[imagesource: Baia Santa Nicolicchia/Fabio La Bianca]

That above is the eerie scene of the Bayesian, a 56-metre-long luxury sailboat, that was photographed (left) off the coast of Palermo just hours before sinking.

Yesterday it was reported that one person died and six more remain missing after a freak storm caused a tornado to sink the luxury yacht along the Sicily coastline – that yacht being the British tech billionaire Mike Lynch’s, who is still somewhere out at sea.

The fishiness around these strange circumstances reaks as Lynch’s ex-colleague and c0-defendant in a recently closed US fraud trial was fatally struck by a car on Saturday. That’s just two days before authorities said a tornado suddenly sunk Lynch’s yacht off the coast of Sicily.

Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a former VP of finance at Lynch’s former company Autonomy, was hit by the car while out running on Saturday. He was placed on life support but succumbed to his injuries on Monday, his attorney Gary Lincenberg confirmed via CNN.

Naturally, the conspiracy theories are bucking all over social media.

🇬🇧🇮🇹 British tech magnate Mike Lynch has gone missing after the superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily.

Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife are among those missing in the yacht crash off the coast of Italy.

The vessel was caught in a… pic.twitter.com/n2A3Wn1LcU

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 20, 2024

In June, a San Francisco court cleared both Lynch and Chamberlain of fraud charges tied to the $11 billion sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) back in 2011. Prosecutors had accused them of inflating Autonomy’s revenue before the sale. Chamberlain, like Lynch, had been up against 15 charges—one for conspiracy and 14 for wire fraud.

Image: The Daily Beast/X/Reuters

Then, out of nowhere, Cambridgeshire police reported that a blue Vauxhall Corsa hit a man in his 50s, who has now been identified as Chamberlain, leading to his death. The driver, a 49-year-old woman, stayed at the scene after the crash.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him. Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family,” Lincenberg said.

It gets weirder. On Lynch’s doomed voyage aboard his luxury Bayesian were the attorneys who had defended him against US prosecutors. One of the lawyers aboard was the 36-year-old Ayla Ronald, whose father, Lin Ronald, said the trip was to celebrate Lynch’s acquittal.

Lynch is now feared dead, along with five others who were still missing as of Monday night.

That tally includes Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, as well as one of his attorneys. Two Americans are also reportedly among the missing and another British national. Italian authorities said they’re still searching for those unaccounted for and that dive teams have been dispatched. The body of a Canadian chef has already been recovered from the vessel.

Among the survivors of Monday’s tragedy was Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who sustained abrasions to her feet during the chaos and is now unable to walk.

It’s not like the tornado was made up, as everyone in the region, including a local fisherman, witnessed it hit and sink the boat – but it is remarkable timing considering two people in a massive fraud case, plus lawyers, were taken down so consecutively.

[sources:dailybeast&cnn]