Carlos Ghigliotti – April 28, 2000
Carlos Ghigliotti, a key figure in the Waco congressional investigation, was found mysteriously dead in his home outside Washington, D.C. His badly decomposed body was found sitting at his desk in his office in Laurel, Maryland. Police said there was no evidence of forced entry into his office.
Ghigliotti, 42, a respected expert in the field of thermal imaging, had been retained by the House Government Reform Committee to analyze surveillance film footage taken by means of Forward-Looking Infrared, or FLIR, during the siege and final inferno of Mt. Carmel, the Branch Davidian complex near Waco, Texas. The FLIR footage, which was filmed by FBI aircraft circling two miles above the site, was critical to the case. For years, debate had raged over claims that on April 19, 1993, government agents fired automatic weapons upon Davidians trying to escape as flames engulfed their home. Seventeen children and 62 adults were killed. Ghigliotti had reportedly uncovered additional evidence contradicting government protests of innocence.