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Copyright 1997 Agence France Presse Agence France Presse February 18, 1997 18:19 GMT SECTION: International news LENGTH: 334 words HEADLINE: Robert Maxwell's daughter says he was murdered DATELINE: LONDON, Feb 18 BODY: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of late media tycoon Robert Maxwell, said Tuesday she was convinced he had been murdered in her first media interview since her father's mysterious death at sea in 1991. "One thing I am sure about is that he did not commit suicide. That was just not consistent with his character. I think he was murdered," Maxwell's daughter said in an interview with the mass circulation magazine Hello! In November 1991 Maxwell's body was found near his yacht Lady Ghislainc off the coast of the Canary Islands. An inquest concluded that Maxwell was the victim of accidental death, a verdict contested by his wife. "He did not commit suicide because he didn't drown. There is no evidence of suicide," said his 35-year-old daughter who lives in New York. "There is no evidence that he had a heart attack," she continued. "I can't see my father going to the side of a boat and slipping off the side. It is not easy to fall off the side of a boat." "It was not unhelpful to certain parties that the suicide theory was put about, because it meant his life insurance policy would be in dispute " Ghislaine Maxwell argued. She said she had not previously given any interviews because she did not want to add to already voluminous press coverage during the trials of her brothers Ian and Kevin Maxwell, who were acquitted in January last year of charges of fraudulent misuse of pension funds to save the crumbling family empire. pbliblibm AFP LOAD-DATE: February 18, 1997 Confidential Treatment Requested by JPMorgan Chase JPM-SDNY-00062507 EFTA01582922