HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jeremiah Joseph Duggan (10 November 1980 – 27 March 2003) was a British student in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
who died during a visit to
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
,
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, Germany, after being struck by several cars on a
dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
. The circumstances of Duggan's death became a matter of dispute because, at the time he died, he was attending a youth "cadre" school organised by the LaRouche movement, an international network led by the American political activist Lyndon LaRouche. German police concluded that Duggan had committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
after running several kilometres (miles) from the apartment in which he had been staying, then jumping in front of early-morning traffic. A British
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
rejected a suicide verdict in 2003 after hearing the
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
describe the LaRouche movement as a political
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
. Duggan telephoned his mother, Erica Duggan, fifty minutes before he died, apparently distressed about his involvement in it. Arguing that German police had not investigated the case thoroughly, Erica Duggan commissioned forensic reports which suggested the car accident might have been staged and that Duggan had died elsewhere. After protracted
litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
in the UK and Germany, the High Court in London ordered a second inquest in 2010,"Fresh inquest into student death"
BBC News, 20 May 2010.
and in 2012 the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court ordered the Wiesbaden police to reopen their investigation. In 2015 the coroner upheld that Duggan had been killed in the accident, but rejected a suicide verdict, adding that unexplained injuries suggested an "altercation at some stage before his death."Taylor, Matthew
"Jeremiah Duggan's death not a suicide, British coroner rules"
''The Guardian'', 21 May 2015.
Barfield, Tom
"Family's ten-year quest for truth about dead son"
''The Local'', 22 May 2015.
The LaRouche movement attributed criticism of its involvement in the case to LaRouche's political opponents, including former UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
and former US Vice President
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
, who they say sought to discredit LaRouche over his opposition to the 2003
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
and his criticism of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming.


Background


Duggan family

Jeremiah Duggan was born in North London to Erica Duggan, a Jewish schoolteacher from South Africa; and her husband, Hugo Duggan, who was raised in Ireland.Erica Duggan's profile
blogger.com. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
"His life"
justiceforjeremiah.com.
Erica's father left
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1933; many family members were killed during the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Nordhausen, Frank
"Jeremiahs letzte Worte"
''Berliner Zeitung'', 11 May 2004.
Erica in turn left South Africa due to ''
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
''. She, Hugo, Jeremiah and his two older sisters made their home in the London suburb of Golders Green. Duggan's parents
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
d when he was aged 7. Duggan attended
Fitzjohn's Primary School Fitzjohn's Primary School is a community primary school in Hampstead, London. The school was established in 1953. The school took over the school buildings and some of the grounds that were previously part of the estate belonging to the Royal ...
in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, Quainton School for Boys, and won a
scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...
to Christ's Hospital school in
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
as a boarder. After his
A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
, he spent time in India then trained in Israel as a youth leader.Kirby, Terry
"The lost boy"
''The Independent'', 28 August 2003.
Duggan was interested in the arts, music and the theatre, and in 2001 moved to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to study
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
at the British Institute and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
at the Sorbonne. Duggan's mother said he became interested in politics after
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
; his strong opposition to the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
led him to become involved with the LaRouche movement.Taylor, Jerome
"Mystery of dead Briton and the right-wing cult"
''The Independent'', 27 February 2010.


LaRouche movement

Lyndon LaRouche and his German wife,
Helga Zepp-LaRouche Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 25 August 1948) is a German political activist. She is the widow of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and the founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German ''Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solid ...
, ran a global political network of publications, committees and a youth cadre based in Leesburg,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, United States, and in
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
,
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, Germany. The movement in Germany is represented by the Schiller Institute and the '' Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität'' party. LaRouche stood as a presidential candidate in the US eight times between 1976 and 2004. He was jailed in 1989 for conspiracy to commit
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
, a prosecution he claimed was politically motivated. From the 1970s the movement became associated with the promotion of conspiracy theories, and at times with the use of violence against opponents, the fraudulent use of donations, and
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
.Ciment, Jim. "Lyndon LaRouche," in Peter Knight (ed.), ''Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2003
423–424
There was criticism of its recruitment methods; according to ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', recruits were isolated from their families, encouraged to give up their studies, and subjected to intense verbal pressure before being asked to accept the LaRouche worldview.Smith, David James
"Motorway madness"
''The Sunday Times'', 18 July 2004. Archived at the
Internet Archive
.
Members said the allegations were misrepresentations, and LaRouche strongly denied the charge of antisemitism. LaRouche was particularly critical of Britain and of the
Tavistock Institute The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British not-for-profit organisation that applies social science to contemporary issues and problems. It was initiated in 1946, when it developed from the Tavistock Clinic, and was formally establ ...
in London, a
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...
and
social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
charity that the movement associated with British intelligence.Kirby, Terry
"The cult and the candidate"
''The Independent'', 21 July 2004.
In 1999 a LaRouche publication claimed Britain's
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
(MI6) was threatening to assassinate LaRouche, probably with backing from the British royal family. Duggan's family came to believe that this worldview affected the movement's perception of Duggan when the conference participants learned that he was a British Jew who, as a child, had attended the
Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...
for counselling when his parents divorced.


Duggan's involvement with the movement


''Nouvelle Solidarité''

Duggan's first contact with the LaRouche movement was in Paris in January 2003, when he bought a copy of the LaRouche French-language newspaper, ''Nouvelle Solidarité'', from a booth near the British Institute, outside the Invalides station on the Paris Métro. The man who sold him the paper was Benoit Chalifoux, a writer for the newspaper and one of the movement's "organizers", or recruiters. Duggan was strongly opposed to the Iraq War, as were Chalifoux and his group of friends from the LaRouche movement. Protests were taking place worldwide in the weeks leading up to the
invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
on 20 March 2003. Duggan began seeing more of Chalifoux's group and was invited to attend a Schiller Institute conference near Wiesbaden, the LaRouche movement's European headquarters. Duggan and his parents assumed it was an anti-war conference. His mother searched for material about LaRouche on the web in vain; possibly she or her son misspelled the name as "Laroche."


Conference

Duggan and Chalifoux travelled to Wiesbaden on 21 March with eight other men. Duggan stayed in a youth
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...
at first, then with two other recruits in an apartment belonging to two Schiller Institute managers. The conference, "How to Reconstruct a Bankrupt World," was held in
Bad Schwalbach Bad Schwalbach (called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&nbs ...
, near Wiesbaden, from 21 to 23 March. LaRouche was the keynote speaker, with a speech entitled "Physical Geometry as Strategy." According to April Witt in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', he told the audience that
US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
was an unreformed drunk (he is a
teetotaler Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...
),
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
had founded the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
from the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
,
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
was killed by a domestic American operation, and the US was using the war in Iraq to "ignite catastrophic global warfare." The plot to launch a
world war A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
was being influenced, he said, by people who "like
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
, admire Nietzsche, but being Jewish ... couldn't qualify for
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
leadership, even though their fascism was absolutely pure! As extreme as Hitler! They sent them to the United States." The people behind the plot were the "independent central-banking-system crowd, the slime-mold," he said, the same people who had brought Hitler to power in the 1930s.Witt, April. "No Joke," ''Washington Post Magazine'', 24 October 2004, 12–17, 36–42. Archived a
WebCite


Youth cadre school

After the conference, Duggan attended a LaRouche Youth Movement cadre school in Wiesbaden with 60–70 others. Chalifoux, the recruiter who had accompanied him to Germany, returned to Paris. According to another potential recruit, there were hours of lectures,
seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
s and one-on-one meetings every day, as well as chanting and singing. Duggan reportedly stood out because he was British and Jewish. A document from the
Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
, submitted to the first
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
, said the Schiller Institute and LaRouche Youth Movement blamed the Jewish people for the Iraq war and other global issues, and that "Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of heideology."BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004
3/3
00:02:23.
According to Duggan's mother, the Schiller Institute's scientific adviser, Jonathan Tennenbaum, told her that when Duggan heard the Jews being blamed for the war during a seminar, he had stood up and said, "But I'm a Jew!" One participant said the others put him "through the wringer" because of it. Nordhausen, Frank
"Ermittlungen einer Mutter: Der mysteriöse Todesfall Jeremiah Duggon"
''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007.
According to Witt, Duggan may have been placed under further pressure because he told the others he had attended the Tavistock Clinic as a child for counselling when his parents divorced. Duggan's conference notes showed that someone at the conference referred to the Tavistock as a "
brainwashing Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwash ...
" centre.


Incident


Visit to Frankfurt

Duggan and his French girlfriend had planned to meet in Paris on Tuesday, 25 March. Instead he called her that day, two days before his death, to say he had no money for the fare home and was unable to get a ride until Sunday. He told her "very serious things" were happening and that he would explain when he returned. On 26 March, Duggan accompanied LaRouche members to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to hand out LaRouche literature in the streets, then to see the
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
collection at the
Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...
museum. When one member asked what he thought of the artwork, he started crying. The woman invited him to step outside for some air. Duggan kept repeating that he did not trust LaRouche and said he wanted to go back to England. She told him he was free to leave and could phone her if he wanted to, which seemed to reassure him. She last saw him with one of his roommates sitting on the steps of the museum around 8:30 pm.


Duggan's telephone calls

One of the Schiller Institute managers in whose apartment Duggan was staying told ''The Sunday Times'' that he and his roommate returned to the house around midnight. They had no key so the manager opened the door for them. According to the roommate (speaking after Duggan's death to his girlfriend), Duggan could not sleep and kept switching the lights on and off. He repeated that he was unable to trust LaRouche and felt trapped. At around 4:20 am—by now Thursday, 27 March—Duggan called his girlfriend on the roommate's
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
. She said he was speaking very quietly; sounded agitated and confused; complained that he no longer knew what was true and real; and that someone was conducting experiments with computers and magnetic waves, perhaps on him. She asked him to take a train to Paris in the morning. According to the roommate, Duggan then telephoned his mother, after which he ran out of the house. Mrs. Duggan said the first call came at 5:24 am German time (4:24 am in the UK):
And he said, "Mum, I'm in ... big trouble ... You know this ''Nouvelle Solidarité''?" ... He said, "I can't do this ... I want out." And at that point the phone was cut. And then it rang back again almost immediately. And the first thing that he said that time was, "Mum, I'm frightened." I realised he was in such danger that I said to him, "I love you." And then he said, "I want to see you ''now''." ... I said, "Well, where are you, Jerry?" He said, "Wiesbaden." And I said, "How do you spell it?" And he said, "W-I-E-S." And then the phone was cut.
After the calls, according to the roommate, Duggan asked, "Why did you choose me?" and said he wanted to go out for a cigarette. The roommate went too but pressed a doorbell by accident while looking for the light switch at the bottom of the stairs; he said this appeared to make Duggan panic and he ran off. He said he ran after Duggan briefly before going back to the apartment.


Death

Just over thirty minutes later, at about 6:00 am, two drivers heading into Wiesbaden town centre saw a man run toward them on the Berliner Straße (
Bundesstraße 455 Bundesstraße 455 (abbreviated B-455) is a German ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway") in the federal state of Hesse. The route runs southwest from Schotten in Vogelsbergkreis to Mainz-Kastel, a borough of the Hessian capital city of ...
), a four-lane
dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
. The spot, near an Aral garage, was around five kilometres (c. three miles) from the apartment in which Duggan had been staying, and not far from the LaRouche offices in the Wiesbaden suburb of
Erbenheim Erbenheim is a borough of Wiesbaden, capital of the federal state of Hesse, Germany. It has about 10,000 inhabitants. Formerly an independent municipality, the settlement was incorporated into Wiesbaden on April 10, 1928. ''Militärflugplatz-Er ...
. One of the drivers said Duggan ran toward him with outstretched arms. The car, a BMW, clipped him with the wing mirror. He appears to have fallen, but got up and continued running toward the traffic that was heading into town. Both drivers reported the incidents to police. At 6:14 am, as the police were taking details, they were told that a man had run into a red
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
further ahead on the same road. The driver saw Duggan move onto the road in front of him. The car swerved from the inside lane to the outside, but the driver said Duggan leapt in front of the car, arms raised and mouth open. The car hit him, denting the passenger door and shattering the passenger window and windscreen, and throwing Duggan into the path of a blue Volkswagen Golf, which ran over him. He was certified dead at the scene at 6:35 am. The view of the German police was that Duggan had arrived at that stretch of road after running 5 km (3 miles) from the apartment. Duggan's family complained that the police had failed to establish that. Other allegations included that he had spent the night at the nearby LaRouche offices and ran from there to the road, and that he had run onto the road from a car. Forensic reports commissioned by Erica Duggan suggested that he may have died elsewhere and been moved onto the road after the fact, a position the
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
rejected in 2015.


Early response

Within minutes of Duggan's second telephone, Erica contacted the British emergency services and was advised to call her local police station in
Colindale Colindale is a district in the London Borough of Barnet; its main shopping street on the A5 forming the borough boundary with neighbouring Brent. Colindale is a suburban area, and in recent years has had many new apartments built. It's also th ...
,
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
. She told them she believed her son was in danger. They transferred her to the Metropolitan Police at
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
, but when she explained he had become involved with ''Nouvelle Solidarité'' they had no idea what she meant. At 7:40 am Duggan's roommate telephoned his girlfriend in Paris to ask if she had heard from him; he said Duggan had left the apartment and had not returned. At around 11 am Erica rang the roommate's mobile phone; because he did not speak English, he passed it to a Schiller Institute manager. The manager reportedly told her the group was a news agency, adding, "We cannot take responsibility for the actions of individuals. We think your son has psychological problems." She said she would call the local hospitals to see whether Duggan had been admitted. Shortly after this, the manager and Duggan's roommate, along with another member, handed his
passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
, bag and rucksack to the Wiesbaden police station.Foggo, Daniel
"German police probe into British student's death was 'inadequate'"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 November 2003.
The manager told ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'': "I believed he had psychological problems, based on the conversations he had with people. I don't know what happened on the night he died, but the Schiller Institute played no part in his death." The police report stated that the manager told them Erica had called "since he had severe
asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
and was not getting in touch with her." Later Erica said her son had not had asthma since childhood. According to one of those present, around 25 members of the movement were asked to assemble in the local LaRouche office that morning, in a meeting attended by Helga Zepp-LaRouche. They were told that Duggan had killed himself. A LaRouche recruiter from Paris told the meeting that Duggan had been to the Tavistock Clinic, apparently giving the impression that he had been there recently. Zepp-LaRouche reportedly said that Duggan might have been sent from London to harm LaRouche.


Inquiries


First German investigation

Wiesbaden police reportedly concluded within three hours that Duggan committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. LaRouche officials were said to have told police that Duggan had been a patient at the Tavistock Clinic and had suffered from "suicidal impulses." That view of him shaped the rest of the inquiry, according to ''The Sunday Times''. An emergency doctor gave the cause of death as "open, cranio-cerebral trauma following traffic accident," injuries that he said were consistent with the accident as described by the drivers. Degen, Wolfgang
"Wiesbaden: Faszination Verschwörung – Seit zwölf Jahren bietet Unfalltod eines britischen Studenten Anlass zu Spekulationen"
, ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 13 June 2015.
The accident investigator noted marks on Duggan's clothes consistent with having been in contact with the underside of a vehicle. The braking had left marks on the road; Duggan was lying about 23 metres (25 yards) beyond the point of impact. The investigator took 79 photographs of the scene, although the cars were moved before he arrived. German authorities did not conduct an
autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
because the cause of death had been established and there was no evidence of foul play. His clothes were not returned to his family and were assumed to have been destroyed. The police took no formal witness statements. Witness evidence was recorded as "brief, sometimes contradictory, notes," according to ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
''. Nothing suggested that the drivers had any connection to the LaRouche movement or Duggan. The Wiesbaden public prosecutor closed the case after three months. In 2004 he told the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
:
We are 100 percent certain that it is suicide, suicide as we call it, that as a consequence of his own behaviour, and with no one else involved, he threw himself in front of a car, of several cars, and died on the third attempt.
Under German law, Arlett said that he could investigate further only if there existed "concrete evidence of third-party involvement," and there was none; the Schiller Institute had been mentioned in connection with the death only because Duggan had attended an event of theirs. Officials maintained the same position in 2007 and 2009. Degen, Wolfgang
"Nur die Legende hat ein langes Leben"
''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 19 April 2007.
Cacace, Helen
"Remembering Jeremiah Duggan"
''Channel 4 News'', 27 March 2009, from 00:04:09.


First British inquest

Duggan's body was flown back to England on 31 March 2003, where a non-forensic post-mortem examination was conducted on 4 April by
pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
David Shove.Hyam, Jeremy. "Skeleton argument on behalf of the claimant," ''The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General'', CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division. Archived a
WebCite
Shove found head injuries, bruising on the backs of the arms and hands, blood in the
lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...
s and stomach, and a full
bladder The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters ...
.''The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General'', CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 5 November 2008. Archived a
WebCite
A blood sample showed no
drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
or
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
. Shove was not called to attend the
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
, which took place in November 2003. Robert Hawthorne, an accident investigator, told the court that Duggan may only have appeared to leap in front of the cars: "The drivers may have perceived that he leapt when in actual fact he was either running to clear the cars or what they saw was the post-impact movement of Jeremiah as he was flung around." The court heard testimony about the conference Duggan had attended. A Metropolitan Police memo was entered as evidence: "The Schiller Institute and the LaRouche Youth Movement ... blames the Jewish people for the Iraq war and all the other problems in the world. Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of heideology." The coroner, Dr. William Dolman, delivered a narrative verdict:
Jeremiah Joseph Duggan received fatal head injuries when he ran into the road in Wiesbaden and was hit by two private motor cars. What other fact do we know that I must add? I really must add that he had earlier been in a state of terror. It is a word not commonly used in a Coroner's court but no other word would reflect his state of mind at the time."Student died 'in state of terror'"
Press Association, 7 November 2003.


Private forensic reviews

Erica Duggan set up the "Justice for Jeremiah" campaign in April 2004 with legal support from the British Foreign Office. In 2005 she hand-delivered a list of questions to Shove, the pathologist who had performed the autopsy. When she showed him Duggan's autopsy report, he allegedly replied that Duggan had been "severely beaten around the head" and said he had not realised it had been a traffic accident. Shove declined to sign a statement to that effect and apparently could not be located for the second inquest. Six forensic experts hired by Erica examined Shove's autopsy report and photographs taken by accident investigators in Wiesbaden.Townsend, Mark; Doward, Jamie
"New evidence shows 'suicide' student was beaten to death"
''The Observer'', 25 March 2007.
Taylor, Matthew
"Germany 'suicide' student may have been chased and beaten, inquest told"
''The Guardian'', 20 May 2015.
A
forensic pathologist Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases an ...
suggested that bruises on Duggan's hands and arms were defensive injuries. Paul Canning, a forensic photographer formerly with the Metropolitan Police, and Alan Bayle, a forensic scientist, suggested that Duggan may have died elsewhere and been placed at the scene. Bayle argued that the Peugeot windscreen had been hit with a
crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...
or a similar instrument, while Canning wrote that he found nothing to suggest that the cars had made contact with Duggan.Townsend, Mark
"Cult riddle of student's death"
''The Observer'', 17 September 2006.
Two other forensic experts expressed similar views. Those views were challenged during a High Court hearing in 2008 regarding the application for a new inquest. Contrary to the claim that there was no sign that Duggan had come into contact with the cars, there were "traces on the underside of the Golf," according to Cecilia Ivimy on behalf of the
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. She described the argument that the accident had been staged as requiring someone to have inflicted head injuries after the phone call to Erica, placed Duggan on the road, inflicted damage to two cars, scattered debris, and created skid marks, all without attracting attention. In 2010 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany called the allegations outlandish. The '' Wiesbadener Kurier'' criticised what it saw as the defamation of "two completely innocent motorists."


Second British inquest

Relying on the forensic reviews, Erica applied in May 2007 for a new inquest. A cross-party group of MPs signed an
early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...
that month calling on the Attorney General to support the application. After protracted legal action by Erica, the High Court ordered the new inquest in May 2010.''Erica Duggan and HM Coroner for Northern District of Greater London''
EWHC 1263, High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 20 May 2010. Archived fro
the original
(PDF) on 10 May 2016.
The inquest took place over three days in May 2015 at
North London Coroner's Court The North London Coroner's Court is a municipal building located at 29 Wood Street, Chipping Barnet, London. The building, which served as Barnet Town Hall, is a Grade II listed building. History In the early 20th century Barnet Urban District ...
before the coroner Andrew Walker. Walker rejected the view that the accident had been staged, calling it implausible. The court heard from Catherine Picard, a French expert on
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
s, that Duggan might have experienced "intense pressure and psychological violence" at the conference, including one-on-one sessions, hours of lectures, and "being subjected to repeated conspiracy theories and antisemitic discourse."Taylor, Matthew
"'Suicide' student Jeremiah Duggan may have been pressured by cult, court hears"
''The Guardian'', 21 May 2015.
Matthew Feldman, a historian at Teesside University and expert on the
far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
, testified that, if other participants had learned that Duggan was Jewish, British and had attended the Tavistock Clinic, "it would have been taken very seriously by the movement." Walker delivered a narrative verdict:
 ... Jeremiah Duggan received fatal injuries following a collision with two cars on the Berliner Strasse and died in a road traffic collision. ... There are a number of unexplained injuries that suggest that Mr. Duggan may have been involved in an altercation at some stage before his death.
He added that Duggan's attendance at the conference, the methods used to recruit young people, Duggan having expressed that he was a Jew and British, and questioning what he was being told "may have had a bearing on Mr. Duggan's death in the sense that it may have put him at risk from members of the organization and caused Mr. Duggan to become distressed and seek to leave." He said that he "totally reject dthat this was a suicide."


Second German investigation

Duggan's family appealed unsuccessfully in 2006 to the Higher Regional Court (''Oberlandesgericht'') in Frankfurt regarding the decision to close the German police investigation. Their appeal against that decision was rejected by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in 2010.''In dem Verfahren über die Verfassungsbeschwerde der Frau D ...''
Bundesverfassungsgericht, 2 BvR 2307/06, 4 February 2010.
A second appeal to the ''Oberlandesgericht'' succeeded in 2012. Müller, Daniel
"Warum starb Jeremiah?"
''Die Zeit'', 19 November 2015
translation
translation archived at ).
In what the ''
Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' described as an extremely unusual decision, the court ordered the Wiesbaden prosecutor to re-open the inquiry. The court said that a pedestrian leaving the LaRouche offices in Wiesbaden, in the direction of the town centre, would have reached exactly that junction in the Berliner Straße, and "would have had to cross the four-lane road if he did not want or was unable to turn back." Schmale, Holger
"LaRouche-Sekte: Vom Kader-Seminar in den Tod"
''Berliner Zeitung'', 18 May 2014.
The new investigation opened in April 2013. As of 2015,
prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
s were reportedly investigating allegations against two individuals, one German, one French, on suspicion of causing bodily harm resulting in death. Knispel, Manfred
"Erneute Ermittlung um Tod von britischem Juden in Wiesbaden – Justiz beschäftigt Fall auch noch nach zwölf Jahren"
''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 20 May 2015

.
Andreas Wassermann

''Der Spiegel'', 29 June 2015.
Erica criticised the appointment of the same police officer who had presided over the case in 2003, Geyer, Steven

''Frankfurter Rundschau'', 1 July 2015.
accusing the German authorities of "institutional racism" akin to that of the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry. In 2014 the
Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...
asked
Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Angela Merkel to arrange an independent investigation, and in 2015 asked the British Foreign Secretary to raise the issue with the German government.


LaRouche response

In 2006 LaRouche issued a statement saying the allegations were a
hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...
stemming from a campaign orchestrated by
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
, then
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
, and Cheney's wife Lynne.LaRouche, Lyndon H
"Duggan Hoax Rewarmed Again"
LaRouche Political Action Committee, 8 November 2006.
In 2007 the LaRouche movement published a letter from the Metropolitan Police, dated 14 July 2003, that it said was obtained under the British
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...
, in which an officer wrote that he had been assured the case had been fully investigated in Germany. The Schiller Institute issued a statement in 2007: "The Schiller Institute has always maintained that it had no involvement whatsoever in Jeremiah's death, and has expressed its sympathy to the Duggan family.""The Facts in the Jeremiah Duggan Case"
Schiller Institute, September 2007.
In 2015 a spokesperson told ''Newsweek'' that the allegations were "utterly preposterous":
At no time has Ms Duggan ever presented any evidence or facts that refute the findings of the German authorities concerning the suicide of her son. Instead, over the last 12 years she and her representatives and collaborators have propounded wild conspiracies theories promulgated by the political enemies of Mr LaRouche in and around the British Monarchy and the circles of the now discredited former
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
.


See also

* List of unsolved deaths


Notes


References


Further reading


Justice for Jeremiah
Duggan family website.

''Executive Intelligence Review'', LaRouche movement. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Jeremiah 2003 in Germany Burials at Highgate Cemetery English people of German-Jewish descent English people of Irish descent English people of South African descent Deaths by person in Germany Death of Jeremiah Duggan People from Hampstead Unsolved deaths March 2003 events in Europe