MICHIGAN MAN DIES WHEN BAGS IN STOMACH BURST

A Wayne State University law professor described as a brilliant scholar,
died in Newfoundland, where doctors surgically removed a dozen
cocaine-filled balloons from his body after he became ill on a
transatlantic flight, authorities said.

Gennady M. Danilenko, 45, was on Northwest Airlines Flight 47 from
Amsterdam to Detroit on Sunday when he was stricken with what originally
was suspected to be a heart attack.

The flight was diverted to Goose Bay, Nfld., where doctors performed
emergency surgery and discovered the small, plastic-wrapped bundles of
drugs. The substance was confirmed to be cocaine, Drug Enforcement
Administration spokeswoman Susan Feld said.

"This guy's a great person, in a great profession and it's hard to
believe," said Andrew Kandrevas, a third-year Wayne State law student who
has taken Danilenko's classes.

"We don't know what the whole story is," said Josh Armkoff, a student in
the professor's international law class this term. "I guess there are
things about everybody that you don't know."

Danilenko died Wednesday at Health Sciences Centre in St. John's, Nfld. An
autopsy revealed that six of the cocaine-filled bundles were intact and
others had burst in his stomach, said Cpl. Trudy McCabe of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police.

The death was ruled an accidental drug overdose.

Drug Enforcement Agents who searched Danilenko's Ann Arbor home Thursday
morning found nothing unusual, Feld said.

Danilenko lived in a quiet neighbourhood of moderate-sized and large homes
with well-manicured lawns. Neighbours told reporters that he was a quiet
man who travelled often.

His wife and 15-year-old daughter had moved out of the family's home late
last year, they said.

No one accompanied Danilenko in Canada, McCabe said.

"It's kind of bizarre that a person with his degrees and his status would
be smuggling like this," Feld said.

"We searched his home and didn't find any records or anything we could use.
Unless someone comes forward with information, the case will probably be
closed."

Frederica Lombard, Wayne State law school associate dean, said no one in
the department could have imagined such a fate for Danilenko, an
internationally renowned legal scholar who had taught at Wayne State since
1997.

"We're all in a state of shock here," Lombard told The Windsor Star. "It's
all anyone has talked about all day."

Lombard said the professor was "well-liked and respected" by students and
staff alike and never gave any indication he would be involved in smuggling
drugs.

"It doesn't make sense to us," Lombard said. "It didn't seem like it would
be in his character to do something like that."

Legal scholars on both sides of the border were surprised by Danilenko's death.

M. Lakshman Marasinghe, an international law professor at the University of
Windsor, knew of Danilenko by his reputation.

"It's hard to imagine," Marasinghe said. "I was absolutely intrigued by
this story when I first heard it."

McCabe said he was travelling with a passport issued by the former Soviet
Union. Colleagues confirmed he was a native of Russia.

Danilenko's students, who had learned Tuesday that the professor had been
hospitalized, were dumfounded Thursday as they began hearing details.

"We really hope the scandal of the story isn't something everyone
remembers," said Eric Strom, another of Danilenko's former students.

"I hope they remember the positive influence he has had on all of us."

The students said Danilenko was a friend as much as he was a teacher.

"When you're coming to law school, a lot of times it's day in and day out,
but it was different with him," Strom said.

"He always was accessible in his office. You'd go in to talk about a paper
you were writing and end up talking for hours.

"He's very serious about his work, but there were many times we could stand
around and joke with him."

Northwest Airlines spokeswoman Kathy Peach said she had no details about
what had happened.

According to Wayne State's Web site, Danilenko joined the Wayne State
faculty in 1997 and had served as head of the Center for International Law
at the Russian Academy of Sciences.