Man found dead was being investigated over charity cash

[Dover]

Source: Austin American-Statesman

Bound body of Riad Hamad was found last month in Lady Bird Lake.
By Tony Plohetski

Thursday, May 01, 2008

A man whose body was found in Lady Bird Lake last month had been under investigation by federal authorities who said they could not trace the whereabouts of more than $500,000 he received for his charity, according to a search warrant obtained Wednesday.

Riad Hamad, 55, a teacher at Clint Small Jr. Middle School in Southwest Austin, was found April 16 near Comal Street and Nash Hernandez Sr. Road.

Police have said that they think he might have killed himself and that he had talked about committing suicide.

However, the condition of his body — he was found with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes — has caused others to consider the death suspicious.

Hamad's family has described him as a peace activist who worked to help others locally and internationally.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Hamad operated the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund, which bills itself as an organization to improve the lives of Palestinian children...cont'd



Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/01/0501hamad.html

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An earlier story:

Man found in Lady Bird Lake was teacher, FBI target
Police said that victim, who taught at a Southwest Austin middle school, may have committed suicide.
April 18, 2008

..... Debbie Russell, president of the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter, sent an e-mail Thursday to dozens of activists throughout the city saying that Hamad's death had been ruled a homicide. Russell said in a later interview that she wrote that e-mail after she thought she had heard media reports that Hamad had been killed.

She said in the e-mail that Hamad had recently been under investigation by the FBI — federal officials confirmed the investigation — and described him as "NOT a terrorist but a peaceworker." Hamad was serving as an official for the Austin chapter of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund.

FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said that Hamad had been a "person of interest" in a criminal investigation but that he could not elaborate.

Austin police said Hamad's family reported him missing Monday. Family members released a statement Thursday saying that he disappeared after going to pick up a prescription at a local pharmacy.

Hamad's body was taken to the Travis County medical examiner's office for an autopsy. The office did not respond to an open records request Thursday for information about the case and would not confirm that Hamad's body was there.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/18/0418body.html?cxntlid=inform_sr


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This is a highly suspicious death though little is yet known. This man was well liked and those who knew him can't imagine he'd have taken his own life. The FBI recently searched his home, so many are wondering whether his death was related to that 'visit', and if the media will be permitted to access government info about him.

[AnneD]

1. Yeah...CSI will be the first to tell you that...

bound hands and legs and tape over your eyes are sure signs of suicide :sarcasm:

[boobooday]

5. Indicating he engaged in a real struggle with himself

before he finally prevailed over himself.

NOT!

Maybe the FBI can shed some light on his "suicide" since they were watching him.

[KSinTX]

8. No kidding ... that's just too neat a package

nt

[bbgrunt]

2. suicide, eh? sure.

[redqueen]

3. Why would police say they think he might have killed himself?

:wtf:

[Dover]

4. Well, that's of course why there's so much suspicion

And to my knowledge there has been no explanation for that statement.

Of course if the FBI is pressuring the news people to not get close or ask too many questions,
I doubt it will be possible to get to the bottom of it and even to demonstrate that what is being reported about him by the FBI is even true.

[redqueen]

6. Heh... the possibility of pressure makes me wonder

if the journalist put that in there out of spite.

[krkaufman]

7. Suspicious? Ya think?

he might have killed himself and that he had talked about committing suicide.

However, the condition of his body — he was found with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes — has caused others to consider the death suspicious.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. "Police have said that they think he might have killed himself"

Would that be BEFORE he bound his arms and legs, and taped his eyes, or AFTER?

[AnneD]

10. We had another suspecious death in Houston....

Well the method was cut and dry but he is raising some eyebrows....



Was it a spy, or would-be spy, in that SUV?
By LINDSAY WISE, DALE LEZON and MIKE TOLSON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle



Much about Roland Carnaby's life speaks to a long career as a devoted intelligence officer — from his effort to build a local chapter of the professional association to his personal friendships with current and former members of the intelligence community to his respect and affection for law enforcement and its dignitaries.

His home in Pearland is filled with pieces of his patriotic past. Plaques honor his years of service to the Central Intelligence Agency. A book written by former CIA Director George Tenet is inscribed with a warm and playful message. Photos of him at CIA headquarters, in front of military aircraft and with various dignitaries are prominently displayed.

A small room off the front foyer was Carnaby's study. There's an American flag on the wall and a "CIA" coffee mug on the desk.

Now, in the wake of his strange death Tuesday at the conclusion of a high-speed police chase, doubts have been raised about his oft-projected persona as a CIA operative by the agency itself. It bluntly disavowed employing him. Might the denial be little more than standard operating procedure, as his wife suggests? Or could it be that he spent years constructing an elaborate fraud, with a home filled more with artifice than artifacts?

more...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5744733.html

Lot of funny business going on and I don't think it's the Art Car Show.