Did this man kill Cold War spy Georgi Markov with umbrella? 35 years on, prime suspect revealed as ex-Communist agent now working as antiques dealer in Austria It was one of the most audacious acts of the Cold War which could have come straight from the pages of a spy novel. Georgi Markov was jabbed with an umbrella which fired a poison pellet into his leg as he crossed Waterloo Bridge. He died three days later - and for almost 35 years mystery has surrounded the whereabouts of his killer. Francesco Gulino known as Agent Piccadilly was allegedly involved in the assassination of Georgi Markov Now the prime suspect has been tracked down to a small Austrian town where he works as an antiques dealer. Francesco Gullino, 66, who was known by his Communist handlers as 'Agent Piccadilly', lives in a rundown flat in Wels. He was named in Bulgarian files as their only agent in London when the regime's secret services - backed by the KGB - had Markov 'liquidated'. Gullino left Britain the day after the attack and flew to Rome, where it is alleged he stood in a particular spot in St Peter's Square in order to send a signal to his Bulgarian handler. Now, in an interview carried out by German filmmakers, Gullino has admitted he was 'probably' in London at the time of Markov's murder - although he denies involvement in the plot. He also refused to answer whether he was a spy - despite the huge evidence in Bulgarian security archives - simply commenting that there were 'thousands of Google searches' saying that he was one. Markov had lived in Clapham, South London since fleeing Bulgaria in 1969. Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov, a broadcaster for the BBC overseas Service, who was murdered The bus stop (right) where Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was murdered by a Ricin spiked umbrella in 1978 For almost 35 years mystery has surrounded the whereabouts of Georgi Markov's killer The writer had continued to enrage the Communist regime with broadcasts on the BBC's Bulgarian Service which mocked dictator Todor Zhivkov. On the night of the attack in September 1978, the 49-year-old was walking across Waterloo Bridge to his office at the BBC when a man stepped out from a bus stop and jabbed him with an umbrella. The man apologised in a foreign accent, hailed a cab and left the scene. Markov returned to his office, but quickly fell ill and was taken to hospital that night with a high fever, dying three days later. Georgi Markov, murdered Bulgarian writer is pictured with his wife, Annabel Markov at a Kensington Register Office in July 1975 The home of Georgi Markov, murdered Bulgarian writer in Lynette Avenue, Clapham Georgi Markov, murdered Bulgarian writer, is pictured on his way to England on a train from Germany in 1971 Georgi Markov was jabbed with an umbrella which fired a poison pellet into his leg as he crossed Waterloo Bridge A post-mortem examination found a pinhead-sized pellet laced with the poison ricin in his leg. Despite a huge investigation, no one was ever caught. Suspicion did not immediately fall on Gullino, a Dane of Italian origin, who was recruited by Bulgaria in 1970 after being caught smuggling drugs. Gullino made three trips to London in 1977 and 1978, according to files from Durzhavna Sigurnost, the Bulgarian secret police. After the attack on Markov, he returned via Rome to Denmark, where he lived in Copenhagen. In 1993, after the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, he was interrogated for six hours by British and Danish detectives. An umbrella like this - modified to fire a tiny pellet filled with poison - was used to assassinate Georgi Markov on the streets of London He admitted he had worked as a spy but protested his innocence over the Markov case, and was released after Bulgaria refused to provide information on the case. Gullino finally emerged as the prime suspect in 2005 after a Bulgarian investigative journalist researched his country's surviving intelligence archives. By then the much-travelled antiques dealer was living in the Czech Republic, while keeping an address in Budapest. He later moved to Wels. Staff at the premises of Juergen Hesz, one of Europe's most successful antique traders, said Gullino knows their boss and has been seen at the offices. He was tracked down by director Klaus Dexel, while making the documentary Silenced: The Writer Georgi Markov and The Umbrella Murder. Asked by filmmakers if he is still in contact with his Bulgarian contact from the 1970s, he declined to give a straight answer, replying with a smile: 'This is an intimate question. Is it forbidden to talk to such people? Is it not good to work with foreign countries' secret services?' Bulgarian journalist Anthony Georgieff, who has also been on the trail of Gullino for two decades, said: 'In reality, if the British authorities wanted to arrest him they probably could. But there is a lot of embarrassment surrounding this case. The British allowed a defector to be murdered right under their noses and then the killer escaped. I think that might explain their reluctance to vigorously pursue it. Erwin Marchgraber, another antiques dealer in Wels, said he first met Gullino in Paris 20 years ago at an industry event. He met up with him again in Wels ten years ago, when he was working delivering antiques for Juergen Hesz. Mr Marchgraber said: 'He was polite and friendly. I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything untoward about his past. For a while he was married to a Czech woman, but I believe they have now separated. I last saw him in Wels at the flea market in the town centre about a month ago. He was just his usual self, walking around looking at things. This is all a very big surprise. Do you know this man? If so, contact tom.kelly@dailymail.co.uk