By GreyHawk and Luaptifer, ePluribus Media

Mike Connell, 45, died in a plane crash in Ohio last night.

You may recognize his name -- he was the president of New Media Communications and GovTech Solutions whose one-side-of-the-aisle clients he serviced on both sides of the government firewall.  In concert with SmartTech Corp. and former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (now aspiring to the national GOP Chair), his concurrent architecture of Ohio elections and GeorgeWBush.com moved ePluribusMedia researchers on Election Night 2006 to place Connell's companies on the blurry map of outsourced political governance. 

ePluribusMedia has been reporting on Mr. Connell and some of his various and sundry contracts and activities for a while now.  One of the most recent stories can be found here:

VR Calls on John McCain to Fire Michael Connell for Covering Up for Karl Rove in Federal Election Manipulation Lawsuit

Make the jump for a more complete list.