MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. The body of the 48-year-old founder of the White Helmets and ex-British army officer, James Le Mesurier, was found on Monday in Istanbul, NTV reported.
Local residents who were going to a mosque for prayer found the body at dawn in the Beyoglu district. A forensic examination found that it was Le Mesurier. No documents were found with him.
The police interrogated the widow of Le Mesurier with whom he had lived in Istanbul. She said that he took sleeping pills while she was asleep. The police studied video recordings and found that no strangers entered the building.
CNN Turk reports that cuts were found on the face and body of Le Mesurier, and fractured limbs were reported. The investigators are following the lead that he had died from falling from a high altitude (from a window or balcony) as the primary one.
The White Helmets organization (officially called Syria Civil Defense) was created on Syrian soil in 2014. The White Helmets gained popularity after they had published photos and videos on the Internet purportedly showing the destruction and victims of alleged attacks by the Syrian government and its allies. That said, the organization has been repeatedly blamed for staging much of its material.