did you put polonium in the tea? and now is the danger coming closer? with two men waiting in the bushes, one man said shoot him. an attack on the expert helping us about this story. people say, oh, it s never going to happen here. i know it can happen here because it happened to my husband.
lugovoi had done very well in business after that and opened a security consulting firm. he says he and litvinenko met several times in london to discuss doing business there together including that now infamous meeting in the pine bar where scotland yard says litvinenko was poisoned. lugovoi says the meeting was no big deal. so what do you remember about sitting there at the table? translator: i remember that we talked with litvinenko about nothing in particular. and now for eight years, i am under suspicion. reporter: you re under suspicion because the investigation says there was polonium in that teapot. did you put any polonium in the tea? translator: of course not. i was tested for polonium, and i tested positive. did i put polonium into myself? am i an idiot? am i crazy? reporter: but scotland yard detectives don t believe lugovoi s denials.
before litvinenko s murder, the russian parliament passed a law authorizing the liquidation of enemies of the state anywhere in the world. you don t pass that just for the sake of passing it. you have to have somebody in mind. reporter: seven months after the law was passed, someone was liquidated. a prominent russian journalist, shot in the head outside her moscow apartment. she was a friend of litvinenko. three weeks later, litvinenko himself was poisoned with polonium 210. duma leader zhirinovsky certainly didn t shed any tears when that happened but laughs off the notion that the russian state was connected in any way. for one simple reason. he thinks russian agents would have done a better job. translator: i m surprised that the uk special services and the uk court accuses russia and lugovoi that with a bag of polonium they came to london and were just throwing it around. reporter: it just doesn t make sense to a lot of people
reporter: alexander, as in litvinenko. scaramella says that s why he met with litvinenko in london, to tell him about the hit list, to warn him. but, he says, litvinenko didn t buy it. he said, mario, don t care about that. reporter: he says it s bs. i think it s just a provocation, but please check what s happening. reporter: but after what happened to litvinenko, scaramella says he takes the hit list seriously. are you frightened for your life? well do you have another question? reporter: scotland yard questioned scaramella and eventually cleared him. why? because if you re looking for it, polonium is traceable. using specialized equipment, investigators were able to track it in people and in places. once polonium 210 had been identified, then across europe, like the slime from a slug all
i think anything that litvinenko was doing that came close to the source of putin s personal wealth would have been by far the most dangerous things that he could do. reporter: in addition to a possible motive there was also the means. paul joyal says the fact that polonium was used to kill litvinenko leaves little doubt as to who authorized the murder. so does that mean it had to be putin? it could have been someone else with access to come on, come on, you re not going to engage in an act of nuclear terrorism in downtown london without the knowledge of the office of the president. today we begin the open hearings in the inquiry into the death of alexander litvinenko. reporter: in january 2015, a public inquiry opened in london. it s a victory for marina, who, along with her attorneys, fought not eight-year legal battle to make it happen. on the opening day, her attorney argued the evidence leads to one disturbing conclusion, which