'We didn't grasp the evil': Stone roommate of North Korean detainee speaks out over death
Danny Gratton first met Otto Warmbier in Beijing in late December 2015 when they were both about to embark on a visit to North Korea.
It was to be a tour that American student Mr Warmbier would never complete.
On the last of four days in the Communist nation, he was detained by North Korean security services over allegations he had stolen a propaganda poster from a hotel.
It was the beginning of an 18-month ordeal for the then 21-year-old that saw him suffer serious illness after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.
He died on Monday, just six days after he had returned to the United States in a coma, with some US officials blaming the Kim Jong-un regime for his death.
This week Mr Gratton, a sales manager from Stone who struck up a friendship with Mr Warmbier during the days they spent together, has broken his silence on the case.
He has provided a forceful argument for Mr Warmbier's innocence that undermines the North Korean government’s version of events.
"Otto was just a really great lad who fell into the most horrendous situation that no one could ever believe," he said.
"It's just something I think in the Western world we just can't understand, we just can't grasp, the evilness behind that dictatorship."
Mr Gratton said the pair were roommates in North Korea and bonded over beers on the first night.
Their second night in Pyongyang was New Year’s Eve and the whole group went out into the city square before coming back to the hotel for more drinking.
It was on this night that University of Virginia student Mr Warmbier was accused of entering a staff-only section of his hotel and removing a propaganda poster from a wall.
WATCH: Footage of the incident and Danny Gratton US TV interview
The poster stated: "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il's patriotism!"
Harming or stealing such items with the name or image of a North Korean leader is considered a serious crime by the North Korean government.
North Korean officials said they had footage of the incident, which was eventually released by state-run Korean Central News Agency.
In the 18-second low-resolution video, an unrecognisable figure removes the sign from the wall and places it on the floor, leaning it against the wall.
During a court hearing broadcast by North Korean state media, a tearful and clearly under duress Mr Warmbier could be seen confessing to the crime and begging for forgiveness.
He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.
However, Mr Gratton says he does not believe Mr Warmbier would do such a thing.
He said that in the four days they spent together, Mr Warmbier never said anything about a banner and that he saw no evidence that he was planning such an act.
Mr Gratton said the first he heard of the alleged attempted theft was when it was mentioned in news reports weeks later. He added that although the pair were not together 24 hours a day, they spent a lot of time together.
”I’ve got nothing from my experiences with him that would suggest he would do something like that," he said.
"At no stage did I ever think he was anything but a very, very polite kid."
Mr Gratton was with Mr Warmbier when he was grabbed by North Korean officials while attempting to get through immigration at Pyongyang International Airport.
At the time Mr Gratton believed it was merely a routine procedure or a tactic designed to intimidate an American, but he said it turned out to be 'the last physical time I saw Otto, ever'.
"No words were spoken," he said. "Two guards just come over and simply tapped Otto on the shoulder and led him away.
"Otto didn't resist. He didn't look scared. He sort of half-smiled.
“I just said kind of quite nervously, 'Well, that's the last we'll see of you.' There's a great irony in those words."
When the group got to the Beijing Capital International Airport, the tour guide called back to her colleague in Pyongyang, who by that time had been summoned to the airport and was with Mr Warmbier, according to another person on the plane, who overheard the call.
Mr Warmbier spoke on that call and said to the guide that he had a severe headache and wanted to be taken to the hospital, the other passenger said.
Repeatedly, Mr Warmbier told the guide he couldn’t travel because he felt ill, although Mr Gratton said he had shown no signs of illness on that day.
It was 20 days later when North Korea announced he was being detained having been accused of a 'hostile act'.
Mr Gratton said even if Mr Warmbier had intended to steal the propaganda banner, the punishment for the act was wildly out of proportion.
He said: ”No one deserves that. He was just a young lad who wanted a bit of adventure.
"Every once in a while they single out someone to make a point, and this was just Otto's turn. It's so sick and warped and unnecessary and evil."
Mr Gratton stayed in contact with Mr Warmbier’s parents over the past year-and-a-half. He said he was 'stunned' nobody from the US government or the tour group ever tried to contact him to ask him if he had any information about what happened.
