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The Marconi Mystery: 22 Scientists Die Mysterious Deaths in Britain
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The Most Disturbing Deaths: Electrocutions and a Near-Decapitation
At 28:00 · chapter starts 26:00
Carter Roy delivers the most disturbing chapter of the episode: the deaths that investigators and families found almost impossible to classify as self-inflicted. Ashad Sharif was found in his car in a public park with a rope around his neck secured to a tree, the car's gas pedal depressed until he was nearly decapitated. It was ruled suicide based on an audio tape found in the vehicle — a ruling his family rejected after hearing it [1] — Carter Roy "Ashad Sharif was found in his car in a public park with a rope around his neck tied to a tree — the other end attached to a gas pedal until…" 27:40 . Another scientist was electrocuted with wires inserted into an electrical socket and taped to his metal dental fillings. Then there's Alistair Beckham, a Plessy Naval Systems software engineer who pruned his garden trees on his last morning alive, stepped into his shed, and was found electrocuted with a handkerchief in his mouth and wire wrapped around his arm — rigged with a paperclip to tap the home's main power supply, while his daughters were in the house [2] — Carter Roy "Alistair Beckham, a Plessy Naval Systems software engineer, was found electrocuted in his garden shed with a handkerchief in his mouth, wir…" 28:50 . Hours after his death, men arrived and removed sensitive documents from his office. Beckham's wife told 20/20 he had no reason to want to die; a mental health expert told the same programme the deaths didn't fit any expected pattern for people of their background.
Marconi Electronic Systems employed approximately 47,000 people at the time, which authorities used to argue that the cluster of deaths was statistically within a normal suicide rate.
When factoring out scientists with no prior mental health diagnoses, Marconi's death rate was actually higher than the UK national suicide average, undermining the official 'stress' explanation.
Ashad Sharif was found in his car in a public park with a rope around his neck tied to a tree — the other end attached to a gas pedal until he was nearly decapitated. It was ruled suicide because of an audio tape found in the car. His family heard the tape and completely disagreed.
Alistair Beckham was found electrocuted in his garden shed with a handkerchief in his mouth and wire wrapped around his arm, rigged with a paperclip to tap the main electrical supply — while his daughters were inside the house.
Alistair Beckham, a Plessy Naval Systems software engineer, was found electrocuted in his garden shed with a handkerchief in his mouth, wire wrapped around his arm, and a paperclip rigging that tapped the home's main power supply. His daughters were inside the house. Hours later, men arrived to remove his classified documents.
The Sunday Times traced the Marconi mystery back to 1982, when computer scientist Keith Bowden ran off an empty road driving home from a dinner party — sober — in a new car. A private investigator hired by his widow found the tires were completely bald, as if they had been switched out beforehand.
