Ricin secret police: Georgi Markov had defected from Bulgaria some years previously and had subsequently written books and made radio broadcasts that were highly critical of the Bulgarian communist regime. However, it was believed at the time that Bulgaria would not have been able to produce the pellet, and it was also believed that the KGB had supplied it. The KGB denied any involvement, although high-profile KGB defectors Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky have since confirmed the KGB's involvement. Earlier, Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also suffered (but survived) ricin-like symptoms after an encounter in 1971 with KGB agents. Ten days before
The Umbrella Coup who wants a real killer. Lecomte's performance is convincing and consequently he receives a contract to finish off arms dealer Otto Krampe. He is supposed to kill Krampe with an umbrella containing a built-in syringe full of potassium cyanide at his birthday party in St-Tropez. Lecomte takes the don for a producer and believes this was all part of shooting a film. The Umbrella Coup The Umbrella Coup () is a 1980 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Pierre Richard, Gordon Mitchell and Gert Fröbe. The creation of the film was inspired by several assassinations of Bulgarian dissidents