Questions Surrounding Writer’s Death Spark New Investigation

West Virginia authorities said Tuesday they were exploring the possibility that Joseph Daniel Casolaro, a free-lance writer found dead Saturday in the community of Martinsburg, was the victim of a homicide even though apparent slash marks were found around his wrists.

“At this point, nothing is ruled out,” said Cynthia Gaither, an assistant Berkeley County prosecutor.

Local medical authorities have begun an autopsy, but the apparently premature embalming of the body on Sunday has complicated the procedure and heightened suspicions among Casolaro’s relatives that he was the victim of foul play.

Casolaro’s body was discovered in a bathroom at the Martinsburg Sheraton hotel.

Martinsburg police had ordered the embalming after a short investigation and a ruling by the county coroner, Sandra Brining, that the death was a suicide. No relatives were contacted before the embalming, according to Casolaro’s brother, Anthony Casolaro, an Arlington, Va., physician.

Relatives and friends have questioned the suicide ruling, and suggested Casolaro’s death was linked to sensitive research he was doing on a book. The death is now under investigation by authorities from West Virginia and Virginia, Gaither said. The FBI has also made inquiries into the case, she said.

Casolaro, 44, went to West Virginia on Thursday to meet a source for his book about the Inslaw case, an 8-year-old legal battle between the Justice Department and a Washington-based computer software company. The company has long alleged that officials in the Ronald Reagan Administration stole software designed for law enforcement use and harassed the firm in an effort to drive it out of business.

Friends and relatives said Casolaro was investigating what he believed was a connection between the Inslaw case and allegations that officials working in the 1980 campaign of then-presidential candidate Reagan engineered the timing of the release of hostages from Iran to aid his election bid.

Anthony Casolaro said he believed it was highly unlikely that his brother committed suicide. “He was always upbeat and positive,” Anthony Casolaro said. “He was not depressive. He was just not the type of guy to kill himself.”

Anthony Casolaro said an unsigned note was found at the scene, saying: “I’m sorry, especially to my son,” but he questioned its authenticity and said handwriting checks on it have been ordered.