The dragnet comes up empty

Leigh Anne Jordan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Tennessee, which prosecuted the case, noted that the case is ongoing and declined to comment. All five men face upcoming sentencing hearings.

Officially, Smith's death remains unsolved. A final autopsy report, which may or may not say whether her death was a homicide or a suicide, may be released soon.

But while FBI agents initially told reporters that the evidence suggested a murder, nearly as much information pointed to suicide. For instance, Smith left her sleeping daughter home alone late at night and drove out to a deserted highway. Investigators found no trace of any explosives in the car, which meant the fire was likely caused by gasoline being doused deliberately inside the vehicle. Witnesses who saw the Acura catch fire did not report seeing anyone else in the car or fleeing from the scene. They also reported that the car was moving slowly when it became engulfed, suggesting that Smith, if she had wanted to, could have stopped the car or jumped out.

And then there was the note Smith wrote to her children, John and Vernola, shortly after her arrest. Investigators found it within days of Smith's death in February as stories flourished in the press about possible murder plots, but it was not made public until attorney Jones showed it to local reporters in late May. In it, Smith said she was only trying to help Khaled Odtllah, Hammad's friend and codefendant.

"He didn't give me any money. He was I thought my friend. I was trying to help him. Now I've lost everything and am called a liar when I was telling the truth. I can't live without any honor. I live a lonely life true enough but I didn't lie to the FBI. Forgive me John and Vernola. I can't live this way. I love you both and wish and pray for the best. Love Mama."

Could that be read as a suicide note? "I think that's fair," concedes FBI agent Bolds.

The note did not generate much news outside of Memphis. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, Newsday and the CBS Evening News, which all weighed in early on, failed to report on the anticlimactic conclusion.

Fox's O'Reilly also has avoided the story, despite the fact that in February he had a Tennessee radio talk-show host on and stressed he wanted to be kept updated: "I'm very interested in this Katherine Smith, and if you get anything on that, please call us right away. That woman got hit. That's a pro hit. And we want to know why."

A spokesman for Fox News says O'Reilly hasn't updated viewers because he most likely doesn't know about the recent developments. "I'll let him know," the spokesman said. "He'll probably go back and examine it."

Hammad is now back at home in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. Like the others, he eventually pled guilty to a one-count conspiracy indictment related to the driver's licenses. Last month in court, the prosecutor assured the judge there was "no proof of any terrorist activity" among the men and recommended a lenient sentence. The men are expected to be released on time served.

Hammad is nonetheless angry about the circumstances that led to his round-the-clock lockdown in a maximum-security prison. "Just because we're Arabs doesn't make us any less American," he says. "I grew up here. It's my country. I've been here eight years, working hard and paying taxes. I never had a problem with anybody and look what happened to me."

But investigators aren't the only target of his frustration: "If I ever saw Osama bin Laden," he says, "I'd kill him myself for what he did to ruin so many lives, to ruin my life."

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