A Canadian man was found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what police believe to be cyanide. The man was a Canadian from Ottawa. Complicating matters, a threatening comment was found on a blog from a man with the same name,
The deceased man's name is Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, he is 29 years old and authorities have found no U.S. passport. They initially believed he crossed into the United States from Canada. It has been reported since that original report that Dirie was from ottawa Canada.
Dirie was found at the Burnsley Hotel at 10th Avenue and Grant Street in Denver, Colorado.
There was also a large container of a white powdery substance found in Dirie's room, which is being analyzed now and is suspected to be cyanide.
Although the Denver Police are leading the investigation into this man and the substance, they are joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Those groups are joined by Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado National Guard with hazardous material assistance.
"Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in this simply because the victim here is from another country and it just kind of makes sense that our terrorism guys would take a look a look at this," FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis said.
Davis told CBS 4 that nothing so far has been found to link the case to terrorism or the coming convention.
"I don't see how anybody could do anything but look into the possibility that this is a potential terrorist attack," said Dr. Andrew Ternay, a Department of Defense contractor.
Other more recent reports from today show that the reason authorities believe the container was filled with cyanide is because they smelled the tell-tale scent of bitter almonds that is sometimes associated with cyanide.
Although the initial belief by authorities reported yesterday was that Dirie's death was not from the cyanide, initial suspicions from the coroners thought there might have been the presence of cyanide.
The official report will not be issued until toxicology reports are completed.
Complicating the case a bit is the buzz from the popular website Little Green Footballs who shows a comment posted to a blog forum under the topic, "Somali Christian Blog Abandoned", (comment #5) from a man named Abdirahman Dirie on July 11, 2008, which said:
Please don’t talk sh*t , that man deserves what happened to him , simply because having the bible in one hand , and a bread in the other hand , is not a correct thing ,! Kill Them , Kill them , Kill them , that is my massage,!
Comment by Abdirahman Dirie — July 11, 2008 @ 10:33 pm
The discussion that comment was posted on dealt with violence against Somali Christians and Dirie is thought to have been taking the side of the Somali Muslims.
Until the investigation is finished, it will not be known if the comment was made by the same man that died in the Burnsley Hotel.
When asked about the possible connection between the comment and the man found dead, FBI Special Agent Kathy Wright said, "We can't comment on where the investigation might be leading us."
As of now Denver police continue to say that no foul play is suspected in Dirie's death.
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