(JTA) — The alleged suicide of a Jewish British student in Germany was a “set-up,” an expert witness told an inquest in London.
A three-day inquest into the 2003 death of Jeremiah Duggan, 22, opened on Tuesday. Britain’s High Court in 2010 ordered the investigation to look at possible foul play in the death of the Sorbonne student.
Duggan died after attending an anti-war meeting of the LaRouche Schiller Institute in Wiesbaden. Duggan reportedly was terrorized by followers of the rightist institute after he objected to statements blaming the Iraq War on Jews and identified himself as Jewish. He was also accused of being a spy to harm the organization.
He fled into busy traffic and reportedly was hit several times by oncoming vehicles.
German police called the death “a suicide by means of a traffic accident.”
Forensic photographic expert Paul Canning, who studied photographs from the scene, testified that the two vehicles that German police said had hit Duggan did not show any signs of contact with the victim, according to reports. He said damage to the cars in the photos was inflicted with a heavy metal object, such as another car.
