With regard to the assertion that the prisoner was murdered, one has to compare Hugh Thomas's opinion that the marks on the neck indicated throttling with the statement of Professor J.M. Cameron, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem and examined the corpse. Cameron gave the cause of death as asphyxia, compression of the neck, and suspension - i.e. suicide by hanging. One also has to consider whether the verdict of suicide issued by the Four Powers - Britain, France, Russia and the USA - was the result of a conspiracy to conceal the truth, and ask why these officials would have connived for such a purpose. Moreover, one has to ask whether the British Government would have initiated or at least sanctioned the most serious criminal act, that of murder, as suggested by a former officer of the Crown. Those responsible would have been liable under the full force of the law.

There was some support for the murder theory made in a BBC2 Newsnight programme on 28 February 1989. One of the witnesses was the Tunisian medical orderly Abdallah Melaouhi, who gave evidence based on his arrival in the `small summer house' where Hess was found with the cord around his neck. In fact, this was a metal Portakabin, fitted with a heater, where the prisoner could sit and read or doze in comfort. Melaouhi alleged that he had been delayed by the guards, that the furniture had been thrown about as if there had been a struggle in which Hess had attempted to defend himself, that there was no cord around Hess's neck, that the extension cord on the lamp was still in place, that there were two strange men in American uniforms present, and that Hess was so debilitated and arthritic that he could not even tie his own shoelaces, let alone knot a cord round his neck.

By far the most rational replies to these statements come from Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Le Tissier, who was the British Governor of Spandau prison. He points out that the only delay in Melaouhi's arrival was caused by the difficulty in locating him, eventually in the Mess, and even then his time of booking in at the main gate shows that there was little delay before he arrived. There were four reading lamps in the Portakabin and thus more than one cord. The two men in American uniform were medics who had been called to assist in resuscitation, and in fact continued to do so with Melaouhi himself. The furniture had been pushed aside in their previous attempts. With regard to Hess's medical condition, Melaouhi supervised him on an exercise bicycle every morning. Hess wore a truss and probably found bending to tie up his shoelaces difficult, but he could certainly write legibly and thus tie a knot.

Another person who was interviewed on the Newsnight programme was Professor Spann, who had carried out the second autopsy on Hess. He stated that the marks on the body did not tally with the normal evidence of people who had been hanged. However, Tony Le Tissier points out that there was no suspension of the body from a noose with the feet off the floor, as is the usual method when people commit suicide by hanging. Hess had removed his outer garments, looped the cord around his neck and slumped to the floor with his legs splayed out in front of him.

Nevertheless, Wolf Rudiger Hess remains convinced that his father was murdered by the British Government, on the grounds that in 1987 there were signs that the Soviets were likely to agree to release him and that he would disclose certain facts contained in British files not due for release until the year 2017. In April 1995, Wolf Rudiger submitted evidence to the British Registrar and applied for the wording on his father's death certificate to be changed from `asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck due to hanging' to 'asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck due to throttling'. A reply was received stating that 'The subject has been studied and it was found that the Services Registering Officer in Germany did not have the authority to register Mr Hess's death. The registration was therefore made in error and the entry relating to Mr Hess has been cancelled.'