China Dreams
Like hundreds of Americans who go to China every year to teach, Darren Russell found himself in a dangerous situation – working in an unlicensed, illegal school. This common problem is well known in China, and illegal school operators often work with corrupt local government and police officials to continue operating at the expense of honest teachers. In the case of Darren Russell, his passport was held illegally for five months by the owner of the Decai English Language Training school in Guangzhou, China. Because the school was illegal, it could not secure the necessary working visas and permits, though the school’s owner repeatedly lied and said the necessary paperwork was being processed. Like all illegal English training schools in China, Decai profited and went unregulated.

Terminated, Evicted and Targeted
Fed up with the school’s illegal operations and his passport-visa situation, Darren Russell confronted Decai School owner Jane Luo on April 8, 2005, and demanded that she return his passport. Upon returning his passport, the school’s owner immediately terminated his employment and forced him out of his school apartment, giving him 30 minutes to pack his belongings. Ms. Luo ordered three school employees to take Darren across the city to the Cathay Hotel, an establishment owned by the People’s Liberation Army-NORINCO. Because of a personal relationship with the hotel manager, Ms. Luo insisted that Darren be checked into this hotel.

Robbed and Passport Stolen by Chinese Police
Within hours of checking into the hotel, Darren Russell was robbed of his cash and valuables, and his passport was taken by the Chinese police. While the details of this robbery remain unclear, it is undisputed that the local police authorities immediately took possession of his passport (which, after his death, mysteriously reappeared in his room). The robbery, which some believe happened as the result of a ruse by a hotel masseuse, left him penniless, scared and without a way to leave the country because his passport had been taken by the Chinese police.

Danger, Fear and Consulate Neglect
After being robbed, Darren Russell called his parents, who worked frantically to wire money through two separate transfers, neither of which he received. Concurrent to this, Darren Russell and his mother contacted the US Consulate in Guangzhou and the US Embassy in Beijing, but no assistance came. Hours before his death, he called his parents. Recorded in a message, he said, “I’m scared. I want to get out of here. I’ve never been this scared in my life.”

A Violent Death
In the early morning hours of April 14, 2005, Darren Russell was murdered by blunt force trauma to the head and brain. In the ensuing weeks and months, the local police fabricated a story that he had been hit by a truck while crossing the street in front of his hotel. This story, riddled with gaping holes and contradictions, has stood as the official record in this case.

A Mother Demands Answers
Maxine Russell did not believe her son died as the result of a traffic accident. In three separate trips to China following her son’s death, twice meeting with local police and US Consulate officials, she heard repeatedly conflicting accounts of the “investigation” of his death and attempts to save him at a local hospital. Like the traffic accident story itself, these investigative and resuscitative stories turned out to be fabrications as well. (Police and hospital reports available.) For nearly two years following her son’s death, Maxine Russell has contacted countless public officials to follow up on this case. With the exception of two US congressmen’s offices (Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Rep. Henry Hyde), little interest has been shown and no action has been taken.

Stonewalling and Obstruction
Under the Freedom of Information Act, Maxine Russell has repeatedly requested information from the US State Department about other non-natural deaths of Americans in China. Her repeated requests over a six month period have been met with evasiveness and refusal, as have her continuing requests for a credible investigation and follow-up into the circumstances surrounding her son’s death.

Pulled from His Grave
Darren Russell’s suspicious death was not reported to the FBI, as is standard operating procedure in cases of Americans dying abroad. In the days following his death, Chinese authorities attempted to cremate his remains, an effort that was encouraged by the US Consulate. Because of the family’s Jewish faith, Maxine Russell adamantly refused to allow this. In this aspect of the case, it took nearly one month for Darren Russell’s body to be returned for burial, at a cost of more than $12,000 to the family. Not aware that the FBI should have been notified of his death to conduct an autopsy, and strapped for funds, the family buried Darren Russell in May of 2005. Still, questions and doubts remained. On March 14, 2007, nearly two years after his death, Darren Russell’s body was exhumed and autopsied by a board certified medical examiner. The pathologist’s findings concluded that Darren Russell did not die as the result of a truck-pedestrian accident, but rather was murdered by blunt force trauma to the head and brain. See pathologist's letter of findings.

A Theory of the Crime
Maxine Russell believes that the illegal school’s owner is behind her son’s murder. If this is correct, it is possible that the actual killers may be Chinese police officers or thugs acting on their behalf. Jane Luo’s insistence that he be brought to the Cathay Hotel, where he was robbed of his valuables and passport immediately after checking in, is more than coincidental. Darren Russell had threatened to report Jane Luo to authorities and make an example of her school’s illegal practices. Yet his passport mysteriously re-appeared in his hotel room after his death – this could only have happened by way of the local police who were in possession of Darren Russell’s passport following the robbery at the Cathay Hotel. Still, conflicting reports remain as to how Darren Russell’s body was positively identified. At a minimum, local police officials need to answer for their confiscation and replacement of the passport, as well as apparently staged photographs that were taken at a local hospital following his death.

A Reason to Cover Up: Negligence
The State Department, though consular negligence, failed to assist Darren Russell after his and his mother’s repeated calls for help. Because it is documented that he sought assistance and then died under mysterious circumstances, the consulate has found itself in a position of having to answer for its gross neglect. In addition to repeated questions over a two-year period, Maxine Russell recently sent 25 questions to the US Consulate in Guangzhou (see letters), not one of which has been answered or even acknowledged.

Another Reason to Cover Up: Perception, Embarrassment and Potential Conflicts of Interest
The Cathay Hotel in Guangzhou is owned by China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO), a state-owned defense contractor controlled by the People’s Liberation Army of China. At the time of his death, NORINCO was under trade sanctions imposed by the U.S. Government. Under these sanctions, which were scheduled to end in May of 2005 (approximately three weeks after the death of Darren Russell), NORINCO and its overseas distributors and subsidiaries were barred from exporting goods and services to the United States and doing any contract work for or with all U.S. government officials and agencies. (Reference State Department Public Notice No. 4370, effective May 9, 2003, pursuant to Executive Orders 12938 and 13094, respectively.) In the week following his death, NORINCO finalized a deal with the Iranian government to build a subway system in Tehran – a huge commercial venture with international implications.

At the very same time, in mid-April of 2005, a deal to sell UNOCAL Oil to Texaco-Chevron had been
tentatively agreed upon, subject to shareholder approval. (Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is a former board member of Chevron.) . Concurrent to this, China North Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a communist-party owned company, was putting together a cash bid for UNOCAL, which later failed after congressional uproar at the Bush administration’s openly-stated “hands-off” approach to the pending sale.

It is possible, based on documentation and reasonable observation, that the State Department has sought to and continues to cover up the truth of the death of Darren Russell because of potentially embarrassing revelations that, first, their own embassy and consulate operations indefensibly failed to protect him as prescribed by law, and, second, that the location of his lodging prior to his death (the Cathay Hotel/NORINCO) could raise inadvertent, troubling questions – by proximity and perception – for the Department of State and NORINCO itself, though the latter was most likely not directly responsible for his death. It is further possible that silent conflicts-of-interest may have been in play with the UNOCAL sale to discourage transparent State Department follow-up into the murder of Darren Russell.

It is indisputable that sensitive diplomatic and big financial interests were on the line for people in high places at the time of Darren Russell’s death, thus leaving powerful disincentives to keep silent the truth about the murder of an American teacher in China.

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