GQ has produced a fantastic piece of investigative journalism to the tragic death of Otto Warmbier, the American detained by DPRK for stealing a poster
https://www.gq.com/story/otto-warmbier-north-korea-american-hostage-true-story
https://www.gq.com/story/otto-warmbier-north-korea-american-hostage-true-story
- Considering Otto's history, religion and ambition, it seems likely that his confession was forced
- Warmbier family reached Trump via targeted Fox News features after being stonewalled by Ivanka & co
- There was no physical evidence of physical torture, instead he seemed to have been well looked after
- DPRK historically hasn't physically tortured Western detainees as it would backfire
- The torture narrative is based on a single hearsay source, and was likely only paraded by the Trump team as grounds for military action
- There was likely significant psychological torture
- Damage to Warmbier's brain was uniform, consistent with lack of oxygen. Trauma to head would be asymmetrical
- The most likely hypothesis is that Warmbier attempted suicide after being crushed psychologically, and sentenced to 15 years, torching his ambitious life plan
tl;dr^2 - probably a freak series of events starting from a fairly benign act of stealing a poster drunk, through being psychologically crushed, to attempting suicide, ending in coma due to lack of oxygen and eventual death
- Warmbier family reached Trump via targeted Fox News features after being stonewalled by Ivanka & co
- There was no physical evidence of physical torture, instead he seemed to have been well looked after
- DPRK historically hasn't physically tortured Western detainees as it would backfire
- The torture narrative is based on a single hearsay source, and was likely only paraded by the Trump team as grounds for military action
- There was likely significant psychological torture
- Damage to Warmbier's brain was uniform, consistent with lack of oxygen. Trauma to head would be asymmetrical
- The most likely hypothesis is that Warmbier attempted suicide after being crushed psychologically, and sentenced to 15 years, torching his ambitious life plan
tl;dr^2 - probably a freak series of events starting from a fairly benign act of stealing a poster drunk, through being psychologically crushed, to attempting suicide, ending in coma due to lack of oxygen and eventual death