he was once a kgb agent, bu turned into a local critic o russia when he was poisoned an london and made headline around the world a lethal toxin in a cup of tea it was a dirty bomb why was he killed to unravel the mystery, we follow the tail of a darke conspiracy are you threatened for your life we will meet and confront the prime suspect. did you put - in the teens and now, is the dange coming closer one man said shoe temp. an attack on the expert helping us with the story. people say this is neve going to happen here i know it can happen, here because it happened to m husband. hello, and welcome to dateline former russian agent alexander was a vocal critic of th russian government, but in his world access to informatio could make you a very rich man or a dead one. his murder set off a international investigation to discover who wanted hi silenced here s richard engel with sp games. a former russian agent, poisoned a multi millionaire found dead in
out. and helped litvinenko and hi family flee to london. there, litvinenko kept up th drumbeat of criticism agains the russian government he even wrote a book accusin the fsb of starting a war in chechnya for political reasons. in response, russia brande litvinenko a traitor his image used for targe practice by russian specia forces this wasn t just symbolism in march, 2006, eight months before litvinenko s murder, th russian parliament passed a la authorizing the liquidation of enemies of the state, anywhere in the world they don t pass that just for the sake of passing it you have to have somebody in mind seven months after the la was passed, someone wa liquidated a prominent russian journalist shot in the head outside her moscow apartment she was a friend of litvinenko three weeks later, litvinenk himself was poisoned wit polonium 210
with litvinenko. reporter: and what did that message say? look, there are people ready to kill you. reporter: the emails amounted to a hit list and the next name up alexander. reporter: alexander, as in litvinenko. scaramella says that is why he met with litvinenko in london to tell him about the hit list and to warn him. but, he says, litvinenko didn t buy it. he said, mario, don t care about that. reporter: he says, it s b.s.? 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 your re looking for it polonium is traceable. using specialized equipment investigators were able to track
receiving frightening e-mails. the final message arrived on the very day of his last meeting with litvinenko. and what did that message say? look. there are people ready to kill you. the e-mails amounted to a hit list. the next name up. alexander. as in litvinenko. scaramela says that s why he met with litvinenko in london to tell him about the hit list to warn him. he says litvinenko didn t buy it. he said mario don t care about that. he says it is bs. i think it is please check what is happening. after what happened to litvinenko scaramela says he takes the hit list seriously. are you frightened for your life? well, do you have another question? scotland yard questions scaramela and eventually cleared him. why? because if you are looking for it polonium is traceable.