Talk:Umbrella Murder

Merge proposal

This is topical and notable, but I feel that the man and the assassination attempt should be listed together. perfectblue 13:33, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

You are somehow right, but many people have heard about the umbrell murder without knowing it was Markov, and Markov is know by himself. Maybe then, removing some of the part in the Markov document is the best idea and link it to the umbrell mureder page. If you google for umbrella murder, it is hard to find the page information on Markov Wikipedia. So I still think it is valuable to have it separated. --Jujucoucou2 08:38, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Umbrella or not?

After re-reading this article, I am still unsure whether or not Markov was in fact killed as a result of being jabbed by the umbrella or whether that story was an invention of the media, as the article describes. There is also a line mentioning that Scotland Yard disavowed the umbrella story in 1991? I think this could be more clear, but as I don't know the truth I am unsure how to clarify the article. Cuffeparade 07:02, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

It is actually quite difficult to find the truth on that case. My main source is the book from Bereanu and Todorov. The whole book is really well described, and tend to be "believable" on many points, as I tried to verify many of the information in it, and found the matching answers on the Net. Knowing that Markov really told that he saw an umbrella makes it clear that the media would take the information as granted (it would not be the first time that they try to emphasize a rumor). For sure, being killed by an special umbrella is more trendy than by an air-gun. It makes the whole story more "James Bond-like". I guess it is not easy to get the information from Scotland Yard. Actually, as Scotland Yard Museum presents the bullet, they might have the explanation with in the museum.

Apparently, at this time, all journals came with their version of the umbrella, or other kind of device. It is mentioned that The London Evening Standard in 1979 headline was "Markov killed by Cancer gun". This is only one example of all imaginative instruments found by the journalists to sell their papers. I would recommend you to read the book of Bereanu that clarify many points, especially on the Bulgarian politics at this moment, on the life of Markov, and on the possible murderers.

Still, I think that this article needs to be shown and referenced on its own page, especially because of this discussion. Jujucoucou2 09:26, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for that explanation. I stumbled into this page from Alexander Litvinenko's page, as I would imagine other people must have. I had heard of this story earlier, however. In fact, I was covering the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, which took place during a sometimes rainy September. Reporters were required to leave their umbrellas outside of the venue (they entered through the post office building across the street from Madison Square Garden) and I remember at least one press account declaring that the reason for this was because of an infamous assassination that employed a poisonous umbrella. I didn't actually ask any of the security people there if this was a fact, but that's where I first head the umbrella story. I'll have to check out the book for further illumination on the subject. Cuffeparade 11:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)