Show producers resume the investigation into his death and find conclusive evidence that Rasputin was assassinated in St. Petersburg in 1916 in a plot orchestrated by a rogue member of British intelligence – Secret Service Agent Oswald Rainer fatally shot at close range.
The documentary is based on extraordinary new evidence uncovered by intelligence historian and project consultant Andrew Cook.
BBC Timewatch has also brought in Richard Cullen, a former Metropolitan police chief and lecturer in forensic detective work to Russian police cadets, to reopen the case.
Richard Cullen revisited the original autopsy report and found that the original explanation for Rasputin’s death did not match the forensic evidence.
He specifically questioned one of the key autopsy photos, which showed Rasputin with a gunshot wound to the center of his forehead, the hallmark of a professional assassination attempt.
The accepted version of Rasputin’s death is that he was poisoned by five disaffected nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov, then shot and drowned in the Nevka River.
Conspirators are said to have been concerned about Rasputin’s influence over Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsar Alexandra.
For years, historians have questioned Yusupov’s version of events but have been unable to come up with a credible alternative theory.
