ever since they found the body of russian mikhail lesin, it has been a mystery what happened to him. ties with russian president vladimir putin have led to wild speculation. in a press release from the d.c. medical examiner's office, blunt force injuries of they head are listed as the cause of death. there were also injuries to lesin's no, torso, and operate lower extremities. is stillr of death undetermined. that means the medical examiner did not rule this an accident or on perp us. -- that means the medical examiner did not rule this an accident or on purpose. credited with helping create the russian- channel. russian media had previously reported that his family thought he had a heart attack for stop the russian embassy has not been able to get "substantive information from u.s. authorities," according to their facebook page. leon: on the campaign trail, we await the next round of primaries, the candidates making their passionate pages. last night, hillary clinton and bernie sanders faced off in miami. tonight, the gop debate. who came out on top tonight? chief political correspo

reporter: mikhail lesin was nicknamed the bulldozer. a member of vladimir putin's inner circle, he was moments -- was once the press minister. before going on to found "russia today." in 2014, he retired and moved to america's west coast. then, last november, he was found dead. his body found in the dupont circle hotel in washington, d.c. his former newsnetwork rt reported that his family died -- said he died of a heart attack. fresh details paint a different picture. the medical examiner said the cause of death was blunt force injuries of the head, with other causes being injuries to the neck, torso, arms and legs. the manner of death was undetermined. this latest development raise more questions than answers. most autopsies are completed within 90 days. why did this one take so much longer? and one newspaper is reporting that mr. lessin was involved in an altercation before he returned to his room. so, how did he die? and was he killed? in what seems like an ordinary crime scene, the circumstances around his death or anything -- are a

. >>> and on nbcnews.com, mikhail lesin died of blunt force trauma, found in a washington, d.c.d the report says he suffered blunt force injuries to his neck, torso, arms and legs. russian media reported that lesin suffered a heart attack. >>> according to the cdc, there are now almost 200 cases of the zika virus in the u.s., all linked to travel abroad. the news coming after french doctors say the virus may be responsible for complications leading to meningitis and encephalitis. health officials asked congress for nealy $2 billion to fight the viruses spread from latin america to the u.s. >>> an ohio woman received a long overdue gift for her 93rd birthday. a diploma. an emotional woman expelled from high school revealing to a teacher that she was married. >>> and thes u.s. is back on top. a wisconsin grand souche took top prize at the world cheese championship beating out 3,000 other entrants. first time a cheese won since 1988. >> take that, swiss. >> yeah, right. >>> for a look back. five years ago today a magnitude 9.4 earth gquake and tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people an

the mikhail lesin had similar injuries to his neck and body. this is nearly four months after he was toupd deafound dead. last november a russian funded media company reported he died of a heart attack. >>> maryland lawmakers will vote on an anti-drunk driving bill named for a police officer. families of victims gathered yesterday to show support for noah's law. it's named for officer noah leotta who died after being hit by a suspected drunk driver in december. the law would require convicted drunk drivers to use an ignition interlock device after a first offense. >> i'm here for every police officer on the front lines. and i'm here for every family that has suffered this terrible long trail of tears. >> maryland governor larry hogan supports this legislation. >>> an accused serial robber is in jail this morning but police say more suspects are at large. pce terrell strickland, they say he was involved it robberies where women were physically abused. police believe this suv was use this had one attack in the district. and hopes to find other su

when mikhail lesin's body was discovered in november, his family told russian media he died of a heartk. tonight the d.c. medical examiner's office says lesin died from blunt force injuries to the head, neck, or the sew and extremities. >> more than likely based on the injuries he was involved with something physical with someone and what i would do as the detective on this case is to first determine where it occurred. >> reporter: according to some media reports, there were no signs of forced entry or foul play in lesin's room at the dupont circle hotel and there are questions about whether he was injured before he entered the hotel. the d.c. police, the lead investigative agency did not respond to cnn's multiple requests for details. we pressed the hotel for information on witnesses and surveillance footage. they wouldn't give it. lesin's background raises suspicions. he was a long-time advisor to vladimir putin, one-time head of the russian government's media arm. a u.s. senator called lesin one of the kremlin's top sensors. he later headed g ed gazprom me which controls several rus

mikhail lesin was found dead in his dupont circle hoe ttel room lost septemb last september. family originally said he died of a heart attack and d.c. police told us there were no signs o f russia's top prosecutor reached out to attorney general loretta lynch for more information. nbc's pete williams will have more on this story tonight on "nbc nightly news." >>> a developing story tonight, prince william county police are looking for clues after an elderly man was killed at his riverfront home in the mason neck community of lorton. investigators spent much of this day combing the backyard where the 83-year-old's body was found. news4's meagan fitzgerald talking to residents rattled by this crime. meagan? >> reporter: and, jim, we talked to a lot of those folks who say they have lived in this community for 30 years or more, and they've never experienced a murder around here, but that certainly changed today. we watched as investigators just scoured this entire area here looking for evidence. in fact, from our vantage point here, we can see the back deck which investigators sa

the autopsy released on mikhail lesin says he died of blunt force trauma. >> and yet t reported he diedf a heart attack. pete williams is here with more on this story. how do you get from a heart attack to blunt force trauma and they're still not calling it a homicide. >> that's correct. they say they don't know whether in fact he was murdered. his body was found in november in a hotel in dupont circle and the thought was at the time that he had a heart attack. an autopsy was conducted but the a -- results were not announced until this week. they're looking into what happened here. we've been told that surveillance video from the hotel shows he was disheveled when he came back to the hotel the night he died. so that raises the possibility that these injuries were suffered before he got to the hotel and investigators also say that he had been drinking heavily. they said that at the time as well. but they don't know whether, in fact, it was a homicide, whether he got in a fight or something outside the hotel. there's no sign of forced no sign anyone else came to the room. so it's a bit of

details about thedeta death a former aide to russianos president vladimir putin.imirutn the body of mikhail lesinere with putin was found at the doyle dupont circle hotel in november. autopsy results released thisd i week revealed that he died die from blunt force trauma to theot head and upper body.od foll media reported he died from a fa heart attack.heart at right now d.c. police have h classified the case as a death investigation. >> this morning concerns areg growing over north korea's aggressive new behavior. a photo surfaces showing kimwi jong un watching a rocket roc launch drill.nch dri south korea suspects it happened on thursday whenn th north korea fired two short t st range ballistic missiles intoleo the sea inches glitz andinches glamour at the white house forhe the first time in nearly two w decades the white house hosted e a state dinner for canada's cad' prime minister.is more than 170 guest at lastt night's dinner in the east room, al. a >> struck by the beautiful bif designs that the first ladies te were wearing. in a toast to the president pret prime minister justin trudeau sa