Truth. Stranger. Fiction.

I don’t know why I love stories like these, but I think it’s because real life is often so much more fantastical than the best fiction. Read on about the curious case of the murdered professor:

The death of retired research Professor Jeong Im has all the makings of a spy novel, and some say that idea isn’t far off base.

Someone stabbed the 72-year-old scientist multiple times in the

Maryland Avenue parking garage at the University of Missouri-Columbia,

put him in the trunk of his Honda and set the car on fire. Adding to

the mystery, police say a hooded, masked man was seen carrying a gas

can away from the scene.

University police on Friday announced a $10,000 reward for information

leading to an arrest in the Jan. 7 killing. Police have received more

than 185 leads, including some that appear far-fetched.

A few days after firefighters found Im’s body, a national radio

talk-show guest theorized the killing was part of a plot to kill off

key microbiologists in the world before unleashing “the ultimate

epidemic.”

Steve Quayle, a self-published author and newsletter writer from

Bozeman, Mont., told listeners of “Coast to Coast AM” that Im was the

40th microbiologist to die under suspicious circumstances in four years

and was perhaps among those specializing in vaccines and bio-weapons

research.

Quayle’s website has a list of the murdered scientists and more reasons why he thinks there’s a great conspiracy afoot. And no, I don’t necessarily believe what he’s saying, but there might well be something fishy going on…