As for whodunit...
Here are the choices:
1. Chalem ran afoul of his friends and/or family
2. Chalem ran afoul of his business partners
3. Chalem ran afoul of his business rivals
4. Chalem ran afoul of an investor
5. Lehmann ran afoul of his friends and/or family
6. Lehmann ran afoul of his business partners
7. Lehmann ran afoul of his business rivals
8. Lehmann ran afoul of an investor
I doubt the victims were on the friends and family plan. Normally such killings, at least in the movies, are made to look like accidents. If the family were behind it they would probably have told the killers to make it look like a robbery or something.
I also rule out the investor angle as these guys were behind the scenes players for the most part. If the investors were money men, i.e. major financiers, my guess is Chalem and Lehmann would do no good to them dead. At least alive, even if the stock deal were a lost cause, they could have forced the men to pay their debt using other assets.
I also doubt it was business partners. In such cases, the victims are usually driven by their "friends" to a secluded wooded area and shot. OK, maybe that's clich‚, but it does make sense that perhaps the killers wouldn't want the bodies to be found.
By process of elimination it appears either Chalem or Lehmann ran afoul of another (rival) group. With the recent OTC BB financial reporting requirements -- with noncompliance bringing delisting to the pink sheets -- it looks like we may be seeing a last gasp panic to make a financial killing while the going is good. There is no time to negotiate if you think someone is screwing you.
BTW, I purposefully left out the government informant bit as after having looked at the companies the two recently were promoting, I doubt either one was "undercover" for the feds. They just appeared like men who sang like canaries just to avoid jail time at all costs.
Lastly, as for who the target was, I'm leaning toward Chalem. While I know Lehmann had death threats, it's hard for me to believe the killer(s) would have tailed him all the way from Woodmere on Long Island to Colt's Neck, even had they tried (given all the traffic). Also, how would they know Chalem's house wasn't teeming with servants, guards, etc.?
- Jeff |
