Hotel find is cyanide, police confirm (Upscale Denver Hotel)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Denver Post

Denver police confirmed today that a granular substance found inside an upscale Denver hotel room is sodium cyanide.

A Canadian national was found dead Monday in room 408 of the Burnsley Hotel where the cyanide was found in a plastic container.

The Denver Coroner's Office has not completed the autopsy of 29-year-old Saleman Abdirahman Dirie to determine how he died.

Denver police spokesman John White said Dirie's death appears to be an isolated incident and is not related to the Democratic National Convention.

White said no foul play is suspected, but he declined to provide specifics about what led investigators to that conclusion.

-----

"There is not necessarily more of a concern, but it is something we are aware of and how close the DNC is," Wright said. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to find out the unknown."


Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10190060

[lapfog_1]

1. The previous stories about this

indicated that it was a large quantity of an unknown substance (many gallons of white powder). Now that they know it was sodium cyanide, they neglect to tell the reader how much of the cyanide was found. From my recollection, many gallons of that stuff, poured into a water supply or converted to gas, could kill thousands. And the convention is only a few weeks away.

Nothing to see here, move along... nope, not terrorism. Just like that guy in Las Vegas with the Anthrax... :sarcasm:

[RamboLiberal]

3. Rocky Mountain News said between a pint and a quart

Haz-mat teams found a jar containing between a pint and a quart of the unknown substance.

-----

In fact, bloggers are abuzz today over a threatening posting by a man with nearly the same name as Dirie.

"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,!" read the comment posted by Abdirahman Dirie, on July 11 to a discussion group at LittleGreenFootballs.com

The bloggers had been discussing violence against Somali Christians, and Dirie apparently was taking the side of the Somali Muslims.

However, the blogger Abdirahman Dirie was continuing to blog on the subject of Christians and Moslems today, meaning it couldn't be the same person, unless someone had usurped the name as a joke.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/13/online-threat-cyanide-swirl-denver-hotel-death/

[Ian David]

13. Why would a Muslim be blogging on LGF? n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

5. According to the linked article, a pound of it was found...

(although no one's confirming that) not "gallons and gallons"

A pound is serious enough, though, and should raise enough questions about just what his plans were

[lapfog_1]

8. Ok, how much volume is a pound of sodium cyanide?

And what would one do with a pound of it? Was this suicide? How much do you need to kill yourself? Was it accidental? Did the man in question die of cyanide poisoning? What were his plans for it if it wasn't suicide?

[dipsydoodle]

2. Sounds like a tube

of super glue. :shrug:

edit - I didn't appreciate the volume until I saw post 2

[Ian David]

4. Remember the guy in the hotel room with the ricin poison? n/t

[lapfog_1]

9. yes, my bad... I said anthrax... I meant ricin.

I guess anthrax was on my brain because of the convenient suicide of the Anthrax researcher.

[ohio2007]

6. Saleman Abdirahman Dirie from Ottawa., Canada..kinda

snip
sodium cyanide, which can be used as a pesticide or to extract gold from ore.
snip
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26180907/

What was he doing in mile high city ?

buisness or pleasure?


snip
Cyanide has another use — it is sometimes used by people who want to kill themselves.

Asked if Dirie's death might be a suicide, Wright said, "It's a little too early to really say."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/13/online-threat-cyanide-swirl-denver-hotel-death/

Well, he got people to notce his final 15 minutes of fame

[Ian David]

11. Illegally prospecting for gold? n/t

[lapfog_1]

12. Using cyanide to extract gold from ore is no longer a preferred

or recommended method, activated charcoal is much safer and just as effective (this from my Brother-in-law, a mining engineer).

[caseymoz]

15. That doesn't mean that an incompetent wouldn't make the choice.

Somebody who doesn't know what he's doing. Colorado has a lot of prospectors, and most of them aren't mining engineers or chemists.

But then, again, cyanide is also a good for killing a lot of people, and that hotel is the site of the Democratic convention.

[lapfog_1]

16. one does not "prospect" using cyanide.

There are many other ways to do your own assays... but the easiest is to take small samples of the ore to a professional assay office (it's not that expensive and it gives you much more accurate readings than a field assay by an amateur).

[Bluebear]

7. Death of a Saleman

(OK I'm sorry.)

[Ian David]

10. And Dick Cheney says, "You are as clumsy as you are stupid. You have failed me for the last time...

"Now, who will rid me of these troublesome Democrats?"

http://bp1.blogger.com/_TkR-KeU-T2A/Rf1ll6JT8jI/AAAAAAAAAiw/MVWXQ1C8Lrg/s320/darth+cheney.jpg

[madamesilverspurs]

19. Yikes, Darth paraphrasing Becket!!!

Though it wouldn't be so bad if Cheney wasn't in Colorado today.

[caseymoz]

14. I'm thinking police must be downplaying it as much as possible.

You just don't find a guy killing himself by carrying one of the worst poisons on earth and not do a wider investigation. They're hoping the suspect's associates don't all scatter. Or I hope that's what's happening. In that scenario, the Denver police chief is hoping that other suspects are lulled by our country's now well-deserved reputation for official incompetence.

[ohio2007]

18. While the media plays up the detention policies during the DNC

[liberal N proud]

17. Denver? Test run ahead of the convention maybe?

:tinfoilhat:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

20. they need to be watched carefully if this is the case

[mike_c]

21. interesting-- I sometimes travel with cyanide....

I use it in certain kinds of insect traps (I'm an entomologist). However, if I had a fatal heart attack while on a collecting trip it's not inconceivable that the authorities might find me in a room with at least several ounces of either sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide (along with rubber gloves, laboratory glassware, organic solvents, and other stuff the average traveler doesn't usually carry). Needless to say, I don't get on airplanes with ANY of that stuff, LOL.

[shadowknows69]

22. that's a possibility I never would have thought of

thanks mike. very informative.