Page 47 - All About History - Issue 38-16

15 Mad Murder Plots

Fidel Castro amused to learn of
Castro appears
a plot to kill him
METHOD: POISONED CIGAR, HANDKERCHIEF, MILKSHAKE, WETSUIT,
BALLPOINT PEN, TABLET, BOMB IN A CONCH SHELL, EXPLODING CIGAR
WHEN: 1960 65
Perhaps the most famous assassination attempts
05 are those made by the CIA on the life of Fidel
Castro, who governed Cuba from 1959 to 2008.
Some of the plots would be better suited to an
absurd comedy than a serious political plot and
ranged from exploding seashells to poisoned milkshakes and
beyond. Alongside assassination attempts, efforts to discredit Castro
by making his beard fall out or sending him on a public LSD trip
were hatched. All failed or were abandoned before they were even
attempted. At the time of writing, Castro remains resolutely alive,
having lived through 11 US presidents.
20 ways to kill Castro

According to the former head of Cuba’s
Intelligence Directorate, the CIA came up with
638 ways to kill Castro. Here are just a few

1. Exploding cigar 10. Poisoned milkshake
2. Spray broadcasting studio 11. Ballpoint pen rigged with
a poisoned syringe
with hallucinogens
3. Dust shoes with thallium, 12. Poisoned scuba regulator
13. Exploding conch shell
causing beard loss
4. Ma a hit 14. Sniper ri e
15. A mistress armed with
5. Lea et drop over Cuba
oƒ ering a bounty for poison – she loses her nerve
16. Poisoned handkerchief
Castro’s murder
6. Poisoned pills 17. Poisoned tea
18. Poisoned coƒ ee
7. Poisoned cigar
8. More poisoned pills 19. Poisoned ice cream
9. Poisoned wetsuit 20. Another sniper ri e

How an umbrella THE PELLET Georgi Markov

gun works When the valve opens, the
compressed air propels
the pellet from the
umbrella gun like a bullet. METHOD: RICIN PELLET, SHOT FROM AN UMBRELLA
LINKAGE WHEN: 7 SEPTEMBER 1978, DIED 11 SEPTEMBER 1978
The spring-operated piston opens As Bulgarian dissident
a valve on a concealed cylinder of and defector Georgi
compressed air. This will propel
the pellet from the gun. 06 Markov waited for a bus,
TRIGGER he felt a sharp sting in

Like any conventional rearm, the AFTERMATH the back of his leg.
umbrella gun needs a trigger and The pellet’s coating melts at 37
this one is concealed in the handle. degrees celsius, ensuring the ricin Smarting, he turned to see a man
is released into the bloodstream. retrieving a dropped umbrella and
hurrying to climb into a taxi, which then
sped away. Where the sting had
COMPRESSED AIR occurred, Markov noticed a raised,
Without the compressed air
behind it, the pellet would not painful spot, and by that evening, he
leave the barrel with enough force had been admitted to hospital. Four
SPRING to pierce the skin of the victim. days later, he died from ricin that had
Just like in an air ri e, a strong been contained in a pellet fired into his

spring pushes down on the linkage
that operates the mechanism. thigh from the now-notorious umbrella
gun. His alleged assassin, Francesco
Gullino, was never tried for the crime.

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