Singapore asks US to help probe scientist Shane Todd's 'suicide'
City's police seeks FBI's assistance after American victim's family raises doubts
Singapore is seeking US assistance in probing the mysterious death of an American scientist reportedly involved in a project for a Chinese telecoms firm seen as a security risk by Washington.
Police confirmed they had asked the FBI to examine evidence from the family of Shane Todd, an electronics engineer found hanged in the city-state in June last year.
The family dispute an autopsy report that he committed suicide and fear he may have been murdered, saying they found computer files linking Todd's work before his death to China's Huawei Technologies, which denies involvement in any such project.
A police spokesman said they had asked Todd's family to share any evidence in their possession or have it reviewed by the FBI if they were "not comfortable" handing it over to the Singapore Police Force.
The US State Department said on Friday that Washington had offered FBI assistance to Singapore and was engaged in "frequent discussions" with the country's officials on the case.
The story first generated attention after Britain's Financial Times reported last month that Todd's parents suspected he may have been murdered due to his work at a top electronics research institute in Singapore.
It said he had been working on an advanced amplifier using gallium nitride (GaN), a tough semiconductor material, and that the technology could have commercial and military applications. It also said that two months before he died, Todd was given an antidepressant by a Singapore psychiatrist who found him under heavy stress.