The mysterious death of Richard Wright; suspicious events raise questions about last days of novelist

When Fabre's book appeared in 1973, again the evidence of mysterious circumstances and the possibility of murder were discussed. Fabre writes: "he might... have been disposed of at the Eugene Gibez Clinic where he did, in fact, die shortly after having been given an injection at a time when his health was apparently better." Fabre, however, dismisses murder as unlikely, as does Addison Gayle, jr.

In The Man Who Cried I Am, Williams names the poisonous drug rauwolfia serpentina, as the substance injected into the fictitious Wright character. The drug was known as a powerful weapon in the hands of the secret police and the CIA. The effect is instantaneous: it attacks the central nervous system and leaves the impression that the victim has had a heart attack.

Indeed, the CIA did have a file on Wright as did the FBI, the USIA and the State Department. Moreover, as a foreign national, Wright was also the subject of investigation by the French counterpart of the FBI, the Surete or French Security, and the Aliens Department of the British Home Office refuses to disclose its file. There is no way of knowing whether the KGB has a file on Wright or what it may contain.

We may never know the true details of Wright's death, but as time goes on more evidence of international political intrigue arises. George Padmore, Wright, and Franz Fanon died in the consecutive years 1959, 1960, and 1961, each under mysterious circumstances. Each died unexpectedly in a foreign hospital of natural causes, and each was under international police surveillance....

he news of Wright's death was kept Tout of the world press for two days. He died on November 28, but there was no news before November 30. It would take time, however, for Ellen to come and claim the body; perhaps this accounts for the two days' discrepancy. And one must remember, Wright was a foreign national and his death would have had to be reported to French and American authorities.

Although the body was held for five to seven days before cremation, there was no autopsy. The date of cremation, given as December 3 in biographies by Fabre and Webb, both books done under the widow's watchful eye, does not tally with the date of cremation in the Wright Reader chronology, December 5, a book co-edited by Fabre and Ellen Wright. Is the date a careless mistake, the mark of sloppy scholarship, or is it controversial and questionable? Surely the date of cremation is a matter of record. Two or three articles appeared in Ebony and other periodicals of the black press, all dealing with Wright's death as a mystery.

Chester Himes, Ollie Harrington, and Langston Hughes all imply Wright's death seemed sudden and unnatural, but neither of these men is able to say definitely what happened.

Mystery Woman

The rumor is that he was murdered by a woman. The question is what woman? Ellen obviously is eliminated because she was in London. What about a mistress? Was she his mysterious visitor between 10 p. m. and midnight? Or was there a woman posing as a wife or mistress in order to enter the hospital room? Was it the nurse who last saw him alive? Why would such a woman commit murder? For money or sex? Was there a sexual encounter shortly before death? Not likely, but if so, was he killed during that encounter or did that act of love in fact kill him?