Adrian Lamo, center, walks out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., on Dec. 20, 2011, after testifying at a military hearing against Army Pfc. Bradley, later Chelsea, Manning.

LOCAL

Hacker who turned in Chelsea Manning to FBI, hacked Microsoft, dies in Wichita

BY STAN FINGER
March 16, 2018 07:54 PM
Authorities in Kansas have confirmed the death of the computer hacker who turned in Chelsea Manning to law enforcement for giving thousands of documents to WikiLeaks.
Adrian Lamo, 37, was found dead in an apartment on Wednesday, Wichita police officer Charley Davidson said.
“There’s nothing suspicious about his death,” Davidson said, though he would not elaborate.
The Regional Forensic Science Center has not released a cause of death yet, though toxicology tests typically take several weeks to complete.

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Lamo had lived in Wichita for more than a year, said Lorraine Murphy, who called herself his friend and colleague. She did not know what brought him to Kansas.
When she sent him a message in December 2016 asking him what he was up to, he replied “homeless in Wichita.”

“Adrian was always homeless or on the verge of it,” Murphy said via Facebook messages. “He bounced around a great deal, for no particular reason.
“He was a believer in the Geographic Cure. Whatever goes wrong in your life, moving will make it better. And he knew people all over the country.”
Lamo had many fans - and many people who hated him - for his exploits as a hacker. Lamo regularly received death threats, Murphy said.
There is no indication foul play is involved in Lamo’s death, Davidson said.
Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of classified documents. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and Manning was released from military prison in May after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence.

Lamo testified that Manning contacted him because of his notoriety in the hacking community.
“He was charming and brilliant,” Murphy said of Lamo. “If he hadn't been, Manning never would have told him anything.”
Lamo was convicted of computer fraud after he was arrested in 2004 for hacking The New York Times and Microsoft.
Stan Finger: 316-268-6437, @StanFinger