Mysterious deaths of GEC-Marconi scientists

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Between 1982 and 1990 twenty-five British based GEC-Marconi scientists and engineers who worked on the Sting Ray torpedo project, and other US Strategic Defense Initiative related projects (better known as Star Wars), are known to have died in mysterious circumstances.

Police investigations found the deaths to be unconnected. The death of the British defence journalist Jonathan Moyle, who was found hanged in his Santiago hotel room on 1 April 1990, has been the subject of speculation as being connected to the Marconi deaths. [1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

In 1986 a Bristol coroner, Donald Hawkins, spoke of a possible "James Bond" connection between the deaths of two computer experts involved in key underwater defence projects. Since then the mysterious deaths and accidents of other defence workers came to light.

Most incidents occurred after the men have successfully completed important projects or left one job for another.

Four of the dead men were employees of the GEC group - three at Marconi and one at EASAMS. Two others worked at separate times at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham. An investigation by Computer News established that most of the men were involved in computer simulation, a key part of defence procurement.

At the time GEC-Marconi was Britain's only torpedo supplier and in 1986 was awarded a £400 million GBP order from the Ministry of Defence for advanced anti-submarine Sting Ray torpedoes. The Royal Military College at Shrivenham is also involved in a number of Britain's leading edge defence projects. The college develops new testing devices for the Ministry of Defence and is engaged as a subcontractor to defence companies on research and development.

All the men involved were ambitious and demonstrated a special ability in their particular field. After every death, police gave unofficial press briefings which provided journalists with plausible, though unconfirmed, explanations for the accidents or apparent suicides. None of the men had any apparent motive for killing themselves. The major problem for the police has been the lack of any obvious signs of depression in any of the cases. Several British Members of Parliament have demanded a full government inquiry, including Labour MP and life peer Doug Hoyle, who was the co-president of the Manufacturing, Science & Finance Union. The Thatcher government refused to launch any sort of inquiry. The Pentagon also refused to comment on the deaths. The British government contends that the deaths are all a matter of coincidence.

The answer to the mystery may never be known, at least in the short term. As one investigating police officer said: "We'll probably know all the answers when the papers are released in 30 years time." NBC News London correspondent Henry Champ famously wrote, "In the world of espionage, there is a saying: Twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action."

[edit] Specific incidents

[edit] Vimal Dajibhai

Marconi Underwater Systems employee Vimal Dajibhai, 24, an electronics graduate and computer-software engineer who worked on the guidance systems of the Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes, and also an SDI related simulation system, based at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, was about to leave Marconi for a higher-paying job in the City of London, and was found dead 250 feet beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol (a city with which he had no known connection), 100 miles from his home in London, on 4 August 1986. He had told his wife that he would be working late that night. The police report on the body mentioned a needle-sized puncture wound on his left buttock which led to the funeral being halted seconds before the cremation was to take place, reportedly so that a second post-mortem could be carried out by a Home Office pathologist. A police press conference later announced that the wound was caused by a bone fragment. Friends had confirmed that there was no reason for Dajibhai to commit suicide and denied that he had been suffering from depression or had any history of personal or emotional problems. At the time of his death, Dajibhai was in the last week of his employment with Marconi. An inquest was unable to determine whether Dajibhai had been pushed off the bridge or whether he had jumped and the coroner's verdict remains open. There had been no reported witnesses.

[edit] Arshad Sharif

Marconi Space and Defence systems employee Arshad Sharif (also known as Ashad or Ashaad), 26, a London based computer analyst and programmer reported to have been working on systems for the detection of submarines by satellite, was also found dead in Bristol on 28 October 1986. Sharif allegedly drove to a public park not far from where Dajibhai had died and tied a nylon ligature around a tree and the other end around his neck, then drove off in his Audi 80 automatic car at high speed, decapitating himself. Marconi initially claimed Sharif was only a junior employee, although co-workers stated that he was apparently about to be promoted and take over the running of a department at Marconi's Stanmore, Middlesex headquarters, and had worked for a time in Vimal Dajibhai's section. Sharif spent the last night of his life in a rooming house, which he had paid for in cash and was reportedly seen to have a bundle of high-denomination banknotes in his possession. While the police were told of the banknotes, no mention was made of them at the inquest and they were never found. Prior to working for Marconi, Sharif had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons technology. Investigating officers maintained that he had killed himself because he'd been jilted by an alleged lover, who he hadn't seen in three years and who contends that she was only his landlady whilst he was working for British Aerospace in Bristol. Sharif also had a fiancée in Pakistan at the time. Authorities claimed to have found a taped message in Sharif's car "tantamount" to a suicide note. On it, officers said, he'd admitted to having had an affair, thus bringing shame on his family. Family members who've heard the tape say that it actually gave no indication of why Sharif might want to kill himself. Sharif's family were told by the coroner that it was "not in their best interest" to attend the inquest. He also had no history of depression, and there was absolutely no reason for him to be in Bristol at the time. The coroner's verdict was suicide.

[edit] David (Edwin) Skeels

David (Edwin) Skeels, 43, an engineer with Marconi who was found dead in his car in February 1987. He was a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning, and a hosepipe was found which led from the exhaust pipe of his car. The coroner's verdict was suicide.

[edit] David Sands

David Sands, 37, a senior scientist and satellite projects manager working for Easams, a sister company to Marconi, in Camberley, Surrey on sensitive computer controlled satellite radar systems, SDI and other air defence related projects, died when his car, carrying two additional five gallon petrol cans, exploded into flames as it crashed into the brick wall of a disused café at high speed in 30 March 1987. He had allegedly made a sudden U-turn on a dual carriageway while on his way to work and was found still wearing his seatbelt. The car exploded on impact and he was killed instantly. Sands, who was up for a promotion at the time, had just returned from a family holiday in Venice to celebrate the completion of a three-year command-and-control systems project. Given the incongruities of the accident, and the lack of a suicide motive, the coroner refused to rule out the possibility of foul play and an open verdict was returned. Information leaked to the press suggested that Sands had been under a tremendous emotional strain. Margaret Worth, Sands's mother-in-law, claims these stories are totally inaccurate. "When David died, it was a great mystery to us," she admitted. "He was very successful. He was very confident. He had just pulled off a great coup for his company, and he was about to be greatly rewarded. He had a very bright future ahead of him. He was perfectly happy the week before this happened."

[edit] Victor Moore

Marconi Space and Defence Systems employee and design engineer Victor Moore, 46, had just finished work on infrared satellites at Portsmouth when he was found dead in February 1987 from a drug overdose. The coroner's verdict was suicide, and is said to have instigated an MI5 investigation, the results of which remain secret. There is also a separate investigation into Marconi based at Portsmouth by the Ministry of Defence Serious Crime Squad.

[edit] Peter Peapell and Dr John Brittan

Two lecturers on top secret projects died in separate 'accidents' of carbon monoxide poisoning. Both had recently returned from America and had conducted research at the Royal Royal College of Military Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire:

  • The first, Peter Peapell, 46, a scientist, senior lecturer and underwater acoustics expert, was found dead beneath his car on 22 February 1987, with his face near the tail pipe and the door to the garage of his Oxfordshire home closed. He had been working on testing titanium for its resistance to explosives and the use of computer analysis to process signals emitted by metals, he was also a consultant on beryllium metallurgy(which is useful in nuclear weapons design). On the night of his death, Peapell spent an enjoyable evening out with his wife, Maureen, and their friends. When they returned home, Maureen went straight to bed, leaving Peter to put the car away. When she woke up the next morning, she discovered that Peter had not come to bed and went looking for him. Upon reaching the garage, she noticed that the door was closed. Yet she could hear the car's engine running. She found her husband on his back with his head parallel to the rear car bumper and his mouth directly below the exhaust pipe, with the car engine running. Initially, Maureen thought her husband's death was an accident. She presumed he'd gotten under the car to investigate a knocking he'd heard driving home the night before, and that he'd gotten stuck. However, the light fixture in the garage was broken, and Peter hadn't been carrying a flashlight. The coroner's inquest could not determine whether the death was a homicide, a suicide or an accident returning an open verdict, and police are unsure exactly how the accident happened with the circumstances of his death raising some elements of doubt. A constable of the same height and weight as Peter Peapell found it impossible to crawl under the car when the garage door was closed. He also found it impossible to close the door once he was under the car. His death was due to carbon monoxide poisoning, although carbon deposits from the inside of the garage door showed that the engine had only been running a short time. Yet, Mrs. Peapell had found the body almost seven hours after she'd gone to bed. According to Maureen Peapell, Peter had no reason to kill himself. They had no marital or financial problems. Peter loved his job, and he'd just received a sizable raise. According to colleagues he'd also exhibited "absolutely no signs of stress.". Foul play has not been ruled out.
  • The second, Dr John Brittan, 52, a former computer science officer and Ministry of Defense tank batteries expert at the Royal Military College was also found dead in a parked car in his garage, on 12 January 1987. The engine was still running. The coroner's verdict was accidental death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Dr. John Brittan had also worked at Camberley.

[edit] Stuart Gooding

On 10 April 1987 Stuart Gooding, 23, a post-graduate research student at the Royal Military College at Shrivenham was killed in a fatal car crash while on holiday in Cyprus. The death occurred at the same time as college personnel were carrying out exercises in Cyprus. He died instantly when his hire car collided head on with a lorry. The lorry driver was said to be unhurt. At least one senior employee at the college considered that the death could be significant. The coroner's verdict was accidental death.

[edit] Avtar Singh Gida

Avtar Singh Gida, 27, who was employed under contract by the MoD Admiralty Research Establishment and Marconi Space and Defence Systems, disappeared mysteriously on 8 January 1987 while writing his doctoral thesis on underwater acoustic signal processing at Loughborough University, just three weeks away from its successful completion. Both mainland police and Interpol launched searches for him in several countries, without success. However, he was eventually found four months later on 8 May 1987 working under an assumed name in a Paris sweatshop for illegal migrants. He claimed that he did not know precisely how he had got there. No charges were laid and police considered the case closed. Allegedly, he later returned to his work and stated that he does not want to discuss his disappearance nor the death of his colleague, Vimal Dajibhai. His PhD thesis entitled Synthetic Aperture Sonar, was finally successfully submitted in 1988 [2]

[edit] Robert Greenhalgh

In 1988 Robert Greenhalgh, a contracts manager at ICL's defence division at Winnersh near Reading, suffered multiple injuries after falling from a railway bridge on his way to work. The firm admitted he had been positively vetted and may have had access to secret UK and NATO data.

[edit] Shani Warren

Shani Warren (26) was a personal assistant in a company called Micro Scope, which was taken over by GEC Marconi less than four weeks after her death. Found drowned in 18in (450mm) of water, not far from the site of Greenhalgh’s death fall. Warren died on April 10, 1987, exactly one week after Gooding's death and Greenhalgh's injury. She was found gagged with a noose around her neck. Her feet were also bound and her hands tied behind her back. Coroner’s verdict: Open. (It was said that Warren had 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.)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Newspapers

Magazine articles

  • "Who's Killing The Star Wars Scientists?" (June 1989). Hustler 15 (12): 67–92. 

Books

  • Collins, Tony (1990). Open verdict: an account of 25 mysterious deaths in the defence industry. Sphere Books. ISBN 0-7474-0146-2. 

[edit] External links