Author airs conspiracy theory on Im’s death

[Guest guest]

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Jan/20050123News004.asp

 

Author airs conspiracy theory on Im's death

 

By MIKE WELLS of the Tribune's staff

Published Sunday, January 23, 2005

 

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. "

 

Reach Mike Wells at (573) 815-1720 or mwells