Assassination of Henry Cassian
| Assassination of Henry Cassian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | Noursala, Aerla |
| Date | 1729.8 AN 3:14 PM |
| Attack type | Assassination |
| Weapon(s) | Car bomb |
| Deaths | Henry Cassian, Driver Lucas Bryant |
| Injured | Numerous Civilians |
| Perpetrator | George Graves |
(WIP) The First President of Aerla, Henry Cassian, was assassinated in 1729.8 AN in Noursala after giving a speech at the Hotel Asturias. While exiting the underground car park of the hotel, a bomb that was placed under the hood of his car detonated, killing him and his driver Lucas Bryant.
Background
After the Public Relief Scandal of 1720 and his subsequent resignation, Cassian attempted to keep a low public profile. Apart from a critically despised novel published in 1724 AN and his son Alfred being arrested for illegally discharging a firearm, Cassian lived a quiet retirement in his mountainside home in the Mt. Kane Municipality and his country estate in Wildwood.
While stating his disinterest in rejoining politics, Cassian did state his desire to return to the public scene in a more limited role. Speeches he gave in Mt. Kane and Kyustendil proved to be moderately popular among those who attended. One evening, Cassian received an invitation to speak at a minor political convention in Noursala, hosted in a conference room at the Hotel Asturias, a luxury highrise hotel located in Downtown Noursala.
Perpetrator and Planning
George Graves, a 30 year old nurse and University of Noursala alumni, had become radicalized by online forums in the wake of the Public Relief Scandal and the subsequent fallout. Under the forum name “TooLuckyToDie”, he declared himself to be “Veracek’s #1 Disciple” and stated how he would go on to “make a name for himself” in fiery posts denouncing Cassian and several of his ministers.
Graves spent months figuring out how he would carry out his attack on Cassian. He first planned to simply shoot Cassian, but he realized how futile it would be for him to try and escape. Once Graves found out of Cassian's attendance at the Asturias conference, he decided that the best course of action was to attempt to distance himself from the actual site of Cassian’s death. Thus, he began work preparing a simple plastic explosive device using materials bought from illicit sources and online chemical suppliers. A fuse was also created that would be timed to explode five minutes after the car was turned on, using the car's battery as a power source. He was also able to create a fake driver’s license that identified him as one James Issacson, that he planned to drop leaving the scene to use as a red herring.
The Assassination
Cassian and his driver, a former army Fëldvæbal named Lucas Bryant, pulled into a VIP parking spot in the underground car park of the Hotel Asturias at around 7:30 in the morning. After the conference started at approximately 10:00 AM, Graves was able to slip past the front desk of the hotel and into the stairs that led to the car park. Finding Cassian’s car, Graves was able to pop the hood of the car using a pry bar and slipped the explosive in place and wire in his fuse. Closing the hood, Graves went back up the stairs and walked out the front door of the hotel, dropping his fake ID on the ground outside.
The conference concluded around 3:00 PM, with Cassian and Bryant both getting in the car around 10 minutes later. After starting the car, neither of them seemed to notice anything suspicious. Cassian, complaining of the cold, urged Bryant to let the car warm up before they departed. After about 2 minutes, the car began to make its way out of the car park.
At around 3:14 PM, an explosion rocked the entirety of Downtown Noursala. Most windows in the city block of the blast were blown out and many guests and conference attendees sustained injuries. Two hotel security guards, believing erroneously that a gas line had been hit by construction workers a few blocks away, went outside to survey the situation. Noticing a plume of smoke rising from the ramp, they looked down and ,to their horror, saw the car of Henry Cassian on fire.
Investigation
Initial Investigation
Almost immediately, State Security Directorate officers and investigators descended on the burned vehicle and the Hotel. There, they found the charred remains of both Cassian and Bryant still upright in their seats. Another officer noticed the driver license of James Issacson had blown into the street, but soon noticed it being fake after not seeing the distinctive Aerlan Coat of Arms that would have been seen under black light on a real license.
Due to the nature of the assassination, the investigation was given to one of the SSD's most senior detectives; one Sektönhep Jacob Hoffman. Hoffman ordered the burned wreck of the car to be towed to SSD headquarters for further investigation. Upon inspection of fingerprints found on the hood of the car, investigators found a match in the Criminal Police database for one George Graves, who foolishly did not use gloves as he believed the blast would destroy any trace of his prints. Graves had been arrested for petty theft at the age of 16, and although given community service still had his fingerprints cataloged in the Criminal Police's database. With the evidence corroborated, a search warrant request was accepted by the District Court of Noursala.
Manhunt and Capture
SSD agents first targeted Graves' residence, a small house located in the Hakfah bureau. Upon entering the house, they found it completely ransacked. A hand-written note was found on the kitchen table stating (in part) that "...you poor fucks will never find me alive. I know people you don't..."
Due to Graves' membership the People's Revolutionary Communist Party of Aerla and his idolization of it's fanatical leader Constantine Veracek, immediate suspicion fell upon that organization for having ordered Graves to commit the assassination. Veracek, for what was said to be the first time in his life, cooperated with the SSD and the Criminal Police by stating that he and the rest of the PRCPA had no knowledge of Graves' plans and motives. Veracek, a noted anti-Cassian activist, none the less condemned his assassination as "unrevolutionary" and a "threat to the glorious people's revolution", and so on. Upon the corroboration of more statements, the SSD came to the conclusion that Veracek nor any of the PRCPA's leadership had anything to do with Graves' actions.
Around 72 hours after their manhunt had begun, the SSD field headquarters in the Oakland parish, Heathscap Municipality were alerted by an anonymous shopkeeper that a man bearing resemblance to Graves had come into his store asking to buy cigarettes. The shopkeeper reported that the man was driving a red sedan with the license plate markings NO-2345-602 and that he headed east after leaving. A local police cruiser saw the car matching the description and the same plates, but were ordered by command to hang back and see were the car was going. The cruiser observed the car parked at a motel in the town of Louisburg. Due to the sudden revelation that they had tracked down Cassian's assassin, a plan was formulated on the spot to bring him in.
At roughly 11:30 PM, members of the SSD, Criminal Police, and members of the 47th Police Inspectorate Regiment stormed into the motel room. Graves was dragged out of bed and bundled out of the doorway into an armored police carrier. After being brought to the Noursala Men's Prison and brought in front of a handpicked SSD detective, Graves began to curse obscenely and muttered a sentence that would make the detectives blood run cold; "...those god damn Ceruleans set me up." Unsure whether this was an utterance of an insane man or an admittance of a foreign plot to kill the former President, the detective reported this fact to the SSD who, in a feverish panic, relayed the message on to the Foreign Office and the Military Intelligence Committee.
Trial
The trial of Aerla vs. Graves began on a rainy afternoon around a week after his apprehension. Graves' utterance of Cerulean involvement in the assassination still floated above everyone's head. Very quickly, Graves accepted a plea deal given to him by the court that would spare him the death penalty if he pleaded guilty and testified under oath of his motives and any foreign collusion with the assassination.
Four days into the trial, after several cross examinations of witnesses, medical personnel, and SSD agents, did Graves finally get the chance to testify. Graves stated that although he was heavily opposed to Cassian and an ardent Communist and follower of Veracek, the thought of killing him had never crossed his mind. This was until a man, who referred to himself as "Antov" had began messaging him on social media. After gaining Graves' trust, Antov admitted himself to be an agent of the Cerulean KGB. Continuing to radicalize Graves, Antov eventually convinces him that assassinating Cassian was the best strategy to getting revenge for his "crimes against the people". Graves stated that Antov gave him instructions to build an explosive device with enough power to destroy a car.
Graves went on record to state:
Graves was found guilty on the charge of First Degree Murder of both Cassian and Bryant, Battery, High Treason, and Illegal Possession of an Explosive Device. He was given a lifetime prison sentence as agreed upon in his plea deal.
State Funeral
Before the car was moved to SSD headquarters, two coroners from Noursala City Hospital carefully examined the bodies of both Cassian and Bryant before bringing them to the hospital morgue. There, the bodies were set to remain until a state funeral could be organized. However, when Cassian's will was examined, it stated that he wished for a private funeral that would only be attended by close family. This wish would reluctantly be granted, with a simple funeral occurring at Cassian's country estate in the Wildwood Municipality. He would then go onto be cremated and his ashes retained by his widow, Catherine.
Sergeant Bryant would be given a military funeral at Army Camp Allison outside of Aerla, and subsequently burred in the Noursala National Military Cemetery.
Aftermath
The Aerlan government, startled by the evidence of a Cerulean plot to assassinate Cassian, launched a formal diplomatic complaint to the Cerulean embassy in Noursala. After an unconvincing denial by the staff at the embassy, the national assembly officially condemning the Cerulean government for their "hostile actions against the Aerlan state". The military was placed on high alert until, just short of 3 months after the death of Henry Cassian and Lucas Bryant, the Grand Army of Aerla launched Operation Ulysses in Southern Cerulea.
The Hotel Asturias subsequently laid abandoned due to the immense structural damage the bomb caused. The gutted shell of the hotel would finally be demolished in early 1732 AN, with a small park being built on the site in honor of Cassian and Bryant.
International Reactions
Constancia: The Imperial State of Constancia, through Mesazon Periklês Metaxas expressed shock and sorrow at these events, and vowed to help in the improvement of the security situation in Keltia. The Constancian flag was ordered to be flown at half-mast for an entire week.
Dark Berry Islands: Chairwoman Sofia Fasthey shared her shock for the events in Noursala and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Moorland: King MacMartin expressed the condolences of the kingdom to Aerla and reinforced Normark's supposition that Cerulean agents are prime suspects. Moorland offered to place its agents at Aerla's disposal to "root out these unsavory fiends."
Normark: Citing the assassination of Henry Cassian as justification, the government of Normark revoked the parole of known communists and socialist sympathisers in Normark and occupied Caledonia, mandating their immediate return to the previous system of administrative detention within seventy-two hours on penalty of being declared fugitive outlaws if they did not present themselves to officers of the Elian Militia within that time.
Nouvelle Alexandrie: Secretary of State Federico Mercurio expressed his shock and determination to "help Aerla with any assistance to solve this heinous assault on a nation's government." Flags in Nouvelle Alexandrie were ordered to be flown at half-mast for a week.
Senya: President Linda Angelton condemned the assassination and ordered flags in the country to be flown at half-mast.
