21 Sep Daniel Pearl
Pearl had been reporting on a terrorist who tried to blow up an airplane during a trans-Atlantic flight. The date of his murder is uncertain, but authorities announced his death after receiving a videotape of the murder. Four days after his disappearance, “The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty” sent an e-mail to news organizations claiming responsibility for the kidnapping, saying Pearl was an American spy. The e-mail contained four photos of Pearl, including one in which he is holding a Jan. 24 newspaper. On Feb. 12, Pakistani police announced the arrest of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, whom they identified as the prime suspect. In April, Saeed and three accomplices were charged with kidnap and murder. The trial was closed to the press and public. In mid-May, as the trial was under way, police found a dismembered body, identified as Pearl’s, buried outside Karachi.