The report of initial findings by a volunteer group investigating the Seth Rich murder states that “Seth’s death does not appear to be a random homicide” and that “Seth’s death does not appear to be a robbery gone bad.”
The report was released Tuesday by the Profiling Project, which describes itself as “an all-volunteer group of current and former George Washington University forensic psychology graduate students and instructors.” The report is based on a three-month investigation undertaken by the Profiling Project in an effort “to aid the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police (MPD) utilizing forensic psychology skills and tools in hopes of providing at least one actionable item to MPD.”
The executive summary lists six primary findings:
- Seth’s death does not appear to be a random homicide
- Seth’s death does not appear to be a robbery gone bad
- Seth’s death was more likely committed by a hired killer or serial murderer
- There may be additional video surveillance of the crime and crime scene
- The resolution of prosecuting the individual(s) responsible appears to be hindered both actively and passively
- Seth’s killer(s) most likely remains free within the community
A press conference was held Tuesday morning about the group’s findings:
The Profiling Project’s report makes several observations that contradict the official theory of the murder, which is a robbery-homicide. They note that the crime scene is not consistent with a random attack. They write, “It has been reported (cite) that no bullet casings were found. The crime scene was very organized to the point of being sanitized. This would indicate careful planning on the part of the offender, control of the entry to and exit from the crime scene as well as in-depth understanding of law-enforcement investigative processes.”
The robbery aspect of the story is further questioned in the report, which states, “We do not believe Offender is a robber, nor a robber who killed. Offender had the ability to kill, and brought with them an instrument to do so. Though we do not know what other items Seth may have had in his possession, his watch, phone, wallet and necklace were not stolen. Nor was Seth’s body reported to have been further accosted or degraded. With such a sanitized crime scene and no emotional indications, this is not Offenders first kill.” The report also points out, “Further research indicates that robbers go to great lengths to ensure that a robbery does not escalate into a murder.”
The Profiling Project also notes the apparent lack of evidence they’d expect to find when a robbery escalates into a homicide. They point out, “Had Seth been selected for robbery, it would have been because the robber saw him as an easy mark, one who would not offer much resistance. If the robber had gotten this assessment wrong, we would expect to see defensive wounds on Seth as well as incriminating evidence from the offender, as Locard’s exchange principle notes that such an interaction would have Seth leaving something on the offender, and the offender leaving something on Seth.”
These factors lead the team to conclude that the theory of Seth Rich’s murder as a “random robbery gone bad” is “not likely.” They also conclude that other theories of his murder, including “Killed by Clinton Directions,” “Killed for Leaking DNC Documents to Wiki-Leaks,” and “A Hit Team” are also unlikely. Most of the theories they address in the report involve a professional assassin, and the group believes these theories can only be supported if a toxicology report shows Rich had been drugged.
The Profiling Project has found the Seth Rich case to be an unusual murder. They are left with many questions, including the results of toxicology screenings, and if the crime scene was immediately treated as the site of a murder. They criticize the police in their findings, stating, “During our investigation, we came across numerous discrepancies in the data, some due to input errors, but others unexplainedly skewed. D.C. and MPD must do all it can to ensure that data and statistics are not malleable, used to support a narrative, but rather let the narrative support the data.”
Although many questions remain unanswered by the Profiling Project, they claim to have succeeded in their stated of goal of providing the police with an actionable item of new information. While performing canvassing of the neighborhood in which the murder occurred, the team located a security camera covering the area around the crime scene that they believe the police were not aware of.
For now, the unanswered questions around the murder of Seth Rich continue to pile up. Previously, Fox News issued a retraction for their report that Rich “leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks” and removed the story from their website, although Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom claims that Rich was in fact involved.
Read the full report below:
The Profiling Project Seth Rich Report by WJLA-TV on Scribd
Colin Madine is a contributor and editor at Breitbart News and can be reached at cmadine@breitbart.com