Police ID dead man found on interstate

Knoxvillian's death ruled suicide; sister says he was killed

By RANDY KENNER, kenner@knews.com
November 19, 2004

A man who claimed to be part of an ages-old super-intelligent group seeking the "truth" and who made friends and enemies with his Internet postings, books and Web sites died after apparently jumping off a Knoxville interstate overpass.

Solomon Tulbure, 35, was found just after 4 a.m. Wednesday on the shoulder of the westbound lanes of Interstate 640 under the Bruhin Road overpass after motorists called authorities about what appeared to be a sick man lying next to the road.

Tulbure, who suffered massive head injuries, was dead when Knoxville police officers arrived. A native of Romania, he had lived here since 1995.

KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk said that Tulbure threatened suicide on an Internet post about two years ago.

"It is going to be ruled as a suicide," DeBusk said Thursday. "There is nothing on the body to indicate any type of struggle at all."

But Tulbure's sister, Lidia Zotoiu, said that her brother did not kill himself.

"His right hand is bruised. His left hand is full of scratches," she said. "Somebody kill him and bring him under the bridge."

Israel Tulbure replied, "I don't know" when asked if he thought his brother committed suicide but also said, "We don't know how he get from the bridge down there."

Israel Tulbure said he didn't know if his brother was mentally disturbed.

"He could have been because he was very private," Israel Tulbure said.

Tulbure - who also called himself "Maximus Illuminati" - apparently operated several Web sites at various times and claimed in some past postings that his life was in danger because of what he had written.

An Internet search of Tulbure's name turned up more than 3,000 hits, including some claiming that Tulbure was basically interested in separating people who responded to him from their money.

Tulbure was the author of at least four books including, "The Illuminati Manifesto," "President G.W. Bush is a Moron: Islam is NOT Peace," "The Book of the Dead," and "Christianity Exposed."

A search of the books on Amazon.com indicates there are dozens of reader reviews for each of the books - though one of the reviewers writes that Tulbure is really the author of the positive ones.

The books aren't big sellers. The Amazon Web site listed "The Illuminati Manifesto" as its 258,449th biggest seller.

Tulbure, using the name Maximus Illuminati, claimed to be the founder of MyMatchmaker.com and listed a Kingston Pike address. The street address exists, but there is no Suite 171 - supposedly the MyMatchmaker.com office - at that location.

According to the Web site, the company was seeking to raise money from investors to take the company public, asserting it hoped to have 55 million members within three years.

"We will be more than happy to provide a detailed business plan upon request," the Web site states.

Israel Tulbure said his brother lived at home with him and their mother, but left occasionally for weeks at a time. He said his brother was good with computers and had worked for a computer company and designed Web sites.

"He used to be (awake) two or three days in a row," Israel Tulbure said, "and he was hooked to that computer. That computer was his life."

His brother said that in recent years Tulbure ran Web sites and clubs and got money from people through those. He was also involved in day trading.

"He said he was teaching people to invest in penny stocks," Israel Tulbure said.

Israel Tulbure also said he knew what some people were unhappy with his brother and that there are uncomplimentary things said about him on the Internet.

He also said that about a month ago someone started calling the family looking for Tulbure, claiming they were with some type of agency interested in Internet fraud.

Israel Tulbure said his brother asked him to drop him off at a convenience store on Merchant Drive last Friday and said he would be gone about five days. That was the last time he saw him.

He said his brother "had a very good heart" and that he would do things like give money to a relative to visit Romania and gave some of his furniture to a single mother who needed it.

"What he give to somebody, he would never ask for anything back," Israel Tulbure said.

"He had a very good heart but sometimes he was difficult to deal with," he said.

Randy Kenner may be reached at 865-342-6305.

Copyright 2004, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.