set up a program to monitor and control malaria outbreaks in Ethiopia.

Instituted a special program to provide medical screening and nutritional support to refugees in Ethiopia.

Personal: Married to Eden Ameneshewa Workneh. Father of three young sons.

There was also a medical examiner who had been attacked in Memphis back in 2002. He had been involved in some rather high profile cases including the death of biologist Don Wiley and Katherine Smith. Smith was burned to a crisp the day before a hearing on federal charges of helping five Middle Eastern men obtain fake driver's licenses. I do get suspicious when they use words like "Middle Eastern men". I suspect that they might have been a Mossad group that had been working in the US. I'm not sure if they were captured or what though. I did manage to save the article however. I'm not sure what happened to Smith, but I think that he might of retired. I'll see if I can find out more information about him.


June 03, 2002 at 15:10:24 PDT

Memphis Med. Examiner Attack Probed

MEMPHIS, Tenn.- Medical examiner O.C. Smith, who has worked on some of the city's most puzzling deaths, is at the center of another perplexing case: He was attacked over the weekend, bound with barbed wire and left with a bomb tied to his body.

Smith, 49, was attacked as he left work Saturday night and was found 2 hours later lying in a parking lot.

A bomb squad removed the device and Smith escaped without serious injury, returning to the scene with minor cuts and bruises to assist authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, including a profiler, and the FBI were called in.

The motive for the attack remains unknown, but authorities believe Smith's work in helping police investigate murders and suicides plays a role. As medical examiner, Smith performs autopsies on murder victims from throughout western Tennessee and often testifies in court.

Among his recent cases was the death of Harvard University biologist Don Wiley, whose accidental fall from a Memphis bridge in December fueled fears of terrorist kidnappings. The medical examiner also helped identify the body of Katherine Smith, 49, a state driver's license examiner who was found burned beyond recognition in February the day before a hearing on federal charges of helping five Middle Eastern men obtain fake driver's licenses. No one has been charged in her death.

O.C. Smith's colleagues describe him as a dedicated professional. Deputy Police Chief Bob Wright said Smith takes his work extremely seriously.

"You call him at 2 o'clock in the morning and say you've got a body and he's there," said Wright, a former homicide detective.

Smith, who has declined to talk with reporters since the attack, was left in the parking lot of the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee medical school. He suffered a burn on his face from a chemical thrown or sprayed in his eyes to subdue him.

Gene Marquez, the ATF agent in charge in Memphis, said the bomb strapped to Smith was similar to another "unsophisticated" explosive device found in March in a hallway near Smith's lab.

Both devices were designed to hurt people, Marquez said.

Police have not publicly made a link between the explosives and a letter threatening Smith that was sent to the district attorney's office in June 2001.

The anonymous letter was sent while a judge was hearing evidence in the case of convicted murderer Philip Workman, whose attorneys were trying to get his death sentence overturned. The attorneys challenged the validity of Smith's laboratory tests, which had aided prosecutors.

Smith's testimony supported Workman's conviction on charges of murdering a Memphis police officer in 1981. Workman doesn't deny taking part in a shootout with police but says the fatal bullet was fired by a fellow officer, not him. The courts have stayed the execution and Workman remains on death row.

The typed letter accused Smith of lying and referred to Workman as an innocent "LAMB OF GOD."

"Long have I waited for my HOLY ORDER to fight against the DOCTOR-KILLER abortionists, but now I know OUR LORD was saving me for something larger," the letter said.

The letter writer said he was incensed by a claim by one of Workman's attorneys that Smith had shaded his testimony against Workman. Smith said at the time that he had not received any letters himself but was taking the threats "very seriously."

Smith was named chief medical examiner in January 1999 after working as an assistant pathologist in Memphis for more than 20 years.

Known as an expert on firearms and ballistics, Smith is a captain in the Naval Reserves Medical Corps and served active duty in Desert Storm. He also is an associate professor of forensic pathology at the medical school where his office located.

He once said in a newspaper interview that he picked Memphis as his place to practice forensic pathology because the medical examiner's office was associated with a medical school and because the city had a high murder rate.

Here is a link to one of the articles about the Smith case BTW.

http://billstclair.com/911timeline/2002/ap060402.html

Here is an update on Smith. It seems that he was charged with possessing an illegal bomb and lying about being attacked by an unknown assailant on June 2, 2002. Now that is really strange.



Posted on Tue, Jun. 22, 2004


Shelby County names new medical examiner

Associated Press


MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Shelby County has hired a new medical examiner to replace Dr. O.C. Smith, who was indicted on federal charges of falsely claiming he was the victim of an attack.

Dr. Karen Chancellor, a University of Memphis graduate, was confirmed Monday by the county commission. The 10-0 vote appointed Chancellor, 46, to a six-year term. Her salary is still being negotiated.

Chancellor told the county commission that the Medical Examiner's Office needs upgrades including a new forensic center building and additional forensic pathologists to perform autopsies.

Chancellor said her office should perform more than the "bare minimum" number of autopsies that are being conducted, mainly in homicide cases and suspected murders. Learning how more people are dying in Shelby County will help the medical examiner's office "serve as a monitor for the public health," she said.

Smith was charged with possessing an illegal bomb and lying about being attacked by an unknown assailant on June 2, 2002. A bomb squad removed a motion-sensitive bomb from around the neck of Smith, who was treated for cuts, bruises and a chemical burn to the face.

Smith has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Chancellor was selected after a national search conducted by a committee of the Memphis Medical Society.

She graduated from Overton High School in Memphis and received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Memphis. She received her medical degree from Duke University in 1985.

Chancellor spent eight years as associate chief medical examiner for the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/new.../8980708.htm?1c

Someone must of really scared him.


Shelby County Medical Examiner's Indictment

Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing

Promoting Alternatives to Capital Punishment in Tennessee

Statement Shelby County Medical Examiner’s Indictment

The indictment of Shelby County medical examiner O.C. Smith by a Shelby County grand jury is extremely troubling. A high profile law enforcement officer has been accused of faking his own abduction, putting the lives of his fellow law enforcement officers at serious and imminent risk, and lying to federal law enforcement agents.

We concur with the assessment of ATF Special Agent in Charge James M. Cavanaugh who said, “When a prominent figure in law enforcement such as the Medical Examiner is charged with a crime, it strikes at the heart of our criminal justice system.”

As troubling as, and perhaps more damaging to public faith in the criminal justice system, are the statements of Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons. It is the pinnacle of hubris and arrogance for Gibbons to state as he did that, “Today’s federal indictment of Dr. Smith has no bearing on the validity of his expert testimony in trials. I am not ruling out the possible use of Dr. Smith in future trials”

Smith’s testimony at a 2001 clemency hearing for Philip Workman was critical in that Board’s recommendation to then Governor Sundquist against clemency.

Philip Workman's lawyers presented irrefutable proof from the nation's foremost forensic expert that he did not shoot Lt. Oliver. The only opposing expert witness was O.C. Smith. Smith perjured himself before the clemency board in Philip Workman's case.

A law enforcement officer’s credibility is vital to public trust in the criminal justice system. If Smith perjured himself at a clemency hearing, faked his own abduction, and lied to federal investigators, his credibility is zero. Gibbons failure to acknowledge this casts shadows upon his own credibility.

Governor Bredesen’s actions regarding the Workman case cast him in sharp contrast to both Smith and Gibbons. He has exhibited a deliberative belief in fairness that sets an example that all public officials would do well to emulate.

Other Shelby County death row cases such as that of Erskine Johnson call into question the culture of prosecutorial behavior in Shelby County.

The Governor should now contemplate a temporary postponement – a “time-out” - of all executions in the state for a 3-year period during which a thorough and independent study of Tennessee’s death penalty system can be conducted.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=1&did=879

Now this is a very interesting article. It seems that two pathologists were silenced.

Sunday, 09/28/03    |    Middle Tennessee News & Information

Two pathologists under fire

By ROB JOHNSON
Staff Writer

Two high-profile scientists, known to practice in gruesome settings, brightly lighted laboratories and wood-paneled courtrooms, find themselves at the centers of separate storms, one in southwestern Tennessee, the other in the Nashville area.

The controversies leave a wide swath of Tennessee operating with medical examiners who find themselves — fairly or not — the subject of intense legal and media scrutiny. Defense attorneys whose clients are on trial, in part, because of forensic evidence developed by Dr. Charles Harlan of Nashville or Dr. O.C. Smith of Memphis are on especially high alert.

In Middle Tennessee, Harlan is a forensic pathologist who once served as Davidson County's medical examiner and as the state's chief medical examiner. He is now a respondent in a slow-motion hearing before the state Board of Medical Examiners. The board is considering whether to issue sanctions that could include his being stripped of his medical license.

In charges brought by the state Department of Health, Harlan has been accused, among other things, of coming to incorrect conclusions in autopsies, of mishandling evidence and of attaching a radio tracking device to an unwitting associate's car.

Meanwhile, Harlan continues to serve as a forensic pathologist to multiple counties in the middle of the state, performing autopsies at the rate of about 400 a year, according to his attorney, Dan Warlick. Warlick has characterized the state's 27 charges against his client, which include allegations of unprofessional conduct, as ''a witch hunt.''

In Memphis, Smith has served as Shelby County's medical examiner for more than 20 years. In June 2002, about 15 months ago, he was found outside his office, wrapped in barbed wire and strapped to a bomb. He told police that someone jumped him as he left his office near downtown Memphis. The attacker, he said, splashed a caustic substance in his face before wrapping him into a bizarre and potentially explosive knot. Smith, who was found by a security guard, was not seriously injured.

The bomb prompted investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to step in, and as of yet, they have been unable to determine who did the deed. They are still on the case.

While Smith has been charged with no crime, unspecified developments in the case have apparently prompted Gov. Phil Bredesen, at the recommendation of state Attorney General Paul Summers, to postpone the scheduled execution of Philip Workman.

Citing a 15-month-old investigation, Bredesen granted Workman a reprieve Sept. 15. Workman's execution had been scheduled for Sept. 24.

Neither the governor nor the attorney general will say which 15-month-old federal investigation in West Tennessee prompted them to put a hold on the execution. But there cannot be that many.

Smith was a witness for the prosecution in post-conviction evidentiary hearings, testifying that Workman's bullet killed Memphis police Lt. Ronald Oliver in 1981. It is testimony that is hotly disputed by Workman's attorneys, who say Smith's scientific rationale for proving that an aluminum-jacketed bullet killed Oliver was specious.

Summers has said that the case that prompted the reprieve does not directly affect the central facts of the Workman case but that it is related closely enough to give the state attorney general's office pause. Still, he will give no details about the case that put off a lethal injection.

The connect-the-dots doubt about Smith is obvious enough to Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton. He is making immediate preparations to remove Smith from his job, based on his understanding that Smith may be unable to serve as an effective witness in upcoming trials.

Brian Kuhn, Shelby County's attorney, wrote Summers on Thursday:

''We are informed through recent press stories that Dr. Smith will probably not be called as a witness as Medical Examiner in Shelby County Attorney General cases. Assuming the validity of this statement, it is our opinion that Dr. Smith is at least temporarily unable to perform the duties of his office, if not totally unable to fulfill the duties of his office.''

Wharton is asking his county health department to consult with the local medical society to come up with at least two names to take the job, his spokeswoman, Susan Adler Thorp, said.

Since then Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons — whose prosecutors have for two decades relied on Smith's regular testimony and whose office is still pressing for Workman's execution — issued a statement denying that his office ever indicated that it would not use Smith to testify:

''We do not comment on what witnesses we may or may not use in future trials. At no time have we ruled out the possible use of Dr. Smith in the future,'' Gibbons said.

Smith's attorney, Jim Garts, laments the momentum that is building against his client.

''We were disappointed that the county seems to be taking this extreme position and action on this,'' Garts said. ''There's a lot of innuendo and allegations floating around, and we're absolutely denying those innuendoes and allegations.

''Unfortunately the county, through the county mayor and others, are taking this hard-line approach, simply because there is an investigation going on.''

Smith's reputation as a pathologist is stellar, Garts said. He finds himself defending a man who, after receiving threatening anonymous letters in relation to his testimony against Workman, was bound one night in barbed wire.

Smith still conducts autopsies for counties throughout West Tennessee, just as Harlan has done for jurisdictions in the Mid- state.

Throughout the summer, for a few days each month, Harlan has listened to the state present his case to the state Board of Medical Examiners, which oversees doctors' licensing.

This autumn, Harlan begins to present his defense. The hearings are expected to stretch, piecemeal, until at least November.

Among those slated to appear as expert witnesses in Harlan's behalf:

Shelby County Medical Examiner O.C. Smith. 

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/0.../40074739.shtml

Context of 'June 1, 2002'

This page shows all events that either reference, or are referenced by, the event 'June 1, 2002'.

November 16, 2001 Complete 911 Timeline

Dead microbiologist: Dr. Don Wiley, 57, disappears during a business trip to Memphis, Tennessee. [Fox News, 11/24/01] He had just bought tickets to take his son to Graceland the following day. Police found his rental car on a bridge outside Memphis. His body was later found in the Mississippi River. Forensic experts said he may have had a dizzy spell and fallen off the bridge. Police will only say, “We began this investigation as a missing person investigation. From there it went to a more criminal bent.” [CNN, 11/29/01] “Wiley is seen as one of the world's leading researchers of deadly viruses, including HIV and the Ebola virus.” [CNN, 12/22/01] Wiley worked at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard University, and was an expert on the immune system's response to viral attacks. He was widely regarded as the nation's foremost expert in using special X-ray cameras and mathematical formulas to make high-resolution images of viruses. [Boston Globe, 12/21/01] The FBI is monitoring the investigation because of his research knowledge. [Globe and Mail 5/4/02]

February 10, 2002 Complete 911 Timeline

Katherine Smith is killed one day before her scheduled appearance in court on charges she helped five Muslim terrorists get illegal drivers licenses. Her car supposedly hit a tree and then caught on fire. The FBI later determined that gasoline was poured on her clothing before she died in the fire. A suicide note was found, but prosecutors say they are looking for murder suspects. One of the five Muslims, Sakhera Hammad, was found with a pass for the WTC, dated September 5, 2001, in his wallet. Hammad claims he was a plumber and worked on the WTC's sprinkler system that day (see September 5, 2001). Smith was being investigated by the FBI; the five later plead guilty to charges of fraud. [AP 2/13/02; Reuters 2/15/02; Go Memphis 2/12/02; Memphis Commercial Appeal 2/21/02]

March 13, 2002 Complete 911 Timeline

A bomb and two smaller explosive-type devices are found and defused in the stairwell outside of the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center, Memphis, Tennessee, where county medical examiner Dr. O. C. Smith works. Smith states, “We have done several high-profile cases from (missing Harvard researcher) Dr. (Don) Wiley to Katherine Smith but there has been no indication that we offended anyone… We just don't know if we were the intended target or not.” The police state, “It potentially could have been a large blast if exploded.” The mystery gets deeper: in June, Dr. Smith is attacked, bound with barbed wire and left with a bomb tied to his body (see June 1, 2002). [Memphis Commercial Appeal 3/14/02]


June 1, 2002 Complete 911 Timeline

Memphis, Tennessee, medical examiner O.C. Smith is attacked with chemical spray, bound with barbed wire, and left lying in a nearby parking lot with a bomb tied to his body. He is rescued several hours later. In recent months, Smith has been working on two interesting cases. One is the death of Harvard University microbiologist Don Wiley, who supposedly fell from a Memphis bridge in December (see November 16, 2001). He also helped identify the body of Katherine Smith, a state driver's license examiner who was found burned beyond recognition in February 2002, a day before a hearing on federal charges of helping five Middle Eastern men obtain fake driver's licenses (see February 10, 2002). Adding to the mystery, Smith had received a series of death threat letters early in 2001. [AP, 6/4/02]

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a070102

There was also a Russian surgeon who was fatally struck by a car in Connecticut as he supposedly fled a store with three stolen rolls of film. Now why would he do something like that?


Russian Surgeon, 24, Dies on Highway While Fleeing Police

By Masha Herbst
Associated Press Writer
Dec 11, 2001

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A 24-year-old Russian surgeon studying in Connecticut was fatally struck by a car as he fled a store with three stolen rolls of film, police said.

Doctors who worked with Roman Kuzmin at Waterbury Hospital said they were stunned to hear of his death Sunday evening and many couldn't believe the circumstances.

"I think that's rubbish," said Ted Kennon, a Yale physician who worked closely with Kuzmin. "I'd be very surprised if there was anything to that."

According to police, Kuzmin was carrying the film when he walked outof BJ's Wholesale Club in Waterbury and security guards chased him across a parking lot after an alarm sounded.

By the time two police officers arrived, Kuzmin had fled into aravine that runs along Interstate 84, Capt. Paul Bruce said. When the officers' flashlights came upon Kuzmin, he scrambled up the embankment and onto the highway.

"The officers warned him to stop, not to go into the highway," Bruce said.

Kuzmin left Vladivostok in September to study orthopedic surgical techniques at Waterbury Hospital under a Keggi Othopedic Foundation program. Dr. Kristaps Keggi, who organized the program, said Kuzmin was "very able, very bright - a superb student and a superb individual."

Keggi said he thought it impossible that the young man would steal.He said Kuzmin was so honest that he refused to take toilet paper from the surgeon's lounge when he ran out at his apartment.

Kuzmin's parents have begun the 6,400-mile journey to Waterbury and are expected to arrive Wednesday evening to claim their son's body, Keggi said. Igor Kuzmin is a prominent orthopedic surgeon in Vladivostok.

"It's an amazing loss for us personally, and an amazing loss forRussia too, because he was a man who was going to be a leading person in Russian orthopedic surgery, without question," Keggi said.

http://www.missouri.edu/~quinnl/news/kuzmin.html

Now that is really strange JenThom. I find it hard to believe that someone would stra a bomb to himself, wrap himself up in barbed wire and spray himself with mace. I don't even think those guys from JackA$$ would even be able to do such a thing. Also I find it a bit suspicious that the other doctor was accused of, among other things, attaching a radio tracking device to an unwitting associate's car.

I was right about there being more than 20 scientists that died PuPP. !n the first 20 months alone there were 19.

19 microbiologists die in suspicious circumstances in the last 20 months....

In chronological order they are....

November 6, 2001: Jeffrey Paris' body was found sprawled next to a three-story parking structure near his office. Mr. Wall, 41, had studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a biomedical expert who held a medical degree, and he also specialized in patent and intellectual property.

November 16, 2001: Dr. Don Wiley, 57, disappears during a business trip to Memphis, Tennessee. He had just bought tickets to take his son to Graceland the following day. Police found his rental car on a bridge outside Memphis. His body was later found in the Mississippi River. Wiley was one of the world's leading researchers of deadly viruses, including HIV and the Ebola virus. He was an expert on the immune system's response to viral attacks

November 21, 2001: World-class microbiologist and high-profile Russian defector Dr. Vladimir Pasechnik, 64, dies of a stroke. Pasechnik, who defected to Britain in 1989, succeeded in producing an aerosolized plague microbe that could survive outside the laboratory. He was connected to Britain's spy agency and recently had started his own company. "In the last few weeks of his life he had put his research on anthrax at the disposal of the [British] Government, in the light of the threat from bioterrorism.

November 24, 2001: Three more dead microbiologists: A Swissair flight from Berlin to Zurich crashes during its landing approach; 22 are killed and nine survive. Among those killed are Dr. Yaakov Matzner, 54, dean of the Hebrew University school of medicine; Amiramp Eldor, 59, head of the haematology department at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and a world-recognized expert in blood clotting; and Avishai Berkman, 50, director of the Tel Aviv public health department and businessman

December 10, 2001: Dead microbiologist: "Dr. Robert Schwartz, 57, was stabbed and slashed with what police believe was a sword in his farmhouse in Leesberg, Va. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged." [Globe and Mail, 5/4/02] All were part of what they called a coven, and interested in magic, fantasy and self-mutilation. The police have no motive as to why they would have wanted to kill Schwartz, who was a single parent and said to be very close to his children. Schwartz worked at Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology on DNA sequencing and pathogenic microorganisms.

December 14, 2001: Dead microbiologist: Nguyen Van Set, 44, dies in an airlock filled with nitrogen in his lab in Geelong, Australia. The lab had just been written up in the journal Nature for its work in genetic manipulation and DNA sequencing. Scientists there had created a virulent form of mousepox. "They realized that if similar genetic manipulation was carried out on smallpox, an unstoppable killer could be unleashed,"

January 2002: Two dead microbiologists: Ivan Glebov and Alexi Brushlinski. Glebov died as the result of a bandit attack and Brushlinski was killed in Moscow. Both were well known around the world and members of the Russian Academy of Science.

February 9, 2002: Dead microbiologist: Victor Korshunov, 56, is bashed over the head and killed at the entrance of his home in Moscow, Russia. He was the head of the microbiology sub-faculty at the Russian State Medical University and an expert in intestinal bacteria.

February 11, 2002: Dead microbiologist: Dr. Ian Langford, 40, is found dead, partially naked and wedged under a chair in his home in Norwich, England. When found, his house was described as "blood-spattered and apparently ransacked." He was one of Europe's leading experts on environmental risk.

February 28, 2002: Two dead microbiologists in San Francisco: While taking delivery of a pizza, Tanya Holzmayer, 46, is shot and killed by a colleague, Guyang Huang, 38, who then apparently shot himself. Holzmayer moved to the US from Russia in 1989. Her research focused on the part of the human molecular structure that could be affected best by medicine. Holzmayer was focusing on helping create new drugs that interfere with replication of the virus that causes AIDS. One year earlier, Holzmayer obeyed senior management orders to fire Huang.

March 24, 2002: Dead microbiologist: David Wynn-Williams, 55, is hit by a car while jogging near his home in Cambridge, England. He was an astrobiologist with the Antarctic Astrobiology Project and the NASA Ames Research Center. He was studying the capability of microbes to adapt to environmental extremes, including the bombardment of ultraviolet rays and global warming.

March 25, 2002: Dead microbiologist: Steven Mostow, 63, dies when the airplane he was piloting crashes near Denver, Colorado. He worked at the Colorado Health Sciences Centre and was known as "Dr. Flu" for his expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of the country's leading infectious disease experts.

November 12 2002: Dr. Benito Que, 52, was "an expert in infectious diseases and cellular biology at the Miami Medical School. Police originally suspected that he had been beaten on in a carjacking in the medical school's parking lot. Strangely enough, though, his body showed no signs of a beating.

June 24, 2003: Dr. Leland Rickman, a UC San Diego expert on infectious diseases and, since Sept. 11, 2001 a consultant on bioterrorism. He was 47. Rickman died while on a teaching assignment in Lesotho, a small country bordered on all sides by South Africa. He had complained of a headache, but the cause of death was not immediately known. The physician had been working in Lesotho with Dr. Chris Mathews, director of the UC San Diego Medical Center's Owen Clinic, teaching African medical personnel about the prevention and treatment of AIDS. Rickman, the incoming president of the Infectious Disease Assn. of California, was a multidisciplinary professor and practitioner with expertise in infectious diseases, internal medicine, epidemiology, microbiology and antibiotic utilization

July 18, 2003: David Kelly, a British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed his own wrists while walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of Defence's chief scientific officer and senior adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the Foreign Office's non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on biological weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994 to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only in this country, but in the world.

The article was posted here but the link no longer seems to work.

http://www.geocities.com/orgonegal/doom.html

It's a good thing that I save these types of articles.

Here are a few more links concerning a few of the dead scientists.

Complete 911 Timeline: Anthrax attacks and microbiologists

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timelin...e&theme=anthrax

Five Dead Biologists Linked To Howard Hughes Medical Institute

http://www.rense.com/general20/fivedeadHH.htm

Dead Microbiologists Linked To Ethno-Specific BioWeapons

http://www.rense.com/general40/dead.htm

I decided to try and find out if I could find any more information concerning that nameless scientist that died of chemical inhalation outside of Ciphergen Biosystems in Fremont and haven't had too much luck yet.


UPDATE: FREMONT OFFICIALS FIND TOXIC CHEMICALS

FREMONT (BCN)

Fremont officials investigating a suicide scene today said they found three containers of chemicals that may have been used in the death, including a missing vial of potassium cyanide that necessitated a hazmat operation this morning.

One vial of white powder thought to be potassium cyanide, two containers of an unknown liquid and a second note were found on the same side of the Ciphergen Biosystems building as the body of one of its employees.

Another employee of the company at 6611 Dumbarton Circle found the body and called police. Investigators searched the 29-year-old man's workplace and found a note indicating he would commit suicide using the toxic chemicals he had access to, officials said.

"It was very systematic,'' said Jeff Swadener of the Fremont Police Department. "He really didn't want to cause anyone grief or hardship by doing it at his desk.''

The man left personal belongings, instructions for family members and keys to his office, Swadener said.

Officials soon realized that a 25-gram vial of potassium cyanide was missing from the business.

"We're pretty sure we found that at the dumpster area,'' Swadener said.

Earlier reports of missing hydrogen cyanide were incorrect. Potassium cyanide mixed with an acid becomes becomes a poisonous substance called hydrochloride cyanide.

The man could have inhaled the combination of chemicals and walked from the dumpster area in the northwest corner of the building where the containers were found to the southwest corner, where his body was found.

The approximately 175 Ciphergen Biosystems employees were sent home from work this morning, according to Fremont Fire Division Chief Geoff LaTendresse.

According to the company's Web site, Ciphergen develops, manufactures and markets a family of ProteinChip systems and services for clinical, research, and process applications of proteomics, the study of proteins within tissue. The company has been located in Fremont for about four years, LaTendresse said.

Officials from the Alameda County Coroner's Office left to pick up the body at 3 p.m. and will perform an autopsy tomorrow, a coroner's spokesman said. Depending on the poisons involved, the body may need to sit in a freezer for a couple of days until it is safe to work on, he said.

http://www.kpix.com/news/bcn/2004/04/23/n/...IALS-FOUND.html

It wold be nice if I could find out some more information about him but I didn't find it here:

Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc. News

http://www.topix.net/com/ciph

The only difference between the two medical examiners it appears, is that Smith was one of the good guys and Harlan was one of the bad guys. Another thing is that Harlan got in trouble back in 1995 for mishandling autopsies and destroying evidence besides attaching tracking devices to cars. Perhaps Smith was going to bury him and he was silenced before he could testify in the Harlan case.


State drops two charges against Harlan

The state health department has dropped two charges against former state medical examiner Charles Harlan.

Dr. Harlan is accused of mishandling autopsies and destroying evidence. The state is fighting to revoke his license and he still faces 24 charges. Harlan has not been the state medical examiner since 1995, but some counties still privately contract him to preform autopsies.

News 2 at 6 pm
6.18.04

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1953313&nav=1ugFO2YA

And yes Harlan is still prerforming autopsies. As recently as this June so he still has the potential to cover things up and destroy evidence. No wonder why they got Smith.


Man Drowns Saturday at Reservoir

By: Wayne Thomas June 15, 2004

A Hillsboro man drowned in Woods Reservoir Saturday while on an outing with two friends. The dead man was identified as Ricky D. Foster, 46, of Hillsboro.

According to Franklin County Sheriff Investigator Troy Jernigan, Foster, along with Joe Murphy and John Myers, also of Hillsboro, launched their boat from the "Sam" area of Woods Reservoir Saturday afternoon when rough waters caused by an approaching storm convinced the men to turn back toward the shore.

"Before they turned toward the old Franklin County Beach area, their boat was hit by a strong wave. Then a second wave slammed into the boat which caused the nose of the boat to go underwater and dumped the men out," Jernigan stated.
The men then started to try and swim to the shore.

According to the investigator, Murphy reached the old Franklin County Beach area but turned and went back out to try and rescue the others.

"He was able to get Mr. Myers to the shore," Jernigan said. "They started yelling and trying to get help. Tracy Lightfoot of Estill Springs jumped into the water while Quinn Lightfoot called 9-1-1."

According to the investigator, Tracy Lightfoot was able to reach Foster, who was hanging onto a cooler.

"Tracy was able to get a hold of Foster and started to the shore but because of the storm he was unable to hang on to him," Jernigan said.

Deputy Jennifer Grubbs had arrived on the scene and called for the Franklin County Rescue Squad.

"Shortly afterwards, Estill Springs Officer Jason Brockman and Deputy Ray Davis arrived and they jumped into the water to also try and rescue Mr. Foster." The officers were unable to save him.

Members of the Franklin County Rescue Squad arrived and started to search for Foster's body. According to Jernigan, rescue member Martin Tyler recovered Foster's body approximately an hour later.

Assisting Jernigan in the investigation were AEDC Security Investigator Steve Luttrell, Tennessee Wildlife Officers Tommy Wannyn and Wayne Sanders.

Mr. Foster's body was transported to Southern Tennessee Medical Center where
he was pronounced dead by dead by the county medical examiner. His body was transported to Nashville where Dr. Charles Harlan performed an autopsy.

Rural Metro Ambulance Service transported Myers to Southern Tennessee Medical Center. Myers was later transferred him to Huntsville Hospital. A spokesperson for the hospital was unable to provide a condition on Myers Monday morning.

Jernigan said Monday morning that investigators are continuing to investigate the accident.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=161...9&PAG=461&rfi=9

What a perfect way to cover something up. Dr. Harlan has performed autopsies as a contract employee for various counties across the State of Tennessee.

STATE OF TENNESSEE,
Plaintiff,

v.

CHARLES W. HARLAN, M.D.,
individually, and FORENSIC
PATHOLOGY ASSOCIATES, P.C.,
a domestic corporation,

Defendants.

http://www.state.tn.us/consumer/harlanco.html