Thallium is an extremely toxic chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. Thallium has been called the "poisoner's poison" since it is colorless, odorless and tasteless; its slow-acting, painful and wide-ranging symptoms are often suggestive of a host of other illnesses and conditions.[1] The poison was used as an assassination tool by terrorist leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the 2015 James Bond film, Spectre.
History[]
Circa 2015, Ernst Stavro Blofeld ordered the death of former high-ranking SPECTRE subordinate, Mr. White, who had become disenchanted with the organization and its increasingly utilitarian and ruthless trajectory. James Bond later finds White dying of thallium poisoning at a cabin in the Austrian Alps. One month prior, he discovered thallium in his cell phone and remarked that he expected he had a few weeks left. Maybe less. After failing to kill him outright with thallium, Blofeld dispatched assassins to finish the job. It would prove unnecessary, as White would take his own life using 007's sidearm.
References[]
- ↑ Amy Ellis Nutt & Sue Epstein, A 15-year-old case yields a timely clue in deadly thallium poisoning, The Star-Ledger, February 13, 2011