Germans find key clue in spy radiation murder case

AP/Fox News:

German authorities said Sunday they have found traces of radiation in locations visited by a contact of poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko before they met in London.

Dmitry Kovtun had visited his ex-wife's Hamburg apartment the night before heading to London, where he met Litvinenko on Nov. 1, the day the former spy is believed to have fallen ill. Litvinenko was killed by polonium-210. Gerald Kirchner of the German Federal Radiation Protection agency said at a news conference that "tests clearly show that it is polonium-210."

Police said Saturday that traces of alpha radiation had been found at the homes in and near Hamburg of the ex-wife and the former mother-in-law of Kovtun.

The Russian businessman met Litvinenko in London on Nov. 1, the day Litvinenko fell ill....

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German police started looking into the case when it emerged that Kovtun flew to London from Hamburg on Nov. 1 — the day he and two other Russians met Litvinenko at London's Millennium Hotel. Kovtun reportedly is being treated in Moscow for radiation poisoning.

On Saturday, the plane aboard which Kovtun flew to London tested negative for polonium-210.

Investigators worked through the night on the case, Hamburg police spokesman Andreas Schoepflin said.

Police said they found no traces of radiation at a Hamburg apartment used by Kovtun himself.

However, they did find traces of radiation at his ex-wife's apartment — in the same building as his — and at her mother's house just outside Hamburg, and have launched further tests to pinpoint whether it was polonium-210. The two women have been questioned.

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This case continues to provide mystery to the murder. The story is absent of any motive for Kovtun to kill the spy. The LA Times discusses Russia's "poisoned democracy" and the increasing attacks on journalist. There is substantial evidence that critics keep having untimely deaths.

Update: This Washington Post story adds more details including German police.