Chapter 8: Cyanide and the Death on the Nile

Is it any wonder why people are so afraid of everything these days? It is almost as if even thinking about taking a step outside can kill you. The scarier part is, staying indoors is just as dangerous. It seems as if nothing is safe: not the house you live in, not the food you prepare yourself, nor the air you breathe, and certainly not even the one you love. Cheryl Lewis made a fatal mistake: meeting John Allan. Of course, how was she supposed to know John was only into her for her money? Poor, naïve Cheryl. It seems like men these days just can’t be trusted. But that is not the only thing that comes with false advertising. Tylenol, the simplest of pain-relievers, and the most trusted by almost everyone, must now be inspected before even opening the package. Someone had the bright idea of contaminating it with a deadly poison, killing innocent patronages of local stores. But what does Cheryl Lewis and Tylenol has in common, you ask? The answer is rather simple: cyanide.

            John Allan and Cheryl Lewis met in 1993, both single, divorcees of previous marriages gone awry. Cheryl was a successful solicitor, and John, at this point, was a bum. He depended on social security and Cheryl’s income to survive. His degree in industrial chemistry from Hatfield Polytechnic, now the University of Hertfordshire, seems to have been a waste except for his access to cyanide and to upkeep his interesting hobby of collecting butterflies and preserving them. Next thing you know, he’ll be skinning his victims and making clothes out of them! Cheryl avoided such agony, thank goodness. In fact, Cheryl lucked out with just a nice evening drink. Gin and tonic, on the…cyanide! Vacationing near Luxor, Egypt, the two stayed in the New Winter Palace Hotel. Cheryl and John enjoyed a lovely dinner together, and soon after, Cheryl decided to shower. While she was indisposed, John spiked her gin and tonic with cyanide. Almost as soon as the drink hit her lips, the effects of the poison took action. The pain Cheryl was suffering was unbearable, and within minutes, she was sweating as if it was 110 degrees outside and her pulse was almost undetectable. Her skin was tinted blue, and she was foaming at the mouth while a curious odor was streaming from it, filling the room. Death followed shortly, and Cheryl’s death certificate read as heart failure and acute coronary thrombosis. After her body was brought home, and an autopsy was done. The pathologist found no trace of disease in Cheryl’s body that would cause such sudden death, but he did find an inflamed stomach. However, there was no analogous inflammation in her mouth or gullet, which would suggest that she consumed a drink laced with cyanide. Unfortunately, cyanide disappears from the tissue after death, and the fact that she had been embalmed before she was flown back home did not help the case either. The amount of smoking that Cheryl did also was an indicator that there would be more than a usual amount of cyanide in the body. There really was no other evidence to prove that she had been poisoned, except the shady findings of the investigation of John Allan.

            About a decade before the death of Cheryl Lewis took place, an unimaginable event took place in the United States. People were dropping like flies, right after they consumed Extra Strength Tylenol. The manufacturers really added extra strength, didn’t they?! People were being labeled as have suffering a massive stroke or heart attack. Coincidentally, these victims had all consumed the drug shortly before his or her death, but it was not coincidental in the fact that an unknown person had bought several bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol, replaced the contents with about sixty milligrams of potassium cyanide, and put them back on the shelf. After a suggestion that these symptoms that the victims suffered may have been from cyanide poisoning, and don’t you know, he was right. The contents of the Tylenol bottles that the victims used before their deaths had all contained between and ten poisoned pills. The pharmaceutical company recalled 31 million bottles, thinking that it was their blunder, when in fact, it was a random occurrence of purposeful poisoning.  

            Cyanide is actually the quickest acting of all the poisons. Allan could have been more considerate in choosing his poison for Cheryl though, at least let her enjoy her time in Luxor if she’s going to die anyway, amiright? At least she and those who thought Tylenol was safe did not suffer a long time. This highly poisonous chemical begins as a carbon atom and a nitrogen atom bonded together by a triple bond, compromising three electron pairs (Emsley, 2008, p.156). It is a highly reactive group and can form stable organic compounds, called nitriles (Emsley, 2008, p.156). Out of the different forms of cyanide that can be formed, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), is the deadliest as just a small amount inhaled can kill (Emsley, 2008, p.156). It is, in fact, a weak acid when dissolved in water, which is where its original name, prussic acid, was derived (Emsley, 2008, p.156). Cyanides are natural chemicals since the body does indeed need a slight trace of them to function because cyanide is a component of vitamin B12 as well as a component of [NiFe]-hydrogenase enzyme which catalyzes the oxidation of hydrogen (Emsley, 2008, p.157). A cobalt atom is at the center of the B12 atom to which the cyanide bonds for it forms a strong bond with metals because of its negative charge and its ability to form pi-bonds (Emsley, 2008, p.157). All of these are an important part of the B12 vitamin to which the body needs because without, the body will suffer from anemia, and synthesis of nucleic acids in DNA and of the amino acids in proteins will falter, creating more serious problems (Emsley, 2008, p.157).

            Cyanides are actually found in unexpected places, as they are used to manufacture a variety of products, such as cosmetics, nylon, Plexiglas, animal/poultry feed and a number of pharmacuticals including Celexa, Tagamet and Isoptin (Emsley, 2008, p.158). The only way that these products can include a form of a cyanide in their makeup is due to the fact that when bonded with a carbon atom in a larger molecule, cyanide loses its toxicity (Emsley, 2008, p.158). Another fun fact here is that cyanides are also found in very common foods, produced by plants, such as almonds and spinach, and seeds in the fruits of apples, cherries, apricots and peaches (Emsley, 2008, p.158). Because early ancient diets included mostly foods made up mostly by glycosides (cyanide-containing group in its molecular structure), the body evolved to fit  rhodanese, an enzyme  that  instantly detoxifies the cyanide radical by changing it to a thiocyanate group (-SCN) which is significantly less toxic (Emsley, 2008, p.159) The rhodanese enzyme is part of every human mitochondria so that adults can detoxify up to 1 gram of cyanide over a twenty-four hour period (Emsley, 2008, p.159).

            But what happens if the amount of cyanide consumed is greater than the rate at which the body can detoxify it? Serious problems occur, obviously. Hydrogen cyanide, if taken orally, will be absorbed across the gastrointestinal mucosa, which will then stimulate hyperventilation from an immediate response from the central nervous system (Hung et al., 2009). It can also lead to unconsciousness, if the dose is strong enough (Hung et al., 2009). Findings from a case report in which victims consume apricot seeds showed that victims suffered headache, vomiting, irritability, abdominal pain, dyspnoea, flushing, hypotension, hyptertension, hypoventilation, bright venous blood, and the smell of almonds on one’s breath (Akyildiz et al., 2009). The most severe side effect of cyanide poisoning is to go into a coma, if not death (Akylidiz et al., 2009). After ingestion of cyanide, the chemical is absorbed and circulated throughout the body, while it causes anoxia of the tissues by blocking cytochrome oxidase which can be seen in the heart, kidney and lungs (Akylidiz et al., 2009). Then anerobic metabolism occurs due to hypoxia, producing lactic acid (Akyildiz et al., 2009). What does all this mean, you ask? Simply, when the enzyme, cytochrome oxidase, can no longer function due to the blockage of cyanide, it becomes inactive, so the last transfer of electrons from that enzyme to the oxygen is blocked, and the chemical reactions that contribute the energy for imperative processes cannot progress which means you will die; cyanide is an irreversible enzyme inhibitor (Emsley, 2008, p.161). This means that the oxygen transported from the lungs can’t be utilized, which gives understanding as to why the blood turns a brighter color (Emsley, 2008, p.161). This color was probably the same color John Allan’s face turned when he was charged for the murder of Cheryl Lewis.

            On February 5, 1999, John Allan was arrested after an investigation of Cheryl’s death. Police found that Cheryl’s will was forged by John himself, as well as claims of thievery concerning Cheryl’s jewelry. In March of 2000, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. As for the Tylenol mystery, the crime was never solved, though there were those who followed in the footsteps, and tried to repeat the incident, but were caught sometime after. The original scoundrel was never found. Here lies yet another unsolved mystery. For every mystery, there is somewhere, somewhere, who knows the truth. Perhaps that someone is watching. Perhaps... it's you. Next time on Molecules of Murder...

Sources

Akyildiz, B. N., Kurtoğlu, S. S., Kondolot, M. M., & Tunç, A. A. (2010). Cyanide poisoning caused by ingestion of apricot seeds. Annals Of Tropical Paediatrics, 30(1), 39-43.  

Emsley, J. (2008). Molecules of murder: Criminal molecules and classic cases. The Royal Society of Publishing: U.K.

Hung, D., Tsan, Y., Yu, Y., & Hsu, C. (2009). Cyanide poisoning in taiwan. The Lancet, 374(9696), 1212-1212. 

Ending quote courtesy of Robert Stack:

http://mayclaire.res-alian.com/memoriam/rstack/movquotes.html

Image Courtesy of:

http://www.realmagick.com/hydrogen-cyanide/

 

Chapter 7: Life & Death & CO: Carbon Monoxide and the Home-Made Gas Chamber

 Don’t hold your breath. On second thought, you might want to, especially if you ever had doubts whether your husband was psychotic or not.  Adair Javier Garcia’s wife should have second guessed herself when leaving her family behind, and Margaret Jones, well, she had no idea her husband he couldn’t keep his hose to himself in more than one way. The women easily failed to detect the danger that lay in her future, just as how easily it is for carbon monoxide to go undetected. Described as a “silent killer,” carbon monoxide has no means of paltry disclosure until it is too late.

            Adair Javier Garcia’s wife left him to tend to their six children sometime before February of 2002, possibly concluding that she realized that having six children plus a husband was a mistake. But that did not stop Garcia from being a loving and caring father. He took his children to see Peter Pan 2, treat them to a gourmet dinner at Chuck E. Cheese’s and tucked them right into bed after they made tapes of themselves for their mother. His love for his children was clearly undeniable from the evident purchase of charcoal and matches he planned on using to kill himself and his children. I think it’s safe to say that he did not win the Father of the Year award this time around. In his own tape, Garcia explains to his wife that she broke his heart, and that killing himself and his children was the only way he could approach the situation. It seems that Garcia took the phrase “crazy in love” to heart, literally. Garcia closed the windows and secured blankets over the outsides of them and lit the charcoal he purchased earlier in a grill in the hallway outside his children’s bedrooms. The next morning, Garcia’s mother-in-law came to take the children to school and found the house filled with smoke, and quickly called the authorities. Out of the six children, only one child survived, as well as Garcia himself.

            In a different murderous attempt, Mr. Cranog Jones sought the aid of carbon monoxide to eradicate the life of Margaret, his beloved wife. Educated and a well-to-do citizen, Mr. Jones was an engineer and the head of education and training at an industrial defense company in England. Being a typical man, Mr. Jones sought pleasure from outside his not-so-happy home, and had numerous extramarital affairs. It is quite obvious Mr. Jones failed to use the head that was placed on his shoulders, and used the other  to do his thinking, but somewhere along the lines, he proposed that murdering his wife would be the right decision, in order to keep a steady hand on her finances, yet ridding himself of the supposedly wretched woman. Cunningly, Jones disguised his devious projection as the simple installation of a brand new sink and vanity unit. He drilled a hole through the outside of his wife’s bedroom, which he filled with a plastic pipe that directed through the conservatory and down the hall at the back of the garage. Another hole was made through the garage so that the exhaust pipe of her vehicle would fit. That night while Margaret was dreaming lovely dreams of her adorning husband, Jones was connecting a box to the pipe in the bedroom wall, and after, starting the car with its choke at its maximum. His last move was to the arrange the box in Margaret’s bedroom so that she would breathe in the fumes and become unconscious, carry her body into the garage, and disassemble the deadly unit. However, just as many tenderfoot criminals do, Jones did not think his plan through, and the sounds from the car awoke Sleeping Beauty, and she found him crouching at the side of her bed. At least he was smart enough to kill the phone connection so that Margaret could not use it. That’s a start. Luckily for Margaret, she made it safely out of the house and called the local police.

            It may be concluded that the husbands in both these cases chose carbon monoxide as their poison due to its valuable characteristic. Let me rephrase that. The characteristics in choosing carbon monoxide as a weapon is cherished complete and utter whack jobs. Suicide and accidental death are the most two common forms of death caused by carbon monoxide. Whether it is sticking your head in the oven or a leaky pipe, carbon monoxide is a deadly killer that, when not used to tell the world how much you hate it, may be prevented. Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless and very poisonous gas which means that those who are being poisoned cannot directly tell. Carbon monoxide (CO), works its magic by converting hemoglobin in the blood to useless carboxyhemoglobin, which annihilates any capacity it has to bring oxygen from the lungs to the muscles and brain. This may bring about death, if not taken care of immediately, and if not death, then it may cause permanent brain damage. This poisonous gas is derived from carbon or methane, CH4, by reacting either molecules with oxygen or steam (Emsley, 2008, p.137). Carbon monoxide is a production of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, and can be produced from carbon or through a means of which a synthesis, or syngas, is produced (Ernst & Zimbrak, 1998; Emsley, 2008, p.137). The chemical structure of this gas a simple, two-atom molecule, contains the same number of electrons and has a triple bond between the two atoms (Emsley, 2008, p.138). The carbon monoxide molecule is that of a polar one, and no, this does not mean it likes the cold, or is found in the North Pole where Santa lives, but rather that it has an uneven distribution of electrons; it is asymmetrical (Emsley, 2008, p.138) The one, non-bonding pair of electrons may attach to metal atoms (Emsley, 2008, p.138).

            Ironically, there are slight traces of carbon monoxide that can be found in the human body, but obviously, too much can kill a person. Research results yielded that carbon monoxide is actually made in various tissues of the body by heme oxygenase, an enzyme that breaks down heme and was suggested that it was abundant in the spleen, but other research suggested it was found in the brain (Carbon monoxide, 1993). The carbon atom in carbon monoxide originates from a –CH group in the hemoglobin molecule, which can be oxidized to carbon monoxide with help from heme oxygenase, in the body, and this suggests that carbon monoxide may actually play the role of a neurotransmitter (Emsley, 2008, p.145). The hemoglobin in the human body is the actual distributer of the slight amount of carbon dioxide that is found, as well as the main attracting force for the chemical. Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? Inside the bodies of Garcia’s children, a chemical reaction was happening. The toxicity of carbon monoxide is a result from a tissue hypoxia (inadequate oxygenation of the blood), and direct carbon monoxide-mediated damage at the cellular level (Ernst & Zimbrak, 1998). The carbon dioxide and oxygen race to the binding site of hemoglobin, and unfortunately for oxygen, hemoglobin has more of an attraction for carbon monoxide. Good guys always finish last! The carbon monoxide attachment alters the shape of the hemoglobin, which then affects the release of oxygen, and accounts for tissue damage and cellular hypoxia problems (Ernst & Zimbrak, 1998).

            Just as most poisons, peoples’ bodies react differently to different chemicals. What Garcia’s children went through, and what Mr. Jone’s had hoped his wife would suffer from, would be a deadly reaction to the carbon monoxide the two men released into the home. Slight symptoms may occur with increasing intensity of headaches, then dizziness and nausea, leading to unconsciousness and eventually, death (Emsley, 2008, p.142). Air concentrations of 35 ppm cause no detectable symptoms, but the more concentrated, the more likely symptoms will occur. The amount of carbon monoxide in the air we breathe is usually less than 0.001 percent, which is no cause for concern (Ernst & Zimbrak, 1998). However, levels of carbon monoxide between 1,500 and 12,000 ppm (parts per million) cause death within two hours to as little as ten minutes (Emsley, 2008, p.142). The quickness of the poison as well as concealing its presence is why these two men chose to use such a chemical as carbon monoxide. After concluding that one is suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, the victim must be subjected to, at least, pure oxygen, for it reduces the half-life of carboxyhemoglobin by making a come-back at the binding site and showing the hemoglobin that there is more to him than just his looks, not only does he keep the blood flow healthy, he can improve tissue oxygenation, too, and that’s all that matters! (Ernst & Zimbrak, 1998). However, it was too late for the five Garcia children to be rescued saved, but luckily for Garcia himself, his child, and even Mrs. Jones, they escaped great tragedy.

            Garcia was arrested in March of 2005, and was convicted June 8, 2005. His life was spared, but he was sentenced to life. He could have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for his blundering mistake: the amount of carbon monoxide was probably more or less around 500 ppm, which is only about 0.005 percent. This is enough to cause dizziness and nausea for himself and his nine-year old daughter. As for Mr. Jones, his trial stood April of 1993, and on April 23, he was found guilty. He was sentenced only nine years in jail. I think the lesson we can take from this is to always keep track of who are you are married to, and if things aren't going well, second guess any headache or dizziness you're feeling, for your own safety. Just to be on the safe side, run to the Home Depot and buy a carbon monoxide detector, or two, and just don't tell your spouse where you have placed them, since you never really can tell if it's just a migraine from having six children, or it's your husband trying to kill you. No big deal, right?

Sources

(1993). Carbon monoxide: Killer to brain messenger in one step. Science, 259(5093). The American Association for the Advancement of Science: Washington.

Emsley, J. (2008). Molecules of murder: Criminal molecules and classic cases. United Kingdom: The Royal Society of Chemistry.

 Ernst, A & Zimbrak, J.D. (1998).Carbon monoxide poisoning. The new england journal of medicine, 339(22). Massachusetts Medical Society: Boston. 

Image courtesy of: http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1440&bih=796&tbm=isch&tbnid=zcFB0WtM65YNyM:&imgrefurl=http://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/chemistry/co_molecule_big_gif_image.html&docid=L4Ny5umGtaUARM&imgurl=http://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/chemistry/co_molecule_big.gif&w=720&h=400&ei=8Ul6T63fA8zhrAeZhMGKAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=816&vpy=196&dur=446&hovh=167&hovw=301&tx=186&ty=87&sig=101912268400754725964&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=99&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

 

Chapter 2-Hyoscine and the Murder of Belle Elmore (Mrs.Crippen)

            “What’s your poison?” Of course, we’d all assume that when someone asked us, it would be our favorite drink (of course, I’d say cranberry vodka, but that’s beside the point). This time, when Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen asked his wife, Belle Elmore, he wasn’t kidding around. She had no choice in the matter, the night of January 31, 1910. Belle’s fate granted her last dying wish of being hacked up, decapitated and skinned by her adorning husband. Not really. It seems as Dr. Crippen got sloppy and butchered his own plans, having to quickly devise another option to dispose of the body and creating a safe alibi.

            Belle Elmore (real name Corinne ‘Cora’ Mackamotzki) was a locally famous singer, and Crippen was a scam of a doctor. The two were married on September 1, 1892. The two did not live happily ever after, that’s for sure. Crippen worked at the Drouet Institute for the Deaf, where he met Ethel le Neve, a typist for the institution. Crippen couldn’t keep it in his pants, and had quite the love affair with Ethel, obviously behind Belle’s back, for five years. Well, there is only one thing left to do! No, not a divorce! Are you out of you mad? Murder is the only answer! What a novel idea! Because Crippen was a doctor, he worked in hospitals and drug companies, where he discovered the magical usage of hyoscine hydrobromide. He acquired the drug, and slipped it into Belle’s drink during the dinner party with the Crippens’ friends, the Martinettis. Crippen concocted a master plan that would make the Martinettis think that Belle was feeling sick before they left, so that when she did finally kick the bucket, they would have first handedly witnessed her illness before her "unexpected" death. Belle would then have “died” of some sickness, and Crippen’s hands would be clean. Except, it blew up in his face, therefore Crippen had to dispose of the body somehow, so he buried the flesh of the cadaver into the coal cellar floor. Somewhere, he disposed of her head and bones, which probably ended up as ashes in the fire place.

            Let’s take a step back and examine what Crippen thought would have happened if he had given a stronger dosage of the hyoscine to his beloved wife. Hyoscine is a natural chemical, with a medical nomenclature of scopolamine, which comes from the plant genus Scopolia (Emsley, 2008, p.24). This chemical is considered an alkaloid.* In its purest form, this chemical is a water-soluble liquid which means it can be crystallized as hydrobromide, transposing it into a solid form, made for ingestion through swallowing by pill form (Emsley, 2008, p.24-25). In this form, the chemical is safer to ingest because of the added positive charge (cation) at the nitrogen atom (Emsley, 2008, p.29). At the quaternary nitrogen, a butyl group may be added to shield the central nervous system from harm due to its newly found inability to pass the blood-brain barrier (Emsley, 2008, p.30).

Hyoscine butylbromide

Hyoscine is a molecular compound that can exist in two forms which are mirror images of each other. This conceptualizes the term chirality. Chirality means “handedness,” therefore the molecular forms are not super-imposable. To understand this idea better, stick out your hands and look at them. They are mirror images of each other. Now place them on top of each other. You see that the digits do not line up, no matter how hard you try. This gives leeway to the chemical because it produces two different forms, and can have two completely different chemical effects because these isomers are not the same molecule, though they appear to be. In a medical case concerning hyoscine, it was reported that a substitution of hyoscine hydrobromide for hyoscine butylbromide. Hyoscine hydrobromide is a tertiary amine compound that does in fact pass the blood-brain barrier, whereas hyoscine butylbromide, a quaternary amine compound, does not (Sassenbroeck et al., 2005). Such an overdose of hyoscine hydrobromide caused damage to patient’s central nervous system and killed them (Sassenbroeck et al., 2005). No wonder why it is so easy to mix up the correct medicine with the wrong one, look at the names of these chemicals. It is strongly advised that if you are not well-versed in chemistry, just stay away from anything you cannot pronounce and for your own sake, don’t touch anything, or try to feed it to someone. Thank you. On a different note, this proves how carefully a scientist must be when working with a chemical that has isomers because one simple slip up may cost someone his or her life.

            Inside the human body, there lies a vital molecule. This molecule is acetylcholine (ACh). It is considered a messenger molecule which stimulates voluntary and involuntary muscles, secretion glands and a variety of brain functions (Emsley, 2008, p.27). Where hyoscine fits into all this is its role as an anticholinergic drug because it counteracts the effects of ACh when the level is too high for the body to properly function. Hyoscine as multiple medicinal uses due to its number of physiological effects on the human body. It greatly effects the central nervous system and the brain which induces an ecstatic feeling all throughout the body, and a lack of inhibition with a side of mental confusion, depending on the severity of the dosage (Emsley, 2008, p.24). It can also promote relaxation of the stomach and intestines, making it a helpful drug for those who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome. It also may onset memory loss, delusions, hallucinations and other psychological-altering effects (Emsley, 2008, p.28-29). People with IBS probably just take it to forget that they have such a pain-in-the-butt issue, or to psychedelically trip to make the experience more fun. Who knows.

            Crippen used hyoscine in hopes that the known symptoms it caused would be enough to kill her. He bought five grains of the drug, though only a quarter of one grain is strong enough to kill (Paine, 2006). Though for some reason unknown, his murderous intention of posing a natural death deviated far from his expectations. Crippen’s story was out, and suspicion rose quickly. His scheme crumbled right in front of his eyes. His attempted escape with Ethel was a dead giveaway, and a search of the house further verified suspicions. He went on trial and was found guilty in 27 minutes (Paine, 2006). He was hanged on November 23, 1910 (Paine, 2006). I think this story not only proves how complex chemistry really is, but how important it is to make sure you use the right dosage of a drug if you want to murder your wife…the first time.

*Alkaloid: Any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds of plant origin that have pronounced physiological actions on humans

Resources

Emsley, J. (2008). Molecules of Murder. United Kingdom: The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Paine, D.F. (2006). Hyoscine and old lace: The trial of hawley harvey crippen. Tenesee Bar Journal. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ee0b0bab-75f7-48c4-bf49-cfc99585150e%40sessionmgr12&vid=2&hid=106

Van Sassenbroeck, D. K., Hemelsoet, D. R., Vanwalleghem, P., Verstraete, A. G., Santens, P., Monsieurs, K. G., & Buylaert, W. A. (2005). Three cases of substitution errors leading to hyoscine hydrobromide overdose. Clinical Toxicology (15563650), 43(7), 861-865. doi:10.1080/15563650500357560.  Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a5078dcf-88fa-40d8-a0ff-4ec4375ad326%40sessionmgr104&vid=2&hid=24.

Image courtesy of: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1440&bih=796&tbm=isch&tbnid=IoSY989BfjQKBM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ganfyd.org/index.php%3Ftitle%3DBuscopan&docid=5oXOvyuSFO8WRM&imgurl=http://www.ganfyd.org/images/f/f5/Hyoscine.png&w=199&h=149&ei=BERQT42lLM3RrQf984TpDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=615&vpy=195&dur=3068&hovh=119&hovw=159&tx=97&ty=44&sig=113716950504026456861&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=159&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0

Chapter 1: Ricin and the Rolled Umbrella

Think of the most unlikely object a man could murder another person with. Now combine that with the world of science. Can’t think of anything? I wouldn’t worry too much about it, because if you did, you might consider yourself a murderer and hand yourself in before you get too far into it. Or, you might just luck out, just as the assassin who murdered Georgi Markov did, back in September 7, 1978. The weapon of choice? An umbrella. As perplexing as it seems, the umbrella was a mere disguise hiding the tiny air rifle inside that could easily pierce through clothing and skin to release a deadly biotoxin, with just the right amount of velocity. It held a pellet that had a diameter of 1.7mm with two minuscule cavities that held, at most, 0.4 mg of the biotoxin. The Bulgarian Secret Service had to make sure such sneak attacks were completely undetectable, therefore holding inanimate objects disguising weapons would do just the trick. Markov’s friend who worked for Radio Free Europe, was also attacked.

Georgi Markov and Vladimir Kostov were both associated with the communist leadership in Bulgaria, and both thought it was a bunch of-, well, to put it nicely, they both disagreed with that specific state of government. The two of them worked for the CIA-funded Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany, which meant that the slandering was heard across the nation, and we all know how the communists dealt with that. On August 27, 1978, Kostov was attacked...by a suitcase. Well, not really a suitcase, just the by the man holding the air gun inside the suit case. The pellet struck Kostov in the small of his back (Think: Forest Gump saying “Yes sir, [the bullet] jumped up and bit me directly in the but-tocks.”) Maybe the situation itself would have been funnier if he actually said it, but I’m sure that was not even close to what he was thinking. On a more serious note, the pellet perforated his skin, releasing the biotoxin, ricin, into his body, which caused fever and swelling at the injection site. Luckily, he survived the attempted assassination. Less than a month later, Markov was walking to his car (too bad they did not have blue lights surrounding the parking lot like they do on campus.) A man “accidentally” dropped his umbrella close to Markov’s leg, and it just so happened to have stabbed his right leg. Later, he discovers that it was a similar situation to Kostov’s attack. Unfortunately, Markov began to run a high fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and proceeded to vomit, leading him to a stay at the hospital. There, his blood pressure fell extremely low, and his white blood count rose to 33,000 (normally 5000-10,000). He continued to vomit blood, stopped peeing because of the damage done to his kidneys and suffered from delirium. His heart finally had enough and gave out, as well as the rest of his organs.

Those communists were surely something else, weren’t they? If anything, they were pretty genius when it came to chemistry, or at least knew the right guys. Their selection of poison was not just a lucky guess. Ricin is a rather deadly poison produced by the castor bean plant, Ricinus communis (Emsley, 2008). The toxic part of this plant is the protein molecules located in its seeds (Emsley, 2008). Toxicity levels for ricin are 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, so it takes about ten castor seeds to kill an average-sized adult human being, which would equal 200 to 500 micrograms (Emsley, 2008). All of this can easily fit on the tip of a pin! The Bulgarian Secret Service really knew what they were doing.

The chemical structure of ricin consists of two peptide chains,chain A- RTA and chain B-RTB, connected covalently by a disulfide bond (Noblis, 2010). How exactly does this cause harm to the body?  The B Chain binds to a specific carbohydrate part to the outside of a cellular membrane, and the toxin attached to the cell receptors quietly wait until Chain A passes through (Emsley, 2008). Then inside, the area in which vital cellular enzymes are processed, is blocked off, cutting of the supply, and thus, killing the cell (Emsley, 2008). However, it is only when the bond between Chains A and B break will the chemical is no longer lethal (Emsley, 2008). It is the chemical properties of ricin which make it soluble in water. The polar electromagnetic quality of ricin dissolves into water’s very polar chemical structure. This is due to the idea that “like dissolves like,” which means that water and ricin have similar polarities that, when combined, water easily dissolves ricin.

More recent research discovers that ricin has another warfare tactic on its own. Originally noted, ricin damages protein synthesis as a cell’s function, however, researchers discovered that ricin also prevents a cellular defense process noted as an unfolded protein response, UPR (“Taming,” 2008). Understanding molecular biology, protein synthesis requires precise patterns of folding these long molecular chains, so the UPR does its job by removing the unfolded or incorrectly folded proteins and sends them to the endoplasmic reticulum, or, the ER (“Taming,” 2008). Just as before, that sneaky A Chain enters the molecule, and is sent to the ER, at which the UPR should signal a distress response, but before it can, a little piece of the ricin A protein tells the ER to turn off the UPR and cellular stress response which is vital for the cell’s survival, thus killing the cell (“Taming,” 2008).

Such a toxin has been known for its usages in chemical warfare because of its potency, physical attributes, and means of dispersal, since ricin can be injected, digested or inhaled into the body, even which can cause different effects. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, good CAN come from ricin. Ricin has been known to have chemotherapeutic qualities, which has been used in the treatment of cancer. But it seems for the most part, ricin is only good if you want harm to come to others, which unfortunately, there are some out there who feel this is a wonderful thing to use just for that. Unfortunately for Georgi Markov, his understanding of chemistry came with a price, and he learned the hard way just how deadly an umbrella, I mean chemistry, can be!

Sources

Emsley, J. (2008). Molecules of Murder: Criminal molecules and classic cases. United Kingdom: The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Noblis. (2010). [Information chart]. Toxins: Ricin. Retrieved from http://www.noblis.org/MissionAreas/nsi/BackgroundonBiologicalWarfare/Pages/Toxins.aspx.

Taming the ricin toxin. (2008). International news on fats, oils and related materials: Inform, 19(4), 243-244. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223593996?accountid=28902.

Image courtesy of: http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~hjakubow/classes/rasmolchime/00ch331finproj/Ricin/page1.html