English: In 1978 the Bulgarian Vladimir Dimitriov Simeonov - владимир симеонов - was found dead here aged 30....

Also in 1978, Georgi Markov was killed by being stabbed in the thigh by an umbrella tipped with ricin poison,injected inside a tiny drilled ball, at a bus stop on Waterlook bridge on September 7,dying four days later , a 0.2mg pellet was discovered at the post mortem after the assistance of scientists at Porton Down. The killing was organised allegedly by British double agent, Mrs. Mercia Macdermott [MI6 and the Markov and Maxwell Murders ] Three weeks after Markov's death, Vladimir Simeonov, a fellow BBC employee and political refugee was found dead in this modest terraced house in Plaistow, London E13. The discovery was made by a BBC sercretary who had been sent to find out why he hadn't shown up for work. I don't now what period of time had elapsed before the secretary was sent, though the death of Markov who had worked in the very same studio ought to have set off warning alarms. Simeonov, whose real name was Bobchev, arrived home by taxi in the early hours of Sunday 1 October 1978 and thought working on a youth programme, may have been a mole planted in the BBC to inform on dissidents working there. The taxi driver, a Mr Simmons, coincidentally, said he was a scared man. "several hours later" he was found dead. (I am not sure when he was supposed to have reported for work again after a night shift......this does not make sense) The house is described as a flat, and Simeonov was found in an unusual position on the stairs, and the door was unlocked. There was evidence of a visitor, posited as Peter Uvaliev. The coroner's verdict at Queen's Road Coroner's Court (in the pre-internet era) was that Simeonov had fallen downstairs and choked on his blood. Case closed.

Vasil Kotsev (death announced in 1991), implicated in the assassination died in a car accident afterwards. 30 years later the police were still investigating the Markov murder. there is also a Bulgarian blog here "bulgarian umbrella" on the blueGun blog, 9 July 2005 and mentioned in a forum here

An online article in Spanish about the discovery, from ABC MIÉRCOLES, Madrid of 4 October 1978 is on the web and which records a Superintendent James Nevill of the Scotland Yard anti-terrorist squad investigating the case as were MI5. Indeed Simeonov had been questioned for two days by Scotland Yard. There was also evidence that Simeonov had had an untraced visitor shortly before his death. following the death of Markov. The death was recorded officially,curiously, as 2 October 1978. Alexander Lieven, the then head of European services at BBC World service did not think that Simeonov had been murdered, but his broadcast was only on 3 October 1978 The Bulgarian Embassy offered their services to assist in the inquiries into the two deaths. James Nevill had also investigated the Ricin tipped umbrella killing of Markov which had occurred on 7 September. The fun continues here and into 2001 at Cryptome In the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003, ricin again got into the news headlines in the so called Wood Green Ricin Plot at 352 High Road, N22, and was referred to by no less than Colin Powell on 5 February 2003 shortly after the arrests a month previously. No ricin was found by Porton Down scientists although it was reported that it had been found, and the mood of panic was nevertheless created. See letter here and here

See also The Notorious Umbrella Assassination of Georgi Markov: The Chain Of Suspicion