The death is not al-Masri. What makes this guy a 'figure' is that he was involved in "hiding" and "moving" Jill Carroll.

General Caldwell said there may not be any Mr. Baghdadi.

Competing claims seemed to arise from repeated recoveries of the same body.

I am oddly compelled to quote Shakespeare:

Enter ABRAHAM and BALTHASAR.

ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

SAMPSON
I do bite my thumb, sir.

ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

SAMPSON
[Aside to GREGORY] Is the law of our side, if I say ay?

GREGORY
No.

SAMPSON
No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.

I would also accept references to Monty Python and Reno 911!.