WAS MI6 BEHIND MARKOV’S MURDER?

 

In September 1978 Georgi Markov a Bulgarian dissident who lived in London and worked for the BBC was murdered on the streets of London. The killer stabbed him with the tip of an umbrella, which caused a pellet to be injected into his skin, it released a toxic poison called ricin. Markov died a few days later in hospital.

 

The question is who killed him?

His killers have never been brought to justice. Theories abound on the internet of who actually murdered him.

 

Gordon Logan’s articles on the internet, state that a British woman agent named Mercia MacDermott was involved in the plot.  According to Logan she used to live in Bulgaria and was popular because she wrote biographies of national heroes.

 

She was a loyal member of the Communist party and maintained a close relationship with members of the Communist Politburo, particularly Alexander Lilov who was responsible for Ideology in the government. Lilov’s desperately wanted to become the next leader of Bulgaria, so he was keen to impress the KGB and Politburo.

 

So the plot was hatched.

Why?

 

It would improve Mrs MacDermott’s standing with the Communist Government, so she would be completely trusted and gain more useful Intel for the British.

 

For the Bulgarians they would be rid of a dissident that continually criticised them, and Lilov’s star would be on the rise.

 

Markov was not the sort of defector liked by MI6. He was indiscrete, and did not get on with his BBC colleagues. He continually criticised his adopted country, and didn’t believe the BBC was neutral. He was a thorn in the British establishment’s side.  Homesick for his beloved Bulgaria, he apparently sent a letter to the Deputy Minister of the Interior asking what his sentence would be if he returned. This probably decided his fate.

 

What happened to Mrs MacDermott?

 

More next time….

Lilov was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee.