A blood diagnostic reported a lethal level of cyanide in his blood, but the body did not display any classic symptoms of cyanide poisoning, and no link to cyanide could be found in Uroojs social circle. The diagnostic method used was the Conway diffusion method, prone to false positives with artifacts of heart attack and kidney failure. Autumn Marie Klein (20 April 2013), a prominent 41-year-old neuroscientist and physician, died from cyanide poisoning. Kleins husband, Robert J. Ferrante, also a prominent neuroscientist who used cyanide in his research, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for her death. Robert Ferrante is appealing his conviction. Mirna Salihin died in hospital on 6 January 2016, after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee at a cafe in a shopping mall in Jakarta. Police reports claim that cyanide poisoning was the most likely cause of her death. Jolly Thomas of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, was arrested in 2019 for the murder of 6 family members. Murders took place over 14-year period and each victim ate a meal prepared by the killer. The murders were allegedly motivated by wanting control of the family finances and property. Mei Xiang Li of Brooklyn, NY, collapsed and died in April 2017, with cyanide later reported to be in her blood. However, Mei never exhibited symptoms of cyanide poisoning and no link to cyanide could be found in her life. Warfare or terrorism
In 1988, between 3,200 and 5,000 people died in the Halabja massacre owing to unknown chemical nerve agents.
Testa conducted fumigations for the Wehrmacht and supplied them with Zyklon B. They also offered courses to the SS in the safe handling and use of the material for fumigation purposes. In April 1941, the German agriculture and interior ministries designated the SS as an authorized applier of the chemical, and thus they were able to use it without any further training or governmental oversight.Hydrogen cyanide gas has been used for judicial execution in some states of the United States, where cyanide was generated by reaction between potassium cyanide (or sodium cyanide) dropped into a compartment containing sulfuric acid, directly below the chair in the gas chamber. Suicide
Cyanide salts are sometimes used as fast-acting suicide devices. Cyanide reacts at a higher level with high stomach acidity. On 26 January 1904, company promoter and swindler Whitaker Wright committed suicide by ingesting cyanide in a court anteroom immediately after being convicted of fraud. In February 1937, the Uruguayan short story writer Horacio Quiroga committed suicide by drinking cyanide in a hospital at Buenos Aires. In 1937, polymer chemist Wallace Carothers committed suicide by cyanide. In the 1943 Operation Gunnerside to destroy the Vemork Heavy Water Plant in World War II (an attempt to stop or slow German atomic bomb progress), the commandos were given cyanide tablets (cyanide enclosed in rubber) kept in the mouth and were instructed to bite into them in case of German capture. The tablets ensured death within three minutes.