Did tech guru plot own 'assasination'?

by Kyll3r | August 4, 2007 at 08:34 pm

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Former MIT professor accused of making false report, framing son to get hands on $273m

HE is a tech genius and a millionaire. But is former MIT professor John Donovan Senior also a liar?

These are questions jurors must ponder as a sensational case, involving
millions of dollars, an alleged assasination and a curious twist, was
due to go to trial yesterday.

Two years ago, Donovan claimed
that he was shot by two masked men with Russian accents as he left his
office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

According to The Boston Globe, the first shot
shattered the driver's-side window but missed him. Another shot passed
through his left side without striking any organs, and two shots were
deflected by his belt buckle.

Donovan supposedly passed out, but later regained consciousness and called 911.

But five months after his brush with death came a surprising twist: The professor was accused of staging the entire incident.

Prosecutors say he shot himself to gain advantage in a battle with his
children for control of trusts worth US$180million ($273m). Donovan,
65, is accused of falsely accusing his eldest son of hiring his
'killers'.

The tech guru who commanded big fees as a
sought-after speaker to Fortune 500 companies, is charged with filing a
false police report and could get up to a maximum of one year in jail
if proven guilty.

Donovan denies any role in his shooting.

Said his lawyer, Mr Barry Klickstein: 'Professor Donovan does not know
who shot him. He certainly didn't shoot himself, and he didn't have
himself shot.'

CAUGHT ON CAMERA?

Prosecutors say
their evidence includes a surveillance tape showing Donovan adjusting a
security camera that had been trained on the parking lot before the
shooting.

The tape allegedly shows Donovan moving the camera so that it would not capture the area where the alleged shooting took place.

Prosecutors also cite contradictions between Donovan's story and his injuries.

He told police he had been shot twice in a belt he was wearing, but the
doctor who treated him said he did not see the type of injuries he
would expect if the belt were on when the shots were fired.

And medical records noted that he was 'relatively unscathed', said court documents.

People who know Donovan say he is a complex man.

'He is a person who has more ideas per second than anybody else in the
world, but not all the ideas are good necessarily,' said Dr Stuart
Madnick, an MIT professor who started a computer training business with
Donovan in the 1970s. -AP.