[shrinkermd]

In Moscow, Scotland Yard detectives have asked to question further two Russian businessmen who met Litvinenko several times in the fortnight before he died, including November 1, the day he fell ill.

Both men, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun, were contaminated with polonium-210 and remain isolated in a clinic. The men - who have been friends since they were 12 and attended the same Moscow military academy - deny any role in the poisoning and claim that they are victims.

German police, however, have begun a criminal investigation into Mr Kovtun after traces of polonium-210 were found at severallocations he visited in Hamburg. Neither man has explained why the radioactive poison was discovered in London in places they visited as long ago as October 16.

[SteveMcKing]

As usual, some idiot thought he was so smart and technically understanding, and that this was the "perfect crime".

In reality, there is a symphony of evidence being examined. Whoever did it will not be able to run or hide.

[Dubya-M-Dees]

There is so much more to this story than I think any of us can fathom. Who kills someone... a single person... with a $10m weapon?

[greasepaint]

how was this ten-million number, determined?

[LukeL]

The sheer amount used indicates they had some help from the Russian Government as even the Russian Mafia wouldn't have the means to get that much polonium.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP*! . . . This is good evidence Putin ordered the hit.

[spanalot]

yeah - no doubt that this came from the Kremlin - we already know it came from Moscow and this amount means it came from the govt.

[Cicero]

This is highly exaggerated. Probably it would cost $10 million to buy that much on the open market, because the amounts you can buy on the open market are minuscule.

I doubt it would cost anything like that if you had access to nuclear facilities which produced it as a by-product. So either it was a Russian government operation, or someone with connections paid to get it from a nuclear plant, again most likely Russian.

It does seem possible that Litvinenko himself was smuggling the stuff and it was leaked from him to the people who met with him, rather than the other way around.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

I think it will be proven that Putin's butler did it.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Just wondering, do they have to bury him in a high level nuclear waste dump?

Does this mean they'll be sending him to Nevada for internment?

[VaBthang4]

"but are unsure whether the massive amount was used to send a message - it made it easier for British scientists to detect - or is evidence of a clumsy operation."

If it was a Russian op...then the latter is most likely.

[MaxMax]

Bush did it.

Whaat? Someone had to say it.

[Dead Dog]

The ballon broke.

[anymouse]

FR Thead: ABC News Exclusive: Murder in a Teapot British officials say police have cracked the murder-by-poison case of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, including the discovery of a "hot" teapot at London's Millennium Hotel with an off-the-charts reading for Polonium-210, the radioactive material used in the killing.