# The lists hold a quarter of the suicides and open verdicts expected among GEC's UK graduates alone > The lists name 8 GEC employees who died by suicide, open verdict or asphyxia in 1982–1990, against about 32 expected among GEC's 17,500 UK science and… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/evidence/EVD0DGGC25H2Q8T/the-lists-hold-a-quarter-of-the-suicides-and-open-verdicts Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Marconi scientists' deaths, 1982–1990](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists)Evidence Evidence · Marconi scientists' deaths, 1982–1990 # The lists hold a quarter of the suicides and open verdicts expected among GEC's UK graduates alone The lists name 8 GEC employees who died by suicide, open verdict or asphyxia in 1982–1990, against about 32 expected among GEC's 17,500 UK science and engineering graduates at England and Wales rates (ratio 0.25, 95% interval 0.11–0.50; 0.51 at half the rate) and about 161 expected among all 126,600 GEC UK employees (ratio 0.05). Supported0 ## What it means Key question[Were there more deaths among British defence scientists and engineers in 1982–1990 than ordinary death rates would produce?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/questions/QST0DGG9HRA9QAX/were-there-more-deaths-among-british-defence-scientists-and) 2 answers, none ahead yet **Open** unchanged Answer this evidence bears on[No excess: the listed deaths are fewer than ordinary rates predict](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/answers/ANS0DGGAEDXE5GH/no-excess-the-listed-deaths-are-fewer-than-ordinary-rates) Supports1 for, none against **Still possible** was No evidence yet What it implies 1. The deaths on the lists need no cause beyond ordinary suicide and accident rates in a workforce of this size.For the key question: Were there more deaths among British defence scientists and engineers in 1982–1990 than ordinary death rates would produce? 1. A common cause would have to be shown case by case; the count alone is no evidence of one.For: Did any of the deaths share a common cause, such as killings by an intelligence service? ## Next steps 1 1 Check rates for professional men in the 1979–83 OPCS occupational mortality supplement Adds evidenceGood odds~3 h [On: Were there more deaths among British defence scientists and engineers in 1982–1990 than ordinary death rates would produce?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/questions/QST0DGG9HRA9QAX/were-there-more-deaths-among-british-defence-scientists-and) **22** score Details Replace the 0.5 multiplier with the published suicide SMR for scientists and engineers (OPCS Decennial Supplement on occupational mortality). Only a multiplier below about 0.25 would bring the graduate ratio up to 1. Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes ## How it was found 1 run [Base-rate test of the Marconi cluster, 1982–1990](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/runs/RUN0DGGDGRHYP78/base-rate-test-of-the-marconi-cluster-19821990) Method [Cluster base-rate test: listed deaths against expected suicides in the source workforce](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DGGBP3AS2EZ/cluster-base-rate-test-listed-deaths-against-expected) · [Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/sessions/SES0DGGH6FG4GHG/session-1-the-marconi-deaths-the-record-collected-and-the) **Result.** The lists name 8 GEC employees who died by suicide, open verdict or asphyxia in 1982–1990; ordinary rates predict about 32 such deaths among GEC's UK graduates alone and about 161 among all its UK staff. The cluster is a sample of ordinary deaths, not an excess over them. Test · estimate [95% interval]Against the null and the answersVerdict Listed GEC suicides and open verdicts / expected among GEC UK science and engineering graduates, 1982–1990ratio · against the two answers +0.25 _[+0.05, +0.45]_ Excludes “excess”consistent with “no excess” Same, at half the population rate (allowing for lower suicide rates among professionals)ratio · against the two answers +0.51 _[+0.12, +0.90]_ Excludes “excess”consistent with “no excess” Listed GEC suicides and open verdicts / expected among all GEC UK employeesratio · against the two answers +0.05 _[+0.01, +0.09]_ Excludes “excess”consistent with “no excess” All listed defence-worker suicides and open verdicts (15) / expected among UK industry directly employed on MoD workratio · against the two answers +0.04 _[+0.01, +0.07]_ Excludes “excess”but differs from GEC graduates by 2.1σ Estimate, 68% interval (thick) and 95% (thin). Rule declared with the run: rule out 'excess' if the 95% interval lies below 1; rule out 'no excess' if it lies above 1 Figure 1 Ordinary suicide rates predict far more deaths than the lists contain Suicides and open verdicts, 1982–1990: expected at England and Wales rates (ages 20–64) for three workforces, against those on the published lists ExpectedOn the lists Expected counts use ONS rates including deaths of undetermined intent (most open verdicts). The lists are not complete counts, so the gap shows how many ordinary deaths a list like this leaves out, not a low suicide rate. Drawn by the site with [Base-rate test of the Marconi cluster, 1982–1990](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/runs/RUN0DGGDGRHYP78/base-rate-test-of-the-marconi-cluster-19821990) [The Marconi deaths case table, 1982–1990](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0DGG95C1NAJ8/the-marconi-deaths-case-table-19821990)[analysis/base_rate.py][4 outputs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/runs/RUN0DGGDGRHYP78/base-rate-test-of-the-marconi-cluster-19821990#outputs) Notes from the run Deterministic; the seed is unused. ## Across the evidence every measurement of the same quantity **Listed suicides and open verdicts among GEC's UK staff, 1982–1990, as a ratio to the number expected from England and Wa** 4 measurements Pooled**+0.0 [+0.0, +0.1]** Disagreement (I²)**70%** Against the answers**“excess” excluded** Every measurement excludes “excess”, so it is ruled out whichever is right. They disagree with each other. ## Sources 3 [Goods and Services (defence employment): written answer, House of Commons, 24 March 1987 (HC Deb vol 113 c137W)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DGG5Z3Y5V7X/goods-and-services-defence-employment-written-answer-house) Commons 1987 SRC [Suicides in England and Wales: reference tables, 2025 registrations](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DGG78MHBCW8/suicides-in-england-and-wales-reference-tables-2025) Statistics 2026 SRC [The General Electric Company plc, Siemens AG and The Plessey Company plc: a report on the proposed mergers (Monopolies and Mergers Commission, 1989), chapter 2](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DGG78YY6FZK/the-general-electric-company-plc-siemens-ag-and-the-plessey) Commission 1989 SRC ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). The lists hold a quarter of the suicides and open verdicts expected among GEC's UK graduates alone [Evidence EVD0DGGC25H2Q8T]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DGGC25H2Q8T ``` Key **EVD** 0DGGC25H2Q8T Kind Evidence Tier Supported Found in [Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/sessions/SES0DGGH6FG4GHG/session-1-the-marconi-deaths-the-record-collected-and-the) · 3 Nov 2026 Version 1 Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history. [JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/EVD0DGGC25H2Q8T)