Man Found Dead in Lady Bird Lake in East Austin
ChrisB on Apr 18 2008 at 8:59 am | Filed under: Chris' Page
Riad Hamad was found with in the lake with duct tape on his face and his hands and feet tied.
Hamad ran the Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund (PCWF). He sued a number of people and entities like David Horowitz, NGO Monitor and others, for defamation, lost big and had to pay court costs. The case was thrown out and dismissed as “wholly frivolous” and “baseless”. In addition the judge leveled Rule 11 sanctions against Hamad and ordered him to pay defendants’ attorney’s fees and costs totaling almost $60,000 as well as a $1000 fine to each defendant for Hamad’s repeated violation of court orders.
Police are leaning toward ruling it a suicide because, among other reasons, he had mentioned suicide to his family, and the way his hands and feet were tied looked like he tied them himself.
Sphere: Related ContentPolice identified Riad Hamad, 55, at a news conference Thursday and said the binding of his limbs and the placement of the tape was consistent with Hamad having done it himself.
Austin police homicide Sgt. Joe Chacon said family members told investigators that the Clint Small Jr. Middle School teacher had “several stressors” in his life and had talked about possibly killing himself. Police said that they think Hamad walked from his car to the lake, based on evidence they gathered at the scene.
