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Lisa Hoover 0 Junior Poster

An IT expert within the Bush administration was killed in a plane crash over the weekend when his single-engine airplane went down just short of the Akron, Ohio, airport where he was trying to land. Michael Connell has made headlines recently for his alleged part in the rigging of both of George W. Bush's presidential elections, and mentioned to friends over the last few weeks that he feared his life was in danger.

According to a Yahoo.com "A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to [ VelvetRevolution.com ] in July that Mr. Connell's life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife, Heather. VR's attorney, Cliff Arnebeck, notified the United States Attorney General , Ohio law enforcement and the federal court about these threats and insisted that Mr. Connell be placed in protective custody.

"VR also told a close associate of Mr. Connell's not to fly his plane because of another tip that the plane could be sabotaged. Mr. Connell, a very experienced pilot, has had to abandon at least two flights in the past two months because of suspicious problems with his plane"

Community activist Web site FreePress.org calls the death "suspicious [and] disturbing," outlines the case building against Connell and also notes that other IT experts connected to the Republican party have received death threats as well.

Connell, a married father of four, was widely considered to be one of Bush's top advisors in matters of IT and technology. He developed several software and data management systems for the federal government and also designed the Web sites of several prominent members of the GOP.

Despite conspiracy theories that suggest otherwise, weather conditions at the time of the crash were deteriorating quickly and there is "no reason to believe at this point it was anything other than an unfortunate crash."

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This thread raises questions that are best resolved with primary records rather than commentary. highlighted the attention the story received; the most reliable way to evaluate competing claims is to consult official investigation and public records and to understand what each record can and cannot show.

Search the NTSB aviation database for the incident docket, preliminary factual report, and any subsequent updates. Preliminary reports typically list factual findings (weather, ATC communications, wreckage disposition, pilot/aircraft data) but do not assign probable cause; final reports with a probable-cause statement can take many months. Use the NTSB aviation query to find those documents: NTSB Aviation Accident Database & Synopses.

Look up the aircraft and owner information in the FAA registry, and check archived flight tracks where available. Small general-aviation flights are not always captured by ADS‑B/radar, so absence of a track is not proof of tampering. Helpful resources: and FlightAware (flight-tracking archives).

For medical, toxicology or police investigative records, check the local coroner/medical examiner and law enforcement press releases; many federal records can be requested under FOIA. If a criminal investigation occurred, official statements from the responsible agencies are the authoritative source. Guidance on federal records requests is here: FOIA.gov.

A caution: anonymous tips and blog posts often mix factual fragments with conjecture. Prioritize official documents (NTSB/FAA/coroner/police dockets, raw evidence photos, maintenance logs) and preserve their PDFs for comparison. If interpretation of technical findings is needed, look for the NTSB factual documents and, when available, the final report rather than early commentary.

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