Was Murdered Japanese Astronomer Involved With 'Planet X' Study?

from: www.almaobservatory.org/images/stories/science_newsletters/pdf/newsletter_nr1.pdf

Astronomer Koh-Ichiro Morita, back left corner in the picture above, a Japanese astronomer who was a member of the ALMA research team, was found Monday with an injury to the head in Santiago, Chile. He later died from his injuries. Coincidently, or not, Japanese scientists have been 'eyeing the mysterious Planet X, as outlined in the story linked directly below.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Kyodo) -- A 58-year-old Japanese professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan was found collapsed Monday outside his apartment in the Chilean capital of Santiago and later confirmed dead in the hospital, NAOJ said Tuesday.

Local police told Kyodo News they have determined that Koichiro Morita was murdered. Investigators are probing whether Morita fell victim to a robbery or was deliberately targeted in an attack among other possibilities.

Local media reports said Morita suffered injuries on his head and bleeding inside the brain. There are witnesses who said he was screaming or groaning before he fell. The police are conducting postmortem examinations and analyzing security camera footages.

Morita, who specialized in software used for mechanical control and data analysis, was a member of an international team involved in constructing the Alma radio telescope facility in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, according to NAOJ.

Junichi Watanabe, professor at the Tokyo-based observatory, described Morita's character as "mild-mannered" and "not the type of a personality that could get himself into troubles."

According to the Chile facility, Morita was assigned to the country in September 2010. Local staff members said everyone is very shocked at the news, with one saying Morita was "someone who was very calm and always smiling."

Morita received his doctorate degree in engineering from Nagoya University and started working at NAOJ's predecessor, the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory of the University of Tokyo, in 1983 before becoming a professor in 2010.