The Umbrella Assassin

<p>Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was shot by a poisoned pellet whilst walking on Waterloo Bridge on 7th September, 1978. Four days later, he was dead.</p><br><p>He thought the bullet - believed to be filled with ricin - had emanated from the umbrella of a Soviet secret agent, and the British press labelled his assassination the ‘Poison Brolly Riddle’.</p><br><p>In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explain how Markov was initially disbelieved by doctors; reveal the mysterious involvement of a pig in the Porton Down investigation; and ask whether poisoning is really as efficient a method of murder as it seems...</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><ul><li>‘The poison-tipped umbrella: the death of Georgi Markov in 1978’ (The Guardian, 2020): <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2020/sep/09/georgi-markov-killed-poisoned-umbrella-london-1978" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2020/sep/09/georgi-markov-killed-poisoned-umbrella-london-1978</a></li><li>‘The umbrella murder mystery’ (The Oldie): <a href="https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-umbrella-murder-mystery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-umbrella-murder-mystery</a></li><li>Umbrella fired fatal ricin dart (CNN, 2013): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZO5Lf8wD_c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZO5Lf8wD_c</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em></p><br><p><em>#70s #Person #Crime #Macabre #UK</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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