"There is no evidence of foul play," the official said.
| The U.S. defense attaché in Cyprus was found dead in a remote rural area of the Mediterranean island Monday, four days after he disappeared with his diplomatic car. An official indicated that he committed suicide.
A police statement said an autopsy showed Lt. Col. Thomas Mooney bled to death from a cut to the throat.
US Diplomat found dead in rural Cyprus |
I know. We have a society obsessed with evidence: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; CSI: Miami; Law and Order, ad finitum; Without a Trace.
But this is a story I'm having real difficulty with.
I don’t know enough about methods of suicide or the mentality of those who would take their own lives by cutting their throats. However, there are several signal flags in this story that raise the hairs on the back of my neck. Some of them seem connected, some of them seem coincidence. I suspect there will be no real truth revealed due to the apparent lack of investigation occurring at the diplomatic level.
A Cypriot official involved in the autopsy, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the diplomat "had a wound in the neck which is compatible with self-infliction."
US Diplomat found dead in rural Cyprus
Lt. Colonel Thomas Mooney went missing last Thursday and was found on Monday. By Tuesday morning, the State Department was confident enough to tell the media that this was not an act of terror, nor did it have any impact on security.
NICOSIA (Reuters) - The United States described the death of its military attache on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus as a "personal tragedy" on Tuesday with no security implications.
U.S. calls Cyprus diplomat death personal tragedy
It's possible there was a note, but no confirmation of this. If he did commit suicide, should we be concerned about what Defense information he may have left unprotected upon his demise? Are we certain this has no "security implications"?
Another interesting subtext to this story has to do with CIA rendition flights. Cyprus was one of the chain of 13 or 14 countries used as a stopover and staging nation for CIA extraordinary renditions.
Okay. So what is there to analyze?
One. He’s an Army guy, a career diplomat. A Defense attaché. Why would he use a knife when he might be more proficient with his standard issue sidearm, which one would think might be the choice of a military man? Of all the suicides in Westerners, cutting one's own throat is quite low on the list – in fact, using a knife at all is more the choice of a female than a male, according to several studies. The overall national suicide method of choice (by somewhere between 55% and 60%) is by gun. Additionally, the gun is the choice of suicide weapons with more military in general - studies of US military veterans bear this out.
Two. It's risky to cut your own throat unless you slice right across the windpipe and through to the carotid. Tough muscles surround both the windpipe and the neck structure, especially in a male.
Three. Lt. Colonel Mooney was found on Monday and the Cyprus authorities, using Cypriot forensics I presume, released their results by Tuesday. How much investigation was actually performed? It is not indicated the Cypriot investigation is being followed up by any military or State Department investigation.
Four. He was on rural road, miles (approximately 28 miles) from the city of Nicosia. If he were alone on a lonely road, out there with the intent to commit suicide, why did he leave his car to slice his own throat? Why did he lock his car after he stepped out and before he committed suicide?
Five. Friends who knew him and one who has recently seen him apparently do not buy the suicide angle either.
| Mooney, 45, grew up in Edgewood, and graduated from Cranston High School East and the University of Rhode Island, according to several friends who refuse to believe Mooney could have taken his own life.
"It’s inconceivable to me," said Stephen Laffey, the former Cranston mayor who has been a lifelong friend of Mooney. "He loved being in the military. He was happy to serve his country."
(excerpt continued below)
|
Mooney’s home in the United States was in Florida, according to Nick Perry, another childhood friend who visited Mooney twice in Cyprus, most recently in May. "I’m not a psychiatrist," said Perry, speaking long distance yesterday from Turkey, "but I know this guy probably as well as anyone on earth. I just don’t buy that he committed suicide."
"We’re devastated by this," said Glenn Surabian, another friend originally from Edgewood. "He was one of the greatest guys around, always there for you as a friend."
R.I. native Thomas Mooney, U.S. attaché in Cyprus, found dead
This story reminds me of the David Kelly story, the UK weapons scientist who went out for his daily walk in the woods and was found with his wrists cut, leaning up against a tree. The details are not necessarily all that similar – beyond the use of suicide weapon and the rush to a cause of death determination. But the fact that very little further investigation was encouraged in Kelly's case is strikingly similar.
Dr Kelly, whose body was found in July 2003, had been under intense pressure after being named as the suspected source of a BBC report claiming the government "sexed up" a dossier on the threat posed by Iraq.
I guess I just don't trust what I read and hear anymore. Especially when there appears to be a terribly quick wrap-up of the story.
My sympathy goes to the family and friends of Lt. Colonel Thomas Mooney. And my sincere apology if this speculatory post is intrusive in your time of grief. But, you see, I just don't trust my government.
I will never again believe, without questioning, the words, "there is no evidence of foul play."
Updated - additional links:
Reuters newsfeed
Cypriot Police: US defense attache died of throat cuts
Dead US Diplomat in Cyprus 'stabbed himself'