MOSCOW: A former bodyguard to Russian President Vladimir Putin was murdered with a poison that produced symptoms remarkably similar to those that killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, it emerged yesterday. Posted on 12/04/2006 3:06:21 AM PST by M. Espinola
MOSCOW: A former bodyguard to Russian President Vladimir Putin was murdered with a poison that produced symptoms remarkably similar to those that killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, it emerged yesterday.
Roman Tsepov died, aged 42, in 2004 after suffering severe radiation sickness brought on by a mystery substance he had ingested with food or drink.
The case suggests that use of radioactive poisons - similar to the polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko - may be more widespread than previously thought.
Tsepov, nicknamed King of the Shadows, is said to have had several powerful enemies but the identity of his killer has never come to light.
He was a graduate of the supreme military commander school of the Russian Interior Ministry and served with the interior troops. In the early 1990s, he set up Baltic-Escort, a security business that provided bodyguard services to Anatoly Sobchak, the then mayor of St Petersburg, and his deputy, Mr Putin.
Tsepov survived three murder attempts in the 1990s. His friends believe his ties to lucrative businesses in Russia could have made him a target but claim he was not linked to a mafia gang.
In September 2004, he was admitted to Sverdlov hospital in St Petersburg with severe food poisoning.
As in the case of Litvinenko, doctors were baffled as his condition grew worse over the first two weeks.
He began to show classic symptoms of radiation sickness: he grew pale, his hair fell out and his white blood cell count fell.
He died before he could be taken to a specialist hospital in Germany.
The city prosecutor's office in St Petersburg has described the case as a "premeditated murder".
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Great graphic! :)
Glad you enjoyed it. (Did you take a real close look at the skull?)
Now it's clear. That's incredible transformation into a skull of all things.
Yeah, a pretty cool painting.
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