DEA researcher from Woodlands was killed on visit to New Orleans

Agent's credit cards led to arrests
DEA researcher from Woodlands was killed on visit to New Orleans
By PEGGY O'HARE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 4, 2008, 7:13AM


Authorities have arrested two people linked to credit cards stolen from a Woodlands federal agent who died after he was severely beaten during an apparent robbery in New Orleans last week.

Thomas Joseph Byrne, 40, of The Woodlands, who worked as a supervisory special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration's Houston office, died Saturday in a New Orleans hospital from injuries he suffered in an assault and robbery Aug. 28, officials said.

Byrne had been in New Orleans attending the Organized Crime Enforcement Drug Task Force conference when he was attacked, said Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the DEA's Washington headquarters.

The agent apparently was walking to his hotel from an unknown location when the robbery occurred.

Byrne may have been the victim of an abduction, because he was found on a street about 40 blocks from where he was last seen, according to information posted on the www.policelink.com Web site.

A passer-by found Byrne in the road at Interstate 610 and Interstate 10 and called for help, said Commander Bob Young of the New Orleans Police Department.

The agent was taken to a hospital, where he underwent several surgeries before he died Saturday night.

Byrne is survived by his wife, Maureen, and four children, ages 8, 6, 4 and 2.

Fellow agents were gathered Wednesday at the Byrne home in The Woodlands, where his family declined to comment.
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