Journalist who broke NOW story found dead

Do not mess with Murdoch.

LONDON (AP) — Sean Hoare was the kind of reporter who could knock back several whiskeys and a few lines of cocaine before filing salacious stories of celebrity misbehavior.

He was also the first journalist to openly say that his former friend and editor at the News of the World, Andy Coulson, knew about the tabloid’s widespread use of phone hacking. Coulson links the scandal to Prime Minister David Cameron, who he worked for as communications chief.

Hoare’s death this week added another tragic twist to the scandal, which has forced the paper’s closure, brought down senior police officials and threatened to engulf the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Hertfordshire police discovered Hoare’s body at his home north of London on Monday morning. They describe his death as “unexplained, but not suspicious,” and are waiting for the results of Tuesday’s post-mortem.