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Danny Casolaro, the investigative journalist whose demise in 1991 was controversially dominated a suicide, is the topic of Netflix’s latest docu-series, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders.
The four-part true crime documentary, launched on 28 February, takes a have a look at Casolaro and his investigation right into a authorities conspiracy that these closest to him imagine led to his demise.
Who was Danny Casolaro?
Born in McLean, Virginia in 1947, Casolaro was a author and writer who got here to public consideration after he was discovered useless together with his wrists slashed in a lodge bathtub in 1991. He was 44.
His demise was dominated a suicide, though these closest to him stay satisfied he was murdered.
At the time of his demise, Casolaro was greater than 12 months deep into an investigation involving a authorities conspiracy, which he known as “The Octopus”.
Danny Casolaro ‘American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders’
(Courtesy of Netflix)
What is ‘The Octopus’?
While working for the now-defunct pc software program commerce publication Computer Age, Casolaro was alerted by one in all his colleagues a few growing story that had to do with an ongoing dispute between the Department of Justice and Bill Hamilton, the founding father of Washington DC-based expertise info firm INSLAW.
After getting in contact with Hamilton, Casolaro “starts looking into these powerful people connected to the Reagan administration and realises there’s something much bigger going on than just a contract dispute”, journalist Christian Hansen says within the documentary.
Casolaro started making some highly effective discoveries that appeared to be linked in some way: cash laundering, drug trafficking and the Iran hostage disaster. He dubbed these conspiratorial connections “The Octopus” and paired every “tentacle” with a former high-ranking authorities official who he felt was liable for these revelations.
Who is Christian Hansen?
Christian Hansen in ‘American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders’
(Netflix)
Hansen is the journalist who, after coming throughout the late Casolaro’s analysis, took over for him. He can be a childhood buddy of the Netflix series’s director, Treitz.
His continued investigation led him to Casolaro’s key supply, Michael Riconosciuto.
Who is Michael Riconosciuto?
Michael Riconosciuto in ‘American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders’
(Netflix)
Riconosciuto, now 75, is a pc professional who was linked to Casolaro’s INSLAW story. Months earlier than Casolaro’s demise, Riconosciuto was despatched to jail on drug prices after a Department of Justice official allegedly threatened him for talking out. He has maintained his innocence and was finally launched 26 years later, in 2017.
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Shortly earlier than his imprisonment, he had supplied an affidavit in assist of INSLAW’s lawsuit towards the US Department of Justice. The firm had sued the DOJ over the unlawful use of pc software program.
Riconosciuto claimed to have insider details about numerous covert authorities operations, which he shared with Casolaro, and later with Hansen.
How did Danny Casolaro die?
Danny Casolaro on the proper
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Casolaro was discovered useless together with his wrists slashed in a West Virginia lodge bathtub on 10 August 1991. He had travelled there to meet with an unknown supply.
“He had been researching this thing for a long time and was very excited about the information he was finally getting,” Benjamin Mason, Casolaro’s shut buddy and the final particular person to see him alive, informed The Washington Post in 1991. “He was in good spirits and very excited about the source he was going to see in West Virginia.”
When authorities found his physique, it appeared he had died by suicide, and a coroner confirmed it as such. However, when his household was notified of his demise, they didn’t imagine it was a suicide. Weeks earlier than he was to meet together with his supply, he had apparently knowledgeable his brother that if something happened to him, he wanted to perceive that it wasn’t an accident.
American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders is accessible to stream on Netflix.
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