Who Killed Danny Casolaro? What Happened to Octopus? Death Explained

Trigger warning: This article contains graphic depictions of violence. Being an investigative journalist can be a dangerous business. While his death was ruled a suicide at the time, his family and those who were there at the scene were suspicious of who killed Danny Casolaro, because there were “red flags” everywhere that he didn’t do it to himself.

Casolaro was a freelance reporter who gained attention for his work on what he referred to as “The Octopus”; a term he used to describe a complex and interconnected network of individuals and organizations involved in various alleged criminal activities, including government corruption, arms trading, drug trafficking, and covert operations.

He focused particularly on exposing a supposed shadowy conspiracy that he believed controlled many global events, touching on themes such as the Iran-Contra affair, the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) scandal, and a theory that, during the Iran hostage crisis, Iran deliberately held back American hostages to help Ronald Reagan win the 1980 presidential election.

Casolaro was found dead in a hotel room in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on August 10, 1991, under suspicious circumstances. His work and death are the subject of a gripping Netflix four-part documentary series titled American Conspiracy: The Octopus, which dropped on the streamer on February 28, 2024. Here are the theories as to who killed Danny Casolaro.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available. Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free and confidential counseling.  

• Who killed Danny Casolaro?

  

  Who killed Danny Casolaro? To this day, Casolaro’s death has been ruled a suicide. Five months after the initial coroner’s report in 1991, Dr. Frost of the Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office performed another autopsy and returned a second suicide verdict.

  But those who knew Casolaro as well as medics who were at the scene of his death are doubtful that’s actually the case. Casolaro was on the verge of uncovering a huge government conspiracy involving many high-stakes individuals and because of this, friends were convinced he’d been killed to stay quiet. After all, Casolaro told his brother Anthony repeatedly, “If an accident happens [to me], don’t believe it.”

  Don Shirley, who was a medic at the scene of Casolaro’s death, was asked by another reporter if he thought there was anything suspicious at the crime scene. “In my six years as a medic, I’ve never seen somebody cut their wrists that many times. The left arm appeared to have 8 cuts and the right arm appeared to have 4 cuts,” he said at the time, as depicted in the Netflix series.

  “It just did not appear that he could have physically done this. These were deep enough that the tendon had been severed. You cut your tendon, you can’t hold something and I had the gut feeling at that time that this could be a homicide.”

  However, months after Casolaro died, fellow reporter Ron Rosenbaum reflected on his relationship with Casolaro; the two had discussed the Octopus theory not long before Casolaro’s death.

  “I was so skeptical about the Octopus murder theory that I even harbored a suspicion that Danny might have staged his own death. That, while his friends were saying it was murder disguised to look like suicide, maybe it was really a suicide staged to provoke suspicion of murder,” he wrote for Vanity Fair in December 1991.

  “That by killing himself and leaving enough ambiguities to raise the possibility of murder Danny would make his own death the sensational final chapter of the book he never wrote—the one thing that would validate the seriousness of the quest he was on.”

• How is Michael Riconosciuto involved?

  

  Michael Riconosciuto was Casolaro’s most significant source in his investigation into InsLaw, the case that kicked off the whole Octopus theory. a company that developed and sold computer software for managing case information for law firms and government agencies. The controversy revolves around allegations of the theft of Inslaw’s software, called PROMIS (Prosecutor’s Management Information System), and its unauthorized distribution.

  The Inslaw affair began in 1986 when the company accused the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) of stealing their software. Inslaw claimed that the DOJ had modified the software without permission and distributed it to various U.S. government agencies and foreign intelligence agencies. The modified software was allegedly used for purposes beyond its original design, including tracking intelligence and law enforcement activities.

  Riconosciuto was arrested on drug charges shortly after providing Inslaw, Inc. with an affidavit in support of their lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice. He served a 30-year sentence.

  In American Conspiracy, Riconosciuto is picked up by the filmmakers Christian Hansen and Zachary upon his release from prison and immediately, you can sense his panic. After telling them his detailed story, he expresses concern that he’d be safer in prison. Upon violating the conditions of his parole, Riconosciuto is arrested 3 days later and is behind bars once more.

• American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders

  

  American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders premieres on Netflix on February 28, 2024.

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