Suicide Or Murder? Evidence Reviewed
The mystery behind a Baltimore businessman who fell to his death from the rooftop of a Mount Vernon landmark one year ago is still being questioned.
WBAL TV 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller uncovered evidence in the case that makes it one of the most unusual cases the city has ever seen.
Rey Rivera, 32, was an aspiring filmmaker, husband and former editor of a financial newsletter. He was last seen leaving his Northwood home early on the evening of May 16, 2006. His decomposed body was found a week later in a closed meeting room of the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore.
A hole in the meeting room roof and Rivera's injuries indicated he had probably come off the top of the Belvedere -- 14 stories up -- and crashed through the lower roof, officials said.
But many are still asking: how? When? And why?
Baltimore city police said they have no witnesses that saw Rivera on or coming off the roof.
Medical examiners determined he died from multiple and severe injuries consistent with a fall from a height. But they made no ruling as to homicide, suicide or an accident. Instead, they declared it undetermined, because the circumstances surrounding the incident were and still are unclear.
There are other unexplained aspects of the case.
Rivera's cell phone, for example, survived the apparent fall. It was found on top of the lower roof along with Rivera's sandals, police reports showed. The phone was intact and in working order.
Former police Cmdr. Mel Blizzard specialized in behavioral assessment and reviewed evidence in the case for 11 News. Miller asked him if it made sense that the cell phone was intact.
"It's possible. I just find it to be highly unlikely, with that type of kinetic energy hitting that rooftop at the time," he said. "I definitely feel that there are a lot of unanswered questions -- a lot of loops that need to be closed."
One piece of mysterious evidence was a cryptic note found by family members after Rivera had disappeared. It was typed in miniscule print, folded up in plastic and taped to Rivera's home computer screen along with a blank check.
"It just seemed bizarre. Really bizarre," said Baltimore Police Department Cmdr. Fred Bealefeld.
Officials found it so strange that police sent it to the FBI, which examined it and concluded it wasn't a suicide note. Blizzard reviewed it and agreed.
"What it does appear to be is a weird stream of conscious writing," he said. "The other thing I thought of is if he's writing some type of code to someone about something. That's possible."
The note was addressed to brothers and sisters and referred to a well-played game. It named people who had died, including actor Christopher Reeve and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. It also contained a long list of people Rivera knew and was related to, with a request to make them and himself five years younger.
The note also introduced an element of the case that involved Rivera's apparent interest in the Free Masons. The note began and ended with phrases used in the Masonic order.
Rivera's family and friends said his fascination with the Free Masons centered on their reputation as an organization with secrets.
Miller learned that on the day Rivera disappeared, he'd talked with a member of the Maryland lodge to inquire about joining. On the weekend before his disappearance, he spent time reading the book "The Builders," a study of masonry.
On the day he disappeared, Rivera went to a bookstore and bought the book Free Masons for Dummies.
"It could be totally unrelated. It sounds to me like a person who's inquisitive and wants to know more about an organization. Why? I don't know," Blizzard said.
"Based on what we've seen, his interest in the Masonic order was not to do charitable work," Bealefeld said. "Somehow it was linked to his interest in the movie industry and this theory that somehow there was control being exerted by the Masonic order."
The Maryland lodge member who spoke with Rivera told 11 News there was nothing unusual about the conversation. He described it as typical of someone who wanted to learn about membership.
Rivera's last full-time job was to edit a financial newsletter called the Rebound Report published by a division of Agora Publishing, based in Mount Vernon. Family and friends said Rivera had expressed some unhappiness about his work because some of the stocks he wrote about weren't rebounding.
In the fall of 2005, Rivera left Agora full-time and began producing videos for the company under contract.
Long-time friend Porter Stansberry brought Rivera to Agora. Stansberry runs one of Agora's newsletter divisions and was mentioned several times in Rivera's bizarre note.
Miller called to speak with Stansberry. She heard from Agora's lawyer, who said the company had asked its employees not to speak with 11 News about the subject.
The police investigation into Rivera's death leans to a theory of suicide. But Bealefeld told Miller they hadn't found any history of mental health issues or any indication that Rivera had been depressed or distraught before his death.
"But the circumstances and the hard evidence that we have really point to this being a suicide," he said.
The last-known person to see Rivera alive was a houseguest in his home. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Miller he left the house in a hurry, as if he was late for an appointment.
The Belvedere Hotel has an extensive security camera system, but a technical problem prevented police from recovering the data from the cameras on the days in question.
Whatever the cameras saw -- how and when Rivera entered the building and whether or not he was alone -- remain questions without answers.