This is one of the strangest stories I’ve ever heard.
Lawyer in YouTube murder plot video hired his own assassins – UN

It was the murder that spawned a macabre YouTube sensation and threatened to topple Guatemala’s government.

Hitmen shot dead Rodrigo Rosenberg, a lawyer, in Guatemala City soon after he recorded a sombre video blaming his imminent assassination on President lvaro Colom and other senior officials.

The 18-minute testimonial – which surfaced at the funeral – was uploaded to the internet and triggered a political hurricane in the central American country. Now, in a bizarre twist, it is alleged Rosenberg masterminded his own murder to frame the president. A UN investigation has concluded the lawyer, depressed over personal problems and angry with the government, sacrificed his own life in an elaborate sting.

“Who planned the act? We have to conclude that it was Rodrigo Rosenberg himself,” Carlos Castresana, head of the UN commission, told a stunned country . “He decided to sacrifice his life in exchange for a change in the country. There can be no other explanation.”

In a news conference the president, who faced protests and resignation calls, said he had been vindicated and that the country could move on.

Since May Rosenberg’s video has been broadcast repeatedly on TV, sold on DVD, gone viral on YouTube and attracted so many online viewers some sites crashed.

The 47-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer, seated behind a desk and gazing at the camera, said: “If you are watching this message it is because I have been murdered by Alvaro Colom.” He said his life was in danger over a corruption scam involving Colom, the president’s wife and senior officials.

In a plot twist worthy of Agatha Christie investigators said Rosenberg made the recording knowing that two days later, on May 10, assassins he had hired would ambush him near his home. He was shot three times in the head, once in the neck and once in the back. He apparently hoped the video would render him a martyr.

More at link. 2 days old, apologies if it’s already been posted here.