Inquiry into American engineer’s unexpected death finds no evidence of foul play

An inquiry has found that Shane Todd, an American engineer who was found dead in his Singapore apartment just over a year ago, committed suicide. The ruling is in line with Police findings last year. Before his death, Todd was contracted by a Singaporean government research agency to work on a galium nitride amplifier, a new technology with commercial and potential military applications. Todd’s family believed that his work made him a target for foul play, claiming a hard drive found in his apartment supports their theory and the suicide note, which praised his former employer, was out of character.

In an extensive 150-page report, Singaporean authorities deem that “the available evidence was inconsistent with the possibility that there was foul play involved in the deceased’s death.” In regards to alleged bruises on Todd’s hands that were thought to be signs of a struggle, the court ruled that these were in fact caused by postmortem lividity — blood settling under the skin after death. After laying out a timeline of the events leading to Todd’s death, the document states “beyond reasonable doubt” that the 31-year-old engineer committed suicide.