 |
Man found in Lady Bird Lake was teacher, FBI target — Cripes, this stuff just writes itself!
Austin police said Thursday that they are leaning toward a ruling of suicide in the death of a middle school teacher and activist whose body was found Wednesday in Lady Bird Lake with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes.
Police identified Riad Hamad, 55, at a news conference Thursday and said the binding of his limbs and the placement of the tape was consistent with Hamad having done it himself.
Austin police homicide Sgt. Joe Chacon said family members told investigators that the Clint Small Jr. Middle School teacher had “several stressors” in his life and had talked about possibly killing himself. Police said that they think Hamad walked from his car to the lake, based on evidence they gathered at the scene.
“The car was found on the south shoreline with no signs of mysterious activity,” Chacon said.
Found by Ron Kelso.
John,
My condolences. No words to describe your loss.
This reminds me of the time they found a black man in Baltimore stabbed 17 times in the back, worst case of suicide they had ever seen.
Michael Hutchins, anyone?
Response to #3: I don’t believe for a second in the old ‘it went off while I was cleaning it’ bullshit. I’ve owned and repaired and cleaned thousands of different firearms and they all have one factor in common which is routinely ignored by attorneys worldwide: NO firearm can be cleaned without being unloaded and dismantled. It is impossible to ‘accidentally’ fire a weapon when it is being cleaned simply because to clean it it HAS to be in an ‘uncocked’ state.
What stops someone from placing a cloth down the barrel?
I was a student at that middle school. Though I never had Mr. Hamad as a teacher, I know several facts about him that would help rule out suicide. First, he WAS being watched by the FBI, because he was a political activist from Pakistan. And also, he was in contact with several political groups there (I’m not sure which ones) while he was here. That leads me to suspect that he could have been(COULD HAVE BEEN, not was) a hit target for whichever side he may have pissed off. Suicide is still an option, but in my opinion, there are many easier, quicker methods to kill yourself than drowning.
Am I the only one who got the irony of him being found in Lady Bird Lake?? In Texas??
No, Brendal…
The irony of Hamad being found in Lady Bird Lake in the Republic of Texas wasn’t lost on this former resident of that state. It puts me in mind of the figure who was involved with Lyndon Johnson in some aspect of the Bobby Baker case. He was found shot in the back multiple times with a bolt-action rifle…again ruled an awful case of suicide.