Moscow police identified Wednesday the dark-skinned man found hanging in the University of Idaho arboretum with his hands bound behind his back as an Iranian student at the school, and investigators indicated the death may have been suicide.
Sharon Andrew Akhavan, 21, a junior studying architecture, was found hanging from a tree in a heavily wooded area of the Moscow campus late Tuesday morning.Lt. Jake Kershisnik said investigators working through the night learned "that Akhavan has discussed suicide with friends and has been somewhat despondent recently over his grades and other personal problems. Investigators recovered a note from his room in which he gave his possessions to various friends."
The discovery of Akhavan's body by an 11-year-old boy on Tuesday ignited concern among minority leaders in the community and throughout the region that the hanging was racially motivated. Until Wednesday morning, Akhavan had been identified by Moscow Police Chief Dave Cameron only as a young black man.
"What we have here is a personal tragedy," said Hal Godwin, university vice president for student affairs. "Any death on campus is a tragic and sad event. . . . What's amazing is how far out this got given the facts."
Some black leaders reacted to the initial reports of the death by recalling the hangings of blacks in the Deep South and citing the existence of the white supremacist Aryan Nations' enclave in the Idaho Panhandle to the north.