Murdered DNC Staffer's Mom: 'Seth Would Be So Offended' By Conspiracy Theories

Screenshot via Crime Watch.

The family of a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer continues to speak out in an attempt to find his killer and refute unfounded conspiracy theories about his death in July.

"Everyone who knows Seth knows how good of a person he was, knows that all those lies that are being bandied about in the news are just that," said Rich's friend, Michael Cass-Antony, on the show Crime Watch. "The reason that nobody close to him has refuted them is because there's no reason to, because he spoke for himself."

Seth Rich is one of 53 unsolved homicides in the District this year, but the only one that has been mentioned on the presidential campaign trail (though the Republican national platform refers to the "unacceptable spike in violent crime and murders currently afflicting the city").

27-year-old Rich was fatally shot in Bloomingdale around 4:20 a.m. on July 10. His watch, wallet, and credit cards were still at the scene when police found him wounded at the corner of Flagler Place and W Street NW, before he died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.

"The officers that arrived actually couldn't believe he passed because he was talking away," said his mother, Mary Rich. His father Joel added that he didn't realize he had been shot.

While Rich's murder was one of a number of incidences of gun violence in the neighborhood in early July, tin-foil hat enthusiasts on the internet have blamed Hillary Clinton.

In addition to the $25,000 for information that D.C. Police offers for all unsolved homicides, transparency organization Wikileaks fanned the flames of conspiracy by offering a $20,000 reward for information about his murder, and implying without proof that Rich was killed because he could have been responsible for the DNC email leaks.

A GOP lobbyist offered $100,000 more in reward money this September. Jack Burkman said he hoped the "additional money will finally get to the truth of what happened here and will either debunk the conspiracy theories or validate them."

Rich's father, Joel, said that the family "won't talk about" those rumors. "Seth would be so offended at anyone thinking anything less of him, of caring for other people, of caring for America," Mary Rich said.

D.C. Police say they haven't found any links between Rich's job and his death. Former D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that the department had "more questions than answers" at a press conference in August alongside the Rich family.

Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411.