Sept. 11, 1962 - Dr. Robert Soblen died this morning in Hillingdon Hospital near London from effects of the overdose of drugs he took five days ago. He was 61 years old. The convicted spy fled the U.S. in June to avoid serving a life sentence for Soviet espionage. Soblen’s wife was at his bedside. He never regained consciousness after having taken the drugs as he was being deported to the U.S. Dr. Cyril G. Barnes, the consulting physician at Hillingdon Hospital who has been attending Soblen, said death resulted from exhaustion following convulsions. He said the convulsions were due to brain damage presumably caused by a hemorrhage. Dr. Barnes said Soblen’s hemorrhage might have resulted from the period of oxygen deficiency that followed his overdose. He said Soblen “suffered from a blood disorder that makes hemorrhages occur much more easily than in other people.” Soblen’s blood disorder was lymphatic leukemia — cancer of the blood-forming system.
