Adrian Lamo, the computer hacker who reported Chelsea Manning to authorities for sharing classified documents with WikiLeaks, was found dead in an apartment in Wichita, Kansas, last week, according to local reports.
Lamo, whose cause of death has yet to be reported but has been deemed unsuspicious by police, was 37, the Wichita Eagle reported.
“With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrian’s friends and [acquaintances] that he is dead,” his father, Mario Lamo, posted on Facebook on Friday. “A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son.”
Lamo was known for hacking organizations including The New York Times, Microsoft, and Yahoo.
Manning, a transgender woman who was then known as Bradly Manning, an Army private, reached out to Lamo online in early 2010 after hearing about his work.
During their chats, Manning revealed that she had provided WikiLeaks with classified information, including a video of a helicopter attack in Baghdad that left 12 people dead, including two Reuters employees.
Lamo reported Manning’s admissions to the FBI, leading to her arrest later in 2010. In 2013, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but President Barack Obama granted her a commutation and she was released from jail in May 2017.
Lorraine Murphy, who identified herself as a friend of Lamo to the Wichita Eagle, said he went on to amass many friends as well as enemies who would send him death threats for what he had done.
Murphy said Lamo had been living in Wichita for more than a year, though she didn’t know why. She said he was frequently moving around.
“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,” she told the paper.
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