The death of Dr. David Kelly, a former weapons inspector in Iraq, was "murder" and not suicide, according to a drug expert who spoke with British authorities during the ensuing investigation. Dr. Andrew Watt, quoted prominently in the Saturday edition of Britain's Mail Online, is attributed as "an experienced clinical pharmacologist" who reportedly spoke to authorities after Dr. Kelly's death and assurred them it was not due in part to an overdose, which was later cited as one of the causes.
"I reported to the Thames force that I believe that the death of Dr Kelly may have been murder," he reportedly said. "I have received an acknowledgement and they have given me an incident number. I have been told that the inquiry is being conducted by a very senior officer."
Dr. David Kelly was found dead in a field near his home in Oxfordshire in 2003, shortly after he was revealed to be the source of a BBC leak that accused Tony Blair's government of exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. His death prompted suspicions among many that he may have been killed in retaliation for the leak.
Kelly himself had predicted he would be "found dead in the woods" if the UK invaded Iraq.
However, the Mail's report also notes that Kelly placed a phone call to a friend days before his alleged suicide, but the message he left was not examined by investigators. In it, he allegedly sounded upbeat, telling his friend that he'd see him on Wednesday night for a game of pub cribbage.
He was officially ruled to have bled to death from a wound on his left wrist, aided by an overdose of coproxamol tablets and undiagnosed coronary artery disease.
Last year, a team of 13 doctors challenged the finding, insisting that he could not have bled to death from a wound of that size. This was apparently confirmed in August, when the detective who found Kelly's body revealed that there "wasn't much blood about" the scene. The doctors added that the amount of painkiller in his system was not nearly enough to kill him.
There is also controversy over whether Kelly's body was moved to a different location after it was discovered. A paramedic who was at the scene said last month that the body had "obviously" been moved, which would have explained why there was so little blood at the scene, as at least two witnesses claim.
"I’ve seen more blood at a nosebleed than I saw there," the paramedic said.
"I think it is highly likely he was assassinated," remarked one of the doctors who penned the challenge, speaking to The Telegraph.
With additional reporting by Daniel Tencer.