Singapore seeks FBI help over Shane Todd death
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Lawyers for Shane Todd's family offer various hypothesis in an attempt to show that he did not take his own life
In the afternoon session of day two of the Coroner's Inquiry into the death of American researcher Shane Todd lawyers for the Todd family threw up another possibility - that the suicide notes left behind were not written by Dr Todd.
They pointed to a sentence in which Dr Todd spoke about "fishing and snorkeling in the Keys", an area in South Florida.
The lawyers argued that Dr Todd could not have written the line as the word "Keys" was misspelled.
Mr Sidhu said Dr Todd grew up in the area and would not have gotten the spelling of "Keys" wrong.
The correct spelling is "Keyes".
A handwriting expert from the Health Sciences Authority told the court later that the handwriting on post-it notes found in Dr Todd's bedroom matched his writings in his notebook.
One of the post-its had a password written on it.
When officers used the password to access Dr Todd's computer, they found the suicide notes.
Also revealed in court - DNA imprints of 4 other unknown persons were found on the towel and strap which were wrapped around Dr Todd's neck.
The strap was cut by police officers at the scene when they brought down Dr Todd's body.
Earlier in the day, lawyers for the Todd family offered various hypotheses in an attempt to show that Dr Todd did not take his own life.
This led to a robust exchange with Senior State Counsel Tai Wei Shyong who asked if their line of questioning are statements of fact or mere allegations.
This prompted counsel for the Todd family, Amarjit Singh Sidhu to say that he is "not making any wild suggestions".
The Todd family's lawyers raised several possibilities this morning.
Among them - was it be possible that Dr Todd died elsewhere and his body moved to his apartment, since no blood stains were found? Was it possible that furniture in Dr Todd's apartment were moved back to its original position to give an impression that there was no struggle?
An attempt to show a police news release in court was disallowed by District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt.
The Todd family's lawyers again alleged that material evidence at the scene was not preserved.
They argued that Dr Todd's body should not have been brought down from a hanging position before forensics arrived.
Officers who were questioned reiterated that it is protocol to bring down a body in a hanging case as the priority is to save a life.
The court heard again that Dr Todd's apartment was not ransacked, there was no sign of a struggle, no signs of forced entry and no blood stains were found.
At one point, the Todd family's lawyers tried to show that a different version of how Dr Todd had died was told to his family.
The lawyers alleged that Investigating Officer Khaldun Sharif had told Dr Todd's parents that police found holes drilled in the wall in Dr Todd's bedroom and there were ropes with pulleys attached to the toilet door.
Officer Khaldun has not taken the stand.
On Monday, the court heard that Dr Todd was found hanged with a black cord from the bathroom door in his bedroom.
Police officers found suicide notes left behind to his friends and family.
It was also revealed that Dr Todd had sought treatment for depression and accessed suicide and depression-related websites prior to his death.
The 31-year-old was found hanged in his Singapore apartment in June last year in an apparent suicide.
His parents though believe he was murdered over work he did, possibly involving technology transfers to China while working for the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) here. -
I think he was murdered by the CIA
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I also have my own theories.
Enemies of ???? by Summer Hill
Shane Todd death theories (from my imagination)
An engineer was packing his bags, leaving Singapore for home. The doorbell rang. He opened the door, only to find a very frightened women at his door
Woman: Help me! I have to make a phone call to the Police now! An innocent man has been embroiled in a deadly government conspiracy, and he's going to get killed!Shane: Who? What? Which government? (heads towards his phone)*Someone fell from the ceiling and grabs him by the neck**Woman open the door with a key her partner handed to her*Shane: Hey, what are you doin-- Let me go no-- (struggles to breathe)*Woman closes the door and grab his leg*Woman: Shi ni lah, idiot. (Proceeds to sit on Shane's legs to restraint him)After restraining(and strangling) him for 10 mins, the two people drill the walls, puts everything in place, copies the details of the HDD makes it like a suicide and left the apartment.-Theory 2: Death by burglar(smart ones!)
by Summer Hill's imagination
Shane, the bright and young engineer, was getting some much-needed after the long hard day. Soon! He will be out of his stressful lifestyle.
Somewhere on June, 2012, 3:15am
Burglar A: Damn it, this door won't open! Are you sure you got the right key?
Burglar B: What? You can't even do something so simple? You so gu niang!
*A flings the handle to the left*
*The two burglars makes so much noise Shane was awaken and he saw them there*
Shane: What the hell are you doing in MY HOUSE!!??
A: Techincally, this is your private property sir, and I have a warrant to secretly entered your house to bug it
B: The rules are rules for a reason, you know. You would make my life easier by handling ALL your hard drive for us to fish out all your evidence of crimes.
A: We have been secretly tracking you for weeks. We know who you are talking to. I bet you don't want to spend your time in jail while we processes your history further.
Shane, stupidly, took out his hard drive and gave it to the "officers" (aka burglars)
A: Thank you for your coopera-
*B use a stun-gun on Shane*
B: QUICKLY!!! KILL HIM!!! HE CAN RECOGNISED US!!! HE WILL NEVER LET US GO!! USE THIS CHANCE TO KILL HIM!!
*A use a cord to strangle Shane while B sits on Shane legs*
A: Okay, this look very bad. We need to make this look like a suicide. B, write the sucide note and you help me with carrying this guy. I am going to make a pulley. Destory all evidence too. Most of all, don't take too much cash!!
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Shane Todd's death a suicide, State Counsel said in closing submission
There was overwhelming evidence that American researcher Shane Todd killed himself, the State said in its closing submissions on Monday morning.
In contrast, there was a "conspicuous absence of any evidence" that supported the theory that the ex-Singapore Institute of Microelectronics (IME) employee was murdered, despite his parents' allegations, said Senior State Counsel Tai Wei Shyong.
"During the course of the inquiry, counsel for the next-of-kin questioned the professionalism of the police and called into question the findings of independent Health Sciences Authority experts," Mr Tai read from prepared remarks. "However, they did not provide any evidence of how Shane might have been killed, or by whom," he said in his closing submission for the coroner's inquiry into Dr Todd's death.
The State Coroner will deliver his verdict on July 8.
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Good interpol betwwen SPF and FBI?
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parents say they will continue to seek the truth..............................