The Mystery of Robert Maxwell's Death Revisited

On November 5, 1991, the body of the British media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, was found floating in the Atlantic. It later emerged he had looted an estimated £400m from the Mirror Group pension fund. Maxwell is presumed to have fallen overboard from Lady Ghislane, which was cruising off the Canary Islands. The official verdict was accidental drowning, but many people, including members of his own family, believe he took his own life. It did not emerge until after his death that he had plundered the Mirror Group pensions' funds to bail out his ailing media empire.

Now, almost fifteen years later, Friday's Independent (London) carries the story that he was under investigation for alleged war crimes at the time of his death. Detectives were considering Maxwell's admission that while serving as a British Army captain in World War II he shot dead a German civilian. The incident is said to have taken place in April 1945, when his platoon was trying to capture a German town. Maxwell said he shot dead the town's mayor after a tank opened fire on them. At the time of his death he was aware he was under investigation and the latest revelation is likely to fuel speculation that he killed himself. However, the author of an acclaimed but unauthorized biography of Maxwell, Tom Bower, said this was"fanciful"—because Maxwell had never shown any remorse or regret over the shooting.

For the BBC account, go here. For the full story, go here and here.