Coup D'etat in America Volume Seven

COUP D’ETAT IN AMERICA VOLUME SEVEN
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Coup D'Etat in America
Volume 7
   
Mr. Alan Weberman
ISBN: 9781520307435
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2017
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

318 3RD Avenue Suite 520
NYC 10010
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NODULE TWENTY-FOUR
HEMMING AFTER THE COUP
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HEMMING'S ALIBI: NOVEMBER 22, 1963
There was no way that Gerry would miss the big event.
Hemming told this researcher that he was at home on November
22, 1963, when he heard the news of President Kennedy's death on
his radio. He said he rode to the Miami News building with Alan
Kennedy where he saw editor William Baggs (deceased), "a
confidant of the Kennedys who was their local eyes and ears on CIA
activities." Hemming told this researcher: "I was sure as hell making
sure I had an alibi. I was over to his house that night. He's askin' me
stuff. I said, 'I ain't gonna tell you shit.'" Karl Lessman, Sr.
[kpocket@buckeyeweb.com] sent me this E-Mail: From Decker
Exhibit No. 5323 - volume 19, page 477, statement of Philip Ben
Hathaway, age 28, taken on November 22, 1963:
Just before noon today, my friend John Stevens

Rutter Lawrence, who works with me, and I and two
other friends left the Texaco building where we work
going to the parade. We were walking down
Commerce up to Main and Main to Akard and while
we were walking up Akard towards Main Street we
passed a man who was carrying a rifle in a gun case.
I saw this man walking towards me, walking towards
Commerce, and took particular attention to him
because of his size. I am 6' 5" and weigh 200
pounds. This man was very tall, approximately 6' 6"
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or 6' 7" over 250 pounds, very thick and big through
the chest, in his 30's, dirty blonde hair, hair worn in a
crew cut. Was wearing gray colored business suit
with a white dress shirt, fair complexion. I remarked
to my friend that there was a guy carrying a gun in
this crowd and made the remark that he was
probably a Secret Service man. I could very easily
identify this man if I ever saw him again. The gun
case was holding a rifle because I could tell there
was a gun in it as it was a combination leather and
cloth gun case and without a gun it would have been
limp, but it was heavy and he was carrying it by the
handle and the barrel of the gun was up at a 45
degree angle. It was beige or tan leather and olive
drab material. We can place the time we saw this
man walking with the gun as I recall someone in the
crowd asking for the time and they said it was 11:50
A.M. Philip Ben Hathaway.
This researcher read this E-Mail to Hemming. Hemming

stated: "It was my doppleganger." Philip Ben Hathaway has not as
yet been located by this researcher. Hemming called this researcher
and stated that the Secret Service at released its copy of an FBI
document about Hathaway which contained a notation on the
bottom of it that read "HemmingS?" Hemming sent me a copy of this
document:
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HEMMING IS VISITED BY THE FBI AFTER THE

ASSASSINATION HEMMING NOVEMBER 23, 1963
Hemming told this researcher:
O'Conner came by himself, which he was prone to

do, because there weren't that many people working
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his division, which was agents. O'Conner focused on

Castro agents, KGB's and all that kind of bullshit.
O'Conner came by and said Dwyer and a couple of
other guys are gonna be coming by and 'What do
you think? Do you think any of the Miami people
could have been involved in this?' I said 'I ain't got a
fucking clue. There's weird shit that happens, but I
ain't got a fucking clue.' He said, 'When they come by
they're probably not gonna ask you too much shit
anyway, I wouldn't volunteer anything.' Well they
know that I'm the one that has his fingers on every
fucking move that's going on.
Hemming 1994:
The FBI came by my place after the assassination

and asked nine questions in a hurry, and got the fuck
out of there. They asked: 'What did you have for
breakfast? What did you have for lunch?' They didn't
ask where I was when the big event happened.
Basically, in a roundabout way, 'Can you think of
anything that could help in this business about
Kennedy in Dallas?' Skirting the issues. They gave
me a message by the nature of the fucking
questions, to keep my mouth shut. They pointedly did
not ask me my alibi. That was a month after the
assassination. That was the last time I talked to the
FBI. After the assassination, nobody in the group
discussed any bullshit, and there was nobody asking
no questions. We didn't discuss it. When there were
arguments and shit, a guy would blurt out something.
I would tell him to shut his goddamn face. That's
what caused them guys to think I was in on the son-
of-a-bitch. So what are they gonna do then? They're
gonna keep their fucking mouths shut. They figure
I'm a goddamn ringleader on the assassination of a
President. This is what has carried through my
connections for the last 30 years. All these
intelligence assholes figure that's what it was. We
divorced the Kennedy thing from our memories until
the Garrison thing came up in 1967.
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Hemming was not too concerned about Dwyer coming

around. FBI SA Robert James Dwyer interviewed Howard Kenneth
Davis after Hemming had Oswald call in on the Allen Courtney radio
show. He was HKD FBI case officer. The FBI:
The information, upon the basis of which these

arrests were made, was furnished from beginning to
the end of the attempted expedition by MM-639-S.
This informant’s activities are directed by Special
Agent ROBERT JAMES DWYER, who originally
developed him. SA Dwyer regularly devotes many
house of his personal time during the night and the
early… 12/13/1962
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HARGRAVES AND ACKER
Hemming stated that Hargraves was "in Miami, with his

nagging wife, under surveillance," on November 22, 1963. On
January 10, 1967, William Blanton Acker, Jr., furnished the FBI with
the following information.
In 1963 he was in Miami, Florida, employed at the
Royal Castle, Number 2, Flagler and Second, and
met one Art Silva. Art Silva at that time was living
with one Phyliss (LNU) at a small hotel across the
street from Royal Castle Number Two. They later
moved to an apartment in a court near LaJune Road
and Eighth Street which was behind a fruit stand.
One of their neighbors in the court (consisting of
about ten units) was one Roy (LNU) who was living
with some woman, name unrecalled, in the court next
door to Art Silva. Roy, according to Art Silva, had
several telescopic sight rifles, grenades, mortars,
dynamite etc. in his room. Also Roy had made a trip
to Dallas, Texas, in late 1963 and was reported by
Art Silva to have Secret Service credentials. Roy was
also associated with various Cuban resistance
movements and was an ex-Marine. William Blanton
Acker notes that instant article he read says a
policeman stopped a man in Dallas who showed
Secret Service credentials. Acker says at a
Christmas party in 1963 he was arguing with Roy and
almost came to blows as Roy blamed former
President Kennedy personally for the death of one of
his close friends who was in the invasion at the Bay
of Pigs. Acker says that in late 1963 he met Art Silva
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in an open air sandwich shop in Miami to have a beer

and Art Silva talked of his next door neighbor Roy
and said Roy was working with the Cubans and
would help William Blanton Acker get into the
movement if he wanted to help out in winning back
Cuba from Castro. Art Silva also said, 'Somebody is
going to die. Somebody who hasn't hurt anybody. He
doesn't know it but he is going to die.' Acker says he
asked Art ,'Who?' and Art Silva said he couldn't say.
Art Silva also said "Roy is in something big, the
biggest thing this country has seen.' Acker says he
thought Art Silva was talking about a robbery or
something of that nature as he suspected Art Silva of
being mixed up with various underworld characters.
At this time Acker believes it was the assassination of
President Kennedy after reading the article in the
Post of January 14. Acker advised as follows Art
Silva, age 25, 5'10" or 11" about 175 pounds, dark
complexion, brown eyes, black hair, white male, a
former Marine, tattoos on both forearms, one 'Penny'
and one 'Mother' and one maybe a heart with 'Art
and Penny' also Social Security number or serial
number on upper right arm, build muscular, possibly
Portuguese descent, probably a transvestite,
employed as Assistant Manage of Royal Castle
Number Eight in 1963 and was fired. Roy (LNU) as
25 years old, 6'1", 170-175 pounds, brown blonde
hair, parted on the side, blue or grey eyes, fair
complexion, white male, strong build, college type,
was stopped by Coast Guard in late 1963 beyond
three mile limit in a boat headed for Cuba and was
turned back.
In 1963 Hargraves was 23 years old, 5' 10", 165 pounds, brown
hair, hazel eyes.
WILLIAM BLANTON ACKER'S MENTAL ILLNESS
William Blanton Acker (born: April 17, 1921, in
Jefferson County, Alabama) graduated from Brighton
High School, Brighton, Alabama and later attended
Auburn University but failed to graduate and left in
1940 to enter the United States Army. He was in the
field artillery. He received an honorable discharge in
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1945. The records of the Merchants Credit

Association, Birmingham, Alabama, were made
available to the FBI on January 18, 1967. These
records indicated that William Blanton Acker and his
wife Henrietta, were buying a residence in Bessemer,
Alabama, in 1953 and 1954, and in about 1954
moved to Huntsville, Alabama. He was employed as
an insurance agent. William Blanton Acker was
voluntarily admitted to the Veterans Administration
Hospital, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on September
14, 1958. He went home on a trial visit on November
7, 1958, and had not been returned to the hospital
after that time. He was discharged from the trial visit
on July 1, 1959. William Blanton Acker was in the
Veterans Administration Hospital for three weeks.
When admitted to the hospital, his admission
diagnosis was as follows: 'Persecution complex.' His
discharge diagnosis was 'Schizophrenic reaction,
paranoid type. Manifested by circumstantiality, flight
of ideas, etc. moderate.' He was considered
competent upon discharge. The registrar of the
Veterans Administration Hospital advised that in
layman's terms, "Acker had a split personality. Mr.
Bennett stated further that Acker has a psychosis
characterized by complete withdrawal from close and
rewarding relationships with other people. He noted
from a review of his file that Acker had a history
disclosing that he was unable to hold a job for any
length of time. He had previously been confined to
the Alabama State Hospital where he had been
committed by his wife. The file disclosed that he had
never been injured in military service but had
suffered from malaria fever. [FBI Alabama 89-45-145]
There was a notation on the credit files of William Blanton

Acker that as of February 14, 1959, he was residing in Huntsville,
Alabama, and his wife was employed by the Board of Education,
Huntsville, as a teacher. William Blanton Acker told the FBI that he
is separated from his wife, who resided in Bessemer, Alabama and
"was advised by his doctor, after separation, to leave the area and
go to Miami and get a new start on life."
When the FBI interviewed William Blanton Acker, Jr., 45, in 1967 he
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…admitted he was in Veterans Administration

Hospital, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for a mental
condition, is a veteran of World War II, having served
in North Africa, Italy, Austria, France and Germany.
Reliability of Acker's statements are unknown by
Mobile. Acker claims to have furnished information of
a confidential nature regarding Gilgreen to
Birmingham Office in 1950's. He states he resided in
Bessemer, Alabama, 1949 to 1950 and later was
contacted by Agent Leonard Hern of Huntsville
Resident Agency regarding testifying as a witness at
trials in Washington, D.C. which he declined. Acker
states he is separated from his wife who resided in
Bessemer, Alabama." [62-109060-4402 NARA FBI
124-10058-10083 2.21.67 Date of Last Review
11.22.93] The files of the Birmingham Office of the
FBI indicated Acker telephoned the Birmingham
Office "and claimed that on April 15, 1957, he had
observed FBI fugitive Gilbert Green at a cafe in
Huntsville. Green had surrendered in New York City
on February 27, 1956, and was not being sought as a
fugitive at the time of Acker's call. [NARA FBI 124-
10258-10202]
The FBI found that the tax records of Royal Castle indicated
that A.A. Silva, SS # 047-28-2333, had worked at Royal Castle until
September 1963, and at that time resided at 207 N.E. 2nd Ave,
Miami, a fictitious address. William Blanton Acker, Jr. was employed
there until December 1963. When the FBI checked the apartment in
a court, Mrs. Katherine W. Drobet related that a
Roy E. Hargraves managed the place when she

owned the cottages and also when Mrs. Neos had
them. She advised that Hargraves was a petty thief
and was mixed up in gun running and also in Cuban
activities. She advised that she recalled Mrs. Neos
saying that Hargraves was stopped by either United
States Customs or the Coast Guard, trying to go to
Cuba. Mrs. Drobet advised that she had no records
at all as to the tenants and the names William
Blanton Acker and Art Silva meant nothing to her.
She related that a woman was staying with
Hargraves at the cottages; however, she could
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furnish no information relative to her...Eventually

Hargraves was fired as he did not turn over some
rents to Mrs. Drobot.
The information checked out, but the FBI discontinued the

investigation:
Investigation in this matter was conducted at Miami,

Florida, by S.A. John F. Hanlon, Jr. MM T-1 is
(Deleted) [Howard Kenneth Davis]. For the
information of the Bureau, complete facts
surrounding the involvement of Roy EMORY
Hargraves in Cuban affairs can be found in cases
captioned 'Roy Hargraves; ROLANDO
MASFERRER; ET AL. IS – CUBA, NM,' Bufile 105-
118615 Miami File 105-7313, and 'UNITED
NATIONAL FRONT AGAINST CASTRO IS - CUBA,'
Bufile 105-138074. Miami File 105-9794. In view of
the fact that this investigation is predicated upon
information furnished by William Blanton Acker, an
individual with a diseased mind, and also because a
reliable source advised that Roy Hargraves was in
Miami from November 1963, to March 1964,
engaged in Cuban activities, no further action is
being taken at Miami, UACB. [NARA FBI 124-10058-
10056]
The FBI cited:
MM T-1, who has been active in Cuban revolutionary

matters for the past seven years, on February 10,
1965, advised he personally knew and was formerly
associated with Hargraves, a mercenary, adventurer
and soldier of fortune. From November 1963, through
March 1964 Hargraves was closely associated with
and worked for Felipe Vidal Santiago. Hargraves
helped Felipe Vidal Santiago to obtain arms,
ammunition and a boat. He transported the boat and
military equipment between Miami and the Florida
Keys. When Hargraves was stopped by US Customs
agents, Felipe Vidal Santiago clandestinely left the
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United States and infiltrated Cuba. Felipe Vidal

Santiago was captured and executed by a firing
squad in Cuba in April 1964." [FBI 62-109060-4450]
William Blanton Aker told the truth, however, the FBI took
the word of Howard K. Davis, and determined Aker was lying.
Howard K. Davis snitched on Hemming, at Hemming’s behest, in
order to provide a toned down profile of Hemming’s activities at this
time to the FBI. The two men have remained close friends over the
years. When Hemming had a heart attack recently, it was Davis who
called me to tell me about it. Hemming knew the FBI wanted at least
one snitch in this group, so he let Davis play that role.
MM T-I advised on December 4, 1963, that Hemming was
then in serious financial condition, and that neither he nor his wife
were then employed. He said that Hemming was then engaged in
attempting to raise funds for taisCuban revolutionary activities by
writing letters requesting contributions to leading political and
industrial figures in the United States. On December 16, 1963,
Gerald Patrick Hemming was interviewed in connection with another
matter. At this time, Hemming was residing at 1036 Southwest Fifth
Street, Apartment #2, Miami, Florida. During the interview, he
mentioned he was then unemployed, and was not operating any
military training programs for Cuban exiles. Be said his organization,
Interpen, had six members, but was inactive. The June 28, 1964
issue of the "Miami Herald" contained an article captioned "Arms
Returned to Rebels", which related that "a 12-member Federal
Court Jury agreed with Gerald Patrick Hemming, better known as
JERRY Patrick, that the arms and ammunition which had been
seized by United States Customs Agents 19 months ago on
Sombrero Beach, Marathon, Florida, were to be used for a training
camp and not for a mission to Cuba". The article reported that
Patrick, 2540 Northwest North River Drive, said that he had
switched his training operations from the Florida Keys to the
Everglades. Hemming advised that he is interested in setting up,
maintaining and operating military training camps for Cuban exiles.
Hemming advised that he has been active in the Cuban
revolutionary activities for the past four years and is in frequent
contact with the leaders of Commandos L. [FBI Analysis of 2.68
Ramparts article by William Turner] On December 16, 1963,
Hemming
…was interviewed in connection with another matter.
Incidental to this interview, Hemming advised he is
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currently unemployed, is not operating any military

training camps for Cuban exiles at the present time;
and that his organization, INTERPEN, has six
members, but is inactive. Hemming explained he
continues to maintain contact with persons active in
Cuban Revolutionary matters; still is interested in
working toward overthrowing Communism in Cuba;
and is still closely following U.S. Government policy
concerning Cuba. Hemming stated he has
interviewed Cubans recently having defected from
Cuba; he has ascertained a considerable amount
regarding Cuban radar defenses; knows which
corridors are currently open; but has not considered
making this information available to the United States
Government. [FBI 2-1693-97 pgs. 1-3 w/h]
On December 31, 1963, the FBI generated a highly deleted

Letter Head Memorandum concerning Hemming and Alexander
Rorke. Subject: INTERPEN [FBI HQ 2-1693-97 pgs. 1-3 w/h]
JANUARY 1964
I was in Angleton’s home after the assassination. He

ain't got Secret Service parked in his driveway. We
didn't discuss a goddamned thing. I wondered if the
fucker would answer the door considering what I was
feeling at that time. And then, when I called back
from New Orleans, when I was out there with
Garrison for a couple of days and I called back to
D.C. and talked to a couple of other parties, I figured
they were going to hang up the phone.
Hemming said he had seen Angleton in March 1963 and

again in January or February 1964. Hemming said he told him he
was "shutting the motherfucker down." During a pre-trial hearing
concerning the No Name Key bust, Hargraves accused Wallace
Shanley of being responsible for the death of two or three Cubans
who had been infiltrated into Cuba, because the weapons he had
seized at No Name Key were destined for these men. [CIA 201-
309125 11.964] On June 26, 1964, a 12 member jury decided in
Miami Federal Court that Hemming and his crew should regain
possession of the arms, confiscated December 4, 1963, at
Marathon Key.
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On September 11, 1964, the FBI generated a document

about Hemming that contained information from a Secret report
from the Department of the Army: "In as much as Hemming’s future
activities appear likely to be with INTERPEN, the Miami Subject file
on Hemming is being placed in a closed status." [FBI HQ 105-
86406-18 pages 1A, 2 - 6, 15 -16. 19, 20, 21, 25, 29, 30 w/h] This
document, which was 30 pages long, dealt with Hemming’s
activities in Castro's Cuba, INTERPEN, Gerry Heming's connection
to William Morgan, HEMING'S connection to the Sandinistas,
Hemming’s connection to the anti-Communist Legionnaires, the
numerous newspaper articles about Hemming, FRANK Sturgis,
Rolando Masferrer, Hemming’s fund raising trip to Los Angeles,
Hemming’s No Name Key bust, Customs violations, the search for
Rorke etc. A copy of this document was sent to G-2, Fort
McPherson, Georgia, and to the United States Secret Service
"Regarding protecting President of U.S."
Hemming 1994: "I was back on active duty with the Army
Special Forces in August 1964. No one interviewed me in
September 1964. I went to Fort Benning, Georgia, in November
1964." Hemming’s "Department of the Army and Air Force National
Guard Bureau, Report of Separation and Record of Service in the
Army National Guard of Florida and as a Reserve of the Army"
Discharge Certificate indicated that in early October 1964 Hemming
entered the Special Forces Group Augmented of the U.S. Army
Reserve. On December 2, 1964, Hemming was in Fort Benning,
Georgia, where he took a Basic Airborne Course. When Hemming’s
tour of duty ended on April 13, 1967, he was 6' 6" tall and weighed
256 pounds. He listed his occupation as "ironworker."
THEORY: HEMMING & THE DEATH ED COLLINS
On September 28, 1964, while the FBI was in touch with
Hemming about the Odio incident, Hemming murdered INTERPEN
member Edward A. Collins. Miami Police records indicated Edward
A. Collins was involved in "selling guns and explosives to Cuban
exiles." In October 1963 Edward A. Collins stole a boat from which
anti-Castro transmissions were beamed to Cuba from outside U.S.
waters. In 1977, Hemming said that in 1963 Edward A. Collins
experienced, "delusions of grandeur" and attempted to form a united
front of right-wing groups that would have included Cuban exiles,
the Ku Klux Klan, the National States Rights Party and others.
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Collins was working with Harber around this time. He

was keeping a low profile because he knew that it
would annoy the hell out of me if he tried to branch
out. Of course he was fairly active in 1963. That's
what cost him his life in 1964. We would keep track
of what he was doing so he didn't go off and do
something crazy and we end up with another
goddamn Loran Hall type situation. Branching out.
Doing crazy shit. Taking some of our people along for
the ride. Before Collins died we've already got the
information as to what the fuck he's doing.
Hemming told Edward A. Collins to accompany him aboard a

small craft they had rented from Russell Wilkey, a charter boat
captain. According to Miami Police and City of Miami reports,
Russell Wilkey, Steve Justin Wilson, Hemming and Edward A.
Collins were out at sea when Edward A. Collins allegedly "dived off
the sailboat to retrieve a drifting dingy. This was the last time he was
seen alive."
City of Miami, Florida, Inter-Office Memorandum

Lt. H. Swilly, Intelligence Unit,
From Gus Zenoz, P/officer Intelligence Unit
Date October 20, 1964,
References W/M Edward A. Collins 29 years 1925
S.W. 4th Street
On September 28, 1964, Subject went sailing with
Russell Wilkey 47 years (owner of sailboat) and two
other men, names unknown. According to Russell
they were in the Dinner Key boat channel when
Collins dived off the sailboat to retrieve a drifting
dingy. That was the last time they saw him alive. On
September 29, 1964, Perry Nichols Jr. 18 years,
discovered the underwear clad corpse (Subject)
about 4:15 p.m. Nichols, a high school student, had
been out on the family boat. Writer has learned that
Subject, at the time of his death, had been very
actively locally selling explosives and guns to the
Cuban groups. An informer told writer that he had
been out boat riding with Subject and that he was not
the type who would jump in the ocean especially at
night. Informer who was very friendly with Subject
thinks that he was probably killed. Writer thinks it
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might be a good idea to find out who the other two

men in the boat were and to check them out. They
might be the ones involved in the theft of dynamite
for September 19, 1964, from Jack Allen Austin
Powder Company, 11200 S.W. Court.
Seymour Gelber of the City of Miami, Florida, stated:
Further investigation reveals that on September 28,

1964, Collins was sailing with three other men when
he attempted to retrieve a dingy boat when he
drowned. The three men with him at the time were as
follows: Gerald Patrick Hemming, 1036 S.W. 5th St.
Apt. 2, Miami, Florida (You will remember this man
popping up in our recent inquiry). Steve Justin
Wilson, 1925 S.W. 4th Street, Miami, Florida (we
have no information on this individual) and these are
old addresses on both men. Russell Wilkey, address
unknown. Edward Anderson Collins only arrest here
in Miami was only for 'drunk.'Collins listed his
occupation as Marine Surveyor. Medical examiners
report shows that he died by drowning. Attached you
will find a picture of Collins. He is well known to our
Customs men here. [Ltr. Gelber to Fensterwald
8.13.68; Miami Police Report 9.29.64, 9.20.64]
Seymour Gelber, the author of one of these reports, was

Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida from 1962 to
1963. By 1976 he was a Florida State judge. Russell Wilkey, was
born November 28, 1918, and died in August 1982.
On May 8, 1968, Hemming told, Steve Burton, an

investigator for New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, that
Edward A. Collins and Enrique Molina (a Castro spy) were in Dallas
during November 1963. (When Hemming disliked someone, he put
them in Dallas around the time of the Kennedy assassination.)
When a Freedom of Information Act request was filed for the
records of Edward A. Collins, the Bureau stated: "Eighteen pages
were reviewed and were withheld in their entirety, with no
segregable material available for release...13 pages out of the 18
had been referred to the CIA as the information originated with
them...CIA advised that all of its information should be denied in its
entirety..." and it still is as of 2010. [FBI ltr. 5.15.79 Bresson/AJ]
Wallace Shanley commented, "Collins was a guy that ate dog food."
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In 1977 Hemming was asked about the death of Edward A.

Collins: "Shit, he didn't die in no accident. He was keelhauled by a
bunch of left-wingers!" Hemming 1994:
Collins was a very simple guy. We liked to fight a lot

and argue. But he was a real joker. He decided to
infiltrate this peace march that was going to march to
Key West, get on some boats, then go to Havana
and march to Guantanamo Naval Base. He fell in
with those people, and he was working for the FBI
when he did it. Off Dinner Key he supposedly jumped
off the boat that these peace people were going to
take to Havana, to recover a dingy that had come
loose in the night in eight feet of water, and he
drowned. I went to identify the body. Steve Justin
Wilson and I were not on the boat with him. When he
drowns the FBI figures, 'Holy shit, their careers are
on the line. They got him killed.' The FBI questioned
me about it. Russell Wilkey was a peacenik and a
U.S. Customs informant. We were not on the boat
with him. We went and interrogated the guys on the
boat severely. We didn't hurt them too bad. We
wanted know what the hell was going on? How an
excellent swimmer, who had just been on a boat a
few months before that blew up off Cuba, could
drown? The City of Miami report is bullshit. They
made a mistake. We looked him over close on the
slab.
Hemming was asked why there was no mention of the peace
cruise in the media, and why it was not in any Miami Police or Miami
City report. Hemming told this researcher:
The people on that boat were not overtly connected
with the peace march. We thought Collins was trying
to steal the boat. Listen to what I say instead of
wasting your goddamn time on bullshit! What are you
fucking sparring with me or something? Or is this
game just to waste time? I ain't got fucking time to
waste.
The Quebec - Washington - Guantanamo walk for peace

took place in August 1963. Robert K. Brown stated:
20
Dick Billings of Life believes that Collins was in

Dallas on or about November 17, 1963. As he recalls
there is a letter from Collins which would place him in
Dallas at this time. Robert K. Brown suggests we
might want to talk to one Bobby Willis. Said Collins
drowned off Miami in a fishing incident. He was a
superb swimmer and some question has been raised
about his death. However, Robert K. Brown has
heard that Collins and his companions had been
drinking heavily on this occasion. [Fensterwald
interview with Robert K. Brown 7.17.68]
There was no way to question Steve Justin Wilson.

Hemming reported Steve Justin Wilson was
…having mental problems - dope. He shot up an

apartment, suicidal, and all kinds of shit. I sent him to
Guatemala to see Cokie Zimeri in 1975. Zimeri had a
caterpillar tractor plowing the bodies into the ground.
He headed the death squad and more than that. He
wasn't prepared for this, and had to return two weeks
later. He died in 1984 of a heart attack. He was 48. I
got the autopsy report on it. He blew out a thin wall
on his heart. Drug usage.
HEMMING: APRIL 1965
OTHER COUP D'ETATS
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In 1965 Hemming was involved with Roberto Alejos Arzu in an

attempt to overthrow the Government of Guatemala. [CIA Intell.
Information Cable IN 74057 10.16.65] The CIA reported that in April
1965 "Roberto Alejos Arzu, Guatemalan millionaire who resided in
Miami Beach, Florida, planned the overthrow of the Government of
Guatemala in the Spring of 1965, using a group of Cuban emigres
he had recruited for the operation. On May 4, 1965, Alejos and Luis
Sierra Lopez, military leader of the group, were apprehended and
their arms cache seized by United States Government officials.
There have been several reports on Alejos' recent involvement in
another attempt to overthrow the Guatemalan Government. On
October 13, 1965, Armando Medina Montes de Oca, a member of
Roberto Alejos Arzu's abortive plot to overthrow the Guatemalan
Government in the Spring of 1965, said that the pilot who flew
Roberto Alejos to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, a short time ago
[October 13, 1965] was Gerald Patrick Hemming. The aircraft
landed at Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, where it remained for about
two weeks. Hemming is now in Miami. (Field Comment: Hemming,
an American soldier-of-fortune and United States Marine, has been
engaged in Cuban revolutionary activities for about five years.
Hemming, leader of INTERPEN, a guerilla group, was most recently
involved in the recruitment of Cuban emigres with guerilla warfare
22
experience who would be willing to fight the Communist guerillas in

the Dominican Republic on behalf of General Antonio Imbert
Barrera. It is believed this plan never materialized.) Medina intends
to give this information to the new Guatemalan Consul General in
Miami, hoping that this will sharpen his interest in Alejos. (Field
Comment: It was recently reported that Medina accepted an offer of
$30,000 to deliver Alejos safely to Guatemalan authorities)." [CIA IN
74057 - 10.16.65 - Source: "A Cuban emigre, former member of a
Cuban Commando Group, who is no longer associated with
activists. Source is regarded as reliable, and previous reporting from
him has proved to be accurate."] Hemming told this researcher:
We were going to overthrow Montenegro. He was
cutting deal with the guerrillas. Alejos didn't like it. He
wouldn't let Cuban exiles launch raids against
Castro. He eventually got ousted.
Before the 1980 election Alejos complained that "most of the

elements in the State Department are probably pro-
Communist...either Mr. Carter is a totally incapable president or he
is definitely a pro-communist element." [Jay Marshall, The Iran-
Contra Connection]
JUNE 1965 THE IMBERT CAPER

The CIA reported that:
…a commando team of 49 Cuban exiles and

Americans is being formed in Miami by Odelio
Garcia, Derizanz [Diaz Lanz?] and Gerald Patrick
Hemming, an American adventurer and soldier-of-
fortune. Aton Constanzo Palau and Ramon Escarda
Rubio appear to be leaders within the group. The
commando team is allegedly to be used by
Dominican General Antonio Imbert Barreras, head of
the loyalist forces in the Dominican Republic,
presumably to try and topple Francisco Caamano
Deno, leader of the rebel forces. The backer of the
commando team was described as an American
lawyer living in Miami.
On the evening of June 8, 1965, Gerald Patrick

Hemming held a meeting at the home of Aton
23
Constanzo Palau. Two of Hemming’s men were

there. Hemming mentioned that he had made a trip
that afternoon to see the financial backers of the
Commando team that is scheduled to leave for the
Dominican Republic...At 8:00 p.m. on June 9, 1965,
Hemming said that he and his backer would be
leaving for the Dominican Republic on June 10,
1965. He did not know for certain how long they
would remain there, but mentioned they might stay
from one to five days. He said that they are
scheduled to see General Antonio Imbert Barreras
and, upon their return to Miami, they are to bring
back with them one of Imbert's 'Supervisors' who is to
oversee the processing of the men. Hemming said
that they intend to bring with them some money for
the group. When Escarda mentioned to Hemming the
subject of salaries, Hemming said that the backer
would not put up any advance pay until the men have
been processed and are ready to leave Florida. This
step, he said, is being taken to insure that the men
will not quit at the last moment. Hemming described
the backer as an American lawyer who had an
import/export office in Miami and also owns a 'Buffet'
(Field Comment: Possibly a delicatessen). Hemming
stressed that he would not push this man any harder
because there were several other groups that wanted
the job. He emphasized that he has the contract, and
does not intend to lose it. Source: A Cuban refugee
who is associated with activists in the Miami area.
Source is regarded as reliable and previous reporting
from him has proved to be accurate.
Hemming said the training would begin after he returned

from the Dominican Republic. [CIA DB-315/02029-65] The CIA: "On
June 15, 1965, a CIA Intelligence Information Cable was titled
"Financial Backer of Gerald Patrick Hemming Identified as Irving
Davidson." It read: "On June 12, 1965, Hemming, while under the
influence of liquor, said is financial backer is I. Irving Davidson, who
went to the Dominican Republic on June 12, 1965, by private
plane."
FROM JMWAVE
24
1. On June 16, 1965, Aton Constanzo Palau told

AMTABBY-27 that Constanzo and Gerald Patrick
Hemming had met with Isadore Irving Davidson
latter’s office June 15, 1965. During meeting
Davidson said he had been to Domrep and had
talked to General Antonio Imbert Barreras. Davidson
said plans were definite and that team would be
leaving for Florida for Domrep in one or two weeks.
(WAVE comment: re group’s departure DOMREP,
AMCLEVE-15 reported that Ramon Escarda Rubio
and Francisco Rodriguez Tamayo had heard
Hemming say on June 9 that commandoes
schedulated be armed with FAL rifles and AR-15
automatic rifles before their departure, possibly by air
from Florida and that they to be provided with heavy
weapons in DOMREP for their counterguerilla
activities there. Although original plan called for a
team of 49 Cuban exiles and 11 American citizen be
sent to DOMREP, it decided that no Americans to be
included on team).
2. Davidson then spoke of Wayne Morse’s charges
against Davidson, and said that two more Senators
preparing similar charges against him. Hemming
remarked that he is not afraid of being stopped by
U.S. Agencies but very much afraid of press. He said
that Imbert expecting be attacked shortly by U.S.
Senators also.
3. Contanzo told AMIABBY-27 he knows man in

WAVE area who assisted Davidson in cleaning up
2000 Reising Submachine guns in 1963 that
Davidson was selling to General Somozo of
Nicaragua.
Hemming told I. Irving Davidson that he was unable to keep
his June 14, 1965, meeting because of ODENVY surveillance.
Davidson told Hemming: “I am tired of running, this show has a
green light from the top, and I don't care if ODENVY, KUBARK, and
ODBOON are watching us.” [CIA 201-41581 6.17.65] I. Irving
Davidson was the intermediary between Tony Imbert and Hemming.
I. Irving On July 14, 1965, Aton Constanzo Palau told (deleted) that
he had appointed Frank Fiorini, Nino Diaz and others to leader his
force which will number about 3,000 men. [CIA 201-41581 7.22.65]
25
Hemming told this researcher: "Tony Imbert was part of the team
that assassinated Trujillo.”
You remember when the 82nd Airborne invaded the

Dominican Republic in April 1965? After that there
were some people who were worried about who was
running the fucking government, so we wouldn't have
to go in there and do the same thing all over again.
You had Juan Bosch. With everybody threatening to
overthrow everyone else it kept them off balance
enough so they didn't turn around and throw the
fucking U.S. troops out of there. Everybody was there
in 1965. Mitch Werbell, Phillips and DeBrueys were
there. It was a critical thing. Because Fidel's boys
were about to take over the fuckin' place. I was in the
Green Beret Reserves in 1964, on active duty.
In 1965 the FBI generated five Letter Head Memorandums

about Hemming and the “IMBERT CAPER.” [MM 2-387-6.15.65,
6.18.65, 8.5.65, 12.15.65; Bufile NR 7.27.65] Subject: Anton
Constanzo Palau, Hemming, Neutrality Matters, Internal Security,
Dominican Republic, June 15, 1965, June 18, 1965, March 18,
1966, September 29, 1966, all at Miami. [FBI 2-387] That year the
CIA sent the Justice Department a letter that acknowledged
Hemming had been a voluntary CIA informant who had been in
contact with the Domestic Contact Division in Los Angeles. The FBI
reported:
MM T-1 has been active in pro- and anti-Castro
activities for the past six years and is in close contact
with Gerald Patrick Hemming. On June 18, 1965,
MM T-1 furnished the following information:
Hemming, an American soldier of fortune and
adventurer, has been engaged in Cuban
revolutionary activities for about five years. He is a
part-time construction laborer and a self-styled
intelligence analyst given to reading paperback
novels on espionage and guerrilla warfare. Hemming
resides in a run-down neighborhood characterized by
cheap apartment buildings and rooming houses. He
speaks Spanish, knows the leading Cuban exile
political and action leaders. He holds himself out, and
26
is considered by Cuban exiles as an expert in

infiltration and counterespionage. There is a steady
stream of Cubans visiting him to obtain the latest
news on matters in the DR which affect the Cuban
colony in Miami. Hemming enjoys this position and is
given to spreading false reports and rumors to
maintain his prestige.
MM T-1 said that on June 17, 1965, Hemming

claimed that he is in direct or indirect contact with
General Antonio Imbert, head of the Loyalist forces in
the DR. Hemming claims that Imbert wants to recruit
a force of reliable anti-Communist Cuban exile
mercenaries. Imbert expects that some of his
garrison throughout the DR may prove unloyal or
unreliable, and such a Cuban force would be in ready
reserve if and when he needed them. Hemming
claims that he promoted this idea which was later
accepted by Imbert. He did not state whom he
contacted or who may have contacted him. Hemming
said that he planned on a force of about eighty
Cuban exiles with six or eight American mercenaries
as instructors and leaders. Hemming was vague on
how he would recruit and send thia force to the DR or
what the U. S. Government's policy may be on Chia
matter. MM T-1 explained that Hemming frequently
comes up with such ideas, but somehow these plans
never materialize. MM T-1 said that when this idea
dies from lack of action and is forgotten, Hemming
will probably come up with another plan to coincide
with current Latin American developments.
On June 18, 1965, Maximino Casal Fernandez, 3660

Southweat 10th Street, Miami, advised that he had
spent several years in training camps with other
Cuban exiles in Central America and would readily
serve as a commando to fight Communism in the
Western Hemisphere. He said that a few weeks ago
he was contacted by Aton Constanzo Palau, a Cuban
exile who was formerly a rebel commander of Cuba
who told him that an American named I. Irving
Davidson recently returned from the DR and
contacted Gerald Patrick Hemming. It appeared that
27
Davidson was a business consultant to American

firms in the DR, and was in close contact with
General Imbert.
Davidson reportedly indicated that Imbert was

anxious to obtain a group of trained Cuban exile
commandos to fight against Communist elements in
the DR. It was also reported that there was a large
Cuban force being held prisoner in the DR. It
appeared that a group of Cuban volunteers would be
useful in the DR and bring attention to the Cuban
exile cause inasmuch as they would be fighting
alongside of OAS troops.
Aton later had filled out an application form which

was then forwarded to Hemming for his review. It
was expected that the recruited Cubans would leave
Miami on about June 12, 1965. Later there were
delays and postponements. Since that time there has
been no activity, and now it is doubted if the whole
plan was serious.
Casal explained that it was presumed such a plan

had U. S. Government backing, and there would be
no problems with obtaining re-entry permits or
obtaining transportation to leave the U. S. It now
appears that no re-entry permits will not be granted,
the U. S. Government has not authorized such a
plan, the plan is without organization and leadership
and Casal has no intention of further participation.
Casal explained that he did not know Hemming, but
presumed from what he had been told that Hemming
was handling the effort and was the person in touch
with the DR.
It is noted that I. Irving Davidson, Washington, D. C.,

a public relations counsel, was a registered agent of
the Nicaraguan and Israel Governments in I955. On
interview in March, 1959, he stated he had just
returned from the DR and had spoken with Fulgencio
Batista, former President of Cuba.
28
In July 1959, MM T-1 advised Davidson was in close

contact with Rafael del Pico, Cuban exile who then
headed an anti-Fidel Castro movement in the U. S.
Davidson visited Miami in June, 1959, and conferred
with other persons then interested in an anti-Castro
movement. MM T-1 said it was his impression
Davidson had contact with different U. S. and Latin
American Government officials and also worked as a
lobbyist.
On June 14, 1965, Gerald Hemming was advised he

did not have to make any statement; any statement
could be used against his in court of law; and—he
had the right to consult an attorney. No threats,
promises, or rewards were made. Hemming
thereafter volunteered the following information: The
Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE), the
Movimiento Revolutionaria Recuperacion (MRR) are
anti-Castro organizations composed of Cuban exiles
dedicated to the overthrow of the present
government of Cuba. The DRE, and especially the
MRR, operated outside of the United States for
several years prior to the Fall of 1964, when most of
the Cubans returned to the United States. These
operations outside of the United States consisted of
training camps and operations from bases in Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the Dominican
Republic. In the Dominican Republic, Cuban exiles
operated bases and had a great amount of contact
with Dominican military officials. There is still traffic in
and out of the Dominican Republic by Cuban exiles
from Miami and other Central American countries.
Some of the recently returning Cubans say that the
majority of the U. S. trained Dominican military
officers have joined the forces of FRANCISCO
CAAMANO DENO, head of the Dominican rebel
forces. As a consequence, IMBERT is in need of
trained military men to use as commandos, guerrillas,
and counter guerrillas. IMBERT knows there are a
number of Cuban exiles trained and available for this
duty. It is said that after former Dominican President
DONALD REID was overthrown in April 1965,
several Cuban military teams to the Dominican
29
Republic joined and worked with IMBERT.

Reportedly they did a good job in spotting rebel
forces and performing some intelligence functions. It
is also reported there are a number of European
mercenaries in the Dominican Republic who have
been there a long time, and came to the Dominican
Republic during the latter mart of the TRUJILLO
regime. These mercenaries are reported organized
and are associated with the rebel forces of
IMBERT reportedly said that since the DRE and

MRR members no longer receive salaries once
earned in the Dominican training camps, he would
take them for use on his side and continue their
salaries. IMBERT said he could have to have
consent by the U. S. Government before overtly
starting- a program. A representative of IMBERT al-
legedly has contacted I. IRVIN DAVIDSON, a
lobbyist in Washington, D. C., who is working on this
program, and has been in contact with the Pentagon
and the State Department.In, Miami, Cubans arriving
from the Dominican Republic claim that IMBERT is
interested in the services of Cubans already trained
In military warfare to serve with his forces against the
rebel forces and European mercenaries.
ODELIO GARCIA a former member of the MRR

maintains such a group, although his group never be-
came operational. Garcia, who was formerly in the U.
S. Marine Corps, is interested in re-forming his team
to go to the Dominican Republic. However, there is
nobody for him to contact concerning this and he
lacks the ways and means of getting this team to the
Dominican Republic.
CONSTANZO was a member of a unit of the MRR

formerly headed by LUIS SIERRA LOPEZ. After
CONSTANZO became aware of IMBERTs interest in
the Cuban exile teams, CONSTANZO went out and
openly began recruiting. This caused great
excitement and speculation by other Cuban exiles. A
number of the men he recruited were former
members of the SIERRA LOPEZ team. This team is
30
now angry with SIERRA because of an incident

involving Guatemala.
This incident happened in May 1965, when Sierra

and his team joined with ROBERTO ALEJOS ARZU,
a wealthy Guatemalan national in Miami. There was
a plan to go to Gualtemala and try to overthrow that
government. Sierra was blamed for turning over the
arms to U.S. Customs agents in Miami, and therefore
aborting the revolution in Guatemala.
Hemming continued that because of his living in the

same neighborhood as CONSTANZO and many
other former MRR members he is visited and
consulted by them. He said he looks over
applications and does some appraising of the abilities
of the different team members.
Hemming stated there is no evidence that there are

any Dominicans recruiting in the United States, or
that any money from the Dominican Republic has
come to the United States to be spent on arms or
recruiting. The word that Imbert might use Cuban
exile teams comes by word of mouth from Cubans
returning to Miami from the Dominican Republic.
There is nobody in the United States in charge of this

program. Cubans desiring to go will have to find a
way to get there, either directly or indirectly. Cubans
who have been there before will probably know how
to return. There are no arms known to be available
for these teams. There are no training camps in the
United States or recruiting offices, and no
organization set up for recruiting.
On March 9, 1966, JULIO ATON CONSTANZO

PALAU was interviewed by Special Agents LEMAN
L. STAFFORD and GEORGE E. DAVIS, J. at the
Miami Office of the FBI. At the outset of the interview,
Special Agent STAFFORD advised CONSTANZO in
the Spanish language that he did not have to say
anything unless he wanted to; that anything he did
say could he used against him in a court of law; and,
31
that he had the right to consult an attorney before

saying anything. CONSTANZO than voluntarily
related that the June, 1965, plan for a group of
Cubans to aid the Organization of American States
(OAS) to keep peace in the Dominican Republic (DR)
is completely dead. He said that he and Gerald
Patrick Hemming had together recruited about 120
Cubans in the Summer of 1965. The purpose of this
plan was to aid JOAQUIN BALAGUER, former
President of the Dominican Republic, and hand of the
Reform Party of the DR, and not to aid General
ANTONIO IMBERT BARRERA, Dominican strong
man and former member of the Dominican Council of
State, as he had previously believed.
CONSTANZO recalled that shortly after April 24,

1965, I, IRVING DAVIDSON, public relations 12312
of Washington, D. C., and ANDREW ST. GEORGE,
professional photographer and news man, talked to
Hemming at the Dupont Plaza Hotel. CONSTANZO
was present, but did not understand the conversa-
tion, which was all in English. Subsequently,
Hemming told CONSTANZO that the plan was for the
recruits to go to the Dominican Republic as a third
force, and attack a point some distance from Santo
Domingo, the capital city. Hemming told
CONSTANZO that he had received some money
from DAVIDSON and ST. GEORGE to finance this
operation. CONSTANZO claimed that be never knew
the source of DAVIDSON'S money. CONSTANZO
said that Hemming related to him that DAVIDSON
claimed to have talked with President LYNDON R.
JOHNSON for approval concerning this plan, and
President JOHNSON had allegedly told DAVIDSON
"I will let you know." CONSTANZO said he never
learned what the answer was. However,
CONSTANZO personally talked to GUILLERMO
BELT, former Cuban Ambassador to the United
States, who agreed to talk to JOSE ANTONIO MORA
of the OAS to obtain acceptance of the plan. BELT
subsequently said that MORA told him he would
accept the Cuban exile recruits as part of the OAS
32
group in the Dominican Republic, but nothing actually

developed, and the plan was never accepted.
On June 27, 1966 I. Irving Davidson, registered

agent for Nicaragua, Ecuador, Haiti and others with
offices at 1612 K. Street N.W. Washington, D.C.
advised as follows in connection with captioned
subjects (Hemming, CONSTANZO) Davidson denied
ever meeting CONSTANZO, Hemming and
ANDREW ST. GEORGE. DAVIDSON also stated he
never even heard the names CONSTANZO,
Hemming and the last time he saw Guillermo Belt,
former Cuban Ambassador to the United States, is
when Belt inquired about renting space in Davidson’s
office three years ago.
Davidson also denied any knowledge or connection

with the scheme of recruiting Cuban exiles for duty in
the Dominican Republic. He further denied have
furnished money to anyone for such a scheme and
certainly never talked with the President of the United
States concerning his approval of this plan for
recruiting Cuban exiles.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Miami, Florida
September 29, 1966
It has been previously reported that in June 1965

JULIO ATON CONSTANZO PALAU, a Cuban exile
residing is Miami, and Gerald Patrick Hemming, a
United States Citizen and soldier of fortune, were
recruiting Cubans and Americans in the Miami area
to serve in the Dominican Republic with the Peace-
Keeping Force of the Organization of American
States (OAS). This idea was later taken over by a
pro-Cuban government in exile group at Miami who
contacted GUILLERMO BELT RAMIREZ, former
Cuban Ambassador to the United States, so that he
could present this idea to the OAS. Dr, JOSE
ANTONIO MORA, Secretary General, Pan American
Union (the Secretariat of the OAS), told BELT the
idea was completely unrealistic.
33
On August 24, 1966, Mr. J. WALTER YEAGLEY,

Assistant Attorney General, Internal Security
Division, United States Department of Justice,
advised the Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
as follows after a review of this matter: The number
of individuals recruited by CONSTANZO and
Hemming reached 49 Cubans and 11 Americans.
These men filled out enlistment forms and received
promises concerning payment for their services. Mr.
YEAGLEY continued that while the information
received from various sources was conflicting in
some respects, these sources have indicated that the
men recruited were to serve with the Peace-Keeping
Force of the Organization of American States in the
Dominican Republic. It would appear, therefore, that
the carrying out of plans to send recruits to the
Dominican Republic may have been contingent upon
acceptance of the plan by the OAS. In this
connection, Mr. YEAGLEY pointed out that when the
plan was presented to Dr. JOSE ANTONIO MORA,
an official of the OAS, it was reviewed by him and the
plan apparently was scrapped at that time. Mr.
YEAGLEY's letter concluded that it was the opinion
of the Internal Security Division that the facts of this
case were not such as to give a reasonable
assurance of a successful prosecution of
CONSTANZO or Hemming for a violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 959. Mr. YEAGLEY said
that the Internal Security Division, accordingly, was
not requesting any further investigation in this matter.
HEMMING: DECEMBER 1966

In December 1966 Hemming said he went to Africa, to work
on a National Aeronautics and Space Administration project. In
Hemming’s Motion for Favorable Evidence he asked for:
All reports, files and documents held by CIA, FBI,

Department of State, and other agencies reference to
the defendant's employment during the calender year
1966 under Contract NBy-710005, Support Facilities,
Phase I, Ascension Island, in connection with United
States Air Force downrange missile program,
34
especially those that refer to CIA and U.S. Armed

Forces support of both government and insurgent
forces within the then Republic of the Congo.
Hemming said he was tracking down Ché Guevara:
Ché was in the Congo at that time. He was in

Baraka, on Lake Tanganika. We were the backup
team. Felix Rodriguez had never met Ché. I was the
only one who could pick him out of a crowd.
In 1966 Hemming claimed he was involved with the United

States Air Force Down Range Guided Missile Program as a CIA
advisor. Hemming 1994:
I asked for discovery, for a trial, as to what they were

saying about me on the Down Range Missile
program. I'm not claiming anything. It's called
greymail. You gonna put me in jail? Okay? How
about when I was doing this? What do you say about
that?
In 1966 the FBI generated four Letter Head Memorandums

concerning Hemming and one FBI message: "Subject: Haitian
Revolutionary Activities (Confidential)." [Director, FBI message, 5-
25 PM 2-15-66; LHMs MM2-387 3.18.66, 9.29.66, 7.15.66 NR DC,
9.1.66 NR NY]
VIETNAM & AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
1967
In early 1967 Hemming was considered for a position in
Vietnam with the Agency for International Development. The FBI
conducted a background investigation:
Several Miami acquaintances of applicant variously
described him as untrustworthy, lacking in integrity,
unreliable, emotionally immature and lacking in
character. Confidential informant furnished
information regarding trip by applicant to Guatemala
during which he drank excessively and spoke of the
U.S. Government in a derogatory manner. Informant
reported most of applicant's friends in Miami have
been soldiers-of-fortune who do not have excellent
reputations. Investigation reflected in this report was
conducted by S.A. Norman Bliss at Miami Florida,
35
except where otherwise stated. The case was

referred by the Civil Service Commission under
provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 as
amended.
MM T-1 said that in the past few years Hemming had

briefly held a number of jobs and his financial
condition has been getting very bad. His creditors
were numerous and became so persistant that on
July 4, 1967 he surreptitiously took his family and left
Miami with the expressed intention of returning to live
at his mother's home in California. For some days
before leaving he did not bring his 1967 Dodge
Polara car home to part it, as the finance company
was trying to repossess it. In addition he owes Sears
Store and numerous other people.
MM T-1 [Howard K. Davis] advised that Robert K.

Brown, a writer, has recently been living in Miami at
1925 S.W. 4th Street and is well acquainted with
Hemming. Brown has heard that Hemming, after
leaving Miami, traveled to New Orleans and got in
touch with Dick Whatley and Roy Hargraves. The
three of them reportedly got in touch with Jim
Garrison, and were utilized by him in some way in
regard to the Kennedy assassination investigation.
According to MM T-1 the applicant is a highly

unreliable man who may or may not carry out
something which he starts to work on. He has no
reason to doubt the loyalty of the applicant and
believes that his derogatory remaked regarding the
United States while Guatemala were under the
influence of alcohol, and because of his great urge to
be the center of attention.
MM T-1 stated that the associates of Hemming in

Miami have not for the most part been persons of
excellent character. Many of them have been soldiers
of fortune and adventuers of the same type as
Hemming. Hemming has not been an immoral
person as far as his relations with women. His wife,
whom he got pregnant several months before he
36
married her, seems to be a decent sort of girl, and is

apparently loyal to the applicant, he said.
AT KEY WEST, FLORIDA
Special Agent in Charge CESAR DIOSDADO, U.S.

Customs Agency, advised SA RALPH L. JENSEN on
August 11, 1967, that he was in charge of an investi-
gation concerning Gerald Patrick Hemming, JR.
during the above period while Hemming was training
a group of Cuban refugee, at No Name Key for an
eventual assault on Cuba. Be stated that during that
period, Hemming spent considerable period of time
on No Name Key, an isolated island which would
only be reached by boat and which was uninhabited
except for Hemming and the trainees. Hemming
made occasional trips to Big Pine Key, the nearest
inhabited island for supplies but maintained no
residence on Big Pine Key.
REFERENCE:
On August 18, 1967, Major NORMAN J. GRAY,

Florida National Guard Armory, 2728 NW 7th
Avenue, reported that he has known the applicant for
three years. Major GRAY was the Commander of the
National Guard Unit in this area while the applicant
was a member for several years. He described the
applicant as a very intelligent young man who has a
considerable background of information concerning
military equipment and tactics. However, Major
GRAY expressed the opinion that the applicant is just
beginning to grow out of his boyhood and wake up to
the fact that he will have to support his wife and
children and will have to give up his soldier of fortune
type of life in order to do it. He stated that the
applicant makes an excellent physical appearance,
speaks with a high degree of fluency and impresses
people very greatly when he meets them, however,
he tells highly imaginative and fanciful stories about
his background and seldom carries out his
responsibilities and assignments. Re was dropped
37
from the National Guard because he missed too

many drills and was considered to be inactive. Major
GRAY stated that he has heard that the applicant
was to go with the U.S. Government in a position
overseas in Viet Nam. He stated that he could see
that under certain conditions, and when completely
under close supervision of others, the applicant could
do a creditable job. However, he qualified his recom-
mendation of the applicant by pointing out that he
would want to ace him hired by the U.S. Government
only if it is found that he has matured greatly in the
past years.
MM T-1 advised that the type of activities described

above are typical of Hemming and reflect his highly
unpredictable, undependable, and unstable
character. He recalled an event in which Hemming, a
member of the Florida National Guard in Miami,
received three anti- Tank rockets from a non-
commissioned officer named ST DAVIS. Hemming
proceeded to dispose of these items claiming to his
friends that he sold them to some Haitian
revolutionaries. He told DAVIS a fictitious and highly
imaginative story about what happened to the
rockets. Shortly thereafter, Hemming separated from
the National Guard, but MM T-1 did not know it his
separation ‘was connected with the loss of the
rockets or not.
[FBI 62-109060-5766 NR 9.26.67 Bliss NARA FBI
124-10052-10403]
On November 7, 1967, the FBI checked its Oswald file and

found three documents that mentioned Hemming. [FBI 105-82555-
6551, 5016, 5242] Hemming told this researcher:
I was going to be a State Department Foreign

Service Reserve Officer attached to the Public Safety
Division of AID in Vietnam. What the fuck you think I
was going to Vietnam for? I'm a shooter. I was hired
despite the FBI. I'm going there to die. But people
had plans, and they didn't work out, and they have
tragic consequences.
HEMMING AND GARRISON: JULY 1967
38
It was at this time that New Orleans District Attorney Jim

Garrison began to look at Hemming as a suspect in the Kennedy
assassination. Hemming told this researcher:
I had to resign because of the Garrison investigation.

I wanted to know who the fuck set it up? If it was a
KGB damage control operation, I wouldn't have had
to resign from the State Department. Garrison starts
talking about Loran Hall, Robert K. Brown and a lot of
people linked to me. He was gonna haul my ass back
from Vietnam.
The New Orleans District Attorney's office stated:
On Friday, July 7, 1967, Gerry Patrick Hemming

came without warning into the DA's office and offered
to help us in our investigation. He was interviewed in
Jim Garrison's office. Roy Hargraves accompanied
Gerry Patrick, but, on Patrick’s orders Hargraves
remained sitting outside in the lobby during this visit.
Gerry Patrick, who is approximately 6 feet 7 inches

tall, was dressed in khaki fatigues and advised he
had decided to visit this office because he was en
route from Florida to California, where he has now
relocated, and it was convenient for him to visit us.
Patrick primarily discussed the involvement of Hall,

Howard and Seymour during this interview. He
explained that he was in Miami at the time of the
assassination, and as soon as he heard that Kenney
had been shot in Dallas, he telephoned Lester Logue
to find out if Hall was in town. Patrick said he did this
because he believed at the time that Hall very well
could have assassinated the President. Patrick said
that he still does not reject the possibility that Hall
was involved. Patrick identified Lester Logue as the
person who bailed out Hall and Seymour in October
1963, when they were arrested for possessing
narcotics.
Patrick said that the people who went to see Mrs.

Odio were Hall, Howard and Seymour, however, he
added they were accompanied by a fourth man,
39
Enrique Molina Rivera, whom he identified as a

Castro agent, thereby suggesting that the plot to
assassinate Kennedy might have had Castro origins.
On Saturday, July 8, 1967, Patrick returned to the

office with Roy Hargraves. We went out to lunch with
them and Patrick discussed the fact that he was
presently attempting to get a job with the State
Department in some advisory or supervisory
capacity.
Patrick indicated to me that he had in the past

worked for Life Magazine, and had had an office in
the Time-Life Building. When I mentioned this to Dick
Billings he said that the extent of Patrick’s
involvement was that he sent letters to the White
House on Life stationary, without authority to do so.
Billings added that Patrick was more of a talker than
a doer. He said that Hargraves has been described
to him as a 'bomber.' i.e. Hargraves engaged in such
activities as knocking on doors and throwing a hand
grenade inside when the door was opened.
In May 1968 Hemming told an investigator for Jim Garrison

that he had met Guy Banister, Sergio Arcacha Smith, BRINGUIER
and Edward Butler. [Burton to Garrison 5.8.68] In 1994 Hemming
stated: "I first met Ed Butler in 1978 at The Miami Herald building.
He tried to convince me he worked with Tony Cuesta." Hemming
was not hired by Garrison because: "There is reason to believe that
he is still working for the CIA." New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison was quoted by The New York Times as having said:
"Loran Hall of California had inside knowledge of the assassination
the day it happened. He said government officials had not called Mr.
Hall before the Warren Commission." [NYT 12.27.67] Hemming told
this researcher:
I was threatened with phony exposure by Garrison.

Who came forward of any consequence? I'm the only
real motherfucker Garrison talked to. Oliver Stone
had me on the payroll and he was still paying
attention to Garrison? He was living in fantasy land.
He wouldn't know the fuckin' truth if it was right in
front of him.
40
LAWRENCE J. LA BORDE AND GARRISON

Lawrence J. La Borde visited Alberto Fernandez in Miami in
April 1967 and lived on board the Tejana III. Lawrence J. La Borde
then contacted the New Orleans Domestic Contacts Division office:
May 11, 1967
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: LA BORDE, Lawrence J. Born August 27,
1909
1. Dick Hanna, Western Hemisphere/Security,
advised that Western Hemisphere had just received
a call from Domestic Contacts Division. Subject, who
was apparently used during the Cuban operation,
had called Domestic Contacts Division stating that he
had just received a subpoena from Garrison. He
asked if he should leave the country or what?
2. Dick Hanna advised that Donovan Pratt, Ray

Rocca's deputy, has been informed as has Nancy
Gratz, WH/CI (RL 9008). He asked that we pull up
Subject's file and advised WH and CI what were
have on the man. Sayle
A review of La Borde's file in the Office of Security,

on March 17, 1961, received a verbal request for a
PCSA/CSA for Subject' utilization as a maritime
asset for Project JMATE. His occupation was
described as Port Captain, and he was indicated for
having served eight years on the vessel SS Tejana.
A PCSA was granted on March 24, 1961, for 'contact
assessment only.' On May 29, 1961, the Office of
Security notified WH Division that biographic data
provided on Subject was inadequate for further
processing. WH was being advised the case was
being placed in "pending, deferred status" until such
time as additional data was furnished OS. No
additional data was forthcoming, and a year later WH
Division advised OS that the PCSA and pending CSA
actions may be canceled since it had no further
interest in Subject.
Mr. Donovan Pratt, CI/R&A, who reviewed the 201

file on the Subject, had advised that Subject was
41
never recruited or paid directly by the Agency, but did

serve as an engineer and captain on a ship used in
the Cuban operation. (The owner of the ship was
recruited and paid for its use). Subject, did, however,
become privy to a great deal of information about the
operations, none of which would probably be
compromising at this late date. Pratt advised that the
Subject is a "swindler, crook, drunken bum..." who is
known to have been the source of anti-CIA articles in
the press. He also allegedly has impersonated
himself in the past as having CIA backing (a boat
sale). Pratt feels this was a provocation by Garrison
[to entrap the CIA into obstructing justice]. (DCS in
New Orleans has no secure commo link to the Hdqrs.
and Subject's contact would have to be called up to
Hqs. -- Pratt assuming Garrison has DCS phone
tapped.) CI plans to discuss the matter further with
DCS)
[NARA 1993.08.20.14:49:21:650028
also 1993.06.24.14:14:42:340410]
HEMMING AND THE DEATH OF LAWRENCE J. LA BORDE

La Borde shows up and I can't even remember what

his fucking cover story was. I thought he was dead.
This is a safe house. Like we ain't advertising where
we're living. He shows up in 1978 when we're in the
smuggling business, hearing all kinds of stories from
people that he knows, so evidently he's been inside
doing that type of work on Black Tuna, Banco,
Grouper One and Grouper Two, Swordfish. This
fucker shows up and he knows a lot of the principals.
So I figure he's still on the company payroll. They're
pissed off because we're going after company
people. The guy that ran the intelligence for the Bay
of Pigs [Carlos De Torres] was one of the top
smugglers. The fuckers threw down on me with
silenced MAC-10 for about four hours. He had a
condo with a fucking drain in the floor. These are bad
assed motherfuckers, they're all top CIA people, and
they're all fucking smugglers. We went after their
42
Colombian assets. La Borde scuttled a Canadian

Corvette in Key West in 1978 because he wasn't paid
for smuggling. I went over my Freedom of
Information Act stuff with him 1979. He ran afoul of
smugglers that year, and ended up floating in a bay
in Key West.
Hemming termed FBI Lawrence J. La Borde "a snitch."

Lawrence J. La Borde showed up in 1962. A

safehouse was set up, and who ends up knocking on
the door like a Loran Hall, Larry La Borde, the
engineer, a nobody, a grease monkey. And he's got
plans. He's gonna take out this ship on pier three
that's hauling stuff to Cuba. All these little ploys that
people have tried to set us up on - bombings,
kidnappings and shit - over the months. Robberies,
all kinds of criminal activities that they're trying to get
people involved in so they can bust their ass... La
Borde did what he was told to do, set us up.
Hemming and his crew the smugglers that Lawrence J. La

Borde ran afoul of.
MICHAEL W. LA BORDE AND GARRISON
In June 1967 Michael W. La Borde (born November 29,
1942), the son of Lawrence J. La Borde, went to New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison's office and spoke with investigators.
The FBI obtained this information: "Michael La Borde mentioned the
publicized photograph which Garrison contends shows people
standing behind a fence on the grassy knoll and Michael La Borde
told investigators that possibly Patrick and Roy might be connected
with the people on that knoll." On July 12, 1967, Michael La Borde
telephoned the FBI office and stated that Jim Garrison was "getting
pretty close to uncovering the activities of the Cuban Group that La
Borde's father was a member... La Borde stated his only interest in
the matter is to keep Garrison away from his father. He stated his
father is a true American and will be until he dies. La Borde stated:
'You have to stop Garrison before he harms the country.'" [NARA
FBI 124-10251-10306] On July 13, 1967, Michael W. La Borde
appeared in the New Orleans FBI office. Michael W. La Borde
stated:
43
La Borde's father, Lawrence Joseph La Borde, had

formerly worked with the CIA and worked with Cuban
organizations against Fidel Castro. One JERRY
Patrick and one Roy (LNU) used to work with CIA
with the Cuban organizations with Lawrence J. La
Borde in the Miami Florida, area; but Patrick and Roy
duped Cubans out of money and were dismissed by
CIA.
Approximately three weeks ago, Michael La Borde

went to District Attorney Jim Garrison's office in New
Orleans and spoke with investigators Lynn (LNU) and
Louie Ives. La Borde mentioned the publicized
photograph which Garrison contends shows people
standing behind a fence on the grassy knoll
overlooking the sight of the assassination of
President Kennedy, and La Borde told investigators
that possibly Patrick and Roy might be connected to
the people on the knoll. La Borde suggested to the
investigators that someone be sent to Miami, where
he thought Patrick and Roy to be, and talk with them
to see if they might be able to furnish any information
about the assassination of President Kennedy...
On Saturday, July 8, 1967, Jerry Patrick and Roy

walked into District Attorney Garrison's office. They
were dressed in Army fatigues, and they stated they
were now living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
According to investigator Ives, Patrick and Roy are
allegedly working for some magazine and had come
to New Orleans for information about the
assassination probe by Garrison for the magazine.
Ives told La Borde that Patrick and Roy wanted to
know if Garrison has any witnesses who claim they
saw someone in a building opposite the Texas
School Book Depository shooting at the President.
Ives showed photographs of Patrick and Roy and
asked La Borde to identify them, which he did. La
Borde stated the photographs show Patrick and Roy
outside the District Attorney's Office with
investigators from the District Attorney's Office and
La Borde believes the photographs were taken
44
without the knowledge of Patrick and Roy. [NARA

FBI 124-10046-10312]
On July 18, 1967, the CIA cited this New Orleans FBI report.
A CIA document stated that "Roy may be identical to LeRoy Collins
an associate of Hemming. He may also -though the possibility is
more remote -- be identical with one I. A. Roy, or his son, I. A. Roy
Jr., both of whom were members of a group that bought a schooner
from Lawrence J. La Borde." [Unmarked CIA doc.] The FBI
prepared a Letter Head Memorandum dated July 18, 1967, on the
visit, with background reports on the people mentioned in it. Michael
La Borde had been the Subject of an investigation involving
Interstate Transportation of a Stolen Motor Vehicle. [FBI 62-109060-
5583] La Borde admitted riding in the automobile with Charles
Rennick Knotts, but denied any knowledge that the car was stolen.
Hemming 1994:
It was not Roy Hargraves [behind the fence on the
knoll]. The kid was pissed off with his dad at the time.
He was a pudjoe, and looked nothing like his father.
He used to hang around to hear war stories.
The CIA generated several documents on Hemming around

this time.
ROBERT K. BROWN, RALPH SLAFTER AND GARRISON: JULY
1967
William Broe, Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division of
the CIA, prepared a paper, "Interlocking Relationships between
Robert K. Brown, Ralph E. Slafter and Garrison," in which he named
Hemming, Edwin Anderson Collins, Lawrence J. La Borde and
Dennis Harber as links between Robert K. Brown, who had been
investigating JMWAVE activities in August 1967, and New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison. William Broe believed Hemming and
Robert K. Brown were cooperating with Jim Garrison in an effort to
entrap and discredit the CIA.
DENNIS HARBER
45
WILLIAM SEYMOUR, DENNIS HARBER, ISADORO BORJA, AND

BERNARDO DE TORRES
A CIA cable from Merida, Mexico dated July 8, 1967, to CIA

Headquarters, stated the Mexico CIA station reported that Robert K.
Brown visited Dennis Harber in prison. Robert K. Brown first met
Dennis Harber in 1962, when Dennis Harber was a language
instructor at a Cuban refugee camp. In 1963 Dennis Harber
attempted to place a radio-activated bomb on a Yugoslavian ship
carrying phosphates between Mexico and Cuba while it was in a
Mexican harbor; he was captured and imprisoned by Mexican
authorities. Dennis Harber knew Edward Anderson Collins. Robert
K. Brown asked Dennis Harber if he knew Loran Eugene Hall and
Hargraves. He showed Dennis Harber a picture of David Ferrie.
Robert K. Brown commented, "I don't recollect that I ever showed a
picture of Ferrie to Dennis Harber. That name never surfaced.
Harber was a very bizarre guy, very bright. He was alcoholic and
gay, when into his booze. But in getting back to this thing of me
showing him a picture of Ferrie, that's somebody smoking bad
dope." [FBI AT-105-3193, 12.4.63, 62-109060-1521; CIA 1100-976;
McCracken/Swilley Miami P.D. Memo 10.15.67] On July 17, 1967,
the FBI in New Orleans ran a file check on Hemming. [FBI 89-33-
(?)]
HEMMING AND ROBERT K. BROWN: SEPTEMBER 1967
In September 1967 Hemming and Robert K. Brown stored
an arms cache in a Miami rooming house. [Hemming HSCA file -
46
seq. docs.] Robert K. Brown commented, "No way, no way. That's

wrong." The CIA reported:
Local police have genuine interest in case due to

ascertained presence of arms, possibly automatic
weapons, in rooming house. Have been holding off
planned raid, started surveillance, and pursued
investigation at Station's recommendation. It was
their initiative to put undercover man with Robert K.
Brown (Police requested and were given financial
assistance for this from Station.) Should Station
withdraw, believe police will proceed to raid rooming
house. Would appreciate Hqs. guidance as to
whether station should take hands off posture, or
continue seeking information on what Robert K.
Brown and Company are up to...Robert K. Brown had
been talking with Hemming group i.e. Martin Casey,
Joe Gorman and Joe (?) Collins. [CIA 201-189473
10.13.67]
On September 15, 1967, Sgt. E.W. McCracken of the

Intelligence Unit of the Miami Police Department sent an Inter-Office
Memorandum to Lieut. H. Swilley of the Intelligence Unit:
On August 31, 1967, information was received from a

reliable and confidential informant that a
revolutionary group, residing at 1925 S.W. 4th Street,
had in their possession a warehouse loaded with
arms, ammunition and C-4 explosives. An immediate
surveillance of the aforementioned location was
established by this office and the following was
learned. By keeping these persons under
surveillance and through license tag checks the
following names were developed: Martin Francis
Casey, Joseph Cavendish Garman, Ralph Elmer
Slafter, James Arthur Lewis, Ralph Grant Edens,
Alfredo Dominquez, Harry G. Worley, Robert
Kenneth Brown. Person who visited the above
Subjects: Peter Ojozy and Donald Willis 66 Comet
HW 661 (1967 Illinois).
On October 12, 1967, S.A. James D. Hayes generated a

memorandum titled "CIA Operations - Miami" that was highly
deleted and contained the name of Robert K. Brown and identifying
47
data along with several FBI file numbers. The rest of the document
was labeled: "Non-Assassination Related." [NARA 124-10265-
10127] In 1967 the CIA ran a "Covert Special Inquiry" to determine if
Robert K. Brown was connected with Ramparts magazine. The CIA:
"A dispatch from Chief of Station/JMWAVE dated July 26, 1968,
concerned the agitation caused by Robert K. Brown during recent
inquiries into JMOCEAN. Precautions were taken to protect the
status of present and former JMWAVE members as a result." In
1968 Robert K. Brown formed Panther Publications, which
specialized in do-it-yourself bomb manuals and books on partisan
warfare. He began publishing Soldier-of-Fortune magazine in 1974.
HEMMING EARLY 1968
On January 11, 1968, the FBI in New Orleans ran a file
check on Hemming. [FBI-89-69-3742] On February 21, 1968, the
FBI in Los Angeles generated a document about Hemming.
HARGRAVES NOVEMBER 1968
Los Angeles Field Office

November 19, 1968
MEMORANDUM FOR: Headquarters
SUBJECT: Project Resistance I SD/1
1. Attached is a report regarding Roy EMORY
Hargraves, 882 Via Wanda, Long Beach who was
arrested for the October 22, 1968, bombing of the
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Peace
Center, 2628 East Anaheim, Long Beach. Hargraves,
an unemployed ironworker, married to Carol L. was
born in Missouri on February 14, 1940. His Social
Security number is 527-48-2730.
2. LI-19 stated that Hargraves, who admitted an

arrest for gun smuggling in Miami in 1965, claimed
he worked for the CIA in Florida.
3. LI-19 said that Hargraves was interrogated by

representatives of the FBI while under arrest by the
Long Beach Police Department. LI-19 had no
information regarding the results of the interrogation.
4. Hargraves is presently in jail completing his

sentence resulting from misdemeanor traffic
convictions.
48
William P. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge

The Long Beach Police Department advised the FBI that Hargraves
had been arrested for the bombing and would be formally charged
with the bombing on October 23, 1968. The disposition of this
charge and arrest was unknown to the FBI.
ROY HARGRAVES, MK: CHOAS AND THE BLACK PANTHERS:

1968
OPERATION CHAOS
In 1968 Hemming collaborated with the CIA in Los Angeles
in running operations against the Black Panthers. Hemming was
never carried on the books of the CIA, but his operative, Roy
EMORY Hargraves was. A CIA Index Card regarding Hargraves
read: "PROJECT SEAL." [CIA FOIA 42922] Another card read read:
"MHCHAOS / Revolutionary Guerrilla Training in Mexico."
MHCHAOS was a CIA Operation of the Chief, Counter-Intelligence
Staff, and the Office of Security in which New Left radicals were
followed when they went overseas, in order to determine if they
made contact with the Soviets, Communist Chinese or Cubans. It
was started in 1967. In 1968 CIA Stations overseas began having
certain American citizens who traveled abroad monitored by friendly
49
foreign intelligence services. In mid-1969 the CIA began sending its

own CHAOS agents abroad. The Rockefeller Commission reported
that Operation Chaos produced files on American citizens and many
reports to the FBI. What the Rockefeller Report did not mention was
that several New Left figures who traveled abroad were the subject
of violent attacks by the assets or CHAOS agents who were
surveilling them. Abbie Hoffman, a leader of the Youth International

Party, was beaten by three men when he visited Paris while
OPERATION CHAOS was in effect. Songwriter and singer Phil
Ochs throat was slit when he visited Algeria during this period.
Richard Ober, former Chief of Station in New Deli, India, was
transferred to CIA Headquarters where he became Chief of
Counter-Intelligence (Special Operations) where he along with the
Office of Security ran OPERATION CHAOS. Ober’s boss was
JAMES Angleton. Charles Colson told Senator Lowell Weicker that
on several occasions Richard Ober received packages from Hunt
which he then passed on to Richard Helms. "Colson indicated he
did not know the contents of the packages." [USDC SDF 75-640-
CR-Peter Fay Defendant's Exhibit 4 Werbell] In 1969 and 1970 the
CIA was asked by the White House to determine whether foreign
governments were supplying undercover agents and funds to the
50
Black Panther Party. [NYT 12.22.74] A CIA document regarding

MHCHAOS read: "The dissention among American black political
extremists and hijackers abroad i.e. the break up of the (deleted)
Black Panther Faction (deleted) and other similar fractionalizations,
to a great part the result of an inability of the main protagonists to
capitalize on the status as 'international revolutionaries' have
reduced these activities to a shadow of former dimensions." [CIA
MHCHAOS #20 8.20.73 by CI] Angleton told Seymour Hersch that
he had obtained information from Communist sources about alleged
demolition training of black militants by the North Koreans. Angleton
believed the anti-Vietnam war movement in the United States was
controlled by foreign powers. Jerry G. Brown believed the same.
Ron Kessler related:
Heaping ridicule on the efforts of the Church

Committee and the presidentially appointed
Rockefeller Commission that investigated the
abuses, Jerry G. Brown said the CIA'S Operation
Chaos - the effort to investigate domestic dissidents -
was seen by our 'unsophisticated detractors' as 'a
purposeful attempt by the Agency and the Nixon
Administration to subvert the domestic political
process by spying on American citizens.' This was
not the case at all, Brown claimed. In fact, he said,
Operation Chaos represented an effort to address
'serious National Security questions. Those who
would destroy us and our efforts were not Soviets
and our other worldwide enemies, but our own
elected legislative representatives. The tragedy of the
congressional and Rockefeller Commission inquiries
into Operation Chaos was that none of the staff
investigators bothered to find out how the operation
began,' Brown said. If they had, they would have
found out that it began with what Brown called a
serious problem - the leak in 1967 to Ramparts
magazine of the fact that the CIA was secretly
funding the National Student Association. According
to Brown, this funding was essential so that the
National Student Association could fight Soviet
efforts to control international youth organizations.
The tip to Ramparts, he said, was 'one of the most
flagrant leaks of classified information ever known to
the Agency.' And who leaked the information?
51
According to Brown it was the KGB, which obtained

the information directly from the CIA and gave it
'through individuals peripherally connected with the
magazine' to Ramparts. 'The exposure of the
Agency's involvement with the National Student
Association by Ramparts was totally inspired by the
KGB, Brown said.
Brown claimed the CIA learned this information from a

Soviet defector. Cord Meyer, the man in charge of the National
Student Association's funding, stated that Michael Wood, an
employee of the National Student Association, gave the information
to Ramparts. [Kessler, Inside the CIA page 192] Hemming said
Hargraves worked on construction jobs with Richard Whatley in
Baton Rouge in 1967. Hemming: "I got to Baton Rouge, talked to
everybody there, met with Hargraves and went to see Garrison.
After two weeks with Garrison Hargraves decided to turn over his
construction company to Richard Whatley, Louis Van Hook and take
off with me to California." In Los Angeles Hargraves got a job as a
bodyguard for Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver.
HEMMING SEPTEMBER 1968
A CIA Index card read: "/N Hemming, Gerald Patrick OR
C534051 /D MEM September 30, 1968, P2 Black Power Threat
(copy in file October 1977) 2249241 68." [CIA FOIA 42992 Allen v.
DOD CIA Memo Headquarters 9.25.69 #41277]
HEMMING OCTOBER 1968
On November 21, 1968, the FBI generated a document
entitled Pedro Eduardo de Jesus Arnao-Garcia. [FBI File 105-
25454] On January 16, 1969, this Secret Dispatch was sent:
DISPATCH Classification RYBAT
To: Chief, WOMUSE
Info. Chief, WH Division
From Chief of Station, Mexico City
Subject 5/MHCHAOS/Revolutionary Guerilla Training in Mexico.
1. Attached for your information is a copy of a
memorandum on the above Subject, dated
December 27, 1968, from the Legal Attache.
2. The Station's files contain no record of Roy

Hargraves. For information on Jose Antonio Duarte
Oropesa see WAVE -3924 of March 22, 1964,
52
WAVE-7683 of June 13, 1967, etc. For information

on Gerald Patrick Hemming see UFG 7632 and UFG
7619.
Ed Scauut (?) for Willard Curtis
[HMMA 36214 Hdqrs.. File Reference 200-60387/3

CIA FOIA #09258]
SUBJECT: REPORTED GUERRILLA TRAINING

SCHOOL IN MEXICO
105-7255 (December 27, 1968).
On October 29, 1968, a confidential source who has

furnished reliable information in the past and who has
been active in Cuban revolutionary matters for the
past ten years advised as follows:
Gerald Patrick Hemming is an American soldier-of-

fortune and adventurer who currently resides in Los
Angeles, California, and has been involved in Cuban
Revolutionary Activities for the past six years. The
source learned form Hemming that Roy Hargraves,
another American adventurer currently living in Los
Angeles California was formerly active in Cuban
revolutionary matters in Miami. As of October 29,
1968, Hargraves was in jail in Los Angeles, charged
with dynamiting right-wing organizations and also the
headquarters of the Black Panther Party in the Los
Angeles area. Hemming reportedly learned from
Hargraves that he works for Jose Antonio Duarte
Cropesa, a Cuban exile living in Los Angeles who is
associated with black militant organizations and
extreme right wing groups. Duarte apparently wants
racial warfare between these groups and is
promoting unrest.
Hemming told the source he was informed by

Hargraves that there were guerilla warfare camps in
Mexico and that such groups as the Panthers and
SDS send members to Mexico to receive guerilla
warfare training. Hargraves claimed that Duarte said
that he sent an American friend to Mexico to inspect
53
these guerilla warfare camps and to report back to

him.
The source described Hemming and Hargraves as

extremists, activists, mercenaries, opportunists and
immoral. However, they have a thorough knowledge
of Cuban Revolutionary Activities, have participated
in many proposed raids and invasions, are
knowledgeable concerning Cuban matters and are
acquainted with the Cuban exile community in the
United States. The source stated that Hemming,
however, while in a position to furnish information,
frequently alters, distorts and changes the
information to suit his fancy.
The Black Panthers are a militant extremist Negro

group based in California, but with a nation-wide
membership. The Students for a Democratic Society
is an anarchistically inclined group of the New Left.
Pertinent portions of the foregoing information have
been furnished to the Mexican Federal Security
Police, Ministry of Government and Attorney
General's Office.
[MKCHAOS - Revolutionary Guerrilla Training in Mexico 1.10.69]
I'm Hargraves' case officer. He ain't telling me shit.

Hargraves blew a nigger right through a plate glass
window - put him in the hospital for nine months! He's
Cleaver's bodyguard for some operations. When he
blew the Panther through the window, it was
approved by Cleaver. Cleaver was on the CIA pay
roll... Project Long Beach, fucking M-60's, AK-47s all
over the fucking place. They were going to go and hit
the downtown Panther Headquarters. I told 'em,
'There ain't nothing there. There's four boxes of 50
caliber ammo, but there's tunnels, steel doors,
sandbags and bad motherfuckers that walk in there.
Four guys walked up to the front and they blew their
fuckasses away. Ended up having to bomb them
from the fucking roof.
54
BLACK PANTHER SUPPORT GROUPS & DONALD FREED

Hemming credited Hargraves with having been approached
to set up Donald Freed on bogus charges of possession of hand
grenades in 1968. Don Freed, who led the Black Panther support
committee in Los Angeles, was tried and acquitted of the charges in
1970. Hemming:
Did you ask Freed if he knew how we were setting

him up in L.A.? They approached Hargraves to set-
up Donald Freed with the grenades. Hargraves
approached me and I said no. Because right now I'm
going to put you into the Panthers, so I don't want
you bombing them. So he went into the Panthers and
he was Eldridge's boy. Eventually Freed was set up
by James Jarrett. But they threw it out. What I'm
hinting at here is 'Hey, you guys want to talk about
my three years in California, huh, it will make
Watergate look sick. You want to know about
California, because they don't know what the fuck I
was doing in California. Well I got some logs and
some memories which tell me what I was doing in
California. I was watching those cocksuckers
because they tried to set me up on the Dallas thing.
James Jarret he infiltrated Friends of the Black Panther

Party on behalf of LAPD. He also busted Shirley Southerland, the
55
mother of Keifer Southerland with Freed. In Hemming’s Motion for

Favorable Evidence he asked for:
All files, documents, and memorandums held by CIA,

FBI, U.S. Treasury Department, and other agencies
that refer to the defendant's activities within Los
Angeles County, California, during calendar years
1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970, inclusive, especially
those activities involving terrorist activities, bombings
and conspiracies by militant groups specifically the
case involving a certain Donald Freed, who was
charged with illegal possession of destructive
devices, to wit: fragmentation hand grenades.
A CIA document read:
October 20, 1968. At 9:50 a reliable source advised

[CIA] that Subject Roy EMORY Hargraves
approached him to 'blow up a left-wing' office in Long
Beach. The source was shown explosives, but
declined to accompany Subject. He was not told what
was to be blown up, or when. He indicated that
Subject resided at (deleted). This information was
passed on to Long Beach Police officers with a list of
potential targets. The arresting officers (deleted)
were alerted to watch Subjects residence. October
22, 1968: (Deleted) The SDS Peace Center, 2628
East Anaheim, Long Beach, was bombed at 3:00
a.m. this date. When Subject returned to his
residence, he was arrested on outstanding traffic
warrants and was found to also have traffic warrants
from El Monte.
Subject was interviewed and admitted the bombing.

He indicated that he would take all the 'heat' and not
involve anyone else, but would later tell more about
his activities. He said that he went alone to the peace
center and placed a bomb. He used a cigarette
placed inside a paper match book. This was
connected to a soda straw that had been filled with
match heads and gun powder (#4750 reloading
powder) and was connected to a light aluminum
detonator. The detonator set off the main charge
which was connected with masking tape and
56
consisted of four one quarter pound charges of 'Tem-

Type' explosive. He said that he had 'sweat-out' the
'Tem-Type' to weaken the charge and placed it back
in an alcove where it would not blow the front glass
windows into the street. He left the scene and did not
hear it go off; a short while later he drove back by the
location and observed the police vehicles and knew
the explosion had occurred. Facts were presented to
the District Attorney's office, Long Beach, and a
written rejection was issued. The facts were then
presented to the Long Beach Prosecutor who issued
complaint #M87122, charging Malicious Destruction
of Property. Subject was taken before Judge
Sutherland, Long Beach Municipal Court and
pleaded guilty. Probation and sentence was set for
November 12, 1968. Subject was remanded to
custody in lieu of bail plus the time to be served on
the traffic warrants, then to be released to El Monte
for the other traffic warrants.
October 24, 1968. Subject was re-interviewed and

gave the following information. He is close to Jose
Antonio Duarte (ex-Major in Fidel Castro's Army)
(Deleted) Major Duarte is trying to get close to the
Cuban Power group, but is not trusted by them
because of his ex-ties with Castro. Subject denied
any connection with Cuban Power [Orlando Bosch’s
crew] except through Duarte. He said he got the
explosives from Duarte and that Duarte was
supposed to also give him some Cuban Power
stickers to leave at the Students for a Democratic
Society bombing scene, but that he never received
the stickers. Durarte knew he was going to do the
bombing and indicated that this type of action could
get him into the Cuban Power group.
Subject admitted that he and Duarte went to a Black

Militant house or office in Compton some time back
and broke windows. Duarte had a smoke grenade
but 'got shook' and could not get the pin pulled and
they ran.
Subject hinted that he was also responsible for the

bombing of the Free Press in Los Angeles about one
57
or two days prior to the Long Beach S.D.S. bombing,

but would not fully admit it. Jerry indicated off the
record (and after he had plead guilty as indicated
above) that there was a girl and another man with
him on the S.D.S. bombing but would not identify
them.
Additional Information: Shortly after the Subject was

arrested for the traffic warrants, he called (Deleted)
the original source of this information and asked him
to go to Subjects house and remove a box of
'Christmas decorations." Source knew him to mean
explosives. He went to this address and talked to
Subject's wife who denied knowing about such a box.
It was later determined that Subject's wife had
overheard the original arresting officers question
Subject about the bombing, and it is assumed that
she had already disposed of any explosives.
Subject also called from jail to the Wallace for

President, North Long Beach Office. It is unknown
who he talked to, however, a short while later he had
a visitor in jail named Pam Barsby. She is apparently
well-known to the jailors and no visitors pass was
recorded. The jailors were questioned and stated that
they knew her to be working in the above Wallace
office from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. She is
believed to be married to a man who owns Cadillac
Tracers Inc. 6701 Atlantic, Long Beach. Investigation
of this business license shows that the company has
not got a current license but did have under the name
of James B. Parsby 2126 Berkeley, Los Angeles, (2)
Robert Barsby, 133 Rocky Point Road, Palos Verde,
and (3) Charles Whittington, address unknown.
After the above visit to jail by Pam, she called the

wife of the original source (deleted as of 2010) and
told her about the visit to jail. She indicated that she
and a 'Jerry' who also worked at Wallace
Headquarters and owned a Volkswagon was with the
Subject when the S.D.S. bombing took place. It is
noted that there were two bombs (Deleted as of
2010) one of which was placed on a red yard stick. It
is believed that 'Jerry' set the second bomb. The wife
58
of source said that Pam's true last name is Barsby

but that she used the name Barbee while working for
Wallace. Pam told her that three of them used the
Subject's black Renault on the Long Beach S.D.S.
bombing, but that they used her red Corvette to 'blow'
the Free Press. She also said that the three of them
pulled some type of attack against a Black Militant in
Compton. This incident could not be located and may
not have been reported, if it did in fact occur.
To date, 'Jerry' has not been identified. Subject

admitted having been along with Lloyd E. Pullen on
July 28, 1968, (deleted as of 2010) when they broke
windows out of the Peace and Freedom Party office,
Long Beach, and committed a Battery on Theodore
Glaum, however he said Pullen has never taken part
in any bombings.
[CIA D01238 1.9.69 NARA 1993.07.20.14:20:50:370280]
Hemming 1994:
Jerri or Jeri was a female who worked for the George

Wallace people. She was built like a brick shithouse,
looked like Angie Dickinson, married, but fucked like
a pig. I had her riding in my lap in a Volkswagon. She
got off on these bombings. Running around with
Lloyd Pullen and fucking Hargraves blowing up these
fucking buildings and shit, but she was working for
the company too.
In January 1996 this researcher called Hemming and asked

if Hargraves ever called him from jail and asked him to remove
some Christmas decorations from his (Hargraves) home. Hemming
said, "Yes, he did." When confronted with the significance of this
information Hemming said Hargraves called Lloyd Pullen.
LLOYD PULLEN
Lloyd Pullen was very prominent on TV and in the

press as one of the guys that, during the Watts riot,
organized a group of like militia that protected a lot of
properties in Long Beach. This was a case where I
59
got connected with the guy through Joe Pine. Pullen

had an incorporated group and their big thing was
getting ready for the next one. He would tell people
and he would tell Joe Pine, 'Hey you people who
have problems with nigger gangs or any of this kind
of bullshit you let me know, we'll do something about
it.' So he was favorite with the cops...He was on the
Joe Pine Show regularly, called all these people
niggers and all kinds of shit. So Hargraves had a sort
of a welfare thing, lived in the projects. He showed
the niggers how to organize. He got the community
affairs volunteers all agitated cause there were a lot
of Latinos there, and all that kind of shit there. One
thing led to another and we had TV cameras, we got
him before the county commission, got him on KHG-
TV-9, Maria Coles program, Bob Dornan's program.
Hargraves did some benefits for these people
because they were being fucked over by these
conservative anti-welfare shitheads. So Pullen was
shocked that Hargraves was doing all these good
things for the niggers.
I told Hargraves when Pullen confronts you with this

try to get as much information so we know who his
sources are, how accurate his sources are, because
I'm dealing with the LA County Sheriff's Intelligence
Bureau and they wanted to know what Long Beach
Police Department is doing and what all these other
people are doing. So Pullen confronted him and
practically told him how he wiped his ass the night
before. I mean this is up to date accurate fucking
information. So Hargraves came back on him and
said 'You're dealing with top fucking people. Who is
it, Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit?' So Pullen
figured, 'Wait a minute, what have we got here?'
Then they turned him over to Lt. Hendricks of Long
Beach Police Department Intelligence who was the
chairman of the LEIU. Somebody's giving money to
Lt. Hendricks of the LIEU and some operational
funds are dispersed out to Pullen and a little bit might
get to Hargraves. But what is he going to use money
for other than gasoline, or this or that? He wasn't
allowed to have a car. Then somebody might
60
question how you afford a car when you're living in a

fucking project. He has to be poor, white trash. That's
his best role. Any money he had an explanation...he
had a license to steal - he could have gone down and
robbed banks and got away with it - but it would have
fucked up the operation. It would have brought the
Bureau in...And here's Hargraves, we're down in
Watts and kicking in the front of one of the Panther
operations. We got niggers that are shaking down old
folks down in Compton and shit, regular gang
bullshit. The cops were happier than shit because
we're coming in and fucking these people over. And
they think they're bad.
According to Hemming, Pullen was shot by blacks spent a
week in the hospital. In a Freedom of Information Act request to the
United States Service Hemming requested: "Reports reflecting my
liaison with Roy E. Hargraves in Los Angeles California, including:
a) The presence of Hargraves as COPE delegate at
a reception for Vice President Hubert Humphrey at
the Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles.
b) The activities of Hargraves with Lloyd Pullen in

Long Beach, California area. At the present time
there are rabid revivals of accusations and
insinuations, certain writers who allege knowledge by
my group in a past tragic event. Those revived
accusations and insinuations have caused jeopardy
to my person, hence my imperative need to review
the fore-mentioned material.
The FBI reported, “Hemming was also described as a close
associate of Lloyd Pullen who is a local leader of an organization
called “Staff” which is the front name for the Minutemen. On
January 19, 1968 Hemming visited the parents of Everett Jackson,
a pilot captured in Cuba in January 1968. On this occasion ways
and means were discussed to affect the release of Jackson which
included the possibility of an exchange of prisoners. Hemming said
there were special people in Florida that had contacts in Cuba.
Putting pressure on the Cuban sympathizers and

bombings were also mentioned in this discussion.
Hemming made statements on January 1968 that he
knew who Jackson was working for and what his
61
mission was in his flight over Cuba. Hemming

alsomade comments there would be news of
bombings in the Florida area in the near future.
HEMMING AND HUBERT HUMPHREY

Hemming claimed Hargraves was present as a COPE
delegate at the reception for Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
Hemming told this researcher: "You have to know your target before
you penetrate. Humphrey was running for President in 1968. I got
Hargraves a pass, and he got his picture taken with Humphrey."
Prior to this, Hemming claimed to have met with Hubert Humphrey
at the Harbor Square East Condominium, Washington, D.C.
That was a casual encounter when I was helping

Strom Thurmond move into his new apartment in
1967. I was standing there talkin' to Hubert
Humphrey. One agent goes behind my car and
checks the Florida National Guard license plates on
my 1966 Polaris. Meanwhile, I'm talking to Hubert
Humphrey on the sidewalk.
THE KING ASSASSINATION

HEMMING, HARGRAVES APRIL 1968
62
Hemming and Hargraves framed James Earl Ray for the murder of
Martin Luther King. James Earl Ray was born in 1928. The father of
James Earl Ray was a criminal. James Earl Ray never graduated
from high school, and was ejected from the Army after two years of
service. In the early 1950's he began to commit a series of crimes
including burglary and forgery. On April 23, 1967, after serving
seven years of a 20 year sentence for armed robbery, James Earl
Ray escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary by concealing himself
in a box that would normally contain bread from the prison bakery.
Ray had no ambition. You know what the ambition

factor is? Is there anybody on this planet who can
say James Earl Ray ever aspired to anything, or
thought of any grandiose schemes, or wanted to be
somebody? No. He never wanted to be shit. This is
the last guy to do a shooting job. Nothing
complicated. Nothing that requires heavy thinking.
But it would have been a stretch of the imagination to
have Castro agents mad at Martin Luther King, right?
63
"RAOUL" IN MONTREAL
Circa August 15, 1967, a fugitive named James Earl Ray
met a man at the Neptune Tavern in Montreal who called himself
"Raoul". Evidence suggested "Raoul" was Roy Hargraves,
Hemming’s sidekick. "Raoul" said he was a seaman. Roy Hargraves
had years of experience as a seaman conducting infilation and
exfilration missions along with raids on Castro’s Cuba. Ray claimed
they met by chance and they had no mutual friends. Ray said he
"sort of let the word get around that he had a little trouble down in
the States that he was looking for I.D. and capital, and just might be
available for activities that didn't involve too much risk." Would
James Earl Ray have leaked the fact the he was a fugitive in a
public bar? Bar owners often double as police informants. Hemming
told this researcher:
That's what Ray wants you to believe. This is what

keeps people secure, that he's not spilling the beans.
There are people that would worry, 'Maybe this son-
of-a-bitch really found out more than he's ever
admitted before the incident itself? Maybe somebody
was loose? Maybe this guy really knows some shit?’
He didn't do it, we know that.
Evidence suggested that the brother of James Earl Ray,

Jerry Ray, who had come into contact with Gerry Hemming when J.
B. Stoner’s National State’s Rights Party made contact with
INTERPEN in the early 1960’s. It was Jerry Ray who told his brother
that "Raoul" was "alright," but James did not want to involve his
brother in the Martin Luther King assassination, and so he never
came forward with this information. Hemming told this researcher:
A guy like Ray would say, 'Who told you about me?'
You got to have a fucking name. It's got to be
somebody that's worthless to you that you can go
ahead and burn, and the guy doesn't know you, so
it's not traceable. That's made plain right off the bat, 'I
know you through so and so, but so and so doesn't
know me. A friend of mine knows him and I'm not
gonna tell you who the fuck he is.' If it isn't done this
way, a guy like Ray would say, 'Boy, this guy's a
blabber mouth. He's giving me all his fucking
contacts, I know more about him than he does about
me, which is a bad way to be.'
64
Hemming also stated:

Somebody had to produce some sort of bona fides to
prove who the fuck he was and he expects Ray to
check the arms of that through his own sources of
'Who the hell am I dealing with here?
RAOUL AKA ROY M. HARGRAVES
James Earl Ray described "Raoul" as a 35-year-old blonde

or red-haired Latin, 5'8", and 140 pounds. Hargraves was born in
1940 and would be 28 in 1968. The rest of Ray’s description fits
Hargraves height and weight. Ray told author William Bradford Huie
that "Raoul" was "a Cuban exile." Hargraves had trained anti-Batista
elements prior to Castro coming to power. James Earl Ray wrote:
In the spring of 1968 I James Earl Ray was working

with agents of the Federal Government, including
Raoul. They told me I was helping them to supply
arms and guns to the Cuban refugees there to
65
overthrow Castro and the communest I cuba. The

reason why I'd made trips to Mexico was in regard to
helping the agents of the federal government to
supply arms to cuban refugees there to overthrow
Castro. The Federal Agents led me to believe that I
was working in Memphis in April 1968 for the same
purpose. I knew I was working with Federal Agents
the way they had me passed across the Mexican and
Canadian borders is only one thing that proves they
were federal agents. At a later time, if necessary, I
will give more extensive proof about the federal
agents with whom I was involved. It is a known fact
that Agents of federal government and, the Mexican
Police knew about my trips to Mexico and protected
me there. I knew nothing about King being in
Memphis until after King had been killed. I could not
argue with the federal agents I worked for becous
they would have put me back in the Missouri State
Prison at Jefferson City if I failed to take orders from
them. I know that the federal agents merly used me
as the fall guy when they killed King. I now realize
that they had no interest in overthrowing Castro and
their whole purpose was to use me to cover up their
own crime. Two federal agencies are guilty and I am
fully innocent. [FBI 44-38961-5811 Sec. 81]
JULY 18, 1967 TO AUGUST 24, 1967
James Earl Ray had at eight meetings with "Raoul" over the
next three weeks. Hemming told this researcher: "Ray was involved
in a homicide with Raoul." The FBI found that Ray was in
possession of "Qc351 Photocopies of 4-page hw letter dated at
Montreal, Que., signed "Code letter 'G.'" According to James Earl
Ray, at the last meeting, "Raoul" told him to go to Windsor, Canada,
on August 21, 1967 where he would give him some packages to
smuggle into the United States. After this, James Earl Ray was paid
and told to drive to Birmingham, Alabama, and keep out of sight
until "Raoul" arrived. James Earl Ray arrived there August 25, 1967.
James Earl Ray opened a safe deposit box at the Birmingham Trust
National Bank on August 28, 1967. "Raoul" told James Earl Ray he
spent a lot of time in New Orleans and gave him several telephone
numbers there. Ray left Birmingham on August 30, 1967. On
September 1, 1967, he received a letter from "Raoul" regarding their
next meeting. When they met, "Raoul" gave James Earl Ray $2000
66
and told him to purchase a late model Mustang. James Earl Ray
wrote:
I suppose I became involved in some sort of plot to

kill King when I first took those packages into the
United States from Canada. I would think it had all
been decided before the car was bought in
Birmingham as no one would have given me three
grand just to haul narcotics across the border. [Look
11.26.68]
You give them a couple of test runs. It's gonna be

something that brings back a couple of bucks and
pays for your expenses in recruiting these people.
Now he's gonna be hesitant to admit this because it
could be fingerprints back to other crimes that have
no statute of limitations, namely homicide.
OCTOBER 7, 1967 TO OCTOBER 10, 1967: MEXICO
James Earl Ray said that his next assignment (mid-October
1967), was to order several hundred dollars worth of photographic
equipment then drive down to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where he was
to meet "Raoul". The HSCA stated that Ray planned to make
pornographic movies in Mexico using a remote controlled camera.
Ray met "Raoul" at a hotel there, and then followed him across the
border, into Laredo, Texas. "Raoul" took a cab and they met in
Laredo, where "Raoul" gave him a spare tire which James Earl Ray
was supposed to smuggle into Mexico. "Raoul" rode with Ray as
they again crossed the border into Mexico. James Earl Ray:
At Mexican customs he got out and waited beside the

building. Following his instructions, I asked the
customs men for a Tourist Card, telling them I was
going to the interior of Mexico, not just to Nuevo
Laredo. (No tourist card is needed to visit the border
towns in Mexico; only if you are going into the
interior.) When the Customs men started to search
the car, I gave them $3 as Raoul had told me to do,
and they stopped the search and put a mark on
everything.
67
"Raoul" rejoined James Earl Ray in Mexico, transferred the

tire to the automobile from which it originally came. James Earl Ray
drove the car through a checkpoint in the interior of Mexico. He
received $2000 for this trip. Hemming told this researcher:
Raoul was a cut out. He's a guy you can trust with
money, he's a guy a you can trust with the location of
an arms cache or a seller of select type weapons.
He's a guy that gets a very simple job done and does
what he's told to do and not ask questions or even
gives a shit why it's being done.
LOS ANGELES: RITA AND CHARLES STEIN
In November 1967 James Earl Ray drove to Los Angeles,
where he moved into a cheap hotel. His associates in Los Angeles
included petty criminal Rita Stein, whose husband had overdosed
on morphine [FBI LA-44-1574]. The cousin of Rita Stein, Myrial
Tomaso, had been arrested on seven felony charges involving
narcotics and forgery. [FBI 44-382861-5553] New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison described Rita Stein's brother, Charles Stein
[born, May 11, 1929], as a "good boy who keeps bad company."
Charles Stein was married to Mickie Medina, the "Queen of Vice of
New Orleans" from 1962 to 1963. He had one arrest linked to
prostitution. [FBI 157-10672-654] Myrial Tomaso convinced James
Earl Ray to take her cousin, Charles Stein, and two children, with
him to New Orleans. James Earl Ray agreed to drive Charles Stein
and the kids to New Orleans, but insisted that Myrial Tomaso and
Charles Stein first register in the Independent party of George C.
Wallace. On December 13, 1967, Ray sent a letter to the
Birmingham Trust National Bank closing his safe deposit box there.
Ray, Stein, and the two children left Los Angeles circa December
14, 1967. They arrived in New Orleans on December 15, 1967.
CHARLES STEIN: RAY MENTIONED RAOUL
The HSCA reported: "Charles Stein recalled that James Earl
Ray was definitely going to New Orleans for reasons of his own and
that he was not making the trip merely to accommodate Rita..." The
FBI claimed that Charles Stein told the Bureau that he never heard
James Earl Ray mention anyone named "Raoul," however, Charles
Stein also stated, several times during an FBI interview, that "he
recalled James Earl Ray mentioning the name 'Raoul.' Charles
Stein was confronted, during this initial interview with the HSCA,
with an FBI interview which reflected his statement that the person
he [James Earl Ray] was going to see had an Italian-sounding name
68
- a well known name in New Orleans. Stein agreed that Raoul was
not Italian-sounding, and stated that perhaps he was dodging the
FBI's questions." [HSCA MLK Vol, 13 p273] During his later
testimony before the HSCA, Charles Stein was asked if James Earl
Ray had mentioned the name "Raoul" prior to the Martin Luther King
assassination. He stated: "I think that he did."
THE TELEPHONE CALL TO NEW ORLEANS DURING THE TRIP
Charles Stein thought that James Earl Ray told him that he
called New Orleans, in advance, to let them know when he would
arrive. This call was made after James Earl Ray pulled off the road
outside of Houston, Texas.
He stated that in the evening of December 16, 1967,

Ray made a telephone call from a public coin box
phone. Ray talked for quite some time. Stein was of
the opinion this call was made somewhere in the
vicinity of Houston, Texas. He also stated it was dark
at the time as he can recall the light in the phone
booth shining down on Ray while he made the call.
Stein advised he did not recall the general
surroundings of the area in which the phone booth
was located; or whether it was in a gas station,
shopping center or standing by itself. He did think,
however, if he saw the phone booth again he would
probably recall it. Stein was questioned further
regarding this phone call and in response to
questions, advised this phone call was the only one
he actually observed being made by Ray. However,
at several other stops they made, Ray was out of his
sight for short periods of time and during those times
Ray could have made other phone calls. Stein
advised that when Ray returned to the car after
making the phone call he appeared to be tense and
somewhat deep in thought. This condition lasted
about 20 minutes or a half hour. When asked if he
recalled traveling through Houston, Texas, Stein
stated he did not recall passing through Houston,
Texas, but commented that he was sleeping off and
on during this time. [FBI LA 44-1547]
The FBI re-interviewed Stein:
69
He can recollect one telephone call made by James

Earl Ray while they were en route to New Orleans.
Stein advised that the call was made from a
telephone booth located near Houston, Texas, west
of Houston. He advised that at approximately 9:00
p.m. on December 16, 1967, Ray was driving and
turned off the freeway onto an access road
paralleling the freeway heading toward Houston. He
stated Ray stopped at a phone booth by a service
station. He does not recollect the particular gas sold
at this station. He advised that a liquor store was next
to the service station, but does not recollect on what
side...Stein advised that at the time of the call he
bought a cup of coffee in the service station and
some candy or gum in the liquor store. Stein advised
that the above information is accurate. He advised
that he did not intentionally withhold this information
upon prior interviews, and only recently remembered
the details of the phone call. [FBI LA 44-1574
4.24.68]
Another FBI document stated: "Stein has indicated that en

route from somewhere in Texas Ray made one or two long distance
telephone calls from coin phones and also indicated he was going
to contact either architectural or contracting firm." The FBI contacted
numerous construction firms in Louisiana but none of them had ever
heard of Ray or any of his name variants. Note: Hemming said
Hargraves worked on construction jobs with Richard Whatley in
Baton Rouge in 1967.
THE FBI INVESTIGATION
The FBI investigated James Earl Ray's calls to "Raoul" by
checking the toll records of all the telephone booths James Earl Ray
might have used while traveling from Los Angeles to New Orleans.
It concluded: "An exhaustive search of countless telephone records,
numbers and subscribers produced nothing." [FBI 44-8861-2014]
Sometimes it was impossible to check on a pay phone because the
toll records had been destroyed. [FBI 44-38861-2460] In many
cases it was impossible for this researcher to determine if certain
calls were, in fact, significant, because of heavy deletions. When
Charles Stein and James Earl Ray reached New Orleans, James
Earl Ray claimed he called the New Orleans telephone number
given to him by "Raoul." James Earl Ray:
70
I was asked where I was staying then told where

Raoul would meet me...He wanted me to help take
some guns into Mexico and there would be ten or
twelve grand in it for me plus the usual promise of
travel documents. During the conversation he said
after I got to Cuba I could go anyplace in the world. I
told him I wasn't interested in going to Cuba and I
wanted the travel documents and part of the money
before I went to Mexico. The project would start
about the first of May - he would write me as to the
specific date later on...Late in February he wrote and
asked me to meet him at the bar where we had met
before in New Orleans.
WILLIAM MONTELEONE
The bar they were to meet in, the Le Bunny Lounge on Canal
Street, just happened to be located across the street from the Hotel
Monteleone, which was owned by William Monteleone, a former
member of the Cuban Revolutionary Front. [Monteleone, William
telephone 504-288-0643, 522-8923 hotel 523-3341] Was this where
Raoul was staying? William Bradford Huie reported: “The
Monteleone family has as their guests, pilots who had been
71
ransomed from Cuba who had participated in the invasion of the

Bay of Pigs.” Huie related that Ray on his trip to New Orleans with
Stein had met unknown, unnamed parties in a bar from which
diagrams made by Ray, Huie concluded was across the street from
the Monteleone. Hemming told this researcher: "This could be
significant. They burn trails by making those kind of mistakes."
James Earl Ray waited all day for "Raoul", but he did not appear.
James Earl Ray was back in Los Angeles on December 18, 1967.
He remained there until March 1968 when he left for New Orleans.
When he called "Raoul's" telephone number he was told that
"Raoul" had gone to Birmingham, Alabama. He met him there and
the two men drove to Atlanta (a dry cleaning ticket placed him there
on April 1, 1968) and then back to Birmingham. On April 2, 1968,
James Earl Ray was instructed to rent a motel room and he did so
using the name "Willard." He was also told to purchase a deer rifle
at the Aeromarine Supply Company. "Raoul" examined the weapon
and determined it was unsatisfactory. James Earl Ray returned it
and purchased a 30.06 rifle which "Raoul" accepted. The
Aeromarine Supply Company was coincidentally located in the
vicinity of the headquarters of General Reed Doster, who
assembled pilots for the Bay of Pigs invasion. Raul asked Ray to
purchase a rifle with an infrared scope. Ray testified before the
HSCA that after the room was rented, Raoul told him to buy “a pair
of binoculars with infrared attachments saying that the ‘people’ also
wanted to examine some glasses.” Ray attempted to purchase them
but was told that they were only available in army surplus stores.
Ray purchased a regular pair instead.
72
On April 4, 1968, the two men then drove to Memphis,

Tennessee, where a room had been reserved for James Earl Ray at
the Rebel Motel under the alias of "Willard." According to James
Earl Ray, after he checked in,
Raoul told me to rent the room at [a] rooming house

at 3:00 p.m. I rented a room from the woman [Bessie
Brewer]. I signed my name as John Willard...then I
went downstairs and found Raoul in the tavern [Jim's
Grill]. He had told me to get him some binoculars so I
went up to the store and bought them and when I got
back Raoul was up in the room.
RAY'S EVER CHANGING ALIBI
James Earl Ray first claimed he was in a gas station, having
a tire repaired, at the time of the shooting. According to William
Bradford Huie Ray stated:
I bought the binoculars. I took the rifle up into his

room at the rooming house. I was sitting in the
Mustang when I heard a shot. In a minute or so
Raoul came running down the stairs [carrying my
zipper bag which he threw down on the sidewalk].
Then he jumped in the back seat, covered up with a
sheet, and we took off.
"Raoul" jumped out at a traffic light eight blocks from the

scene of the shooting. Ray also said that he drove back to the flop
house and saw numerous police cars parked in front of it. He
thought the law was on to "Raoul" and he headed for a pay phone to
call "Raoul's" number in New Orleans. He turned on the car radio
and found out Martin Luther King had been killed and the police
were looking for a white man in a white Mustang. William Bradford
Huie stated that Ray told him "he was to be in the room and to get
to the room so that they might meet an unnamed, unknown party
and discuss the sale of weapons." James Earl Ray had no alibi
witnesses for any of these scenarios, however, version two seems
the most plausible because it does not require any witnesses.
"Raoul" would also stick to Ray as long and as closely as possible
to further dirty him up. Hemming told this researcher:
Ray might have guessed. What is Ray's thinking as

to 'What the fuck am I doing in Memphis?' He has to
have a reason for being there. He reads in the
73
newspapers that King is there, and says to himself,

'Wait a minute, nah, that couldn't be.' He's not going
to admit to that kind of shit now, he's not going to
admit to that. Maybe he tried to check out to see
'What are these fuckers up to that they're gonna put
me in for a nickel or a dime and I'm gonna be doing a
big job. Wait a minute, I don't want this fucking tail-
coating bullshit, turnip truck bullshit, where I do the
big fucking job and these people get all the goddamn
money.' There are people like that in the industry.
They try to figure out if there's been any leaks that
would endanger them, they try to guess who the
target is. They check the newspapers to see who the
target might be. Of course he would [have an idea he
was going to be set up]. Of course he would, that's
what keeps you alive. An inkling would be that he
might have done some snooping, he didn't trust the
people he was dealing with. They wouldn't be happy
with that today. But for him to turn it around and know
that this whole thing was a big assed plot, that's too
much for his little peanut brain to figure out.
THE BATHROOM WINDOW FROM WHICH SHOTS WERE FIRED
Rooming house manager Bessie Brewer stated that her husband
74
…returned home from work at 5:25 p.m. on April 4,

1968, and at that time Mr. and Mrs. Brewer
commenced their dinner. After diner Mr. Brewer then
turned on the television set and was watching the
"Rawhide" television program, and Mrs. Brewer did
the dinner dishes. Shortly after completing the dinner
dishes, Mrs. Brewer also sat down to watch the
"Rawhide" television program. Within a matter of a
couple of minutes, Mrs. Brewer heard what she
thought to be a gunshot coming from the back of her
rooming house. Mrs. Brewer believed that this must
have been around 6:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968. She
advised her husband that she thought it was a gun
shot. Her husband took time to put on his slippers
and both of them then proceeded to the southeast
exit of the building. Upon arriving at this point, Mr.
Brewer attempted to go out the back door; however,
a law enforcement officer was in the back of the
building and instructed both Mr. and Mrs. Brewer to
close the door and return to their apartment. Mrs.
Brewer did not hear any noise such as someone
running through her building after hearing the gun
shot, and the only noise she could recall hearing was
a lot of hollering and screaming near the back of her
building toward the Lorraine Motel.
When the FBI displayed a photograph of James Earl Ray to

Bessie Brewer she told them "I just don't know if it was him." Two
other residents of the rooming house, Gracie and Charles Stephens,
also witnessed the gunman make his getaway. Gracie Stephens
described the man she saw as "in his fifties, with salt and pepper
hair." David Christ was born 1918 so in 1968 he would have been
fifty years old. She said it was not James Earl Ray. On July 31,
1968, Gracie Stephens was committed to a state mental institution,
by an assistant administrator at the hospital. Mrs. Stephens was
diagnosed as suffering from Korsakoff's disease. Gracie Walden
Stephens [born October 15, 1915] had a long arrest record
beginning in 1942 for soliciting for prostitution, public drunkenness,
bad checks and carrying an unregistered pistol. The FBI reported,
Charles Stephens, Apartment 6B, 422 ½ South Main

Street, Memphis, advised that on the afternoon of
April 4, 1968, he was with his wife at the above
75
address. He stated that at about 3:30 p.m., on the

above date, he began working on a table model radio
which was in need of repair. He said he took the
radio to the kitchen and placed it on the table which
was against the wall that was adjacent to the
bathroom which was used by all the tenants on his
floor. As he was working on his radio he could hear
the man in the next apartment go into the bathroom.
Mr. Stephens stated that he knew it was the man
who had just checked in to Apartment 5B that
afternoon because he could hear the door of
Apartment 5B open then footsteps would go down
the hall to the bathroom; the bathroom door would
open and then close.
Mr. Stephens said that during these various trips that

the individual in Apartment 5B made to the bathroom
he failed to flush the toilet or run any water with the
exception of the last time he was in the bathroom. At
this time he flushed the toilet. He stated that this
individual seemed to be spending an undue length of
time in the bathroom. At about 6:00 p.m. on April 4,
1968, Mr. Stephens heard a loud noise which he
described as sounding like a gunshot come from the
bathroom. Upon hearing this noise, Mr. Stephens ran
from the kitchen where he was repairing his radio to
his door that led to the hallway. He stated this is only
a distance of about 10 to 12 feet. Upon opening the
door he saw a man leave the bathroom carrying a
package of about three feet long and wrapped in
what appeared to be a newspaper. He saw the man
run down the hall and then turn left as if he were
trying to leave the apartment building. As this was
happening, Willie Anchutz came out of his apartment
and went to the bathroom. Anchutz then told
Stephens to look out of his window. Stephens said
that he then looked out of his kitchen window which
faced the Lorraine Hotel and saw a lot of policemen
scurrying about and people running screaming in the
vicinity of the hotel.
Mr. Stephens stated that the man who was in

Apartment 5B had checked in about 3:00 p.m. or
76
3:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968. He stated he was sure of

this because he had heard the landlady showing him
the apartment at that time. He stated he glanced out
of his door and got a fairly good look at the man who
he described as being a white male, 5' 10" to 5' 11;
weighing 165 pounds; slender build; ruddy
complexion; sandy hair; had a long, sharp, pointed
nose; wearing what appeared to be a dark blue or
black suit, white shirt and dark tie.
Mr. Stephens stated that the man who he saw

running out of the bathroom closely resembled the
man who had checked into Apartment 5B. He said he
could only see the man who ran from the bathroom
from behind, but his general build, hair coloring and
clothes were the same as the individual in Apartment
5B. Mr. Stephens added he had never met the man
who checked into Apartment 5B, talked to him or
knew his name.
When Charles Stephens was shown a photograph of James
Earl Ray, Stephens said:
Unless he was wearing a wig or had a full face lift or
something it's not the man I saw. The hair is too full,
and the face is too young. [Montreal Sun 4.18.68;
Wash. Post 8.16.70; FBI ME 44-1987 JWB:raf
4.5.68; FBI Memo Tolson: DeLoach 7.2.68]
Stephens was described as "a drunk and disreputable" by

Prosecutor Canale, who wanted the FBI to put Stephens in
protective custody. On April 25, 1968,
Photographs of James Earl Ray taken in 1955, 1960,

and 1966 were shown to Mr. Charles Quitman
Stephens, Apartment 6B, 422 ½ South Main Street,
Memphis, Tennessee. Stephens said that the 1955
and 1960 photographs of Ray were not familiar to
him, but he advised that the 1966 profile photograph
of Ray appearing in the Wanted Flyer 442-A, April
19, 1968, and identification order dated April 20,
1968, looked like the man he saw in apartment 5B on
April 4, 1968, talking to Mrs. Bessie Brewer.
Stephens said that he only saw the man's profile in
the boarding house and as a result, could only say
77
the profile of James Earl Ray in 1968 looked very

much like the above mentioned man in Room 5B.
Stephens said he had never seen the bedspread of
any similar bedspread either at the rooming house or
anywhere else.
Roy Hargraves had Ray rent a room from Bessie Brewer.

This was why Stephens identified Ray as the man he saw with
Bessie Brewer. Hargraves had Ray buy a rifle and a pair of
binoculars for a future crime they were going to commit. Ray's car
was seen parked outside this flop house. Lloyd Jowers, owner,
Jim's Grill, 418 South Main Street, advised that at approximately
3:55 p.m. on April 4, 1968, he arrived at the Grill, and parked
directly in back of a while Mustang that was parked on the street
directly in front of his Grill. He did not see Ray in it. (King was
assassinated at approximately 6:00 p.m.) Hargraves told Ray to
leave the hotel room because a third party in deal was coming and
this man did not want to meet Ray. Ray was told to wait in the
Mustang that was parked downstair, in front of the flop house.
Enter David Christ of Dealey Plaza fame, who went to the

toilet, shot King, then left the premises. Several residents of the flop
house saw Christ flee. A sketch was created of Christ. Christ left
evidence incriminating Ray outside the flop house. Hemming told
this researcher:
In most cases you can just walk away. Remember,

all the sound is on the other side of the building. This
guy went out the front door of the place and just
walked down the street. You don't draw attention by
running or looking furtive. Get a newspaper and
pretend like you're reading it.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SKETCH OF KING'S ASSAILANT
Analysis of the MURKIN file revealed that the Bureau failed
to put together a composite sketch of the suspect based on
descriptions furnished to it by eyewitnesses to the shooting in
Memphis. Instead, the FBI relied on the recollections of people who
came into contact with James Earl Ray in Birmingham, Alabama,
such as the owners of Aeromarine Supply. [FBI 44-38861-254
4.8.68 teletype] An Airtel from the SAC of the Memphis Office
revealed:
78
Submitted herewith for Bureau's information is a

Polaroid copy of the artist's conception, as prepared
in Birmingham. It might be noted that this conception
is acceptable to Birmingham witnesses. It, however,
was rejected by five rooming house witnesses in
Memphis. This would seeming suggest a possibility,
as has been previously considered, that there may
well be two people involved in the murder. [FBI 44-
3886-253]
WILLIAM HARRINGTON
William Harrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal drew
a sketch of King's assailant based on the reports of eyewitnesses to
the assassination. William Harrington's sketch was based on
"descriptions from the men living in Memphis rooming house from
which the killer fired." [FBI 44-38811-473 p2 Sec. A] The sketch
showed a profile of a sharp-nosed man.
SERGIO JAUBERT
Sergio Jaubert, a police artist in Mexico City, put together a
sketch, on the day of the assassination, based on "a description
provided by the FBI following speculation that the assassin may
have fled to Mexico." [UPI telephoto NXP-MXP 1 4.10.67] When the
United Press published Sergio Jaubert's sketch, the FBI Legal
Attache in Mexico City cabled J. Edgar Hoover:
For the Bureau's information, the local police artist

who prepared the sketch in question is Sergio C.
Jaubert, who serves the Metropolitan Police and the
Judicial Police of the District and Territories in
Mexico. He has not been in direct contact with this
office and has, according to police sources, relied
completely on press accounts concerning the
appearance of the unidentified Subject.
[FBI 44-98861-1181] The FBI also denied that they were

"looking for any individual in Mexico." [FBI 44-98861-1181] The FBI
was definitely looking for a "sharp-nosed" suspect in Mexico. A
college student from Arizona was detained at the border because
he fit this description. [NYT 4.11.68] The FBI never released a
sketch - instead it released James Earl Ray's graduation picture
from bartender's school.
79
TURNER DISCOVERS JUABERT'S SKETCH IS A DEAD RINGER

FOR THE CHRIST TRAMP
80
81
The FBI's first reference to the tramps was generated as a

result of a report from the editor of a small Maryland newspaper and
was dated May 5, 1968. It concerned the visual similarity between
the Christ tramp and Sergio Jaubert's sketch. Researcher Harold
Weisberg had pointed this out to the editor who, in turn, contacted
the FBI. [FBI 9.30.74 Summary Dallas tramp info.] Ex-FBI Agent
William Turner was the first researcher to publicize the visual
similarity between the tramp and the sketch. William Turner, who
was working with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison at this
time, held a press conference at which he stated: "The sharp,
pointed nose, the wide mouth and thin lips, the firm set of the jaw. I
remembered something - the photograph of a suspect being taken
into custody by two shotgun carrying Dallas policemen." [San Fran.
Chronicle 5.6.68 Final Home Edition; FBI 44-38861-A] A few days
after William Turner's press conference, a New York Times article
appeared which discussed the resemblance of the tramp to the
sketch. The article quoted Richard E. Sprague as saying the short
tramp was "Ted Slack." Hemming had told an investigator for New
Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison that the tramp was "Ted
Slack" on May 8, 1968. The FBI generated no documents as a
result of this press conference. J. Edgar Hoover ignored William
Turner. The only reference to it in the files was a newspaper
clipping.
82
BARDWELL ODUM INVESTIGATES
On May 14, 1968, while investigating the Martin Luther King

assassination, FBI S.A. Bardwell Odum questioned Felix McKnight
of the Dallas Times Herald about the tramp shots, also on the basis
of the Christ tramp's similarity to the sketch. Bardwell Odum: “It
appeared to him that the alleged newspaper artist's sketch
appeared to have been made by someone who was looking at the
photograph of the unknown look-alike.” Bardwell Odum continued to
investigate the tramps and, as stated, was the agent who
questioned Bass, Wise, Vaughn and Kitching. Bardwell Odum was
questioned about the tramps by this researcher in 1993:
I heard about them. I didn't have any contact with

them. I don't know that the FBI released them. I don't
who it would have been. I never knew about any
three tramps until a long time after that. They were
interviewing all kinds of people, and not paying much
attention to them. I didn't have anything to do with
that. Fritz didn't like the FBI much, so there's no
telling what he said. I sure don't remember
questioning that publisher. I don't recall working on
anything involving the Martin Luther King
assassination. If I interviewed a publisher about it, I
83
certainly don't recall him saying anything that it

looked like one of those tramps, 'cause I never wrote
anything about those tramps and never even heard
about 'em. Never heard of Bass, Wise and Vaughn. I
know Kitching, but he was just an identification
officer. No sir, I never did it. In fact, I never heard
about those tramps 'til years later. And that was
mostly from people like you, writers who work up all
these things, but I never had anything to do with it in
an official, I never even heard who, if they were
identified, or what? I thought the police department
couldn't even find out who they were, so I don't know
how anybody figured that out. They had nothing to do
with the FBI. I never heard of those people until
1975. I retired in June or July 1968. It is my
recollection that I never did anything in connection
with MURKIN. I think they got my name in place of
some other agent, because a lot of that stuff sounds
like Greek to me.
James Hosty commented, "Maybe he doesn't want to
remember?" Odum was sent FBI document 62-109060-7138 that
linked him to the MURKIN case. Odum commented:
The document did not refresh my memory. I don't
remember anything like that. If it was significant, I
would remember it. You cover thousands of leads,
something that never amounts to anything, you don't
remember. The tramps, I didn't run into them when I
was investigating for the FBI. That was some rumor
some newspaper came up with, I don't remember
doing anything on that. The only publisher I ever
talked to was Felix McKnight. I talked to him on a lot
of occasions. He was my friend. I never knew
anything about the tramps. That all came out years
later. [Odum, Bardwell 9518 Parkford Drive Dallas
Texas 75238 telephone 214-348-3165]
DAVID CHRIST AND MARTIN LUTHER KING
Hemming told this researcher: "The professionals don't bring
in strangers, it's a very small grouping of people in the business." As
stated, "Raoul," the man who set up James Earl Ray, did not
assassinate Martin Luther King. Evidence suggested that DAVID
LEMAR Christ did the shooting. Christ did not have time to
84
associate with James Earl Ray since he had a full time job at the
CIA. Christ moonlighted as a hitman. Hemming told this researcher:
He has a business to run. He gets back and he's

running the goddamn business by then. You haven't
identified Christ as a permanent member of an
assassination team. I haven't seen that yet. I can't
see the same guy being used, even in a supporting
role.
Hemming was asked if Christ was "Raoul." Hemming told
this researcher:
You can't identify him by name. It is a small crew of
people. We're working with a very small circle. This
was one of the Dealey Plaza crew. You have to go
worldwide to find that kind of talent, A.J. I'm talking
about technicians and support. I'm not talking about
shooters, per se.
James Earl Ray denied that the Christ tramp was "Raoul":
[Attorney Percy Forman] came to visit me and he had

a picture for me to look at. This picture was about 8 X
10 inches. Mr. Forman said Mr. Huie had given him
the picture and that Mr. Huie had got the picture from
someone in the Federal Government. The picture
contained two or three men, followed by two or three
policemen. Mr. Forman described one of them in the
picture as an 'anti-communist' Cuban refugee who
was arrested at the time President Kennedy was
shot. 'The arrest took place in Dallas,' I was told. I
was asked if I would identify the man if he was
brought to Memphis. I said no, although he did look
similar to the man I was involved with. After I wouldn't
identify the man about all I was told was that I would
go to the electric chair if I went to trial. [Ltr. from
James Earl Ray to Senator Eastland 3.14.69 Sec 78
MURKIN file]
Percy Forman allegedly visited the family of James Earl Ray

in St. Louis and asked them to persuade James Earl Ray to plead
guilty. James Earl Ray: "The gist of Forman's message was that if
the plea were not forthcoming, the FBI would have both of my
85
brothers indicted for complicity in the King homicide." In a letter to

this researcher James Earl Ray stated:
As to David Christ, I have mentioned before that he

has striking similarities to Raoul, and could have
been his brother, but I doubt very much if he was
Raoul.
In an affidavit James Earl Ray contradicted this statement: "I

have made a positive identification of the individual in the statement
as Raoul..." [HSCA V3 p564] James Earl Ray told Playboy in June
1977:
Well, I've seen all these pictures, I've looked at a

hundred of them. That's the first one Percy Forman
showed me. See, Forman at one time wanted to
have this individual arrested. I'm pretty sure that was
the individual. Then bring him to Memphis, then I was
going to identify him and he was going to use that in
the defense. I didn't want to do it because I wasn't
one hundred percent sure of this picture. All I said
was he had a striking resemblance to this Raoul. Just
that it was a striking resemblance. Of course I never
made a hundred percent positive identification. I'd
say there was really a strong resemblance. We'll still
look at other pictures, but I'm not going to be no state
witness against anyone.
During other testimony James Earl Ray said that the reason
he did not want to identify Christ as "Raoul" was because "I'm not
interested in, you know, identifying anyone from you know, for some
type of state witness." [HSCA MLK Vol 1 p236] James Earl Ray
claimed that "Raoul" had set him up on a murder charge. Would
Ray really have been reluctant to testify against "Raoul" because
the dictates of prison morality forbade it? Ray wanted to bolster his
story about being framed by saying "Raoul" looked like the tramp,
but he would never use it in his legal defense because he knew it
was untrue. Percy Forman remembered showing photographs to
James Earl Ray, but denied wanting to arrest anyone. He said:
"There was no Raoul. Ray told me he invented him to feed
conspiracy theories." Percy Forman swore under oath that James
Earl Ray told him he had invented "Raoul." [N.Y. Daily News
6.14.77] James Earl Ray was asked by the HSCA:
86
Now, Mr. Kershaw just gave me the book Coup

D'Etat in America, and I'm opened to page 212 and
213. Can you take a look at this and tell me if this is
what you made reference to?" James Earl Ray: "Yes,
that's it. Very similar but as I have mentioned before,
I don't - I'm not going to make any visual identification
of anyone, but that person is the most similar to any
picture I have ever seen of him in my life. [HSCA
KING V9 p369]
RAY BECOMES A FUGITIVE
They didn't have anybody, there was no fucking

evidence. Someone had killed Martin Luther King.
And even amongst the blacks they weren't sure that
it wasn't one of their own. There was enough time
bought there so the damage from riots was minimal
around the country. This guy King was going down.
Are we gonna let the Klan get proven guilty of it and
have the cities burned in the United States, or are we
gonna take the fucker out ourselves and keep 'em
guessing?
Minimal damage? After the MLK assassination, more than

100 American cities erupted in racial rioting. James Earl Ray
abandoned the Mustang and made his way to Europe via Canada.
He obtained a Canadian passport by looking through forty-year-old
Canadian newspapers for male births. When he found English
sounding names, James Earl Ray looked for the same names in a
current telephone directory. He surveilled these people, and found
one who looked like him. When he determined this person never
applied for a passport, he obtained his birth certificate and obtained
a passport in the name of this man. From Europe James Earl Ray
hoped to go to Angola, where he would become a mercenary for the
Portuguese.
The FBI identified the prints on the rifle found at the King
crime scene as those of James Earl Ray and the biggest manhunt in
history was on. On June 8, 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested in
London, England, and extradited to the United States. James Earl
Ray hired Arthur Hanes, a former CIA operative who compensated
the wives of the Birmingham, Alabama, pilots killed in the Bay of
Pigs invasion, as his attorney. Hanes had received the money for
87
the Birmingham widows from the Cuban Revolutionary Council

while he was Mayor of Birmingham and he told reporters: "It doesn't
take a Phi Beta Kappa key to see there is an international
communist conspiracy [operating here]...My client is a tool of
revolutionary groups financed by Cuba." [NYT 1973 Waldron; Mem.
Tenn. Comm. Appeal 7.28.68] James Earl Ray was ultimately
represented by Percy Forman. Forman was a homicide specialist
from Dallas who defended Jack Ruby. James Earl Ray plead guilty
to avoid getting the electric chair, and was sentenced to 99 years.
[Ray, James Earl #65477 7475 Cockrill Bend Ind. Road Nashville
TN 37209-1010]
JFK/MARTIN LUTHER KING: GENERAL SIMILARITIES

Similarities between the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther
King assassinations included:
1. A rifle with a telescopic sight.
2. The use of phony law enforcement personnel to

facilitate the getaway of the assassin or assassins -
when Bessie Brewer attempted to go out the back
door of the rooming house right after the
assassination, "a law enforcement officer was in the
back of the building and instructed both Mr. and Mrs.
Brewer to close the door and return to their
apartment." [FBI ME 44-1987 2 p10] The tramps
escape was facilitated by phony Secret Service
agents.
3. When the FBI searched the room of James Earl

Ray in Atlanta, it discovered a map of Atlanta with a
circle around the residence of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Oswald had a map of Dallas with the Texas School
Book Depository circled on it.
4. James Earl Ray was sent to Mexico as was

Oswald. They both were instructed to obtain Mexican
Tourist Cards.
88
5. The zipper bag left on the crime scene contained a

rifle that could be linked to James Earl Ray, toilet
articles, binoculars, cans of beer with the fingerprints
of James Earl Ray on them and even a radio with his
prison number on it. A Deputy Sheriff "patrolling
routinely in the area observed a young white male
throw a rifle and bag on the sidewalk and keep
running." [FBI Memo To Rosen From McGowan
4.4.68] Unlike the Kennedy assassination, a few
spare rounds of ammo were also left behind.
6. Frangible ammunition was used in both murders.

After the Martin Luther King assassination, a
fragment of a Remington Peters "Core-Lokt" bullet
was removed from Martin Luther King. The "Core-
Lokt" bullet is designed to mushroom or explode on
impact. The fragment was linked with the other
rounds found in the zipper bag that was left in front of
the flop house, however, it could not be linked to the
30.06 rifle. FBI S.A. Frazier testified "because of
distortion due to mutilation and insufficient marks of
value, I could draw no conclusions as to whether or
not the submitted bullet was fired from the submitted
rifle."
THE HEMMING CONNECTION: HEMMING AND JERRY RAY
JERRY RAY NAZI PIG / JESSE B. STONER NAZI PIG
89
At the age of 18, Stoner joined the Associated Klans of

America in Tennessee and was soon a Klan organizer. He remained
in the Klan intermittently for nearly ten years. In 1946, he founded
the Stoner Anti-Jewish Party and six years later joined forces with
Edward Fields to establish the Christian Anti-Jewish Party. A
number of bombings of synagogues and schools took place
throughout the South during 1958, and Stoner wasone of the prime
suspects. He reportedly did not commit these crimes but only
planned them. On graduating from the Atlanta Law School in 1952,
Stoner was admitted to the Georgia bar. In January 1965, Martin
Luther King was assaulted in the Hotel Albert in Selma, Alabama, by
a member of the NSRP. This member later stated that an NSRP
official had prevailed upon him to commit the assault. As a
practicing attorney and as the NSRP legal adviser, he has defended
Klansmen and other white extremists who have been arrested.
Stoner was one of three attorneys who endeavored to gain a new
trial for James Earl Ray, convicted of murdering Martin Luther King
on April 4, 1968. Stoner represented Ray in a civil action in the fall
of 1968.
In 1978 Hemming told this researcher that in late 1963
Edward Collins introduced him to Jerry Ray. Hemming said that
Jerry Ray was employed by J.B. Stoner, who was the head of the
National States Rights Party. Jerry Ray told the HSCA that he first
met J.B. Stoner in late 1969. Jerry Ray said Stoner hired him as an
errand boy, actually body guard. The HSCA reported that Harry
Avery, the Commissioner of the Tennessee prison system, was
interviewed by staff counsel and Harry Avery indicated that Jerry
Ray advised him that J.B. Stoner had been attorney for the Ray
family for two years prior to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King. Jerry Ray was asked: "Is that statement accurate or
inaccurate?"
Ray: It is a joke, a sick joke.
Speiser: Mr. Stoner has represented you in a prior

criminal action, is that correct?
Ray: That's true.
Speiser: And Mr. Stoner has represented your

brother, John Ray?
Ray: Yes.
90
Speiser: And at a time Mr. Stoner has represented

James Earl Ray?
Ray: Yes.
James Earl Ray also denied having heard of Stoner until he

received a letter from him after the Martin Luther King
assassination. Stoner wrote to Ray and offered him free legal
representation. Ray and his brother Jerry were basically Jew and
Black-hating Nazi scum buckets. Hemming did not elaborate further
regarding his relationship with Jerry Ray. In 1994 he stated:
Collins came back from a little visit to his sister in

Mississippi and came back describing this guy that
used the name 'Ray.' We presumed it was Jerry Ray,
the brother, years later. Because at that point in time
James Earl Ray was locked up. Collins belonged to a
little clique of people in there. Collins knew the guy
that gunned down Medgar Evers. Collins knew
everybody who was anybody in the Klan. This is
1960. He came over just before Bay of Pigs. He was
with us until 1964. A short period of time he spent
with Loran Hall. He mentioned Jerry Ray in 1962. I
never met Jerry Ray, not that I know of. Collins gave
us a description of a guy that we were trying to fit in
with this Butler guy at National States Rights Party.
Trying to keep track of who's who, who's a snitch and
who's a Klansman and everything else. Now, Richard
Lauchli knew 'Ray,' that he presumed to be Jerry
Ray, because he's seen him on T.V. and everything.
Sold guns to him. Remember Lauchli was a co-
founder of the Minutemen. He's the guy that brought
in DePugh. That was Lauchli's idea. He's the one that
pushed it. But DePugh had more of a political
presence and all that shit. Lauchli's just an ex-82nd
Airborne Paratrooper type good old boy farmer.
At a National Convention of the NSRP held in September,
1962, in Montgomery, Alabama, Robert DePugh, head of the
Minutemen, spoke at length on the necessity of using guerrilla
warfare tactics in the event the United States Government was
taken over by the communists. James Earl Ray stated:
I don't know if Jerry knew Hemming and Collins or
not. I think you asked me about these two several
91
years ago. I will ask my brother about it during his

next visit. Anyway I suspect that if Jerry did meet
either of them they were traveling under an assumed
name. [Ltr. to A.J. Weberman 8.31.94, 9.22.94]
Collins made a contact with Lauchli which he wasn't

supposed to and we got certain impressions from
that, this is during 1963. Collins made a lot of
contacts. In 1963, National States Rights Party
people wanted Whatley and Collins and these people
to come out and train some of their people. We
turned them down on that after we checked it out.
The head guy was Butler, he was from Missouri. Our
only interest with the National States Rights Party at
the time was as a source of weapons, they were
sitting on a lot of weapons that we could put to use.
Some of them showed the inclination to go along with
the weapons, back then, okay, we'd look at 'em. If
they had a bunch of guns laying around that they
didn't need, we'd get it from them.
Hemming told this researcher in 1995:
Collins introduced me to a number of people. Jerry

Ray may have been one of John Bloomer's guys.
See I was going to send Whatley and Collins and
those people to train one of Bloomer's teams, but we
got involved with something else. Bloomer was with
the NSRP. He came out with four people. Collins
came by the house, he was in a cab and went to a
meeting on the corner bar.
ROBERT K. BROWN AND STANLEY DRENNEN
Another connection to the NSRP was supplied by Robert K.
Brown. In August 1963 Stanley Drennen, a member of the National
States Rights Party, discussed killing President John F. Kennedy
with Robert K. Brown and Steve Justin Wilson. One week later,
Robert K. Brown told University of California graduate student Jerry
Craddock about this conversation. Robert K. Brown: "I told him you
would not believe this guy, he wanted to kill the President and
hundreds of people." After the events of November 22, 1963 Jerry
Craddock told the FBI that Robert K. Brown told him Stanley
92
Drennen suggested recruiting an assassin to kill the President, his

staff and Congressmen who belonged to Americans for Democratic
Action.
Jerry Craddock was contacted in April 1993. He said he had

been a graduate student at the University of California from 1961 to
1967. In the summer of 1963 he "heard somebody say they had
heard something about the assassination. I regret that I don't
remember just what it was, but it was something about the
assassination. I don't recall what context it was in." When asked if
he had overheard this conversation, he responded: "No it was
reported to me by Hugo Hartenstein. I think Steve Justin Wilson and
Robert K. Brown were involved." Jerry Craddock was asked: "Were
they talking about an already existent plot or were they going to do it
themselves?" He responded: "They were not involved. They were
just reporting that they heard of one." Hugo Hartenstein was
contacted in April 1993, and asked if he had overheard Brown and
others discussing an already existent plot to kill President John F.
Kennedy. He stated:
I didn't overhear anything like that, no. I heard a

rumor, a long time ago, about this conversation
taking place, but I never overheard the actual
conversation. I don't know where I got this
information. This was 30 years ago. I didn't overhear
it. I remotely knew Robert K. Brown at the time. The
university needed a translator back in 1959. He was
doing a thesis and wanted me to translate some
Spanish into English for him. So he employed me to
do that, way back then. I have no idea [when this
was]. Obviously it was before the Kennedy
assassination. But I remember few details on the
subject, because I've pretty well dismissed it from my
mind, as it was of no concern of mine.
Robert K. Brown stated:
93
In 1963 I went out with Steve Justin Wilson (photo

right) to try and raise funds for the Cuban exiles. We
ended up talking with Stanley Drennen. He made a
proposal to us. He said somebody needs to take care
of Kennedy, the Cabinet and all the members of
Americans for Democratic Action. I said, 'Yes, sir,
thank-you very much.' I thought to myself, woo, woo,
woo, this guy is screwy, and I left. This was so
bizarre that I told this story at cocktail parties. The
line of transmission that I recollect was that some
Ukrainian or Eastern European refugee heard this
story at a cocktail party, and when Kennedy was
assassinated, he went to the FBI. I was interviewed
by the FBI in 1964 concerning the matter. I explained
to them exactly what happened and that was pretty
much the end of it.
Brown got to know a lot of National States Rights

Party people, and he put them in touch with us. John
Bloomer, then through them came Ed Butler, the
crisis management asshole, the one that debated
Oswald. All these people approached us to use our
94
instructors in their operations. This was 1962 and

1963. Drennen was part of the American Volunteers.
Loran Hall told described Stanley Drennen:
He was so committed that he knew that there was a

hospital, a mental hospital in Alaska that had a
million acres of ground and this is where they were
going to take all the Conservatives for pre-frontal
lobotomies, and I mean he was firmly convinced that
this was what was going to happen to him, and that it
was just a matter of time before they took him to a
mental hospital and did this to him. [Garrison
interview with Hall 5.6.68]
A recently released FBI document revealed that Dr. Stanley

Drennan discussed his mass assassination plan with his patient, Al
Raheb.
LHM contains information from Al Raheb who

reported that Dr. Drennan had been his family
physician since 1951. On April 17, 1963, Drennan
told Raheb 'We are going to do something about it'
and went to Poor Richard's Bookshop owned by
Francis X. Ranuzzi, to discuss with others the plan
for assassinating President John F. Kennedy,
Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and 20 or 30
members of Congress including Senator Jacob
Javitts of New York. Drennan said they would select
a member of the military with a neutral political
reputation and no connection with the John Birch
Society to perform the assassination, so as not to
cast reflection upon the John Birch Society. Raheb
attended meetings of John Birch Society at
residences of Drennan and Ranuzzi. Drennan, born
1916 in Iowa, graduated Oklahoma University in
1946. Licensed to practice medicine in California
1946. Interview of Drennan in July 1963 negative.
Although Stanley Drennan's plot was unrelated to Dallas, it

none-the-less gave an idea of thinking of the people around Robert
K. Brown and Hemming at the time and it tied the players in the
Kennedy assassination to the NSRP. [FBI 62-109060-1505]
THE AWOL SAILOR FROM MEMPHIS
95
In 1978 Hemming told this researcher that just before Martin

Luther King was assassinated in April 1968, he and Hargraves were
approached to kill him:
A Navy guy from Memphis approached us on the

King thing a week before it happened. [He] moved to
an apartment house right next door to Hargraves in
El Monte. Said he had money and financial support
and was stationed in Memphis. Were we interested?
I said I had to catch a train and left. These things
occur quite frequently.
In 1993 Hemming stated:
Hargraves tells me, 'Hey, there's a sailor over here.

He's AWOL a couple of days from the Memphis
Naval Air Station and I've been getting drunk with
him now for about a week and half. And he's been
saying some very strange shit.' Do they talk about
pussy, do they talk about this? And here's a guy that
right away starts talking about guns and revolutions
and hinky bullshit. Well that kind of tells you
something. Like this wasn't a year after we were
dealing with Garrison and he starts gettin' real hinky,
like somebody trying to set us up or something. He's
got this connection and that connection and
somebody's gonna do this. Hargraves says, 'Ah more
likely the guy's a drunk or this or that.' But the guy
starts using some trade craft words and it makes him
nervous as shit. He mentions it to me and I says, 'Do
an anonymous thing to the Bureau.' This was about a
week before the assassination.
HARGRAVES FBI REPORT
In a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI Hemming
requested documents on: "Report to FBI Field Office, Los Angeles,
regarding suspect in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King at
Memphis, Tennessee in 1968." Hemming 1993:
Hargraves filed a report with the Los Angeles FBI

about it. He did two of 'em. In detail. He read it from a
script prepared for him. It gave a couple of trade craft
numbers and it mentioned 301, Nitetel, that they
would recognize the trade craft. And that there is a
96
particular individual who is apparently AWOL from

the Navy, resides at such and such an address, has
been overheard in discussion away from that
address, in various locales, gun dealers etc. Radical
elements including the Nazi organization. I threw the
whole package in there. It represented a threat not
only to Martin Luther King, but possibly the President.
They couldn't ignore it.
They came down like a swarm of fucking bees pissed

off. How dare you? We just ignored their ass.
Hargraves was wise to them because by that time he
was dealing with Los Angeles Police Department. He
talked his way into this shit. Well, all of a sudden after
the thing went down they came straight to Hargraves.
These calls had been made from public telephones
that had been tampered with. I mean there was no
way to trace the call back. But somehow they did.
How did they know it was Hargraves unless they
knew the sailor, they knew the whole goddamn
scheme themselves? Now what I got to do is,
somewhere down the line, get the Bureau files on
that out of Los Angeles. They're supposed to be
declassifying that shit now. And say, 'Okay, who the
fuck told you to go to Hargraves? Where the fuck did
Hargraves name come into this?' All of a sudden, out
of goddamn nowhere, is this sailor and his buddies
and the girlfriend and the shits that had moved in
next door in El Monte talking this weird shit about
Martin Luther King. Well, I just been going over the
bulletins from AFSCME (American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees) and was
very aware of Memphis and all that, but I hadn't
discussed it with anybody. There wasn't a hell of a lot
of press coverage. Then this shit started popping up,
I said, 'What the fuck is going on here?' A pattern. It
made Hargraves nervous as shit and he was ready to
move out of the goddamn place. I told him 'We are
not going to pursue this kind of shit, we are not going
to get involved.'
Hemming was asked if the FBI might have recognized

Hargrave's voice. Hemming told this researcher:
97
Oh no, no. He never talked directly with them, never

once in his life. He was never interviewed or talked to
by any Feds, including the CIA, in his entire life. Just
the Secret Service in Miami. And I tricked him into
going there. Like I didn't want him to be nervous and
I had him go down to the courthouse, step in the
building real quick and take the elevator, walk in and
he's there. The government was just using their
snitches to find out what the hell we're up to. We're in
PROJECT CHAOS at the time. That's the word they
put on the paperwork.
They moved in on Hargraves in El Monte. I knew the

Humphrey visit was coming up and I put him into
COPE. About the time that Hargraves was shaking
hands with Hubert Humphrey this asshole sailor
shows up a couple of days later. I thought, 'We'll it's
the Secret Service' but they're getting a little bit
heavy here. Intelligence been getting inquiries from
people. So I told Hargraves, ignore the motherfucker.
And this guy has parties, has his own pad there, a lot
of drinking and shit and he's AWOL from Naval Air
Station, Memphis. Hargraves probably ran his mouth
about political stuff but he was suspicious because
this guy seemed to know too much. He was really on
his toes, people trying to set him up. So out of the
blue here's some fucker talking he's got a contract to
do King and all that. We're wondering if its beer talk?
I told him, 'While we're working this shit, don't be
seen with these people.' I mean he'd been with
Garrison, he knew the patsy scenarios and all that
kind of shit. I said it could be right out of the blue, set
you up with hot car, a car full of dope, whatever, to
put you out of circulation. And you'll never know why.
You'll never know why. They're gonna take you out of
circulation. We just couldn't get rid of this guy. Then,
a day or two before the event, the guy packs up very
quietly and says he going back to Memphis. Well,
Hargraves had already sent him over, used the pay
phone to call the Bureau. Ask for so and so, who I
didn't know, his name was given to me. He met with
98
them, miles away from El Monte, he refused to

identify himself, but they knew who he was, so that
made him nervous. The Bureau was paying for the
meal, freeloading a big meal, they were happier than
shit 'cause they were eating a big meal. Then the
thing goes down, and he was more worried about FBI
now. Hargraves moved out of El Monte real fast. He
knew the safest place to go was in Niggertown
'cause he knew there was no niggers in the FBI. He
was worried about the FBI at that time. He figured
they were part of it. He'd warned them and nothing
was done. It's an AWOL sailor, they should have
busted him. They should have come by, nobody
came by that apartment, nobody fucked with this guy.
Hargraves was on unemployment workmen's comp,
injury stuff. He injured himself working in L.A. in early
1968. He ended up getting forty grand for that in the
latter part of 1968, it took about a year to get it, then
he went back to Florida, got a bunch of weapons for
Alpha and they wouldn't let him go on the trip,
everybody died on the fucking trip, he's still bitching
about, all the M-16s and shit that he bought through
Lauchli on the way back."
In a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI Hemming

asked for "Report to FBI Field Office, Los Angeles, regarding
suspect in assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King." [Hemming ltr. to
FBI 8.27.75]
James Earl Ray was sent a Xerox of a photograph of

Hargraves. He stated: "It would be difficult to say if I ever came in
contact with those in the Xerox you sent me." Hemming used the
name "Raoul" because he had a sense of humor. The most famous
"Raoul" was Raul Castro. He called Oswald "A.J. Hidell" after
"Fidel," and Sturgis, "Q/M Turgid," because he thought FRANK'S
brain worked kind of slow. Other Hemming signatures included the
30.06 rifle and drug smuggling. Hemming was arrested for drug
smuggling in the late 1970's. The meeting near the Hotel
Monteleone associated "Raoul" with the Cuban Revolutionary Front
and the Bay of Pigs as did the location of Aeromarine Supply. The
fact that the scenario involved arms smuggling to Cuban exiles
sounded like Hemming. Hemming was familiar with General Doster:
"He was the Commanding General of the Alabama Air National
99
Guard. I had no direct contact with him. He went out three or four
years after the Bay of Pigs." Hemming was in Los Angeles at the
same time James Earl Ray was. James Earl Ray resided there from
November 19, 1967, to March 17, 1967. In 1995 I asked Hemming if
Hargraves was "Raoul." Hemming told this researcher:
Raoul's first name was Robert. He's dead now, he

died three years ago. He ain't no spic, but he spoke
perfect Spanish, he could pass as a spic, but he
wasn't no spic. Raoul, aka Robert, his files are in
Maryland, at a relative’s house. He most recently was
with the Croats till he died three years ago. His files
are available if we had some money. You've heard
the guys name before and you've heard his aliases,
but you never put him together with this. This guy
was an author of many many things that had to do
with this kind of business, coups and all that shit,
under a pseudonym. The relative doesn't know the
guys nasty background, he just knows the
intelligence side. The sketch looks like Robert. Died a
horrible death, cancer, horrible fucking death. The
treatment weakened him, he bled to death in the
middle of the night. Hargraves knew this guy well. All
of our people knew him well.
HEMMING, KING AND AFSCME
Hemming 1994:
You've got to remember, I'm the President of an

AFSCME Local. We are well aware that AFSCME is
sponsoring the garbage strike and that King is
coming into the thing. Some of our California people
have been invited to Memphis the next week.
Martin Luther King went to Memphis to support local

members of AFSCME. In 1995 Hemming displayed a AFSCME
business card when I visited him at his home in Florida. According
to Philip Agee, AFSCME was used by the CIA in labor operations.
AFSCME played a part in the overthrow of Jeddi Jagan in British
Guyana in 1962.
THE BUSINESS CARD
James Earl Ray said he had come by a name and address
linked to "Raoul" shortly before crossing the border in November
100
1967 from Mexico, into the United States. James Earl Ray said he
"found a pack of cigarettes in a cigarette case dropped down
between the bucket seats in the Mustang. There was a business
card in there and I think on one side it had this person's name,
crossed out and what looked like the name of a city." [Playboy 8.77]
According to James Earl Ray, "the name was something like Rosen
1180 N.W. River Drive, Miami, Florida." This traced back to
Randolph Erwin Rosenson who had a Federal narcotics conviction
in New Orleans and a long criminal record for narcotics and
customs violations. The Miami telephone directory listed a Randy
Rosenson at 11802 North West South River Drive, Miami. Ray
wrote to this researcher: "There was also a Rosenson, it was finally
determined he was listed under "Randy Rosenson" 11802 N.W.S.
River Drive, Medley Florida. I found this name while shaking down
the Mustang in Mexico before crossing the border in November
1967. A lawyer went to New Orleans in 1975 & got Rosenson's
federal convictions & found out he was an informer." [Ray 12.28.73;
Atlanta Journal 10.75; USDC-Tenn. C-76-274] Ray said that "Raoul"
had the word "LEAA" written on a business card. LEAA was created
in August 1968, a year after he remembered finding this card.
James Earl Ray might have seen LIEU (Law Enforcement
Intelligence Unit) which Hemming was associated with in 1967, and
confused it with the better known LEAA. Hemming 1995:
Hargraves was indirectly employed by the CIA. The

money came through third parties. The money came
through law enforcement circles. It was grant money
from LIEU. People in charge were working for
CHAOS and this other crypto project. LIEU was a
clandestine, nationwide intelligence unit. They were
running the operation, doing the job. He got that
through Hendricks, the lieutenant in the Long Beach
California Police Department that ran the Law
Enforcement Intelligence Unit, LIEU, which is all
Special Forces types around the country. Ray
wouldn't know what the unit was. Wackenhut helped
set it up. They were going to set it up in Florida in
1967 with Governor Claude Kirk and the Miami
Herald put the end to that shit, they were going to set
up a private intelligence agency in the state of
Florida.
101
The Washington Post News Service reported that the LIEU,

a police intelligence gathering association, which federal officials
tried to merge with the computer operation of the FBI in 1975, had
serious leaks to the underworld since 1960, according an FBI file.
The files indicated that an official in the Law Enforcement
Intelligence Unit, a privately chartered group that received federal
funds until 1978, apparently took a file on organized crime from
federal agents during the 1960's. The theft so angered FBI officials
that they set up their own intelligence network inside the Law
Enforcement Intelligence Unit to report on the group's activities. The
Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit was started in 1956 to exchange
organized crime data among local police departments. The Law
Enforcement Intelligence Unit came under fire from civil rights
activists who contended that the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit
intelligence files included material on civil rights activists. [Miami
Herald 11.24.78] James Earl Ray: "In regard to the LEAA you
mentioned, in the early 1970's I had a relative write the Justice
Department asking the Department if they had any ongoing pilot
projects in 1967. A JD official responded, yes, there was pilot
projects in Newark, N.J. and New Orleans in 1967...I received
information indirectly from the JD saying a OLEA was funding
project prior to the LEAA coming into existence but JD claim they
are unaware of which project OLEA funded." [Ltr. from JER to AJW
10.19.94]
In December 1973 James Earl Ray sent a statement to a

local television station in which he swore he had provided his
attorneys with two telephone numbers given to him by "Raoul."
James Earl Ray told the Atlanta Journal: "Look, I know the
telephone numbers of two men in Louisiana. The authorities could
have got their names. For some reason they didn't want to pursue
the case. Get the two guys in New Orleans and you will know a lot
more." In 1976 James Earl Ray stated:
(a) during one period of plaintiff's confinement in

1968 he wrote down on a money receipt issued forth
from the Sheriff's office of the Shelby county,
Tennessee, jail information which plaintiff believed
had a direct bearing on said criminal indictment.
(b) the information consisted of telephone numbers &

one name & address; all numbers were written down
backwards, including the address.
102
(C) The two telephone numbers were listed next to

the word "Sister," the first being listed in New
Orleans, Louisiana, the second being in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.
(d) The address is listed under the name Vera C.

Staples.
(e) The telephone number listed under the Baton

Rouge address was furnished to plaintiff's attorney,
Percy Foreman, who was representing plaintiff in
criminal indictment.
(f) the address was not investigated until plaintiff was

incarcerated upon pleading to said indictment. A
compendium of the first trial investigation would
indicate: the information cited above was given to a
St. Louis, Missouri, labor leader, [Lawrence Calahan
of the St. Louis, Missouri, Steam fitters Union] and
informed it pertained to the MLK case, who
apparently in turn furnished the information to a
Nashville, Tennessee, ex-Attorney to investigate:
said attorney had sources in the State of Louisiana
investigate the matter and thereafter said attorney
reported the Baton Rouge listed number resident was
under the influence of the Teamster's Union and in
New Orleans listed number resident was among
other things an agent of a mideast organization
disturbed because of Dr. King's reported,
forthcoming, before his death, public support of the
Palestine Arab cause. (References to the address if
any was unclear).
(g) the plaintiff had come by said name and address

shortly before crossing the border in November 1967
from Tijuana, Mexico, into the United States. The
name was Randolph Erwin Rosen, 1180 N.W. River
Drive, Miami, Florida; other reference was made to a
LEAA. A check through the Miami directory in 1970
indicated no Rosen listed with the above first and
second name; thereafter and attorney in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, was furnished the Rosen name and
asked if he could find any information regarding the
Subject in New Orleans, and informed the Subject
103
might have criminal record; the attorney reported

back that the Subject's last name most likely was
Rosenson and that he had a criminal conviction in
New Orleans, Louisiana, federal court for a narcotics
violation; thereafter a Tennessee licensed attorney
procured the transcript of said conviction;
subsequently another check was made through the
Miami telephone directory which did list a Randy
Rosenson but with an address discrepancy. That is
February 1969 after Percy Foreman had entered into
literary contracts with defendant Huie, plaintiff
furnished Attorney Foreman with the above
mentioned Baton Rouge phone number and asked
him to investigate. In connection with the MLK jr.
homicide. Shortly thereafter Mr. Forman replied, in
effect, that if there were to be any phone numbers
referred to in court he (Forman) would furnish them
through contacts in interstate gambling. Mr. Forman
mentioned a Mr. Meyer Lansky as his source.
[USDC-Tenn. C-76-274; USDC Nashville, Tenn. Div.
Civ-7338]
HERMAN THOMPSON
The Baton Rouge telephone number written backwards
belonged to Mrs. Jane and Herman Thompson of Baton Rouge.
Herman Thompson's wife ran the Abstract Office there. In an
interview with this researcher in 1978 Mrs. Thompson admitted the
number belonged to her in 1968, but said she never received any
telephone calls from James Earl Ray, or from researchers who had
linked her number to the Martin Luther King slaying. She denied
having any knowledge of the King assassination. She said that her
husband worked for H. E. Weiss Construction Engineers and was
not involved with the Teamsters. Traces on Herman Thompson
included a libel suit filed against a political opponent:
On June 27, 1962, petitioner Phil A. St. Amant, a

candidate for public office, made a televised speech
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the course of this
speech, St. Amant read a series of questions which
he had put to J. D. Albin, a member of the Teamsters
Union Local, and Albin's answers to those questions.
The exchange concerned the allegedly nefarious
activities of E. G. Partin, the present relationship
104
between Partin and St. Amant's political opponent.

One of Albin's answers concerned his efforts to
prevent Partin from secreting union records; in this
answer Albin referred to Herman A. Thompson, an
East Baton Rouge Deputy Sheriff and respondent
here:
'Now we knew that this safe [containing the records]

was gonna be moved that night, but imagine our
predicament knowing of Ed Partin's connections with
the Sheriff's Office through Herman Thompson, who
made recent visits to the hall to see Ed Partin. We
also knew of money that had been passed between
Ed Partin and Herman Thompson *** from Ed to
Herman. We also knew of his connections with State
Trooper Lieutenant Joe Green. We knew we couldn't
get any help from there, and we didn't know how far
that he was involved in the Sheriff's office or the
State Police office through that, and it was out of the
jurisdiction of the City Police.' Thompson promptly
brought suit for deformation, claiming that the
publication had 'imputed*** gross misconduct' and
inferred 'conduct of a most nefarious nature.' The
case was tried prior to the opinion in New York Times
v. Sullivan. The trial judge ruled in Thompson's favor
and awarded $5,000 in damages.
The case eventually went to the United States Supreme Court:
By no proper test of reckless disregard was St.
Amant's broadcast a reckless publication about a
public officer. Nothing referred to by the Louisiana
courts indicates an awareness by St. Amant of the
probable falsity of Albin's statement about
Thompson. Failure to investigate does not in itself
establish bad faith. St. Amant's mistake about his
probable legal liability does not evidence a doubtful
mind on his part. That he failed to realize the import
of what he broadcast - and was thus heedless of the
consequences for Thompson - is similarly colorless.
Closer to the mark are considerations of Albin's
reliability. However, the most the State Court could
say was that there was no evidence in the record of
Albin's reputation for veracity, and this fact merely
105
underlines the failure of Thompson's evidence to

demonstrate a low community assessment of Albin's
trustworthiness or unsatisfactory experience with him
by St. Amant. Other facts in this record support our
view. St. Amant made his broadcast in June 1962.
He had known Albin since October 1961, when he
first met with members of the dissident Teamsters
faction. St. Amant testified that he had verified other
aspects of Albin's information and that he had
affidavits from others. Moreover, Albin swore to his
answers, first in writing and later in the presence of
newsmen. According to Albin, he was prepared to
substantiate his charges. St. Amant knew that Albin
was engaged in an internal struggle in the union.
Albin seemed to St. Amant to be placing himself in
personal danger by publicly airing the details of the
dispute." [St. Amant v. Thompson 88 S. Ct 1323
(1968)]
In a letter to this researcher James Earl Ray wrote:
I am certain Thompson didn't have involvement in the
Martin Luther King case. Policemen might thump a
head in the back room, but assassination is
something else, further I never contacted him with
the phone number and suspect it was given to me for
diversionary purposes --- this is Hollywood fare, red
neck cop assaults Black man. There is more to the
case than that type b.s.
In another letter to this researcher Ray wrote: "Regarding

the phone number.
1. Thompson used to be a sheriff (dep.) In the parish

Baton Rouge is in. We have determined that phone
number was planted on me and I never used it.
2. There was an earlier phone number but I can't

recall it and we don't know whether we can locate it.
James Earl Ray told the HSCA: "I think they are bogus because
[Huie] never got them off me, and they are probably somebody he's
prejudiced against. I think one of them's name was a, Grady Partin."
106
EDWARD GRADY PARTIN
Edward Partin told his life story to Life magazine: "I'm a

Teamster, and some people think, a hard one. I've been in fights
and jails and packed a gun, and I've been shot twice and knifed
once. My daddy was a sawmill worker in the red clay hills around
Woodville, Mississippi, when I was born in February 1924." Edward
Partin joined the Marines but "hit an officer once and went to the
brig on bread and water. And once I helped roll a sailor. Later they
put me in front of a summary court and gave me a bad conduct
discharge." After his discharge, he did three years in the
Washington State Reformatory. He joined the Teamsters in the mid-
1950's and moved to Baton Rouge. I. Irving Davidson told the FBI
that he had heard there was a photograph available of Edward
Partin in the presence of Jack Ruby. I. Irving Davidson was unable
to furnish any additional details regarding the photograph or his
source for this information. I. Irving Davidson told the FBI that
Edward Partin had run guns to Fidel in the late 1950's. "Davidson
stated that it was felt by Teamster's Union officials (not identified)
that Edward Partin furnished some information to the Subcommittee
relating to his activities on behalf of Castro." In 1961 Edward Partin
was indicted for vehicular manslaughter. In 1962 became a
government informant after he was indicted for labor racketeering in
107
New Orleans. He was also indicted for kidnapping by the local

authorities. In 1962 Edward Partin was approached by Jimmy Hoffa:
"Jimmy asked my help in a scheme to kill Attorney General Robert
Kennedy...There were a lot of troubles going on in teamsters
particularly in Philadelphia....Hoffa said 'You know anywhere you
can got hold of a plastic bomb?...somebody needs to bump that
son-of-a-bitch Robert Kennedy off...the person who does it can hide
out in Puerto Rico.'" [Life 5.15.64] Edward Partin's report on Hoffa
was corroborated by a lie detector test supervised by Life magazine.
Edward Partin attempted to get Jimmy Hoffa to incriminate himself
on tape, but Jimmy Hoffa refused to discuss any such matter over
the telephone. In 1978 Edward Partin told the HSCA that Jimmy
Hoffa may have approached him about the assassination proposal
because Jimmy Hoffa believed him to be close to various figures in
Carlos Marcello'S organization. [HSCA Rep. p176] Edward Partin
was a key witness in the trial of Jimmy Hoffa and three others,
which resulted in their conviction for obstruction of Justice in
Chattagnooga, Tennesse, in 1964. The FBI, at the request of the
Attorney General, interviewed Edward Partin on two occasions with
the aid of a polygraph. The first test was inconclusive; the second
indicated he was telling the truth. Edward Partin, by his own
admission, was a habitual liar. He had an extensive arrest record
and has been charged in the past with forgery, aggravated
kidnaping and assault and battery. The FBI's files indicated he was
an unscrupulous individual. [FBI 62-109060-4833] In 1971 Edward
Partin had his wife contact the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City and
ask it for a visa. [CIA No. 14,636 2.26.71] Hemming told this
researcher:
You're card that keeps you alive may be that you're

keeping quiet, or if you aren't keeping quiet, you're
giving out wrong answers that satisfies the people who
are going to let you live. Now, if Ray wants to put some
heat on these people, he suspects that this was this, or
this was that, whether he was set up or not, he knows
the business, he knows these people could have his
ass. If he's figured out who one or more of them may
be, he's not gonna blurt it out to just anybody. He
wouldn't tell his own goddamned mother, why the fuck
would he tell a stranger? He would rarely even tell a
lawyer, he doesn't know where these lawyers come
from. And it's his ass, if somebody makes a mistake,
it's his ass.
108
HARGRAVES AND GRADY PARTIN

Hemming 1995:
Hargraves was dealing with Grady Partin when he

was still friendly with Jimmy Hoffa. Partin helped do a
number of things in Baton Rouge for Hargraves. And
Hargraves was puzzled what the hell could they get
on Grady to make him roll over that way. I never
asked Hargraves [about the connection of Edward
Partin to Fidel Castro] but Hargraves and Partin were
like two of a kind in talking about revolutionaries, that
was a term that was used, the real revolutionaries,
starting with the American revolution. Hargraves got
along famously with Grady because he talked like a
revolutionary and he had the stories and he had the
shit together in the exact (?) and that kind of stuff.
THE SECOND NUMBER
In October 1977 this researcher corresponded with James
Earl Ray and discovered that Ray only remembered the last four
digits (3757) of the second number he found on the business card
and thought that the exchange of
The partial New Orleans phone number maybe 866

or 668 (the lawyer has the number, you have the last
four digets. I recalled the last four digets and when
through various phone books etc. and the above 866
seemed the most familiar but I'm not sure. This
phone number as I say may be wrong, but it is listed
under a double name, a french name & I believe a
name similar to "Levine." It is a Marine Supply
establishment. You have the last four digits on the
receipt written backwards.
The 1968 New Orleans Criss Cross Directory listed 866-

3757 as Laventhal Marine Supply. "Laventhal" was a Jewish
name, so James Earl Ray blamed the Mossad for the death of
Martin Luther King. James Earl Ray:
The resident listed in New Orleans was, among other

things, an agent of a Mideast organization distressed
because of King's reported, forthcoming, before his
death, public support of the Palestinian Arab cause.
[USDC Nashville, Tenn. Div. Civ-7338]
109
James Earl Ray attempted to disguise his hatred for the

Jews when he told HSCA:
I don't want to get into this libel area again and say
something that might be embarrassing to --
disservice some group or organizations...he
intended, like Vietnam, to support the Arab
cause..someone in his organization making contact
with the Palestinians for an alliance.. [HSCA MLK
V1p299]
CARLOS MARCELLO
James Earl Ray said he was not sure of the exchange. This
researcher checked every exchange in New Orleans for numbers
ending in 3757. When I checked under 833-3757, a number similar
to 866-3757, I found that the number belonged to the Town and
Country Motel. David Ferrie called this telephone number. Jack
Ruby called Nofio Pecora, who was a former manager of the Town
and Country Motel. Carlos Marcello maintained an office there.
[Cong. Rec. Kohn 8.6.70 E7389] Life magazine reported: "Carlos
Marcello directs his criminal empire from this office at the Town and
Country..." [Life 9.67] James Earl Ray wrote to this researcher and
stated that Attorney Jim Lesar had brought the Town and Country
connection to his attention, but told him "Carlos Marcello had an
extension which I did not have." James Earl Ray told the HSCA that
he called this number "several times but I never did talk to him
directly. It was always someone who seemed, who was speaking for
him so..." James Earl Ray testified that he did not call this number
after Martin Luther King was hit because "I didn't want to have
contact with anyone, family members, criminal associates." [MLK
Vol. p 201,417]. Hemming told this researcher: "It would not be that
direct. A cutout, like an attorney, would have been involved. A mob
lawyer." Why would James Earl Ray have been given a number to
contact "Raoul" that might have been tapped?
JACK YOUNGBLOOD
In January 1976 the Village Voice ran a story by Dick
Russell that alleged that, Jack Youngblood, a one time associate of
Hemming, was in Jim's Cafe, located on the first floor of the flop
house, eating bacon and sausages, just before the Martin Luther
King assassination. Llyod Jowers told the FBI about this man. The
FBI:
110
Lloyd Jowers, owner, Jim's Grill, 418 South Main

Street, advised that at approximately 3:55 p.m. on
April 4, 1968, he arrived at the Grill, and parked
directly in back of a white Mustang that was parked
on the street directly in front of his Grill. He stated
that he believed that the car had Mississippi license
plates on it because they were of an orange or
orangish-yellow color. He stated that upon parking
the car he went into the Grill where he saw a stranger
sitting at the bar having a meal. He stated that it was
unusual for him to get any strange customers in the
Grill since most of his customers were local people of
a steady nature. Mr. Jowers stated that this same
individual returned to the Grill about 8:00 p.m. on
April 5, 1968, and ordered breakfast. Mr. Jowers
stated that in his estimation, this individual acted
strangely because he seemed very calm when
everyone else at the Grill and in the area was excited
over the shooting. In view of the fact that he felt the
individual was acting strange and also because he
was a stranger in the area, Mr. Jowers called the
Police, and told them that he had a man of a
suspicious nature at the Grill. He said that when the
stranger finished his breakfast, he left the Grill and
was arrested on the sidewalk in front of the Grill by
the Memphis Police Department. (Deleted as of
2010) Homicide Bureau, Memphis Police
Department, later identified this arrested individual as
Gene Pearson Crawford (Deleted as of 2010)
Jackson, Tennessee, who was determined to have
had no part in the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King."
[FBI 44-1987 4.5.68]
Hemming encouraged Dick Russell: "Youngblood looked like

somebody with intelligence connections. He knew too much." Loran
Hall stated: "Youngblood's a friend of Patrick’s. And if I'm not
mistaken, Youngblood had been to Patrick’s camp or something
now in the Keys and was -- I'm almost positive in 1963 when we
were in Los Angeles before we went to Miami together, that
Youngblood was in San Francisco."
CIA/FBI COVERUP
A recently released CIA Office of Security document stated:
111
Despite Dr. King's statements the Washington

protests are for jobs or income for all, there can be
little doubt the activity will be closely interlinked with
the 'peace' movement, as the activity escalates. The
FBI noted that Dr. King has shown not only a
willingness, but even an eagerness, to accept
Communist aid, to support Communist causes, to
confer with high-ranking Communist functionaries,
and to rely heavily upon the advice and direction of
dedicated Communists with concealed affiliation. It
notes, specifically, that one of these Communist
advisors wrote King's vicious denunciation of U.S.
policy in Vietnam, which he delivered before the April
15, 1967, rally held in New York City by Bevel's
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in
Vietnam. According to the FBI, Dr. King is regarded
in Communist circles as 'a genuine Marxist-Leninist
who is following the Marxist Communist line.' [CIA
Charles Kane AD/OS 3.15.68]
King was placed under audio surveillance when he stayed at

the Americana Hotel in January 1966. [FBI 100-106670-2224X] And
FBI document stated:
The initial OPR report (page 134) contained a

discussion regarding a proposed counter-intelligence
action against King. This entire page was deleted in
the revised report, apparently for privacy reasons.
This proposal concerned a woman with whom King
was involved and a child born to her in 1965,
reportedly fathered by King.
Hemming:
Could you have gotten government sanction to do

the job from a consensus of intelligence
professionals who are not opposed to taking out a
Soviet agent now and then?
A lot of the information in this data base may come as a

surprise to the members of the intelligence community who access
this site, a lot of it may not. Nonetheless, if this independent
researcher was able to piece together this information, why couldn't
intelligence analysts within the CIA do the same? The CIA never
112
attempted to trace the Martin Luther King assassination to Hemming

or Hargraves since both men were part of MK/CHAOS anti-Black
Panther operations at the time. As for Christ, he was employed by
the CIA at the time of Martin Luther King's assassination.
THE HSCA MARTIN LUTHER KING INVESTIGATION
The Department Of Justice Martin Luther King Task Force
never acknowledged the existence of "Raoul" and believed that the
brothers of James Earl Ray were involved in the assassination of
Martin Luther King. The Department of Justice report concluded
"James Earl Ray was lying about the existence of Raoul...an
underworld figure...and Ray's self-serving attribution of Raoul who
directed him to buy the car and who supplied him cash is
uncorroborated...the source for Ray's funds still remains a mystery
today." The Report suggested "Raoul" might have been Jerry Ray.
In June 1977 James Earl Ray and several prisoners, one of them
black, escaped from Brushy Mountain Prison. James Earl Ray was
captured three days later.
HEMMING AND MITCH WERBELL 1970
The FBI generated two documents on Hargraves on January

16, 1969: FBI 100-300-044/MX and FBI 100-300-044. Hemming
claimed he began working with the Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office in
1969 and was in Mexico in 1970 selling arms for Mitch Werbell.
Werbell's MAC-10's and all that shit, that opened the
door to the palace level, the highest level, in every
fucking country south of the Rio Grande. And opened
us to everything that was going on. This group
wanted to pull a coup, death squads, the whole
fucking thing. The only element that has that whole
package of civilians, foreign ministers, ex-ministers, a
cabal in each country including wealthy land owners
[is the gun people]. The only element that has more
than the gun people are the dope smugglers.
Because all these people are on their payroll.
According to Hemming, the nephew of Rolando Masferrer,

Kiki Masferrer, and Ed Kaiser, constituted Mitch Werbell's sales staff
in Florida. Sonia Kaiser reported: "Ed used to take trips to the Turks
and Cacaos islands. He was kicked off the Turks and Cacaos. They
wouldn't let him go back." In 1970 two FBI Letter Head
113
Memorandums were generated about Hemming. [FBI LHMs Miami

105-3973 FBI 105-86406-28 9.21.70 pgs. 1-3, 5-6 w/h, 12.10.70;
HQ 2-1693-55 p7 w/h; HQ 105-92196-8 pgs. 1-3 w/h] On
September 16, 1970, and December 10, 1970, the FBI in Miami
generated two documents about Roy Hargraves in which Hemming
was mentioned. [FBI 105-3973] The FBI reported:
On September 13, 1970 MM T-1 advised Hargraves
publicly states he is involved in a plan to cause
military hostilities between the United States and
Cuba. He is closely associated in this matter with
Gerald Patrick Hemming. Hemming claims the plan is
so good that the United States intelligence agency
officials are now wondering why their operatives on
the local level do not aid and support the plan in
which Hargraves is involved. Hemming claims that he
and Hargraves have visited the various Federal
enforcement agencies in Miami and they all whole-
heartedly agree with and sympathetically support the
plan in which Hargraves is involved.
MM T-3 another Government agency which conducts

intelligence investigations, on November 24, 1970,
advised that on June 18, 1970, that Agency interview
Hargraves. Hargraves said he met Manuel Aquilar, a
Cuban refugee in the United States in 1961.On or
about June 15, 1970 Aquilar contacted Hargraves
concerning a plan to defect a Cuban Government
patrol boat and obtain jet aircraft supplied to Cuba by
the Soviet Union.
Aquilar was the leader of FRAC Frente Revolutionario Anti-

Communista. According to the FBI the group had not been active for
years.
HEMMING 1971
In a self-generated document Hemming wrote:
Subject Hemming initiated new foreign (Government

Level) contacts within Mexico after 7 months of
preliminary research beginning early 1971 while
working in Miami, Florida, area. Mexican Government
114
contact was established through cut-out during

November 1971. Reference following:
a. Narcotics activities MEXICO-CONUS.
b. Special weapons procurement for Mexican law

enforcement agencies at a state level.
c. Assessment of communist guerilla groups directed

by M. Rojas and Lucio Cabanias operating within the
states of Guererro, Morelos, Sinaloa, Michoacan.
d. Arranged U.S. visit by Mexican Government law

enforcement officials for inspection and
demonstration of special weapons and law
enforcement equipment at defense plant located near
Atlanta, Georgia.
e. Evaluated reports that one or more major heroin

laboratories in Mexico is under direct control and
supervision of individual holding cabinet level position
in administration of President Luis Echavarria.
f. Arranged for Staff Intelligence Officer, Los Angeles

County Sheriff's Department, to travel with small
team to Mexico to copy Mexican law enforcement
official files and photographs of all U.S., Mexican,
and other foreign nationals involved in narcotic
smuggling to the Southern California areas. Team to
carry photographic and copying equipment under
both corporate proprietary and news media
cover.(Staff Intelligence Official Los Angeles Country
Sheriff's Department is NT/MOUNTAIN.
Most of the 1970 Hemming FBI files concerned Cuba and

Hargraves. Hargraves was arrested in Miami in 1970. He was
charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Hemming claimed he acted as a lawyer for Hargraves, and so
Hargraves was acquitted. A CIA report stated: "Hemming is
reportedly carrying CIA identification and telling Miami Cubans that
he and Werbell are CIA." Hemming told this researcher in 1994:
"Not likely. The only I.D. we carried were our Federal Firearms
Class Three Licenses. CIA does not have I.D." The FBI reported:
115
It is noted that Roy Hargraves, an American

adventurer and mercenary, in July, 1970 advised he
was involved in a plan to affect warfare between the
United States and Cuba. The plan consisted of
attempting to have defecting Cuban military
personnel fire missiles against the United States
Navy Base, Guantanamo, Cuba thus projecting the
United States into a military take-over of Cuba.
Hargraves was closely associated in this plan with
Gerald Patrick Hemming, another American
mercenary and adventurer and a long-time associate
of Hargraves.
HEMMING: JULY 1970

THE NIXON/KEY BISCAYNE PROVOCATION
Dick Russell asked Hemming: "Last year you told Senate
investigators about a situation in 1970 when you discussed a plot by
some anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami - who worked closely with
the CIA - to fire a missile at Richard Nixon’s Presidential compound
in Florida and make it look like a Castro-planned operation."
Hemming:
That was the fall of 1970. This particular group of

exiles was working on a commodities exchange
operation out of Florida. There's a tremendous
shortages of commodities inside Cuba, coffee, flour,
you name it. So the original intent was to
compromise some of Castro's Cuban Army types by
getting them a few goodies now and then. There
were a number of fishing boats moving out from
Florida and taking commodities down there -
primarily rice, lard, used clothing, used shoes, things
like that. One thing led to another and one of the
exile groups got absorbed by the CIA. The CIA
started using this operation for getting agents in and
out of Cuba...About this time one of my contacts was
[Hargraves]. And before long this group starts talking
in Miami about having the full cooperation of some
Castro military types who were about to be issued a
Russian Ossa patrol vessel, that kind that carries
Styx missiles. They said they also had some contact
with some SAM [Strategic Air Missile] site people
inside Cuba with Castro Air Force artillery. And the
116
exiles were going to use those people by putting

together a simultaneous plan. First, one of the SAM's
would 'accidentally' hit one of the aircraft heading into
the U.S. base at Guantanamo and at the same time,
the presidential compound on Bay Lane in Key
Biscayne would get hit with a couple of Styx missiles.
Their patrol boat would innocently be three or four
miles out to sea - very easily identifiable with Cuban
markings. They were going to make sure to hit the
compound when Nixon was in town. Maybe they'd
wait until he stepped out of his helicopter. I don't
know what the coordination was. I didn't get that
close to it. But my impression was that there wouldn't
be any survivors in the Presidential compound.
[Argosy 1976]
In a Freedom of Information Act request dated January 3,

1977, addressed to the United States Secret Service, Hemming
asked for "Reports to the Secret Service regarding a conspiracy to
assault the Presidential Compound at Key Biscayne by United
States and foreign nationals, including:
a) A memorandum to the Miami Field Office of the

Secret Service regarding past illegal activities on my
part, which memo was sent that office by another
Government Agency.
b) Statements by the CIA that the above alleged

conspiracy was 'wired in' by their agents.
c) An attempt by U.S. Customs Officers and FBI

Agents to 'burn' my informant in the presence of the
conspirators.
d) An attempt to color the participation of a Cuban

P.T. boat in the conspiracy by alluding to an alleged
sportive MIG Aircraft, strike at Boca Chica Naval Air
Station or Homestead Air Force Base.
e) The intrusion of local law enforcement agents into

the situation.
117
July 23, 1970

MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief VENOM
SUBJECT: Hemmings, Gerald P. Jr. Hargraves, Roy
Emory
2. At about 3:30 p.m. on July 21, 1970, two white
males entered the Miami Secret Service office and
requested to speak with a particular agent who had
been transferred from the Miami Office to the San
Antonio office. The two individuals were directed to
Joseph Gasquez, Chief/Intelligence Unit whereupon
they identified themselves as Hemming and
Hargraves. (Bio sheets attached)...
3. Hemmings opened the conversation with Gasquez

by establishing the fact that he had cooperated with
the Miami Secret Service. He considered himself an
American patriot and wished to introduce
HARGRAVE, who had something to report. With this,
Hemming remained quiet, without substantive
comment, while HARGRAVE related the following
situation.
4. HARGRAVE who has resided in the Miami Florida

area in November 1969 met a local Cuban male by
the name of Yvonne Vidal Santiago (no further
biographical data available) during Christmas of
1969. Santiago, over an unspecified period of time,
has supposedly been in contact with an unknown
number of Cuban leaders who reside in the areas of
Cuba which are adjacent to the United States Naval
Base at Guantanamo Bay. Santiago has been able to
engage these leaders in anti-Castro activities through
patriotic reasons and by assuring the safe removal of
their families from Cuba. This has supposedly
already been accomplished and their families are
now in safe areas outside Cuba.
5. Santiago's objective is the downfall of Castro and

the present Cuban Government. He plans to
accomplish this by training the aforementioned
leaders who will cause Cuban missiles located in
their areas to be fired at the United States Naval
Base at Guantanamo Bay, thus provoking the United
118
States into an all out war with the Castro

Government. If these leaders are unable to cause
missiles toward the United States Naval Base, they
will cause a conventional attack of Cuban military
forces to be made against the United States Base,
hoping to accomplish the same objective. The
minimum result of either is expected to be a stronger
and more aggressive United States policy against the
Castro Government.
6. HARGRAVE further stated that Santiago has

solicited his help, for patriotic reasons, to join six
other local Cubans who will be infiltrated into Cuba to
train and assist the aforementioned leaders.
(Hargrave classified himself as an expert in weapons,
explosives and guerilla tactics.) The six other locals
have supposedly already been infiltrated into Cuba
twice for this purpose.
7. HARGRAVE is to remain in Cuba until the conflict

with the United States is underway, then he and the
other members of the infiltration team, plus the
aforementioned leaders, will be removed to the
Bahamian Islands by a friendly Cuban Government
patrol boat. An aircraft will be waiting in the
Bahamian Islands to take these persons to a safe
area of their choice. Hargrave explained to Gasquez
that he is making the above information known
because he feels Santiago has gone too far, in that
such an attack on a United States military base will
result in the loss of life for many United States
service personnel. As an American patriot he can
accept this; however, he still feels if he accompanies
the infiltrators to Cuba he will be able to direct the
Cuban missiles or conventional attack against Soviet
missile bases in Cuban areas. Somehow he expects
to accomplish the same objective, the downfall of
Castro. Although his logic was reportedly never clear,
he somehow expects his identity as an American to
become known, and thus draw the United States into
conflict with the Castro Government.
8. HARGRAVE and Hemmings were noticeably

evasive about details and time frame when
119
questioned by Gasquez, who made numerous

attempts to explore motives regarding the
presentation of this information. Both said they did
not seek money or favor in exchange for the
information, but rather were offering the information
for patriotic reasons.
9. Hargraves could offer very little additional

information. He did indicate that one of his first
responsibilities in the operation, as directed by
Santiago, was to arrange for an aircraft to be
standing by in the Bahama Islands to pick up the
exfiltrators from Cuba once the objective was
accomplished. He gave no further details in the
regard.
10. He also stated that he will not know any of the

other infiltrators until they meet at the boat to leave
for Cuba.
11. He mentioned that he is acquainted with a

member of a local Special Forces Reserve Group
where he can train until he parts.
12. Hargraves described Jose Duarte as a former

Cuban associate whom he knew in Los Angeles.
Duarte is now residing in Miami and knows who is
funding Santiago's operation. His association with the
operation was not made clear by Hargraves who
mentioned in passing that he and Duarte had
bombed an SDS office in Los Angeles about one
year ago. For this they were arrested and later
released on bail.
13. Hargraves, when specifically questioned by

Gasquez, stated that this operation was absolutely
different from any operation lead by Torrenties of the
Alpha 66 group. He however inferred that many of
their members may join Santiago once Santiago's
operation reaches final staging.
14. When further pressed by Gasquez, Hargraves

used Gasquez's office phone to supposedly place a
call to Santiago. During this conversation Santiago
120
reportedly they would meet that night for the final

plans. (Gasquez was unable to determine the
number dialed, the identity of the party called, or their
conversation).
15. Gasquez termed the incident as unbelievable but

ridiculous enough to maybe be true. Hargraves
refused to be specific as to when he might leave for
Cuba, but inferred that it would be very soon. He said
he would phone Gasquez when he is advised of his
departure date.
16. Gasquez felt either of these two persons could be

approached by another agency for additional
information. He further stated that his name could be
used if necessary.
Charles W. Kane Special Agent in Charge.
Attached to this document were two biographic reference

sheets that indicated Hemming was staying at Hargraves residence
in Miami and that he was employed by "AMDEC (Disaster Relief for
Peru. Hired in Santa Barbara, California)." Hargraves was
unemployed "Iron construction worker until several months ago
when he injured his back." Hemming 1995:
When we walked in on Gasquez I said I'm here to

see Ernie Aragon, protective research. That gets you
in the door. Aragon was a company man, CIA. He
had all the ID but he hadn't gone through their
school.
MEMORANDUM FOR HEADQUARTERS September
25, 1969
1. Reference is made to a Los Angeles Field Office

memorandum dated September 3, 1963 requesting
information on Dwight David Stephenson,
Headquarters (illegible) September 11, 1969
indicating no record of Subject and LAFO
memorandum dated February 5, 1969 as attached.
2. LI-8 has advised that in addition to the information

previously reported that they have also developed
that Subject is also involved with the Bay of Pigs
121
Mercinaries. Subject has stated that he at one time

was involved in the training a support of Castro and
Guevarra in Cuba prior to their successful coup. He
stated that when he discovered that Castro was a
Communist he left Cuba came to the United States
and became involved in the training of anti-Castro
forces in Florida.
3. Subject in addition to apparently training Black

Panthers in this area is in need of a pilot to operate a
plane which he apparently owns. This plane is used
for frequent flights into Mexico where he apparently
contacts one Loran Hall and Lawrence Howard, not
further identified. The reason for these flights
ostensibly in that they have established a retreat
base for all right wing forces in the United States
should they be defeated in the impending civil war.
LT-8 this group (?) with respect to these activities
and additional information that they are running guns
into the United States. LT-8 stated that the only
background information that they have on Subject is
that Subject has advised and that he is well trained in
guerilla warfare. Also Subject has bragged that he
has international connections in South America and
that he is privy to information from many South
American Intelligence Organizations.
4. LI-8 has requested if possible that appropriate

internal name checks be conducted on Hemming in
order that they may be better able to assess
Subject’s captabilities and potentials so that they may
properly monitor his activities.
William P. Curtain
Special Agent in Charge.
Memo: Dwight David Stephenson

Birth: August 30, 1922 Birmingham, Alabama
Apparently formerly involved in the training of anti-

Castro Nationals for the Bay of Pig invasion and
reported to be a mercenary and pilot. Roy Hargraves
and Llyod Pullen are know to be members of
122
Minutemen and other right-wing organizations and

previously identified to PROJECT RESISTANCE.
Project RESISTANCE was a domestic espionage operation

coordinated under the Domestic Operations Division (DOD) of the
CIA. Its purpose was to collect background information on hostile
contingencies around the country that might pose as threats to CIA
facilities and personnel. Through 1967 to 1973, many local police
departments, college campus staff members, and other independent
informants collaborated with the CIA to keep track of student radical
groups that opposed the U.S. government's foreign policies on
Vietnam. Project RESISTANCE and its twin program, Project
MERRIMAC were both coordinated by the CIA Office of Security. In
addition, the twin projects were branch operations that relayed
civilian information to their parent program, Operation CHAOS.
Headquarters
August 7, 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR: Special Agent in Charge,
Miami Field Office.
SUBJECT: Support to Project #513 518 334 F-SB/H
Reference: MFO memo to Hdqs dated July 23, 1970.
THE TELEPHONE CABLES BETWEEN CUBA AND
AMERICA
Date: MARCH 19, 1971
To Hdqs.
From: SAC MFO
SUBJECT: SECURITY SUPPORT TO PROJECT
[deleted 02 NOM] (Roy Hargraves) # 518 334 f sd/1
Ref MFO Memo dtd July 23, 1970.
The Security Officer of Southern Bell Telephone
Company, Miami, Florida, has advised that one Roy
Hargraves has been contacting telephone company
repairmen in an attempt to find the names of former
telephone company employees who were cable
repairmen. His purpose was to learn the location of
underwater cables between the mainland and Cuba.
FBI contacted by Security Officer and they are aware
of Hargraves and described him as a soldier-of-
fortune type. FBI plans to open case on Hargraves.
Southern Bell concerned over possibility of sabotage
to their cables
123
Miami Field Office believes Hargraves is identical to

Roy Emory Hargraves, born February 14, 1940 st.
Louis, Missouri. Info previously forwarded Hdqs.
regarding this individual in referenced memo July 23,
1970. Info passed to Secret Service. PROJECT [02
deleted] NOM advised of above info. This forwarded
for Hdqrs.. info. No further action contemplated by
MFO.
On March 23, 1971, H.R. Keough generated a MFR about
Hargraves and the telephone cables titled 518-334 Project (Deleted)
M?
1. March 19, 1971 -- Special Agent in Charge of the
Miami Field Office called to advise that a person
named Roy Hargraves had been contacting several
cable repairmen who might know the exact location
of cables running from Florida to Cuba. Mr. Kane had
been contacted by the Security Officer of the
Southern Bell Telephone Company who reported the
above information. Mr. Kane also advised that the
local FBI office reported no record of Hargraves but
that they might 'open a case on him.'
2. The attached material pertinent to Roy Hargraves

may pertain to the Roy Hargraves mentioned. Mr.
Ense has seen this package and has said that we
should take no further action at this time unless Mr.
Kane requests that we do so.
H.R. Keough.
This document triggered a Memorandum for

Headquarters:
Security Support to PROJECT VENOM
(Roy Hargraves) SF 518 334 F SD/1
Attached is a self-explanatory memorandum to the
Chief/ VENOM from the undersigned. The
information is being furnished to him because of the
alleged prior connection between one of the
individuals involved and Project SEAL. The entire
matter is being referred to VENOM for whatever
action they deem necessary. It may be that they will
124
merely refer the matter to the Bureau. Charles W.

Kane Special Agent in Charge July 24, 1970
Copies were sent to: DDS/IOS, ADD/IOS, SA-DD/IOS, C/ID,
DC/ID, C/OSD, DC/OSD, C/OSB, C/SAB, C/CI-CE, C/AAS, A&TS,
Files
Hargraves injured himself in construction and got

insurance settlements on three occasions. Got
addicted to the pain killer, had a spinal fusion, had
ruptured disks, all kinds of horseshit. He became a
junkie and robbed banks, went to prison and got out.
He did time twice in the 1970's and 1980's. Suffice to
say the word militia is close to his heart.
A CIA Index Card read: "Hemming, Gerald P CR 71

R518334 /Y M /B March 1, 1937, Los Angeles, Cal /D Mem July 23,
1970, PROJECT VENOM /T JR /Z 248358 (copy in file October
1977)." A United States Secret Service Miami Field Office report
that covered the period from September 21, 1970, to October 13,
1970:
Gerry Patrick Hemming was interviewed and

photographs of him taken...Reference is made to
M/R of the reporting agent dated September 15,
1970. On September 30, 1970, Hemming was again
personally interviewed at the Miami Field Office by
the reporting agent. He advised that Hargraves had
left on a fishing trip to Cuba and one of the purposes
of the fishing trip was to make contact with some kind
of Cuban underground boat which would meet them
at sea from Cuba. On September 30, 1970,
Hemming was again personally interviewed by the
reporting agent at the Miami Field Office. Hemming
stated that on September 28, 1970, Hargraves flew in
from Bimini in the Bahama Islands after he had been
left off the Cuban fishing boat. Hemming stated that
the reason Hargraves left was because he realized
that the Cubans were not intending to make any
contacts, rendezvous, and had nothing to do with the
anti-Castro movement. Hemming stated Hargraves
no longer had any intentions about involving himself
with the anti-Castro movement in Miami. On October
125
12, 1970, Hemming came to the Miami Field Office

and advised Hargraves was attempting to find work
in construction and he was likewise doing the same.
Hemming at that point advised that intelligence work
was his hobby and that he would report any Cuban
information that came to his attention to the Secret
Service. On July 2 (Deleted) and Hemming appeared
in the U.S. Secret Service Office, Miami, and both
were interviewed in the presence of (Deleted) and
the undersigned agent. According to Hemming, a
Cuban exile leader, (Deleted) had proposed a plan to
assist some defectors composed of Russian and
Cuban officers stationed in the Western end of Cuba
to be taken out of Cuba. (Deleted) and GERALD
Hemming advised the trip would be in the near
future, but at this time they did not have any solid
plans for departure. The reporting agent advised
since this was not in the jurisdiction of the United
States Secret Service, it would be reported to the
proper agency. (Deleted) and Hemming left after they
promised to advise the reporting agent exactly what
time the boat would leave. (Deleted). Hemming did
not contact the Secret Service until approximately
8:00 p.m. on August 27, 1970. At this time Hemming
telephoned (Deleted) and advised that no date had
been set concerning the boat trip, but he added it
would be soon. On August 28, 1970, Hemming came
to the Miami Field Office and was interviewed by
(Deleted). According to Hemming, no date had been
set regarding the trip as of this date. On August 31,
1970, the reporting agent personally interviewed
Hemming at the Miami Field Office in the presence of
(Deleted). At this time, because of certain statements
regarding Key Biscayne and the strafing of Boca
Chica Air Station and Homestead Air Force Base, the
reporting agent asked Hemming about these
statements made (Deleted). According to Hemming,
the strafing and shots fired at Key Biscayne were not
true, and probably had been put out by the Cubans to
find out exactly who might be an informant in their
organization. This is a summation made by Hemming
regarding these acts against Key Biscayne and Boca
Chica Air Station. Hemming advised that as of this
126
date no set date for Hargraves departure had been

made by the Cubans. On September 10, 1970,
Hemming was personally interviewed at the Miami
Secret Service office. According to Hemming,
Hargraves was either departing that evening, or the
following evening, for Cuba. According to Hemming,
Hargraves was now under the control of the Cubans
and would not be able to leave the Cubans until the
time of their departure for Cuba. According to
Hemming, Hargraves and the Cubans were departing
to Cuba without weapons, ostensibly on a fishing trip,
in order to make contact to determine of plans of
defection could be carried out in Cuba. (Deleted).
In 1970 Hemming said he visited Peru after the earthquake

there and made contact with the Peruvian President. This contact
was made at the Presidential Palace which was the operations
center for relief. Hemming told this researcher: "Colonel Muldoon,
who worked for Werbell, was the guy in charge of the operation.
Robert K. Brown brought the second team down. We got support
from Nixon’s people for the PERUVIAN OPERATION. Pawley talked
to Nixon on the phone while I was sitting in his Miami office."
Hemming worked for Soldier-of-Fortune magazine as a leader of the
Airborne Paramedics, the Department of Community Affairs of the
Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's
Office (under Sergeant Burger).
HEMMING: 1971 TO 1975
By 1971 Hemming claimed he was in contact with the Drug
Enforcement Administration/Special Operations Group in Mexico.
Hemming said he visited Mexico, spoke with government level
contacts, and studied "narcotics activities and their relationship to
communist guerrilla groups." Sturgis told Andrew St. George that he
was engaged in similar activities. In Andrew St. George's outline for
a Sturgis biography, Sturgis asserted that he "worked for months
under Hunt’s direction in an undercover investigation of alleged illicit
drug traffic in Mexico..." [NYT 1.14.73] Hemming told this
researcher:
In 1971 we were delivering weapons to the Mexican

Judicial Police to take out Luchiano, the guerilla
leader in the States of Moralos and Guerro. And he
was taken out with MAC-10's and silencers. In 1972
we dealt with death squads in Guatemala, Nicaragua
127
and El Salvadore for Parabellum. Supplying the

death squad with weaponry so we can be friends with
them. 1971 - 1975.
Hemming wrote:
During February 1972 I formalized business

relationships with Parabellum Corporation of Miami,
Florida, and participated in executive protection of
foreign government VIP's, and special weapons
demonstration for President Congress of Deputies of
Republic of Guatemala, in Miami area. VIP's were en
route to Guatemala from Washington, D.C. after
extensive briefings at Langley and Pentagon. During
February and March 1972, while traveling within
Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, I was able to
penetrate a conspiracy to assassinate Chief
Executive, Republic of Panama. Conspirators were
active and/or former Ministers of Government,
Republics of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and
Costa Rica. During first week of March 1972 I had
been accepted within this group of conspirators as a
decision making advisor and was able to thwart aims
and divert much of planning toward less lethal ends.
During March 1972 I established liaison with JOHN
who introduced me to Cokie Zimeri. Zimeri assessed
as senior government and paramilitary assassin in
Guatemala and El Salvador. Zimeri was found to
possess serious potential capabilities relating to
terrorist employment of standard and special
weapons, including Chemical, Biological and
Radiological systems. Zimeri is of Palestinian
descent and speaks Syrian dialect of Arabic fluently
on daily basis. During May 1972 I returned to Miami
area. Principal leader of conspiracy was
assassinated in Guatemala City shortly afterward.
Period ending December 1972 involved extensive
follow-up activity relating to foreign government level
contacts with official from Mexico. Reference all
republics in Central America as well as Panama,
Ecuador and Colombia with no foreign travel outside
of Continental United States required.
128
Hemming gave me a brochure in which the offices of

Parabellum in Miami was listed as being located at 290 S.W. 8th
Street, Suite 305, Miami, Florida. This was where Hemming's
private detective agency was located.
THE DEATH OF OLIVERIO CASTANIEDA JUNE 1972
Shortly after Watergate, Oliverio Castanieda Paiz, the First

Vice President of the Congress of Guatemala, was killed in
Guatemala City. According to Hemming:
He was the guy that headed up the plot to kill Torrijos

in 1972 working with the plumbers.
Oliverio Castanieda Paiz was an ambitious 34-year-old former leftist

who had been trained in guerrilla tactics in Cuba in the early 1960's.
On June 26, 1972, Oliverio Castanieda Paiz attended the birthday
party of his daughter at a Guatemala City restaurant. Bodyguards
armed with pistols and machine guns normally accompanied
Oliverio Castanieda Paiz, but that night they were nowhere to be
found. Shortly before midnight, two men walked into the restaurant.
One of them drew a pistol and fired once into Oliverio Castanieda
Paiz heart and then into his neck. The victim slumped over, dead,
and the two shooters walked quickly out of the restaurant, then
drove off in a car. No arrests were made. [NYT 7.13.72 p9, 6.27.72
p43, 6.18.72 p11] In Hemming’s Motion For Production of Favorable
Evidence he asked for
129
All reports, files, and memorandums held by the CIA,

FBI and Department of State that refer to defendant's
alleged connection with a conspiracy to assassinate
the then President of Costa Rica, the Honorable Jose
Figures, allegedly directed by the late Oliverio
Castanieda Paiz and other members of the
Guatemalan Government during the calendar year
1972, especially those that might be titled
OPERATION CACTUS, OPERATION COYOTE
and/or OPERATION BAMBU.
Hemming wrote
During spring 1974 I was approached by United

States and foreign nationals seeking assistance
relating to their ongoing marijuana smuggling
operations from Colombia to United States. Two
individuals had in previous years a one time
association with CIA during the Cuba project and
anticipated capitalizing on this experience combined
with planned involvement of long time agency assets
that reside in Central and South American Republics.
I was introduced initially by Drug Enforcement
Administration asset Jerry Buchanan who soon
severed his relationship with Subjects. I was also
able to rapidly accomplish following:
a. Co-opted completely the entire Columbia-United

States planned operations of this (Ken Burnstine).
b. Traveled to Georgia for briefing with Mitch Werbell

reference future operations.
c. During September 1974 traveled extensively

through Central and South America and Colombia for
meetings with marijuana brokers and growers with
mid-level capacities of Colombia-United States
marijuana tonnage. Visited areas under cultivation
and met with military commander involved in security
use of landing and take off rights at joint civilian-
military airport designated as primary entry-departure
point for aircraft utilized on smuggling route.
130
d. Organized team of aviation-paramilitary qualified

individuals with previous experience as DEA-CIA
assets or law enforcement positions in Florida and
Colorado areas.
e. Successfully engineered successive delays and

total failure or first flight operation to Colombia which
caused two month delay of activity by Burnstine's
group which caused group to terminate relationship
with me.
f. Simultaneous with operations with Burnstine's

group I was approached by Burnstine for assistance
in locating suitable ship's captain for marijuana
smuggling operations from Colombia to eastern
Bahamas. I contacted former CIA contract employee
CQ/MAPLE a licensed ship captain with Agency
experience in Caribbean and Congo areas, but not a
Drug Enforcement Administration asset. CQ/MAPLE
declined participation due to personalities maximum
risk nature of the operation. No backstop available to
support CQ/MAPLE.
131
HEMMING: DEA INFORMANT: MAY 1975

The CIA: "The most recent incident wherein Hemming
claimed Agency affiliation was in May 1975 when he volunteered his
services to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Hemming is a
long time cohort of FRANK Sturgis of Watergate fame, who also has
a long time record of falsely claiming Agency affiliation." The CIA
reported that "The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Civil Service
Commission conducted name checks regarding GERALD Hemming
in May 1975 and June 1967, respectively." [CIA undated MFR] On
May 23, 1975, Hemming visited the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Washington, D.C., and asked to see Lucian
Conein
…who is the Acting Chief, Special Operations and

Field Support Staff. Hemming told Lucian Conein that
Mitch Werbell had given him his name as a DEA
official to whom Hemming could talk. Hemming told
Lucian Conein he wanted to provide information on
drug trafficking between Colombia and Florida.
Lucian Conein asked S.A. Hughes, a CIA employee,
to conduct a debriefing of Hemming. S.A. Hughes
was working on the collection of narcotics intelligence
concerning Colombia and Florida. Hemming stated
that he is presently employed at Tecpole Security,
801 Madrid, Coral Gables, Florida, 305-443-9681.
(Hemming stated he believed this number was being
tapped, he did not say who he believed was tapping
the telephone.)...In August 1974 Hemming was
approached by Armando Bolet, a Cuban veteran of
the 2506 Brigade whom Hemming had worked with in
anti-Castro activities and by John Varese to help
them organize and run air smuggling operations for
Thomas and William O'Donnel. The O'Donnel
brothers, using the cover of their construction firm in
the Fort Lauderdale area (American Eastern
Development) were involved in the maritime
smuggling of marijuana from Colombia to Florida.
During an unspecified four years (probably 1970 to
1974) the O'Donnels had averaged approximately six
to seven loads of marijuana per year at three to four
tons for each load coming into Miami. Of these 24 to
28 loads of marijuana they had to jettison only five
loads into the sea for security reasons. The rest of
132
the loads had been successfully delivered into

Florida. The source of the marijuana in Colombia is
Dr. Arturo Romano-Fedullo of Barranquilla,
Colombia. Besides running the smuggling for
Romano, William O'Donnel handles the laundering of
the money accumulated by drug trafficking through
banks in the Grand Cayman, Switzerland and
Curacao. Armando Bolet convinced the O'Donnels
that they should add air smuggling to their narcotic
trafficking methods, and that they should also try
cocaine in addition to marijuana. Bolet told O'Donnel
that there were many experienced men available in
Florida who could be used to smuggle drugs into
Florida by air. Bolet was especially interested in
cargo parachute drops, and parachute jumps by
individuals carrying loads of cocaine. Bolet recruited
Hemming to help organize the activities. A common
technique used by Bolet and Hemming was to fly an
aircraft into Florida legally, but to have a parachutist
fly onto a pre-selected drop zone in southern Florida
prior to landing the aircraft. This way, police never
found any contraband on the aircraft and the dropped
narcotics would not be lost because the parachuter
carried them on his person. If he missed the drop
zone he could simply fold up the parachute and walk
to the location of the reception committee. Bolet uses
a DC-3 tail number N1099 in his smuggling
operations. Hemming had a falling out with the
O'Donnell group and decided to leave them. He is
now associated with Carlos Caraballo who operates
a charter fishing business and traffics in drugs.
Hemming decided to inform on O'Donnel for revenge
and in order to try to eliminate the competition…"
[Operational Contact Report Project Title EMBRYO
5.23.75]
What his this got to do with JFK? How did they get
the authority to release this shit? They were never
touched, they were all company. Very wealthy
people. Carlos Caraballo is an importer-exporter.
O'Donnell and Thomas, they're all international land
133
developers. They have part of Paradise Island over in

Nassau. Varese has a yacht over at Fort Everglades.
Hemming wrote:
Traveled to Washington, D.C. and met with Col.

Lucien Conein of the Special Operations Division of
the Drug Enforcement Administration at DEA HQ,
1405 I Street N.W. and briefed Col. Conein and his
assistant Tom Briggs reference the following:
1. Senator Jackson investigation in Miami refer-

Vietnam business.
2. Parallel operations involving Mitch Werbell of

Powder Springs, Georgia.
3. Private investigations group working yacht

hijacking and murder on the high seas of numerous
United States citizens.
4. Penetration group anticipating future 'Bounty

Hunting' operations against narcotics smugglers as
per Title 16 and 18 United States Code.
5. Detailed information reference names, aircraft and

connections of both previous smuggling groups
QZ/PLAYMATES and QZ/ALKALI.
JUNE 1975
Hemming was mentioned in a "Report dated June 4, 1975,
file #29-1297, Subject: Nathan Cohen and Others - Bank Fraud and
Embezzlement; Fraud by wire; Interstate Transportation of Stolen
Property; Anti-Racketeering, Mail Fraud, White Slave Traffic Act;
Bribery."
HEMMING: JUNE 1975: PLOT TO KILL PRESIDENT LAUGERUD
ON JUNE8, 1975 A USUALLY RELIABLE SOURCE REPORTED

THAT JORGE ANTONIO COOKIE ZIMERI SAFIE, GUATEMALAN
CITIZEN WHO HAS BEEN LIVING IN MIAMI SINCE AUGUST
1975, WAS INVOLVED IN A PLOT TO ASSASSINATE
GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT .KJELL EUGENIO LAUGERUD
GARCIA. THE ACTION WAS TO HAYE BEEN CARRIED OUT LS
134
SEPTEMBER 1975, BUT ZIMERI WAS WOUNDED IN

GUATEMALA CITY DURING AN ARMED ATTACK ON HIS LIFE IN
LATE AUGUST1975 AND WENT TO MIAMI FOR MEDICAL
TREATMENT. ZIMERI LEFT GUATEMALA ILLEGALLY AND MAY
BE IN THE US UNDER FALSE PRETENSES. ALSO
REPORTEDLY INVOLVED IN THE ASSASSINATION PLAN WAS
A U.S. CITIZEN, GERALD PATRICK HEMMING, ALSO KNOWN
AS JERRY HENNING WHO WAS SAID TO BE INVOLVED IN
ACQUIRING AND TRANSPORTING ARMS TO GUATEMALA·
On June 22, 1976, the CIA reported that Robert and Gerry
Hemming were involved in a plot to kill Guatemalan President Kjell
Eugenio Laugerud Garcia of Guatemala on behalf of Jorge Antonio
'Cokie' Zimeri Safie (201-35422).
1. (Deleted) passed station written report and made

verbal report in detail, all with knowledge of President
Laugerud, ref A case and results. According to report
135
and E-68 National Liberation Movement (MLN) was

involved with 'Cokie' Zimeri, who has been living in
Miami since August 1975 in plot to assassinate
Laugerud. Plot was to have been carried out
September 15, 1975, but Zimeri was the victim of
attack on his life late August 1975, and, as a result,
went to Miami for medical treatment. Report and E-
68 claim that two Americans, brothers Robert and
Gerald Patrick Hemming (No Station Traces) were
also involved with Zimeri in plot, and that they
assisted him in acquiring arms, among other things,
which were flown to Guatemala illegally in small
aircraft. Report ends with five requests by Laugerud
as follows:
A. Is Zimeri still in the United States?
B. Does Zimeri receive any kind of preferential

treatment by U.S. authorities which permits him to
carry firearms, as well as to purchase arms and
ammunition for shipment to Guatemala. The report
also claims that Zimeri has close relations with police
officials in Miami and New Orleans.
C. Is Zimeri recruiting mercenaries in the United

States for possible use in Guatemala?
D. Any information on Robert and Gerald Hemming?
E. In event Zimeri not in States legally, the request

he be deported to Guatemala. E-68 says he left
Guatemala illegally, but arrived in the States legally,
but Government of Guatemala thinks his visa has
expired and he there illegally.
2. Station plans dissemination info on Zimeri case,

but without mentioning HemmingS by name. Plan
prepare memo for Charge and RSO and will suggest
that latter attempt answer questions for President
Kjell Eugenio Laugerud Garcia.
3. (Deleted) EW-4 also reported 7 June in some
detail on solution of Novella kidnapping case (Ref. 8).
There political implications in this case also so we
dissemming E-68 claims there American possibly
136
involved this case, one Frank Buck (probably

identical to subject of 201-0819515 a registered DEA
SOURCE who claims be a doctor but does not
practice here. He allegedly lover of sister of
intellectual author of Novella Kidnapping Plan, Jorge
Alfonso Lobo Dubon, also involved. E-68 has
requested whatever we might have on buck. Station
plans include that name also in memo to charge and
RSO but will omit from dissemination.
4. For (Deleted) one source of info on Zimeri case
may well have been (Deleted) DEW-1. Saw later by
accident on June 8, 1975. Said that he had been
providing info to Government of Guatemala on Zimeri
for past six months or so and added that two
Americans involved with Zimeri. One of who runs a
guard service in Miami. He did not mention names
but described one as about six feet four inches and
weighing about 230 pounds. (Deleted) DEW-1 plans
to return Miami within two weeks since in over two
years here he has been unable to find job with
sufficient salary permit him to live comfortably.
THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE COLONEL CESAR QUINTEROS
The CIA reported:
Secret 241726Z CIA 246074
To: FBI
Attention: Criminal Intelligence Division.
Secret. Warning Notice -- SENSITIVE
INTELLIGENCE SOURCES AND METHODS
INVOLVED - Not releasable to foreign nationals.
CIR-316-01395-78
Subject: Alleged Plot to Assassinate Colonel Cesar
Quinteros, Chief of Guatemalan Security.
1. On June 23, 1975, Colonel Cesar Quinteros, Chief

of Guatemalan Security, was provided with the
reference B excerpt of information on the alleged plot
to assassinate Quinteros which was reported to this
Agency in Ref A.
2. Colonel Cesar Quinteros had not been previously

aware of the plot against him, but speculated that if
137
there is substance to the reported plot, Zimeri, now in

Federal Custody in Miami, Florida, could be involved.
Quinteros had been involved in the Zimeri case by
providing documentation required for the extradition
of Zimeri from Guatemala to the United States.
3. Should his hypothesis that Zimeri is involved be

correct, Quinteros said he believed that Bob or Gerry
Hemming, brothers, believed by Quinteros to be
living in either Miami or Fort Lauderdale, would be
directly involved. According to Quinteros, one of the
brothers (he could not remember which) had lived in
Guatemala from 1972 to 1974, and on one occasion
had assisted Zimeri by piloting the aircraft used by
the latter to escape Guatemala.
4. Colonel requested that he be advised whether the

Hemming brothers are currently in Florida. If they
cannot be accounted for, Quinteros is of the opinion
that one or both brothers will be involved in the plot to
kill him.
5. This Agency requests any information which may

be developed on the present whereabouts of the
Hemming brothers which may be appropriate for
passage to Quinteros. [CIA 1994 rel. CIR-316-01395-
78]
After they shot up Cokie Zimeri in September 1975 I

brought him out, and he recovered in the States. He
had been the palace assassin for Laugerud. My
brother and Zimeri were real close to President
Laugerud's son. And they were involved in some hits,
including a hit against the U.S. Embassy. Zimeri was
plotting to kill Laugerud's son, who was a heroin
courier using his diplomatic pouch. We were trying to
lock the son-of-a-bitch up. Laugerud was in Miami
Beach during my trial. Cokie wanted the opportunity
to blow President Laugerud's fuckass away. You got
guerilla operations in the country and its about to fall
to communism. They are going to accuse me of
trying to assassinate him?
138
Hemming 1995:
Cokie Zimeri, the palace assassin, had a falling out

with President Laugerud. Laugerud's son, Shelito,
was running around throwing hand grenades and
shooting at people. Cokie and the old man didn't like
it because the kid got wounded by a German
grenade in the streets, with my brother, out on an
operation. Cokie's not one to take a lot of shit, plus
he had enemies in the palace military, mostly
intelligence assholes. So they tried to do a hit on him
and President wouldn't believe it, so he had a
confrontation with the President and the President
Laugerud was embarrassed that he had been
bullshited. In Cokie's book that's when you kill
people, but Laugerud would discipline them, just
send them out of the country, Spain or somewhere.
That pissed Cokie off because Cokie's a bit of a
psychopath and he had (?). Plus, he's very wealthy,
his family they're Palestinians. They're personal
friends with Arafat and Qaddafi, world travelers, they
owned banks here in Miami. At that time they were
worth 80 or 90 million. They did a major hit on Cokie
a couple of days after my brother left. My brother was
living with him as a bodyguard and all that shit in
1975. He's driving and his hands were shot up so
bad because he's trying to drive with his elbows. And
he can't see out the windshield because its covered
with blood. But he turns on the windshield wiper and
says it didn't work worth a shit, cause the blood was
squirting out of his chest on the inside. Arrangements
were made, I flew down there, things happened, he
was taken to El Salvador to recuperate.
139
Zimeri lived in El Salvador, after serving a sentence for illegal

possession of a weapon in the United States in the early 70s. He
was then deported to Guatemala in September of 1973, to answer
for a crime. He was released in 1975 and remained between El
Salvador and Guatemala, where, in the 80s, enjoyed influence
among politicians, officials and police authorities. The investigations
of Zimeri began with the discovery of the bodies of five people
inside a vehicle, the previous November 20, 1998 located in Las
Charcas, Guatemala. The multiple murders were linked to Jorge
Antonio Zimeri Safie. The vehicle where the bodies were found was
in the name of the Guatemalan Carlos Federico Fuentes, but police
said the vehicle had been stolen in El Salvador. In the midst of the
investigation, authorities raided the neighboring country at least
about 10 Safie Zimeri owned dwellings, where they found
documents indicating that the suspect was planning an attack on the
embassy of the United States in Guatemala. In between these raids,
is also located a large arsenal of weapons and stolen vehicles.
Among the seized weapons were also found handguns that
belonged to two of the victims gunned down. The arsenal consisted
of about a hundred arms of different types, among others AK-47 and
G3 rifles, M-16 machine guns, grenade launchers, Claymore mines,
grenades, dynamite, mortars and 1.5 million munitions.
JERROLD G. BROWN'S ANALYSIS

On June 11, 1976, Jerrold G. Brown of the CIA wrote this
memorandum:
140
1. On June 9, 1969, “Dan” of the DDO contacted

Staff and Operations Branch, Operational Evaluation
Section for information concerning Gerald Patrick
Hemming. “Dan” was referred to the writer, who is
holding the Hemming file. When “Dan” contacted the
writer, “Dan” advised that he is the action officer for a
cable from (Deleted) reporting on an assassination
plot on the life of President Laugerud of Guatemala.
“Dan” was unfamiliar with the case of Gerald Patrick
Hemming and had not yet reviewed the 201 file on
Hemming. “Dan” was requested to alert CI STAFF
and JMWAVE to the below-mentioned cable, and to
provide the writer with a copy of the report coming in
from (Deleted).
2. “Dan” provided the writer with a copy of the cable

(IN 944357, Cite (Deleted) 19536 dated June 8,
1976, which is attached. In substance the cable
reflects that circa June 8, 1976, a Guatemalan
source, (Deleted) provided (Deleted) a written report,
and a detailed briefing, concerning a plot to
assassinate President Laugerud. According to the
information the plot was to be carried out on
September 15, 1975; however, one of the major
conspirators, Jorge Antonio 'Cokie' Zimeri Safie left
Guatemala in August 1975 as a result of an attack
upon his, Zimeri's, life. Zimeri has been living in
Miami since August 1975.
3. According to the report, the National Liberation

Movement was involved with Zimeri in the
assassination plot, and Zimeri in turn was involved
with two Americans, brothers, Robert and Gerald
Patrick Hemming. The Hemming brothers assisted
Zimeri in acquiring arms, among other things, which
were flown to Guatemala in a small aircraft. The
report also claims that Zimeri has close relations with
police officials in Miami and New Orleans.
NOTE: The (Deleted) also included information

(Deleted) had received from (Deleted) DEW-1 on
June 8. (Deleted) DEW-1 said that he had been
providing information to Zimeri to the Guatemalan
Government for the past six months or so. He
141
claimed that two Americans were involved with

Zimeri, one of them runs a guard service in Miami.
(Deleted) DEW-1 did not mention names, but
described one of the Americans as about six feet four
inches and weighing about 230 pounds.
4. The Guatemalan report on the assassination plot

ended with five requests for information by President
LAUGERUD:
a. Is Zimeri still in the United States?
b. In the event ZIMERI is not it the United States

legally, deport him to Guatemala.
c. Is Zimeri recruiting mercenaries in the United

States for possible use in Guatemala?
d. Does Zimeri receive any kind of preferential

treatment by U.S. authorities which permit him to
carry firearms, as well as to purchase arms and
ammunition for shipment to Guatemala?
e. Any information on Robert and GERALD

Hemming?
5. On June 19, 1976, “Dan” of (deleted) advised that

DDO is referring the entire matter to the FBI and
State Department.
6. Office of Security indices are negative in pertinent

variations of the name of Zimeri or Robert Hemming.
7. From the name, physical description, activity and

alleged employment, it is apparent that Gerald
Patrick Hemming is identical with the Subject of
Office of Security file 429 229, who had been
described as six-foot five, 250 pounds, who is a
notorious mercenary and soldier-of-fortune and who
as of May 1975 was ostensibly employed by a private
investigation company, TEPCOL Security (Office of
Security -- no record) in Miami, Florida.
8. Gerald Patrick Hemming is well known to this

Agency, the Office of Security Miami Field Office, and
142
JMWAVE. On numerous occasions since at least the

early 1960's Hemming has claimed Agency affiliation
when in fact there has been none.
9. For an appreciation of the possible ramifications of

a Guatemalan Government expose of this
assassination plot involving Hemming, you are
referred to attachments to instant memorandum, to
wit: a memorandum by the writer dated June 10,
1975, in the name of FRANK Sturgis and Everett
Howard Hunt Jr. and an extract from a book
published in early 1976 written by Michael Canfield
and Alan J. Weberman. The book, Coup D'Etat in
America - The CIA and the Assassination of John F.
Kennedy, is a diatribe against the Agency and
attempts to link the Agency with the assassination of
President Kennedy. One of the major links attempted
by the authors is thought to be Hunt to Sturgis to
Hemming to Loran Hall. Loran Hall was a member of
Hemming’s INTERPEN. Loran Hall received
nationwide publicity in 1967 when New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison alleged that Loran Hall
and INTERPEN was involved in the assassination of
President Kennedy and that members of this unit
were connected with the CIA. Jim Garrison shortly
thereafter dropped his interest in Loran Hall, but it is
interesting that he did so after Hemming and another
cohort, Robert K. Brown, joined Garrison's
investigation.
[CIA D001212 Jerrold G. Brown 6.11.76]
They hauled my ass before a grand jury. Gave me

immunity. They wanted to railroad Cokie's ass back
to a fucking death cell. They said he kidnapped a
broad, murdered a police agent, all this horseshit,
while trying to kill the President.
The CIA made sure that the press did not find out about
Hemming’s assassination plot against the President of Guatemala
because it would have lent credence to my charges that Hemming
had been involved in other coups, most notably the one that took
143
place in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. This is an indication

that the CIA has sought to suppress the work of this researcher.
HEMMING'S ARRESTS: JULY 1976

Hemming was indicated for conspiracy to import marijuana
and cocaine in July 1976. On August 23, 1976, when he appeared
at the marijuana smuggling trial of Mitch Werbell, Hemming was
arrested. [USDC Miami 76-71-Cr-CA] His codefendants were
Benjamin Franklin Thomas, Joseph Thomas Oliveti and Jacob
Cochran. In October 1976 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms charged Hemming with the illegal transfer of a silencer.
Assistant United States Attorney Robert Rust, Hemming’s former
attorney, handled the prosecution. Hemming told this researcher:
I was sitting in a bar drinking a beer listening to two

Drug Enforcement Administration agents talk to
someone who was trying to sell them a pre-World II
airplane. The guy who set me up, Thomas Benton, [a
friend of Hemming’s sister-in-law] had been popped
in the Bahamas. I did the guy a favor by running the
plane up every weekend to keep the engines in
shape. He wants my brother to get his car and
transfer an item from one trunk to another. At another
meeting they showed me a bankbook with a
$600,000 balance.
`Hemming’s codefendant, Joseph Olivetti, was an associate

of Thomas Holt. Joseph Olivetti was murdered by his brother.
Hemming represented himself at his trial. Hemming’s trial was
severed from that of his codefendants. Before going to trial,
Hemming filed a Motion for Favorable Evidence, alleging that
certain Warren Commission documents would vindicate him:
Copies of all files both classified an unclassified now

held in the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
included within those documents known as the
Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy, especially documents
759 through and including 784.
144
Why do I want the Warren Commission stuff? I'll

explain why I want it in open Court. That's what
they're gonna find out. All of a sudden they're
accusing me of conspiracy to import marijuana and
cocaine. Hey, what about all the other things I've
been into for the last 15 years, let's talk about them.
Let's talk about the Martin Luther King thing, let's talk
about Don Freed, Le Coubre, nigger-killers in bed
with the mafia, and the mafia in bed with the FBI, and
the goddamn CIA in bed with all of them. Let's talk
about all the people I dirtied up for them over the
years. They say I'm crazy for defending myself, shit, I
ain't even sure of that anymore when I hang around
with people like you, Weberman.
If I represent myself I got me a long opening

argument and a long summation. A lawyer wouldn't
go near it. Then, spontaneously, I may erupt into
something akin to measles. They don't know if you’re
bluffing or what the story is. Well, they would never
be allowed to know. Bob Rust, the U.S. Attorney here
was defending our fucking boys back in 1963. He
knows me better. The big thing is not who did what,
but how many goddamned people could be doing it
this week again in collusion with the FBI, in collusion
with the CIA? These are federal agents who are paid
to advise Secret Service, they are paid to do their job
in the country and instead they got into bed with
nigger-killers, they got into bed with Jew killers, they
got into bed with the Heinrich Himmler cocksuckers,
and that ain't done in this country. They've been
doing it for too goddamn long and a fagot like J.
Edgar Hoover let them get away with that shit. A.J.
you write a book like Coup and Jesus Christ,
everybody's saying you are telling these people you
are after them. Them guys don't give a shit -they're
pros - they ain't gonna get caught. You gotta take out
their colleagues, you got to expose the goddamn
system that allows guys like that to get away with it. I
can get on the goddamn phone and have six
contracts out in 15 minutes on Jesus Christ himself.
Right now. Cause its out there. This country is run
like a goddamned Banana Republic.
145
Hemming 1994:
What's the secret hand behind this bullshit? Is

someone trying to put us under pressure so we'll spill
the beans on these Kennedy dicksuckers? Have we
been targeted because we're nasty motherfuckers
and probably had something to do with killing him?
They were purging the cowboys.
A DEA agent who worked for the CIA filled out an Outside
Activity Approval Request on January 7, 1977:
I was advised by my supervisor that she had been

telephonically contacted by a Mr. Fredricks of the
DEA in Miami and told that DEA wants me to travel to
Miami to attend a pre-trial conference on Monday
January 10, 1977, in order to prepare for possible
appearance as a witness for the DEA against Gerald
Patrick Hemming...In engaging in requested activity, I
will make no reference to, or discuss, my CIA
assignments or duties. I (will, will not) be identified as
employed by CIA for the following reasons: I was a
CIA employee from January 1969 to May 1974 prior
to transferring to the DEA. I was under cover at that
time. I have not yet been put under cover ever since
my new FOD (January 3, 1977) (Deleted) Security
approval has been granted for the activity
contemplated by this request. Robert L. Morris Jr.
Chief, Security Support Division.
On January 19, 1977, the CIA generated this Routing Slip:

"To: OS/OSB 4E-27, AC/SSD. C/SSD From LA/SEC. For your
retention or passage to anyone in the Office of Security who might
have an interest in attachment." [FOIA #81-0351 D0538] On
January 24, 1977, DC/SSD sent an Official CIA Routing Slip to
C/OSB and to Lynch file. "Remarks: Please note page 6 on ex-CIA
types now with DEA 0- is (Deleted) one of the guys we talked to on
Lou Conein? Who is (Deleted) soon to return to us??" On January
26, 1977, a Official CIA Routing Slip was sent to C/ OSB, DC/SSD,
C/SA6 Reardon. From (Deleted).
(Deleted) File was reviewed. No indication he was

ever interviewed concerning Lou Conein. 2. There is
record of a (Deleted) as only employer. (Deleted) is
146
referred to in cables from Vietnam in the file of

(Deleted) was employed by Computer Science Corp.
In 1971 assigned as a military regional analyst in
Vietnam for A.I.D. project. Cables dealt with
smuggling activities of (Deleted). Bruce FYI'
GREYMAIL AND NT/STRONGBOX

Hemming attempted to greymail the government into
dropping the conspiracy charges against him. When Lucian Conein
had a heart attack, Hemming visited him in the V.A. hospital, and
asked him if he was burning Mitch Werbell. Hemming said Lucian
Conein had no knowledge of his indictment. Hemming prepared a
document in which he called himself NT/STRONGBOX and gave it
to Lucian Conein at the airport. Hemming used comical cryptonyms
in this report. Sturgis was QM/TURGID, was QM/RAFT (he looked
like George Raft), Zimeri was QJ/ZIPPER and was described as "a
senior government and paramilitary assassin in Guatemala and El
Salvador." Hemming offered to furnish a list of people involved in
the Kennedy assassination. I was a conduit for Hemming’s greymail.
Hemming leaked information that was transmitted to Gaeton Fonzi.
Then the CIA would get HSCA requests on Subjects such as David
Christ. When Hemming obtained his Freedom of Information /
Privacy Act CIA file it contained several chapters from Coup D'Etat
In America. The CIA commented:
That there was a book excerpt in Hemming’s file is

not surprising. There are thousands of newspaper
clippings from hundreds of papers in our files as
well...neither would there necessarily be a memo
regarding the insertion of any information in a file.
There would also be no official CIA reaction to your
book. The CIA neither confirms nor denies the
accuracy of anything stated in such publications. [CIA
ltr. Gene Wilson to Weberman 7.8.77]
Hemming:
The agency take you seriously? You couldn't find

your ass with both hands! You're not at the top of the
list of threats to these people. I think you're the only
comedy in their lives.
BELL MORTGAGE
147
Hemming wrote that in early 1975 he was "hired as an

investigator by a Jacksonville, Florida, attorney whose clients filed
suit against the CIA alleging CIA Agent, (past and present)
involvement in an interstate mortgage fraud (4.5 million dollars)
conspiracy with undertones of cocaine smuggling." This case
involved Cuban businessmen (Andres Castro) who had previously
been asked to set up a CIA proprietary called Bell Mortgage. The
proprietary went bankrupt, and the exiles sued the CIA for the
money they had lost. Before they sued, they were warned by their
Case Officer: "If we can get rid of a President, we can get rid of
you." The CIA admitted that the man who made this threat,
(According to Hemming, Antonio Ingleses) was associated with the
Miami CIA Station. [75-515-Civil USDC SDF; undated art. Wash
Post. by Bill McAllister "D.C. Fraud Figure Jailed In Fla. Case"]
Ingleses was in the Congo and on the team to get

Ché. They worked with the Villaverde brothers.
Richardo Morales brought out Technical Services
Division viral material [swine flu] and transferred it to
the Villaverdes.
FYI Afternoon February 13 l1964 local FBI contacted

station to inform that their Hqs has identified
fingerprints found at one of the bombings performed
by Cuban Power Group, as belonging to AMDESK/1
(201-285923) FBI officer wanted inform JMWAVE
prior passing info local police for arrest. AMDESK/1
former SAB team leader, recruited February 1962
never used on JMWAVE mission, terminated 26
August 1962 for security violation. See UFGA-17680
September 4, 1964, Re-recruirtd Septemmber 1964
for WI/PEGASUS project in which he served until
December 1964.
WI/PEGASUS involved sending group of Cuban

exiles to Congo most likey to obtain Swine Flu.
HEMMING: NOVEMBER 22, 1977

When Hemming supplied the DEA with information on May
23, 1975, the DEA official he spoke with was either an employee of
the CIA. This man was a witness against Hemming:
148
3. During the afternoon of 7 January 1977 I conferred

with Mr. Hix who advised me to contact the Office of
the General Counsel. I talked to Mr. Edmund Cohen
who advised me to get in touch with the Office of
Security, External Activities Branch (0S/EAB). I
completed an Outside Activity Approval Request
(Form 879), obtained the concurrence of DC/SE
(deleted) and submitted the Form 879 to
OS/EAR. OS/E.AB sent me to Central Cover Staff
(Nr. Blandford) and then to the Office of the Genera]
Counsel. After discussions with Mr. Cohen, I called
S/A Fredericks in Miami at Mr. Cohen's suggestion.
S/A Fredericks was not available. Mr. Cohen then
advised me to return to my office and he would
contact me with further instructions. Mr. Cohen
retained the Form 879. Subsequently, Mr. Cohen
advised me that I should travel to Miami as requested
and that CIA would reimburse me for expenses
connected with my activities in behalf of the U.S.
Government. He further advised me that being in an
overt cover status I should state, if asked under oath,
that I an currently a CIA employee.
4. On January 10, 1977, I traveled to Miami where I
met and conferred with Assistant United States
Attorney Karen Atkinson and DEA S.A. Robert
Fredricks. They informed me that Gerald Patrick
Hemming’s case had been severed, and his trial
would not begin on January 11, 1977. AUSA
Atkinson told me she wanted me as a rebuttal
witness of Gerald Patrick Hemming after he
presented the defense that he was working at the
direction of the DEA. She said they would not call me
until, and unless, that defense was presented. She
also said that she felt that any attempt to question me
concerning my current place of employment was
irrelevant, and she would object to any such line of
questioning. She said she would only ask me where I
was employed at the time I interviewed Hemming. I
returned to Washington the same day. (Deleted).
[Memo Chief SE DIV From Deleted SE/X/LA 1.11.77]
Hemming’s codefendants were all convicted of importing
marijuana, and on November 22, 1977, Hemming was convicted by
149
a Miami jury of conspiracy to import marijuana. In the spring of 1978

Hemming was sentenced to six months in prison by U.S. District
Judge William M. Hoeveler. Hemming was released on appeal bond
and the conviction was later overturned. In May 1978, Hemming
was questioned by the HSCA in Miami. Hemming told this
researcher:
They were avoiding issues. They had no information
on me at all. Less than Garrison. Didn't know shit
from Shinola.
HEMMING: 1980
The Agency has helped me out continuously. I had a

stand off with a SWAT team in February 1980. They
came to evict me in Opa Locka. I was in a
goddamned state of depression. I had my house
surrounded by cops and the whole goddamn thing.
T.V. cameras. It was quashed. No publicity. Two
days later I'm working a counter-terrorism
investigation. I get expenses, salary, an office. I stuck
a shotgun in these people's face [Hemming’s family]
and held hostages. They tried to bring that up in my
state trial and the judge didn't permit it. There's a
reference to it, but that's where it ended. Somebody
called a company lawyer.
HEMMING'S SECOND ARREST APRIL 1980
In April 1980 a mechanic working on Hemming’s plane
noticed a cargo of marijuana and Quaaludes aboard. On April 14,
1980, Hemming was arrested and charged with drug trafficking. He
was held on $200,000 bond in Palm Beach County. He claimed that
he had not smuggled Quaaludes, but was establishing his bona
fides with drug traffickers so he could penetrate their networks.
The cops would have let me go if I gave them the

load, but I couldn't let the ludes hit the streets. I was
working for the fucking Drug Enforcement
Administration/FBI South Florida Task Force through
Werbell who worked for Lucian Conein. The Task
Force wanted to come forward, but I didn't want them
to. I wanted it dropped real quietly. Czukas got
150
involved. He puts two and two together after talking

to my two guys. He figures one of them was my co-
pilot. He drives them to Palm Beach and presents
them to the State's Attorney. Now they can prove the
case because they have the guy who was in the
plane with me who they didn't have before.
It was suggested to Hemming that the purpose of his

smuggling activity was to become rich by using his infiltration and
exfiltration skills. Hemming told this researcher: "You do it better
than they do. They can't even keep a straight face when they're
doing it." Hemming expected the case to be transferred to Federal
Court because the crime involved smuggling. Hemming was
convicted on drug charges. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison
with a minimum mandatory sentence of three years.
HEMMING: PRISON 1981 TO 1989
I spent eight years on the chain gang with serial

killers. They shipped me out of Avon Park Air Force
Base to 'the rock,' the main housing unit modeled
after the same plans as Alcatraz, built in 1917.
Shipped there to die, it's a death camp. Lot of killings,
lot of blood. This is the South, man. I lived with
multiple killers. Two months after I was there, guards
were being killed. You go to sleep and close your
fucking eyes and you're wondering if you're gonna
wake. You always have that in the back of your mind.
I was assigned to the Fire Department in 1988 and
lived outside prison walls.
151
When the CIA released Oswald’s pre-assassination file in

1993, it included an article about Hemming. In 1982 Hemming was
transferred to the Avon Park Correctional Institution. In 1987
Hemming was at Raiford: "As you may note from my return address,
I am assigned to the UCI Fire Department which means I live
outside the prison walls, right next door." Hemming was involved in
the production of the movie, JFK. Then he was a consultant to
Conner Air, a small cargo airline in Fort Lauderdale that was at odds
with the DEA. [Miami New Times 6.30.93] After the owner of the
airline, Gus Conner, died of a heart attack, Hemming lost his
position there. Hemming had a mild heart attack in February 1996. I
sent him $300 for heart medicine. Gerald Patrick Hemming died in
his North Carolina home on January 29, 2008. May G-d have mercy
on his soul.
WERBELL POST COUP
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

In 1964 Mitch Werbell traveled to the Dominican Republic to
aid the CIA in its efforts to prevent President Juan Bosch from
reassuming office after the military junta that overthrew him in 1963
was itself overthrown. When these and similar efforts failed, the 81st
Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, commanded by Mitch Werbell's
152
associate, Colonel Robert Bayard, invaded the Dominican Republic

in 1965. Robert Bayard had worked with the United Nations Peace
Keeping Force and had pioneered the use of night-vision goggles in
Vietnam. Soon, efforts to reinstall Juan Bosch were crushed, and a
CIA puppet government installed.
MITCH WERBELL AND JOSE RICARDO RABEL NUNEZ
According to Hemming, in 1966 Mitch Werbell used the
Dominican Republic as a base of operations for an assassination
attempt against Fidel Castro. Hemming stated that Jose Ricardo
Rabel Nunez (born April 7, 1922), the brother of Luis Rabel, was
part of this operation. CIA Index Card *284008 read: "FIORINI,
Frank *Rabel, Joseph Luis - FBI Report, August 3, 1962, p.4. Copy
in file October 1977." [CIA FOIA 353459] As stated, the FBI
generated a report dated August 3, 1962, NO 105-1698, subject,
Cuban Revolutionary Council, New Orleans, Louisiana." Jose Rabel
was given a highly sophisticated assassination weapon and sent
into Cuba via a CIA-supplied submarine. Bay of Pigs Brigade
member Eulalio Francisco Castro (Frank Castro), who was linked
with Orlando Bosch, was also involved in this operation.
Hemming contention that this was an assassination operation was

supported by a CIA report:
Undated memo for Western Hemisphere/C/OPS on

call from Mr. Dick Phillips (State) regarding arrest of
AMLEO-3: 'The three Cubans that Werbell reported
were arrested are Jose Richardo Rabel Nunez
(AMLEO-3), Gilberto Fondora and Migual Ramos.
These men were crew members of the JURE mother
vessel Venus. From JMWAVE reports it appears that
AMLEO-3 was attempting to exfiltrate his family,
using Venus, when he was caught by Cuban Security
Forces on September 3, 1965. [FBI 109-584-4608]
Jose Richardo Rabel Nunez was reported captured by the

Cuban Government on September 3, 1965, and received a 30-year
prison sentence.
CESAR DIOSDADO
Rabel was questioned by Cuban authorities:
153
Q. Upon your arrival in the United States you say you

established contact with officials of the CIA and Navy
officers who proceeded to interview you.
A. Well, that was in Key West.
Q. Do you remember any names?
A. James McBurn, a CIA man. But he called himself

Joaquin. As far as names go that is the only one
that...Well Diosdado, a man whom I believe to be
Mexican but who is a CIA official and immigration
official in Key West.
Q. You were interviewed again, in Washington?
A. The main questioner was another CIA official who

called himself Don H. Then there was Joaquin, who
had stayed with me, and other officials of the CIA and
State Department.
Q. When did you join JURE?
A. When the CIA tried by every possible means to

keep me from coming here to get my family, I broke
off with them and joined Manolo Ray.
Q. What were your activities in JURE?
A. In the JURE, I took over a mother ship they had,

the Venus.
Q. Where was the ship?
A. When I took charge of it the ship was in Santo

Domingo.
Q. Did the Dominican authorities know the ship was

involved in these activities you spoke about?
A. They knew very well the ship was there.
The CIA reported:
During the interrogation of Jose Ricardo Nunez,

Cuban prisoner and alleged CIA agent, by members
154
of LASO and the newsmen present early in August

1967 in Havana, Cuba, he advised that upon his
arrival in the United States from Cuba he was met by
a group of U.S. officials and that he knew the names
of but two of these individuals James McGarran
(phonetic) aka 'Joaquin' and one Diosdado. The latter
was believed by Nunez to be a Mexican and
Immigration official in Key West also. When asked by
the Cuban Security Officer if the meant Cesar
Diosdado Nunez replied in the affirmative and added
that Diosdado is supposedly the Immigration official
who really does the recruiting for the CIA.
WAS JOSE RABEL A CASTRO DOUBLE AGENT?
Jose Rabel was released from prison in 1967. When the CIA
discovered Jose Rabel had been released, it studied the possibility
that Jose Rabel was a Castro double-agent:
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Jose Ricardo Rabel Nunez AMLEO-3

(201-249386)
1. Born April 7, 1922, in Havana, Cuba, the son of a

native-born American citizen, Rabel was brought up
in comfortable circumstances. He attended high
school in Cuba, completed the last year in New
Orleans, Louisiana and entered Tulane University in
September 1938. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in
December 1940 and eventually saw combat in
France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. After
discharge in December 1945, Rabel returned to
Cuba to attend the University of Havana and this
began a life of job changes, moving back between
the U.S. and Cuba, and, in general, rootless living.
2. Rabel's background reads like a man with no

allegiances or loyalties and no particular goals.
Viewed in retrospect, his career presents a picture of
unreliability. It is probable that Rabel's rootlessness
and apparent unreliability applied both to his relations
with Castro and to those with the Agency. It is quite
possible, therefore, that he not only served the
Agency in a superficial way, but that he did the same
155
for Castro at various times when it suited his

purposes. Without postulating this sort of dual role
(one which fits very well with his previous life) it is
almost impossible to explain some of the reasonably
good things he did for the Agency and the quite
certain allegations that he was a Castro agent. This
explanation is not fully satisfactory; but it does
explain his career better than the charge that he was
a Castro agent from the beginning. The question that
must remain unanswered is whether he betrayed the
AMTRUNK Operation. He was not arrested until
September 1965 (when AMTRUNK had already run
its course) but it appears quite certain that he
cooperated with the DSE after his arrest and while he
was in prison.
3. Rabel joined in the clandestine activities against

Batista in March 1952, first amongst the exiles in the
U.S. and then, after late 1952, from inside Cuba. He
joined the Cuban Armed Forces to further his plotting
and was assigned to the Cuban General Staff. He
was the Cuban liaison officer with the U.S. Army
mission in Cuba from November 1954, until April
1956. During his entire period in the Cuban Army
Rabel was involved with dissident Army elements;
when they attempted a coup in April 1956, Rabel was
arrested. He was released shortly thereafter, worked
in the chicken business for a year and then returned
to the U.S. and worked with one of his brothers (Luis
Rabel Nunez). In October 1957 he returned to Cuba
and became involved with the 26th of July Movement
but had to leave a year later when he was brought to
the attention of the Batista forces because of a bomb
explosion. He smuggled weapons to Camilo
Cienfuegos for about a year and then in October
1958 he joined the Cienfuegos group. Shortly after
the Castro victory, Castro called upon Rabel to set up
a Cuban Marine Corps, a job he held until February
1960, at which time he was appointed Chief of
Vividendas Campesinas. He held this job until he
defected to the U.S. in December 1962. It is worth
noting that he rarely pursued one activity in one place
from more than a year at a time from 1945 to 1962.
156
4. Rabel gave Alfonso Rodriguez the following

reason for his defection:
A. Communist pressure, hounding, and the basis

enmity of the Communist Party toward him. (This
appears very reasonable in view of his service in the
U.S. Army and training in some aspects of
intelligence, such as prisoner interrogation. In
addition, his schooling in the U.S. and the reasonable
economic circumstances would not have been
recommendations from the Communist point of view.)
B. Strong backing by Fidel which protected him from

more serious attacks from the Party. (This, too,
seems entirely reasonable. His family farm was near
the farm Fidel's father managed and Rabel and Fidel
had known each other as children. In addition,
Rabel's long involvement in the anti-Batista
movement and with Camilo Cienfuegos were
probably in his favor in Castro's view.)
C. An obligation to protect the non-Communists in his

department, which prevented his earlier defection,
and uncertainty of his reception in the U.S. (In view of
the number of defections from Rabel's department,
there were, in fact, people to protect. Since Rabel
had served in the U.S. Army, and probably felt the
U.S. was his second country, he could well have
questions about his reception after serving in the
Castro Government.
D. His resentment against the confining nature of a

Communist State. (Since he never stayed in one
place more than a short time in his entire life, to have
been restricted to Cuba must have seemed a
punishment.
5. Rabel was used to pitch (Deleted) in (Deleted) in

1963 to check out leads for the AMTRUNK
Operation. One of his leads led to the recruitment of
AMTRUCK-10. Later, in early 1964, Rabel was
leader of the Rebel Army Group supported by the
American Legion in Miami and was involved in the
Rebel Army Radio program.
157
6. There is no specific evidence, except the

accusations below, that Rabel was involved in a
suspicious way with the Castro regime during this
period, but his desire to exfiltrate his wife and
children was a constant source of difficulty between
him and the Station. This problem led to his eventual
termination in July 1964 and to a great deal of
resentment on his part. He conspired constantly,
from mid-1963 until his capture in Cuba in September
1965, to get into Cuba to exfiltrate his wife and
children.
7. Rabel was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment

but was set free in July or August 1967, which is a
strong indication that the charges that he worked for
the DSE while in prison were true. Moreover, there is
some indication that he may have attempted a
provocation at Cuban behest immediately after his
capture. There are two firm accusations that Rabel
was a Cuban agent as early as July 1963 (which
would have been when he was screening names for
the AMTRUCK Operation) one from (Deleted) As
mentioned above, these charges could well be true;
yet Rabel could have fulfilled his duties for Castro
superficially, for his own purposes, and not
necessarily compromised his work with the Agency
until he was captured. The difficulties he had in
exfiltrating his wife could have been, partially,
punishment by Castro for not fulfilling his duties as an
agent; otherwise, had his work in the U.S. been
valuable, Castro could have facilitated the exfiltration
of Rabel's wife so that Rabel could continue his work
as an agent undisturbed. LAD/JFK Task Force 1977
(Deleted) rp Attachment February 10, 1964, Memo
for the Record, March 6, 1963, dispatch UFGA-7998
with Attachment, February 20, 1963, cable WAVE
4730 (IN 71127), September 30, 1963 dispatch
UFGA-11375. [CIA FOIA #12923 1.14.77 re: 201-
249386]
A first draft of this document contained this additional
paragraph: "In view of the later roll-up of the AMTRUNK Operation
the tentative opinion has been offered that the operation could have
158
been an ingenious plan by Cubans from the beginning..." [NARA

CIA 1993.07.13.15:39:45:210270]
Luis Rabel:
He was quite a guy, my brother. A U.S. Army Captain

who enlisted in 1940, he was wounded twice. After
his discharge in 1945, he went to the University of
Havana. He lived in the United States, then went to
Cuba. Before Castro declared himself a Communist
he thought Castro was going to do something good
for Cuba. He worked for him. When he found out
different, he left Cuba in a plane. He went to try and
get his family out of Cuba and, as far as his activities
are concerned, I know very little. I saw him once in
Miami when he came from Cuba. He had a big trial.
They accused him of being a CIA Agent. My brother
died in a Cuban jail.
In August 2006 this researcher was contacted by Laura M.

Alphonso Rabel, the granddaughter of Jose Richardo Rabel who
stated that the CIA's information was incorrect and Jose Richardo
Rabel was never released, but died in a prison cell in Havana. After
twelve years of incarceration under very bad circumstances, Jose
Richardo Rabel got a heart infection. He was allowed furloughs and
his family stayed in Cuba until he passed on. His family came to US
on the Marial boatlife. They had been held hostage by Castro, and
could not leave Cuba. This indicates that the CIA analyst who
prepared this report was pre-disposed against JURE one of the
more "liberal-democratic" of the anti-Castro groups.
I grew up knowing that my grandfather Jose Ricardo

Rabel Nunez died in a Cuban prison because he was
captured when he attempted to exfiltrate my
grandmother and her three daughters...after he died,
my family escaped through the Mariel boat lift. I knew
my grandfather had made contact with the Agency
and that there was a part of his life that he never
shared with his family.
[Laura M. Alfonso Rabel - lalauri27@gmail.com]

Ricardo Rabel attempted to exfiltrate his family: Sept
4 1965
Incarcerated: Sept 1965
159
Prison Term:30 years

Died:July 13, 1975
Years served in prison: 10 years 1965-1975)
Cause of death: Bacterial Endocarditis
His family escaped Cuba on: JUNE 1980....MARIEL
BOATLIFT
On November 28, 1965, Mitch Werbell informed the CIA that
Rolando Masferrer planned an invasion of Haiti, but had called it off
on November 22, 1966. [CIA TD-OOB-321/19112-66] In December
1965 Mitch Werbell requested CIA permission for a January 1966,
attempt on Fidel. Mitch Werbell reported he was taking a group of
six Cubans to hit Fidel and Raoul Castro at a big rally in Havana.
On June 13, 1966, the Chief of JMWAVE sent this message

to the Western Hemisphere Division Chief: “According to his file,
Werbell appears to be a low level would-be con man who has a
history of being involved in Castro assassination schemes and of
professing to be connected, or at least in contact with Kubark.
According to AMRAZZ-1 'Livingston' was involved with Antonio
Veciana's alleged assassination ploy and he was masquerading as
a Kubark officer." The CIA:
In February 1967 the Domestic Contacts Division

advised that Werbell frequently volunteered
information at its Miami Office and was going to be
asked to respond to certain OSI requirements
pertaining to the Dominican Republic...However, it is
not known that Subject was approached in this
regard, and the Domestic Contacts Division was
provided with information relating to this dubious
character. In August 1967 Subject came to Agency
attention when he attempted to interest a group of
military officers in a weapon silencer...One of these
officers was actually a Technical Services Division
representative serving under cover...
According to Hemming, Sturgis visited Costa Rica in late

1967, on behalf of Mitch Werbell. Sturgis denied knowing Mitch
Werbell - "I read a lot about him; personally, no" - nor did he claim to
know Mitch Werbell associates - Paul Helliwell and Colonel Robert
Bayard - although he admitted knowing Mitch Werbell associates
Dominick Bartone, Rolando Masferrer, Kiki Masferrer and Rolandito
Masferrer. The CIA's Jerrold G. Brown wrote:
160
Information had been developed by DDO by June

1974 that St. George had become active in the affairs
of Mitchell Livingstone Werbell, III, the current
employer of at least one former Agency staff
employee. Werbell, an international arms dealer who
is of considerable interest to this Agency and the FBI,
has conducted certain of his activities under the
guise of CIA sponsorship; and some of his activities
and some of Werbell's activities and associates have
paralleled those of FRANK Sturgis. [St. George MFR
7.25.75]
PROJECT NASSAU
In 1967 Mitch Werbell and Rolando Masferrer were involved
a plan to assassinate Duvalier, who had refused to allow Cuban
exiles to use Haiti as a base against Cuba. Mitch Werbell supplied
Rolando Masferrer with weapons and a staging area, and then
informed the CIA of the plans of Rolando Masferrer. The CIA
informed the FBI, and in early 1967, Mitch Werbell, Rolando
Masferrer, Jean Baptiste George, Antonio Leon Rojas, Rene Juares
Leon, Julio Anton Constanzo Palau and Martin Frances Casey,
were indicted for conspiracy to violate the Neutrality Act. Several
months later, the Justice Department, which was headed by
Ramsey Clark, dropped the charges against Mitch Werbell. Rolando
Masferrer received a three-year sentence. [USDC SDF 67-105-Cr-
TC] Robert K. Brown served as an advisor to Project Nassau. The
CIA wrote that this connected Robert K. Brown with Mitch Werbell.
Robert K. Brown: "I first met Werbell down there for a very short
period of time. I just happened to bump into him. He was with
Andrew St. George. Then I crossed paths with Werbell more
frequently once I got back on active duty. I was the officer in charge
of the 18th Airborne Marksmanship. Werbell was trying to peddle all
his goodies." The CIA stated that it detected several calls to Mitch
Werbell from a telephone used by Robert K. Brown. [CIA From
Raymond M. Reardon 8.27.76] On March 16, 1967, Hemming made
an unannounced call at the home of the Chief of the Domestic
Contacts Division in Miami to report that the defense strategy of
Rolando Masferrer was based on charges of CIA complicity in the
invasion.
161
In January 1968 the Munitions Control Board asked the CIA if it had
any interest in Mitch Werbell: "The case was summarized for the
Deputy Director for Support on January 11, 1968, and the reply to
the MCB was provided by the Office of Logistics." On February 24,
1968, the CIA received a report on the activities of Mitch Werbell
and Robert K. Brown from an informant, stating that they were
running Sionics, a firm that manufactured silencers under license for
the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, and the CIA. Robert K. Brown:
"That's all bullshit. I never had a piece of Sionics." Edwin Marger
[OS SF 760 184], a former practicing attorney, was involved. [CIA
File No. 75 149-1820 3.1.68] Edwin Marger was the partner of
Charles Bush. According to Hemming told this researcher: "Bush
had flown the plane for the Alexander Rorke search party. Marger
was a Haitian Consul." On February 26, 1968, the CIA generated a
document titled: "Operational Support TWX" and on March 1, 1968,
it generated an "Operation Support Report." [CIA OS SAG Brown
9.2.76]
162
THE MARTIN FRANCIS CASEY LETTER

In 1969 Howard K. Davis, Edmund Kolby, William Dempsey
- all former INTERPEN members - along with Martin Francis Casey,
Rene J. Leon, former Haitian Army Colonel, Charles Smith, William
Eugene Dunbach, Marvin Simpson and Ralph Grant Edens were
arrested after bombing the Haitian Presidential Palace of "Papa
Doc" Duvalier with several gasoline-filled oil drums. Haitian
antiaircraft fire caused enough damage to their aircraft to force the
raiders to land in Nassau, where they were turned over to American
authorities. A few months later, they were indicted by the
Department Of Justice for violations of the Neutrality Act. [USDC
SDF 69-328-CrCF] When their trial ended in a guilty verdict, Martin
Casey wrote a letter to Federal Judge Charles Fulton from his
prison cell. Martin Casey stated that he had been under the
impression his activities had CIA approval:
On March 5, 1969, I received a call from Jay Mallin, a

research scientist at the University of Miami's Center
for International Studies. Mr. Mallin told me that if we
needed weapons he had talked to someone in the
Intelligence Community in Washington who had told
him that we should contact Fred Brown (Sionics, Inc.)
in Atlanta. Jay Mallin also told me Brown was an
associate of Mitchell Werbell. I know Mr. Werbell as a
CIA agent from his own words - heard on a number
of occasions...I first met Werbell in Cuba in 1965
when he stated he was a CIA agent. I later met him
in the home of Gerald Patrick Hemming...In March
1967 he stated that the reason the government
dropped the indictment was that they could not
prosecute one of their own. Brown stated he worked
for the same Agency as Mitch and that he could get
all State Department and CIA clearances. I made up
a list of weapons that were needed. I did stay in
contact with Mr. Mallin, who was to contact the State
Department when we made any action raid, so that
the U.S. State Department would be advised it was
not some Communist group...Mr. Werbell has long
been associated with Mr. Thomas B. DeWolf and
Colonel Paul L. E. Helliwell, Miami attorneys who are
connected with 'Red Sunset,' a CIA front. [69-335-Cr-
Cf-USDC SD Fla.-Miami; 67-105-CR-TC-USDC SD
Fla. Miami]
163
In June 1959 Casey was arrested was conspiracy to commit

larceny at the U.S. Naval Base at Portsmith, New Hampshire. In
February 1961 he was arrested in Philadelphia for Assault and
Battery on a police officer. Two months later he was arrested for
Vagrancy in El Paso, Texas. In October 1961 Casey applied to the
Coast Guard.
JAY MALLIN
Jay Mallin was born in 1927 in New York City into an American
family with two generations of Cuban roots. He covered Cuba for
Time magazine from 1952 until 1962, when he was expelled by the
Castro Government. In 1971 he founded the Institute for the Study
of Change, to compile data on left-wing terrorists. Other members of
the Institute included Richard H. Singer, a longtime CIA Middle East
Station Chief, and the late Edward H. Landsdale, Saigon Chief of
Station during the early stages of the Vietnam War. George Volsky
was Secretary-Treasurer of the Institute. In 1986 Jay Mallin became
the news director of Radio Marti (the 1980's version of Radio Free
Cuba). In March 1990 he was made co-director of the station.
[Miami Herald 4.21.74 p2B; Hunt Undercover p151] Fred Brown
could have been Robert K. Brown. Robert K. Brown claimed that
during this time he was in Vietnam where he worked on
OPERATION PHOENIX.
164
In May 1969 the CIA received information from a Air Force

OSI representative in Miami that Mitch Werbell was undergoing a
security check, as a result of his being employed by a company with
a government contract. Mitch Werbell was under investigation by
the OSI Internal Security Division and the Contract Fraud Division.
At about the same time the Saigon CIA Station requested a
headquarters bona fides check on Mitch Werbell. On May 26, 1969,
Thailand Station generated a cable with extensive distribution in the
Far East
…outlining Werbell's activities in his alleged capacity

as CIA Chief in Thailand. It was mentioned that the
station had been plagued some weeks by Werbell
Vice President and Director Research and
Development of Sionics, Atlanta, Georgia. Subject
reportedly describes himself as a counter-insurgency
expert, has a variety of weapons to display and
claims to be a retired Colonel. He normally implies
United States Government connections and he
presents a demonstration of a variety of exotic
weapons that never fails to impress. Reportedly
Subject had visited Vietnam in order to provide
General Abrams with such a demonstration of
weapons and it was stated that he planned to set up
a sniper training program.
Mitch Werbell claimed that he went to Vietnam in 1969, and

was sent back to the U.S. several months later for excesses against
the Vietnamese, such as having dropped live rats infected with
bubonic plague into North Vietnam.
LUCIEN CONEIN AND MITCH WERBELL
In the early 1970's Lucian Conein shared a Washington,
D.C., Drug Enforcement Administration/Special Operations Group
safehouse with Mitch Werbell's "Central Investigative Agency."
Mitch Werbell "CIA" members included John Patrick Muldoon (OS
SF 190 639). John Patrick Muldoon was "a former GS-12
Operations Officer, DDP/FE, who retired on disability in March
1972." He had been part of OPERATION PHOENIX with John L.
Hart. Muldoon was a "former DDO Operations Officer who was
'riffed' by the Agency; he had been found to have approximately 75
Agency documents in his safe at the Drug Enforcement
Administration where he was detailed shortly before his termination;
a Civil Service Commission investigation in 1973 had disclosed that
165
he was sleeping with the wife of a Washington Post reporter and he

was connected with Mitch Werbell's 'Friends of Abaco' operation
which was designed to bring about the independence of that small
Caribbean Island for use as a haven for gambling and other
nefarious purposes." [CIA OS SAG Raymond M. Reardon 5.21.77;
Trans. of tel. con. 6.18.74 Van Cleave] Walter Josef Mackem (OS
SF 190 639) was part of Mitch Werbell's crew.
THE B. R. FOX COMPANY
While he was in Washington, Lucian Conein contacted the B.R. Fox

Company, a firm which had close CIA connections because it
specialized in the manufacture of sophisticated assassination
devices. B.R. Fox also had offices in the same safehouse as Mitch
Werbell and Lucian Conein. Its officers included Michael Morrissey,
an attorney licensed to sell the CIA bugging equipment, who
became of CIA-interest in July 1965 when his employer, the
Halliburton Company, requested a contractor security clearance for
his use: "Reportedly, the duties of Michael Morrissey involved NPIC
contact." Barbara R. Fox Spindel, the widow of convicted wire
tapper Bernard Bates Spindel, who had worked for Jimmy Hoffa,
was President of B.R. Fox. (Bernard Spindel died in February 1971.)
166
During Congressional Hearings, a B.R. Fox officer produced a

catalogue that described the assassination weapons. A cover letter
stated: "Enclosed is a catalogue put together only after we started
working with Lou Conein...because of the nature of the devices it is
not being given to anyone else..." Lucian Conein claimed that the
catalogue had been put together for Mitch Werbell. When Lucian
Conein first saw it he claimed he remarked, "Yes sir...boy this is
something...this guy Mitch [Werbell] is one of the craziest son-of-a-
bitches I've ever met."
The CIA reported:
In the latter part of 1975 and early 1976, the FBI

conducted an extensive investigation regarding
extortion letters received by 196 U.S. firms in which
one 'B.A. Fox' of the B.R. Fox Company demanded
huge amounts of money under the threat of
sabotaging their products and operations. Recently,
these same victims received 'letter bombs' and 'tick
letters.' As of November 1975 the FBI believed Mitch
Werbell may have been the 'brains' behind the
extortion operation. However, Mackem continues to
engender strong suspicion by the FBI. Mackem, a
Reed College graduate...apparently procured a
brochure listing the names and addresses of Reed
College graduates. It appears that many of the
extortion letters have been addressed to Reed
graduates who now occupy important positions in
private industry. [CIA Memo Michael E.
Schneeberger to Chief, Security Analysis Group; CIA
Memo for Record 8.17.76 Jerrold G. Brown D/C
SAG; CIA Memo 4.10.76 Brown]
Christ was a friend of Bernie Spindel. Christ was an

amateur. Bernie did all that shit for the Technical
Services Division. I knew him as Bernie Fox of B.R.
Fox Incorporated. I met him through Werbell in the
1960's.
In 1975 Lucian Conein and Mitch Werbell were involved with

fugitive financier Robert L. Vesco in planning a Drug Enforcement
Administration/Special Operations Group Operations Center in
167
Costa Rica. Lucian Conein and Mitch Werbell continued a close

association with one another until Mitch Werbell was indicted for
conspiracy to import marijuana in late 1975.
MITCH WERBELL AND ROBERT VESCO
Mitch Werbell was an associate of Robert Vesco, and in 1974 Mitch
Werbell was called before the Senate Permanent Investigating
Subcommittee which was looking into the financial dealings of
Robert Vesco. Mitch Werbell took the Fifth Amendment. Mitch
Werbell and associates were represented by the law firm of
Fensterwald and Ohlhausen. William George Ohlhausen [born
12.2.39; OS SF 197 427] "was an applicant for CIA GS-5 Staff
employment (Intelligence Analyst/DDP/RID) in January 1962. His
case was canceled in May 1962 for the reason he accepted another
position." [Memo Sarah K. Hall SRS/OS 4.8.71] In 1976 Mitch
Werbell associate Dominick Bartone was asked: "Now, among other
things, didn't Mr. Senore tell you that Morton Franklin had told him
Gerry Cunningham was to receive 1,000 guns, probably destined for
Robert Vesco?" Dominick Bartone responded: "He mentioned they
were probably destined for Vesco..." [76-6066-Cr-Wh-USDC SD
FLA. Miami p161]
In 1968 Nixon appeared with Robert Vesco, and associated himself

with him throughout his Presidential term. In early 1971 Robert
Vesco was released from a Swiss jail at the request of United States
Attorney General John Mitchell. When Robert Vesco returned to the
U.S., he hired Nixon’s brother, Donald Nixon, in an unspecified
capacity. In July 1973 Drug Enforcement Administration informant
Frank Peroff reported that Robert Vesco was involved in heroin
smuggling. According to Frank Peroff, after he told this to the Drug
Enforcement Administration, he was set up to be murdered; when
that failed, he was arrested. It appeared to Frank Peroff that the
168
Drug Enforcement Administration was protecting Robert Vesco at

Nixon’s request. In March 1974 the son of Costa Rican President
Jose Figueres, Marti Figueres, contacted Robert Vesco's
representative, Philip Graydon, and asked him to contact Mitch
Werbell. Marti Figueres was interested in purchasing 1,000 Ingram
submachine guns from Mitch Werbell. Other evidence suggested
that when Philip Graydon, Mitch Werbell, Mitch Werbell Jr. and Marti
Figueres met, they discussed setting up a Costa Rican Drug
Enforcement Administration/Special Operations Group base. A mob
figure connected with Dino Cellini had purchased a boat and several
assassination weapons in furtherance of this plan. When Mitch
Werbell was called before the SSCIA, he was questioned about this
meeting, and his other dealings with Vesco and his representatives.
He repeatedly took the Fifth Amendment, which resulted in the
nickname, "Mitch the Fifth." In 1995 Fidel Castro arrested Robert
Vesco in Cuba for illegal currency trading.
THE DEATH OF ROLANDO MASFERRER
After his appearance on Capitol Hill in 1974, a series of
misfortunes befell Mitch Werbell and associates. In 1972 Rolando
Masferrer was released on parole. He returned to Miami, where he
waged war on Cuban exiles who advocated coexistence. In 1974
169
the State Department learned Rolando Masferrer was planning

another Cuban invasion. In March 1975 Rolando Masferrer told the
FBI that
…several months ago he discovered Ignacio Novo in

a parking lot next to his office. Encounter was made
at approximately midnight, Ignacio Novo was armed
and climbing fence and Rolando Masferrer believes
Ignacio Novo may have been attempting to kill him.
[FBI 2-2079-111]
In June 1975 the FBI questioned Rolando Masferrer about

an assassination threat against Senator Edward Kennedy. [FBI 89-
3119-3] On October 31, 1975, a bomb exploded in Rolando
Masferrer's car, killing him instantly.
MANUAL DE ARMAS
During a press conference in Havana, Manual De Armas, a
Castro double-agent who penetrated the leadership of the Miami
Cuban exile community while working as a collector for the Security
and Collection Agency of Estaban Ventura, said that he had
received explosives from his CIA Case Officer, Bud Mills, (CIA had
no Office of Security traces on Mills) and had given them to a
member of Abdula, a CIA-controlled exile group to be used against
Rolando Masferrer. The CIA reported:
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Security Analysis

Group
SUBJECT: Manuel L. De Armas SF #591 865
1. Reference is made to the attached cable traffic

which sets forth the "defection" of the Subject to
Cuba circa April 1976. In substance, De Armas
apparently gave a press conference in Havana on
April 21, 1976 in which he claimed to be an ex-CIA
agent who had been recruited by a FNU
Blackenhouse (no Office of Security traces) in 1969.
De Armas also claimed to have been stationed in
New York City in 1971 where he maintained contact
with Blackenhouse and Richard Tomley (probably
identifiable with Peter L. B. Tomley Washington Area
Recruiting Office).
170
2. In the cited press conference, De Armas made

many allegations concerning purported CIA
operations, such as assassination plots and a plan to
rupture relations between Venezuela and Cuba.
Details of these allegations are set forth in the
attached cable traffic and are not treated in instant
memorandum. However, interest in De Armas'
allegations concerning alleged CIA operations
concerns the identities of individuals that he claimed
to have been Agency operatives and assets; details
regarding these individuals are covered in the latter
portions of instant memorandum.
3. Agency interest in Manual De Armas was originally

predicated on the receipt of a letter written by Manual
De Armas on September 12, 1972, in which he
related details concerning his anti-Castro activities
through his membership in a group called Abdala.
The letter also contained a request for employment
with the Agency. As a result of De Armas' letter, the
Western Hemisphere Division requested a Special
Inquiry by the Office of Security for the purpose of
establishing the identity of Manual De Armas, which
was completed in October 1972. In May 1973 the
Office of Personnel opened a file on Manual De
Armas and apparently went through the normal
routine of shopping his file. Interest in Manual De
Armas terminated when Tomley [a CIA recruiting
officer mentioned by De Armas] sent him a letter
advising him that the Agency had nothing currently
available. Then on January 22, 1973, De Armas
wrote Tomley thanking the latter for interest following
a telephone call De Armas made to Tomley in which
De Armas wanted to know once and forever if there
were any openings for him. De Armas security file
reflected no subsequent except for the attached
cable traffic following his 'defection.'" [CIA OS 591
865]
4. Regarding personalities mentioned by De Armas in

his Havana press conference, it appears that several
individuals may be identical to former WH Division
assets, as shown below. It should be noted that De
171
Armas did not identify any bona fide Agency staff

employees or agents nor does it appear that he
identified any past or current operations. It seems
likely that De Armas was provided a list of known or
suspected Agency assets by the DGI as part of
Cuba's ongoing anti-CIA, anti-U.S. Government
campaign designed to offset adverse criticism to
Cuba's military assistance to Angola. Set forth below
are those individuals alleged to have been connected
with Agency operations by De Armas; results of
Office of Security indices searches and file reviews
follow each name where a possible identification
could be made.
Bob Dynes (aka Dinus, Daynes) No Office of Security

traces regarding all variations.
Robert Bud Miles (alleged to have been the supplier

of explosives used in the murder of Rolando
Masferrer).
Lazaro Alvarez: Possibly identifiable with Lazaro

Gustayo Areces Alvarez SF # 753 905 on whom a
POA was requested by the WH Division (JMATE) in
June 1964 for use as a PM/Maritime asset; files
canceled in October 1964.
Fred Duncan: No Office of Security traces; believed

to be a DEA officer stationed in Caracas.
Doug Phillips: No Office of Security traces; believed

to be a DEA officer stationed in Caracas.
John Valdavian (aka Bladabian): No Office of

Security traces regarding all variations.
A. Nass: Probably identifiable with Donald L. Ness,

State Department RSO in Santo Domingo.
Anselmo Alliegro (HIJO): No Office of Security

traces.
Ricardo Morales Navarrete: No Office of Security

traces. [The CIA: "On March 2, 1964, an Office of
Security CIA investigation on Richardo Morales
172
yielded numerous derogatory traces, nonetheless, he

was granted a Provisional Operation Approval."]
Armando Ruiz: Possibly identifiable with Armando

Valenzuela Ruiz, SF #752 358. OA request by WH/3
[deleted 24 as of 2010] not used due to significant
derogatory information developed.
Antonio De Leon: Possibly identifiable with Sergio

Antonio Lopez De Leon, S.F. #740 227 who was
apparently [deleted 24 as of 2010]
Mario Mejia Ricard (aka Ricart): Probably identifiable

with Marcio Mejia Ricart, CR to SF #244 148 (Manuel
Moises Lamarche Salas). In June 1960 latter advised
FBI that Ricart was a Venezuelan active in anti-
Trujillo activities and had visited Miami in April to buy
B-26's and weapons for an attack on the Dominican
Republic; also advised that Ricart was an instructor
at Caracas University, was associated with Director
of Economics Development in Venezuela and
believed Ricart might be a Communist.
Luis Desa Soto: No Office of Security traces.
Felix Martinez Suarez: Possibly identifiable with Felix

Antonio Martinez Suarez, SF #242 302, who was
Director of El Mundo when a (deleted 24 as of 2010).
Salavador Romani: Possibly identifiable with

Salvador Garcia Romani-Orue, SF # 223 776;
(Deleted as of 2010) files canceled in January 1967.
On PRQ listed on Manuel Artime, not further
identified, as a relative / friend / correspondent in
U.S.
5. The possible identification (by either De Armas or

the DGI) of the Western Hemisphere Division assets
reflected above suggests that their names were
either known or suspected as CIA assets and were
thrown in with those individuals, not identified above
in an effort to legitimatize De Armas' claims to have
worked for the CIA. It should be noted that of those
individuals listed above on whom a security file
173
exists, none appear to have any current association

with this Agency and, as far as can be determined,
no actual Agency operations were either exposed or
threatened.
6. The above is provided for your information; no

further action in this case appears necessary.
Michael E. Schneeberger, Security Analysis Group.
In September 1976 De Armas was arrested in Ithaca, New

York on a grand larceny warrant issued in by the Dade County
state's attorney's office. De Armas was accused of fraudulently
cashing two checks for than $500 while working for the Ventura
Collection Agency in Miami. He was released on his own
recognizance. On January 15, 1977, Manuel De Armas was
arrested for grand larceny charges in Chicago and held in lieu of
$10,000 bond.
After Rolando Masferrer was assassinated, Miami Mayor

Maurice Ferre wrote the FBI, and asked the FBI to contact the CIA
and obtain a list of Cuban Nationals trained by that Agency in
demolition. [FBI 174-6515-5] Maurice Ferre contacted Don Donahue
of Senator Jackson's office. FBI official J. B. Adams handled the
Rolando Masferrer investigation. [FBI 174-6515-3] The CIA file of
Rolando Masferrer contained a document stating that after his
death, no other documents should appear in his file.
THE DEATH OF COLONEL ROBERT BAYARD
On July 6, 1975, Colonel Robert Bayard, who retired from
the Army in 1970 and worked for Mitch Werbell, was shot to death
with a silenced automatic pistol in an Atlanta parking lot. An African-
American, George Lee Mathis, was indicted for the shooting, but
was acquitted when the jury decided the testimony of the principal
witness was unbelievable. Mitch Werbell stated that the killing was
politically motivated. [FBI 62-108665-A NR 8.27.75] Hemming told
this researcher: "He knew too much." In 1975, a former CIA agent
who worked for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Atlanta arrested
the son of Mitch Werbell, Mitch Werbell, Jr., for selling him 2,000
machine guns. On April 25, 1975, Mitch Werbell Jr. was acquitted of
attempting to sell a foreign government guns without State
Department approval.
THE DEATH OF PAUL HELLIWELL
174
Paul Helliwell was an associate of Mitch Werbell. In the early

1970's, Paul Helliwell's Bahamas-chartered Castle National Bank
financed numerous CIA-sponsored forays against Cuba. When the
Internal Revenue Service investigated the bank for money
laundering, the CIA had the probe scuttled. Paul Helliwell died in the
Bahamas on December 24, 1976, from complications from
emphysema. He died before he was to be called before a Grand
Jury. Two years later, he was the Subject of a FBI Tax Division
investigation. Hemming told this researcher: "He was a rogue."
THE DEATH OF KENNETH BURNSTINE
175
In late 1975 Mitch Werbell, John Nardi (a Cleveland

Teamster official) William Bell, Morton Franklin, and Gerry
Cunningham were indicted for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana in
Miami. These indictments came about through the efforts of
informant Kenneth Burnstine. Kenneth Burnstine was an ex-Marine
fighter pilot who worked with the CIA during the Bay of Pigs. In 1965
the FBI maintained offices in a building owned by Ken Burnstine. J.
Edgar Hoover made Ken Burnstine an FBI contact. Less than six
months later, Ken Burnstine's business partners charged him with
larceny, but the Assistant United States Attorney declined
prosecution. In 1970 Ken Burnstine's fingerprints appeared on
stolen securities, and he was charged with selling stolen stock.
These charges were dropped after he furnished the FBI with
information on Mitch Werbell, who was his partner in the Military
Armaments Corporation. At this time, Ken Burnstine said he was a
weapons dealer, and was in possession of a Federal Firearms
license. [DEA arrest rec. BT 7936]
In March 1972 the FBI suspected Ken Burnstine had

Congressman Bertram L. Podell (Dem.-NY) on his payroll. Bertram
Podell pleaded guilty in 1974 to Federal conspiracy charges for
having accepted $41,000 to help a Florida airline obtain a new
route. [NYT 7.25.80] In 1973 the FBI investigated Ken Burnstine's
Florida Airways. Numerous small aircraft bearing marijuana had
crashed in Southern Florida, and all of them bore the name of
Florida Airways as lessor. The CIA became interested in Ken
Burnstine's operations at this time. [CIA Cable 1.17.73 GI-73-0007]
By early Spring 1974, the Drug Enforcement Administration was
preparing a case against Mitch Werbell. In October 1974, before it
had completed its investigation, Ken Burnstine was arrested in
Texas for possession of cocaine. In 1974 Sturgis was incarcerated
as a result of Watergate. While in prison, he was visited by Jerry
Buchanan, who asked him to contact the CIA for him because he
had "a National Security thing." Sturgis:
I says, hey, I'm in jail, I can't do it. When I got out

shortly I did contact the CIA for him. This is how Jerry
got tied up with certain agents involved in
intelligence, and what he did or went about, that's
how the thing came about.
The "National Security" matter Jerry Buchanan referred to

was Ken Burnstine. Jerry Buchanan introduced Hemming to Ken
Burnstine. Hemming:
176
During early 1975 I ascertained that Ken Burnstine

completed operation to Eastern Bahamas but had
near fatal incident that caused death of one of his
associates in area of Bahamas. I continued attempts
to establish contact with Burnstine's group with little
success but did accomplish the following: a. Met and
identified most of Burnstine's associates, buyers, and
Florida distributors over a two month period. Those
identified are United States and Colombian nationals.
[DEA G 8-74-0012; DEA G1-73-0273-p7]
The evidence that Jerry Buchanan amassed was only enough to

indict and convict Ken Burnstine (photo right) of one count of
marijuana sale, however, DEA Agent Arthur Sedillo was able to
convince Burnstine that he (Sedillo) was a cocaine supplier, during
a trip Burnstine made to Mexico City. In 1990 Sedillo was operating
out of Monterrey, Mexico. [Messick, Operation Snowbird, page 80]
Ken Burnstine was charged with conspiracy and sentenced to seven
years. Released on appeal bond, he was anxious to inform in
exchange for avoiding this prison term. In July 1975 he told the Drug
Enforcement Administration that he had a Florida State Senator on
his payroll who was helping to negotiate a proposed agreement
regarding immunity for Ken Burnstine from the Office of the United
States Attorney. The Drug Enforcement Administration wanted Ken
Burnstine to set Mitch Werbell up for an arrest. By November 1975
Ken Burnstine supplied the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami with
enough evidence to indict Mitch Werbell and his associates for
Conspiracy. Ken Burnstine was the star witness for the prosecution.
Then, on June 16, 1976, two months before Mitch Werbell et. al.
177
were scheduled to stand trial in Miami, Ken Burnstine was killed in

an airplane accident during an air show in Mojave Desert in
California. Ken Burnstine's plane went into a high-speed stall, and
exploded upon impact with the ground. The Mojave County Deputy
Coroner reported no toxicological tests were conducted, as no
usable body fluids could be extracted. The National Transportation
Safety Board commented: "It was not a survivable crash." Seconds
before his aircraft fell, Burnstine called the pilot flying near him and
said: "No (pause). Oh no!" He had apparently applied power in an
attempt to pull out of a downward spin, and found that he could not.
Had someone tampered with the control surface of his aircraft? The
National Transportation Safety Board found no evidence of control
surface separation prior to impact since "damage to the control
surfaces precluded determination of whether or not the rudder or
elevator controls" had been tampered with.
Ken Burnstine's plane arrived at Chino Airport three days

before the crash. It was parked outside the hangar on the night it
arrived then berthed in the hangar for the two remaining days.
Burnstine carried two automatic pistols with him in the cockpit that
day. The FBI investigated his death because he had been a Federal
witness. Its chief suspect was Mitch Werbell's codefendant John
Nardi, since John Nardi was described as "the reputed head of a
Cleveland, Ohio, organized crime family." In October 1976 the FBI
closed its investigation of the crash. Several pending narcotics
cases had collapsed with the death of Ken Burnstine, and three
counts against Mitch Werbell and his codefendant were dropped.
I received this email in October 2005:
I enjoy reading your material on JFK and G. P.

Hemming; although I can’t agree with all of the
material. You are the only one who wrote about Ken
Bernstine. He is listed in old news papers as a
Marine Fighter pilot and smuggler. The truth is he
was a Marine Corps Counterintelligence Officer in
Atsugi before Oswald got there. He was not a pilot;
never went to Navy flight school, but did go to a small
private school in the South when he got out of
service. I should know in that I served with him in
Atsugi and took over his duties shortly after he left.
He had everyone convinced he was a fighter pilot.
That never happened. So I would like to know
anything additional about Ken, a Northwestern
178
graduate. It appears that Hemming took over some of

Bernstine’s old smuggling accounts, but I believe that
Ken was an informant for a few agencies before he
died. His lawyer got disbarred and the hoods that he
snitched on all died soon after his death. It was a
strange story about a strange guy. When his
checking account was checked in Ft. Lauderdale, he
had over one million dollars in it....I am a former
intelligence/counterintelligence officer USMC. I
served with Bernstine in Atsugi. He got orders to
flight school when he left Atsugi in 1956, but never
went to Pensacola. Instead he went to a private flight
school in some small place in Alabama. You can
read about his exploits in old Miami newspapers. I
believe his lawyer's name was Levy. I am listed in the
credits in several books. Russell's book and the one I
knew best Henry Hurt of Readers Digest. I am in the
credits of the Frontline story about Lee Harvey
Oswald. Bernstine entered the Air Races and won
one year while flying a P-51. He had one sentence
hanging over him and he was a material witness in
another when his plane crashed upon landing. His
plane was found in 8 pieces and in his plane he had
Two guns. Well Mr. Weberman I am trying to obtain
some info for I am writing a book about Oswald in the
Far East. My name is Jack R. Swike and I served in
the Corps during 1953 and from 54 through 58. Later
I was assigned counterintelligence duty in the Fourth
Marine Division in Reserve. In Japan Bernstine
walked around and wore a shoulder holster. We all
had .45's. I never knew what he was up to until he
left. He was working on counterfeit military currency.
The Office of Naval intelligence told him and us to
keep them informed on what we were doing. He told
them to go to hell. When he went home it was my
belief that he would become a private detective. At
one time he owned an airline company in Miami
which he used for his smuggling.
Now I have written you before and you blew me off. So

I am trying one more time to see if Bernstine had any
connection to the Bay of Pigs, Oswald Etc..I don't
believe he had any dealings with Hemming. I also
179
don't believe that Hemming ever met Oswald while

Oswald was in the Corps. Well I am trying to get info,
but I see I have provided you with more info which has
never been public. So if you have something you wish
to share, please let me hear from you.
J. R. Swike (now in Indiana)

NIXON AND MITCH WERBELL
In August 1976 Mitch Werbell stood trial in Federal Court in
Miami. He was charged with marijuana smuggling. He told the jury
that he was a deep cover agent who worked for the Drug
Enforcement Administration/Special Operations Group, who was
offered a lucrative government contract in return for setting up
Burnstine. Mitch Werbell subpoenaed Nixon. Hemming told this
researcher:
Nixon knew of the fucking arrangement with Mitch

Werbell and all those people.
Judge Peter Fay ruled that there was insufficient evidence in

the case to require Nixon to appear. Nixon aide Egil Krogh
appeared instead. Egil Krogh denied the White House had any
control over international drug trafficking, but he admitted he knew
Drug Enforcement Administration/Special Operations Group head
Lucien Conein. Mitch Werbell testified that he had sent codefendant
Gerry Cunningham to meet with Lucian Conein regarding the
Burnstine matter. Lucian Conein testified no such meeting occurred,
and the records of the Drug Enforcement Administration supported
this. Mitch Werbell produced a toll slip that contained a notation of a
call to Lucian Conein during the period in question, and a Drug
Enforcement Administration receipt for the use of the Washington,
D.C., Parabellum / "CIA" safehouse. Mitch Werbell wasn't the only
person to insist he had been working undercover for Lucian Conein
when he was arrested. Hemming claimed the same thing. In Drug
Enforcement Administration Agent Krueger's analysis of a Hemming
self-generated document, Krueger stated:
This report, read in its total, and winding up with

paragraph 8, leads me to believe that Hemming will
attempt a sensational trial defense claiming to be a
DEA/CIA employee, that he has successfully
thwarted drug smuggling adventures at great
personal risk, that Conein and Briggs attempted to
180
interfere with a Senate investigation and that they

planned with him and others to assassinate narcotics
smugglers. It is my understanding that Hemming was
once a CIA contract paramilitary employee. As such
he would have received training in report writing and
the correct format for code words and code names.
The report bears a very superficial resemblance to a
CIA report, but is clearly a construction of fiction
designed as a defense for Hemming. I am at a loss to
explain why Lucien Conein is so often the victim of
coincidental associations and meetings with DEA
defendants with bizarre tales of Terry and the Pirates
adventures. [Joseph Krueger, Deputy Chief
Inspector/ William J. Kafaris, Inspector-in-Charge
DEA S.E. FO David S. Wiser 9.27.76]
The CIA refused to allow one of its questioned document

experts to testify about this evidence. [CIA MFR 7.9.77 Edmund
Cohen] Krueger described Hemming as a "CIA paramilitary." What
was his source?
Other witnesses for Mitch Werbell included a CIA agent, and

Wallace Shanley, who testified that Mitch Werbell had called him in
September 1973 regarding Ken Burnstine's smuggling operation.
Wallace Shanley:
Werbell talked narcotics to some guys who turned

out to be Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
After that, they pretty much constructed the whole
thing, and fit Mitch into it. He was entrapped. I used
to be in the Drug Enforcement Administration. I
testified I was once in the Drug Enforcement
Administration but came to despise it because it
lacked morality. I just testified to the attitudes,
ambitions and techniques of narcotics agents.
Wallace Shanley went to Vietnam after things settled down in Miami

in 1967:
I worked with Ted Shackley, who was in charge of

OPERATION PHOENIX, but I had nothing to do with
it. With a few threads, Hemming can create a
goddamn tapestry of bullshit.
181
In early September 1976 Mitch Werbell and his

codefendants were acquitted on all counts. Mitch Werbell's attorney,
Edwin Marger, told the press: "He would never get involved in a
conspiracy to import marijuana. Guns, revolution, assassination,
yes."
DOMINICK BARTONE
In April 1977 Gerry Cunningham, Morton Franklin, Dominick
Bartone and Henry Grecco were indicted in Atlanta for conspiring to
violate arms export laws. An FBI informant reported that the wife
and children of Henry Grecco "were murdered many years ago
because of a gangland beef. This turned him into a cold blooded
killer." Henry Grecco had numerous weapons convictions and was
involved in the attempted "torching" of a heavily insured hotel along
with John Nardi, Morton Franklin and Gerry Cunningham. In late
1975 the FBI questioned Henry Grecco about a fatal bombing and
the murder of an organized crime figure. Dominick Bartone was a
Cleveland gangster dating from the days of Al Capone who had
worked with Ruby in smuggling arms to Fidel Castro between 1957
and 1959. In May 1959 Dominick Bartone was arrested by U.S.
Customs in Miami in connection with an attempted bribery scheme
regarding the departure of a munitions-laden C-74 aircraft. [FBI 105-
80291] Nardi worked for Dominick Bartone. Hemming told this
researcher: "Dominick Bartone died in prison." The 1977 crew were
charged with having bought weapons from Mitch Werbell, having
staged a fictitious burglary, then having illegally exported the arms
to South America. A month after these indictments were handed
down, Nardi was killed by a bomb. Later that month, Henry Grecco
was shot in the head and died instantly. A witness at the murder
scene identified Joe Bonarrigo as the hitman. On June 28, 1978,
Joe Bonarrigo was sentenced to 15 years to life for murder.
GORDON NOVEL AND MITCH WERBELL
In 1976 Gordon Novel, a prominent figure in New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation, lived with Mitch
Werbell. On January 17, 1977, when Gordon Novel was arrested for
arson, Mitch Werbell bailed him out. During the Summer of 1977,
someone tried to stab Mitch Werbell in an Atlanta bar. In the early
1980's Mitch Werbell became the personal bodyguard of the crypto-
Nazi leader, Lyndon LaRouche. In November 1983, Mitch Werbell
was arrested for bringing a sharp, pointed, walking cane into a
Federal courtroom. Mitch Werbell died on December 18, 1983, in
182
the Cardiac Unit of the UCLA Medical Center, after a brief illness.
He was 65.
NODULE TWENTY-FIVE
THE WARREN COMMISSION

THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION
AND THE JIM GARRISON INVESTIGATION
The Warren Commission was dominated by establishment types who were
connected to the Rockefeller family, or by political types who had ties to
Nixon.
NELSON ROCKEFELLER AND HIS HOE
The Rockefeller family had a huge stake in keeping the

Communists out of Latin America and they were relieved when JFK
got offed. After World War II, Nelson Rockefeller (born July 8, 1908;
died January 1979), used his contacts in the Office of Inter-
American Affairs to form the International Basic Economy
Corporation, which invested heavily in Latin American
supermarkets. The Rockefellers also had stock in the United Fruit
183
Company. During the Eisenhower Administration, Nelson

Rockefeller served as Under Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare. In this capacity he was apprised of MKULTRA and
MKNAOMI. [Szulc NY Mag. 8.29.77] Nelson Rockefeller became a
Special Assistant to President Eisenhower from 1954 to 1955. He
sat in on Cabinet and National Security Council meetings. During
this period PB SUCCESS was effectuated. In September 1955
Nelson Rockefeller became a member of President Eisenhower's
Operations Coordinating Board with Allen Dulles, the then-Director
of the Central Intelligence Agency. By 1958 the International Basic
Economy Corporation had 140 subsidiaries. Thomas S. Gates was
a director of the International Basic Economy Corporation. [Federal
Register 1959 p427] In Brazil and Venezuela, the International
Basic Economy Corporation was directed by Joan Braden, the wife
of Tom Braden. The Bradens were close to Richard Helms and
Cord Meyer, who was Tom Braden's deputy at the International
Organization Division of the CIA. Cord Meyer was a close associate
of JAMES Angleton. Nelson Rockefeller was elected Governor of
New York State in January 1958, and held this position until 1973.
Nelson Rockefeller told a meeting of the Organization of

American States on February 12, 1961, that the United States had
failed to "make good on the Monroe Doctrine" as far as Cuba was
concerned. The Monroe Doctrine announced in 1823 that there
would be no colonization, and no intervention, by European states
in the Americas. Governor Rockefeller urged that an inter-American
conference of foreign ministers be called to map hemispheric
strategy to meet the threat of international communism. Nelson
Rockefeller warned that Cuba had become "the principal
Communist base in the Western Hemisphere from which men,
money and propaganda are moving into other American republics
on an unprecedented scale. We must face the fact that certain of
the weaker Western Hemisphere countries are currently vulnerable
to this onslaught. It is conceivable that pro-Castro governments of
the Castro type might be established through revolutionary coups in
one or more of these countries in the near future." Rockefeller
disclosed in 1963 that his major disagreement with President
Kennedy centered on Kennedy's anti-Cuban exile position. In the
early 1970's, Nelson Rockefeller was a member of Nixon’s Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board. Other members of the Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board at that time included Texas Governor
John Connally, Claire Booth Luce, and Leo Cherne. [Ross & Wise
Inv. Gov. p187]
184
NELSON ROCKEFELLER AND THE COUP

THE FIRST US UNELECTED VICE PRESIDENT
The constitutional amendment which allowed Nixon to
appoint Gerald Ford Vice President was approved by the Senate on
September 29, 1964, less than 24 hours after the Warren Report
was published. When Vice President Spiro Agnew
(Angnostopoulos) resigned on October 10, 1973, after pleading no
contest to charges of income tax evasion after he came under
investigation for receiving payoff when he was Governor of
Maryland, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as his Vice President.
When Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became President, and
appointed Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President. Rockefeller
was Ford's running mate in 1976, but he withdrew from the ticket.
During Nelson Rockefeller's Vice Presidential confirmation

hearings, Nelson was asked if he believed the CIA was justified in
its activities in Chile:
I assume they were done in the best national

interests...I think the flexibility of the present potential
actions by our Government are important in the event
of some unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, I
would question whether the potentiality should be
eliminated...I think it would be a mistake. How they
are conducting what is done is a matter for good
judgment.
Rockefeller was a patrician and would never have involved

himself with Sturgis, Hemming, Hargraves and their ilk. He was not
involved in the Kennedy assassination. Rockefeller, however, was
deeply involved in the Warren Commission and Rockefeller
Commission cover-ups of the Kennedy assassination. His name
surfaces with Ford, an associate of Nixon who covered up the coup.
Rockefeller attained the Vice Presidency of the United States as an
indirect result of the coup, and Ford attained the Presidency. We will
find that Nelson Rockefeller had many associates on the Warren
Commission, but Nixon’s connection led to the top:
EARL WARREN, RICHARD NIXON AND MURRAY CHOTINER
185
Earl Warren (born March 19, 1891) was Attorney General of

California from 1939 to 1943, and Governor from 1943 to 1953.
Murray Chotiner was the political public relations man for Earl
Warren during his gubinatorial campaign in California. Murray
Chotiner had been associated with Nixon since 1946. When Nixon
became the Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party in
1952, Murray Chotiner served as his campaign manager. In
September 1953 Earl Warren was appointed Chief Justice of the
United States Supreme Court by President Eisenhower. In 1966
Murray Chotiner was called before Senator John McClellan's
committee investigating organized crime. Congressional investigator
Robert F. Kennedy questioned Chotiner about his client, crime
syndicate member Marco Reginelli, and demanded a list of Murray
Chotiner's other clients. Dan Moldea reported that Murray Chotiner,
and his brother Jack, handled 249 cases of mob figures arrested or
indicted between 1949 and 1952. [Moldea, Hoffa Wars, Padington
Press, 1978]
MICKEY COHEN, CHOTINER AND NIXON
In 1968 syndicate member Mickey Cohen, who was serving
Federal prison time, said that Murray Chotiner had solicited
campaign contributions from him on behalf of Nixon. Meyer Harris
Cohen (A.K.A. "Mickey" Cohen), the son of Jewish immigrants, grew
186
up in Cleveland, Ohio, where he started in the rackets. In 1940

Mickey Cohen moved to Los Angeles and worked with Jack Dragna
and Meyer Lansky's partner, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. When Siegel
was murdered by Meyer Lansky's hitmen in 1947, Mickey Cohen
took over for him. California crime lord Jack Dragna became
uncomfortable with Cohen, and numerous attempts were made on
the life of Mickey Cohen. Meyer Lansky finally arranged for a truce
between Dragna and Cohen.
In 1970 Murray Chotiner became Nixon’s Special Counsel;

and in 1971, as a private attorney, he helped Teamster Union boss
James Hoffa secure a Presidential pardon. Murray Chotiner was
contacted by his friend, I. Irving Davidson, regarding this matter.
[FBI FOIA Req. #72,182 approx. 500 pp.; HSCA OCR 11.2.78
Brady]
THE DEATH OF MURRAY CHOTINER
On January 24, 1974, Murray Chotiner's automobile collided
with a Government-owned truck driven by Charles Mickens. Murray
Chotiner died of a blood clot a week later, while still hospitalized for
the automobile accident. [NYT 1.31.74] Nixon knew Earl Warren
though Murray Chotiner. The White House tapes revealed that
Nixon and H.R. Haldeman considered setting up another Warren
Commission, complete with Earl Warren, to investigate Watergate.
H.R. Haldeman: "But if you want Earl Warren, he'll do it..." The
extent of the Nixon/Warren relationship remained a mystery
because of the theft of all the contents from a folder labeled
"Correspondence with Richard Nixon," found among the
possessions of Earl Warren after he died. Earl Warren was easily
manipulated by Nixon. Nixon had Earl Warren put Gerald Ford on
the Warren Commission. Murray Chotiner's death should be looked
into, due to the nature of his associations and the knowledge that he
possessed.
187
CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN'S MOTIVATION
On January 20, 1964, Chief Justice Warren met with

the staff. After brief introductions, the Chief Justice
discussed the circumstances under which he had
accepted the chairmanship of the Commission. When
the position had first been offered to him he declined
it, on the principle that Supreme Court Justices
should not take this kind of role. His associate
justices concurred in this decision. At this point,
however, President Johnson called him. The
President stated that rumors of the most exaggerated
kind were circulating in this country and overseas.
Some rumors went as far as attributing the
assassination to a faction within the Government
wishing to see the Presidency assumed by President
Johnson. Others, if not quenched, could conceivably
lead the country into a war which would cost 40
million lives. No one could refuse to do something
which might help to prevent such a possibility. The
President convinced him that this was an occasion
on which actual conditions had to override general
principles. The Chief Justice then discussed the role
of the Commission. He placed emphasis on the
188
importance of quenching rumors, and precluding

future speculation such as that which has surrounded
the death of Lincoln. He emphasized the Commission
had to determine the truth, whatever that might be.
[WC Eisenberg Memo 2.17.64]
John J. McCloy recalled that Warren stated: "When the

country is confronted with threatening divisions and suspicions and
its foundation is being rocked...the gravity of the situation is such
that it might lead into war, and if so, it might be a nuclear war...the
first nuclear strike against us might cause the loss of 40 million
people..." Earl Warren delivered this response: "Mr. President, if the
situation is that serious, my personal views do not count. I will do it."
[?]
If I was sent over to brief Earl Warren, you know what

I would say to him? Mr. Chief Justice, we have a
situation here where we are closing the barn door
and the horse is gone. The President is dead. This
matter has to be disposed of quickly to renew the
confidence of the American people. We've got civil
unrest in this country. We've got a stock market to
worry about, we've got investors to worry about,
we've got bankers to worry about. We have serious
problems. We have got to resolve this.
President Lyndon Johnson may have believed that a

presidential assassination was worth starting a conventional war if
an intelligence agent of a foreign power was responsible for it, but
he did not believe that a Presidential assassination was worth
starting a nuclear war over. The job of the Warren Commission was
to prevent a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviets
over the issue of Cuba and the Kennedy assassination.
All the evidence created against Oswald led to the Soviets

and Cubans. Had TIPPIT killed Oswald, instead of visa versa, the
murder of the President would have been investigated by federal
and local government agencies, and it might have been determined
that Castro was involved in the Kennedy assassination. Another
invasion of Cuba would have been launched. The Soviets would
have intervened. We could have all been blown to kingdom come.
189
The Warren Commission also should have logically

concluded Oswald worked for the KGB. Instead, it determined there
was no conspiracy.
James Hosty commented, "They covered up the KGB's

involvement for obvious reasons - it would have started World War
III, now wouldn't it have? How did World War I start?"
The key ticket with the guy was that he defected to

the Soviet Union, he's been trained as a KGB agent.
How could these people possibly figure out that this
scenario would scare the shit out of the people in
Washington? What backfired on the plotters was
painting this picture that it was a Castro hit. It scared
the shit out of some high-ranking people, and they
covered it up. Jesus Christ, the best laid plans of
mice and men. They did it too good. They painted too
clear of a picture that burned it's way right back to
Fidel Castro. It scared the fuck out of the powers that
be. They wouldn't go to war. The American people
never realized we had come so fucking close to
nuclear holocaust.
The CIA commented on Oswald’s blazing trail:
Long standing KGB practice generally forbids agents

serving outside the USSR to have any contact with
domestic communist parties or with Soviet
Embassies or consulates. This prohibition, designed
to reduce the possibilities of compromise to a
minimum, is probably most stringently applied to
agents on extremely sensitive missions. Yet Oswald
blazed a trail to the Soviets that was a mile wide. He
corresponded with the national headquarters of the
Communist Party USA -- apparently with some
regularity - and visited the Soviet Consulate in
Mexico City. In addition to his well-known leftist
political activities, he also subscribed to the Daily
Worker and a Trotskyite publication, allegedly
received newspapers from the Soviet Union and last
June asked that his passport be revalidated for travel
to the USSR. [CIA 376-154 Neil Huntley]
190
WARREN COMM. MEMBERS CONNECTIONS TO

ROCKEFELLERS
ALLEN DULLES
Allen Dulles, who was perhaps the most famous Director of the
CIA, was fired by President Kennedy in 1962. He was unfairly
blamed for the Bay Pigs disaster. The law firm of Allen Dulles,
Sullivan & Cromwell, represented the interests of the Rockefellers
and Allen Dulles was the former Chairman of the Council on Foreign
Relations. During the 1970's, David Rockefeller was the Chairman
of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 1987 the Council on Foreign
Relations received a grant from the Asia Foundation. [CFR Annual
Report 1988] After J. Lee Rankin was appointed chief counsel,
Rankin suggested that Allen Dulles become "a Commission CIA file
reviewer." Allen Dulles declined, but announced his willingness to
provide a statement or testimony concerning his knowledge of
Oswald. Allen Dulles stated that "as far as he could remember he
never had any knowledge of Oswald at any time prior to the date of
the assassination." [CIA 618-793] Allen Dulles died on January 30,
1969, at age 75 due to influenza complicated by pneumonia.
Allen Dulles had an ax to grind against Kennedy. He should not

have been looking into the circumstances surrounding Kennedy's
191
assassination. His appointment meant that no one in or around the

CIA would be blamed. Dulles believed that co-existence with the
Soviet Union did not prevent the Russians from engaging a war of
subversion against the West. [Chicago Tribune, 4.29.64 page 10I]
Why didn't he believe that Oswald was part of this subversion?
Dulles had no knowledge of Oswald and his relationship to
Angleton.
JOHN J. McCLOY: MR. ESTABLISHMENT
John J. McCloy was born on March 31, 1895. His law firm, Milbank,
Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, represented the Rockefeller interests
beginning in the 1920's. In June 1941 Vacuum Oil and Royal Dutch
Shell Oil entered into a deal with the Soviets wherein they would
purchase oil from the Soviet Union. This infuriated the Standard Oil
Companies of New Jersey, which was controlled by the Rockefeller
family. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey announced its
refusal to buy oil from Soviet Russia until it recognizes private
property rights. The New York Times reported: "The Standard of
New Jersey owns a 51% interest in the Nobel Company, a Russian
oil unit that was nationalized along with the rest of the Russian
petroleum interests after the Soviets took charge of the
Government. The Standard of New Jersey had no substantial
interests in Russia prior to the nationalization of the industry. The
Standard of New Jersey, through its ownership of control of the
Nobel Company has a claim against the Soviet Government." [NYT
1.16.28] The New York Times reported: "The Rockefellers, who are
largely interested in the Standard of New Jersey and the Vacuum
Oil Company, are expected to use their influence to prevent any
192
widening of the breach between the three companies." [NYT

7.26.27] In the 1930's, John J. McCloy became a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations. During World War II, John J. McCloy
was an Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and supervised the
Strategic Services Unit of the War Department in 1944. In 1945 he
was appointed High Commissioner to Germany, the top-ranking
United States official there. By 1947 John J. McCloy was an official
in the Office of Policy Coordination. He worked closely with Frank
Wisner on numerous CIA operations in post-war Europe. In the
early 1950's John J. McCloy pardoned Nazi war criminals, despite
protests from divergent quarters. When he returned to the United
States, John J. McCloy resumed his role as the Attorney for the
Rockefellers, and engineered the merger of the Chase and
Manhattan Banks. The Chase Manhattan Bank was employed to
launder CIA funds. John J. McCloy was installed as a Director of the
Chase Manhattan Bank and a Director of the Rockefeller
Foundation. John J. McCloy was a Director of United Fruit. In 1959
he worked with the CIA in funding anti-Communist activities at the
Vienna World Youth Festival. He was a close friend of the Director
of the Central Intelligence Agency, John McCone. After the Cuban
Missile Crisis in October 1962, John J. McCloy negotiated with the
Russians. In 1964 John J. McCloy thought it was imperative to
"show the world that America is not a banana republic, where a
government can be changed by a conspiracy." John J. McCloy was
involved in the overthrow of Joao Goulart simultaneously with his
position on the Warren Commission. Joao Goulart, a left-of-center
President of Brazil, had expropriated the iron ore concessions of a
client of John J. McCloy. John J. McCloy worked with Colonel
Vernon Walters, the U.S. Military Attache in Rio on this operation.
Nixon suggested in 1972 that the Justice Department appoint John
J. McCloy as the Special Prosecutor in Watergate. He refused the
assignment.
GERALD R. FORD
193
Warren Commissioner Gerald R. Ford (born July 14, 1913) was a

Congressman from Michigan and a member of the Georgetown
University Center for Strategic Studies from 1963 to 1964. Arleigh
Burke, who was a Director of the Free Cuba Committee, was the
Director of Center for Strategic Studies at this time. Arleigh Burke
told Jack Anderson that "government gumshoes, probably Central
Intelligence Agency burglars, broke into his private office and stole
some important personal documents." [Miami Herald 2.2.77] George
Smathers was on the Advisory Board of the Center for Strategic
Studies at this time. Ford was first mentioned as a possible
presidential candidate in January 1964. When the FBI discovered
that the Warren Commission was impressed with an article about
the Kennedy assassination in the New Republic entitled Seeds of
Doubt, Hoover suggested: "I think DeLoach should brief Ford
regarding the New Republic article and its authors. H." [FBI 62-
109090-73 Brennan to Sullivan 12.19.63] The United Press reported
that documents released under the Freedom of Information Act
indicated that the FBI considered Ford its spy on the Warren
Commission. [Miami Herald 1.19.78] Ford told the Long Island Daily,
Newsday, that "there was never any real disagreement among the
members or anything." [Newsday 9.28.74]
NIXON AND GERALD FORD
In 1965 Nixon’s former campaign manager, John Stiles (John Stiles
born May 12, 1916; died in March 1976) and Gerald Ford, co-
authored Oswald: Portrait of the Assassin. The CIA Counter-
Intelligence Section liked Gerald Ford's book, since "Only slight
194
mention is made of the charge put forth by Oswald’s mother and

others that Oswald may have been a CIA agent." The CIA examined
the galley proofs before the book was published. [CIA 1289-1019]
Raymond Rocca wrote,
JIM, herein is (deleted as of 2010) copy of

Congressman Ford's rehash of the Oswald case.
Stiles sat with him during much of the hearings
period. I had this from Walter Pforzheimer for an
advanced look, it must be returned to him without fail
Friday morning. The first chapter, “The Commission
Gets its First Shock” centers on the allegation that
Oswald was an FBI Agent. Neither the chapter nor
the rest of the book sustain the charge. I’m afraid
however, that the presentation if it quoted out of
context could be utilized by the Lefties (Mark Lane et.
al.) to continue their campaign. Perhaps you will want
to call this matter to Sam’s attention. (deleted as of
2010) I do not regard any treatment of the CIA -
which is minimal - to be objectionable. Rock.
[CIA 994-937 NARA 1993:06.21.18:32:01:250310]
When Ford became President, Stiles, who had become a

White House consultant, and producer Sheldon Davis, tried to have
Portrait of an Assassin made into a movie. Playboy Magazine
carried a story that alleged that Gerald Ford received secret CIA
campaign funding in 1968.
On October 17, 1974, President Ford vetoed an effort to

expand the Freedom of Information Act. [NYT 10.18.74] During his
unelected presidency, Gerald Ford named Governor John Connally
to his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, after Connally was
acquitted of bribery charges. Ford's reorganization of the
intelligence community included attempts to tighten Government
secrecy by providing by providing penalties for officials who divulged
classified information. [Miami Herald 2.21.76] Ford named Leo
Cherne to his intelligence advisory board. Gerald Ford pardoned
Nixon and named George Bush as CIA Director.
JOHN SHERMAN COOPER
195
After World War II, John Sherman Cooper (born August 23, 1901),
worked with John J. McCloy and helped reorganize the Bavarian
judicial system in West Germany. In 1950 he served as advisor to
the Secretary of State at NATO meetings. From 1955 to 1956 he
was Ambassador to India. Cooper was a former trustee of the Asia
Foundation. John Sherman Cooper was a United States Senator
when he served on the Warren Commission. In 1969 he was
reappointed Ambassador to India by Nixon.
196
RICHARD RUSSELL
Richard Russell (born November 2, 1897) was a Senator from

Georgia who was Chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee from 1951 to 1952, and from 1955 to 1968. In this
capacity, he "established continuing relationships with the Directors
of the Central Intelligence Agency and preserved exclusivity in his
knowledge of Agency activities. [He was] also able to develop
relationships of mutual trust and understanding with the the
Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency that allowed informal
exchanges to prevail over formal votes and close supervision."
[Sup. Det. Staff Reports on For. & Mil. Intell. Bk. IV Sel. Comm. to
Study Gov. Ops. with Resp. to Intell. Act. 4.23.76] Senator Russell
was a leader of the Dixiecrats, and had opposed President
Kennedy's military and civil rights programs. Richard Helms claimed
Senator Richard Russell was aware of the CIA assassination plots
against Fidel Castro. Senator Russell told the Atlanta Journal "that it
was at his insistence that the report stipulated that there was no
evidence of a plot, rather than saying flatly none existed. [Atlanta
Journal 9.28.64] Richard Russell expressed his doubts about the
conclusions of the Warren Commission on a WAB-TV interview in
Atlanta in January 1970. He affirmed that he believed there had, in
fact, been a conspiracy: "I think someone else worked with Oswald.
Too many things cause me to doubt he planned it all by himself."
Senator Russell believed the Soviets and the Cubans were involved
in the assassination. He refused to sign the Warren Commission
197
Report until a clause was added saying their conclusions

represented a judgment based on the best information available.
Richard Russell's lungs were already crippled by chronic
emphysema and he was hospitalized in December 1970 due to a
recurring respiratory infection. He died on January 22, 1971, at age
73. [Atlanta Journal 2.28.64; NYT 1.22.71; Atlanta Constitution
1.22.71]
Senator Richard Russell was from the Deep South, believed

in segregation, and was re-elected for decades by his constituency.
Because of Senate seniority rules he was Chairman of the Armed
Services Committee. In this context he came into contact with Allen
Dulles. Dulles influenced Russell, when they were both on the
Warren Commission, however, Russell still believed the evidence
pointed to the Soviets and Cubans. Senator Richard Russell was
not part of the eastern establishment. This was why he was the only
dissenting voice.
A QUESTIONABLE OCCURRENCE: THE DEATH OF HALE
BOGGS
Congressman Hale Boggs (born February 15, 1914) grew up
in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He was an attorney in New Orleans
who was first elected to the United States House of Representatives
in 1946. Congressman Hale Boggs had questioned James Forrestal
about the need to create the CIA. On April 5, 1971, he made an
impassioned speech to his fellow Representatives on the tyranny of
intelligence agencies turning America into a police state:
198
The story is colorfully recounted in a file Roll Call

obtained from the FBI under the Freedom of
Information Act. It began on April 5, 1971, when
Boggs unexpectedly took the House floor during one-
minutes to declare that 'when the FBI taps
telephones of the members of this body and the
members of the Senate, when the FBI stations
agents on college campuses to infiltrate college
organizations, when the FBI adopts the tactics of the
Soviet Union and Hitler's Gestapo, then it is time - it
is way past time, Mr. Speaker - that the present
director no longer be the director.' That afternoon,
FBI Congressional liaison Tom Bishop, one of FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover's loyal lieutenants, wrote a
memo to the FBI hierarchy describing Bogg's
speech: 'Our relations with Boggs generally have
been cordial and a letter of congratulations was sent
to him by Mr. Hoover upon his most recent re-
election to the House.' wrote Bishop, 'It is not known
what has gotten in to him to make this statement.'
But Hoover, who had increasingly been under siege
from a number of other, less prominent Members for
his controversial tactics, wrote bitterly in the margin,
199
'Just another jackal joining the pack.'...The next

afternoon, Hoover himself typed up a memo for
Bishop and his closest aid, Clyde Tolson, detailing
his response to Boggs. He wrote that he had spoken
with House Minority Leader Gerald Ford and House
Speaker Carl Albert (Dem.-OK) and informed them
'there has never been a wiretap or microphone or
what we call an electronic installation on any
Congressman or Senator since I have been Director,
which has been since 1924.' ...Numerous prominent
Members began volunteering suspicions they too had
been spied on by the FBI. According to an April 7,
1971, article in Roll Call, Senators George McGovern
(SD), Harold Hughes, (Iowa), and Birch Bayh (Ind) -
all liberal Democrats running for President - all
suspected they were being bugged and Bayh actually
found a device...Boggs did not produce irrefutable
evidence that the FBI had been spying on Members,
but he did build a persuasive case, citing among
other things the Bayh incident and a claim that
Senator Ralph Yarborough (Dem. -TX) and FBI critic,
'found an electronic surveillance device in the
intercom system in his desk.' He also cited a case in
which the neighbor of liberal Senator Charles Percy
(R-Ill.) discovered a broadcasting device underneath
his car, which was always parked in front of Percy's
house. Shortly thereafter, Percy's wife found two men
working on the phone line outside Percy's house for
what they said were 'safety purposes.' And Senator
Wayne Morse (D-Ohio) another liberal, was informed
of a bug in his office by a reporter. [Roll Call 8.10.92]
Congressman Hale Boggs advised his colleagues that he

had evidence that the FBI was tapped his telephones. FBI
document WFO-113 contained this:
New Orleans, in 1-8619, UN 6-1322, IN 7-0896
It is noted that this last call, CR 7-0696, contained a

notation indicating the operator was not sure that
New Orleans, Louisiana, was the destination for this
subscriber. Also on this date, subject placed a call to
Congressman HALE BOGGS, Democrat from
Louisiana. This was a person-to-person call from
200
subject's suite to BOGGS; however, it is not known

whether subject actually talked to BOGGS nor not.
On January 24, 1981 subject also placed a call to
New York City, CI 6-9100 and a call to the Taft Hotel,
New York, CLYDE Bell. Also on January 24, 1961
subject called Baltimore, Maryland, SA 7-4621. The
records of the Willard also indicated that the following
loss distance phone calls were made from this suite
and charged to J. J. AMATO: New Orleans, VI 3-
1317, 729-6666 Baltimore, LS 9-9762 1/23/01
On October 16, 1972, Congressman Hale Boggs,

Congressman Nick Begich, and an aide to Nick Begich, left
Anchorage, Alaska, at 9:00 a.m. en route to Juneau, Alaska, (575
miles) in a twin-engine Cessna 310. They were last heard from at
9:09 a.m. when Federal Aeronautics Administration officials
received a visual flight plan, just as the plane was approaching the
Chugach Mountain Range. The pilot gave the route as:
(1) Over the Chugach Mountain Range to Prince William Sound.
(2) Along the coast to Glacier National Monument.
(3) To Juneau, skirting the edge of the St. Elias Mountain Range.
This route would have taken them over water for a very brief period.
No one on the plane was heard from again. The pilot, Don E. Jonz,
201
had 15,000 flying hours and a good reputation. He owned Pan

Alaska Airways, from which the plane was chartered. The aircraft of
Don E. Johnz was not equipped with a built-in emergency radio
beacon; when asked by the Federal Aeronautics Administration
whether he had "emergency gear and a locator beacon aboard," the
pilot replied, "Affirmative." Don E. Jonz was required by Alaska
State law to carry a hand-held locator beacon. The weather forecast
that day predicted no significant changes from earlier forecasts.
On October 16, 1972, Congressman Hale Boggs, Congressman

Nick Begich, and an aide to Nick Begich, left Anchorage, Alaska, at
9:00 a.m. en route to Juneau, Alaska, (575 miles) in a twin-engine
Cessna 310. They were last heard from at 9:09 a.m. when Federal
Aeronautics Administration officials received a visual flight plan, just
as the plane was approaching the Chugach Mountain Range. The
pilot gave the route as:
(1) Over the Chugach Mountain Range to Prince William Sound.
(2) Along the coast to Glacier National Monument.
(3) To Juneau, skirting the edge of the St. Elias Mountain Range.
This route would have taken them over water for a very brief period.
No one on the plane was heard from again. The pilot, Don E. Jonz,
had 15,000 flying hours and a good reputation. He owned Pan
Alaska Airways, from which the plane was chartered. The aircraft of
Don E. Johnz was not equipped with a built-in emergency radio
beacon; when asked by the Federal Aeronautics Administration
whether he had "emergency gear and a locator beacon aboard," the
pilot replied, "Affirmative." Don E. Jonz was required by Alaska
State law to carry a hand-held locator beacon. The weather forecast
that day predicted no significant changes from earlier forecasts.
More than 100 private and 40 military aircraft flew up and

down the southern Alaska coast in search of the missing plane.
Later, two jet reconnaissance planes, each equipped with cloud-
piercing electronic equipment, intensified the emergency mission,
accompanied by a total of 52 other aircraft. Air Force C130s stayed
aloft throughout the search, electronically equipped to locate the
emergency beacon of the Cessna aircraft. The Air Force brought out
the SR-71, the successor to the U-2, to aerially photograph the
landscape. There were 55 sightings of material thought to be
wreckage, but none of it came from the plane. The NTSB called the
mission "one of the most extensive searches in recent aviation
202
history." After 3,600 hours of serial hunting, not a trace of the

wreckage was ever found.
Even more mysterious was the fact that the C130s were
unable to pick up any radio signals from the emergency equipment
aboard the Cessna. Had the transmitter been destroyed even
though it was specifically designed to survive a plane crash? After
the crash, a hand-held emergency beacon was found in the cabin of
another Pan Alaska aircraft; it was said to belong to Don E. Jonz.
This seemed to explain the missing emergency radio signal.
However, a witness who had seen the pilot, recalled that Don E.
Jonz had an unidentified object in his briefcase the size and shape
of an emergency locator. This locator was a different color than
those sold at Anchorage Airport. Was it a bomb? The NTSB
concluded it was "unable to determine the probable cause of the
accident." [NTSB Report AAR-72-28]
THOMAS BOGGS
Congressman Hale Boggs son, Thomas Boggs, disclosed to
the press in 1975 that the FBI had leaked damaging material to his
father about the personal lives of researchers who studied the
Kennedy assassination. Congressman Hale Boggs placed this
material in the care of his son. Thomas Boggs added that his father
"felt personally intimidated by the FBI's visits to see him. It was, you
know, 'We know this and that about you, and a lot of things could
come out in public about you.'" The FBI sent reports on seven
Warren Commission critics to the Johnson White House. An FBI
document:
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MEMORANDA
TO: Mr. Callahan
FROM: H. N. BASSET
SUBJECT: Information Concerning Washington Star

news article dated January 31, 1975, Regarding Hale
Boggs' Son Claiming Possession of File on Warren
Commission Critics.
BACKGROUND
The Washington Star News, a Washington, D.C.

daily newspaper, carried an article in the January 31,
1975, edition under an Associated Press release
203
captioned "Boggs Son Tells of Files on Warren

Panel." The article quotes Tom H. Boggs, Jr., son of
the late Representative Hale Boggs, as claiming that
in 1970 his father gave him dossiers which the FBI
compiled on critics of the Warren Commission in an
attempt to discredit them. According to the article,
Boggs son stated "they weren't basically sex files.
They had some of that element, but most of the
material dealt with left wing organizations these
people belonged to."
Tom H. Boggs, Jr. declined to identify all seven of the critical

authors but stated that writer Edward J. Epstein and lawyer Mark
Lane were among the individuals whom he had information
regarding. Boggs Jr. reportedly stated that the information given him
by his father included a photograph of one of the seven engaging in
an unnatural sex act with two women.
REVIEW OF BUREAU FILES
In a review of Bureau files by the Inspection Staff, no

evidence was found that any information of this
nature was ever disseminated directly to Hale Boggs
from the FBI.
However, the Bureau file review indicates that on

November 8, 1966, memoranda were furnished to
Marvin Watson, Special Assistant to President
Johnson, at the White House, setting forth pertinent
information contained in Bureau files regarding
background on seven individuals who wrote
unfavorable articles concerning the Warren
Commission findings.
The seven individuals mentioned in the

memorandum to Mr. Watson were Edward J.
Epstein, Joachim Joesten, Penn Jones, Mark Lane,
Richard Popkin, Leo Sauvage and Harold Weisberg.
In addition to background information regarding the

seven critics of the Warren Commission, we
disseminated to Mr. Watson at the White House one
facial photograph of Mark Lane, one obscene
photograph of Mark Lane lying on a bed, a hand
204
printed instruction by Lane regarding perverted

sexual acts, and signed statements from two women
concerning the performance of unnatural sexual acts
on the person of Mark Lane.
Regarding the dissemination concerning Mark Lane,

were received information that in 1962 the District
Attorney of Queens County, New York, conducted an
investigation of Mark Lane for alleged sodomy. At
that time, statements from two women were received,
along with an obscene photograph of Mark Lane and
hand printed instructions which Mark Lane gave to
one of the girls in order that they could perform upon
his person perverted sexual acts of a sadistic
masochistic nature.
The background information furnished to the White

House regarding Mark Lane indicated that he is an
attorney, born in New York City on February 24,
1927, and that he has a long history of affiliation with
Communist Party groups and organizations.
Lane was elected to the New York State Assembly in

1960 and in May 1962, he was defeated in an
attempt to secure the nomination as a candidate for
the United States House of Representatives from the
19th Congressional District in New York.
OBSERVATIONS
There is no evidence to indicate that Representative

Hale Boggs received information disseminated from
the Bureau regarding persons critical of the Warren
Commission, or information concerning the immoral
activity of Mark Lane. As this information was
furnished to the White House, it appears that
President Johnson, or a member of the White House
disseminated it to the Warren Commission, of which
Representative Boggs was a member or directly to
Boggs.
No written request from the White House to furnish

information regarding Warren Commission critics was
located in Bureau files; however, according to Bureau
205
Supervisors James C. Farrington and James M.

Murphy, who were in the Crime Records Division in
1966, and assisted in the preparation of the summary
memoranda mentioned above, which was furnished
to the White House, this request from the White
House appeared to be a routine telephonic request
which was taken through Assistant Director
DeLoach's office. At that time it was customary for
the White House to telephonically request
background information directly through the Crime
Records Division and the response to the request
would be delivered through Mr. DeLoach, who had
liaison directly with the White House.[FBI 62-109090-
635X]
In the summer of 1992 Roll Call published a story, allegedly

based on FBI documents, which revealed that the Government had
received a report, shortly after the plane disappeared, that
experimental tracking equipment had located the wreckage of an
airplane near Yakutat, Alaska, and that there were two survivors.
This researcher was unable to locate these documents. The wife of
Nick Begich stated: "It's a mystery. What did happen? How did it
happen? My children wish there were answers." Hemming told this
researcher: "The people who do this shit are independent
contractors. They have nothing to do with the politics of anybody. If
the plane got blown to shit over the water, they ain't gonna recover
nothing."
Robert Olsen of the Rockefeller Commission reported that

"Hunt categorically denied...any participation or involvement
whatever in the attempted assassination of Governor Wallace, the
disappearance of Congressman Hale Boggs or the shooting of
Senator Stennis." [NARA SSCIA 157-10011-10090] Senator Stennis
was shot on January 31, 1973, in front of his home in the capital
during an apparent robbery. Three black men were convicted of this
crime. There was no political motive.
206
J. LEE RANKIN
J. Lee Rankin was the General Counsel of the Warren Commission.

The FBI reported: "J. Lee Rankin, chief counsel of the Commission,
has been investigated twice by the Bureau. An applicant-type
investigation was conducted in 1953 prior to his employment with
the Department. He was investigated again in 1955 when he was
being considered as the Department's representative to the
President's Committee on Disarmament Problems. Both
investigations were favorable, and our relations with him while he
was in the Department were cordial." [FBI Belmont to Rosen
1.23.64] Allen Dulles opposed the appointment of J. Lee Rankin as
the Chief Counsel of the Warren Commission:
Warren: Before Allen goes away, I think we ought to

discuss the question of the counsel, because we had
our meeting at eight thirty this morning and we
discussed Mr. Rankin. Mr. McCloy, and Mr. Dulles,
and Congressman Ford, all had some reservations
about whether he has the great ability to do this job.
I'm sure that discretion is used here, but I told them I
would not want to have anyone here that would not
have the full confidence of the Commission...
Dulles: I have checked very carefully on Mr. Rankin

and I give you my proxy to go ahead, to go with him
before we have another meeting. There are one or
two other names, if Mr. Rankin's name does not
207
come to the top among all of you. I would like to have

another look at (Deleted) a little older than the age
limit that has been suggested.
Warren: Little older than forty, he's seventy four.
Dulles: He's that exactly, but he's a vigorous 74. I just

checked on him recently as far as his health was
concerned. (Deleted) I have had very, very, well
described to me. I don't know him personally. There
is a man in the younger bracket named (Deleted),
who came down with (Deleted) and made a great
impression here, who is a lawyer. Whether he's
available or not, I don't know. He's in government
now, and is working with AID.
McCloy: He's in the War Department. (Deleted)
Dulles: He's been highly recommended...
Warren: ...[Rankin] has lived for causes all his life.

They wanted to make him a (Deleted) when he left
there, and he wouldn't take it because he wanted to
be able to work for causes. I suppose if he had taken
a job as (Deleted) everybody would say "there's a
hell of big man." But he wouldn't do it because he
took this job; he thought it was a cause to serve over
there and he just dedicated himself to it.
Russell: Mr. Chairman, if it is in order, I move the

Chief Justice, Mr. McCloy and should constitute a
subcommittee to look into this matter, and I would
like to have Mr. Ford, too, to interview Mr. (Deleted)
and others, and to select a counsel for this
Commission.
J. Lee Rankin was born July 8, 1907, in Hartington,

Nebraska. As an Assistant United States Attorney Rankin worked
on Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the desegregation of
America's schools. He became New York City's chief Corporation
Counsel from 1966 to 1972. In 1972 Charles Colson attempted to
recruit J. Lee Rankin for Watergate Special Prosecutor. Nixon
eventually hired J. Lee Rankin to edit the strategic portions of the
White House tapes. Rankin died on June 27, 1996.
208
ASSISTANT COUNSELS
BURT GRIFFIN
Burt Griffin was a former assistant U.S. Attorney General who

became a judge in Ohio. Griffin investigated the Ruby aspect of the
assassination. Griffin was interviewed by this researcher in 1977.
He stated that he did not believe Ruby was a member of organized
crime, despite his numerous syndicate associates. He said
"Everyone knows somebody connected with organized crime - a
bookie, etc." He was convinced that Oswald acted alone. In 1968
Griffen left the Legal Aid Society and went to Washington where he
was hired by the Office of Economic Opportunity under Richard
Nixon.
NORMAN REDLICH
209
Norman Redlich, who was Jewish, was the only Warren

Commission Assistant Counsel who had a civil libertarian
background. Very few documents were generated by him.
JOE BALL AND DAVID BELIN
Joe Ball handled "the identity of the assassin issue" with David Belin
who was Jewish. Ball had been an old friend of Earl Warren and
believed that was why Warren hired him. David Belin did an article
entitled "The Second Gunman Syndrome" for William Buckley's
National Review. [4.27.79]
210
W. DAVID SLAWSON
W. David Slawson, whose father was a close friend of Gerald Ford,

was appointed General Counsel of the Federal Price Control
Commission by Nixon. David Slawson was in the United States
Army from 1954 to 1956. He was trained as a combat engineer at
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and served as a communications
clerk at the anti-aircraft artillery at Fort MacArthur, California, and as
a mathematical physicist for the Chemical Corps at Dugway Proving
Ground, Utah, a poison gas testing center, before joining the
Warren Commission. [NYT 4.19.72] David Slawson told the HSCA:
"I suppose I had a little bit more than the average person's
knowledge about the CIA, very slightly. My recollection is that the
CIA, when I was in college, recruited people...I knew one or two
people in the class ahead of me who, by all accounts, went to work
for the CIA, and it was something I briefly considered myself..."
[HSCA V11 p42] During his time as a Warren Commission counsel,
David Slawson worked with the CIA. David Slawson handled the
"Possible Conspiratorial Relationships" aspect of the investigation,
and he weighed the possibility of an anti-Castro Cuban plot:
My theory was that...the anti-Castro Cubans were

very angry with Kennedy because they felt they had
been betrayed with the Bay of Pigs. Oswald, on the
other hand, was identified publicly with Castro, he
was pro-Castro. So, we felt that if somehow the anti-
Castro Cubans could have got Oswald to do it, or
had done it themselves, but framed Oswald, either
way, somehow put the blame on Oswald, that they
211
would achieve two objectives...revenge on

Kennedy...possibly cause an invasion of Cuba...
When asked whether he ever questioned the reliability of
CIA information because of the involvement of the CIA with anti-
Castro Cuban exiles, he replied: "No. I concluded that Raymond
Rocca's strong anti-Castro feeling did not bias, or did not prevent
him, from being an honest investigator."
When asked whether he ever considered the plausibility of
CIA involvement as part of his anti-Castro theory, David Slawson
responded: "No, I don't think that I entertained very long the
possibility that Rocca, or anybody else I had known at the CIA, was
in any way involved in the Kennedy killing." [HSCA V11 p57]
WILLIAM T. COLEMAN
William T. Coleman was a native Philadelphian, born on July 7,

1920. He was a former clerk to Justice Felix Frankfurter of the
Supreme Court. He was the first Blackman to serve as a law clerk to
a Supreme Court Justice. He was a registered Republican. During
the Eisenhower administration Coleman was on the President's
Committee on Governmental Employment Policy. As a Republican,
Mr. Coleman served in appointed Federal positions under four
Presidents. He was a delegate to the United Nations and a member
of President Nixon’s Price Commission. He is reported to have
advised Mr. Nixon to resign, rather than undergo an impeachment
proceeding. He is on the record as saying a President should be
allowed to destroy tapes and documents before leaving office.
212
Coleman has been a Board Member of the New York Stock

Exchange, and a Director of the Rand Corporation. He was a
director of the National Civil Service League, and the Council on
Foreign Relations. [NYT 1.14.75 p.23] The FBI reported that back in
1959, a Special Inquiry investigation was conducted concerning
Coleman, Bufile 77-80913. [FBI 62-109060-66] Coleman had a
security clearance from the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
headed by John J. McCloy, and the Atomic Energy Commission.
William Coleman was on leave from the law firm of J. Richardson
Dilworth, Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Kohn & Dilks. Dilworth was
Chairman of the Board of Rockefeller Center, and a director of the
Chase Manhattan Bank. In 1965 Dilworth's associates included
Roger Blough, Chairman of U.S. Steel, who had received a letter
from President Kennedy in 1961, warning him not to raise steel
prices. Blough resented Kennedy's interference and said so
publically. Blough was tied in with the Bechtel Corporation. [L.
McCartney, Friends In High Places p107] George Champion, former
head of the Chase Manhattan Bank, (he joined the bank in 1930),
was an associate of Dilworth and of former CIA Director William
Casey, Martin S. Davis of Gulf and Western and Donald Kendall of
Pepsico. [Persico, J. William Casey 1991 p172,458] James McCord
reported "The Chase Manhattan Bank was a former Nixon law client
in the 1960's and its Chairman, George Champion, a close friend of
the President." [Piece of Tape p208] Champion was a
fundamentalist Christian who supported Billy Graham's crusades.
Another associate of Dilworth, John DeWitt, worked with John J.
McCloy on the interment of Japanese Americans during World War
II. Nixon considered Coleman for Watergate Special Prosecutor,
and President Gerald Ford appointed him Secretary of
Transportation. William Coleman examined "Possible Conspiratorial
Relationships" with David Slawson, and worked closely with the
CIA. [NYT 1.14.75 p23, 5.4.73; WR 477; CIA 988-927B, 618-793
Note J. Richardson Dilworth and Richardson Dilworth former Mayor
of Phil. are two different people.]
LEON DAYRIES HUBERT
Leon Dayries Hubert was born in New Orleans, Louisiana,
on July 1, 1911; he attended Tulane University where he became
president of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He received his
degree in law in 1934, and he practiced law in New Orleans. Hubert
was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of
Louisiana from November 12, 1934, to 1942. The FBI: "Hubert was
investigated in 1937 as a departmental applicant. He was under
213
consideration for appointment as Assistant United States Attorney in

New Orleans. This investigation was entirely favorable. He was
considered brilliant, above average in ability, excellent personal
character, habits and reputation." Leon Hubert resigned his post as
Assistant United States Attorney General in 1942 as a result of the
war. In May 1941, a confidential informant told the FBI that Leon
Hubert's name was obtained from ledger cards at the National
Headquarters of the National Lawyers Guild, which had been cited
as a Communist front. [FBI 77-8959-4] Hubert resigned from the
Guild in 1940. From 1945 to 1946, Hubert was again a Assistant
United States Attorney General. In Hubert 1946 he became a law
professor at Tulane University. Hubert was elected District Attorney
of New Orleans Parish from 1954 to 1958. During this time, Carlos
Marcello controlled this office.
The FBI reported:
In 1955 a letter was received by the FBI from the

Anti-communist Committee of the Americas. The
letter, in part, stated that as a condition [prior] to the
last election of the Mayor of New Orleans was his
acceptance of Leon Hubert as District Attorney of
New Orleans Parish [and that] Hubert had been a
protégé of one Dr. Mitchell Franklin, a professor of
law at Tulane University, who was allegedly an
admitted addict of Russian communism, and a long
time Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild.
The letter continued that the Committee would not
contend that Hubert was a Communist or knowingly
aided and abetted subversion; however the
Committee believed that Hubert was inexperienced,
naive, and was permitted to become district attorney
so that there would be no prosecution under the
Louisiana Communist Control Act.
The FBI reported:
In 1956 Leon Hubert contacted SAC Weeks and

offered the service of his wife as a translator of Slavic
languages. Hubert at that time was the District
Attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, and attending a
convention in Miami, Florida. We had no need for a
part-time translator at that time. Bureau files were
reviewed and revealed Leon Hubert had been a
214
member of the National Lawyers Guild (cited in 1944

by the House Committee on Un-American Activities).
The information we received indicated Hubert
resigned from the National Lawyer Guild in May
1940.
In addition, our files show that Guy Banister, former

SAC, had contacted the New Orleans Office in July
1956, and confidentially advised that within a short
time several top heads of the New Orleans Police
would 'roll.' Guy Banister indicated that corruption
among the city officials was great, and indicated that
he had enough on D.A. Leon Hubert and the rest of
the city officials to charge them with malfeasance. He
did not explain, or clarify, the type of charges he
intended to press." [FBI NO 77-72922]
The FBI:
In commenting upon the possible state action, Mr.
Banister said that there is a remote possibility that
Mayor DeLesseps Morrison...and District Attorney
Leon D. Hubert will be implicated on the theory that
they permitted a situation to exist in the department
involving a number of policemen.
Guy Banister wrote:
Cases of malfeasance were prepared, and submitted
to the New Orleans Parish Grand Jury, against
Mayor Morrison, Police Superintendent Provosty A.
Dayries, and District Attorney Leon Dayries Hubert.
These cases were 'tried' before the Grand Jury, and
no indictments were returned.
On June 12, 1956, J. Edgar Hoover asked the New Orleans
office of the FBI to
…conduct complete discreet investigation character
reputation qualifications of Leon Dayries Hubert Jr.
presently Assistant U.S. Attorney New Orleans,
Louisiana. Department applicant. Ascertain particular
kind of practice since admission Louisiana Bar
submitting report by June 17, 1956.
In 1958 Hubert resumed teaching at Tulane. Leon Hubert
was assigned to investigate Ruby by the Warren Commission. In
215
late 1963, Guy Banister appeared on New Orleans television, at his

own expense, to attack Leon Hubert. Guy Banister charged that the
Federal Prosecutors Office, which was once headed by Leon
Hubert, failed to investigate a complaint against Assistant District
Attorney Grady C. Durham, whom Guy Banister believed to be
swindler. Before the HSCA called him as a witness, Leon Hubert
died on March 26, 1977, after an extended illness. He was 65 years
old.
ALBERT JENNER
Albert Jenner served as Nixon’s Minority counsel on the House

Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee studied grounds for
Nixon’s impeachment. Albert Jenner resigned during these
hearings. Albert Jenner handled Oswald’s background. Albert
Jenner, born June 20, 1907, died on September 18, 1988.
216
WESLEY LIEBELER
Wesley Liebeler was appointed to the Policy Planning Office of the

Federal Trade Commission by Nixon. Wesley Liebler supported the
testimony of the Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, at a two day
conference on food prices, on October 30, 1974. [NYT 11.1.74]
Wesley Liebeler handled Oswald’s background. Known as an
extreme conservative, he worked for Carter, Ledyard & Milburn.
[HSCA V11 p390] Tracy Barnes and Frank Wisner also worked
there.
ARLEN SPECTOR
217
Arlen Spector, also Jewish, originally from Kansas, was with the
Office of Special Investigations while he was in the Air Force from
1951 to 1953. He entered Yale University Law School where he was
editor of the Yale Law Journal. He graduated in 1956. He was
appointed to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office in 1958
where he secured the conviction of an important organized crime
figure in 1962, and was offered a position in the Justice Department
of United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Arlen Spector
refused. Spector visited President Nixon at the White House on
November 21, 1969. In 1972 Arlen Spector was head of the
Committee to Re-elect Nixon in Philadelphia.
The Watergate investigation produced this document:

(Deleted)
Philadelphia City Hall
Room 666
(Deleted)
Reliable Engineering Associates
410 Walnut Street
12th Floor
Philadelphia, Pa.
Visual inspection of Room 666, Philadelphia City
Hall, determined it is the main entrance for the office
of Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Spector.
District Attorney Spector is the Chairman of the
Philadelphia Committee to Re-elect President Nixon.
218
Further inquiry determined phone (Deleted) is

specifically assigned to Assistant District Attorney
John Steinberg. On July 6, 1972, (Deleted) Reliable
Engineering Associates, 410 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa. advised that Reliable is a "job-
shop," which bids on many Federal Government
contracts. The president of the company is (Deleted)
a prominent member of the Philadelphia Committee
to Re-Elect President Nixon. (Deleted) was in
Washington, D.C., on business for this committee on
July 6, 1972. [FBI PH 139-115]
Nixon requested Arlen Spector to coordinate his Watergate

defense team in 1973. The New York Post reported: "PHILLY DA
TO DEFEND Nixon? Philadelphia, (AP). Philadelphia District
Attorney Arlen Spector will join President Nixon's Watergate
defense staff and probably be in line to head it, the Philadelphia
Bulletin said today."Arlen Spector handled the facts of the
assassination. He later became a United States Senator from
Pennsylvania. [Who's Who In America; NYT 9.8.73, 10.31.74 and
approx. 12.6.63] In 1995 Arlen Spector became a Presidential
candidate.
FRANCIS W. H. ADAMS
Former New York City Police Commissioner Francis W.H. Adams

also handled the facts of the assassination.
219
MELVIN EISENBERG
Melvin Eisenberg, also Jewish, was appointed to the Federal

Price Control Administration by Nixon. Eisenberg took testimony
from Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt. Melvin Aron Eisenberg -- "Mr. Frazier,
returning to the cartridge cases which were marked earlier into
evidence as Commission Exhibits 543, 544, and 545, and which, as
I stated earlier for the record, had been found next to the window of
the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, can you tell us
when you received those cartridge cases?" Robert A. Frazier of the
FBI -- "Yes, sir. I received the first of the exhibits, 543 and 544, on
November 23, 1963. They were delivered to me by Special Agent
Vincent Drain of the Dallas FBI Office. And the other one I received
on November 27, 1963, which was delivered by Special Agents
Vincent Drain and Warren De Brueys of the Dallas Office."
SAMUEL A. STERN
Samuel A. Stern, also Jewish, was a member of the
Washington, D.C., law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering. He
investigated the performance of the United States Secret Service.
[HSCA JFK Exhibit F-476] He also questioned S. M. Holland but
made no inquiry about the tramps.
220
LLOYD CUTLER
The founder of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering, Lloyd Cutler, also

Jewish, was a Commissioner for Latin America who was in charge
of the liquidation of German assets. He worked with Nelson
Rockefeller. Shortly after the 1964 race riots, Lloyd Cutler was
appointed by Lyndon Johnson to the Commission on the
Administration of Justice Under Emergency Conditions. He later
became a member of the Presidential Commission on Violence.
This Commission reported that the assassinations of Martin Luther
King and John F. Kennedy were products of the national character
of America. Lloyd Cutler was appointed a Director of the School for
Advanced International Studies of Yale University in 1969. In 1989
he was member of the Bush-appointed Presidential Commission on
Ethics, with R. James Woolsey, the former Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency. In 1990 Lloyd Cutler conducted a major
unannounced review of the nation's espionage laws in search of
better ways to apprehend and convict spies like Aldrich Ames Jr.
This panel included Richard Helms, senior State Department official
Seymour Weiss, and current Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
In 1994 Lloyd Cutler was hired by President Clinton as his special
counsel in the Whitewater affair.
Warren Commission staff members included: Edwin A.

Conroy, John J. O'Brien, and Philip Barson a Jewish ex-Internal
Revenue Service intelligence officer.
221
J
JOHN HART ELY
John Hart Ely was appointed as General Counsel to theDepartment
of Transportation by President Ford. He was buried at the Coral
Gables Congregational Church so something tells me he was not
Jewish.
ALFREDDA SCOBEY
222
MURRAY J. LAULICHT (JEWISH)
Murray was Jewish and represented Caesars World in trademark

litigation preventing Trump Plaza Casino from using the name
Trump Palace.
RICHARD MOSK
Appellate Court Justice Richard Mosk, also Jewish, of the 2nd

District (Los Angeles and Ventura counties) is active in the
community. He is the son of former state Supreme Court Justice
Stanley Mosk, who died in June 2001.
223
ALFRED GOLDBERG
Alfred Goldberg, also Jewish, was an Air Force historian. Alfred

Goldberg was recommended to the Commission by Dr. Rudolph
August Winnacker, who was listed in Who's Who in the CIA.
Rudolph August Winnacker, born August 25, 1904, in Germany,
came to the United States in 1919. He became an OSS analyst from
1944 to 1945, and spent time in North Africa and Sicily. Rudolph
August Winnacker worked in William Donovan's research branch
with other refugees, all academicians. From 1945 to 1949, Rudolph
August Winnacker was a historian with the War Department. He
became the Chief of the Historical Division of the Pentagon from
1949 to 1973. Rudolph August Winnacker died in June 1985.
[Rankin/Warren meeting 1.21.64 cited by Brussell in Rebel
11.22.83] Alfred Goldberg: "Winnacker recommended me to Oran
Grover, the Archivist of the United States, who recommended us to
Warren. We were interviewed by J. Lee Rankin." Arthur K. Marmor
was an Air Force historian. Lloyd L. Weinreb was from the Criminal
Division of the Justice Department. Charles N. Schaffer, Jr. was a
former Attorney with the Justice Department, Criminal Division.
Stuart R. Pollock was an assistant to Herbert J. Miller.
ROBERT GERALD STOREY AND LEON JAWORSKI
224
Herbert J. Miller helped choose Leon Jaworski to head the Texas

Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy. The Commission consisted of Jaworski, Texas State
Attorney General Waggoner Carr, and Attorney Robert Gerald
Storey. Robert Gerald Storey was Assistant Attorney of Texas for
Criminal Appeals from 1921 to 1923. From 1945 to 1946, he was an
Executive Trial Counsel for the United States, Nuremberg, Trial of
Major Axis War Criminals, 1945 - 1946. From 1953 to 1955, he was
a member of the Commission to Reorganize the Executive Branch
of United States Government (Hoover Commission). Storey was an
advisor to the Korean Government on the judicial and legal
profession in 1954. In 1959 he worked at the Korean Legal Center.
From 1954 to 1955 Storey was State Department representative in
the Far East and the Middle East to assist legal profession of
friendly free nations. From 1958 to 1962 Storey was the Chairman
of the Board of Foreign Scholarships (International Education
Exchange).
Waggoner Carr stated that the purpose of the Commission

of Inquiry was to have several lawyers who were independent of the
Government, monitor the investigation of the Kennedy
assassination.
Leon Jaworksi was a former prosecutor at Nazi war crimes

trials in Hadamar and Darmstardt. In 1962 Jaworski was appointed
225
Special Prosecutor in the contempt case against Segregationist

Governor, Ross Barnett. Leon Jaworski was an associate of John
DeMenil. Leon Jaworski was a trustee of the M.D. Anderson
Foundation. Congressional Representative Wright Patman's (Dem.-
TX.) Subcommittee on Foundations revealed the M.D Anderson
acted as a conduit for CIA funds. It granted the American Fund for
Free Jurists a half million dollars to further its work. Leon Jaworski
refused to comment about his CIA connections. Jaworski was also a
Director of the Republic National Bank. [Washington Post 2.18.67]
The Warren Commission took testimony from 550 witnesses,

but Leon Jaworski was present at the interrogation of only nine.
[Dallas Morning News 1.5.64 p14 sec. 4] Journalist Dorothy
Kilgallen reported that Jaworski was present at the interrogation of
Jack Ruby, who asked to be transported to Washington, D.C., so he
could talk directly with the President. As a representative of the
Attorney General of the State of Texas Jaworski had the power to
allow Ruby to do this. He said nothing. Jaworski told the FBI he was
not present during the interrogation of Ruby, however, his associate,
Robert Storey, was. [FBI Inter. W/Jaworski 8.24.64 Houston, Texas]
On August 24, 1964, the New York Times reported that Jaworski
was being considered for the position of Attorney General of the
United States should Robert Kennedy decide to run for the United
States Senate in New York State.
The purpose of the Commission of Inquiry was to have two

allegedly independent attorneys, whose credentials were
unquestionable (Nuremberg) give the imprimatur of authenticity to
the Warren Commission Report. Two of its members had close ties
to the intelligence community. In 1975 Waggoner Carr expressed
serious doubts about the efficacy of the Commission of Inquiry.
[NYT 9.3.75 p63]
226
LIAISONS WITH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: HOWARD

WILLENS (JEWISH)
Howard Willens was a liaison between the Justice Department and

the Warren Commission. Willens was the Second Assistant Director
of the Justice Department, Criminal Division. In this capacity, he
worked under Herbert J. Miller. Howard Willens applied for a job as
a law clerk in the anti-trust office of the Justice Department in the
summer 1955. From January 1957, to December 1958, he was in
the U.S. Army. In January 1959 he entered private practice in
Washington, D.C. He visited the Communist-sponsored Vienna
Youth Festival in 1959. The FBI reported:
During the investigation of Howard Penney Willens,

all individuals contacted reported favorably as to
Willen's character, loyalty and associates. The 1961
investigation developed information that he had
attended the Vienna Youth Festival in 1959. The
Vienna Youth Festival in 1959 was supported by the
World Federation of Democratic Youth, cited as a
Communist organization in the House Committee on
Un-American Activities Guide to Subversive
Organizations and Publications, January 2, 1957.
Prior to going abroad, Willens advised the State
Department and the Bureau of his intentions to
attend the Festival and stated his purpose was to
227
minimize propaganda and defend the policies of the

United States. [FBI 62-109060-26 NR 12.27.63]
Howard Willens was contacted in February 1994:
My wife and I were planning to visit Europe when we

learned that some of our colleagues in the University
of Michigan student government were going to the
Youth Festival, which may have been the first held
outside the satellite countries. I was active in the
National Student Association. We wanted to counter
the political thrust of the U.S. student delegation that
was planning to attend the conference. The students
who had attended these conferences in the past
were not representative of students across the United
States. I remember a letter to FBI, not State. It turned
out that the group that was mobilizing these right-
thinking Americans students was funded by the CIA.
The group that was organized out of Cambridge by
some of my colleagues, turned out later to be
stimulated and funded in part by the CIA. Unwittingly,
I was part of this.
Howard Willens was not debriefed by the FBI on his return.

Howard Willens joined the Justice Department in 1961 and served
there as Second Assistant, Criminal Division, Department of Justice.
Howard Willens:
I took nine months out for the Warren Commission.

When I came back, I was promoted to First Assistant.
I left in August 1965. Herbert 'Jack' Miller, my boss,
left in February and served as the Executive Director
of the President's Commission on Crime.
By 1967 Howard Willens was a member of the law firm of

Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering.
STUART R. POLLAK (JEWISH) was another liaison with

the Justice Department. He was Staff Assistant to Assistant
Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice.
JACOB RUBENSTEIN (JEWISH) Warren Commission

consultant on Organized Crime.
228
The last entry, JACOB RUBENSTEIN (AKA Jack Ruby) was

fictitious, but it accounts for the disproportionate number of Jews on
the Warren Commission. Jews did not want to say that another Jew
was a conspirator in this crime against America and feed the rants
of the George Lincoln Rockwell’s of the time with the act of one Jew
that would be used against the many. Sturgis and Hemming were
killers who had personal and ideological beefs with Castro. Hunt
and Phillips hated him for Bay of Pigs. Angleton hated almost
everyone and Kennedy was no exception. Angleton’s hatred was
cultural and well as political as he did not approve of JFK’s lifestyle.
I cannot say one way or the other if John Kennedy was soft on
Communism but if you disagreed with his policies then vote him out
of office, don’t blow his brains out. But Ruby was only in it for the
money. Not only that, if not for the United States and the USSR
Jack Ruby would have been sent to a death camp where he no
doubt would have become a KAPPO, a Jew who led others to their
death. On a brighter side, A. J. Weberman the man who solved the
Kennedy assassination was a stoned JEW and Operations
Coordinator for the Jewish Defense Organization.
RICHARD HELMS
Although not a member of the Warren Commission, DD/P
Richard Helms helped the Commission draw its conclusions.
Hundreds of Commission documents bore his signature. Richard
Helms had copies of the Warren Report hand-carried to CIA stations
throughout the world. He told Senator Howard Baker:
“I knew Hunt relatively well because he and I over many

years worked in the same general section of the Agency." When
Hunt was queried about his relationships with Richard Helms and
Thomas Karamessines he responded: "I have known Dick Helms for
many years. He was Operations Chief for the CIA. He then became
Deputy Director of the Plans Directorate...Karamessines succeeded
Richard Helms as Chief of the Plans Directorate and I saw him from
time to time."
President Lyndon Johnson appointed Richard Helms the

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966. Richard Helms
held this position throughout the Watergate affair, which caused his
departure from the Agency. Before he left, Richard Helms ordered
the destruction of all logs, tapes and transcripts, of office and
telephone conversations dating back ten years, including all
conversations he had in 1963. [RR p203] Since the destruction of
229
the tapes and transcripts occurred immediately after Richard Helms

received word from Senator Mike Mansfield (Dem.- Montana)
recommending the Agency retain any records or documents having
a bearing on the Senate's forthcoming investigation in the
Watergate break-in, the Rockefeller Commission determined it:
Reflected poor judgment. There is no way it can ever

be established whether relevant evidence had been
destroyed...it reflects a serious lack of
comprehension of the obligation of any citizen to
produce, for investigating authorities, evidence in his
possession of possible relevance to criminal conduct.
In 1973 Richard Helms was appointed Ambassador to Iran

by Nixon; he was forced to resign in late 1977, after he pleaded no
contest to one count of misdemeanor perjury. Richard Helms was
pardoned by President James Carter. He was a Washington, D.C.,
lobbyist in the 1980's and in the 1990's ran Parvus Incorporated, an
international security firm. Hemming told this researcher:
Helms knows every fucking thing that was going on.

That's what his job is. How can he cover his political
ass unless he knows what's going on? Of course
they knew the thing was going down, it was so
clumsily being done. That's why there was such an
extensive cover up. They had some people do this
shit who were more or less thugs.
A. J., "Like Frank?" Hemming:
Well, he's a thug. But they were sharp enough to

have the fucking pasty. I mean before they thought
only mob guys knew how to do that. This shows a
level of professional skill that would work in any third
world country. That's why they had to cover it up so
much. To do a job here in the U.S., man, I'll tell ya,
you really got to know your shit. If the real pros did
the job, they wouldn't have to protect a swinging dick,
they wouldn't have to cover up shit. No scandal, no
suspicion, everybody would go to bed at night. It
didn't work that way, did it? More and more shit
surfacing all the time.
230
Other CIA officials who conducted the investigation of

Oswald included Thomas Karamessines. Thomas Karamessines,
61, died on September 4, 1978, of an apparent heart attack. His
death occurred before the HSCA questioned him. Arthur E. Dooley
was one of the CIA men most involved in the investigation. Arthur E.
Dooley, born May 4, 1925, died in March 1980. On April 24, 1964,
Angleton wrote this memo for the FBI Director: "Reply to March 6,
1964, memo asking for information on the Oswald case provided by
Nosenko. Signed James Angleton. See special file." On May 7,
1964, Arthur E. Dooley wrote the following Memorandum for the
Record: "Regarding Noskenko’s knowledge of the Oswald case.
Arthur E. Dooley. See special file."
[NARA 1993.06.19.08:26:17:430000;
NARA 1993.06.19.08:41:54:500000]
William Vincent Broe worked on the Kennedy assassination

case: William Vincent Broe, born August 24, 1913, was an FBI
Agent from 1942 to 1948. From 1948 to 1951 he was in the Military
Intelligence Service of the Pentagon. William Vincent Broe assumed
diplomatic cover and worked out of Tokyo, where he became Chief
of Station. Philip Agee reported that William Vincent Broe was Chief
of the Western Hemisphere Division in 1966, had worked with
Deputy Division Chief Jacob Esterline and Covert Action Staff Chief
Gerry Droller. Gerry Droller died in May 1992. Jacob Esterline was
aware of all of the pre-Bay of Pigs assassination plots against Fidel
Castro. He claimed
…to have had in his possession in pre-Bay of Pigs

days a box of cigars that he been treated with some
sort of chemical. In our first interview with him, his
recollection was that the chemical was intended to
produce temporary personality disorientation. The
thought was to somehow contrive to have Castro
smoke one before making a speech, and then to
make a public spectacle of himself. Esterline
distinctly recalls having had the cigars in his personal
safe until after the left WH\4 and that they definitely
were intended for Castro. He does not remember
how they came into his possession, but he thinks
they must have been prepared by (deleted as of
2010). In a second interview with Esterline, we
mentioned that we had learned of a scheme to cause
231
Castro's beard to fall out. He said that the cigars

might have been associated with that plan. Esterline
finally said that, although it was evident that he no
longer remember the intended effect of the cigars, he
was positive were not lethal. The cigars were never
used, according to Esterline, because WH/4 could
not figure out how to deliver them without danger of
blowback on the Agency. He says he destroyed them
before leaving WH/4 in June 1961. [CIA Misc.
Schemes Prior to 8.60]
In 1970 William Vincent Broe worked on the destabilization

of the Salvadore Allende Government, after which he was appointed
Inspector General of the CIA. Donovan E. Pratt worked on
Angleton’s staff, as DC/CI/R&E. The CIA response to an Freedom
of Information Act request on Donovan E. Pratt was the CIA "can
neither confirm nor deny the past or present affiliation of individuals
with the CIA." Donovan E. Pratt died of cancer on January 22, 1983,
at age 69. Lee H. Wigren was Chief/SR/CI/R. He died November 5,
1993.
Other CIA Staff members involved in the Oswald case were

T. Hall, Kaufman, David Murphy, Spera; Whitten; Stok; Murray;
Jane Roman; Tom Flynn; J. Ludlum; Paul Hartman (all from the CI
Staff) J.C. King (C/Western Hemisphere Division), T. H. Bagley
(SB), E. Mendoza (OS), Sheffield Edwards (OS), Winston Scott,
DAVID Phillips, Ann Goodpaster (Mexico City), Robert Steele
(SOV/SAT OPS) and Joseph Picclo (Cuban Ops).
AEDIPPER-20 AND C/WH/3
The Oswald case was analyzed by AEDIPPER-20 (Yuri
Nosenko) and C/Western Hemisphere/3 (CARIB), J. White. The FBI
objected to its reports being passed to AELADLE (Anatoliy
Golitsyn). On January 4, 1967, the Office of Security of the CIA had
Anatoliy Golitsyn under visual and audio surveillance. On January 3,
1975, the name of Anatoliy Golitsyn appeared on a Index Card titled
"Questionable Activities" which read "Polygraph, Review of
Domestic Activities of Possible Questionable Nature, Cryogenic
Magnetometer, Surveillance - Vans Technical Services Division
Testing."
Cryo is the Latin prefix for cold, and the cryogenic
magnetometer uses liquid helium at 4 degrees Kelvin (K) to create a
very cold superconducting region around the magnetometers
232
sensors. (4 degrees K is four degrees above absolute zero -

absolute zero is the ultimate freezing point. The average
temperature of the universe is 3 degrees K.) At such cold
temperatures electrical currents move with nearly no resistance.
When the magnetized is placed into the sensor area the sample's
magnetic field sets up a current in the superconducting coil. This
current can then be measured. The cryogenic magnetometer is 3 to
4 times more sensitive than the spinner magnetometer and is
capable of measuring even the weakest magnetized sample. Even
the magnetic properties of liquids and live animals can be measured
by a cryogenic magnetometer since the sample does not need to be
spun.
JOHN SCELSO [JOHN MOSS WHITTEN]

John Scelso, a desk officer in the Western
Hemisphere/Division and the Mexico Branch Chief in CIA
Headquarters, testified to the HSCA that he led the Agency's
investigation of the Kennedy assassination, "on the basis of the
observation of Oswald in Mexico (his Headquarters responsibility).
John Scelso stated that the Mexican branch was the only CIA unit
directly involved in investigatory activities related to the Kennedy
assassination." The CIA stated its investigation was conducted by
John Scelso: "Immediately following the assassination, John Scelso
was instructed by Richard Helms, then Deputy Director for Plans, to
coordinate efforts to compile and evaluate incoming information
pertaining to the assassination. Scelso was assigned to this
responsibility due to his past experience conducting internal CIA
security investigations..." John Scelso told the HSCA that Angleton
…was in some way interfering with his function as

the coordinator of the investigation and that at some
time the investigation was turned over from the
MEXICAN DESK to Angleton. John Scelso also
testified that Angleton was talking to the FBI without
receiving authorization from anyone.
On November 24, 1963, a message from Mexico City Chief

of Station, Winston Scott, stated Rolando Cubela was in contact
with Valeriy Kostikov. Angleton was said to have used this as a
pretext to take over the investigation.
Another CIA document stated:
233
After the first few days, the CIA investigation of the

case was handled at Headquarters by a small staff
usually charged with investigation and analysis of the
most important security cases, and by a few officers
and analysts of our Western Hemisphere Division.
[From C/WH3 to DDP no date]
In October 1996 the CIA released Scelso's testimony before

the HSCA:
When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22,

1963, Scelso was chief of a CIA branch responsible
for operations in Mexico and Latin America. Richard
Helms placed Scelso in charge of the assassination
investigation. Angleton, 'immediately went into action
to do all the investigating. Helms called a meeting at
which Angleton and a lot of others were present and
told everybody that I was in charge and that no one
should have any conversations with anyone about
the Kennedy case without me being present, which
was violated from the word go by Angleton, who dealt
with the FBI and the Warren Commission and Allen
Dulles himself...Angleton ignored Helm's orders. I
tried to get HELMS to make him obey and Helms
said - 'You go tell him.' At one point in the 1978
House testimony, committee attorney Michael
Goldsmith was asked, 'Do you have any reason to
believe that Angleton might have had ties to
organized crime?' 'Yes' replied Scelso, who is now
retired and lives abroad, He said the Justice
Department once asked the CIA to determine the
true names of people holding numbered bank
accounts in Panama because the Mafia was hiding
Las Vegas skim money there. 'We were in an
excellent position to do this and told them so -
Whereupon Angleton vetoed it and said 'That is the
FBI's business.' I do believe that I heard that
Angleton was one of those several people in the
Agency who were trying to use the Mafia in Cuban
operations.' [Newday 10.6.96]
ANGLETON AND THE WARREN COMMISSION
234
Angleton asked that his unit be given responsibility for

further research and investigation. Angleton designated Raymond
Rocca as liaison with the Warren Commission. The FBI reported:
Supervisor Sam Papich, through Angleton of CIA,

picked up comments by Allen Dulles to the effect that
J. Lee Rankin is considering an investigative staff to
conduct additional investigation...Frankly, I think
Rankin should be discouraged from having an
investigative staff and that O'Malley should make it
clear to him we stand ready to run out any additional
leads the Commission wants covered. In this light, it
may be well to give Rankin only ten additional copies
of the report at this time. [FBI Memo Rosen to
Belmont 12.17.63 NR 199 12.20.63]
Allen Dulles gave Angleton information on the progress of

the Warren Commission, which Angleton, in turn, gave William C.
Sullivan. [FBI Addendum Belmont (AHB:hmm) 12.17.63] Angleton
coached John McCone, and J. Edgar Hoover, before they testified
before the Warren Commission: "One question will be 'Was Oswald
ever an agent of the CIA?' The answer will be no." [FBI 105-82555-
3689 - NARA 157-10003-10401; CIA 694-302 Helms briefs
McCone.]
THE OFFICE OF SECURITY INVESTIGATION
There was some indication that the Office of Security of the
CIA conducted an investigation of the assassination. A CIA
Memorandum for the Record dated February 20, 1964, stated that
the Office of Security independently furnished the United States
Secret Service with information on the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy. The document noted that Angleton opposed this.
Birch O'Neal: "I indicated my concern that DDP acquired information
from cable traffic of which the Office of Security received copies had
been disseminated to the Secret Service without any apparent
coordination with us." On April 17, 1974, a CIA staff employee
received information that the Office of Security had initiated an
independent investigation into the assassination of President
Kennedy. A review of Office of Security files convinced him this
report was false. [CIA 168-612 - FBI agent, 229-91, 119-51, 116-50,
1272-1028, 1349-483, 555-804; FBI 105-82555-2448, 62-109060-
2877]
235
THE GARRISON INVESTIGATION
The Garrison investigation reflected the strange personality

of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. This researcher
knew Jim Garrison in the mid-1970's. Garrison wanted me to find a
publisher for a manuscript he had written on the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy. When I read the manuscript I found that
it was a fictional work that placed the blame for John Kennedy's
death on the Mossad - the Israeli Intelligence Service. Click HERE
to see video of Garrison. Garrison investigated INTERPEN, but he
focused on Loran Hall. Garrison finally indicted Clay Shaw, who was
not in any way connected to the conspirators. One of Garrison's
major witnesses was Edward Suggs.
EDWARD STUART SUGGS AKA JACK STUART MARTIN
Jack Stuart Martin was born July 1, 1915,

in Phoenix, Arizona. Jack S. Martin
claimed he joined William Pawley's Flying
Tigers before World War II. Jack S. Martin
showed HSCA investigators a letter from
General Claire Chennault, written
sometime during the early 1960's, in
which General Claire Chennault
requested that he work for Chiang Kai
Shek: "They would use World War II
fighters and capture ships going to
mainland China and force them to port in Formosa. Jack S. Martin
236
stated the plan fell through for lack of finances." [HSCA

1801007810416] On November 6, 1939, Jack S. Martin was an
applicant for a position with Naval Intelligence, Washington, D.C. On
January 18, 1940, he applied for a position with the Santa Monica,
California, Police Department. Jack S. Martin went into the Army on
February 27, 1940, in Fort McArthur, California. On March 26, 1940,
Jack S. Martin was a civilian again and applied for a job with the
Hawthorne, California, Police Department. On February 17, 1944,
Jack S. Martin applied for a job with the Memphis, Tennessee
Police Department. On July 28, 1944, Jack S. Martin applied for a
job as a Special Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Jack S. Martin told the HSCA that he
…served in WW II in the Air Corps and served years
in the Pacific where he did a lot of radio work,
including military intelligence work on ships out of
Pearl Harbor. He was near Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. He
received an Honorable Discharge and is very anti-
Communist.
The first arrest of Jack S. Martin took place in on October 24,
1944, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The charge was "inv. susp." On
January 11, 1945, he was arrested for carrying a pistol in Fort
Worth, Texas and on December 12, 1946, he was fingerprinted for
"Special Police, Los Angeles, California." On December 31, 1947,
Jack S. Martin was arrested for disturbing the peace in San Diego,
California, and on May 17, 1949, Jack S. Martin was arrested for
"P/c bond" in Dallas, Texas. On May 14, 1952, Jack S. Martin was
arrested for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the crime of
murder in Houston, Texas. On May 16, 1952, he was charged with
murder in Houston, Texas. The charges were dropped. On January
27, 1953, he was a witness in Houston, Texas. On May 2, 1953,
Jack S. Martin was picked-up in Los Angeles on a warrant that had
been issued because of the murder charge in Texas. He was
released when the L.A.P.D. discovered he was no longer wanted in
Texas. On March 10, 1954, Jack S. Martin was finger printed in
Galveston for vagrancy and drunk. The FBI:
Our files also disclose that in January 1957, we
received information from a local store in New
Orleans that Jack S. Martin had become involved in
an altercation with a woman he claimed to be his wife
in the store and, as a a result, was ejected from the
store. Jack S. Martin exhibited identification to store
237
authorities and claimed to be an FBI agent. We

instituted inquiries in this matter at that time to locate
Jack S. Martin and determined that he was in a
psychiatric ward Charity Hospital New Orleans as a
of January 17, 1957. His psychiatrist informed our
agents that Jack S. Martin was suffering from a
character disorder and indicated an interview of Jack
S. Martin by the Bureau at that time might prolong his
hospitalization.
Another FBI document reported that Jack S. Martin was a
patient in a psychiatric ward in 1956 through 1957. [FBI 62-109060-
4539] The FBI interviewed Jack S. Martin in 1960 about
impersonating an FBI agent.
CARL JOHN STANLEY was a self-ordained Archbishop of

the Metropolitan Eastern Province of the American Orthodox
Catholic Church. Carl Stanley issued false Certificates of Ordination,
and had a long arrest record. In 1950 the New Orleans office of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service tried to deport him. David
Ferrie and Jack S. Martin were Bishops in Stanley's Church.
According to Carl Stanley
…(whom the Louisville Police Department believes is
a mentally unbalanced con-man) Jack S. Martin
claimed to have carried out numerous police
'commissions.' Stanley said that he had indicated that
it was his job to spy on other policemen; and while in
Louisville, Kentucky, he had reportedly worked for
Echo Blue, the publication of the Fraternal Order of
Police. [CIA 1315-1050]
Jack S. Martin spied on Carl Stanley, for the Louisville
Department of Education. The FBI reported that Jack S. Martin had
suggested Carl Stanley was involved in illegal activities including
Fraud against the Government. The FBI ultimately concluded both
men were mentally ill. According to Carl Stanley, Jack S. Martin said
he had worked for the CIA. No documents supported this.
JACK S. MARTIN & JAMES J. MARTIN
Paul F. Gaynor and Newton S. Miler were concerned about

the identity of "Jack S. Martin" and they had Marguerite D. Stevens
of the Security Research Service of the Office of Security of the CIA
make sure he wasn't identical with "James J. Martin," a former CIA
238
Agent who was an alcoholic. [CIA 1315-1050; FBI LS 105-620

2.28.67, 105-82555-2.21.67; Memo Wood/Fensterwald 4.6.70; CIA
1357-506; FBI 62-109081] When M.D. Stevens searched for traces
on Edward Stewart Suggs aka Jack S. Martin there were none. In
the early 1960's David Ferrie stated:
I consider Jack S. Martin mentally emotionally
unstable. He has been in Charity Hospital with
psychiatric bouts of one kind or another. I know him
as a man who is commonly spoken of as a
ambivalent. He plays both sides of the street. Most of
his conversation is spent telling you how he wants to
torpedo somebody...
In November 1963 Jack S. Martin was a candidate for public
office in Louisiana.
BANISTER SLUGS SUGGS

JACK S. MARTIN VERSION
On the evening of November 22, 1963, Jack S. Martin

entered the office of Guy Banister. He wanted the files of Guy
Banister that pertained to Oswald. Guy Banister pistol-whipped him.
Jack S. Martin showed signs of a beating when the FBI questioned
him. The FBI reported:
During the November 25, 1963, interview, it was
evident that Jack S. Martin had recently suffered a
severe physical beating. He said that W. Guy
Banister had 'pistol-whipped' him, that Banister had
been drinking, and that he would not press charges.
Jack S. Martin told the HSCA:
On the same day of the phone call, November 22,
1963, he was drinking in the Katz and Jammer Bar
with Guy Banister and they got into an argument.
They went to Banister's office and, in the heat of the
argument, Guy Banister said something and Martin
replied 'What are you going to do -- kill me like you all
did Kennedy?' Banister drew his .357 magnum and
beat Martin in the head (which required medical
attention, but not serious). When Martin was on the
ground, Guy Banister pointed the gun at his head,
and he believes Banister would have killed him. One
239
of the secretaries, possibly Delphine Roberts, told

Banister not to shoot him. A police report was made
and Banister paid all of the medical bills. Martin
dropped the charges. [HSCA interview with Jack S.
Martin 12.5.77 L.J. Delsa]
DELPHINE ROBERTS' VERSION
Delphine Roberts remembered the incident

…where Guy Banister hit Jack S. Martin with his gun
several times in the head. She stated that Jack S.
Martin came into the office when she was the only
person there. Jack S. Martin jumped over the rail to
the rear section where some files were kept that had
come from Banister's house after he and his wife split
up. While she was asking Jack S. Martin what he
was doing Banister walked in. Banister told Jack S.
Martin that he knew that he stole some files and had
them in his coat and demanded that Jack S. Martin
give the files back. Jack S. Martin shouted words to
the effect that Banister didn't have any right to
accuse him of stealing, and that he (Jack S. Martin),
was leaving the office. When he attempted to leave,
Guy Banister pulled out his gun and hit Jack S.
Martin several times in the head causing some
lacerations. Banister then took Jack S. Martin into his
private office and Delphine could not hear, or see, all
that was going on. Jack S. Martin left the business
and sometime later came back and told Banister he
wanted to go home but did not want to take the bus
all bloody. He asked Banister for money to catch a
cab. Banister gave him the money. This occurred on
the day of the assassination but all the people that
were in the office had gone around the corner to the
bar. She stayed in the office to work.
After Jack S. Martin left, Delphine Roberts and Guy

Banister looked up the Oswald file which was in her
desk because the information had not been mounted
and indexed. She assumes Jack S. Martin was trying
to get Oswald’s file. She remembers that it contained
news clippings. Guy Banister advised her that she
should not talk to anyone about Oswald or any anti-
240
Castro activity that she might have heard about such

as a gun-running. [HSCA interview with Roberts]
Banister and Ferrie must have known Jack S. Martin was a
snitch. When Oswald visited Banister at 544 Camp Street neither
men knew that Oswald was being groomed as a patsy in the
Kennedy assassination so what difference did it make if Jack S.
Martin came across Oswald? Jack S. Martin had heard of Oswald
when Oswald was active in New Orleans during the summer of
1963. He wanted Banister's file on Oswald so he could solve the
JFK assassination and become rich and famous instead of a bum.
He knew of Oswald’s association with Banister. When Jack S.
Martin asked Banister for his file on Oswald, Banister knew that he
was aware of his association with Oswald. Jack S. Martin was
unable to obtain documents on Oswald from Guy Banister.
HARDY W. DAVIS
On November 23, 1963, Jack S. Martin was visited by bail

bondsman Hardy W. Davis. Jack S. Martin concocted a story about
David Ferrie, who he hated, and told it to Hardy Davis. He said he
had seen a photograph of David Ferrie holding a rifle similar to
Oswald’s and that David Ferrie had once discussed a short story
plot which involved the shooting of the President of the United
States. The FBI:
Hardy Davis advised that they discussed remarks
made by Ferrie to the effect that he would like to kill
several Deputy Sheriffs and the Superintendent of
the New Orleans Police Department, whom Ferrie
believed had been persecuting him and caused him
to be arrested for homosexual crimes.
Jack S. Martin told Hardy Davis that a television program
had reported that the library card of David Ferrie had been found in
the possession of Oswald on his arrest in Dallas. This was untrue.
When Hardy Davis heard this he called G. Wray Gil, an employer of
David Ferrie.
While talking to Gil, Hardy Davis advised he heard
that Ferrie had received Cuban literature in Gil's
office, and Gil confirmed this in conversation to
Davis. Davis stated he did not know when the
241
literature was received, or what the nature of the

literature was, which was mailed to Gil's office.
Jack S. Martin said that Hardy Davis remarked he heard
David Ferrie had received literature from the Fair Play for Cuba
Committee, which had been mailed to the offices of G. Wray. If the
literature was not just another figment of Jack S. Martin imagination
it probably came from the Free Cuba Committee. [FBI NO 89-69-
341] Jack S. Martin later told the FBI:
Jack S. Martin does not believe this to be true, as
Ferrie was connected with anti-Castro group that
operated in New Orleans before the Bay of Pigs
invasion. Jack S. Martin states he is acquainted with
the leaders of anti-Castro group, and is well aware of
Ferrie's connection with them.
G. WRAY GIL
G. Wray Gil (born 1901; died October 4,

1972) had employed Jack S. Martin as an
investigator. G. Wray Gil was retained over a
long period of time by Carlos Marcello. He
represented him in 1970 when Carlos
Marcello surrendered to Federal authorities
to serve a two year term for assaulting a
federal agent. He also represented him in
deportation proceedings that year. CARLOS
and Joseph Marcello appeared as a witness
for G. Wray Gil in a Civil proceeding in New
Orleans. On November 23, 1963, G. Wray Gil received a call from a
local television newsman inquiring as to the whereabouts of David
Ferrie and his whereabouts on November 22, 1963. G. Wray Gil
said he was with David Ferrie on November 22, 1963, until 12:15
p.m., then had seen him again that night at a victory party for Carlos
Marcello. G. Wray Gil related this to the FBI. When the FBI
questioned David Ferrie, he explained he was in the New Orleans
Federal Court Building on November 22, 1963, for the final day of
Carlos Marcello'S deportation trial then left on a trip to Texas. When
the FBI questioned G. Wray Gil he denied having received literature
from the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
242
On November 23, 1963, Jack S. Martin called New Orleans

Assistant District Attorney Herman Kohlman and said that in 1955
Oswald and David Ferrie were in the Civil Air Patrol together. Jack
S. Martin told Major Presley J. Trosclair of the New Orleans Police
Department the same story. Jack S. Martin hoped to advance his
career as a professional informant by supplying the FBI with this
information. Jack S. Martin, however, told the HSCA that since he
had made "the first phone call on November 23, 1963, he had been
a branded man. People no longer asked for his help and his
business contacts went down to zero." On Monday, November 25,
1963, Jack S. Martin went to FBI S.A. Regis Kennedy with the story:
Jack S. Martin, 1311 North Prieur Street, New
Orleans, Louisiana, advised that he was listening to a
television program on WWL-TV reported the life of
Lee Harvey Oswald and reporting various interviews
with people in New Orleans that were acquainted
with Oswald. Jack S. Martin stated that one of the
people interviewed whose name he not know, aged
early 20's, wearing horned-rim glasses, recalled that
Oswald had been active in the Civil Air Patrol with
David Ferrie. Jack S. Martin stated that when he
heard this he flipped. Jack S. Martin advised that in
his occupation as a private investigator he had an
occasion to develop considerable information about
Ferrie and reported it to one Richard E. Roby,
Special Agent, Investigative Division, Office of
Compliance and Security, Federal Aviation Agency,
Washington, D.C. who must have a big file on Ferrie
as they conducted a complete investigation of his
activities in New Orleans several years ago. Jack S.
Martin advised that he called WWL-TV Station and
furnished the station with background information
about Ferrie, particularly his homosexual tendencies
and that the fact he formerly operated the Civil Air
Patrol. He also told them that Ferrie was an amateur
hypnotist and may have hypnotized Oswald and
planted a post-hypnotic suggestion that he kill the
President.
Jack S. Martin stated that he has visited in the home

of David Ferrie and he saw a group of photographs of
various Civil Air Patrol cadet groups and in this group
he is sure he saw several years ago a photograph of
243
LEE Oswald as a member of one of the classes. He

stated he did not recall the group that Oswald was in
or any other details...
Jack S. Martin advised that he had reported this

matter to Major Trosclair of the New Orleans Police
Department, Intelligence Division, and he felt that
Major Trosclair was not giving the matter sufficient
concern so he called Assistant District Attorney
Herman Kohlman who was a former newspaper
reporter and who was very familiar with the Ferrie
case as a he had written various feature stories
about Ferrie. Jack S. Martin stated that he explained
all of his ideas and suspicions to Kohlman.
Jack S. Martin advised that he was really suspicious

of Ferrie's activities when he received a report from
W. Hardy Davis, a New Orleans Bail Bondsman, who
told him that G. Ray Gill, New Orleans attorney and
employer of Ferrie had called him to locate Ferrie
who lives down the street from him and at the same
time had denied to the TV station that Ferrie was an
employee of Gill's office. Davis furnished Jack S.
Martin information that Ferrie had left town for Texas
on Friday evening, November 22, 1963, which
information he also made available to Mr. Kohlman.
Jack S. Martin stated that Ferrie is a completely
disreputable person, a notorious sex deviate with a
brilliant mind being highly trained in mathematics,
sciences, several foreign languages including Latin,
Modern Greek and ancient Greek. Jack S. Martin
advised that Ferrie had been education in a seminary
and subsequently expelled from the Catholic Church
and he, Jack S. Martin, suspected him of being
capable of committing any type of crime. Jack S.
Martin stated that he felt that Ferrie's possible
association with Oswald should be the subject of
close examination as a he personally believed that
he could be implicated in the killing of President
Kennedy.
Marina Oswald was questioned about a "Mr. Farry" after the
assassination. [Lardner Wash. Post 4.2.67]
244
JACK S. MARTIN TELLS GARRISON HE SAW BANISTER WITH

OSWALD
On April 24, 1967, Jack S. Martin told the FBI that "in
December 1966, Pershing Gervais asked him to come to the
Fontainebleau Motel, Room 125 and told him, Jack S. Martin, that
he had a civil case against David Ferrie and asked Jack S. Martin
for information against Ferrie." [FBI 62-109060-5159] Jack S. Martin
told him had seen Oswald and Banister together. In January 1967
Garrison subpoenaed Jack S. Martin to appear before a New
Orleans Grand Jury.
Like most professional informants, Jack S. Martin was a liar

and a mental case but knew how to stay alive. He never mentioned
having seen Oswald when he spoke with the FBI in November 1963
because he feared Carlo Marcello. He told the Bureau that he
believed Edward Voebel was correct and that Oswald and Ferrie
knew one another from the Civil Air Patrol. Hemming told this
researcher: "People don't understand that the Ferrie-Marcello thing
was an entirely different thing." All that Jack S. Martin knew was that
Oswald was connected with Banister and Banister was connected
with David Ferrie. The rest of the information he supplied Garrison
was false. The HSCA interviewed Jack S. Martin:
Jack S. Martin had seen Oswald with Ferrie in Guy
Banister's office, located at 544 Camp Street. On the
day that President Kennedy was assassinated, Jack
S. Martin saw a rifle (Mannlicher-Carcano) on TV and
remembered that he had seen one just like it in David
Ferrie's apartment. Jack S. Martin called friend who
was an Assistant District Attorney, Herman
Kohlsman, and told him about seeing Oswald with
Ferrie and about the gun. Jack S. Martin feels this
was the first call anyone made to the New Orleans
District Attorney. As a a result of that call David
Ferrie's apartment was raided by Special
Investigators of Jim Garrison. Ferrie was later
arrested and released. [HSCA 1801007810416]
The FBI: "Had Mr. Banister had previous contact with
Oswald before the assassination, he would have immediately
contacted us and reported this information." Jack S. Martin
telephonically contacted S.A. Regis L. Kennedy on January 27,
245
1967, and demanded that the FBI stop Jim Garrison from harassing
him. The FBI reported via S.A. Regis Kennedy:
…the scope of Garrison's investigation is that there
was a conspiracy which originated in the room above
W. Guy Banister’s (Deceased) office in New Orleans
and that there was a second assassin firing at
President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. W. Guy Banister
formerly operated a private investigating office in
New Orleans and was a retired SAC of the FBI.
NO 1309-C, a private investigator, advised
that he has been conducting investigation for the
Trailways Bus Line, regarding thefts from the New
Orleans terminal, and one of the individuals under
investigation is “DAVE LEWIS.” NO 1309-C
interviewed LEWIS in connection with the alleged
theft and during this interview LEWIS advised that he
had been interviewed by the District Attorney’s Office
and told the District Attorney’s Office that he met Lee
Harvey Oswald in the office of W. Guy Banister.
LEWIS claimed that the District Attorney’s Office had
given him a polygraph test and that he, LEWIS, had
passed this test. NO 1309-C advised that the District
Attorney’s Office had also interviewed a person by
the name of Carlos, whose last name sounded like
GERRO, probably CARLOS QUEROGA, and a man
named SERGIO, probably SERGIO ARCACHA
SMITH. NO 1309-C advised that DAVE LEWIS is a
former employee of W. GUY BANISTER and he is
appartently identical with the individual named
DONALD LEWIS, whose name was furnished by
JACK F. MARTIN, on January 13, 1967. The above
information is being furnished to the Bureau of its
information. No investigation is being conducted by
the New Orleans Office. [NARA 124-10073-10348;
FBI 124-10073-10348; FBI 62-109060-4539]
About the time David Ferrie was found dead in his apartment
on February 22, 1967, Jack S. Martin reportedly left town. The CIA
reported:
Jack S. Martin’s wife, when interviewed during the
period of his disappearance, stated that such a
disappearance was not unusual, as a he takes off
246
alone for several months every year. She admitted

that he drinks a great deal, but maintained that he is
a 'plain, ordinary man who makes model planes for
his (9 year old) son and a chapel (a religious chapel
in the house) for his wife and hundreds of
ecclesiastical heraldry for his friends.' According to
Mrs. Martin her husband since the war has been a
reporter, public relations man and private
investigator.
It would appear that Jack S. Martin is “Bishop” John

J. Martin who is referred to in an FBI report on the
Lee Harvey Oswald case dated February 28, 1967,
which Mr. Scott Miler recently furnished this office.
According to his report, Carl John Stanley aka “The
Most Reverend Christopher Maria Stanley” of
Louisville, Kentucky advised the Bureau on February
28, 1967 that John J. Martin had associated with
David William Ferrie who Martin told him had been
involved in a plot against President Kennedy.
According to Stanley, Martin claimed to have been in
the Air Force during World War II, to have worked for
CIA, and to carry out numerous police commissions.
Stanley described Martin as aw white male, 40 to 50
years of age, 5’9” in height and weighing 150 lbs.
[CIA 1357-506]
In August 1967 Jack S. Martin telephoned the Washington,
D.C., offices of Reis R. Kash, Military Police Detective, C. I. Jack S.
Martin wanted the unlisted telephone number of Grady Clifford
Durham:
This is to certify that at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 1, 1967, I was working in my office
when I received a telephone call. The caller identified
himself as a Mr. John Martin. He stated that he was
working for Jim Garrison out of New Orleans. Before
this time I had never heard of John Martin and had
no knowledge of Jim Garrison other than that
obtained through the news media.
Martin stated that he was in the Washington, D.C.

area looking for a former lawyer from New Orleans
named Grady Clifford Durham. Martin stated he had
to find Durham in furtherance of an investigation he
247
was conducting for Garrison. Martin stated that

Durham had been apprehended in Washington, D.C.
after absconding with funds belonging to certain of
his clients and that Durham had returned to the
Washington, D.C. area. Martin stated he has not yet
been able to locate Durham, who reportedly was
living in Hyattsville, Maryland. He asked that I
determine Durham's address or telephone number
through records at the telephone company. Martin
stated he could not make this check himself as a he
did not have any effective contacts in Washington,
D.C. He stated that after he found Durham's
telephone number was restricted he had called New
Orleans asking various friends for contacts in
Washington, D.C. HE stated he had been given my
name by a New Orleans police officer, whom he
named. (This police official has acted as an informant
for me in the past. In order to preserve this relation, I
decline to identify this official unless it is absolutely
essential that I do so.)
In order to preserve my relation with the informant, I

told Martin I would try to get the address or phone
number of Durham for him. Martin stated that he
could be reached at the following local telephone
number 387-4488.
After completing this conversation, I telephoned my

informant in New Orleans and asked him to verify his
relation with Martin. He stated that he knew Martin
and asked that I give him limited assistance. I told the
informant I would make a telephone check, but I
would not get too involved with Martin.
On the afternoon of August 1, 1967, I made a check

through the Provost Marshall, Liaison Section,
Defense Central Index, Fort Holabird, Maryland, on
Grady Durham. I was advised he did not have a
criminal record. The researcher advised that Grady
Durham was born 1907 and was a cousin to
Governor Davis of Louisiana. The researcher
conveyed to me that Grady Durham was the Subject
of several intelligence files. I told the researcher I did
not want to be exposed to any intelligence
248
information and directed that the files be returned to

the stacks immediately.On the morning of August 2,
1967, I had the telephone files checked and was
advised that Durham's unlisted telephone number
was 474-0088.
At about 8:30 a.m. August 2, 1967, I telephoned

Martin at the number he had provided. a woman who
did not identify herself answered the telephone. I
asked for Mr. Martin and after a short while Mr.
Martin came to the phone. Martin, who has a deep
voice and New Orleans accent, sounded loggy when
he first answered the telephone. I thought at first that
he had been drinking the night before and I
apologized for waking him up.
Jack S. Martin stated that he had once shared an office with
Grady Durham, and that Grady Durham had drawn up the charter of
a Cuba-oriented organization. Edward Jack S. Martin claimed
Hanes Johnson used him as a source. In December 1967 Jack S.
Martin wrote to an "intelligence agency which conducts
counterintelligence investigations," probably the Army Counter-
Intelligence Corps. This agency sent Sugg's information to the CIA.:
The main body of the letter relates to his charges
against one William Hardy Davis. He stated that
there is 'one guy involved in this last bribery deal
here who was formerly a bail bondsman at that time.
I'd sure like to get the dirt on. So would Jim Garrison
too.' He stated that Davis goes to Mexico frequently
and 'We know he's mixed up with un-American
activities during his sojourns outside the country.
He's been under charges here on homosexual
violations upon occasion, as a well as a other
matters. Although he's always been able to make
some kind of deal and get off the hook every
time...He's been going down on boys for years.' [CIA
MFR 12.19.67]
Jack S. Martin kept changing his story. He came up with two stories
that were in the news then said he saw Oswald with Banister then
said he saw Oswald with Ferrie. All he knew was that Oswald had
some connection to the 544 Camp Street scene.
DAVID FRANKLIN LEWIS
249
David F. Lewis was born May 12, 1940, in Houston, Texas;

he was the son of a diesel engineer and he had a General
Equivalency Diploma from Warren Easton High School in New
Orleans. He claimed military service in the United States Navy from
May 29, 1958, to July 17, 1958. David F. Lewis worked for Guy
Banister in 1958, or 1959, as an office boy. In 1961 the FBI
interviewed David F. Lewis regarding an allegation of voting
irregularities in New Orleans. The FBI:
Files of the New Orleans Office in case entitled
'Unsub, Employee of Registrar of Voters, New
Orleans, Louisiana; David Franklin Lewis, Jr. victim.'
CR EL in report of S.A. John T. Reynolds dated
October 5, 1961, reveal that investigation based on
information from Jack S. Martin, part time private
detective, to the effect that a friend, David Lewis Jr.,
had attempted to register to vote on two or three
occasions and on each Mr. Gallinghouse had either
refused to accept Lewis as a registrant or had
permitted him to fill out a card and thereafter advised
Lewis he had made mistakes and could not be
registered. [NARA FBI 124-10073-10361]
In 1966 New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison began
his investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by reviewing all the David Ferrie, Guy Banister, 544 Camp Street
documents in the National Archives that had been dismissed by the
FBI. Jack S. Martin heard of District Attorney Garrison's
investigation, and in an effort to fabricate corroboration for his story
contacted David F. Lewis, who worked as a baggage handler. Lewis
told New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison:
I have never previously been interviewed by the FBI
or any other agency on this matter. During the
months of January 1961 through January 1962, I was
employed by Guy Banister and Associates as a
private investigator. In the late summer of 1963 I was
reporting to the Louisiana State Employment Office
at 601 Camp Street seeking steady employment.
Several times I stopped by Guy Banister's office,
before going into the office, I stopped by Mancuso's
Restaurant which is on the corner of Guy Banister's
office. I noticed Sergio Arcacha, CARLOS [LNU -
BRINGUIER?], and a fellow who I was introduced to
250
by CARLOS as a LEE HARVEY in the restaurant.

When I first seen LEE Oswald in the restaurant he
didn't talk much, but he seemed anxious about
getting on his way. Oswald appeared to be a highly
nervous man with boundless energy. CARLOS,
Sergio and LEE Oswald were involved with some
business that dealt with Cuba...a few days either
before or after Mancuso's, I went into Banister's
office. I went in, they shut the door to the inner office
as a if highly confidential. In Banister's office was
Banister, David Ferrie, Arcacha and a slim, sandy-
haired young man. This man could very well have
been Oswald. By the way, Louise Decker happened
to be in the office at this time.
Lewis was asked by Louis Ivon:
Q. Approximately how many times have you seen
LEE HARVEY, who you later identified as a Lee
Harvey Oswald?
A. No more than four times, each time in the

company of Carlos.
Q. The day that you first met him, were you

introduced to him?
A. Yes.
David F. Lewis had not seen Oswald in the company of Guy
Banister or David Ferrie in the summer of 1963. Oswald was trying
to establish his bona fides as Castroite and would have never been
seen in public with anti-Castro types at this time. David F. Lewis did
not tell his story in 1963. The FBI:
Lewis stated he had not furnished this information to
the Warren Commission or the FBI and had not been
interviewed by the FBI in connection with the
investigation of the assassination of President
Kennedy.
On February 21, 1967,
PCI Mr. George Clark Johnston who has been
subject of limited contact, reliability undetermined,
advised he observed David Lewis on television in
New Orleans commenting on the Kennedy
251
assassination investigation. Johnston advised at the

time of the Kennedy assassination Johnston ived
with Lewis at 1407 Conti Street, Apartment C, and
was a close confident of Lewis at the time. He
advised that at no time during the period of Kennedy
assassination did Lewis ever indicate he had any
knowledge of the Kennedy assassination. At no time
did Lewis ever indicate that he was acquainted with
any Cuban refugees. [FBI 62-109060-4526]
In 1967 David F. Lewis told the Associated Press that his life
was in danger. [NO DA Doc 12.15.66 Lewis Statement; NARA FBI
124-10073-10361] Jack S. Martin telephoned David F. Lewis and
questioned him about David Ferrie and Oswald. He recorded this
conversation.
Ray Berg, President, Pacesetter Publishing, 107
Camp Street, advised the FBI that Jack S. Martin
sent him a thirty second excerpt from this tape in the
hope of selling it. Berg stated that in a conversation
with Jack S. Martin, various names have been
dropped by Jack S. Martin, such as a David Lewis,
David Ferrie, Carlos Quiroga, Sergio Arcacha Smith,
Guy Banister, a woman named Louise, who is Guy
Banister's secretary, and a Dr. Cardona.
The FBI (1995) withheld information on David F. Lewis.
Reports of television broadcasts of David F. Lewis were deleted.
[FBI 62-109060-4527; New Orleans Times Picayune 2.67 p4] In
1968 David F. Lewis applied for a job with Avis Rent-a-Car. The
interviewer felt that Lewis was either a mental case or on narcotics.
David Lewis told the interviewer he was married in April 1962 and
presently has four children but their whereabouts are unknown. [NO
FBI 89-43-5737; FBI 62-109060-4504 2.20.67 teletype re: Lewis
mostly w/h; NARA FBI 124-10249-10027]
FERRIE'S TRIP TO TEXAS
252
FERRIE WITH BOP VET JULIAN BUZNEDO
David Ferrie knew Oswald and was involved in anti-Castro

activities, but he had no knowledge of the conspiracy to assassinate
President Kennedy. Who would have told him about the plot?
Oswald? Oswald had no knowledge of the plot. David Ferrie left
New Orleans on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 6:00 p.m. by
automobile, for Houston, Texas, accompanied by Melvin Coffey and
Alvin Rolan Beauboeuff. He did not mention having attended Carlos
Marcello'S victory party. The group checked in at the Alamotel in
Houston, Texas, early Saturday, November 23, 1963. David Ferrie
made several telephone calls from the motel, including one to G.
Wray Gil. After speaking with G. Wray Gil, he went to the Winterland
Skating Rink, where he made pay telephone calls while Alvin
Beauboeuff and Melvin Coffey skated. When he returned to the
motel room, David Ferrie called Carlos Marcello'S Town and
Country Motel in New Orleans in search of G. Wray Gil. The number
Ferrie dialed, 833-3757, was a switchboard. He could have spoken
with G. Wray Gil after G. Ray Gil consulted with Carlos Marcello,
who had an office in Town and Country Motel. The FBI transcribed
this number as UE-33757, (it was VE-3-3757). [FBI HO 62-2115
JES/1c] In 1969 a Minnesota man pointed this out to the FBI. The
FBI claimed this information was
…undoubtedly the handwritten notation of the
employee of the motel and the error is the type that
would occur if handwriting were sloppy. Houston also
sent teletype November 28, 1963, to New Orleans
253
containing same information. New Orleans advised

Ferrie previously interviewed and stated made phone
calls from instant motel, including call to VE-3-3757
which is Town and Country Motel in New Orleans,
attempting to locate his attorney, G. Ray Gil. New
Orleans also recognized radio station as WDSU
since this is a major radio station in the area. There
could be no confusion between UE and VE prefixes
of telephone number since U and V and both at the
number eight position on the telephone dial while
New Orleans had a VE exchange and there was no
UE exchange. Teletype concerning same date further
reflected that there was no typographical error but
rather that information reported as recorded is motel
records. [Bishop/A. Jones 6.3.69 cc: Sullivan to
Branigan]
David Ferrie and his boyfriends figure-skated at Winterland late
Saturday afternoon November 23, 1963, before driving one hour to
Galveston, Texas, where they arrived at 9:00 p.m. and checked into
the Driftwood Motel in Galveston.
ALVIN BEAUBOEUFF
In August 1993 Alvin Beauboeuff was contacted by this

researcher. He related that he first met David Ferrie in the Civil Air
Patrol:
Dave, at that particular time, was
accused of a crime against nature
with someone I knew. A real scuze-
ball named Mike Crouchet. Ferrie
asked me to be a character witness
against him in court. It never went
that far. After Dave lost his job with
Eastern Airlines, the judge threw it out. It never went
to trial. Dave was bisexual. No other Civil Air Patrol
members came forward and said, 'He did it to me
too.' I was a teenager back then. If I had any better
254
sense, I would have never got mixed-up in it. My dad

died when I was 13. Anytime I had a problem in
school I went to Dave's house for some help. He had
a blackboard there. He wouldn't quit until you
understood what he was trying to teach you. There
wasn't anything he didn't know about. He had a lot of
radical beliefs. He was involved with the Cuban
Revolutionary Front, Arcacha. They talked a lot. I
never heard the conversations. Dave had worked in
conjunction with Guy Banister when they were
working on the Carlos Marcello case. Banister was a
private investigator making his living off attorneys.
Alvin Beauboeuff was asked to comment on the previously
cited document:
Damn, that never popped up before! Wow! I never
knew anything about that. Jack S. Martin had put
Oswald and Ferrie together right after the
assassination. He told New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison that Oswald and Dave were great
buddies. If Oswald was in fact hanging around the
Camp Street location Jack S. Martin would have
seen him, or talked to him, or met him, because Jack
S. Martin was around there himself all the time.
That's how you got that tie. I remember the old son-
of-a bitch. I think he died in 1966. I don't know if it
was a natural death or not.
According to Alvin Beauboeuff, the address 618 North
Pierce, was that of Melvin Coffey. As for the blonde, white female,
name unknown he said,
Whoa, where did she come from? Hello, no man. If
I'd had a blonde bitch in there I would have known all
about it. I promise you there wasn't no bitch there.
Dave and I had a swinging pad before I was married.
We had girls goin' in and out of there like crazy. But
on that trip there was just the three of us. I placed the
call to Alexandria. Dave called and talked to G. Wray
Gil, who told him someone had implicated him in this
Oswald thing. Dave was at the telephone at the rink.
He was always on the phone with somebody. In 1966
Garrison offered me money and job to testify that I
knew Clay Shaw. Perry Russo came out making a
255
bundle. I never did meet Perry Russo and I

practically lived in Ferrie's house. The trip to Texas
had been planned two weeks in advance. It all rolled
out. The trial finished up and we just went. Unless
Dave had some unique way of engineering me into
going there.
On Sunday, November 24, 1963, David Ferrie, Alvin
Beauboeuff and Melvin Coffey drove back to New Orleans. They
stopped at a service station with a television, and saw Ruby kill
Oswald. David Ferrie then made several pay phone calls. Layton
Martens reported having received a call from David Ferrie at about
3:00 p.m. Layton Martens: "After Jack S. Martin had related that
Ferrie had stated the President should be killed and had outlined
plans to this effect, he talked with G. Wray Gil [who said] there was
nothing to worry about." Layton Martens said that when he inquired
if the call was local or long distance David Ferrie replied that it was
none of his business. During the conversation David Ferrie stated
the name of Oswald "did not ring a bell with him and that he did not
know him...Layton Martens said he knows David Ferrie to be a great
admirer of President Kennedy."
When Alvin Beauboeuff, Melvin Coffey, and David Ferrie

reached New Orleans, David Ferrie dropped off Alvin Beauboeuff
and Melvin Coffey near his home, and drove to Hammond,
Louisiana, where he stayed with a friend. [FBI 62-109060-4447, 62-
109060-4515, #89-69 New Orleans 11.27.63 p219, 62-109060-
1294; HSCA V5 p114] When Alvin Beauboeuff returned to David
Ferrie's apartment he was arrested, and then released after David
Ferrie gave himself up.
DAVID FERRIE'S LIBRARY CARD

Jack S. Martin started the rumor that Oswald had David
Ferrie's library card in his possession after his arrest in Dallas.
Layton Martens told the police the on November 22, 1963, G. Wray
Gil visited him and asked to relay a message to David Ferrie that his
library card had been found among Oswald’s effects. When the New
Orleans Police arrested David Ferrie on November 26, 1963, he had
his library card on his person. [FBI 105-82555-330, 104-82555
3.8.67 TNG, 62-109060-252]
Mrs. Jesse Garner, Oswald’s former landlady in New

Orleans, told the HSCA that David Ferrie visited her home on the
256
night of the assassination and asked about Oswald’s library card,

but she refused to speak with him:
I just opened the door and he came in, and he said,

'I'm David Ferrie.' Well, I thought he was one of the
FBI men or newsmen...He just merely said, 'What's
all this?' He said they found his library card on
Oswald. When he said that, I knew he had nothing to
do like the other guys, the FBI, or anything like that.
That's when I get him off my back. I said, 'Get out.'
He left right away. [HSCA testimony of Mrs. Jesse
Garner]
David Ferrie was out of New Orleans when this allegedly

occurred. Oswald’s neighbor in New Orleans, Alexander Eames,
stated:
One time I was down to the main public library in

New Orleans. I was going in and out browsing, and I
came face to face with Oswald. After the
assassination the local newspaper picked-up this
incident. The day after the newspaper came out
relating the fact I had seen Oswald in the library - I
wasn't home - but David Ferrie came to my door and
he stood out to my wife. He had a cheap wig and
painted eyebrows. He said, 'Is your husband home?'
She said, 'No, what do you want?' He said, 'I would
just like to ask your husband if, when he saw Oswald
in the library, whether he got close enough to see
whether he used his own library card or my library
card?' I thought that was very interesting because a
lot of people deny there was even any connection
between Ferrie and Oswald. If they were exchanging
library cards there must have been some connection.
I don't recall when this happened..."
Both of these stories about David Ferrie were false. Nothing

was found among Oswald’s possessions that linked him to David
Ferrie.
THE FBI QUESTIONS DAVID FERRIE
On February 13, 1964, Raymond Comstock of the Jefferson
Parish Sheriff's Office
257
…advised the New Orleans Office of the FBI he was

assigned to the District Attorney's office shortly after
the assassination and was attempting to locate David
Ferrie, an alleged associate of Lee Harvey Oswald.
During an attempt to locate Ferrie, Comstock
secured some documents from Ferrie's residence.
These were two undated letters addressed to Jack
Wasserman signed D. W. Ferrie; one letter appears
to be a corrected copy of the other; an undated letter
addressed to Jack signed Dave; an undated letter
addressed to Jose Juis LaRoca, Guatemala, and the
first page of Ferrie's bankbook with the Whitney
National Bank of New Orleans. Comstock obtained
this material without a warrant and Ferrie was not
present...The material that Comstock furnished
indicates Ferrie was in Guatemala in October and
November 1963 making inquiries on behalf of Jack
Wasserman, attorney for Carlos Marcello.
David Ferrie told the Secret Service that he made a number
of trips to Guatemala on behalf of Carlos Marcello. During his last
trip, in early November 1963, he flew Taca Airlines and made one
stop in Mexico City. [USSS 620] Ferrie's bankbook showed that
large amounts of money had been deposited in David Ferrie's
account in October and November 1963. In 1978, during secret
testimony before the HSCA, Carlos Marcello acknowledged having
given David Ferrie these funds, but claimed that he had paid David
Ferrie to investigate the credibility of a government witness in the
immigration case that was pending against him. The FBI did not
determine the source of the funds deposited, or the purpose for
which they were withdrawn, although the Bureau assumed the
source was Carlos Marcello. [FBI 62-109060-4521, 5296, 5241,
5295, 5334, 4521; NO 89-1-9-3437]
On September 30, 1968, NO T-2 advised that (deleted) and
(deleted) of (deleted), Louisiana State Police are suspected by him
as being connected with (deleted) as they have been seen on
numerous occasions at the Town and Country Restaurant.
According to source (deleted) and (deleted) were formerly in
business with David Ferrie and owned a piece of United Air Taxi
Business in New Orleans. Source stated that he had information
that (deleted) car was at one time parked at David Ferrie's
residence, and they believe that (deleted), (deleted) and (deleted)
258
were associated together in United Air Taxi. (Deleted)." [FBI NO 92-

10976-2]
FERRIE DENIES KNOWING OSWALD
The FBI questioned David Ferrie on November 25, 1963.
Ferrie stated that he does not know Lee Harvey

Oswald and to the best of his knowledge Oswald was
never a member of the Civil Air Patrol Squadron in
New Orleans during the period he was with that
group. Ferrie said that if Oswald had been a member
of the squadron for only a few weeks as had been
claimed, he would have been considered a recruit
and that Ferrie would not have had any contact with
him...Ferrie said that to the best of his knowledge he
does not know any individual named Lee Harvey
Oswald nor has he ever known the individual
represented by photograph presented to him as that
of Lee Harvey Oswald in the Civil Air Patrol, in any
business connection or in any social capacity...He
stated that on November 9, 1963, and November 16,
1963, he was at Churchill Downs, which is a farm
owned by Carlos Marcello, mapping strategy in
connection with Marcello'S trial.
Ferrie told the FBI about his skating trip to Texas and said
that he understood that Jack S. Martin had accused him of having
had an association with Oswald. He said he first met Jack S. Martin
in the fall of 1961 and
…since that time Jack S. Martin has attempted to

insert himself in his (Ferrie's) personal affairs...He
stated that Jack S. Martin began visiting him at the
office of Attorney G. Wray Gil and that Mr. Gil did not
want Mr. Jack S. Martin hanging around his office.
Ferrie claimed that in June 1963 he put Jack S.
Martin out of Mr. Gil's office in an undiplomatic
manner, and that since that time Jack S. Martin has
bedeviled him in every possible manner...Ferrie
stated that from approximately November 1960 until
August 1961, he was associated with the Cuban
Revolutionary Front in New Orleans. He stated that
he had been actively engaged in working for the
Cuban Revolutionary Front collecting money,
259
medicine and clothing for the organization, as well as

giving talks before various citizen's groups. He stated
that at the time he was associated with the Cuban
Revolutionary Front the office of the organization was
located in the Balter Building, and that Sergio
Arcacha Smith was head of this organization in New
Orleans. Ferrie stated that he has never known of the
Cuban Revolutionary Front maintaining an office at
544 Camp Street, nor does he have any knowledge
of Sergio Arcacha Smith maintaining an office at that
address during the time he was head of the
organization and later he was replaced. Ferrie said
that the Cuban Revolutionary Front was definitely an
anti-Castro organization, and that all persons
connected with the organization were violently anti-
Castro. Ferrie said that he has not had any
connection with the Cuban Revolutionary Front or
any other anti-Castro organization since August
1961...Sergio Arcacha Smith gave up leadership of
the organization and was replaced by an individual
named Rabel.
The only statement the FBI attempted to verify regarded the

airworthiness of Ferrie's private airplane. David Ferrie claimed it had
not been airworthy since 1962. When the FBI checked with the
Federal Aeronautics Administration, it discovered that the agency
considered the plane to be currently airworthy. [FBI 62-109060-from
SAC Houston 62-2215 teletype 11.26.63; FBI 62-109060-482,313]
David Ferrie was re-interviewed on November 27, 1963:
Ferrie advised at time of Bay of Pigs invasion of

Cuba he was very much embarrassed and
concerned over the lack of air cover provided, and
severely criticized President Kennedy both in public
and in private. Ferrie stated that he had never made
any statement that President Kennedy should be
killed with the intention to do so, and has never at
any time outlined any plan or made any statement as
to how this could be done or who should do it. Ferrie
said he is very outspoken and may have used an
offhand or colloquial expression / he ought to be shot
/ in expressing his feelings concerning Cuban
situation.
260
He denied having met Oswald in the Civil Air Patrol.

Interview of David W. Ferrie reflected in report of SA
WARREN C. DEBRUEYS, Dallas, December 2,
1963, entitled Lee Harvey Oswald.
S.A. REGIS KENNEDY
On December 10, 1963, in an affidavit for S.A. Regis
Kennedy, Ferrie wrote:
I have no records or recollection, to my knowledge, to

show that Lee Harvey Oswald was, or was not, a
member of this particular unit of the Civil Air Patrol.
To the best of my knowledge and belief I do not know
Lee Harvey Oswald and have no personal
recollection of having met him. If I ever did meet him
it was very casual and, to the best of my recollection,
I have definitely not seen him in recent years. [FBI
NO-44-2064 12.10.63, 62-109060-1294, NO-89-69
p341 11.26.63, 62-1090604-891]
Jack S. Martin reported:
Regis Kennedy used to come around [544 Camp

Street] and was friendly with people in Guy Banister's
office. Regis also spent a lot of time north of Lake
Pontchartrain by the Cuban training camps
On May 17, 1967, S.A. Regis Kennedy appeared before the

New Orleans Parish Grand Jury during the "Jim Garrison
Investigation." He invoked executive privilege in response to several
questions. [FBI 62-109060-5255 5.18.67] Regis Kennedy wrote:
I was asked if I knew W. Guy Banister

and I told him yes. He then asked if I
ever visited Banister's office and the
identity of anyone I observed there. I
answered that I had been in Guy
Banister's office, and that the only person
I could recall observing when I was there was Jack S.
Martin and two women, whose names I could not
recall. I was also asked of my knowledge of the
relationship between Banister, Arcacha Smith and
Oswald. I answered that I did not know...I was asked
if I knew Dean Andrews and I acknowledged that I
261
did...During the questioning concerning Andrews I

was asked by a member of the jury whether I had
investigated Dean Andrews and I replied that my
contacts with Dean Andrews were set forth in the
Warren Commission report. [FBI TO SAC from Regis
Kennedy 5.18.67 - 5255]
When the HSCA contacted Regis Kennedy he said: "He

doubted there was any connection between Marcello, Ferrie and
Banister et. al. to the assassination," and referred the Committee to
DeBrueys. A message from the New Orleans FBI Field Office to the
Director regarding the testimony of DeBrueys and Regis Kennedy is
still mostly withheld as of 2010. [NARA FBI 124-10031-10275; FBI
62-109060 1st. NR 5175 dated 5.8.67]
LAYTON MARTENS
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison interviewed
David Ferrie's friend, Layton Martens. Layton Martens had been
arrested for attempted homicide and had told the FBI he feared Jim
Garrison calling him as a witness, because:
…cross-examination might reveal Cuban

Revolutionary Front CIA affiliation in 1961, and
dealings with the late Attorney General Robert
Kennedy, and subsequent discontinuing of plans for
a Cuban second invasion.
He believed such testimony would have lent credence to

New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's contention that anti-
Castro Cubans were involved in the assassination. In August 1993
Layton Martens stated:
We were getting sometimes as many as 5,000

Cuban refugees a day into the Port of New Orleans.
We started as a volunteer Agency between the
Cuban office, which was Arcacha Smith, the Mayor's
office, and the State of Louisiana, to take care of
these people. What we were doing was prioritized by
Robert Kennedy under aegis of the President
because of specific facts that were being revealed by
refugees regarding nuclear weapons in Cuba.
262
Layton Martens claimed that in 1968 United States Attorney

General Ramsey Clark suggested that he leave Louisiana, and go
to Washington, to avoid testifying on this point. Layton Martens:
Garrison was the most patently evil individual I ever

knew. He molested a young boy at the Athletic Club.
Jack Anderson ran the story. The kid's uncle was a
Monsignor in the Catholic Church. Now that the kid is
grown up, he doesn't mind talking about it. I can't
prove it, but bribery was involved in the Garrison
investigation. He dug up some witnesses. David
Ferrie was a good American, he was not a
homosexual, he was not some kind of weird fanatic
creep. Otherwise he would not have been working
under the Attorney General. There were letters about
this, but they are missing. His arrests for
homosexuality were manufactured. There was a
serious recanting, and the charges were dropped.
David Ferrie and my mom were very close after her
divorce, and the two were talking about marriage.
David Ferrie was just your basic, good American,
who was doing the right thing. He didn't work for
Carlos Marcello. He worked for G. Wray Gil. G. Wray
Gil was in a law firm representing many people.
Ferrie could have flown Carlos Marcello back to the
United States. I wasn't there. I know he found a way
to work with the Administration to get Carlos Marcello
back into the country. Cause the Attorney General
had boo-booed. You can't just kidnap people, even
though he was late for a deportation hearing.
Understand, everyone wants to write books that say,
'He knew Carlos Marcello, he must have been in with
the mafia.' Ruby probably knew Carlos Marcello too.
Who cares? I been ignoring all this crap for 30 years.
In 1962 Layton Martens explained to the New Orleans FBI

that he had been arrested by the New Orleans Police because he
was associated with the Cuban Revolutionary Front, some of whom
were homosexuals.
MARGARITA MARTENS
In 1978 the mother of Layton Martens, Margarita Martens,
was confined at Southern Baptist Hospital, diagnosed as
schizophrenic. The HSCA interviewed her:
263
Subject denies writing a letter concerning an

assassination plot and states that she wrote her
priest a letter dealing with her father beating her. She
met David Ferrie in 1961 and didn't associate with
him in 1963. He was her son's leader in the Civil Air
Patrol. She never met Lee Harvey Oswald. If she
wrote a letter about an assassination plot, it was
while under the influence of pills and after her son's
arrest during the Garrison probe.
Layton Martens complained to the HSCA that its

investigators woke his mother up from sleep and made accusations
about her having been involved in the Kennedy assassination.
[HSCA 5.17.78 Martens Int.] Layton Martens told the FBI that David
Ferrie had blackmailed Carlos Marcello into buying a gasoline
station for him because "Ferrie had something on him." [FBI 62-
109060-251; CIA 1362-1061A; FBI 62-109060-7077 2.26.73; Look
Magazine 8.26.69; FBI 62-109060-5815 10.13.67] On January 24,
1964, William David Ferrie supplied the FBI with information on
Edward Jack S. Martin activity in regard to phony degrees and
awards. [FBI 63-4296-33-596]
DEAN ANDREWS
Dean Adams Andrews (born October 8, 1922; died April

1981), was an attorney for Carlos Marcello. [CIA 1359-503] Dean
Andrews attended law school with Warren DeBrueys. New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison could not question S.A. DeBrueys
264
about Guy Banister because when the Garrison investigation began

in March 1967, the FBI had S.A. DeBrueys transferred from New
Orleans to Washington, D.C. On May 6, 1977, SAC DeBrueys
resigned from the FBI after 27 years of service.
Dean Andrews began his association with Carlos Marcello in

1950 or 1951, during the early stages of Carlos Marcello'S
deportation case. In 1951 Dean Andrews applied for the position of
FBI S.A. but was never employed. In 1954 Dean Andrews found
employment with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. While
he was in the Immigration and Naturalization Service he became
acquainted with FBI S.A. Regis Kennedy. Dean Andrews became
an Assistant District Attorney in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
Jefferson Parish was as tightly controlled by the mob as Cicero,
Illinois, was at the height of the Capone era. Frank Langridge was
District Attorney and the boss of Dean Andrews. The Chief
Investigator under Frank Langridge, Joseph "Zip" Chimento, had
been convicted of having bribed a witness in 1943 to help two Cosa
Nostra mobsters. Before Joseph Chimento worked for Frank
Langridge he worked as a collector for Carlos Marcello. While Dean
Andrews was an Assistant District Attorney, he continued practicing
law and defended employees of Joseph, Peter and Anthony
Marcello. [FBI 62-109060-5255; Weisberg Oswald in New Orleans
p140; FBI 62-109060-1522; Epstein Counterplot p26; Brener p57;
Life 9.8.67; undated Times-Picayune article in ARA files]
OSWALD VISITS DEAN ANDREWS
On November 25, 1963, Dean Andrews
…who is presently confined to the Hotel Dieu, with

pneumonia, telephonically advised SA Regis L.
Kennedy that Oswald had talked to him, date not
known, about getting a Dishonorable Discharge
changed. Andrews stated that Oswald was a walk in
client, did nothing about it, and doubts that he has
any record. Andrews stated Oswald accompanied by
another individual. In a later interview Andrews
related to the FBI that he had first met Oswald in late
June 1963, when Oswald appeared at his office with
several companions he believed to be homosexuals.
Oswald requested his assistance in making inquiries
concerning his Dishonorable Discharge from the
Marine Corps.
265
Oswald was trying to upgrade his discharge to a

General, or a less than honorable, when he was
dealing with Dean Andrews. He eventually planned to
go back on fucking active duty again. Not just to get
his benefits, because he came in 1955 or 1956. Any
post-1955 people didn't get the fucking G. I. Bill at
that time. The discharge didn't mean shit to him.
Nobody gives a fuck what kind of discharge you have
when you go around and get a job. Later on, during
the Vietnam thing, they tightened up on it. That's the
promise that's held out. They'd tell him: 'We can't
intervene because it would look like you are being
paid off.' They would have told him, 'Here's what you
do on your own, get a lawyer, do this.' And they
would suggest a lawyer that was in the fucking loop.
Dean Andrews had done a couple of discharge
upgrade cases for homosexuals who had been put
out on a Section Eight. He'd worked on those and it
was an easy thing. A matter of paperwork. He'd done
it before. He was a parking ticket fixer type. Was he
hooked-up with Banister? More than likely. Lawyers
always use these sleazy P.I.s."
Oswald left the Marines on a Hardship Discharge and his

U.S. Marine Corps discharge card that stated that he had been
Honorably Discharged. He could have used this card to obtain
employment. [WCE 1413]
Dean Andrews affirmed he talked with Oswald two or three

times but never opened a file on him. In 1964 Sergeant R. M. Davis,
U.S. Army, retired, who was employed as a private investigator by
Dean Andrews, recounted that in June 1963, Dean Andrews
discussed with him the procedure required to amend or correct a
Marine Corps Undesirable Discharge. Sergeant R. M. Davis,
however, could not locate any record on Oswald.
ANDREWS ASKED BY CLAY BERTRAND TO DEFEND
OSWALD
Dean Andrews stated that on the evening of November 23,
1963, while he was in the hospital, Clay Bertrand called him and
asked if he would be interested in handling Oswald’s defense, then
266
told him he would call back later. He never did. Andrews told the FBI
on November 25, 1963,
that on November 23, 1963, one Clay Bertrand, a

French Quarter queer, called Andrews and asked
him if he would undertake the defense of
Oswald...The next day, [November 24, 1994] Dean
Andrews called New Orleans attorney Sam Monk
Zelden to ask him if he would be interested in
assisting in Oswald’s defense. As they were
speaking, Sam Monk Zelden received the news that
Oswald was dead.
SAM MONK ZELDEN
The FBI interviewed Sam Monk Zelden on November 25,
1963. He confirmed parts of Dean Andrews' story. In a telephone
interview, Mrs. Zelden established that her husband passed away
on September 19, 1981, after suffering "something similar to a
stroke in 1976." Sam Monk Zelden had mentioned the telephone
call to her.
EVA SPRINGER
Dean Andrews called his secretary, Eva Springer, at 4:00
p.m. on November 23, 1963; he conveyed he "was representing
Oswald in Dallas and was told that Bertrand hired him..." On
November 25, 1963, Dean Andrews "called Eva Springer and asked
her to locate any records on Clay Bertrand, but has not been able to
locate his name - he's unknown to her." [Unmarked FBI index card
"No rpt." Clay Bertrand 12.6.63 12.5.63 p36 Springer to Dean
Andrews] During his Warren Commission testimony, Dean Andrews
claimed soon after he was released from the hospital his office was
burglarized.
Why Dean Andrews came forward with this story was

unclear. The FBI began to interview Dean Andrews on a weekly
basis. Each time, his story changed. On December 3, 1963, Dean
Andrews assured the FBI that the telephone call was a "dream he
had during sedation." Sergeant R. M. Davis thought the call Dean
Andrews received at the hospital was "a dream." During Dean
Andrews' testimony before the Warren Commission, he returned to
his original story. Dean Andrews contacted the United States Secret
Service in 1966 and professed to have some new information to
indicate Oswald didn't act alone: "I'm 40% sure I know the identity of
the person who was responsible for Oswald killing the President."
267
The United States Secret Service declined to send an agent to

Dean Andrews' home to interview him, and advised him to visit its
offices.
GARRISON INDICTS DEAN ANDREWS FOR PERJURY
When New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
subpoenaed Dean Andrews to testify before a New Orleans Grand
Jury in 1967, his testimony changed. He was indicted for perjury.
Dean Andrews left his post as a Jefferson Parish Assistant District
Attorney. His law practice suffered, and he took a job at a Marcello-
owned Bourbon Street bar. Dean Andrews was convicted of perjury
in August 1967 and he received an 18-month jail term. He appealed
the conviction and was released on $2,500 bond. He still maintained
he could not identify Clay Bertrand. New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison had his investigators comb the New Orleans French
Quarter for Clay Bertrand, but they found nothing. [FBI NO-100-
16601 12.5.63; FBI 62-109060-1522, 4648, 5520, 4821, 5112;
USSS CO-2-34,030-12.19.66, 2.20.67, 3.30.67] In June 1967, the
FBI learned from a confidential source that a homosexual in New
Orleans who used the pseudonym Clay Bertrand was Eugene Clair
Davis.
EUGENE CLAIR DAVIS
FBI traces were highly deleted, but
nonetheless revealed that Eugene Clair Davis
(born July 8, 1924) worked for Carlos
Marcello. One trace disclosed: "Davis had
retained an attorney who represented New
Orleans hoodlum, Carlos Marcello." [FBI 62-
109060-5442; FBI 104060-5455] Eugene
Clair Davis owned Wanda's Bar, a
homosexual hangout. George Wray Gil Sr.
was his attorney "for the transactions on buying Wanda's." Eugene
Clair Davis had worked at the Court of Two Sisters. On April 28,
1960, a Potential Criminal Informant file was opened on Eugene
Clair Davis by the New Orleans FBI Office and he was designated a
criminal informant on October 11, 1966. [FBI 137-7386-3] Eugene
Clair Davis furnished extremely valuable information over a period
of years. His information led to the arrest of a number of fugitives.
The file of the New Orleans FBI Office indicated he was contacted
about the Kennedy assassination, but possessed no information.
The file did not indicate he used the alias of Clem Betrand. [FBI
Memo Branigan to Sullivan 6.22.67] Eugene Clair Davis had eight
268
arrests: "Two City Misdemeanors; Two State Misdemeanors; Four,

Felony." In January 1968 Eugene Clair Davis was arrested for
obscenity that involved a sixteen year old boy. [FBI 62-109060-
6113]
ANDREW'S TESTIMONY AT THE TRIAL OF CLAY SHAW
On February 26, 1969, Dean Andrews testified
…that the telephone call he received on November

23, 1963, while being confined to the Hotel Dieu
Hospital, New Orleans, was from Eugene Davis. He
testified that he had known Davis for a number of
years and that he had known Davis six months to a
year before he was introduced to Davis as Clay
Bertrand at the wedding he had previously testified
about. He testified he had represented Davis on legal
matters since 1951, and knew Davis well enough so
that he could recognize Davis' voice on the
telephone. He testified he never observed Davis with
Oswald. He testified he never identified anybody as
Clay Bertrand, and used the name merely as a cover
name for Davis. In regards to the telephone call,
Andrews testified that it was he, not Davis, who
suggested representing Oswald. He testified that I
suggested I would be famous of I went to Dallas to
defend Oswald. That anybody who defended him
would be famous. He testified he had no explanation
why he called Attorney Sam Monk Zelden about a
trip to Dallas. Andrews testified that in his
appearances before the Warren Commission and the
Orleans Parish Grand Jury, he was never given a
chance to explain, and the reason he did not name
Eugene Davis was that he wanted to protect him. In
regards to the name Clem Bertrand, he testified that
the only time he met anyone using that name was at
the wedding previously testified about. He testified
that during his appearances before the New Orleans
Parish Grand Jury he was forced into making
conflicting statements because he was being
hemmed in by his previous testimony before the
Warren Commission. He testified that when he was
being interviewed at the Hotel Dieu Hospital by FBI
S.A. Regis Kennedy, he was trying to think of a name
269
to use as a cover name, and finally decided to use

the name Clay Bertrand. He testified the only portion
of his testimony before the Warren Commission
which are true is that part about Oswald coming to
his office to seek legal advice. Andrews was then
questioned extensively about his testimony before
the Orleans Parish Grand Jury. He testified that
whenever he mentioned the name Clay Bertrand to
the Grand Jury, he was talking about Eugene Davis.
Andrews was then excused as a witness. [FBI 62-
109060-6793]
Had Carlos Marcello asked Dean Andrews to defend Oswald

and was Andrews afraid to name him? Was his report to the FBI a
compromise with his conscious? NBC reported Eugene Clair Davis
was Clay Betrand. Eugene Clair Davis was linked to Oswald by
other dubious witnesses.
During the Garrison investigation, New Orleans landlady and

FBI informant, BETTY PARENT, stated:
You should check into the waiters who worked in the

Court of Two Sisters during the summer of 1963 as
she heard that at least one of the waiters had said
that Oswald stayed in one of the upstairs apartments
at the Court for a while. She said that PETE Marcello
had something to do with the Court. Eugene Davis
lost his job with the Court because of Oswald’s visit.
Davis was involved in blackmailing queers. His
information came from FBI Agent Regis Kennedy.
[Regis Kennedy Memo Sciambra / Garrison interview
with BP-12.18.67; FBI 62-109060-5240; CIA 4793,
4928]
BETTY PARENT also advised that on the past week end

subject DALZELL attempted to persuade SERGIO ARCACHA
SMITH of the Frente Revolucionaric Democraticio (FRD)(Cuban
Revolutionary Font), to purchase two submarines which DALZELL
alleges are tied up near Houma, Louisiana. [FBI 124-10288-10386]
270
The FBI: "The Court of Two Sisters on Bourbon Street was

operated by Nunzio Pecora, the brother-in-law of Joseph Poretto."
[FBI teletype TO SAC NO from DIR Onozio Pecora 2.16.65] Nunzio
Pecora and Joseph Poretto ran a restaurant and lounge at the Town
and Country Motel during the 1950's. Nunzio Pecora was an ex-
convict with an extensive past history in heroin trafficking. From the
271
Town and Country he directed a call-girl ring and in the late 1950's
Nunzio Pecora took over operation of Carlos Marcello'S Tropical
Tourist Court and Trailer Camp. Nunzio Pecora was one of Carlos
Marcello'S three most trusted aides, and law enforcement
surveillance reports indicated a particularly close relationship in the
early 1960's, with Nunzio Pecora always close at hand at Carlos
Marcello'S headquarters at the Town and Country Motel. The FBI
reported: "Investigation by the New Orleans office reveals Pecora
meets and discusses activities with many prominent New Orleans
underworld figures." [FBI 92-8100- 1.15.65 pages deleted] Betty
Parent furnished Jim Garrison's investigators with a description of
the waiter, but not his name. Betty Parent repeated gossip that
probably originated with Leander D'Avy, a punch drunk alcoholic.
LEANDER D'AVY (born January 26, 1924) was a retired

member of the U.S. Air Force who was employed from 1959 to 1963
as the doorman at the Court of Two Sisters. Leander D'Avy advised
the FBI in 1968 that in 1962 he,
First saw individual later identified as Oswald.

Oswald asked for Clay Bertrand. Sent to Eugene
Davis, night manager, Court of Two Sisters. Talked
about one hour. Oswald left the bar. As he was
leaving, Davis pointed out Oswald to the bar maid
and told her that he had just come back from the Iron
Curtain...Saw Oswald twice. Second time was about
six months before Kennedy was assassinated.
Oswald was in a room at the Court of Two Sisters
with four or five others. Eugene Davis was
there...Claims Carlos Marcello ran Court of Two
Sisters. Told Garrison what he told the FBI. Did not
testify.
[FBI NO 89-69 1A-139] D'Avy also claimed to have been

"backhanded" by Jack Ruby in the parking lot of the Court of Two
Sisters.
Leander D'Avy waited five years before he came forward.

This was suspicious. In 1977 Leander D'Avy told the HSCA:
Well, in 1960, I retired out of the Air Force, after 20

years. I went to work at the Court of Two Sisters in
New Orleans, as a doorman. And in 1962 this young
man walks up to me and asks me if there was a Clay
272
Bertrand working there. I told him I don't know any

Clay Bertrand. [I asked the] night manager, Eugene
Davis in the tavern 'Gene, do we have a Clay
Bertrand working here?' And Eugene said 'Send the
young man in here, I'll talk to him.' Clay Bertrand,
that's probably a code name. Just like that. So I sent
him on in, about an hour later the young man walks
out, Eugene Davis comes up to the door where I'm
standing, talks to one of the waitresses in there, and
he says 'See that young man? He's just come from
behind the Iron Curtain.' Well, I didn't put no
assassination n' that together - it hadn't happened
yet.' Two weeks before the assassination I was
called one Saturday morning to pick up my check. I
walked into the patio and asked where Eugene Davis
was, they said he's up there in the store room. So I
went up there and it wasn't no storeroom, they had a
little apartment up there, had a bed in it, had five men
in it. One of them was Oswald, I recognized him after
the assassination. He was laying across the bed.
One of them was David Ferrie. When I went up to
Jim Garrison's office I knew it was going to get back
to Carlos Marcello or one of them, that I'm talking.
And my life won't be worth a plug nickel if they find
out. Right then and there I moved out of New
Orleans, right the next day. I went to Jackson,
Mississippi. I have seen pictures of the other two
men [with Oswald, David Ferrie and Davis] in the
Enquirer, the tramps, the little one in that picture was
the guy that had the whiskers...I could identify [two]
tramps. I don't know their names. All I know is I can
identify 'em when I see 'em. One - ah, two of the
tramps was, I'm pretty sure, CIA - former CIA men, or
something. I never heard no talk [the tramps were
Hunt and Sturgis]. I'll take a polygraph test on
everything I told you, that's just the way it was, the
way it is. I believe there was at least two guys who
used to belong to the CIA...two CIA men that were
members of the Bay of Pigs, along with a bunch of
Cubans. I think them Cubans were from the Bay of
Pigs invasion.
273
Leander D'Avy tried to sell his story to the tabloid, Midnight.

The HSCA asked him if he had received psychiatric care. He said
he had not. In December 1977 Leander D'Avy was interviewed by
HSCA investigator L.J. Delsa. This time he said he had inquired of
the bookkeeper, Margaret Tannenbaum, if Clay Bertrand worked
there, and Eugene Clair Davis overheard him. Leander D'Avy stuck
to his tale about having seen the tramps, and stated that Nick Karno
owned the Court of Two Sisters. L.J. Delsa reported: "Nick Karno is
a Marcello associate and is alleged to have his names on
businesses in the French Quarter that are actually Carlos
Marcello'S. In 1959 a confidential source indicated that Nick Karno
was going to South America, and seemed to be helping procure
arms for Fidel Castro. Nick Karno is presently fighting trial dates
which his attorneys have been successfully putting off since his
murder indictment in 1974..."
A distant cousin of Leander D'Avy was contacted: "I thought

he had died. He was an individual that had been inflicted by
encephalitis as a child and he roamed a lot. He was a merchant
seaman in his younger days. It's been 30 years since I've seen
him." The brother of Leander D'Avy, Nuby D'Avy, was contacted:
Leander died February 1986 in Jackson, Mississippi.

He went in the hospital for a checkup and the nurse
left him with something, and she went back, and he
strangled on himself, and he went into a coma. He
told me he might come into some money because he
knew something about the Kennedy assassination.
And he had heard about it, he had nothing to do...My
brother was in Navy. He's got three boys in
Mississippi. Charlie, Nuney and Philip. He told me he
had information about it, and he was going to talk
with the FBI, and he might not live long. Somebody
was going to be after him to kill him or something. He
said he knew something. That's all he told me. No
details.
Leander D'Avy had lied to his brother. HSCA investigators

talked with Eugene Clair Davis several times during October and
November 1977. He denied knowing, or ever having seen, Oswald.
Eugene Clair Davis stated that "there were rooms above the Court
of Two Sister's Patio, but they were used as storerooms, and Nick
Karno had an apartment up there that no one could use except Nick
Karno." According to Perry Russo: "Eugene Davis was bludgeoned
274
to death about ten years ago by a trick of his. He was into sadism.
They caught the guy, I think. He was tried...it was in the paper in
1977, 1978. Ask a quarter-hound. He owned Wildside, a gay bar.
His assailant was ruled insane." [Russo, Perry 741 Navarre Ave NO
LA 70124 telephone 504- 488-4439]
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison indicted GORDON

DWANE NOVEL for complicity in the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy. In his youth, Gordon Novel belonged to a neo-
Nazi group and was arrested and charged with bombing a Metarie,
Louisiana, theater that admitted blacks. Later, he sold spy devices
in New Orleans. Gordon Novel claimed he worked with the Cuban
Revolutionary Front during the Bay of Pigs, as a Director of the CIA
proprietary, the Evergreen Advertising Agency, and had created
cryptographic messages for the CIA.
This was true. The CIA reported: "There is no record of any

utilization of Gordon Novel, Sergio Arcacha Smith or Evergreen
Advertising Agency. In addition to Office of Security records,
WH/CUBA, RID and CI Staff were checked for possible indication of
operational involvement. Howard J, Osborn May 1, 1967."
In September 1961 Gordon Novel took part in the burglary of

a Schlumberger munitions bunker. He informed the FBI:
Schlumberger Well Service had an arrangement with

the CIA wherein it leased a bunker in which
ammunition, bomb casings and other materiel would
be stored for the CIA. Eventually the materiel would
be shipped out of the United States in Schlumberger
boxes marked 'Machinery.' The explosives would
then be shipped by boat to Cuba where they were
275
going to be used in a diversionary operation during

the Bay of Pigs invasion.
The CIA verified Gordon Novel's statement:
Novel has claimed to the press that the munitions

from the bunker were to be used for a diversionary
operation during the Bay of Pigs invasion. Agency
officers familiar with the operation at the reactivated
Naval depot, the Belle Chasse Ammunition Depot,
have indicated that such a diversionary operation
was based at Belle Chase, but that operation was
canceled before a landing was made. Any number of
participating Cubana would be aware such a
diversionary operation was planned.
After the Bay of Pigs, Schlumberger became upset

and wanted out of its CIA contract; three months after
the invasion, arrangements were made for the
materiel stored in the bunker to be removed by Novel
and his group. At the time the material was removed,
an individual involved took some of Schlumberger's
low grade powder and fuses and other material, and
the incident was reported as a burglary.
FBI 62-109060-4634:
(Gordon Novel had a previous history of assembling bombs).

Gordon Novel said the crates of arms were stamped with the word
INTERARMCO. [Police Record Jefferson Parish 1953; Memo
Ivan/Garrison re: Novel rec. check; Flammonde Kennedy
Conspiracy p76; Wardlaw Plot or Politics p113; New Orleans
States-Item 4.25.67; Hunt Day p182 CIA 1332-502, 1045] Gordon
Novel reported that Andrew Jerome Blackman, David Ferrie, Sergio
276
Arcacha Smith, and Luis Rabel were involved in the burglary. In a

telephone interview with this researcher, Luis Rabel denied he met
David Ferrie or Guy Banister, but said he knew Sergio Arcacha
Smith. Regarding the burglary,
Well, I used to run a dry cleaners, and I had a truck

that I used to loan to about 40 or 50 exiles here.
Arcacha asked me to loan him the truck to move
some furniture. Whether the truck was used to move
anything other than furniture is beyond me.
Gordon Novel told the press: "It was one of the most patriotic
burglaries ever committed...the CIA virtually gave us the key to the
bunker...my fellow burglar, Arcacha Smith, and I are still employed
by the CIA." [FBI 62-109060-4789, 4707; NYT 4.5.67; New Orleans
States-Item 4.25.67]
A company that marketed surveillance equipment reported in

1965 that Gordon Novel had placed an order with it using a fictitious
address. Later that year, he appeared at the Lost and Found
counter at New Orleans Airport to inquire about some misrouted
bugging equipment. Gordon Novel explained to the FBI he had
demonstrated the equipment to the State Department. On
November 22, 1966, Gordon Novel was made an FBI Potential
Criminal Informant. [FBI 62-109060-4707; FBI NO 137-2936] He
furnished the FBI information on the Garrison investigation that
indicated Jim Garrison was hostile to that agency. J. Edgar Hoover
commented: "More & more it becomes evident we should stay as far
away as we can from this shyster [New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison]."
At the beginning of Garrison's investigation in 1967, Gordon

Novel had offered New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison his
services; when he discovered he was to be called as a witness,
however, he called the FBI and said he had watched the home of
David Ferrie at 5:30 a.m. on the day David Ferrie was found dead,
and had seen Jim Garrison leave the house. When Gordon Novel
was interrogated by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
about the munitions bunker operation, he called the New Orleans
Domestic Contacts Division of the CIA for advice. He then fled to
McLean, Virginia, where he took a lie detector test from retired Army
Intelligence Agent and former policeman from the District of
Columbia, Lloyd Furr. [CIA 1332, 502, 1045, 1316, 475D, 1345,
1057]
277
The CIA reported that a Lewis B. Furr was connected with

Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby. The brother of LLYOD FURR, La
Vonne Boden Furr, was the managing editor of American Mercury.
[CIA OS 407 890]
Lloyd Furr, a former District of Colombia policeman

and now a private detective, is a self-proclaimed
polygraph expert and sound device specialist. He has
received publicity in the past for planting sound
devices for the late Fulton Lewis Jr. in the St. Mary
County Vice case in 1953 and in 1958, when he

discovered listening devices being used against
Bernard Goldfine. In 1964 information was received
that a Washington, D.C. firm, REDEX, operated by
Furr and Richard L. Bast was attempting to sell
electronic equipment to Communist China via an
agent in Hong Kong. (TSD had unclassified contract
with FURR in 1962 to see equipment offered for sale
by FURR.)
Richard L. Bast, a Washington, D.C. private

detective, gained notoriety in 1965 by turning up a
missing witness, previously unlocated by the
Department of Justice, in connection with the Bobby
Baker case. He is known to operate at least for
enterprises 1) Capital Bureau of Investigation, a
private detective agency; 2) REDEX VIETNAM, INC.
A firm which imports a variety of commodities ranging
from liquor to automobiles into South Vietnam,
including, of late, U.S. recruited 'go-go' girls for a
278
Saigon nightclub he is planning; 3) REDEX CORP, a

firm which sells almost anything to anybody abroad
other than South Vietnam and 4) Consolidated
Armaments, a firm which sells small arms to foreign
governments and private individuals abroad. Bast
also produces and distributes both positive audio,
and counter audio, devices in the U.S. and overseas.
Bast, described as 'unscrupulous and untrustworthy,'
is known to have attempted to contract with another
private detective for planting a remote controlled
bomb in the headquarters of the Haitian Secret
Police, and has been reported to have undertaken
similar extreme assignment for exile groups from
Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
CA Staff has provided information that during

January 1967 William W. Turner, who identified
himself as a free lance writer, visited the offices of
the Asia Foundation, requesting information for a
magazine article. He stated that he had been asked
by Sol Stern of New York to gather information for an
article in The New York Times. During his visit,
however, it became obvious that Turner was primed
to ask questions about the financing of the
foundation, rather than its actual purpose or
activities. When Turner concluded his interview, he
left a calling card with the firm name 'REDEX-
PACIFIC.' He explained he had to have new cards
printed. Turner, reportedly dismissed from the FBI in
1961, is noted to have authored an article in the
November 1966 issue of Ramparts Magazine in
which he describes alleged wiretapping, surreptitious
entry etc. performed by him while in the FBI. Sol
Stern, who he claimed to represent, is assistant
managing editor of Ramparts Magazine. [CIA 1332-
502/1045]
On April 29, 1963, Robert E. Owen, then Chief, WE/3, and

now of (deleted as of 2010), directed a Memorandum to the Chief,
Western Hemisphere/6, in which he documented a conversation he
had with anti-Duvalier exile Raymond Cassagnol and Richard Bast.
Robert E. Owen had been introduced to Richard Bast by his
neighbor, Lloyd Furr. Robert E. Owen stated: "Bast, in spite of
279
certain personal shortcomings from the intelligence standpoint, does

represent an established channel to one segment of the Haitian
opposition to Duvalier." The CIA claimed Richard Bast was linked
with William Turner of Ramparts magazine. In 1967 the Domestic
Contacts Division decided against using Richard Bast as a source of
information on Asia. In the mid-1970's this researcher spoke with
Richard Bast who stated: "Garrison liked to burn hooker's titties with
cigarettes." The FBI reported: "On July 27, 1966, (Deleted as of
2010) advised District Attorney Garrison allegedly had purchased a
bar in New Orleans and set up one Jackie Lee as manager.
(Deleted as of 2010) Source also said that Garrison is known to
have associated with prostitutes in New Orleans." [FBI NO 62-9-33-
617]
NOVEL'S LETTER
In March 1967, after Gordon Novel fled New Orleans, the
new tenant in his apartment found a letter written by him under the
linoleum. This letter was obtained by The New Orleans States-Item.
The note, written in Gordon Novel's handwriting, was seemingly
addressed to his CIA contact:
Dear Mr. Weiss: This letter is to inform you that

District [sic] Jim Garrison has subpoenaed myself
and an associate to testify before this Grand Jury on
matters which may be classified Top Secret. Actions
of individuals connected with Double Chek
Corporation in Miami in first quarter of 1961. Our
connection and activity of that period involves
individuals presently about to be indicted as
conspirators in Mr. Garrison's investigation. We have
temporarily avoided one subpoena...we want out of
this thing before Thursday, March 1967...I have been
questioned extensively by local FBI recently as to
whether or not I was involved with Double Chek's
parent holding corporation at the time. My reply on
five queries was negative...Our attorneys and others
are in possession of complete sealed files containing
all information concerning matter. In the event of our
sudden departure, either accidental or otherwise,
they are instructed to simultaneously release same
for public scrutiny...
At first the letter indicated Gordon Novel was afraid of

Garrison, then it implied he was afraid of the CIA. Double Chek was
280
a well-known CIA proprietary mentioned in The Invisible

Government. The FBI Miami files contained Bulet November 12,
1964, captioned
Obtuse: ESP - R', Bufile 105-126649. This letter

points out that the CIA had previously advised
Gibralter Steamship Corporation, Vanguard Service
Corporation, and the Double Check Corporation had
been used by CIA, but operational interest in them
was dropped after they were mentioned as CIA
covers in the book entitled, 'The Invisible
Government.'
The CIA maintained:
The (deleted) Double Check Corporation was not

used by the CIA to recruit pilots for operations
directed against the Castro Government as
previously reported [by CIA liaison]. CIA did not
become involved with Double Check Corporation
(deleted) until after the Bay of Pigs invasion. After the
unsuccessful invasion, CIA made arrangements
(deleted) to use Double Check Corporation as a
medium for compensating the 'Birmingham widows.'
[FBI 61-109060-5361, 5315]
SEYMOUR WEISS was a Director of Standard Fruit in 1963,

who was connected with Carlos Marcello and Frank Costello.
According to Ed Becker, Standard Fruit, the International
Cooperation Administration, and Johnny Rosselli, were involved in
the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. [Ed Becker and Charles Rappleye,
All American Mafioso, Doubleday, NY 1991 p225]
Gordon Novel was arrested in Ohio, where he was held on

$10,000 bond pending extradition. Governor James Rhodes refused
to sign the extradition papers for Gordon Novel. [Flammonde The
Kennedy Conspiracy p100; New Orleans States-Item 4.22.67] In
1970 Gordon Novel was arrested on a charge of illegal interstate
transportation of an eavesdropping device, and was subsequently
convicted. In May 1967 Gordon Novel staged an assassination
attempt on himself which was reported to Raymond Rocca. [FBI 62-
109060-5085, 5309, 5905] In 1968, after a fight with his in-laws,
Gordon Novel exhibited CIA credentials to the arresting officers.
[FBI 62-109060-6859] On November 13, 1967 the FBI generated a
281
letterhead memorandum about Novel after he contacted the Bureau

and gave it a list of his clients: “Novel additionally advised that he
sold one his antibugging checkmate units to Charles Costello whom
he advised is connected with the Ace Vending Machine Corporation,
Trenton, New Jersey and that the magnetic field loop of the device
was installed in the ceiling of Costello’s private office in Trenton,
New Jersey. Distribution: November 28, 1967 Mr. McCord, Mr. Kane
TSD and Mr [03 deleted as of 2010] (via Mr Deleted as of 2010 -
03).”
[http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docI
d=12760&relPageId=2]
CHARLES COLSON AND GORDON NOVEL
In 1974 Jack Anderson reported that Charles Colson asked

Gordon Novel to help him build a giant degaussing gun to erase
tapes that incriminated Nixon, stored at a CIA site. Gordon Novel
consulted with other experts, but they "mutually decided not to
pursue the plan because of its danger to national security tapes and
computers near the target area." Gordon Novel claimed association
with Nixon and Governor John Connally. [True 4.75; Anderson NY
Post 8.15.74] The FBI stated that Gordon Novel was involved with
Morningstar Associates, "an organization with supposed
connections to the CIA and Department of Defense."
In the summer of 1976 Gordon Novel and his partner, John

Langford, were charged with possession of an incendiary device
and aggravated arson. The men were involved an alleged plot to
firebomb some property in the New Orleans Central Business
District on Mardi Gras day, 1976, after attempts to purchase the
property for $70 million had failed. Gordon Novel hired an
undercover Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent who later
admitted CIA ties to do the job. Jim Garrison represented Gordon
Novel. During that prosecution, and just before it went to trial in
state court Gordon Novel made a civil rights allegation to the FBI
against a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Dallas, alleging
that the informant of the Drug Enforcement Administration agent
had attempted to set up Gordon Novel by trying to get Gordon Novel
to agree to contract for the murder of a witness against him. At his
trial Gordon Novel testified the Agency was after him because of
international arms dealing. The trial, covered extensively by
Spotlight, ended in a hung jury. On October 30, 1976, the judge
declared a mistrial.
282
When Gordon Novel failed to show up for his retrial, and

claimed he suffered a heart attack on January 17, 1977, an Atlanta
judge immediately had him arrested pending extradition to New
Orleans. [New Orleans States-Item 2.25.77; Spotlight 2.14.77]
Gordon Novel had White House connections during

Iran/Contra. The guy was real. He knew Werbell.
Sturgis said in deposition in Hunt v. Weberman that in 1977

he had a telephone conversation with Gordon Novel: "I never met
him personally. I have spoke with him on the telephone, but I have
never, I don't believe I ever met him personally." Gordon Novel was
staying at the home of Mitch Werbell in 1977.
GORDON NOVEL AND FRANK BARTES
On November 19, 1976, Frank Bartes contacted the New
Orleans FBI Office. He said that:
Beginning in 1975, Gordon Novel was introduced to

Frank Bartes in New Orleans by a mutual
acquaintance. Frank Bartes met Gordon Novel at
Masson's Restaurant in the Summer of 1975, where
Gordon Novel displayed for Frank Bartes an
extensive array of all kinds of weapons, including
conventional firearms, electronic equipment and even
tanks and aircraft.
Frank Bartes again met with Gordon Novel in June

1976. During this conversation Gordon Novel told
him that Congress was going to re-open the
investigation of the Kennedy assassination and
Gordon Novel hoped to blame the assassination on
Fidel Castro. Frank Bartes told Gordon Novel that he
had met Fidel Castro and had been photographed
with him. Frank Bartes showed Gordon Novel the
photo, after which Gordon Novel inquired if it would
be feasible to superimpose Oswald’s head on to one
of the people in the photograph. When Gordon Novel
was told that was impossible, he examined the photo,
and said that one of the individuals in it resembled
Clay Shaw.
283
On December 1, 1976, Gordon Novel called the FBI Office in

New Orleans about his civil rights complaint against the Dallas Drug
Enforcement Administration agent.
He stated he wanted to 'stir the waters' in order to get

effective action. He said one step he had taken in
order to force Federal action was his lengthy
conversations with [Senator Schweiker], wherein
Gordon Novel was promised the opportunity to testify
at length before the committee that will reopen the
Kennedy investigation. Gordon Novel said that his
testimony could discredit Federal agencies,
especially the CIA, showing how the CIA had
engineered the assassination of the President.
Gordon Novel said, 'Are you reading me?' [FBI 62-
109060-7593, 7591X]
BARTES AND JIM GARRISON FROM BARTES CIA OS FILE
SUBJECT BARTES (CLARENS), Francisco Antonio

aka Frank Bartes
(See also Gerald Patrick Hemming) To date there
has been no information which involves Frank
Bartes, Cuban exile, in Garrison’s investigation.
However, as a New Orleans citizen who was
prominent in Cuba, opposed to Castro, head of the
Cuban Revolutionary Council in New Orleans, and
known to Gerald Patrick Hemming and La Borde, he
may be involved later. CIA connection: Subject, an
alien, former President of Cuban Railways was
approved for contact use in January 1961 and May
1967. The FBI interposed no objections to these
contacts. He was to furnish information concerning
Cuban railways. He was granted a Provisional
Operational Approval on 4 January 1961 for contact
and assessment for use on Project JMATE. This
approval was cancelled 31 August 1961. On 7
October 1965 Subject was granted another POA for
use an (deleted as of 2010). He was covertly
investigated with favorable results and received a
(deleted as of 2010). He returned to the United
284
States on 11 February 1966 and his clearance was

cancelled 28 October 1966. Source: Memorandum
dated November 20, 1967 from CI/R&A and
Enclosure 14 of Memorandum No. 5 dated August 7,
1967.
On March 15, 1968, Frank Bartes advised the FBI that his
life was in danger as a result of the Garrison investigation. [FBI 62-
109060-6267] During the Garrison investigation the CIA requested:
OS INDICES RESULTS
Subject is 47 years old (born September 14, 1960 in

Havana Cuba). He was formerly President of
Consolidated Railways of Cuba and also owned
sugar and rice plantations. He left Cuba because of
his opposition to Castro and entered the United
States on January 4, 1961. An FBI report dated June
14, 1963 from New Orleans Louisiana concerned a
visit by Bartes to the New Orleans FBI office in which
he offered his services to the U.S. Government and
said he would be willing to co-operate with the U.S.
Government in any acceptable plan the U.S. might
devise to combat Castro’s government, with no
thought of personal gain or favor. On December 20,
1966 Bartes called the New Orleans DCS office to
inform that office that his mother had arrived from
Cuba and would be willing to provide information. He
also stated that a cousin, a 29 year old Cuban
ballerina, Alicie Cruz Bustillo, not a Communist and
still residing in Cuba. (deleted as of 2010) There is no
record of Alicia Cruz Bustillo in OS indices and no
indication that these offers were acceptable by the
Agency.
THEORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF GARRISON

INVESTIGATION
Garrison investigated INTERPEN in relation to the Kennedy
assassination. He questioned Hemming. Jim Garrison indicted
William David Ferrie, an acquaintance of Oswald who was involved
with the Cuban Revolutionary Front. The Cuban Revolutionary Front
led to Hunt. He had indicted Gordon Novel, who tied in with Mitch
Werbell. Mitch Werbell led to Hemming and Nixon. He indicted
285
Dean Andrews, who led to Carlos Marcello. Jack Ruby'S toll records
led to Carlos Marcello. His investigation had the potential of solving
the puzzle of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New
Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison even investigated the tramps.
His investigation had to be stopped.
THE THEORY: PERRY RUSSO - CLOSET CASE
Perry Raymond Russo was dispatched by Marcello to sabotage the

Garrison investigation. Perry Russo had a credible background.
Born May 14, 1941, in New Orleans, the son of a machinist at
Champion Piston Rings Service, Russo's mother died in 1963.
During the Clay Shaw trial, Perry Russo admitted receiving
psychiatric treatment from October 1959 through late 1960, having
contacted by telephone, numerous doctors at Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, which conversations he described dwelled
on 'social and personal things.' [FBI 62-109060-4797] Perry Russo
commented to this researcher,
That's not psychiatric treatment. I had Philosophy

101, or 202, to pass and I hadn't been studying - I'd
been gerking off. I was looking for some way out. I
went to the doctor, and played him, and said I was
just really depressed and upset. So he said 'I'll give
you a Withdrawal.' So I stayed with the guy for a
year. It's not that big a thing.
Was Russo being treated for homosexuality? On March 23,

1967, a confidential source, who had furnished reliable information
to the FBI in the past, volunteered the following information:
286
He said that Perry Russo is a known homosexual

who used to frequent the 100 block of Royal Street,
New Orleans, Louisiana. He said that Russo used to
'set up chickens,' young homosexuals, to engage in
homosexual acts with individuals who are also
homosexuals and wanted male acquaintances. He
said that approximately five years ago, one such
"chicken" engaged in homosexual activities with
Dewey Bowman, believed to have worked for the
Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana. He said
that as a result of this chicken engaging his
homosexual acts with Bowman, he (Perry Russo)
was able to blackmail Bowman for an unknown sum
of money. He said he was not aware of other
activities on the part of Russo, but was sure that
Russo had set up many other individuals. [FBI NO
89-69-1827, 1828; NARA 124-10237-10296]
In the summer of 1962 Perry Russo managed a Gulf

gasoline station. In September 1962 Perry Russo attended Loyola
University. He left Loyola in 1965. Russo left home in 1966, and
moved to Baton Rouge in September 1966, to take position of
salesman for Equitable Life Assurance Society. He was earlier
employed in the financial division of General Electric. He claimed
that his step brother was head of the engineering Department at
Louisiana State University. The FBI received a report from Michael
Ogden on March 14, 1967,
to advise that he is acquainted with Perry Russo,

having known him in connection with Republican
activities in New Orleans and also because he,
Ogden, is employed by the Equitable Life Assurance
Company in New Orleans. Ogden stated that Perry
Russo is a former bellhop, that Russo's mother died
early, and that Russo's father threw him out of the
house some years ago. Ogden said in his personal
opinion, that Russo has no first hand information in
the Garrison investigation. [FBI 62-109060-4797]
The FBI had no derogatory traces on Russo.

RUSSO "PLAYS" GARRISON
In 1967 Perry Russo, who claimed to have known David
Ferrie since 1960, appeared at New Orleans District Attorney Jim
287
Garrison's office. Perry Russo worked at the Credit Financial

Division of the General Electric Company at the time. He recounted
to investigators a visit to David Ferrie in September 1963, when he
was introduced to "LEON Oswald" and "Clay Bertrand." Perry
Russo alleged David Ferrie, Oswald, and Clay Bertrand discussed a
number of alternative means of assassinating President Kennedy
without risk of apprehension.
Why would these men have discussed sensitive matters in

front of Perry Russo? New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
sought a witness, so he accepted the fabrication of Perry Russo.
Perry Russo conveyed his uncertainty as to whether LEON and LEE
Oswald were the same person. New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison had Doctor Nicholas Chetta inject Perry Russo with
sodium Pentothal. New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
questioned Perry Russo after the injection, but Perry Russo was
unable to discern whether Leon and LEE Oswald were the same
person. New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison then had Dr.
Esmond Fatter hypnotize Perry Russo; during the trance, he said
LEON Oswald and LEE Oswald were the same. New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison believed Perry Russo because his
testimony was elicited with such difficulty, it was unlikely he was
lying. Contacted in August 1993, Perry Russo stated to this
researcher:
Garrison investigator Vincent Sciambre said, 'I would

like you to look at these photographs and identify
anyone you know.' We went through 20 or 30
photographs and finally we came to David Ferrie and
Clay Shaw and I said, I knew him. His name was
Clem Bertram. He didn't write out a memo about the
interview. When I met Oswald he was sitting,
cleaning his rifle. He said, 'What the fuck you doin'
here?' Ferrie jumped in between us and I said, 'Fuck
you man!' Ferrie told Oswald, 'He's a friend of mine,
don't mind him.'
George Lardner wrote that Perry Russo said David Ferrie

had spoken of flying to Cuba after the murder. Perry Russo: "He
said, 'I'm a pilot, I can get people out. But you'd have to go to a
place where there's no extradition.' He mentioned flying to Mexico
and then on to Brazil. I don't know where they got the Cuba thing.
They were after Fidel's ass. Ferrie controlled everything, all the
288
time. He was a very conscientious person, aware of what he was

doing, and why he doing it, his own mystical motives.
I first met Ferrie by happenstance back in 1960, 1961

when I had a sand lot basketball team. The parents
of Al Landry told me, 'Some fruit, some fuckin' queer,
kidnapped my son. His name is David Ferrie.' Their
son had told me about Ferrie some months earlier. I
said I'd wedge little Al away from Ferrie. Al Landry
pops in one night. I says, 'Al, where the fuck you
been?' I forgave him. He was going back to school
and staying with Ferrie. I went to a Civil Air Patrol
meeting and met Ferrie. Then I went to Ferrie's home
where he had a medical lab and flight simulator.
Perry Russo claimed he had taken Sandra Moffett to the

home of David Ferrie. Sandra Moffett said she was not there in
1963, and had not met David Ferrie until 1965. [CIA 1427-492-V]
Perry Russo commented:
I'm not sure at this point because of her adamant

position on that, whether or not she was in fact there.
It could have not been her. Sandra and I date back
for a number of years. The period was turbulent. She
was in love with me, I wasn't with her. She was a
prostitute and street broad, not very bright.
Perry Russo told New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison

Clay Bertrand was CLAY SHAW (CIA Office of Security #E 402897-
A), a gay, New Orleans, businessman. Perry Russo became the
star witness against Clay Shaw. Clay Shaw came from a
distinguished New Orleans family. During World War II he was a
Major in the United States Army and received the Croix De Guerre
of France, and the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star from the
United States. Following the war, he returned to New Orleans in
1946, at which time he became the Managing Director of the
International Trade Center. The FBI reported:
A check of our files disclosed that we received

allegations as early as 1954 that Shaw was a
homosexual. (Deleted as of 2010) advised on
(Deleted) 1964, that he had relations of a
homosexual nature with Clay Shaw. The informant
described Shaw was a brilliant and powerful man,
289
given to sadism and masochism in his homosexual

activities. [FBI 62-109060-4608]
Left-wing Italian newspapers connected Clay Shaw to the

Centro Mondiale Commerciale, an alleged CIA proprietary expelled
from Italy for funneling money to political parties that opposed the
Communists. Senator Otis Pike reported that, since its inception in
1947, the CIA had secretly funneled $75 million to anti-Communist
Italian political parties. The CIA claimed Clay Shaw was never in
Italy and "was never asked to use his relationship with the
International Trade Center for clandestine purposes." [CIA 1430-
492-Y] CIA documents indicated the CIA file on Clay Shaw "was
opened in February 1949, on a request by the Domestic Contacts
Division" for "a three way (FBI, PD and MID) name check. When the
check was completed, an unknown case officer received a
formalized statement of the results." The CIA continued:
Shaw was in contact with the New Orleans CIA

seven times in 1949, twice in 1950, five times in
1951, nine times in 1952, once in 1953, twice in
1954, twice in 1955, and twice in 1956. On May 9,
1961, Clay Shaw introduced the then CIA Deputy
Director, General Charles Cabell, who gave a speech
to the New Orleans Foreign Policy Association. Clay
Shaw may have been seen causally or at a latter
date...
The CIA skirted the issue of Clay Shaw's "remuneration and

his alleged cessation of his CIA relationship," nonetheless, this
document suggested many CIA contacts, but did not support New
Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's belief that Clay Shaw was a
CIA employee. [NYT 1.20.76; Flammonde Kennedy Conspiracy -
Shaw; FBI 62-109060-6057 p10 citing Ramparts article; Miami
Herald 5.17.76; CIA 1339-1053, 1326-1042, 1234-519] Victor
Marchetti reported the CIA voiced serious concern that Clay Shaw's
connection to the CIA could be exposed. Richard Helms decided
that the Agency's relationship with Clay Shaw remain inviolable. A
201 file was opened on New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
on May 28, 1968. "From (Deleted) Office CI/ R & A Room 2029
Garrison, James 201-834821 Action Desk CI R & A Secondary
Office CIOPS/DO. Signature of Requester (deleted)." [NARA
1993.08.02.13:06:54:310060; interview with Victor Marchetti by this
researcher in 1974; True 4.75]
290
THE CLAY SHAW TRIAL

When Clay Shaw was brought to trial in early 1969, Perry
Russo still put Oswald, David Ferrie, and Clay Shaw together, but
described their meeting as a "bull session" rather than a criminal
conspiracy. Perry Russo told this researcher:
Shaw's defense attorney asked, 'What you are sayin'

in essence is that these people got together just like
so many other conversations you heard in all the
racial discord, in all the political upheavals going on
in New Orleans in 1963, just like any other bull
session? Could you depict it in that way?' I said 'In a
certain way it was a bull session.'
BURGLARY
In 1970 Perry Russo was arrested for three counts of burglary.
Russo Charged With Holding Stolen Goods - The

District Attorney's office has accepted a charge of
possession of stolen property against Perry
Raymond Russo, but has refused a charge of simple
burglary. Russo was arrested on August 22, 1970
and booked with simple burglary of a residence at
4760 Overton Drive, in which property valued at
$8,400 was stolen. The charge against Russo, 5807
Elysian Fields, involves the possession of a stolen
safety box key. The key belong to Alvin E.
Fontcuberta of the Overton Drive address. Carl E.
Moore, 29, also of 5807 Elysian Fields, was booked
with burglary, but that charge too was dropped by
First Assistant D.A. James Alcock. Moore was
charged, however, with possession of a stolen
motorcycle valued at $2,000. [New Orleans States
Item 9.1.70]
Russo commented to this researcher,
Two boys in the basketball team I had at the time

were burglars. One night they came over and said,
'Look what we got. We just burglarized this place.' I'm
not a crusader. I said, 'This was stolen. Get the fuck
out of here. You all fucking crazy? That's junk - you
didn't even steal anything good - so they put it back
in the bag. There was left, inadvertently, a safety
291
deposit box key with the guys name on it. Engraved.

That I didn't notice. And low and behold the police
caught 'em, and they fingered me. The police came
over and I told them who the third kid was. A
policeman picks up the safety deposit box key and
sees this guy's name. I'm charged with possession of
stolen property. The judge was one of New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison's arch enemies. I was
convicted. The conviction was later overturned. It
was never re-tried. I been in trouble after this for
possession of pills. I've seen heroin once. I've seen
crack two or three times. I've seen coke 20 or 30
times. I drive a cab. I've done diet pills for 20 years.
No doctors have written amphetamine prescriptions
here in two years. Am I an A-Head? I have to go get
30 pills a day to - I weigh 252 pounds. So what the
fuck are we talkin' about? Amphetamine addict? It's
medical therapy. The government says that
amphetamines do not hold any long term effect in
keeping weight down. It's not acceptable therapy
anymore. I'm poppin' 'em one a day. It's not abuse.
I'm not guzzling pills.
POSSESSION OF HEROIN
On May 1, 1974, Perry Russo was arrested for possession
of heroin. His bond was set at $3,500. The New Orleans States Item
reported that
…police said they questioned three males outside of

the Carib Motel, where Russo was staying, about
2:45 a.m. Tuesday. Officers said they noticed the
three, including one juvenile, as they were getting out
of a cab which Russo was driving. They told
detectives that they had been riding in the camp for
several hours, and the driver had invited them to his
motel room. The officers said Russo, of 214 Canal in
Metairie, admitted them to the motel room, where
they found three prescription bottles containing
capsules of various colors, and two small tinfoil
squares. Police booked Russo with possession of
heroin, amphetamines and barbiturates and
contributing to the delinquency of the juvenile. Russo
292
was released from the Central Lockup after posting

$3,500 bond." [New Orleans Times Picayune 5.1.74]
Perry Russo explained to this researcher,
I was arrested in a motel room and on my possession

- according to the police report - was found desoxins
[methamphetamine]. A diet pill. I used to like those,
and I had doctor's prescription for it. The police
asked me if they could check the room. They found
metal foil bags of white powder and one red capsule
in the drapes. It was a Mexican Red, Seconal. I said
the stuff in the foil could be heroin or crank - bathtub
speed. They also charged me with possession of a
Dexamil capsule. The heroin was sent to the lab. It
was nothing. It might have been there ten years. I
produced a doctors prescription, and the D.A.'s office
didn't pursue it.
The Marcello family was in the drug business. [Orleans Times-

Picayune 5.1.74] Perry Russo commented to this researcher,
I had two encounters with the Marcello family. The

J.C.s, or one of the groups up there, a service
organization, asked me if I would talk to their group
about the Garrison investigation. It was hot news
around Baton Rouge - I was living there at the time. I
spoke to one group on Thursday and on a Saturday,
50 or 60 men. The MarcelloS came to the Saturday
meeting. Carlos Marcello had been constantly in the
newspapers for punching out an FBI agent. I quickly
changed the speech around, the outline of it, to not
touch the subject of the mafia. VINCENT, and one of
his brothers, or friends, just stood there in the door. It
was supposed to be a closed meeting. They must
have heard me saying that CARLOS was the logical
choice for motivation. Just a general bullshit session.
I talked about the mafia in my first speech. I wrote a
letter to Dean Andrews, who was Carlos Marcello'S
counsel of record, saying that I would never, ever,
say it again. I wasn't interested in speculating in that
area.
293
Even inconsequential information was deleted from CIA

documents concerning Perry Russo. [UPI Disp. N.O. 8.24.70; CIA
1233-518, 1359-503] Perry Russo was told by this interviewer that it
was obvious someone had "put him up to" testifying against Clay
Shaw: "Well you have to take it with that particular spin, I can't
argue with that. But Garrison didn't put me up to it." He was asked,
"Was it somebody who could supply you with drugs?"
That's a good spin, but it doesn't work. There's

nothing wrong with what you are saying. That's a
speculation, and if you were to write a book, and you
would put it in, it would be logical and it would make
sense. But in the real world it doesn't. What you are
trying to say here, in this bit of the conversation, right
now, is that somebody is holding something over on
me, and since I have a clean background, in the
sense of born in 1941 and the FBI has no tell tale
secrets of sorts, and I'm opting for these different
careers. Something in there... Somebody's holdin'
something over me, and they're now feeding me a
way that that code doesn't have any pressure. If it's
gay, if its drugs...they got a handle. That handle
would be softened if I go along with, or produce, this
information.
DID DAVID FERRIE KNOW CLAY SHAW?
Layton Martens was listed in the address book of Clay
Shaw, and Clay Shaw may have known David Ferrie. The FBI
reported:
(Deleted as of 2010) advised March 5, 1967, that

Aura Lee (LNU) Clay Shaw's former Secretary at the
International Trade Mart, New Orleans, who is
employed by the heart fund at the Ochsner Clinic,
stated in front of Doctor Charles B. Moore and others
at Ochsner Hospital, after Shaw's press conference
where he advised he never met David Ferrie, that
she had seen Ferrie go into Shaw's office in the
International Trade Mart Building on a number of
occasions, and believed Ferrie had privileged entry
into Shaw's office.
[FBI-62-109060-NR 3.9.67] A confidential source advised

the New Orleans FBI on April 24, 1968, that New Orleans District
294
Attorney Jim Garrison believed: "Dr. Alton Ochsner was involved in

the Kennedy assassination conspiracy. According to the source,
Garrison bases his belief on the fact that Dr. Ochsner was closely
involved with the Cuban element in New Orleans prior to Kennedy's
assassination."
THE CLINTON WITNESSES
During the Garrison investigation, several witnesses from
Clinton, Louisiana, put Oswald, Clay Shaw, and David Ferrie
together. None of them told this to the Warren Commission, or to
the FBI, in 1964. These witnesses said that in late summer of 1963,
Oswald appeared at East Louisiana State Mental Hospital in
Jackson in search of work as an electrician.
BOBBIE DEDON was a nurse's aide who claimed he

directed Oswald to the Personnel Office. Bobbie Dedon admitted he
was aware of the Warren Commission, but never paid much
attention to it, so he did not come forward with the story in 1964. He
never reported seeing Oswald to the FBI, nor did he speak with any
friends about it.
Secretary MAXINE KEMP reported speaking with Oswald at

East Louisiana State Mental Hospital. She said he never filled out a
job application form. Another secretary at the hospital told of seeing
Oswald as well, but produced no evidence of the visit. Neither of
these ladies reported the incident to the FBI in 1963 or 1964.
Oswald allegedly stopped at the barber shop of EDWIN

MCGEHEE. Office of Security CIA traces on Edwin McGehee were
deleted. [CIA FOIA #41234] Edwin McGehee had a Top Secret
Naval clearance as a cryptographer. Edwin McGehee told the
HSCA Oswald was in his shop that day asking about a job, and he
referred him to Reeves Morgan. Edwin McGehee testified: "When
this took place there was a picture on my wall of Martin Luther King
at a Communist Training School, I said, 'This guy is going - we'll
probably get into an argument about something. He's probably here
for that [voter] registration thing.'" After the assassination, Edwin
McGehee spoke with Louisiana State Representative, Reeves
Morgan, and Voter Registrar, Henry Earl Palmer, about Oswald: "I
didn't call [the FBI] because Mr. Reeves Morgan told me he had
called the FBI, and I thought there was no need of me doing it." The
FBI had all of its agents in Baton Rouge sign sworn statements
which stated that they never received a call from Reeves Morgan.
[FBI NO 89-69-380-8b; Reeves, Morgan 504-634-2239] A document
295
titled "Reports and Memoranda Furnished Justice Department

Concerning John Manchester, Henry E. Palmer, Corrie C. Collins
and Reeves Morgan" [2.10.69]”
1. Report of SA Michael Baron dated 8/9/63 at New

Orleans entitled, “Henry Earl Palmer, Registrar of
Voters, East Feliciana Parish, Clinton, Louisiana;
John B. Manchester, Town Marshall, Clinton,
Louisiana, Special Deputy, East Feliciana Parish
Louisiana, Michael Stephan Lesser – Victim; Civil
Rights” which was forwarded to the Civil Rights
Division of the Department on August 15, 1963.
4. LHM dated May 31, 1966 at New Orleans entitled,

“John Britton Manchester” which was furnished the
Internal Security and Civil Rights Divisions of the
Justice Department wherein Manchester is identified
as a member of the Clinton Unit of the Ku Klux Klan.
5. Reports of SA Michael Baron, all made at New

Orleans and all entitled, “Henry Earl Palmer, Racial
Matters (Klan) dated May 5, 1965, September 17,
1965 and April 23, 1966. Each of these was
furnished to the Civil Rights and Internal Security
Divisions of the Department of Justice. Palmer was
identified in August 1964 as Exalted Cyclops of the
Clinton Unit of the Ku Klux Klan as reported in the
May 5, 1965 report.
6. Palmer was mentioned in our memorandum dated

May 23, 1960 at New Orleans entitled “Inspection
and Copying of Voter Registration Records, East
Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; Election Laws.” He was
also mentioned in the report of SA Milton R. Kaack
dated May 24, 1960 at New Orleans, same title as
above…He was also mentioned in the memo of
August 12, 1965 made at New Orleans entitled,
“Discrimination in Voter Inspection in Copying Voter
Registration Records, East Feliciana Parish.”
Edwin McGehee, the Voter Registrar of Jackson, Louisiana,

was contacted by telephone in May 1993 by this researcher and
asked why he had waited until 1967 before he came forward:
296
He come in my barber shop to get a haircut, and he

wanted a job. He said, 'A barber shop's a good place
for information' and he wanted a job at the hospital
over there. He kept on talkin.' I said well, this guy
seems like he really wants a job, so I told him to
become a registered voter. I told him to go see
Representative Reeves Morgan. When Reeves and I
met after the shootin' at the barber shop I said,
'Reeves, Oswald been out to your place once, I
remember seein' him?' He says 'Yeah he come out
there. I got his name in my wallet - Oswald.' So
anyway, I says, 'We need to tell somebody.' He says
'I already called the FBI and they were well aware he
was in the area.' Now what more could we do? When
you tell the FBI - I mean we law-biding citizens - what
else can you do?
Edwin McGehee was asked: "You spoke with Henry Earl

Palmer. Did you know he was a Klansman?" Edwin McGehee
replied: "I knew him. I got his job. I didn't know he was in the Klan...I
can't speak for him...I asked Reeves, I said 'You got to call
somebody.' He said 'Call the FBI.' And boy, that was the end, I
dropped it." When it was pointed out to Edwin McGehee that the FBI
had no record of that call, he stated: "Well it sounds like a cover up
to me."
Louisiana State Representative REEVES MORGAN told the HSCA:
Well, I was sitting down relaxing in my front room,

and he came knocked on the door. I let him in. Well,
he came and introduced hisself as Oswald, and then
sat down and told me what he came for, and to get
me to use my influence to help him get a job over at
the East Louisiana State Hospital as an electrician;
he told me he knew there was a vacancy over there.
Well, I told him I didn't know there was a vacancy
over there...I called the FBI. They are the only ones I
ever related it to. It might have been the same day, it
might have been the next day, after I recognized the
picture and the name. I don't remember who it was I
talked to. I believe I looked in the phone book to get
their number. I don't remember how I got it. Well, the
fellow I talked to thanked me, but said, 'We already
knew he had been up in those parts.' He didn't say
297
he knew he had been to my house. Sometimes

afterward, several days or so, I received a call from
them and they wanted to know what kind of clothes
he had on; whoever it was called me from the FBI,
said they was calling from the FBI, Federal
Investigation, or whatever they said. But it was from
the FBI really. I didn't bother about [contacting the
Warren Commission]. I figured I went as far as I
wanted to go. If they wanted to know anymore, I
figured they'd contact me. My testimony [during the
Clay Shaw trial] kind of insinuated that I wanted him
to register in [Clinton], when I didn't tell him anything
about where to register.
Reeves Morgan, 78, had a stroke and was hospitalized in

1993. His grand-daughter, Marguerite Morgan, explained that when
Reeves Morgan went to the FBI with his story the Bureau prevailed
upon him not to make it public. She added, "My grandfather is an
old-style Louisiana politician who worked with Huey Long, a friend of
the Long family. He started in St. Helena Parish where he ran a
dairy. He was elected to the State Senate in the late 1950's."
Marguerite Morgan was sent the FBI documents linking the Clinton
witnesses to the Klan. She addressed her dilemma:
My grandfather's not talking about it. It upsets him

too much. I really do not know what to think about it,
because I kind of asked around a little bit and, how
can I put this, enough of what you are saying is true
that I don't want to get involved at all. It's my family.
New Orleans FBI files revealed that Reeves Morgan was

one of the Subjects of an investigation in August 1963, in the case
entitled, 'Joseph Stephen Breitung, et. al; Ester Lee Daniel et. al. -
Victims; Cr, Bufile 44-22905, New Orleans file 44-1862. This case
involved complaints of numerous victims that their employment was
terminated because of voter registration activity. Reeves Morgan,
upon interview, denied termination of employment of one of the
victims because of voter registration activity."
Oswald did not reside in the Jackson/Clinton area, and

legally, was not supposed to register there. The registrar, HENRY
EARL PALMER, allegedly apprised him of this. Henry Earl Palmer
was a member of the Ku Klux Klan; in 1964, he became an Exalted
Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. CIA Office of Security traces were
298
deleted in a document about Henry Earl Palmer. Henry Earl Palmer

testified before the HSCA:
I opened the office about 8:30 a.m. When I went out,

there were two white males in line with the
blacks...We had a test at the time we were giving
them, and they also had to prove they were Parish
residents. Corrie Collins [was there]...Oswald was -
the reason I thought he might be a CORE worker
was because he was dressed as the CORE did, with
a T-shirt, tennis shoes and pants. He was clean: he
wasn't dirty like most of the CORE workers. And he
came in; I asked him for identification and he showed
me - it wasn't a discharge, but a Marine Corps
separation paper, and it had the address on it ten
something Camp Street, New Orleans. So I asked
him where he lived. He told me he lived at the East
Louisiana State [Mental] Hospital. And I asked him
who he lived with? I think he said 'Dr. Pierson.' I
asked him why he wanted to register, and he said he
wanted a job at Jackson. I said, 'Well, you don't have
to be a registered voter in this parish; you can
register in New Orleans and get a job over here. In
fact you don't have to be registered at all in order to
get a job at Jackson.' He thanked me and left." Henry
Earl Palmer knew Edwin McGehee and Reeves
Morgan but claimed he did not discuss Oswald with
them. He explained why he failed to contact the FBI:
"I had too much trouble with the FBI and the Justice
Department with the Voter Registration thing, and I
wanted nothing to do with them.
299
Henry Earl Palmer cited another witness to Oswald’s

presence - who was dead - then said he met Guy Banister in the
Army: "I saw Guy one time at the Legislature down here - I think it
was in 1960." Henry Earl Palmer died in October 1982, at age 78.
[CIA FOIA #41235]
JOHN MANCHESTER, the Town Marshall of Clinton,

testified that he had seen Oswald at a "Negro voter registration
drive." John Manchester, who related he was on duty there, "to keep
out outside agitators," was a Klan member who had made headlines
when he arrested a CORE worker on August 28, 1963. During his
HSCA testimony he stated:
I often thought about contacting the Warren

Commission or somebody on this, but I felt if I did I
would just be - I felt like they knew what they were
doing and if they didn't feel like this incident in Clinton
was important, then I didn't feel it was
important...There was a discussion around the whole
Parish, that he had been seen in the Parish.
CIA Office of Security traces on John Manchester were

deleted and part of his HSCA testimony was withheld. [CIA FOIA
#41232] New Orleans FBI files revealed:
John Manchester was the Subject of a case in

August 1963 entitled, 'Henry Earl Palmer, et. al;
Michael Stephen Lesser - Victim; CR; Bufile 44-
22889, New Orleans file 44-1852. This case involved
the arrest of Lesser, a CORE worker, by Manchester
in August 1963, at Clinton, after Manchester had
been instructed to do so by Palmer, who was the
registrar of Voters, because Lesser would not leave
the courthouse. Lesser had been bringing Negroes to
register to vote. In February 1964, and again in
January 1966, information was received from a
source who had furnished reliable information in the
past that Manchester was a member of the Klan in
the Clinton, Louisiana area. [FBI NO 89-69 p11]
Witness CORRIE C. COLLINS was an African-American

mail carrier and chairman of the East Feliciana chapter of CORE
300
who was working "to register as many colored voters" as he could.

Corrie Collins said he joined the civil rights movement after Henry
Earl Palmer disqualified him as a voter when he "failed a voter
registration test." Corrie Collins "Knew [John Manchester] very well,
we didn't socialize...I spent most of our association outfoxing him.
He was only the Town Marshall - the Sheriff was the boss. I knew
him very well, even worked for him when I first came home from
Vietnam." Corrie Collins also worked at East Louisiana State
Hospital. The Office of Security traces of Corrie Collins were deleted
from a CIA document. [CIA FOIA #41321] In September 1963 local
officials attempted to have Corie Collins placed under an injunction
prohibiting actions of CORE. Newspaper articles revealed that
during this time Corrie Collins had been arrested by local authorities
at Clinton, on occasions, and during civil rights activity. On January
31, 1968, Corrie Collins told New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison he and Verla Bell had seen Oswald at the rally. Verla Bell
could not identify Oswald as having been present. The HSCA
attempted to locate Corrie Collins. After finding several false
addresses, he was located in Highland Park, Michigan, and asked
why he had not told the FBI about Oswald in November 1963: "At
first I remembered seeing him, but could not remember where I saw
him; besides there wasn't an FBI connection in Clinton, and I saw
no reason to say anything to anyone."
CORE worker WILLIAM E. DUNN told the HSCA that he

also had seen Oswald in Clinton that day, but had not reported it to
the FBI or the Warren Commission. William E. Dunn was a friend of
Corrie Collins.
In a memorandum of January 22, 1968, Andrew Sciambra
writes, "Mr. Palmer informed me that John Manchester has recently
told him that right around the time the black Cadillac was in Clinton,
he remembers seeing a boy who fit Oswald's description coming out
of a CORE meeting in Clinton and when he left the CORE meeting,
Manchester followed him and the car went in the direction of
Jackson, Louisiana." [Andrew Sciambra, January 22, 1968,
Memorandum to Jim Garrison] The Louisiana Klan also had no love
for Clay Shaw. The prominent New Orleans liberal was close friends
with philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern, who contributed
generously to liberal causes and were vocal in their support of the
civil rights movement. The Sterns were reputed to be ardent
supporters of the Anti-Defamation League.
301
William E. Dunn, Corrie Collins, Henry Earl Palmer and John

Manchester testified to the HSCA that Oswald was in Clinton - along
with David Ferrie and Clay Shaw. Why did the Klan and CORE
agree? During this period, CORE had been infiltrated by many
different entities, including the Minutemen. Robert DePugh
explained: "If a Negro wants to join the Minutemen, I tell him frankly:
'Well friend, you can be of real value to us due to your racial
background. If you will have a very loose connection with us and
keep your membership very secret then you can probably
successfully join CORE and the information you provide us will be of
real service.'" [Turner Ramparts 1.67] What is more likely is that
both the Black radicals in CORE and the KKK agreed on one thing –
they both hated the FBI.
There were eight Clinton witnesses - yet none went to the

FBI with the story. At least two of these witnesses were connected
to the Klan. If Oswald was present during a CORE voter registration
rally, after November 22, 1963, the Klansmen would have labeled
him a Communist agitator behind racial unrest and exploited this
association. They would not have waited three years to reveal the
presence of "that nigger-lover, Lee Harvey Oswald" at a CORE rally.
Why didn't the Klansmen witnesses mention it to other Klansmen?
In 1963 the FBI targeted the Klan, and had an agent or informant in
every Klavern. Why were there no reports generated by FBI agents,
or informants, about Oswald’s appearance at the voting rights rally?
Although the HSCA reviewed the FBI reports that linked two Clinton
witnesses to the Ku Klux Klan, it concluded: "The Clinton witnesses
were credible and significant. While there were points that could be
raised to call into question their credibility, it was the judgment of the
HSCA that they were telling the truth as they knew it."
The Clinton witnesses testified at the Clay Shaw trial. Carlos

Marcello, a racist, was closely connected with the Louisiana Klan. In
1967 Life magazine reported: "Carlos Marcello controls gambling
and vice with muscle provided by the Ku Klux Klan." In 1967
Klansman Jack Helm was called before a Grand Jury in East Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, that was investigating organized crime. [Times-
Pic. 10.12.67] There was no hard evidence, however, that Carlos
Marcello bought the testimony of these witnesses.
302
Perhaps the least credible of all the New Orleans District

Attorney Jim Garrison's witnesses was VERNON BUNDY, a black
heroin addict, who testified that he saw Oswald and Clay Shaw
together in 1963, while he was injecting himself with heroin. Vernon
Bundy was in prison for a parole violation when he made this
statement. Vernon Bundy told his fellow cons he was going to give
perjured testimony against Clay Shaw to obtain his freedom.
During the Clay Shaw investigation, New Orleans District Attorney

Jim Garrison questioned and subpoenaed WILLIAM DALZELL. The
FBI commented: "It is not known why Dalzell is appearing before the
Grand Jury in connection with Garrison's case. We received no
information during our assassination investigation that Dalzell was
ever acquainted with Oswald, or involved in any manner with the
Kennedy assassination." [FBI 62-109060-5838] On November 3,
1967, William Dalzell testified before a New Orleans Grand Jury. He
was represented by Gordon Novel's lawyer, Steven Plotkin.
THE "CASE" AGAINST CLAY SHAW
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison assembled a
case against Clay Shaw complete with secret codes, addresses
similar to those in Oswald’s address book, and jailhouse informers.
303
Clay Shaw denied any CIA-connection and was acquitted. When

Shaw was indicted, Jack S. Martin told S.A. Regis Kennedy that
Clay Shaw was being framed. Clay Shaw was chosen for the role of
scapegoat by Carlos Marcello because he was gay. David Ferrie,
who New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison connected to
Oswald, was also gay. Clay Shaw was connected to the CIA. New
Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison believed the CIA was
involved in the assassination. Clay Shaw died on August 15, 1974,.
No autopsy was performed. [FBI 62-109060-6712, 62-109060-6737]
THE FBI AND THE GARRISON INVESTIGATION
GARRISON AND MARCELLO
The FBI:
Bureau files reveal James C. Garrison was born

November 20, 1921, Iowa. He attended elementary
and high school in New Orleans and received his
LL.B. degree from Tulane University in 1949. He was
admitted to the Louisiana State Bar in June 1949. He
served in the U.S. Army from January 1941 to March
1946, both as an enlisted man and officer. He was
honorably discharged. He was a former Bureau
Agent who entered on duty March 5, 1951, and
resigned July 24, 1951, for military purposes. His
services were listed as satisfactory. He took office as
District Attorney in New Orleans in May 1962, and
immediately became involved in a dispute with the
New Orleans Police Department over his professed
desire to clean up the so-called 'minor vice' in New
Orleans. On November 1, 1962, and on November 2,
1962, the New Orleans Times-Picayune carried
statements by Garrison charging that the parish-
criminal court judges were clogging up the city jails
and delaying justice by taking excessive vacation
periods. Following such charges, the judges involved
instituted a joint defamation suit against him. He was
found guilty of such charges on February 6, 1963,
and was fined $1,000. He appealed his conviction on
November 24, 1964, holding that the element of
deliberate malice was lacking in his the statements
attributed to Garrison. [FBI 62-109060-4516, 4620]
His conviction was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
304
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison and Carlos

Marcello began to have cordial relations. New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison was not only a friend of SAM Marcello, but he
accepted gifts from his associates. New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison overlooked the connection of Dean Andrews to Carlos
Marcello. The syndicate enjoyed relative immunity in New Orleans
during New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's term; he told a
national television audience Carlos Marcello was a respectable
businessman. The FBI released numerous documents linking New
Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison to Carlos Marcello. The FBI
reported that
(Deleted as of 2010) advised on October 21, 1966,

he had learned that Carlos Marcello, on at least one
occasion in the past, had paid round-trip air
transportation for Garrison to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Garrison, while in Las Vegas, stays at the Desert Inn
Hotel and his bills are paid by that hotel. [Branigan to
Sullivan FBI 62-109060-4620 2.23.67]
One of Carlos Marcello'S bagmen died of a heart attack in

New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's home. A Weekly
Summary from the Criminal Intelligence Program of the Justice
Department, New Orleans Division, reported that an associate of
Carlos Marcello arranged a line of credit for New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison in a Las Vegas casino. A confidential
informant advised the FBI that Marcello-associate Frank Occhipinti
owned the construction company which built New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison's new home. Frank Occhipinti and his
brother, Roy Occhipinti, were listed as major stockholders in the
Town and Country Motel when it opened on July 9, 1958. [FBI NO
92/36/(deleted)]. According to the FBI, New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison's new house cost $70,000, in addition to the
$25,000 he spent on furniture. Since New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison said he was destitute at the time he took office, the
Bureau wondered where the money came from. The FBI collected
information on
Garrison's activities with sex deviates...Garrison is

involved in a big 'shakedown' racket wherein he and
a couple of others are 'shaking down' hundreds of
sex deviates in the New Orleans French Quarter.
Manning states he also has information indicating
that Garrison might himself be a sex deviate, or at
305
least he is a participant in some deviant activities with

homosexuals.
Many of the teletypes of J. Edgar Hoover regarding Jim

Garrison were highly deleted. [FBI 62-109060-4612, 4613, 4501,
4366, 4586, 4620, 5954, 4748; Memo FBI 62-109060 Jones/Wick
2.28.67]
THE CIA AND THE GARRISON INVESTIGATION
The CIA watched New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison's investigation. Joseph Goodwin was in charge of
PROJECT RESISTANCE, the CIA's effort to counter Jim Garrison's
charges. [CIA 1332, 502, 1045, 1316, 475D] PROJECT
RESISTANCE was supposed to counter physical threats to CIA
installations but it was used against Garrison anyway.
The Counter-Intelligence officials at the CIA generated a

series of Memoranda about the Garrison investigation.
Memorandum No. 2 [CIA 1433-492-AB] dated May 8, 1967,
contained enclosures that were CIA traces on the individuals
involved in the Garrison investigation. Clay Shaw's Enclosure
contained numerous deletions. [CIA 1430-492-Y] Memorandum No.
5 [CIA 1233-518] concerned Clay Shaw and Perry Russo and was
dated August 7, 1967. This researcher's copy, declassified in
February 1977, contained numerous deletions. Memorandum No. 6,
[CIA 1345-1057] dated September 7, 1967, was also highly deleted.
On January 12, 1968, the CIA reported in Memorandum No. 8 that
out of 30 men named in the Garrison investigation, eight had DDP
ties, and eight more had ties to the Domestic Contacts Division:
"DDP contacts are the following:
B. Frank Bartes. Garrison is reportedly trying to

implicate him in the 'assassination plot.' He has been
both a DDP, and a Domestic Contacts Division
contact.
C. Leslie Norman Bradley.
D. Sergio Arcacha Smith. Involvement in Garrison's

investigation: Sergio Arcacha Smith was identified to
one of Garrison's staff as head of a Cuban
organization which employed Lawrence Joseph La
Borde and others. La Borde's son, Michael, also said
that his father worked for the CIA. DDP relationship:
306
Sergio Arcacha Smith had been a contact of the

Miami Station from December 1960 to the present,
although payment ceased on December 1, 1965.
E. Lawrence J. La Borde. Involvement in Garrison's

investigation: On May 11, 1967, Lawrence La Borde
telephoned the Domestic Contacts Office in New
Orleans, said that he was an ex-CIA employee,
added that he feared Garrison would subpoena him,
and requested assistance or advice. Michael La
Borde, the son of Lawrence, has told members of
Garrison's staff that his father was associated with
Alberto Fernandez (see preceeding subparagraph)
and with Gerald Patrick Hemming and one 'Roy'
(perhaps LeRoy Collins) in training Cubans as
guerilla warfare fighters. Michael La Borde has also
implicated CIA in this training. On September 27,
1967, Lawrence La Borde again called the Domestic
Contacts Division office in New Orleans. In
accordance with instructions from Headquarters, he
was told there was nothing to discuss. DDP
relationship: La Borde as a DDP contact from
February or March 1961, to April 20, 1962. He served
as an acting captain of a vessel owned by Fernandez
and used by the Miami Station in Cuban operations.
G. (2) Involvement in Garrison's investigation: In a

taped interview of January 21, 1967, Carlos Quiroga
told Garrison that Richard Davis was in charge of a
CIA training camp conducted for Cubans from Miami
in La Combe, La. in August 1963.
H. (1) Prior references: Memo No. 2 May 8, 1967,

Enclosure 23 [Emilio Santana]; Memo No. 3, June 3,
1967, Enclosure No. 1; Memo No. 6 September 7,
1967, p6. Involvement in Garrison’s investigation:
Santana was interrogated by Garrison and staff for
five days in February 1967. DDP relationship:
Santana was recruited by the Miami Station in
October 1962. After participating in May 1963 in a
single infiltration exfiltration operation he was
terminated in October 1963.
307
The document listed the Domestic Contacts Division

contacts: Bringuier, William Wayne Dalzell, Hemming, and Jack N.
Rogers. "Jack N. Rogers was a Baton Rouge attorney in touch with
Garrison's staff. DCS contact from September to present." (Deleted)
was also listed as having had contact with the Domestic Contacts
Division: "Schlumberger Well Surveying Corporation: Said by
Garrison to have been the original owner of explosives removed
from a bunker at CIA's instigation for use at Bay of Pigs. Current
Domestic Contacts Division contact with various Schlumberger
offices." [CIA Memo 8 1.12.68] A Michael J. La Borde was located
at 6104 Jean, Metairie, Lousiana, telephone 504-733-5088. This
telephone number was no good.
PERSHING GERVAIS
In the early 1970's the Justice Department of Richard M.
Nixon, on the testimony of Internal Revenue Service informant
Pershing Gervais, indicted New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison for bribery. Pershing Gervais had been an investigator for
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Before the case came
to trial, Pershing Gervais showed his disapproval of the treatment
he received by the administrators of the Witness Protection Program
by recanting his testimony during an interview with journalist
Rosemary James. Pershing Gervais testified against New Orleans
District Attorney Jim Garrison in 1973. New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison was acquitted. [United States v. Jim Garrison Criminal
Action No.7-542 9.20.73]
DE TORRES AND GARRISON
The CIA reported:
BERNARDO DE TORRES, who according to a

cleared, willing, police contact is a detective hired by
Garrison. Contact feels certain, but cannot prove,
both BERNARDO and his brother CHARLES, also
detective, were in New Orleans during last year.
Again, request Headquarters instructions as a to
whether further feelers should be put out, through
AMOTS or other Station Cuban assets, to attempt
learn more about his activities.
Bernardo De Torres encouraged New Orleans District

Attorney Jim Garrison to spend hundreds of futile hours searching
for Cuban exile Manuel Gonzalez, who had arrived in the United
States in 1964. On one occasion, the District Attorney sought out
308
and questioned Miguel Torres, a Cuban whose only connection to

Oswald was that he had lived one block away from him in New
Orleans. [FBI 62-109060-4564; CIA 1228-513, 1227-512; Miami
Herald 2.25.67 p2A] On March 13, 1967, the FBI reported that
On March 13, 1967, MM T-1, an American citizen of
Cuban descent, who has not been contacted a
sufficient number of times to determine his reliability,
claimed as follows: During the period from February
27, 1967, to March 7, 1967, he was in Mexico City
where he made several visits Lo the Cuban
Embassy. At the Cuban Embassy he talked with
RAMIRO JESUS ABREU QUINTANA, an intelligence
officer holding the position of Third Secretary and
Chief of Consular Section. ABREU asked him if there
was such interest among Cuban refugees at Miami,
Florida, in the recent investigation of the
assassination of President JOHN F. KENNEDY being
conducted by the District Attorney's Office at New
Orleans, Louisiana. MM T-1 said he gave no specific
response to ABREU's inquiry because he had no real
opinion.
MM T-1 said ABREU, in a subsequent conversation,

made the general statement that personnel at the
Cuban Embassy in Mexico knew Oswald and that
Oswald was not as good a rifle marksman as the FBI
believed he was. ABREU said that Oswald and
persons from the Cuban Embassy had gone shooting
on the outskirts of Mexico City and a sixteen year old
Cuban outshot Oswald. MM T-1 said ABREU did not
claim that he, himself, knew Oswald.
MM T-1 stated that ABREU, while talking about the

assassination, asked him if he knew SERGIO
FIALLO. WM T-1 answered that he did not, and he
did not ask who or where where FIALLO might be.
MM-T1 also advised that ARACELI MASTRAPA, who

appeared to be secretary to ABREU in the Cuban
Embassy, but who also impressed him as an
experienced interrogator, had commented she
understood that Cuban exile BERNARDO TORRES
at Miami, had developed evidence that it was a
309
Cuban refugee group which had carried out the

assassination of President Kenny. MM T-1 answered
that he had only heard of TORRES, but did not know
him. It is noted that BERNARDO DE TORRES has
been described in the public press as a Cuban
private investigator at Miami who has been assisting
District Attorney James Garrison of New Orleans in
the latter's investigation of the assassination.
MM T-1 stated that while Cuban officials he met in

Mexico City appeared to have a definite interest in
developments concerning the assassination of
President Kennedy they did not reveal to him any
special knowledge of the assassination. [FBI 3.14.67
Miami Copies Destroyed 3.12.73]
In Miami Cuban exile Bernardo Torres 32 who helped

the Secret Service guard President Kennedy in
Miami four days before the assassination says he
has been helping Garrison and believes the Warren
Report will prove to be incomplete. Torres said
Garrison engaged him to look into the background of
310
some Cubans reported to have been with Oswald

shortly before the shooting in Dallas. He declined to
discuss reports that some exiles, angry at Kennedy
decision to stay out of further involvement in Cuba’s
Bay of Pigs were talking about killing the President.
Torres said he make several trips between Miami
and New Orleans in connection with the Garrison
investigation. He said he was helping “in the public
interest” without pay only expense money. He
declined to discuss a report that Oswald had visited
Miami to talk to Cubans. Torres was a member of the
invasion brigade. He now is military coordinator of tis
veterans organization called Brigade 2506.
ALBERTO FOWLER, a Cuban veteran of the Bay of Pigs

who was Director of International Relations for the City of New
Orleans, was an investigator for New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison. Alberto Fowler reported to BRINGUIER on the progress of
the investigation. [FBI 62-109060-4514; FBI LHM 5.8.67 New
Orleans; CIA 1229-514] In January 1967 BRINGUIER contacted the
New Orleans Field Office of the CIA.
Lloyd Ray related that the only purpose for this contact was
to advise CIA that many Latin Americans are of the opinion that the
assassination of President Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy
including Lee Harvey Oswald and right-wing elements of the USA.
BRINGUIER want to advise CIA that the U.S. is losing this phase of
its propaganda war in Latin America, and made suggestions to CIA
for instituting changes and in the United States Government's
propaganda program to counteract the growing aforementioned
belief by Latin Americans concerning the assassination of President
Kennedy. [NARA FBI 124-10058-10055 2.3.67]
THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION
311
In January 1975, President Ford, in response to allegations

of CIA wrong-doing, asked Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to
appoint a blue ribbon panel to study the CIA. The Rockefeller
Commission suppressed the truth about the Dealey Plaza tramps.
After the Rockefeller Commission issued its Report, Nelson
Rockefeller was accused of having blocked his own probe.
Rockefeller told the Associated Press: "We've done a good job, no
stones have been left unturned, and no punches pulled. I don't think
there is very much that hasn't been uncovered and discussed in this
report." Attorney David Belin, a former Warren Commission
Counsel, was appointed Chief Counsel of the Rockefeller
Commission. Belin was not going to second guess himself on the
Kennedy assassination, and on April 5, 1975, he told The New York
Times that his panel had discovered no "credible evidence" that the
CIA had any involvement in assassination of President Kennedy.
The Commission members:
312
JOHN T. CONNOR was a member of the Rockefeller Commission.

John T. Connor was the Chief Executive Officer of the Allied
Chemical Corporation. John J. McCloy had been a Director of Allied
Chemical. From 1942 to 1947, John T. Conner served as General
Counsel of the Office of Scientific Research and Development; as a
Air Combat intelligence officer, U.S. Marine Corps; Counsel to the
Office of Naval Research; and special assistant to the Secretary of
the Navy James Forrestal. John T. Connor was an attorney with
Cravath, Swaine and Moore, and had been a Director of the Chase
Manhattan Bank, and a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations. [Bird, Kai The Chairman Simon & Shuster 1992 p15]
Connor died in October 2000.
313
C. DOUGLAS DILLON was a member of the Rockefeller

Commission. C. Douglas Dillon was a former member of the OSS,
and was an Ambassador to France, and an Under-secretary of
State under President Dwight Eisenhower. In 1960 Mr. Dillon told
the AFL-CIO World Affairs Conference of the dangers of
Communism, rejecting "peaceful co-existence." "The primary issue
today is nothing less than the survival of free men in a free
civilization." Later in the same speech he qualified this my saying
that the United States must be strong but ready to negotiate. [NYT
1.14.75] In 1961 he became Secretary of the Treasury, and was
head of the United States Secret Service in November 1963. C.
Douglas Dillon was Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation from
1972 to 1975, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and
president of Dillon, Read & Co.
314
LANE KIRKLAND was a member of the Rockefeller Commission.

He had a B.S. from the Foreign Service School of Georgetown
University. He was the Treasurer of the AFL/CIO. Lane Kirkland
worked indirectly for the Agency for International Development
through the American Federation for Free Labor Development. In
1973, Nelson Rockefeller appointed Lane Kirkland to his
Commission on Critical Choices for Americans. He was President of
the AFL/CIO until 1995. Lane Kirkland was asked about reports that
the CIA had channeled money to the AFL/CIO activities overseas.
He replied that he knew nothing about it and would be opposed to it.
315
LYMAN L. LEMNITZER was a member of the Rockefeller

Commission. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from
1960 to 1962. In the capacity he received daily briefings from the
CIA. Between 1963 and 1969 he was Supreme Allied Commander
in Europe, heading the military forces of NATO. Lemnitzer called the
release of the Pentagon Papers a traitorous act. Lyman Lemnitzer,
born August 29, 1899, died on November 12, 1988.
EDGAR F. SHANNON was a member of the Rockefeller

Commission. He was a former President of the University of
Virginia, where former the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, James Schlesinger, had taught political science. The
University of Virginia returned Coup D'Etat in America to Third
Press because it was "unsuitable for our library."
316
ERWIN N. GRISWOLD was Nixon’s former Solicitor General. As

Solicitor General, he defended the Nixon Administrations use of
wiretaps without court orders in cases of subversion, but lost the
case before the Supreme Court. He also defended the
Government's attempts to prevent publication of the Pentagon
Papers. In an interview in August 1969 in the Christian Science
Monitor, he said "I think its terribly important that any repressive
forces of society...be throughly and carefully kept under public
control, with the ultimate responsibility back to top government
officials."
317
Former United States PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN was a

member of the Rockefeller Commission. While serving as the
governor of California, in April 1970, in a speech in Yosemite,
California, he suggested that "if it takes a bloodbath the silence
militant campus demonstrators let's get it over with." In May 1973
Reagan stated in discussing the Watergate affair: "They did
something that was stupid and foolish and was criminal -- it was
illegal, illegal is a better word than 'criminal' because I think 'criminal'
has a different connotation." The said the Watergate burglars were
"well meaning" individuals who were "not criminals at heart."
THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION AND 544 CAMP STREET
The allegation regarding the 544 Camp Street notation on
Crimes Against Cuba and Oswald’s connection to Hunt was
indirectly submitted to the Rockefeller Commission. The
Commission stated:
Testimony was offered purporting to show CIA

relationships with Oswald. It was stated, for example,
that McCord’s, as a CIA employee, engaged in
political activity with elements of the anti-Castro
Cuban community in the United States on behalf of
the CIA prior to the April 1961 Bay of Pigs operation.
In connection with those duties, it was further alleged
that Hunt was instrumental in organizing the Cuban
Revolutionary Council, and that the Cuban
Revolutionary Council had an office in New Orleans.
Finally, it was claimed that Oswald lived in New
Orleans from April to September 1963, and that a
pamphlet prepared and distributed by Oswald on
behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee during
that period indicated that the office of the Fair Play
for Cuba Committee was situated in a building which
also was the address of the Cuban Revolutionary
Council in New Orleans. Each of these statements is
substantially true...It was therefore implied that Hunt
could have had contact with Lee Harvey Oswald
during the Spring or Summer of 1963.
The Rockefeller Commission suggested other relevant facts

had been omitted:
It is not mentioned, for example, that Oswald made

up the Fair Play for Cuba Committee pamphlets; that
318
the address he stamped on the pamphlets was never

a Fair Play for Cuba Committee office; that he
fabricated a nonexistent Chapter of the New Orleans
Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a nonexistent
President of the Committee, and a nonexistent office
for it; that the building in question was a former office,
rather than a current office, of an anti-Castro
organization when Oswald made up his pamphlets,
and that Oswald had tried to infiltrate the anti-Castro
organization. No evidence was presented that Hunt
ever met Oswald during the Spring or Summer of
1963.
The Rockefeller Commission argued that because Oswald’s

organization was bogus, it was irrelevant that he used 544 Camp
Street as his address. A bogus organization that used a notorious
right-wing address should have been regarded with suspicion. The
Rockefeller Commission, however, reasoned that everything else
about Oswald’s Fair Play for Cuba Committee was fraudulent, so it
should have come as no surprise that the 544 Camp Street address
was fraudulent as well. Out of the hundreds of thousands of different
street numbers and addresses in New Orleans, why did he choose
544 Camp Street as a ghost address for his ghost committee? The
Commission contended that 544 Camp Street was already a former
office of the Cuban Revolutionary Council at the time that Oswald
used the address on his leaflet, some time between his arrival in
New Orleans on April 25, 1963, and his departure in late September
1963. Guy Banister and David Ferrie, however, were still there.
THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION AND THE TRAMPS
As this Coup D’Etat in America went to press in 1975, the

Rockefeller Commission on CIA domestic activities released its
report. As expected, it stated that there was no "credible evidence"
of CIA participation in the John F. Kennedy assassination. Rather
than conducting an investigation of its own (using its resources as a
Presidential Commission), the panel chose only to evaluate the
various allegations of CIA-complicity presented to it by essentially
volunteer witnesses, some of whom were ill-equipped to handle
questions raised by a panel led by an attorney as steeped in the
Warren Report as David Belin. Curiously shirking its responsibilities,
the Commission expected witnesses and the general public to bear
the burden of proof of rumored allegations. Its obvious objective was
319
to defend not re-examine the Warren Report. In its nineteen page

section concerning the Kennedy assassination, the Commission
hardly used any of the abundant pieces of evidence used in Coup.
The Rockefeller Commission:

Chapter 19
Allegations Concerning the
Assassination of President Kennedy
Allegations have been made that the CIA participated

in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in
Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1903. Two different
theories have been advanced in support of those
allegations. One theory is that E. Howard Hunt and
Frank Sturgis on behalf of the CIA personally
participated in the assassination. The other is that the
CIA had connections with Lee Harvey Oswald or
Jack Ruby or both of them and that those
connections somehow led to the assassination. The
Commission staff has investigated these allegations.
Neither the staff nor the Commission undertook a full
review of the Report of the Warren Commission.
Such a task would have been outside the scope of
the Executive Order establishing this Commission,
and would have diverted the time of the Commission
from its proper function. The investigation was limited
to determining whether there was any credible
evidence pointing to CIA involvement in the
assassination of President Kennedy.
A. The Theory That Hunt and Sturgis Participated in

the Assassination
The first of the theories involves charges that E.

Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis, both convicted of
burglarizing the Democratic National Committee
headquarters at the Watergate in 1972, were CIA
employees or agents at the time of the assassination
of the President in 1963. It is further alleged that they
were together in Dallas on the day of the
assassination and that shortly after the assassination
they were found in a railroad boxcar situated behind
320
the "grassy knoll," an area located to the right front of

the Presidential ear at the time of the assassination.
Under this theory Hunt and Sturgis were allegedly in

Dallas on November 22. 1963. and were taken into
custody by the police, then were mysterious released
without being booked, photographed or fingerprinted
by the police—although they were allegedly photo-
graphed by press photographers while they were
being accompanied to the Dallas County Sheriff's
office.
It is further contended that the' persons shown in

these press photographs bear "striking resemblances
to photographs taken of Hunt and Sturgis in
1972…These purported facts are cited as the basis
for a possible conclusion that CIA personnel
participated in the assassination of President
Kennedy, and, at least inferentially, that the CIA itself
was involved. The Commission staff investigated the
several elements (If this theory to the extent deemed
necessary to assess fairly the allegation of CIA
participation in the assassination. The findings of that
investigation follow.
Findings
I. The Allegation that Hunt and Sturgis Were CIA

Employees or Agents in 1963
E. Howard Hunt was an employee of the CIA in

November 1963. He had been an employee of the
CIA for many years before that and he continued to
be associated with the (until his retirement in 1970.
Throughout 1963 he was assigned to duty in
Washington, D.C., performing work relating to
propaganda operations in foreign countries. His
duties included travel to several other cities in the
States, but not to any place in the South or
Southwest. He lived with his family in the
Washington. D.C. metropolitan area throughout that
year and his children attended school there,
321
Frank Sturgis was not an employee or agent of the

CIA either in 1963 or at any other time. He so
testified under oath himself, and a and a search of
CIA records failed to discover any evidence that he
had ever been employed by the CIA, or had ever
served it as an agent, informant or operative. Sturgis
testified that he had been engaged in various
'adventures' relating to Cuba, which he believed to
have been organized and financed by the CIA. He
testified that he had given information directly and
indirectly, to Federal Government officials, who, he
believed were acting for the CIA. He further testified,
however, that at no time did he engage in activity
having to do with the assassination of President
Kennedy, on behalf of the CIA or otherwise.
Frank was involved in such unsavory activities, that he

termed “skull-duggery” the CIA would never put him on their payroll
as a CIA Agent but would use him on a contractual basis. Sturgis
was a CIA and FBI informant. Numerous documents previously
cited proved this. How could the Rockefeller Commission have
missed these hundreds of CIA reports generated by Barker that
concerned information supplied to him by Sturgis?
2. The Allegation That Hunt and Sturgis Were

Together in Dallas on the Day of the Assassination
Hunt and Sturgis testified under oath to members of

the Commission staff. They both denied that they
were in Dallas on the day of the assassination. Hunt
testified that he was in the Washington. D.C.,
metropolitan area throughout that day, and his
testimony was supported by two of his children (a
son who is nine years old could not recall if his
parents were present of absent that day; the fourth)
and youngest Hunt child was not born then. Mrs.
Hunt is now deceased) and a former domestic
employee of the Hunt family. Sturgis testified that he
was in Miami Florida throughout the day of the
assassination, and his testimony was supported by
that of his wife and a nephew of his wife. The
nephew, who was then living with the Sturgis family,
is now a practicing attorney in the Midwest.
322
With the exception of the domestic employer of the

Hunt family all witnesses directly supporting the
presence of Hunt and Sturgis in Washington D.C.
and Miami. Florida on the day of the assassination
are family members or relatives. Less weight can be
assigned to the testimony of such interested
witnesses if there is substantial evidence to the
contrary. In the absence of substantial conflicting evi-
dence, however the testimony of family members
cannot be disregarded.
The Hunt family maid, Mary Trainer, was like part of the
family and was willing to lie for her employer.
Hunt testified that he had never met Frank Sturgis

before they were introduced by Bernard Barker in
Miami in 1972. Sturgis testified to the same effect
except that he did not recall whether the introduction
had taken place in late 1971 or early 1972. Sturgis
further testified that while he had often heard of
"Eduardo," a CIA political officer who had been active
in the work of the Cuban Revolutionary Council in
Miami prior to the Bay of Pigs operation in April 1961
he had never met him and did not know until 1971 or
1972 that "Eduardo" was E. Howard Hunt. Sturgis
had also been active in anti-Castro groups in the
Miami area before, during and after Hunt's
assignment on the political aspects of the Bay of Pigs
project in 1960 and early 1961.
Other testimony linked Hunt to Sturgis at a date

earlier than 1971. One witness asserted that Sturgis
is a pseudonym; that his name is Frank Fiorini and
that he took the name Sturgis from a fictional
character (Hank Sturgis) in a novel written by Hunt in
1949. (Bimini Run). Sturgis testified t hat his name at
birth was Frank Angelo Fiorini; that his mother's
maiden name was Mary Vona; that his father's name
was Angelo Anthony Fiorini; that his parents were
divorced when he was a child; that his mother
subsequently remarried a man named Ralph Sturgis;
and that at his mother's urging he legally changed his
323
name in Norfolk Virginia, sometime in the 1950's, to

take the last name of his stepfather.
A search of the relevant court records disclosed that

a petition was filed on September 23, 1952, in the
Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk (Virginia) pursuant
to which a Frank Angelo Fiorino petitioned to change
his name to Frank Anthony Sturgis. The petition
recited that his mother had divorced his father about
15 years previously and had married one Ralph
Sturgis, that he had been living with his mother all of
his life, that his mother was known as Mary Sturgis,
and that his stepfather also desired him to change his
name to Sturgis. An order of the Court, was entered
on September 23, 1952 (the same date as the
petition) changing his name to Frank Anthony Stur-
gis. The order appears in the records of the Circuit
Court of the City of Norfolk, Virginia. In the petition
and the order relating to the change of name, Fiorini
was misspelled as Fiorino.
In the light of this documentary evidence, no weight

can be given to the claim that Sturgis took his
present name from a character in a Hunt novel—or
that the name change was associated in any way
with Sturgis' knowing Hunt before 1971 or 1972.
It is, in fact, more likely that Hunt took the name of

his character from Sturgis rather than vice versa;
When a real person adopts the name of a popular
fictional character (for example, Saul Bellow's Moses
Herzog) he tends to use the exact name. On the
other hand, a novelist who models his hero after a
real person (who has no objections to being
fictionalized) will tend to modify the person's name
slightly. Thus Helen Bess might become Elaine Bess.
Or better yet, the author might use the model's
nickname or other similar names. If Hunt knew the
then Frank Fiorini well, he would know that Frank's
mother was called Mrs. Sturgis. "Frank Sturgis"
would immediately suggest itself as an ideal name for
the character, and H(Fr)ank Sturgis the perfect
fictionalization of it. Three years later, in 1952, Fiorini
324
did change his name to Frank Sturgis. Hunt

eventually told his son St. John that he met FRANK
Sturgis in the early 1960’s.
The personnel, payroll and travel records of the CIA

were checked with respect to E. Howard Hunt. Daily
attendance records for the period are no longer
available because they are destroyed in the ordinary
course of the Agency's records disposal system three
years after completion of the audit for each year.
What records remain, including annual leave, sick
leave, and travel records, disclose that Hunt had no
out-of-town travel associated with his employment in
the month of November 1963. He used no annual
leave and eleven hours of sick leave in the two-week
pay period ending November 23, 1963. The exact
date or dates on which the sick leave was taken
could not be ascertained. There is some indication;
however, that some of these eleven hours of sick
leave may have been taken by Hunt on November
22, 1963. He testified that, on the afternoon of that
day, he was in the company of his wife and family in
the Washington, D.C., area, rather than at his
employment duties. That was a Friday, and therefore
a working day for employees at the CIA. Hunt could
not recall whether he was on duty with the CIA on the
morning of that day.
Because Sturgis was never an agent or employee of

the CIA, the Agency has no personnel, payroll, leave
or travel records relating to him.
In examining the charge that Hunt and Sturgis were

together in Dallas on the day of the assassination,
the investigators were handicapped by the fact that
the allegation was first made in 1974, more than ten
years after the assassination. Evidence which might
have been available at an earlier time was no longer
available. Contacts with relatives, friends, neighbors
or fellow employees (who might have known of the
whereabouts of Hunt and Sturgis on that particular
day) could not be recalled. Some of these persons
are now dead. Finally, records which might have
325
been the source of relevant information no longer

exist.
It cannot be determined with certainty where Hunt

and Sturgis actually were on the day of the
assassination. However, no credible evidence was
found which would contradict their testimony that
they were in Washington, D.C., and Miami Florida,
respectively.
This frank admission is significant. November 22,

1963 is not exactly a day people forget. Hunt and
Sturgis testified they were in Washington and Miami
respectively on November 22, 1963 and no
witnesses but "family members or relatives" (with the
exception of Hunt’s maid) backed them up. The
Panel admits that "less weight can be assigned to the
testimony of such interested witnesses" and goes on
to disclose Hunt may have been on sick leave from
the CIA on November 22, 1963. Hunt could also "not
recall" if he was at CIA that morning. No one even
testified to having reached Hunt at home that day by
telephone. This sounds mighty suspicious to me.
3. The Allegation That Hunt and Sturgis Were Found

Near the Scene of the Assassination and Taken to
the Dallas County Sheriff's Office
This allegation is based upon a purported

resemblance between Hunt and Sturgis on the one
hand, and two persons who were briefly taken into
custody in Dallas following the assassination.
The shooting of President Kennedy occurred at about

12:30 p.m., Dallas time, on November 22. 1963,
while the Presidential motorcade was passing Dealey
Plaza as it headed generally westward on Elm Street.
Witnesses to the shooting gave the police varying
accounts of where they thought the shots had come
from. On the basis of the sound of the shots, some
believed that they had come from the Texas School
Book Depository building (TSBD), which was behind
and slightly to the right of President Kennedy when
326
he was hit. Others thought the shots had come from

other directions. Law enforcement officials under-
standably conducted a widespread search for
evidence relating to the assassination.
Several hours after the shooting officers of the Dallas

Police Department checked all railroad freight cars
situated on tracks anywhere in the vicinity of Dealey
Plaza. About six or eight persons, referred to as
"derelicts," were found in or near the freight cars.
These persons were taken either to the nearby
Dallas County Sheriff's office, or to the Dallas Police
Department for questioning. All were released
without any arrest records being made, or any
fingerprinting or photographing being done by the
authorities.
The eight derelict figure makes sense. There was Hunt,

Sturgis and Christ the Gedney, Abrams, Doyle and finally John
Francis Elrod and Daniel Wayne Douglas.
Among the six or eight "derelicts" found in the vicinity

of the freight cars were three men who according to
the arresting officers were found in a boxcar about
one-half mile south of the scene of the assassination.
They were taken to the Sheriff's office by the Dallas
police officers, who walked northward along the
railroad tracks to a point west of the Texas School
Book Depository, then north to Houston Street and
back south to the Sheriff's office. This somewhat
circuitous route was actually the most convenient one
available, according to the Dallas policemen. As the
police and the "derelicts" passed the TSBD building
and headed for the Sheriff's office, they were
photographed by several press photographers on the
scene. Copies of five of the photographs showing the
"derelicts" were submitted to the Commission's staff
as evidence.
A witness who volunteered his testimony stated on

the basis of hearsay that the three "derelicts' in
question were found in a boxcar situated to the near
northwest of the assassination scene, which would
327
have been to the right front of the Presidential car at

the time of the shooting. Between the area in which
that boxcar was claimed by this witness to be located
and that part of Elm Street where the assassination
occurred was a "grassy knoll."
It was alleged by other witnesses (who were

associated with the first; witness and who also
volunteered testimony) that a bullet fired from the
area of that "grassy knoll" struck President Kennedy
in the head. It was also claimed by the sane
witnesses that one of the three photographed
"derelicts" bears a "striking" facial resemblance to E.
Howard Hunt and that another of them bears a
"striking" facial resemblance to Frank Sturgis. Finally,
it was alleged that if those two "derelicts" were, in
fact, Hunt and Sturgis, and if the President was in
fact struck by a bullet fired from his right front, the
CIA would be shown to be implicated in the killing of
President Kennedy.
The photographs of the "derelicts" in Dallas have

been compared with numerous known photographs
of Hunt and Sturgis taken both before and after
November 23. 1963. Even to non-experts it appeared
that there was, at best, only a superficial
resemblance between the Dallas "derelicts" and Hunt
and Sturgis. The "derelict" allegedly resembling Hunt
appeared to be substantially older and smaller than
Hunt. The "derelict" allegedly resembling Sturgis
appeared to be thinner than Sturgis and to have
facial features and hair markedly different from those
of Sturgis.
The witnesses who testified to the "striking

resemblance" between the "derelicts" and Hunt and
Sturgis were not shown to have any qualifications in
photo identification beyond that possessed by the
average layman. Their testimony appears to have
been based on a comparison of the 1963
photographs of the "derelicts" with a single 1972
photograph of Sturgis and two 1972 photographs of
Hunt.
328
Over fifty photographs taken of Hunt and Sturgis both

before and after November 22, 1963, were submitted
to the FBI photographic laboratory for a comparison
with all known photographs of the "derelicts." (The
FBI assembled a complete set of all photographs of
the "derelicts" taken by the three photographers
known to have photographed them.) The comparison
was made by Fill Agent Lyndal Shaneyfelt, a
nationally recognized expert in photo identification
and photo analysis.
The report of Agent Shaneyfelt, embodied in a

Report of the FBI Laboratory dated April 21. 1975
and signed by Clarence M. Kelley, Director of the FBI
concluded that "neither E. Howard nor Frank Sturgis
appear as any of the three 'derelicts' arrested in
Dallas, Texas, as shown in the photographs
submitted."
With respect to Hunt it was found that he had a much

younger appearance, a smooth and tightly contoured
chin, and a more angular or pointed chin compared
with the "derelict" in question. The latter was much
older, had a chin with protruding pouches and a more
bulbous nose.
With respect to Sturgis even more distinguishing

characteristics were observed. Sturgis looked like a
Latin, whereas the "derelict" had the general
appearance of a Nordic. Sturgis had very black, wavy
hair—and the “derelict" had light or blond and
straighter hair. Sturgis had a rather round face with
square chin lines: the "derelict" had an oval face with
a more rounded chin. Sturgis and the "derelict" had
markedly different ratios between the length of their
noses and the height of their foreheads. They also
had different ear and nose contours.
Hunt is approximately live feet nine inches tall. and

Sturgis is approximately five feet eleven inches tall.
The FBI laboratory made an on-site study in Dallas,
using the cameras with which the photographs of the
329
"derelicts" were originally taken: it concluded from the

study that the "derelict" allegedly resembling Hunt
was about five feet. seven inches tall, and that the
"derelict" allegedly resembling Sturgis was about six
feet two inches tall, with a one inch margin for error in
each direction. The difference between the heights of
the two "derelicts" was therefore about seven inches,
while the difference between Hunt’s height and that
of Sturgis is only about two inches.
The photographs of the "derelicts" in Dallas have

been displayed in various newspapers in the United
States on national television programs, and in the
April 28, 1975 issue of Newsweek magazine. But no
witnesses have provided testimony that either of the
"derelicts" was personally known to be Hunt or
Sturgis—and no qualified expert was offered to make
such identification.
We stand by the photo analysis that we had done by

Genner and Fahey. The reader can draw his own
conclusions. Note that Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, the FBI
agent who did the photo comparison study for the
Panel also did a majority of the photo-analysis for the
Warren Commission. The FBI's height study claims
Hunt is 5'9" (Hunt says he is 5'8" in his resume) and
Sturgis is 5'11" (Canfield found he was about 6'1").
They reported the tramps were 5'7" and 6'2" with a
one inch margin for error in either direction.
B. The Theory That the CIA Had Relationships with

Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby
The second theory advanced in support of

allegations of CIA participation in the assassination of
President Kennedy is that various links existed
between the CIA, Oswald and Ruby. Lee Harvey
Oswald was found by the Warren Commission to be
the person who assassinated the President. Jack
Ruby shot and killed Oswald two days after the
President's assassination. There is no credible
evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack
Ruby was ever employed by the CIA or ever acted
330
for the CIA in any capacity whatever, either directly or

indirectly.
Testimony was offered purporting to show CIA

relationships with Oswald and Ruby. It was stated,
for example, that E. Howard Hunt, as an employee of
the CIA, engaged in political activity with elements of
the anti-Castro Cuban community in the United
States on behalf of the CIA prior to the Bay of Pigs
operation in April 1961. In connection with those
duties, it was further alleged that Hunt was instru-
mental in organizing the Cuban Revolutionary
Council and that the Cuban Revolutionary Council
had an office in New Orleans. Finally, it was claimed
that Lee Harvey Oswald lived in New Orleans from
April to September 1963, and that a pamphlet
prepared and distributed by Oswald on behalf of the
Fair Play for Cuba Committee during that period
indicated that the office of the Fair Play for Cuba
Committee was situated in a building which was also
the address of the New Orleans office of the Cuban
Revolutionary Council. Each of these statements is
substantially true, but many other relevant facts
disclosed in the Warren Commission Report are
omitted. It is not mentioned, for example. that Oswald
made up the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
pamphlets; that the address he stamped on the
pamphlets was never an office of that Committee;
that he fabricated a non-existent New Orleans
Chapter of the Committee. a non-existent President
of that Committee, and a nonexistent office for it: that
the building in question was a former office, rather
than a current office, of an anti-Castro organization
when Oswald made up his pamphlets, and that
Oswald had tried to infiltrate the anti-Castro
organization.
It was therefore implied that Hunt could have had

contact with Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans
during the spring or summer of 1963. No evidence
was presented that. Hunt ever met Oswald, or that he
was ever in New Orleans in 1963, or that he had any
331
contact with any New Orleans office of the Cuban

Revolutionary Council.
Hunt's employment (word with the CIA indicated that

he had no duties involving contacts with Cuban exile
elements or organizations inside or outside the
United States after the early months of 1961. This
was more than two years before Oswald went to New
Orleans in April 1963 and more than a year before
Oswald returned to the United States from the Soviet
Union, where he had lived for almost three years.
An example of the testimony relating to an alleged

relationship between the CIA and dad; Ruby
consisted of a statement that Frank Sturgis was
engaged in a series of revolutionary activities among
Cuban exiles in the United States in the 1950's and
1960's and that the CIA also sponsored and
organized anti-Castro activities among Cuban exiles
in the United States in 1959 and the early 1960's.
It was further stated that someone once reported to

the FBI that Jack Ruby had engaged in supplying
arms to persons in Cuba in the early 1950's in
association with a former Cuban President, Carlos
Prio, and that Frank Sturgis also had connections
with Carlos Prio during the 1950's and 1960's. In
addition, it was alleged that Frank Sturgis was at one
time (before he escaped from Cuba in June 1959)
director of gambling and gaming establishments in
Havana for the Castro government, and that in
August or September, 1959 Jack Ruby made a trip to
Havana at the invitation of a friend who had interests
in gambling establishments in Cuba and the United
States. Moreover both Sturgis and Ruby were
alleged to have had connections with underground
figures who had interests in the United States and
Cuba. From this group of allegations, the witness
inferred that Sturgis and Ruby could have met and
known each other—although no actual evidence was
presented to show that Ruby or Sturgis ever met
each other.
332
Even if the individual items contained in the foregoing

recitations were assumed to be true it was concluded
that the inferences drawn must be considered
farfetched speculation insofar as they purport to
show a connection between the CIA and either
Oswald or Ruby. Even in the absence of denials by
living persons that, such connections existed, no
weight could be assigned to such testimony.
Moreover, Sturgis was never an employee or agent
of the CIA…
The same witness testified that E. Howard Hunt was

Acting Chief of a CIA station in Mexico City in 1963,
implying that he could have had contact with Oswald
when Oswald visited Mexico City in September 1963.
Hunt's service in Mexico City, however, was twelve
years earlier—in 1950 and 1951—and his only other
CIA duty in Mexico covered only a few weeks in
1960. At no time was he ever the Chief, or Acting
Chief, of a CIA station in Mexico City. Hunt and
Sturgis categorically denied that they had ever met or
known Oswald or Ruby. They further denied that they
ever had any connection whatever with either Oswald
or Ruby.
Conclusions
Numerous allegations have been made that the CIA

participated in the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy. The Commission staff investigated these
allegations. On the basis of the staff's investigation,
the Commission concluded there was no credible
evidence of any CIA involvement.
The report stated:

Oswald made up the FPCC leaflets" (true); "The
address he stamped on the pamphlets was never an
office of that committee... that he fabricated a non-
existent New Orleans chapter" (true); "that the
building in question was a former office...(of the
CRC) when he made up his pamphlets..." (The
propaganda section of the CRC had been
discontinued in early 1962 according to 544's
333
landlord in CE1414 but the convert section—Smith,

Banister, Ferrie stayed on. Ostensibly the entire CRC
had "disbanded" months before Oswald arrived in
New Orleans but in reality it was still operating.
Finally the Panel states that "Oswald had tried to
infiltrate the anti-Castro organization" presumably the
CRC. Actually, he allegedly tried to infiltrate the DRE.
SENATOR RICHARD SCHWEIKER
The New York Times reported on October 20, 1975: "Senator

Richard Schweiker Predicts Collapse of Warren Report." In May
1976 the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to recommend a
Congressional investigation into the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy. Senator Richard Schweiker hired Gaeton Fonzi as an
investigator. David Marston, an aide to Senator Richard Schweiker,
worked with Gaeton Fonzi. In the Summer of 1976 David Marston
suggested that this researcher be assigned several interns to
correlate telephone numbers in the National Archives JFK Record
Group. This position, however, never materialized.
REAGAN AND SCHWEIKER
Former Rockefeller Commission member Ronald Reagan
stunned the Republican Party Convention on July 26, 1976, and
broke with tradition, when he named Senator Richard Schweiker as
his Vice Presidential running mate, before the delegates had made
334
their decision. Senator Schweiker said he accepted this invitation

because he believed this ticket could unify the Republican Party
since Schweiker was considered a liberal Republican. The New
York Times interviewed more than a dozen political analysts, and
none of them outside of the Reagan - Schweiker camp, felt Ronald
Reagan's cause would be helped by this move. Reagan was
denounced by numerous conservative Republicans for this
selection. Reagan was not nominated that year, and it was widely
believed that his choice of Senator Schweiker as a running mate
was responsible.
JOHN P. SEARS persuaded Ronald Reagan to choose Senator

Schweiker as his Vice Presidential running-mate. From 1965 to
1966 Sears worked for the law firm of Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie,
Alexander and Mitchell. He was a member of Nixon’s staff from
1966 to 1969, and became a Deputy Counsel to the President from
1969 to 1970. John P. Sears served as Nixon’s liaison to Vice
President Spiro Agnew. Nixon suspected him of leaking information
to the press, and placed him under 24-hour surveillance and tapped
his telephone. Nixon considered entrapping Sears by allowing him
to see "some material from Guam." [Wise, D. American Police State
p57] From 1970 to 1975 John P. Sears was a partner in Charles
Colson's law firm, Gadsby & Hannah. In May 1973 Sears surfaced
as the attorney for John Caufield at the Watergate Hearings. He
managed Reagan's Presidential campaign in 1976. From 1977 to
1984, Sears worked in Baskin & Sears. Baskin & Sears received
$500,000 from 1981 to 1984 from the Government of South Africa..
335
In 1984 the city of Pittsburgh threatened to drop its lucrative contract

with Baskin & Sears because of its representation of South Africa.
Baskin dropped the contract with South Africa, however, Sears split
off and formed his own firm, taking the South African account with
him. Sears became known as the chief lobbyist for South Africa. He
managed Reagan's Presidential campaign in 1980. When Sears
was fired as Reagan's campaign manager, in early 1980, Reagan
asked William Casey to take over for him. Reagan appointed Casey
Director of the CIA.
Another figure associated with Ronald Reagan was

EDWARD J. ROLLINS. Rollins was the son of a Navy-shipyard
electrician in Vallejo, California. He attended California State
University, where he excelled at boxing. In 1969 he worked as a
student-activities coordinator at Washington University, Saint Louis,
Missouri. In this capacity he worked closely with the FBI in
identifying members of the anti-Vietnam war movement. He testified
before a Grand Jury inquest that resulted in the conviction of several
students for anti-war activity. In 1972 Rollins worked for Nixon. In
1985 Rollins defended the Reagan Administration's connection to
Teamster official Jackie Presser. [Moldea, Dark Victory, 1986 page
346] In 1989 Rollins was chairman of the National Republican
Congressional Committee. In 1992 Ed Rollins hurt the Presidential
campaign of H. Ross Perot, when he resigned as his campaign
manager.
336
On November 10, 1993, Rollins told a number of

Washington media correspondents that when he head Governor
Christine Todd Whitman's New Jersey gubernatorial campaign he
used $500,000 to bribe black ministers to encourage black voters to
take a powder on election day. [Wash. Post 11.11.93] He later said
he had lied about this.
After Senator Schweiker became associated with Ronald

Reagan, his investigation of the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy ceased. Gaeton Fonzi attributed Senator Richard
Schweiker's loss of interest in the Kennedy assassination to the
Senator's failure to be appointed to the Permanent Intelligence
Oversight Committee. John Sears, who convinced Reagan to
nominate Senator Schweiker as Vice President was more closely
connected to Richard Nixon than he was to Ronald Reagan. Was
Nixon, who had by this time resigned, behind Schweiker's
nomination? Was it an attempt to get Schweiker off the Kennedy
assassination case? Did the CIA have any communication with
Sears?
HEMMING ON THE COVER-UP
"If it was an amateur operation it wouldn't have been
covered up. They'd have been nailed. The only
reason for the cover up, was to hide the
professionals. These are people who have used
before, and have been used since."
337
NODULE TWENTY-SIX
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE BOOK BY ALAN J.

WEBERMAN AND MICHAEL CANFIELD
COUP D’ÉTAT IN AMERICA
WEBERMAN & ARON MORTON KAY IN FLAMINGO PARK 1972
If not for the power of the internet the tramp shot theory
would have been laid to rest by CIA agents, co-optees, assets and
those who wished to protect the Agency for their own reasons,
political and monetary. But the truth can be told, documents and
photographs displayed, videos viewed and enough space remains
to create a 3,500 page searchable data base rather than a 400
page book. As the 50th Anniversary of the coup approaches I find
myself working on THE Oswald CODE, where I decode words
encrypted in Oswald’s address book. I am lucky to be here in
January 2013. If the rogue CIA agents were responsible for a
fraction of the deaths listed in this data base, what prevented them
from having Canfield and Weberman killed? Hemming told this
researcher:
338
You and Canfield are cartoon characters. You have

never been the biggest threat to any of these people,
A. J. I hate to disappoint you, but you’re not taken
very seriously. If you were Woodward or Bernstein,
or even Gaeton Fonzi, or even Gerald Posner, and
you came out with this kind of shit with citations to
authority, you’d have all kinds of problems. There
ain’t nobody worried about you. Nobody’s ever seen
your book. I’m afraid to give you the bad news. It was
a valuable contribution. You got some serious people
started with your book. At that time nobody had done
zip-fuck. The Senate had done their CIA shit. They
wouldn’t be in the business. There wouldn’t have
been a HSCA if you hadn’t bull-shited these people
to death. I’ve got to give you credit. You stirred up
some shit.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE TRAMPS SHOTS:
NOVEMBER 22, 1973
On November 22, 1973, this researcher sponsored a
demonstration in front of the National Archives in Washington. It
was entitled “Who Stole John F. Kennedy’s Brain from the National
Archives” based on this New York Times article.
339
I discovered that on this same date Bernard Fensterwald

was sponsoring an assassination conference at Georgetown
University. I knew Georgetown was a CIA training school but I called
Fensterwald and offered to work with him. Fensterwald would have
no part of it. During the Fenster’s conference High Times founder
Tom Forcade and I attempted to give out leaflets announcing the
“Brain Drain” demonstration. When Fensterwald tried to confiscate
the leaflets Forcade turned over a table injuring one of the Fenster’s
volunteers. Despite the Fenster we had plenty of people at the brain
drain demonstration including Phil Ochs. Upon it s conclusion we
returned to the Georgetown conference. After a bunch of boring
speeches I hooked up with one of Fenster’s female volunteers who
asked me where I got my ideas from. I told her I got them from
smoking reefer and we sat down on some steps and sparked up but
340
there were too many nuns going by so we went to her dorm room. I
figured, hey we are going to get it on and put on some music
however before the festivities could begin a dude started yelling that
he wanted to come up and visit Kadina. I said “Like tell the dude to
split” but he kept yelling. Finally I relented (he had crashed there the
previous night) and he came in. The dude’s name was Steven Sotor
and he was a Professor of Astronomy from Cornell. He whipped out
the tramp shots Sprague had published in Computers and
Automation and told me that he once thought one of the tramps was
FRANK Sturgis but Fensterwald told him this could not be as there
was a height discrepancy between Sturgis and the tramp. I told him
“Fensterwald is a motherfucking CIA agent” and looked at the tramp
shots. When I saw that washed out Protestant face of the old tramp,
I said that guy looks like this old White dude who once rented a
room from me when I lived in East Lansing, Michigan, named
Harold Henkel. And Henkel looked just like Hunt. Holy shit, one
tramp looks like Sturgis and the other looks like Hunt this can’t be
coincidence. I had solved the JFK assassination because I dug sex,
drugs and rock and roll.
I published an article about the “tramps” in the underground

press and moved to Washington, D.C. where I worked in the
National Archives, and studied all of the JFK documents that were
housed there. I worked closely with certain members of the United
States Congress. In 1976 I met the legendary Gaeton Fonzi who
was investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
for Senator Richard Schweiker (Rep.-PA). I worked closely with the
office of Senator Richard Schweiker. My associate Michael Canfield,
who had been part of the George McGovern (Dem.- SD)
presidential campaign, displayed the tramp photographs to
Congressman Henry Gonzalez (Dem.-TX). This helped convince
Congressman Gonzalez to sponsor a bill to re-investigate the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Congressman Henry
Gonzalez’ bill passed and Henry Gonzalez became head of the
House Select Committee on Assassinations. Michael Canfield was
to have an office on Capitol Hill. Then Congressman Gonzalez and
Chief Counsel Richard Sprague had an argument and both men
resigned. Robert Blakey became Chief Counsel. Robert Blakey had
Clyde Snow, a noted anthropologist with CIA-connections, do a
photo study of the tramp shots. Clyde Snow, after reading the photo
reports of the CIA and FBI determined, with some qualifications, that
the tramps were not Hunt or Sturgis or Christ.
REPRESSION
341
As a result of my work I was targeted by the intelligence

community and by those who wished to protect it. When a study of
my telephone records revealed I called Neil Hickey Gallo, who was
related to the Gallo crime family, someone broke into his apartment
and examined all his papers. The only things missing were some
gold rings. A few months later, Frederick Cash drove me to CIA
headquarters. The security guard at the gate made a routine
notation of his license plate number. A week later, someone broke
into the home of Fred Cash by cutting the window glass and then
examined every piece of paper in there. Nothing was stolen. In the
spring and summer of 1974 I lived in the apartment of John Foster
Berlet in Washington, D.C., and conducted research at the National
Archives. Michael Canfield worked with Congressman Henry
Gonzalez and lobbied the United States Congress for the passage
of Congressman Henry Gonzalez’s bill to establish a HSCA. One
evening, upon my return from the National Archives, I found that
there was no electricity in the apartment of “Chip” Berlet. The fuses
were still good. I went to the basement and discovered that
someone had removed the backup fuses from their sockets.
Returning home to my building in Manhattan the next night, I found
the lights were out there too. The fuses were still good in the
apartment and in the basement. A Con Edison crew came and
explained that someone opened the manhole in front of the building
and turned off the power. Was this a prelude to my entrance into the
world of eternal darkness? Hemming told this researcher:
It was not accidental. Who is the ultimate sponsor?

Who pays for it and calls the shots? It’s either
someone in the Agency, or someone jealous of
protecting the agency, or whatever.
In the fall of 1974 Congressman Henry Gonzalez’s aide,

GAIL BEAGLE, was attacked by a Washington, D.C., street gang.
Dean: So I came over and Liddy laid out a million
dollar plan that was the most incredible thing I have
ever laid my eyes on: all in codes and involved black
bag operations, kidnapping, providing prostitutes, uh,
to weaken the opposition, bugging ah, mugging
teams. It was just an incredible thing. (March 21,
1973)
Nixon: Dean actually could answer it in another way.

He could say, look, I was the counsel. I was sitting in
342
on it in that fashion...I did not discuss it with

Haldeman because – because it was turned off, I
didn’t report it.
Ehrlichman: The way you get at that then: ‘Well, Mr.

Dean, you’re responsible for keeping the President
out of legal trouble, aren’t you?’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘You sat in
a meeting where a man named Liddy proposed a
million dollars worth of kidnapping and wiretapping
and assassination and on and on and on, and you
didn’t jump in a taxicab and rush back to the White
House and burst in on Bob Haldeman and say, you
know what those crazy guys on the committee are
doing?’
BARKING DOGS
In early 1975 the FBI visited my neighbors in Manhattan. At

that time I lived at 6 Bleecker Street, between Bowery and Elizabeth
Streets. The agents convinced Jerry Cotter, who worked at a
rehabilitation center for alcoholics, that I was a dangerous radical.
He released barking dogs in a courtyard in the back of my building
at 5:30 a.m. each morning. When confronted, he said: “I let the dogs
loose because they told me you were un-American.” A lawsuit was
filed against him. [Weberman v. Jerry Cotter Civil Court 118626
1975] This researcher is interested in finding the current brother of
Congressman Henry Gonzalez, was arrested following a shootout in
which two policemen were seriously wounded. The shooting
occurred at the residence of Carlos B. Gonzalez’s ailing mother,
where he had gone after escaping from a maximum security
hospital for the criminally insane. Someone took a pot shot at the
Congressman as he left a speaking engagement in San Antonio.
The FBI tried to arrest me in 1975 for allegedly unsealing a
document detailing the role of Sturgis as an informant for the Drug
343
whereabouts of Cotter. On April 26, 1975, Carlos B. Gonzalez, the
Enforcement Administration. FBI Agents went to the Miami Federal

courthouse and questioned Assistant Court Clerk Gloria Walters.
Gloria Walters told them that the document had not been sealed.
The FBI took fingerprints from it. When I returned to Miami a few
months later, the Bureau put me under surveillance and determined
the time of my return flight to New York City. While at the airport, I
put down a bag of newspaper clippings to make a telephone call;
the bag was stolen. An attaché case that contained important
344
documents never left my hand. I deplaned in New York City and

walked toward the baggage claim area. Two New York City Police
Department detectives starred at me, then arrested a Cuban about
ten feet behind me. I have never determined the significance of this.
When the first edition of Coup D’Etat in America was

published in 1975 an unknown group circulated Forthcoming Books
– Internal Memo #32 [9.1.76] which announced that Hunt had sued
the authors of Coup D’Etat in America. Forthcoming Books listed
everyone involved in the production of Coup D’Etat in America, and
claimed that the bibliography of Coup D’Etat in America was
careless, citing an error by the typesetter: a book was mistitled
Heroin in Southeast Asia, rather than The Politics of Heroin in
Southeast Asia. Another error in the bibliography of Coup D’Etat in
America concerned Julius Mader’s Who’s Who in the CIA: “Here
they give the East German address for Mader but manage to get it
garbled through misspellings and elimination of a house number –
such careful research!” The authors had a copy of Who’s Who in the
CIA, an esoteric publication. Forthcoming Books referred to a
advertisement in the underground newspaper, Yipster Times, for the
345
“Who Stole John F. Kennedy’s Brain?” demonstration. The Yipster

Times was another publication not readily available. Forthcoming
Books summarized all the reviews of Coup D’Etat in America that
had appeared to date, accused Joseph Okpaku of being a
Communist who was funded by the Ford Foundation, and ended
with the sentence: “To paraphrase Chairman Mao: ‘Let a thousand
lawsuits bloom; let a couple of authors get their lumps.’” The FBI:
“Repeated searches of central records system indices revealed no
information identifiable with Forthcoming Books.” [FBI ltr. Bresson to
Weberman 2.12.79]
ALLEN DULLES, CORD MEYER AND THE INVISIBLE

GOVERNMENT
When Random House published The Invisible Government,

Cord Meyer visited Random House and offered to purchase the
entire first printing of the book to keep it from public view. [NYT
12.25.77] David Wise reported that when The Invisible Government
was published, “The CIA prepared a lengthy, detailed analysis of the
book, designed to discredit it and the authors...” The CIA tried to
generate hostile book reviews by activating its media assets.
William Buckley wrote a column attacking it. [Wise The American
Police State p192]
What they did to me was nothing compared with what they

did to Congressman Gonzalez and Gail Beagle because they had
credibility. Sure being Leftwing Yippie did not give me any credibility
but it kept me alive I would never have organized the Who Stole
JFK’s Brain? Demonstration outside the National Archives if this had
not been the case. I would have never believed when I looked at the
bum pictures that men in the CIA were capable of doing something
like this if had not been on the Left. Another reason I am alive is
because the CIA had a policy of not terminating the lives of those
who accused it of doing just that. In The Craft of Intelligence Allen
Dulles stated that if an Invisible Government existed in the United
States authors like Ross and Wise, who exposed it, would be dead.
Finally the CIA and FBI were able to throw so much shit about the
tramp shots up against the wall that some of it finally sticked: as
stated FBI Official Oliver Buck Revell and others were able to
convince the America that the tramps had been identified and were
genuine tramps. Revell’s false news story happened late in the
game and was not the first to attempt to discredit the tramp theory.
346
During 1975 BERNARD “BUD” FENSTERWALD was this

researcher’s major antagonist. He did all that he could to discredit
my work. Bernard Fensterwald was born August 2, 1921, in
Nashville, Tennessee, the son of a wealthy clothing merchant. In
1941 his mother, Blanche Fensterwald, was a delegate to the
Southern Conference on Human Welfare, sponsored by the
Southern Regional Council. According to Julius Mader, the CIA had
used the Southern Regional Council in some unspecified manner
during the 1960’s. [FBI MURKIN 44-3886-4358; FBI WFO 62-
112697-1] The NY Office of the FBI prepared a report on Blanche
Fensterwald on August 24, 1956. She was mentioned in four other
FBI files. In 1942 Bernard Fensterwald graduated Magna Cum
Laude from Harvard. He served in the Navy in World War II, and
received a degree from Harvard Law School in 1949. That year,
Bernard Fensterwald was the Subject of an FBI applicant type
investigation. Bernard Fensterwald entered the Georgetown
University School of Advanced International Studies, a private
institution, and received an M.A. in 1950.
FENSTERWALD AND SENATOR JOSEPH McCARTHY
From 1951 to 1956 Bernard Fensterwald worked for the
State Department as an Assistant Legal Advisor. Bernard
Fensterwald defended several State Department employees
accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Communist affiliation.
Some may have been CIA agents who used State Department
347
cover. In 1953 Senator Joseph McCarthy led a Senate fight against

the confirmation of intelligence community insider Charles E. Bohlen
as Ambassador to the USSR. The attacks of Senator Joseph
McCarthy on the CIA culminated on July 9, 1953, when his
assistant, Roy M. Cohn, called the Agency and demanded that
William Bundy, a Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of
Intelligence, testify before Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Committee.
Allen Dulles refused to allow William Bundy to appear. When Nixon
backed Allen Dulles, Senator Joseph McCarthy was defeated.
William Bundy became head of the International Organization
Division of the CIA, London CIA Chief of Station, and Assistant
Deputy Director, (Plans) under CIA Director William Colby. [Winks
Cloak & Gown p444] In 1958 Fensterwald wrote a paper entitled
The Anatonmy Of American “Isolationism” and Expansionism Part I.
The author of this study is currently administrative

assistant to a United States Senator. However
research was begun in 1954 at Cambridge University
where he was studying on a leave of absence from
the Department of State. At that time he was an
assistant to the department’s legal advisor. He is a
graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School
and the School of Advanced International Studies of
John Hopkins University.
[http://jcr.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/2/2/111]
348
In 1956 Bernard Fensterwald worked for SENATOR ESTES

KEFAUVER (Dem.-TN) who had conducted televised hearings into
the Mafia. Kefauver had called for the resignation of Mafia associate
Morris Shenker from the Democratic National Committee. Shenker
would get Fensterwald his next position in government and the
possibility exists that Fensterwald was Shenker’s spy. Shenker also
represented many OC figures when they had been called to testify
by the Kefauver Committee. In 1956 Senator Kefauver accepted the
Vice-Presidential nomination on the Adlai Stevenson ticket, but both
were defeated by the re-election of Dwight Eisenhower.
In 1957, with his mother, Fensterwald visited the Soviet
Union. In 1957 the FBI stated, “Fensterwald has gone out of his way
to be helpful.” On May 14, 1957, Fensterwald contacted Louis B.
Nichols of the FBI. Senator Henning had been asked to introduce
legislation to block the deportation of Pierre LaFitte. LaFitte was a
hardcore international criminal who had been previously deported
back to his native France. While awaiting deportation he turned
snitch and testified against his cellmate. The Mafia had a contract
out on him and it did not want him deported as that would make it
harder to eliminate him. An unnamed FBI official reported:
I told Fensterwald that this, of course, was a matter

for the Immigration Service and on a purely personal
and confidential basis the Senator should be
exceedingly cautious before he got out on a limb; that
if he inquired into LaFittes background he would find
an extensive record; and that under no
circumstances would the Bureau support LaFitte. I
told him officially, of course, we could not take a
position but that, personally, we would hate to see
some friend embarrassed and he should be very
cautious. Fensterwald stated that was enough for
him. (Paragraph deleted) [FBI 66-18621-269]
In March 1957 the FBI seized Hoffa in a plot to bribe a
Senate Staff Aide on the Senate Select Committee on Labor and
Management Practices. Robert Kennedy said the approach to the
staff member had been made by attorney Hyman Fishbach.
Fishbach had accused Senator Margret Chase Smith of Maine of
harboring communist inclinations when he went after HOFFA in
1957. The Justice Department dropped the charges against
Fishbach. In March 1961 Fishbach was injured when a bomb
exploded as he turned on the ignition to his car. In 1959
349
Fensterwald was the Subject of another applicant-type inquiry

conducted by the FBI. On March 12, 1961, Bernard Fensterwald
replaced Paul Rand Dixon as an investigator for the Senate Antitrust
and Monopoly Subcommittee headed by Senator Estes Kefauver.
These hearings send several prominent electrical company
executives to prison for price-fixing. Paul R. Dixon became head of
the Federal Trade Commission. In 1961 Senator Estes Kefauver
was investigating the drug industry. Hank Messick reported Senator
Estes Kefauver fired Bernard Fensterwald. In May 1963 Kefauver
was hospitalized in Bethesda Naval Hospital with a case of Asian
influenza. On August 8, 1963 Kefauver was hospitalized at
Bethesda with what was described as a mild heart attack. He first
believed he was suffering from acute indigestion. Tests at the
hospital disclosed the heart attack. He was ordered to get several
weeks of bed rest, however his condition worsened and on August
10, 1963 – while waiting open-heart surgery at Bethesda Naval
Hospital, Kefauver died of a ruptured aorta which caused a massive
hemorrhage. His body was taken home to Madisonville for burial
and no autopsy was performed. The cause of death was listed as a
dissecting aneurysm, or ballooning of the aorta. Was this a drug-
induced myocardial infarction?
Circa 1967 Bernard Fensterwald left the State Department and was
hired by Senator Thomas C. Hennings (Dem.-MO) as an
investigator for the Senate Committee on Constitutional Rights. At
this time the Democratic Party in Saint Louis, Missouri, was
controlled by Morris Shenker, casino owner, Mafia house counsel
350
and influence peddler at the highest levels of government. In 1951,

when a Democratic Congressman from St. Louis Missouri died, the
Republican opponent of the man the Democrats picked to run for his
seat stated that her opponent had been handpicked by Morris
Shenker. In 1954 Shenker had represented Truman pal Paul Dillon
when Dillon was charged with not reporting income he received for
facilitating the paroles of Mafia figures.
SHENKER AND HIS PUPPET EDWARD V. LONG
In 1960 Senator Thomas C. Hennings died of stomach

cancer, and Edward Vaughan Long (born July 18, 1908) was
appointed to take his place in Congress. Senator Edward V. Long
was elected to a full six year term in 1962. Senator Edward V. Long
was named Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative
Practice and Procedure in 1963. In the mid-1960’s Senator Edward
V. Long was approached by Teamster Union boss James Hoffa,
who was shopping for a congressional committee to investigate the
tactics of United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Jimmy
Hoffa was intent on retaliating against United States Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy for having exposed the connections of
the Teamsters Union to organized crime, and for having indicted
him on wiretapped evidence. Senator Long agreed to take up Jimmy
Hoffa’s fight against Robert F. Kennedy’s alleged violations of civil
liberties – for a price. Senator Edward V. Long was connected to
Jimmy Hoffa through Attorney Morris Shenker, who worked on a
five-figure retainer for Jimmy Hoffa. Senator Edward V. Long had
received $48,000 from Morris Shenker for having referred Jimmy
351
Hoffa to him. Senator Edward V. Long admitted living in the same

Washington, D.C., apartment building as Jimmy Hoffa and said he
had met him on several occasions.
Senator Long selected Bernard Fensterwald as his Chief

Counsel. Bernard Fensterwald was described as a heavy John F.
Kennedy financial supporter who harbored a grudge against the
Kennedys for having failed to give him the Ambassadorial post he
had coveted. [William Lambert Life 5.26.67] Long and Fensterwald
represented the interests of Organized Crime in the United States
Senate. Long could not submit a bill that would legalize loan
sharking, prostitution etc but under the guise of protecting “civil
rights” he could go after the politicians and law enforcement officials
who were going after the Teamsters and their brothers in the Mafia.
Bernard Fensterwald even had the nerve to demand the FBI reveal
the names of organized crime figures who were the Subjects of mail
covers. Life Magazine reported:
Three days later in Washington under the guise of
getting urgent information for some future public
hearings Chief Counsel Fensterwald began an
unusual series of interviews of Justice Department
lawyers and Carmine Bufalino case defendants. The
transcripts of these secret interviews, which were
never made public, begin with the statement that ‘the
Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice…Bernard
Fensterwald Jr. Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee
presiding’ because no Senator was present.
Notwithstanding Fensterwald’s effort to give these
sessions the appearance of an official proceeding,
the interrogation could not be conducted under oath.
Fensterwald for that matter could not ‘preside’ at a
session of the committee. That is a privilege reserved
for Senators. It was apparent from Fensterwald’s
questions that he had access to testimony taken in
William Bufalino’s Detroit lawsuit, and that his aim
was to try to link Detroit police to the IRS, thence to
Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the
Justice Department, as parties to a wiretapping
conspiracy against Hoffa. The parade of witnesses
included William Hundley, former Chief of the
Organized Crime Section, plus several lawyers still
working in the section; a former Justice Department
lawyer who was hostile to Robert Kennedy, and
352
several Detroit area law enforcement officials. [LIFE

– May 26, 1967]
William Bufalino was an OC house counsel who represented

HOFFA. Bufalino’s complaint contained two counts. The first count
set forth a claim for damages in the amount of $1,550,000, alleging
that defendants tapped the telephone line serving plaintiff’s
residence and intercepted and divulged the contents of telephone
calls of plaintiff, his wife and children, and also alleged that plaintiff’s
private, confidential and privileged conversations and
communications with his clients were invaded, thereby causing
serious harm to him in his profession as a lawyer and to the offices
which he held. The second count was for damages in the amount of
$2,100,000, alleging a conspiracy to tap plaintiff’s telephone lines
and intercept and divulge the contents of telephone calls in violation
of his contractual rights and his right to privacy. After Hoffa’s
disappearance from a parking lot in a Detroit suburb, Mr. Bufalino
said he believed the union leader had been involved in an effort by
the Central Intelligence Agency to arrange for American members of
the Mafia to assassinate Fidel Castro, the Cuban President. Under
Mr. Bufalino’s theory, Mr. Hoffa was killed to prevent him from
disclosing anything about the alleged plot.
The Life Magazine article determined that Senator Long and

his Chief Counsel Bernard “Bud” Fensterwald was strongly
influenced to take up the investigations of Federal snooping by
friends who were high in the teamsters union. The hearings
conducted by Fensterwald “blunted the Justice Department’s
Organized Crime Drive by discrediting its participating governmental
agencies; in particular the IRS.” The article also stated that Senator
Long had misused his investigating subcommittee – first as an
instrument of for trying to keep Jimmy Hoffa out of prison;
subsequently for trying to get Hoffa’s conviction reversed.
Mr. Fensterwald said Life Magazine had not

established any connection between the wiretapping
investigation and the efforts by Hoffa and his counsel
to keep the teamster leader out of jail or get a
reversal of his conviction. Mr. Fensterwald also
intimated that the information about the referral fees
had been leaked to Life Magazine by the IRS, which
has been a principal object of Long’s inquiring.
Fensterwald claimed, “We have tried to stay out of all
353
cases in litigation. We have stayed religiously clear of

the Hoffa case.
[COUNSEL DEFENDS MOTIVES OF LONG; Denies Wiretap

Inquiry Was Designed to Help Hoffa Close Friend of Senator
Dirksen Rarely at Sessions By E. W. KENWORTHY Special to The
New York Times May 22, 1967]
Fensterwald accused Robert Kennedy of having planted an

article in Life Magazine about Hoffa thereby trying Hoffa through the
media. RFK had put Life Magazine in touch with Baron, a
disgruntled Teamster. According to Robert Kennedy “There was a
connection between Mr. Sam Baron and Life Magazine over whichI
had no control and which was only to be published in case Mr.
Baron was killed.”
Fensterwald observed that there was nothing in the

document describing plans for a possible article in
Life to indicate that the article was to be published
only in case of Mr. Baron’s death. ‘The article at that
stage’ Mr. Fensterwald said, ‘had not been written.
This was an arrangement whereby I understand it;
you were putting what would normally be described
as ‘a fink’ in touch with Time Life to write a magazine
article?” Normally described as what?’ Mr. Kennedy
asked. “Fink F-I-N-K” Mr Fensterwald said spelling
the word. “A stool pigeon. Does that word strike a
chord?” “I thought it was a citizen who was reporting
information and evidence in connection with illegal
activities.” The Senator said. “Let me say” Mr.
Kennedy resumed, “I am shocked to hear that. I think
there have been a lot of loyal people, if I may say Mr.
Counsel that provided information to the United
States Government in connection with Communist
activities, underworld activities, narcotics activities at
great risk to their own lives and I that is that has been
very, very helpful to the United States. And it is also
you position Sir” Mr. Fensterwald went on, “that it is
proper for an attorney General to take sure people,
even when a case is under investigation and
indictment, and attempt to see that their testimony is
printed in the public press rather than being taken in
354
court.” That is not the way it was done, Mr. Counsel”

the Senator replied, “I never did anything like that.”
It was true that the Internal Revenue Service had leaked

word of Morris Shenker’s payment to Senator Edward V. Long to
William Lambert of Life magazine. In the mid-1960s, Florida
Governor Claude Kirk commissioned Wackenhut to help fight the
“war on organized crime”; this $500,000 contract lasted about a year
and led to more than 80 criminal indictments, including many local
politicians and government employees. Kirk was asked by Bernard
Fensterwald about the possibility of a security risk or a conflict.
Fensterwald also subpoenaed Post Office officials and questioned
them about the use of mail covers and peep hole that allowed postal
office personnel to read letters without opening them.In January
1975 Bernard Fensterwald testified on behalf of Morris Shenker at a
Hearing of the Gaming Control Board in Nevada.
The FBI stated:
A review of Bureau file reveals no information directly

connecting Senator Long with the leadership of La
Cosa Nostra or other top racket figures. A review of
data regarding certain of Long’s legal clients “shared”
with Shenker, who has represented Teamster boss
James Hoffa and who is described as being
connected with various racket figures, shows
connections with the hoodlum element and activities
of questionable legality. [FBI 92-6054-2227]
In 1967 Senator Edward V. Long was called before the

Senate Ethics Committee and questioned about his connections to
Jimmy Hoffa. In 1967 Frederick Praeger published The Intruders by
Senator Edward V. Long. The book was dedicated to Fensterwald.
Senator Edward V. Long was forced to resign in December 1968.
The government service of Bernard Fensterwald ended with the
downfall of Senator Edward V. Long. [FBI WFO 112697-1; NYT
3.28.73] In November 1971 Fensterwald stated that the FBI “was lax
in investigating organized crime because many Congressmen had
connections with the mafia.” [62-113904-40]
Fensterwald was a disgruntled Kennedy supporter who was
going to settle his vendetta with the Kennedy’s by hooking up with
James Riddle Hoffa. I thought Fensterwald was working for the CIA
but I was wrong. He was working for the mob AND the CIA. By 1966
355
the CIA had an interest in protecting certain members of organized

crime, since the CIA worked with them in anti-Castro plotting.
Whenever the CIA had an interest in something, such as McCarthy
going after CIA agents under State Department cover, Fensterwald
was on the scene.
Senator Edward V. Long planned to call Robert Maheu to

testify about invasions of privacy by private investigators. The CIA
feared that its involvement with Robert Maheu and Johnny Rosselli
would have surfaced during these hearings. The CIA reported:
Upon notification for appearance before the

Subcommittee, Mr. Maheu contacted his attorney,
Edward Morgan of Washington, D.C. Mr. Morgan in
turned contacted Mr. Morris Shenker, an attorney in
Saint Louis, Missouri, who personally knows Senator
Edward V. Long. It is reported that a meeting was
arranged to discuss the appearance of Mr. Maheu
before the Subcommittee which meeting was
attended by Senator Long, his staff assistant Mr.
Bernard Fensterwald (who is performing the staff
work for the Subcommittee hearings) Mr. Morgan and
Mr. Shenker.
On June 6, 1966, Robert Maheu told CIA’s Director of

Assistant Deputy Director of Security, (IOS) James P. O’Connell,
that he got
…the impression from Morgan, who is still dealing

with the Saint Louis attorney [Shenker], a personal
friend of Senator Long, that the Committee has done
some additional checking, and earlier information
regarding Maheu’s activities may not be as solid as
earlier believed. I next asked Robert Maheu if
Bernard Fensterwald had actually identified Sam
Giancana, Onassis, Niarchus etc. by name as he had
previously indicated to Colonel Sheffield Edwards
and myself. He replied in the affirmative, and
speculated that this convinced him someone has
been ‘talking.’ He conjectured that several people
knew about the bug on Onassis’s New York office,
including Taggart who, to date, has not contacted
him. John Frank, former CIA employee, and a John
Geraghty (phonetic), a free lance newspaperman
356
who was employed by him at the time. In the case of

Sam, Ed Dubois and a couple of his technicians were
aware of Maheu’s tie-in with Giancanna. While Bob
[Robert Maheu] was not identified in the press as
being involved, he was definitely linked as a result of
the technicians identified in the press as being
involved, he was definitely linked as a result of the
technician, who, when arrested and detained at the
Sheriff’s office in Las Vegas, failing to locate Dubois,
telephoned Maheu directly at the Kennelworth Hotel,
Miami Beach, in the presence of Sheriff’s personnel,
to advise him of his compromise. According to
Maheu, neither Dubois nor his employees, were
aware of the true relationship between Maheu and
Sam.
The CIA then reported:
According to Maheu, Shenker has some strong hold

on Senator Long and also has Bernard Fensterwald
indebted to him as he got Fensterwald his
job...Maheu claims that this case could be “closed-
up” if we merely approach Senator Long, and say
that the questioning of Maheu might be harmful to the
national security. He implies that while Senator Long
has agreed not to call him, the Senator is looking for
something on which to base this decision and our
approach would be sufficient to clinch the situation.
The CIA felt “...Fensterwald will approach us about any

problem areas from our point of view.” [CIA Memo DD/CIA from
Houston 6.21.66] The CIA reported:
In 1966 information was received by the Agency

indicating that the Senate Administrative Practices
Subcommittee, under the chairmanship of Senator
Edward Long, had advised Maheu that his testimony
was desired concerning his relationship with Onassis,
Savros Niarchos, Sam Giancanna and (Deleted as of
2010). The Subcommittee interest was invasion of
privacy and particularly the use of audio devices by
private investigators. In July 1966, Senator Long was
alerted to the fact that the Agency had had sensitive
operational contacts with Maheu. Senator Long was
357
told that the Agency had used Maheu over the years,
on a number of occasions, but that he never had
been asked to engage in any wiretapping and had
never engaged in any such activities on our behalf.
Office of Security files do not indicate whether or not
Maheu did appear before this Subcommittee,
although it appears that he did not.
Robert Maheu never testified. The subcommittee held widely

publicized hearings and damaged Robert F. Kennedy, but not the
CIA. The CIA compiled a dossier on Senator Edward V. Long. [NYT
1.17.75 p9] Maheu died August 6, 2008 at age 90.
THE DEATH OF EDWARD LONG
On November 6, 1972, ex-Senator Edward V. Long died. Thomas

Osborn, prosecuting attorney of Audrain County, who has been
appointed a special investigator in the Long case said that Miss
Helen Dunlop [Long’s mistress and secretary] had not told
authorities about Mr. Long’s proported statement on being poisoned
until early April 1973. She told him that a box of candy had arrived
at Mr. Long’s estate called Brookville Farm in Clarksville, Mo.
November 2, 1973 and that she had typed a letter of thanks to an
unidentified suburban man whose business card accompanied the
box. Miss Dunlop, who is 46, told investigators she later saw the box
opened at the Brookville Home November 5 when she visited the
Senator. On November 6, 1973 she said, she was notified that the
358
Senator was ill and went to Brookville, where Mr. Long complained
that the candy tasted bitter and that he thought he had been
poisoned because his arms and legs felt numb. A few hours later,
before a physician could arrive Mr. Long was dead. The candy was
never recovered. The man whose name was on the business card
said he had not been associated with the business noted on the
card when the candy was send and has denied sending it to Mr.
Long. He was not identified by authorites. (NYT April 21, 1973) In
April 1973 the body of Edward V. Long was exhumed. The only
identifiable substances found in his stomach were parts of an
undigested apple. [NYT 5.3.73] Judging from his past associations
Long very well might have been poisoned by an untraceable poison.
If this was the case it was the CIA, not the mob.
THE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ASSASSINATIONS

In January 1969, two months after having left Senator
Edward V. Long’s “Get Robert F. Kennedy Subcommittee,” Bernard
Fensterwald founded the Committee To Investigate Assassinations,
which was allegedly dedicated to finding the real assassins of John
F. Kennedy. Angleton’s Deputy, James Hunt, asked the FBI for
more information on the Committee To Investigate Assassinations.
[FBI 62-19060-6681] The CIA:
Our records show that Richard Sprague, a

management consultant and photographic researcher,
appeared in a New York Times article of May 24,
1968, in which he claimed that within an hour of the
assassination of President Kennedy three men may
have been pulled off freight cars in a railroad yard near
Dealey Plaza. We have no further identifiable record of
him.
The Committee to Investigate Assassinations was formed by

Fensterwald and Sprague, not to reveal the truth about the Kennedy
assassination, but to suppress it. A lot of researchers like Jim Lesar,
Kevin Walsch and others were fooled by Fensterwald and worked
with him and were influenced by him.
BERNARD FENSTERWALD AND JAMES EARL RAY

In March 1969 Fensterwald told the press that the Christ
tramp, who he called Frenchy resembled the sketch of Ray’s
“Raoul.”
359
JFK, KING DEATH LINK IS CLAIMED
(Washington UPI) A private committee contends it

has found a link between the slaying of JFK and MLK
Jr. Bernard Fensterwald Jr. told a news conference
Monday the alleged link is a picture taken of in Dallas
an hour after Kennedy was shot. The photograph is a
blown-up shot of a man supposedly being arrested in
Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Fensterwald exhibited the
photograph and said the man pictured strongly
resembled a police sketch made in Memphis from
accounts of eyewitnesses to the King assassination.
In a Ramparts Magazine article written in 1968 William
Turner had pointed out the resemblance between the Christ tramp
and the MLK assailant sketch. Fensterwald was going to
overshadow Turner so that he would be sure that anyone with
further information would approach him and not Turner.
In the spring of 1970 James Earl Ray hired Bernard
Fensterwald as his attorney; he fired him in 1976. In June 1974
Bernard Fensterwald filed a motion to grant James Earl Ray a new
trial on the basis of alleged collusion between William Bradford Huie
and the former attorneys of James Earl Ray. Bernard Fensterwald
was involved with a lot of bogus activity surrounding the King
assassination. In September 1974, Robert Livingston, a Memphis
lawyer and Special Deputy Sheriff, held a press conference at which
he announced: “There were three gunmen, one from the underworld
who is now serving a sentence in a Canadian prison and proposes
to testify to give a complete expose of the King murder case and to
give names and telephone numbers of the four...wealthy, socially
prominent Americans...one black...who hired him...for $100,000 to
kill King.”
Robert Livingston contacted Memphis attorney Russell X.

Thompson and asked him to represent these hired killers, who
agreed to testify if they were granted complete immunity. Russell X.
Thompson was known as a liberal, and represented the NAACP.
Russell X. Thompson received a phone call from one of the alleged
gunman who wanted $3000 to come to Memphis.
360
Bernard Fensterwald and Robert Livingston allegedly

met one of the gun man in Detroit, then took him to
Tennessee to see James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray
refused to speak with him and the “hired gun men”
story proved false. Priscilla Johnson’s former
husband, George McMillan, believed he knew the
identity of one of the hired gun men. George
McMillan did a book on the Martin Luther King killing,
Portrait of an Assassin. “I have always believed that
James Earl Ray did it alone” said George McMillan.
In 1994 James Earl Ray became suspicious of
Bernard
Fensterwald:
When he first started representing me he appeared

very diligent; however, after he obtained the
evidentiary hearing in the Memphis Federal Court he
appeared to become very defensive in prosecuting
the matter. He wouldn’t permit his associate, Jim
Lesar, to ask certain witnesses questions. Lesar’s
intentions were okay but he did not have the
experience to brief a H.C. case. After the evidentiary
hearing in Memphis, Fensterwald asked me to let
Lesar file the briefs to the 6th circuit and argue them
at the hearing. At that time Lesar was young and not
a cr. Attorney. The next time I saw Fensterwald was
15 years later (1990), I think, in Brushy Mountain
prison. He showed me a picture along with some
information about a dude named Smith...Fensterwald
asked if Smith was Raoul. Now Smith was an Anglo
and I assumed he spoke with a Texas accent, i.e. he
had very little in common with Raoul. About three
months ago I filed an FOIA request with the FBI/JD
asking for Fensterwald’s private files. [ltr.from Ray to
AJW 8.31.94, 5.4.94; MURKIN FBI 44-38861-5955,
5950, 5957, 5948, 5947]
In 1983 an administrative law judge ruled that the 22

members of a disbanded Navy intelligence unit that spied on
maritime operations around the world were government employees
even though they had signed contracts with front corporations set
up to cloack their naval ties. They Navy had argued that the former
361
spies were ineligible for normal civil service benefits. Fensterwald

won the case.
JAMES McCORD AND THE FENSTER
On May 24, 1972, James W. McCord retained Bernard

Fensterwald as his counsel in Watergate. After he was arrested at
Watergate, McCord was going to blame the break-in on the CIA, but
McCord changed his mind. McCord stated:
I have released Gerald Alch as my defense attorney

in the Watergate case [and hired Bernard
Fensterwald who put up $40,000 bail for McCord]. In
a meeting recently in which our defense plans for
Watergate trial were discussed, Alch persisted in a
proposal that I claim the Watergate operation was a
CIA operation. That is flatly untrue, and when I
rejected it, he then went on to make a second
proposal. The second proposal then was that I claim
that the four Cubans and I cooked up the bugging
operation on our own. This was also untrue. [Ervin
Hearings p3444]
362
GERALD ALCH denied McCord’s charges. He said that McCord’s

statement that he told McCord that his CIA records could be altered
to support the claim Watergate was a CIA operation was also false.
Gerald Alch, a former associate of F. Lee Bailey who is now a judge
in Massachusetts, testified to the Senate Select Committee on
Illegal Campaign Activities: “Bernard Fensterwald said to McCord,
‘The reporters have been asking me whether or not you or I had
ever had any past relationship? I told him that we had...Well, after
all, you have in the past submitted me checks which were donations
to the Committee To Investigate Assassinations.’ McCord smiled
and said ‘That’s right.’”
McCORD ASSOCIATES
The Committee To Investigate Assassinations was funded
by MCCORD ASSOCIATES, which for all practical purposes, was a
CIA proprietary. The CIA reported that U.S. Attorney Earl Silbert
…is aware that Ralph True was going to go to work

for McCord. [He] would like to know of any other
individuals who possibly had been talked to by
McCord when looking toward employment.
The CIA listed 12 former CIA employees who had applied to
MCCORD ASSOCIATES for work:
(1) William Francis Shea. Entered On Duty 1951,
Office of Strategic Research, DDI Intelligence Officer
363
at the time of his resignation. He had (deleted as of

2010) resigned in lieu of termination and may not be
to favorably disposed toward the Agency. As
previously indicated, his wife, Therese Mae Shea,
works as a secretary at McCord Associates. The
Office of Personnel referred Mr. Shea to McCord
Associates in 1971, and Dr. Edward M. Gunn
indicated that Mr. Shea is affiliated with the Institute
for Protection and Safety Studies, Inc.
(2) Therese Mae Shea. Entered on duty at the CIA in

1948. Wife of William Francis Shea. Hired by McCord
as secretary.
(3) James Corbin Fitchett. Entered On Duty 1951.

Was supposed to be hired June 30, 1972, to work
with the Committee to Re-elect President Nixon.
(4) Ross Ward Lambert a former OSS employee,

served with the Agency from January 11, 1965, to
August 9, 1971, and was a GS-13, Contract
Employee assigned to the Special Operations
Division/DDP, at the time of his resignation. Mr.
Lambert served extensively in the Far East Division
overseas posts, and there was a previous security
interest in the case because of his daughter’s
involvement in activities of the Students for a
Democratic Society, SDS. The Office of Personnel
referred Mr. Lambert to McCord Associates but he
took a job elsewhere.
(5) Louis Edgar Sherrad. Served with the Agency

from July 2, 1952, until January 31, 1969, when he
resigned. Security Officer assigned to the Security
Research Staff. Background centers on industrial and
physical security.
(6) Ralph Orlando True. Entered On Duty 1950. Still

Agency employed. Ralph Orlando True was also
supposed to retire on June 30, 1972, and join
MCCORD ASSOCIATES.
(7) Dr. Edward Mansfield Gunn. Entered On Duty

1955. Served with the Agency until May 31, 1971,
364
and was a GS-17, Deputy Director of Medical

Services, at the time of his retirement. Dr. Gunn was
interviewed by an Office of Security representative on
June 19, 1972, and discussed in some detail his
involvement with the Institute for Protection and
Safety Studies, Inc. which is affiliated with McCord
Associates and occupies space in the same offices.
Hired.
(8) Dr. Jacob Victor Golder. Former GS-15, Chief of

Psychological Services Staff/Office of Medical
Services.
(9) Harry Thayer Mahoney. Entered On Duty 1951. In

1972 he was a GS-14 Operations Officer assigned to
Western Hemisphere Division/DDP. He had been
acquainted with McCord’s and McCord through the
years. In 1976 Harry T. Mahoney worked for the
Burns International Investigation Bureau. Mahoney
had written CIA Agent David McLean a letter
mentioning Frank Sturgis. [Harry Mahoney 1110
Shady Lane, Wheaton, Il. 60187 AFIO 1994;
Counterspy Spring 1976]
(10) James Louis Baker served with the Agency from

July 2, 1952 until June 24, 1972 when his contract
was allowed to expire. Mr. Baker, a GS-12.
Operations Officer assigned to Special Operations
Division/DDP, was in Saigon, South Vietnam from
April 1968 to July 24, 1971 when he was returned to
Headquarters because of serious (deleted) problems
involving his wife. Divorce proceedings continued
through early 1972, and his case has been monitored
by the Office of Personnel. Subject was referred to
McCord Associates by the Office of Personnel, but
he acquired a position with the Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs effective as of June 26, 1972.
His application may possibly be on file at McCord
Associates.
(11) George Theodore Stanton. Served with the

Agency from August 4, 1947, to January 8, 1972, and
was a GS-14, Operations Officer, assigned to the
Counter-Intelligence Staff/DDP. Dr. Gunn indicated
365
that Mr. Stanton has been serving as a consultant to

the Institute for Protection and Safety Studies, Inc.
(12) Walter Edward Brayden. Entered On Duty 1947.

Hired. Intelligence Officer, DD/P. In April 1972, he
served as guard for Mrs. Martha Mitchell on a trip to
Chicago.
The CIA reported that McCord
…gave him his expense account money in ten new

one hundred dollar bills. McCord wanted Braydon to
carry a gun, and when Braydon showed reluctance
McCord told him it was OK since he was working to
the Attorney General of the U.S. O’Malley also said
that Brayden performed security sweeps of the office
of the Committee to Re-elect the President. [CIA
Memo For: DD/Pers/SP Subject: Meeting with Frank
O’Malley]
Shea gave up eavesdropping and in 1980 wrote “The role and

function of technology in American popular music, 1945-1964.” Mr.
Fitchett holds an M.A. in government from the Maxwell School of
Syracuse University and an A. B. in political science from the
American University in Washington, D.C. He is a former Trustee and
Chairman of the Board of the Boston Society for Information
Management. Mr. Fitchett often speaks at national conferences and
366
has published in health care journals and texts. Ross Ward Lambert
was an expert on computer enhancement of sound and computer
voice recognition. In April 1947 Ralph Orlando True, Jr., was an
OSS agent and assistant attaché in Greece working under Thomas
Karamessines. Doctor Gunn was hired by McCord Associates to
poison people! Harry Thayer Mahoney was a retired CIA agent and
author of numerous books chronicling espionage and documenting
the lives of Communists like Leon Trotsky. Harry was a CIA
historian. George Stanton wrote “Defense Against Communist
Interrogation Organizations.” [Studies in Intelligence 13, no. 4 (Fall
1969)]
THE DEATH OF MARTHA MITCHELL
Martha Mitchell died on June 1, 1976. She was 57. Her physician,
Dr. Klaus Mayer, attributed her death to multiple myeloma, a rare
type of malignancy that attacked bone marrow, complicated by
hemorrhage and terminal bronchial pneumonia. Martha Mitchell was
unconscious as a result of a heart attack. In 1994 Dr. Klaus Mayer
stated: “There was nothing suspicious about her death. She had a
367
not-so-rare type malignancy which is almost always fatal, and in her

case, it was. She was bleeding from the G.I. tract, but that’s not so
unusual either. She drank a fair amount. Her illness was
complicated by hemorrhage and terminal bronchial pneumonia
because she was on cortisone-like drugs which provoke that sort of
thing. She had an autopsy. When we saw her she was slowly, but
surely, going to die of a disease that everybody I’ve ever known
would die of. She was being treated for bone marrow cancer before
I saw her. That was a straight forward disease. There is no way of
giving it, or inducing it. Not even radiation. What is interesting is how
she was treated in California after she squealed on the Nixon
administration. She claimed, and I have no evidence to work on,
things like that may have occurred before she suspected it. But not
for a period of time. No one got near her at the hospital or at home.
She was in the advanced stages of a malignant disease.”
1. Most of the applicants referred to McCord ASSOCIATES by

the CIA were hired. What they were to do for McCord ASSOCIATES
remained a mystery. McCord knew Christ and Angleton. McCord
might have been in Dealey Plaza disguised as a Secret Service
agent. He looked the part. Why had he supported an organization
like the Committee To Investigate Assassinations which was
supposed to uncover his crime?
McCORD, LOUIS RUSSELL AND FENSTERWALD
Louis Russell was the intermediary between MCCORD

ASSOCIATES and Bernard Fensterwald. Born in Louisville,
Kentucky, Louis Russell was the son of an FBI Agent. In 1937 he
joined the Bureau, and worked there until 1944, when he was forced
to leave because of alcoholism. From 1945 to 1954, Louis Russell
worked as an investigator for the House Un-American Activities
Committee and became its Chief Investigator in 1949. Louis Russell
worked with Nixon on the Alger Hiss case.
368
In 1954 he was fired for drinking, but was reinstated by Senator

James O. Eastland (Dem.-MS), and remained with the House Un-
American Activities Committee until 1966. In January 1972 Louis
Russell met with James McCord, and was hired by the Committee
to Re-elect President Nixon and by MCCORD ASSOCIATES and by
Fensterwald’s Committee To Investigate Assassinations. [FBI DC
139-166 rel. 6.27.72] Louis Russell was interviewed by Special
Agents of the FBI on June 29, 1972:
He does not recall ever receiving a phone call on

April 25, 1972, from McCord Associates to the phone
number 234-9746 which is the pay telephone located
in the hall of the rooming house where he resides. He
advised that he does know James McCord of
McCord Associates and that he is employed by
James McCord. He stated that the phone call could
have been taken by any of the tenants living in the
rooming house...He first met James McCord in
January or February 1972 at Scholls Restaurant in
Washington, D.C. at which time McCord asked him to
work for him as an investigator for the National
Committee to Re-elect the President. He stated that
McCord said he was recommended to by someone,
369
whose name he did not disclose. Russell advised

that this is probably correct as he has done
investigative work in an around Washington, D.C. for
some time. He said his first job was to do a
background check on a female, name ‘Jane’ (LNU)
who was in the employ of the National Committee to
Re-elect the President. He said for that job he
received $40 paid by check in advance by McCord.
His next job was a background check on a male
‘hippie’ messenger for the National Committee to Re-
elect the President. He said for that for this job he
received $25. He advised he was also asked to
check out a magazine by the title of The Sociables
and a woman by the name of Rita Gerin. He gave
written reports to McCord on all the above cases. On
June 1, 1972, McCord put him on retainer of $710
per month to continue until the Presidential Election
was over with the purpose of investigating Jack
Anderson to determine the source of Anderson’s
information. He furnished McCord with one report on
Anderson for which he received $75. He stated that
he worked this case solely during the month of June
but that now that the ‘Democratic Committee Bugging
Incident Occurred’ he does not know if he will still be
employed by McCord. He advised that he also
worked for McCord as a security guard at 1701
Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C.
for about two weeks prior to being put on retainer by
McCord. He said that it was his understanding he
was employed by the National Committee to Re-elect
the President and was hired by James McCord. His
checks were drawn on the Maryland National Bank
on the account of Mr. and Mrs. James McCord or
McCord Associates. He couldn’t remember which.
He said that he saw James and Mrs. McCord last

night at their home, but that they did not discuss the
break-in of the Democratic National Headquarters,
nor did McCord give any information as to Russell’s
current employment status with the National
Committee to Re-elect the President. As far as the
Anderson investigation was concerned Russell stated
that he was never told what person, or persons, in
370
the National Committee to Re-elect the President

was interested or requested the Anderson
investigation.
Russell advised that his background concerning

investigative work started in 1937 when he was a
Special Agent for the FBI. He was employed by the
FBI from June 1937 until 1944, when he left the FBI
because of personal reasons; i.e. first wife
committing suicide and his becoming a heavy
drinker. He stated that most of his work in the FBI
was in the Washington, D.C. area. After 1944 he
worked in many varied jobs and found work wherever
he could. From 1945 until 1954 he worked as an
investigator for the House Committee on Un-
American Activities and was fired in 1954 for
drinking, but was reinstated in 1957 by Francis B.
Walter. He stayed with the House Committee on Un-
American Activities until 1967. Since that time he has
worked varied jobs, but mainly doing investigations
and background checks for clients. He admitted that
at one time he was an alcoholic, and a member of
Alcoholic’s Anonymous. He ran a home for Alcoholics
Anonymous from February 1969 to 1970. He stated
that his name has appeared in the following books:
Six Crisis by Richard Nixon, The Committee by
Walter Goodman and The Witness by Whitaker
Chambers.
The Senate Select Committee on Illegal Campaign Practices

stated in its Minority Report:
The Committee did review evidence of a potential link

between James McCord and the security guard force
[of the Watergate Hotel] in the person of Mr. Louis
Russell as follows. On June 8, 1973, Mr. F. Kelly
Chamberlain, ex-Vice President of General Security
Services, Inc. (In charge of the Watergate security
force), advised the staff the Mr. L. J. Russell did
‘piece work’ for that organization between December
1971 and March 1972. Chamberlain stated that
Russell’s work had no relation to the Watergate
complex and that he had no knowledge of any
acquaintance between Russell and Frank Willis, the
371
guard who reported the possibility of illegal entry on

June 17, 1972, to the police...The Louis Russell
referred to by Mr. Chamberlain is the same person
employed by James McCord on June 16, 1972,
through June 17, 1972. Russell advised the staff that
he had worked for General Security as late as
January 1972, but that he did not know Frank
Willis...Russell stated that he never met any
Watergate figures other than McCord; was not aware
of McCord’s Watergate-related plans or activities until
learning of the arrests in the newspapers on June 18,
1972. Russell did state that he had eaten at the
Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge across from the
Watergate on the night of June 16, 1972, but that his
presence there on the eve of the break-in was merely
coincidental...On July 3, 1972, Russell told the FBI
that he had eaten at the Howard Johnson’s Motor
Lodge between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on June
16, 1972, because he had fond memories of that
restaurant. Russell asserted he did not see McCord
while he was at Howard Johnson’s and was able to
identify photographs of Baldwin and Hunt, but he
could not remember where he had seen them. On
May 9, 1973, Russell advised the Chief Counsel of
this Committee that he maintained no bank account
prior to 1969 and could produce no statements for
the Committee. Mr. William Birely advised the
Committee on August 27, 1973, that he had known
Russell for approximately two years and that he
employed Russell as a researcher on a part-time
basis and rented Russell quarters adjacent to his
office space. He described Russell as a Democrat
who was extremely critical of President Nixon. Louis
James Russell died on July 2, 1973, without being re-
interviewed by the staff.
On July 2, 1973, about a month after Judge Gerald Alch

testified about McCord’s connection to Fensterwald, Louis Russell,
61, was found dead of a heart attack in the home of his daughter in
Maryland. He had previously been in Washington Adventist
Hospital, but had been released about ten days before he died. He
was never questioned by the Senate Select Committee on Illegal
Campaign Activities. The request of Alger Hiss for a ruling on the
372
death of Louis Russell was turned down. [KGB Yakovlev Wash.

Silhouettes p122] McCord stated:
A false allegation was made shortly after March 23,

1973, that E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis were in
Dallas at the time the President was killed, and a
photograph was circulated purporting to be Hunt and
Sturgis there at the time. Persons I know circulated
and touted the story to the press, knowing the
allegation was false in its entirety, and further that the
men in the photographs bore no resemblance
whatever to Hunt and Sturgis. I know that Hunt was
not in Dallas and had no connection whatever with
the President’s death...Great anguish and damage
has been done to Hunt, and no doubt will be taken
into consideration by a parole board considering his
release from prison.
[McCord ltr. To Dan Schultz 12.17.76] On November 10, 1973,

McCord threatened to sue Paul Krassner, the publisher of the
Realist, for libel, after Krassner ran an article by Mae Brussell that
linked McCord to Dealey Plaza.
McCORD AND LEE PENNINGTON
Leonard W. Pennington, left his job with the FBI, where he
served as liaison with the American Legion, to help organize the
American Security Council. Pennington became the Internal
Security Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of the American
Security Council. In 1964, Lee Pennington was involved in an
investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for
the American Security Council. The Director of the American
Security Council, John Fisher, also a former FBI Special Agent,
telephoned the FBI in 1964 and told the Bureau that Lee
Pennington knew someone who knew the Paine family. [NYT
7.3.73; FBI CG 62-6115 12.5.63] From 1983 to 1984 John Fisher
raised money for the Nicaraguan Contras. In 1985 he joined the
World Anticommunist League (whose members included Alpha-66)
in its fight against the Sandinistas.
The report of Senator Howard Baker on the CIA’s involvement in

Watergate stated that Lee Pennington was a “domestic
agent...possibly in violation of the CIA’s Charter.” In August 1975
there was a break-in at the home of Senator Howard Baker,
373
however, no valuables were reported missing. [Wise American

Police State p164]
THE TWO PENNINGTONS
The CIA reported:
The Pennington Matter: For many years a man

named Lee Pennington has been retained by the CIA
as a Confidential Informant. His compensation from
the CIA has been $250 per month. Mr. Howard
Osborn stated that he has no idea what kind of
information has been supplied to the Agency by
Pennington in exchange for the compensation paid
him.
In August 1972 Mr. Osborn was on vacation during

the time his deputy (Deleted) was in charge of the
Office of Security. (The Office of Security had been
designated by the DCI as the liaison with all other
governmental agencies and departments relating to
Watergate matters).
While Mr. Osborn was on vacation an FBI Agent

named Arnold Parham contacted the Office of
Security and requested information on a man simply
known as ‘Pennington.’ The request was directed to
Steve Kuhn of the Office of Security. Steve Kuhn’s
Deputy, Hollis Whitaker, took the request of Agent
Arnold Parham to (deleted as of 2010) and asked
whether the FBI should be given the names of both
Penningtons or just one of them. (Deleted as of
2010) [Gaynor] instructed Whitaker that Parham
should be supplied only with the name of Cecil
Harold Pennington, a retired employee of the CIA,
who was not related in any way to Lee Pennington.
[Cecil Harold Pennington was a former CIA Staff
Employee, who retired in 1961.] (Deleted as of 2010)
instructed Whitaker that Lee Pennington’s name
should not be given to Parham.
On August 25, 1972, the FBI reviewed Cecil Pennington’s

CIA file. The FBI found: “No indication from CIA record that Cecil
Pennington served as McCord’s supervisor.” When the FBI
interviewed Cecil Pennington, it found that “he was associated with,
374
and was a co-worker (not supervisor) of McCord, but has had no

contact with McCord since he retired in April 1961.”
The CIA reported:
(Deleted as of 2010) [Gaynor] instructed Hollis

Whitaker that Lee Pennington’s name should not be
given to Parham. (Deleted as of 2010) would have
known that James McCord, while he was employed
in the Office of Security, had acted as the Case
Officer for Lee Pennington, that McCord was involved
in the Watergate break-in, and that the FBI was really
interested in Lee Pennington.
Howard Osborn states that all of the above

information came to his attention in February 1974
and that he had no knowledge of it until that time.
Lee Pennington and a man named (Deleted as of

2010) were the only two confidential informants who
Osborn can think of who were employed as such by
the Office of Security during his tenure with that
office. (This is in addition to CIA employees and the
employees of propriety investigating companies who
have been used as informants.) [Several lines
deleted]
Mr. Pennington was apparently terminated as a CIA

informant on December 31, 1973. Howard Osborn
states that he started action to terminate (Deleted as
of 2010) in about January or February 1973. He
thought that (Deleted as of 2010) had never provided
anything to the Office of Security and that it was no
crime to have a domestic informant.
Both Pennington and (Deleted as of 2010) had been

informants for the Office of Security for many years.
They had been retained in that capacity even before
Osborn became Deputy Director of Security in 1963.
PENNINGTON BURNS McCORD’S FILES
In February 1974, in connection with a search of files
in the Office of Security, some indication was turned
up the Howard Osborn had been informed in January
375
1973 about the fact that Lee Pennington had entered

the home and office of McCord at the request of Mrs.
McCord on January 22, 1972, to locate and destroy
records which would have revealed a ‘link’ between
McCord and the CIA. Howard Osborn denies that he
ever received any such information. The information
was allegedly given to him by Paul Gaynor, Chief of
Security Research, in the Office of Security.
Paul Gaynor retired in 1973 at the request of Osborn,

who had been directed to cut out a GS-16 from his
staff in a personnel reduction move. He states that
Mr. Gaynor accepted his request gracefully and
retired.
Osborn and Paul Gaynor have never discussed with

each other the subject of Lee Pennington or the
deception practiced on the FBI in August 1972.
Osborn does not think that Gaynor opened up the
subject, but he does believe that Gaynor has testified
before either one of the Congressional Committees
investigating Watergate of the Special Prosecutor’s
Office.
After Mr. Gaynor retired, Lou Vasaly of the Office of

Security has handled contacts with (Deleted as of
2010) and Pennington. In January or February 1974
Mr. Osborn sent Sidney Steinbridge of the Office of
Security to New York to terminate (Deleted as of
2010).
On September 1, 1972, Lee Pennington was interviewed by
the FBI. Lee Pennington stated:
He has been acquainted with McCord since the mid-
1950’s and since the Watergate incident on June 17,
1972, Lee Pennington met with McCord about six
times. One or two days after McCord’s arrest, Lee
Pennington brought dinner to the McCord family at
their residence. He made no mention of having seen
Mrs. McCord burn any papers or that he participated
in such a burning. We did not recheck with CIA as
there was no reason to do so.
376
In January 1973 Howard Osborn, the Director/Office of

Security of the CIA ordered that all CIA files about Lee Pennington
be removed from the CIA Watergate files. As a result of this, the
Director/Office of Security was forced to resign. No investigation
concerning Lee Pennington’s involvement in the alleged burning
incident was requested by the Special Prosecution Force. [5.1.74
Memo Agent Angelo J. Leno, WFO/USA Earl J. Silbert]
Senator Howard Baker said Lee Pennington burned

McCord’s files in McCord’s home, two days after the Watergate
break-in. Senator Howard Baker believed Lee Pennington told Paul
Gaynor of this activity in June 1972. Paul Gaynor, who had been
slated to be hired by McCord ASSOCIATES after his retirement,
denied it, although he could not deny his association with McCord:
On June 23, 1972, Leo J. Dunn, Deputy Director,

Personnel Security, CIA, advised telephone number
(deleted) is a CIA number for Paul Gaynor who would
retire as of June 30, 1972, as Chief, Research
Division, Office of Security, CIA. Dunn furnished a
June 21, 1972, memorandum regarding (deleted)
association with McCord and a copy of his
biographical data. [FBI Bufile 4679-647X]
McCord communicated with Paul Gaynor after Watergate. In

a memorandum for the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
Richard Helms, from CIA Inspector General William V. Broe,
Potential Flap Activities, Contacts With Watergate Figures [5.21.73
rel. 8.15.76], it was noted:
McCord had written letters to the Agency since his

arrest. The first dated July 29, 1972, was addressed
to Richard Helms and was handled as a routine
crank letter until it was recognized that the “JIM” who
signed it was McCord. Later letters from McCord
were addressed to Paul Gaynor at his home address.
The fact that these letters have been received has
been very tightly held. No action was taken in regard
to them.
The letters reported that pressure was being put on the

burglars to blame the CIA for Watergate. Richard Helms never gave
the letters to Watergate prosecutors, however, in May 1973, they
377
were uncovered by the Office of the Inspector General of the CIA

and released.
Lee Pennington spoke with Senator Howard Baker, in

February 1972; he died suddenly of a heart attack on December 19,
1972. Lee Pennington did not testify before the SSCIA or the Ervin
Committee. His relationship with McCord and the Office of Security
of the remained a mystery. [CIA 777-336A; Ross & Wise Inv. Gov.
p187; Baker Report p14; NYT 1.5.75; FBI CG 62-61115-12.5.63]
On September 18, 1972, a message from (deleted) was sent

to the Acting Director of the FBI, Attention Domestic Intelligence
Division, captioned “Bernard Fensterwald Jr. – Freedom of
Information Act.” It read: “Rebucab September fifteen last. Ltr to CIA
September 22, 1972.” [FBI 62-112697-18] This concerned the
Fenster’s request for photos of the man first thought to Oswald
photographed leaving the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. In
November 1973 the CIA had an interest in Bernard Fensterwald’s
assassination research conference and supplied the FBI with a
schedule.
Bernard Fensterwald went into partnership with the co-

counsel of John Dean, Robert McCandless. Coincidently, Dean
married Senator Henning’s daughter Maureen Henning. Robert
McCandless was linked to Southern Capital, which John Marks, a
former State Department Intelligence Analyst, called “the CIA’s
378
largest remaining proprietary.” [Miami Herald 7.18.76] John Marks

wrote:
Lawyers who have had ties with CIA proprietaries

have also represented well-known figures in
politically charged cases. Robert McCandless
resigned as a partner (from Burwell, Hansen and
McCandless) in 1973 in order to serve as co-counsel
to John Dean. Jeb Magruder, another key witness
against Nixon aides in Watergate trials, had a lawyer,
James Bierbower, who had served as Vice President
of Southern Air Transport, one of the CIA’s largest air
proprietaries. To complete the circle, James
Bierbower worked out of the same office, in the mid-
1960’s, as Southern Capital’s Marvin Evans, and
Marvin Evans later shared space with the Robert
McCandless firm.” [Agee & Wolfe Dirty Work p133]
Robert McCandless commented to this researcher:
I never had anything to do with anything other than

law firms. I don’t know what you mean. None of it is
true, I never had any ties to Southern Capital. I never
shared space with Marvin Evans. He has his facts
wrong.
In 1992 the Bush Adminstration ordered McClandless to stop
providing legal services to the military dictatorship of Haiti.
McCandless, who ran Minnesota Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey’s 1968
Democratic presidential campaign, said he collected more than
$100,000 in fees from the Haitians. Bernard Fensterwald’s offices
were above those of Intertel. In 1975 Senator Howard Baker
revealed that Bernard Fensterwald had a CIA file. [NYT 1.17.75] In
late 1976 the Washington Star ran an article, “IS FENSTERWALD A
CIA PLANT?,” written by Bill Choyke of the Capitol Hill News
Service that concerned Bernard Fensterwald’s attempt to become
Chief Counsel of the HSCA:
Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Henry Gonzalez, the
Texas Democrat who introduced the first resolution
calling for an assassination inquiry, has privately
voiced his strong opposition to Fensterwald having
any role on the committee, even as an unofficial
advisor...In a telephone interview Fensterwald first
acknowledged that he had connections with the CIA
379
and then scoffed at the suggestion. ‘I am on the

payroll,’ he said. However, when pressed, he said he
had ‘nothing to do with the CIA. There is absolutely
no reason to think I am a member of the CIA,
absolutely no vestige of evidence of any kind.’
In another interview Bernard Fensterwald was asked:
The Committee to Investigate Assassinations has

long been suspected by some people of being
somehow connected with the CIA and you yourself
being labeled possibly a CIA agent or CIA plant. Are
you in fact a CIA agent of any sort?
Bernard Fensterwald responded:
No, I’m a full-time lawyer. Neither I, nor my partner,

have ever been affiliated with the CIA, or worked for
the CIA, either with, or without, pay in any way,
shape or form. I have no idea where the rumor
started. I don’t know anyone that knows anything
about my history that has ever made such an
accusation. On the converse side, going back to the
early 1960’s, when I worked for the Senate, as
counsel for one of its committees, I did an
investigation on the CIA, and since then I have
represented a number of clients in cases against the
CIA, to the extent that if there’s any evidence at all, it
points in the other direction. [Interview with Wash.
Star Staff writer Michael J. Satchell.]
This article was reprinted in the Classified CIA Operations

Center News Service and marked “Distribution II.” [Allen v DOD CIA
20866- 0815] In 1977 Bernard Fensterwald was audited by the
Internal Revenue Service. [Wall Street Journal 3.23.77]
380
In June 1979 Bernard Fensterwald represented the family of

JOHN ARTHUR PAISLEY. John Arthur Paisley was a former CIA
official who worked for the Agency on a contractual basis, who,
according to Tad Szulc, was involved with Yuri Nosenko. The two
men became friends, and John Arthur Paisley frequently visited Yuri
Nosenko. Inquiry Magazine reported:
Mary Ann Paisley thinks her husband’s death may be

related to Yuri Nosenko...At the request of Senator
Birch Bayh of Indiana, the Chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, the FBI began a counter-
intelligence analysis of the Paisley case...the Director
of the Central Intelligence Agency Stansfield Turner
says Yuri Nosenko has ‘no recollection of ever
meeting Paisley.’
Author Jim Hougan cited a letter Mrs. Paisley wrote to

Stansfield Turner, in which she mentioned that she had worked for
Kathrine Hart [the wife of John L. Hart] when she was in the CIA.
Angleton told Look Magazine, “To my knowledge Paisley was never
involved in the clandestine side. I have doubts that he knew Yuri
Nosenko.” [cited in Inquiry 11.15.79] Joe Trento and William R.
Corson reported John Arthur Paisley worked with Bruce Solie.
Bruce Solie, 75, died on December 25, 1992, after 28 years of CIA
service.
381
John Arthur Paisley was sailing on the Chesapeake Bay on

September 23, 1978. In his possession was a briefcase of Secret
documents that dealt with the Soviets. The next day John Arthur
Paisley was found in the bay, with two diver’s belts weighing a total
of 38 pounds strapped to his upper abdomen. The autopsy report
stated the cause of death was a “Gunshot wound, penetrating head,
close contact range. Entrance in left occipital parietal region with
powder deposition within wound and on skull. Crania-cerebral injury.
Missile recovered, large caliber, deformed, jacketed, lead.
Trajectory: left to right (cannot be further evaluated).”
The gun was never recovered. Was the death of John Arthur
Paisley a suicide or a murder? Had John Arthur Paisley put on the
weight belts, leaned over the edge of the boat, shot himself, then
fallen overboard with his gun? The Maryland County Coroner
concluded: “John Paisley, a 55 year old white male showing
advanced decomposition changes, died of a penetrating gunshot
wound to the head. The manner of death is undetermined. Signed
Russell S. Fisher, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner.” The boat
belonging to John Arthur Paisley was found by Maryland Park
Rangers. The CIA was first on board and recovered the Secret
documents. Why had John Arthur Paisley taken these documents
with him if he intended to kill himself? Bernard Fensterwald called
the CIA and asked the Agency to “make available for him to
interview a number of Agency personnel that appear in a telephone
list finder which belonged to Mr. Paisley.” [CIA FOIA Req. #F93-
0041 OGC-2 Routing and Record Sheet 1.29.79]
HEMMING AND FENSTERWALD
Fensterwald gave me a lot of money, and went

through a lot of files, with no return to him at all. He
was supposed to give me $100,000 cash (because
he didn’t want it traced to him) to reorganize his
office. Fensterwald said, ‘You’re so close to this shit
everybody’s wondering why you couldn’t stop it, or
not appear to be part of it.’ There’s shit he didn’t want
to know cause he didn’t need his family threatened.
Bud put McCord on the phone in May 1975. I had
talked to him on the phone during the Garrison
investigation. He introduced me to Oliver Stone.
What if I told you about a hypothetical classic CIA
penetration operation, and Fensterwald financed it for
382
me? You wouldn’t be surprised? Kennard Smith, who

had worked with Elliot Ness, recommended a covert
operation in which people could get killed. There
would be shooting. Bud didn’t want him to set that up
by himself. Fensterwald’s CIA people had told him
that’s risky shit, we don’t deal in that area. This
means palace-level intrigue. We don’t do that kind of
stuff anymore. He didn’t clear it with them, but he told
them where he was going to go, and who he was
going to talk to. I’m not saying the date, cause I’m not
going to go into the operation. Fensterwald reminded
me of Pawley. He was serious minded when it came
to the security of this country. He loved the
goddamned Jews too much.
In 1976 Hemming asked for
All reports, records and files held by the FBI, CIA,

and other agencies, reference to activities of the
defendant acting as an investigator concerned
alleged CIA activities involving divers conspiracies on
the parts of John O’Hare, AKA Colonel Grey, John
Kern, and former treasury agent Kennard Smith.
[USDC Miami 76-371-CrCa]
It was suggested to Hemming that Bernard Fensterwald did

damage control for the Agency. He responded:
Could be. If somebody hired him to do something

that’s completely legal and was in the parameters of
the law profession, what the fuck is he to say or do?
And he did it two or three times and it worked out real
good, hey, who’s he to challenge who the client is? I
don’t think Fensterwald thought the CIA was the
enemy of the United States.
LYNDON LAROUCHE
When crypto-I Lyndon LaRouche was indicted for
Obstruction of Justice in 1987 he hired Bernard Fensterwald as his
attorney. On April 2, 1991, Bernard Fensterwald, 69, died of a heart
attack at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He had become a Senior
Partner in Bernard Fensterwald and Alcorn. [FBI 62-112697-18 w/h]
Fensterwald’s death was his greatest contribution to assassination
research.
383
On another level the tabloids played a role in attempting to

discredit the tramp shots:
THE NATIONAL TATTLER
On March 31, 1974, The National Tattler ran this story: “Key
Watergate Figure Placed at Scene When JFK Was Killed.” The
article stated: “Expert names E. McCord’s as mysterious ‘third man’
seen picking up shell minutes after murder, and the CIA refuses to
say where its ex-agent was that day. Photos place Watergate
Kingpin at scene of JFK assassination. Watergate ringleader at
assassination.” The National Tattler printed the photograph of a man
whose facial features were barely visible except for the back of a
bald head, near the Texas School Book Depository on November
22, 1963. The National Tattler claimed this man was Hunt. Hunt
sued The National Tattler, but The National Tattler went bankrupt,
and the case never came to court. Hunt’s attorney, William Snyder,
384
stated: “Well, now, Alan J. Weberman, every time you hear the
name Weberman, the back of a bald head ought to be what goes off
in your mind. He is the man who started this...” Robert B. Olsen of
the Rockefeller Commission noted The National Tattler article and
asked the FBI to investigate. He was referred Assistant Director W.
Raymond Wannall. [FBI 62-116391-3 NARA FBI 124-10238-10320]
Hunt told the FBI:
Mr. Hunt said he was not involved in any way, shape,
or form with the Kennedy assassination. In this
regard he recently filed a libel suit against the
publisher of The National Tattler, Promotion Agency,
Inc. Chicago, Illinois, claiming he was libeled by an
article in this paper on March 31, 1974, stating Hunt
was at Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. [FBI
62-109060-7140 Charles D. Flagg and Hugh M.
Barhhardt]
Ellis Rubin wrote to the Rockefeller Commission and stated

that Hunt was anxious to get the charges against him resolved
because of pending litigation. Hunt’s attorney, Tom Coons, called
the FBI and stated
…that his law office had received a phone call on

January 31, 1975, from a representative of the
Rockefeller CIA Commission inquiring about the
National Tattler story. Mr. Coons said it was his
385
understanding that the Rockefeller Commission had

discovered this story through comedian Dick
Gregory. Mr. Coons is continuing to represent Hunt
and a civil suit is currently pending for damages from
The National Tattler for falsely accusing Mr. Hunt. Mr.
Coons asked if the FBI investigation had been further
pursued following the interview of Mr. Hunt, and
whether or not any conclusions had been reached.
Mr. Coons was informed he should direct a written
inquiry to the Director, FBI, Washington, D.C. and he
indicated this would be done.
Hunt had this to say about The Tattler in American Spy:

Not long after Watergate, it became fashionable in
certain quarters to suggest that those guilty of
Watergate’s heinous crimes might well be guilty of
even worse monstrosities, including the assassina-
tion of a president of the United States: John F
Kennedy. Photographs of myself and the other
Watergate figures were published widely in this
country and abroad. Meanwhile, assassination buffs
had developed a number of theories—all at variance
with the findings of the Warren Commission—that
concentrated on suggested conspiracies. Books
appeared, irresponsible headlines erupted in the
tabloid press, and the media—ever eager for
sensation—gave time and space to proponents of the
wildest conceivable theories concerning the identity
of the assassin of John F. Kennedy, his sponsors, if
any, and so forth. I need hardly take your time or
mine to itemize the incredible amount of trash that
has been written and televised about that tragic
event. I tried to keep my voice steady and
unemotional, befitting a court proceeding; but it
proved impossible, and the anger I felt over the fol-
lowing material poured out in bitter tones. In due
course, a tabloid, the National Tattler, sometime
around March 1974, I believe, published a story
implying that I had been in Dallas when Kennedy was
killed and had a hand in his assassination. In
response, I sued the tabloid, which promptly went out
of business and left me with a default judgment and
additional legal costs. So not only had I been
386
maliciously slandered, but protecting my name

against people who were trying to make a buck out of
a piece of my flesh, cost me a huge amount of time,
money, and aggravation that I couldn’t afford.
This was a CIA OP to discredit the tramp shots. Hunt told the
Rockefeller Commission:
Mr. Hunt said he was not involved in any way, shape,

or form with the Kennedy assassination. In this
regard he recently filed a libel suit against the
publisher of The National Tattler, Promotion Agency,
Inc. Chicago, Illinois, claiming he was libeled by an
article in this paper on March 31, 1974, stating Hunt
was at Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. [FBI
62-109060-7140 Charles D. Flagg and Hugh M.
Barhhardt]
In February, March 1974 the Yippies published the tramp

shots in the Yipster Times. CIA knew something was up and it was
going to discredit them before they received widespread
dissemination. The National Tattler was published by Publishers
Promotion Agency, 2717 North Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois.
When Hunt sued The Tattler he did so without naming any of its
officers. The CIA had an asset at The National Tattler who planted
this story so that Hunt could successfully sue, and thus be
vindicated by the courts as having had no role in the Kennedy
assassination. [NARA FBI 124-10238-10321 Barnhardt, Hugh M.
2.5.75] The tabloids were used extensively by CIA in the 1950’s to
make Americans aware of the possibility of an invasion of alien
Communists by portraying the Communists as Martians flying in
UFOs.
THE HUNT v. WEBERMAN LIBEL LAWSUIT

In 1974 Howard Hunt was convicted of libel and paid Justo
Carrillo, a former member of the Cuban Revolutionary Front,
$6,666.67. [JUSTO CARRILLO Y HERNANDEZ v. Hunt and
Arlington House Pub. Inc. Law Case 40172, Montgomery County,
MD Circuit Court]
On July 29, 1976, Hunt filed a $2.5 million lawsuit that charged Dr.
Joseph Okpaku’s Third Press, and the authors of Coup D’Etat In
America, with libel. Hunt was imprisoned at Eglin Air Force Base in
387
Florida at this time, finishing his 33-month sentence for the

Watergate break-in. Ellis Rubin: “We have chosen this method of
putting to rest Canfield and Weberman’s fabrication implicating Hunt
in these assassinations. Sturgis intends to file suit as well.” [Miami
News 7.29.76] Hunt listed 30 counts of libel: “Hunt knew Oswald at
544 Camp Street, New Orleans; Hunt is the short tramp;” and “Hunt
knew Sturgis prior to 1972.” Ellis Rubin:
Plaintiff alleges that the foregoing assertions are a

sheer fabrication by the Defendants, and, in most
instances are wholly imagined...By so publishing,
Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants, well knowing the
name, reputation, and work of the Plaintiff, but
contriving and wrongfully and maliciously intending to
injure and aggrieve that Plaintiff and to destroy the
comfort of his life and peace and tranquility of his
mind, and to thrust upon the Plaintiff unsought false,
defamatory, unwarranted and undesired publicity,
utterly obnoxious to the Plaintiff...all for the
Defendant’s advantage, did offer and sell their book
to the public for money.
Hunt hoped to use libel law suppress the book, Coup D’Etat
in America. He had superior financial resources to this researcher,
at the time, and a very slick attorney. But Hunt did not know who he
was going up against. In February 1977, after Hunt was released
from Eglin Air Force Base, he appeared on Tom Snyder’s television
interview show. As he was entering the NBC-TV studios, Aron Kay
hit him with a shaving cream pie. When Hunt appeared on Snyder’s
388
show he commented about the lack of security in the building, and

then he said that he had won the lawsuit against the authors of
Coup D’état In America. He added that he had not collected the
judgment because Third Press mysteriously went bankrupt:
I’ve sued for libel against two publishers, one tabloid

and one book. As I won the suits, both operations
promptly went out of business leaving me a large bag
of legal fees to pay, and nothing coming in from the
judgments. So I think it’s well established that,
certainly in the courts, and in the minds of our judicial
bodies, that I was in no way involved in that sort of
thing.
We countersued Hunt. During Hunt’s deposition 1977 in the

course of Hunt v. Weberman, he was asked to explain why he said
he had won the lawsuit, when he had not. He responded:
I had understood at the time I did the Snyder

program, that the company had gone out of business
in New York, that Mr. Okpaku fled, that one of the
defendants could not be served by the, they couldn’t
give him the default judgment. I said that in good faith
but I felt that after a period of time, after the March
23, date that I realized the suit was going to be
contested due to the fact that the default judgement
had not been rendered.
When Hunt was on the Tom Snyder show, he was aware his
complaint had been served and that the defendants had engaged
an attorney. Friedman had subpoenaed Hunt for a deposition before
his release from prison, because he believed Hunt’s incarceration
prevented him from filing a libel suit. Hunt was trying to float a false
news story. In March 1977 Hunt appeared on the ALLEN
COURTNEY radio show in Miami, and claimed Michael Canfield
was wanted on charges of Interstate Transportation of a Stolen
Motor Vehicle. Hunt was asked:
Q. Do you intend to go on a program such as Allen

Courtney again and sing a song such as “Garbology”
which we believe would be prejudicial to the fair and
impartial hearing on this matter?
A. Well, I may.
389
Q. You have the right to by law.
A. Yes, I have the right to do so. A self proclaimed

“garbologist” should not object to being called that.
Q. May I ask your source of information as to Mr.

Canfield’s characterization as – your quote – a “car
thief?”
A. I did not call him that. I said I BELIEVED – I

couched it very carefully – that to the best of my
belief that the source of my information was that the
U.S. Marshall in New York was trying to serve a
subpoena. And he was being sought in another
criminal matter. I got the information when I was in
prison, but I can’t recall, at this point, how I got it.
Joseph Okpaku had fallen several months behind on his

payments to the bank for a van he had given us, and the van was
still in our possession. This was a civil, not a criminal matter.
Eventually the van was repossessed.
THE ATTORNEYS IN HUNT v. WEBERMAN
My major financial backer during this lawsuit was my mother,
Sara Weberman, who lived in Miami Beach. She found Attorney
Mark J. Friedman, who offered his services gratis. Mark Friedman
employed paralegal Ronald Lowy, now a prominent Miami Beach
attorney. Ronald Lowy did the legal research and prepared all of the
motions in Hunt v. Weberman. Ronald Lowy was okay. Friedman
was not. When Ellis Rubin noted Coup D’Etat In America implied the
Dealey Plaza team was involved in the assassination of Martin
Luther King, Friedman denied I had written this. He instructed me
not to answer the question unless ordered to do so by the judge.
Ellis Rubin pressed, “Did you want to, by innuendo, convey to the
reader that maybe Hunt was involved in the [King] murder?” When I
answered “Yes,” Ellis Rubin became excited and said, “I don’t want
to ask any more questions because the case is over!” Mark
Friedman exhorted me to change my response. At one point he
ordered me to shut up. Ellis Rubin asked the stenographer, “Did you
get the ‘Shut up?’” [Weberman Depo. USDC SD Miami 76-1252-
Civ-P 7.8.77]
There was no evidence that linked Hunt to the King

assassination, however, there was evidence that linked his
390
associates to the killing. Canfield, Okpaku and this researcher

deserved better representation than that given to us by Mark
Friedman, but we could not afford it. Other things, however, were
working in our favor: by 1978 Hunt’s Wah Ling alibi was shattered,
Oswald’s bogus letter to Hunt had surfaced, and, thanks to
Hemming, Christ had been identified as the third tramp. Ellis Rubin
objected to my having invited the media to Hunt’s deposition: “Do
you think that Mr. Hunt has a constitutional right to a fair trial?” he
asked. I answered: “He certainly, hey wait a minute! I’m the one
that’s on trial for libel, not Mr. Hunt! He is the plaintiff, I am the
defendant.” Ellis Rubin answered: “All right.” Hunt and Ellis Rubin
were beginning to realize that I was going to put Hunt on trial for the
Kennedy assassination, rather then him putting Canfield and I on
trial for libel.
Hunt also used libel litigation in attempt to uppress the work of Tad
Szulc. On June 16, 1978, Tad Szulc, who had been an award
winning New York Times correspondent for 20 years, was deposed
in the course of Hunt V. Weberman. Szulc was a personal friend of
President Kennedy who was called to testify before the SSCIA.
Szulc said he did not see any documents that placed Hunt in Mexico
City. Instead, he relied on interviews of former government officials
with one exception. The exception dealt with Hunt’s background. As
to the source of the Mexico City allegation, Szulc stated it was
provided by a source who “By personal schooling, and my best
391
professional judgment, told me that they had such knowledge.”

Szluc refused to name his source.
A. It was a person was retired from the Government

at the time of the interview to which we refer.
Q. Do you know what section of the Government it

was from which they retired?
A. I cannot be entirely clear, because there may have

been a situation of temporary assignments from one
Government branch to the other, and I do not have
the precise knowledge of dates and assignments
within different Government parts concerning this
person.
Q. Do you know whether or not this person was

active in any intelligence activities on behalf of the
Government at any time before, or after, your
interview?
A. You mean as a professional?
Q. As a Government agent, maybe not necessarily

professional, [a]”spook” so to speak, or analyst, but
someone who, in their professional capacity, did
some sort of Government intelligence function.
A. I would so surmise, but I’m not in a position to

prove it, for reasons which I think are clear. [Szulc
Depo. – Miller]
Szulc cited journalistic privilege numerous times during his

testimony. He refused to divulge his source for this statement that
Hunt was a devout Roman Catholic, that he drove a Cadillac which
belonged to the CIA, and that Hunt plotted to assassinate Castro.
Szluc’s source of his statement that Hunt offered U.S. helicopters to
the President of Uruguay during an uprising there was the former
U.S. Ambassador to Montevideo, Robert Woodward, Jr. Ellis Rubin
had the questions certified so that a judge could decide if Szulc was
obligated to answer them. On November 2, 1978, after deposing
journalist Tad Szulc, Hunt filed a Motion for Order Compelling
Discovery. Ellis Rubin persuaded a Federal judge to order Tad
Szulc to answer the refused questions; Tad Szulc was redeposed
by Ellis Rubin and he responded in the same fashion. A Federal
392
Appeals Court judge overruled the decision of the district judge and
Hunt’s case was dismissed. In September 1978 Hunt sued Tad
Szulc in a second attempt to uncover the origin of Tad Szulc’s data.
In early November 1978 a Federal judge ruled Tad Szulc was not
obligated to reveal his source, because the matter was a civil case
and not a criminal case.
SZULC AND AMTRUNK
2. It is possible that the AMTRUNK Operation might

have been a political action operation run against the
U.S.G. /CIA. In late 1962 or early 1963, pressure was
exerted on CIA by Higher Authority (State
Department and White House) to consider a proposal
for an on-island operation to split the Castro regime.
The proposal was presented to Mr. Hurwitch, the
State Department Cuban Coordinator, by Tad Szulc
(AMCAPE-1) of the New York Times. On February 6,
1963 Albert C. Davies, (Lt. Col. On military detail to
WH/4 – Cuba) met with Szulc at Szulc’s resident, to
discuss the plan. While at first hesitant, SZULC finally
revealed that Doctor Nestor Moreno (AMICE-27) was
one of its prime originators. Szulc said that he first
thought of bringing the plan to the attention of
President Kennedy, as he had had a standing
invitation, since November 1961, for direct contact
with President Kennedy, Attorney General Robert
Kennedy, or Mr. George Bundy, on matters
concerning Cuba. He decided against that approach
however and instead determined to use the Cuban
Coordinating Group. It was agreed that CIA
representatives would meet with Szulc and the two
AMTRUNK planners, Moreno and Volsky in
Washington.
3. The follow-up meeting on February 9 (in a

safehouse) was attended by Hurwitch, Szulc, Jorge
Volsky, Dr. Nestor Moreno and DAVID MORALES,
Col. A. Davies and Alfonzo Rodriguez of the CIA . A
February 11, 1963 memorandum from Rodriguez to
the Chief, SAS, expressed definite interest in the
operation with certain recommendations which
included having JMWAVE Station put its operational
mechanism into gear to have the Cuban personnel of
393
the AMTRUNK ready for infiltration by mid-March

1963. Following a review of the AMTRUNK Project,
JMWAVE forwarded a lengthy dispatch to
Headquarters dated April 8, 1963, which
recommended that the operation be terminated
soonest. Since it was a Headquarters originated
operation, JMWAVE also requestd Headquarters
decision as to continuance or termination. A
Headquarters cable to JMWAVE on April 10, 1963
concurred that the AMTRUNK operation should be
terminated for a number of reasons, including the fact
that CIA could not at that time be certain that hostile
elements were unaware of the plan. A April 17, 1963
cable from Headquarters to JMWAVE Station
advised that SZULC had informed Hurwitch that
JMWAVE had given Volsky responsibility to decide
whether or not the operation was to continue. It
seems that Headquarters had intended to use
Volksy, with his concurrence, only as a funding
channel for the AMTRUCK operation of the
AMTRUNK principals were willing to proceed with the
operation independently. In any case, for some
reason, CIA continued to support the operation. The
two principals. MORENO (AMICE-27) and Miguel A.
Diaz Isalgue (AMICE-14) claimed to have contact
with high level GOC officials. They completed four
infiltration missions to Cuba and were terminated in
March 1964.
4. Early phases of the operation resulted in the on-

island recruitment of Ramon Tomas Guin Diaz
(AMTRUNK-10), Modesto Orlando Orozco Basulto
(AMTRUNK-9) and Carlos Pedraza Aguilar
(AMTRUNK-11). Guin was arrested in February
1966. (Cubela was arrested at the same time,
separately.) Orozco, after reportedly running scared,
was exfiltrated and terminated in March 1964. He
returned to Cuba in December 1964 on an
independent exfiltration mission and apparently
remained in Cuba. His knowledge of the identity of
the internal AMTRUCK agents, caused a planned
infiltration mission to be scrapped. Pedraza was
arrested in December 1965, tried for alleged CIA
394
activities and given a 30 year prison sentence.

JMWAVE Station advised in March 1966 that four
former AMTRUNK internal assets were arrested for
counter-revolutionary activities during early 1966, in
addition to Cubela and Guin, and that all of the
principals of the AMTRUNK network active during
1963 and 1964 had been rolled up. The Cuban press
reportedly identified Diaz (AMICE-14) as the
clandestine infiltree who recruited Guin.
Comment: It appears that the opposition might have
succeed, it seems, in identifying, neutralizing and
exposing on-island anti-Castro forces, and tying up
CIA time, money and manpower for an operation of
their own creation. Following are some reasons
which might have contributed to its failure:
a. The controversial nature of the principal initiators,
Tad Szulc, Jorge Volsky and Moreno. The
AMTRUCK operatives made it known they were anti
U.S.G. and anti-CIA and accepted assistance only to
accomplish their own purposes. They were not under
CIA control.
b. Szulc, although reportedly not involved in the

operation, was kept fully informed of its activities by
Moreno and perhaps others.
c. Szulc’s direct contact with the White House, if true,

placed him in a position to pass U.S. policy
information on Cuba to the opposition. (There is a
note by Richard Helms on a September 23, 1963
cover sheet requesting Alfonso Rodriguez to
maintain periodic contact with Szulc on Cuban
matters at Presidential request going back many
months.)
d. Rabel (AMLEO-3) who “defected” to the U.S. in

1962, was knowledgeable of on-island AMTRUNK
targets. Rabel, following termination, returned to
Cuba allegedly to bring out his family, and never
returned. There is a possibility that he was a Castro
agent.
395
c. Cubela was knowledgeable of at least some of the

AMTRUNK agents. Guin (AMTRUNK-10) was a co-
defendant in the Cubela trial. (Believe Guin may have
been given a stiffer sentence than Cubela and may
still me in prison.)
Cubela was given a relatively light sentence,

considering the magnitude of his crime. Immediately
following sentencing he functioned as a prison
physician, and reportedly was driving a jeep
unescorted, which is unusual treatment unless one is
trusted by the regime. He reportedly is now practicing
medicine as a private physician in Havana.
f. The questionable activities and current

whereabouts of AMTRUNK-9. We have learned of
the other AMTRUNK agents who were wrapped up
but have been unable to determine precisely where
AMTRUNK-9 is. There is some indication that he
might have been G-2.
g. There was overlap with other operations: the

AMLILAC’s, placing Cubela cache, etc.
NOTE: Cables cited in this paper and other selected

papers from the AMTRUNK Project are readily
available in the LAD/JFK Task Force office for review
if needed. LAD/JFK Task Force/ Chris Hopkins:rp
MEMORANDUM February 14, 1977
SUBJECT: Tadeusz (Tad) Witold Szulc (AMCAPE-1)

(201-50539)
1. Szulc was born on July 25, 1926 in Warsaw,

Poland. He arrived in Brazil from Lisbon on August 3,
1940, and came to the U.S. in October 1947 under
sponsorship of U.S. Ambassador John C. Wily, the
husband of this mother’s sister. He became a
correspondent for the New York Times in 1953, and
became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1954 by a
special Congressional bill.
2. Tad Szulc had been under suspicion as a hostile

foreign agent since 1948 when the FBI reported
396
(apparently from 11 source) that he was a

communist. He brought himself to the attention of the
CIA in August 1959 in Santiago, Chile, by claiming
(falsely) to be cleared, and requesting contact with an
agency representative. This was the first of many
such incidents in Latin America, and resulted in
warning to all Latin American Stations to beware of
Szulc and his efforts to interview Agency personnel.
This resulted in continuing watch of his movements
and activities because they represented a threat to
the cover of Agency personnel. By 1960 his
reputation was so widespread that several different
CIA officers called for an investigation that would
clear up, ‘once and for all,’ his suspected connections
with a hostile intelligence service. He was in frequent
contact with Communist Party leaders and
functionaries throughout Latin America, constantly
sought out and elicited information from U.S.
Embassy officers, frequently mentioning the names
of other CIA officers with whom he was acquainted.
Although the suspicions have increased, and Szulc’s

anti-Agency activities have become much more
serious and blatant in the 1970’s, it has not been
possible to clear up any of the suspicions about his
motives, or possible connection to a foreign
intelligence service. There have been numerous
reviews of his files and the interest in his activities
has extended from the case officer level to DCI. In
fact it is not possible to come to any clear conclusion
about this man and the notes below are simply
illustrative of the kinds of things that keep suspicions
alive.
It is important to note that Szulc’s activities can be

explained by the combination of his personality,
ambition, and the demands on an investigative
reporter for the NYT. His is an aggressive,
insensitive, and persistent journalist with the family
connections (Ambassador Wiley) and ability to
develop the kinds of contacts appropriate to a
successful correspondent for a paper like the NYT.
397
4. Nevertheless, there are elements throughout his

entire career that are almost designed to arouse
suspicion. For example, a [deleted 11 as of 2010]
source in Rio de Janeiro reported that Szulc was
“directed” by the Polish regime in Warsaw to seek
employment in U.S. journalistic circles. This report
runs like a thread throughout his file and is repeated
and garbled in several versions over the years. The
report has never been adequately explained and was
apparently never reported in full (deleted as of 2010).
This report and other questions that arose early in his
career (deleted as of 2010) were, however, just the
earliest elements that aroused suspicion.
5. Because he became so well-known to so many

Agency officers, his name and reputation have
become subject of discussion on many occasions.
One senior operations officer stated in 1975 that a
Soviet agent could not be more beneficial to the
Soviets and the Communist cause than Szulc has
been. Although he presented a generally anti-
Commnist view prior to quitting the NYT in 1972, it is
noteworthy that he arranged extensive, favorable TV
coverage of the Communist-dominated Ligas
Campesinas in Northeast Brazil and that one of the
most important anti-Castro operations, AMTRUNK, in
which he was involved from the beginning, was
disastrous for all participants. More indicative of his
true beliefs are the articles he has written since
Watergate. They have become increasingly critical of
the CIA and the USG generally and have damaged
U.S. image and prestige.
6. The notes below are somewhat random examples

of elements in Szulc’s file that bring him under
suspicion. As mentioned above, they in no way point
to a firm conclusion. For further information on Szulc
during the period 1963 – 1964 see the CI review
prepared at Miami Station on Jorge Volsky in 1964.
a. The 1948 FBI report that Szulc was involved in

supplying the Polish legation in Rio with information
from his personal contacts and from Ambassador
John C. Wiley has been repeated in various versions
398
throughout Szulc’s file. The FBI has found similar

allegation made by other sources who knew Szulc at
that time. In addition, several sources have
mentioned Szulc’s relations with his cousin, Ignacy
Sachs, who was the Press Attache of the Polish
Embassy in 1947 and 1948, although there is no
indication that Sachs had intelligence connections.
b. Szulc’s marriage to the daughter of the American

manager of the English language newspaper in Rio
de Janeiro, the Herald, lasted only until Szulc had
permanent residence in the U.S. and appears to
have been carried through for that purpose.
c. By 1949 (Szulc was only 23) he had come to the

attention of (deleted as of 2010) because of his
dealings with the Polish Legation and because
investigation revealed his father had some
(apparently innocent) business dealings with
Russians visiting Brazil from Mexico.
d. In 1954, about a year after he was hired by the

NYT, Szulc obtained a sensational story, by
telephone, from a Communist leader in Guatemala.
This launched his career with NYT.
e. In 1956 Szulc was investigating Brazilian nuclear

policy for NYT. Although a legitimate topic, it was
somewhat unusual for him and the timing seems
unusual for NYT interest.
f. In 1959, on a trip to Santiago, Chile, Szulc claimed

to be “cleared” and requested and interview with an
Agency representative. This was the first of
numerous such requests. In addition, it was in about
1959 that he also began making a point of telling
Agency personnel the names of other Agency
officers he had identified.
g. An article Szulc wrote on Cuba for the NYT in

December 1959 was hailed as an antidote to the
excessively favorable reports of his colleague,
Herbert Mathews. But in fact his article was largely
favorable to Fidel Castro and to Castro’s plans for
399
Cuba. It is only in comparison with Matthews

blatantly pro-Castro articles that Szulc’s piece and be
considered balanced.
h. By September 1960, Szulc was in the forefront of

those advocating action against Castro. (It was he
who finally brought the Leonardo Plan to Washington
in 1963. See AMTRUNK Operational paper).
i. In April 1961, shortly after JFK was innaugurated,

Szulc was transferred to Washington by the NYT.
Although a reasonable transfer, it is noteworthy that
in a very short time Szulc claimed that he had a
standing invitation to go directly to the President, the
Vice President, the Attorney General, McGeorge
Bundy and Robert Hurwitch to Cuban matters.
j. Szulc persistently sought a continuing contact with

an Agency representative in Washington shortly after
he arrived until it was granted in December 1962.
The first contact was with Albert C. Davies (Lt. Col.
On military detail to CIA to Cuba) and was arranged
at the behest of Colonel Grogan, the Assistant to the
Director, on Szulc’s request.
k. In early 1963, at President Kennedy’s urging, CIA

contact with Tad Szulc was made into a formal
relationship and was continued until October 1964.
The meetings were used by Tad Szulc to cross check
his information from other sources, including various
Cuban exiles, and the State Department. He
became, by virtue of his contacts with the exile
community and throughout Washington, one of the
most knowledgeable people in the area of Cuban
affairs, anti-Castro activities and U.S. Government
policy.
l. The Agency officer, Alfonso Rodriguez, who

maintained official contact with Szulc in 1963 and
1964 said in July 1964 “The special friendship and
mutual admiration society that has existed between
Tad Szulc and Jorge Volsky, Manuel Ray and the
JURE is not something that is transparent or easily
explained. This alliance may be something unholy
400
and Machiavellian; I just do not know, but I can find

no evidence to prove it.”
m. Another officer, Seymour Young, wrote in 1965:

“After reading and re-reading this man’s various files,
I began to feel that this man in his position would be
an ideal ‘agent of influence.’ It was noted that he is
always in a crisis area and usually in advance of the
crisis and writes articles which are more concerned
with the Communist successes.”
n. In about August 1965, Szulc was sent to Madrid as

the NYT representative for Spain and Portugal. He
stayed overseas until December 1968. He was
present in Prague during the Soviet invasion in
August 1968 and in December he was expelled,
apparently for being too inquisitive. However,
(Deleted as of 2010) has remained suspicious of the
circumstances of Szulc’s expulsion and the details
have never been clarified. (It is interesting that Szulc
wrote articles reflecting the official Czech line
concerning the defection of General Jan Sejna who
was in the Czech Intelligence service.)
o. Szulc was reported by an FBI source to have gone

horseback riding with Boris V. Yarochevskiy, a
suspect KGB officer, in Washington in June or July
1971. Szulc’s file reflects no regular contact with Bloc
diplomats.
p. In 1972 and 1973 Szulc covered Watergate

extensively and demonstrated and extreme bias
against the CIA. By July 1972, Szulc’s inquiries of the
Department of State and his articles had taken on a
distinctly anti-US Government tone. His coverage of
guerrilla and terrorist groups was less sure than in
earlier days and was frequently sensationalist and full
of inaccuracies. (See, especialy, article in NYT for
July 14, 1972 on a terrorist Headquarters in Zurich
and other wild statements.)
q. Since 1974 Szulc’s articles have been highly

critical of the Agency and he has used the
401
background information he gathered in the 1960’s to

attack the Agency and to criticize its operations.
r. In May 1975 Szulc accused the Agency of rifling

the files of U.S. Senators. This was only one of many
irresponsible and false articles he wrote trying to
discredit the Agency. One of the more spectacular
efforts was an article in Esquire Magazine, in which,
among other things, he charged that the U.S.
intelligence community had a hidden budget of $25
billion dollars and a network of 200,000 spies.
s. In, Inside the Company: A CIA Diary, Philip Agee

credits Szulc’s daughter, Nicole for having “obtained
vital research materials in New York and
Washington, D.C.” There is reason to believe,
particularly in view of the extreme views Tad Szulc
has manifested in the past two years, that he may
have aided his daughter in her “research”.
SUMMATION
The case against Tad Szulc as a foreign agent is

weak. However, his most recent activities are entirely
consonant with the view that he has already served
the Soviets well and can end his career as an overt
propagandist taking advantage of the current furor
over the CIA to do th greatest possible damage. The
current paralysis of all anti-Communist action by the
Agency attests to the effectiveness of Agee, Szulc,
the Soviets, et. al.
NOTE: (See attachment B from a highly sensitive

source. Any use of the SECRET/SENSITIVE
attachment requires C/CI approval.) The source
reported that Nicole, while working with the DGI in
Cuba to expose the Agency, said that except for her
father, her whole family were “fascists.” She said that
her father quit the NYT because of the restrictives
editorial policy and he wished to write according to
his beliefs.
402
[CIA Interim Report OPS to Split C Regime; CIA Memos on Szulc

and Volsky 2.14.77; Extract from Dispatch (deleted) 17410 8.24.64
Subject (deleted) Operational: Amtrunk-1.]
AMTRUNK was devised by George Volsky aka Jerzy

Stakistaw Ajbuszyc. The CIA reported:
Jorge Volsky is a Cuban citizen of Polish origin, now

a permanent U.S. resident, who is currently
employed by the USIA office in Miami as editor of the
USIA weekly Report on Cuban Developments.
Volsky came to the attention of JMWAVE because of
his extra-curricular activities which appear to be
incompatible with his position as an employee of the
United States Government. A conflict of interests
appears to have developed in Volsky’s case as a
result of his position in the USIA office in Miami, his
access to various high-level Cuban refugees, his
close association with prominent American journalists
(one of whom has an entrée to high members of the
Kennedy Administration) [Szulc] and his involvement
for JURE. Analysis shows that he has used his USIA
position to obtain information for a leftist political
group, has engaged in anti-U.S. propaganda
campaigns for it, and may be guilty of duplicity in his
dealings with KUBARK. Volsky is a Cuban citizen of
Polish origin whose background includes a two to
three year period in a Russian prison camp. Because
of this background, and the nature of his present
political activities, the following compilation and
analysis of the material currently available to
JMWAVE concerning Volsky are deemed necessary
and are hereby presented as prerequisites to the
determination of the future course of action to be
taken by KUBARK in this case.
Original JMWAVE Operational Interest in Subject.
a. George Volsky first became of interest to KUBARK

in February 1963 when it was learned that he was
the source of an anti-Castro plan known as Operation
Leonardo, designed to split the Cuban Regime by the
recruitment of certain elements of the Rebel Army
and Militia in the GOC. This plan had been presented
403
to the State Department through Tad Szulc, editorial

writer of the New York Times Washington office and
State sent in for action to KUBARK Headquarters.
b. The disclosure of George Volsky as the originator

of Operation Leonardo came about when a KUBARK
case officer contacted Szulc at his home in
Washington concerning the plan. Szulc was reluctant
at first to reveal the name of the author, but did so
when the case officer pointed out that it was
necessary for KUBARK to talk to the source in order
to clear up the various points. Szulc, saying that he
would rely on KUBARK’s discretion to safeguard the
identity of the source, named Volsky of the USIA in
Miami. Szulc related a short biographic sketch of
Volsky in which it was revealed that during World
War II, Volsky, a Pole, had been a prisoner of war in
Russia.
c. At Headquarters’ request JMWAVE contacted

George Volsky and made arrangements to sponsor
his plan which involved Cuban infiltration/exfiltration
ops. It was the intention of KUBARK to use Volsky
only as a funding channel for the operation; however,
because of the Station’s belief that the operation’s
team would inform Volsky in detail about operational
matters, a POA was requested on him. A request
was also made that Headquarters check on Volsky’s
activities prior to his arrival in Cuba. Locally the
AMOTs were requested to provide information on
Subject’s activities in Cuba. Volsky’s knowledge of
clandestine methods of operation, together with his
Russian prison background and his ingenuity as a
middleman in the U.S. Government – CIA activities,
made him an excellent candidate for a Communist
penetration agent, and that the possibility existed that
he might be a RIS singleton, sleeper or stringer.
Volsky’s contacts in Miami included Raul Chibas
Rivas [201-248160], a member of the JURE
Executive Committee...Manolo Ray’s right hand
man...Volsky was visited by Rogelio Cisneros in
Volsky’s USIA office.
404
The CIA created a detailed analysis of George Volsky’s past

in which it questioned whether his interment by the Soviets and the
Cubans was bona fide, and pointed to his association with Paul
Bethel, “suspected informant for the Castro Regime (Western
Hemisphere/4/CI September 23, 1960).
Upon arrival in Miami on 22 May 1961, VOLSKY

visited Paul BETHEL, a friend and former Press
Attache of .the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, who was ·a
.suspected informant for the CASTRO regi~ej At that
time BETHEL was in charge of the Miami Office of
USIA and contracted VOLSKY to edit a VOA
program. (BETHEL was employed by JMWAVE
Station from October through December 1961 as
writer-analyst for a detailed analysis of the overt
Cuban press, on a trial basis, but was terminated
following a Headqtiarters assessment that his reports
contained nothing not already available through
regular established sources.
GAETON FONZI
On January 5, 1979, Gaeton Fonzi was a defense witness in Hunt v.
Weberman:
Q. Did you introduce Mr. Weberman to Troy

Gustavson and David Marston of Senator
Schweiker’s office?
A. I don’t remember that I did, but I probably did.
Q. Were you told by Mr. Gustavson that he had, in

fact, offered Mr. Weberman a job in the nature of
correlating telephone numbers from National
Archives documents; are you aware of that
employment offer?
A. Not specifically, though I do recall, I think, that

idea being discussed at one time or other with
members of Senator Schweiker’s staff. I would
characterize Mr. Weberman’s archives and Mr.
Weberman’s knowledge of the archives, as probably
one of the most competent in the field.
405
Q. Prior to your joining the HSCA, did you believe Mr.

Weberman to be making up lies to malign Mr. Hunt?
A. Prior to my HSCA time, I did not believe he was

deliberately making up lies to malign Mr. Hunt; no.
Prior to my joining the HSCA, I believed there was
the possibility of Hunt being involved in the Kennedy
assassination.
Q. (Rubin) Fine. The witness has answered the way

he felt proper. Thanks for opening that door.
A. (Friedman) That is the whole case. Truth was our

defense.
Ellis Rubin cross-examined Gaeton Fonzi:
Q. Were you aware, before you went to work for the

HSCA and at the time you read the book Coup D’Etat
In America, that these photographs had been
thoroughly disproved as being E. HowarD Hunt and
Frank Sturgis by the FBI?...Are you aware that Time-
Life, Inc. did a photo analysis examination of those
tramp photographs and arrived at the same
conclusion as the FBI and the Rockefeller
Commission, all of which was reported publicly
before Mr. Weberman wrote his book?
A. Before joining the HSCA, I read the conclusions of

the Rockefeller Report...I had some doubts about its
conclusions.
The testimony of Gaeton Fonzi would have convinced a jury

that malice was absent from my motivation since government
investigators had examined, and were still examining, Hunt’s role in
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
THE MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

One last Amended Motion for Summary Judgment in Hunt v.
Weberman was filed. The motion cited New York Times v. Sullivan,
which made it impossible for a public figure to obtain a libel
judgment without proving actual malice on the defendant’s part, i.e.
the defendant purposefully published false material. A 5-page
Memorandum of Law was included with the Motion. Ellis Rubin
406
replied with a motion attempting to show Hunt was not a public

figure, since he became so not voluntarily, but as a result of his
Watergate arrest, was thrust into the public eye. Ellis Rubin also
insisted that malice could be demonstrated by virtue of the HSCA
and the Rockefeller Commission, which were comprised of “a
number of this country’s most esteemed and distinguished citizens
and public servants having specifically investigated Defendant’s
allegations, only to find them without merit...” Ellis Rubin included
statements by former CIA employees Mazerov and Kuzmuk. Judge
Edward Davis, who was assigned to the case for about two years
before it was scheduled to go to trial, ruled that Hunt was a public
figure, but that the issue of malice on the part of the defendants had
to be considered “in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff,” since
the defendants had been unable to obtain corroboration for Coup
D’Etat’s photo analysis from an independent source. Thus Hunt v.
Weberman would go to trial, but Hunt would have to prove actual
malice.
HUNT v. WEBERMAN
After six years of pre-trial litigation, Hunt v. Weberman was
scheduled for trial in early September 1982. Much of the information
in this data base was unavailable in 1982, but there was enough for
us to win. Hunt paused to consider the unpredictability of the
situation – not to mention the troubling fact that none of the
defendants had any assets. If he won, it would be a big propaganda
victory, but a financial disappointment: in 1975 the first hardcover
edition of Coup D’Etat had been published by Joseph Okpaku. The
second hardcover edition of Coup was published in 1992 by Third
Press Associates, as was a paperback edition. That year, Ed and
Jane Rosenthal of Quick Trading Publishers issued an updated
paperback version. In 1976 Joseph Okpaku experienced financial
difficulties due to the publication of a biography of Gerald Ford
written by the former Press Secretary to Gerald Ford, Jerry terHorst.
Hunt had published an article under the byline of Jerry terHorst.
Although much of the assets of Joseph Okpaku were tied up in the
Jerry terHorst book, it sold poorly and Okpaku fell into debt. Joseph
Okpaku tried selling the paperback rights to Coup D’Etat; editors at,
as I recall, New American Library, were interested, but their
publisher met with them and stated: “We can’t publish this book, and
I can’t tell you why.” Had he been contacted by the Domestic
Operations Division? Had the CIA put the kibosh on my book?
NO TRIAL BY JURY
407
Hunt would have been required to prove actual malice: that

the authors knew he was not the tramp, and deliberately lied to
defame him. The defense could easily have demonstrated that
neither of the authors believed the findings of the blue ribbon
panels. The scheduled witnesses for our defense included a
reporter from 60 Minutes, who is now a producer of Prime Time
Live, James Wilde of Time magazine, New York City Police
Department Detective William Barret, and Congressman Henry
Gonzalez. They would have attested to our responsibility as
researchers, unmotivated by malice. Our new attorney was Bruce
Stahl, who I met when I worked at New York City Police
Headquarters in relation the lawsuit Sturgis had filed against the
New York City Police Department. I paid Stahl a $5,000 retainer and
agreed to pay him a thousand dollars a day for trial time, plus costs
and transportation and any court fees. A few hours before we were
scheduled to fly to Miami for the trial Bruce Stahl called to say:
Hunt is dropping his lawsuit. We can’t force him to

sue. We could go ahead with our counter-suit but that
would be on a limited basis. Hunt is willing to pay
Michael Canfield $200 in damages for his statement
on the Tom Snyder show.”
When news of the settlement reached the media, The New

York Post ran a story that suggested Hunt’s actions were suspicious
in light of his statements in which he insisted he wished to
vigorously prosecute the case.
HOWARD HUNT DROPS JFK PLOT LIBEL SUIT [NY Post 9.6.82]
Watergate burglar E. McCord’s has dropped his $2.5

million libel suit against the authors of Coup D’Etat in
America, which contains allegations that Hunt and
fellow-Watergater FRANK Sturgis masterminded the
JFK assassination after setting up Lee Harvey
Oswald to take the rap. Hunt the career CIA spy
whose cover was blown by the Watergate arrest,
mysteriously dropped the suit after six years of
expensive litigation just as jury selection was about to
begin in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
where Hunt lives...Weberman told our Richard
Johnson that Hunt sued for libel because ‘he felt I
was a penniless Yippie and thought he could get a
default judgement.’ (If Hunt felt that way, it might very
408
well be because Weberman has in the past indeed

been known as a Yippie ‘garbologist’... Weberman
hired lawyer Bruce Stahl and got depositions from
former CIA Director Richard Helms and former
Counter-Intelligence Chief, JAMES Angleton...Stahl
says he’s disappointed the suit was dropped because
an open trial in Federal Court, with witnesses under
subpoena, would have been the best way to find out
what really happened that day in Dallas. When Hunt
was cross-examined and asked why he had suddenly
dropped his lawsuit he responded: “When I
attempted to find out from Mr. Rubin in what
courthouse I should appear, what room of the
courthouse I should appear for the trial the next
morning, I was told by his office that there would not
be any trial, that he had settled the matter, and
furthermore, that he would not be in town. He had
previously taken on a as a client a Saudi Arabian
sheik, or princeling, named Al Fasi and he was
chasing all over the country with him, and as far as I
know Mr. Rubin wasn’t even in town the eve of the
trial...In any event, I had assumed that my
requirements for case settlement had been met by
Mr. Rubin, and that a check from Mr. Weberman for
$5,000 would be forthcoming. I learned the following
day Mr. Rubin had told the opposing attorneys who
had come to Miami for the trial, that – I forgot the
term – but it was going to equal out, nobody would
charge anyone for anything and they would scrub the
case. That was done, I must add reluctantly, without
my authorization.
Hunt was then asked if the case had been dismissed on his
behalf without payment to him of even a penny, and if there had
been no apology or retraction whatsoever from the defendant
journalists. He answered, “That is correct.” Some time later, Gordon
Winslow found that Ellis Rubin had checked into the Miami Heart
Institute the night before the trial was to begin. The case, however,
had been settled by this time. [New York Post 11.4.78; Wash. Post
9.6.78; Miami Herald 9.25.78] During another matter Hunt stated:
“Resuscitation of these old charges, which I thought had been laid
to rest by my suit against Weberman, and there had been, ever
since the Weberman book was published, and I had filed suit, there
409
had been accusations of these wild charges.” Why should the

charges have been laid to rest when Hunt lost the lawsuit? Hunt
was a bold faced liar.
HUNT v. SPOTLIGHT
On May 7, 1980, Hunt sued Victor Marchetti and Spotlight
for an article about the alleged document that placed Hunt in Dallas
on November 22, 1963. [USDC Miami 80-1121-CIV-JWK] The
organization behind Spotlight, Liberty Lobby, funds the Institute for
Historical Review. This I front group was dedicated to proving the
murder of six million Jews by the Nazis never took place. Mark
Levy, head of the Jewish Defense Organization, [JDO, POB 646
NYC, 10150] discovered that Conrad Grieb, who was part of a I spy
network operating in the United States in the early 1940’s, worked
with Spotlight. [Carlson Undercover p161, 199, 200-3] The attorney
who represented Spotlight, Miles McGrain, agreed that Spotlight
would abide by the stipulation that Hunt had nothing whatever to do
with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was not in
Dallas on that day. In his closing argument he characterized the
article as false, but not libelous, since no malice was intended by
Victor Marchetti. Miles McGrain professed “the main thrust of the
article was to tell readers that the CIA was at it again, and that Hunt
was going to be a scapegoat.” Willis Carto, the head of Liberty
Lobby, testified to this. [Telephone Carto at 202-546-5611] Willis
Carto also stated: “Liberty Lobby has been one of the victims of the
Yipster Times. They have published our telephone number, urging
their people to telephone us at our expense and to use our number
to make telephone [credit card] calls.” Victor Marchetti did not
testify. The General Counsel of the CIA, Stanley Sporkin,
assembled a series of affidavits from Thomas B. Cormack,
Executive Secretary of the CIA, William R. Katapish, Director of the
OS, and George L. Marling of the Operations (Plans) Directorate, in
which they swore no document existed in CIA files placing Hunt in
Dallas. Hunt testified that he had just remarried, and his new wife
was troubled by the recurrent allegations that he was in Dealey
Plaza:
For one thing, she had been aware that I was

involved in litigation against a prior publisher, to wit,
the authors of Coup D’Etat in America...Her feelings
were, if there was no truth to the allegations, then
why are they being repeated constantly?
410
Hunt submitted the Final Report of the HSCA as evidence in

his favor. The judge ruled it inadmissible because of the prior
stipulation that Hunt was not in Dealey Plaza. Hunt claimed that his
oldest daughter “had been institutionalized, and from the hospital
her psyche was very sensitive. She became very distraught and
again I had to reassure my children that I had nothing to do with the
Kennedy assassination, and I was being persecuted for reasons
unknown to me.” (Hunt was supposed to have been with his
daughter on November 22, 1963.) Hunt blamed me for the Spotlight
article: “My opinion is that it came from the writing of Alan J.
Weberman, either from his scurrilous piece in the Yippie Times, or
in his book Coup D’Etat, for which I have current litigation.” Hunt
was asked if Weberman had identified him as one of the tramps. He
said, “No.” Hunt was asked, “Have you ever lied under oath?” He
answered: “I have.” During Hunt’s testimony in the second Hunt v.
Spotlight trial he was asked: “Is it correct that Weberman and
Canfield identified you as one of the tramps?” Hunt responded:
“That is true.”
Spotlight lost. Spotlight had not used truth as a defense; it

claimed absence of malice. The Spotlight rarely told the truth, and
their deceitful defense was characteristic of the newspaper.
THE SECOND HUNT V. SPOTLIGHT TRIAL
An Appeals Court Judge ordered a new trial in the matter of
Hunt v. Spotlight. In January 1985 the second Hunt v. Spotlight trial
took place. Mark Lane questioned Hunt about each instance he had
committed perjury during the Watergate proceedings. Mark Lane
read all of the charges in Hunt’s complaint in Hunt v. Weberman and
pointed out to the jury that Hunt had lost. Hunt produced three
witnesses, all co-workers at the CIA Domestic Operations Division,
who testified he was in Washington, D.C., on November 22, 1963.
Although Angleton never testified in Hunt v. Spotlight, former CI/SIG
staff member Newton S. Miler was going to testify on behalf of Hunt.
After waiting five days in Miami he was deposed instead. Newton S.
Miler said he never heard of Marita Lorenz, or of Frank Sturgis
being a CIA agent. Edward Petty reported “Documents about
Oswald first arrived at the CIA Staff. The Routing Sheet has an
initial ‘SM.’ Now that could be Scotty Miler.” At the trial, Mark Lane
could not produce the CIA document that placed Hunt in Dallas.
Victor Marchetti testified that he had heard about the document from
William R. Corson, but had never seen it. Marita Lorenz did not
411
appear to tell her story under oath in Federal Court. Despite all of
this, Hunt lost.
THE CHARLES HARRELSON HOAX
In the late 1970’s Charles Harrelson was released from a

Texas prison having served five years for a contract murder. On
May 29, 1979, Charles Harrelson murdered Federal Judge John
Wood in San Antonio, Texas. Judge John Wood was scheduled to
preside over the drug trial of Charles Harrelson’s associate, James
Chagra, whose trial was to begin the morning the judge was shot.
The police linked Charles Harrelson to the killing of Judge John
Wood through a prison informant who told authorities that James
Chagra had given him the details of the murder of Judge John
Wood. In September 1980, when Texas State Police arrested
Charles Harrelson on drugs and weapon charges, Harrelson,
intoxicated by free base cocaine and cornered by the police, held a
gun to his head and confessed to “killing a federal judge.” Then he
stated “I killed Kennedy, too.” When Charles Harrelson realized that
he had made a self-incriminating statement, he decided to take
credit for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, to
discredit his first confession. He added, “I killed Kennedy too.”
Charles Harrelson was an alleged associate of the Carlos Marcello
crime family as well as an acquaintance of R.D. Matthews, an
associate of Jack Ruby. Charles Harrelson, 25 years old in 1963,
had never been connected with the assassination by the media or
412
by any Government agency before he confessed. The news media

discovered the story and when photographs of Charles Harrelson
were circulated, some researchers believed that he was one of the
tramps who were marched through Dealey Plaza and
photographed.
THE CHAGRA BROTHERS
During the trial of Charles Harrelson, the brother of James
Chagra, Attorney Joseph Chagra, was a government witness
against Harrelson. Joseph Chagra told jurors that when he visited
Charles Harrelson
in jail in September 1980, Charles Harrelson told him

about a will in which he admitted having killed Judge
Wood and President Kennedy...Joseph Chagra
testified that Charles Harrelson ‘drew a map of
Dealey Plaza to show me where he was standing
when Kennedy was shot.’
Charles Harrelson’s “will” was a handwritten note he had left

after fleeing a Houston motel room, in which he specified that, if
killed, his body should be cremated and the ashes sprinkled over
the Judge John Wood Memorial Federal Courthouse in San
Antonio. The “map of Dealey Plaza” was a diagram Charles
Harrelson sketched while Joe Chagra visited him in jail. It pinpointed
a lake east of Dallas, where part of the murder weapon had been
hidden. The jury didn’t believe Joe Chagra’s story about the
Kennedy assassination. Charles Harrelson was found guilty of
murdering Judge John Wood.
On October 2, 1980,
(Deleted) (PROTECT IDENTITY) advised that in a

recent conversation (deleted) Travis Irwin...advised
(deleted) that he (Irwin) had spoken to Jimmy
Chagra...At that time Chagra told Irwin that Charlie
Harrelson was currently in custody at Houston,
Texas, and Harrelson had previously written a note
allegedly admitting that he (Harrelson) was
responsible for the assassination of President John
Kennedy, as well as the murder of Judge Wood. In
addition the note was alleged to have stated that
while Harrelson personally and solely assassinated
Kennedy, he assisted Larry Culbreath in the murder
413
of Judge Wood and Culbreath actually fired the

weapon killing the Judge but Harrelson had planned t
he ‘hit’ and received payment for the contract. [NARA
124-10179-10129]
In the mid-1980’s Charles Harrelson retracted his

confession: “On November 22, 1963, I was with a friend at 12:30
p.m. having lunch in a restaurant in Houston, Texas. I did not kill
JFK and it was not me in the picture. I was not in my right mind
when I confessed...”
Although ten years had elapsed since the Harrelson story

first appeared, and although he had retracted his confession, in
1990 the story received wide exposure in the tabloids. The
Harrelson/Tramp story was widely disseminated for two reasons.
The first was that Cheers star Woody Harrelson was involved. The
second was that the CIA was aware that Oliver Stone’s film was
about to rekindle an interest in the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy. The New York Observer had carried an article that
stated that Oliver Stone was thinking of basing his movie on Coup
D’Etat in America. By having its stringers at the various tabloids run
this story, the CIA hoped to cause more confusion regarding the
identity of the tramps. The CIA did a good job. Numerous people
asked me if one of the tramps was really the father of Woody
Harrelson? Charles Harrelson was joined by criminal Chauncey
Holt, who claimed he was the Hunt tramp. The Globe: “I Helped
Cheer’s Star’s Dad Kill JFK.” [Globe 1.14.92]
Gerald Posner dealt with the tramps by listing Hunt, Sturgis, Charles
Harrelson and Chauncy Holt as those who researchers suggested
were the tramps, then he named Harold Doyle, John Gedney and
Gus Abrams as the real tramps who were “sleeping in the railroad
car when the police arrested them. The men had no connection to
the events at Dealey, and the conspiracy press suddenly and quietly
abandoned the issue.”
A FINAL WORD FROM HEMMING
Hemming: “Presidents come and go. The system of government is

always there.”
414
NODULE TWENTY-SEVEN
CANFIELD STURGIS INTERVIEW ROCKEFELLER
COMMISSION STURGIS INTERVIEW
MICHAEL CANFIELD AMERICAN TRAITOR
THE CANFIELD INTERVIEW
Canfield: I was just thinking, all the publicity you've gotten out of this
would cost millions of dollars. You know, if you wanted to go to a
public relations firm and do advertising. You know you've gotten a
lot of free publicity, and that would help with a book. You just put
your name on it and it's going to sell.
415
Sturgis: Yeah, Jack Anderson, too. In his column.
Canfield: How long have you known him?
Sturgis: About twenty years. You see, Jack Anderson came to my

home a day before my trial, and he says, 'Frank, let me tell you
something, you might not be aware of it, but the people over you,
whether you know them or not ...they're going to double- cross you
and they're not going to stand up behind you. You're being sold
down the river. You're being betrayed.' Now he says, `If you want
me to help you, I can help you.' I says, `Jack, I'm sorry, nobody can
help me. I've got nothing to say. He says, 'Well you think about it,
'cause they're not going to stand behind you.' I said, 'You know how
I am in Washington. I do have my contacts with the FBI, the CIA, I
do have my contacts with the government.' And he says, 'You and
your friends are going to be betrayed. I know you, for many years.
You're a loyal guy. But your loyalty ends on betrayal.' I said `Jack, I
have no other choice but to do what I have to do.'
Canfield: Did you feel you were betrayed?
Sturgis: Not really. Because I didn't know the people upstairs

involved. So I didn't know what was going on. Only the people in
close contact would know what was going on.
Canfield: Yeah, but did you expect them to back you up? And get
you off the hook?
Sturgis: Sure, I was an agent for the United States government. For
what reason should I feel otherwise?
Canfield: Right. I'd be pretty angry myself. If 1 was working for

someone in that position, and they told you to do a job and you went
out and did it. And then you got into some trouble because of what
you did for them. And then they wouldn't back you up, I would ...I
don't know.
Sturgis: You have to look at my past. I've done a lot of things. I've
been on assassination attempts. I was involved in so many things.
Skullduggery, intrigue, espionage.
Canfield: When you say assassination attempts ...
Sturgis: Well, in foreign countries.
416
Canfield: I see.
Sturgis: You have to remember one thing. I've jumped from

airplanes, I've made bombing raids, I've made leaflet raids, I've
bought agents, you know, threw them out of airplanes with
parachutes. I took weapons behind foreign countries for the
underground. I've risked my life quite a bit. I've been shot at, I've
been wounded, I've been beaten, been tortured. You know, I been
through the whole realm. And there are records, this just isn't
something I fabricate. There are records! For instance, in the
Congressional Record, one Cuban leader said I was one of the
greatest soldiers Cuba ever had. And that's a Cuban leader. I've
had Cuban leaders say to newspaper people, which I have the
clippings of, that I was a big hero...a hero to the Cubans. I had
another Cuban leader say I was worth fifty men to them. These are
people who knew me but didn't know I was a Government agent.
These are people who talk to me as a person.
Canfield: Right.
Sturgis: Jack Anderson made me famous as a soldier of fortune and

he told me, 'I never knew you were working as an agent for the
United States government. Here I am, I made you famous saying
you were a soldier of fortune and now, Frank, you're one of the most
famous soldiers of fortune in the world.'
Canfield: It's true, it's true. When did you get involved in the Cuban
thing?
Sturgis: I've been involved in Cuba many years ago. Canfield:

Before Castro?
Sturgis: Yeah.
Canfield: Before Batista?
Sturgis: During Batista's time. So, this is what people think of me.
I've taken Presidents of foreign countries to speak to our
President—that was John F. Kennedy—and there's records of it.
I've been closely associated with about thirteen Presidents of
foreign countries and the United States. Presidents and Prime
Ministers. You see me where I live at? A lot of people in that area
before the Watergate thing, they never knew who I was. They
417
figured I was a workingman just out working. I'm a salesman. I go

off two or three weeks at a time. Then I come back home. I go five,
six weeks at a time. A normal guy, I work, mind my own business.
And here I am, involved in every goddam thing imaginable. And I've
never used Sturgis in any of my activities. I've always used Fiorini,
Fenelli, Fedrini—code names that I've used. So if any publicity
came out it came out in a code name. I left Sturgis alone. And I had
Fidel in his official newspaper, government paper, The Granma,
said that I was the most dangerous agent the CIA ever had. Heh,
heh, heh. Now that's the Prime Minister of a country. And he was
my enemy.
Canfield: Right.
Sturgis: And I knew him. I infiltrated his organization and spent two
years in the mountains with him—the things I did to get close to that
man. I got very friendly with him.
Canfield: Were you an agent then?

Sturgis: Yeah, sure, I infiltrated the 26th of July Movement. Nobody
knew that; nobody still knows that; except the Senate Watergate
Committee. That's why last year Fidel said I was the most
dangerous agent the CIA ever had. Because he found out.
Canfield: But he found out after you got out of Cuba? Sturgis: At the
Watergate hearings, he found out. Canfield: It came out in that?
Sturgis: He knew I was involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Somewhat involved in it, you know.
Canfield: You actually infiltrated the Castro movement?
Sturgis: Right. The 26th of July Movement. Since 1957 I was in it.
Canfield: When did you break out of it?
Sturgis: I left Cuba when I arranged for the escape of the Chief of
the Air Force.
Canfield: How high up in the Cuban thing did you get?
Sturgis: I was a commander; I was Chief of Security and Intelligence
for the Cuban Air Force. I got a star just like Fidel's. That's how high
I went up. And while he was Prime Minister, I knew President
Dorticos; I knew President Urruatia, President Prio, who is a good
418
friend of mine. President Rivero. I know all these people. I

associated with them. I go to President Prio's home.
Canfield: Did you know Castro very well?
Sturgis: Oh yeah. I went to his home in Mexico City. He has a

beautiful home. I knew Che Guevara. And I had pictures of...I can't
find the pictures I had with Che Guevara. Goddam that makes me
mad. I lent them to a friend to hold for me, and she can't find them.
Canfield: Do you have pictures with you and Castro?
Sturgis: Up in the mountains of Cuba.
Canfield: I'd like to see them. You know that whole Cuban thing is a
series of books in itself.
Sturgis: The Cuban involvement is a story itself.
Canfield: Do the Cuban nationalists, that is the people who fled

Cuba, still have hopes of returning?
Sturgis: Oh yeah. It would take months of research. I've done so

many things to try and remember all I've done, it's impossible. I
would have to take my tape recorder to all the places I've been. I
could go to all the exile leaders, the ex-President of Costa Rica,
Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, Idigoras of Guatemala, President
of Argentina, etc. Howard Hunt was an attache down in Uruguay.
He did this, did that, got information etc. Me, I participated in the
action. Skullduggery, etc., back in the fifties.
Canfield: Were you involved in projects in all parts of those

countries?
Sturgis: I was involved in operations in all those countries and

Mexico many times. I had to be careful of KGB agents down there.
Canfield: You must have been very disappointed when the Bay of
Pigs failed.
Sturgis: Oh I was mad. I was mad! We had people inside of Cuba.

That's when I started to do ...ahh, you know we were doing green
light operations.
419
Canfield: Green light? What's that?
Sturgis: Permission. No problem. And after a while they cut the

assistance of the underground.
Canfield: Why did they do that?
Sturgis: Well, because of the policy. The President says stop all
things and they stop them.
Canfield: Eisenhower?
Sturgis: No, Kennedy. Kennedy was the President during the Bay of
Pigs.
Canfield: Didn't it originate in '58 or '59?
Sturgis: It was started in 1957 with Eisenhower, but I'm talking about
after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, they let the underground
down.
Canfield: Whose fault was it? Kennedy's?
Sturgis: Both President Kennedy's, CIA. Can't lay blame on one

man. But he takes responsibility for the whole thing.
Canfield: I know in Hunt's books he's very adamant towards

Kennedy.
Sturgis: See, he plays politics a little bit. I don't. Because I was on a

low level and being Republican or Democrat don't make no
difference to me. But understand this. There's times when I've
received orders from the Company (CIA) and I made my own
decision. If I didn't like the order, I'd voice my opinion and I wouldn't
do it. This is the worst part of being an employee, you have to do it.
If you're not an employee, I'd tell them to go to hell. If it came to a
point where the orders were leaning towards a pro-communist thing,
I'd tell them to go to hell.
Canfield: Did you ever feel that way towards the Bay of Pigs
invasion itself, when Kennedy started cutting back?
420
Sturgis: Yeah. I figured he made a deal. In that we had to cut back. I

felt that was wrong. He deserted the people. I felt that was wrong.
That's why all the news people had me in the newspapers. Hey, I
can show you clippings where they say I was involved in the
assassination of President Kennedy.
Canfield: Who said this?
Sturgis: Newspapers, I even got investigated to that by the

Watergate thing. They asked me where I was. I told them I knew
nothing about it. I was home watching television. They felt the CIA
might be behind it. So they wanted an investigation of E. Howard
Hunt and myself on the assassination of President Kennedy. What
the hell do I got to do with the assassination of President Kennedy?
I may have disagreed with his policies, and so forth, but that doesn't
warrant killing the President of the 'United States. And they asked
me about other attempted assassinations. I said yeah, Cuba. Some
people say if you attempt to assassinate people outside of the
United States, wouldn't you be capable of assassination of the
President in the U.S.? I said well, ,the thought never entered my
mind. But I'm capable of doing many things. I'm that type of a man.
But I see no grounds for me doing something like that. You know,
he was my Commander-in-Chief.
Canfield: What about other people in the CIA?
Sturgis: The CIA had a lot of different factions, some of which I

didn't trust.
Canfield: Are you convinced that the Warren Commission Report

was correct?
Sturgis: On what?
Canfield: On the Kennedy assassination.
Sturgis: Let me tell you something about the Report. Nobody knows
what's in that Report. Only what they wanted to give out. And I don't
believe the Report is complete. I think there is a conspiracy involved
in the assassination of President Kennedy, and they covered it up.
Canfield: Who do you think did it?
421
Sturgis: I don't have the slightest idea. But I think it's one big cover-
up.
Canfield: That's strange that they would investigate you for that.
Sturgis: Well, they sure did. I had FBI agents over at my house.
Canfield: For the assassination?
Sturgis: Yeah.
Canfield: When? Right after it happened?
Sturgis: Right after it happened.
Canfield: Why did they come to you?
Sturgis: I asked them that. They told me I was one person they felt
had the capabilities to do it. Heh, heh, heh. They said, 'Frank, if
there's anybody capable of killing the President of the United States,
you're the guy that can do it.' Heh, heh, that's funny. I told them, 'I'm
not mad at you or nothing, I had nothing to do with it, but that
amuses me.'
Canfield: Do you think the Cuban people did it because Kennedy

messed up the Bay of Pigs thing?
Sturgis: (Looking at the backside of a girl walking by) This is what

the Cuban people brought over here. All those ... (at this point I
turned off the tape.)
Canfield: What about other political groups?
Sturgis: Well, I don't know anything about political groups. Really.

I've never got that involved with political groups.
Canfield: You wound up working for a pretty big political group,

actually.
Sturgis: No, how do you figure? Canfield: Well, Nixon and…
Sturgis: I worked in the Special Intelligence Unit that was formed by

the President of the United States. There were complaints about
422
national security, leakage of important documents, military

documents, for instance, the Pentagon papers. And these were
things I received top clearance on, in order to become part of this
intelligence group. Now, if that was being handled wrongly by the
people upstairs, well, that's not my responsibility. My responsibility
was to take orders. I spent many years involved in these things.
With, naturally, top people; military commanders, I know all the top
military commanders in Cuba. I had dealings with them before,
during and after, 'til I left. And Cuba at that time during the revolution
and after, was a hubbub of intrigue.
Canfield: What did you do after the revolution?
Sturgis: Like I say, I was a commander. I was in the rebel army and
I transferred over from Oriente Province, came down from the
mountains and went to Havana and talked to my friend who got to
be the Chief of the Air Force. He's Commander Pepe Vialonze, and
I had him appoint me Chief of Security, Director of Security for the
Cuban Air Force and Director of Intelligence. I also recruited a
number of people in Havana for intelligence. There was a friend of
mine, a woman who lives here in Hollandale, Florida. Her name is
Geralding Shama, and she was an agent in the government.I don't
know if you remember, but when James Donovan, the lawyer who
represented the U.S. Government, went to Cuba to negotiate for the
release of the Bay of Pigs invasion, she was one of the last persons
to leave Cuba. He arranged for her release. She spent three years
in a Cuban prison outside Havana. She lost a twenty million dollar
business that her husband had in Cuba. Her husband's name is
Suarez. They had a tobacco business. Do you believe that she
applied to the government here for aid for the business she lost
there and they claim that she was a revolutionary and because she
was a revolutionary, convicted by the Cuban tribunal for
revolutionary activities, they couldn't do anything about it. Here she
was an agent for the American government whom I recruited and
her contact was Major Van Horn who was out of the American
Embassy and which I thought was very ridiculous. She came back
almost physically destroyed and her mental being was not what it
was. She was, if you remember, the go-between the underground in
Havana and the people here. That was Artime's group which was
the MRR. We had a place on Brikel Avenue that we used, which is
not there today. That was somewhat a meeting place for the MRR
organization. And Geraldine was there constantly. And because of
her activities going back and forth between Miami and Cuba with the
423
underground and the U.S. government, she was eventually

captured, and put in prison. And yet the American government
denies her, says she was a revolutionary acting on her own. I know
different because I recruited this woman for the American
government.
Canfield: Did you tell the American government that?
Sturgis: What do they know? They don't know. And I arranged for
her escape, of course, and the Chief of the Air Force to come over
here. I arranged for him to be in touch with various agencies of the
military government,rather, agencies of the American government. I
went to Guatemala with Diaz Lanz for a meeting with President
Idigoras, to arrange for bases there.
Canfield: Before the invasion there?
Sturgis: Before the invasion.
Canfield: For training?
Sturgis: Well, for bases, which was training bases for the invasion
forces. And naturally, there were Cuban and Russian agents there,
so there were big headlines in the newspapers. All over Latin
America in the television and in the radio, that I was there trying to
get bases from President Idigoras in Guatemala, to invade Cuba,
which really came about a year later. So naturally the President was
embarassed with them and we spent almost a week there trying to
leave. In order for the United States government to protect itself
when I got back a (unintelligible) grabbed me, and held me and
lifted my citizenship—which was a ploy on their part to appease
Fidel, you know.
Canfield: I see.
Sturgis: Well, you know he did this on his own, not for us, and I don't
know if I'll be ...
Canfield: It seems that you're always doing...that they don't support

you, you know. You do things for them, but then when it gets down
to the…
Sturgis: That's part of the game.
424
Canfield: nitty gritty, they cut you loose. I guess that's ...that's
understood, eh?
Sturgis: Yeah. You know that old saying, if you're caught, you're on
your own. Heh, heh, heh.
Canfield: They deny all contacts with you, right?
Sturgis: Sure. You can get killed.
Canfield: Did you ...
Sturgis: I was captured by foreign countries four or five times, in the

last fifteen or twenty years. The government always came to my
rescue. The only time they didn't come to my rescue, is when I'm
captured by my own government. Heh, heh, heh. They fed me to the
dogs.
Canfield: Watergate.
Sturgis: It's funny.
Canfield: It's ironic, isn't it?
Sturgis: Yeah, well it sure is. The way things worked out.
Canfield: Later on I'd like to get into a specific incident. Like this
general thing is good, but I'd want to get into a specific incident. You
can pick it. I don't care what it is. So the publisher can get an idea of
some of the things that actually happened.
Sturgis: Well, actually, it depends on what it is.
Canfield: Well, you can generalize about it, you don't have to get
specific. But something major like as—you know something major—
as exciting as you want to make it. Like you said you participated in
assassination attempts.
Sturgis: In Cuba, against Fidel. Against some of his top

(unintelligible).
425
Canfield: Were you always in the Cuban military? Did you ever get
out of it, into the private sector?
Sturgis: Not really. In a communist country, the military controls, at

least in Cuba the military controls, everything.
Canfield: But he wasn't communist right away, was he? I thought he

had a lot of people fooled?
Sturgis: They have evidence of his activities in Bogota, Columbia.

Evidently, he must have had some people here, in this country here
who thought he wasn't much of a threat. Remember, he wasn't that
big of a revolutionary until he went into the mountains. Herbert
Matthews, of the New York Times, made him such a big deal.
Canfield: Yeah, but with your contacts you must have known that he
had the potential to be successful?
Sturgis: Look, anybody had the potential to be successful in Cuba at

that time, because Cuba was ripe for revolution. The American
government supported Batista. The American government knew of
the corruption, tortures, prison, what Batista was doing to the
people. So it was only a matter of time before the people got up in
arms and supported somebody who would revolt against them. And
here came Fidel Castro. The American government was interested
in Fidel Castro because they had a number of people who tried to
infiltrate. I believe that I was the only American who infiltrated the
26th of July Movement.
Canfield: Do you mean that America was interested in him to

replace Batista?
Sturgis: No, no, no, I didn't say that. The American government
knew of the crime and corruption in the Batista regime. And they did
nothing to stop all this corruption. You had various revolutionary
groups who were up in arms against Batista and the American
government supported nobody at that time. It so happened that the
American government, certain people, officials, had sympathy for
him. The reasons for these sympathies I don't know.
Canfield: Were you sent in by the CIA?
426
Sturgis: No. I went in on my own. I had contact with the people.

What happened was the Consul General of Santiago, the American
Consul General there, his name was Park F. Wooler, wanted me to
work with him. That's how I got started, with Park F. Wooler in
1957... (he) was a consulate official and normally most consulate
officials are Agency people.
Canfield: Right, was he?
Sturgis: No, I couldn't say. What guy is going to say, 'Hey, I'm a CIA
official.'?
Canfield: Right. Nobody does that.
Sturgis: Nobody's going to...
Canfield: Blow their cover. Right.
Sturgis: There are lots of consul officials using their positions to

cover up their activities. My job was to give him the names of the top
military commanders, the units, the strength of the units, the
weapons, so forth.
Canfield: Then you were reporting to him while you were working for
Castro?
Sturgis: He told me I was playing a very dangerous game, and to be

very, very careful, because I could have both sides after me.
Canfield: Did you actually fight for Castro, you know, see action?
Sturgis: I participated in a number of activities up there with him. Not

directly kill anybody, but if it was necessary to defend myself, you
know. I was almost trapped by their patrols. And one time the
people I was with were trapped. Most of the time we were dodging
them. We would see them, we would hide, stay low.
Canfield: You said you were in the Air Force. Did you fly?
Sturgis: We'd fly all the time. Matter of fact, I was a flight instructor
in the Civil Air Patrol plus Operations Officer for a squadron.
Canfield: And that's what you did for Castro?
427
Sturgis: I flew while I was up there; in order to get close to him, I

flew a bunch of guns and equipment.
Canfield: From where?
Sturgis: The United States. Using secret landing fields. I'd go buy
guns and equipment, I'd package them up, bring them to the air
field, load them on the plane, run over and back to Cuba. I had to do
all these things myself, personally in order to get close to him. I had
to show him that I had the intelligence to get him equipment that he
needed very badly. I spoke to him while I was in Mexico over one of
the clandestine radio transmitters we had in Ecuador that would go
directly to Cuba. Canfield: Did he ever suspect you of being an
American agent? Sturgis: We got very friendly.
Canfield: Is there any truth in the report that Batista was supported
by Americans like Meyer Lansky?
Sturgis: The gambling interests in Cuba did support Batista. The two
main people who controlled the gambling interests in Cuba were
Meyer Lansky and Santo Trafficante. They were the men who
controlled all the gambling in Cuba for the National Syndicate.
Canfield: Did Castro keep the gambling casinos open and just run
them?
Sturgis: They closed them all down.
Canfield: Right after the revolution?
Sturgis: Several monthd after he took over. I forget when, but they
closed up in '60, before the invasion. I don't know the date, that will
have to be researched.
Canfield: Did you ever know a guy by the name of McWillie?
Sturgis: Who?
Canfield: McWillie.
Sturgis: Yeah. That name is very, very familiar. I forget what he is or

who he is but McWillie, yeah.
428
Canfield: I think he was a gambler of some sort.
Sturgis: Well, there you had so many of them.
Canfield: I thought he was a big man in the Syndicate or something?
Sturgis: I knew ....I met there, Santo Trafficante, I met the Lansky
brothers, I met there Charlie Terrini; they call him Charlie the Blade,
I met him there. I met Errol Flynn. Heh, heh. I met a lot of movie
actors there.
Canfield: Where?
Sturgis: At the casino. I met Mike McLaney there. He was in charge

of the national gambling casino.
Canfield: How? Were you just hanging out there?
Sturgis: No, that was another part of the job there. I was in charge of
all the gambling casinos for the Cuban government—for a very short
period of time.
Canfield: For Castro?
Sturgis: For Castro. The woman who was in charge of that was
Casterta Nunnas. She was up in the mountains with me, and she
got to be in charge of that. It came under her ministry. Fidel, one
day at the Prime Minister's office, asked me if I would help Casterta
with the gambling casinos. I told him, yes, which, of course, was a
short time, because I had all these other jobs and I was involved
with all this intelligence work.
Canfield: Do you know when that was? -
Sturgis: 1959.
Canfield: I bet when he closed all the casinos, when he took over
the casinos, the Syndicate was pretty angry.
Sturgis: It didn't bother them. At the very beginning.
Canfield: Didn't he kick them all out?
Sturgis: Later, yeah.
429
Canfield: And then they got angry!
Sturgis: There wasn't much they could do about it.
Canfield: Did the Syndicate ever help go back and take Cuba?
Sturgis: Naw, naw.
Canfield: They just let it go?
Sturgis: They had to let it go. The American government was

involved. They didn't want to get involved in anything that the
American government was involved in.
Canfield: Did Nixon ever go down there? During that period?
Sturgis: Not to my knowledge. I don't think he did.
Canfield: Of course he was Vice-President prior to '60.
Sturgis: With all the trouble that was going on in Cuba at the time, I
don't think he made it one of his tours; at least not to my knowledge.
Canfield: He was down in South America.
Sturgis: But he never went to Cuba.
Canfield: Did you ever know him or ever meet him?
Sturgis: Who's that?
Canfield: Nixon.
Sturgis: No, I never met President Nixon. Now, I met President

Kennedy. I took President Carlos Prio of Cuba to speak with
President Kennedy. I met Secretary of State Christian Herter; a few
other State Department officials.
Yeah, Mexico was a place that was very intriguing—a lot of

conspiracies down there. I did several things while I was back in
Havana, you know, there was so much intrigue going on. I was
smuggling out different military personnel that were against the
Castro government . . . (end of this tape)
430
Canfield: Let's talk about the domestic activities that are just being
revealed.
Sturgis: Let me go ahead and say this here. I realize like in today's
paper, I saw where it said CIA did domestic intelligence on Eartha
Kitt—
Canfield: Right.
Sturgis: —and a number of other people and so forth. Okay, well, I

think I told you earlier that I don't know if I'm a CIA agent or was a
CIA agent or not because the top brass in CIA first denies me then
they acknowledge me, then they deny me, so I don't know what the
hell I am, but all I know is I've been involved in a lot of activities for
the United States government, from the very beginning—from the
time that I joined the United States Marine Corps when I first turned
seventeen years old up until the present day, and I have three
honorable discharges from the service. I served in Europe, United
States, Latin America, and I served in Asia. Now as far as domestic
intelligence, I can say this, that I believe that before, during and after
the Bay of Pigs invasion there was a lot of domestic intelligence
going on, and I believe it's still going on to the present day, because
Miami is the hub of international intrigue here. You've got a lot of
Asians here—
Canfield: As far as Latin America is concerned—
Sturgis: I'm saying as far as Latin America, which extends all the
way to China and Russia. Latin America, you've got the Chinese
colonies, and Cuba, and different parts of Latin America. So that
means you do have Chinese communist intelligence agents that are
here in Latin America. You've got Russian agents—always. Before
Fidel took over Cuba, the Russian government had the largets spy
network in this hemisphere working out of their Russian embassy in
Mexico City. They had over two hundred agents working out of that
embassy there. Since Cuba came about with Fidel, they transferred
the bulk of their agents, naturally, in Havana, Cuba. This
hemisphere is loaded with Russian communist agents. Still in
Mexico, my Mexican operation, I had to be careful of Mexican KGB
agents there—which I have names of them in 1968; I have the
names of all these people here.
Canfield: How far back does your Mexican involvement go?
431
Sturgis: I would say my Mexican involvement goes back as far as

1957, '58 to the present day. To the present day, would you
believe?
Canfield: Now you worked with Hunt down in—well, you didn't
work with him. Did he ever work in Mexico?
Sturgis: Oh yes. Howard Hunt? Yeah. Yeah, he worked in Mexico,

sure.
Canfield: When was that?
Sturgis: I forget what year, I'd have to research that. But he

operated out of Mexico, certainly. Now let's get back to domestic
intelligence. I do have the names of over a dozen Americans, that
they're activities have been reported to CIA. Observed and reported,
surveillance—all their activities, yes. And I can also give you names
of other CIA agents that were involved...
Canfield: You actually participated in the surveillance operation?
Sturgis: Oh, yeah, of Americans, sure—
Canfield: Are they prominent people that—
Sturgis: Well, they're ordinary people that, uh, who did not believe in
communism, and believed in anti-communism, and naturally these
same people helped in many ways—
Canfield: Well why would you put anti-communist people under

surveillance?
Sturgis: Government orders.
Canfield: Why? I don't understand.
Sturgis: It's orders that came down from upstairs.
Canfield: Wouldn't they say pro-communist people?
Sturgis: My activities in this area here was against pro-communist

elements, who were Americans and foreigners, plus anti-communist
elements who were American and foreigners.
432
Canfield: Any prominent people, that the American public would

know?
Sturgis: I would think that CIA had the dossier of many, many
prominent people, and people who were not prominent; but
regardless of their prominence, from what I understand just recently,
the 1947 Act on Domestic Intelligence that the CIA had, they're not
supposed to do that, it's against the charter. And regardless of their
prominence, they're still Americans citizens.
Canfield: Right, well, I'm just saying it would be a very interesting

thing if it was known.
Sturgis: Well, I would think so. You know who Sherman Billinglsy is?
He was the owner of the—what's that famous nightclub in New
York?—um, oh my goodness,—(The Stork Club)
Canfield: Well...
Sturgis: Famous nightclub, it's been for many years—
Canfield: We can look that up later
Sturgis: Anyway, I can't remember his name, uh, the name of the
nightclub, but Billingsly is his name, he's a very very famous man,
and his son-in-law, the man who married his daughter, name was
Alex Rorke. He was a freelance photographer and reporter, involved
in many different Latin American, uh, as a reporter, many Latin
American intrigues. Alex participated in a number of operations that
went into Cuba, also in Mexico. And if you remember there was a
big search by the United States Coast Guard, both air and sea, a
number of years ago, when he left Opalocka airfield, and he was
going to Nicaragua, and supposedly it is rumored that he was shot
down near Cuba, into the water, there were reports he was captured
but evidently my information—there was nobody inside of Cuba that
was captured by the name of Alex Rorke. I assume he either got
shot down over water and his body and the plane have
disappeared. I, with a number of other people which I will get to at a
later date, sat with Alex Rorke where his airplane was parked at
Opalocka airfield which is close by here, the day before he made his
ill-fated trip. And I will get the names of everybody that knew about
the trip and so forth, that the FBI investigated, I believe even CIA
433
investigated that, I'm not sure, but they may have been in on the
investigation, plus other agencies of the United States government,
(unintelligible). . . of his disappearance.
Canfield: What about surveillance of other people; any specific

people that you remember?
Sturgis: Well, I can't, I have to really search my memory, I've got a

meeting tonight with a friend of mine that participated in operations
with me; one of the people that I personally had under surveillance,
and I know that other agents had him under surveillance.
Canfield: Electronically, and by other means?
Sturgis: I would say by other means, really—
Canfield: Not so much electronically.
Sturgis: Not so much electronically; other means. As a matter of

fact, there's one party (unintelligible)—that he bought. Now if you
remember that particular time, there was a lot of discussion about
the Russian missiles that were inside of Cuba. And this party had
the airplane in the hangar being worked on; he told me that this
airplane was going to go to Cuba to seek out these missile bases
and take pictures. Also at the same time there was rumors that he
was going to go over there and do some bombing and strafing. So
naturally, people I was associated with got wind of it, and told me to
investigate it, which I did; and I ran across another CIA friend of
mine who wanted to see and meet this party who I was in touch
with. So I made arrangements and I told my friend who was under
surveillance, that I had someone I knew by the name of a Mr. B.,
who was a company man, he worked for the outfit—these are the
words you use to describe agents for the CIA—and he said, OK, I'll
see him, provided it's with you. I said OK and I set up the
arrangements, and we went over to Mr. B's home. I went into his
office where he had files, like he had maybe a good half a dozen or
more file cabinets full of documents of people, that he or the Agency
that came over to him, and gave him information on foreigners, or
Americans—
Canfield: And he kept tabs on a lot of different people.
434
Sturgis: Oh, quite a bit, yeah. And plus the man that I worked for my
case officer, also did the same thing.
Canfield: Explain, as you did before, on our way over here, some of
the other things that the company asked you to do, and approached
you, like on the 40 committee, etc.
Sturgis: Well, I was an associate, while I participated in Operation

Forty. Operation Forty was formed before the Bay of Pigs invasion,
it was a top secret government operation; it consisted of many
Cuban intelligence officers, who worked for the Central Intelligence
Agency, and this organization. Their job primarily was to train
people to infiltrate a foreign country, to make contact with members
of the underground, make contact with people in the political sector
of the government, foreign government, make contact with people in
the military sector of the foreign government, plus there was also a
group formed in which was the assassination section, which I was
part of, that if necessary, this assassination group would upon
orders, naturally, assassinate either members of the military in the
foreign country, members of the political parties of the foreign
country that you were going to infiltrate, and if necessary some of
your own members, who were suspected of being foreign agents.
Now at the same time, I was asked by my friend, who was a CIA
agent, he asked me if I was interested in participating, or doing an
assassination with the Company. I told him yes, providing that I
would sit down with this case officer and go over the details, and
that I would do it.
Canfield: Domestic or foreign?
Sturgis: It would be domestic.
Canfield: Here in the United States?
Sturgis: Oh, yeah. The reason for that, he asked me how I would go
about it. And I told him, well, if it was going to be domestic, well, I
could do it several ways. I could do it either in the Everglades, I
could do it by boat, or I could do it by air. But, that if it was going to
be done, I did not want nobody to be part of this, I would do it by
myself, but I definitely wanted to meet the officer who wanted this
done, and I wanted to see him, and get it right from him, so I would
be sure that it would be someone with authority, and not just a
lower-level agent, such as he.
435
Canfield: Did this come out of the Forty Committee, or the Agency
itself?
Sturgis: This is what the Operation of Forty was trained for, by the
Agency—to do all this type of work.
Canfield: Do you know if they ever did carry out any operations like
that?
Sturgis: Yeah, oh yeah. Sure. Operations were being done,

infiltrations were going on inside of Cuba, and contacts were made
with political elements in Cuba, also in military and—
Canfield: I mean the assassination teams.
Sturgis: Well there were several from word of mouth through

associates, there were several attempts and several assassinations
that were going on inside of Cuba. Nothing large—
Canfield: Any other countries?
Sturgis: Not that I know of. No, we were concentrating strictly in

Cuba at that particular time. Actually, they were operating out of
Mexico, too; CIA activities were in Mexico through Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, in Panama, in Guantanamo Bay, Puerto Rico, South Florida,
all the way to Andrews Air Force Base. This is how the activities
stretched all over.
Canfield: What about domestic activities, did they ever attempt a

domestic assassination?
Sturgis: Not to my knowledge, no. But the only thing I can say on
that is, when I was asked to do domestically, myself—
Canfield: Right.
Sturgis: Of anyone else, no, not to my knowledge; which brings the

why all this stuff I've been reading in the papers where they want
me to be part of the investigation of the assassination of President
Kennedy, I have no knowledge of anything like—
Canfield: Did anyone ever approach you about
436
Sturgis: The assassination? Yeah, oh yeah.
Canfield: No, I mean, to do the assassination.
Sturgis: No, no, oh no. The Cubans were very angry with the
Kennedys, they were furious with Kennedy because of the failure of
the Bay of Pigs invasion. But the only thing that I had as far as the
assassination was concerned, naturally, is the investigation by the
FBI. And they said, 'Well, Frank, this is strictly a voluntary thing, if
you want to talk with us, if you don't want to talk with us'—And they
told me that they felt that I was one of the persons capable, if I
wanted to assassinate somebody as high as the President of the
United States, that I was capable of...
Canfield: Do you think that maybe some of those other people in the
Forty Committee were capable of doing that?
Sturgis: Well, I'll be very honest with you, I told you that the Cubans
were furious with what happened and so forth. It seems that the
proof is Oswald, who was involved with the assassination, who
supposedly killed President Kennedy, anybody was capable of it.
Whether they get away with it or not, is another thing. I think there
was a tremendous conspiracy going on in that assassination, that
the Warren Commission has not told all, that they covered up a lot
of things that they didn't want the American people to know. And I
think there are people in various Federal agencies that may have
covered up.
Canfield: Why would they do that?
Sturgis: I really don't know. Because we were on the brink of a war,

and it could have very easily touched off a war, a nuclear war.
Canfield: Because of Cuba, because of the Missile Crisis? Had you

ever had any suspicions about any other people on the Forty
Committee that were in the assassination-
Sturgis: Oh yeah, I had suspicions that some of the members of

Operation Forty were communist agents. Certainly.
Canfield: Getting back to some of those domestic activities that you

participated in. We were discussing your suspicions of other Forty
Committee members. Did you ever have any proof or any leads that
437
would indicate that they were involved in assassinations—like Ken-

nedy's?
Sturgis: No, no I didn't. The only thing I can say, there were rumors
in the intelligence circles. You see a lot of these people, the
American intelligence, had contact with a number of students inside
of Cuba during this time. They left Cuba when Fidel took over; they
came to the United States, and they still maintain contact, mainly,
naturally, CIA. And you gotta understand the situation in Cuba.
When Fidel came in, a lot of these people went over to Fidel's side.
They turned in a lot of Cubans, and at the same time when they
found out that their situation was difficult, and didn't like what was
going on themselves, some of these people had contact with the
American agencies; and you gotta understand that some of these
people that came over were already indoctrinated and trained to be
special agents, so they came over here, and some of them more or
less, worked as double agents. Not only working for (tape break).
We still have that problem today, except there's been a change
...They have infiltrated many fields here. Cubans are agents,
intelligence agents, they have infiltrated the unions here, they have
infiltrated all kinds of business in this area. I imagine all the different
agencies here are aware of this, they should be, because I am. And
being that this country is a democracy, they know what is going on,
so naturally they don't touch it, unless it's something serious that's
going on.
Canfield: You were approached though to do assassination jobs—
Sturgis: Oh, yeah. Also an associate. And it can be proven that he is

or rather was, at that time, a CIA agent.
Canfield: Was he involved in any of the things that went on later?
Sturgis...intelligence?
Canfield: No, involved in, yeah, involved in domestic intelligence—

involved in Watergate?
Sturgis: Well, I don't want to go ahead and say at this point. But if
I'm ever called in front of a Congressional committee, which I
assume I would be, I'll tell them...
438
Canfield: Would you tell, uh, say we were going to do a book, a

publisher, you know. And he would be very much interested in
breaking something like that in a book before it got to the
Congressional investigation where everyone would hear it. Would
you reveal that name before?
Sturgis: Well, it would be more than one name...
Canfield: Would you do that then?
Sturgis: Sure.
Canfield: Would you do it now?
Sturgis: I wouldn't do it for the press, but I would do it more or less if

an offer was made in book form.
Canfield: OK, great. Is it someone that we would know?
Sturgis: I would expect that it would be people who—at least some

of them would be known, yeah.
Canfield: Did they ever tell you who was to be assassinated?
Sturgis: No.
Canfield: Did you have any ideas?
Sturgis: No, no. I don't even know if it was another agent, or a

double agent, or a fool or what. The only one who would know are
the people involved in CIA.
Canfield: Do you know if they had ever done this, with another
agent?
Sturgis: No, not to my knowledge, no.
Canfield: They never did assassinate anybody in the United States?
Sturgis: Not to my knowledge, no.
Canfield: Interesting. If they did, my God, that would be a great

piece of material right there.
439
Sturgis: This is what would happen to the committee, the committee

would get all that out. The committee would have to go ahead and
subpoena people, and the subpoena would have to go ahead and
say who, when, where, what and where...with what went on with
Watergate ... (unintelligible)... orders were given to that effect. On
this assassination thing, I would figure well, it's gonna have to come
up from someone a little higher than this agent right here. It's gonna
have to come from someone with a little authority.
Canfield: Did you tell him that?
Sturgis: Oh, yeah.
Canfield: And what was his response?
Sturgis: He told me that he would make contact with someone

higher up, and pass on that information, and so forth.
Canfield: Did you ever get any feedback from him—or anyone else?
Sturgis: No.
(Tape Break)
Sturgis: Remember I told you that I made the arrangements for

President Prio many years ago, with phone calls from Washington,
D.C. to see and meet and speak with the President of the United
States who at that time was President John F. Kennedy, right? OK,
just recently in the last few months, I was contacted by certain
leaders in the exile community to try and form some kind of a unity
Party among the Cubans. I arranged for the three ex-presidents of
Cuba, that's President Urruatia, who I knew personally, President
Carlos Prio, who I know personally, and President —, oh I got a
blank mind, well I got these three ex-Presidents to come to an
agreement for a political base, of unity, and help liberate Cuba,
providing that they would not break any American or international
laws. Throughout this whole period they did a tremendous job. I was
contacted by leaders in the organization and many times sat down
with them and told them that I think that they should get contact with
the OAS which is the Organization of American States, with the UN,
which is the United Nations, that I also made contact for them with
various government agencies. They asked me about them forming a
committee, a delegation, what I thought about it, and, uh, going with
them to Quito, Ecuador in order to protest the lifting of sanctions;
440
and I advised them before that I think that they should work on this.
They took my advice, sent a delegation to Quito, Ecuador, with the
help of the Ambassador of Chile, and they were under house arrest
in Ecuador, and because of them being under house arrest they got
tremendous international publicity, which really blew up Cuba's
chance, Fidel's chance of the OAS lifting the sanctions. So the world
does know that with the publicity that this delegation got, that was
headed by the ex-President Carlos Prio, that the vote went against
lifting the sanctions. They came back, I was notified that they were
going to arrive at the international airport, I went there to make sure
that they had no problems of re-entry, and they came in, they had a
big ovation. I'm still in touch with these people today. This is the
historical event for them, and a disaster for Fidel.
Canfield: Did you know anything about the bombing in Washington

that was connected with that?
Sturgis: No, no. These are groups. One reason why I've been
advising these groups to rally around the three ex-Presidents is to
help the American government in keeping down the terrorist
bombing. I felt that they wouldn't do the Cuban exiles any good, but
all this activity, and I felt that if they had some form of unity, which—
everything that they did do would have to be legal—this would give
incentive to the Cuban exiles; not to really do anything.
Canfield: Anything else?
Sturgis: No, no I don't think so. He gets people who are close to the
individual, you know, who could do the thing, 'cause usually agents
are not close to the individual.
Canfield: I see, like say you're gonna do in a President of some

country, you would, uh-
Sturgis: For instance, Fidel; when I was in Cuba there, I told my CIA
contact, I said, look pass the word upstairs, you want me to kill
Fidel, I'll kill him, if he comes to the Air Force base. I'm here in
control of the military police, of the security of all the Air Force bases
in Cuba. I said, if he comes here with Che, if he comes there with all
the top military people, with many of the ministers, I can kill him in
two minutes. If you people want it done, I will do it with my people
...and I'll just wipe the whole three jeeps right out, just taking two
441
minutes to do it. Or if you want me to do it inside the base. But I am

in a position to do it, see. Because I was close with Fidel.
Canfield: Right, and he would trust you.
Sturgis: You know what I mean? I sat down in the Prime Minister's
office with Fidel talking with Fidel right in the Prime Minister's office,
you know, these are things, you've got to go ahead and get people
who are close to someone, instead of someone who's not close, for
the simple reason, how are you going to get in the Prime Minster's
office? No way you can, because of all the security. But I pass
through like nobody's business...the commander!
Canfield: So what did they say when you put this to them?
Sturgis: They'd let me know. At that time, if you remember, the

American embassy was very pro-Fidel.
Canfield: Oh, I see, this was before?
Sturgis: In 1959, yep. A few weeks after '59. The Embassy, I didn't
trust a lot of people in the Embassy because they were pro-Fidel;
Americans were. But I trusted the man that was my contact. He was
an Army colonel—not an Army colonel, he was a colonel ... a
military man. I told him more than one time, within a six-month
period. And I was involved with other people trying to kill Fidel. But
they wanted it a different way, and I told them no, it's not gonna
work, and it didn't work. The only way to get him was right at that Air
Force base.
Canfield: They didn't go your way, they went some other way and
they failed?
Sturgis: Right, well these were not the CIA people, these were
Cuban leaders, top ranking Cubans who were against Fidel, and
they wanted to do it their way, and keep me out of it. Well, OK,
'cause I heard there was going to be an attempt to kill him and so
forth; and I told them hey, I hear this, this, this, this, and if you're
gonna do it, I suggest you don't do it. The only way to do it is here at
the Air Force base. I'll tell you how to do it. 'You're not to be
involved. We'll do it our way. We got our own plan.' (Laugh). The
plan never worked, he's still there. Now on research, where it comes
to the Cuban problem, Christ, there's so much people working here,
442
Cubans who were working on the CIA payroll, and the things that
they were doing, the things I was involved in, there's a lot to it. I'll be
honest with you. To research a lot of things I did, it'll take a good six
months. Really. Working hard, making contact with people. And
these are people who were associated with CIA, with the Cuban
government.
Canfield Like in the Forty Committee? They just took people that
had already been trained in this?
Sturgis: Operation 40 were a bunch of Cubans that were sent to the

Army to receive intelligence training. They received it; their job was
...infiltration into Cuba, to make contact with the underground, and
to assist the underground with money for guns, equipment; also
make contact with the local politicians and military people, and if
they would not cooperate...
Canfield: And they were all trained in assasssination? Or just a

group of them?
Sturgis: Just a group, a team of them.
Canfield: Five, ten, fifteen—
Sturgis: No, more than that.
Canfield: Twenty?
Sturgis: More than that. When we get into the research of it, there's
a lot—you see a lot of these people who belong to it didn't know me.
Only the top chief of the operation, only the top man. Like agents,
they don't expose themselves to everybody. You don't do that. What
good is an agent if everybody knows? You wind up getting killed.
Agent is an agent that nobody knows, only the men he works with.
Now this intelligence group, they all knew only the people working
close with them.
Canfield: Any other domestic activities that you participated in, or

know of that other agents participated in, that would be interesting to
a publisher; the American public, you know, the readers.
Sturgis: Well, I'm going to have a meeting tonight with one of the
persons who were under surveillance by me and CIA, and I'm
443
gonna talk with him ...names, places, and refresh my memory with
him…
Canfield: These are some of the operations that you and he went on
together?
Sturgis: Yeah. He participated with me. I used him—
Canfield: Will you be able to reveal his name, or can you reveal his
name right now?
Sturgis: Well, I'll reveal it tonight after I sit down with him and get all
that information, I will get it down on paper.
Canfield: Would you make that information available to a publisher

then?
Sturgis: Yeah.
Canfield: Under contract—
Sturgis: I may have to hold it with the names. To be very honest with
you, at least the names of the agents involved, for reasons ...but as
far as the names of the people who were under surveillance, I would
give them to you.
Canfield: You will reveal the agents for the committee?
Sturgis: Oh, yeah, for the committee-
Canfield: Why for the committee and not your publisher?
Sturgis: Because that is a legal body and there might be legal

technicalities involved, and I want to make sure that I am protected
legally.
Canfield: Well, the only protection the publisher can—
Sturgis: There's no protection a publisher can give me.
Canfield: Well, except money. Money can protect you, in a sense—
444
Sturgis: No, no, it can put you in jail, unless you got immunity, my
friend—
Canfield: If you were offered immunity, what kind of revelations

would you make?
Sturgis: Well, I would give the names of all the agents that were
involved, that I know were involved in domestic surveillance. And
this would be my card for protection from prosecution. So why
should I go for even a hundred thousand dollars or even a million
dollars, put myself in jail for that.
Canfield: You can always leave, avoid prosecution with that kind of
money; stay on appeal until doomsday—
Sturgis: No way, no way. Listen, I got involved in one of the greatest

scandals that this country ever had in its history—
Canfield: What?
Sturgis: And I had no protection whatsoever.
Canfield: Why would the government offer you any more protection
on something else?
Sturgis: Because they would want to know about this domestic

surveillance, and I would be willing to give all that information for my
own protection. Once I go in front of a committee and I get my
immunity and I give them information, then there's no problem.
Canfield: Do you think there are any more scandals?
Sturgis: This is a scandal.
Canfield: Do you think it's bigger than Watergate?
Sturgis: No.
Canfield: Do you think there's anything bigger than Watergate?
Sturgis: Not in a long time. There's a number of scandals that

wouldn't come close to Watergate. The operation I had in Mexico
445
was a scandal. Nobody knows anything about that. And I told the
Senate Watergate committee about it, but naturally they...
Canfield: Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Sturgis: Yeah, it was a Mexican operation that I was in. In

association with one or more CIA people that I knew for many, many
years and worked with for many, many years.
Canfield: What was your purpose? What were you doing?
Sturgis: Well, I told this group of Americans that we were going to

make a commando raid in Cuba. That was the purpose at the
beginning. But when I went to see my contact in Mexico City at one
of the big name hotels there called the—I have a mental block for
the names of hotels—I was told secretly by him that I was to
participate with another boat to capture a Russian vessel that was
going to be off the coast of Cuba, and I was to pretend that my ship
that I was on was disabled that they would stop to pick me up, at the
same time I was to arrange the capture of this Russian vessel and
proceed to take this Russian vessel off the coast of Venezuela
where I would receive assistance, and to use the ship and the crew
members as hostages to negotiate for the release of the SS Pueblo
and the crew members who were captured in...
Canfield: What happened to this?
Sturgis: A storm came up, I got caught on a reef, the captain wasn't
familiar with that particular area, the rudder and the propeller was
bent, we sprung a leak, had to throw a lot of stuff overboard in order
not to sink, come into Belize which is British Honduras, stayed there
for two hours, tried to get repairs, after two hours later the
government officials came there and made us all ...(unintelligible
because of train noise) but I assume the operation was aborted. I
was contacted while I was at the British Honduras prison, by an
official of the American government who was very firm and stern
with me. Finally after x amount of days while we were in prison
there, we then went to court there and people were, you know we
were treated like celebrities there, we walked past people, crowds in
the street... 'cause it is a black nation, so we were somewhat of
celebrities. I gave a beautiful speech to judge there ... (he) then
deported us back to Miami in three separate flights; the reason for
that is they were afraid of hijacking. And at the same time in that
446
prison we made very good friends with their black prisoners; as a

matter of fact, there were a coupla times where they wanted to
break me out; I was put in solitary confinement, and they wanted to
have a big breakout there to get me out of prison, ... and I told them
no, I didn't want that, I wanted to see how the trial went ... In this
breakout they wanted to go to the hills and help us organize . . .
(train noise) One day less five years later I got caught with
Watergate; Archibald Cox, Federal Watergate Prosecutor, told
Judge Sirica that I would not cooperate with him, and at the same
time, a few days later I was handed down an indictment on three
counts. Indictment came pertaining to my Mexican operation. I went
to court at the first trial. I got found innocent on car theft...hung jury
on the other two counts, went back for a second trial, got found
guilty on interstate transportation of stolen vehicle, plus conspiracy. I
could have got up to ten years, my lawyer threatened to call the CIA
director station chief in Miami and the station chief in Mexico City
and the Consul General of British Honduras, and I refused, I refused
to get on the stand to defend myself, because I felt that these were
trumped-up charges being put on by Archibald Cox and my lawyer
told or asked him why did the government wait one day less five
years because if I was guilty of any wrongdoing, they had all these
years to do it in. Why do it at the last minute.
Canfield: But they were doing it because you were—
Sturgis: I was not cooperating.
Canfield: Why wouldn't you cooperate?
Sturgis: Well, Archibald Cox wanted me to go ahead and admit the

things that I felt were lies, which would have helped him in his
investigation of the Watergate break-in. I felt it was not right—
Canfield: Like what things?
Sturgis: He wanted me to admit that I received executive clemency

from the President of the United States; he wanted me to admit that
I was pressured to plead guilty; he wanted me to admit that I was to
receive `hush money.' And I told him no, I would not admit to these
things, because I felt that these were lies, that him wanting me to
admit these would help his committee. He said, for instance, 'I have
a jigsaw puzzle here, and there is a spot open on this jigsaw puzzle
which you don't fit into. I need you to fit into that. Can you answer
447
these questions truthfully, then you will be part of this jigsaw puzzle.'
He says, 'There's the door, and you can go free, right now.' I told
him, Nope, I'll stay in jail.' And I stayed in jail for over fourteen
months.
Canfield: Have you ever regretted that since then?
Sturgis: No, I was asked if I had this opportunity to do the things

again, knowing what I knew, would I do it, and I told them yes. They
said why, they thought I was a fool. I says well, I maintain now, like I
maintained then, that I was an agent of the United States govern-
ment; the truth was there, that all these officials in the government…
Canfield: Paid you to do these things—
Sturgis: Hired me to do what I had to do, what I thought was a legal

thing, for national security. Who am I to go and dispute an order,
from someone higher than me, knowing that they are officials of the
United States government?
Canfield: Did you feel you were protecting these people?

Sturgis: Nope, I felt I was doing my job. As I had done in the past,
for my country, for national security, and in the same way you
operate when you're working with intelligence organizations.
Canfield: I see. Hmmm. Any other domestic revelations that you

could—?
Sturgis: Well right now I can't think of any more, maybe after tonight
after I deal with this friend of mine, it's possible that in talking with
him, you know, we could more or less think of certain things, certain
operations and so forth that will come out, you know.
Canfield: OK, let's talk for a minute on the break-in. Did you help
break into Ellsberg's office? Did you do any other break-ins besides
Watergate?
Sturgis: Yeah, in Cuba I did several break-ins, while I was there in

Havana. As I told you before, I was involved in a lot of intrigue there.
With Cuban officials and so forth, but, you know, this information
was for the national government...Mexico. I was involved in a
number of things in Mexico, but not—I have to think about Mexico.
448
Canfield: Did you ever go to Viet Nam?
Sturgis: No.
Canfield: Just Latin America primarily.
Sturgis: Europe, Latin America. Well, I was in the Pacific in the

Second World War.
Canfield: And there weren't any other break-ins that you participated
in, in the United States?
Sturgis: In Cuba, yes. In the United States, no.
Canfield: Just Watergate.

Sturgis: Just Watergate, yes. That's the one I got caught at.
Canfield: What about the Chilean embassy?
Sturgis: No, I denied that.
Canfield: You denied that, but did you do it?
Sturgis: I denied it.
Canfield: (laugh). OK, um. You said that was the only one you ever
got caught at.
Sturgis: Right.
Canfield: I see, OK. How are we gonna interest our publisher, if, you
know, we don't have any material?
Sturgis: I don't know, really. This is usually what happens with, you
know, with publishers and people that go ahead and say, well, well,
we got this, we got that, we gotta have something new, and so forth.
What else is new?
Canfield: Yeah, but Congress is going to get out-
Sturgis: Oh, there's going to be a number of things. There's gonna

be a lot of TV coverage, a lot of things going on.
449
Canfield: Think anybody will be prosecuted?
Sturgis: I hope not. How can they be prosecuted? You know, doing
something that they had orders to do.
Canfield: Well, how were they prosecuted for Watergate? Sturgis:

Good question. Good question.
Canfield: So, if it's gonna come out in that, don't you think, you
know, you should benefit by it? You know, this way, if you get it out,
before it comes out in Congress, you can make something from it,
you know, instead of just taking a rap, or whatever is going to
happen—
Sturgis: Well, I don't think there's going to be any rap taken,

because there's too many high officials involved at the time, and if
an order did come down, which, remember, Colby said that there
was domestic intelligence ...CIA orders—
Canfield: CIA, or did somebody order the CIA?
Sturgis: They'll have to dig even more into that. They'll have to dig
into that and see, who ordered it, whether it was the CIA director, or
whether it was somebody in the State Department, or whether it was
somebody in the government itself.
450
THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER

AN OBITUARY FOR MICHAEL CANFIELD, “CO-AUTHOR”
OF COUP D’ETAT IN AMERICA WHO BECAUSE BOTH
JUDAS AND ESAU, SELLING HIS INTEGRITY AND HIS
BIRTHRIGHT.
Michael Canfield died December 26, 2015 but news of his

death didn’t surface until April 1, 2016. When Canfield was a young
boy and he left the door open and people would ask him “What do
you live in a barn?” he would answer that he did. Mike was brought
up in an unheated barn in rural Illinois. When he was a baby the
drool would freeze as it dripped from his mouth. Mike learned to
drive when he was six years old – his daddy would hold him in his
lap and let him steer his car. Mike never had much of a formal
education; he could read but he couldn’t spell the simplest word. He
was beaten up in High School for sticking up for African-Americans
and being part of the Civil Rights Movement. After his father passed
away his mother moved to Chicago where she became a ward
leader in the Daley Democratic machine. Canfield and I stayed with
her when we visited Chicago. She was the salt of the earth.
451
Mike attended a college for a spell but left after Jesus

appeared to him in his dorm room and advised that he drop out and
preach. According to the Jewish traitor Steve Lamb Mike had been
a devil worshipper: “Mike was a Medium speaking to spirits of the
dead when he became radically saved through an encounter with
Jesus Christ.”
I met Michael while I was hanging outside Dylan’s

townhouse on McDougal Street circa early 1974. He wanted to get
Dylan to do some sort of benefit concert for George McGovern who
he said that he had served as art director for. Bullshit. Never
happened. I invited Canfield to my loft at 6 Bleecker Street and
showed him the tramp shots – photos of Hunt and Sturgis disguised
as tramps on the scene of the Kennedy assassination.
Canfield studied them and immediately came to the

conclusion that this was the key to the “Big Event.” Since Mike was
virtually homeless I let him crash on the second floor of Bleecker
Street and introduced him to all of the Yippies including Dana Beal
and Aron Kay who lived across the street at 9 Bleecker. Despite the
danger Canfield became my Chief Researcher. I flew the boy down
to Miami where he camped out in front of Frank Sturgis’s home for
several days until Fat Frank showed up. He conned Frank into
believing he was a student doing a term paper on Watergate and
got loads of good info out of him. Like Mike looked like the all-
American boy next door, and the stubble bum Frank got conned
good. Canfield returned with the tape, found a publisher for my
book, namely the Nigerian Joe Okpaku of Third Press and the
research continued. We both moved to D.C. where I worked at the
National Archives while Mike visited various members of Congress
and displayed the Tramp Shots to them. A neo-con turd bag who
worked for Scoop Jackson called the FBI and volunteered to spy on
Canfield. When Canfield displayed the tramp shots to Congressman
Henry Gonzalez the populist honest Congressman flipped and
invited Mike to lunch. It was that Canfield suggested the
Congressman introduce a bill to investigate the Kennedy
assassination that lead to the formation of the House Select
Committee on Assassinations. Canfield also showed the tramps
shots to Ben Bradley who was going to send a team to investigate
but FBI Director Clarence “the Bozo” Kelly contacted Bradley and
convinced him that a scummy Communistic rioter with connections
to terrorist groups like the Weather people was behind Canfield and
Bradley quashed the investigation.
452
After Coup D’Etat in America was published Howard Hunt sued me

and Canfield for libel. I started the Weberman Commission as I had
subpoena power because the suit was filed in Federal Court. Mike
and I went on a tour of America appearing on various TV and radio
programs and doing newspaper interviews. We ended up in LA for
the book fair. It was an experience I will never forget as we slept in
the van and stopped making payments for it causing Hunt to call
Mike a car thief. On the way back we got caught in an ice storm and
had to stop periodically to get the ice off the engine. Canfield moved
to LA where Dylan contacted him because he was curious what my
Christian Minister friend was like. Dylan’s Jewish accountants had
Mike arrested when he showed up at Dylan’s crib in Malibu despite
Dylan having given him permission to visit and hated Mike because
Dylan’s Christian music wasn’t selling. Mike and Dylan were both in
the Vineyard Christian Fellowship where Mike ran the suicide hotline
where he would find desperate people and get them to accept the
false Messiah JC. There is no such thing as a Messiah. It is fantasy
land. Mike visited me in New York City with his new bride, a
Christian soap opera star and showed me a photograph of Bob
Dylan at his wedding. He seemed to be doing well but he didn’t
realize that the FBI and CIA would exact a price for our having
instigated the HSCA. My phone was tapped and all my bookings got
mysteriously canceled and my articles suppressed. Later I found
that NY-T1 was a tap on my phone when I applied for the FBI under
FOIA and Jimmy Carter was in power. So the possibility exists that
Canfield’s income was adversely affected and his wife divorced him.
Dylan felt sorry for him and financed Indigo Motors, an antique car
restoration business. According to Canfield Dylan’s accountants
designed the business to fail but if you asked me Canfield screwed
it up as he never had a head for business. He did have a head for
chicks and would pick them up by saying he was a Hollywood
Scout. Many a pretty woman almost caused Canfield to have an
accident as he yelled at them from the van. He liked Black chicks.
So the business failed and Canfield was exiled to Demming New
Mexico where he became a licensed medical marijuana grower. The
idiot also let some his dogs get run over but that was an accident. I
called Canfield periodically and he was always interested in saving
my soul. He hated Nazis and wanted America to finish the job
begun during World War II. The dude didn’t have an anti-Semitic
bone in his entire body.
453
The last time I heard from my called ID read PRIVATE

CALLER. I wondered what the fuck is this about. Canfield had an
attitude. I told him I had given out a lot of money to various people
for Christmas and he said Why didn’t you give me money? He
babbled on about the doorman in the Dakota being a Cuban
refugee and for this alone he blamed him for Lennon’s
assassination. I asked him if he really believed Dorothy Hunt was in
Dealey Plaza as he had been posting in Facebook and pointed out
to him that Paul Kangas was the Depperman of the West Coast.
William Depperman was a Nazi hired by the FBI to discredit the
tramp shots. Kangas had said Sturgis confessed in the Realist so I
contacted Krassner and he ran a retraction. I asked Canfield why he
worked with Kangas. “He is the only one who buys books from me.”
“But he buys them to discredit them.” Canfield was alone an in a
wheel chair and his niece Julie Ann Canfield-Steinbeck never visited
him. After this phone call he would take my calls. Judging from the
time Mike’s death and when he buddy Lamb wrote about Lamb had
abandoned Mike.
STEVEN S. LAMB Interior Decorator 2450 N LAKE AVE STE 327

ALTADENA, CA steve_lamb57@sbcglobal.net Phone - (626) 797-
6464 like Kangas Steve described as a Left wing activist when in
reality he was an infiltrator and a Christian Reconstructionist. Lamb,
if he was telling the truth, proved Canfield to have turned into a liar:
So my favorite Michael Canfield story (of hundreds)

is this: For years Mike told me that he went to James
Jesus Angleton's resignation during the whole
Watergate House select committee on
Assassinations era. I remembered Angleton resigned
suddenly but that was about it, Mike always said that
in the middle of Angleton's speech Angelton looks
down at Mike and out of the blue says "I know not
who slayeth John" Mike's story was that he then
screamed Liar You're a Liar" at Angleton who looked
shocked and befuddled. I never knew Mike to lie, but
I always suspected he over blew the story. So Mike
and I go to see this movie about the CIA called the
"Good Shepherd". Turns out at the end its based
454
ENTIRELY on Angleton. The last scene of the movie

is the news recording of Angleton's resignation press
conference. You see him reading along his speech
then look across and stop for a nano second and say
"I Know not who Slayeth John." and because he is
not miked, you can hear what sounds like muffled
screaming young Mike Canfield "Liar! You're a Liar
YOU Killed Him." I looked over at Mike who was
giggling as my jaw dropped. I said "Dude why did you
live long enough for me to ever meet you?" Mike said
"Man I pray the 91st Psalm over myself every day
and YOU should too."
I was with Mike on a daily basis at this time and this simply
never happened. I asked Angleton about his statement about who
killed John during a deposition where Mike was not present. Lamb
continued:
Mike, as a College Student published the famous

underground Newspaper, the "Iconoclast", (the paper
was out of Dallas Mike was in Wisconsin) organized
protests that cleaned out University of Wisconsin
corruption (never mentioned this to me). After
working with Congressman Gonzales Mike moved to
Los Angeles where he worked as a manager for
several Rock and Roll groups and with Kleg Seth
helped found CENTRUM of HOLLYWOOD, a
ministry to street people, run aways and sex workers
in Hollywood. For many years Mike ran the
Hollywood Lifeline, a suicide intervention line that
was a part of the ministry of Centrum. Mike
ministered to the poor the down and out the powerful
and the rich and famous, including many Johnny
Rivers, Bob Dylan and many others, with the same
love, compassion, humility and humanity. At the time
of his death on last December 26, Mike was working
on a new book tying the Assassination of Robert
Kennedy to the CIA, and the Assassination of John
Lennon to a CIA sub group Alpha 66.
455
AJ Mike was broke this no one can deny. He was

always the FIRST to credit you and ALWAYS
admitted the vast majority of the book was yours.
Always. He never got a dime from Kangas and in fact
his speaking for Kangas usually cost him or me
money. He never for a second disbelieved the tramp
photos were genuine and that Hunt was one tramp
and Sturgis another. Now who was "Frenchie" that
was a ongoing unresolved question.But AJ Michael
never betrayed you for a second, even when you
attacked him on the internet.
The minute this scumbag used the word Frenchy for the third
tramp tells me that he has studied the disinformation disseminated
regarding the tramp shot by Richard Sprague and Bernard
Fensterwald or he learned it from the Greek nazi Kangas.
Mike let me down and I hope he rots in Hell because if there

is a God he is going to feel God’s wrath. But there isn’t so he just a
bigger nothing than he turned into. Without me taking him in you
would never have heard his name nor would he have met Bobby D.
STURGIS AND THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION

On March 3, 1975 Sturgis was questioned about his early
CIA connections in Cuba. The interview with Sturgis is presented
here almost in its entirety. [NARA SSCIA 157-10005-10125]
Schwarzer: The first subject area we want to question you about is

your association if any with the CIA. How, would you tell us
whether you have ever had any kind of written or oral agreement
or understanding with the CIA to perform services for them?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Schwarzer: And about when was it made?
Sturgis: Well, it would go back to Cuba. I will give you the first
contact that I ever had in Cuba, which was Mr. Clark Wollan [born
June 26, 1917]. He worked out of the American Consulate in
Santiago de Cuba. Yes sir. He made contact -- I forget how he
made contact with me, but I believe the first contact I had with Mr.
Wollan was at the Casa Grande Hotel, Sanitago.
456
Schwarzer: We don't want to go into all that detail. Can you just tell
us the general nature of the services that you performed, according
to your understanding, for the CIA while you were in Cuba. Sturgis:
The services I performed were to recruit agents. This would be
people in high standing, both in the civil government and in the
military. The reason for this naturally, is my position that I held in
Cuba.
Schwarzer: Were you paid for those services?
Sturgis: No sir. I was asked to -- I was asked if I wanted to be paid

and I told them no.
Schwarzer: And what is the basis for the statement that you make
that you are performing those services for the CIA, rather than
somebody else?
Sturgis: Let me say this here, sir. I, at that time, assumed that the
people that I was associated with were connected with the CIA. I
could give you names. For instance Colonel Nichols, the American
Military Air Attache. I believe at the time (deleted) worked (deleted).
Schwarzer: Did any of the Americans with whom you dealt while you
were in Cuba identify themselves as being associated with or
representing the CIA at any time?
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwarzer: During what period of time did you perform those

services in Cuba?
Sturgis: I believe it was -- it might have been the last part of 1958,
and also 1959.
Schwarzer: When did those services end in Cuba?
Sturgis: I left Cuba in June 30, 1959, and came to the U.S.
Schwarzer: When you came to the United States, did you ever
reach any agreement, or contract, or understanding, or anything to
that effect with anybody representing the CIA to work for the CIA in
the U.S.
457
Sturgis: The people that I was in touch with, sir, were people that I
was associated with, or people who told me they were working for
the Agency.
Schwarzer: Did you yourself make a contract either written or oral

with the CIA in the U.S?
Sturgis: An oral understanding, yes.
Schwarzer: When was that made?
Sturgis: I would think that it started in Cuba, and continued when I

came to the U.S.
Schwarzer: Was that understanding which you described which you

reached in Cuba ever reaffirmed with anybody or renewed or
confirmed in the U.S?
Sturgis: Well, the people I was in touch with naturally was Sam
Jennis, that was his code name.
Schwarzer: Can we refer to this person as Jenis?
Sturgis: Yes. The full name is Jose Joachim Sanjennes Pardomo,

this is the full name. The other two persons was Louis Sanjennes,
the brother. The brother was Sergio (Roger) Sanjennes.
Schwarzer: Are those their correct names?
Sturgis: These are their correct names, yes sir. This is the
Sajennes family.
Schwarzer: What were the pseudonyms under which these

people operated?
Sturgis: Well, Sergio, or Roger, he had a code name in

Havana which I knew him under - Garcia. We worked
together in 1959 and continued into 1959.
Schwarzer: What was the code name for Louis?
Sturgis: With Louis, I did not know his code name.
Schwarzer: Did Sam have a code name?
458
Sturgis: That was his code name, Sam Jennis. This is Jose
Joachim. And his code name was Sam Jennis.
Schwarzer: Okay. Now do you know if any of these people were

employed by the CIA, any of the three names that you have
mentioned?
Sturgis: No sir. My understanding, after years went by, with Sergio

that Joachim -- or Sam -- let's call him Sam Jennis was an
employee, and had a fairly good position with the CIA. As a matter
of fact, there was an outing between Sam and Sergio because of
his position with the CIA, that was a little bad blood.
Schwarzer: Did Sam ever tell you he was working for the CIA?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwarzer: Sam did.
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwarzer: What did he say his position was?
Sturgis: Well, he never told me what his position was. He told me he

was working with the CIA.
Schwarzer: When did he tell you that?
Sturgis: I would say in 1959.
Schwarzer: Was that in Cuba or here in the U.S?
Sturgis: No, that was here in the U.S.
Schwarzer: What services did you perform for these people, the
three people that you have mentioned here.
Sturgis: It was everything of an intelligence nature. I took guns and

equipment to Cuba, I took men to Cuba. I made various air and road
operations into Cuba, and boats that were under my name. And I
have the records of the boats that were in my name, and the CIA
should have those records. The airplane, a B-25 that I had, B-25
Mitchell, the serial name of that, that was used and paid for by CIA
money, to be used during the Bay of Pigs invasion. One or more of
my boats were infiltration, I let the Cubans have them for infiltration
inside Cuba. Naturally I had contact with Barker. Barker didn't
459
realize what I was doing, but I knew he was working as an

Administrative Assistant to EDUARDO, which I did not know as E.
McCord’s.
Schwarzer: Were you ever paid for any services by the CIA?
Sturgis: Directly, no sir. In cash, yes.
Schwarzer: Who paid you? This is now services rendered in

the U.S. From who did you receive money in payment for
your services?
Sturgis: When I said that I received money for my services, it was in

the form of expense money, sir. If I did an operation expenses were
needed either for the boat or for the airplane, and things like that. I
do know that the money did come inadvertently through someone
else. For instance, the airplane, B-25 aircraft, needed to be fixed.
Money was given to fix the airplane. Diaz Lanz, Pedro Diaz Lanz,
who was my personal friend, who was the ex-Chief of the Air Force
in Cuba under Fidel Castro, he was one of the people that I did
make contact with in the Embassy between the Chief of the Air
Force and the American Embassy. He was in exile. E. McCord’s
gave X amount of thousands of dollars to, at least okayed this
money for the B-25 bomber to be repaired and then readied in
condition for any operations inside of Cuba.
Schwarzer: As I understand it, after you came to the U.S. in 1959

you received money from time to time for expenses, either the
providing of boats, or making repairs on boats or airplanes, is that
correct?
Sturgis: Yes, for penetration in and out of Cuba.
Schwarzer: But you did not receive any money in compensation for
services rendered by you?
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwarzer: Who were the people who paid you the money?
Sturgis: Let me say this, sir. You must understand at that time my
position. I had my own funds at the time. I felt that I was a very
patriotic man, and I felt that if I was going to serve my country, other
than being in the military, that I would work, if and when possible,
without a salary. I refused to become an employee of Central
460
Intelligence Agency at one time. And I do have the applications here

that I could show you.
Schwarzer: Could you just identify the names of the person who
paid you the money, the money you received to make the repairs
and provide the boats?
Sturgis: Let's say this here. I did not directly receive the money for
repairs. I had the B-25 in my name. I had the B-25 for Pedro Diaz
Lanz and a special air group that was formed by CIA which Pedro
Diaz Lanz was in charge of -- the contact was there, which I made
for Pedro Diaz Lanz, with BERNARD Barker, who was the Assistant
to E. McCord’s.
Schwarzer: Then it is correct to say that you have never received

any money yourself from the CIA?
Sturgis: Personally, no, from the people directly, no.
Schwarzer: Did anybody receive money which you believed to be

money from the CIA for your account, or in your behalf, or as your
representative.
Sturgis: I would think so, sir.
Schwarzer: Pardon? Do you know for a fact whether they did or

not?
Sturgis: Again, we are standing on a legal thing, like, if I was there

with you and saw the money being given, which would be given to
me, I would say, yes. But under the conditions, no, I have never
seen this money being given.
Schwarzer: It is your belief that some of this money passed from

hand to hand in that connection?
Sturgis: Oh, yes.
Schwarzer: What I want to know is, who is the person from whom
the money came? Whom you associate with the CIA?
Sturgis: All right. There comes to my mind one other person. Let's
say Pedro Diaz Lanz.
Schwarzer: Was he an employee of the CIA?
461
Sturgis: No, but he was connected with the CIA. I arranged for the
connection.
Schwarzer: And he was the source of money?
Sturgis: He was one source of money.
Schwarzer: Are there any other sources of money which you believe
to be CIA money?
Sturgis: Yes sir. Dr. Luis Conte Aguero...
Schwarzer: When did you receive the money.
Sturgis: Well, I can't tell you the year or the month. It was for a
series of air operations that I was supposed to put together. And I
agreed to do those operations myself, personally. One operation
was over the City of Comaya, I dropped several thousand leaflets
over that city. That is not only the capital of the Province of Comaya,
but the Province.
Schwarzer: So you undertook certain air operations and you

received some money in connection with it from this person whose
name you have just mentioned?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Schwarzer: What was that money for?
Sturgis: It was to pay the expenses of the aircraft and the expense
of the crew members.
Schwarzer: About how much money did you receive?
Sturgis: It would be approximately $5,000 per trip.
Schwarzer: And how many trips did you make?
Sturgis: I made approximately, for Luis Conte Aguero, I believe it

was either four or five trips, I don't remember.
Schwarzer: Did he ever tell you that this money was coming from
the CIA?
Sturgis: Not directly, sir. He told me that he was coming from the
company. Company was a word that the CIA used. And I was very
462
close with him. And again I state that when you are involved closely
with the people, you know the people you are involved with. And he
did tell me that the money he received was from the company.
Schwarzer: Was Luis Conte Aguero employed by the CIA?
Sturgis: I don't know sir, because a person who is employed --

agent won't tell you he is an agent unless you are directly
associated with the intelligence community, then, when you are
closely connected with them, then you know.
Schwarzer: Is there any person with whom you were closely enough
connected to know that he was working for the CIA?
Sturgis: Yes sir. There is Roland Martinez, my friend from Cuba, to

the Watergate.
Schwarzer: Did you get any money from Martinez at any time as
payment on account of CIA services?
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwarzer: Was there any other person that you knew to be

working for the CIA?
Sturgis: Bernard L. Barker.
Schwarzer: Did you receive any money from Barker with respect to
services for the CIA?
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwarzer: Did you ever provide information to the CIA directly or

indirectly?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwarzer: And through what channel did you provide information?
Sturgis: Well, it was in a low channel. I was in constant touch with

Sam, and Barker asked me to assist him in some of the work --
some of the investigations that he was doing. And I agreed only
after I got in touch with Sam, and Sam says, go ahead, no problem.
Everybody was working for the same people.
Schwarzer: How often did you see Sam?

463
Sturgis: I would think once or twice a week on the average.
Schwarzer: And was this in Miami?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwarzer: And how long did that continue?
Sturgis: That continued for a period of years.
Schwarzer: Until approximately when?
Sturgis: I would say until 1970, I think.
Schwarzer: After you stopped -- why did you stop seeing Sam?
Sturgis: Well, it seems that policy has been changed, policy from
Washington has been changed as far as many, or certain, CIA
activities. That is what I was told. And many of the people who were
working in the area who were connected with the CIA were just
being let go. Some were put on retainer, like Martinez. So it all
depends on the usefulness that the individual was doing.
Schwarzer: The question is, why did you stop seeing Sam? Was he
taken off the payroll? Did he quit working for the CIA?
Sturgis: I don't know.
Schwarzer: What happened at your last meeting with Sam? Did you
say, well, this is our last meeting, I am not going to see you
anymore?
Sturgis: Well, no sir, Sam told me, he said, the policy has changed
quite a bit. Understand one thing. When you are doing work with
these people you have been closely associated with, you are
constantly in touch with them.
Schwartzer: What happened between you and Sam at the time you
stopped seeing him regularly once or twice a week?
Sturgis: Well, I was working at that time. And how it came about,
this constantly meeting him once or twice a week over a period of
years -- a lot of time I didn't see him for several weeks. And Barker
was the same thing. We were friends before the Bay of Pigs
invasion, and I saw Barker once, twice a week, sometimes I didn't
see him for weeks later. Martinez was a little different. I knew
464
Martinez was doing the penetrations into Cuba. And he was working
quite regularly at the time. So naturally our contact was strictly,
when I saw him accidentally, hello, good bye, and that was the end
of it.
Schwartzer: Let's go back to Sam now. When you met Sam,

whenever it was, during this period of 1970, did you meet him in
business, or was it a social kind of thing?
Sturgis: Sometimes it was business, and sometimes it was social.
Schwartzer: When it was business what did you relate to? What
kind of exchange did you and Sam have?
Sturgis: It was an exchange of intelligence information. For instance,

Miami or South Florida is the hub of Latin American intrigue, double
agents, agents from various countries. And Americans and Cubans,
revolutionaries in this area, wanted to know about their activities,
who were the bad guys, who were the good guys.
Schwartzer: And that sort of information you passed to Sam.
Sturgis: Yes. It would fall into the realm of domestic intelligence

because many of these people were Americans.
Schwartzer: Did Sam ever pay you for providing him with
intelligence?
Sturgis: Intelligence information, no sir.
Schwartzer: Did he ask you to get him specific kinds of intelligence?
Sturgis: Yes sir, groups who were planning to do crazy operations in

Cuba, or people threatening to do bombings here in the U.S.,
threatening blackmail, extortion, things of that sort. And this type of
information.
Schwartzer: Did Sam ever tell you that he was working for the CIA?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwartzer: Did he tell you whether he was an agent or employee?

Did he describe to you what his position was with the CIA?
Sturgis: No sir. Barker the same way, Barker told me that he was
working for the company.
465
Schwartzer: That he was working for the company?
Sturgis: He himself. It is the same thing, he did not say, hey,

FRANK, I work for Central Intelligence Agency, because you don't
do those things, but FRANK, I do work for the company, and
FRANK, my station chief says come on, I am going to invite you out
to dinner, it is on him. FRANK, here is a bottle of whiskey, my boss
says this is for Christmas.
Schwartzer: How long did that go on, Barker telling you he was
working for the CIA?
Sturgis: Well, you don't consciously ever tell them.
Schwartzer: I know. But understand that Barker was still working for
the CIA in 1970, 1972?
Sturgis: No sir, I did not ask him. Once I knew -- now -- well, once
he told me what was going on in the community, and so forth, I don't
have to go ahead and ask him, hey, are you still working for the
company?
Schwartzer: That is not my question. Is it your belief that Barker

continued working for the CIA up until 1970?
Sturgis: Yes it was my belief.
Schwartzer: That was what I wanted to know.
Sturgis: But I know he wasn't at a later date, I know he wasn't,

because through the Watergate Committee records we found out
that Barker was fired.
Schwartzer: That Barker was fired?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwartzer: Do you know when he was fired?
Sturgis: No, I don't.
Schwartzer: But later you found out that Barker had been fired
during a time when you still thought he was working for the CIA, isn't
that right?
Sturgis: Yes sir.

466
Schwartzer: And you thought he was working for the CIA right
along, but you later found out that he wasn't?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwartzer: Okay. One other question. How did you get involved in
Watergate? Who recruited you?
Sturgis: Well, Barker again, having contact with him, socially and
business-wise, and what have you, one day, I don't know when, he
told me, it might have been in 1970, or it may have been weeks or
months prior to my involvement with the Special Intelligence Unit, or
my recruitment, he sat down and spoke with me and he says,
FRANK, do you remember EDUARDO? Well, I spoke with
EDUARDO, and we are putting something together. Your
background and so forth. And we would like you to get involved with
us again. The same people as before, the same Americans upstairs
who were involved in the Bay of Pigs. They are the same type of
people, strong anti-communists and so forth. And I told Barker, hey
MACHO -- is a nickname -- you have known me for many years,
where it comes to Cuba or where it comes to the Government, I
have been involved, why not? And my name was given for
clearance. And he says, I am going to put your name in for
clearance. And naturally I was cleared.
Schwartzer: Have you ever been involved in any other operation in

the U.S. involving the Watergate entry.
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwartzer: Have you ever been asked prior to that and turned
down or have it not materialize?
Sturgis: I was asked to participate, or asked to do, an assassination

for them.
Schwartzer: In the United States?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Schwartzer: I will leave that to Mr. Olsen.
Sturgis: By the CIA.
467
Schwartzer: Were you asked to participate in the break-in of Dr.

Fielding's office in September?
Sturgis: No, I did not know anything about that operation. I did not
know anything about that operation until the lawyer contacted the
man -- the Fielding operation, I didn't know about until while we
were in prison, the lawyer contacted the two persons involved,
which was Barker and Martinez. And then I found out while I was in
prison, naturally, about the Fielding operation.
Schwartzer: Did anybody tell you that the Watergate operation,

before you did it, that that was a CIA operation?
Sturgis: No sir.
Schwartzer: But Barker led you to believe that? You say the same
people were involved as in the Cuban operation?
Sturgis: That was EDUARDO, yes. He mentioned EDUARDO. And

again I don't know if it was in 1972 or the latter part of 1971 that I
met E. McCord’s, and I was introduced. And he said, Frank, this is
McCord’s.
Olsen: Who introduced you?
Sturgis: Barker did. And I said, oh, EDUARDO.
Olsen: Do we understand then Frank, that you had heard of

EDUARDO during the Bay of Pigs planning and so forth but you had
never met him?
Sturgis: Right sir. To the best of my knowledge I had never met

McCord’s up until the day in Miami when Barker introduced me to
HOWARD in his office.
Olsen: And this was in late 1971?
Sturgis: Either 1971 or 1972.
Schwarzer: Thanks very much.
Olsen: I would like to go back here, FRANK, and cover in a little bit
further detail some of the same things Mr. Schwarzer was asking.
He had a limited amount of time here and was trying to rush on, I
468
think, and cover the subject rather hastily with you. And I would like
to go back.
Sturgis: Mr. Olsen, may I ask you one thing, before I forget it, I
meant to ask you at the beginning, is there a possible chance when
you get the transcript made up, that I have a copy of it?
Olsen: No. You won't be able to have a copy, but you can come
here and read the transcript. And if you want to make any
corrections you will be given an opportunity to indicate what kind of
corrections. The reason I say that you can't have a copy is because
there are substantial portions of this transcript which are going to be
classified.
Sturgis: I would think it would have to be.
Olsen: We can't allow classified material to be floating around. But a

classification officer will come along after we get our work finished
and will go through all those transcripts and decide what has to be
classified and what will be released. And I suppose unclassified
portions, you would be able to have a copy of that if you want it.
Sturgis: Right, sir.
Roethe: I may be popping in here from time to time. I have sort of

got one ear open here. So you might expect a question every now
and then from me. Did you go through preliminary rights?
Olsen: Yes. I have got a Miranda warning. However, Mr. Navarro, I

don't know that we have got your form signed. Did you sign yours?
Navarro: I will sign it.
(Off the record discussion)
Sturgis: Mr. Olsen, Clark F. Wollan, I assumed at that time, was the
American Counsel General of Santiago, Cuba. I am not really sure
of his position, whether he might have been below that official status
or what. But I assumed at the time that is what his position was.
Olsen: You said that Clark Wollan's position was that of Consul
General?
Sturgis: I assume his position was American Consul in Santiago,

Cuba. And he may have been a lesser official but I would assume
469
that that is what his base was in the American Embassy. Because
we are going back many, many years.
Roethe: We understand that you are going back a long way, and we
don't want you to be guessing at answers.
Sturgis: You see, I used to have a lot of notes, but unfortunately I

destroyed them. And even up to today, since I have been out of
prison, I have kept daily notes...I have a document also which I will
show you later, I will have to dig it out, which shows that I was in
touch with the American Embassy on matters pertaining to what we
have been discussing...
Olsen: Let me go back. First of all you were born in the United
States, were you not?
Sturgis: Yes, I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, FRANK ANGELO

FIORINI. My father's name is Angelo Anthony Fiorini. I was
considered FRANK ANGELO FIORINI the fourth, because my
grandfather's name was FRANK FIORINI, Senior, and his son,
which is my uncle, his name was Frank Fiorini Junior, who has a
son called Frank Fiorini the third, which makes me FRANK FIORINI
the fourth.
Olsen: But actually your father's name was not Frank Fiorini?
Sturgis: It was Angelo. That is why I am the fourth.
Olsen: And your mother was also of Italian extraction?
Sturgis: My mother's name was Mary Vona. She was born in

Portland, Maine.
Olsen: And your mother was also of Italian extraction?
Sturgis: Yes, not Cuban extraction like some of the Watergate

investigators have said, I have told you.
Olsen: And how long did you live in the U.S. before you first went to
Cuba?
Sturgis: When I just turned 17 years old I joined the U.S. Marine
Corps. and spent seven weeks training in Parris Island, South
Carolina. And I went to the South Pacific, and joined Edson's
Raiders in Samoa. And from there I climbed all the way up the
470
ladder. My last outfit was the Sixth Marine Division, with General
Buckner's 10th Army, in the invasion of Omaha. So I was
considered, with my Marine training for those years, to be expert in
all types of weapons.
Olsen: When did you say you entered the Marine Corps?
Sturgis: I think it was 1942. And I was discharged in 1945 at

Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Olsen: What rank did you attain in the Marine Corps?
Sturgis: I came out a Corporal. When I got out of the Marine Corps I
went to Norfolk, Virginia. And I got on the police department. I was a
plain clothes police officer. At the same time I joined the U.S. Navy
Reserve, the PPB Squadron. And then after that I joined the U.S.
Army. I went to Europe in the early 1950's. I was with the Army
Security Agency in Heidelberg, Germany, which was EUCOM
Headquarters. I was stationed at one time with General Clay's
forces in Berlin during the Russian blockade. While I was there I met
a young lady with the Israeli Intelligence that I found out later on
was a Hungarian actress. And I left the Army, came back home, this
was in the 1950's, I think 1952, 1953.
Olsen: You left the Army during the Korean War or after?
Sturgis: I am not sure sir, I am really not sure. As a matter of fact, I

was going to Officer's Candidate School, and I declined on that.
Olsen: Now this brings us to the early 1950's when you served your
second stint in the military services?
Sturgis: I have three discharges now, one for the U.S. Marine
Corps, one for the U.S. Naval Reserve, and one from the U.S.
Army.
Olsen: The third one from the U.S. Army was 1952 or 1953?
Sturgis: It was in the 1950's.
Olsen: What did you do after you got out of the Army?
Sturgis: I believe I went back to Virginia. I had made -- I went back

to Virginia. I had made several trips to Miami. I was in touch --
471
Olsen: Just a second. What did you make the trips to Miami for?
Sturgis: I had family on my mother's side living in Miami. One of my

uncles lived there who married a Cuban woman. My uncle's name
was Angelo Vona. And this is how I got involved in the Cuban
situation. She lived here in exile during the time of Batista. She was
one of President Carlos Prio's people...
Olsen: And Angelo married a Cuban woman and they had been
living in Cuba, had they?
Sturgis: No sir. In Miami. And that is why I came down here,

because my grandparents on my mother's side were living here.
Olsen: But who as the exile from Cuba?
Sturgis: My Cuban aunt was living in exile.
Olsen: Had she been married to Angelo Vona in Cuba, or had she
come to the U.S. as an exile?
Sturgis: While she was in exile, yes.
Olsen: How then, after returning to the U.S., after completing your
tour of duty with the Army, you returned to this country, and then
you went down to Miami several times on some visits to your family
members?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And at that time you became connected with Cuban people
in the Miami area?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And how long did you continue to live in the U.S., and where
did you live?
Sturgis: I lived in Miami, in the northeast section, I believe off 26th

Street. And Miami Avenue, the exact address I don't remember. But
when I came out of the Army, even though I visited my family here, I
did go back and live in Norfolk, Virginia, where I was in business.
Olsen: What business were you in?
472
Sturgis: I was in the bar business, and also the night club business.
The bar I owned with a partner by the name of Arthur Bass, we were
partners in the bar, which was on East Main Street.
Olsen: What was the name of the bar?
Sturgis: Would you believe it, I can't think of it.
Olsen: If you think of it, tell us. How long did you continue with
Arthur Bass to be the owner of that business?
Sturgis: I was his partner for several years in the bar business that
he owned, plus managing other bars for other owners, one namely
called the Virginia Tavern, which was the biggest bar in the State of
Florida.
Olsen: In the State of Florida?
Sturgis: I mean in the State of Virginia. I went to work with Arthur

Bass, he gave me a partnership which was the bar that we bought
on East Main Street. And then, at a later date, we went into the
nightclub business, me as the working partner again. And the
nightclub was called the Top Hat Club, which was located at Virginia
Beach, Virginia.
Olsen: And how long did you continue in this general line of
business of bar and night club?
Sturgis: Several years.
Olsen: Until about when?
Sturgis: Up until I decided to go to Cuba. I believe I went to Cuba in

either -- I think it was either 1956 or 1957 that I went to Cuba.
Olsen: Why did you decided to give up the night club and bar
business?
Sturgis: Well, I was under tremendous pressure. The night club

business I had done very well with, but I just didn't like the
atmosphere of being in a night club. And I wanted a change. And at
the same time, coming back and forth from Virginia to Miami, getting
involved with the Cuban situation, -- as a matter of fact, it was either
1955 or 1956 that Fidel Castro did come from Mexico into the Miami
area. He made a speech at the Flagler.
473
Olsen: Were you there?
Sturgis: Yes sir, I was there. I met him and spoke with him --
because of the family connections, and so forth. And I decided to try
to help the revolution, not particularly Fidel Castro in general, but
the revolution, that he could be an instrument to me for my
involvement, because I was in touch with the ex-President of Cuba,
Carlos Prio.
Olsen: Was it because of your contact with the ex-President of Cuba

and the fact that he had become a personal acquaintance of yours
that you became interested in overthrowing the Batista
Government?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: This was not, then, something that had anything to do with
your being recruited by the American Government or any part of the
American Government?
Sturgis: At that time, no, that year, no.
Olsen: Now was it also this personal motivation --
Sturgis: And the family ties.
Olsen: -- and the family ties -- that led you to go to Cuba in 1956
and 1957?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Again, this had nothing to do with any inspiration or

recruitment by any part of the American Government?
Sturgis: Right, sir.
Olsen: When you went to Cuba what did you do?
Sturgis: Well naturally I had contacts here, which was President

Prio. I did go to Havana. From Havana I went to Santiago, through
the church system. And with the church I put a disguise on and I
went to the mountains as a priest to seek the rebel forces.
Olsen: And you were disguised as a Catholic priest?
Sturgis: Yes.
474
Olsen: You are of course a Catholic by upbringing, are you not?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And did you speak Spanish at the time?
Sturgis: Well, my Italian was sufficient in order to understand,

because I know Italian is similar to Spanish.
Olsen: So you did speak Spanish at home?
Sturgis: No sir, I spoke with my family Italian.
Olsen: Pardon me. You spoke Italian at home?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: Was this the daily language that was used in the Fiorini
family?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Did you speak mostly English?
Sturgis: Mostly English, yes sir.
Olsen: But did you learn to speak Italian as a child?
Sturgis: Yes sir. You understand I was raised by my grandparents

and my mother. My mother and father divorced at an early age, I
believe I was six when my mother divorced my father. She took me
to Philadelphia, where we lived with her family, the Vona family.
Olsen: And did the Vonas speak Italian at home?
Sturgis: Yes. Naturally my grandmother did not speak or understand

English. And so we had to converse back and forth in Italian.
Olsen: So when you went to Cuba in 1956 or 1957, did you

masquerade as an Italian priest, or as an American?
Sturgis: When I was going to the mountains I naturally had to

disguise as a priest, I masqueraded as an American priest
sympathetic to the cause. I tried to avoid the Army patrols, but I felt
that if I was going to be captured by the Army, that I would have an
475
excuse that I was visiting the different villages in the mountains

through the church.
Olsen: Were you provided with identification of any kind?
Sturgis: No sir, I used my own identification at that time, which was

FIORINI.
Olsen: I believe you told me at an earlier time when we talked by

telephone that sometime in the 1950's your name was formally
changed.
Sturgis: Yes, to FRANK ANTHONY Sturgis, through the courts in

Norfolk, Virginia. And I do have a copy of it at home, the court order.
Olsen: You didn't bring that with you?
Sturgis: I am not sure. When I look through the papers I will see.
Olsen: Do you remember what year it was, now, FRANK, that your
name was changed to Sturgis?
Sturgis: I believe it was in the early 1950's.
Olsen: Shortly after you got back from the Army?
Sturgis: I believe so. Either before I went in the Army or when I

came back.
Olsen: Do you know whether you used the name Sturgis at any time
while you were in the Army in the early 1950's?
Sturgis: Well, my Marine Corps discharge is FIORINI, and I believe

the Navy discharge is FIORINI. I am not sure of the Army discharge.
Olsen: Did you bring your Army discharge with you?
Sturgis: No, I didn't have time to look for it. I just grabbed everything
and threw it in. I can get it for you when I go home, I will look it up
and send you photostatic copies of all three.
Olsen: And I understand that your mother remarried a man by the

name of Sturgis?
Sturgis: Sturgis, Ralph.
476
Olsen: And do you remember when she remarried?
Sturgis: I imagine in the very early 1950's, 1949, before my name

was changed.
Olsen: Did you change your name shortly after your mother
remarried?
Sturgis: I am not sure.
Olsen: By this time you were already an adult?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: Was there any particular reason why you wanted to change
your name when you were already and adult, grown up?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: What was that?
Sturgis: Well, the reason for that was that I felt there were too many
Fiorinis, Frank Fiorini especially. I don't know. My mother wanted
me to change the name, really, she influenced me to change the
name from FIORINI to Sturgis, because she had a bad situation with
my father and hated the Fiorini family. So naturally she convinced
me, I want you to change your name to Sturgis from FIORINI.
Olsen: I take it from what you say on that score, then, FRANK, that
you were not then aware at the time your name was changed legally
in Norfolk, Virginia, of the fact that E. McCord’s had written a novel
in the late 1940's in which a character appeared by the name of
HANK Sturgis? Is that true?
Sturgis: Would you believe that the Special Committee, they got me
on that. And it is a coincidence, because I got that book at home.
And my wife read that book, and I read the book. And it is just like it
would be my type of character.
Olsen: When did you read the book?
Sturgis: When I was arrested in Watergate two of the officers who

arrested me mentioned the book called Bimini Run and they asked
me if it was me. And I said, well, I have never read it, I don't know.
477
And I was surprised. And then went out to find the book, and buy
the book, and read it.
Olsen: So you hadn't read it until 1972?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: Let's get back to your career now. You went to Cuba in 1956
or 1957?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And you went to the mountains with the cooperation of the
church?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Under the guise of a priest?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: Now what did you do in the mountains? Did you make
contact with Fidel Castro and his people?
Sturgis: I ran across a rather weak one of the patrols, at the same
time avoiding the Batista Army patrols. And with the patrol, I told
them who I was, and that I wanted to see Fidel, and that I knew and
had met Fidel in Miami, Florida. So they took me along. And I
believe that a week later I was taken to a small village, I believe it
was called Santo Domingo. And I waited for Fidel to come there,
which he did, it took about a week, and Fidel finally got there. And I
participated in going in and out of the mountains for Fidel as a
courier for messages, for money, and so forth. And at one time
when I started to get a little disenchanted with him, not knowing who
these people were, I went into the cities, coming back to the
mountains on a patrol. And there were two Latins waiting at a small
village in the house, sleeping in the house owned by a man called
Cresentio Perez. He was one of the main factors in the supply of
guns and equipment and contact between the rebel forces in the
mountains and the underground inside of the cities inside of Cuba,
outside of the Sierra Maestre mountains.
Olsen: He was a primary contact between those two elements?
Sturgis: One of the main.
478
Olsen: How long did you continue to perform this function of being a
courier between Fidel Castro and the cities and towns?
Sturgis: Well, let's see. I believe it went on for a good year, or a year
and a half. At the same time, at one time in Santiago, Cuba, where I
believe it was Mr. Park F. Wollan who made contact with me at the
Casa Grande Hotel. And in meeting me Wollan was led to
understand that I was in touch with the rebel forces, that I was a
rebel officer, I was a captain in the rebel army and that as an
American that he felt that he would like to have information,
intelligence information, pertaining to the rebel movements. The
names of officers, strength, weapons, and so forth. And he worked
on my patriotism as an American, and so forth, and offered me
money, offered to put me on salary, and so forth. But I told him, no,
that I would gladly help him, being American, even though I
sympathized with the Cubans in their fight against dictatorship of
Batista at that time. This is what I told him. And he said, well, if at
any time you need any money in any form whatever, whether it is
personal expenses, come to me and I have got it. I told him thank
you very much. If that happens I will ask you. But I do have money
at my disposal.
Olsen: What was the source of the money you had at your disposal
at that time?
Sturgis: It was coming from Celia Sanchez who was Fidel Castro's
private secretary.
Olsen: Was she up in the mountains with Castro?
Sturgis: Yes sir. She was up there plus the whole entourage of rebel
officers -- Volma Espin, who was not married to Raoul Castro at that
time.
Olsen: Do you remember about when it was that you were

contacted by Clark Wollan?
Sturgis: No, and then again, like I say, it might have been in the
early part of 1959, or the latter part of 1958.
Olsen: And is that spelling Wollan?
Sturgis: Yes.
479
Olsen: And was it your understanding that he was a Consul at the

U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile?
Sturgis: No sir, he was the American Consul of the U.S. Consulate

in Santiago de Cuba.
Olsen: Because the Embassy was in Havana?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: Now, when did you next see Clark Wollan, or how frequently
thereafter did you see Mr. Wollan?
Sturgis: Yes --- you must understand that the situation there, with
the rebels being in the mountains, and me having assignments, that
I had very little time to spend with Mr. Wollan, but I had enough time
to give him what information he was looking for, which was the
movement of troops, the strength of the troops, the commanders of
the different units, the weapons, and so forth.
Olsen: Did you give him a kind of an orientation about what you
knew on the occasions when you first met him, then?
Sturgis: Yes. And the fact that I had access in and out of the
mountains, and that I was in touch with the rebel forces, and also
the underground forces.
Olsen: And did you see Mr. Wollan again there after that first time?
Sturgis: I saw him several times, sir. And I believe it might have
been one time at the Casa Grande Hotel, either one or more times
at the country club.
Olsen: Also in Santiago, Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Is there more than one country club there?
Sturgis: I would think so, yes sir.
Olsen: Which country club was it that you saw him at?
Sturgis: There is one called The Country Club, and I am not sure of
the others, because like I said, I didn't stick really too much in
480
Santiago, because everyone who knew me at the Casa Grande

Hotel thought I was a tourist.
Olsen: Let me ask you this, FRANK. From the time you first met
Clark Wollan and until the overthrow of the Batista Government,
which occurred, I believe, in 1959, --
Sturgis: January 1959.
Olsen: How many times during that period, up until the overthrow of
the Batista Government, did you meet Wollan?
Sturgis: I don't know, but it wasn't too many times sir.
Olsen: Would you say less than half a dozen?
Sturgis: I would say either half a dozen or less times.
Olsen: Did you also see him at Santiago de Cuba?
Sturgis: In the city, yes sir.
Olsen: And it might have been at the country club --
Sturgis: Or at the Casa Grande Hotel, yes.
Olsen: Did you see him any place else?
Sturgis: I am not sure, sir. Because my activity I was doing so much.
Olsen: I am just trying to confine myself to this. I don't want you to

feel as if you have to explain and justify it.
Sturgis: I want to explain.
Olsen: But let me cover the things as well as I can before we get to
the nitty gritty here. Was there anybody else present at those
meetings other than Mr. Wollan?
Sturgis: No sir, just myself.
Olsen: And on each occasion when you met him, up until the time of
the revolution's success, and the overthrow of the Batista
government, did you give him what information you then had with
respect to the revolutionary forces?
481
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Their strength, their number, the weapons?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Their movements, their leaders.
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: How long would these meetings of yours last with Mr.
Wollan?
Sturgis: Not too long, probably -- actually, I would get in there and
get out.
Olsen: Would you say a half hour?
Sturgis: A half hour, maybe a little longer, something like that.
Olsen: Did you ever give him anything in writing?
Sturgis: No, all verbal.
Olsen: Were you also in the garb of a priest?
Sturgis: No, I was in civilian clothes, only when I was up in the

mountains, because of the Army patrol. When I was in the city of
Santiago it was strictly civilian clothes, like an American tourist.
Olsen: During this period of time again, I am trying to focus on that

time between the time you first contacted Wollan and the time the
Batista Government was overthrown, did you ever receive money
from Mr. Wollan?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever receive anything in the way of a present or

gratuity of any kind from him?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: And you have never had any kind of a written agreement
with him?
Sturgis: No sir.
482
Olsen: In other words, he had --
Sturgis: Just verbal.
Olsen: He had just solicited your cooperation in terms of providing

information relating to the revolution?
Sturgis: Yes sir, and he was willing to pay me.
Olsen: Did you feel that in providing that information to Mr. Wollan
that you were being disloyal to the Castro movement?
Sturgis: No. I will tell you why. These two Latin men that I told you
had -- I have pictures of them -- when I went to Cresentio Perez'
ranch or home in the mountains, these two gentlemen were present.
And I found out at a later date, once the patrol came to pick up
these two men and myself to go back in the mountains, I found out
that these were two Venezuelan Communists that came to see
Fidel. I have pictures of that, where they gave him these documents,
which I was led to believe from the information that I got were from
the Communist Party in Venezuela who were going to support him if
he wanted that support.
Olsen: Do you remember who these two people were again?
Sturgis: No sir. I had the names at one time, and like I say, I lost all
my notes. But I do have pictures of these two men, with Fidel
greeting them, with me in the pictures.
Olsen: And when did you understand for the first time that these
were representatives of Venezuelan Communists?
Sturgis: Well, the two men and myself did go to see Fidel, I was
close enough where I could hear the discussion, I did not stand
there all the time, but friends of mine were there with Fidel. Naturally
I questioned them and so forth. And in the questioning of my friend,
this is how I knew that they were Venezuelan Communists.
Olsen: And did you feel that Fidel Castro had responded
affirmatively to them?
Sturgis: No sir. I honestly don't know because I did not hear all the
conversation, and I did not want to ask too many questions about
that. What I was trying to do was show my loyalty to him, to the
483
revolution. And so I just kept a pretty closed mouth, just asking only
limited questions.
Olsen: Were you still closely associated with the Castro movement
at the time of the January 1959 revolution?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Had you contact with any other representatives, directly or

indirectly, of the U.S. before the January revolution?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I would like to go back to the first week in January
when the revolution ended. The revolution did end on January 1,
1959. When I came out of the mountains I was at a campsite that I
had, that I was in command of, called Camp Tiro. That is Camp
Bullet in English. It was on top of a hill. And I had approximately,
under my command, a thousand vagios, or peasants that I was
trying to organize for Fidel on his triumphant tour to Havana. At the
same time, below this small mountain site, is where Raoul Castro
had his execution squads executing the Batista followers. At one
time I was at the Casa Grande Hotel I met a photographer there by
the name of Andrew St. George. He was a free lance writer and
photographer. The first week of January 1959...Andrew St. George,
who was a reporter-photographer -- I don't know at the time who he
worked for -- but I had a training camp right outside of Santiago and
when he asked me if there was the possibility -- because his
information was that Raul Castro was executing some prisoners --
and he asked me whether or not I could get permission for him to
witness and photograph the execution. I said, "Well, I don't know;
but I'll go ahead and try and see if I can get you that permission."
So, what happened is that, I don't remember which commander
friend of mine I went to see, but he says, "Yes, certainly. Go up and
see. There's no more executions, they're all finished; but I'll send an
officer with you and I'll show you where the executions were at." So
I took St. George with this officer and myself to the site where the
executions, you know, were, or did happen, and Andrew says,
"Look, you're an American, I like you to go ahead and take some
pictures of you." So I says, fine, I see no problem there. And this is
how Andrew St. George took me, took a picture of me standing over
the graves of these X amount of people who were executed.
Olsen: Is Wollan's name Clark or Park?
Sturgis: Park F. Wollan.
484
Olsen: Now, in this first week of January 1959 you met the second
American. Wollan and you met much earlier, and you had had a
number of contacts with him. And now for the first time you met
Andrew St. George?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: Where did you meet him?
Sturgis: At the Casa Grande Hotel.
Olsen: And was he a newspaper reporter at that time?
Sturgis: He told me he was a free lance reporter and photographer.

Who he was working for I don't know. But he was there on a
Saturday.
Olsen: And what took place at that meeting?
Sturgis: Well, he made contact with me because I was there with my

officers, and he came over to me and he said, I understand that you
are with the rebel forces, and you are an American. My name is
Andrew St. George. And he struck up a nice conversation with me.
He said he would have to have some photographs taken of rebel
soldiers, and so forth. And he said, I understand there are a series
of executions that have been going on. Could you arrange -- this is
after he got friendly with me --- could you arrange with the
commander who is in charge of the executions if I could witness and
photograph the executions. I told him I did not know, but I would try
to make arrangements. At that time I did not know who was in
charge, what commander was in charge. But I did find out that
whoever it was told me no, that the executions were finished. Then
when I saw Andrew the following day I came into town, I told
Andrew -- I came into town to buy supplies and food for my people,
and I saw Andrew and told him what the commander said, all the
executions were finished. And he says, well, I can come up and see
your camp. Could you show me the site of where the executions
were. And I said, well, I will have to find out, because I don't know
where they were. But I could hear them, because from my hilltop
camp I could hear the shooting during the day. I did take him to my
camp and he photographed the camp -- and I have photographs
that you can take a look at -- and I showed him where the
executions did happen. And he asked if I would pose on the graves
of the people, he would like to take a picture. And I said fine, and I
485
did. And then shortly after I saw a picture that was in the paper, in
the paper it said, with me on the graves, Captain FRANK FIORINI,
and so forth, whatever, standing over the grave site of 79 Batista
people who were executed by the Rebel Forces. I was asked by the
Senate Watergate Committee if I had participated in these
executions. And I told them no, I did not participate in the
executions. As a matter of fact, I did not like the executions. I was
against the executions. And I was, at that particular time, against the
rebel forces.
Olsen: Because you felt they had gone to great excess?
Sturgis: Because I felt that they had had contact with the
Communist Party, plus I felt the revolution was over with, and
naturally why do all the executions?
Olsen: When was it that you made up your mind that you were
against what was happening?
Sturgis: Well, I was not totally against the revolution, but I got a
bitter taste in my mind about the revolution at that time.
Olsen: You started to have some serious second thoughts?
Sturgis: Yes I did.
Olsen: Is it true that you used the name FIORINI all through your
Cuban experience?
Sturgis: Yes, and for many years until Watergate pertaining to my

Cuban activities. And the Cubans knew me as FRANK FIORINI not
as Sturgis. I only used Sturgis because of my marriage and my legal
papers and so on. People did not know what it was. I was receiving
publications from the revolution. There was a cover thing that I had,
a Soldier-of-Fortune, and so forth, FIORINI. So if a person knew me
where I lived, they would not think of me as FRANK FIORINI, or
FRANK TERILLO or some 30 names that I have used as code
names in the past.
Olsen: You have used a great many aliases?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
486
Olsen: Let's go back to the time of the revolution. What position or

positions did you occupy in the Castro Government after the
revolution took place?
Sturgis: Well, when I was on my way the first ten days after the
revolution was over with I told (Deleted) that I was on my way to
Havana. And he suggested that I contact Colonel Nichols. I will give
the full name, Colonel Nichols, and Major Van Horne.
Olsen: And both of these were at the American Embassy?
Sturgis: Yes sir. And I believe (Deleted) was at the (Deleted) at that
time in 1959. And he was a CIA agent. (Deleted) was also there, the
CIA. And I believe that he was Station Chief at the Agency.
Roethe: How did you learn these two gentlemen were CIA?
Sturgis: Contacting Colonel Nichols I was asked to recruit military

people, and so forth. And through the recruiting of agents for the
Embassy, many of them, naturally, recruited by me, had contact
with me, and they said well I am in touch with (Deleted) or I am in
touch with (Deleted) and so forth. In the close circle you know who
is who, like I was trying to explain to the gentlemen here. An agent
doesn't come out and say, hey, I am a CIA agent. You don't do
those things.
Olsen: Did you then, at the request of Colonel Nichols and Major
Van Horne -- by the way did you meet both of these gentlemen?
Sturgis: I met Colonel Nichols.
Olsen: Did you meet Major Van Horne?
Sturgis: I am not sure sir whether I met Major Van Horne, and I am
not sure that I met (Deleted) and I am not sure I met (Deleted).
There is a great possibility that I did. But I am trying to use my
senses, it has been so many years. But the main man that I had
close contact with was Colonel Nichols. So it isn't like you have one
and then you have to have contact with the whole works.
Olsen: So you think you may have met Major Van Horne, (Deleted)
and (Deleted) but you are not certain?
Sturgis: Right.
487
Olsen: These names, then, particularly came to your attention, in

that you had reports from the people whose names you had given to
Colonel Nichols that they in turn had been contacted by these other
people, is that the way you became familiar with who these other
people were and so forth.
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: When did you leave Cuba?
Sturgis: On June 30, 1959.
Olsen: So that you were there for almost exactly six months after
the revolution took place?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: During those six months did you have more than one contact
with Colonel Nichols?
Sturgis: Oh, yes sir.
Olsen: How frequently did you meet with him?
Sturgis: Well, I met Colonel Nichols in various places. When I first

made contact with Colonel Nichols I told him about Clark F. Wollan,
and he wanted to assist me from the American Government, and so
forth, and again he offered me money and I said no. And I told him
that I would assist him as much as possible, that I felt the
Communists were trying to make contact with Fidel Castro. And I
told him I had photographs that I had taken in the mountains of
these people, and I gave him copies.
Olsen: How many times approximately did you meet with Colonel
Nichols during that six months?
Sturgis: Quite a number of times.
Olsen: Where did you meet him?
Sturgis: At the Embassy, at the Air Force Base.
Olsen: Which Air Force Base was that?
Sturgis: The Cuban Air Force Base.
488
Olsen: Was this near Havana?
Sturgis: Yes, right next to Camp Colombia, which is Army

headquarters. During this period of time I had this changeover when
I left Santiago De Cuba to go to Havana.
Olsen: When was it that you arrived in Havana?
Sturgis: I believe it was about ten days later, after the revolution was
over with. I was asked by Fidel if I could go into the Air Force and
help the Commander and Chief, Pedro Diaz Lanz, in the
reorganization of the Air Force. Now, I had a discussion with
Colonel Nichols to the effect that I was suggested to get myself in a
good position in the Air Force, and Pedro Diaz Lanz, a good friend
of mine, got him to appoint me as Chief of Security and Intelligence
for the Cuban Air Force.
Olsen: When did you receive such an appointment as Chief of

Security and Intelligence?
Sturgis: I would believe within that second week that the revolution
was over with.
Olsen: And how long did that appointment last?
Sturgis: Until the day I left Cuba, June 30, 1959.
Olsen: Was this the primary activity that you had then for the next
six months?
Sturgis: No.
Olsen: What was your primary activity during that period of time?
Sturgis: I had several activities that I fell into accidentally. Having

contact with Colonel Nichols, we had a very difficult situation there
with the new Cuban Government being very much disorganized.
The regular army was being disbanded, the weapons being taken
away from them. And Fidel needed time in order to get this raggedy
muffin rebel force that he had, with no shoes, and so forth, into a
well-organized force of training an so forth. So I had another
position, which was the training -- I was in charge of the Military
Police for the Air Force, and I was the overseer of the training of the
Military Police. At the same time there were discussions between
Colonel Nichols and myself about meetings that I have had with
489
various top military commanders, for instance, Commander

Richardo Lorie, who worked for the CIA ---
Olsen: What was his position?
Sturgis: --- at a later date.
Olsen: What was his position with the Cuban military forces?
Sturgis: Well, I remember now, at the very beginning when Fidel

came into power of this organization, I forget what his position in the
government was.
Olsen: And that was who?
Sturgis: Commander Richardo Lorie. I forget what it is, but it was a

very high position. Ricardo Lorie does live and work in Miami,
Florida.
Olsen: Let's stay in that period of time now, in that six months. Did
you have occasion during that period of six months to meet
Commander Lorie?
Sturgis: Yes, we were very close friends.
Olsen: What relationship did you have from the standpoint of your
governmental responsibilities during that period?
Sturgis: In reporting to Colonel Nichols I told him of the meetings

that I had had to participate between the military commanders, one
meeting in particular with Commander Pedro Diaz Lanz, the Chief of
the Air Force at that time. Present at that meeting were Commander
Ricardo Lorie and Commander Marcos Diaz Lanz, at that time the
Inspector General of the Cuban Air Force, myself and several other
officers who I just can't remember at the present time. Anyway,
Colonel Nichols was very much interested in this information about
the Communists.
Olsen: I take it that this meeting of you and other military officers of
the Castro Air Force primarily --
Sturgis: And the Army.
Olsen: Air Force and Army -- had been concerning itself with the
extent of Communist penetration into the Cuban Government?
490
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: What other duties did you have for the Castro Government
during that six months period of time other than your being
responsible for the training of military police for the Air Force, and
your being in charge of security and intelligence for the Cuban Air
Force, what other duties did you have?
Sturgis: At one time while I was at the Prime Minister's Office there
was a meeting and discussion with one of the woman ministers who
was up in the mountains with Fidel as a rebel soldier. Her name was
Pastorita, Commander Pastorita Munas. She was a commander and
a lesbian. And Fidel asked me, please help Pastorita, because she
is so tied up in work that you have to help her. And I said okay. The
job that I was supposed to do, I was supposed to take over or help
her take over, the gambling casinos in Cuba.
Olsen: In all of Cuba or just a part?
Sturgis: All of Cuba.
Olsen: And what did you do in connection with helping Miss Munas?
Sturgis: Well, I made contact with all the different men in charge of
the casinos. I put them on notice that Fidel and the government
were going to have the laws changed. For instance, he wanted only
a certain amount of equipment in operation, and that each piece of
equipment had to have a tax stamp on it. And any other type of
equipment that did not have that tax stamp could not be used.
Naturally, everybody was made about that. Fidel at some of the
meetings that he had -- or rather that I was present at -- mentioned
that he was eventually going to close down the casinos. At one time,
personally, he told me, FRANK, I am going to run all these
American gangsters out of Cuba. I am going to close down all the
gambling casinos. I don't want them here. They are going to get out.
I did tell him, well, if you do that, you are going to put Cuban people
out of work. Maybe there is another way you can do it, and that is by
having strict control over these people. He said, no, I don't want no
control. They are going to leave. I am going to put them all in jail if
possible, I am going to run them out of Cuba.
Olsen: Let me ask you at this point, at the time that the revolution
succeeded in January 1959, did you know any of the people who, at
the time, were owning or operating gambling casinos in Cuba?
491
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you subsequently become friendly with any of the people
who owned or operated gambling casinos in Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I will tell you how this came about. Going back to
the first week of the revolution in Santiago, I saved the life of a man
by the name of Stretch Rubin. He was working for a man -- I believe
he was working for a man called Norman Rothman in the slot
machine business.
Olsen: Where was Mr. Rothman?
Sturgis: Well, I did not meet Mr. Rothman up until that time that I
saved the man. I took Stretch Rubin away from some rebel soldiers
who wanted to shoot him. He had a bag of money on him. What he
was doing was going into the Casa Grande Hotel which had a
gambling casino there and slot machines. His job was to -- he was
like the collector for this outfit. And he would collect all the money.
And he had a big bag full of money. And I came upon him as some
rebel soldiers were dragging him away and he was screaming and
hollering and so forth, and they were going to shoot him. And I took
him away from the rebel soldiers. And he told me that the situation
was really bad there, that he was going to go to Havana, and so
forth. And he asked me if I was going to Havana. And he said, when
you get up there, see me. I will be at whatever hotel -- he mentioned
it, but I forgot. But later on I found out that he worked for Norman
Rothman, who was the partner of General Clio Chivano. Chivano
was the brother-in-law of General Batista. Now Norman Rothman
and General Chivano were partners in the slot machine business.
Later, when I was in charge of that, I did meet Stretch Rubin when I
made an inspection of all the casinos, not knowing anyone, because
I did not know any of the gamblers or owners of those gambling
casinos. I met Stretch, who introduced me to a friend of his. His
name was -- I can't think of it, the man he introduced me to -- I will
remember his name because we got to be very good friends. He
used to be the partner of Dutch Schulz, Mr. Fletchenheimer, of the
old days in New York. And he was his partner in the slot machine
business. In other words, this Jewish man, I forget the name right
this minute, was the partner of Dutch Schultz in the slot machine
business in upper New York State. Hymie Levin is the name. Now
Stretch Rubin, I don't believe that is his real name, Stretch, I believe
is -- you know how they call them muscles and egghead or
whatever.
492
Olsen: Where was it, by the way, that you saved Rubin's life? Was it
in Santiago?
Sturgis: In Santiago, yes.
Olsen: And Rubin worked for --
Sturgis: Norman Rothman.
Olsen: Who was a partner of ---
Sturgis: Of General Chivano. He was the military commander I

believe, in Oriente Province, I understand through some source. My
sources say he was a real degenerate.
Olsen: He as a military commander of Oriente Province under

Batista?
Sturgis: Under General Batista. And he was the brother-in-law of

General Batista.
Olsen: Now what is the relationship between Norman Rothman and

Hymie Levin, any?
Sturgis: I believe from what Hymie told me, if I am not mistaken, that
Hymie did work for Normie Rothman at one time. Normie Rothman
did own and operate a gambling casino in Havana at one time. But
in the year 1959 he was in the slot machine business, and did not
own a gambling casino.
Olsen: Now, you said Hymie Levin was a partner of Dutch Schultz.
Sturgis: Hymie Levin, many, many years ago was a partner of Dutch
Schultz in the slot machine business in upper New York State.
Olsen: That is many years earlier?
Sturgis: Yes. Naturally Dutch Schultz is dead today.
Olsen: When were they partners, do you know?
Sturgis: No, I don't know.
Olsen: Was Dutch Schultz -- the name seems to ring a bell -- was
he an underworld figure?
493
Sturgis: One of the biggest in New York, one of the biggest in New
York. As a matter of fact the Mafia killed him. I think the man who
ordered his execution was Lucky Luciano.
Olsen: And he was dead, Dutch Schultz was already dead by this
time in 1959?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And where was Hymie Levin at the time?
Sturgis: Hymie Levin, when I met him, was in Havana. I met him
through Stretch Rubin.
Olsen: And was he in the gambling business there than?
Sturgis: I don't know sir, because both of them were in Havana, and
I imagine both of them were still working in the slot machine
business.
Olsen: Did you become acquainted with any of the other gambling
figures in Havana at that time or in Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir. Hymie Levin and Stretch, more Hymie Levin, asked
if they could be of any assistance to me by introducing me to the
casino operators, the managers and so forth, that I would naturally
be in contact with for the government...Both of them offered to show
me around, but Hymie Levine was the main person who stuck with
me close...He introduced me to Jake Lansky at the Rivera Hotel.
He, at that time, from what I understand, was managing the hotel for
his brother, Meyer Lansky. He introduced me to Joe Rivers, which is
not his real name but it is the name --
Olsen: Is that the name by which he is known in the gambling

business?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: And who is Joe Rivers?
Sturgis: To be very honest with you, I don't know his real name...I
did know his real name but I forgot.
Olsen: What hotel or casino was that?
494
Sturgis: I am not sure whether he had an interest in the Capri Hotel

or not. But I was also introduced at the Capri to Charley White. His
real name was Charles "The Blade" Tourine. [I met] Norman
Rothman, McLaney, I believe he was operating the National Hotel
gambling casino.
Olsen: How about Norman Rothman?
Sturgis: He was in the slot machine business. Santo Trafficante Jr. I

was introduced to the owners of the Tropicana Night Club and
gambling casino.
Olsen: Why don't we just kind of abbreviate this at this point, Frank.
Were all of these people who were engaged in the ownership and
management of the gambling casinos in Cuba generally underworld
figures?
Sturgis: All of them? No sir. I met some other people. I don't recall
their names at the present time.
Olsen: Were those people whose names you have given here,
Rubin, Levin, Lansky, Rivers, White, McLaney, Rothman, were any
of them underworld figures?
Sturgis: They were considered underworld figures.
Olsen: All of them?
Sturgis: Yes, from what I found out later, yes.
Olsen: And when you say they were considered, by whom were
they considered?
Sturgis: Well Hymie was telling me, each one that he introduced to
me -- and he introduced me to quite a number of people who were
top of the world figures, who were Mafia, who were -- or considered
Mafia, or considered Syndicate people -- and so forth.
Olsen: Did you have any dealings with these people other than
being introduced to them and advising them what the new
regulations were, so what their new regulations were going to be,
and hearing Castro make statements to the effect that he was going
to get rid of them all.
495
Sturgis: I didn't tell them that at the time, at the beginning, that Fidel
was going to get rid of them. What I did was to make my inspection
of all the casinos that came under my jurisdiction at that time, and
advise them of new laws that were being put into law, advise them
of the tax stamps that had to go on each piece of equipment, and
that is just about it. And during this period of time there was one
more person he introduced me to -- Hymie Levin introduced me to a
number of movie actors and actresses. I did meet, at the Tropicana
Night Club and gambling casino one night, sitting with Fidel's
younger sister, Anna Castro, she called me over to the table, and
she was sitting down with a movie actor. His name was Hugh
O'Brien, and I did meet Hugh O'Brien, and I did meet Errol Flynn.
Olsen: Who is Errol Flynn?
Sturgis: Errol Flynn is one of my old swash-buckling, sword fighting

heros in the movies. And he was there at the time making a picture
about the rebels, Fidel Castro and the rebels, and so forth, in the
mountains. And Lon Chaney, Junior. I believe was there with him. I
met quite a number of them, not just the movie people who owned
the casino, but important people in the movie and entertainment
industry, wealthy people. As a matter of fact, I did take five
businessmen from New York to see Fidel at the Prime Minister's
Office who wanted to lend the Cuban Government $300 million. And
through my doing of getting them to meet Fidel -- they were staying
at the Rivera Hotel for two weeks, and a rebel captain who was
supposed to be a friend of Fidel couldn't get them to see Fidel. And I
was there having breakfast. And he came over to my table and
introduced me to those five Americans -- I think there were three
Americans, I'm sorry.
Olsen: Who were those Americans?
Sturgis: I forgot their names right now. But they were from New
York.
Olsen: Were they legitimate businessmen, or were they Syndicate

people?
Sturgis: From what I understand from this rebel captain they were
legitimate businessmen, they were involved in some, I think it was
insurance money. That I found out in discussion with them. And I
made the arrangement that same day to see Fidel. I got a phone
and called the Prime Minister's Office and I spoke to a friend of
496
mine. His name was Juan Orta. He was the private secretary to the
Prime Minister.
Olsen: Let me cut that off for the moment here, FRANK, because
there are certain avenues that I want to go into, and I am afraid we
may not get them all covered here if we follow other courses. Did
you ever have any dealing with, any deals with any of those
gambling figures?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever take money from them?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever intercede on their behalf with any official of the
Castro Government?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever do them favors for which they promised to
repay you at a later time?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever have, in short, any kind of business, either over
the table or under the table, any business dealing with any of those
gambling figures?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever make any promises to any of them that you
would attempt to do something for them?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you ever make any steps, perform any favors for them?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: You left Cuba on June 30, 1959. Why did you leave?
Sturgis: Well, during the period of six months, from January to June
30, Fidel's Government, Fidel's forces, was very much disorganized.
At the same time, trying to organize all those things, Fidel needed
the time. At the same time he had many people who were
497
Communist, many officials who were Communists coming into the

Army, and coming into the Air Force, to indoctrinate the officers and
the men with Communist theories and ideas, which we very much
did not like. Fidel used to come over to the Air Force Base with the
top military commanders and a jeep convoy. And there was talk of
assassinations.
Olsen: When you say there was talk of assassinations, who was
talking about assassinating whom?
Sturgis: Well, the rebel officers who were anti-Communists and

many of those -- or a number of those officers whom I recruited for
the Embassy wanted to get rid of Fidel because of the Communist
teachings that Fidel was forcing on the military. Many of the top
military commanders, the anti-Communist commanders, did not
trust the American Embassy at that time. They were a little wary
about the American Embassy because of their pro-Batista feelings.
And then it looked like you had in the Embassy a split, some of the
Embassy officials and employees were pro-Batista, and the others
were pro-Fidel. As those weeks drug on, only the top military people
knew what was going on, which included myself. These reports
were given to Colonel Nichols, were being given to (Deleted) and so
forth, about what was going on.
Olsen: Can I stop you there? Can you name some of the other
people in the military and civilian government of the Castro regime
who you had recruited, and who were reporting to those American
officials whom you previously named?
Sturgis: Let's see if I can remember all of them. Commander Pedro

Diaz Lanz, Chief of the Cuban Air Force.
Olsen: You recruited them, and he was in contact with American

officials?
Sturgis: I made contact for him with the American Embassy. I made
contact for the Embassy with Commander Marcos Diaz Lanz,
Inspector of the Cuban Air Force.
Olsen: And he was also reporting to American officials?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Who else?
498
Sturgis: Commander Ricardo Lorie. Geraldine Shamma.
Olsen: And who was she?
Sturgis: She was an American woman who was married to Captain

Shamma. Her marriage name was Suarez. So her name was
Geraldine Suarez Shamma. They owned a tobacco business in
Cuba, several businesses in Cuba, but the main business was
tobacco, which amounted to about $20 million. I recruited her for the
Embassy. And her contacts were several people there, or at least
one major person, and that was Major Van Horne. Her job was to
meet and make contact with top officials in the government, which
she did. She had a fabulous home and gave parties. Many of the
top military commanders went over to her home. She was the
contact with the American Government with the underground
organization -- he was the Chief of the underground against Castro,
and his code name was Francisco.
Olsen: And she was in contact with him?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Now FRANK, did you leave Cuba voluntarily or did you get
forced out by the Castro Government?
Sturgis: I will have to go back again. Another person who was in

touch with the Embassy was Sergio Sanjennes, who was the top
high-ranking G-2 official under Fidel. When the time came for me to
leave Cuba he actually saved my life, because he was in G-2, and
told me that I had better leave because the G-2 was hot on my trail
to capture me, and mostly likely, if I was caught, I would be
executed.
Olsen: So you got out in a hurry?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: How did you leave Cuba?
Sturgis: Well, after meeting with Sergio, I left, I would say within a
week. I stuck around a little bit. During this period of time I cam
across and American who was with the rebel forces by the name of
Captain Devereau. Captain Devereau was the grandson of Tom
Mix. He was very close with Raoul Castro. And I was, at one time,
going to kill him.
499
Olsen: Why, and at whose direction were you going to kill him?
Sturgis: Well, unfortunately it was not under no direction, because I

was told to leave him alone. And I was going to do it myself.
Olsen: Why were you going to do it yourself?
Sturgis: Well, the situation was getting very hot there. And evidently
he must have overheard some things being discussed by Raoul and
Che Guevara about me, about my goings on between the military
and the American Embassy. I had to request from the Chief of the
Air Force a document naming me -- it was an official Air Force
document naming me -- I may have that document -- as a go-
between -- as a liaison officer between the Cuban Air Force and the
American Embassy. This was a cover for me being in touch with
American officials and the American Embassy.
Olsen: Let's go back to Deveraux. Why was it that you were about
to kill Devereau?
Sturgis: Again, with all this deception that was going on between the
anti-Communist group, and because of Fidel's odds as to allowing
different instructors to come into the military to instruct about
Communist doctrine, and so forth, there was quite a bit of deception
about that. And so naturally sides were being drawn up. And
because of the mistrust of the American Embassy that some of the
military commanders had, I was asked if I would personally come to
Washington, D.C. and notify the American Government of the
Communist infiltration in to the government and into the military.
Olsen: Who asked you to do that?
Sturgis: The meeting was with several top military commanders,

both of the Army and Air Force.
Olsen: And you were asked to do this by Cuban Government

officials?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Not by the American Embassy?
Sturgis: No.
500
Olsen: Let's come around to Devereau. Where does he fit into the
picture?
Sturgis: Devereau was very closely associated with Raoul Castro.

He came into the picture, he was an entertainer, his wife and
himself, in different Cuban night clubs in the City of Camaguey. And
I imagine, like many people in Cuba, they got on this kick about
being against Batista and the revolution, and so forth. And
Devereau eventually showed up in Havana, as a captain. He is still
in Cuba.
Olsen: You mean a Captain in the Castro military.
Sturgis: Yes sir, in G-2, a captain in intelligence.
Olsen: And did you feel that he had been squealing on you?
Sturgis: No sir, I felt that he knew something and he mainly told me

to be careful, and that I was getting out of line, that I was with the
wrong people. And he mentioned Diaz Lanz's name, and he
mentioned Captain Martinez' name, and Lorie's name and these
people were my friends, and knowing them to be strong anti-
Communists, and knowing that Captain Devereau was crazy, and
closely associated with Raoul Castro and Che Guevara, known
Communists, I had a confrontation with him and two of his
bodyguards in a jeep one night when he stopped me and I told him
mainly that he had better step lightly, that I would kill him right then
and there. And I would have done it except for one thing only, that I
spoke to Nichols about this -- and Nichols told me to leave him
alone at the present time. Other things that I discussed with Colonel
Nichols was the attempted assassination on two occasions of Fidel
Castro and all the top military commanders that used to come for
the Air Force Base. And remember that I had another job at the Air
Force Base, training the military police. And I also was still Chief of
Security.
Olsen: Let me ask you, are you telling us that you participated as a
Cuban Air Force officer, and Chief of training military police and
security and intelligence operations in the Cuban Air Force, that you
participated in an attempt to assassinate Castro?
Sturgis: Yes, on two occasions, plus other military officials.
Olsen: When did those attempts take place, during the early part of
1959?
501
Sturgis: Yes sir. I would say the first attempt -- and I set it up as an
exercise, that if I was to get the green light -- which I did not
anticipate that I would, because there is such a thing as getting a
green light -- and there is another thing about doing something
without the green light, in other words they do it --but they don't get
caught -- but I did set it up as an exercise, and I did have the men
on several occasions, like I said, as a training exercise, stationed at
the gate with me there, with men stationed on the rooftops of the
homes -- my excuse was for the protection of the entourage, Fidel
and the military commanders he had with him, he had a hometown
bunch with him when they came to the Air Force, even with General
Bayo. And I felt that if I would get the nod to assassinate them, I
could do it within 30 seconds, high tail it and everything.
Olsen: Was there something that you had drawn up in the way of an
exercise as the result of the discussion with the other Air Force
officials?
Sturgis: The Air Force and Army officials. This information was
given to the American Embassy. I again did these exercises to try to
get a diversion that if I would get the nod to do the execution, that I
would have some means of diversionary tactics to draw attention
away from the people who did the execution, and I was there with
my people to prevent it because of security.
Oslen: Did you discuss these plans in advance with Colonel

Nichols?
Sturgis: No sir. At the very -- I would say about six weeks after the
revolution was over with there was a great deal of discontent among
many of the top ranking military officers. I knew these people
personally, I was in with them at those meetings and various places,
and that they discussed, we all discussed the assassination then.
And some said, well, there are some officers that will be with the
group, Fidel and Raoul and Che, that were not really with them. So
they were split on the idea of assassinating him. So they asked my
opinion. And I told them, well, in war innocent people do get killed. If
you are going to assassinate the man, the best place to do it was at
the front gate as he approaches, and to just, if there is even seven
or eight jeeps, whether they are pro- or anti - if you are going to go
ahead and kill him, people are going to get hurt.
Olsen: I didn't understand whether you answered my question as to

whether or not you had discussed in advance with Colonel Nichols.
502
Sturgis: No sir, after the meeting with the different military

commanders, I reported to Nichols the type of discussions that were
made at those meetings.
Olsen: And what was Colonel Nichols response?
Sturgis: Can we go off the record?
Olsen: If you want.
Sturgis: Let's go off the record. He told me to stand by, don't do

anything, stand by, stall.
Olsen: And did you then stand by and stall?
Sturgis: Yes, sir, I not only stood by, but then I proceeded to do
these exercises without asking Colonel Nichols. I did those on my
own, to prepare a special group of men to set this up.
Olsen: You prepared the exercise. Did you ever get the green light
from people in Castro's Air Force and Army to go ahead with an
attempt?
Sturgis: Oh, they wanted to do it, sir. The only thing that held them
back was me, I am the only one that held them back, because they
wanted to kill him in a minute.
Olsen: And so they were urging that this be done, but you were
holding back on it?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: And were you holding back on it at least in part because of

the request made by Colonel Nichols that you would hold up on it,
and not do anything?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: Was any actual attempt made now to carry out an

assassination on Premier Castro?
Sturgis: The only attempt is what I was doing in these exercises.
Olsen: So that there was some planning, but no attempt?
503
Sturgis: Well, let me say this. We are on a very thin piece of string
there, because I was several times making those exercises, and I
was really, because of my high position in the military, and because
of the things that I knew -- and you must understand that I did break
into the headquarters of the Cuban Army at Columbia Barracks and
did steal documents out of there. And I also, at my own
headquarters, in my files, I did photograph some things that were in
my files from the past regime that was there, but also of other
officers that were there that I could not trust, and wanted to see
what kind of reports and things that were made. So I did photograph
those. So I did make a break-in.
Olsen: What I am trying to do FRANK, is to draw a distinction, if I

can, between some plans for, some setting up of exercises that
would be preparatory to an attempt to assassinate Premier Castro,
Che Guevara and Raoul Castro and others that might be with them.
I am trying to distinguish that kind of planning and preparation from
an actual attempt to carry it out.
Roethe: Were there any shots ever fired?
Sturgis: No sir. As a matter of fact, in order to avoid that, because

my people wanted to do it so badly, I had to take the ammunition
away from them, just to contain them.
Roethe: Was this an exercise that was going to be -- was this going
to be a shooting?
Sturgis: Oh, yes.
Roethe: So it was not a bombing or anything of this sort, strictly a

shooting?
Sturgis: A shooting.
Olsen: How soon before you left Cuba did this setting up of
exercises take place?
Sturgis: It was within, I would say, four to six weeks.
Olsen: Before you left?
Sturgis: No, four to six weeks after we took over the country,
January 1, four to six weeks was the first attempt. That was in the
504
last of January or the first week in February 1959, four or five

weeks.
Olsen: Did this fever about assassinating Castro, Raoul Castro and
Guevara, subside after a little while?
Sturgis: Oh, no.
Olsen: Did it keep on going all the time while you were in Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I did arrange to train the same men for another
attempt at assassination of him in the headquarters of the Air Force
on the second floor.
Olsen: Before you go on to that, why did you never make an attempt
the first time, why did you hold back?
Sturgis: I was waiting for a nod from Nichols.
Roethe: And you never received that nod?
Sturgis: I never received that.
Roethe: What got you started into a second attempt to try a different
type of assassination?
Sturgis: Yes, it would be a different plan to assassinate him. This

came, I would say, the last part of February, if I am not mistaken.
Things came to a fever pitch. Even the American Government,
through other agents inside of Cuba, in the military and so forth,
were getting a lot of information about the Communist activity. And
Fidel was coming on his own thing, you know, about talking against
the Americans. And this was creating a lot of dissention with some
of the top military brass. Of the Cuban military. And the same time I
am trying to recruit Commander Camillo Cienfuegos. Olsen: You
have attempted to recruit him?
Sturgis: I attempted to recruit Commander Camillo Cienfuegos, and

also Commander Almejera. He was the National Chief of Police.
Olsen: And who was the first one, Cienfuegos?
Sturgis: Commander Camillo Cienfuegos was the Chief of the Army

-- I think Raoul was the Chief of the Armed Forces.
Olsen: Did you succeed in recruiting them?

505
Sturgis: I met them at the Capri Hotel, where the show was at. And I
got them stoned out of their minds. And we discussed money, how
they would be willing to do, and so forth. I didn't want to get into it
too much, because I had Camillo Cienfuegos lined up more, he was
thinking more in line with what I was talking about. Commander
Almejeira got stoned out of his mind. And he just put his head on
the table and went to sleep. That was it. And so I had a hard time
keeping Camillo Cienfuegos awake.
Roethe: At whose request were you trying to recruit these

gentlemen?
Sturgis: Remember, Embassy told me, please try to recruit agents

for them.
Olsen: You were attempting to recruit people who would provide

information for the Embassy?
Sturgis: To provide agents for the American Embassy.
Roethe: You were not recruiting them especially for assassination

attempts?
Sturgis: No. Now, Camillo gave me enough information that night

where I broke into the Chief of the Army headquarters -- he was
Chief of the Army. I broke into their file and I did photograph and
steal documents.
Roethe: What did you do with those documents?
Sturgis: I turned them over to the others.
Olsen: To Colonel Nichols?
Sturgis: Yes.
Roethe: Were you operating here now for Colonel Nichols, or do

you know if you were operating for CIA? Who was the creator of this
policy, if you know, Colonel Nichols as a diplomat? Was he a
diplomat at that time?
Sturgis: Colonel Nichols was the American Military Air Attache,

which could be a cover for the CIA.
Olsen: You don't know if he was CIA or not?
506
Sturgis: No. Again I say, nobody shows if they are CIA, unless you
are working yourself as an employee.
Olsen: Let me turn here, Frank, to this area. Were you ever, by
Colonel Nichols, requested to organize any activity other than
recruiting people to act as agents for the American Embassy, were
you ever asked to carry out any kind of activity in Cuba.
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: You were never asked to carry out any assassination?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Were you ever asked to carry out any attempt to overthrow
the Castro Government?
Sturgis: Well, let's not say overthrow the Castro government.

Colonel Nichols was very much, in his thinking, in the discussions
with him, against the Castro Government. But then here you have a
man that goes by the book.
Olsen: Let me ask you this. Were you ever asked to carry out any
action in Cuba on behalf of the American Embassy?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Or Colonel Nichols?
Sturgis: No sir.
Roethe: So your breaking in and obtaining those documents was

something that you did on your own for information gathered as a
result of your conversations with the Commander of the Army?
Sturgis: Camillo Cienfuegos, yes.
Roethe: During this one evening when he got drunk?
Sturgis: Yes.
Roethe: You saw an opportunity and you took advantage of the

opportunity yourself, without first consulting Colonel Nichols?
Sturgis: Well, you must understand this. When an opportunity

comes around you do it, because you may not have a chance to
507
make contact, and get permission. And not only that, suppose you
don't get permission? There is a lot of things that have to be done.
But nobody is going to give you permission.
Oh, I wish I had -- I understand there are certain things in the

Chilean Embassy like -- I broke into the Chilean Embassy in
Havana, they are accusing me of breaking into the Chilean
Embassy here in Washington, D.C., which is a lie. But I broke into
the Chilean Embassy in Havana. I was not ordered to do so. But I
felt, with discussions that we had, I wish I could find out what was in
those files in the Chilean Embassy.
Olsen: Did you break into the Chilean Embassy in Havana as Chief
of Security for the Air Force?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: The Castro Government?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Did you ever get any request from Colonel Nichols or
anybody else at the American Embassy that you break into the
Chilean Embassy?
Sturgis: No sir.
Olsen: Did you have any contacts there in Havana with anybody
from the American Embassy other than Colonel Nichols?
Sturgis: I would say no.
Olsen: When you say I would say no, that is your best belief?
Sturgis: I believe not. Because if somebody comes up and says,

yes, he was in touch with me, you know, it is too many years, and to
the best of my recollection, I think that would cover it, I would say
Colonel Nichols was the only one I was in constant touch with.
There is a possibility that may (Deleted) and a possibility of
(Deleted) but I am not -- my mind doesn't --
Olsen: You don't recall any specific instance in which you made
contact with anybody else other than Colonel Nichols?
508
Sturgis: I am not sure. I don't know how to put the right words.
Because I met several people, but I am not sure of who the people
that I met were.
Olsen: After you came back from Cuba, at the end of June 1959, did
you then settle in the Miami area?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Did you take up employment in some normal job in Miami, or

did you become involved right away?
Sturgis: I was not employed, sir.
Olsen: Did you engage in any business for yourself at that point?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Before we get to that, when you left Cuba, did you manage
to take with you any substantial amount of money or wealth?
Sturgis: No sir. I took some documents here that belonged to

Commander Richardo Lorie in his preparation to leave Cuba and
come to exile. I helped to arrange for the escape of the Chief of the
Air Force and his wife. As a matter of fact, I made contact with the
American Embassy to see if they would accept him in the Embassy.
And I was told by the Embassy people, no. So I had to come here to
make arrangements for his escape with his brother Sergio Diaz
Bruil, who in fact himself personally went to a yacht basin,
Bertrand's Basin and rented a boat, I believe it was a sailboat. With
the plans that both he and myself made, I proceeded to Cuba to
pick up his brother, the Chief of the Air Force.
Roethe: Before we get back here in the U.S., the second attempt
that you were talking about you said was going to occur in an office
building, is that right?
Sturgis: That is the headquarters of the Cuban Air Force on the

second floor.
Roethe: And again I am correct that there was no actual attempt

made, and that there were no shots fired?
Sturgis: Right.
509
Roethe: And this was also -- and this only got as far as the planning
stage?
Sturgis: Right. Planning and the exercise.
Olsen: What did you do after you came back to this country in Mid-
1959, other than to assist people in escaping from Cuba.
Sturgis: I got together with Commander Pedro Diaz Lanz. We went

to Washington, D.C., for a Senate hearing. At this hearing they
wanted to know about Communist infiltration into the Cuban
Government. And I forget the name of the Senator at that time. I
went back to Miami. I forget how Barker came into the picture, but
Barker -- I made contact with Barker, Diaz Lanz.
Olsen: What were you going to do to make a living during this

period?
Sturgis: I had my own financing.
Olsen: What was your own financing?
Sturgis: Well, I had money, pay that I got from the Cuban
Government.
Olsen: Where had this money been placed that you were able to
draw it out?
Sturgis: Well, I had an import-export business in Havana which

continued after the revolution was over with during Fidel's time. And
I proceeded to open an office up on Ponce De Leon Boulevard, in
Coral Gables -- when the revolution was over with, because I was
commuting back and forth between Miami.
Olsen: You said you had an import-export business in Havana?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And was that business continuing after you left there?
Sturgis: When I left that was the end of it.
Olsen: Had you accumulated some money in Cuba before you left
there?
Sturgis: Yes, due to the business I did accumulate some money.

510
Olsen: Can you tell us approximately what your financial net worth
was when you left Cuba? How much money had you accumulated?
Sturgis: Well, I had several thousand dollars, I would think I had $3

or $4,000 at that time.
Olsen: And you had been successful in transferring this money to

the U.S.
Sturgis: It was all in cash.
Olsen: So you took it with you?
Sturgis: Yes, I took it with me, and two aircraft that I did have, one
was a C-46, one was a C-46, of which I have the end numbers and
documents, plus a B-25 bomber that I took over here.
Olsen: Did you fly out of Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Did you fly those aircraft yourself?
Sturgis: Well, another pilot and myself flew -- I think it was - I am not
sure whether it was the C-46 that I flew out with, or the B-25 with
another pilot. I did fly both planes at different times. I had one of the
Cuban Air Force pilots fly one of the aircraft out. But I am not sure
which one of them I came out on.
Olsen: Are you a pilot yourself?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Do you have a license?
Sturgis: I had a license. I flew over the city.
Olsen: You flew out of the country two airplanes that belonged to
the Cuban Air Force?
Sturgis: No sir, they belonged to me, they were registered in my

name.
Olsen: In Cuba?
Sturgis: No, registered in the U.S. in my name.
511
Olsen: Who had they belonged to in Cuba?
Sturgis: No one in Cuba, sir. They belonged to me, they were

American end number aircraft that were bought by me here in the
U.S.
Olsen: Had they been bought by you before you went to Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes sir, during the revolution.
Olsen: I see. You owned them before the revolution occurred?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I gave a $10,000 deposit on a B-25 bomber that

was in Phoenix, Arizona. I gave a total of $112,000 for the C-46-D
model. This money was revolutionary money that was given to me
which I bought in my name.
Olsen: It was revolutionary money from whom?
Sturgis: It was from Fidel Castro -- while this was in 1958, while we
were working against the Batista Government.
Olsen: I see. While you were up in the hills and acting as a courier,
with revolutionary money you bought two planes in the U.S., and
they were kept in the U.S. during the revolutionary period, but they
were rendered in your name?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Roethe: And these were purchased by the government?
Sturgis: No sir, they were purchased in Phoenix, Arizona.
Roethe: From whom?
Sturgis: I may have the name of the people whom we bought them
from. If you remember, in Phoenix, Arizona, you have an area there
that has got planes for miles. They are in mothballs.
Olsen: What was this, a private enterprise?
Sturgis: Well I imagine this was -- you mean the people we bought it
from?
Roethe: Yes.
512
Sturgis: Yes, it was.
Roethe: It had no connection with any Government agency that you

are aware of?
Sturgis: I suspect that the man who sold me the aircraft did work for
the CIA.
Olsen: Who was the man who sold you the aircraft?
Sturgis: I think his name was Thraikill.
Olsen: Did you make a trip back to the U.S. to make a purchase of
those planes?
Sturgis: I came in and out of the U.S., in and out of the mountains,
and in and out of the U.S.
Olsen: Frequently, as part of your revolutionary activities?
Sturgis: In order for me to get very close with Fidel personally, I

went through a great risk in buying guns and equipment and
smuggling guns and equipment to Cuba, both by air, by automobile,
and in the Key West by ferry. And I had an elaborate system made
up.
Olsen: Let's go into that just a little bit. We are going back into the
revolutionary period, before the revolution succeeded, while you
were working for Castro, while he was up in the hills. Who did you
buy the guns from in the U.S.
Sturgis: I bought guns in Alexandria, Virginia.
Olsen: From whom?
Sturgis: I believe the name of the company was INTERARMCO.

And the owner was an ex-CIA agent.
Olsen: Named what?
Sturgis: I forget. [Samuel Cummings]
Roethe: Was this ostensibly a private enterprise?
Sturgis: At least I thought it was a private enterprise.
513
Olsen: He asked, was it ostensibly a private enterprise. Was it

actually a private enterprise?
Sturgis: Let me say this here, can I go back a little bit, Mr. Olsen?
Olsen: Yes.
Sturgis: Fidel told me in the mountains, here is what I have got - and
I will show you the pictures -- I have got garbage, muerdo, which
means shit, shotguns, rifles that are rusted, and that idiot who is in
Miami, who is the head of the underground in Miami, doesn't know
what he is doing, he is sending us all different types of foreign-made
rifles -- for instance like the Italian carbine, you shoot that twice in
rapid fire it would overheat and jam. And he says, "I need you to get
me some equipment." I says, I will get you some equipment.
"Beautiful. Here is the money. Go to Miami and get what you need.
Get in touch with Bebe Hidalgo." He was the Chief of the
underground. With him I made other contacts, or through him I
made other contacts, with people like Yanuza, who got to be the
Mayor of Havana under Fidel Castro.
Olsen: Come as quickly as you can to the matter of where you

bought the weapons from whom, when, and how were they shipped
to Cuba.
Sturgis: From Miami, getting money from these people, who range
anywhere from $7 to $100,000, I went to Alexandria, Virginia, and
did make contact with the owner.
Roethe: How did you get the name of the man in Alexandria?
Sturgis: I don't know how I got the name. But I understand years
later that he did work for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Olsen: But the name of the company as best you can recall was
INTERARMCO.
Sturgis: INTERARMCO.
Olsen: And what did you buy from INTERARMCO?
Sturgis: Well, at INTERARMCO I bought weapons that would fire

the same bullets. For instance, I bought the M-1 Durand rifle, which
I fired -- it was a 30.06 caliber weapon. I bought the M-1 -- I bought
the Springfield rifle, U.S. Springfield rifle which fired the same bullet.
514
And this type of a rifle I bought mainly for sniping, to be used as a

sniper weapon in the mountains.
Olsen: The M-1 that you bought was the normal World War II semi-
automatic Army weapon?
Sturgis: U.S. Army issue.
Olsen: Did you buy those in quantity?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And did you buy ammunition for them as well?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And did you buy any automatic weapons?
Sturgis: No sir, I did not buy automatic weapons. I did buy the 45
caliber U.S. Thompson, which had the -- they call it a DEWAT. They
put lead between t he barrel -- they plugged it up where it could not
fire, you could only use it as a display piece.
Olsen: In other words, they were demilitarized?
Sturgis: They were rendered inoperative by putting lead in the

barrel.
Olsen: Why did you buy them?
Sturgis: Well, for one thing, a good one was selling for about $200
apiece. I bought those up there for $75 apiece. We sent them to
Cuba by air. I also bought good barrels, and I left instructions when
they got to Cuba to take the barrel off and just put a new barrel on,
and you had a fully automatic weapon.
Olsen: Was this an Army weapon of World War II?
Sturgis: Yes, it was.
Olsen: Was this called a grease gun or something like that?
Sturgis: No sir. There is a difference between the grease gun and

the Thompson machine gun.
Olsen: Did the Thompson have a circular cartridge?
515
Sturgis: Yes, the drum, the 50 round drum.
Olsen: And that was a fully automatic weapon, wasn't it?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Did you buy any besides the Springfield, the M-1 Durand,
and the Thompson 45 machine gun?
Sturgis: Yes sir, a bazooka. I bought the bazooka, not the shells,
because it is legal to buy the bazooka. The shells were illegal
naturally. So we had other sources of getting shells. I bought the
anti-tank weapons, and I bought the Browning automatic rifle, the
BAR, which was a semi-automatic and full automatic. But they did
the same thing with the BAR, they put lead in the barrel. And in turn
I had to take the barrel off and throw it away and put a new one on.
Olsen: And they didn't demilitarize the rest of the gun in any way?
Sturgis: No sir. I understand that somebody had some thoughts in

their mind that they could sell the weapon like that. If they did what
they were supposed to do, with a torch, put the lead between the
barrel and where the bolt was, that would make that whole area
bad, because when you --
Olsen: Because you could never get the round in the chamber,
then?
Sturgis: Not that sir. What would happen would be the explosion of
the shell would shatter the metal?
Olsen: Because that destroyed the temper?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Let's move quickly. Did you buy weapons any place else
other than at Alexandria, Virginia?
Sturgis: I think it was Illinois. I went to Illinois with a friend of mine.
Olsen: Do you know the name of the company from which you
bought weapons there?
Sturgis: No sir. [Richard Lauchli] I may have something in there that

can tell me the name of the people that I bought them from.
516
Olsen: Do you know the name of the company from which you
bought it?
Sturgis: There was no company.
Olsen: Do you know the name of the city where you went to buy it?
Sturgis: I will have to check that.
Olsen: Any place else besides Illinois?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I am trying to --- in discussing this with you -- these
people belong the Minutemen group.
Olsen: You mean the ones in Illinois?
Sturgis: Yes. And I forgot the name of the man who is head of the
Minutemen.
Olsen: DuBois?
Sturgis: Robert DuBois, that is right.
Olsen: From Norborne, Missouri.
Sturgis: Norborne, Missouri, is the other place I went to.
Olsen: Did you also buy some weapons there?
Sturgis: Well, I went to him first, and he in turn sent me to one of his
close partners or aides or what have you, that was in Illinois on a
farm that had a shed full of guns and equipment, mortars, 60
millimeter mortars, 90 millimeter mortars, the whole works. I bought
some equipment from him.
Olsen: Did you buy any equipment anyplace else?
Sturgis: I would think that was the only two people -- yes, I bought
the equipment at National Gun Shop at Southwest 22nd Avenue
and 4th Street. I believe it was. In Miami.
Olsen: Was all of the military equipment that you bought, FRANK,
for the Castro regime essentially in the small arms category?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
517
Olsen: And ammunition?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: And did you buy anything like tanks, armored cars, trucks,
jeeps, anything of that character?
Sturgis: No sir, no heavy stuff.
Roethe: Except the two airplanes?
Sturgis: Just the two aircraft, yes.
Olsen: Did all of this small arms and ammunition that you bought get
shipped over to Cuba, then?
Sturgis: Yes, I shipped it myself, personally, plus we have a network

set up of various means of shipping the equipment to Cuba.
Olsen: Essentially involving revolutionaries in Florida?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Let's go back to the period after you got back into this
country. You participated for some time in assisting other Cubans to
get out of the country, and particularly some of the high Air Force
officials who you referred to?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: What else did you do after you got back into this country?
Sturgis: I maintained contact with the underground leaders.
Olsen: When you say the underground leaders now, are you
speaking about underground leaders in Miami.
Sturgis: Miami and Cuba. And both worked together yet.
Olsen: When you talk about underground, you are talking about
forces now that are interested in overturning Castro?
Sturgis: That is right.
Olsen: So that you had become pretty much a full-feldged anti-

Castro operator even before you got back into the U.S.?
518
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: What else did you do then after you got back? Did you make
contact with any officials of the U.S. Government? Or put it another
way, when were you first in contact, after getting back June 20,
1959, when did you first make contact with anybody who you
understood to be an official of the U.S. Government?
Sturgis: Sam Jennis.
Olsen: Was Sam Jennis and underground leader in Miami?
Sturgis: Let me say the Sangenes, S-A-N-G-E-N-E-S?
Olsen: Is that all one word, S-A-N-G-E-N-E-S?
Sturgis: Yes sir, one word.
Olsen: It is not two separate words, is it?
Sturgis: No sir. That is the Saneges family, which were Louis

Sangenes, and Sergio Saneges, who I have been working closely
with in 1957 and 1958. And I made contact with Joaquim Sangenes,
code Sam Jennis. I met Barker, Bernard L. Barker, who at that time
worked with the CIA, whose boss was EDUARDO. When
EDUARDO was relieved of his duty after the Bay of Pigs failure,
Barker'S next Chief of Station was (Deleted).
Olsen: Let's take those one by one. You named several members of
the Sangenes family.
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: You have given us Louis.
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Sergio and Joaquin?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Now, what were their positions?
Sturgis: CIA.
Olsen: All three of them?
519
Sturgis: Yes, the CIA, I was led to believe.
Olsen: And were all three of them in Miami?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: And what kind of contact did you have with them? Did they
come a recruit you or talk to you?
Sturgis: No sir. You have got to remember that I was in touch with
these people from 1957 to 1958.
Olsen: What kind of contact did you have with them in 1957 and
1958?
Sturgis: Working with them in the overthrow of the Batista

government.
Olsen: What did you do to work with them in the overthrow of the
Batista government?
Sturgis: Smuggled guns, equipment. I was up in the mountains with

Fidel, fought in several battles with the rebel forces in the
mountains. Again, we brought Clark Wollan into the picture. And so
up the line to the embassy.
Olsen: What I am trying to get at here is, did these Sengenes family
members have any role in this other than as CIA agents, or were
they revolutionaries themselves intent upon overthrowing the Batista
government?
Sturgis: Right, sir, yes, sir. Their position at a latter date got to be
very important, the fact that they were recruited to be agents for
Central Intelligence Agency.
Olsen: When were they recruited to be agents for the CIA?
Sturgis: I would believe the year 1959, if not already 1958, which I
am not sure.
Roethe: And what was their position outwardly? They were not card
carrying CIA people, I presume, they must have had some position
in the Miami community.
Sturgis: Well, these people were top leaders in the revolution. And
remember, they did have contact with the past government of
520
Batista, in the government, the top people, and also with the new
government to be, which was the 26th of July Fidel Castro outfit.
They worked very well into that. You have got to understand their
background a little bit. The Sangenes family years back were
involved in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain. They were young
people at that time. They thought the Communist ideology -- from
what I understand from them, they thought that was the thing in
those days. So naturally, they broke away from the Communists
themselves. And they were very intelligent people. And these are
the type of people, with the position that they were in, the
intelligence that they have, that the American Government would
like to have as agents.
Olsen: But your contact with them in 1957 and 1958 --
Sturgis: Was strictly revolutionary.
Olsen: Was strictly revolutionary?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: They were not, as far as you know, at that time, associated
with the CIA?
Sturgis: As far as I know.
Olsen: As far as you know?
Sturgis: I did not know if they were or were not.
Olsen: You had no indication, then, that they were?
Sturgis: No indication.
Olsen: So it was not until after you came back from Cuba in 1959
and made contact with them again that you believed that they were
agents of the CIA?
Sturgis: Right, yes, sir.
Olsen: What did they say or do at that time to lead you to believe
that they were agents of the CIA?
Sturgis: Well, number one, the activity that was going on in the
Miami area, not only my activity, (illegible) one in the same position
that I had, the comings and goings of people in and out of Cuba.
521
Mrs. Geraldine Shamma, whom I recruited as an agent for the

Embassy, was traveling from Havana to Miami. And she had a
home on Brickell Avenue, which was a safe house for the CIA. The
Cubans who came from Havana would come to the safe house
which she maintained herself with her own money, not CIA money,
her own money. Bernard Barker would call her up, and she would
tell him who was there, and he would come over to pick up these
Cuban exiles to be sent over to be interrogated or debriefed. This is
what Bernard Barker would do. And E. McCord’s, I believe, may
have come over there. I don't think he did, but anyway, she met him
traveling back and forth from Havana, where she met him, I don't
know off hand. You would have to ask her.
Olsen: You mean you have subsequently heard or learned that she
did possibly had some contact with Hunt?
Sturgis: Oh, I knew that for years, because, remember, I was in

Brickell Avenue in Miami, too.
Olsen: What was the address now?
Sturgis: It is torn down now. I forget the address. They may be able
to remember the address.
Olsen: How did you know that this was a CIA safe house?
Sturgis: Well, again, the top military commanders who were in Cuba
were in exile, and had meetings (illegible) this was when the CIA
started to get the Cubans together to form the nucleus of an
invasion force that was to go to Latin America to train. So there was
a lot of activity, a lot of activity.
Olsen: Didn't that begin in 1960?
Sturgis: I would say that we had the house there in 1960, yes. And
we were in touch with various agents, Barker, for one. I was in touch
with Sam, and also the other Sangenes. Louis Sangenes had an
office in downtown Miami that was part of a recruiting office that he
had prior to the invasion.
Olsen: Frank, I was asking you a little while ago what the members
of the Sangenes family said or did to lead you to conclude that they
were agents of the Central Intelligence Agency? You told me that
one of the women you had recruited in Cuba on behalf of the
American Embassy there lived in a CIA safe house in Miami. But I
522
am not sure whether you answered the question that I put to you.
How did you know that the Sangenes family members were agents
of the CIA?
Sturgis: I am not sure whether Sam told me at that period that he

was working with the company or not, I am not sure, because I can't
pin down the date. But he told me he was working ---
Olsen: Which one of the Sangenes family members was it that was
called Sam Jennis?
Sturgis: That is Joaquim Sangenes. My understanding through the

years is that he got to hold a high position with the CIA.
Olsen: Was Sangenes on the same level or subordinate to

BERNARD Barker?
Sturgis: Well you must understand that EDUARDO at that time was
a political officer.
Olsen: You are talking about beginning sometime in 1960?
Sturgis: Right. And Barker'S position with EDUARDO was as his

assistant. So that means Barker at that time was involved with the
political officers, working for a political officer, which was political.
Olsen: And when you say political, what was EDUARDO doing,
what were EDUARDO and Barker doing at that time as political
officers?
Sturgis: I can tell you what EDUARDO was doing, even though I
didn't meet him, because I knew Barker's activities. Barker was -- if
EDUARDO wanted to have a meeting with Tony Varona -- he was
the President of the Revolutionary Council that was formed by CIA.
Olsen: What was that called, the Cuban Revolutionary Council?
Sturgis: No, sir, that was called the Cuban Revolutionary Council,
but it had other names that are in Spanish, Miro Cardona, was part
of that.
Olsen: I am going to ask you to give me some names of the leaders

of the Cuban Revolutionary organizations--
Sturgis: Council.
523
Olsen: --in Miami in 1959, 1960 and 1961. Miro Cardona, right?
Sturgis: I believe Miro Cardona was the President of the Council.

Tony Varona. He was the Secretary General of the Council. Well,
Manuel Artime, was part of that. He was part of the council. There
has been a lot of writing which (illegible) about his position. They
call Artime the leader of the invasion brigade. That is not so. Manuel
Artime's position was, he was the coordinator between the political
group of the Revolutionary Council -- the Revolutionary Council was
a political force with the brigade, which was the military force. And
because of him being who he was and his contacts, they made him
like, I would say, a liaison between both the Brigade and the
Revolutionary Council. He was not the leader of the invasion.
Olsen: Who else was at the top of the Revolutionary Council?
Sturgis: San Roman.
Olsen: Is that his last name?
Sturgis: S-A-M R-O-M-A-N.
Olsen: And was he just one of the members of the Revolutionary

Council or the leaders?
Sturgis: Yes sir, he was one of the leaders of the Revolutionary

Council. And you must remember, the Revolutionary Council was
going to be the governing body of a new government in Cuba.
Olsen: Yes, I understand. It is worth at this point naming a few of the

other very prominent people who were members of the
Revolutionary Council which was going to form the nucleus of the
new government if Castro was overthrown?
Sturgis: Let me say this here. There was a lot of dissention that was
going on in the Revolutionary Council. There was a power struggle
within the Council. You had another member who was outside the
Revolutionary Council that they had wanted in. And this is very
important. President Kennedy -- I think it was Bobby Kennedy --
either President Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy insisted that this man
had to go into this Revolutionary Council. That man did not have an
organization in Cuba, this man supposedly had only a nucleus of a
handful of revolutionaries -- which caused a big uproar, and
changes a lot of things.
524
Olsen: Who was this that the Kennedys wanted in?
Sturgis: Dr. Manolo Ray, who was considered very much to the left.
This created such a turmoil. He was leftist, and his thoughts and
thinking were like Fidel Castro's.
Navarro: In Cuba he was a commander for the Castro Army. And he

was one of the ministers for the Castro Government.
Olsen: Why did he go to Florida?
Sturgis: Again, Fidel had a power struggle in Cuba where you had
the anti-Communists against Fidel himself, and the Fidel Castro
government. At that time it was not said that it was a Communist
government, but it was a pink type government. You had power
struggles within the government. For instance, Commander Camelo
Cienfuegos, I believe because of his contact with me, was executed
by Fidel Castro. And people like Manolo Ray, who were on the left,
were against the Communists.
Olsen: Anyway, you advise us that the insistence of one or both of

the Kennedy's created a major uproar in the Revolutionary Council
because --
Sturgis: And in the Brigade. Because you must remember, Mr.

Olsen, that CIA had direct contact, the political sector of CIA, in
which McCord’s as EDUARDO, was a high ranking political officer
with the Revolutionary Council. Then, you had a separate group
which was the Brigade. McCord’s had nothing to do with the
Brigade. It was a separate section of the CIA. And then, you had a
third separation which was Operation Forty, which was a Top Secret
operation. And the head of Operation Forty was Sam Jennis. The
second chief --
Olsen: Who headed the Brigade?
Sturgis: The head of the Brigade was Orncido Oliva. He is a colonel

in the National Guard.
Olsen: And what was the nature of Operation Forty?
Sturgis: Operation Forty was a CIA Top Secret operation. They

were to train, I believe, approximately 200 Cubans who were in the
Army. They were officers --
525
Olsen: That is the American Army?
Sturgis: The American Army, who went and received training in the
American Army as officers. Their main job was intelligence. These
men were going to be used to infiltrate Cuba to make contact with
the underground.
Olsen: Which one of the Sangenes family members headed

Operation Forty?
Sturgis: Sam Jennis was the head of the Operation. The second
chief of Operation Forty was Felipe Gutierrez.
Olsen: All three of these different operations were essentially being

organized by the CIA, weren't they?
Sturgis: Yes sir. If you remember, every one including the President
of the U.S. denied that the CIA was behind more funding or training
of these people. But they were in fact being what they were
supposed to be, U.S. Government operations.
Olsen: It is your testimony, Frank, that the Revolutionary Council

was being financially supported by and organized by the CIA with E.
Howard Hunt, otherwise know at that time as being EDUARDO,
being the chief CIA agent involved in setting up the Revolutionary
Council?
Sturgis: Let me correct you a little bit there. He was one of the high
political officers of the CIA that was involved in the organization of
the Revolutionary Council.
Olsen: And who was it from the CIA who was heading up the
training and the organizing and the funding, financing, and what not,
of the Brigade?
Sturgis: Well, the funding naturally again was CIA, funding for
Operation Forty was CIA. The training for Operation Forty was U.S.
Army and CIA. Mr. Frank Bender, which is a code name for Mr.
Drecher, is his real name, who was the top CIA official who was in
charge of the CIA operation in South Florida for this mess.
Olsen: The whole thing?
Sturgis: Yes.
526
Olsen: Was Mr. Drecher's real first name FRANK also?
Sturgis: I don't know, sir. He is, I believe, of German extraction, if I

am not mistaken. He was a naturalized citizen, he was not born in
this country.
Olsen: Do you know whether he is still with the Agency?
Sturgis: I don't know sir.
Olsen: And who was the chief CIA officer having supervisory
responsibilities or major responsibility for Operation Forty?
Sturgis: I couldn't go over Sam Jennis myself.
Olsen: But you don't know who it was?
Sturgis: All I knew who was above him was Frank Bender, whom I
have never met.
Olsen: Did you meet other people who were, let's say, non-Cubans,
who were involved in the planning with respect to the operation that
finally ended up with the Bay of Pigs?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Who else did you meet?
Sturgis: I would have to look through my notes and get you the
names.
Olsen: You don't remember any right off hand here now?
Sturgis: Well, there was one man, I can't tell you his name, but he
had one arm, and he was a colonel in the French Foreign Legion.
He had this home which I had visited several times. I think it was in
Coconut Grove. And he was a CIA official. And I believe I do have
his name sir, in my notes.
Olsen: Now, what part did you play, Frank, in this whole operation
that led to the Bay of Pigs?
Sturgis: Well, I will have to go back again to Geraldine Shamma at

Brickel Avenue. My contact with all the same top military
commanders that were in Cuba both in the Army and in the Air
Force who were in exile. Geraldine's contact with the head of the
527
underground organization inside of Cuba, with Francisco, whose

real name I will give you, but I forget it off hand. Her contact here in
Brickel Avenue with Barker and Hunt. And my association, naturally,
with Sam Jennis, who at a later date, when I told him that Barker
wanted me to help him in some of his work, and Barker, not knowing
that I had contact, or was working with Sam Jennis, of course, you
have got to understand, a lot of these top people that were in exile
who at a later date were involved in the Congo who were friends of
mine who were CIA agents. And those were the agents when they
came into exile.
I know this is off the track, Mr. Olsen, but it is going to be very
important. You have got to understand that you have the same --
not all the Cubans, now, I am talking about -- you have the same
nucleus of the Cubans who came over here in the beginning, not
every one, but the nucleus of them who were in Cuba with Batista,
who were associated with the gambling casinos, the crime
syndicate, the American crime syndicate, which in turn controlled
the Cuban crime syndicate because all Cubans are not bad, but
there was a Cuban crime syndicate. These same people, because
of the people they knew with Batista, because of the people that
they knew in Cuba, they not only supported Batista, but those same
people did support the new Castro government, and got themselves
in as a safeguard that if the rebels did succeed, at least they had
contact. And they did give money and they did give information and
so forth, to these people. And some of them were involved in drugs
and crime and what have you.
Olsen: When you say these people, who are the people you are
talking about?
Sturgis: I can't put my finger on it, Mr. Olsen. But as we go along -- I

am going to jump again -- I have seen this myself, the same people
who participated, some of them who participated in the Bay of Pigs
invasion, were people who were considered Batistanos, some of
them. Now, the Batistanos who supported Batista weren't all bad,
but these same people who came over here and were recruited by
the CIA, and worked here as agents, and some as double agents.
Because of their criminal activities, a lot of information was gotten
out of Cuba, because of the contacts.
Olsen: Were any of these people among the leaders of the Cuban
Revolutionary Council?
528
Sturgis: No, I would think they were outside of the Revolutionary

Council.
Olsen: Were any of these people among the leaders of the Brigade?
Sturgis: Some were suspected of being double-agents in the

Brigade. But then again, you must understand that the Brigade
itself, or persons in the Brigade was not a CIA agent, even though
the Brigade was recruited from the Cuban colony to fight its soldiers.
So that doesn't make them CIA agents, that makes them a force
being financed and trained, and their families being paid monies
while they were training, and away from home, and fighting, and
even while they were in Cuba as prisoners their families were still
receiving money from the CIA.
Olsen: Were any of the Batista clan, let's call them, who were
among the leaders of Operation Forty?
Sturgis: Yes sir.
Olsen: Who among the leadership of Operation Forty?
Sturgis: Felipe Guiterrez, the second chief of Operation Forty, was a

G-2 agent under Batista, a high ranking officer.
Olsen: Was he someone who had close connections with the crime
syndicate in Cuba?
Sturgis: I don't know that much about it. But there was a hatred
between the second chief of Operation Forty and Sam Jennis, who
was the chief of Operation Forty. Each one accused the other, from
my information, of being a double agent, while being a CIA agent.
Olsen: Can you name for us a few of the top people who you felt or
believed at that time to be persons who had close connections with
the Cuban and American underground syndicate -- underworld
syndicate?
Sturgis: Senator or ex-Senator Rolando Masferrer. I have something

in there that I would like to give you so that you will know his whole
background. And then another Senator who at one time was
involved in drugs -- I can't think of his name. Masferrer was called El
Tigre, the tiger. He was a Senator under Batista, an ex-Communist,
and an ex-member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain. He
owns a newspaper in Miami called Libertad. And he was very much
529
in touch with the crime syndicate, the American crime syndicate in

Havana, plus the Cuban crime syndicate. Anyway, Senator
Masferrer, because of his loyalty to General Batista, under the
protection and auspices of General Batista, formed army of
approximately 2,000 men, a private army, which supposedly was
like the muscles of Batista. If Batista wanted to get rid of any of his
enemies, Masferrer was there to do the muscle work. He kept the
heat off the G-2, which was the Cuban Intelligence Service. I would
say many of the ex-Senators that came into exile during Batista's
time had contact with the U.S. underworld. This one man, this one
Senator, I am trying to remember his name, was involved so much
with the U.S. underworld and drugs that the American Government
at one time threatened Batista to stop the sale of all legal drugs into
Cuba because of this man. And this man today is living in Miami
Beach.
Olsen: Is he the Senator whose name you are trying to remember?
Sturgis: Yes. And a very wealthy man.
Navarro: He is the closest friend of President Prio.
Sturgis: Very close to ex-President Carlos Prio.
Olsen: Let's move on from that subject here now to a further

exploration of what you did during this period leading up to the Bay
of Pigs. Did you operate with the Revolutionary Council?
Sturgis: I had contact with the Revolutionary Council.
Olsen: Did you have contact with Operation Forty.
Sturgis: Yes, sir, I did.
Olsen: And did you have contact with the Brigade?
Sturgis: No sir, not with the Brigade in general. What I did do is,
many of the Brigade members -- not many, but some of the Brigade
members -- did live at my home. I had a home at Southwest 60th
Court.
Olsen: What role did you play in that organization?
Sturgis: Intelligence, training, I did train some of the Brigade

members in the Everglades. And I have pictures of the training
530
camp. As a matter of fact, one of the persons I did train is the Vice
Mayor of Miami, Manolo Rebozo. I trained many of the intelligence
teams for the Brigade.
Olsen: Did you get paid for this activity?
Sturgis: I did not get paid by CIA.
Olsen: Did you get paid by anybody?
Sturgis: Can we just leave that alone right there?
Olsen: You are at liberty at any time, FRANK, to not go into some
subject if you don't want to. But the important thing for us here is,
we want to find of whether the CIA has been involved in any
improper domestic activities in the U.S., and that is why we want, if
we can, to get you to discuss as openly with us as possible what
your connection with the CIA was.
Sturgis: Well, it is going to be very difficult, Mr. Olsen, for me to

really tell you what my connections with the CIA are, because I have
nothing to show. But in the record there are documents, CIA
documents and memoranda that show that, for instance, John Dean
at the Watergate hearing -- some of the documents, and so forth,
CIA documents -- John Dean made a telephone call to Mr.
Schlesinger, who at the time was Director of the CIA --
Olsen: Hold up, if you will, right here, Frank. I want you to tell me not
what came out in Watergate hearings from somebody else, I want
you to tell me what your relationship was down there as you knew it.
Sturgis: Well, I was associated with the CIA.
Olsen: But I want to know exactly what that association was.
Sturgis: Well, that is what I am trying to put in perspective.
Olsen: I want to have you lay out the facts as clearly as you possibly
can lay them out to us, pinpointing as accurately as you possibly
can, what your connection with the CIA was during the period of
time that the Bay of Pigs operation was being planned and carried
out.
531
Sturgis: Okay. At one period -- and I can't remember the date, I am

not sure whether it was before the Bay of Pigs or after the Bay of
Pigs -- one of the CIA agents wanted me to assist him.
Olsen: Who is that?
Sturgis: Bernard L. Barker. I made contact with Sam, and Sam says,
help him.
Olsen: When you say Sam, are you talking about Sam Jennis?
Sturgis: Yes. The idea was Frank, there are groups here that are
breaking the law. We don't want to upset the apple cart in Cuba.
You will have to help me, because of many groups, revolutionary
groups are breaking the law.
Olsen: So Barker approached you?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: And what did he approach you for?
Sturgis: Well, there was an operation in effect where a F-4U -- I

believe it was an F4U -- Navy fighter plane was bought by some
Americans to be used in a bombing raid over Cuba, most likely
Havana -- that is the oil refineries.
Olsen: Can I interrupt just a second? That was after the Bay of Pigs,
wasn't it?
Sturgis: I am not sure whether it was before or after.
Olsen: Go ahead.
Sturgis: The only way you can find out about that is, I will give you
the name, and if you can get in touch with the party, I believe he
may have records, I don't know, because my records were
destroyed.
Olsen: Anyway, Barker wanted you to try to give him some help in
cooling the thing, is that it?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I told Barker that I would see what I can do. I made
contact with Sam Jennis, and told him what Barker, as friend of
mine, wanted me to do. And he said for me to go and help Barker.
532
Olsen: And did you then do some investigation?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Did you come up with anything?
Sturgis: I sure did.
Olsen: Did you pass that on to Barker?
Sturgis: Yes sir. I took him to where the airplane was hidden in a
hanger and being worked on and ready for a bombing run over the
oil refineries in Havana.
Olsen: And was that planned operation then aborted as a result?
Sturgis: It was broken up, and I believe the airplane was

confiscated, through the channels, proper channels. The man that
was primarily involved in this thing, his name was Bill Johnson.
Olsen: And where was Bill Johnson from?
Sturgis: From Miami.
Olsen: Is he an American?
Sturgis: Yes sir, he is an American citizen. And he lives there today,

and he has a business there in that area.
Olsen: Had he been employed to do this by Cuban revolutionaires,

do you know?
Sturgis: No sir. He was a mercenary man that would contact Cuban

groups and ask them for money, he would do certain things, and
make flights, and so forth, over Cuba. I, a number of times, did seek
to obtain Bill Johnson's help in the Bahama Islands for bases that
were needed (illegible) bases in the Bahama Islands. And Bill did
help me on a number of occasions as far as some air penetrations
in Cuba. He dug up some pilots for me, not knowing or realizing, I
believed, that I was connected with anybody in the CIA.
Olsen: Did you engage in any of this kind of activity yourself similar
to what Bill Johnson did?
Sturgis: Yes, I went on a number of these flights.
533
Olsen: Did you consider yourself kind of a mercinary yourself?
Sturgis: No, sir.
Olsen: Who planned, organized, financed and otherwise involved

you in these activities, then, that were directed at Cuba after the Bay
of Pigs?
Sturgis: Well, you must remember that I had a position in Cuba with
my friends who also had top positions even higher than my position.
And I considered myself a revolutionary like them. I assisted my
government and various agencies, including the CIA, with no salary
in mind. At some time or another where CIA money was used -- for
instance, the B-25, I flew with Pedro Diaz Lanz over the city of
Havana on October 21, 1959, dropping several hundreds of
thousands of leaflets over the city, over the Air Forces base.
Olsen: Who prepared those leaflets?
Sturgis: I had a home on Southwest 60 Court where Diaz Lanz and

his two brothers and myself and other people, revoltionary Cubans,
lived, and I had a secret printing machine that we printed these
leaflets with.
Olsen: What other kind of projects ---
Roethe: Was this financed by the CIA, or at least do you believe it

was?
Sturgis: Well, I cannot actually tell you that it was. Because at that
period of time I did not know, even though we did have contact with
the company. I cannot say, unless I see you as a CIA man give him
money, I cannot say I saw him get money from the CIA.
Roethe: Was somebody financing this?
Sturgis: Certainly.
Roethe: And the financing was --
Olsen: Let me follow up on this if I may, Jim. Do you know who

directly put up the money to finance that flight with the propaganda
leaflets over Havana in October 1959?
534
Sturgis: October 21, 1959. The money for that operation, no, off
hand I don't know directly where that money came from. You would
have to ask Commander Pedro Diaz Lanz, or his brother, Marcos,
Diaz Lanz.
Olsen: What other projects did you participate in directed at Cuba.

Let's talk about after you left from Cuba now.
Sturgis: I did go to the Dominican Republic. I spoke several times

with Raphael Trujillo, the President of the Dominican Republic.
Olsen: About what?
Sturgis: About giving help to Pedro Diaz Lanz. And he agreed to.
Unfortunately, Pedro did not want to go the Dominican Republic. He
stayed in Miami.
Olsen: And what else did you do in terms of activities directed at

Cuba?
Sturgis: I went to Guatemala, and I spoke with the President of

Guatemala, President Ydigoras.
Olsen: About the same thing, about assistance to Pedro Diaz Lanz?
Sturgis: Not only assistance, but also invasion bases, which

President Ydigoras was giving to the Cubans for an invasion of
Cuba.
Roethe: Who sponsored those trips?
Sturgis: I would have to think on that particular thing where the

money was obtained.
Olsen: At whose request or suggestion did you go to Guatemala for

that purpose?
Sturgis: I am not sure at this time.
Olsen: Can you tell us at whose suggestion or request you went to

the Dominican Republic and talked to Trujillo?
Sturgis: I was at the Biltmore Terrace Hotel on Miami Beach -- I

can't remember the year. But the man who was running, or at least
one of the men who was running the Biltmore Terrace Hotel was
Norman Rothman. That place was supposidely a hang out of all the
535
top Batista people who came into exile. The top of the Biltmore
Hotel was being readied for President Batista, who was in the
Dominican Republic. I went to the Biltmore. And I was introduced to
an intelligence agent who was a close buddy of General Trujillo's
son, who I believe at the time was chief of the Air Force, the
Dominican Air Force. This man asked me, or approached me in
conversation and told me the General Trujillo would like to speak
with the ex-Chief of Air Force, Pedro Diaz Lanz. And if I could make
arrangements for the contact between him and Pedro, he would
appreciate it. And I did make contact. And Pedro did not want to go
to the Dominican Republic. So I said, I will go to the Dominican for
you. And I did. And it was set up and arranged by this intelligence
agent.
Olsen: The intelligence agent of ---
Sturgis: Trujillo. And I was received -- I had carte blanc in the

Dominican Republic. I stayed at the top hotel there, I think it was
called the Ambassador Hotel there in Santo Domingo. I was
received at the palace. I went directly with this intelligence agent to
the Presidential office. Trujillo was present in his white uniform.
Johnny Abbes, as Chief of Intelligence, was there, a known past
Communist, who I believe is still a Communist, or at least playing
his little games.
Olsen: Frank, can you tell me what other projects now you
participated in that were directed against Cuba?
Sturgis: Well, I did a number of air and boat operations against

Cuba that were not green light operations.
Olsen: Now, tell me what air operations you conducted?
Sturgis: Well, let me tell you the main ones, because I did so many
that I couldn't pinpoint them all. One of the main operations -- well,
Havana, October 21, 1959, which caused and created an
international incident between the U.S. Government and the Cuban
Government. A few months later relations were broken because of
this incident, it was as excuse, between the governments, relations
were completely broken. Another operation I did over the City of
Havana with two aircraft, I dropped several hundred thousands of
leaflets over that city.
Olsen: When was that?
536
Sturgis: I forget the date on that. I made a flight over Santiago De

Cuba.
Olsen: For what purpose?
Sturgis: Leaflets. I made another flight into Las Villas Provence and
dropped two underground agents into Las Villas Province with radio
equipment.
Olsen: By parachute?
Sturgis: Yes, sir. I made another flight on the south coast of Pinar
del Rio Province.
Olsen: For what purpose?
Sturgis: To drop some leaflets there. And I made some bombing

runs over Nuevitas. And I dropped four bombs over the City of
Nuevitas.
Olsen: What were you trying to hit?
Sturgis: Tobacco warehouses. The idea of that -- it sounds

ridiculous -- but the idea of that was, as I made a number of
penetrations by air and by boat -- and I thought they were ridiculous
to do these things -- not all the operations I did were ridiculous, but
from what Sam told me, the purpose of these operations was to test
defenses, the radar defenses, their anti-aircraft defenses and their
naval defenses. And I would fly in low and slow in a small aircraft,
and not necessarily would I do all the trips, but I would organize
these trips. And he preferred that I did not go on these trips, but I
went.
Olsen: Who is he?
Sturgis: Sam Jennis. And I maintained a good leader of men must

take risks.
Olsen: You mean he approved of these trips, but didn't like the idea
of you doing it yourself, is that it?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: At whose behest did you make these trips?
537
Sturgis: Well, most of them by Sam. You must understand this.

Again, I will say, I don't know if I told you this on the record, that
there are green light operations. A green light operation is an
operation that all agencies are involved in. In other words, if the CIA
wants to do an operation, especially if it is here in the U.S., for
instance, like the Bay of Pigs invasion, every law in the book was
broken, because they were smuggling refugees in and out of the
countries, guns, explosives. My boat was used for infiltration into
Cuba of guns and agents and explosives.
Olsen: In preparation for the Bay of Pigs?
Sturgis: Before and after the Bay of Pigs.
Olsen: What kind of boat did you have?
Sturgis: Well, I had four boats. It think it was a 63-foot Coast Guard
cutter that we bought in Norfolk, Virginia. I bought another boat --
Olsen: When you say we bought that boat in Norfolk, Virginia, when
was that bought?
Sturgis: Let me say, Pedro Diaz Lanz went down to Norfolk,

Virginia, and put the money up, and so forth, and he and his brother
and myself took it back from Norfolk, Virginia, and brought it down
here to Miami.
Olsen: With what money did you buy it?
Sturgis: Again, I have a blank thing here in my mind at that

particular time as to where that particular money came from.
Olsen: Who put the money up, Pedro Diaz Lanz.
Sturgis: He, himself? No. He was given money to buy all this
equipment.
Olsen: But you don't know by whom?
Sturgis: Right now, no sir, I don't know who gave him the money for
these boats.
Olsen: Anyway, did the boat get registered in your name?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
538
Olsen: This Coast Guard cutter?
Sturgis: Yes, sir, all four boats were registered in my name, the
Coast Guard cutter, of which I have the pictures -- and I think I have
the numbers on that.
Olsen: And what other boat do you have?
Sturgis: I have another boat, which was a 63 foot yacht called the
Quesa.
Olsen: And who bought that boat?
Sturgis: Pedro Diaz Lanz and myself.
Olsen: Again, with money that you don't know the source of?
Sturgis: I can't think of it.
Olsen: What I am trying to do is speed up these things. I don't want

to hear the story about each boat. I am trying to get at the guts of
these things. What other boats did you have?
Sturgis: I had two 60-foot fiberglass boats that we bought from

Bertram Yacht Company, two sixty footers that did approximately 50
miles an hour.
Olsen: These were power boats?
Sturgis: Power boats, yes sir.
Olsen: Private launchings, so to speak?
Sturgis: No, sir. I believe they were about -- I think they were maybe
16 feet wide and 30 feet wide.
Olsen: What were they being made for?
Sturgis: For infiltration in and out because of the speed, they did a
top speed of fifty miles and hour.
Olsen: Were they manufactured expressly for you?
Sturgis: No, sir. These were new boats that Bertrams were bringing
out of the yard as experimental for either racing or for anyone who
wanted this type of a yacht for speed.
539
Roethe: Do you have any indication that any of these boats were
paid for by CIA funds? Do you suspect or believe that they were?
Sturgis: Let me say this here. Again, the boats were used for
infiltration, and there was CIA infiltration. Now, the person who can
really get to the nitty gritty of boats, and so forth, is either Marcos
Diaz Lanz -- and I will give you his address in Miami -- Pedro Diaz
Lanz, I do not believe he is in Miami, he is the brother of Marcos, I
believe that he is in Texas working as a fumigating pilot. And as a
matter of fact, Pedro Diaz Lanz was very, very upset by the Bay of
Pigs invasion. He was in charge of a special air group with the B-25
that was in my name. It failed, he told them it failed, he didn't like the
operation. And he has got a dread, he is very paranoid, that the CIA
wants to kill him. I think he is wrong. But unfortunately, I believe he
is that paranoid in his mind, and he sees an agent behind every
door that wants to kill him. But he has been in touch with the CIA.
Olsen: FRANK, you have mentioned the fact that you and Diaz
Lanz, one of them at least, Pedro, acquired these boats, and that
these boats were then used in certain operations directed at Cuba.
What were these operations?
Sturgis: Infiltrations.
Olsen: When you say infiltrations, are you talking about putting
people who are in Cuba?
Sturgis: And taking people out of Cuba, and bringing guns and
equipment into Cuba.
Olsen: Now, when were these boats acquired, before the Bay of
Pigs?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: And were these trips into Cuba to bring people in, and to
take people out of Cuba, and to run guns into Cuba, and so on,
conducted both before and after the Bay of Pigs operation?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: How long did they continue after the Bay of Pigs operation?
Sturgis: I don't know, sir. I cannot give you a date.
540
Olsen: Approximately.
Sturgis: The Bay of Pigs was 1961. Maybe 1962, 1963.
Olsen: Do you still have any of those boats?
Sturgis: No, sir.
Olsen: When were they disposed of?
Sturgis: I turned them over to Diaz Lanz, and Diaz Lanz in turn sold
them.
Olsen: And you don't know what will happen to the proceeds?
Sturgis: Well, Diaz Lanz did take most of the proceeds, he gave his
brother some, and as a matter of fact, he gave me a little bit, not
much, but a little.
Olsen: Do you recollect how much he gave you?
Sturgis: On the boats I think maybe he might have given me a

thousand dollars.
Olsen: Did you get all of the directions, and orders, and requests, to
make these runs in to Cuba with the boat from Diaz Lanz, or did you
get direction and orders from anybody else?
Sturgis: It was a combination. Understand, I did not want Pedro to

know that I had contact with the people, because he trusted me
explicitly.
Olsen: You didn't want him to know that you had contact with what
people?
Sturgis: Well, for instance, I would make in a round-about way

contact for Pedro with other Cuban people, different agencies and
so forth.
Olsen: You have got me confused, now. I don't know what agencies
or people you are talking about here now that you didn't want Pedro
Diaz Lanz to know about.
Sturgis: I am getting a little ahead. For instance, if Barker wanted to

meet certain people, he would call me and say, FRANK, I would like
to meet so and so, do you know him, or can you get contact with
541
him? And I would say, yes, and then I would make contact and take
these parties to Barker to see what Barker would want of the
person.
Olsen: Did you ever get any directions with respect to any of these
boat or air operations directed at Cuba from anybody else whom
you knew was an official or agent of the CIA?
Sturgis: Let me say that I suspect, it will be an easier word for me.
Olsen: But none that you knew?
Sturgis: Let's say that I suspected of being a CIA agent, yes, I have
received orders from them to do operations.
Olsen: But again Frank, did you ever receive any directions or
instructions or requests to conduct any of these boat or air
operations against Cuba from somebody whom you knew to be an
agent of the CIA? I will come back to the business of suspicion here
later, but I first want to get an answer to that question.
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: Who?
Sturgis: Sam Jennis.
Olsen: Now, what operation or operations were you asked to

conduct directed at Cuba by Sam Jennis?
Sturgis: I was asked to assist Conte Aguerro.
Olsen: You were asked to do what with respect to Dr. Conte

Aguerro?
Sturgis: To assist him in air operations, that Conte Aguerro would

get the money. And I was to organize an air group to do several air
drops into Cuba, and pay the expenses and pay, not salaries, but
pay the expenses for the operation.
Olsen: Were you then paid by Dr. Conte Aguerro?
Sturgis: Well, Dr. Conte Aguerro used to ask me, well, FRANK, what
would it cost to organize and do an air lift raid over Cuba? And I
would sit down with him and go over the figures of what I would
542
have to do, and the money that would have to be laid out and so
forth.
Olsen: And then did he pay for that?
Sturgis: He would give the money to me. For instance, I told him,
here is a figure here, this, this, let's make a round figure of $5,000 to
do air operations.
Olsen: But did he then pay you?
Sturgis: Yes he would give me the money, he never paid me.
Olsen: What is the difference between his paying you and giving
you the money?
Sturgis: There is such a thing as, if you want to get paid, that means
each week you get paid a set salary.
Olsen: If I sell you an automobile for $5,000 and you pay me $5,000
for that automobile, that doesn't mean you are going to do it every
week, does it?
Sturgis: He is a good lawyer, I can't win that particular point with

you. You are right.
Olsen: So he paid you the $5,000 or whatever the figure was

whenever you did one of these projects for him?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: Did Sam Jennis put you in touch with him, or did he direct
you to do this for him?
Sturgis: No, he directed me to do this to make contacts with Conte

Aguerro, which I did. And evidently whatever progressed between
them too, I did the operation.
Olsen: Did Sam Jennis have any occupation or function other than
as an agent of the CIA?
Sturgis: To be very honest with you, I never asked him, I don't know.
Olsen: Do you have any reason to believe he was devoting 100

percent of his time to the CIA?
543
Sturgis: This would have lead me to believe that he was an official

of the CIA. Now, Felix, or Felipe Gutierrez, I know he was in
construction.
Olsen: And only maybe part -- maybe a part-time operative? Or was

he an operative at all?
Sturgis: No, I believe his business -- everybody had to make a living

-- unless you have something as a front.
Olsen: Did you feel that Gutierrez --- were you of the impression that
he was a CIA agent?
Sturgis: Oh, yes, certainly. Like I say, I can't say, I can't put my
finger on it and say, well, he is a hundred percent. I knew he was,
because of my close connection with CIA people.
Olsen: Let me try and sum up something on kind of an overall basis

and see if you can tell me that this is correct or incorrect, that during
the years after you came back from Cuba in 1959, and for some few
years thereafter, you have engaged in a number of operations
involving Cuban exiles and Americans that were in one way or
another directed at trying to subvert or overthrow the Castro regime
in Cuba?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: That you did so under arrangements where you were asked
sometimes to do something, and you would get paid for it?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Kind of a job-by-job basis, is that a fair statement?
Sturgis: Right.
Olsen: And is it a fair statement that at no time did you know that the
money that was being paid to you was or was not CIA money?
Sturgis: Sometimes I did know it was CIA money.
Olsen: Now tell me when you knew it was CIA money.
Sturgis: When my B-25 bomber was at the Miami International

Airport to be ready for operation, or to be operational, I knew that
544
the money that Diaz Lanz received to make the payment for the
repairs of the B-25 came from CIA.
Olsen: Now did he tell you it came from CIA?
Sturgis: Certainly.
Olsen: Was there a time when the Bay of Pigs operation was being
planned?
Sturgis: Yes, sir.
Olsen: Was it intended that your aircraft were going to be used in

connection with that operation?
Sturgis: Yes sir. The same thing with the boat, the money that came
to maintain the boat for the operation of CIA.
Olsen: Who told you this?
Sturgis: Pedro Diaz Lanz.
Olsen: So that both with respect to the maintenance of your boats

and maintenance of the aircraft, Pedro told you that the money was
provided for taking care of that was provided him in turn by the CIA?
Sturgis: Yes. He told me that the boats, or the airplanes, needed

repairs. And I told him to go see Barker and get the money. And that
is exactly what he did, he went to see Barker.
Olsen: Did you ever discuss that with Barker?
Sturgis: I am not sure, really. Again, I am going back into something

as detail, whether I told him hey, there was money needed for
repairs of the plane, get the money or not, I just told Diaz Lanz to go
see Barker, and to get the boat - get the airplane operational, and
that he would give me the money. And that he would get the money.
And he did get the money.
Olsen: That is the kind of information that I have been seeking. I am

trying to pin down what the money was for, who told you it was CIA
money, and what steps were taken that led to your getting the
money. Were there any other operations or expenditures that you
had which you feel you are on strong, sound ground in saying were
financed by the CIA?
545
Sturgis: I was asked to do an assassination.
Olsen: By whom?
Sturgis: Can I hold back on that?
Olsen: No, I would prefer that you tell us, if you will.
Sturgis: It was never carried out.
Olsen: That is all right.
Sturgis: I was contacted by this agent -- I am trying to go ahead and

think of the date again, because again I will say, I had notes, and I
keep them so far, and then I destroy them. And I did tell the Senate
Watergate Committee that a friend of mine who was a CIA agent
contacted me and asked me if I would do an assassination. And I
told him I would. He said, good. Then, I will pass it on to my
superior. And he made contact with me later, at a later date. I
believe we had -- I am not sure -- I think we had either lunch or
dinner at some ranch house.
Olsen: Is this in Miami?
Sturgis: Yes.
Olsen: First of all, can you go back and tell me when you were
approached by this friend of yours.
Sturgis: This is why I say, I can't remember by the exact date, and
maybe by talking --
Olsen: How about, if you give us the season of what year?
Roethe: How about just the year?
Sturgis: I can't remember the year.
Roethe: This is after you got back from Cuba, obviously?
Sturgis: Yes, it had to be. Let me see if I can narrow it down just
about what year. Let's see. It had to be either before the Bay of
Pigs, which is 1961, or after the Bay of Pigs, which again could be
1961. So I would say approximately it would be 1961.
Olsen: Then where were you approached?
546
Sturgis: In Miami.
Olsen: And is this somebody, Frank, for the moment, let's defer to
your wishes, or your reservations, at least, by naming them. But is
this somebody whom you knew to be employed by the CIA?
Sturgis: No, sir.
Olsen: Is it somebody who you knew to be a contract agent of the

CIA?
Sturgis: No sir. All I knew is that he was an agent, and at a later

date, it was proven he was an agent. So my contacts with this man
throughout the years, how he worked, my close contact with him, in
Miami, the way of operation, the way he handles himself, the people
that he was in close contact with, that the top political and military
people who were in exile that he was in touch with, the formation of
the Bay of Pigs itself before the invasion, came through this
particular man. He was part of the forming of this -- at least of the
Revolutionary Council. And I was approached by him and I told Sam
about it. I said, Sam, what do you think? The idiot -- I hope this
never gets publicized.
Olsen: Trust us.
Sturgis: I said, this idiot took me out, and we had some lunch, and
he asked me if I wanted to do an assassination, or if I would do an
assassination attempt for the outfit. And I looked him square in the
face and I told him why did you come to me? And he says, well,
Frank, like, who else? You are a man that the Chief knows your
background, and I know your background, and I know you are
capable. And you are a capable man. And if anybody can do it, you
can do it. But the thing is, would you be interested? And I said, yes I
would be.
Olsen: Did he talk to you about a sum of money?
Sturgis: No, no money was -- the discussion of money was not

involved in it, because I would not do anything for money. And he
knows better than to ask me, unless it would be, FRANK, what do
you need for your expenses?
Olsen: Who was the target of this assassination? Was it Fidel?
547
Sturgis: No. I don't know. What happened was that I had another
meeting with him, and he said he would contact his Chief, and he
would -- and he told me to contact him later on, and I think he gave
me a certain day to contact him, and I said okay. You must
remember that, how I know this man as an agent, because he does
the same things as I do, in his wife, he types away, or at least he
has a wife who types away, he makes all the reports, and stacks
them in a file cabinet. I have heard him talk to his Case Officer on
the telephone. And to me that was very stupid of him in doing that
event to me who was his friend. That is a very stupid way of doing
things. Because he did not suspect that I was in contact with Sam,
he cannot know. And the only time he suspected that I had anything
to do with the CIA is when we were in prison, and the man on the
television said, yes, he used to work for the CIA.
Olsen: When you say CIA, you were talking about the Watergate,
not the other agent and me?
Sturgis: I am talking about the agent and me, who was part of the
Watergate group. And he was dumbfounded and said, what, you
work for CIA? And I said, yes sir, you dumb bastard you, I was
turning you in to my case officer.
Olsen: So neither one of you suspected --
Sturgis: I knew he was an agent, but I didn't know that I was in

contact -- I never used the word -- or at least I don't think I did, and I
hope I haven't used it today -- that I said I was an employee of CIA.
Olsen: No, I haven't even said that you were an agent of the CIA.
Sturgis: Or that I was connected with the CIA.
Olsen: Now, who was the target of this conversation about

assassination?
Sturgis: I had a second meeting with him at the Ranch House and
he told me, he says, well, this is interesting FRANK. He said, about
his assassination, and I said, fine. I did. And then he started to
questioning, how would you do it? And I said, how do you mean
how I would do it? There are several ways of trying to do an
assassination. The things I have to know is who the person is, that
is number 1, it is important, and where the person is at, which is
important. And then, I will have to go ahead and go to the place
where this man lives or what have you, after I know this information.
548
And I said then, I can go ahead and tell you how I can do it. And he
said, with a body, this and that, he will be discovered, you know we
can't be connected with it. And I said, well, if you are worried about
that, you do it. And he said, well, I can't do it. And I said, Okay,
beautiful. And I want -- I wanted to tell you something, I will do this,
because you are a friend of mine, and because you asked me. But I
will want more than that. And he said what is that? I said I want it
from somebody higher than you, from somebody with authority. If
you tell me -- and you are my friend, and I believe you -- but I want it
more from somebody that has some authority. You have a case
officer. I want your case officer to tell me to do an assassination
plot, and I will do it. But coming from you, you are my friend, my
buddy, but I have got to have more than that for my protection.
Olsen: Did he ever put you in contact with his case officer?
Sturgis: I knew who his boss was.
Olsen: Who was his boss?
Sturgis: EDUARDO. Wait a minute. I am sorry. I could be wrong

there. I said the wrong thing. If I am going after the Bay of Pigs
invasion, if this did happen, as far as the date is concerned, after the
Bay of Pigs invasion, EDUARDO did quit the operation and go on
some other assignment or what have you. So that means he was no
longer in the Miami area. So this part I had to get a new case officer.
Olsen: EDUARDO left Miami before the Bay of Pigs, didn't he?
Sturgis: He left after -- well, I don't know, I am sorry. Because there

is the possibility that he may have been either in Miami or he may
have been in the Headquarters in Washington. But I can't pin it
down because I don't know exactly where he was at.
Olsen: Did he ever make contacts with the man's case officer?
Sturgis: No, sir, because it had to be one of two people, it either had
to be EDUARDO, whom I had never met, or it had to be possibly
(Deleted) [Esterline], after EDUARDO left.
Olsen: Did (Deleted) take his place then.
Sturgis: I believed so, I believe (Deleted) did take his place as this
party's case officer.
549
Olsen: And then, you did not actually have any contact with his case
officer?
Sturgis: When I told him that, I think it kind of stung him a little bit.
And he said, well, okay, all right. Then, you will go through with it?
And I said certainly I will go through with it, I don't care who the hell
it is. I said, you let me know. And hopefully, I was thinking of Fidel
Castro, because I could have snuck in to Cuba, I have done it so
many times, and I would have taken a crack at killing Fidel.
Roethe: I missed something when I was out of the room. I take it

you did not know the identity of the person whom you were being
asked to assassinate?
Sturgis: No, sir, I did not. I asked him -- you see, I didn't publish it, in
other words, I was told no publicity. I was told, because Sam says
go ahead and work with him and he said let me know what is
progressing.
Roethe: Is Sam what you would call your case officer?
Sturgis: Sam is my contact, the one I was connected with.
Roethe: And you would always go to him before you would go

ahead with some action like this?
Sturgis: Oh, exactly. I wouldn't do anything unless I received an

okay from somebody.
Roethe: Did you have any idea that this had anything to do with
Cuba?
Sturgis: It always had to do with Cuba.
Roethe: You were aware that this assassination had something to

do with Cuba?
Sturgis: I was thinking that if it did, I could have been wrong. I was
thinking it could have something to do with Cuba.
Roethe: Did Sam seem to know anything about the subject -- about
this, or did this seem to come as a surprise?
Sturgis: It was a surprise. He was surprised that my friend

approached me on something like this. And he said, don't say no. I
550
said I will do it to anybody. I said Sam, if it is all right, if this case

officer -- Sam said, tell me who the case officer is, and if it is true,
okay.
Roethe: What was your motivation for saying that you would do
this?
Sturgis: Do you know what a whore is?
Roethe: Do I know what a whore is?
Sturgis: Yes.
Roethe: I guess I do.
Sturgis: I don't mean to go ahead and embarrass you. I am sorry.

But in intelligence a whore is an agent that they would want that
would do anything. But he has got to be motivated by patriotism.
And that he would do anything for his country, regardless of what it
was.
Roethe: Assuming that it was something that an official request

made on behalf of the government?
Sturgis: Well, you would think that if it was case officer -- and you
would be surprised how powerful a case officer -- what power a
case officer has in his hands. He has got a lot of power.
Olsen: Thank you very much, Frank.
(Whereupon at 6:00 p.m. the interview was concluded).
In a telephone interview with Robert Olsen of the Rockefeller

Commission on April 22, 1975 it was noted: "Wants to correct
something. Park Wollan was Council General but Sturgis didn't
contact him. It was Paterson, called him Bill. Was CIA Agent there,
left CIA later after getting to be Chief of Station in Santiago. Sturgis
was in touch with Wollan, possibly met him. (Deleted) and (Deleted)
were in Havana."
Sturgis told Paul Meskil: "We met at the Casa Grande Hotel in
Santiago. Wollan knew who I was and what I was doing. He
approached me or someone introduced us. We had several other
meetings and discussed my patriotism and so forth. I agreed to work
with him. Later, when the revolution was over, I received orders to
551
go to Havana. Wollan told me who to contact in the American

Embassy there." Sturgis said his contact at the Embassy was Sam
Kail.
552

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COUP D’ETAT IN AMERICA VOLUME SEVEN

Coup D'Etat in America

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2017

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

HEMMING AFTER THE COUP

HEMMING'S ALIBI: NOVEMBER 22, 1963

Just before noon today, my friend John Stevens

This researcher read this E-Mail to Hemming. Hemming

HEMMING IS VISITED BY THE FBI AFTER THE

O'Conner came by himself, which he was prone to

his division, which was agents. O'Conner focused on

The FBI came by my place after the assassination

Hemming was not too concerned about Dwyer coming

The information, upon the basis of which these

HARGRAVES AND ACKER

Hemming stated that Hargraves was "in Miami, with his

in an open air sandwich shop in Miami to have a beer

1945. The records of the Merchants Credit

There was a notation on the credit files of William Blanton

…admitted he was in Veterans Administration

Roy E. Hargraves managed the place when she

furnish no information relative to her...Eventually

The information checked out, but the FBI discontinued the

Investigation in this matter was conducted at Miami,

The FBI cited:

MM T-1, who has been active in Cuban revolutionary

United States and infiltrated Cuba. Felipe Vidal

currently unemployed, is not operating any military

On December 31, 1963, the FBI generated a highly deleted

I was in Angleton’s home after the assassination. He

Hemming said he had seen Angleton in March 1963 and

On September 11, 1964, the FBI generated a document

Collins was working with Harber around this time. He

Hemming told Edward A. Collins to accompany him aboard a

City of Miami, Florida, Inter-Office Memorandum

might be a good idea to find out who the other two

Seymour Gelber of the City of Miami, Florida, stated:

Further investigation reveals that on September 28,

Seymour Gelber, the author of one of these reports, was

On May 8, 1968, Hemming told, Steve Burton, an

In 1977 Hemming was asked about the death of Edward A.

Collins was a very simple guy. We liked to fight a lot

The Quebec - Washington - Guantanamo walk for peace

Dick Billings of Life believes that Collins was in

There was no way to question Steve Justin Wilson.

…having mental problems - dope. He shot up an

In 1965 Hemming was involved with Roberto Alejos Arzu in an

experience who would be willing to fight the Communist guerillas in

Before the 1980 election Alejos complained that "most of the

JUNE 1965 THE IMBERT CAPER

…a commando team of 49 Cuban exiles and

On the evening of June 8, 1965, Gerald Patrick

Constanzo Palau. Two of Hemming’s men were

Hemming said the training would begin after he returned

1. On June 16, 1965, Aton Constanzo Palau told

3. Contanzo told AMIABBY-27 he knows man in

Hemming told this researcher:

You remember when the 82nd Airborne invaded the

In 1965 the FBI generated five Letter Head Memorandums

is considered by Cuban exiles as an expert in

MM T-1 said that on June 17, 1965, Hemming

On June 18, 1965, Maximino Casal Fernandez, 3660

Davidson was a business consultant to American