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Zachary wanted world to be better place say family

Zachary Gevelinger was questioned by the PSNI after visiting dissident republican Christine Connor in Hydebank prison in 2013
Zachary Gevelinger was questioned by the PSNI after visiting dissident republican Christine Connor in Hydebank prison in 2013 Zachary Gevelinger was questioned by the PSNI after visiting dissident republican Christine Connor in Hydebank prison in 2013

THE family of an American who took his own life a day after a Belfast woman he befriended pleaded guilty to trying to kill a police officer have said he "wanted to see the world become a better place".

Zachary Ryan Gevelinger was found dead in a hotel room in Platteville, Wisconsin last Friday.

He is the second person linked to the trial of north Belfast republican Christine Connor to have died by suspected suicide.

The 28-year-old was last seen on Wednesday evening when he left for a nightshift as a maintenance worker at the University of Platteville.

Relatives posted an online appeal about his whereabouts after he failed to return on Thursday morning, and a hotel worker recognised him as having checked in and called police.

Officers used force to enter the room and found his body, with a spokesman for Platteville police saying his death "appeared to be self inflicted".

Connor pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court last Wednesday to six terrorist offences relating to a pipe bomb attack on a police vehicle on the city's Crumlin Road in 2013.

Detectives described her as a 'lone wolf', saying she had no formal links to any armed group.

Currently on bail, to an address that cannot be reported for legal reasons, she will be sentenced on June 20.

Zachary Gevelinger (28) was found dead in a hotel room in Platteville, Wisconsin last week
Zachary Gevelinger (28) was found dead in a hotel room in Platteville, Wisconsin last week Zachary Gevelinger (28) was found dead in a hotel room in Platteville, Wisconsin last week

A co-accused, Stuart Downes from Shrewsbury in England, took his own life last June before the case could come to trial.

The 31-year-old, who had no previous republican sympathies, had met Connor through a Facebook page she set up using pictures of a Swedish model.

Downes was charged with aiding and abetting her by phoning in a bomb warning from Shrewsbury and sourcing component parts for improvised explosive devices.

Gevelinger, who will be buried tomorrow following Requiem Mass at St Joseph's Church in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, spent nine days in custody after flying from America to visit Connor, who he also befriended through Facebook.

He met her in July 2013 in Hydebank prison where she was on remand and was arrested in the car park as he left.

He was questioned about the bomb plot but released pending a report to the PPS.

Gevelinger took a panic attack within hours of his release and was hospitalised, before flying back to America the following day.

Friends say he developed an eating disorder after his arrest, and penned several articles about his time in Belfast for communist publications, describing his detention as "torture".

Paying tribute, his family said he "enjoyed travelling, quiet nights at home" and spending time with his wife Olivia Hogan and five dogs.

"Zach enjoyed being politically active and fighting for equality for all," they said.

"He wanted to see the world become a better place and enjoyed working to make it so.

"He was known for always being willing to help others and for his wonderful sense of humor. It brought him great joy to make those around him smile.

"He was such a bright light in the world."