Investigation Spaak

Investigation Spaak
On October 2, 3649 former president Paul Spaak was found dead in his mansion in Port Golavia. Police officers immediately were very suspicious investigating the scene. Autopsy proved that Paul Spaak was murdered by poisoning. This event rapidly led to a political rollercoaster.

What happened to Spaak
During his last term as president of Lodamun, there were some severe problems with a party in the opposition. At a certain moment, things got out of control, and MP's of that party openly committed blasphemy, which was a federal offense at that time. As president, Paul Spaak had the power to sentence these individuals. Paul chose, after consulting the Supreme Court, to have all 200 MP's executed. By January 3638, that oppostion party had vanished. Richard Orman took over presidency and major reforms happened in the new Great Democratic Republic of Lodamun.

On October 1, 3649, Paul had gone fishing all day and had arrived at his mansion in Port Golavia around 6 in the evening. Paul enjoyed a good meal and a fine glass of wine and lit the fireplace afterwards. Around 8 he installed himself in his sofa and started reading a book. About an hour later, he went to the kitchen for a glass refill. The bottle had been on the kitchen table ever since his first glass of wine he drank during supper.

Twenty minutes later Paul was dead.

A friend of his found Paul the next day at half past seven in the morning. Police was notified, an ambulance was sent and a coroner was brought in.

What happened to Devos
Only hours after Pauls body was discovered, Herman Devos notified the Presidium. At the same time he warned all of the MP's present to be vigilant, because police thought that the death of Paul wasn't accidental. Afterwards, Herman left the Presidium. While leaving the building where the Presidium is housed, he was shot at. Luckily he was being surrounded by numerous members of the Presidential Guard. These guards also were able to arrest an individual soon after.

Individual?
The arrested individual was transferred to police officers and interrogated. This person admitted being the shooter, and also confessed the murder on Paul Spaak the night before. He declares to have put a poisonous substance in the bottle of wine on the kitchen table. Paul would shortly after drinking have turned unconscious and would have suffocated. The person also declared that the next target would have been Rolf Orman, former president of Lodamun.

Motif
The motif wasn't very clear. But by searching and interrogating the suspect, police got some answers quite soon. Apparently, the suspect was the son of Paul Stern, who was one of the victims of the 3638 executions. David Stern had fled Lodamun after the executions and moved to United Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto. David also seemed to be influenced by Septembrism.

The pieces of the puzzle came together. Paul Spaak was responsible for the death of Davids father, Rolf Orman never had good ties with the Crownlands, most certainly not after the travel ban debacle with Max Siegel. Herman Devos and Rolf Orman were both protagonists in the Restrictions on September which can be seen as a defensive move against Septembrism. Joined together, these facts look like a good motive.

Weapons
Another strange twist in the investigation was the weapon found on the suspect. It was obvious that the weapon he carried was a military one. Even worse, it actually came from a military compound. When investigating the residence of the suspect, more weapons were found, all of them being military weapons from the military base in Fertig. Minister of Defence Anton Spinoy was stunned and embarrassed, and demanded a neutral investigation. Knowing he couldn't possibly lead such an investigation himself, he resigned. That makes him the second political victim in this case.