Robert Maxwell died 12 years ago this month, November 5 to be precise. He died as he lived - an enigma wrapped in mystery. There were at least two post mortems on his waterlogged body after it had been dredged from the ocean. The speculations about how he died remain active to this day. Was it suicide, or heart failure in a grossly overweight body; was it an accident of fate, or was it murder?
At the time of his death I was prepared to believe in the suicide theory, it fitted the circumstances. Or I could have been persuaded that it was some form of natural cause - he was a sick man, used to taking medication on a substantial scale, and drugs to ease his pain and breathing problems following an earlier operation to remove part of his lung. It was even feasible that Maxwell took an overdose of drugs which left him semi-conscious as he opened the door of his cabin on his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine: gasping for air, fumbling toward the deck rail, he slid overboard in the early hours of darkness off the Canaries on that fateful morning. I have, however, changed my view on all this. I no longer believe that he was not murdered.
Bob Maxwell knew he was in irreversible trouble in his business affairs. Everywhere he looked, his great empire seemed to be collapsing around him - except for the still-profitable Mirror Group Newspapers. His American acquisitions were a crushing debt burden. He had rifled the entire pension funds of Maxwell Communications to try to ease that debt burden, and he mortgaged virtually all his wealth on a huge gamble with fate. There was no one left to rescue Bob Maxwell - except one possible saviour. He still had friends in very high political places. If they failed him then commercial disaster would swiftly turn to criminal investigations. So what happened to those political friends in high places?
Maxwell built up a tremendous catalogue of politically-influential contacts with wide commercial implications. For over 20 years he had established a network of commercial and political interests in the communist countries of Eastern Europe, which was a linchpin of his Pergamon Press Company. His biographies - or to be accurate, bland hagiographies - of virtually all the Communist leaders were a lucrative earner.
Yet this extraordinary quilt of commercial contacts with the East European communist world concealed something else - Maxwell was also involved in passing intelligence to the west about the communist rulers. In fact, he was almost certainly being used as - and using himself as - a two-way intelligence conduit. This arrangement included passing intelligence to the Israeli secret forces with whom he became increasingly involved towards the end of his life. Maxwell was highly regarded by the Israeli government. He was certainly used by them to help in the process of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union and, in return, he was seen by the Soviet government as an important contact in dealings with Israel. This involved commercial interests as well that linked Maxwell with secret defence deals between Israel and the countries of Eastern Europe. Maxwell had important investments in the Israeli defence industry, especially in the trading park at Haifa.
My own research focuses on these aspects of Maxwell's life. The possibility that Maxwell could have ended up in the Old Bailey on charges of criminal fraud raised critical questions for a number of countries involved in the Maxwell triangle of international dealings. Bob Maxwell in the dock of the Old Bailey was not a prospect any of these groups, which included the US, Britain, Soviet Russia, Israel and France, would have appreciated. The intelligence services in all of these countries were aware of the dangers. My own theory is that any one of them - or even a combination of several - could have been responsible for Maxwell's death. If Maxwell was keeping one final hope of a last-minute financial reprieve and help from some of his old friends in high places then it could have come from any one of these sources.
But it did not. Instead came death. Of course, it is unlikely that the truth will ever emerge. But of one thing I can remain quite certain: Bob Maxwell was an unlikely suicidal figure. Indeed, he believed he could walk on water.
· This is an edited extract from From Bevan to Blair: 50 Years' Reporting from the Political Front Line by Geoffrey Goodman (Pluto Press £18.99)