Who Is Seth Rich And Why Was He Murdered?

From all appearances, Seth Conrad Rich had landed his dream job.  The 27-year-old had toiled in the vineyards of Democrat Party politics for a few years, hoping for a high-profile job.  He got his opportunity when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called with an job offer.

Rich, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, joined the DNC where he worked two years (from 2014-2016) assisting in the development of a computer program to make it easier for voters to locate polling places on election day.  He played a role in the presidential primary and general election campaign.

The Creighton University graduate's promising political career was cut short on July 10, 2016.  He was brutally murdered at 4:20 a.m. in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C.  Rich was shot twice in the back.  Although robbery was listed as the motive, nothing was stolen.

In fact, police found his wallet, credit cards, keys, watch and necklace at the crime scene.  If robbery was the intent, how do police explain the criminal(s) took nothing?  And why kill an unarmed man? Those questions are just a few of many that remain unanswered.

After the murder, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz attended a vigil for Rich and Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton inserted his name into a speech about gun control.  Rich was not some flunky laboring in the bowels of the DNC.  He was a top staffer with extraordinary access.

Meanwhile, the investigation by District police has languished for 10 months.  During that time, there have been no arrests. There are no suspects. Despite rewards totaling more than $100,000, not a single person has come forward with information that might shed light on the killing or the motive.

The Seth Rich murder was all but forgotten until last week.  That's when FOX News reported that federal law enforcement investigators uncovered 44,053 emails and 17,761 attachments that were sent by Rich to Gavin MacFayden, a Wikileaks director based in London.

(In a strange twist of fate, MacFayden died a few months after Rich. The cause of death for the 76-year old reporter was listed officially as lung disease.  There is no indication of foul play.)

Fox's source was Rod Wheeler, a former D.C. homicide detective hired by the Rich family to investigate the murder.  Wheeler told the network that his "investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks."

Wheeler added, "I do believe that the answers to who murdered Seth Rich sits on his computer on a shelf at the D.C. police or FBI headquarters."  That prompted the Rich family to cry foul, claiming the private investigator was "contractually barred" from disclosing details publicly.

After the news report aired, denials pored in from police and intelligence officials.  They dismissed the account as groundless theories hatched by some vast right wing conspiracy. The D.C.  Police Department issued a statement saying Rich's death was "not connected to his employment."

However, the police have not explained how they reached that conclusion.  This is curious in light of the fact they have no witnesses and no suspect.  Wheeler has suggested that the D.C. police are not actively continuing a probe of the Rich's death, adding weight to a conspiracy theory.  

Even the family joined in the pooh-pooh chorus.  They blasted the private detective and remained adamant their son had no connection to Wikileaks. But at this point there has been no evidence offered publicly to disprove Wheeler's findings.  Zero.

While this entire episode may truly be a robbery that ended in the tragic death of a young DNC staffer, it seems odd that no mainstream media have pursued the story.  Even The Washington Post, has ignored the story in its own backyard on grounds there is nothing to investigate.

Ironically, the newspaper has run several stories using anonymous sources to spread the conspiracy of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. The newspaper's latest anonymously sourced article recounted classified information passed by the president to Russian officials.

Perhaps, this is the larger conspiracy even bigger than Rich's death: Why has The Washington Post lost interest in this unsolved murder and has unearthed no anonymous sources to provide some details about why a DNC staffer was killed in cold blood?  Your turn Washington Post.