Last updated:February 17, 2013 6:35 pm

Police defend probe into Singapore death

By Christine Spolar

Singapore police released a statement on Sunday defending their investigation into the death of Shane Todd, an American engineer who had been employed by IME, a government research agency, found hanged in his Singapore apartment in June. The Financial Times reported on Todd’s death in its Weekend magazine.
The police had previously declined to answer the FT’s questions about the death of Todd, whose body was found in his apartment after his last day at work at IME. Todd’s parents, Rick and Mary Todd, believe the police have mishandled the investigation and too quickly considered his death a suicide.

The family has asked that America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation assist and be involved in investigating a possible murder. The Singapore police must request FBI assistance before the US agency can get involved.
The police on Sunday said they had kept the FBI “informed” but offered no other details. According to Singapore media, the police issued a statement saying that “no prior assumptions” had been made on the cause of death and the investigation continued.
“The police investigate all unnatural death cases thoroughly, working closely with the pathologist and other relevant experts, and no prior assumptions are made on the cause of death,” the statement reportedly said.
“Our procedures for investigating cases, particularly those involving death of persons, are strict and of high international standards. We have handled this case in the same way as other cases that police have looked into.”
It added that a coroner’s inquest would be held once the investigation was complete. The Todd family was told in an email from the police that the inquest was scheduled for March.
Todd headed a research team at IME that focused on the development of gallium nitride, a substance that can be used in both commercial and military applications, from light-emitting displays and cellular phone base stations, to radar and satellite communications.
From early 2012 Todd repeatedly told his family he was worried that he was compromising US national security with his work on a project at IME that involved a Chinese company.
After Todd’s death, the family found an external computer hard drive in his Singapore apartment with work files including one labelled “Huawei” – which appears to be a plan for a joint project between IME and Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecoms company, for the development of gallium nitride.
The FT’s article published at the weekend explained other findings of the hard drive as well – including analysis that showed that three days after Todd’s death, someone accessed his hard drive and individual files on IME and a technical “recipe” for gallium nitride research.
The police, who removed laptops and cell phones from the apartment, apparently were unaware of the hard drive until the Todd family alerted them to its existence. The police have asked for the hard drive; the family has offered a copy if the police provide a copy of all files on laptops taken from Todd’s apartment.
IME would not comment on the Todd case, citing the police investigation. Huawei, in response to FT inquiries, said recently “We have not had any co-operation with IME with respect to [gallium nitride] so there is nothing more to add.” Veeco, a US manufacturer of equipment for use by IME, would not provide details in response to questions from the FT regarding the export of the equipment or Todd’s training and research on gallium nitride.
Additional reporting by Raymond Bonner

SINGAPORE POLICE STATEMENT

‘The police investigate all unnatural death cases thoroughly, working closely with the pathologist and other relevant experts, and no prior assumptions are made on the cause of death. Our procedures for investigating cases, particularly those involving death of persons, are strict and of high international standards. We have handled this case in the same way as other cases that police have looked into. ‘All crime scene locations which have the potential for recovery of evidence are handled with care and are protected from interference of any kind so as to preserve any trace evidence. The sites are secured by police for the duration required for scene examination and evidence collection. The conditions and items found at the crime scene are carefully recorded in great detail, as well as conserved and removed for subsequent laboratory analysis. ‘The Financial Times article mentioned a hard disk which was purportedly recovered by Mr and Mrs Rick Todd from their son’s residence. To ensure the investigations are as thorough as possible, we urge any person who has evidence in their possession that can assist in our investigation to share them with the police. All relevant evidence gathered by police will be tendered at the coroner’s inquiry once the investigations are completed. The coroner will independently determine the circumstances under which Mr Shane Todd came by his death taking into account the investigation findings and other evidence. During the open inquiry, the family of the deceased may question the witnesses and the relevant reports, including the pathologist report. As investigations are ongoing, it is inappropriate for the police to comment further on the case. Since the death of Mr Shane Todd, the police have engaged and assisted the family without impeding the objectivity of our investigation process. We will continue to do so. Police have also kept the American Embassy and FBI informed of this case. - wong chee tat :)