St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch 23.06.1986

Leftist singer slain, manager says

Assosiated Press

London - Dean Reed, the American singer who had lived in East Germany since 1972 and was found dead last week, may have been murdered, the Sunday Times of London said, quoting his manager.

The official East German news agency AND reported last week that the 47-year old Reed died as an result of a "tragic accident." His mother, living in Hawaii, said she was told he dies Tuesday while swimming in a lake near his home.

But the Sunday Times report said Reed's manager, Dixie Lloyd, was convinced the singer was killed because he was thinking of returning to the United States.

"She (Lloyd) does not believe he killed himself or that his death was an accident. She is convinced he was murdered because he had been talking openly about the Soviet bloc," Sunday Times correspondent Russell Miller wrote.

Miller also wrote that he was in East Berlin to interview Reed the weekend before his death was reported. He said the singer's wife told him the interview would have to been canceled because Reed was in the hospital and being treated for what was described as a serious viral or lung infection.

But Miller said an autopsy report indicated Reed's body had been in the water for at least four days, which would mean he already was dead that weekend.

Reed, who grew up in Wheat Ridge, Colo., left the United States in 1962 and lived in Mexico and Italy before moving to East Germany. He was virtually unknown in his native country but was mobbed when he performed in Eastern European countries.

He was the only American - he retained his U.S. citizenship - to received the Lenin Prize for art.

On his last visit to the United States, in October 1985, Reed told reporters he was homesick.

Reed returned to his home state of Colorado for the first time in 25 years for the premiere of "American Rebel," an American-made documentary about his life that was shown at the Denver International Film Festival.

He said during the visit that he hoped to live in the United States again because he feared dying in another country.

"Things definitely changed when he got back to (East) Berlin," Lloyd was quoted by Miller as saying. "He was trying to make a movie in Russia , but they were making things difficult for him. They confiscated some of props for no reason, pulled out half the cast and one of the directors. He did not know what was happening."

During the 1985 tour Reed also appeared in the Twin Cities to promote the film.

In 1978, during a promotional tour, Reed made headlines in Minnesota when he was arrested with 18 other people in Wright County power line protest. He subsequently was acquitted of trespassing charges by a jury in Buffalo, Minn.