Alexander Litvinenko Poisoned Former Spy

[Belle]

A former KGB spy turned British citizen and vocal critic of the Russian government. His last statement accused the Putin government of murdering him. The poison was a highly radioactive element: polonium-210 Russia has repeatedly refused to extradite the main suspects despite Britain's official requests.

Litvinenko autopsy will require extra precautions
By Dan Vergano USA TODAY

Just like everything else in the mysterious death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, even his autopsy will be unusual.

Polonium, the deadly radioactive element tied to Litvinenko's Nov. 23 death, complicates the process.

“Generally, it's not recommended that you autopsy radiation poisoning victims,” says health physicist Andrew Karam of MJW Corp. in Buffalo, an author of National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement guidelines on contaminated bodies. “You have to treat bodily fluids as potentially radioactive contaminants.”

New Scientist magazine claims that pathologists will take special measures, including wearing full-body respirator suits, during the autopsy. “In a criminal investigation, (investigators) will be even more painstaking than usual, taking more samples and documentation,” says health physicist Kelly Classic of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Science writer John Emsley has calculated that, by weight, polonium is about a trillion times more toxic than cyanide. Eating or breathing less than one-thousandth of a gram typically causes death in 20 days, according to the Health Physics Society.

Polonium was discovered in 1898 by physicists Marie and Pierre Curie and named after Marie's native land of Poland. Her daughter, scientist Irène Joliot-Curie, died in 1956 of leukemia attributed to an explosion years earlier of a polonium capsule in her laboratory.

Just like uranium, radon and radium, polonium emits radioactive “alpha particles.” Alpha particles are the “offensive lineman” of radioactive particles, Classic says, big and slow. “You don't want one to hit you, but they are not going very far.” One-thousandth of a gram of polonium emits the same number of alpha particles as 5 grams of radium.

But polonium emits “wimpy” alpha particles, Karam says, easily blocked by skin or even a few inches of air. (For this reason, a sealed container's walls would screen the stuff from radiation detectors.) And that means it must be swallowed or inhaled to kill someone, its alpha emissions destroying tissues as it travels through the bloodstream.

Litvinenko, 43, died in the classic pattern of polonium poisoning: food poisoning symptoms followed by hair loss and a steep decline in white blood cells. The isotope in this case is polonium-210, which has a number of industrial uses and is one of the most deadly forms.

Health physicists view eating polonium as the most deadly route, Karam says. Slowly traveling through the intestine, its radioactivity would kill sensitive cells, spurring food poisoning symptoms. Polonium would then accumulate in the kidney and spleen over the next few days, causing weakness.

Finally, its arrival in the bone marrow would kill white blood cells. “Fairly nasty stuff,” Karam says.

Investigators retracing the steps of Litvinenko and those who had contact with him have found traces of a radioactive substance in at least two British Airways jets. If that substance is polonium, its weak alpha emitters mean travelers face little risk, Karam says, “unless passengers were licking seats.” Pregnant passengers faced no extra risks, he adds.

In theory, the polonium recovered from Litvinenko could offer clues to its origin, Classic says, either from a nuclear reactor or widely used industrial devices. “I doubt it will pinpoint one person though,” she says.

“I am chagrined by one thing about the case,” Karam says. A few years ago, he was approached by producers of the CSI television series to comment on a polonium-poisoning scenario. He told them it was too far-fetched.

“Now, it is all health physicists can talk about,” he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...side01.art.htm

Timeline of the case: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pag...uk/6179074.stm
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko
Info on polonium-210 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6181688.stm

[PvN73]

That event was the weirdest thing that occured - it was like a Bond movie. knowing you are dying like that due to polonium poisoning was freaky - I would have thought the KGB would have just slit his throat or something quick. Poisoning is bad enough but who goes around with a bag of polonium?

[Belle]

I believe the polonium cost $1 to $2 MILLION dollars. They like to make a point. I was shocked they didn't care about the radioactive trace they left all over London. However, since they got away with it, 'nuff said.
The Russians killed G. Markov with ricin poison administered by a specially designed pellet shot from an umbrella gun. No kidding

...... on September 7, Markov was at a parking lot on the south side of the Waterloo Bridge in London, where he always caught a bus across the bridge to go to work at BBC Headquarters. At the bus stop, he felt a sharp stinging sensation in the back of his right thigh. When he turned around, he saw a man bending over to pick up a dropped umbrella. The man, who was facing away from Markov, said "I'm sorry" in a foreign accent, then hailed a cab and left.

Markov was in pain, but went to work and told his colleagues what had happened. He noticed a pimple-like swelling on his thigh, and some blood on his jeans. That evening, he developed a high fever; by the next day, he was having trouble speaking. He was admitted to the hospital, where doctors initially began treating him for septicemia, or blood poisoning. Over the next several days, his body began to fail: his blood pressure collapsed, he began vomiting blood, his kidneys began to die. On the morning of September 11, 1978, the conduction system of his heart -- the 'pacemaker' that regulates the beating of the heart's atria and ventricles -- failed. His heart stopped. Georgi Markov was dead.


After Georgi Markov's death, investigators with Scotland Yard, which had been told of the threats on Markov's life, immediately began an intense forensic investigation. An autopsy was performed at the Wandsworth Public Mortuary on September 12. It revealed that Markov's lungs were full of fluid -- due to heart failure -- and that his liver was damaged due to blood poisoning. His intestines, lymph nodes, and heart were riddled by small hemorrhages, and his white blood cell count was shockingly high. During the autopsy, a large block of tissue was cut from around a 2 mm diameter puncture wound on Markov's right thigh. In it, examiners with the British government's Chemical Defense Establishment at Porton Down discovered a strange 1.52-mm wide metal pellet, about the size of the head of a pin. The pellet was actually a jeweler's watch bearing, used in precision watchmaking.

Metallurgical analysis of the pellet showed that it was made from an extremely hard alloy of platinum and iridium -- metals that are biologically inert, and therefore wouldn't cause an immune reaction in the body. Two tiny holes, each .34 mm in diameter, had been drilled at right angles to each other in the pellet, forming an "x- shaped" well inside. Because the alloys in the pellet were so hard, investigators concluded that the holes could only have been drilled with a high-tech laser in a process known as "spark erosion." (The hard alloy was likely used so that the pellet would not distort much as it was shot into the body).

It was calculated that the pellet would have held about one-fifth of a milligram of material. To keep the material inside, the pellet may have been coated with a wax that melted at human body temperature (98.6 degrees). None of that wax remained on the Markov pellet, but forensic scientists were able to deduce its presence when they pulled a second identical pellet from a wound on the back of Bulgarian exile Vladimir Kostov. Less than two weeks before Markov's attack, Kostov had reported being stung with something at a Paris Metro station. He came down with a high fever and was hospitalized, but he recovered. After Markov's death, scientists and members of the British Anti-Terror squad learned of the Kostov incident, examined his wound, recovered the pellet, and discovered the wax.

The pellet removed from Markov contained no trace of the poison that killed him, nor was any sign of the poison recovered from his body. So to determine what the substance might have been, investigators had to rely on deduction and the process of elimination. They considered a host of toxins -- tetanus, diphtheria, dioxin, nerve agents, and more. A potent natural plant toxin called ricin, which comes from the seeds of the castor bean (used to make castor oil), was among the early contenders.

Ricin consists of two toxic elements. One penetrates the cells of the body and creates a passage for the second toxin, which then attacks the cell's ability to produce proteins -- thus killing the cell. Once the poison has access to the blood stream, its deadly effects spread throughout the body. But unlike neurotoxins (such as the nerve gas sarin) that can kill within minutes, ricin poisoning is characterized by a slow onset of illness, and a slow death. Most striking to investigators were the symptoms of ricin poisoning: high white cell count, damage to lymph nodes and hemorrhages in the internal organs, a sore at the site of infection with the poison. All matched perfectly with Markov's symptoms. To confirm that ricin was involved, scientists injected a pig with the poison. For six hours the animal was fine, but then it came down with a high fever and an elevated white cell count. In 24 hours it was dead. An autopsy showed the same internal damage as Markov had.

Ricin stood out for another reason: Intelligence agents knew that had been the subject of decades of research in the chemical warfare laboratories of the Soviet Union. For that reason, says Christopher C. Green, the medical doctor and forensic expert working for the CIA at the time of the Markov case, who studied the pellet, ricin was "at the top of my list of two or three possibilities" from the outset of the investigation.

Scientists and investigators have surmised that an "umbrella gun" shot the deadly pellet. The modified umbrella may have contained a cylinder of compressed air that fired the pellet through the "barrel," or stem, after the activation of a trigger in the umbrella handle. Although there is no concrete evidence that such a weapon was indeed used, forensic experts have built a strong circumstantial case, based on several pieces of information, including:

Markov's account of the incident. After he was struck with the pellet he saw a man pick up a dropped umbrella. The man apologized to Markov, and spoke with a foreign accent.

The location of the wound. Markov was struck in the back of his upper right thigh. If the pellet had been administered with a hand-held device (such as the compressed-air 'guns' used to administer vaccinations), the wound would probably have been in the lower back or the lower shoulder, surmises forensic expert Christopher Green. "If an individual is carrying an umbrella with a spring loaded or CO2-loaded cartridge in the tip, it would be very likely that the individual would swing the umbrella forward, and it would be approximately at the thigh if you were following them fairly closely," Green says.

The condition of the Markov's clothing and of the pellet. Markov's jeans showed almost no sign of damage, and the pellet was also not deformed as it was 'shot' from the device and entered Markov's leg. That suggests that an explosive device, like a standard gun, was not used, as it would have caused burning in the pants and damage to the pellet.

Taken from several page article:
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case...lla/index.html

[cleanskull]

The ruskies still play hard.

[PvN73]

I believe the polonium cost $1 to $2 MILLION dollars. They like to make a point. I was shocked they didn't care about the radioactive trace they left all over London. However, since they got away with it, 'nuff said.
The Russians killed G. Markov with ricin poison administered by a specially designed pellet shot from an umbrella gun. No kidding

OMG - an umbrella gun - they are sooo KAOS from Get Smart! I love how they tested it first a few weeks earlier on another guy, but he recovered. Bet they up'ed the dose.. trial and error, trial and error.

Those guys are so old school with their picking off of old KGB spys... The effort is amazing.

[deathybrad]

That event was the weirdest thing that occured - it was like a Bond movie. knowing you are dying like that due to polonium poisoning was freaky - I would have thought the KGB would have just slit his throat or something quick. Poisoning is bad enough but who goes around with a bag of polonium?

It's not that weird, it's Russia. They will do it to Gary Kasparov next, you'll see.

[PvN73]

It's not that weird, it's Russia. They will do it to Gary Kasparov next, you'll see.

Well if they are going to knock you off then at least they put some effort into the process... they just dont go around shooting you with bullets. they spend the $$$$ - they are not cheap killers!

[neilmpenny]

I cannot believe how fast the guy deteriorated after the poisoning.

[Belle]

I cannot believe how fast the guy deteriorated after the poisoning.

Me either. That is why I felt I should post the before after pictures.

Viktor Yushchenko the current president of the Ukraine (a former Soviet state) was poisoned with dioxin during a campaign. Look what that did to his face!

[sheri]

seems like KGB is bored as hell with nothing to do so they go offing people...sheesh...id say lemme at em but theres no tellin...real sad these guys suffered like they did...just shows the depths of depravity that some people go to...if i dont like someone i just tell them or outright ignore them...

[Belle]

seems like KGB is bored as hell with nothing to do so they go offing people...sheesh...id say lemme at em but theres no tellin...real sad these guys suffered like they did...just shows the depths of depravity that some people go to...if i dont like someone i just tell them or outright ignore them...

The KGB/FSB and Putin are not the first to control millions of people through fear and intimidation. Nor will they be the last. It takes very special people like the men/women who spoke out against dangerous governments and paid the price. Polonium was used to send a clear message about who was behind the poisoning and to drive home the extent such governments will go to silence others.

[lab_rat]

Bump

[Heavenly Tiger]

Whoever did it ruined a rather handsome face. Yushchenko himself claims David Zhvania, Emergencies Minister and the godfather of one of his children, of being involved in his dioxin poisoning.

[glowegal]

The chief suspect in Litvinenko's murder was just given a medal by Putin. Russia also refuses to extradite him to the UK for questioning.

[Aviatrix]

I remember this story so well, rather riveting. Talk about ruthless.

[cash]

British report says his death was "probably" approved by Putin

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35370819

[navallint]

Where Putin is concerned is no surprise. He's a weasel.