In an explosive new documentary a former FEMA staffer given unrestricted access to Ground Zero hours after 9/11 claims that what he saw proves the attacks were an inside job by the US government – and that they are now trying to silence him by framing him for murder.

Armed with camera gear, Kurt Sonnenfeld was asked to film everything he saw. His documented evidence was supposed to form part of a FEMA report about the disaster response, but he decided to keep hold of the footage.

Then his wife was found dead on a couch in their Denver home with a bullet wound to the back of her head, and his life began to unravel spectacularly.

Fifteen years after 9/11, Sonnenfeld is now in exile in Argentina. The US government wants him back in the country. Officially, they say he’s wanted over the murder of his wife, but he claims it is for something even more sinister.

He says they want to silence him over what he saw beneath World Trade Center 6, evidence he is convinced proves the deadliest attack on American soil was an inside job by the Bush administration.

WHAT DID SONNENFELD SEE?

Sonnenfeld worked his way through the rubble of Manhattan’s downtown financial district, shooting hours of footage that he didnt hand in. Of particular interest was what he found beneath World Trade Center 6. He says inside the building he found a vault that had been cleared of its contents before the planes struck.

In a new documentary filmed in Argentina, Sonnenfeld said the discovery is proof that the government knew the attacks were coming – at the very least – and that there is evidence to prove they were involved in preparing the attacks.

“One thing I’m certain of is that agencies of intelligence of the United States of America knew what was going to happen and at least let it happen,” he said.

“Not only did they know it was going to happen, but they in fact collaborated.”

The theory is popular among truthers. It is given weight by a similar discovery of a basement door below World Trade Center 4.

According to a New York Times article, the door to a vault was still intact but it appeared as if somebody had tried to gain entry. Behind the vault door were nearly a thousand tonnes of silver and gold.

Sonnenfeld does not believe the official account of 9/11 and not only because of what he saw. He says he has the most trouble understanding how World Trade Center 7 collapsed despite suffering no damage.

“To me, the most suspicious thing of all is what happened to building seven at the World Trade Center,” he said.

“This building was not hit by a plane. It didn’t have any structural damage … but, amazingly enough, building seven fell in a perfect textbook type implosion, taking only 6.5 seconds for a 47-storey building to fall completely into its own footprint.

“This to me indicates there was absolutely no resistance between the floors when the building collapsed.”

WHISTLEBLOWER FRAMED?

As police descended on Sonnenfeld’s doorstep, they heard him utter the words “I can’t believe she shot herself”.

When they gained access to the couple’s home on New Year’s Eve in 2002, it was obvious that Sonnenfeld had been drinking.

He had blood on his hands and alcohol on his breath, police said. They said in an upstairs room they found Nancy in red underwear, still breathing, but barely.

They rushed her to hospital with part of the bullet still protruding from the back of her skull. She died, aged 36, the following morning.

A cryptic note was discovered in the couple’s bedroom. It appeared to be a suicide note. On it, Nancy had written: “What indeed is finally beautiful except death and love. Kurt, please get help.” The word love had been crossed out.

Nancy’s fingerprints were on the gun but Sonnenfeld was taken in for questioning. He was charged with murder and was due to appear in court in June 2002, but the charges were dropped.

He left the US because of a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time police came asking questions. His instincts were spot on. In 2003, a year and a half after his charges were dropped, a judge signed a new warrant for his arrest. When police went looking, they realised he was gone.

The US Government has tried to extradite the former FEMA staffer unsuccessfully. Part of the reason for that is Argentina’s strict opposition to the death penalty. Sonnenfeld could face execution in the state of Colorado if found guilty of Nancy’s murder.