Oxford Weekly Planet Article about Victor Jennings' Death

Jennings was on house arrest awaiting trial for extortion
Victor Jennings, 47, was found dead in his Turnberry Circle residence yesterday, the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department officials announced. Lee Merryweather, Jennings' personal assistant, made the chilling discovery Saturday evening.

Authorities have declined to comment on Jennings' cause of death. YCSD Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jones did confirm that detectives are treating it as a homicide, pending the autopsy and the coroner's findings which will determine whether Jennings' death was an accident or homicide.

Jennings was a longtime literary agent who brokered deals for many best-selling books and was best known in the publishing industry as the driving force behind some of the most salacious celebrity tell-alls and unauthorized biographies of the last 15 years.

At the time of his death, Jennings was on house arrest, awaiting trial on federal extortion charges. Few details are known about the charges except that they involve celebrity power couple Michael and Samantha Hawke. The Hawkes reportedly allowed federal authorities to set up a sting operation, which prosecutors claim provided irrefutable evidence against Jennings.

On the day Jennings was arrested, his attorney, Thomas J. Eldon III, said his client was innocent of all charges.

"This is nothing but a petty vendetta by the privileged Hollywood elite," Eldon told reporters. "They have used their celebrity to manipulate the federal government into trying to silence those who only want to tell the truth about them."

Victor Jennings is survived by his parents, Brad and Margaret Jennings, and his brother Raymond Jennings and family, all of Oxford. The Jennings family did not respond to requests for comment. Funeral arrangements are pending.