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What killed Alexander Perepilichny?

BBC

Three months after Russian businessman Alexander Perepilichny was found dead near his Surrey home, the question of how he died remains a mystery.

Surrey Police have confirmed to the BBC that scientists are conducting a wide range of tests, including attempts to find out if he was poisoned, after two earlier post-mortem examinations failed to find any obvious cause of death. They are still waiting for the results.

Mr Perepilichny, who was 44 years old, died suddenly last November near his luxury home on an exclusive private estate near Weybridge.

Grainy amateur video shows his body lying in a dark road shortly after it was discovered; a woman can be heard expressing her shock at how cold he felt.

For days afterwards it was assumed he had died of natural causes, most likely a heart attack, but then the police received information indicating they should carry out a full investigation.

‘Transnational crime’

“We wrote a letter to the chief constable of Surrey to say he [Alexander Perepilichny] had been co-operating in a major case of transnational crime,” says Bill Browder, head of the London-based investment firm Hermitage Capital, which used to have substantial interests in Russia.

“We said he was a healthy 44-year-old old man who suddenly dropped dead after handing over documents [to us].”

According to Mr Browder those documents led to a breakthrough in his investigation into what he claims was the biggest tax fraud in Russian history.