Ohio TV station: Was Connell crash an accident or murder?

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The death of Republican “IT guru” Mike Connell last Friday in a fiery plane crash has been the subject of intense speculation online about whether it might have been murder — but very little of that speculation has made it into the national media. Now one local TV station in Connell’s home state of Ohio is acknowledging that there are questions about his death.
“Well, this sounds like a made up story,” Scott Taylor of 19 Action News in Cleveland began. “One man rigging state elections to help his boss, President George Bush. After it’s done, power players in Washington say ‘Get rid of the guy.’ Do I believe it? No — for now.”
Taylor noted that “bad weather could have played a part in the crash” but “some in Washington have a different opinion.”
“Some say Connell was about to reveal embarrassing details involving senior members of the Bush Administration,” Taylor explained, “including their involvement in destroying incriminating emails and rigging elections. Connell died on impact, and was only 3 miles from the Akron-Canton Airport. He was an experienced pilot. Was it an accident, or murder?”

Connell had played a central role in two separate Bush administration scandals. He had created the website for the Ohio secretary of state’s office which some have linked to suspected election fraud during the 2004 presidential race. He also set up the domains which White House staff used for their off-the-books emails concerning the firing of US Attorneys, emails which are now said to have been destroyed. In a press release cited by 19 Action News, the website Velvet Revolution revealed that “a person close to Mr. Connell has recently been discussing with a VR investigator how Mr. Connell can tell all about his work for George Bush. Mr. Connell told a close associate that he was afraid that the George Bush and Dick Cheney would ‘throw [[him] under the bus.’ A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell’s life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife.”
19 Action News also reported on Sunday that Connell had previously been warned by a friend that his plane might be sabotaged and had canceled two flights because of suspicious problems.
BradBlog notes that although the Velvet Revolution press release has appeared on the New York Times website, that paper has not offered any comment of its own on Connell’s death, nor have US media in general reported on the growing speculation — although even the British press has mentioned it — which makes the Action News coverage all the more striking.
“Was it an accident — or murder?” Taylor wondered, before concluding that the crash “was probably not a conspiracy.”
This video is from 19 Action News, broadcast Dec. 22, 2008.