The victim's name was Georgi Markov. Bulgarian by birth, he was a noted dissident of the Communist regime in his home country, then run by President Todor Zhivkov. Markov was originally a writer of several novels and plays - although the majority of the latter were never performed, banned as they were by the censors of the day. In 1969, then, Markov defected to the West, working for the BBC World Service and later for Radio Free Europe, an American-funded service broadcasting to the Communist countries where "the free flow of information is either banned... or not fully developed". On Radio Free Europe, he began to heavily criticize the Communist regime in his homeland, and so - the speculation goes - the Bulgarian government decided to eliminate him, with a little help from the KGB.
On the morning of September 7th, 1978 (the birthday of President Zhivkov), Markov walked across Waterloo Bridge and waited at the nearby bus stop to complete his journey, one stop east to the World Service headquarters. As he did so, he felt a sharp sting on the back of his right thigh. Looking round, he noticed a man collecting an umbrella from the ground. The stranger apologised to Markov and hurried away, climbing into a taxi and disappearing from sight. Markov thought nothing more about the accident, until he noticed a vicious red spot at the point the umbrella tip had struck. By the end of the day he was in a severe amount of pain, with doctors mystified as to the cause. Developing a fever the next day, he was admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with septicaemia. It was too late for Georgi, though, and he died on September 11th. He was 49.
During the autopsy, a miniscule capsule was found beneath the spot, embedded in the flesh of Markov's leg. It was discovered that this capsule contained traces of the lethally toxic substance ricin, for which there is no known cure. The casing of the capsule was designed to melt at 37 degrees, the interior human body temperature, and thus the ricin was allowed to enter Markov's bloodstream. From that moment, he never had a chance.
The umbrella contained what was essentially the mechanics of an air rifle, modified to allow concealment inside the accessory. The assassin would be able to "shoot" through the tip, long-barreled as a silencer to ensure the quietest hit possible, and then continue on his way - in broad daylight. What is notable is that this was not the first attempt at silencing a dissident - ten days earlier, a similar attempt at murdering defector Vladimir Kostov failed when the ricin was damaged and only induced a fever.
Soviet defectors Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky have confirmed that the KGB was asked to handle the assassination, but to this day nobody has ever been formally charged or arrested in connection to the murder. The Times newspaper in 2005 named the assassin as Francesco Gullino, codenamed 'Piccadilly'. Whether this is true or not, it is unlikely that Gullino (or anyone) will ever be prosecuted, as the Bulgarian Statute of Limitations on the case expired in 2008.
If you'd like to see a real ricin-shooting umbrella, then I gather that there's a good example in the Washington Spy Museum. Markov is buried in Whitchurch Canicorum in Dorset, and was awarded the Order of Stara Planina for his opposition to the Communist reigme in 2000. The BBC building where Markov worked can be found at Bush House, just past the east end of the Strand. And on your way home, you might like to walk across Waterloo Bridge. Just be careful of the City Gent carrying an umbrella, standing at the bus stop, smiling at you in the sunshine...
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