# The strongest foul-play case turned out to be an ordinary crime

> The case most often cited as a staged killing, Shani Warren bound and gagged in Taplow Lake, was solved in 2022 as a sexually motivated murder by a local…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/evidence/EVD0DGGC36QJG8A/the-strongest-foul-play-case-turned-out-to-be-an-ordinary  
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[Marconi scientists' deaths, 1982–1990](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists)Evidence

Evidence · Marconi scientists' deaths, 1982–1990

# The strongest foul-play case turned out to be an ordinary crime

The case most often cited as a staged killing, Shani Warren bound and gagged in Taplow Lake, was solved in 2022 as a sexually motivated murder by a local offender, not an intelligence killing.

Supported0

## What it means

Key question[Did any of the deaths share a common cause, such as killings by an intelligence service?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/questions/QST0DGG9JVJS6R7/did-any-of-the-deaths-share-a-common-cause-such-as-killings)

3 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Soviet-bloc assassinations](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/answers/ANS0DGGAF63NYK7/soviet-bloc-assassinations)

Counts againstnone for, 1 against

**Still possible** was No evidence yet

What it implies
1.

The assassination theory has lost its strongest example.For the key question: Did any of the deaths share a common cause, such as killings by an intelligence service?

## Next steps 2

1

Read FCO 65/3861 and FCO 7/8389 at Kew

Adds evidenceFair odds~6 h

[On: Did any of the deaths share a common cause, such as killings by an intelligence service?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/questions/QST0DGG9JVJS6R7/did-any-of-the-deaths-share-a-common-cause-such-as-killings)

**11** score

Details

The open Foreign Office files on Wash (1986) and Moyle (1991) are the only official files on any of these deaths known to be readable. They would show what the government knew and said privately.

2

Request the Avon and Somerset police reports on Dajibhai and Sharif

Adds evidencePoor odds

[On: Did any of the deaths share a common cause, such as killings by an intelligence service?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marconi-scientists/questions/QST0DGG9JVJS6R7/did-any-of-the-deaths-share-a-common-cause-such-as-killings)

**4** score

Details

Freedom of Information request to Avon and Somerset Police and to the Avon coroner for the 1986-87 reports and inquest files. If released, they would show what evidence of third parties, if any, was found.

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 2

[Donald Robertson: Predatory sex offender found guilty in historic rape and murder case](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DGG6KKAQTXC/donald-robertson-predatory-sex-offender-found-guilty-in)

Service 2022

SRC

[Shani Warren: Donald Robertson guilty of murder](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DGG6KRYJNZ3/shani-warren-donald-robertson-guilty-of-murder)

Observer 2022

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The strongest foul-play case turned out to be an ordinary crime [Evidence EVD0DGGC36QJG8A]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DGGC36QJG8A
```

Key

**EVD** 0DGGC36QJG8A

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

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