A former News of the World reporter who connected former NOTW editor Andy Coulson to phone hacking by his staff has been found dead.

The Guardian reports that Sean Hoare, who worked as NOTW's showbiz reporter before being dismissed for substance abuse problems, was found dead by police in his Watford, England, home. Police did not confirm Hoare's identity.

Hoare first made his allegations in a New York Times investigation into the alleged phone hacking. Hoare told the newspaper that when the two worked together at The Sun, Hoare played a recording of hacked messages for Coulson, and at NOTW, Coulson, who has since served as a communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron, "actively encouraged" Hoare to continue to do it. Hoare later told the BBC that Coulson had asked him to tap into phones.

Hoare weighed in on the current allegations last week, when he told The New York Times that NOTW reporters were able to locate people using their mobile phone signals. The reporters got that information by reportedly bribing local police.

Hoare's apparent death is the latest news to emerge from the continuing scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Over the weekend, NOTW editor Rebekah Brooks was arrested in Britain over allegations of phone hacking and bribing police, and Scotland Yard Chief Sir Paul Stephenson resigned. Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton also resigned last week.