I have not heard anyone talk about how the census worker was Tortured

[Bandit]

He was found naked with his body marked up and tied to a tree in such a way that when his limbs became tired of supporting him and he began to slump a rope would tighten around his neck. TORTURE plain and simple. I guess it has become so American that no one even talks about it. Lots of talk about the man's death but imagine the terror he experienced in the hours before that relief came to him. I blame this on Republicans that feel TORTURE is no big deal, and no one should be prosecuted for it..

[90-percent]

1. Rachel

Rachel is on this.

Police are very reluctant to release any info. AP got a hold of some witnesses that found the body, and talked to some law enforcement people off the record.

There seems to be many missing pieces to this story so far. one suggested possibility is that this beautiful man stumbled on to an illegal drug operation - meth lab or pot field.

That part of the country marches to the beat of a different drummer, so what we think may have happened may not be the case at all.

I do hope all the facts come out soon and they find the people that did this.

Sure looks like it was not a suicide, though.....

-90% Jimmy

[Bandit]

4. Why would people in the drug business TORTURE him?

I could understand shooting him and burying the body, but this was done in a way to intimdate and put fear in people. Drug culture would not want the attention brought their way..The people that did this were filled with hate. Hate that had been stoked and cultured..

[MineralMan]

5. I tend to agree with your logic.

Logic seems to support the idea that anyone doing something illegal in that area would be unlikely to make a spectacle of this. It seems far more likely that they would bury the body of someone they had killed somewhere in the forest where it wouldn't be found, probably far from the location of such a murder.

Moonshiners, pot growers, and meth makers are not entirely stupid, and discovery is the last thing they want. I wouldn't look for that as the reason for this.

[foo_bar]

11. does duct tape bind the culture of fear?

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_fear)

JIM LEHRER: Now the kit that you recommend, does it still have duct tape in it?

TOM RIDGE: You know, that is not something that ever was issued or even uttered by the Department of Homeland Security, and people have taken it, and I think humor is a very effective tool for delivering a message. I'm a little worried about the preoccupation with duct tape.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june03/ridge_2-19.html

Not to get all Bill Frist about the killer's motives, especially since we don't know if it was a lone nut or a confederation of nuts, but if the killer(s) wrote "Fed" in magic marker, that might suggest he/she/they possessed the maturity of backwards B girl, either afraid to draw blood or unaware that grownups would notice the difference, or merely in possession of arts&crafts supplies.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. exactly right

In fact, we had a double murder happen in our county that was related to drugs. A couple of meth dealers were taken out by the father of a young teen whose life had been ruined by them. The father shot them then quietly buried the bodies in the forest. Only reason he was discovered was that a neighbor who had helped him bury the two ratted him out as part of a plea bargain deal on another charge. The father sits in jail, awaiting trial. They better not ask me to sit on the jury, as I'm NOT impartial in the case.

[FreakinDJ]

10. Simple - they want to make sure he is not DEA

Back woods are full of clandestine Meth Labs and Pot Gardens and during this time of year (harvest Time) its a mixture of the 2.

I used to live above the "Snow Line" in the Sierra Mountains, as well as the infamous "Emerald Triangle" in Northern California. Pot gardens were every where as soon as you stepped off the main roads and ventured out into the National Forest. During this time of year Meth Dealers join up with Pot Growers and front them, (loan them) large quantities of Speed to help out with the work of 24/7 guarding the pot garden and the actual labor of harvest. In return the Meth Dealer will receive a portion of the harvest.

The result was a bunch of extremely paranoid / heavily armed dope growers pointing their guns every time a deer stepped on a twig.

Additionally there is the occasional "Garden Raider" looking to steal a few buds or a lot of buds for personal consumption. Hanging victims from trees has been traditional and law enforcement ruling it suicide equally the norm. Most law enforcement agencies simply view it as Low-lifes killing Low-lifes and not worth devoting energy and limited resources to.

Example #1: I had a friend who fell several house payments behind. Armed with a .30 cal carbine and a .38 revolver he ventured out into the woods looking to clip enough buds to get caught up on his house payments. They found him dead 3 days later shot through armpit and exited through his aorta artery. Police ruled it a suicide.

Example #2: Man found hanging from a tree with his face peeled off. Police ruled it Suicide

This stuff has been going on for a LONG TIME. America is just now finding out about it

[Mrs. Overall]

12. I agree with you regarding the question of why those involved in illegal activities would do

something that so completely draws attention to their area.

Officers and investigators are going to be swarming all over the county and not just around people's homes, but in the forests and fields where drugs could be grown and produced in secret.

Whoever did this was making a big statement and wanted publicity.

[lillypaddle]

2. You're right

It makes us "feel bad" to hear about what happened. It's unpleasant, ya know, and it might even ruin our day. I hope they find whomever did this to that poor guy - and I hope they somehow suffer terribly as a result.

[MineralMan]

3. Actually, nobody knows the sequence of events yet, or

those that do are holding that information close to their vests. While we're all naturally impatient to learn what happened, exactly, the police and other authorities have another set of priorities. Details are being withheld, as they often are, in this case to keep some information unknown to would-be confessors.

The facts will emerge, and the witness statement now in the media makes it seem almost certain that this was a murder connected to this man's work. Who are the perpetrators? That's still to be determined, but people of logic can draw conclusions as to the manner of death, now that we have the witness statement.

This case has received far too much publicity to be "disappeared." The information will come out...not as soon as we would like, perhaps, but it will come out.

There has been a lot of bickering over this case here on DU. That's unfortunate. Wait for the facts. All of the facts. In the meantime, we can all mourn this death. Once we know what happened for sure, then we can be angry, if the facts warrant that.

Speculation beyond the facts at hand is pretty unproductive, it seems to me.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Investigation Is Ongoing...

I'm not ready to jump into the "killed by a wingnut" camp, yet...pending on hearing what the police and/or FBI have to say. I've seen Rachel's reports and there is plenty of smoke, but the fact little is being released tells me that the local authorities are tracking down leads and getting a story and timeline about what happened. A tip off if this is some kind of politically motivated murder is if the FBI is called in to lead the investigation. If its proven this was the work of some hate radio acolyte, then we can castigate and condemn, but I still have faith in this silly notion of innocent until proven guilty...evidence trumps conjecture.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I think you may have something there

Last night's Law & Order was about torture, and part of the dialog was pointing out how some people have no problem with it at all--using 911 as the excuse. It's repeating tonight at 8pm Eastern on NBC if anyone cares to watch it. It was chilling and quite thought provoking.

[Orrex]

8. On CNN last night, they still seemed to think that suicide was a possibility

Despite the duct tape over the eyes, etc.

[stray cat]

13. Not every death needs politicized....