Bush IT specialist dies in plane crash

AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Michael Connell, who operated campaign Web sites for President George W. Bush and GOP presidential nominee John McCain, has died in a plane crash in Ohio.

Connell, 45, was killed Friday evening when the single-prop private airplane he was piloting crashed into a vacant house in Lake Township, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal reported. The plane burst into flames after the crash, which occurred about three miles short of Akron-Canton Airport as Connell was approaching the airport to land.

State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Sheppard said Connell was alone in the plane.

Connell founded New Media Communications, which built campaign Web sites for Bush and McCain.

He was a figure in an ongoing controversy about alleged vote flipping in Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. In October, U.S. Judge Solomon Oliver of Ohio ordered Connell to testify in a lawsuit in connection with charges that electronic voting apparatus in some Ohio districts flipped votes to Bush from Democratic nominee John Kerry.

Cliff Arnebeck, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the suit, alleged in an e-mail to U.S. Attorney Michael Mukasey in July that Connell and his family had been threatened in connection with Connell's possible testimony.

"I have informed court chambers and am in the process of informing the Ohio Attorney General's and US Attorney's offices in Columbus for the purpose, among other things, of seeking protection for Mr. Connell and his family from this reported attempt to intimidate a witness," Arnebeck said.