LA record producer killed by Nigerian 419 scam ring?
Wow. Crazy days, man. Crazy days.
Mark Frauenfelder writes over on Boing Boing:
This chilling story in today's LA Times sounds like something out of a nightmare. Three days ago, a record producer disappeared from his house in Topanga Canyon while making a desperate phone call for help as he ran barefoot through a creek to elude pursuers at 3:45 in the morning.In a frantic phone call before his disappearance, Christian Julian Irwin, 48, pleaded for help, telling a friend he was being chased down a ravine by people who he believed might kill him, police said. The call, about 3:45 a.m. Sunday, was his last; no one is known to have heard from him since. Investigators have few clues besides Irwin's glasses, found halfway down the hill behind his house, where it is believed that they fell as he ran.
Irwin's friends and relatives say his pursuers may be linked to con artists who had entangled him in a so-called Nigerian Internet scam....
Several months ago, Irwin told his friend and former business partner Fortunato Procopio, 47, that he had been unwittingly drawn into a Nigerian Internet fraud and had been threatened by the con artists, Procopio said.
"I told him it was clearly a scam — don't be silly," Procopio said Wednesday. But Irwin later received a mysterious $50,000 check, friends and relatives said, and became increasingly concerned. Procopio and some relatives offered few details, saying police had asked them not to discuss specifics of the case.
posted by Fergie @ 8/25/2005 05:36:00 PM
2 Comments:
I'm not too sure about this - it's a bit too pat (mentioning to friends beforehand that somethign fishy was going on, some supposed $50K check, calling a friend instead of the police, finding the glasses, etc.).
Instead, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is faking his own death/disapparance, using the 419 scam as an nice frame for his getaway.
Given the fact that [a] the guy is/was a Hollwood producer, and [b] it is L.A., anything is possible. :-)
- ferg
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