![\"Bob](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/EYh6DrVWkAIZug_-Copy-696x464.jpg\" "\\"Bob")
The claim is several years old, but\u00a0a 2019 post to the Instagram page\u00a0Submit Conspiracy Theories\u00a0recently gained renewed attention.<\/p>\n
The page is a place for followers of the account\u00a0Conspiracy Theories\u00a0to post conspiracy theory memes,\u00a0according to its profile page.<\/p>\n
Reggae superstar Bob Marley was actually assassinated by a CIA agent named \u201cBill Oxley,\u201d the conspiracy theory claims. Oxley\u00a0allegedly confessed on his deathbed.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0claim has been debunked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marley died of cancer<\/strong><\/h4>\nAn obituary\u00a0published by\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0the day after Marley\u2019s\u00a0untimely death on May 11, 1981, reported his death from\u00a0cancer. He was 36.<\/p>\n
Some questioned how Marley, a Black man, contracted fatal melanoma that spread from his toe to his brain. Though melanoma is more common in those with fairer skin, hidden melanomas in areas of the body that don\u2019t receive a lot of sun exposure are more common in people with darker skin,\u00a0according to the Mayo Clinic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moreover, Marley\u2019s case of acral melanoma is described in an\u00a0article in Cancer Research U.K.\u2019s science blog\u00a0as a rare, fast-growing cancer that would have been difficult to treat with the technology available in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0conspiracy theory<\/strong><\/h4>\nAdding fuel to the conspiracy theory was a\u00a0prior attempt on Marley\u2019s life. Before his cancer diagnosis, Marley was shot in the chest\u00a0for supporting Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley,\u00a0according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n
A separate post to the Instagram page @_libertylou outlines the details\u00a0of an alleged confession from an ex-CIA agent. The @_libertylou account is tied to QAnon \u201cDeep State\u201d conspiracy theories,\u00a0according to its profile page.<\/p>\n
The post suggested Marley was targeted for his Rastafarian beliefs. Though it doesn\u2019t label Oxley as the \u201cCIA agent\u201d who assassinated Marley, the claim is almost identical to the source on defunct news website Your News Wire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To get close enough to Marley to inject him with a cancer-causing substance, an elaborate\u00a0setup was planned involving the CIA agent\u2019s\u00a0son, according to @_libertylou.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day of the (Smile Jamaica Concert) event, a \u2018USA photographer\u2019 who wanted to meet Marley got access,\u201d the post reads. \u201cHe told Marley how excited he was to film the event, and even brought him a pair of shoes. Bob tried on the shoe and screamed out \u2018OUCH\u2019! They found a pointed copper\/metal in the top part of the shoe. They immediately thought it was radioactive or poisoned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Smile Jamaica concert was held on Dec. 5, 1976,\u00a0according to the official website for Bob Marley.<\/p>\n
The post\u00a0described how doctors discovered Marley\u2019s cancer five months later during a visit to the hospital after a soccer player stepped on his toe. \u201cThey later found out the \u2018photographer\u2019 was the CIA agent\u2019s son,\u201d the claim ends.<\/p>\n
Did an ex-CIA agent make a deathbed confession?<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe source of the claim is a now-archived\u00a0article on the website YourNewsWire.com titled\u00a0\u201cCIA Agent Confesses On Deathbed: \u2018I Killed Bob Marley.\u2019\u201d\u00a0In May, Your News Wire creator Sean Adl-Tabatabai\u00a0offered fact-checker\u00a0Lead Stories a statement on the shutdown of the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I closed YourNewsWire down in late 2019 and moved to NewsPunch, the focus on what we would cover editorially changed and it was decided that we would no longer cover unreliable conspiracies whilst also being much more responsible in fact-checking content before publishing,\u201d\u00a0Adl-Tabatabai said.<\/p>\n
The archived article claimed that Oxley, \u201ca\u00a079-year-old retired officer of the CIA,\u201d confessed to 17 assassinations between 1974-85 after being told he had weeks to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as the agency was concerned, Bob Marley was too successful, too famous, too influential\u2026 A Jamaican Rastaman who started using his funds and fame to support causes around the world that were in direct conflict with the CIA\u2026 To be honest, he signed his own death warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strategy to inject Marley with a cancer-causing agent is the same described in the @_libertylou Instagram post, except Oxley, not his son, posed as the photographer.<\/p>\n
No such agent<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe existence of \u201cBill Oxley\u201d and whether someone with that\u00a0name was a CIA agent cannot be corroborated, USA TODAY confirmed. Reporters for fact-check sites\u00a0Snopes\u00a0and\u00a04News\u00a0also found no record of Oxley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though fabricated, Oxley\u2019s \u201cconfession\u201d in Your News Wire produced numerous internet memes and conspiracy theories. A 2018 reprint\u00a0of the story in Nigerian newspaper\u00a0Vanguard\u00a0was shared by rappers\u00a0Busta Rhymes\u00a0and\u00a0T.I.\u00a0on their Instagram accounts.<\/p>\n
Our rating: False<\/strong><\/h4>\nWe rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. The site where the claim was first posted, Your News Wire, shut down in 2019. None of the information in the article is verifiable and the existence of \u201cBill Oxley\u201d cannot be confirmed.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adding fuel to the conspiracy theory was a\u00a0prior attempt on Marley\u2019s life. Before his cancer diagnosis, Marley was shot in the chest\u00a0for supporting Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley,\u00a0according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n
A separate post to the Instagram page @_libertylou outlines the details\u00a0of an alleged confession from an ex-CIA agent. The @_libertylou account is tied to QAnon \u201cDeep State\u201d conspiracy theories,\u00a0according to its profile page.<\/p>\n
The post suggested Marley was targeted for his Rastafarian beliefs. Though it doesn\u2019t label Oxley as the \u201cCIA agent\u201d who assassinated Marley, the claim is almost identical to the source on defunct news website Your News Wire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To get close enough to Marley to inject him with a cancer-causing substance, an elaborate\u00a0setup was planned involving the CIA agent\u2019s\u00a0son, according to @_libertylou.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day of the (Smile Jamaica Concert) event, a \u2018USA photographer\u2019 who wanted to meet Marley got access,\u201d the post reads. \u201cHe told Marley how excited he was to film the event, and even brought him a pair of shoes. Bob tried on the shoe and screamed out \u2018OUCH\u2019! They found a pointed copper\/metal in the top part of the shoe. They immediately thought it was radioactive or poisoned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Smile Jamaica concert was held on Dec. 5, 1976,\u00a0according to the official website for Bob Marley.<\/p>\n
The post\u00a0described how doctors discovered Marley\u2019s cancer five months later during a visit to the hospital after a soccer player stepped on his toe. \u201cThey later found out the \u2018photographer\u2019 was the CIA agent\u2019s son,\u201d the claim ends.<\/p>\n
Did an ex-CIA agent make a deathbed confession?<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe source of the claim is a now-archived\u00a0article on the website YourNewsWire.com titled\u00a0\u201cCIA Agent Confesses On Deathbed: \u2018I Killed Bob Marley.\u2019\u201d\u00a0In May, Your News Wire creator Sean Adl-Tabatabai\u00a0offered fact-checker\u00a0Lead Stories a statement on the shutdown of the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I closed YourNewsWire down in late 2019 and moved to NewsPunch, the focus on what we would cover editorially changed and it was decided that we would no longer cover unreliable conspiracies whilst also being much more responsible in fact-checking content before publishing,\u201d\u00a0Adl-Tabatabai said.<\/p>\n
The archived article claimed that Oxley, \u201ca\u00a079-year-old retired officer of the CIA,\u201d confessed to 17 assassinations between 1974-85 after being told he had weeks to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as the agency was concerned, Bob Marley was too successful, too famous, too influential\u2026 A Jamaican Rastaman who started using his funds and fame to support causes around the world that were in direct conflict with the CIA\u2026 To be honest, he signed his own death warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strategy to inject Marley with a cancer-causing agent is the same described in the @_libertylou Instagram post, except Oxley, not his son, posed as the photographer.<\/p>\n
No such agent<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe existence of \u201cBill Oxley\u201d and whether someone with that\u00a0name was a CIA agent cannot be corroborated, USA TODAY confirmed. Reporters for fact-check sites\u00a0Snopes\u00a0and\u00a04News\u00a0also found no record of Oxley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though fabricated, Oxley\u2019s \u201cconfession\u201d in Your News Wire produced numerous internet memes and conspiracy theories. A 2018 reprint\u00a0of the story in Nigerian newspaper\u00a0Vanguard\u00a0was shared by rappers\u00a0Busta Rhymes\u00a0and\u00a0T.I.\u00a0on their Instagram accounts.<\/p>\n
Our rating: False<\/strong><\/h4>\nWe rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. The site where the claim was first posted, Your News Wire, shut down in 2019. None of the information in the article is verifiable and the existence of \u201cBill Oxley\u201d cannot be confirmed.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The existence of \u201cBill Oxley\u201d and whether someone with that\u00a0name was a CIA agent cannot be corroborated, USA TODAY confirmed. Reporters for fact-check sites\u00a0Snopes\u00a0and\u00a04News\u00a0also found no record of Oxley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though fabricated, Oxley\u2019s \u201cconfession\u201d in Your News Wire produced numerous internet memes and conspiracy theories. A 2018 reprint\u00a0of the story in Nigerian newspaper\u00a0Vanguard\u00a0was shared by rappers\u00a0Busta Rhymes\u00a0and\u00a0T.I.\u00a0on their Instagram accounts.<\/p>\n