MURDER MYSTERY? Who Was Killing The Scientists in the 1980s?

Between 1982 and 1990, a cluster of strange and often grisly deaths amongst scientists and computer experts working in Britain’s high-tech defence industry baffled investigators. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** GEC which was the General Electric Company of the UK is not to be confused with the U.S. company General Electric. GEC was an arms company based in the UK that was renamed Marconi Corporation plc in 1999 after its defense arm was sold to British Aerospace. In 2005-6 Ericsson purchased the bulk of Marconi and the remaining businesses were renamed Telent plc. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Over two dozen scientists, science graduates and experts working for Marconi or Plessey Defence Systems died under mysterious circumstances in the 1980's. Most of these arreared to be suicides, albeit, very strange suicides linked to coincidences. The Ministery of Defence (MOD) denied these scientists had been involved in classified Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) i.e. "Star Wars Projects" and that the deaths were in any way, shape or fashion -connected. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Many of the deaths were so odd that coroners were unable to determine the cause. Americans exposed to a lot of CSI can assume that clues were missed and crime solutions were botched. But in the real world, one lacks the lab, the skills, or the time - to doggedly and persistently persue a case to "catch the crook". Thus unlike "House", most cases just get called accidents, misadventures, or even an erotic misadventure. People who do not understand what coroners are "up against" may wrongly think that the coroner's brain got "misadventured". Other cases were judged to be suicides and accidents despite clear evidence and the unlikeliness of happenstance, perhaps as a coroner CYA. After all, if someone has this much "misadventure and accident power" it would be unwise to "cross" them! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Most of the victims were computer scientists working for Marconi Electronic Systems and related companies on top-secret defence projects, including the aforementioned U.S. Strategic Defence Initiative. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Tony Collins, a UK’s Computer Weekly correspondent, began to compile reports of deaths amongst computer scientists and engineers in the mid-80s. Over the next few years he would file a series of stories on the deaths, eventually over twenty cases that to Collins appeared to be connected. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In 1990 Tony Collins authored a book, "Open Verdict", which concluded the obvious - that the deaths were "fishy". Collins suspected some sort of plot but nothing provable. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Was it all a plot to murder the scientists and cripple military and scientific progress? Could the Soviets have gotten wind that the SDI would make their rockets useless? Knowing they could not de-rail 3500 employees, perhaps some mayhem would stress many more into real suicide or just quitting? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The suspicious multiple death story began in March 1982 with Professor Keith Bowden, 45, computer scientist, Essex University. He allegedly died wgen his Land Rover crossed a four-lane highway and crashed off a bridge, down an embankment, landing in an abandoned rail yard. Praised as an expert scientist on super computers and computer-controlled aircraft working at Essex University contracting for Marconi Electronic Systems. Police judged that he had been speeding and drinking but family and friends all denied the allegation. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Mrs. Bowden explained, "Somebody had taken the wheels off and put others on that were old and worn. At the inquest mention of this was disallowed. Someone asked if the car was in a sound condition, and the answer was yes." The widow Mrs. Bowden, stunned and shocked at her husband's demise, never protested the published verdict. Still, due to knowledge that the Land Rover was supposed to have nearly new tires, she remains convinced that someone tampered with her husband's car. "It certainly looked like foul play." Considerably detailed source: ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** http://whale.to/b/scientist_dDOThtml Lt-Colonel Anthony Godley, 49 who headed the Work Study Unit at the Royal Military College of Science disappeared without trace or explanation in April of 1983, presumed dead. Godley's father bequeathed him over$60,000, with the proviso that he claim it before 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Roger Hill, 49, radar designer and draftsman, for Marconi allegedly suicided himself with a shotgun at the family home in March of 1985. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Jonathan Walsh, 29, was a digital-communications expert with British Telecom's secret Martlesham Health research facility and to GEC, Marconi's parent company. In November 1985 Walsh allegedly fell from his hotel room while working on a British Telecom project in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Africa). Walsh had feared for his life. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** An unusually bizarre case is that of Peter Peapell, 46, found dead February 22, of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. Peapell had a high-security job at the Royal Military College of Science testing titanium's resistance to explosives and the use of computer analysis of signals from metals. Peapell's wife, Maureen, stated that she last saw her husband alive about 3 a.m. one morning in February 1987 after an evening out. Maureen went to bed while her husband parked the car. She awoke six hours later and found Peapell dead under the car, engine running and garage doors closed. Carbon deposits on the garage door showed the engine had been running only a short time. The police doubt the possibility that Peapell could have positioned himself under the car as he was discovered. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Police stated that Peapell's head was protruding from underneath the car face-up, with his mouth virtually aligned with the end of the exhaust pipe. Had he been strangled, his hyoid bone would have been broken, but getting murdered a plastic bag would have caused asphixiation, and since the presence of carbon monoxide seemed to be slight some blood analysis MIGHT have ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning altogether. Was the car's engine only moderately warm or was it hot? A time of death MIGHT have indicated six hours PAST with the engine started REMOTELY only a few minutes prior to discovery of the corpse. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Whether Peapell was acquainted with John Brittan, Royal College of Military Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and later deployed in a research department at the MOD.is not known but Brittan also was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. Brittan and Peapell died shortly after returning from business trips to the United States. The Defense Ministry stated that Peapell was working on a non-classified study of Soviet advances in beryllium metallurgy; beryllium is widely used in atomic reactors. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some crime scene analysys MIGHT have applied equally to BOTH crime scenes...were BOTH cars capable of remote starting...if so...hellova coincidence, especially for 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On March 30, 1987, David Sands, 37, a senior scientist working on computer-controlled radar at a Marconi sister company, Easams of Camberley, Surrey. Dr. John Brittan had also worked at Camberley. David Sands allegedly made a sudden U-turn in his car on a dual highway and crashed at high speed into an empty cafe or cafeteria in Basingstoke, 50 miles west of London. Sands reportedly had gasoline cans in his car which contributed to a fireball requiring his identification from dental records. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Sands had worked for quite some time on a large project for the British Army, having managed it through years of studies and bids. EASAMS had just practically won this £100 million contract, primarily because of David Sands and his team's efforts. Co-workers got the basic facts, on the "grapevine" near the coffee machines, where engineers had discussions. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** A young scientific officer at the college died in a mysterious car crash in Cyprus in April 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On August 4, 1986, Vimal Dajibhai, 24, died from a 74m (240ft.) fall into the gorge below Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. The trip in obedience to gravity might have been fun but that sudden stop - was fatal. Dajibhai had been a computer software engineer with Marconi, responsible for testing computer control systems of Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes at Marconi Underwater Systems at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire. Although the police report on condition of the body mentioned a needle-sized puncture wound on the left buttock, but this was later dismissed as being due to the fall. Dajibhai had been looking forward to his new job in the City of London and friends had confirmed that there was no reason for him to commit suicide. At the time of his death he was in the last week of his work with Marconi. In light of facts getting in the way of a quick, snap judgement - open. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Another scientist involved in signal processing disappeared four days before John Brittan died, but was traced four months later by a British newspaper to a boutique in a Paris red-light district. Did a threat on his life, a sizable quantity of CASH and an airplane ticket for Paris -- cause this scientist to DISAPPEAR HIMSELF? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Or did he just decide on a quick vacation due to all this "suicide under strange circumstances". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On January 8, 1987, Avtar Singh-Gida disappeared while finishing his doctoral thesis on underwater signal processing at Loughborough University. Rumour has it that when located, he had refused to talk about his disappearance or the death of an acquaintance, Vimal Dajibhai, a computer programmer at Marconi Defense Systems, an electronics firm. Singh-Gida was last seen testing acoustic equipment at a reservoir near Loughborough. Singh-Gida vanished only two days before his wedding anniversary and had already bought his wife a gift. He was supposedly found in Paris without knowing how he got there. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Perhaps Avtar Singh-Gida's silence is due to "wisdom" since Vimal Dajibhai fell to his death from a bridge in August 1986 and Avtar is certain that he,too, is mortal. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In October of 1986, Arshad Sharif, 26, died as a result of placing a rope around his neck, tying the other end to a tree and then driving off in his car with the accelerator pedal jammed down, perhaps by a brick. His unusual death was complicated by several annoying factual issues. Sharif lived near Vimal Dajibhai in Stanmore, Middlesex, committed suicide in Bristol and, inexplicably, had spent the last night of his life on Earth in a rooming house. Sharif had paid for his rooming house rental in cash and was seen by witnesses to have a quantity of high-denomination banknotes in his possession. Although the police were informed about the currency, no mention was made of it at the inquest and the money was never found. Additionally, most of the other guests at the rooming house worked at British Aerospace prior to working for Marconi, Sharif had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons technology. Sharif was reported to have been working on defence systems for the detection of submarines by satellite, perhaps with advanced signal processing. The coroner's verdict was suicide since a tape recording found in his car satisfied coroner Donald Hawkins that it was a suicide, but the burning question was, ''Why Bristol?'' ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In January 12, 1987, Richard Pugh, 37 a MOD computer consultant and digital communications expert, was found dead in his apartment with his feet bound and a plastic bag over his head. Rope was tied around his body, coiling four times around his neck. The coroner's verdict was death due to accident. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In February 1986, David Skeels, 43, engineer with Marconi, was found dead in his car with a hose connected to the car's exhaust. The coroner's verdict in this case: open. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In February of 1987, Victor Moore, 46, a design Engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems, died from an overdose that was ruled a suicide. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** George Kountis, a Systems Analyst at Bristol Polytechnic. He drowned the same day as Shani Warren, April 10, 1987 as the result of a car accident, with his upturned car found in the River Mersey, Liverpool. Since the coroner's verdict was "Misadventure", did George Kountis think his car was also a boat? In light of the "magical, mysterious drowning of Shani Warren, Kountis sister called for a fresh inquest as she thought 'things didn't add up.' ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Shani Warren, 26, died on April 10, 1987. She was a personal assistant for Micro Scope a company which was taken over by GEC Marconi less than four weeks after her death. Shani Warren was found to have drowned in 45cm. (18in) of water, not far from the site of David Greenhalgh's death fall. Warren died exactly one week after the death of Stuart Gooding and serious injury to Greenhalgh. She was found gagged with a noose around her neck. Her feet were also bound and her hands tied behind her back. The coroner had opted for an open verdict since for suicide Warren would have had to have gagged herself, tied her feet with rope, then tied her hands behind her back and hobbled to the lake on stiletto heels to drown herself in 18 inches of water. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On April 24, 1987, Mark Wisner, 24, software engineer at the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Wisner was found dead in a house shared with two colleagues, with a plastic bag over his head and several feet of cling film around his head and face. The method of death was almost identical to that of Richard Pugh about three months earlier. It was ruled by the coroner as an accident? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On May 3, 1987, Michael Baker, 22, a digital communications expert working on a defence project at Plessey and part-time member of Signals Corps Side Angle Side (SAS). He died when his car crashed through a barrier near Poole in Dorset. It appeared to be a "Misadventure." ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In June 1987, Frank Jennings, 60, Electronic Weapons Engineer with Plessey, was found dead from a presumed heart attack. Appearing to be "natural causes...there was no inquest. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In January 1988, Russell Smith, 23, laboratory technician with the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Essex, was a presumed suicide at Boscastle in Cornwall from falling off a cliff. Ouch! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On March 25, 1988: Trevor Knight, 52, computer engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems in Stanmore, Middlesex. found dead at his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire at the wheel of his car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A St.Alban's coroner ruled it a suicide even though Miss Narmada Thanki, Knight's lady friend, co-worker with him at Marconi, had only found three suicide notes left by him that seemed to clarify his intentions. Miss Thanki mentioned that Trevor Knight disliked his work but she did not note any depression that would have driven him to suicide. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In August 1988, Alistair Beckham, 50, software engineer with Plessey Defence Systems, was found deceased after being electrocuted in his garden shed with wires connected to his body. The coroner ruled the case,"Open" since the wife claimed Beckham never went to the shed and the electrocution was rather unusual. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On August 22, 1988, Peter Ferry, 60, retired Army Brigadier General/Assistant Marketing Director with Marconi, was found on the 22nd or 23rd of August,1988 electrocuted in his company flat with electrical leads in his mouth. The coroner's verdict was,"Open", as circumstances were very unusual for a death. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In September 1988, Andrew Hall, 33, engineering Manager with British Aerospace, found dead in a car with a hose connected to the exhaust. The coroner's verdict was,"Suicide". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Bowden’s solicitor hired an accident investigator to examine the wreck. Somebody had swapped the normally pristine tires on Bowden’s Rover with a set that were worn and old. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** 3 years later, radar designer Roger Hill killed himself with a shotgun at his home. Later that year Jonathan Wash died after plunging from a hotel window. The coroner returned an Open Verdict. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** More puzzling still was the death of Vimal Dajibhai, 24, who jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in August 1986. Dajibhai had been working at Marconi on computer control systems for Stingray torpedoes. Dajibhai was found with his pants around his ankles and a needle-sized puncture wound on his left buttock. The Bristol coroner noted and was concerned by this  stating, “it was a mystery then and remains a mystery now.” Thus the coroner ruled it an "open" case.

Left to right —Vimal Dajibhai, Arshad Sharif, Keith Bowden, Alistair Beckham, John Ferry and John Whiteman Perhaps the very most disturbing death of all occurred 2 months later. Arshad Sharif, 26, another computer scientist who worked on satellite guidance systems at Marconi. Sharif also traveled to Bristol, tied one end of a rope around his neck, the other end to a tree, then jammed his foot on the accelerator of his car and decapitated himself. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The day before his death, Sharif had been acting oddly and was seen paying for accommodation in a rooming house with a bundle of high denomination bank notes. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** A relative summoned to identify the body noticed something suspicious about his car. What appeared to be a metal rod was lying on the floor of the car next to the accelerator. Had it been used to wedge down the pedal? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The coroner wasn’t happy. “This is past coincidence…I will not be completing this inquest until I know how two men with no connection to Bristol came to meet the same end here”. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some of the men worked on computer guidance systems for missiles He never did find out why, but both men were suspected to be working on a top secret project called Cosmos, which involved underwater guidance systems, establishing a further connection between the pair. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Marconi spokesman said 35,000 people worked in the UKs defence industry in the mid-80s, and these deaths  over a 3 years time span, could easily be called coincidences. In fact, nobody at the time the deaths had occurred recognized any connection. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Then by 1987 and 1988, the pace of deaths had markedly increased, so that the UK press and some MPs began to connect the dots. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** 1987 started with the death of Richard Pugh. Another computer expert in the defence industry and consultant to the MOD, Pugh’s body was found in his apartment,  his feet tied, a plastic bag on his head and a thick rope coiled around his body. The coroner’s verdict was "accident due to sexual misadventure". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Then a few days later, another scientist doing top secret work for the MOD , Dr. John Brittan, died in his own garage of carbon monoxide poisoning. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The next month, another Marconi engineer, David Skeels, also died of carbon monoxide poisoning, found in his car with a hose connected to the exhaust. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Also in February, two more defence engineers and scientists died — Victor Moore from an overdose, and Peter Peapell, still another car-generated carbon monoxide poisoning victim. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Peter Peapell’s death was especially concerning. After spending an evening with friends, he and his wife returned home and Peapell went to put away the car. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The next morning his wife found his body jammed underneath the car with his mouth next to the exhaust pipe. Police were unconvinced it was suicide because it seemed impossible and very unlikely that he could have gotten his body into the odd position it was discovered. The coroner called it,"open" verdict. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** John Whiteman supposedly over-dosed on pills and drowned himself in his own bathtub, the body surrounded by pills and empty alcohol bottles. Uncannily the autopsy revealed no trace of drugs or alcohol in his body. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In April, in almost the same as Richard Pugh in January of 1987, Mark Wisner, 24, was found dead with a plastic bag on his head and plastic sandwich wrap around his face. The verdict was death by sexual misadventure. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The previous year Marconi purchased defence electronics firm Plessey. Within a month between May and June 1987 two of its scientists were dead — Michael Baker, 22 in May and Frank Jennings, 60, in June. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** At the start of 1988, lab technician Russel Smith, 23, jumped off a cliff in Cornwall. A senior computer engineer at Marconi — Trevor Knight, was the victim of yet another suicide by car exhaust pipe. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Marconi purchased high-tech firm Plessey in 1987. Within a year, two of its scientists were dead In August, there were two gruesome electrocutions of senior figures at Marconi that are some of the most suspicious of all the deaths. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Alistair Beckham, 50, was a computer engineer who it’s believed was working on top secret pilot programs for America’s Strategic Defence Initiative. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** After some light Sunday afternoon gardening, Beckham retired to his shed, attached wires to his chest, pushed them into a power socket and, with a handkerchief jammed in his mouth, hit the power. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Beckham’s wife was entirely unconvinced her husband committed suicide. Beckham was highly secretive about his work and just hours after his death men from the Ministry of Defence arrived at the scene and took away several documents and files from Beckham’s home. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In similar but even more gruesome fashion, Marconi director John Ferry, 60, jammed stripped wires into his own tooth fillings and electrocuted himself. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Could all of these grisly suicides really just be a coincidence? By now several stories in the press had appeared questioning whether there was actually some kind of KGB or Eastern bloc conspiracy to kill the scientists. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Several MPs and trade union leader Clive Jenkins called for an inquiry into the deaths. Jenkin’s wrote that the deaths were — “statistically incredible” and spoke of the concern amongst his members over “these clusters of suicides, violent deaths, or murders.” ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The conservative government of Margaret Thatcher dismissed calls for an inquiry, claiming the deaths were not statistically unusual and were just ‘coincidences’, perhaps exacerbated by high levels of stress in the defence industry. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Professor Colin Pritchard, a noted expert in mental illness and suicides, thinks at least some of the deaths were statistically uncommon. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Whilst its true suicide is one of the most prevalent causes of early death in men, especially young men, Pritchard believes factors in some of the cases make the suicide verdicts unlikely. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Pritchard cites the cases of at least 4 of the men that share unusual elements. All 4 men had complained to friends and family that they had been tasked ‘strange’, ‘impossible’ and ‘unscientific’ tasks by their employers. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** All 4 men committed suicide in incredibly violent and bizarre ways. Pritchard has studied numerous suicide cases and thinks such extreme suicide methods are normally only associated with people suffering severe mental breakdowns, to the extent they would be unable to even hold down jobs. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Yet the men were all employed up until the day of their deaths and none had shown any sign of mental illness or other disturbance. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** All of the men had also recently found new jobs and were preparing to leave within days of their deaths. Likewise, all 4 men had recently arranged appointments with their MPs. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** What were the strange ‘unscientific’ projects that the men were complaining of, and why had they all booked appointments with their MPs? Had they stumbled on something in their jobs that had worried them — something that led to them been silenced? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Several of the deaths were put down to sex games that had gone wrong. But intelligence expert Conrad Black says death by sexual misadventure is a common method of disguising murder in the world of espionage. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** There were American actors who seemingly committed suicide by sexual misadventure. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Black told the Daily Record — “Disposing of an enemy and making it look like a perverted fantasy gone wrong is in the training manuals of every spy agency from MI6 to Mossad. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The sex game cover is a very useful mechanism in a murder. Not only does it provide a disguise for the actual means and method of death, it trashes the reputation of the victim and dissipates the energy of any subsequent investigation.” ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Marconi deaths weren’t the only unexplained, violent or unusual deaths amongst defence workers in Europe in the 1980s. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In West Germany in 1986 there were several incidents involving individuals associated with America’s SDI — the Strategic Defence Initiative dubbed ‘Star Wars’ by the press. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Strategic Defence Initiative was an ambitious programme to create a space based anti-nuclear weapon shield which would have rendered Soviet nuclear capability useless. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In July 9,1986, Karl-Heinz Beckurts, a German physicist and member of the Executive Board and Head of Corporate Research and Technology of Siemens AG and an SDI contractor was killed by a car bomb or an electronically exploded roadside bomb in Straßlach, a district of Munich. His chauffeur Eckhard Groppler was also killed. Although The Red Army Faction (German:Rote Armee Fraktion) or (RAF) calling itself, "Kommando Mara Cagol" claimed responsibility for the murders but the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) investigation found only one suspect: Horst Ludwig Meyer. When Meyer died from Vienna police gunfire in 1999, their lead died with him. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Gerrold von Braunmühl, a senior advisor in SDI negotiations and Nato diplomat was shot twice in the head at point blank range while getting out of a taxi in Bonn in October 1986. Other attacks on SDI-related firms convince German prosecutors that they were targeted. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Similar deaths and disappearances amongst defence figures in Sweden and Italy occurred at the same time, giving rise to the suspicion that there was an Eastern Bloc plot to attack Western defence capability and the SDI. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Attempting to undermine an enemy’s defence capabilities by murdering their scientists is not uncommon. The US, UK and Israel have all been known to strategically stage accidents to remove high-ranking enemy scientists for political ends. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In recent years at least 4 top Iranian nuclear scientist have been killed by Israel’s Mossad in an attempt to derail Iran’s nuclear programme. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Killing targets in a foreign country is also not uncommon. In 1978, dissident Georgi Markov was murdered on Waterloo Bridge in London by agents of the Bulgarian secret police aided by the KGB. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Many of the Marconi scientists were involved either directly or peripherally in the Star Wars programme and other related projects. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Could their strange deaths actually have been a series of Russian or East German orchestrated murders designed to scuttle the SDI? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The British government, Marconi and many in the press blamed stress in the high-pressure defence industry for the cluster of suicides. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Stress has often been cited as a problem in the secret defence industry and may have been a contributing factor to the cluster of suicides. The deliberate nature and grisliness suggests stress inducement/threats/bribes/ and other strssors coupled with kidnapping and mayhem. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Suicide is the most common form of death in men aged 20–49 — the age bracket into which almost all the Marconi scientists fell into. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** It would therefore not be unexpected to find a fair number of suicides in a male dominated occupation, especially one that operates under such tight secrecy. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some of the widows commented on how their husbands were unable to talk about their secret work. If they were having trouble with the jobs, the fact they may have been unable to discuss the situation with their loved ones may have been another contributory factor. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** During those pre-1980s "cold war" days, it would have been vicious but entirely logical for the Russians to have been "bumping off" senior defence industry managers and engineers. How else could they counter the enormous technical ability and economic power of western defence industry driven by billions from the capitalism they loathed? It also would have made sense for the U.K. Government to "keep things quiet", since, if people had known what was transpiring, many, many people would have changed careers, deciding that "it was just not worth the risk"? How much more would the Russians have achieved in disruptive terrorism, if they had leaked the right information to the Press? Maybe they did?

MURDER MYSTERY? Who Was Killing The Scientists in the 1980s?

Between 1982 and 1990, a cluster of strange and often grisly deaths amongst scientists and computer experts working in Britain’s high-tech defence industry baffled investigators. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** GEC which was the General Electric Company of the UK is not to be confused with the U.S. company General Electric. GEC was an arms company based in the UK that was renamed Marconi Corporation plc in 1999 after its defense arm was sold to British Aerospace. In 2005-6 Ericsson purchased the bulk of Marconi and the remaining businesses were renamed Telent plc. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Over two dozen scientists, science graduates and experts working for Marconi or Plessey Defence Systems died under mysterious circumstances in the 1980's. Most of these arreared to be suicides, albeit, very strange suicides linked to coincidences. The Ministery of Defence (MOD) denied these scientists had been involved in classified Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) i.e. "Star Wars Projects" and that the deaths were in any way, shape or fashion -connected. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Many of the deaths were so odd that coroners were unable to determine the cause. Americans exposed to a lot of CSI can assume that clues were missed and crime solutions were botched. But in the real world, one lacks the lab, the skills, or the time - to doggedly and persistently persue a case to "catch the crook". Thus unlike "House", most cases just get called accidents, misadventures, or even an erotic misadventure. People who do not understand what coroners are "up against" may wrongly think that the coroner's brain got "misadventured". Other cases were judged to be suicides and accidents despite clear evidence and the unlikeliness of happenstance, perhaps as a coroner CYA. After all, if someone has this much "misadventure and accident power" it would be unwise to "cross" them! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Most of the victims were computer scientists working for Marconi Electronic Systems and related companies on top-secret defence projects, including the aforementioned U.S. Strategic Defence Initiative. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Tony Collins, a UK’s Computer Weekly correspondent, began to compile reports of deaths amongst computer scientists and engineers in the mid-80s. Over the next few years he would file a series of stories on the deaths, eventually over twenty cases that to Collins appeared to be connected. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In 1990 Tony Collins authored a book, "Open Verdict", which concluded the obvious - that the deaths were "fishy". Collins suspected some sort of plot but nothing provable. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Was it all a plot to murder the scientists and cripple military and scientific progress? Could the Soviets have gotten wind that the SDI would make their rockets useless? Knowing they could not de-rail 3500 employees, perhaps some mayhem would stress many more into real suicide or just quitting? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The suspicious multiple death story began in March 1982 with Professor Keith Bowden, 45, computer scientist, Essex University. He allegedly died wgen his Land Rover crossed a four-lane highway and crashed off a bridge, down an embankment, landing in an abandoned rail yard. Praised as an expert scientist on super computers and computer-controlled aircraft working at Essex University contracting for Marconi Electronic Systems. Police judged that he had been speeding and drinking but family and friends all denied the allegation. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Mrs. Bowden explained, "Somebody had taken the wheels off and put others on that were old and worn. At the inquest mention of this was disallowed. Someone asked if the car was in a sound condition, and the answer was yes." The widow Mrs. Bowden, stunned and shocked at her husband's demise, never protested the published verdict. Still, due to knowledge that the Land Rover was supposed to have nearly new tires, she remains convinced that someone tampered with her husband's car. "It certainly looked like foul play." Considerably detailed source: ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** http://whale.to/b/scientist_dDOThtml Lt-Colonel Anthony Godley, 49 who headed the Work Study Unit at the Royal Military College of Science disappeared without trace or explanation in April of 1983, presumed dead. Godley's father bequeathed him over$60,000, with the proviso that he claim it before 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Roger Hill, 49, radar designer and draftsman, for Marconi allegedly suicided himself with a shotgun at the family home in March of 1985. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Jonathan Walsh, 29, was a digital-communications expert with British Telecom's secret Martlesham Health research facility and to GEC, Marconi's parent company. In November 1985 Walsh allegedly fell from his hotel room while working on a British Telecom project in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Africa). Walsh had feared for his life. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** An unusually bizarre case is that of Peter Peapell, 46, found dead February 22, of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. Peapell had a high-security job at the Royal Military College of Science testing titanium's resistance to explosives and the use of computer analysis of signals from metals. Peapell's wife, Maureen, stated that she last saw her husband alive about 3 a.m. one morning in February 1987 after an evening out. Maureen went to bed while her husband parked the car. She awoke six hours later and found Peapell dead under the car, engine running and garage doors closed. Carbon deposits on the garage door showed the engine had been running only a short time. The police doubt the possibility that Peapell could have positioned himself under the car as he was discovered. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Police stated that Peapell's head was protruding from underneath the car face-up, with his mouth virtually aligned with the end of the exhaust pipe. Had he been strangled, his hyoid bone would have been broken, but getting murdered a plastic bag would have caused asphixiation, and since the presence of carbon monoxide seemed to be slight some blood analysis MIGHT have ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning altogether. Was the car's engine only moderately warm or was it hot? A time of death MIGHT have indicated six hours PAST with the engine started REMOTELY only a few minutes prior to discovery of the corpse. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Whether Peapell was acquainted with John Brittan, Royal College of Military Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and later deployed in a research department at the MOD.is not known but Brittan also was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. Brittan and Peapell died shortly after returning from business trips to the United States. The Defense Ministry stated that Peapell was working on a non-classified study of Soviet advances in beryllium metallurgy; beryllium is widely used in atomic reactors. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some crime scene analysys MIGHT have applied equally to BOTH crime scenes...were BOTH cars capable of remote starting...if so...hellova coincidence, especially for 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On March 30, 1987, David Sands, 37, a senior scientist working on computer-controlled radar at a Marconi sister company, Easams of Camberley, Surrey. Dr. John Brittan had also worked at Camberley. David Sands allegedly made a sudden U-turn in his car on a dual highway and crashed at high speed into an empty cafe or cafeteria in Basingstoke, 50 miles west of London. Sands reportedly had gasoline cans in his car which contributed to a fireball requiring his identification from dental records. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Sands had worked for quite some time on a large project for the British Army, having managed it through years of studies and bids. EASAMS had just practically won this £100 million contract, primarily because of David Sands and his team's efforts. Co-workers got the basic facts, on the "grapevine" near the coffee machines, where engineers had discussions. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** A young scientific officer at the college died in a mysterious car crash in Cyprus in April 1987. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On August 4, 1986, Vimal Dajibhai, 24, died from a 74m (240ft.) fall into the gorge below Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. The trip in obedience to gravity might have been fun but that sudden stop - was fatal. Dajibhai had been a computer software engineer with Marconi, responsible for testing computer control systems of Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes at Marconi Underwater Systems at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire. Although the police report on condition of the body mentioned a needle-sized puncture wound on the left buttock, but this was later dismissed as being due to the fall. Dajibhai had been looking forward to his new job in the City of London and friends had confirmed that there was no reason for him to commit suicide. At the time of his death he was in the last week of his work with Marconi. In light of facts getting in the way of a quick, snap judgement - open. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Another scientist involved in signal processing disappeared four days before John Brittan died, but was traced four months later by a British newspaper to a boutique in a Paris red-light district. Did a threat on his life, a sizable quantity of CASH and an airplane ticket for Paris -- cause this scientist to DISAPPEAR HIMSELF? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Or did he just decide on a quick vacation due to all this "suicide under strange circumstances". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On January 8, 1987, Avtar Singh-Gida disappeared while finishing his doctoral thesis on underwater signal processing at Loughborough University. Rumour has it that when located, he had refused to talk about his disappearance or the death of an acquaintance, Vimal Dajibhai, a computer programmer at Marconi Defense Systems, an electronics firm. Singh-Gida was last seen testing acoustic equipment at a reservoir near Loughborough. Singh-Gida vanished only two days before his wedding anniversary and had already bought his wife a gift. He was supposedly found in Paris without knowing how he got there. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Perhaps Avtar Singh-Gida's silence is due to "wisdom" since Vimal Dajibhai fell to his death from a bridge in August 1986 and Avtar is certain that he,too, is mortal. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In October of 1986, Arshad Sharif, 26, died as a result of placing a rope around his neck, tying the other end to a tree and then driving off in his car with the accelerator pedal jammed down, perhaps by a brick. His unusual death was complicated by several annoying factual issues. Sharif lived near Vimal Dajibhai in Stanmore, Middlesex, committed suicide in Bristol and, inexplicably, had spent the last night of his life on Earth in a rooming house. Sharif had paid for his rooming house rental in cash and was seen by witnesses to have a quantity of high-denomination banknotes in his possession. Although the police were informed about the currency, no mention was made of it at the inquest and the money was never found. Additionally, most of the other guests at the rooming house worked at British Aerospace prior to working for Marconi, Sharif had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons technology. Sharif was reported to have been working on defence systems for the detection of submarines by satellite, perhaps with advanced signal processing. The coroner's verdict was suicide since a tape recording found in his car satisfied coroner Donald Hawkins that it was a suicide, but the burning question was, ''Why Bristol?'' ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In January 12, 1987, Richard Pugh, 37 a MOD computer consultant and digital communications expert, was found dead in his apartment with his feet bound and a plastic bag over his head. Rope was tied around his body, coiling four times around his neck. The coroner's verdict was death due to accident. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In February 1986, David Skeels, 43, engineer with Marconi, was found dead in his car with a hose connected to the car's exhaust. The coroner's verdict in this case: open. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In February of 1987, Victor Moore, 46, a design Engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems, died from an overdose that was ruled a suicide. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** George Kountis, a Systems Analyst at Bristol Polytechnic. He drowned the same day as Shani Warren, April 10, 1987 as the result of a car accident, with his upturned car found in the River Mersey, Liverpool. Since the coroner's verdict was "Misadventure", did George Kountis think his car was also a boat? In light of the "magical, mysterious drowning of Shani Warren, Kountis sister called for a fresh inquest as she thought 'things didn't add up.' ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Shani Warren, 26, died on April 10, 1987. She was a personal assistant for Micro Scope a company which was taken over by GEC Marconi less than four weeks after her death. Shani Warren was found to have drowned in 45cm. (18in) of water, not far from the site of David Greenhalgh's death fall. Warren died exactly one week after the death of Stuart Gooding and serious injury to Greenhalgh. She was found gagged with a noose around her neck. Her feet were also bound and her hands tied behind her back. The coroner had opted for an open verdict since for suicide Warren would have had to have gagged herself, tied her feet with rope, then tied her hands behind her back and hobbled to the lake on stiletto heels to drown herself in 18 inches of water. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On April 24, 1987, Mark Wisner, 24, software engineer at the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Wisner was found dead in a house shared with two colleagues, with a plastic bag over his head and several feet of cling film around his head and face. The method of death was almost identical to that of Richard Pugh about three months earlier. It was ruled by the coroner as an accident? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On May 3, 1987, Michael Baker, 22, a digital communications expert working on a defence project at Plessey and part-time member of Signals Corps Side Angle Side (SAS). He died when his car crashed through a barrier near Poole in Dorset. It appeared to be a "Misadventure." ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In June 1987, Frank Jennings, 60, Electronic Weapons Engineer with Plessey, was found dead from a presumed heart attack. Appearing to be "natural causes...there was no inquest. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In January 1988, Russell Smith, 23, laboratory technician with the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Essex, was a presumed suicide at Boscastle in Cornwall from falling off a cliff. Ouch! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On March 25, 1988: Trevor Knight, 52, computer engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems in Stanmore, Middlesex. found dead at his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire at the wheel of his car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A St.Alban's coroner ruled it a suicide even though Miss Narmada Thanki, Knight's lady friend, co-worker with him at Marconi, had only found three suicide notes left by him that seemed to clarify his intentions. Miss Thanki mentioned that Trevor Knight disliked his work but she did not note any depression that would have driven him to suicide. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In August 1988, Alistair Beckham, 50, software engineer with Plessey Defence Systems, was found deceased after being electrocuted in his garden shed with wires connected to his body. The coroner ruled the case,"Open" since the wife claimed Beckham never went to the shed and the electrocution was rather unusual. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** On August 22, 1988, Peter Ferry, 60, retired Army Brigadier General/Assistant Marketing Director with Marconi, was found on the 22nd or 23rd of August,1988 electrocuted in his company flat with electrical leads in his mouth. The coroner's verdict was,"Open", as circumstances were very unusual for a death. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In September 1988, Andrew Hall, 33, engineering Manager with British Aerospace, found dead in a car with a hose connected to the exhaust. The coroner's verdict was,"Suicide". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Bowden’s solicitor hired an accident investigator to examine the wreck. Somebody had swapped the normally pristine tires on Bowden’s Rover with a set that were worn and old. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** 3 years later, radar designer Roger Hill killed himself with a shotgun at his home. Later that year Jonathan Wash died after plunging from a hotel window. The coroner returned an Open Verdict. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** More puzzling still was the death of Vimal Dajibhai, 24, who jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in August 1986. Dajibhai had been working at Marconi on computer control systems for Stingray torpedoes. Dajibhai was found with his pants around his ankles and a needle-sized puncture wound on his left buttock. The Bristol coroner noted and was concerned by this  stating, “it was a mystery then and remains a mystery now.” Thus the coroner ruled it an "open" case.

Left to right —Vimal Dajibhai, Arshad Sharif, Keith Bowden, Alistair Beckham, John Ferry and John Whiteman Perhaps the very most disturbing death of all occurred 2 months later. Arshad Sharif, 26, another computer scientist who worked on satellite guidance systems at Marconi. Sharif also traveled to Bristol, tied one end of a rope around his neck, the other end to a tree, then jammed his foot on the accelerator of his car and decapitated himself. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The day before his death, Sharif had been acting oddly and was seen paying for accommodation in a rooming house with a bundle of high denomination bank notes. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** A relative summoned to identify the body noticed something suspicious about his car. What appeared to be a metal rod was lying on the floor of the car next to the accelerator. Had it been used to wedge down the pedal? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The coroner wasn’t happy. “This is past coincidence…I will not be completing this inquest until I know how two men with no connection to Bristol came to meet the same end here”. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some of the men worked on computer guidance systems for missiles He never did find out why, but both men were suspected to be working on a top secret project called Cosmos, which involved underwater guidance systems, establishing a further connection between the pair. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Marconi spokesman said 35,000 people worked in the UKs defence industry in the mid-80s, and these deaths  over a 3 years time span, could easily be called coincidences. In fact, nobody at the time the deaths had occurred recognized any connection. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Then by 1987 and 1988, the pace of deaths had markedly increased, so that the UK press and some MPs began to connect the dots. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** 1987 started with the death of Richard Pugh. Another computer expert in the defence industry and consultant to the MOD, Pugh’s body was found in his apartment,  his feet tied, a plastic bag on his head and a thick rope coiled around his body. The coroner’s verdict was "accident due to sexual misadventure". ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Then a few days later, another scientist doing top secret work for the MOD , Dr. John Brittan, died in his own garage of carbon monoxide poisoning. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The next month, another Marconi engineer, David Skeels, also died of carbon monoxide poisoning, found in his car with a hose connected to the exhaust. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Also in February, two more defence engineers and scientists died — Victor Moore from an overdose, and Peter Peapell, still another car-generated carbon monoxide poisoning victim. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Peter Peapell’s death was especially concerning. After spending an evening with friends, he and his wife returned home and Peapell went to put away the car. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The next morning his wife found his body jammed underneath the car with his mouth next to the exhaust pipe. Police were unconvinced it was suicide because it seemed impossible and very unlikely that he could have gotten his body into the odd position it was discovered. The coroner called it,"open" verdict. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** John Whiteman supposedly over-dosed on pills and drowned himself in his own bathtub, the body surrounded by pills and empty alcohol bottles. Uncannily the autopsy revealed no trace of drugs or alcohol in his body. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In April, in almost the same as Richard Pugh in January of 1987, Mark Wisner, 24, was found dead with a plastic bag on his head and plastic sandwich wrap around his face. The verdict was death by sexual misadventure. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The previous year Marconi purchased defence electronics firm Plessey. Within a month between May and June 1987 two of its scientists were dead — Michael Baker, 22 in May and Frank Jennings, 60, in June. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** At the start of 1988, lab technician Russel Smith, 23, jumped off a cliff in Cornwall. A senior computer engineer at Marconi — Trevor Knight, was the victim of yet another suicide by car exhaust pipe. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Marconi purchased high-tech firm Plessey in 1987. Within a year, two of its scientists were dead In August, there were two gruesome electrocutions of senior figures at Marconi that are some of the most suspicious of all the deaths. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Alistair Beckham, 50, was a computer engineer who it’s believed was working on top secret pilot programs for America’s Strategic Defence Initiative. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** After some light Sunday afternoon gardening, Beckham retired to his shed, attached wires to his chest, pushed them into a power socket and, with a handkerchief jammed in his mouth, hit the power. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Beckham’s wife was entirely unconvinced her husband committed suicide. Beckham was highly secretive about his work and just hours after his death men from the Ministry of Defence arrived at the scene and took away several documents and files from Beckham’s home. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In similar but even more gruesome fashion, Marconi director John Ferry, 60, jammed stripped wires into his own tooth fillings and electrocuted himself. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Could all of these grisly suicides really just be a coincidence? By now several stories in the press had appeared questioning whether there was actually some kind of KGB or Eastern bloc conspiracy to kill the scientists. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Several MPs and trade union leader Clive Jenkins called for an inquiry into the deaths. Jenkin’s wrote that the deaths were — “statistically incredible” and spoke of the concern amongst his members over “these clusters of suicides, violent deaths, or murders.” ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The conservative government of Margaret Thatcher dismissed calls for an inquiry, claiming the deaths were not statistically unusual and were just ‘coincidences’, perhaps exacerbated by high levels of stress in the defence industry. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Professor Colin Pritchard, a noted expert in mental illness and suicides, thinks at least some of the deaths were statistically uncommon. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Whilst its true suicide is one of the most prevalent causes of early death in men, especially young men, Pritchard believes factors in some of the cases make the suicide verdicts unlikely. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Pritchard cites the cases of at least 4 of the men that share unusual elements. All 4 men had complained to friends and family that they had been tasked ‘strange’, ‘impossible’ and ‘unscientific’ tasks by their employers. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** All 4 men committed suicide in incredibly violent and bizarre ways. Pritchard has studied numerous suicide cases and thinks such extreme suicide methods are normally only associated with people suffering severe mental breakdowns, to the extent they would be unable to even hold down jobs. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Yet the men were all employed up until the day of their deaths and none had shown any sign of mental illness or other disturbance. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** All of the men had also recently found new jobs and were preparing to leave within days of their deaths. Likewise, all 4 men had recently arranged appointments with their MPs. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** What were the strange ‘unscientific’ projects that the men were complaining of, and why had they all booked appointments with their MPs? Had they stumbled on something in their jobs that had worried them — something that led to them been silenced? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Several of the deaths were put down to sex games that had gone wrong. But intelligence expert Conrad Black says death by sexual misadventure is a common method of disguising murder in the world of espionage. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** There were American actors who seemingly committed suicide by sexual misadventure. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Black told the Daily Record — “Disposing of an enemy and making it look like a perverted fantasy gone wrong is in the training manuals of every spy agency from MI6 to Mossad. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The sex game cover is a very useful mechanism in a murder. Not only does it provide a disguise for the actual means and method of death, it trashes the reputation of the victim and dissipates the energy of any subsequent investigation.” ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Marconi deaths weren’t the only unexplained, violent or unusual deaths amongst defence workers in Europe in the 1980s. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In West Germany in 1986 there were several incidents involving individuals associated with America’s SDI — the Strategic Defence Initiative dubbed ‘Star Wars’ by the press. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Strategic Defence Initiative was an ambitious programme to create a space based anti-nuclear weapon shield which would have rendered Soviet nuclear capability useless. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In July 9,1986, Karl-Heinz Beckurts, a German physicist and member of the Executive Board and Head of Corporate Research and Technology of Siemens AG and an SDI contractor was killed by a car bomb or an electronically exploded roadside bomb in Straßlach, a district of Munich. His chauffeur Eckhard Groppler was also killed. Although The Red Army Faction (German:Rote Armee Fraktion) or (RAF) calling itself, "Kommando Mara Cagol" claimed responsibility for the murders but the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) investigation found only one suspect: Horst Ludwig Meyer. When Meyer died from Vienna police gunfire in 1999, their lead died with him. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Gerrold von Braunmühl, a senior advisor in SDI negotiations and Nato diplomat was shot twice in the head at point blank range while getting out of a taxi in Bonn in October 1986. Other attacks on SDI-related firms convince German prosecutors that they were targeted. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Similar deaths and disappearances amongst defence figures in Sweden and Italy occurred at the same time, giving rise to the suspicion that there was an Eastern Bloc plot to attack Western defence capability and the SDI. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Attempting to undermine an enemy’s defence capabilities by murdering their scientists is not uncommon. The US, UK and Israel have all been known to strategically stage accidents to remove high-ranking enemy scientists for political ends. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** In recent years at least 4 top Iranian nuclear scientist have been killed by Israel’s Mossad in an attempt to derail Iran’s nuclear programme. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Killing targets in a foreign country is also not uncommon. In 1978, dissident Georgi Markov was murdered on Waterloo Bridge in London by agents of the Bulgarian secret police aided by the KGB. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Many of the Marconi scientists were involved either directly or peripherally in the Star Wars programme and other related projects. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Could their strange deaths actually have been a series of Russian or East German orchestrated murders designed to scuttle the SDI? ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** The British government, Marconi and many in the press blamed stress in the high-pressure defence industry for the cluster of suicides. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Stress has often been cited as a problem in the secret defence industry and may have been a contributing factor to the cluster of suicides. The deliberate nature and grisliness suggests stress inducement/threats/bribes/ and other strssors coupled with kidnapping and mayhem. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Suicide is the most common form of death in men aged 20–49 — the age bracket into which almost all the Marconi scientists fell into. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** It would therefore not be unexpected to find a fair number of suicides in a male dominated occupation, especially one that operates under such tight secrecy. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Some of the widows commented on how their husbands were unable to talk about their secret work. If they were having trouble with the jobs, the fact they may have been unable to discuss the situation with their loved ones may have been another contributory factor. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** During those pre-1980s "cold war" days, it would have been vicious but entirely logical for the Russians to have been "bumping off" senior defence industry managers and engineers. How else could they counter the enormous technical ability and economic power of western defence industry driven by billions from the capitalism they loathed? It also would have made sense for the U.K. Government to "keep things quiet", since, if people had known what was transpiring, many, many people would have changed careers, deciding that "it was just not worth the risk"? How much more would the Russians have achieved in disruptive terrorism, if they had leaked the right information to the Press? Maybe they did?