The mystery surrounding the death of Vladimir Putin’s former press minister in a Washington hotel deepened on Thursday when an autopsy revealed blunt force injuries to his head.
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District of Columbia police spokesman Officer Hugh Carew confirmed the autopsy results for Mikhail Lesin on Thursday. The manner of death was undetermined, the statement said.
The source, who was familiar with the investigation, said authorities were still trying to determine a possible motive for the apparent attack and did not have any suspects.
In a mystery that sounds plucked from a cold war spy novel, Lesin was found dead inside a Washington, D.C. hotel room in November previous year.
Many found his death mystifying, with questions and speculation surrounding the details of his visit to Washington, and rumors about his apparent falling out of favor with President Vladimir Putin and his powerful allies.
In 2013, he became head of Gazprom-Media Holding, the media arm of state energy giant Gazprom, and oversaw Russia’s top liberal radio station Echo of Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s chief spokeswoman indicated a high-level diplomatic request was on the way to Washington.
The New York Times said Lesin’s injuries were the result of “some sort of altercation” that took place before he returned to the Dupont Circle Hotel where he was staying.
In a 2014 interview with the Russian edition of Forbes, Lesin said the property was owned by his adult children and not connected to him. It was reported then, that the police didn’t find any signs pointing to an unnatural cause of death.
His name was made by Lesin in marketing and PR in the 1990s, founding advertising agency Video International or Vi – one of Russia’s largest. At the time, the Russian state media, quoting his family, said Lesin died of a heart attack.
He is credited with having inspired the creation of Russia Today, an English-language news service that is often seen as a mouthpiece for the Russian government.
He served as Russian press minister from 1999 to 2004 and presidential media adviser from 2004 to 2009, according to RT.
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Previous year the MS senator Robin Wicker called for Lesin to be investigated on suspicion of money laundering and corruption.
