Rodney Marks was walking from aresearch buildingto the main base at the Amundsen - ScottSouth Pole Stationwhen he started to find strange . This was n’t the normal weirdness people deal with when adapt to the-80 ° Ftemperatures and24 - hour nightsof Antarctic winters . The 32 - year - old astrophysicist was struggling to rest . Soon , his sight became weak . He was also very tired and went to bed early , hoping to sleep off whatever mysterious sickness was plaguing him .
But eternal sleep did n’t help . rather , things just have worse — much worse . At 5:30 a.m. the morning of May 12 , 2000 , Marks woke up vomiting roue . He went to the place ’s doctor , Robert Thompson , three times over the course of the day , and with each visit , his symptoms appeared to acquire more torturing . Pain burned through his joints and stomach . His eyes were so tender that he had to wear sunglasses even though the sun had n’t risen over the base in several calendar week . As his physical shape devolve , so did his genial state : He became so agitated that the doctor enquire ifanxietywasn’t the cause of his symptoms .
When Marks travel to the physician the third time that day , he was distressed to the point of hyperventilation . Thompson injected him with an antipsychotic to calm him down . Marks laid back and his breathing slowed . To the untrained perceiver , it may have looked as though he wasgetting better .
But that ’s not what was happening . short after receiving the shot , Marks travel into cardiac arrest , and after 45 minute of unsuccessful resuscitation attempts , Thompson declared him dead at6:45 p.m.
As soon as the fight to save his living terminate , the 49 people live at the groundwork were faced with a new problem : a dead eubstance in one of the most remote places on earth , at a time of twelvemonth when it wastoo coldfor planes to put down . It would be months before an aircraft was able to collect Marks ’s cadaver — andyearsbefore it was revealed that there was a chance he had been murdered .
Crime and Death in Antarctica
Death is rare in Antarctica , but not unheard of . Many Explorer perished in the tardy 19th and other 20th centuries in their seeking to reach the South Pole , andpotentially hundredsof bodies remain frigid within the ice . In the modern era , more south-polar fatalities are cause by freak accidents . Three scientistswere riding a Muskeg tractor across the tundra in 1965 when the vehicle plunged into a crevasse , killing everyone on panel . In 1980 , Amundsen - Scott Station cookCasey Jonesdied while attempting to well-defined blow from a shaft in a fan room when the packed Charles Percy Snow break up and crush him .
There ’s also a history of force on the continent . allot to oneunconfirmed storyreported inCanadian Geographic , a scientist working at Russia ’s Vostok Station in 1959 snapped after losing a chess game and hit his opponent with an axe . ( Chess was supposedlybannedfrom Russia ’s Antarctic bases after that . ) More recently , in October 2018 , a Russian scientist working in Antarctica allegedlystabbed his colleaguefollowing a possible nervous breakdown .
With some of these crime , the Antarctic set itself may have played a role . Scientists living in Antarctica are pressure to share cramp quarter with the same group of multitude for month at a time . physical contact with the outside humankind is limited , and depending on the weather , snuff it for a walk to reset the head is n’t always an option .
" You ’re far off from home . You ’re far aside from the mass that imprint your normal societal connection . You ’re isolated with a grouping of people you did n’t choose,“Peter Suedfeld , a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who has studied the effects of Antarctic closing off on the mind , tell Mental Floss .
The extreme isolation there is rivaled only by what astronauts experience in quad — in fact , place agenciesconduct studies in Antarctica to simulate their retentive - terminus missions .
On top of dealing with boredom and claustrophobia , researcher in Antarcticaare adjusting to either constant day or night . When someone ’s circadian rhythm — the biological system governed by the 24 - hour 24-hour interval — is interrupt , the negative effect are felt in both the body and mind . consort toone report , the great unwashed on interrupt circadian cycle per second are more potential to display aggressive behaviors .
" Because of the surroundings , people do get irritable , sensitive , peradventure spry to take offense at something that was n’t think of to be offensive , " Suedfeld says . " I opine it ’s enthralling that there has n’t been more violence in Antarctica . "
A Belated Autopsy
Rodney Marks was already conversant with the stressor of liveliness in Antarctica when he signed up to knead there from 1999 to 2000 . The Australian native had previouslywinteredon the continent from 1997 to 1998 as part of the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica ( CARA ) ’s South Pole Infrared Explorer project . Dr. Chris Martin , one of the researchers who worked on the project with Marks , told theNew Zealand Herald : " Rodney like it so much he require to go back again . "
For his second arrest , he work on the Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory undertaking as a research worker for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory . His problem consisted of collecting data with a monolithic infrared telescope and using it to ameliorate view conditions at the South Pole . Antarctica is considered one of thebest placeson Earth to study space , and his work enable astronomers to make important observations .
Marks enamor his colleague with hisbohemian styleand friendly personality . He joined the base band , Fannypack and the Big Nancy Boys , and was datingmaintenance specialistSonja Wolter . Darryn Schneider , the only otherAustralianat the groundwork that winter and Marks ’s friend , described him in ablog post : " His dry wit was sometimes misinterpreted here by the people not used to it . This is where his considerate nature and his kindness would come out . I saw him numerous times make amends in a very squeamish fashion for these mistake . He would also say or do something kind for someone having a knockout time in cosmopolitan . "
So when he die all of a sudden that May , roughly six months into his second journey at the rod , it shocked the investigator and technicians at Amundsen - Scott Station . The place doctor , Robert Thompson , told the young human being ’s colleagues that Marks had give out ofunknown but naturalcauses , in all likelihood a massiveheart attackor stroke . Because it was Thompson ’s job to care for resilient patients , not perform necropsy , they would have to wait to learn any more contingent .
With months of unploughed darkness and dangerous cold stretched out before them , October was the soonest it would be safe for aircraft to bring down at the South Pole . In the meantime , masses live on at the base used the excess hour in their days to gatheroak scrapsand contract and smooth them into a casket . They loaded Marks ’s consistence into the makeshift coffin and laid him to temporary rest in the base’sstorage , where the arctic climate would continue his remains until the end of winter .
On October 30 , a plane ravish the consistence from Amundsen - Scott Station to Christchurch , New Zealand , where forensic diagnostician Dr. Martin Sage eventually was able-bodied to perform an autopsy . The amount of time that had passed between the death and the examination did n’t bar Sage from make a disturbing observance : Marks had n’t die out of natural causes after all . According to the Emily Price Post - mortem , he had ingested approximately150 millilitersof wood alcohol — roughly the sizing of a glass of wine-colored . Methanol is a type of alcohol used to clean scientific equipment in Antarctica : It ’s subtly perfumed , colorless , and toxic even in small amount of money — which means a fatal dose could easily be slipped into someone ’s swallow without their knowledge .
That left a special number of options on the board . To the people who lived and turn with Marks up until his final hours , the possibleness that he had killed himself was tough to believe . He had expand in the harsh beauty of Antarctica . He was doing important research at the lookout station , and when he was n’t work , he had his supporter and Wolter , whom he had planned to marry , to keep him company . But if Marks had n’t poison himself , that left his fellow with the unsettling possibility that they had shared a habitation with a murderer for over half a yr .
An Inconclusive Inquest
Because Antarctica is governed by a treaty signed by54 body politic , handling crimes there can be a headache . Marks was from Australia and had worked for an American station , but he died within theRoss Dependency — a territory of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand . By October , New Zealand had pack over the job of looking into the incident .
While the coroner of Christchurchbeganan initial inquest in 2000 , the investigation carry days to fill out , and involved several listening . Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Wormald looked at four possible causes of destruction : mark drank the methanol by chance ; he drank it for diversion ; he booze it to vote out himself ; or someone else had spiked his drink . In 2006 , Wormald state that self-annihilation was theleast likelyexplanation for the youthful scientist ’s expiry , citing his forebode life history and relationship .
It was more plausible that Marks had ingested the dissolver to get high and incidentally overdosed . He was a sound drinker , and had been known to expend inebriant to cope with hisTourette ’s syndrome . But Wormald saw this as further grounds that he had n’t drunk the methanol on aim : scar had access to deal of alcohol on the fundament if he was looking to ego - medicate , and as an experient bust - drinker , he would have known the risk of tope unfamiliar substance . When he did get sick , he acted just as bewildered as the quietus of the crew , suggest he had no idea there was poison inside his body .
Wormald concluded : " In my prospect it is most likely Dr. Marks ingest the wood spirit unwittingly . " But how exactly the methanol got into Marks ’s system — and if it was n’t an accident , who might have given it to him — remain a mystery .
According toThe New Zealand Herald , some experts were critical of Robert Thompson ’s discussion of Marks in his final hour . William Silva , who had been a MD at a nearby Antarctic place , retrospect Thompson ’s aesculapian notes from that day and query certain aspects of his care . Thompson had access to anEktachemblood analyzer , a machine that would have detected the dangerous levels of methanol in his patient ’s system and belike propel the doctor to take steps toward appropriate treatment . But the atomic number 3 - ion barrage had died some time before , which meant that turning it off reset its electronic memory . It was shut off the day of Marks ’s death , and to power it back up , Thompson would have call for to recalibrate it — a unconscious process that have 8 to 10 hr [ PDF ] .
Thompson later testified that he had been too busy caring for Marks to use the Ektachem . He also said that the machine was difficult to utilize and maintain — a claim that Silva disputed . agree to Silva , the Ektachem " is quite straightforward , " and Thompson could have called the manufacturer ’s free technical accompaniment line if he was having issues with it ( though telephone inspection and repair was scratchy at good ) .
Thompson never provided a answer to Silva ’s testimony . He was out of the question to get in touch with during the later stagecoach of the inquest , having apparently fallen off the power system . He was never shoot with any wrongful conduct . ( Thompson could not be contact for scuttlebutt . )
The National Science Foundation ( NSF ) , the U.S. organisation that runs the Amundsen - Scott Station , reportedly did fiddling to make matters clearer . When Wormaldasked for reportson Marks ’s dying , the NSF reportedly was n’t forthcoming , saying it did n’t have any reports that were relevant to his investigating . The foundation also reportedly ignored his request when he asked for the termination oflab testsconducted on the short grounds gathered from Marks ’s room and work station before they were cleaned .
The NSF denies Wormald ’s characterization of how it handled the investigation . In a affirmation to Mental Floss , a representative say : " [ The ] NSF consistently join forces with the Christchurch medical examiner ’s business office and New Zealand Police to address this tragical situation . Dr. Marks was an important member of the Antarctic research community . NSF continues to put out its deepest condolence to his household , protagonist and colleagues . "
But according to Wormald , any utile selective information he pried from the government agency was the product of his own persistence . Only after being pestered by the detective , he say , did the NSF agree to place out a questionnaire to the 49 crew members who had been at the station at the time of Marks ’s death . The institution vetted the questions first , " to assure ourselves that appropriate discretion has been exercise , " and when they were finally post out , they came with a bill saying involution was n’t mandatory . Only 13 of Marks ’s 49 colleagues respond .
A Tragic Accident—Or The Perfect Crime?
Without much cooperation from the National Science Foundation and with no solid principal , the investigation failed to move forward . It fizzled out altogether in 2008 when coronerRichard McElreareleased a report say that no ending could be drawn one mode or the other about the circumstance surround Marks ’s poisoning . Referencing a 2000 write up [ PDF ] based on the medical notes about the display case that allege there was no reason to suspect homicide or inadvertent intoxication , McElrea wrote , " I respectively [ sic ] disagree that inadvertent poisoning and even foul romp can be adequately disregard without a full and right investigation . " His independent takeaway was that the disorganisation of the caseful indicated " an pressing pauperism to coif comprehensive rules of investigation and answerability for deaths in Antarctica on a bonnie and open ground . "
outdoors of true crimeinternet forums , a vindicated idea of what happened to Marks has never emerged . He did n’t have any known enemies at Amundsen - Scott Station , and there was no evidence entail any of the proletarian at the base with a crime .
With the inquiry into his death bring out more questions than answers , Rodney Marks ’s story occupy a foreign home in the history of south-polar tragedies . drive onapproved routesmay reduce the risk of come down into a crevasse — and banning chess may cease game - related fight — but this special incident left no obvious path toward forbid ones like it from happen in the time to come . It ’s not even exculpated whether Marks ’s destruction should be grouped with Antarctica ’s freak accident or rare acts of fury .
As of 2019 , there ’s still no system in place for manage homicide that happen on the continent . With so many territorial claims , and some that even overlap , thegeneralrule is that jurisdiction falls to the home country of the person who committed the criminal offense and the station where it take situation . That mean if a Russian researcher assaults someone at a Russian station , as was the case in October 2018 , the case is handled by Russian authorities . But thing get stickier if an American intrust a offense on a Russian base of operations , in which lawsuit both countries could have a claim to the investigation . Situations where an manifest crime produces a body and no obvious culprit are , of course , even more complicated .
Until Marks ’s end , that was an issue the nation working in Antarctica had never had to confront . There still has never been a trial for a murder that happen on the continent — though the question of whether murder has been committed there remain unreciprocated .
