Frenzied ice axe attack to deadly poison mystery & stabbing over a book spoiler… the dark crimes of ‘lawless’ Antarctica
In 1959, two Russian scientists got into a fight over a game of chess, which is said to have ended in a deadly stand-off
PERPETUAL darkness, isolation, sub-zero temperatures, claustrophobic relationships and sexual tension on an Antarctic research station – what could possibly go wrong?
Cold Tapes, a new murder mystery podcast, delves into the intertwined lives of a small group of international scientists and crew based on a remote research base.
It is down to the listener to work out whodunnit – and they have the chance to win £10,000 if they guess correctly.
While it might be fiction, the show is inspired by shocking true crimes and horrifying real events that happened on the frozen continent.
Antarctica does not have a permanent population, but research stations have staffed scientists and crew from around the world since 1898.
However, when it comes to policing its temporary residents, the continent is practically ‘lawless’ as it has no government.
Nor does any country claim total sovereignty due to the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed by 56 nations in 1959.
Any criminal activity committed on the continent is later tried in a court of the offender’s own country’s jurisdiction, the treaty states.
Meaning up until that point, the strangers have to learn to rub along together in close quarters, which hasn’t always gone to plan.
And as the boredom sets in, living and working with people that you wouldn’t normally choose to spend your time can start to take its toll.
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As such, Antarctica has played host to some grisly incidents that remain unsolved to this day.
Here, we revisit some of the most chilling cases.
Checkmate
In 1959, two Russian scientists at the Vostok research station got into a fight over a game of chess.
One of the men was so enraged about losing the match that he attacked the other with an ice axe.
Although this story is widely believed, some people say one of the scientists was murdered, while others believe he was severely injured but survived.
Legend has it that as a result chess was banned on Russian research stations from then on.
Poisoning mystery
The sudden death of Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks remains unsolved more than 20 years later.
The poorly 32-year-old man had reportedly visited the doctor on the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station three times with sickness, stomach ache and a high temperature.
However, he would later die on May 12, 2000.
It was initially assumed that he had died from natural causes, and his body was kept at the station until flights out resumed six months later.
But a post-mortem examination carried out in Christchurch, New Zealand, revealed that Marks had died from methanol poisoning.
Police thought it was unlikely he had taken the methanol knowingly as an alcohol substitute as booze was readily available on the station.
Detectives in New Zealand sent a questionnaire to all of Marks’ 49 co-workers, but only received 13 replies.
At an inquest into his death the coroner could not find evidence to support theories of foul play, a prank gone wrong or suicide.
The cause of the fatal poisoning has never been found.
Sadly, Marks’ family have all but given up hope of finding out what happened, with his dad Paul saying in 2008: “I don’t think we are going to try to find out any more in regards to how Rodney died.
“I’d see that as a fruitless exercise.”
Fiery temper
Given the lack of daylight and temperatures that drop as low as -60C, researchers and crew are never expected to spend more than a year on the continent.
But legend has it that in 1984, in protest at being ordered to spend another winter on Argentina’s Almirante Brown Station, the site’s leader and on-site doctor burned it to the ground.
He apparently waited until the last ship was about to depart for Argentina, forcing the vessel to take the entire crew back to their homeland.
The site was rebuilt, but perhaps it was no coincidence that from then on it only operated as a summer station.
Spoiler alert
There is nothing worse than someone ruining the end of a story, but when entertainment is already in short supply, anyone who creates a spoiler could be on very thin ice.
Oleg Beloguzov found that out during his short stint at Bellingshausen Station on Antarctica’s King George Island.
He and his colleague Sergey Savitsky, 54, apparently hadn’t seen eye to eye for months.
But the final straw came when Beloguzov started spoiling the endings of books that Savitsky had taken out of the station’s library.
Furious Savitsky, who was known to like a drink or two, stabbed 52-year-old Beloguzov several times in the chest.
Belogozuv needed energy treatment at a Chilean hospital, while Savitsky was flown to court in St Petersburg but the case was later dropped.
Too many cooks
In 1996, a horrifying fight broke out in the kitchen of US research base McMurdo Station.
One cook apparently attacked another with the claw end of a hammer and a third was also injured whilst trying to break it up with the scraps.
The FBI sent detectives out to the base to investigate and the alleged assailant was taken into custody and flown to Hawaii to face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon.
He pleaded not guilty.
Sexual misconduct
In 2022, a shocking survey found that 59 per cent of women said they had a negative experience with sexual harassment or assault at US bases in Antarctica.
What’s more, 95 per cent of respondents said they knew of someone who was assaulted or harassed within the US Antarctic program.
Several women have started to speak out about the harassment they have suffered, including Jane Willenbring.
The geologist filed a complaint of sexual harassment against her advisor David R Marchant while they were on an Antarctic expedition in 1999.
He was later fired by Boston University.