Umbrella Murder

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The Umbrella Murder is the popular name for the muder of Bulgarian journalist Georgi Markov]] in 1978 by ricin poisoning.

On September 7, 1978, Georgi Markov had walked across Waterloo Bridge which crosses the River Thames, and was waiting at a bus stop when he was jabbed in the leg by umbrella held by a stranger. The man apologized and walked away. Markov would later tell doctors that the man had spoken in a foreign accent.

Markov recalled feeling a stinging pain where he had been hit by the umbrella tip. When he arrived at work at the BBC World Service offices, he noticed a small red pimple had formed on his leg and the pain from being jabbed had not gone away. He told at least one of his colleagues at the BBC about this incident. That evening he developed a high fever and was admitted to a hospital where he died three days later.

Due to the circumstances of his death and the statements Markov made to doctors expressing the suspicion that he had been poisoned, Scotland Yard ordered a thorough postmortem examination of Markov's body. At the postmortem, forensic pathologists discovered a spherical metal pellet the size of a pin-head embedded in Markov's calf.

The pellet measured 1.52 mm in diameter and was 90 percent platinum and 10 percent iridium. It had two holes with diameters of 0.35mm drilled through it, creating an "X"-shaped cavity. Further examination by experts from Porton Down revealed that the pellet contained traces of ricin toxin. Even if the doctors treating Markov had known this, it would have made no difference because there was no known antidote to ricin poisoning.

Ten days before this murder, another Bulgarian citizen, Vladimir Kostov, was shot in Paris. Doctors found the same type of pellet in his skin. However, it seems that the sugar coating on the pellet, designed to protect the ricin content prior to delivery, was damaged during or before the shot, and thus, only a tiny portion of the poison got into Kostov's blood, causing fever only.

Kostov reported that he was by a man carrying a small bag, but no umbrella. This story lead some to think that the Markov "umbrella" was an invention of the British media. The main reason for this was the declaration of Markov that he saw an umbrella ,but never said he was shot by it. The forensic experts declared that the "gun" that shot the pellet was probably very sophisticated.

In June 1991, Scotland Yard detectives and Bulgarian investigators made a joint statement in Sofia disclaiming the umbrella theory.

A book<ref>The Umbrella Murder, Valdimir Bereanu and Kalin Todorov, published in Great Britain by TEL, 1994, ISBN 0952357305</ref> about the Markov murder was writen by Vladimir Bereanu and Kalin Todorov. The book is out of print.

Several high profile KGB defectors, such as Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky have claimed that the KGB was behind the assassination, even presenting the Bulgarian assassin with alternatives such as a poisonous jelly smeared on Markov's skin, but to this day no one has been charged with Markov's murder.

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