True Murder Stories...

By Nischal Hegde

This book is definitely a must read if you like a real mystery crime book. The book has many stories that you haven't heard about and it is very detailed about the things that went on during these killings, and about the process of trying to find out who the killer was. You can read about serial killers, some psycho ones and learn about interesting facts like - are DNA tests so perfect?

It also has the true story of how the Russian intelligence managed to bring in radioactive material into England to assassinate their target. Also there is a story about the Zodiac killer, about whom a movie has also been made and many more like The boston Strangler, The McNaughten's Case, etc. etc..

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781105629181

Book preview

True Murder Stories...

True Murder Stories…

By Nischal Hegde

Copyright 2012  Lulu Author.

All rights reserved

ISBN:978-1-105-56185-6

e-ISBN: 978-1-105-62918-1

Section 1

The Georgi Markov Case

Georgi Markov, a 49 year old broadcaster with the BBC, was a Bulgarian who had defected to Britain. One day he was waiting near the Waterloo Bridge for his daily bus ride to the office, when he felt a sharp prick on the back of his right thigh. On turning around, he saw a man drop his umbrella. Apparently he had accidentally jabbed Markov with the tip of his umbrella. The man apologized and quickly walked away some distance before he hailed a taxicab. Markov got the impression he was a foreigner since he appeared to have had some difficulty communicating with the taxi driver before he boarded the vehicle.

At work on that day Markov did not feel very well. He left for home after his shift ended at 22:30. By now he was experiencing gastrointestinal distress and had a high fever. He was taken to hospital where he recounted the incident at the bus stop, to the attending doctor. After investigations, a diagnosis of septicaemia was made. In spite of aggressive treatment, Marvok died 3 days later. Since it was not clear as to what exactly was the cause of death, a medico legal autopsy was carried out. Particular attention was paid to the dissection of right thigh where Markov had complained of being jabbed by unknown assailant. Careful probing revealed a tiny metal pellet about 1.7mm in diameter, which turned out to be an alloy of platinum and iridium. Two small holes had been bored into it’s casing. The pellet was subjected to chemical analysis and though conclusive evidence could not be obtained the results suggested that the pellet had contained ricin (a toxalbumin obtained from Castor/mole bean). At the inquest, the coroner returned a verdict of death due to ricin by unlawful administration. However, in spite of intensive police investigation, the culprit was never caught. It was most probably a case of political assassination.

Ten days before the murder, an attempt was made to kill another Bulgarian defector, Vladimir Kostov, in the same manner as Markov, in a Paris metro station. Doctors found the same kind of bullet in his skin. However, it seems that the sugar coating of the bullet protecting the ricin content was damaged during the shot or before, and thus, only a tiny portion of the poison got into his blood, causing only fever. Kostov reported that the shot came from a man carrying a small bag, but not an umbrella. The main reason for this was the declaration of Markov who saw the umbrella but never said he was shot by it. However, forensic experts declared that the probable gun that shot the bullet was probably very sophisticated, another reason to believe in state action.

A book describing the whole story and facts was written by Vladimir Bereanu and Kalin Todorov. The book has been removed from sale but is still available.

Several well-known KGB defectors, such as Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky, have confirmed that the KGB arranged the murder, even presenting the Bulgarian assassin with alternatives such as a poisonous jelly to smear on Markov's skin, but to this day no one has been charged with Markov's murder, largely because most documents relating to his death were probably destroyed. The British newspaper The Times has reported that the prime suspect is an Italian named Francesco Gullino (or Giullino) who lives in Denmark.

A British documentary, The Umbrella Assassin (2006), interviewed people associated with the case in Bulgaria, Britain and America, and revealed that the prime suspect, Gullino, is alive and well, and still traveling freely throughout Europe.

There were reports in June 2008 that Scotland Yard had renewed its interest in the case. Detectives were sent to Bulgaria and requests were made to interview relevant individuals. There also seems to be a newfound interest on the part of the Bulgarian authorities to resolve the case.

The Buck Ruxton Case

On the morning of September 29, 1935, at a picturesque spot in  Gardenholme Linn in Scotland, a young lady on her afternoon walk happened to notice a bundle jammed between some rocks in a stream. She was shocked to see what appeared to be a human arm sticking out of it. The police were on the scene by mid-afternoon, and had soon discovered two human heads on the banks of the stream, as well as four bundles of human remains - thigh bones, legs, pieces of flesh, and an armless torso. One piece of newspaper wrapped around two upper arms proved to be the ‘Sunday Graphic’ for 15 September 1935. The remains were sent to Anatomy Department of the University of Edinburgh, and were subsequently examined by an eminent forensic expert, Prof. John Glaister, and his collegue Dr. Gilbert Millar. They found themselves confronted with a human jigsaw puzzle of 70 pieces.

On careful sorting of the pieces it could be deduced that they belonged to two distinct persons, both female, one six inches shorter than the other. The taller body was almost complete, while the torso of the smaller one was missing. From the way the bodies had been dismembered it was clear that the murderer had knowledge of human anatomy, and was most probably a medical man. He used a knife, not a saw, to cut through joints and ligaments in a meticulous fashion. He had removed the skin from the heads to make the faces unrecognizable, cut off the fingertips to make fingerprint identification impossible, and removed the teeth to avoid dental identification. However, some scalp hair still remained on the head of the smaller body, and further search of the river yielded parts of hands with intact fingertips. After soaking them in hot water, Glaister was able to get an excellent set of fingerprints.

Age estimation of the bodies was done by talking into account several features - sutural union of skull bones, status of dental roots (on X-ray), and epiphysis union of long bones. From these, it became clear that the age of the smaller victim was around 20 years, while the other victim appeared to be a middle-aged woman. As to cause of death, this was fairly clear. The taller woman had five stab wounds in the chest, several broken bones, and many bruises. The hyoid bone in the neck was fractured, indicating strangulation before the other injuries had been inflicted. As to