| Marconi Scientists |
Article Index for Marconi |
Website Links For Marconi |
Information AboutMarconi Scientists |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MARCONI SCIENTISTS | |
| murder | |
| death | |
| guglielmo marconi | |
|
There has been many mysterious deaths related to people that worked on the torpedo since 1982. By 1990 twenty five of the scientists and engineers are known to have died in mysterious circumstances (mostly suicide). 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 April 1 1990, has been the subject of speculation as being connected to the Marconi deaths. {Link without Title} 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 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 sub-contractor 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 have given unofficial press briefings which provide journalists with plausible though unconfirmed explanations for the accidents or apparent suicides. The major problem for police has been the lack of obvious signs of depression in any of the cases. Several MPs demanded a government inquiry. The answer to the mystery may never be known, at least in the short term. As one policeman said: "We'll probably know all the answers when the papers are released in 30 years time." Specific incidents
The first, Peter Peapell , a lecturer and underwater acoustics expert, was found dead under his car and the garage door was closed. Although an inquest returned a verdict of accidental death, police are unsure how the accident happened. Despite reports that Peapell had no connections with electronics or computers he had in fact written a book on basic computers. He also had a paper published on underwater acoustic emissions. The second, Dr John Brittan , a former computer science officer at the Royal Military College was also inexplicably found dead in his car. He too was involved in computer simulation.
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|