Bill Oxley, a 79 year old ex-agent of Americaβs Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has allegedly claimed that he is responsible for the death of the reggae legend, Bob Marley.
History over time has always had it that Marley died at age 36, after fighting with cancer.
The story of him dying to cancer maybe reviewed now that their has been claims emerging from a deathbed confession made by the ex-CIA agent, who admitted to the killing.
As stated by a report by the Daily Star,Oxley is alleged to have claimed the murder of Marley among 17 other assassinations for the American government between 1974 and 1985, at a time when he said the CIA βwas a law unto itself.β
Oxley, who reportedly worked as an operative for the CIA for 29 years, is alleged to have said he was often used as a hitman on targets deemed to βrepresent a threat to the interests of the United States.β
In a purported interview shared widely online, he admitted having no problem with proceeding with the Bob Marley assassination because, Iβve always understood that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.β
As stated by Oxley, he used faked press credentials to gain access to Bob Marley at his Blue Mountain retreat; introducing himself as a famous photographer working for the New York Times, and gave Bob Marley a gift.
βI gave him a pair of Converse All Stars. Size 10. When he tried on the right shoe, he screamed out βOUUUCH.β
βThat was it. His life was over right there and then. The nail in the shoe was tainted with cancer viruses and bacteria. If it pierced his skin, which it did, it was goodnight nurse.β
βThere had been a series of high-profile assassinations of counter-culture figures in the United States in the late sixties, early seventies. By the time Bob Marleyβs time came around, we thought subtlety was the order of the day. No more bullets and splattered brains.β
Mr. Oxley says he kept close contact with Marley during the final years of his life, ensuring the medical advice he received in Paris, London and the United States βwould hasten his demise rather than cure him.β
βThe last time I saw Bob before he died he had removed the dreadlocks, and his weight was dropping like a stone,β he says.
βHe was very withdrawn, unbelievably small. He was shrinking in front of us. The cancer had done itβs job.β
Although widely dismissed as fiction, the account does tally with findings by UK scientists in 2014, who discovered the mysterious acral melanomas the rare type of skin cancer that caused reggae musicianβs demise was in fact not caused by the sun.
Bob Marleyβs soon Ziggy has previously implied his Father was killed, saying in a 2013 interview about the death: βI donβt know what to believe β¦ there are a lot of theories.β