Dead Drop: January 18 - 24

‘MOSCOW, WE HAVE A CYPRUS PROBLEM’: The Guardian reports that Alexei Panov, 41, assigned to Moscow’s embassy in Cyprus - was “found dead after an apparent suicide” on January 8th and the paper is now reporting that Panov was a GRU intelligence officer, adding a whole new layer of intrigue with some sources speculating that Panov may have wanted to defect. Local authorities were denied access to the building where Panov allegedly hanged himself and were only allowed access to the body in an Embassy courtyard hours after the death was reported. No suicide note was shared with local officials but one was said to have been sent back to Moscow. We note from photos, that the Russian embassy in Nicosia does not seem to be a very tall building -- so the typical “troublesome people falling out of open windows” may not have been an option. At about the same time, a decomposed body that may have been that of missing Russian oligarch, Vladislav Baumgertner, turned up elsewhere in Cyprus. Positive ID is pending autopsy reports. Reports from Russia say the multimillionaire had gone missing while rock climbing. His family, however, said that Baumgertner had no interest in such activities. Naturally, amateur sleuths are trying to establish a connection between the deaths of both Russians in Cyprus.

POINTLESS PROSECUTION? Even for open and shut cases, we understand that juries often like to stretch out their deliberations long enough to get a free lunch. Not so in Washington, D.C. this past week when a U.S. District Court took just 35 minutes to decide that Jacob Winkler was not guilty of felony charges of aiming a laser at a Marine One helicopter carrying President Trump back in September. Pointing lasers at pilots can cause serious harm and, if convicted, Winkler would have faced up to five years in prison. The Secret Service thought he was wielding a potentially deadly device and U.S. Attorney Jenine Pirro pledged to prosecute him to “the fullest extent of the law.” But Winkler’s public defenders convinced the jury that the homeless man was brandishing a “key chain cat toy”… an offense nearly as serious as assault with a Subway sandwich (Yes, that’s also a real thing.)