A Russian exile was strangled by a mystery killer who attempted to make the murder look like suicide, just days after the Salisbury poisonings.
Kremlin critic Nikolay Glushkov, 68, was found dead at his London home on 12 March 2018.
An inquest hearing on Friday heard that paramedics immediately raised concerns that he had been murdered because of the way suicide paraphernalia appeared to be deliberately placed.
A post-mortem examination concluded that Mr Glushkov died at the hands of a third party, due to compression of the neck, followed by the staging of a scene.
Chinyere Inyama, the senior coroner for West London, gave a medical cause of death as compression to the neck and added: From all the documentation, all the evidence gathered, Nikolay Glushkov died from an unlawful killing.
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Evidence heard raised the possibility of a professional killing, after experts found that Mr Glushkov was rapidly incapacitated within seconds and had no injuries suggesting violent struggle.
Police are still appealing for information to find the murderer and have made no arrests, or interviewed any suspects, in the three years since Mr Glushkovs death.
The Metropolitan Police are appealing for people who were in the area around his home in New Malden, south-west London, to recall anything unusual or suspicious, including sightings of a black Volkswagen van that has not been traced.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Glushkov’s daughter said she and her father’s partner, Denis Trushin, turned up at his home at around 10pm because he had failed to get in touch with her since the previous evening.
Natalia Glushkova said she saw her father lying on the floor and found him to be cold to the touch after checking if he was breathing.
His watch and religious cross were on the bedside table, she added. He only ever removed his watch and cross when he went to sleep or to take a shower.
Police investigate Nikolai Glushkov’s mysterious death at his London home
Paramedic Dominic Biel described the scene as suspicious and recalled how Mr Trushin said: Don’t touch anything until the police come here – someone’s killed him.
A pathology report summarised to the court said Mr Glushkovs injuries could be consistent with a neck-hold, applied from behind, and the assailant being behind the victim.
It added: There is a lack of injuries to suggest prolonged grappling or restraint with the third party, and a lack of injuries of a defensive nature to the upper limbs.
This would suggest the victim had been rapidly incapacitated – garroted sleeper holds are known to cause unconsciousness within seconds.
A police report, also summarised at the hearing, said the findings indicated that the deceased had fatal pressure applied to his neck, and a staged scene was set up to simulate a case of suicidal hanging.
The inquest heard that bruising to the victim’s neck was not explained by the ligature mark.
Mr Glushkov fled Russia after being accused of fraud during his time as deputy director of the Russian airline Aeroflot, and was friends with exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky who died himself in 2013.
The murder came almost exactly a week after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury.
1/15Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Scene of attack
Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Victim – Sergei Skripal
The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian “sleeper agents” in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006.
AP
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Victim – Yulia Skripal
Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Scene of attack
A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it.
AFP/Getty
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Scene of attack
Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub.
PA
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Victim – Nick Bailey
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn’t leave until three weeks after the attack.
Wiltshire Police/Rex
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Police investigation – Skripals home
Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Theresa May visits scene of attack
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police’s Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal’s were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Skripal days before attack
Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Police investigation – military involvement
British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal’s home and it’s surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Police investigation
Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Police investigation
The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal’s son Alexander in London Road cemetery.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Police investigation
The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury.
EPA
Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Home Secretary visits scene of attack
Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March.
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Skripal attack aftermath in pictures
Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time
Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack.
Reuters
At the time, they were in a critical condition in hospital amid an escalating diplomatic row with the Kremlin, which denied involvement despite British authorities naming two Russian agents as responsible.
Mr Glushkov, who had two children, was due to attend a commercial court hearing on the day he was found dead but did not arrive, sparking concerns among friends.
He was a close friend of exiled Russian oligarch Mr Berezovsky, who was himself a friend of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr Berezovsky was found hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home in 2013.
Police said a post-mortem showed no sign of a violent struggle, and an inquest recorded an open verdict after hearing conflicting evidence.
Mr Glushkov worked for Mr Berezovskys LogoVaz car company in Russia, before becoming the first deputy general director for Russias flag carrier Aeroflot in the late 1990s.
He served a five-year term for money laundering and fraud in Russia, then fled the country after being handed a two-year suspended sentence for fraud in 2006.
Police cordon off the home of Moscow businessman Nikolai Glushkov
In 2017, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and a 1 million ruble fine in absentia for allegedly defrauding Aeroflot a case that continued at the time of his death.
His LinkedIn page listed him as a private consultant in financial services since 2011.
Police described Mr Glushkov as a retired financial director and said he had lived in the home in Clarence Avenue for two years.
The inquiry is being led by the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, which has not made any arrests despite contacting over 1,800 witnesses, reviewing 200 hours of CCTV footage and collecting 1,200 pieces of evidence.
Investigators are appealing for information on a black Volkswagen van that was seen in and around Clarence Avenue on the evening of 11 March 2018, the day before Mr Glushkov was found dead.
Neither the vehicle nor the driver have been traced despite public appeals, and it remains an important line of enquiry.
Anyone with information is asked to call 0800 789 321 quoting Operation Bulblet, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Additional reporting by PA