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Marconi
Scientists Mystery
In the 1980's
over two dozen science graduates and experts working for Marconi
or Plessey Defence Systems died in mysterious circumstances, most
appearing to be suicides. The MOD denied these scientists had
been involved in classified Star Wars Projects and that the
deaths were in any way connected.
March 1982:
Professor Keith Bowden, 46
Expertise:
Computer programmer and scientist at Essex University engaged in
work for Marconi, who was hailed as an expert on super computers
and computer-controlled aircraft.
Circumstance of
Death: Fatal car crash when his vehicle went out of control
across a dual carriageway and plunged onto a disused railway
line. Police maintained he had been drinking but family and
friends all denied the allegation.
Coroner's
verdict: Accident.
April 1983:
Lt-Colonel Anthony Godley, 49
Expertise: Head
of the Work Study Unit at the Royal College of Military Science.
Circumstance of
Death: Disappeared mysteriously in April 1983 without
explanation. Presumed dead.
March 1985:
Roger Hill, 49
Expertise: Radar
designer and draughtsman with Marconi.
Circumstance of
Death: Died by a shotgun blast at home.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
November 19,
1985: Jonathan Wash, 29
Expertise:
Digital communications expert who had worked at GEC and at
British Telecom's secret research centre at Martlesham Heath,
Suffolk.
Circumstance of
Death: Died as a result of falling from a hotel room in Abidjan,
West Africa, while working for British Telecom. He had expressed
fears that his life was in danger.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
August 4,
1986: Vimal Dajibhai, 24
Expertise:
Computer software engineer with Marconi, responsible for testing
computer control systems of Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes at
Marconi Underwater Systems at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire.
Circumstance of
Death: Death by 74m (240ft.) fall from Clifton Suspension Bridge,
Bristol. Police report on the body mentioned a needle-sized
puncture wound on the left buttock, but this was later dismissed
as being a result of the fall. Dajibhai had been looking forward
to starting a new job in the City of London and friends had
confirmed that there was no reason for him to commit suicide. At
the time of his death he was in the last week of his work with
Marconi.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
October 1986:
Arshad Sharif, 26
Expertise:
Reported to have been working on systems for the detection of
submarines by satellite.
Circumstance of
Death: Died as a result of placing a ligature around his neck,
tying the other end to a tree and then driving off in his car
with the accelerator pedal jammed down. His unusual death was
complicated by several issues: Sharif lived near Vimal Dajibhai
in Stanmore, Middlesex, he committed suicide in
Bristol
and, inexplicably, had spent the last night of his life in a
rooming house. He had paid for his accommodation in cash and was
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. In addition, most of the other guests at the rooming house
worked at British Aerospace prior to working for Marconi, Sharif
had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons
technology.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
January 1987:
Richard Pugh, 37
Expertise: MOD
computer consultant and digital communications expert.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead in his flat in with his feet bound and a
plastic bag over his head. Rope was tied around his body, coiling
four times around his neck.
Coroner's
verdict: Accident.
January 12,
1987: Dr. John Brittan, 52
Expertise:
Scientist formerly engaged in top secret work at the Royal
College of Military Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and later
deployed in a research department at the MOD.
Circumstance of
Death: Death by carbon monoxide poisoning in his own garage,
shortly after returning from a trip to the US in connection with
his work.
Coroner's
verdict: Accident.
February
1987: David Skeels, 43
Expertise:
Engineer with Marconi.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead in his car with a hosepipe connected to the
exhaust.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
February
1987: Victor Moore, 46
Expertise:
Design Engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems.
Circumstance of
Death: Died from an overdose.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
February 22,
1987: Peter Peapell, 46
Expertise:
Scientist at the Royal College of Military Science. He had been
working on testing titanium for it's resistance to explosives and
the use of computer analysis of signals from metals.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead allegedly from carbon monoxide poisoning, in
his Oxfordshire garage. The circumstances of his death raised
some elements of doubt. His wife had found him on his back with
his head parallel to the rear car bumper and his mouth in line
with the exhaust pipe, with the car engine running. Police were
apparently baffled as to how he could have manoeuvred into the
position in which he was found.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
April 1987:
George Kountis age unknown.
Expertise:
Systems Analyst at
Bristol
Polytechnic.
Circumstance of
Death: Drowned the same day as Shani Warren (see below) - as the
result of a car accident, his upturned car being found in the
River Mersey, Liverpool.
Coroner's
verdict: Misadventure.
(Kountis, sister
called for a fresh inquest as she thought 'things didn't add
up.')
April 10,
1987: Shani Warren, 26
Expertise:
Personal assistant in a company called Micro Scope, which was
taken over by GEC Marconi less than four weeks after her death.
Circumstance of
Death: Found drowned in 45cm. (18in) of water, not far from the
site of David Greenhalgh's death fall. Warren died exactly one
week after the death of Stuart Gooding and serious injury to
Greenhalgh. 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.)
April 10,
1987: Stuart Gooding, 23
Expertise:
Postgraduate research student at the Royal College of Military
Science.
Circumstance of
Death: Fatal car crash while on holiday in Cyprus. The death
occurred at the same time as college personnel were carrying out
exercises on Cyprus.
Coroner's
verdict: Accident.
April 24,
1987: Mark Wisner, 24
Expertise:
Software engineer at the MOD.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead on in a house shared with two colleagues. He
was found with a plastic sack around his head and several feet of
cling film around his face. The method of death was almost
identical to that of Richard Pugh some three months earlier.
Coroner's
verdict: Accident.
March 30,
1987: David Sands, 37
Expertise:
Senior scientist working for Easams of Camberley, Surrey, a
sister company to Marconi. Dr. John Brittan had also worked at
Camberley.
Circumstance of
Death: Fatal car crash when he allegedly made a sudden U-turn on
a dual carriageway while on his way to work, crashing at high
speed into a disused cafeteria. He was found still wearing his
seat belt and it was discovered that the car had been carrying
additional petrol cans. None of the normal, reasons for a
possible suicide could be found.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
May 3, 1987:
Michael Baker, 22
Expertise:
Digital communications expert working on a defence project at
Plessey; part-time member of Signals Corps SAS.
Circumstance of
Death: Fatal accident owhen his car crashed through a barrier
near Poole in Dorset.
Coroner's
verdict: Misadventure.
June 1987:
Jennings,
Frank, 60.
Expertise:
Electronic Weapons Engineer with Plessey.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead from a heart attack.
No inquest.
January 1988:
Russell Smith, 23
Expertise:
Laboratory technician with the Atomic Energy Research
Establishment at Harwell, Essex.
Circumstance of
Death: Died as a result of a cliff fall at Boscastle in Cornwall.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
March 25,
1988: Trevor Knight, 52
Expertise:
Computer engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems in
Stanmore, Middlesex.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead at his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire at the
wheel of his car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A
St.Alban's coroner said that Knight's woman friend, Miss Narmada
Thanki (who also worked with him at Marconi) had found three
suicide notes left by him which made clear his intentions. Miss
Thanki had mentioned that Knight disliked his work but she did
not detect any depression that would have driven him to suicide.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
August 1988:
Alistair Beckham, 50
Expertise:
Software engineer with Plessey Defence Systems.
Circumstance of
Death: Found dead after being electrocuted in his garden shed
with wires connected to his body.
Coroner's
verdict: Open.
August 22,
1988: Peter Ferry, 60
Expertise:
Retired Army Brigadier and an Assistant Marketing Director with
Marconi.
Circumstance of
Death: Found on 22nd or 23rd August 1988 electrocuted in his
company flat with electrical leads in his mouth.
Coroner's
verdict: Open
September 1988:
Andrew Hall, 33
Expertise:
Engineering Manager with British Aerospace.
Circumstance of
Death: Carbon monoxide poisoning in a car with a hosepipe
connected to the exhaust.
Coroner's
verdict: Suicide.
Microbiologists
Date?: Dr. C.
Bruton
Expertise: He
had just produced a paper on a new strain of CJD. He was a CJD
specialist who was killed before his work was announced to the
public.
Circumstance of
Death: died in a car crash.
1994/95?: Dr.
Jawad Al Aubaidi
Expertise:
Veterinary mycoplasma and had worked with various mycoplasmas in
the 1980s at
Plum
Island.
Circumstance of
Death: He was killed in his native Iraq while he was changing a
flat tire and hit by a truck.
Source: Patricia
A. Doyle, PhD
1996: Tsunao
Saitoh, 46
Expertise: A
leading Alzheimer's researcher
Circumstance of
Death: He and his 13 year-old daughter were killed in La Jolla,
California, in what a Reuters report described as a "very
professionally done" shooting. He was dead behind the wheel of
the car, the side window had been shot out, and the door was
open. His daughter appeared to have tried to run away and she was
shot dead, also.
Dec 25, 1997:
Sidney Harshman, 67
Expertise:
Professor of microbiology and immunology.
"He was the
world's leading expert on staphylococcal alpha toxins," according
to Conrad Wagner, professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt and a
close friend of Professor Harshman. "He also deeply cared for
other people and was always eager to help his students and
colleagues."
Circumstance of
Death: Complications of diabetes
July 10,
1998: Elizabeth A. Rich, M.D., 46
Expertise: An
associate professor with tenure in the pulmonary division of the
Department of Medicine at CWRU and University Hospitals of
Cleveland. She was also a member of the executive committee for
the Center for AIDS Research and directed the biosafety level 3
facility, a specialized laboratory for the handling of HIV,
virulent TB bacteria, and other infectious agents.
Circumstance of
Death: Killed in a traffic accident while visiting family in
Tennessee
September
1998: Jonathan Mann, 51
Expertise:
Founding director of the World Health Organisation's global Aids
programme and founded Project SIDA in Zaire, the most
comprehensive Aids research effort in
Africa at the time, and in 1986 he joined the WHO to lead
the global response against Aids. He became director of WHO's
global programme on Aids which later became the UN Aids
programme. He then became director of the
Francois-Xavier
Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, which was set up at
Harvard School of Public Health in 1993. He caused controversy
earlier this year in the post when he accused the US National
Institutes of Health of violating human rights by failing to act
quickly on developing Aids vaccines.
Circumstance of
Death: Died in the Swissair Flight 111 crash in Canada.
April 15,
2000: Walter W. Shervington, M.D., 62
Expertise: An
extensive writer/ lecturer/ researcher about mental health and
AIDS in the African American community.
Circumstance of
Death: Died of cancer at Tulane Medical Hospital.
July 16,
2000: Mike Thomas, 35
Expertise: A
microbiologist at the Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville.
Circumstance of
Death: Died a few days after examining a sample taken from a
12-year-old girl who was diagnosed with meningitis and survived.
December 25,
2000: Linda Reese, 52
Expertise:
Microbiologist working with victims of meningitis.
Circumstance of
Death: Died three days after she studied a sample from Tricia
Zailo, 19, a
Fairfield,
N.J.,
resident who was a sophomore at Michigan State University. Tricia
Zailo died Dec. 18, a few days after she returned home for the
holidays.
May 7 2001:
Professor Janusz Jeljaszewicz
Expertise:
Expert in Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections. His main
scientific interests and achievements were in the mechanism of
action and biological properties of staphylococcal toxins, and
included the immunomodulatory properties and experimental
treatment of tumours by Propionibacterium.
November
2001: Yaacov Matzner, 54
Expertise: Dean
of the
Hebrew
University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem and chairman of
the Israel Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusions, was the
son of Holocaust survivors. One of the world's experts on blood
diseases including familiar Mediterranean fever (FMF), Matzner
conducted research that led to a genetic test for FMF. He was
working on cloning the gene connected to FMF and investigating
the normal physiological function of amyloid A, a protein often
found in high levels in people with blood cancer.
Circumstance of
Death: Professors Yaacov Matzner and Amiram Eldor were on their
way back to
Israel
via Switzerland when their plane came down in dense forest three
kilometres short of the landing field.
November
2001: Professor Amiram Eldor, 59
Expertise: Head
of the haematology institute, Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital and
worked for years at Hadassah-University Hospital's haematology
department but left for his native Tel Aviv in 1993 to head the
haematology institute at Ichilov Hospital. He was an
internationally known expert on blood clotting especially in
women who had repeated miscarriages and was a member of a team
that identified eight new anti-clotting agents in the saliva of
leeches.
Circumstance of
Death: Professors Yaacov Matzner and Amiram Eldor were on their
way back to
Israel
via Switzerland when their plane came down in dense forest three
kilometres short of the landing field.
November 6,
2001: Jeffrey Paris Wall, 41
Expertise: He
was a biomedical expert who held a medical degree, and he also
specialized in patent and intellectual property.
Circumstance of
Death: Mr. Walls body was found sprawled next to a three-story
parking structure near his office. He had studied at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
Nov. 16,
2001: Don C. Wiley, 57
Expertise: One
of the foremost microbiologists in the United States. Dr. Wiley,
of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard University, was
an expert on how the immune system responds to viral attacks such
as the classic doomsday plagues of HIV, ebola and influenza.
Circumstance of
Death: Police found his rental car on a bridge outside Memphis,
Tenn. His body was found Dec. 20 in the Mississippi River.
Nov. 21,
2001: Vladimir Pasechnik, 64
Expertise:
World-class microbiologist and high-profile Russian defector;
defected to the United Kingdom in 1989, played a huge role in
Russian biowarfare and helped to figure out how to modify cruise
missiles to deliver the agents of mass biological destruction.
Background:
founded Regma Biotechnologies company in Britain, a laboratory at
Porton Down, the country´s chem-bio warfare defense
establishment. Regma currently has a contract with the U.S. Navy
for "the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of anthrax".
Circumstance of
Death: The pathologist who did the autopsy, and who also happened
to be associated with Britain´s spy agency, concluded he died of
a stroke. Details of the postmortem were not revealed at an
inquest, in which the press was given no prior notice. Colleagues
who had worked with Pasechnik said he was in good health.
Dec. 10,
2001: Robert M. Schwartz, 57
Expertise:
Expert in DNA sequencing and pathogenic micro-organisms, founding
member of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, and the
Executive Director of Research and Development at Virginia´s
Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon.
Circumstance of
Death: stabbed and slashed with what police believe was a sword
in his farmhouse in
Leesberg,
Va.
His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high priestess,
and several of her fellow pagans have been charged.
Dec. 14,
2001: Nguyen Van Set, 44
Expertise:
animal diseases facility of the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization had just come to fame for
discovering a virulent strain of mousepox, which could be
modified to affect smallpox.
Circumstance of
Death: died at work in Geelong, Australia, in a laboratory
accident. He entered an airlocked storage lab and died from
exposure to nitrogen.
January 2002:
Ivan Glebov and Alexi Brushlinski.
Expertise: Two
microbiologists. Both were well known around the world and
members of the
Russian
Academy of Science.
Circumstance of
Death: Glebov died as the result of a bandit attack and
Brushlinski was killed in
Moscow.
January 28,
2002: David W. Barry, 58
Expertise:
Scientist who codiscovered AZT, the antiviral drug that is
considered the first effective treatment for AIDS.
Circumstance of
Death: unknown
Feb. 9, 2002:
Victor Korshunov, 56
Expertise:
Expert in intestinal bacteria of children around the world
Circumstance of
Death: bashed over the head near his home in Moscow.
Feb. 14,
2002: Ian Langford, 40
Expertise:
expert in environmental risks and disease.
Circumstance of
Death: found dead in his home near Norwich, England, naked from
the waist down and wedged under a chair.
Feb. 28,
2002: Tanya Holzmayer, 46
Expertise: a
Russian who moved to the U.S. in 1989, focused on the part of the
human molecular structure that could be affected best by
medicine.
Circumstance of
Death: killed by fellow microbiologist Guyang (Matthew) Huang,
who shot her seven times when she opened the door to a pizza
delivery. Then he shot himself.
Feb. 28,
2002: Guyang Huang, 38
Expertise:
Microbiologist
Circumstance of
Death: Apparently shot himself after shooting fellow
microbiologist, Tanya Holzmayer, seven times.
March 24,
2002: David Wynn-Williams, 55
Expertise:
Respected astrobiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, who
studied the habits of microbes that might survive in outer space.
Circumstance of
Death: Died in a freak road accident near his home in Cambridge,
England. He was hit by a car while he was jogging.
March 25,
2002: Steven Mostow, 63
Expertise: Known
as "Dr. Flu" for his expertise in treating influenza, and a noted
expert in bioterrorism of the Colorado Health Sciences Centre.
Circumstance of
Death: died when the airplane he was piloting crashed near
Denver.
Nov. 12,
2002: Benito Que, 52
Expertise:
Expert in infectious diseases and cellular biology at the Miami
Medical School
Circumstance of
Death: Que left his laboratory after receiving a telephone call.
Shortly afterward he was found comatose in the parking lot of the
Miami Medical School. He died without regaining consciousness.
Police said he had suffered a heart attack. His family insisted
he had been in perfect health and claimed four men attacked him.
But, later, oddly, the family inquest returned a verdict of death
by natural causes.
April 2003:
Carlo Urbani, 46
Expertise: A
dedicated and internationally respected Italian epidemiologist,
who did work of enduring value combating infectious illness
around the world.
Circumstance of
Death: Died in
Bangkok
from SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) - the new disease
that he had helped to identify. Thanks to his prompt action, the
epidemic was contained in Vietnam. However, because of close
daily contact with SARS patients, he contracted the infection. On
March 11, he was admitted to a hospital in Bangkok and isolated.
Less than three weeks later he died.
June 24,
2003: Dr. Leland Rickman of UCSD, 47
A resident of
Carmel
Valley
Expertise: An
expert in infectious disease who helped the county prepare to
fight bioterrorism after Sept. 11.
Circumstance of
Death: He was in the African nation of Lesotho with Dr. Chris
Mathews of UCSD, the director of the university's Owen Clinic for
AIDS patients. Dr. Rickman had complained of a headache and had
gone to lie down. When he didn't appear for dinner, Mathews
checked on him and found him dead. A cause has not yet been
determined.
July 18,
2003: Dr. David Kelly, 59
Expertise:
Biological warfare weapons specialist, senior post at the
Ministry of Defense, an expert on DNA sequencing when he was head
of microbiology at Porton Down and worked with two American
scientists, Benito Que, 52, and Don Wiley, 57.
Helped Vladimir
Pasechnik found Regma Biotechnologies, which has a contract with
the
U.S.
Navy for "the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of anthrax"
Circumstance of
Death: He was found dead after seemingly slashing his wrist in a
wooded area near his home at Southmoor, Oxfordshire.
Oct 11 or 24,
2003: Michael Perich, 46
Expertise: LSU
professor who helped fight the spread of the West Nile virus.
Perich worked with the East Baton Rouge Parish Mosquito Control
and Rodent Abatement District to determine whether mosquitoes in
the area carried West Nile.
Circumstance of
Death: Walker Police Chief Elton Burns said Sunday that Perich of
5227 River Bend Blvd., Baton Rouge, crashed his Ford pickup truck
about 4:30 a.m. Saturday, while heading west on Interstate 12 in
Livingston Parish. Perich's truck veered right off the highway
about 3 miles east of Walker, flipped and landed in rainwater,
Burns said. Perich, who was wearing his seat belt, drowned. The
cause of the crash is under investigation, Burns said.
"Mike is one of
the few entomologists with the experience to go out and save
lives today."
~ Robert A.
Wirtz, chief of entomology at the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
November 22,
2003: Robert Leslie Burghoff, 45
Expertise: He
was studying the virus that was plaguing cruise ships until he
was killed by a mysterious white van in November of 2003
Circumstance of
Death: Burghoff was walking on a sidewalk along the 1600 block of
South Braeswood when a white van jumped the curb and hit him at
1:35 p.m. Thursday, police said. The van then sped away. Burghoff
died an hour later at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
December 18,
2003: Robert Aranosia, 61
Expertise:
Oakland
County deputy medical examiner
Circumstance of
Death: He was driving south on I-75 when his pickup truck went
off the freeway near a bridge over the Kawkawlin River. The
vehicle rolled over several times before landing in the median.
Aranosia was thrown from the vehicle and ended up on the shoulder
of the northbound lanes.
January 6,
2004: Dr Richard Stevens, 54
Expertise: A
haematologist. (Haematologists analyse the cellular composition
of blood and blood producing tissues eg bone marrow)
Circumstance of
Death: Disappeared after arriving for work on
21 July, 2003. A doctor whose disappearance sparked a national manhunt,
killed himself because he could not cope with the stress of a
secret affair, a coroner has ruled.
January 23
2004: Dr. Robert E. Shope, 74
Expertise: An
expert on viruses who was the principal author of a highly
publicized 1992 report by the National Academy of Sciences
warning of the possible emergence of new and unsettling
infectious illnesses. Dr. Shope had accumulated his own
collection of virus samples gathered from all over the world.
Circumstance of
Death: The cause was complications of a lung transplant he
received in December, said his daughter Deborah Shope of
Galveston. Dr. Shope had pulmonary fibrosis, a disease of unknown
origin that scars the lungs.
January 24
2004: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, 62
Expertise:
Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class.
Circumstance of
Death: Died of massive heart attack. Coincidently, both Dr. Shope
and Dr. Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the
UTMB Galvaston lab for Homeland Security. The lab would have to
be secure to house some of the deadliest pathogens of tropical
and emerging infectious disease as well as bioweaponized ones.
March 13,
2004: Vadake Srinivasan
Expertise:
Microbiologist.
Circumstance of
Death: crashed car into guard rail and ruled a stroke.
April 12,
2004: Ilsley Ingram, 84
Expertise:
Director of the Supraregional Haemophilia Reference Centre and
the Supraregional Centre for the Diagnosis of Bleeding Disorders
at the St. Thomas Hospital in London.
Circumstance of
Death: unknown
May 5, 2004:
William T. McGuire, 39
Expertise: NJ
University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct
professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
Circumstance of
Death: Body found in 3 Suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay.
May 14, 2004:
Dr. Eugene F. Mallove, 56
Expertise:
Mallove was well respected for his knowledge of cold fusion. He
had just published an open letter outlining the results of and
reasons for his last 15 years in the field of new energy
research. Dr. Mallove was convinced it was only a matter of
months before the world would actually see a free energy device.
Circumstance of
Death: Died after being beaten to death during an alleged
robbery.
May 25, 2004:
Antonina Presnyakova
Expertise:
Former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia
Circumstance of Death: Died after accidentally sticking herself
with a needle laced with Ebola.
July 21, 2004:
Dr. John Badwey 54
Expertise:
Scientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of
sewage waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Biochemist at
Harvard Medical School specializing in infectious diseases.
Circumstance of
Death: Suddenly developed pneumonia like symptoms then died in
two weeks.
June 22,
2004: Thomas Gold, 84
Expertise: He
was the founder, and for twenty years the director, of the
Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, where he was
a close colleague of Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan.
Gold was famous for his provocative, controversial, and sometimes
outrageous theories. Gold's theory of the deep hot biosphere
holds important ramifications for the possibility of life on
other planets, including seemingly inhospitable planets within
our own solar system. Gold sparked controversy in 1955 when he
suggested that the Moon's surface is covered with a fine rock
powder.
Circumstance of
Death: Died of heart failure.
June 24,
2004: Dr. Assefa Tulu, 45
Expertise: Dr.
Tulu joined the health department in 1997 and served for five
years as the county's lone epidemiologist. He was charged with
tracking the health of the county, including the spread of
diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a
system for detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or
bacterial agents. Tulu often coordinated efforts to address major
health concerns in Dallas County, such as the West Nile virus
outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media to
inform the public.
Circumstance of
Death:
Dallas
County's chief epidemiologist, was found at his desk, died of a
stroke.
June 27,
2004: Dr Paul Norman, Of Salisbury, Wiltshire, 52
Expertise: He
was the chief scientist for chemical and biological defence at
the Ministry of Defence's laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire.
He travelled the world lecturing on the subject of weapons of
mass destruction.
Circumstance of
Death: Died when the Cessna 206 crashed shortly after taking off
from Dunkeswell Airfield on Sunday. A father and daughter also
died at the scene, and 44-year-old parachute instructor and Royal
Marine Major Mike Wills later died in the hospital.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3860995.stm
June 29,
2004: John Mullen, 67
Expertise: A
nuclear research scientist with McDonnell Douglas.
Circumstance of
Death: Died from a huge dose of poisonous arsenic.
July 1, 2004:
Edward Hoffman, 62
Expertise: Aside
from his role as a professor, Hoffman held leadership positions
within the UCLA medical community. Worked to develop the first
human PET scanner in 1973 at
Washington
University in St. Louis.
Circumstance of
Death: unknown
July 2, 2004:
Larry Bustard, 53
Expertise: A
Sandia scientist who helped develop a foam spray to clean up
congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax scare
in 2001. Worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque.
His team came up with a new technology used against biological
and chemical agents.
Circumstance of
Death: unknown
July 6, 2004:
Stephen Tabet, 42
Expertise: An
associate professor and epidemiologist at the University of
Washington. A world-renowned HIV doctor and researcher who worked
with HIV patients in a vaccine clinical trial for the HIV Vaccine
Trials Network.
Circumstance of
Death: Died of an unknown illness
July 21,
2004: Dr Bassem al-Mudares
Expertise: He
was a phD chemist
Circumstance of
Death: His mutilated body was found in the city of Samarra, Iraq
and had been tortured before being killed.
August 12,
2004: Professor John Clark
Expertise: Head
of the science lab which created Dolly the sheep. Prof Clark led
the Roslin Institute in
Midlothian,
one of the world's leading animal biotechnology research centres.
He played a crucial role in creating the transgenic sheep that
earned the institute worldwide fame.
Circumstance of
Death: He was found hanging in his holiday home.
September 5,
2004: Mohammed Toki Hussein al-Talakani
Expertise: Iraqi
nuclear scientist. He was a practising nuclear physicist since
1984.
Circumstance of
Death: He was shot dead in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.
October 13,
2004: Matthew Allison, 32
Fatal explosion
of a car parked at an Osceola County, Fla., Wal-Mart store was no
accident, Local 6 News has learned. Found inside a burned car.
Witnesses said the man left the store at about 11 p.m. and
entered his Ford Taurus car when it exploded. Investigators said
they found a Duraflame log and propane canisters on the front
passenger's seat.
November 2,
2004: John R. La Montagne
Expertise: Head
of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie Thompson. Was NIAID
Deputy Director.
Circumstance of
Death: Died while in Mexico, no cause stated.
December 21,
2004: Taleb Ibrahim al-Daher
Expertise: Iraqi
nuclear scientist
Circumstance of
Death: He was shot dead north of Baghdad by unknown gunmen. He
was on his way to work at Diyala University when armed men opened
fire on his car as it was crossing a bridge in Baqouba, 57 km
northeast of Baghdad. The vehicle swerved off the bridge and fell
into the Khrisan river. Al-Daher, who was a professor at the
local university, was removed from the submerged car and rushed
to Baqouba hospital where he was pronounced dead.
December 29,
2004: Tom Thorne and Beth Williams
Expertise: Two
wild life scientists, Husband-and-wife wildlife veterinarians who
were nationally prominent experts on chronic wasting disease and
brucellosis
Circumstance of
Death: They were killed in a snowy-weather crash on U.S. 287 in
northern Colorado.
January 7,
2005: Jeong H. Im, 72
Expertise: A
retired research assistant professor at the University of
Missouri-Columbia. Primarily a protein chemist.
Circumstance of
Death: He was stabbed several times and his body was found in the
trunk of his burning white, 1995 Honda inside the Maryland Avenue
parking garage.
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