UK poisoning victim's brother: Nerve agent was in perfume bottle

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption British Police identify source of Russian nerve agent British counter-terrorism detectives believe they may have finally found the source of the nerve agent Novichok, which left a woman dead and a man critically ill. Veuer's Nathan Rousseau Smith reports.

LONDON — The Soviet-made nerve agent that killed a woman and left three other people critically ill was contained in a perfume bottle, the brother of one of the victims said.

Charlie Rowley, 45, and his partner Dawn Sturgess, 44, were found unconscious on June 30 in the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, southern England. Sturgess died on July 7 and Rowley remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition. British authorities said they were poisoned with Novichok nerve agent.

Matthew Rowley told the BBC in an interview published Sunday that his brother, who regained consciousness last week, said he picked up a perfume bottle that contained the chemical.

Last week, the London Metropolitan Police, which is investigating the incident, said they found the source of the nerve agent — a small bottle in Rowley’s house. They would not confirm any further details about the bottle.

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Police are trying to determine how the bottle got to the house and whether the poison was from the same batch that sickened Sergei Skripal, 66, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia, 33, in the city of Salisbury — about 10 miles from Amesbury — on March 4.

Britain blames Russia for the Skripals’ poisoning and that of Sturgess and Rowley. Russia denies any involvement in either incident.

Ewan Hope, Sturgess’ son, asked President Donald Trump to raise his mother’s case with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at their summit in Helsinki on Monday.

“We need to get justice for my mum. I’m so angry with her killers,” Hope, 19, told British newspaper The Sunday Mirror. He said it could be months before her funeral is held.

“I hope the (British) government can find out exactly who did this — I really want them to get what they deserve,” he added.

British authorities believe Sturgess and Rowley were not directly targeted. Sergei Skirpal was jailed in Russia for passing state secrets to Britain before he was released in a spy swap and moved to Salisbury.

The United Kingdom has invited independent chemical-weapons experts to visit this week and independently confirm the nerve agent suspected in the case.

Police and public health officials are warning people in the Salisbury and Amesbury areas not to pick up any unknown items.