The death of retired research Professor Jeong Im has all the makings of a spy novel, and some say that idea isn’t far off base.
Someone stabbed the 72-year-old scientist multiple times in the Maryland Avenue parking garage at the University of Missouri-Columbia, put him in the trunk of his Honda and set the car on fire. Adding to the mystery, police say a hooded, masked man was seen carrying a gas can away from the scene.
University police on Friday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the Jan. 7 killing. Police have received more than 185 leads, including some that appear far-fetched.
A few days after firefighters found Im’s body, a national radio talk-show guest theorized the killing was part of a plot to kill off key microbiologists in the world before unleashing "the ultimate epidemic."
Steve Quayle, a self-published author and newsletter writer from Bozeman, Mont., told listeners of "Coast to Coast AM" that Im was the 40th microbiologist to die under suspicious circumstances in four years and was perhaps among those specializing in vaccines and bio-weapons research.
MU officials have described Im as a protein chemist whose specialty was synthesizing peptides.
The Korean immigrant came to MU in 1987 from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After retiring four or five years ago, he returned to MU, working about 10 hours a week on lab work for other professors in the departments of microbiology and immunology and pharmacology.
There is nothing in Im’s published history to suggest he’d worked in bio-weapons research. Quayle said that’s not proof the scientist wasn’t a target.
While acknowledging he doesn’t know whether Im’s death was part of a plot, Quayle said the circumstances concerned him. "I’m no conspiracy nut," he said. "What you’re seeing is some of the most famous men in the world, at least in their fields, are dying mysteriously."
The deaths include stabbings, drownings, plane crashes and hit-and-run crashes. Some were ruled suicides. "There’s only been several who’ve died of ‘natural’ causes," Quayle said.
The Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad investigated Im’s death, disbanding after 11 days. The case returned to MU police, who have seven officers and detectives working on it, Capt. Brian Weimer said.
Some radio listeners have contacted police, and Weimer said their suggestions were not ignored. Police called the producers of the show to find out what was broadcast.
"It goes in like a lead like everything else," Weimer said. "We’ve not ruled out absolutely anything. We’re looking at any answer to try to solve this."
Quayle said he has followed bio-weapons issues for 30 years but said he started chronicling the deaths of microbiologists on www.stevequayle.com after a missile in October 2001 downed a passenger jet carrying five Israeli scientists over the Black Sea. Over the next several months, 11 microbiologists around the world died in various circumstances.
After last week’s "Coast to Coast" show, the Tribune received numerous e-mails and phone calls from people around the country who accept Quayle’s idea. "The pattern that’s emerging would be disturbing to any statistician," said Bill Stockglausner of Columbia. "The list is factual, and it appears strange that this is happening to these people who were in a certain profession."
Stockglausner likes Quayle’s reasoning. "He’s one of the few people of whom I can say I trust his comments," he said. "Am I convinced? No, not totally. But the percentage of being convinced gets closer each time one of these guys ends up dead."
MU history Professor Jeff Passley, who teaches a course about conspiracy theories and conspiracies, said mysteries invite speculation. "It’s always more interesting to think of something weird than the more obvious," he said, because there are loose standards for what is apparently unexplainable. "It’s do-it-yourself investigative work. It’s investigative science done by some guy in his basement who doesn’t have any training."
Passley designed his course to show students how conspiracy theories shift and evolve with the values of the times. For example, he said, some people in the communist-fearing 1950s thought extraterrestrial beings wanted to enslave the planet. In the ’60s, people started viewing aliens as peace-loving "space brothers." And in the ’70s, aliens were suspected of performing sexual experiments to breed with humans.
"It’s true that almost every sort of religion or belief system purports to explain the unexplainable and to give you a sense of control," Passley said. "These conspiracy theories are just a version of that. They try to impose rationality upon the unexplainable."
Right here on the MU campus, a Korean scientist's body was found dead in the trunk of his car, which was set on fire in one of the parking garages. Pretty bizarre stuff for this town.Steve Quayle, a self-published author and newsletter writer from Bozeman, Mont., told listeners of "Coast to Coast AM" that Im was the 40th microbiologist to die under suspicious circumstances in four years and was perhaps among those specializing in vaccines and bio-weapons research.MU officials have described Im as a protein chemist whose specialty was synthesizing peptides.[...]Quayle said he has followed bio-weapons issues for 30 years but said he started chronicling the deaths of microbiologists on www.stevequayle.com after a missile in October 2001 downed a passenger jet carrying five Israeli scientists over the Black Sea. Over the next several months, 11 microbiologists around the world died in various circumstances.After last week’s "Coast to Coast" show, the Tribune received numerous e-mails and phone calls from people around the country who accept Quayle’s idea. "The pattern that’s emerging would be disturbing to any statistician," said Bill Stockglausner of Columbia. "The list is factual, and it appears strange that this is happening to these people who were in a certain profession."
Columbia Tribune articleA list of the mysteriously deceased scientists is on my web page here.
| Part IV - Deaths: Scientists (Microbiologists, Geneticists, Infectious Disease Experts) |
DR. JEONG IM - 1/05
Author airs conspiracy theory on Im’s death DR. PAUL NORMAN - 7/04
Another Top Bioweapons Expert KilledDR. MICHAEL KILEY- 1/04
Michael Patrick Kiley, 62, Dies DR. ROBERT E. SHOPE - 1/04
Robert Shope, 74, Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies (Dead link replacement)DR. ROBERT BURGHOFF - 12/03
Chemist was killed in Medical CenterDR. MICHAEL PERICH - 10/03
West. Nile Researcher formerly working at Ft. Detrick dies in one-vehicle crash (Dead link replacement)DR. DAVID KELLY - 7/03
Microbiologists With Link to Race-Based Weapon Turning Up Dead David Kelly could not have bled to death The Murder of David Kelly DR. LELAND RICKMAN - 6/03
In Memoriam: Leland RickmanDR. STEVEN MOSTOW - 3/02
Victims Identified in Fatal Plane CrashDR. DAVID WYNN-WILLIAMS - 3/02
Another Top Microbiologist Dies - 12 in the Last Five MonthsDR. TANYA HOLZMAYER - 2/02
Pizza Delivery Man May Have Been AmbushDR. GUYANG HUANG - 2/02
Pizza Delivery Man May Have Been Ambush - Suspect Later Found DeadDR. VICTOR KORSHUNOV - 2/02
Victor Korshunov (Dead link replacement)DR. IAN LANGFORD - 2/02
Death of UEA Scientist 'Not Suspicious' Kelly's Death Linked With Langford's Says Jane's EditorDR. IVAN BLEBOV - 1/02
DR. ALEXI BRUSHLINSKI - 1/02
More Dead Scientists (Dead link replacement that includes Dr. Brushlinski - The original Pravda report that named Dr. Blebov is no longer working, and another link has not yet been found) DR. ROMAN KUZMIN - 12/01 (Surgeon) Russian Surgeon, 24, Dies on Highway While Fleeing Police
DR. ROBERT SCHWARTZ - 12/01 Allegations aired in Loudoun murder (Dead link replacement)
DR. BENITO QUE - 12/01 Scientists Deaths Are Under the Microscope
DR. SET VAN NGUYEN - 12/01 W CSIRO commits to safety changes (Dead link replacement)
DR. AMIRAM ELDOR - 11/01 BMJ Obituaries
DR. DON WILEY - 11/01 Has Professor Wiley Been "Disappeared"?
DR. JEFFREY P. WALL - 11/01 Another Microbiologist Dies
DR. VLADIMIR PASECHNIK - 11/01 Revealed - Another Top BioWarfare Scientist Murdered
DR. YAACOV MATZNER - 11/01 Pilots criticise Zurich crash runway (Dead link replacement) Microbiologists Beware (Dead link replacement)
Other Sites Keeping Track
Down With Murder Inc.
Democratic Underground Forum Post
Dead Scientists DO Tell Tales
Dead Scientists
List of Murdered and Missing Scientists
Who and Why: Missing/Dead Scientists (Repaired link)
The Very Mysterious Deaths of Five Microbiologists
A Career in Microbiology Can Be Harmful to Your Health - Especially Since 9/11
Death Toll Mounting As Connections to Dyncorp, Hadron, Promis Software and Disease Research Emerge
The Anthrax X-Files: Spreading the Disease
http://www.missouri.edu/~quinnl/news/bodies.html#scientists
~~~~~
Dead Scientists DO Tell Tales
http://www.stevequayle.com/C2C.index.dead.scientist.html
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Squad Seeks Tips in Death of Researcher, Jeong H. Im (January 7 , 2005)
Burning Car Holds Body (of Jeong H. Im)
Car Crash Kills 2 Wildlife Scientists (Thorme/Williams) (December 29, 2004)
Edwin "Tom" Thorne and his wife, Elizabeth William (December 29, 2004)
John Mullen — Scientist Poisoned Wth Arsenic (June 29, 2004)
Another Dead Scientist: John R. La Montagne, PhD (November 3, 2004)
Another Dead Scientist — Matthew Allison, 32 (October 13, 2004)
"Red Death": History of Russian Secret Weapons
Professor John Clark (August 12, 2004)
Head of Dolly Clone Lab is Found Hanged (August 12, 2004)
Doctor's Death Stuns Family, Friends (July 21, 2004)
Air Crash Victim, Dr. Paul Norman, Was Weapons Expert (June 27, 2004)
Dallas County Epidemiologist Dies (June 24, 2004)
Body in 3 Suitcases Was NJ University Professor
Russian Scientist Dies in Ebola Accident at Former Weapons Lab (May 25, 2004)
Alt. Energy Expert Dr. Eugene Mallove Murdered (May 14, 2004)
Another Dead Scientist — Vadake Srinivasan (March 13, 2004)
Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, Expert on Mad Cow and Ebola, 62, Dies (Jan. 24, 2004)
Robert Shope, 74, Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies (Jan. 23, 2004)
Update on the Death of the Two Scientists (Shope and Kiley) This Week
Another Dead Scientist: Robert Leslie Burghoff (Nov. 20, 2003)
Another Dead Scientist: LSU W. Nile Researcher, 46, Dies in Pickup Crash on I-12 (Oct. 11, 2003)
In Memoriam. . . David Wynn-Williams 1946 - 2002 (March 24, 2002)
David Wynn-Williams: Applying the Lessons of Antarctica to the Study of the Stars
Miscellaneous
List of Murdered Scientists
Dead Scientists
Missing / Dead Scientists
14 Dead Scientists - and Counting
Mysterious Deaths of Microbiologists
Microbiologists With Link to Race-Based Weapon Turning Up Dead
Dead Microbiologists Linked to Ethno-Specific BioWeapons
Russia's Poorly Guarded Past
Dr. Kelly articles:
Paramedics Query Kelly Suicide
Fatal Exposure - Dr. David Kelly (April 8, 2004)
'Kelly was Murdered' Says UK Intelligence Insider
Medical Evidence Does Not Support Suicide by Kelly
British Doctors Doubt Dr Kelly's 'Suicide'
The Murder of Dr. David Kelly, Part 1 (July 18, 2003)
The Murder Dr. David Kelly - Part 2 *
David Kelly, Victim of Another War?
Timeline: Dr David Kelly
Russian Colleague Doubts Kelly Committed Suicide
Microbiologist Kelly Feared His Body “Would be Found in the Woods”
Dead Scientist Worked for Porton Down as Chief
MOD’s Porton Down And Secret Experiments
Porton Down - a Sinister Air?
CIA Links Porton Down to Anthrax Attacks
Tough Questions for Tebbit
Hoon Rejects Kelly Family's Criticism
The Treatment of David Kelly
Kelly's Death Linked With Langford's Says Jane's Editor
Was Dr Kelly - Vince Fostered?
Report of the USAHA Committee on Foreign Animal Diseases
Recreating the Spanish Flu *
The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and the Hong Kong Incident *
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 *
The Bad Flu
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