Diplomat drank drain cleaner in N.Y.

Diplomat drank drain cleaner in N.Y.

www.msnbc.msn.com

NEW YORK — A Nicaraguan diplomat found dead in his New York City apartment had ingested drain cleaner, another indication he might have killed himself, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

Cesar Mercado, 34, was found in his Bronx apartment last Thursday by a driver after he did not show up for work at his job at Nicaragua's Permanent Mission. He had dozens of stab wounds and his throat had been cut. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said some of the wounds appeared to have been self-inflicted.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Does this sound strange to anyone. A diplomat "kills himself" with drain cleaner and multiple stab wounds, supposedly self inflicted. I don't know, kind of sounds strange. I can think of easier ways to kill yourself. Do you think he could stab himself numerous times and then drink drain cleaner or do you think one might get turned off trying to kill oneself when the stabs don't do it for you.

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by pigwithoutawig


no, no. 'Some" of the wounds appear self-inflicted. Clearly he had help in trying to kill himself, as he knew he would be too lazy to finish the job alone.

reply to post by justadood


Yea, your right justadood. I didn't pick up on that. Very odd indeed. Thanks for replying.

Wow. Is it just me, or are assassins just getting really lazy lately?

reply to post by xiphias


They are either getting lazy or very indecisive. Lets stab him, aw that didn't work. I know let's cut his throat, aww he's still alive. I got it let's get him to drink drain cleaner. Well that worked, looks like a suicide to me.

reply to post by pigwithoutawig


Another thing I just noticed, two knives, one 19 inches and another "smaller one". Why would you switch knives when your stabbing yourself. I don't know about suicide, sounds too strange to me.

I am guessing that drain cleaner might have sounded more appealing before the fact. The multiple slashes to the throat region could indicate that drain cleaner might not be a comfortable way to pass.

"was found in his Bronx apartment last Thursday by a driver"
My interpretation of the events according to the statements are that possibly after the driver was waiting and the diplomat didn't show up, the driver went to the diplomats apartment or the driver usually goes to the diplomats apartment door. The door is unlocked and the driver decides to open it after no one answers and finds the dead diplomat.
Was the driver a civilian or government driver?
Is there a protocol to follow when your passenger does not show up?
Were there security cameras around the apartment?
Does anyone know where this happened?

The statements about the wounds sound fishy and if I was in this diplomats government I would send my own investigators to take a look at the body and crime scene before someone messes with the evidence.

Edit: I have to add this link, apparently there are different accounts on who found him and what happened, here is a snippet of it.

Mercado was found by his driver after she returned to the location to prepare to drive Mercado to the UN General Assembly. When the driver arrived at Mercado’s Bronx apartment, the door was open. Inside, Mercado was found in a pool of blood, a knife close by. César Mercado was 34, single, and had been in the U.S. since 2001. Some reports say Mercado was found by an aide, not a driver.

Cesar Mercado murdered in New York

More stuff that does not sound right.

Still a mystery is the source of the human hairs found in Mercado's hands, 10 in his right and five in his left. The hairs are being tested for comparison and DNA testing.Although Mercado may have ripped the hairs from an assailant's head, he also could have torn his own hair after inflicting the first slashes on himself, sources said.

NYDailyNews.com

reply to post by Elieser

Wow that's a different version for sure. No mention of 2 knives or drain cleaner and this "César Mercado’s throat was slashed, prompting police to initially believe it to be a homicide". No mention of suicide. So, did MSNBC get it wrong or is the version you posted a sanitized version. Interesting, thanks Elieser.
Sorry I just saw your other post. This gets stranger all the time. So they say he possibly cut his throat and then pulled out his hair. Ok?

Guess C(aught) I(n the) A(ct) had to send in cheap labour to do the job... Cut Backs due to the economy...

First it was diabetes and now it's HIV. It seems nobody can get the story straight. It went from suicide to murder to suicide again.

Since when do men commit suicide with drain cleaner? That is a very slow painful death, like torture. If it was really suicide there should have been a gun with a bullet hole in his head. But if he was forced at gun point to drink drain cleaner and as he died, he would beg for his killer to kill him due to the pain. If given a knife, he would probably try to finish the job on his own hence the self-inflicting wounds. This murder was passionate, somebody wanted him to suffer. It was very personal to somebody. Hence, the victim probably knew who put out the hit, but only after it was too late to do anything about it. This was not a suicide. If you look into his private or business affairs, that's what will lead you to his killer. The murder was probably video recorded for somebody if they were not actually on site for the event.

I am searching all over for more info and each time I find different stories and even in the English and Spanish translations they change and omit info. For example, on the AOL news in Spanish they mention the name of the male driver and mention that witnesses heard bangs and struggle like sounds coming from the apartment. In the English version of the page this info is not there, maybe im seeing wrong or something?

La policía dijo que según declaraciones del conductor Edgar Hernández

The police said that according to the declarations of the driver Edgar Hernandez...

De acuerdo con reportes, un vecino de Mercado, del piso de abajo, dijo haber escuchado golpes y forcejeos la noche del miércoles, luego que el diplomático participara en un evento.

According to reports, a neighbor from the below floor heard hits and struggles that Wednesday night after the diplomat participated in an event.
AOLnews

I also remembered that if it was another diplomat that killed him, we will never know and the police is supposed to cover it up. If you are a diplomat you can't be prosecuted.

I found this info in the Nicaraguan news paper, I altered some of the text because Google translator sucks.

According to the international news channel CNN, one of the residents of Mercado's apartment building, who requested anonymity, said that at 9:00 in the morning - an hour before the discovery - had heard that a person asked about the location of Mercado's apartment. This information was confirmed by the spokesman of the mission of Nicaragua to the United Nations, UN, Danilo Rosales.

impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni...
The more I read in to it the more it looks like a cover up. I would also like to know, what event did he attend the night before the descovery and what were his thoughts or agendas.

reply to post by Elieser


I agree with you. There does seem to be a lot of different versions of this event. Seems to be a lot of witness reports too. Could be suicide, I guess we'll have to see how this shakes down. Thanks for replying.

Who on earth would drink drain cleaner acid to kill himself, along with stabbing himself unless he was in a state of pure psychosis? Can you imagine? It's too horrible to even think about, and hard to believe.

Originally posted by Detour
Since when do men commit suicide with drain cleaner? That is a very slow painful death, like torture. If it was really suicide there should have been a gun with a bullet hole in his head. But if he was forced at gun point to drink drain cleaner and as he died, he would beg for his killer to kill him due to the pain. If given a knife, he would probably try to finish the job on his own hence the self-inflicting wounds.

Yeah, it makes more sense.

reply to post by Detour


Actually, I recall seeing something on TV many years ago about a man who drank Drano. He lived but only because he or someone else called 911 directly afterward. He now (unless he has died since then) has to push the food down through his body as he no longer has a esophagus or stomach. He also gets very little nutrients from his food now.

If I recall he claimed it was excruciating and he would have died within hours if not for medical help.

I searched but cannot find the story. I see a few others some even accidental. Nevertheless some guys are stupid like that.

This story screams all sorts of oddity.

Raist

You do what you have to to die. When your in a suicidal state your capable of anything. People kill themselves in the strangest ways. There a darwin awards story about a man who drank poison, tied a noose, and jumped off a cliff with a gun to shoot himself with. He shot the rope which dropped him into the salt water ocean that made him regurgitate the poison and was saved my EMS only to die in hospital of hypothermia. I did a project on suicide and some of the stories are unbelievable. The worst I read was about a 8 year old boy if I recall who hung himself with a chain from a ceiling fan, at his cottage because he was being bullied.