The Last Circle (US Government Smuggling Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana, Meth Into U.S.)

[Richard Brautigan]

INTRODUCTION

RE: "The Last Circle"

The following condensed version of The Last Circle was provided in
October 1996 to a secret Investigative Committee comprised of Congress
people, lawyers and former POW's at their request. I originally
contacted Congresswoman Maxine Waters in Washington D.C. and offered
information relative to CIA drug trafficking, but was told the
information was too complex and would I mind putting the information
into a newspaper story, get it published and send it to her office?

I agreed and contacted a local newspaper reporter who, after reading
portions of the material, decided it needed to be reviewed by
individuals who had special knowledge of CIA drug trafficking, arms
shipments, and biological warfare weapons.

After a brief meeting with these individuals, former Special Forces
soldiers from the Vietnam era, they asked for copies of the manuscript,
guaranteed an immediate congressional inquiry, and advised me NOT to
place the information on the Internet as they feared the information
could be, in their words, "taken as just another anti-government
conspiracy."

I condensed the manuscript into the attached treatise, covering
information relative to THEIR focus, and sent it to them along with key
documents. Shortly afterward, they re-contacted me and set up elaborate
security measures to insure my safety. As of this writing, I've had no
need to institute those measures.

I have in my possession five boxes of documents, obtained from a
convicted methamphetamine chemist whose closest friends were a 20-year
CIA operative and a former FBI Senior-Agent-in-Charge of the Los Angeles
and Washington D.C. bureaus. The labyrinthine involvements of these
people and their corporate partners is revealed in this manuscript,
along with information obtained by Washington D.C. journalist Danny
Casolaro prior to his death in 1991.

A great deal of investigation still needs to be accomplished. I have
neither the financial means nor the ability to obtain "evidence" for
"prosecution." I am simply an investigative writer, placing this
information into the public forum in hopes that someone, somewhere, will
grasp the significance of the data and initiate a full-scale
investigation with subsequent subpoena power.

With subpoena power, government agents can testify (some kept anonymous
in this manuscript) who would otherwise lose their jobs and retirement
if they came forward. Witnesses can be protected and/or provided
immunity, and financial transactions of government and underworld
figures can be scrutinized.

To date, I have not had more than one hour conversation with anyone
associated with any Congressional investigation, and therefore am
extremely limited in my ability to present the information I have. Much
of what I learned during my five-year investigation cannot at this point
be inserted into a manuscript. I must be assured the information and
witnesses will be handled appropriately.

I personally do not believe the Department of Justice will ultimately
"prosecute" this or any other drug trafficking case if it involves
government officials. But I have made the effort to put forth enough
information to generate interest and show good faith. I hope it will be
of some value to the American public.

Please keep in mind as you read the attached pages that the complex
corporate structures and technological projects described herein "may"
have been nothing more than an elaborate smoke and mirrors cover for
narcotics trafficking.

This aspect of my investigation was corroborated by several government
investigators, one of whom was a House Judiciary investigator, who spent
three years investigating the Inslaw stolen software case and said in
response to my findings:

"There's some great information here. You did a very good investigative
job, I have to commend you on that. I realize it's only a fraction of
everything you have. What you have done, you have put the pieces of the
whole thing together. Little bits and pieces of things that I have known
about, that I had theorized about, you have found answers to those
specific questions." (See Chapter 13 for entire conversation). That
investigator is now in the White House Office of Drug Control Policy.

To those interested, nearly everything noted in the attached manuscript
is supported by documents or tape recorded interviews. Some are
extremely bulky and not quoted extensively in the manuscript, such as
lengthy FBI wire tap summaries.

I wish to thank Garby Leon, formerly Director of Development at Joel
Silver Productions, Warner Bros. in Burbank, California for tirelessly
prompting me to get a first draft of The Last Circle written in 1994 and
helping me with countless tasks during our joint investigation of the
death of Danny Casolaro.
T H E L A S T C I R C L E

Copyright 1994 - All Rights Reserved
By Carol Marshall

NOTE:

This is a FIRST DRAFT, bare-bones, unpolished manuscript without prose,
characterizations etc.

CHAPTER 1

For the deputies of the Mariposa Sheriff's Department, the awakening
occurred on June 24, 1980, when deputy Ron Van Meter drowned in an
alleged boating accident on Lake McClure. The search party consisted
mainly of three divers, deputies Dave Beavers, Rod Cusic and Gary Estep.
Although adjacent counties offered additional divers, sheriff Paul Paige
refused outside help, even a minisubmarine offered by Beavers' associate.

In the shallow, placid waters of Lake McClure, Van Meter's body was not
recovered that week, and indeed would not be found until ten years
later, in September, 1990 when his torso, wrapped in a fish net and
weighted down by various objects, including a fire extinguisher, washed
ashore a few hundred yards from where Sergeant Roderick Sinclair's
houseboat had once been moored.

Van Meter's widow, Leslie, had been at home baking cookies when she was
notified of her husband's disappearance. She was an Indian girl who had
no affinity with sheriff Paul Paige. The horror began for her that day
also. Her home was ransacked and her husband's briefcase and diary were
seized by the Mariposa Sheriff's department. Only she and a few deputies
knew what Van Meter's diary contained. He'd told his wife he'd taken out
a special life insurance policy two weeks before, but after the search
that was missing also.

Leslie was taken to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation shortly after
the incident.The story surfaced years later, one tiny bubble at a time.
The selfinvolved little community of Mariposa did not cough up its
secrets gladly. On March 23, 1984, Leslie Van Meter filed a Citizen's
Complaint with the Mariposa County Sheriff's department alleging that
the Sheriff's office had been negligent and unprofessional in their
investigation of her husband's disappearance. His body had still not
been found, despite private searches by Sergeant Beavers and other
friends of the missing deputy. She wanted the case reopened.

Paul Paige was no longer sheriff, but newly elected Sheriff Ken Mattheys
responded by reopening the investigation. Investigator Raymond Jenkins,
a Merced College Police Chief, and retired FBI agent Tom Walsh from
Merced, were notified by Sheriff Mattheys in October, 1984 that the Van
Meter case had been reopened and he wanted their help in cleaning up the
Sheriff's Department.

Their investigation led them straight to the doorstep of MCA Corporation
(Music Corporation of America), parent company to Curry Company, the
largest concessionaire in Yosemite National Park. A major drug network
had surfaced in the park, compelling one park ranger, Paul Berkowitz, to
go before the House Interior Subcommittee on National Parks and
Recreation to testify about drug distribution by Curry Company officials.

Ed Hardy, the president of Curry Company, was closely associated with
Mariposa County officials, in particular, Mariposa District Attorney
Bruce Eckerson, County Assessor Steve Dunbar, and Congressman Tony
Coelho, whose district encompassed Mariposa and the Park. The annual
camping trips that the three men took together was encouraged by the
local townsfolk because most of Mariposa's tax base emanated from Curry
Company.Coelho and Hardy were regular fixtures around town, seen at most
of the social events. Coelho even cooked and served spaghetti dinners
for the whole town annually at the Mariposa Fair Grounds, and purchased
property in partnership with one member of the Mariposa Board of
Supervisors. In fact, Mariposa was one of the first places he bid
farewell to after resigning from Congress to avoid an investigation of
his finances.

Meanwhile, investigator Raymond Jenkins had followed the drug trail from
Yosemite back to the Mariposa airport, where sheriff's deputies were
seen regularly loading and unloading packages from planes in the dead of
night.

One Indian girl complained bitterly about deputies using the Sara Priest
land allottment (reservation) to grow marijuana and operate
methamphetamine labs. Jenkins, by now retired from the position of
Police Chief of Merced College, was called in to interview the Indian
girl. That same day, as a favor, he provided me with copies of his
notes. I followed up with a tape recorded interview at her home in Bear
valley. Her father and uncle operated a small auto dismantling business
on the reservation in Midpines, and after locating them and gaining
their confidence, the uncle drove me out to Whiskey Flats, the site of
the marijuana and methamphetamine lab operations. That week I rented a
horse and rode down into the rocky, isolated valley of Whiskey Flats.
Brush and shrubbery tore at the saddle on the horse and at the end of
the dirt path I encountered three snarling Rottweiler dogs who put the
horse into a frenzied lather.

Nevertheless, I managed to photograph the irrigation system, artesian
spring and pond from which the water was supplied as well as various
points of identification for future reconnaisance. I later returned in a
fourwheel drive pickup truck and managed to view the trailer and lab shack.

The tape recorded interview with the Indian girl, the photos and notes
from my discovery were provided to the Stanislaus County Drug Task
Force, but jurisdictionally, they couldn't enter Mariposa County without
authority of the Mariposa Sheriff's department. It was a catch 22
situation. Ultimately I provided the same information anonymously to
several related agencies. It was not until 1993 that the fields were
eradicated, and 1994, before the labs were raided. However, no arrests
of any deputies were ever forthcoming. In fact, no arrests occurred at
all, except for a few nonEnglish speaking Mexican nationals who had
handled the "cooking." The head of the Los Angeles Drug Enforcement
Agency noted to a local newspaper that the meth lab was part of a large
California drug network, but they were unable to identify the kingpins.

On July 6, 1985, Mrs. Van Meter filed a "Request for Official Inquiry"
with the State of California Department of Boating and Waterways stating
that no satisfactory investigation was ever conducted into the matter of
her husband's disappearance.

That same month, shortly after a meeting at Lake McClure with Mrs. Van
Meter, Sheriff Mattheys mysteriously resigned from his position at the
Mariposa Sheriff's Department. Mattheys revealed to reporter Anthony
Pirushki that he had been ordered by two county supervisors and the
county's attorney "to stay away from the Van Meter investigation." But
that was not the reason he resigned. The whole story would not surface
until seven years later when a reporter for the Mariposa Guide
interviewed him.

However, while still in office, Mattheys and his internal affairs
investigators had learned the reason for Van Meter's disappearance. A
few weeks prior to his death in 1980, Van Meter had driven to the
Attorney General's office in Sacramento and reported drug dealing and
other types of corruption within the Mariposa Sheriff's Department.
This, according to his friends whom he had confided in, deputies Dave
Beavers, a fifteen year veteran of the sheriff's department, and Rod
Cusic, a seventeen year veteran. Both deputies were ultimately forced
out of the department and retired on stress leave.

On that same day, reserve deputy Lucky Jordan had driven to the Fresno
office of the FBI to report similar information. According to Jordan,
they had split up and reported to separate agencies in the event
"something" happened to one of them.The crux of the story was State
Attorney General Van De Kamp's response to the requested investigaion by
Ron Van Meter. When Ron returned home from Sacramento, he was confronted
by Sheriff Paige. Paige had received a call from the Attorney General
informing him of the visit and its contents, and the sheriff was livid
about Van Meter's betrayal.Van Meter had been photographing and
journalizing drug activity by deputies at Lake McClure. He was part of a
California State Abatement Program which involved harvesting and
eradicating marijuana fields in Yosemite National Park and adjacent
counties. Instead, the harvested marijuana was being stored in abandoned
cars and towed out of town by a local wrecker under contract with the
sheriff's department. It was also being distributed at a hidden cove at
Lake McClure.

On June 24, 1980, frustrated and angry at the Attorney General for
betraying him, Van Meter had borrowed a boat and was on his way to
arrest the deputies at Lake McClure himself. He never returned. The
investigation of Van Meter's "accident" was initially handled by
Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, who could not have known on that fateful day
that in exactly three years, three months, and nineteen days, he would
enter the Twilight Zone where his own private hell awaited him.

******

The first substantial hint that a tentacle of the Octopus had slithered
into Mariposa County occurred on March 5, 1983 when a Mariposa County
Sheriff's vehicle scouting Queen Elizabeth II's motorcade route rounded
a curve in the Yosemite National Park foothills, crossed a highway and
collided headon with a Secret Service car, killing three Secret Service
agents. CHP (California Highway Patrol) Assistant Chief Richard Hanna
reported that the collision occurred at 10:50 a.m. between Coulterville
and La Grange on Highway 132 about 25 minutes ahead of Queen Elizabeth's
motorcade.CHP Sergeant Bob Schilly reported that Mariposa County
Sheriff's Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, 43, was driving with his partner,
Deputy Rod McKean, 51, when "for some reason, [he didn't] know why,"
Sinclair crossed the center line and hit the second of the three Secret
Service cars, which went tumbling down a 10foot embankment.

The three Secret Service agents killed in the collision were identified
as George P. LaBarge, 41, Donald Robinson, 38, and Donald A. Bejcek, 29.
Sinclair, who had sustained broken ribs and a fractured knee, was first
stabilized at Fremont Hospital in Mariposa, then transported several
days later to Modesto Memorial Hospital.

Years later, several nurses who had been present when Sinclair was
brought into Fremont Hospital confided that Sinclair had been drugged on
the day of "the Queen's accident" as it became known in Mariposa. For
months Sinclair had been receiving huge daily shots of Demerol, "enough
to kill most men," according to one billing clerk. Some former deputies
who had feared punitive measures if they spoke up, later corroborated
the story of the nurses.

Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney James White in Fresno ordered Dr.
Arthur Dahlem's files seized to prove Sinclair's drug addiction.
Sinclair's Mariposa doctor and close friend had been prescribing heavy
sedatives to him for years. When White attempted to prosecute Sinclair
for criminal negligence, he was called into chambers during the federal
probe and told by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Coyle to "drop the
criminal investigation" because Sinclair's drug problem was not relevant
to the prosecution and the drug records could not be used in court.
Judge Coyle's reasoning was that no blood tests had been taken on
Sinclair at the Fremont Hospital on the day of the accident, therefore
no case could be made against him.

In fact, the blood tests HAD been taken, but later disappeared.A
significant piece of information relative to Judge Coyle's background
was passed to me during my investigation of the Queen's accident by
retired FBI agent Thomas Walsh. Allegedly, the Judge was once the
attorney of record for Curry Company (owned by MCA Corporation) in
Yosemite National Park. I later learned, in 1992, that Robert Booth
Nichols had strong ties to MCA Corporation through Eugene Giaquinto,
president of MCA Corporation Home Entertainment Division. Giaquinto had
been on the Board of Directors of Nichols' corporation, MIL, Inc.
(Meridian International Logistics, Inc.) and also held 10,000 shares of
stock in the holding corporation. MIL, Inc. was later investigated by
the Los Angeles FBI for allegedly passing classified secrets to overseas
affiliates in Japan and Australia. It is interesting to note, though
unrelated, that shortly afterward, the Japanese purchased MCA
Corporation, one of the largest corporate purchases to take place in
American history.

Relative to the Queens accident, in the civil trial that followed the
tragic accident, Judge Coyle ruled that both Sinclair and the deceased
Secret Service agents were at fault. Mariposa County was ordered to pay
70 percent of the claim filed by the widows, and the Secret Service to
pay 30 percent. The county's insurance company paid the claim, and
ironically, Sinclair was subsequently promoted to Commander of the
Mariposa Sheriff's Department where he is still employed as of this
writing.

In an interview on March 7, 1988, at Yoshino's Restaurant in Fresno,
former U.S. Attorney James White recalled that the original CHP report
on the Queens accident was sent to the State Attorney General's office
(Van De Kamp) in Sacramento. The report was first received by Arnold
Overoye, who agreed with White that Sinclair should be prosecuted. But
when the report crossed Van De Kamp's desk, he told Overoye and his
assistant to discard it trash it.

Van De Kamp then appointed Bruce Eckerson, the Mariposa County District
Attorney, to take charge of the investigation and submit a new report.
Coincidentally, Bruce Eckerson's disclosure statements on file at the
Mariposa County Courthouse indicated that he owned stock in MCA
Entertainment Corporation. White added that ALL of the crack M.A.I.T.S.
team CHP officers involved in the original investigation either resigned
or were transferred (or fired) afterward. The CHP Commander and the
Deputy Commander who supervised the M.A.I.T.S. investigation also
resigned as did Assistant U.S. Attorney White himself after the coverup
took place.

However, White noted that before he resigned, he quietly filed with
Stephan LaPalm of the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento the
transcripts of the trial and an affidavit which listed the
"hallucinatory" drugs Sinclair had used prior to the accident. I
privately continued with the Queen's accident investigation,
interviewing deputies Dave Beavers and Rod Cusic who had been privy to
Sinclair's drugged condition on the day of the accident.

Beavers, who was the first deputy to arrive on the scene, maintained
four years later, in 1987, that he was cognizant of Sinclair's
condition, but when he was questioned by James White he was NOT ASKED
about the drugs. (James White had by then been ordered to drop the
criminal investigation and stay away from the drug aspect of the case).

In January 1988, deputy Rod Cusic strode into the offices of the
Mariposa Guide, a competitor newspaper to the Mariposa Gazette, and
stated that he was "told by Rod Sinclair to lie to a Grand Jury" about
Sinclair's drug addiction and the resulting Queen's accident. Cusic
added that he officially disclosed this to the Fresno FBI on April 26,
1984 and again on October 9, 1987. In 1987, Cusic also noted that he
witnessed a boobytrapped incendiary device explode at Rod Sinclair's
home during a visit to his residence. Additionally, earlier on, Sinclair
allegedly barricaded himself inside his home and boobytrapped the
property, as witnessed by numerous deputies who tried to persuade him to
come out.

While reviewing old newspaper clippings from the Mariposa Gazette, I
discovered an odd sidebar to the story. In December, 1984, during the
Queen's accident civil trial in Fresno, U.S. Attorney James White had
introduced testimony that Sinclair's vehicle contained "a myriad of
automatic weapons including a boobytrapped bomb" when the collision
occurred on March 5, 1983. It was not until 1991 that I discovered the
depth of the coverup.

A CBS television executive and a Secret Service agent who had ridden in
the third car of the Queen's motorcade in 1983, arrived in Mariposa to
enlist my help in putting the pieces of the puzzle together on the
Queen's accident. The Secret Service agent's best friend had been the
driver of the car in which all three agents were killed. I signed a
contract with the television executive for the sale of the story then
drove them to the site of the accident, then to the site of where the
damaged vehicle was stored near Lake McClure. The Secret Service agent
broke down at the sight of the vehicle, remembering the gruesome
appearance of his dead friend in the front seat. He turned, tears
welling in his eyes, and said, "His heart burst right through his chest
and was laying in his lap when I found him."

Dave Beavers joined us the next day. As did former sheriff Ken Mattheys.
Beavers did not know that the same Secret Service agent whom he was
sitting with in the car was the man who had tried to pull Sinclair out
of the sheriff's vehicle on the day of the accident. There had been a
scuffle, Beavers insisting that Sinclair go to the hospital with "his
own people," and the Secret Service ultimately conceding.The Secret
Service agent reflected sadly that they didn't know to ask the hospital
for blood tests on Sinclair that day, didn't know of his drug addiction.
By the time the case went to court, the records at the hospital were gone.

Two weeks after the agent left Mariposa, I received a packet containing
copies of Sinclair's drug records for three years prior to the accident.
They were the same records that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Coyle
had disallowed in the Queen's accident trial. But it was not until
producer Don Thrasher, a tenyear veteran of ABC News "20/20," came to
town, that I learned of Sinclair's background, or the extent of his
addiction.

By chance, at a book signing engagement at B. Dalton Bookstore, I had
mentioned to the manager, Shaula Brent, that my next book contained
information about the Queens accident.Surprised, Shaula blurted out that
she had worked at Fremont Hospital when Sinclair was brought in from the
accident. Shaula recounted the following: Rod Sinclair was brought into
Fremont Hospital and placed in a room with an armed "FBI" agent outside
the door. Sinclair had been receiving huge shots of Demerol in the arm
every day prior to the accident, by order of Dr. Arthur Dahlem. Shaula
noted that Sinclair was a big man and the amount of Demerol he had been
receiving would have killed most men. After the Queen's accident, all
drugs were withdrawn from Sinclair, and employees, including Shaula,
could hear him raving aloud for days from his hospital room. The
employees at the hospital were instructed not to speak about or repeat
what took place at the hospital while Sinclair was there.

Because Shaula and her friend, Barbara Locke, who also worked at the
hospital, were suspicious about Sinclair's hospital records, they
secretly took photostats of the records "before they were destroyed by
the hospital." Blood HAD been drawn on Sinclair on the day of the
Queen's accident, and he HAD been under the influence, according to
Shaula. Shaula gave the names of six nurses who were witness to
Sinclair's condition at the time he was brought into Fremont Hospital.
When his body was finally drugfree, Sinclair was transported, against
his wishes, to Modesto Hospital.

******

In January, 1992, the final pieces to the puzzle fell into place.
Sinclair's background had been the key all along. Producer Don Thrasher
had interviewed the Secret Service agent and, although the information
he obtained would not be used in his production, he advised me to follow
up. The Secret Service corraborated the following profile: Sinclair's
father had been a military attache to General Douglas MacArthur during
World War II. (I had privately mused how many of MacArthur's men later
became arms of the Octopus). In Japan, after the war, Colonel Sinclair
(sr.) supervised the training of selected Japanese in intelligence
gathering operations.

According to the Secret Service, he was an "international figure,"
highly regarded in the intelligence community. Rod Sinclair, Jr.
attended school in Japan during this time. He later reportedly worked in
the Army C.I.D. in a nonmilitary or civilian capacity, allegedly
receiving training at Fort Liggett in San Luis Obispo, a training center
for military intelligence operations.

Could it have been possible for Colonel Sinclair, Sr. to have called
upon old friends in high places to rescue his son, Rod, from the Queen's
accident investigation? Did the Octopus have enough power to alter an
investigation of the death of three Secret Service agents? According to
the Secret Service agent in Los Angeles, it did. And he intended to tell
the story after he retired.

CHAPTER 2

By this time three consecutive grand jury foreman's had sought help from
the Attorney General, to no avail. It came to pass that one of the
deputies, Dave Beavers, was having trouble obtaining his "stress leave"
pay and hired a Jackson, California lawyer to represent him in the case.
The lawyer, Ben Wagner, not only interviewed Beavers, but began
interviewing other deputies who corroborated Beavers' story. Most of
them, thirteen in all, had at one time or another testified before the
grand jury and subsequently been forced out of the department.
Interestingly, none of the deputies knew "why" the others had been been
placed on stress leave or resigned until Wagner finally assembled them
together and the story was aired.

At that point some of the former grand jury members were called in to
confirm the testimony of the individual deputies. Most refused to speak
up, but a few corroborated the deputies' story. Ultimately, after
numerous meetings, the group of deputies and grand jurors formed and
later incorporated an organization they called D.I.G. (Decency in
Government).

By now, Wagner was carrying a gun inside and out of Mariposa for the
first time in his life and writing letters to the Attorney General, the
FBI, and even President Ronald Reagan. One response was forthcoming,
from a special agent at the Fresno Department of Justice, Division of
Law Enforcement.This agent listened to Kay Ritter, a former grand jury
foreman and several deputies after reviewing Wagner's evidence.

Wagner was contemplating a huge civil rights lawsuit against the county
of Mariposa, but it was imperative that he first understand "why" the
attorney general refused to help these people.When the special agent
drove to Sacramento and reviewed the files within the attorney general's
office emanating from Mariposa, and talked to some of the office staff
there, he learned that everything pertaining to Mariposa was
automatically "trashed" when it crossed the A/G's desk.

Disgusted, the agent called Ben Wagner and told him "Go ahead with the
lawsuit." He had no idea why all the grand jury documents had been
trashed, but he was convinced no help would be forthcoming from the
attorney general's office.

On November 20, 1987, Wagner filed with the U.S. District Court in
Fresno the first of two lawsuits, later revealed in a Sacramento
newspaper to be the largest civil rights lawsuits ever recorded in
California history. Newspaper reporters and television crews flocked to
Wagner for interviews. In one instance, Wagner, former Sergeant Dave
Beavers and others stood in front of the Fresno FBI building while being
interviewed by Channel 3 Sacramento News.

On camera, without hesitation, Beavers recalled observing deputies
carrying packages of drugs from the Gold Coin Saloon, a notorious drug
hangout, and placing the packages in the trunk of their patrol car. A
subsequent raid indicated the drugs had been stored by the owner in a
historic underground tunnel once used by the infamous bandit, Juaquin
Murietta, to escape the sheriff's posse.

Meanwhile, on February 10, 1988, attorney Wagner filed at the U.S.
District Court in Sacramento a Writ of Mandamus against John Van De
Camp, the State Attorney General; George Vinson, regional director of
the Fresno FBI; George Deukemejian, then Governor of California, and
David F. Levi, United States Attorney for refusing to investigate
corruption in Mariposa County.

The citizens of Mariposa were choosing sides, writing letters to the
editor, arguing amongst themselves, and being interviewed on the
sidewalks by news media. D.I.G. was the talk of the town. On February
17, 1988, Capitol News Service in Sacramento ran a story entitled, "Law
& Order Failing on Hill County," by Jerry Goldberg. The article noted
that Capitol News Service had had discussions with several Attorney
General staff members who "stonewalled questions about any investigation
of charges or direct answers on the willingness of Van de Kamp to meet
with the citizen's group [D.I.G.]."

Goldberg mentioned the "Queen's accident" in his article: "The Fresno
case charges destruction of records on individuals [Commander Rod
Sinclair] involved in the case. This includes possible information about
the fatal accident which occurred in the area [of Mariposa County] when
an escort vehicle involved in the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 1983
[crashed.]"

Goldberg went on to note that "several people had received threats about
dangerous things happening to them if they continued to stand up to the
sheriff and district attorney." A San Joaquin County official, who asked
not to be named, told Goldberg that a key element to the problems in
Mariposa County "related to the fatal accident which occurred to Queen
Elizabeth's escort vehicle."

On February 19, 1988, Ben Wagner's wife, a legal secretary, sent a
letter to President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The Wagners did
not live in Mariposa County, indeed, lived far away in Jackson County,
unfettered by corruption, yet they saw fit to take it upon themselves to
write for help. That emotionally gripping letter was headed, "Restoring
Equal Rights to the Citizens of Mariposa County." It read as follows:

"Dear President Reagan: I am writing to you not only as the wife of an
attorney, but as a citizen of the United States. My initial concern is
that you personally receive this letter and enclosures, as many
residents of Mariposa County have literally placed their lives, and the
lives of their families in jeopardy by coming forth to expose the local
government corruption detailed herein.I understand that your time is at
a premium, however, your immediate attention regarding these matters is
of the utmost importance, and respectfully requested.

"In August, 1987, our office was approached by several exdeputies and
individuals from Mariposa County requesting assistance in redressing
unlawful and corrupt activities by officials and departments within
their local government, and failure on the part of the State Attorney
General John Van De Kamp, the Office of the Attorney General, and our
Federal agencies, to investigate these alleged activities.

"What we found through our initial investigations and accumulation of
evidence into these allegations was appalling. It took us time to
realize that in fact, the Constitution of the United States had been
suspended in this county.

"The organization, Decency in Government [D.I.G.], was formed, and on
November 20, 1987, the first multimillion dollar Civil Rights suit was
filed in Fresno. We felt media coverage would lay a solid ground of
personal safety for other complaintants to come forth. This coverage
proved to be successful, and on February 11, 1988, the second Civil
Rights suit was filed, along with the filing of a Writ of Mandamus in
Sacramento.

"I have enclosed copies of these suits, including several newspaper
articles regarding the situation. Since 1979, many residents, including
individuals, sheriff's deputies, groups, organizations, members of Grand
Juries and Grand Juries have taken their complaints to the Office of the
Attorney General, State Attorney General John Van De Kamp and Federal
authorities for investigation.

"These agencies have continuously and blatantly failed to redress the
grievances of these citizens. What appears to be a consistent procedure
of one Arnold O. Overoye, of the State Attorney General's Office, is to
refer the complaints directly back to the local agencies to whom the
complaints were made.

"Over the years, this has perpetrated threats, intimidation and fear by
these local officials to the complaining individuals. There has also
been questions regarding the disappearance of citizens possessing
incriminating evidence, and the incompletion or failure to investigate
`homicides' and `suicides'.

"Further, it has recently come to our attention, that Mr. Overoye's
`procedure,' and the inaction of State Attorney John Van De Camp and
Federal agencies is not limited to Mariposa County, but in fact, expands
to a number of foothill counties who are experiencing the same types of
local corruption.

"The grievances of these citizens, as you will note in paragraph IV of
the WRIT are: (1) Violation of Individual Civil Rights (2) Abuse of
discretion in the prosecution of criminal complaints (3) Intentional
obstruction of the due course of Justice (4) Malicious prosecution (5)
Bribery (6) Intimidation of Grand Jury members and witnesses (7) The
deprivation of property (8) Illegal and unlawful land transaction (9)
The failure to arrest and prosecute those involved in illegal drug
sales, including individuals employed by the County of Mariposa (10)
Violation of Property Rights (11) Conspiracy to impede and obstruct
criminal investigations (12) Homicide (13) Attempted homicide (14) Rape
(15) Battery (16) Perjury.

"Why Mr. President, are we bound to the laws of this country, and our
officials are not? Life in Mariposa is as if the citizens were being
held in detention, and the local agencies, the criminals, were running
the county.

"Needless to say, residents feel it is a way of life to literally arm
themselves and their homes against their government! I have been in
these people's homes, and have witnessed the arsenal of weapons they
feel they must possess to protect themselves and their families.

"My husband must travel in, around and out of this county [Mariposa]
with an armed escort. He is transported during `the midnight hours' to
interview Plaintiffs and witnesses.

"I ask you, Mr. President, what country are we living in? We should
certainly make sure that our backyard is clean before we boast to the
Soviets regarding the Civil Rights of Americans.

"On January 19, 1988, my husband took two witnesses, Kay Ritter, a
former Mariposa Grand Jury Forewoman and Robert Ashmore, an exdeputy, to
Mr. [George] Vinson, the Regional Director of the FBI in Fresno. The
testimony, both oral and documentary, took approximately 3 hours to
present. To this date, the FBI has failed to redress the grievances of
these complaintants, and Mr. Vinson did not even have the courtesy to
return my husband's phone calls. It came to our understanding, through a
reliable source, that Mr. Vinson felt the complaints had `no substance.'

"Mr. President, my husband has been a trial attorney for 14 years. He
certainly wouldn't waste his time or expertise, or the time of these
witnesses, if he felt there was `no substance' to the contents of their
testimony.However, this attitude by Attorney General Van De Camp, his
office, and Federal agencies is typical and consistent.

"Shortly after this incident, a major drug dealer contacted our office
with valuable information detailing the sale of illegal drugs to county
officials, and wanted information regarding the Federal Witness Program.
Mr. Vinson, knowing this by telephone messages, again failed to return
my husband's inquiries.

"There is evidence by another credible witness, who was informed by the
FBI, that should they get involved now, it would be `bad publicity,' and
`they have let the problems in Mariposa get too far out of hand.'

"You may wonder why my husband and I became dedicated to the citizens of
this county. We certainly don't foresee large amounts of money at the
end of this case. Our investment in time and expenditures exceeds
$40,000 to date.What we do see are people, just like you and I, who have
been suppressed by their own `elected ' officials, with no help or
assistance from Attorney General Van De Kamp, his office, or Federal
agencies. If someone doesn't help them, they will continue to live under
these conditions, which I could never imagine would exist in America.

"My husband is not a righteous individual, nor is he perfect. None of us
are you know. He also doesn't believe that he can solve the problems of
the world. However, being an attorney, he is an officer of the Court,
and he feels a professional obligation to uphold the laws of the State,
and to maintain the freedom of the citizens of this country.

"This is, however, more than I can say about a number of
`representatives' and officials, who have failed to perform their
appointed duties of their office, and are paid by the taxpayers.Through
my involvement in this case, I have found, to my repulsion, that my
lifelong conception of our government's representation of the `people,'
its vested authority and ability to uphold Civil Rights, and its duty to
maintain the laws and the Constitution, has been only an shattering
illusion.

"Our system has failed, Mr. President. And by its failure, has crushed
and destroyed the lives of many innocent, lawabiding people. Why? There
is an answer. And we will utilize every legal avenue to find it. We will
not be discouraged, or give up in our effort to restore the Constitution
of the United States in Mariposa County, and other foothill communities.
We will continue until the answer is found. Even if it means presenting
the problem to you, Mr. President, on the steps of the White House.

"Our best regards to Mrs. Reagan. Respectfully yours, Vivian L. Wagner."

******

Shortly before Ben Wagner's first scheduled appearance in U.S. District
Court in Fresno on behalf of D.I.G. (Decency in Government), Wagner
received an obscure response from "Chuck" at the Reagan White House.
Wagner excitedly called Kay Ritter and Dave Beavers, myself and a few
others to note that a meeting with "Chuck" was scheduled that week. It
was to be a somewhat secret meeting as requested by the White House.

However, the day after meeting with "Chuck," Wagner unplugged his phone
and walked out on his law practice and his home in Jackson, California,
taking nothing with him except his clothes and his wife, never to be
seen again. I was later told that Jerry Goldberg of Capitol News Service
did the same, on the same day, and I was never able to locate either of
them again.

CHAPTER 3

The last remnants of the D.I.G. group were beginning to call themselves
"The Loser's Club," resembling forlorn characters out of a Stephen King
novel. They had squared off against a labyrnthine evil so
incomprehensible, they didn't know what they were fighting. It was time
to bring in some outside help.

During a strategy meeting in Jackson, California, Ben Wagner had
received an impressive 700 page report commissioned by the Tulare City
Council. The report, compiled by Ted Gunderson, a former Los Angeles FBI
agent, was indepth and straightforward about deputies receiving payoffs
and distributing drugs in the small farmtown of Tulare. Wagner had given
me a copy for my files.

On an impulse, I picked up the phone and called Gunderson's telephone
number listed at the top of the attached resume. The resume was
impressive. He'd worked as SAC (Senior Special Agent in Charge) at Los
Angeles FBI headquarters, Washington D.C. headquarters and in Dallas,
Texas. It would be two years before I would grasp the significance of
the Dallas connection. After retiring from the FBI, he'd worked for F.
Lee Baily, Esq., then formed his own investigative agency in Los Angeles
county.

I left a message with the answering service and he returned the call a
few days later. His voice was open, attentive, devoid of the
bureaucratic hollowness I had come to expect from FBI agents. We talked
briefly, mostly about the problem DIG was experiencing in Mariposa. I
said I needed help, anticipating his next question. But none came forth.
Instead, a clipped knowingness entered his tone, as if nothing more
should be said on the phone. He agreed to meet with me at his home a few
weeks later and we hung up.

Unknown to me at the time, I had taken a quantum leap in the direction
of the Octopus when I contacted Ted Gunderson. The mystery of the
Mariposa coverups would soon be divulged through an associate of his, a
former member of "The Company" in nearby Fresno, California.

******

On November 30, 1991, Ted Gunderson opened the door at his Manhattan
Beach home and ushered us into a small living room cluttered with toys.
He made no explanation for the toys scattered around the floor and the
couch, but offered coffee and donuts, then proceeded to eat most of the
donuts himself. I had expected someone dripping with intrigue, instead
he was classic in the sense of an investigator; rumpled shirt and
slacks, nervous movements, distracted behavior. We sat on the couch
bunched together amongst the toys. Gunderson pulled a kitchen chair up
in front of us, leaned over and began stuffing his mouth with cheese and
crackers, all the while talking, his body in perpetual motion. He was a
big, handsome man with an aging face and tossled silver hair. He seemed
entirely unaware of his appearance or the appearnce of his home, but his
pale eyes were intelligent and probing. Intuitively, I knew he was more
than he appeared to be.

A young woman, perhaps early thirties, entered the room brushing long
blond hair, still wet from the shower. Her faded jeans and sundrenched
appearance reminded me of friends I'd known growing up in Newport Beach.
Gunderson introduced her as his "partner," as she seated herself
silently on the floor next to him. The flush on her face brought a
fleeting prescience to me that they had been making love shortly before
the meeting.

Ray Jenkins recounted the Mariposa story for several hours, with the
rest of us digressing to insert a fact here or there. The investigation
had led beyond Mariposa into MCA Corporation, and various State and
Federal levels of government. I noted that Danny Casolaro's research had
started at the eastern end, in Washington D.C., yet he had been
preparing to travel to California for the rest of the story, before his
death three months earlier.

Gunderson listened carefully, occasionally interrupting to ask
questions, then motioned us to follow him to the backyard. There we
stood in a circle in the middle of his yard while he surveyed the area.
Satisfied that he was not being watched, he agreed to come to Mariposa,
with media, and perform a citizens arrest on the corrupt officials. He
pulled a frazzled piece of paper from his pocket and gave me a list of
telephone numbers to write down. They were numbers to telephone booths
at various locations in the vicinity of his home. Each booth had been
coded 1,2,3,4, or 5. He instructed that the next time I called him, he
would give me the code number of the booth and a time to call. I would
then call him at the designated booth.

Eight hours later, I handed him a copy of my first book, as a courtesy,
then left Manhattan Beach loaded with newspaper clippings and documents,
mostly relating to Casolaro's investigation of the Octopus. One packet
was titled, "The Wonderful Weapons of Wackenhut," others related to the
Inslaw affair, Iran/Contra and various savings and loan scandals.

In the van, reviewing the documents, I wondered what relationship they
had to Mariposa County and why I was given the packet. The documents
were far ranging, beyond anything I had heretofore imagined. But within
days of my visit to Gunderson, I would be introduced to the Octopus.

******

The following morning, at 7:30 a.m., I received a collect call from a
man who identified himself as Michael Riconosciuto (pronounced
Riconoshooto). Riconosciuto, calling from the Pierce County jail in
Tacoma, Washington, said he had been informed by Gunderson that I was
investigating a corruption/drug ring in Mariposa County. For 45 minutes
Riconosciuto related the names of those in charge of methamphetamine
operations in Mariposa, Madera and Fresno counties.

A ton of methamphetamine had been seized in the area of my
investigations, according to Riconosciuto. Richard Knozzi was a high
level "cooker" and Jim DeSilva, Ben Kalka, and others were medium level
distributors or lieutenants. Kalka was currently serving time in a
Pleasanton prison; 900 pounds of methamphetamine had been seized under
his control.

"Who's behind this ring?" I asked. Riconosciuto paused for a moment,
then took a deep breath. "It's The Company. Arms get shipped to the
Contras, the Afghanistan rebels [Mujahaden], the Middle East. You know,
to fight the Soviet influence. But the Contras and the Mujahaden don't
have money to pay for arms, so they pay with drugs, cocaine or heroin.
The Company handles the drug end of it in the U.S ..."

"What's The Company ...?," I asked. Riconosciuto interrupted, "Wait a
minute. It's a long story. You have to start at the beginning."
Concerned that Riconosciuto might have to hang up, I hurriedly pushed
for answers. "Arms for drugs, do you have proof?"

"Oh, yeah. It's a selfsupporting system, they don't have to go through
Congress ..."

"Michael," I pressed, "who ships the arms?" Riconosciuto quieted for a
moment, gathering his thoughts. "Let's start with Wackenhut. I didn't
play ball with Wackenhut so they poisoned the well for me. I'm in jail
because I worked for Wackenhut. The government has put together a very
simple drug case against me ... as if that's what I'm about, just a
druggie."

"Tell me about Wackenhut."

"It's a security corporation headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.
Wackenhut provides security for the Nevada nuclear test site, the
Alaskan pipeline, Lawrence Livermore Labs, you know, all the high
security government facilities in the U.S. They have about fifty
thousand armed security guards that work for minimum wage or slightly
above.

"On the other hand, on the Wackenhut board of directors, they have all
the former heads of every government agency there ever was under Ronald
Reagan and George Bush; FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, etc.

"You know, they've got retired Admiral Stansfield Turner, a former CIA
director; Clarence Kelley, former FBI director; Frank Carlucci, former
CIA deputy director; James Rowley, former Secret Service director;
Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, former acting chairman of President Bush's
foreign intelligence advisory board and former CIA deputy director.
Before his appointment as Reagan's CIA director, the late William Casey
was Wackenhut's outside legal counsel ..."

I interrupted him, wanting to know where HE fit into the picture?

"Well, I served as Director of Research for the Wackenhut facility at
the Cabazon Indian reservation in Indio, California. In 198384 I
modified the PROMISE computer software to be used in law enforcement and
intelligence agencies worldwide. A man named Earl Brian was spearheading
a plan for worldwide use of the software, but essentially, the modified
software was being pirated from the owners, Bill and Nancy Hamilton."

I asked, "So how did that cause your arrest?" Michael was articulate,
but his story was becoming complicated. He continued. "I signed an
affidavit for the Hamiltons stating that I had been responsible for the
modification. The House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw was investigating
the theft of the software and I was afraid I would be implicated since I
had performed the modification. Nine days later, in an attempt to
discredit my testimony, I was arrested for allegedly operating a drug lab."

I didn't want to push Riconosciuto on the subject of a drug lab at that
point, but voiced my foremost concern. "Will the House Judiciary
Committee be bringing you in to testify?"

"Eventually, yes."

"Are you in any danger where you are right now?" I was unaware at the
time that Riconosciuto had been recruited at Stanford University into
the CIA nearly twenty years earlier, and danger was a matter of fact in
his life.

"Oh, you bet! Several of the jail guards here moonlight for Wackenhut
here in Tacoma." Riconosciuto went on to discuss the Wackenhut setup.
"Basically, what you have is a group of politically well connected
people through Wackenhut who wanted to get juicy defense contracts when
Ronald Reagan got elected president. And they did! They also preyed on
high tech start up companies, many of them out of Silicon Valley in
California.

"They saw technology that they wanted and they either forced the
companies into bankruptcy or waited on the sidelines, like vultures, and
picked them up for pennies after they were bankrupt."

I made profuse notes as Riconosciuto spoke, not knowing where he was
leading, but assuming his narrative would eventually intersect with my
investigation of government sanctioned drug operations. Finally it did.
According to Riconosciuto, Wackenhut Corporation "made inroads" into the
methamphetamine operation. A man named Richard Knozzi allegedly headed
major government sanctioned meth laboratories in Fresno, Madera and
Mariposa counties. A man named Al Holbert, a former Israeli intelligence
officer with U.S. citizenship, was the liaison or connection between the
Knozzi operation and the U.S. government.

In subsequent documents obtained from Michael's secret hiding place in
the California desert, I located documents which indicated Michael had
first been recruited into the CIA by Al Holbert. However, during this
first of many phone conversations with Riconosciuto, I found myself
searching for a beginning, something concrete to get a foothold.
"Michael, is there any proof that you worked at Wackenhut?"

Michael responded diffidently. "CNN recently ran a piece, and they
filmed a location shot from the parking lot of the casino. Then they
aired another location shot on the [Cabazon] reservation of just an
expanse of bare land, blue sky, sand and sagebrush. Then the narrator
says, `Here on the Indian reservation is where Michael Riconosciuto
claims to have modified the PROMISE software.' They didn't show the
tribal office complex, they didn't show the industrial park. They showed
a bare expanse of land, like I had a computer out in a teepee in the
middle of the desert! The government is doing a character assassination
on me. I'm fair game now that I'm in jail, because I've raised too many
provocative questions, you know, and they're trying to relegate me to
the area of delusion ..."

******

For three months Riconosciuto called daily from the Pierce County jail
in Tacoma, Washington. At his request, I attached a tape recorder to my
phone and unraveled a complicated web of illegal overseas arms
shipments, espionage, CIA drug trafficking, biological warfare
development, computer software theft, money laundering and corruption at
the highest levels of government.

Throughout this time span, I also obtained every newspaper and magazine
article I could lay my hands on relative to Riconosciuto's background
and contacts. Riconosciuto had been communicating regularly with
journalist Danny Casolaro prior to his death on August 10, 1991 when
Danny's nude body was found in the bathtub of room 517 of the Sheraton
Hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His wrists had been slashed ten or
twelve times. No papers were found in his hotel room or in his car,
though he was known to cart a briefcase and files everywhere he went. An
XActo blade found in the bathtub was not sold locally and his briefcase
is still missing to this day.Casolaro was working on a book entitled,
"Behold a Pale Horse," which encompassed the October Surprise story, the
Inslaw computer software case, the Iran/Contra affair, the B.C.C.I.
scandal, and M.C.A. entertainment corporation, all overlapping and
interconnecting into one network which he dubbed, "The Octopus."

He told friends that he "had traced the Inslaw and related stories back
to a dirty CIA `Old Boy' network" that had begun working together in the
1950's around the Albania covert operations. These men had gotten into
the illegal gun and drug trade back then and had continued in that
business ever since.

Before his death, Danny had made plans to visit the Wackenhut
Corporation in Indio, California, and even considered naming his book,
"Indio."

CHAPTER 4

The history of Wackenhut Corporation is best described from its own
literature. An outdated letter of introduction typed on Wackenhut
letterhead once sent to prospective clients provided me with the
following profile: (Excerpted) "Wackenhut Corporation had its beginnings
in 1954, when George R. Wackenhut and three other former Special Agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation formed a company in Miami,
Special Agent Investigators, to provide investigative services to
business and industry.

"The approach was so well received that a second company was formed in
1955 to apply the same philosophy to physical security problems. In 1958
the companies were combined under the name of Wackenhut Corporation, a
Florida company. From the outset, George Wackenhut was President and
chief executive officer of the enterprise. Wackenhut established its
headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida in 1960, extending its physical
security operations to the United States government through formation of
a whollyowned subsidiary, Wackenhut Services, Incorporated. This was
done in order to comply with federal statute prohibiting the government
from contracting with companies which furnish investigative or detective
services.

"In 1962, Wackenhut operations extended from Florida to California and
Hawaii. On January 1, 1966, the company became international with
offices in Caracas, Venezuela, through half ownership of an affiliate.

"The Wackenhut Corporation became public in 1966 with overthecounter
stock sales and joined the American Stock Exchange in 1967. Through
acquisitions of subsidiaries and affiliates, now totaling more than 20,
and expansion of it contracts into numerous territories and foreign
countries, the Wackenhut Corporation has grown into one of the world's
largest security and investigative firms.

"In 1978 acquisition of NUSAC, a Virginia company providing technical
and consulting services to the nuclear industry, brought Wackenhut into
the fields of environment and energy management. In 1979, Wackenhut
acquired Stellar Systems, Inc., a California company specializing in
outdoor electronic security.

"The executive makeup of the company reflects the stress Mr. Wackenhut
placed on professional leadership. The Wackenhut Corporation is guided
by executives and managers with extensive backgrounds in the FBI and
other military, governmental and private security and investigative fields.

"The principle business of the company is furnishing security and
complete investigative services and systems to business, industry and
professional clients, and to various agencies of the U.S. Government.

"Through a whollyowned subsidiary, Wackenhut Electronic Systems
Corporation, the company develops and produces sophisticated
computerized security systems to complement its guard services.

"Major clients of Wackenhut's investigative services are the insurance
industry and financial interests. These services include insurance
inspections, corporate acquisition surveys, personnel background
reports, preemployment screening, polygraph examinations and general
criminal, fraud and arson investigations.

"The wide variety of services offered by Wackenhut Corporation also
includes guard and electronic security for banks, office buildings,
apartments, industrial complexes and other physical structures; training
programs in English and foreign languages to apply Wackenhut procedures
to individual clients needs; fire, safety and protective patrols; rescue
and first aid services; emergency support programs tailored to
labormanagement disputes, and predeparture screening programs widely
used by airports and airlines.

"The company now has some 20,000 employees and maintains close to 100
offices and facilities with operations spread across the United States
and extending into Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the
Middle East, Indonesia, Central and South America and the Caribbean."

******

On the surface, Wackenhut Corporation seemed innocous enough, but
through documents later obtained from Michael Riconosciuto, I learned
there was another, darker side to Wackenhut operations, at the Cabazon
Indian reservation near Indio, California.

Because Indian reservations are sovereign nations and do not come under
federal jurisdiction, Wackenhut International had formed a partnership
and entered into a business venture with the Cabazon Indians to produce
hightech arms and explosives for export to thirdworld countries. This
maneuver was designed to evade congressional prohibitions against U.S.
weapons being shipped to the Contras and middle eastern countries.

In the early 1980's, Dr. John Nichols, the Cabazon tribal administrator,
obtained a department of Defense secret facility clearance for the
reservation to conduct various research projects. Nichols then
approached Wackenhut with an elaborate "joint venture" proposal to
manufacture 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols,
lasersighted assault weapons, sniper rifles and portable rocket systems
on the Cabazon reservation and in Latin America. At one point, he even
sought to develop biological weapons.

Again, through Michael Riconosciuto's files, I later obtained
interoffice memorandums and correspondence relating to biological
technology, but more on that in chapter 10. Meanwhile, in 1980, Dr. John
Nichols obtained the blueprints to Crown Prince Fahd's palace in Tiaf,
Saudi Arabia, and drafted a plan to provide security for the palace.

The Saudis were interested enough to conduct a background check on the
Cabazons. Mohammad Jameel Hashem, consul of the Royal Embassy of Saudi
Arabia in Washington, D.C., wrote former South Dakota Senator James
Abourezk at his offices in Washington D.C. and noted, "According to our
black list for companies, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians/Cabazon
Trading Company and Wackenhut International are not included."
Translated, that meant that neither the Cabazons or Wackenhut were
Jewishrun enterprises.

George Wackenhut's political leanings were once described in a book
entitled, "The Age of Surveillance, The Aims and Methods of America's
Political Intelligence System," by Frank J. Donner (Knopf, 1980), pp.
424425 as such: "The agency's [Wackenhut] professional concerns reflect
the political values of its director, George Wackenhut. A rightist of
the old blood, he selected as his directors an assortment of ultras
prominent in the John Birch Society, the ASC, and other rightwing
groups. The agency's monthly house organ, the `Wackenhut Security
Review,' systematically decried the subversive inspiration in virtually
all the protest movements of the sixties, from civil rights to peace.
This vigilance earned the publication the accolade of rightwing
organizations, inluding (in 1962) the George Washington Honor Medal and
the Freedom Foundation Award at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; and (in 1965
and 1966) the Vigilant Patriots Award from the AllAmerican Conference to
Combat Communism."

******

Of all the articles written about Wackenhut Corporation, probably the
most provacative was written by John Connolly for SPY magazine,
published in September 1992, pp. 4654. Connolly, a former New York
police officer turned writer, began his story with the following
introduction: "What? A big private company one with a board of former
CIA, FBI and Pentagon officials; one in charge of protecting
nuclearweapons facilities, nuclear reactors, the Alaskan oil pipeline
and more than a dozen American embassies abroad; one with longstanding
ties to a radical rightwing organization; one with 30,000 men and women
under arms secretly helped Iraq in its effort to obtain sophisticated
weapons? And fueled unrest in Venezuela? This is all the plot of a new
bestselling thriller, right? Or the ravings of some overheated
conspiracy buff, right? Right? WRONG."

Connolly highlighted George Wackenhut as a "hardline rightwinger" who
was able to profit from his beliefs by building dossiers on Americans
suspected of being Communists or leftleaning "subversives and
sympathizers" and selling the information to interested parties. By 1965
, Wackenhut was boasting to potential investors that the company
maintained files on 2.5 million suspected dissidents one in 46 American
adults then living.

In 1966, after acquiring the private files of Karl Barslaag, a former
staff member of the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, Wackenhut
could confidently maintain that with more than 4 million names, it had
the largest privately held file on suspected dissidents in America.

Connolly wrote that it was not possible to overstate the special
relationship that Wackenhut enjoys with the federal government. Richard
Babayan, claiming to be a CIA contract employee, told SPY that
"Wackenhut has been used by the CIA and other intelligence agencies for
years. When they [the CIA] need cover, Wackenhut is there to provide it
for them."

Another CIA agent, Bruce Berckmans, who was assigned to the CIA station
in Mexico City, but left the agency in January 1975 (putatively) to
become a Wackenhut internationaloperations vice president, told SPY that
he had seen a formal proposal submitted by George Wackenhut to the CIA
offering Wackenhut offices throughout the world as fronts for CIA
activities. In 1981, Berckmans joined with other senior Wackenhut
executives to form the company's Special Projects Division. It was this
division that linked up with exCIA man Dr. John Phillip Nichols, the
Cabazon tribal administrator, in pursuit of a scheme to manufacture
explosives, poison gas and biological weapons for export to the contras
and other communist fighting rebels worldwide.

SPY also printed testimony from William Corbett, a terrorism expert who
spent 18 years as a CIA analyst and is now an ABC News consultant in
Europe. Said Corbett, "For years Wackenhut has been involved with the
CIA and other intelligence organizations, including the DEA. Wackenhut
would allow the CIA to occupy positions within the company [in order to
carry out] clandestine operations."Additionally, Corbett said that
Wackenhut supplied intelligence agencies with information, and it was
compensated for this "in a quid pro quo arrangement" with government
contracts worth billions of dollars over the years.

On page 51, in a box entitled, "Current and Former Wackenhut Directors,"
SPY published the following names: "John Ammarell, former FBI agent;
Robert Chasen, former FBI agent; Clarence Kelly, former FBI director;
Willis Hawkins, former assistant secretary of the Army; Paul X. Kelley,
fourstar general (ret.), U.S. Marine Corps; Seth McKee, former commander
in chief, North American Air Defense Command; Bernard Schriever, former
member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board; Frank Carlucci,
former Defense Secretary and former deputy CIA director; Joseph Carroll,
former director, Defense Intelligence Agency; James Rawley, former
director, U.S. Secret Service; Bobby Ray Inman, former deputy CIA
director."

CHAPTER 5

Danny Casolaro's body was found at 12:30 p.m. in a bloodfilled bath tub
by a hotel maid who called the Martinsburg police. The body contained
three deep cuts on the right wrist and seven on the left wrist, made by
a single edge razor blade, the kind used to scrape windows or open
packages.At the bottom of the bathwater was an empty Milwaukee beer can,
a paper glass coaster, the razor blade and two white plastic trash bags,
the kind used in wastepaper baskets.On the desk in the hotel room was an
empty mead composition notebook with one page torn out and a suicide
note which read: "To those who I love the most, please forgive me for
the worst possible thing I could have done. Most of all, I'm sorry to my
son. I know deep down inside that God will let me in."

There were no other papers, folders, documents of any sort, nor any
briefcase found in the room. Danny's wallet was intact, stuffed with
credit cards.The body was removed from the tub by Lieutenant Dave
Brining from the Martinsburg fire department, and his wife, Sandra, a
nurse who works in the hospital emergency room. The couple, who often
moonlighted as coroners, took the body to the Brown Funeral Home where
they conducted an examination.Charles Brown then decided to embalm the
body that night and go home, rather than come back to work the next day,
Sunday.

No one in Danny Casolaro's family had been notified of his death at that
time, nor had they requested the body be embalmed.When Casolaro's family
learned of the death, they insisted it was not a suicide and called for
an autopsy and an investigation. Though the body had already been
embalmed, an autopsy was performed at the West Virginia University
Hospital by a Dr. Frost. The findings indicated that no struggle had
taken place because there were no recent bruises on the body. The drugs
found in Casolaro's urine, blood and tissue samples were in minute
amounts but they were also unexplainable by his brother, Tony, who is a
medical doctor.

According to Tony Casolaro, Danny did not take drugs or have any
prescriptions for the drug traces of Hydrocodone and Tricyclic
antidepressant that were found in the body. No pill boxes or written
prescriptions were found. Dr. Casolaro searched through his brother's
Blue Cross records and found no record of the prescriptions or doctor
visits.

During the autopsy of the body, Dr. Frost had found lesions within the
brain which were characteristic of Multiple Sclerosis. It was possible
that Danny was having blurring of vision, but Dr. Frost downplayed the
possibility that this contributed to any suicide. Of particular
interest, was Frost's observation that the deep razor wounds on Danny's
wrists were inflicted "without any hesitation marks." However, the lack
of hesitation did not indicate one way or the other whether they were or
were not selfinflicted.Investigators and police never found Danny's
missing briefcase.

On August 6, 1991, Casolaro's housekeeper, Olga, helped Danny pack a
black leather tote bag. She remembered he also packed a thick sheaf of
papers into a dark brown or black briefcase. She asked him what he had
put into the briefcase and he replied, "I have all my papers ..." He had
been typing for two days, and as he left the house, he said, "Wish me
luck. I'll see you in a couple of days."

By August 9th, Casolaro's friends were alarmed. Noone had heard from him
and Olga was receiving threatening phone calls at Danny's home. On
Saturday, August 10th, Olga received another call, a man's voice said,
"You son of a bitch. You're dead."After learning of Danny's death, Olga
recalled seeing Danny sitting in the kitchen on August 5th with a "heavy
man ... wearing a dark suit. He was a dark man with black hair he turned
towards the door, I saw he was darkskinned. I told police maybe he could
be from India."

At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, the day before Danny's death, Bill Turner, a
friend and confidante, met Danny in the parking lot of the Sheraton
Hotel to deliver some papers to him. The papers allegedly consisted of
two sealed packages which Turner had been keeping in his safe at home
for Danny, and a packet of Hughes Aircraft papers which belonged to Turner.

Danny had appeard exhuberant to most of his friends before his death,
noting that he was about to "wrap up" his investigation of The Octopus.
Casolaro was trying to prove that the alleged theft of the Inslaw
computer program, PROMISE, was related to the October Surprise scandal,
the IranContra affair and the collapse of BCCI (Bank of Credit and
Commerce International).

Turner later admitted to police that he had indeed met with Danny on
August 9th, but at that time he refused to specify what time and would
not describe what was in the papers he delivered to Danny. I later
learned that Turner had been investigating discrepancies involving his
former employer, Hughes Aircraft Company. The documents he had delivered
from his safe to Danny had been sealed, with Casolaro's name written
across the seal, and he claimed not to have known what they
contained.Nevertheless, it is feasible to assume that Turner may have
known who Danny was preparing to meet that evening at the Martinsburg
Hotel because, for reasons of his own, Turner apparently wanted Danny to
show the Hughes Aircraft documents to whoever he was meeting with.

Turner later noted to reporters that he was "scared shitless" about
information he had seen connecting Ollie North and BCCI. "I saw papers
from Danny that connected back through the Keating Five and Silverado
[the failed Denver S & L where Neil Bush had been an officer]," he said.

To his friend, Ben Mason, Danny showed a 22point outline for his book.
Included in the information he shared with Mason were papers referring
to IranContra arms deals. Photocopies of checks made out for $1 million
and $4 million drawn on BCCI accounts held for Adnan Khashoggi, and
international arms merchant and factotum for the House of Saud, and by
Manucher Ghorbanifar, an arms dealer and IranContra middleman, were
presented.

"The last sheet," noted Mason, "was a passport of some guy named
Ibrahim." Casolaro had emphasized that Ibrahim had made a big deal of
showing him (Casolaro) his "Egyptian" passport."Ibrahim" was obviously
the informant whom Olga, Casolaro's housekeeper, had seen sitting in the
kitchen with Danny on August 5th. Hassan Ali Ibrahim Ali, born in 1928,
was later identified as the manager of Sitico, an alleged Iraqi front
company for arms purchases. Casolaro had obtained these papers from Bob
Bickel, who in turn obtained them from October Surprise source Richard
Brenneke.

Ari BenMenasche, a self proclaimed Israeli military intelligence
officer, was responsible for the tipoff to an obscure Lebanese magazine
about what later became known as the IranContra scandal. After
Casolaro's death, Menasche called Bill Hamilton, the president of Inslaw
Company and creator of the PROMISE software. (Hamilton had been in daily
contact with Casolaro until about a week prior to his death).

Menasche claimed that two FBI agents from Lexington, Kentucky, had
embarked on a trip to Martinsburg to meet Casolaro as part of their
investigation of the sale of the PROMISE software to Israel and other
intelligence agencies.Ben Menasche told Hamilton that one of the FBI
agents, E.B. Cartinhour, was disaffected because his superiors had
refused to indict high Reagan officials for their role in the October
Surprise. Ben Menasche claimed the agents were prepared to give Casolaro
proof that the FBI was illegally using PROMISE software.

It is highly unlikely that the two FBI agents were enroute to
Martinsburg to GIVE anything to Casolaro, but they may well have been on
their way to obtain HIS documents and those belonging to Bill Turner.
If, in fact, Danny had disclosed to any one of the many "sources" he had
developed during his investigation, that he was turning over his
documents to the Lexington FBI, that may well have alarmed a few of them.

Casolaro was also investigating Colonel Bo Gritz's expose of CIA drug
trafficking, and had requested to meet with a former police officer who
had information on Laotian warlord Kuhn Sa's Golden Triangle drug trade
proposal to the U.S. He had learned through a Sacramento Bee newspaper
article, dated June 2, 1990 that Patrick Moriarty, the Red Devil
fireworks magnate convicted of laundering political contributions and
bribing city officials in Sacramento, had been subpoenaed to testify on
behalf of Gritz at his trial in Las Vegas where he was tried for using a
false passport. Gritz was acquitted of the charges.

Moriarty's lawyer, Jan Lawrence Handzlik, told the Bee that Moriarty had
paid Gritz to make business trips to China, Singapore and other parts of
Asia. Gritz said his business trip to Asia in July 1989 was for the
purpose of negotiating an oil interest that he and Moriarty had set up
between the People's Republic of China and Indonesia.

It is noteworthy that Patrick Moriarty is the longtime (30 years)
partner of Marshall Riconosciuto, Michael Riconosciuto's father. They
owned several California businesses together, two of which were Hercules
Research Corporation, of which Michael was a partner, and Pyrotronics
Corporation.

******

Casolaro at one time considered the title of "Indio" for the book he was
writing about "The Octopus." His death occurred just days before he
planned to visit the Cabazon Indian reservation near Indio, California.
Though his notes did not divulge what role the Cabazons may have had in
the conspiracy, Casolaro listed Dr. John Phillip Nichols, the Cabazon
administrator, as a former CIA agent.

A source of information which Danny may have read is entitled, "DARK
VICTORY, Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob," by Dan E. Moldea. Moldea
named this unholy alliance "The Octopus" in his book.

Numerous publications reporting on Casolaro's death corroborated that
one of his sources included Michael Riconosciuto, a "44yearold former
hightech scientist who had connections with Wackenhut Corporation ..."
What brought Casolaro to Riconosciuto was an affidavit signed by
Riconosciuto claiming that when he worked on the WackenhutCabazon
project, he was given a copy of the Inslaw software by Earl Brian for
modification. Riconosciuto also swore that Peter Videnieks, a Justice
Department official associated with the Inslaw contract, had visited the
WackenhutCabazon project with Earl Brian.

Earl Brian was a businessman and Edwin Meese crony who served in
Governor Ronald Reagan's cabinet in California.The $6 million in
software stolen from William and Nancy Hamilton, coowners of Inslaw
Company, was allegedly sold by the Justice Department through Earl Brian
to raise offthebooks money for covert government operations.

On May 18, 1990, Riconosciuto had called the Hamiltons and informed them
that the Inslaw case was connected to the October Surprise affair.
Riconosciuto claimed that he and Earl Brian had traveled to Iran in 1980
and paid $40 million to Iranian officials to persuade them NOT to
release the hostages before the presidential election in which Reagan
became president of the United States.

Riconosciuto's information created a domino effect in Washington D.C.,
opening numerous investigations and causing a media blitz. At that time,
Casolaro headed the Hamilton's private investigation of the theft of
their software and he had regular communication with Riconosciuto.

Former U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson, the Hamilton's
attorney, subsequently sent Riconosciuto an affidavit to sign, to be
filed by Inslaw in federal court in connection with Inslaw's pending
Motion for Limited Discovery. The affidavit, Case No. 8500070, entered
into court records, resulted in Riconosciuto's arrest within days. It
read as follows:

"I Michael J. Riconosciuto, being duly sworn, do hereby state as follows:

"(1) During the early 1980's, I served as the Director of Research for a
joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables,
Florida, and the Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio, California. The joint
venture was located on the Cabazon reservation.

"(2) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture sought to develop and/or
manufacture certain materials that are used in military and national
security operations, including night vision goggles, machine guns,
fuelair explosives, and biological and chemical warfare weapons.

"(3) The Cabazon Band of Indians are a sovereign nation. The sovereign
immunity that is accorded the Cabazons as a consequence of this fact
made it feasible to pursue on the reservation the development and/or
manufacture of materials whose development or manufacture would be
subject to stringent controls off the reservation. As a minority group,
the Cabazon Indians also provided the Wackenhut Corporation with an
enhanced ability to obtain federal contracts through the 8A Set Aside
Program, and in connection with Governmentowned contractoroperated
(GOCO) facilities.

"(4) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture was intended to support the
needs of a number of foreign governments and forces, including forces
and governments in Central America and the Middle East. The Contras in
Nicaragua represented one of the most important priorities for the joint
venture.

"(5) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture maintained close liaison with
certain elements of the United States Government, including
representatives of intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies.

"(6) Among the frequent visitors to the WackenhutCabazon joint venture
were Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington,
D.C., and a close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian.
Brian is a private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has
maintained close ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years.

"(7) In connection with my work for Wackenhut, I engaged in some
software development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on the
proprietary PROMIS computer software product. The copy of PROMIS on
which I worked came from the U.S. Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian
made it available to me through Wackenhut after acquiring it from Peter
Videnieks, who was then a Department of Justice contracting official
with responsibility for the PROMISE software. I performed the
modifications to PROMIS in Indio, California; Silver Spring, Maryland;
and Miami, Florida.

"(8) The purpose of the PROMISE software modifications that I made in
1983 and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in
law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Earl W. Brian was
spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMISE computer
software.

"(9) Some of the modifications that I made were specifically designed to
facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the
Government of Canada; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the
Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Earl W. Brian would
check with me from time to time to make certain that the work would be
completed in time to satisfy the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS
implementations of PROMIS.

"(10) The proprietary version of PROMIS, as modified by me, was, in
fact, implemented in both the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. It was my
understanding that Earl W. Brian had sold this version of PROMIS to the
Government of Canada.

"(11) In February 1991, I had a telephone conversation with Peter
Videnieks, then still employed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Videnicks attempted during this telephone conversation to persuade me
not to cooperate with an independent investigation of the government's
piracy of Inslaw's proprietary PROMIS software being conducted by the
Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"(12) Videnieks stated that I would be rewarded for a decision not to
cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation. Videnieks
forecasted an immediate and favorable resolution of a protracted child
custody dispute being prosecuted against my wife by her former husband,
if I were to decide not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee
investigation.

"(13) Videnieks also outlined specific punishments that I could expect
to receive from the U.S. Department of Justice if I cooperate with the
House Judiciary Committee's investigation.

"(14) One punishment that Videnieks outlined was the future inclusion of
me and my father in a criminal prosecution of certain business
associates of mine in Orange County, California, in connection with the
operation of a savings and loan institution in Orange County. By way of
underscoring his power to influence such decisions at the U.S.
Department of Justice, Videnieks informed me of the indictment of these
business associates prior to the time when that indictment was unsealed
and made public.

"(15) Another punishment that Videnieks threatened against me if I
cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee is prosecution by the U.S.
Department of Justice for perjury. Videnieks warned me that credible
witnesses would come forward to contradict any damaging claims that I
made in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, and that I would
subsequently be prosecuted for perjury by the U.S. Department of Justice
for my testimony before the House Judiciary Committee."

It is noteworthy that in January, 1992 when I obtained boxes of Michael
Riconosciuto's hidden documents, included in those documents were
handwritten pages of telephone numbers belonging to various Washington
D.C. dignitaries. One number, "(202) 4260789" was listed as belonging to
"PV," but it was no longer in service.

******

Danny Casolaro was, of course, intent on interviewing Peter Videnieks. A
strange coincidence occurred during the week prior to his death. While
sitting in a pub, having a beer, a man named Joseph Cuellar approached
him and they began talking. At some point during the conversation, Danny
disclosed the contents of his investigation and expressed a desire to
interview Peter Videnieks.

To Danny's astonishment, Cuellar, claiming to be a Special Forces
operative, said he could arrange a rendevous between Peter Videnieks and
Casolaro. Cuellar's connection to Peter Videnieks allegedly came through
Videnieks' wife, Barbara, who was the executive assistant to the
powerful West Virginia Democratic Senator, Robert Byrd. Byrd played a
major role in the effort to have the CIA move some of its administrative
offices to Charlestown, 20 miles from Martinsburg, on the Virginia
border. It was apparently through Barbara Videnieks that Cuellar
intended to arrange the interview.

Casolaro confided to friends that he was unnerved by this supposedly
chance meeting. He met with Cuellar at other times that week, but it is
unknown whether he ever spoke with Videnieks. To date, that question
remains unanswered.

Significantly, Elliot Richardson, the respected former U.S. Attorney
General representing Inslaw, called for the appointment of a special
counsel to look into the death of Casolaro.

CHAPTER 6

At Michael Riconosciuto's trial in Tacoma Washington, Peter Videnieks
testified that while working for the Justice Department he had contact
with the PROMISE software. He "conducted the competitive contract
competitive procurement for acquisition of the services to implement
PROMISE."Under cross examination he testified that "it required
preparation of a request for proposals issuance of that document to
industry ... negotiating, selecting, and awarding the contract. Then
after award, administering the contract to see that the work that the
government paid for was properly performed."

So, essentially, Videnieks administered the Inslaw contract with the
government. His employment record included work with the Internal
Revenue Service as a revenue officer from 1964 to 1967. From 1967 to
1972 as a contract specialist with NASA. From 1972 to 1973 with Customs
as a contract specialist. From 1973 through 1975 back at NASA as a
contract specialist. From 1975 through 1981 as a contract specialist
with Customs, supervisory at this time. From 1981 through September,
1990, with the Department of Justice as a contract specialist. And from
September 1990 through present (January 1992) as a supervisory contract
specialist at Customs again.

Thomas Olmstead, Riconosciuto's attorney, showed Videnieks the Inslaw
affidavit signed by Riconosciuto. Videnieks said he had seen the
affidavit prior to court, but testified that he'd never heard of the
WackenhutCabazon joint venture and never visited the WackenhutCabazon
facility in Indio, California. He also testified that he'd never met
Earl Brian.

Olmstead asked Videnieks if he knew Robert Chasen [Executive Vice
President of Wackenhut]? Videnieks testified that he knew him "by name
since he was head of Customs for about a threeyear period, from about
1977 through 1980. I met him once in the line of my duties."

Interestingly, according to his resume, Robert Chasen was Commissioner
of Customs in Washington D.C. from 1969 to 1977, then Executive Vice
President of Wackenhut from 1981 to present (1991). And Peter Videnieks,
a contract officer at Customs in Washington D.C. from 1972 to 1974, then
again at Customs from 1976 to 1981, said he did not know Robert Chasen.
How could that be? Videnieks had worked in the same department with
Chasen, off and on, for at least three years.

Videnieks also testified that he met Chasen in the line of his duties
sometime between 1977 and 1980. Yet, Chasen no longer worked at Customs
between 1977 and 1980?

Olmstead asked Videnieks to reiterate his position with the PROMISE
software. "I worked on the [PROMISE] contract. ... The procurement was
assigned to me by a lady named Patricia Rudd. ... My function was to
conduct a competitive procurement, negotiate an award of contract, and
then administer the contract."

Olmstead: "What time frames are we talking when you were ...?"

Videnieks: "We're talking about from the day that I reported for duty at
Justice, which was in September 1981, through about 1985."

Olmstead: "Are you familiar with Hadron Company?" (This was a loaded
question because Earl Brian, who Videnieks testified he did not know,
owned Hadron Company at the time of the court proceedings.)

Videnieks responded, "Yes, I am."

Olmstead: "Have you done work for Hadron Corporation in your procurement
contract?"

Videnieks: "I supervise currently a contract specialist who is
administering a contract with Hadron."

Olmstead: "Prior to supervising someone, did you personally handle that
particular contract?"

Videnieks: "I have administered well over a hundred contracts, maybe a
couple hundred or several hundred over my career, and I don't recall
whether I have or not."

Olmstead: "And you have never given a deposition in regards to the
Inslaw matter?"

Videnieks: "My recall is not that good. Like I said, I have administered
hundreds of contracts, and I may or may not have administered one with
Hadron."

Again Olmstead asked Videnieks if he knew Earl Brian?Videnieks
responded, "No, sir."

Olmstead: "Do you know who owns Hadron?"

Videnieks: "I really don't. I've heard I mean, I don't want to speculate
now. He may be an officer with Hadron. He may be."

Olmstead: "You don't recall any questions in any depositions at all
regarding that?"

Videnieks: "I do recall questions along these same lines. But again,
from general knowledge, I think he is an officer or has been an officer
with Hadron."

Olmstead: "In fact, in your deposition, you admitted you knew that he
was an officer of Hadron, didn't you?"

Videnieks: "I would like to see my transcript from my deposition as to
what I said ..."

Olmstead went on to question Videnieks about "Modification No. 12" of
the PROMISE software. Videnieks stated that he knew what Modification
No. 12 was, but repeatedly refused to discuss it until someone produced
the original Inslaw contract. Finally, under pressure to give a general
recollection, he said it dealt with the twelfth modification to the
PROMISE software.

Olmstead asked, "Were you personally chastised as a result of
Modification No. 12 in the way you handled that?"

Videnieks: "Please define `chastised.'"

Olmstead: "Were you told that you took, converted, and stole six million
dollars worth of Inslaw software through the way you handled
Modification No. 12?"

Videnieks: "A judge in the bankruptcy court ruled that. Since then the
record was erased. And that language should not be the way a nonlawyer
like me understands, it is no longer in existence ..."

******

It is necessary to digress here to disclose the magnitude of the
apparent government coverup relative to Riconosciuto's case. About two
weeks before Riconosciuto's trial began, I had received a call from
Michael asking me to contact Brian Leighton, a former assistant U.S.
Attorney in Fresno, whom Michael claimed to have provided information
to. Michael was lining up his ducks. Essentially his defense rested on
his ability to prove he worked for the U.S. government in intelligence
operations, but his lawyer was behind schedule in making the contacts.

Brian Leighton had been instrumental in prosecuting 29 members of a
drug/arms organization called "The Company." The Company had been
written up in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 28, 1982 under the
heading "Story of Spies, Stolen Arms and Drugs." According to reporter
Bill Wallace, The Company consisted of (quote) "about 300 members, many
of them former military men or expolice officers with nearly $30 million
worth of assets, including planes, ships and real estate."

The article went on to say that "federal drug agents said the
organization had imported billions of dollars worth of narcotics from
Latin America, and was also involved in gunrunning and mercenary
operations." Specialized military equipment consisting of nine infrared
sniperscopes, a television camera for taking pictures in darkness, 1500
rounds of small arms tracer ammunition for night combat, a fivefoot
remotecontrol helicopter, and secret components from the radar unit of a
Sidewinder guided missile were stolen from the U.S. Naval Weapons
Station at China Lake in the Mojave Desert.

Federal agents said some of the stolen equipment was going to be used to
make electronic equipment for drug smugglers and some was traded to drug
suppliers in Columbia. Twentynine members of the Company were indicted
by the Fresno federal grand jury in 1981. Amongst those indicated was
Andrew "Drew" Thornton, 40, a former narcotics officer.

On September 13, 1985, the Los Angeles Times published the story of
Thornton's death, entitled, "Former Narcotics Officer Parachutes Out of
Plane, Dies with 77 Pounds of Cocaine." The article said Thornton was
indicted in 1981 for "allegedly flying a plane to South America for a
reputed drug ring known as `The Company.'" In an interview with the Los
Angeles Times, Brian Leighton said, "I'm glad his parachute didn't open.
I hope he got a hell of a high out of that ..."

Thornton's mysterious death was discussed at length in a book written by
Sally Denton entitled, "The Blue Grass Conspiracy." Part of The Company
was headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. Prosecutors in Lexington,
Fresno, California (Brian Leighton), and Miami, Florida were working
together in a joint effort to bring down The Company.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that in January, 1982, Gene Berry, a
state prosecutor in Charlotte Harbor, Florida, was shot in the face as
he answered his door. Police subsequently arrested Bonnie Kelly as
Berry's murderer. Bonnie's husband, Mike McClure Kelly, was a suspected
member of The Company who later pleaded guilty in the Fresno, California
case.

In Michael Riconosciuto's documents, I discovered a letter dated March
24, 1982, written on Cabazon letterhead to Michael McClure at Hercules
Corporation from Art Welmas, President of the Cabazon Band of Indians.
Copies (cc:) were also noted to Marshall Riconosciuto and Michael
Riconosciuto. The letter complimented McClure's competence in presenting
a clear and lucid explanation of a power pack under development at
Hercules. (Hercules was owned by Marshall Riconosciuto, Michael
Riconosciuto and Patrick Moriarty, the Red Devil fireworks mogul. More
on Moriarty later.)

Throughout Michael's documents, I found references to Michael McClure
and Bonnie Lynne G. Kelly. Michael's code word for Mike McClure was
"Gopher."

Journalist Danny Casolaro had been communicating regularly with Michael
Riconosciuto and obviously learned about The Company. It is not to be
overlooked that coincidentally or not, Ari BenMenashe (a former Israeli
intelligence agent who lived in Lexington, Kentucky) told Bill Hamilton
that two Lexington FBI agents had been enroute to meet with Danny at the
Martinsburg Hotel on the day of his death. The Company was headquartered
in Lexington. Danny was not meeting with the FBI relative to PROMIS, he
was preparing to turn over drug trafficking information on The Company.

BenMenashe further told Hamilton that one of the agents, E.B.
Cartinhour, was angry that the Justice Department was not pursuing
Reagan administration officials for their role in the October Surprise.

******

Meanwhile, it was necessary to contact Brian Leighton to corroborate
Riconosciuto's story that he had been instrumental in helping Leighton
identify members of The Company.

I did not directly contact Leighton, who had resigned from the U.S.
Attorney's office shortly after the prosecutions and entered into
private law practice, but asked the Secret Service agent in Los Angeles
who had visited my home regarding the "Queen's accident" in Mariposa
(mentioned in the first chapter of this book) to run a check on
Riconosciuto.

Instead, he called Brian Leighton and when I checked back with him, he
acknowledged talking to Leighton about Riconosciuto. Leighton confirmed
to the Secret Service agent that he recalled a threehour facetoface
meeting with Riconosciuto and remembered him well. He gave specific
details of Riconosciuto's cooperation with the U.S. attorney's office. I
thanked the Secret Service agent and hung up.

I next contacted a retired police officer and colleague in the Mariposa
investigation, and asked him to put me in touch with someone trustworthy
in government who could corraborate Leighton's information. The contact
was made and this individual agreed to call Brian Leighton to see if he
could glean further details of Michael's cooperation with the U.S.
attorney's office. For purposes of anonymity, this source will be
identified as "R.J." When I checked back, he confirmed that Leighton did
indeed remember Michael's help with the case and, in fact, said Michael
led law enforcement officers to a marijuana cache belonging to members
of The Company.

At that point I was satisfied that Michael had been operating within the
framework of The Company and had spoken accurately about his cooperation
with Brian Leighton. I called Thomas Olmstead, Michael's attorney, and
related the above information.

Two weeks later, on January 15, 1992, at Michael's trial in Tacoma,
Washington, Brian Leighton testified that the case in question involved
the theft of military equipment from the China Lake Naval Weapons Center
in California. "The FBI and Naval Intelligence Service began the
investigation," he said, "and there were several people that were
targets of the investigation. One of those targets began cooperating
with us and then it became a DEA and FBI investigation. The thefts
occurred in 1979 and 1980, and the case continued on for a couple of
years."

Leighton testified that he "could not recall ever meeting personally
with Mr. Riconosciuto and he didn't know if he spoke to him personally
or spoke to him through a government agent." Under crossexamination,
Leighton testified that he thought Riconosciuto was brought to him by an
agent Barnes from the Oakland or San Francisco office of the FBI, but he
couldn't remember exactly ..."

After Leighton's testimony, Michael called me and asked, "What
happened?" I was astonished at Leighton's testimony. What was at stake
here? Michael speculated that Leighton was operating out of fear. He
said Leighton retired from the U.S. Attorney's office shortly after
prosecuting members of The Company, and recalled that the prosecuting
attorney in Florida had been shot in the head.

I called the Secret Service officer and R.J. individually and asked them
to repeat what Leighton had told them before the trial. They both
repeated verbatim what Leighton had told them the first time about
Michael Riconosciuto. I said it appeared Leighton had perjured himself
in court. Neither could understand why?

******

In August 1994, I received from a friend of Bill Hamilton's (President
of Inslaw) a Declaration, signed by Hamilton, which stated that " ... On
or about April 3, 1991, I spoke by telephone with Mr. Brian Leighton, an
attorney in private practice in Fresno, California. He stated that
during the early 1980's, while serving as an Assistant United States
Attorney in Fresno, California, he had investigated a nationwide
criminal enterprise known as `The Company,' which was engaged in illegal
drug trafficking on a massive scale.

"Mr. Leighton told me that (A) Michael Riconosciuto had furnished Mr.
Leighton `valuable intelligence' on illegal drug activities and The
Company; (B) Mr. Leighton had been unable to use the information in
prosecution but (C) the failure to use Mr. Riconosciuto's intelligence
information was not because of any fault of Mr. Michael Riconosciuto."

Also mentioned in the affidavit was corroboration of Riconosciuto's work
in the defense and national security fields. Section six of the
affidavit noted that during the course of a telephone conversation with
Robert Nichols on or about April 18, 1991, Hamilton learned that Nichols
had attended a meeting that had been organized by a Colonel Bamford, an
aide to General Meyer, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Others participating in the meeting were department heads from
Department of Defense scientific facilities.

Michael Riconosciuto was the principal presenter to this group of
seniorlevel national security research and development officials.
According to Nichols, Riconosciuto made a day long presentation to this
meeting of scientists lasting from approximately 9 a.m. until
approximately 4 p.m., answering questions from the participants and
filling the halls of the conference facility with his handprinted notes
on the scientific and technical issues that arose in the course of his
presentation.

I was able to locate in Riconosciuto's files, a letter written on July
20, 1983 from Tom Bamford, Vice President of Research and Development at
FMC Corporation in Santa Clara, California to William Frash in
Escondido, California. At that time, Frash, a retired USMC Colonel, was
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Lilac Corporation.

Essentially, the letter expressed enthusiasm for the potential
application of technologies being proposed to FMC Corporation by
Meridian Arms, and called for a list of all active participants in the
joint venture. At that time Riconosciuto was vice president of Meridian
Arms. Bamford added, " ... You may want to do this only for Mike at this
stage."

Frash hastened to respond to Bamford on July 27, 1983 to apprise him of
a meeting between himself and Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth
Nichols, Peter Zokosky and Patrick Moriarty (Michael's father's business
partner) regarding "energy transfer phenomena." A proposal was underway
to outline technology in the form of patents applied for jointly between
Meridian Arms and FMC. Frash noted that the technology would "supercede
all existing world patents in the field."

"Had we patented previously, it would only have announced our `edge' in
the field," he wrote. Three of the four major patents that would be
forthcoming were (1) the application of Perturbation Theory to enhanced
energy transfer, (2) the application of stationary methods with powders
and aerosols to enhanced energy transfer and (3) the application of
Perturbation Theory to hydrodynamic flow regimes.

It is noteworthy that the submarine propulsion system depicted in the
movie, "Hunt for Red October" utilized this theory. Frash concluded,
"Tom, as you well know, Mike's tried and true value is in the field of
high voltage and electrostatics and their application. The meetings in
San Jose highlighted application of this technology in over one hundred
areas that are inhouse FMC." He added, " ... Per your reference to
meetings in Washington, D.C., I assume the meetings with Dr. Fair,
Admiral Renkin and the ACCOM people will suffice in this matter. In
closing we are very enthused, Tom, and we look forward to an expeditious
closing. Sincerely, William Frash."

Frash's payment for putting together the above referenced joint venture,
if successful, would be $500,000 for the first fifteen million invested,
or $166,666.66 for only five million invested, a
onehundredthousanddollar per year salary for a period of 20 years, and a
2% share in the gross profits. This, according to a Letter of
Understanding sent to and signed by Robert Booth Nichols and Michael
Riconosciuto in July, 1983.

In questioning Michael Riconosciuto about the FMC agreements, he said he
attempted to break away from Robert Nichols in 1984. "The guy nearly got
me terminated," declared Riconosciuto. "At the time I was working with
Nichols on a proposal to FMC Corporation, which is Food Machinery
Corporation, they produced the Bradley Personnel Carrier. I've got a
complete papertrail on the technology that was being presented. We
conducted a test demonstration of an enhanced airfield device which I
developed. We also conducted a test of a hydrodynamic implosion type of
explosive device.

"The implosion device settled the Nevada Test Range by about 30 feet.
The Lawrence Livermore Labs and the Gallup Ordinance people built a
prototype of the device, but they overbuilt it because they wanted an
impressive demonstration. It created an international incident because
the demonstration was picked up by Soviet monitoring satellites.

"Anyway, the bona fides were established. The next thing was to get the
business done and get me into harness in a program. I was all for it,
but Bob [Nichols] started getting spooky on me. He wanted to receive the
setup of our end offshore, in Singapore. He wanted to receive $20
million dollars in cash in Singapore, and he wanted to use certain of
the technology overseas, namely in Australia, OK?

"Bob started drinking a lot. He was obviously under a lot of pressure
from somewhere, and his fascade of respectability started to crack.
About that time Bob began pressuring me to do things a certain way. We'd
already been approved at the executive level by FMC. But we still had to
go through the legal department and FMC is a publicly held stock
corporation. So we still had to go through the shareholders for about
eight months, which put us about a year away from consummating the deal.

"So, I asked Bob for some extra money to meet my everyday expenses, but
Bob said, `Hurry up and get the business done and then you'll have
plenty of money.' I tried to explain to Bob that there was no way he
could expedite this thing, and so on and so forth. Well, Bob became
really overbearing. And that's when he demanded that I state things in
the contract proposal to FMC which would have been misstatements, to the
point of being illegal. That's when I started having second thoughts
about it.

"There were other people involved in the development of that technology.
Bob wanted me to pay him out of my share and make no reference to the
other people in the agreement. But when you've got the University of
California and the University of Chicago having 16 percent of your
company, having 16 percent of Hercules Research and Interprobe, you
know, how could I misrepresent the interests of my dad, Moriarty and
[Admiral] Al Renkin in a deal with a U.S. publicly held corporation [FMC]?

"At that time, Riconosciuto had been Vice President of Meridian Arms, a
subsidiary of Meridian International Logistics. But he was also
technical advisor for F.I.D.C.O. (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation) of which Nichols was on the Board of Directors. Noted
Riconosciuto, "I walked into F.I.D.C.O. in equal good faith. And that
also turned sour because Bob wanted me to illegally take embargoed
technology out of the United States, to run an operation with embargoed
armaments and high technology outside of the United States.

"So I walked out on Bob. And Bob put the heat on me and they wouldn't
leave me alone. When I got remarried [to Bobby Riconosciuto], they
continued to harrass me by putting out false intelligence reports on me
to law enforcement ..."

I asked Michael why he didn't fight back? Michael responded, "You don't
seem to understand. All my involvements were under closely controlled
situations. There's only one time in my life when I was planning on
doing something offcolor, and it never went anywhere. All the rest of
the time, everything was under complete controls. I never took any
elective actions. Everything was, you know, on direct orders. And I got
to the point where I balked with Bob Nichols and that's when he went
ballistic on me."

Riconosciuto said he was in the process of cleaning up his life in
Washington state when a private investigator from Inslaw contacted him.
"I didn't want to get nailed for piracy of that software, so I talked to
my attorney, who talked to the Inslaw attorneys, and I gave them a
declaration. And about that time, Peter Viedenieks, who was an associate
of both Robert Booth Nichols and Dr. John Nichols, called me and told me
I was my own worst enemy. He said if I didn't cool it, if I didn't
stonewall any further requests for information from the House Judiciary
Committee, I was going away forever. I told Viedenieks that I was
already in too deep, and he repeated that `I was my own worst enemy.'
Seven days later I was arrested on drug charges."

******

Ted Gunderson was one of the few "cooperating" witnesses at Michael's
trial. Through his affidavit and testimony, Ted hoped to supply the
defense with needed corroboration of Michael's covert government
sanctioned activities. Unfortunately for Michael, Ted could not disclose
numerous activities which had included Robert Booth Nichols. At one time
Gunderson, Nichols and Riconosciuto had been inseparable, like the three
musketeers. But, Nichols was currently under investigation by the Los
Angeles FBI for alleged involvement in organized crime in the U.S. and
abroad.

Fortunately, however, Gunderson's resume added credibility to the
provocative affidavit he entered into court on Michael's behalf. He had
been Senior Special Agent in Charge (SAC) at Los Angeles FBI
headquarters from 1977 to 1979 when he retired from the FBI and went to
work as chief investigator for F. Lee Bailey, Esq. Prior to that, from
1960 to 1965, Gunderson was Special Agent Supervisor at FBI headquarters
in Washington, D.C.. Interestingly, amongst a prestigious list of
positions nationwide, he was also SAC from 1973 to 1977 in Dallas, Texas
(where he became friends with Clint Murchison, Jr., according to his
livein partner, J.M.. J.M. stated in phone interviews that she and
Gunderson attended parties with Murchison in Dallas, and Gunderson
phoned him often from their Manhattan Beach home).

In 1979, Gunderson received the Alumni Highest Effort Award in the Field
of Law Enforcement from Sigma Alpha Epsilon Social Fraternity at the
University of Nebraska. In 1979, he also received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from the University of Nebraska in recognition of
distinguished and devoted service to his country.

Gunderson's handwritten affidavit, submitted to Michael's lawyer on
September 27, 1991, read as follows (excerpted): "I, Ted L. Gunderson,
make the following free and voluntary statement. No threats or promises
were made to get me to make this statement. I was born 11/7/28 at
Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"In early 1986, I met one Ralph Olberg through a friend of mine, Bill
Sloane. Sloane is a former official with HUD. Sloane was appointed by
President Ronald Reagan to the HUD position after the president was
elected in 1980.

"Olberg is a prominent American businessman who was spearheading
procurement of U.S. weapons and technology for the Afghanistan rebels.

"In late Spring or early summer of 1986, Ralph Olberg, one Tim Osman,
Michael Riconosciuto and I met in a room at the Hilton Hotel, Ventura
Blvd., Sherman Oaks, California. I accompanied Michael Riconosciuto, and
Osman and Olberg were together. We were there to discuss Olberg's role
with the worldwide support network involving the Mujahaden, Afghanistan
Resistance Movement against the Soviets.

"In particular we discussed the ability of the Mujahaden's willingness
to field test weapons, new and esoteric in the field and to return a
research report, complete with photos.

"We also discussed the capture and/or defection of high ranking Soviet
military personnel who had sensitive compartmentalized information and
the availability of their briefings. We discussed one person who was a
Soviet defector and was a communications officer who had detailed
information of the highest levels of Soviet military C3I (Command
Control Intelligence and Communications).

"We also discussed the Soviet directed weapons system referred to in the
conversation as `Blue Death.' Michael and I were told by Olberg that
witnesses stated the corpses did not decay even after being exposed and
unburied for six months.

"We discussed the possibility of Michael analyzing one of these units
captured in the field by the Afghan rebels for the purpose of having
Michael help their technical experts develop effective countermeasures.

"We discussed a military joint venture in Turkey to produce specialized
ammunition. We discussed a lobbying effort to legally obtain Stinger II
missiles as well as the various Stinger post and Stinger alternates.
Michael was to formulate a plan to sanitize the electronics of any
Stingers that would be at risk of Soviet capture so any information
gained from a captured Stinger could not be effectively used against the
U.S. or NATO forces.

"This report was to be presented to a Congressional position as support
for the lobbying effort to convince Congress to legally sanction the
shipment of these missiles to the Afghan rebels.

"We discussed Michael's proposed modification of Chinese 107 MM rockets
and how to reconfigure the package into a backpack portable effective
artillery counter battlery system.

"We discussed Michael's connection with the Chinese weapons position,
Norinco, to provide the basic components for the unassembled rocket
system. We discussed the modification and assembly of these 107 MM
rockets and their launchers at a facility in Pakistan known as the
Pakistan Ordinance Works.

"It was my understanding from the discussion that we were working on a
legally sanctioned arms assistance project to the Afghan rebels and that
Ralph Olberg was working through the Afghan desk at the State Department
as well as through Senator Humphreys office. "This was subsequently
confirmed by journalist Danny Casolaro who was recently `suicided.'

"Olberg indicated a potential turf battle problem with certain factions
of the CIA and his group MSH (Management Science For Health). In
negotiations and/or lobbying efforts with Congress, the CIA MSH people
were arguing that Ralph and Tim Osman's group did not truly represent
the leadership of the Afghan rebel resistance.

"Tim and Ralph proposed calling their people and having an unprecedented
leadership meeting in Washington D.C. to prove that their group did in
fact represent the full leadership of the Mujahaden.

"When I recently called Ralph, he denied that the above meeting had
taken place and then after prodding, he finally admitted to it and he
asked me not to talk about it. This five page statement is true and
correct to the best of my knowledge. Ted L. Gunderson."

******

Later in my investigation, I obtained from Michael Riconosciuto's files
in the desert, a handwritten note from "T.G." to "Michael" which read as
follows: "Raymond is arriving at LAX 7:55 p.m. Air Canada via Flight 793
from Toronto. Will have to go through Customs. This will give us another
member for our drug/arms operation." The note gave a telephone number
where "T.G." could be reached. "Raymond," referred to in the note, is
presumably Raymond Lavas, Gunderson's former forensic's expert during
his tenure in the FBI.

******


Michael's trial was not going well. He called and asked me to contact
R.J. and bring him to my house. Michael was ready to talk he wanted me
to set up a phone conversation in which he could preliminarily open
negotiations for entry into the Federal Witness Protection Program. I
was out of my depth here. I had no idea whether R.J. would cooperate
with such a request. Nevertheless, I called him and related Michael's
proposal. He said he had no authority to approve such a request, but he
would take the information and pass it along.

He arrived at my home early the following week and Michael called as
scheduled. Excerpts from that first taperecorded conversation went as
follows: (Michael did most of the talking) " ... In the Fresno area,
there was a group of people known as the Fresno Company, and the Bernard
brothers were involved in it and Jamie Clark was involved and all of
these people seemed to have charmed lives ...

"The Company was originally out of Lexington, Kentucky and Mena,
Arkansas. Brian Leighton was the assistant U.S. Attorney who was the
most effective person in formulating a strategy in the Justice
Department to go after these people.

"We recognized what they were, for what they were, at that time, and
there were a few ATF guys down in Los Angeles that recognized them for
what they were, OK? Here was a group of over 300 people, most of them
exlaw enforcement and exmilitary, exintelligence people involved in a
major drug and smuggling operation. And they were involved in
compromising activities. The bottom line was espionage.

"And all Leighton served to do was vaccinate the group against further
penetration. Just hardened them. And all the major sources that were
developed from inside turned up dead. A federal judge in Texas turned up
dead.

" ... This is a nasty bunch of people. And they're still alive and well.
Now where that dovetails into my current situation, is in 1984 I was
involved with Robert Booth Nichols who owns Meridian Arms Corporation
and is a principle in F.I.D.C.O., First Intercontinental Development
Corporation. The CEO of FIDCO is George Pender and Bob Maheu was Vice
President ...

"FIDCO was an NSC [National Security Council] corporate cutout. FIDCO
was created to be the corporate vehicle to secure the financing for the
reconstruction of the cities of Beirut and Damour in Lebanon. And they
were working out of an office in Nicosia, Cyprus.

" ... And here I got involved with a group of people that were all high
profile and should have been above reproach. FIDCO had a companion
company called Euramae Trading which operated througout the Middle East.
I came in contact with the PROMISE software (unintelligible). Euramae
had a distribution contract with several Arab countries and I was asked
to evaluate the hardware platforms they had chosen. That was IBM/AS400
stuff ...

" ... That had come from IBM Tel Aviv but it came through a cutout, Link
Systems, because they couldn't deal directly with the Arabs.

"And I came across a guy named Michael T. Hurley and I thought he worked
for the State Department but it turned out he was incountry attache for
the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus. [Nicosia is the capital of the island of
Cyprus, off the coast of Lebanon]. Now, the DEA had no real presence in
Lebanon. Neither did anybody else, including the Israelis. They had
their usual network of contacts but it was very ineffective. The only
way to penetrate that situation, was to get into the drug trade.

"Euramae got into the drug trade and I was told that it was a fully
sanctioned NSC directed operation, which it turns out that it was ...
All those operations were bonafide and all the people who were in them
were definitely key government people, although they were not who they
said they were.

"They all worked for different agencies other than was stated. Probably
part of the normal disinformation that goes with that. And I was
technical advisor for FIDCO and we had auspices through the government
of Lebanon to get in and out of Lebanon.

"But as far as going to the eastern part of Lebanon, unless you were
connected with the drug trade, your chances were slim coming out
unscathed ... They built a network throughout the Bekaa Valley, and
[Robert Booth] Nichols ... he is under Harold Okimoto from the Hawaiian
Islands.

"Harold Okimoto was represented to me as being an intelligence person,
which he is. He has worked under the auspices of [Frank] Carlucci for
years. [Carlucci was former CIA deputy director and former Defense
secretary]. Apparently Harold performed services for the U.S. government
during World War II. He's of Japanese ancestry. I guess he was rewarded
for services well done.

" ... Harold operates through a company called Island Tobacco
Corporation. He has contracts for all the condiments at all the casinos
in Atlantic City, in Reno, in Vegas, in Macao, China ... he's got
contacts in Honolulu, the Orient ... a couple of Jews he knows in Bankok
... and there is a casino, no a city about 15 miles north of Beruit that
Harold has his fingers in.

"When FIDCO was wheeling and dealing on financing for the reconstruction
of the infrastructure of Beirut, they were making sweetheart deals with
Syrian mobsters and the brother of the president of Syria, Hafez Assad.

" ... The intelligence people in their infinite wisdom decided to
capitalize on the longstanding battle between Rifat Assad and his group
and the Jafaar family. Selectively they were backing both people, but
they were also playing them off against one another, developing
networks. They got a bunch of prominent Syrians thoroughly compromised
and they were in tow in the intelligence game. And they had people that
could get me in and out of the Bekaa Valley, even out of certain areas
of Syria.

"From an intelligence standpoint, it was a success. But to maintain the
credibility of those intelligence operations the heroin had to flow. To
make it real. And the stuff was starting to accumulate in a warehouse
outside of Larnaca. "I personally was in a warehouse where Hurley and
George Pender and George Marcobie (phonetic spelling) told me there was
upwards of twentytwo tons. And even though it was packaged for shipment,
the smell of it in that closed warehouse was overpowering. You know,
white heroin like that has a certain odor because of the way it's
processed.

"They had authorization for what they called `controlled deliveries'
into the United States. And they would target certain cities and then
follow the stuff out, ostensibly unmasking the network and conducting
prosecutions.

"However, the operation became perverted at the U.S. end of the
pipeline. Controlled heroin shipments were doubled, sometimes tripled,
and only one third of the heroin was returned to the DEA.

"At a certain transfer point at the airport in Larnaca, the excess
baggage from the original controlled delivery would be allowed to go
through. I was given the names of the narcotics people who were handling
that. But there were a couple of agents who were on the up and up, and
they had suspicions.

"An intelligence agent who worked with DIA is now deceased. His name was
Tony Asmar and he got on to the operation early on, and started going
toe to toe with Hurley [DEA]. He died in a bomb blast and it was
ascribed to terrorists. And it actually was terrorists who did it, but
his cover was deliberately blown. Myself and others suspected Hurley and
Bob Nichols and Glen Shockley were responsible for that ... "

******

After researching Michael Riconosciuto's information, R.J. noted to me
that Michael gave mostly valid information, but he could not prove that
Michael had been involved. He did, however, verify (through Customs)
that Michael HAD been in Lebanon, but he could not verify the details of
the drug operation.

Michael responded (on a taped message to R.J.) by visually recounting
the DEA apartment/condo in Nicosia, Cyprus: "The DEA had a condo, I
think it was on Columbra (phonetically spelled) Street, in Nicosia,
Cyprus [off the coast of Lebanon].

"They had a ham radio station there. It was an ICOM single side band
amateur radio setup, with a linear ..."

"Were you actually there?" I asked. Michael quipped, "Yes, I was there,"
then continued. "I can describe the antenna system, on the top floor and
the way it's wired up and everything. Unless you were there, you
wouldn't know it was ICOM equipment.

"Now, the game plan with Euramae and Hurley's operation ..." Pause. "
... You need to understand that the airport in Lebanon was closed down.
I took the ferry from Larnaca to Jounieb. Now Jounieb was slightly south
of where the casino city was and the casino city was intact. Beirut was
a nightmare, and so was Damour, because the PLO destroyed the
infrastructure by burrowing bunkers, and there was no water, electricity
or phones. It was a combat zone.

"The Syrian mob controlled the Casino du Liban in a little city north of
Beirut. It was used as a front by narcotics people. Island Tobacco,
owned by Harold Okimoto, sells all the cigarettes there. Now, I could
give you the names of the families. They pitted them off against one
another. F.I.D.C.O. was to finance the reconstruction of the
infrastructure of the cities of Beirut and Damour. Deals were cut as to
who got what concessions. There were certain families, like the ElJorr
family that had to be placated. And there was Rifat Assad and his group.
"Tony Asmar figured out what was going on with Hurley, that they were
shipping `noncontrolled' loads of heroin back to the U.S.. They killed
Tony ..."

"What were the names of the people you were working for over there?," I
asked. Michael's time was always limited on the phone.

"Ok, there was a man named Maurice Ganem. He had a relative, either a
brother or a cousin, who is a senior DEA official with Michael Hurley. I
can't remember his name right now. Anyways, Maurice was agency, you
know, in country, in Lebanon. And Maurice and I and George Pender worked
together."

"Which agency? CIA or DEA?," I asked.

"CIA." Michael continued. " ... And then there was Danny Habib. Danny
Habib and Bob Nichols worked out of Cario (phonetic spelling) and Italy."

"And Bob was NSA or ..." "No, Bob was NSC at that time."

"George Pender and Bob Clark were the high level contacts on all of
this. Bob Clark got drummed out because he was clean. And McFarland then
took over, OK?"

"Uh huh."

"So, it was George Pender and McFarland and Michael McManus[Assistant to
President Reagan at the White House]."

I asked, "What was your involvement with that particular operation?"

"I handled communications protocol. All the communications and financial
transactions. If I could get my records on line I could show all the
money flows, everything."

******

Michael called back later that day and we continued our conversation. He
was intent on talking to someone in FinCen (Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network). " ... The keystone cops are working on my defense. You know
it's really an ordeal. Have you talked to R.J. again?"

"No Mike, he's not giving much information."

"Listen, tell him that not only am I willing to polygraph, but I need
some expert help and I think he needs some expert help. In the league
we're playing in, the only guys we can get that have the wherewithall
are with FinCen. That stands for Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Get me a technical guy that speaks my language."

"Alright, Mike ..."

"I'm talking about Swift Chips. That stands for Clearing House Interbank
Payment System, Ok?"

"Right."

"Im mad, OK?"

"Uh huh."

"I'm real mad. The government has all my files and records. They've got
all of my optical storage disks. Each of those optical storages, 130 of
them, contains 20,000 plus pages. They jacked me around so bad ..."

"Mike ..."

" ... Get an expert that speaks my language, and I'll tell him
everything I know and he can do so much damage, they won't need my
testimony or anything else."

"Mike, everything you know about what?"

"Tell R.J. it goes all the way back to the Cayman Islands and the
Bahamas and Castle Bank. Norm Caspar ... Resorts International Bank ..."

"How'd you get this stuff?"

"I handled the money for them, OK?"

"For who?"

" ... For the Wackenhut people. For Norm Caspar who was a Wackenhut
employee during all of this. Now, there was the Workers Bank in
Columbia. I can't pronounce the Spanish name for it, I just know it as
Workers Bank. I set up their virtual dead-drops ..."

"What's that?"

"It's a way to get around A.C.H. reconciliations on a daily basis. It'll
take an expert, you know, I can't even talk to a normal human being
about this ..."

"O.K."

" ... And the bottom line here is Bob Nichols and Gilbert Rodriguez,
Michael Abbell, whose now an attorney in D.C., but he was with the
criminal section of the Justice Department and Harold Okimoto, and Jose
Londodo, and Glenn Shockley are all in bed together. (Three years after
this conversation, Michael Abbell was indicted for laundering money for
the Cali Cartel).

"Now Ted Gunderson ..."

"Mike, have you got any paperwork on that?"

"Now, wait a minute. Gunderson was physically with me when Wayne Reeder,
Peter Zokosky and his wife and several of Wayne Reeder's lieutenants,
Bob Nichols and his wife, Harold Okimoto, George Pender, Deborah Pender,
Dill Pender, and myself were all together ..."

" ... Where?"

" ... At Wayne Reeders country club, golf club, in Indio, California.
And Bob discussed openly in front of Ted Gunderson and myself and
everyone present bragged about Glenn Shockley and Jose Londono having
3,500 soldiers. It's now almost double that ..."

"What does that mean? What are the soldiers?"

Mike: "R.J. will know what it means."

"Alright. OK."

"This took place in 1983. I have correspondence on the things we were
doing. But I was in fear of my life because Bob was starting to act
irrational. The guy was getting drunk all the time, waving a gun out of
the car window, shooting in the air, you know, just really doing a mind
trip on me. I've been on the run ever since ..."

"Listen, Mike, what do you need from FinCen?"

"If I had help from the FinCen people, I could reconstruct my files.
Tell them that I need two types of computers. I need a VAX 11730 set up
with two RLO II disks; one RA80 and a TU80 tape drive. That's one
package. And then I need a VAX 3900 computer. Now the reason why I need
the older, slower VAX and I know where to get all this stuff, no
problem, I've got the VAX's in Southern California, but I need a place
to set them up and somebody to operate them, and just follow my
instructions."

"Alright."

"Now, the VAX Series 3900 machine ... it's too complicated to go into
what mass storage devices, but those are the two levels of machines I need.

"Ok, I'm thinking about going to visit your wife in Southern California,
do you want us to bring those computers up here?"

"No, No! No, leave them where they're at. Tell R.J. to find someone at
FinCen. If we move them around, we're going to wreck them. I'm not
trying to talk down to R.J., but this is too far above him."

"Mike, Raymond Lavas turned some of your disks over to the Jack Brooks
investigative committee (House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw)."

"Yeah, I know. There's no data on those disks. What that is, is that is
a subset of VAX B.M.S., OK? What I do is I modify some of the VAX BMS
routines to activate a one time pad encryption scheme. That's why I have
to have two RLO2 drives on the VAX 11730, because one RLO2 Platter is a
system planner, the other one is the one time pad. The data is on a 1625
BPI 9 track tape on the TU80 tape drive. That's the system configuration."

"If you say so."

"Now, R.J. needs to put me in touch with somebody he trusts at FinCen.
There's about 120 experts there. There are a few guys there that speak
my language.

"What's the encryption key?"

"Well, they're ten digit numbers ... it's a one time pad, but it has a
pseudorandom, prime number expansion system ..."

"Mike, do you have access to PROMISE through this system?"

"What? Oh, I've got access to PROMISE, I've got access to FOIMS ..."

"Well, PROMISE is the one that's going to get you off the hook in court."

"Ok, I understand that. But PROMISE and FOIMS are one and the same. Now
they will say no, that's not true, but in Virginia where the FBI has
their center, and where the Justice Department has a center in D.C.,
they're both Amdahl mainframes, OK?"

"Yes."

" ... You see, I want that RLO II Platter out of the hands of the Brooks
Committee and into the hands of somebody who'll do with it what I tell
them to do. I don't want somebody to run it up without first getting my
instruction."

"Does it have to be that particular one?"

"Yes, either that or it will take me six months to rewrite the subset.
They want me to give them the codes to unravel everything. If I did,
they wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. They'd make a mess out of
things."

"Mike, what are you going to provide to FinCen?"

"I'm going to show them how these boys handled the life blood of the
cash flow on a day to day basis. I'm going to unmask the whole operation
..."

"Anything specific on Robert Booth Nichols?"

Mike: "Nichols is Harold Okimoto's godson. He's also Renee Hanner's
(phonetic sp.) boy, and Wolfgang Fosog's (phonetic sp.) boy."

" ... And who are they?"

"The FinCen people will know. There's also Octon Potnar "

"Alright. Well, if I'm going to play around with this, I don't want to
be in the dark ... I could end up like Danny. I've got to know what I'm
dealing with ."

"If you get the right guy at FinCen, he'll jump at this, OK? We've got
to start right now. We're talking about some time getting things up and
rolling to where we're fluid and flexible and functional in their system
internationally. They'll be able to watch the daily transactions ..."

******

Michael continued to request of R.J. that he be connected with someone
"trustworthy" at FinCen, to no avail. He also requested to be placed
into a Witness Protection Program, again offering to assemble his
computer equipment in a secret location and provide FinCen with a day by
day view of Mob (and MCA Corporation) illegal banking transactions.

According to Michael, before his arrest, he had been handling gold
transfers, money laundering, "virtual dead drops," altered ACH daily
reconciliations and other transactions for various underworld figures
including Robert Booth Nichols, Harold Okimoto, George Pender, Wayne
Reeder, Michael A. McManus, Norm Caspar, Gilbert Rodriguez, Jose
Londono, Glen Shockley, and others.

Michael continued to call and give me taperecorded (at his request)
messages to pass on to R.J. The man accepted the messages, but they just
went down the big, black hole and never emerged again.

One message in particular later became significant to me. The message
from Michael to R.J. went as follows: (Quote) "There are three dozen
C130's down at the Firebird Lake Airstrip on the Gila Indian Reservation
in Arizona. Check out J & G Aviation, it's an FBO. The Fresno Company is
alive and well down there.

"The real activity is not at Mirana, it's at Firebird Lake Airstrip.
Other airlines operating at Firebird are Beigert, Macavia International,
Pacific Air Express, Evergreen and Southern Air.

"Question to R.J.: How much cocaine or heroin can be transported in a
C130? Do you want the C130, or do you want the guys who orchestrate it?

"Do a matrix link analysis, then sit down and pick the targets.
Otherwise, you will tip off the others and the proof will dry up.

" ... Brian Leighton made 29 arrests out of five hundred within the
Fresno Company. All Leighton succeeded in doing was to `vaccinate' the
Fresno Company against further penetration."

Riconosciuto said he had a fragile window into this organization (The
Company), but Leighton and others were causing the window to close by
being too public about their investigation.

The message continued regarding Robert Booth Nichols: "Bob Nichols runs
Glen Shockley. Glen Shockley runs Jose Londono. I [Michael] sat with Bob
Nichols and Mike Abbell. Bob handed him $50,000 cash to handle an
internal affairs investigation that the Justice Department conducted
which would have led to the extradition of Gilbert and Miguel Rodriguez
and Jose Londono.

"Bob Nichols told me [Michael] that it was necessary to `crowbar' the
investigation because they were `intelligence people.'

"Michael wanted to hand The Company and Bob Nichols over to FinCen in
exchange for entry into the Witness Protection Program, but nothing was
forthcoming from R.J.

It was two years before I learned who Mike Abbell, Gilbert Rodriguez and
Jose Londono were. Abbell had worked in the criminal division of the
Justice Department, according to Bill Hamilton. Hamilton added that, to
his knowledge, Abbell had left the DOJ in 1982 and went directly into
the Bogota, Columbia law offices of Kaplan and Russin.

A member of our loosely coalesced investigative team, George Williamson,
a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter, obtained Abbell's background
from library directories: From 1973 to 1979 Abbell was staff assistant
to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General. From 1979 to 1981 he was the
Director of the Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division
of the Department of Justice.

After leaving the Department of Justice in 1982, Abbell became counsel
at the law firm of Kaplan, Russin and Becchi, with offices in San
Francisco, California Bogota, Columbia Santo Domingo in the Dominican
Republic Bangkok, Thailand Tapai, Taiwan New York Madrid, Spain and
Miami, Florida.

As of this writing, Abbell was listed as working in his own firm with a
partner named Bruno Ristau (Ristau and Abbell) in Washington D.C. Ristau
was also formerly with the law firm of Kaplan, Russin and Becchi. And
from 1958 to 1963 he was an attorney in the Internal Security Division
and Civil Division of the Department of Justice. He was also with the
DOJ from 1963 to 1981 where he was Director of the Office of Foreign
Litigation. Ristau speaks German, Polish, Spanish and French. He was
Chairman of the Division of International Law of the Washington D.C. Bar
from 1971 to 1973. In the American Bar Association from 1981 to 1984, he
was Chairman of the Committee of Private International Law Practice. He
is also a member of the American Society of International Law. Ristau is
obviously a heavyweight in the field of international law.

A TIME magazine article, dated July 4, 1994, described Gilbert Rodriguez
as a "leader of the Cali [Columbian drug] cartel, which controls 80% of
the world's cocaine trade." The newly elected president of Columbia,
Ernesto Samper Pizano, was accused of taking $3.7 million in campaign
funds from Rodriguez, which in effect, put Samper in league with
Columbia's drug lords.

Three audio tapes of conversations between Rodriguez and Samper's
campaign manager, Santiago Medina, had been handed over to U.S. State
Department officials before the election, but nothing was done. DEA
officials were furious, stating to TIME that "No one did anything. They
[the State Department] allowed this travesty to take place. Everybody,
including the U.S. government, is participating in this coverup."

The State Department responded, "We can't interfere with elections."

I pulled out a book from a dusty corner of my library entitled, "Cocaine
Politics" by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, and looked up the
name Gilbert Rodriguez. On page 83, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and Jose
Santacruz Londono were mentioned as part of the early leadership of the
Cali cartel. On page 88 it was noted that the "Calibased Ocampo and
Gilberto Rodriguez had been the principal targets of a major DEA Centac
investigtion that resulted in indictments of Rodriguez in Los Angeles
and New York in 1978."

At that time, President Jimmy Carter's Human Rights foreign policy in
Latin America distanced the CIA under Stansfield Turner (later a
Wackenhut Board Director) from any deathsquad interdiction. The Carter
administration was also reportedly reluctant to go after Ocampo because
of its determination in 1977 to sign a Panama Canal treaty with General
Torrijos, even though Torrijos and family members were heavily involved
at the highest levels of the world cocaine trade.

The Cali cartel, described in a 1983 Customs report, laundered its
profits through Miami banks, one of which was Northside Bank of Miami,
owned by Gilberto Rodriguez. Rodriguez popped up again as the leader of
a delegation to the "cocaine summit conference" in Panama City in the
early 1980's. Yet, Rodriguez's name was subsequently removed from DEA
reports under the Ronald Reagan administration. In fact, according to
disgruntled DEA agents, some of whom suspected they were stumbling into
a CIA connection, the case was never pursued past the indictment level
and the Centac 21 task force was totally dismantled when Reagan and Bush
came to office.

So, Gilbert Rodriguez and Jose Londono were revealed to be high ranking
members of the Cali drug Cartel in Columbia. I wondered if they were
also CIA intelligence operatives? Or CIA drug operatives? Or both, as
Manuel Noriega had been? Noriega had ultimately been ousted when he
chose to back the violent Medellin cartel, George Bush's target. If in
fact Gilberto Rodriguez had been compromised and forced to cooperate
with U.S. officials after his 1978 indictment, and taking into account
his strategic position of leadership in the Cali cartel and his alleged
funding of the newly elected president of Columbia in 1994, it would
indeed place the U.S. government in a powerful controlling position
within the cartels today. In fact, it would place CIA drug operatives
behind the election of the president of Columbia! The implications were
earthshaking.

******

It is important to point out here that, on August 5, 1991, Michael
Riconosciuto had called Bill Hamilton at Inslaw and asked him to obtain
information on former DOJ official Mike Abbell. Riconosciuto planned to
trade information on Abbell, Rodriguez, Nichols and others to the FBI in
exchange for entry into a Witness Protection Program.

But Hamilton, pressed for time and not comprehending the significance of
the "drug" connection, had turned the investigation over to Danny
Casolaro. Riconosciuto had stressed to Hamilton that Abbell's activities
might be risky to track and he should not take the information lightly.

That same day, August 5, Casolaro called Bob Bickel, the Texas oil
engineer who once worked as an informant for the Customs Bureau, to
discuss Mike Abbell. Bickel later confirmed that Casolaro had in fact
discussed Abbell, Nichols and Rodriguez at length during that last phone
conversation. And he added, "Danny confronted Robert Booth Nichols about
his relationship with Mike Abbell."

Hamilton and Casolaro secretly devised a plan whereby Danny would
conduct an inquiry with the Department of Justice, but would couch a
number of other inquiries in with the Mike Abbell inquiry to avoid
alerting authorities to the real "focus" of their search.

An October 15, 1991 Village Voice investigative piece, entitled "The
Last Days of Danny Casolaro," by James Ridgeway and Doug Vaughan, shed
further light on Casolaro's investigation during those last five days:
(Note that most of Danny's last calls focused on "drug connections.") On
Monday, August 5th, "Riconosciuto called Bill Hamilton from his jail in
Tacoma. He wanted some information about a former Justice Department
attorney [Mike Abbell], and warned Hamilton that getting the information
might be dangerous. Hamilton called Casolaro to help him find out about
the attorney.

"That same day, Danny called Bob Bickel to say that he was "getting
close to the source, and he would soon go to Martinsburg and bring back
the head of the Octopus."

Tuesday, August 6: Casolaro had been typing steadily since Monday, and
by afternoon, he'd finished. Olga, his housekeeper, helped him pack a
leather tote bag. She also remembered him packing a thick sheaf of
papers into a dark brown or black briefcase. Danny walked out the door
saying, "I have all my papers ... Wish me luck. I'll see you in a couple
of days." That was the last time Olga saw Casolaro alive.

Wednesday, August 7: According to Inslaw records, Casolaro called the
Hamiltons in the afternoon, and was put on hold. Before Hamilton could
get free, he had hung up. At some time on that same day, Riconosciuto
called Hamilton again to ask for the information about the Justice
Department lawyer [Mike Abbell]. Hamilton called Casolaro, but he had
already left for Martinsburg.

Thursday, August 8: Casolaro called Danielle Stalling and asked her to
set up appointments for him the next week with a former police officer,
now employed as a private investigator, to learn more about the Laotian
warlord Kuhn Sa's proposed Golden Triangle drug trade.

Friday, August 9: By now Hamilton was starting to worry. I talk to Danny
everyday," Hamilton said. "I had never [gone without speaking to him for
so long] before, so I called Bob Nichols in Los Angeles and asked
whether he had heard from Danny recently."

Nichols told Hamilton "Yes," he had spoken with Danny late Monday night
[August 5th] and he had been "euphoric." Nichols told Hamilton he
(Nichols) was taking off for Europe that evening.

It was at that point that Olga, Danny's housekeeper, received four or
five threatening phone calls. The first was about 9 a.m., a man's voice,
in good English, said, "I will cut his [Danny's] body and throw it to
the sharks."About a half hour later, another call came in. "Drop dead,"
the man's voice said.

Saturday, August 10: At 12:30 that afternoon, a maid knocked on the door
of room 517 at the Sheraton Martinsburg Inn. Nobody answered, so she
used her passkey to open the door; though it had both a security bolt
and a chain lock on the inside, neither one was attached. When she
glanced into the bathroom, she saw a lot of blood on the tile floor and
screamed. Another hotel maid came into the bathroom and saw a man's nude
body lying in the bloodfilled tub. There was blood not only on the tile
floor but splattered up onto the wall above the tub as well. The police
were called to the scene.

At 8:30 p.m. that night, unaware that Danny's body had been found, Olga,
Danny's housekeeper, returned to Casolaro's house to look for him. The
phone rang. A man's voice said, "You son of a bitch. You're dead." It
was not until Monday, August 12, that authorities notified family and
friends that Danny Casolaro was dead.

Had Danny in fact called Robert Booth Nichols on Monday, August 5th, and
confronted him about his relationship with Mike Abbell? Had he told
Nichols he planned to meet with FBI officials from Lexington, Kentucky?
And what about FBI agent Thomas Gates, Nichols' antagonist? SPY
magazine's article on Danny Casolaro indicated that he spoke with Gates
three days before his death, relating a conversation in which Nichols
had warned him to abandon the investigation.

Riconosciuto later conceded that he had tried repeatedly to reach
Hamilton and Casolaro between August 5 and 10th to warn them NOT to
mention Abbell or Rodriguez to Nichols, but it had been too late. Bill
Hamilton told one investigator that he did NOT know WHY Riconosciuto was
inquiring about Mike Abbell - until AFTER Danny's death.

Bob Bickel's confirmation that Danny WAS trailing Mike Abbell in the
last days before his death indicate that Danny may have unknowingly
stepped into the largest narcotics trafficking/intelligence operation
the world.

******

Another indepth article came to my attention which further corroborated
Danny's investigation of Gilberto Rodriguez. "The Strange Death of Danny
Casolaro," by Ron Rosembaum in Vanity Fair's December 1991 issue
included an interview with Michael Riconosciuto. According to Rosenbaum,
Danny's investigations were taking him into areas that involved
dangerous knowledge and dangerous characters. It was Danny's habit of
"bouncing" Riconosciuto's stories off Robert Nichols that put him in
peril, Riconosciuto told Rosenbaum. One of the things he reportedly
"bounced" involved a major heroinrelated sting operation.

Another involved Riconosciuto's claim about an "effort by the Cali
cocaine cartel to derail the extradition of an alleged Columbian kingpin
called Gilberto."

Nichols "went ballistic," according to Riconosciuto, when Danny bounced
the Gilberto (Rodriguez) matter off him. Riconosciuto said he tried to
warn Danny. "I called from that day on it was on a late Monday Tuesday,
Wednesday, all the way through the weekend when they found Danny
[dead]," he said. "Every day I was calling the Hamiltons, asking if
anybody had heard from Danny. And I was frantic."

Labeled by Rosenbaum as the "resident demon of the labyrinth,"
Riconosciuto said "Danny's theory was different from the typical
megaconspiracy theory. Danny was dealing with real people and real crimes."

Rosenbaum asked Riconosciuto about the germ warfare technology he had
found in Danny's notes. Riconosciuto admitted that he had learned about
"horrible things" going on at the Cabazon Indian reservation but did not
elaborate on the subject. Wrote Rosenbaum, "This is the labyrinth [that]
Riconosciuto was leading Danny into the one he died in."

Just days before his death, Danny had planned to visit the reservation.
In his notes were cryptic references to slowacting brain viruses like
Mad Cow Disease, which could be used against targeted people by slipping
the virus into meat pies. Riconosciuto told Rosenbaum that Danny was
"concerned" that he may have been a target of this virus. "That was one
of the reasons he [Danny] had such an obsession with this story. He felt
he had been hit by these people."

Accordingly, Riconosciuto filled Danny's head with allegations of Robert
Booth Nichols' sinister, international covertworld connections. He
painted a picture linking Nichols to organized crime syndicates, the
fearsome Japanese Yakuza, and various CIA and British intelligence plots
emanating from Nichols' friendship with "a legendary Bondish Brit known
as `Double Deuce' [Sir Denis Kendall]."

Riconosciuto said Nichols was the key to Danny's Octopus. But Danny was
receiving warnings from Riconosciuto's counterpart as well. Robert Booth
Nichols had flown to Washington D.C. from Puerto Rico to warn Danny to
stay away from Riconosciuto.

Danny's girlfriend, Wendy Weaver, had been present at one of the
meetings at the Four Seasons Hotel bar when Nichols issued the warning:
"You don't know how bad this guy Riconosciuto is ... he might not get
you today, he might not get you next month. He might get you two years
from now. If you say anything against him he will kill you."

Nichols repeated the warning several times, said Weaver. "At least five
times." Weaver described Nichols as "very charming, very handsome," but
said "it [the meeting] was a weird night, so weird."

Another friend of Danny's met Nichols at a luncheon at Clyde's in Tysons
Corner where Nichols allegedly informed them that he had just been asked
to become "minister of state security" on the island of Dominica.
Reportedly, the island was going to be transformed into a CIA base. The
friend, who spoke to Rosenbaum on condition of anonymity, said Nichols
was "very slick, very civilizedappearing" ... "oozing intrigue," but he
added that he had never witnessed a performance like the one that ensued.

After lunch Danny had pulled his friend aside and showed him a purported
FBI wiretap summary on Nichols. The summary was part of FBI agent Thomas
Gates's affidavit in Nichols' slander suit against him. The summary
linked Nichols to the Yakuza and to the Gambino crime family as a money
launderer.

Danny's friend had been shocked. "You just put me in a meeting with this
man and didn't tell me what the hell why didn't you tell me before?," he
asked Danny. Danny said he wanted to see how Nichols would react. The
friend told Rosenbaum, "In other words, he gaffed me with a hook and
tossed me in the water to see if the Octopus would move!"

Danny HAD in fact been receiving death threats on the phone. One threat
reported by his housekeeper, "You're dead, you son of a bitch," which
came hours AFTER Danny's body had been found, ruled out Danny himself as
a possible source of the threats. And his prophesy to his brother, Tony
Casolaro, "If anything happens to me it won't be an accident," made it
unmistakably clear that Danny did, indeed, feel threatened.

Nevertheless, Danny appeared upbeat to most of the people he talked to
prior to his death. Dr. Tony Casolaro, a specialist in pulmonary
medicine, told Vanity Fair that he didn't believe his brother committed
suicide because Danny was so excited and upbeat about his investigation
on that last Monday when he saw him.

The autopsy examination of Danny's brain had revealed possible symptoms
of Multiple Schlerosis, but friends and family dismissed this as
irrelevant because Danny had never complained of symptoms or, to their
knowledge, known of the disease, if he had it.

Tony was also troubled by a number of facts, one of which was Danny's
current papers and files which he took to West Virginia were missing
from his motel room. His body had been embalmed even before family
members were notified of the death, and the motel room had been
commercially cleaned before any type of investigation, other than a
cursory look at the death scene by police, could occur.

In his Vanity Fair article, Ron Rosenbaum wrote that he had obtained one
of Casolaro 's surviving notebooks and found mentioned under the heading
of August 6, four days before Danny's death, the name "Gilberto." It
read: "Bill Hamilton August 6. MR ... also brought up `Gilberto.'"
Rosenbaum did not speculate publicly who Gilberto might be, but it was
obviously Gilberto Rodriguez, head of the Cali Cartel, at that time
deeply involved with Michael Abbell, formerly of the Department of Justice.

******

A dozen or so drafts of Casolaro's proposed manuscript along with notes
and phone bills had been sent to the Western Historical Manuscript
Collection at the University of Missouri by his brother, Dr. Tony
Casolaro.Tony Casolaro had sent the material to the University because,
at one time, the IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) Association,
headquartered at the University, had researched the fatal carbombing of
reporter Don Bolles in Arizona.

Bolles had been researching a mobconnected gold smuggling operation in
that state. Through Tracy Barnett at IRE, I learned that a graduate
student at the University had been assigned to catalog all Danny's
material for eventual insertion into a data base. In contacting the
graduate student, who by then (September 1994) worked for ABC in
Houston, Texas, I learned that few if any journalists had inquired about
the notes.

But, interestingly, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Zipperstein from
Los Angeles, working for the Department of Justice, had requested copies
of Danny's NOTES, but declined Danny's phone records. The graduate
student noted that the notes and drafts of Danny's proposed manuscript
focused on a Cabal of intelligence people who, originally consisting of
numerous names, were subsequently narrowed down to about eight. One of
those names was Glen Shockley. Shockley, of course, was listed on the
Board of Directors of F.I.D.C.O. along with Robert Booth Nichols.

Shockley was also a corporate partner in Meridian International
Logistics, headed by Nichols. Shockley was also a CIA contract employee
(according to several sources) who allegedly "ran Jose Londono" of the
Cali Cartel. This according to Riconosciuto's taped interview with
government agents while negotiating for Witness Protection.

I purchased everything of any significance pertaining to Danny's
writings and documents, including the FBI wire tap summaries which
corroborated everything I had learned to date.

In reviewing the summaries, it became apparent that the FBI had
inadvertently stumbled onto a CIA drug trafficking operation which
included high ranking La Cosa Nostra figures, the Gambino crime family
and the Japanese Yakuza.

One affidavit in support of an application to intercept wire
communications over the telephone listed names of those to be
intercepted: Robert Booth Nichols, Eugene Giaquinto (then President of
MCA Corportion Entertainment Division, and corporate partner with
Nichols in Meridian International Logistics), Angelo Commito, Edward
Sciandra, Michael Del Gaizo, Joseph Garofalo, and others.

The purpose of the interceptions was to determine "source, type and
quantity of narcotics/controlled substances, methods and means of
delivery, and the source of funding for purchasing of
narcotics/controlled substances."

The intercepted conversations read like a "Who's Who" of organized
crime. It was also apparent that Eugene Giaquinto enjoyed a special
relationship with John Gotti.

******

Ann Klenk, a long time friend of Danny Casolaro's and former associate
of Washington D.C. columnist Jack Anderson, held all his personal notes
which were not sent to the University. In a September 14, 1994 phone
interview, she noted that the last time she talked to Danny, that last
Monday before his death, he told her he'd cracked the Inslaw case.

I asked her, "Do you think he resolved that?"

Ann responded, "Oh, yes. I KNOW he did. He TOLD me he did. He said,
`Ann, I broke Inslaw.' And I said, `Geez, Danny that's great!' But, I
never asked him what he found because he was very despondent about it.
He said, `You can have it. You and Jack [Anderson] can have the story. I
don't even want it.'"

Ann said Danny was disgusted and related their last conversation: "I
said, `Danny, you worked on this [so long] and now you don't want it?'
He said, `It's just a little piece of the puzzle anyway.' See, Inslaw
led him into this, but Danny quickly became more involved with the drug
aspects ... with the CIA aspects, with the Wackenhut aspects."

I said, "I know what you mean, because I followed the same trail."

******

Danny's proposed drafts and notes obtained from Western Historical
Manuscript Collection at University of Missouri revealed information
never published in mainstream media. Typewritten and handwritten lists
of contacts included names and telephone numbers of Ted Gunderson,
Raymond Lavas, Robert Nichols, Peter Zokosky, Bob Bickel, Fahim Safar,
Earl Brian, Peter Dale Scott, Art Welmus, John Vanderwerker, Jack Blum,
Dr. Harry Fair, Bill Hamilton, Bob Parry, Bill McCoy, and numerous others.

Most of Danny's drafts focused on the Southeast Asian heroin connection,
CIA drug money used to finance the Contras, and the ability of
terrorists to send missiles containing dangerous chemicals and
biological diseases into the U.S.

One typewritten draft, entitled, "Behold, A Pale Horse," described an
"international cabal [in Southern California] whose freelance services
covered parochial political intrigue, espionage, sophisticated weapon
technologies that included biotoxins, drug trafficking, money laundering
and murder-for-hire." According to Danny, the cabal continues today,
"its origins spawned thirty years ago in the shadow of the Cold War."

Casolaro's June - July (1991) phone bills told a story of their own.
Having followed Danny's investigative trail for three years, I had an
entire directory of phone numbers relating to his inquiries. Most
obvious were Danny's numerous calls prior to his death to Robert Booth
Nichols in Los Angeles. Most of the calls from Washington D.C. to Los
Angeles lasted an average of one to two hours, invariably in the wee
hours of the morning 1:50 a.m., 12:36 a.m., 1:13 a.m., 12:18 a.m., etc.

It was also apparent that Danny was riding a seesaw with Nichols and
Riconosciuto. He would talk to one, then the other, often on the same
day, back and forth for months. Then suddenly, he cut off Riconosciuto
and his calls to Nichols increased in frequency.

Other phone numbers matched those of Ted Gunderson, Alan Boyak, a lawyer
in Utah, Bo Gritz, Heinrich Rupp and Chuck Hayes, a self-professed (on
the Internet) CIA operative. Danny often called Hayes immediately after
he spoke with Nichols. Oddly, Hayes never came forward during the
official investigation of Danny's death to disclose the content of those
conversations.

******

Within six months of Casolaro's death, Riconosciuto was again attempting
to trade information in exchange for entry into a Witness Protection
Program. But this time, instead of using Casolaro or Bill Hamilton, he
was using me to make the contacts.

At Riconosciuto's request, I contacted a man whom I will identify as
N.B. at the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) in San
Francisco. Michael had advised me to call this agent because the BATF
was "Treasury Department" as was FinCen.

I set up the phone meeting and Riconosciuto called the San Francisco
BATF collect, as scheduled. N.B. listened attentively to Michael, then
ran a check on him through the departmental computer system. Shortly
thereafter, I received an unnerving phone call.

N.B. advised me in strong terms to "get out of this" while I still
could. He said I would end up getting subpoenaed as a witness if I
didn't discontinue my investigation. He added that sometimes people got
killed or committed suicide when they got involved with Michael
Riconosciuto or Robert Booth Nichols.

N.B.'s computer inquiry had bounced back on him. His superior in the
BATF had been notified by someone from another agency he didn't say who
who had instructed N.B. that he was to have NO further contact with
Michael Riconosciuto or me.

When I related this conversation to Michael, he indicated no surprise,
but immediately wanted to be put back in touch with R.J. He needed
someone in the government with access to his files to verify his
credibility and get that information back to Tom Olmstead, his attorney.
Regarding the computer inquiry, Riconosciuto explained as follows: "I
know what's happening here. Tell R.J. if he uses FOIMS, Field Office
Information Management System, and if he leaves an audit trail, he's
going to be exposed. There are all sorts of different levels of flags on
my name. Whenever the computer gets a hit, the issuing agency is
notified as to who made the request and from where it came."

"Mike," I asked, "how can he get around that? I don't understand ..."

"Listen, whenever there's a hit on one of those flags, whether it's a
want or [a] warrant, or whether it's simply an administrative interest,
unbeknownst to the user who's making the request, his access is audited.
Tell R.J. before he starts making inquiries, no matter how discreet he
thinks they are, that he should have someone totally uncoupled from him
to enter into FOIMS."

"Alright."

"Now," Michael continued, "if he goes into NCIC or NADDIS, ah, NCIC is
the least dangerous as far as making inquiries, because NADDIS can track
just like FOIMS ..."

"Alright."

"Now, on NCIC there is a `nonelectric' filing on me and he can make the
request that way without alerting anyone. If he has trouble checking
anything out, tell him I can help him along."

"He can't call you at the jail. How can he get in touch with you?"

"Through my attorney. The minute he [R.J.] gets a line on me, ask him to
notify my attorney. Tell him he can check my attorney out through the
government. Tom has excellent records with the government."

"Alright."

"Explain to R.J. that I know PROMISE, I know FOIMS inside out. I helped
develop that internal tracking audit trail ..."

I had lost all hope of R.J. rescuing Michael Riconosciuto, and I think
in his heart, Michael knew that too, but I passed the information along
as requested. R.J. politely accepted the information as he always did,
then I never heard from him again.

CHAPTER 7

Through one of Michael's contacts, I was able to obtain the corporate
documents on F.I.D.C.O. Corporation (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation). This formidable organization lead me straight to the head
of The Octopus.The Board of Directors of FIDCO consisted of the
following principles:

(1) Robert Maheu, Sr, Vice President, Director former FBI agent, former
CEO of Howard Hughes Operations, senior consultant to Leisure Industries.

(2) Michael A. McManus, Director, Vice President and General Counsel to
FIDCO former Assistant to the President [Reagan] of the United States at
the White House in Washington D.C.

(3) Robert Booth Nichols, Director, Sr. Vice President and Chairman of
Investment Committee Chief Executive Officer of R.B.N. Companies,
International, a holding company for manufacturing and development of
high technology electronics, real estate development, construction and
international finance.

(4) George K. Pender, Director former Director of Pacific Ocean area of
Burns & Roe, Inc., an international engineering & construction
corporation with active projects on all seven continents of the world.
Senior engineer consultant to Burns & Roe, Inc.

(5) Kenneth A. Roe, Director Chairman and President of Burns & Roe,
Inc., International engineers and Constructors, a family corporation
owned by Kenneth Roe and family. Major current project of the company is
the engineering design and construction of the U.S.A. Fast Breeder
Nuclear Reactor Plant in conjunction with Westinghouse Electric
Corporation which is responsible for the nuclear system supply of steam.
Construction value of present business backlog of Burns & Roe, Inc. is
in excess of six billion U.S. dollar.

(6) Frances T. Fox, Vice President and Director former General Manager
of L.A. International Airport, former Director of Aviation for Howard
Hughes Nevada operations, now called Summa Corporation, City Manager of
San Jose, California.

(7) Clint W. Murchison, Jr. Director Owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL
football team.

(8) William M. Pender, Director and Sr. Vice President licensed
contractor, State of California.

(9) Glen R. Shockley, Director Consultant to Fortune 500 Companies in
business management. Internationally known as financial consultant in
funding.

The list of directors was accompanied by a letter dated January 11, 1983
on FIDCO letterhead originating out of Santa Monica, California
addressed to Robert Booth Nichols in Marina Del Rey, California. The
letter, signed by George K. Pender, briefly referenced a copy of a
resolution resulting from a meeting of the Board of Directors of FIDCO.

On April 13, 1983, Robert Booth Nichols wrote a letter to Joseph F.
Preloznik in Madison, Wisconsin, outlining proposed arms projects, one
of which was to build a two story building of approximately 7500 square
feet with concrete walls and floors to house the "R & D position." (I
later found the R & D facility referenced in a 1981 Wackenhut
Interoffice memorandum as a companion facility to Wackenhut to be
constructed on the Cabazon Indian reservation for the assembly of shell
casings, propellants, war heads, fuses, combustible cartridge cases and
other weapons systems).

Nichols wrote to Preloznik, "Should there be any questions with regard
to my credibility, verification can be made through F.I.D.C.O. I have
enclosed a copy of that appointment."

If in fact, F.I.D.C.O. was a vehicle of The Octopus, then the tentacles
of its Board of Directors lead straight to the head. Clint Murchison,
Jr. of Dallas, Texas was the son of Clint Murchison, Sr. who, according
to Dick Russell, author of the book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," (pp.
521523) was cut from the same political cloth as H.L. Hunt.

Wrote Russell: "Back in 1951, after General Douglas MacArthur was
relieved of his Korean command by President Truman, H.L. Hunt
accompanied MacArthur on a flight to Texas for a speaking tour. Hunt and
Murchison were the chief organizers of the proMacArthur forces in Texas.
They would always remember the general standing bareheaded in front of
the Alamo, urging removal of the `burden of taxation' from enterprising
men like themselves, charging that such restraints were imposed by
`those who seek to convert us to a form of socialistic endeavor, leading
directly to the path of Communist slavery.'"

According to Russell, Hunt went on to set up a MacArthurforpresident
headquarters in Chicago, spending $150,000 of his own money on the
general's reluctant 1952 campaign, which eventually fell apart as
MacArthur adopted the strident rhetoric of the right wing.

"Still, connections were made," wrote Russell, "Charles Willoughby, for
example, was a regular part of the MacArthurHunt entourage and
undoubtedly was acquainted with Murchison as well." Both [the Hunts and
the Murchisons] cultivated not only powerful people on the far right,
but also J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, organized crime figures, and
Lyndon Johnson, whose rise to power emanated directly from his friends
in Texas oil.

"Like Hunt, Murchison was an ardent supporter of Senator Joseph
McCarthy's anticommunist crusade. McCarthy came often to the exclusive
hotel that Murchson opened in La Jolla, California, in the early 1950's.
So did Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover.

"In 1961, after Nixon had lost the presidential election to JFK the
previous year, Murchison sold Nixon a lot in Beverly Hills for only
$35,000 a lot Murchison had financed through a Hoffa loan which Nixon
sold two years later for $86,000.

When Hoover visited the (Murchison) Hotel Del Charro, as he did every
summer between 1953 and 1959, Murchison picked up his tab. That amounted
to about $19,000 of free vacations for the FBI Director over those years.

Whether Hoover knew it or not, almost 20 percent of the Murchison Oil
Lease Company in Oklahoma was then owned by Gerardo Catena, chief
lieutenant to the Genovese crime family.

By the autumn of 1963, a major scandal was brewing around Bobby Baker,
whom Vice President Lyndon Johnson had made secretary of the Senate
Democrats in 1955, when LBJ was majority leader. LBJ called Baker "my
strong right arm, the last man I see at night, the first I see in the
morning."

On October 8, 1963 Baker was forced to resign, as a Senate investigation
of his outside business activities began producing sensational testimony
on numerous questionable deals. "Baker's deals were tightly interwoven
with the Murchison family and the Mob," wrote Dick Russell. "What first
attracted the attention of Senate investigators was a lawsuit brought
against Baker in 1963 by his associates in a vending company, alleging
that he failed to live up to certain bargains. Those associates were,
for the most part, Las Vegas gamblers; one of them, Edward Levinson, was
a lieutenant of Florida mobster Meyer Lansky, whose Fremont Hotel in
Vegas was financed through a Hoffa loan.

"Baker, it later turned out, did considerable business with the Mob in
Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisiana, and the Caribbean. Through Baker,
Levinson had also gotten to know Clint Murchison."

"Clint Murchison, Jr. [listed on the Board of Directors of FIDCO] tried
to persuade the Senate Rules Committee in 1964 that his ownreal estate
dealings with Jimmy Hoffa in Florida were `hardly relevant' to the Baker
investigation."

Robert Maheu (Senior Vice President and Director of F.I.D.C.O.), was
also mentioned in Russell's book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," (pp.
190). Wrote Russell: "Back in 1960, with then vice president Richard
Nixon serving as the White House's liaison to the CIA's Cuban
operations, the CIA had initiated its long series of assassination
attempts against Castro. The `cutouts' in the operation started with Las
Vegas billionaire Howard Hughes's righthand man, Robert Maheu, who got
in touch with organizedcrime leaders Sam Giancana, Johnny Rosselli, and
Santos Trafficante, Jr. They in turn enlisted the direct assistance of
Cuban exiles ..."

Throughout my conversations with Michael Riconosciuto the names of
Robert Booth Nichols, George Pender, Glenn Shockley and Michael McManus
(other directors of F.I.D.C.O.) cropped up repeatedly, but I found few
references to them in any published books or magazines. Riconosciuto
often stated that George Pender and Glenn Shockley were CIA officials,
which I later corroborated through Peter Zokosky, a partner of Robert
Booth Nichols's.

In August, 1994, I did, however, manage to obtain three significant
letters with the signatures of Michael A. McManus and George Pender on
them.

The following letters on F.I.D.C.O. confirm its presence in Lebanon.

Letter No. 1 Written on White House letterhead stationary, dated, June
29, 1983, from Michael A. McManus, Assistant to the President (Reagan)
to George K. Pender in Santa Monica, California:

"Dear George: It was good to see you again. I appreciate the update you
and your associates gave me concerning the status of your efforts in the
rebuilding of Lebanon.

"Without question FIDCO seems to have a considerable role to offer
particularly in the massive financial participation being made available
to the government of Lebanon.

"As you are aware, the United States government is providing financial
aid. We are very interested in the success of the rebuilding effort in
Lebanon. I will appreciate your continuing to keep me posted. Best
personal regards. Sincerely, Michael A. McManus, Assistant to the
President."

It is interesting to note that in 1982, one year before the above letter
was written, Israel invaded Lebanon in a bid to crush the PLO
strongholds there and install the Gamayel family in power. At that time
TelAviv was supporting the ultraright Christian Phalange militia . It
was the Christian Phalangist militia which first brought Lebanon into
the heroin trade. And the powerful Christian Gamayel family which led
the way in turning to outside forces for money, guns and political
support. Foremost among those sources was the international heroin
trafficking network.

This according to Bill Weinberg, editor of High Times magazine, who
wrote the indepth article, "The Syrian Connection" in March 1993.
Weinberg also noted that as far back as 1955, U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee hearings learned that Sami el Khouri, the Gamayel's chief of
finances, was importing raw Turkish opium into Lebanon, where it was
processed into heroin and then shipped to Sicily for reexport throughout
America and Europe.

El Khouri controlled the Gamayel family's shipping lines, trading,
trucking and air freight companies. El Khouri's machine was the Lebanese
wing of the French Connection the wing that continued to do business
with the Sicilians in a bid to propel the Gamayel family to power.

After the Israeli invasion, the Lebanese Parliament elected to the
presidency Bechir Gamayel who had long been on the CIA payroll. But
before he could take office, Bashir was killed by an assassins bomb, and
Bechir's brother, Amin, was installed as president.

The following letter from George Pender, President of FIDCO, to
President Amin Gamayel in Beirut is printed in its entirety here.

Letter No. 2 Written on F.I.D.C.O. letterhead stationary, dated July 12,
1983, from George K. Pender, President of FIDCO, to President Amin
Gamayel, Presidential Palace, Beirut, Lebanon.:

"Dear Mr. President: I had visited Beirut in February and May, 1983 to
discuss FIDCO participation in the redevelopment of Lebanon. These
meetings were held with the Chamouns, Maurice Ghanem and Mourad Baroudy.
Of particular interest is the fact that FIDCO offered to arrange the
financing of projects considered, provided they were in the government
sector. Unfortunately, the response, to date, is dragging and a golden
opportunity for Lebanon is slowly dying.

"I had made no effort to see you at that time as I thought it more
prudent to delay until I had something more tangible to present. I
expressed specific interest in the rebuilding of Damour and Alkhyam.
FIDCO has presented these projects to an international Trust with whom
we have a close relationship, and we are very confident that we can
arrange the funding under International Chamber of Commerce format,
provided FIDCO can negotiate turnkey contracts on both projects. We are
ready, willing and able to proceed immediately on this basis.

"I understand you will be at the White House on July 22nd. Would it be
possible for me to meet with you in Washington, D.C. on July 21st
briefly so that I may personally present our interest in Lebanon? As per
copy of attached letter, the White House is actively interested in our
efforts.

"For your personal information, I was a good friend of Bechir. I was
with him in Beirut in 1976 when the Syrian Army came in to police. When
he later visited the United States on a speaking tour, my wife and I
went to Framingham, Massachusetts to meet with him. I miss him
tremendously.

"I would appreciate your reply as soon as possible. You can also reach
me via telex 652483 RBN [Robert Booth Nichols] ASSOCS LSA. Thank you for
your time and consideration. Sincerely yours, George K. Pender."

I cannot stress enough the importance of this letter From George Pender
to Amin Gamayel. In the very first paragraph of Pender's letter he noted
that "Maurice Ghanem" participated in the meetings held in Beirut in May
1983 to discuss F.I.D.C.O.'s participation in the redevelopment of Lebanon.

Michael Riconosciuto had stated (on page 40 of this manuscript) that he
had worked directly under "Maurice Ganem" and George Pender in Lebanon!
Riconosciuto had explained that Maurice had a "relative, either a
brother or a cousin, who was a senior DEA official with Michael Hurley."

Then, in a 1993 book entitled, "Trail of the Octopus" by Donald Goddard
with Lester Coleman, on page 152, I stumbled across the name of Fred
Ganem in the following context: "The number of DEAcontrolled deliveries
of heroin down the pipeline to the United States had increased
noticeably during the winter as a result of Fred Ganem's special
knowledge of the Lebanese communities in Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles."

This was independent corroboration of a link between F.I.D.C.O. (George
Pender and Michael McManus) and the very same heroin operation in
Nicosia, Cyprus which Riconosciuto had described in detail to me in
December 1991!

It also directly connected George Pender with Michael T. Hurley. Goddard
and Coleman recounted how "members of the Jafaar clan and other DEA
couriers would arrive at Larnaca with suitcases full of highgrade
heroin, white and crystal, and be met off the boat ... by officers of
the Cypriot Police Narcotics Squad, who then drove them up to the
Euramae office in Nicosia."In his interview with R.J. (page 37),
Riconosciuto had maintained that "F.I.D.C.O. had a companion company
called Euramae Trading ..." Three years later, "Trail of the Octopus,"
described Euramae as such: "Coleman was given a desk at the Euramae
Trading Company., Ltd., a DEA/CIA `front' newly set up by the Cypriot
Police Narcotics Squad in a luxury threebedroomed penthouse apartment
down the street from the US Embassy. It gave him the creeps from the start.

"Intended as a place where DEA and CIA agents could meet unobserved with
informants and clients, as a message drop for CIA arms dealers supplying
Iraq and the Afghan rebels, as a waiting room for DEA CI's and couriers
from Lebanon, and as a transit point, not just for heroin, but for cash,
documents and bootleg computer software moving to and fro along the
BeirutNicosiaUS pipeline, Eurame, as run by ElJorr, was more like a
lowlife social club than a secret intelligence centre." Coleman had
complained to Hurley, but Hurley had just brushed it aside.

It is noteworthy that George Pender listed Robert Booth Nichols's
"telex" number at the bottom of his letter to Lebanon President Amin
Gamayel. During that time span, Nichols and Pender (when they weren't in
Lebanon) were operating a NSC listening post from a condo at Marina Del
Rey. It was allegedly the U.S. end of the Nicosia, Cyprus operation.
Michael Riconosciuto, Ted Gunderson and Allan Boyak, an attorney
representing Riconosciuto, all had stories to tell about apartment
number "007." More on this in a moment. Next, was the Lebanese response
to George Pender's aforementioned letter (No.2).

Letter No. 3 Written on Arab Bank Limited letterhead, dated November 23,
1983, from Abdul Majeed Shoman, Chairman/General Manager of Arab Bank
Limited in Amman, Jordan to George K. Pender in Santa Monica, California:

"Dear Mr. Pender: Mr. Ahmad has talked to me about the fund to
reconstruct Lebanon and we the Arab Bank together with a group of other
banks will be glad to cooperate with you concerning this respect.

"We shall discuss, in future, how this cooperation will be made and on
what conditions and plans.

"You have mentioned in your letter to Mr. Ahmad on September 27th that
this fund amounts to US$ three billion or more. There is no problem to
take care of this by the Arab Bank and the other group of banks as
stated above. The terms and conditions will be discussed with you
provided the condition is clear in Lebanon and subject to the approval
and counter guarantees of the Lebanese Authority. Yours sincerely, Abdul
Majeed Shoman, Chairman/General Manager."

It is unlikely any "reconstruction" (funded by F.I.D.C.O.) ever took
place in Lebanon. Only a Congressional investigation could determine
what the US$three billion dollars was actually used for.

The next document, pertaining to Robert Booth Nichols, Senior Vice
President of F.I.D.C.O., originated from an interview between Jeffrey
Steinberg, a writer for Executive Intelligence Review, and Allan Boyak,
an attorney in Utah whom Michael Riconosciuto contacted immediately
after his arrest in Washington state.

Michael T. Hurley had allegedly been transferred from Nicosia, Cyprus to
DEA in Washington state shortly before Michael's arrest. Riconosciuto's
arrest had taken place with a week after signing the Inslaw affidavit.

It is noteworthy that Danny Casolaro also contacted and interviewed
Allan Boyak shortly before his death. According to Ted Gunderson and
others who knew Danny, Boyak met with Casolaro in Washington D.C. and
provided him with a copy of a transcript of the meeting between himself
(Boyak), Riconosciuto, and Ted Gunderson, who at that time was
Riconosciuto's investigator.

I later obtained the same transcript from Gunderson's live-in partner,
J.M., and have related the contents of that explosive transcript in
Chapter 13.

Meanwhile, the following "Memorandum for the File," dated 62591, was
written by Steinberg after his interview with Boyak: (Excerpted) "I met
at length Saturday, June 22, 1991 with Allan Boyak, an attorney from
Utah who is representing Michael Riconosciuto in his pending drug case.
Boyak is not the lead attorney and will not apparently be making court
appearances in the case.

"Boyak recounted the following personal background information: He was
in the U.S. Army in Special Forces and apparently did some contract work
for the CIA during the 1960's and early 1970's. At some point in the
early 70's, he worked briefly for the Drug Enforcement Administration
(or its antecedent agency), being stationed in California.

"Boyak had some falling out with the DEA and left the government service
altogether, entering law school. While in law school, Boyak became
friendly with Jim Nichols, a classmate. Nichols told him that he had a
brother who was heavily involved in organized crime and had been
disowned by his family.

"Once out of law school, Boyak joined a Hollywood law firm and became
involved in criminal defense work, representing a number of well placed
West Coast drug traffickers. At some point, Boyak moved to Utah (he is a
practicing Mormon), while retaining his California law practice on a
parttime basis.

"In addition to his o.c. [organized crime] clientel, Boyak also
maintained contacts and apparently did some legal work for some of his
old buddies from his Green Beret and CIA days. One such pal was Art
Suchesk, who ran a CIA proprietary company called Hoffman Electronics.

" ... At some point in the late 1970's, one of Boyak's clients, a Mormon
old boy named Cap Kressop, who was a technical wizard, was approached by
Robert Nichols and asked to manufacture a prototype laser site for a
rifle. Kressop was offered a $200,000 contract for the job but he became
suspicious when Nichols wanted to pay him in cash.

"Boyak contacted Nichols at his Marina Del Rey, California home/office
[apartment "007"] and the two had a lengthy meeting there. Boyack's
description of that meeting is that it was continuously interrupted by
telephone calls and telex messages. Boyak came away convinced that
Nichols was involved in large scale illegal drug operations.

"After consulting with one of his close friends from Green Beret days,
then an assistant U.S. Attorney named Dexter Leitenen (now the Miami
U.S. Attorney), Boyak went to the Los Angeles FBI office with the
suspicions about Nichols' activities.

"The FBI background check [conducted by Ted Gunderson] on Robert Booth
Nichols (born 1943 or 1944 he couldn't remember for sure) revealed that
he was `squeeky clean.' In fact, he had a Class I machine gun license.

"Boyak did discover, however, that one of the people Nichols referenced
as a business associate and personal friend, Harold Okimoto, was
believed by some of his sources to be a top Japanese organized crime
figure based in Hawaii. Okimoto was described as a top agent in the
Yakuza overseas.

"Over the next two year period, after the L.A. FBI had dropped any
interest in the Nichols matter, Boyack's friend, [Arthur] Suchesk,
repeatedly ran into Nichols in such places as Singapore, the
Philippines, and Taiwan. Suchesk was based out of Zurich, Switzerland
during this period, apparently still doing his front man work for the CIA.

"Boyak says that information developed during this period, through
Suchesk and others, [indicated] that Nichols was indeed a bigtime drug
dealer who was very well insulated from any U.S. law enforcement
problems. Nichols operated exclusively overseas. Whenever he came to the
United States, he never engaged in any illegal activities.

"However, Boyak described Nichols' rum importing business as a cover for
bigtime heroin trafficking from the Golden Triangle. Nichols was also
named as `Mr. Big', according to Boyak, in the Medellin Cartel, in drug
prosecutions in Utah and Los Angeles.

"Three to four years ago, Boyack received an out of the blue telephone
call from Michael Riconosciuto. Michael identified himself as a former
employee of Robert Nichols. He also referenced Ted Gunderson as a
`mutual friend.' Boyak had only met Ted once very briefly when he was
pressing the L.A. FBI to look into the Nichols dope suspicions ..."

" ... Then in April 1991, Boyak received a phone call from Ted
Gunderson, informing him that `Michael was in trouble. He was caught in
a government frameup.'

"Boyak returned to his background profile of Bob Nichols, parts of which
were apparently provided by Bob's estranged brother, Jim Nichols. It
seems that as a young man, Robert Nichols wound up in Hawii functioning
as a hitman for the Tongs. He was `adopted' as the Yakuza godson of
Harold Okimoto, a 67yearold car dealer in Hawaii.

"Nichols grew up to be a big business front man for the Far East
syndicate. He reportedly laundered between $50200 million for Ferdinand
Marcos. He now owns an estate in Hawaii, a feudal castle outside of
Milan, Italy and the referenced Marina Del Ray home in California.

"Nichols has an office in Zurich. At one point, he was reportedly
involved in the smuggling of China White heroin into Mexico where it was
treated to look like the Mexican brown heroin which was more popular at
the time.

"It should be emphasized that all of this information about Robert
Nichols comes exclusively from Allan Boyak. None of it has yet been
independently corroborated to my knowledge. Bill Hamilton and some other
people involved in tracking the Inslaw story have all spoken to [Robert]
Nichols and report that he has been straightforward with them and has
provided leads and documents re: Michael Riconosciuto.

"Nichols is listed on the board of directors of First Intercontinental
Development Corporation (FIDCO) along with George Pender and several
officials of the Howard Hughes linked Suma Corporation."

One of the most surprising, and disturbing, documents I found in Michael
Riconosciuto's hidden files (see Chapter 9) was an envelope with a
notation on it, handwritten and signed by Ted Gunderson, which read as
follows:

"Michael: Raymond [Lavas] is arriving at LAX, 7:55 p.m., Air Canada via
flight 793 from Toronto. Will have to go through Customs. This will give
us another member for our drug/arms operation. Only problem [is] Raymond
will probably be using instead of selling. Sorry I didn't get to D.A.
office. I tried to call, but no answer. By the time I fought the traffic
to the bank and did my banking, it was too late Will be home tonight
(818) 8806238. T.G."

Raymond Lavas was Ted Gunderson's forensic expert when he worked for the
FBI. Lavas was in constant contact with Bobby Riconosciuto after Michael
was incarcerated. In fact, everyone was watching Michael and Bobby very
closely.

CHAPTER 8

In March, 1993, two years after Michael Riconosciuto had attempted to
trade information on the F.I.D.C.O./Euramae drug/intelligence operation
in Lebanon to the government, the aforementioned magazine article
printed in High Times magazine by Bill Weinberg, entitled, "The Syrian
Connection," exposed CIA penetration into the Bekaa Valley drug trade in
Lebanon.

Essentially, this article validated much of Riconosciuto's earlier
information. The following are some excerpts:

" ... Many of Lebanon's armed factions depend on the international drug
trade for funds," wrote Weinberg. "Each paramilitary group controls its
own port in or around Beirut which serves as a transfer point for drugs
on the way out of Europe and America and weaponry on the way in from the
international market. Whoever holds the fertile Bekaa [Valley] holds the
ticket to power. As the war escalated in the late 1970's, hashish, the
traditional mainstay of the Bekaa, started to be replaced by the more
lucrative heroin. Marijuana fields were converted to opium fields,
hashish production compounds converted to heroin labs."

Heroin production exploded in the Bekaa Valley under the Syrian
occupation. However, the Syrian occupation forces didn't touch the
drugs, but "profited from the trade and protected it." It was estimated
that up to $2 billion in protection money was paid annually by dope
plantation operators to Syrian occupation forces.

DEA official Felix Jimenez told a reporter in 1990 that the Syrian
occupation received $10,000 per kilogram of Bekaa heroin. With the
valley producing over 20,000 pounds a year, that was a lot of money.

Bekaa also became a center for processing Columbian cartel cocaine for
reexport to European markets.

In 1988, two Syrians arrested with large quantities of heroin and coke
in Milan [Italy] claimed to be working for a Syrian colonel in Bekaa.
Prior to Desert Storm, Syria's president Hafez Assad and Iraq's Saddam
Hussein were rival factions in the Arab nationalist Ba'ath Party. Syria
was the only Arab nation to back Iran in the long and brutal war against
Iraq in the 1980's. So when President George Bush invited Syria to join
the Arab coalition against Saddam after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Assad
accepted.

After Desert Storm, Assad closed ranks with the White House and even
softened his stand against Israel. President Bush and Secretary of State
James Baker peddled a postwar peace plan for the region and Syria and
Israel were encouraged to recognize each others' Lebanese occupation zones.

Under a 1990 accord, Christians and Muslims were finally granted equal
representation, officially bringing the civil war to an end. A new
Syriabacked Muslimled government came to power. Under the accord, Syria
maintained control of the Bekaa Valley. Among the areas still under
Syrian control were the notorious drug ports north of Beirut.

High Times maintained that there were long standing backchannel
relations between Washington D.C. and Damascus. According to a 1987
Pentagon memo leaked to the Chicago paper, In These Times, Lt. Col.
Oliver North was personally notified that Syrian intelligence in Lebanon
was willing to negotiate with the White House for release of the
hostages held by Lebanese terrorists.

The Washington Jewish Week reported that Bush himself had made secret
visits to Damascus for hostage negotiations. But there were other
reasons for the U.S. to be in Lebanon. In 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103
exploded over Scotland, Pan Am hired the private investigative firm of
Interfor to look into the bombing. The owner, Juval Aviv, was reportedly
a former Mossad agent.

Interfor maintained that the Syrianbacked Popular Front for the
Liberation of PalestineGeneral Command (PFLPGC) was behind the bombing.
The PFLPGC had been able to get their bomb on board the 747 because the
flight was part of a heroin smuggling route run by a drug trafficking
ring connected to the Syrian regime and protected by both the U.S. DEA
and the CIA.

Interfor claimed the ring was overseen by Syrian kingpin Monzer AlKassar
often known as the world's biggest arms dealer. The CIA was protecting
the AlKassar operation because he was cooperating with efforts to free
U.S. hostages in Lebanon.

Reporter Bill Weinberg added that "the CIA and DEA had apparently both
instructed Germany's internal intelligence agency, the BKA, to allow
certain suitcases to pass uninspected onto USbound flights at the
Frankfort airport, where Flight 103 originated."

Apparently, unknown to anyone except the PFLPGC and AlKassar, a suitcase
which was supposed to be full of the usual heroin was covertly
substituted with a suitcase full of explosives.

A London Times news article, dated July 22, 1991, entitled, "US Drugs
Sting Gave Pan Am Bomber Cover," noted that the DEA admitted that the
protection program had existed. The explanation for this operation,
which was codenamed Khourah, was provided by Ronald Caffrey, acting
assistant administrator of the operational division of the DEA. In a
U.S. government submission, dated March 20, 1991, Caffrey said the drug
operation was a "controlled delivery."

According to Caffrey, in a controlled delivery, a law enforcement agency
permits and monitors shipments of contraband, including drugs, to move
from a source or transit location to its intended destination. Use of
this technique is sometimes essential to enable law enforcement agencies
to identify and arrest highranking members of trafficking organizations,
rather than simply arrest low level couriers.

Pan Am argued in court that it had been the pawn of an international
intelligence operation, but still lost the case and was forced into
bankruptcy.

In 1990, when the White House started to woo Syria as a partner in the
Allied coalition, blame for the Pan Am bombing suddenly shifted from
Assad's Syria to Qaddafi's Libya, and that is pretty much where it
stands today.

Meanwhile, AlKassar was alleged to have provided Oliver North with drug
profits to purchase arms for the Nicaraguan Contras. The U.S. Tower
Commission probe into Irangate revealed that AlKassar had been paid $1.2
million by Oliver North's coconspirator General Richard Secord to move
weapons from Israel to the Contras.

In her book "October Surprise," former Reagan White House aide Barbara
Honegger alleged that AlKassar's heroin smuggling network in Italy was
used to launder NATO arms stocks for diversion to Iran with the help of
corrupt Italian intelligence officials linked to the secretive fascist
Masonic lodge, P2.

It is noteworthy that AlKassar was reported to hold large tracts of land
in the Bekaa Valley. The PFLPGC also has camps in the Bekaa which were
the target of Israeli air strikes in 1989.

******

The U.S. government's presence in Lebanon is not to be taken lightly
according to Lester Coleman, a selfemployed freelance writer, editor and
security consultant who once moonlighted as a DIA (Defense Intelligence
Agency) covert intelligence officer when he was called to serve.
Coleman, age 47, told the London Times that for six years he worked as
an intelligence officer with the secret unit, Middle East Collection 10
(MC10) in Cyprus, running a network of agents in Beirut whose mission
was to find American hostages held by extremists.

Coleman was paid in travelers checks sent from the Luxembourg branch of
the now collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Two
senior MC10 members, Mathew Kevin Gannon and Major Charles Dennis McKee,
had been on PanAm flight 103 and had just returned from a mission in
Beirut.

Coleman explained that the DEA, with the narcotics squad of the Cypriot
national police, the German BKA police and British customs, ran a "drug
sting operation" through Cyprus and airports in Europe, including
Frankfurt.

The operation involved delivering heroin from the Bekaa Valley in
Lebanon to the United States; the operation was codenamed "Khourah."
Coleman maintained that Pan Am Flight 103 was being used by the DEA as a
"controlled delivery" flight.

After the explosion, the Beirut end of MC10 had obviously been "blown."
There were five key members of the MC10 cell in Cyprus and Beirut, one
of whom was Lester Coleman. Another was Werner Tony Asmar, a German
Lebanese, who was killed in a bomb explosion at his office in east
Beirut on May 26, 1988.

Another member of MC10 was Charlie Frezeli, a Lebanese army officer, who
was shot dead at his home in east Beirut in November 1989. When Asmar
was killed, the DIA ordered Coleman home.

Danny Casolaro had contacted Coleman in Sweden on August 3, 1991, seven
days before his death in Martinsburg, West Virgnia. They talked about
the sale of the PROMISE software by the U.S. Government to foreign
governments, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), and
the IranContra scandal.

After Coleman learned of Danny's death on August 10th, 1991, he provided
Inslaw president Bill Hamilton with an affidavit in October 1991. That
affidavit read as follows:

"Affidavit of Lester K. Coleman, being duly sworn, do hereby state as
follows:

"(1) I am currently selfemployed as a freelance writer, editor, and
security consultant. I am a United States citizen and am temporarily
outside of the United States.

"(2) In November 1984, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) offered me
a position in human intelligence operations in the Middle East. I was
raised in the Middle East, where I lived in Iran, Libya and Saudi
Arabia. I speak three dialects of Arabic and some Farsi. I accepted the
position and received training from the DIA. I was assigned to a Middle
East intelligence unit.

"(3) Between February and September 1987, I was seconded by DIA to the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Nicosia, Cyprus, reporting to
the DEA Country Attache, Michael T. Hurley.

"(4) After a cover assignment in the United States, I was again seconded
to the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus, in early 1988.

"(5) During April and May 1988, I worked in the office of Euramae
Trading Company, Ltd. in Nicosia, Cyprus, a DEA proprietary company. On
or about May 29, 1988, because of my concern about poor security in the
DEA operation in Cyprus, I returned to the United States, having
previously obtained the concurrence of DIA.

"(6) During my two stints as a DIA covert intelligence officer seconded
to the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus, I became aware of the fact that DEA was
using its proprietary company, Euramae Trading Company, Ltd. to sell
computer software called PROMISE or PROMIS to the drug abuse control
agencies of various countries in the Middle East, including Cyprus,
Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Turkey.

"(7) I personally witnessed the unpacking at the Nicosia, Cyprus, Police
Force Narcotics Squad of boxes containing reels of computer tapes and
computer hardware. The boxes bore the name and red logo of a Canadian
corporation with the words `PROMISE' or `PROMIS' and `Ltd' in the
company name.

"(8) The DEA objective in inducing the implementation of this
computerized PROMIS[E] system in the drug abuse control agencies of the
Middle East countries was to augment the drug control resources
available to the United States Government by making it possible for the
United States Government to access sensitive drug control law
enforcement and intelligence files of these Middle East governments.

"(9) It is also my understanding that thirdparty funds were generally
made available for the purchase of these computer software and hardware
systems. One thirdparty funding source was the United Nations Fund for
Drug Abuse Control in Vienna, Austria.

"(10) As DEA Country Attache for Cyprus, Michael T. Hurley had overall
responsibility for both the Euramae Trading Company, Ltd. and its
initiative to sell PROMIS[E] computer systems to Middle East countries
for drug abuse control.

"(11) In 1990, DEA reassigned Hurley to a DEA intelligence position in
Washington State.

"(12) I became aware in 1991 that Michael Riconosciuto, known to me as a
longtime CIA asset, was arrested in Washington State by DEA for the
manufacturing of illegal chemical drugs. I had also become aware of the
fact that Riconosciuto had made a sworn statement, prior to his arrest,
about his participation in a covert U.S. intelligence initiative to sell
Inslaw's PROMISE software to foreign governments.

"(13) In light of Hurley's personal involvement in the U.S. Government's
covert intelligence initiative to sell PROMIS[E] software to foreign
governments and his reassignment to a DEA intelligence position in
Washington State in advance of the DEA's arrest of Riconosciuto, the
arrest of Riconosciuto should be regarded as suspect. I do not believe
that Hurley's posting to a drug intelligence position in Washington
State in advance of Riconosciuto's arrest on drug charges is merely
coincidental. Rather, the probability is that Hurley was reassigned to
Washington State to manufacture a case against Riconosciuto in order to
prevent Riconosciuto from becoming a credible witness about the U.S.
Government's covert sale of the PROMIS software to foreign governments.

"(14) The investigative journalist Danny Casolaro contacted me in Europe
on August 3, 1991. Mr. Casolaro had leads and hard information about
things that I know about, including Department of Justice groups
operating overseas, the sale of PROMIS[E] software by the U.S.
Government to foreign governments, the Bank of Credit and Commerce
International (BCCI), and the IranContra scandal. I subsequently learned
of Mr. Casolaro's death in Martinsburg, West Virginia, one week later,
on August 10, 1991. I contacted Inslaw in October 1991, after learning
about Mr. Casolaro's death under suspicious circumstances."

CHAPTER 9

Village Voice magazine ran an article entitled, "The Last Days of Danny
Casolaro," by James Ridgeway and Doug Vaughan on October 15, 1991 which
gave a brief profile of Michael Riconosciuto's background:

"The 44yearold Riconosciuto is to put it mildly a colorful character,
wilder than anything in `The Falcon and the Snowman.' He was a gifted
child. When he was just 10 years old, Michael wired his parents'
neighborhood with a working, private telephone system that undercut Ma
Bell; in the eighth grade, he won a science fair with a model for a
threedimensional sonar system. By the time he was a teenager, he had won
so many science fairs with exhibits of laser technology that he was
invited to be a summer research assistant at Stanford's [University]
prestigious Cooper Vaper Laser Laboratory. Dr. Arthur Schalow, a Nobel
laureate, remembered him: `You don't forget a 16yearold youngster who
shows up with his own argon laser,' he told Casolaro."

******

Bobby Riconosciuto lived with Michael Riconosciuto at the time of his
arrest in Washington state. Immediately upon learning of his arrest, she
had fled to California with her four children, the youngest of which,
Elizabeth, had been fathered by Michael.

Bobby was well situated in an exclusive suite at the Embassy Suites
Hotel in Orange County, California. Her suite contained a living room
and bar overlooking lush indoor tropical gardens and water fountains,
marble walkways over bridgecovered ponds and a gazebo where free
breakfasts were cooked and served to order.

Within the room, she had at her disposal office equipment, phones in
every room, answering machines, room service and anything else she
needed for herself and her children. Patrick Moriarty, Marshall
Riconosciuto's business partner of 40 years, was paying the bills.

Moriarty and the Riconosciutos, father and son, had once owned Hercules
Research Corporation together in Hercules, California. An old Contra
Costa County newspaper article, dating back to April, 1981, gave the
story of Hercules. The subheading of the article pretty much said it
all, "Device Could Make Hercules a Silicon Valley."

In 1981, Hercules had developed a small electronic power supply the size
of a tissue box, designed to specifically feed 30,000 volts of
electricity to another device, a METC (Modular Energy Transfer
Catalyzer) unit, that would cut the heating and cooling time in food
processing and of making glass, metal and other products by 40 percent.

The METC unit, patented by Interprobe of Chicago, worked by
electrostatically exciting air molecules by moving them through a
charged field. This removed a boundary layer of molecules that inhibited
the exchange of thermal energy. Hercules' highvoltage power supply was
essential to the application of Interprobe's METC unit, so both
companies were in the process of working out a merger in order to market
both technologies as a complete system.

Admiral Henry Rankin, vice president of Interprobe, was a longtime
family friend, and was very enthuiastic about incorporating the Hercules
power pack with Interprobe's high voltage electrostatic technology.

Patrick Moriarty and Marshall Riconosciuto had funded research for 15
years and spent about $1 million of their own money on the project.

By 1983, things were not looking so good for Patrick Moriarty. The Los
Angeles Times newspaper reported in a series of articles that "fireworks
magnate W. Patrick Moriarty, his business and associates spent nearly
half a million dollars in the last three years to influence government
decisions throughout California."

Moriarty's relationships with several key state legislators and his
campaign contributions to elected officials from Anaheim to Sacramento
had made him a powerful force in state and local politics. His
association with the notorious Robert Ferrante, head of Consolidated
Savings and Loan which failed in 1985, and who was the subject of a
disorganized, onagain offagain FBI investigation, was written up in the
book, "Inside Job," by (Mary Frick?).

Patrick Moriarty was described as "the manufacturer of Red Devil
fireworks, who founded the Bank of Irvine. The bank failed in 1984, the
victim of fraud and mismanagement, according to regulators." In 1985,
Moriarty pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a case that became the biggest
political scandal in California in 30 years. Over 10 prominent
politicians, including one state senator, were indicted for taking
bribes from Moriarty.

Though I'd spoken with her on the phone numerous times, I first met
Bobby Riconosciuto facetoface on January 15th, 1992. On the day I
visited her hotel suite, I hauled my Mita copy machine on a cart up to
her room and we talked and made copies of documents all morning. Bobby
was young, boxom and attractive in a natural, mother earth sort of way.
Her long blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders, she wore no
makeup, and her nose and mouth had an impish upturn that made her appear
to be smiling even when she was not.

We became friends as the day progressed. Bobby confided that some of the
more sensitive material was stored at Michael's hidden trailer in Trona,
California.

While working at Wackenhut, Michael had anticipated a future need to
have a hiding place for himself and his files in the event that things
got out of control. Bobby, who had met Michael in Washington state after
he left Wackenhut, had been instructed by Michael to stay away from the
trailer in case she was being surveillanced.

The files and computer equipment stored there were Michael's last ace in
the hole. Nevertheless, Bobby was frustrated by the slow progress of
Michael's court defense, by R.J.'s lack of response to Michael's request
for Witness Protection - and she had been barraged by reporters who
wanted documented proof of Michael's statements.

I offered to drive her out to Trona, near Death Valley, to retrieve
Michael's files and ultimately, she acquiesced. We arrived at the
isolated trailer at dusk and began sorting through documents that could
substantiate Michael's claim that he worked for the government.

The electricity had been shut off and as it became dark, we were forced
to use flashlights. Bobby was terrified that we might get caught in that
Godforsaken place. The children were cold and tired, and from sheer
exhaustion, she finally offered to turn all the boxes and documents over
to me to make copies at home.

We threw everything helter skelter into large plastic trash bags, dumped
the bags into my Chevy van, and quickly headed back to civilization.

It is noteworthy that before we left, Bobby pointed the flashlight
towards another, smaller trailer situated on a knoll overlooking the
road, which she claimed contained Michael's hidden computer equipment.

It was several weeks before Michael learned that Bobby had turned the
documents over to me. She never told him, nor did I. It was through
Jonathan Littman, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter whom I had confided
in, that Riconosciuto learned of our secret.

Upon arriving home from my trip to the desert, I had xeroxed
roundtheclock for five days with help from trusted friends. The
documents corroborated everything Michael had related over the phone,
and more.

It was an exciting time. Boxes and boxes of documents provided me for
the first time with a window into the CIA corporate structure, arms
deals, drug operations, money laundering, biological technology, all the
connecting tentacles of Danny Casolaro's "Octopus."

After making copies, I squeezed the originals into eight large packing
boxes, sealed them tightly, and sent them back to Bobby Riconosciuto,
via a friend, who gave them to Michael's father, Marshall Riconosciuto.

I later learned Marshall allegedly shipped them to Ian Stuart Spiro for
safekeeping. It was not until April, 1993, that I learned what became of
Spiro and the documents.

An Associated Press news story entitled, "Deaths Linked to Spy Network,"
published in the Merced Sun Star newspaper, outlined the death of Ian
Stuart Spiro, 46, who was found dead of cyanide poisoning in the
AnzaBorrego desert on November 8, 1992, one week after his wife and
children were found shot to death in their Rancho Santa Fe home.

The news story, originating from the Oceanside Blade Citizen, noted that
"documents and U.S. intelligence sources implicated Spiro in the
IranContra armsforhostages affair and an alleged Justice Department
conspiracy to pirate software from a private company and sell it to
foreign intelligence agencies."

Spiro's name also appeared in Lt. Col. Oliver North's personal notebooks
documenting the IranContra affair, according to the National Security
Archives in Washington D.C..

Former hostage David Jacobsen told the BladeCitizen shortly after
Spiro's death that Spiro helped negotiate the release of hostages in the
Middle East.

After obtaining a copy of a followup BladeCitizen article dated June 3,
1993, entitled, "Spiro Probers Want to Talk to North" by Wade Booth,
Stacy Finz and Michael Williams, I learned that Ian Spiro lived in
Beirut, Lebanon during the 1970's and 1980's where he "made contacts
with Lebanese religious leaders and the Islamic Jihad."

Greg Quarton, Spiro's brotherinlaw, told reporters at the BladeCitizen
that Spiro maintained communication with Lebanese business associates
until the time of his death, but investigating officers had possession
of Spiro's phone bills, and as of this writing, they had not released them.

San Diego sheriff's Capt. Jim Marmack said detectives were investigating
allegations by Spiro's relatives that his file cabinets and business
papers were missing.

The week of the Spiro family's death, Robert Corson, a business
associate of Spiro's indicted in a savings and loan scam, was found dead
in an El Paso, Texas, motel room. Corson, who reportedly worked for the
CIA, died of a heart attack, officials said. The BladeCitizen reported
that Corson once carried money to South America in a deal to deliver
covert weapons. Corson also allegedly associated with California
investor Wayne Reeder who was seen at a Wackenhut/Contra meeting in
Riverside county (See Chapter 10).

The newspaper article went on to say that Alan Michael May, age 50, [a
former Northern California field director in Richard Nixon's
presidential campaign and attorney for Nixon's brothers Donald and
Edward] was found dead in his San Francisco home on June 19, 1991, four
days after a newspaper story in the Napa Sentinel outlined his role in
an alleged plot by Republican Party officials to bribe Iranian officials
to delay the release of U.S. hostages until after President Reagan's
inauguration.

Immediately after May's death, Raymond Lavas, Ted Gunderson's former
forensic's expert, (and a former protege of Robert Maheu according to
Michael Riconociuto) wrote a letter to one of Michael's friends,
expressing his professional opinion about the death of Michael May. A
copy of that letter was faxed to me and the following excerpts quickly
captured my attention:

"... I don't understand why it's going to take two weeks to determine
May's cause of death. Did you know that certain chemical assassination
methods will have been evaporated out of the body by that time?

"Then, the cause of death would be ruled as natural, since the chemical
agents are the primary cause that result in a secondary action such as
heart failure, kidney or liver damage, etc.

"Some examples of these agents include BZ2, Ricin, Tropodotoxin,
shellfish toxia and a variety of methlamine based neurotoxinsthat affect
the central nervous system and cause failure of one or more organs in
the human body.

"Some, if not most of these toxins are solvent based [DMSO] and may be
introduced in minute quantities through the skin. Their effect [may]
vary and some toxins take weeks to months to take effect. Others take
moments to damage the nervous system, then evaporate within hours.

"Unless the body is immediately refrigerated, the toxins are quickly
evaporated, leaving only one or two parts per million in quantity.
Unless there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, a
trained forensic expert would never detect any traces of the toxin.

"So there you have it. [Michael] May is dead and they are dragging their
asses to find out how! What is next? A statement that May died of
natural causes? Let me predict this now ... and we'll see. Regards, Ray."

Michael May also apparently attended briefings connected with Lawrence
Livermore Labs in California according to an official listing of
Lawrence Livermore employees at a "Briefings and Discussions" document
obtained from Riconosciuto's files.

The document, stamped, "Official Use Only," listed Edward Teller along
with nine other names, including Michael May, under the heading
"Lawrence Livermore Laboratory." Other headings with names listed
underneath included the Department of Energy, Department of State,
Defense Nuclear Agency and Naval Research Laboratory. There were no
other pages accompanying the document, so it was impossible to determine
from what manual it came from.

May's name also popped up in a letter Michael Riconosciuto wrote to Dr.
John Phillip Nichols at the Cabazon Indian reservation when he was being
screened for security clearances to work on the Cabazon/Wackenhut joint
venture.

The letter focused primarily on Al Holbert, an Israeli intelligence
officer who allegedly recruited Riconosciuto into the CIA, and May's
name was mentioned only once, in connection with members of "The
Company." That one sentence read as follows: "Ben Kalka's relationship
with Holbert and `May' will give the proper authorities the necessary
auspices to come in and swiftly clean it [The Company] up."

Other portions of the letter gave a history of Riconosciuto's experience
with Al Holbert (Excerpts):

" ... My problems stemmed from my association with Al C. Holbert. I
first met Holbert when I was still in high school and I was led to
believe that he was an `unofficial' representative of the Israeli
government. I was further led to believe that his interests were not
contrary to those of the United States. It was not until July of 1981
that I learned the truth about Holbert. It came directly from him to me
personally in what I will call a confrontational situation.

"August of 1981 was when I first brought Holbert to your [Dr. John
Nichols] attention. At that time, I still did not know much and I was
still in a sort of state of shock from my `new awareness' of Holbert. I
was in deep with this guy and so was Paul [Morasca].

"At first Paul thought that I was off base and overreacting and then by
degrees he started to come around. Much of the incredible account of
Paul's doings (money transfers, gems, weapons, drugs) were the result of
his relationship to Burt and Jensen. Burt, Jensen and Kalka all met Paul
through his brother Joe. I was the one who introduced Al Holbert to
Paul, and Paul was the one who introduced me to Burt, Jensen and Kalka.
This was in early 1967.

"I was introduced to [Al] Holbert through the Stanford crowd at the home
of [name withheld] in Portola Valley, California. Interesting enough,
[name withheld] is a former State Department employee ..."

" ... The realization of who and what Holbert is, and Paul's death, have
taken me some time to adjust to. And that required professional help. I
now have a clear idea and good perspective on what has really happened
in my life.

"I am in awe of Holbert and his group's power [The Company]. During the
last year, I have forced this structure to rear its ugly head in many
different times and places, and in ways that can't be covered up. I have
also spread far and wide what knowledge I have with the intent to first
protect others involved and secondly to chisel the story in stone.

"Where it all stands now is that no matter who the group attempts to
silence or what ruse they attempt to perpetrate, the truth cannot be
destroyed. This is now in the hands of a competent attorney. My direct
involvement is finished except to be available to answer questions.

" ... I feel that Holbert and his group represent a current national
security nightmare to this country. I feel that I have been extricated
from the hold of this group. But I also feel that the destruction by
legal means of this group ranks in importance with my scientific and
engineering skills to the overall picture.

"Ben Kalka's relationship with Holbert and May will give the proper
authorities the necessary auspices to come in and swiftly clean it up. I
would now like to start out where we should have been a year ago. The
first point I will start with is a recap of our visit to Pickitinny
Arsenal ..."

It is noteworthy that two of the people mentioned in the above letter
are now dead: Paul Morasca and Michael May.

The bizarre circumstances of Morasa's death are detailed in the next few
pages. Ben Kalka of The Company, is now serving time in prison for
having 900 pounds of methamphetamine in his possession at time of arrest.

Through one of Michael's contacts, I managed to locate the current
(1991) whereabouts of Al Holbert and confirm his identity. A letter
written on "Solomon Investigations" letterhead, dated June 13, 1991, to
a client requesting payment for the services of Holbert read as follows:
(Excerpted) " ... I enlisted the services of my electronic
countermeasures expert, A.C. Holbert, for an immediate survey and sweep
of the premises. Mr. Holbert is highly regarded as the best electronics
man in the [San Francisco] Bay Area and has recently worked with Israeli
intelligence services in the field of electronic countermeasures. He
agreed to take on this job. I have enclosed a copy of Mr. Holbert's
faxed report ..."

The mystery of Al Holbert was further uncovered in a 1983 transcript in
which Michael stated, "After Paul's [Morasca] death, Holbert admitted to
me that he was a Soviet backed agent, and they had a home, or he had a
home for me, and I could be treated like royalty, and he reiterated that
offer in the latest meeting, and he said, `He was prepared to deliver
some fivehundredthousand dollars cash to me us a show of good faith ..."

The transcript, originating from a series of tape recorded interviews
between Michael Riconosciuto, Ted Gunderson and Robert Booth Nichols at
Nichols' "007" apartment in Marina Del Ray, provided a window into the
entire drug scene in California from the early 1960's through the
1980's, mostly relating to methamphetamine operations in the Bay Area.
It had been typed by Ellen Nichols, Robert's wife.

Riconosciuto's relationship with Ted Gunderson dated back at least as
far as 1982. Michael and Nichols dated back to 1967. In reading the
transcript, it appeared that Gunderson and Nichols were interviewing
Riconosciuto for recruitment into a drug/sting operation.

Riconosciuto later verified that he was, in fact, being recruited into
the overseas Lebanon drug operation by Gunderson and Nichols because of
his (Riconosciuto's) undercover experience in the drug trade.

It is noteworthy that Al Holbert, the Israeli intelligence agent who
originally recruited Michael into the CIA, is mentioned extensively
throughout the 71page transcript.

Riconosciuto's relationship with Holbert had lasted from 1966 to 1981, a
span of fifteen years. Most of that time had been devoted to complex
drug activities in California. In one passage, Riconosciuto stated that
"Ben Kalka was one of [Al] Holbert's lieutenants. The other lieutenant
with Kalka was Charlie Weinberg, who set up the Vortex Chemical Company
in Berkeley, California for Holbert."

Holbert was also interested in technology. "I really confided in him. I
was constantly steering him to various people in the Silicon Valley, you
know, for requests that he made which were very sophisticated technical
requests."

In the transcript, Ted Gunderson asked Michael, "Holbert had a technical
mind for that sort of thing?"

Michael responded, "Absolutely! [He had] a firm grasp of physics,
mathematics, chemistry, military hardware ..."

Gunderson asked, "Let's go back to '66 to '81, you were close to him?"

Michael: "Not on a regular basis. He would get in contact with me when
he needed consultation in certain areas. I made some good money. I
designed communications equipment for them. I did a lot of software
development ..."

Ted: "And then he gave it to the Israelis?"

Mike: "Yes."

Ted: "And he admitted this?"

Mike: "Oh yeah, none of it was really classified. I did software for the
analysis of radar change data. It was based on mathematical models that
the Department of Defense wasn't using you know, my approach was new and
different from theirs, but it wasn't connected with any of their
projects, so technically it wasn't classified."

Michael developed other technology along the way and subsequently
attracted the attention of Dr. John Phillip Nichols at Wackenhut/Cabazon
who wanted his services. But Michael's association with Al Holbert was
hindering Michael's security clearances. Through the screening process
and Dr. John Nichols, Michael had learned more about Al Holbert.

Ted: "Well, how could he [Holbert] be a Soviet agent and an Israeli agent?"

Mike: "Your guess is as good as mine. I talked to Major General Peratt
on that subject last May and he said, `You don't understand the ways of
the world.' Regarding Al Holbert, I said, `That man has done more damage
to my generation and my country [drugs] How can you people say that
you're friends of the United States, when you send us a guy like that?"

Michael continued ..."You know, Holbert came to the United States and he
went to work for the Treasury Department out of Philadelphia and ..."

Ted interrupted. "In what way? As an agent?"

Mike: "I don't know what the relationship was. The Treasury Department
wouldn't tell me. They wouldn't comment at all except to acknowledge
that, `Yes, he was involved at very high levels, giving special training.'

" ... Holbert taught courses in interrogation techniques. He taught
touchkill techniques you know, with the thumbs on the temples and
various scare areas like that. He moved around to a lot of different
agencies. He got involved with the FBI, and he was involved with the
Drug Enforcement people ..."

Ted: "He indicated to you for fifteen years [that] he was with the
Israelis?"

Mike: "Israelis. Yes."

Ted: "And then you realized through Dr. Nichols that he was a Soviet?"

Riconosciuto explained that he thought it was John Ammarell at Wackenhut
who had "zeroed in on Holbert."

Gunderson continued to press Riconosciuto about Holbert being a double
agent. Michael responded: "Well, he was with the Soviets, but he was
also with the Israelis. Holbert definitely is connected with Israeli
intelligence. I mean there's no ifs, ands, buts, or maybes ... He was
decorated in combat for them."

Riconosciuto further recounted a visit to Israel in April 1982. He had
met a man (name unspecified) who was the assistant Secretary of Defense
of Israel for a number of years and was in charge of defense production
for the Israeli government. This man was a friend of Ariel Sharon and he
had introduced Riconosciuto to Sharon. It was through this man and a man
named "General Peratt," that Riconosciuto confirmed Holbert's position
with the Israelis.

"Holbert definitely is one of their boys. I got an admission out of
General Peratt that Holbert was funny, that he's a Trotskiite, and they
knew about it, and I couldn't understand why they kept a guy like that
around? I was told that I just didn't understand the ways of the world!"

Ted asked, "Who does Holbert report to?"

Mike: "Jean Pierre Boegner."

At this point in the transcript, Robert Booth Nichols interceded and
provided Boegner's address: " ... His address in Paris is 114 Champs
Elysees, Paris 8, France. That goes into my territory ..."

Mike added, "Jean Pierre reports directly to Colonel Stefan Uznanski of
the Ukraine ..." Nichols noted, "I have strict files on him."

Ted asked, "And is he GRU?"

Mike answered, "No KGB."

Nichols added, "As high as you can go ..."

Ted asked, "And where is he, in the Kremlin?"

Mike answered, "No, he's in Vienna."

Nichols interjected, " ... Out of Salzberg. He has a home twenty minutes
from Salzberg. His hobby is boar hunting. He has about a twenty man
contingent."

Gunderson asked, "Is Boegner a Canadian?"

Nichols responded, "Boegner is French. Boegner was involved in the
assassination attempt on de Gaulle. Boegner served time."

Ted: "He's KGB?"

Nichols: "Oh yeah, a Colonel."

Ted: "Okay, anything else. Anything more on Holbert that we should bring
up?"

Riconosciuto noted that Holbert was very disappointed that he couldn't
"turn him" (Riconosciuto) in August of 1981. Ted asked Michael if
Holbert admitted at that time that he was KGB?

Michael corrected Ted, "GRU, he was GRU. He told me that he was GRU and
he bragged that there were over thirtyfive thousand GRU agents active on
the North American continent. And I checked with John Ammarall and with
Robert Frye [executives at Wackenhut Corporation] and they told me it
was about half that number.

" ... He [Holbert] wanted me to leave the United States, through Canada,
and go to Israel."

Riconosciuto added, "You know, he's touched the Central Intelligence
Agency, the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and various local
law enforcement agencies all over the country ..."

The abovementioned transcript was mailed by one of three people to the
"prosecutor" at Michael Riconosciuto's trial in Washington state where
it was entered into evidence.

******

At that time, to Michael's knowledge, only Robert Booth Nichols, Peter
Zokosky and Jonathan Littman, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter, had
possession of it.

I subsequently received a copy of it from Jonathan Littman, who
coincidentally, I learned later, happened to be Ben Kalka's "cousin"
(Kalka belonged to The Company, according to Riconosciuto, and had been
arrested with 900 pounds of methamphetamine in his possession). Littman
had obtained the transcript from Peter Zokosky, Robert Booth Nichols'
partner.

Riconosciuto believed Littman had given the transcript to Kalka during
one his visits with him at the Pleasanton prison, and Kalka had sent it
on to the prosecutor at Michael's trial.

Nichols later confirmed to me that he (Nichols) had indeed interviewed
Riconosciuto with Ted Gunderson in 1983 and the transcript was
legitimate, though he wouldn't state the purpose of the interview.

******

It is significant that a passage in the 1983 transcript mentioned
Michael May as "one of the top three guys in the Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory management structure" who was associated with Riconosciuto.

******

Michael and Bobby Riconosciuto had been communicating with Jonathan
Littman for months, as had Danny Casolaro before his death, and they
wanted me to connect with him. At that point, Littman had written a
series of indepth articles on the Cabazon Indians and Dr. John Nichols,
and I hadn't been interested in talking to him ... until he wrote about
the death of Michael's partner, Paul Morasca.

The article, entitled, "Bizarre Murders Puzzle Cops," published on the
front page of the San Francisco Chronicle on December 30, 1991, noted
that the body of Paul Morasca, 31, had been found by Michael
Riconosciuto. Morasca's arms had been lashed behind his back as he was
hogtied with a telephone cord from his curledup legs to his neck. Police
believed he died when his legs finally gave out and the cord tightened
like a bowstring, drawing the noose around his neck until he slowly
strangled.

Before his death, Morasca and Riconosciuto had planned a business
venture with Cabazon administrator John Phillip Nichols to develop
hightechnology military hardware. Morasca was also described as a "San
Francisco entrepreneur suspected of being a money launderer involved in
a major Northern California drug ring."

Oddly, when Riconosciuto found Morasca's body, he drove 500 miles to the
Cabazon reservation and told John Nichols about the death. Nichols then
called his Los Angeles attorney, who telephoned the San Francisco police.

Just three days after Morasca's death, Mary Quick, a 63yearold school
teacher was shot in the face and her purse stolen as she was about to
enter Fresno's American legion Post 509, where she was president of the
Woman's Auxiliary.

At first, police assumed it to be a routine mugging murder, until it was
discovered that her nephew, Brian Weiss, who had been living at his
aunt's house in Fresno, was a business associate of Michael
Riconosciuto's. (Brian Weiss was also mentioned in the abovementioned
1983 "drug transcript").

Riconosciuto explained to police that he told Paul Morasca that he had
given Mary Quick a card containing secret bank account code numbers
because "she had no connection to any of the principles and could be
trusted." She had been instructed to give the code numbers over the
phone only to Paul Morasca or Michael Riconosciuto.

It was not until I obtained Michael Riconosciuto's "desert" files that
the above story affected me personally. Within one of the boxes was an
envelope containing eight coded computer cards with large sums of money
handwritten next to the account numbers. One card, containing ten
account numbers, indicated sums of upwards of $3.5 million dollars. That
was just one card of eight.

In my next conversation with Michael Riconosciuto, I inquired of him the
"real" story behind Paul Morasca and Mary Quick's death. I did not
reveal to him that I was in possession of his bank cards, but referred
to the S.F. Chronicle newspaper story.

Michael remorsefully indicated that he had not, in fact, given any cards
to Mary Quick as he had told Paul Morasca he did. Michael had kept them
(and obviously hidden them at his desert trailer). Nevertheless, Morasca
believed, and under torture revealed, that one of the cards was being
held by Mary Quick and the rest were stored in a safe deposit box. As we
know, Mary Quick died three days later.

After that conversation I immediately took the cards to a professional
photographer, had closeup photographs taken of them, and returned them
in a separate envelope to Bobby Riconosciuto. I never knew what she did
with them.

During subsequent phone conversations, Riconosciuto often referred to
his former partner, Paul Morasca. During his attempted trade into the
Federal Witness Protection Program, he had made a statement which caught
my attention, and which I later inquired about. While relating his
background in the electronics field, he had mentioned that he once
worked at Tyme Share, Inc. Chuck Evert, a longtime family friend, had
reportedly been one of the founders along with Tom O'Roarke.

Noted Riconosciuto, " ... And at the time of Paul Morosca's death, the
biggest loss I received was a big bag of bearer shares of original Tyme
Shares stock. And that was the main reason why Paul got killed."

Riconosciuto had stressed that only the FinCen people would understand
the significance of that. I later learned that the computer cards which
Paul Morasca and Mary Quick had died for belonged to the Tyme Shares
online financial clearing house used worldwide by banking institutions.
Essentially, the cards were provided to a subscriber or "user" who
rented time on the computer for conducting banking transactions.

Riconosciuto chose not to elaborate on his operation at Tyme Shares from
a "jail" phone, nevertheless, I was able to decipher that he and Paul
Morasca had accessed bank accounts using the computer cards in
conjunction with a "password" determined by the user. Michael had
created the passwords from the "pets" named in Phyllis Riconosciuto's
(Michael's exwife's) diary.

He did, however, randomly discuss his background with Tyme Shares: "I
developed the modem, error trapping routines for Tyme Share used on the
original network. I developed the protected mode memory for the
scientific data systems, SDS, Sigma 7 computers. And I developed the
capital PERT, Pert Software, which was the next generation of critical
path method. That's a Programmed Evaluation Review Technique that Tyme
Shares, for years, was the leader in.

"And then Electronic Data Systems bought a license from them, and you
know, EDS's story is legendary. Now, PROMISE is an outgrowth of PERT.
The Hamiltons had a woman programmer who was selftaught and she's the
one, her signature is in the code structures of PROMIS. It's just like
her signature because she was out of the mainstream and did things her
own way ..."

Shortly thereafter, while reviewing Riconosciuto's documents, I came
across a copy of an obscure statement submitted by Riconosciuto in
February 1984 to the San Francisco Grand Jury on the death of Paul
Morasca. It cryptically tied Morasca to Wackenhut and appeared to have
been transcribed from a tape recorded interview. The statement in its
entirety read as follows:

"I first heard of Phil Porath in December of 1981. John Phillip Nichols
[Cabazon administrator] told Paul Morasca and myself that we needed Phil
Porath as a consultant to Recovery Technology, Inc. Porath was
represented by John P. Nichols as being able to smoothly handle metals
transactions for RTI on a large scale. Phil Porath was one of the
contacts that John Phillip Nichols had committed to arrange for Paul as
part of our deal. Paul Morasca's body was found after he failed to
contact Porath for that scheduled meeting in January 1982.

"After Paul's death, JPN [John Phillip Nichols] came to me with a
request. He asked me if I could recover some of Ben Kalka's LSD because
he had a sale for 5 lbs. of it to someone in Romania. John Phillip
Nichols claimed that this was an authorized covert intelligence
operation and the proceeds would be used to purchase George Wackenhut's
yacht, Top Secret.

"Military electronics equipment to be delivered to South Africa was also
to be purchased according to JPN and delivered by the yacht. I went
along with the program because JPN told me that the `agency' was
involved through WSI. I did some checking on my own and became
suspicious of JPN. Then JPN met with myself and Raoul Arana of Central
Carribean Research, Inc.

"At this meeting, the details were plainly discussed by Mr. Arana. At
that point, JPN directed me to have PAT (Phillip Arthur Thompson)
recover [all] of Kalka's assets. I then contacted DeSilva, who had
control of Kalka's assets and he agreed to release them to me. DeSilva
later called the Indian reservation and gave the location of the assets
which included: one bobtail semitruck with power lift gate loaded with
amphetamine production chemicals; one red Datsun truck with a portable
refrigerator containing the acid.

"I accompanied PAT and Steve Finley to the locations of these vehicles
in the Oakland area. The keys, title and registration were with each
vehicle. PAT and SF drove the vehicles off and I reported to JPN that
the vehicles had been located and picked up.

"I also reported to my attorney, DW (Don Wager), the details. I
contacted JPN a few days later and he complained to me that PAT had made
off with everything.

" ... with George Wackenhut in Las Vegas. JPN told me that my problems
would be over with if I went along with the program. Brian Weiss [Mary
Quick's nephew] drove me to Palm Springs where I rented a car. JPN,
myself and Brian Weiss then drove to Las Vegas.

"We arrived in Las Vegas late in the afternoon. We checked into the
hotel. After we checked in, I was then introduced to Phil Porath by JPN.
Porath seemed a little nervous and upset with JPN. JPN seemed desperate
to have Phil Porath stall George W. on the sale of the yacht. Phil
Porath seemed reluctant to go along with JPN.

"JPN, myself and Porath then went to a private section of the dining
room and met with GW [George Wackenhut] and JA[John Ammarell]. During
dinner, JPN outlined my situation. [Al] Holbert, [Ben] Kalka, [Richard]
Knozzi, [and] the Fresno Company were covered in detail.

"A cutaway, sectioned high security lock was also shown to JA and GW
[George Wackenhut]. JA said that this should be presented to his
personal friend, Bud Miller, for action and that I would be contacted.

"The sale of the WH [Wackenhut] yacht then came up. Porath gave GW a
story [at] JPN's prompting. GW was impatient and asked where the `South
African' Thompson could be reached?I then asked GW [George Wackenhut] if
he was referring to PAT [Phillip Arthur Thompson] and he said, `Yes.'

"I then demanded to know what was going on? I laid out to GW what PAT
had done, including murdering PM [Paul Morasca]. JPN interrupted me and
told GW that I was mistaken and it was a different PT that I was talking
about. It was at that point that GW [George Wackenhut] said he had a
hearing problem and the dinner broke up.

"I went immediately to make telephone calls. I spread the word that I
felt my life was in danger and that JPN, WH, and PAT had conspired to
kill PM [Paul Morasca]. I then went back to the dining area where I saw
PP [Phil Porath] and GW [George Wackenhut] at a small twoperson table
talking about the yacht deal. JPN and JA were standing up and they asked
me to come to JA's room.

"At JA's room, everybody acted like nothing had happened. There we
talked for an hour or so about hitech projects. JPN and I then went to
PP's room and talked [about] P's missed meeting with Paul M., Bill
Jensen, Burt Gardener and metal projects. We then went to bed. The next
morning JPN, BW [Brian Weiss] and I drove back to Indio. At no time did
JPN mention the problem that came down at dinner."

******

In John Connolly's SPY magazine article on Wackenhut, September 1992
issue, on page 54, a brief notation mentioned Riconosciuto's meeting in
Las Vegas with George Wackenhut and John Ammarell, a Wackenhut board
member and consultant to George Wackenhut. SPY contacted Ammarell
regarding the meeting, and Ammarell confirmed that such a meeting did
indeed take place in Las Vegas. "I don't remember any specific
conversations," Ammarell said, "but I think we were there to discuss the
sale of George's [Wackenhut] yacht, the Top Secret. I think Nichols said
he had a potential buyer."

Wrote SPY, "So, the wealthy president of a large security company with
CIA ties and one of his board members meet with a drug dealer turned
electronics expert and a spook turned arms supplier and all they discuss
is the sale of a boat?"


******

After reading the newspaper article on the death of Paul Morasca, I
contacted Jonathan Littman at the San Francisco Chronicle. Littman
jumped in the car and drove from San Francisco to Mariposa (near
Yosemite National Park) when he learned I had obtained Michael's hidden
documents.

Interestingly, when he arrived at my home he thumbed through piles of
documents, but seemed to be looking for something specific. I later
learned he was searching for Phyllis Riconosciuto's (Michael's first
wife's) diary.

While Michael had worked at Wackenhut, Phyllis had been treated
psychiatrically by the Cabazon administrator, Dr. John Phillip Nichols.
Part of her treatment included writing a "diary" of her life with
Michael. Michael later broke into Nichols' office at the reservation and
stole the original diary before fleeing to Washington state.

The original diary was in fact included in the documents I had obtained
in the desert, but I decided to withhold specific pages from Littman
until I could determine what his purpose for wanting them was. An
incident which I have enumerated in Chapter 10, confirmed that my
instincts had been subliminally correct.

Meanwhile, I attempted to satisfy Littman with a few documents sent to
me by Henry Weinstein, court reporter for the Los Angeles Times. I had
contacted Weinstein to inquire if he had written anything on Robert
Booth Nichols' (unrelated to Dr. John Phillip Nichols) lawsuit against
the Los Angeles FBI, specifically FBI agent Thomas Gates?

Weinstein had not heard of the lawsuit, but immediately investigated at
the Los Angeles courthouse. Shortly thereafter, he sent a package of
documents relating not only to Nichols' lawsuit against Thomas Gates,
but also relative to Nichols' corporate minutes on the facilitation of
biological technology to Japanese institutes, copies of his weapons
permits, and documents indicating that Eugene Giaquinto, Vice president
of MCA Entertainment Division, was on the board of directors of Nichols'
corporation, Meridian International Logistics.

Marvin Rudnick, now a Pasadena lawyer, once tried to prosecute MCA
Corporation for organized crime involvement, but got shut down at the
highest level, and the Organized Crime Strike Force was disbanned. One
member of that investigative team was Richard Stavin, who talked to
Danny Casolaro shortly before his death.

Eugene Giaquinto and Jack Valente played heavily in Rudnick's
investigation of MCA, as did Curry Company (a subsidiary of MCA) in
Yosemite National Park. Rudnick was written up in American Lawyer for
his explorations through the MCA labrynth, and at some point, worked
closely with Thomas Gates during his investigation of Robert Nichols.
Gates and Weinstein were also well acquainted with Mariposa County
government's relationship with Curry Company. (See page 2 of manuscript).

In return for sharing copies of these documents with him, I asked
Littman to collaborate with me on a story concerning the government
sanctioned (10 years!) methamphetamine operations at Whiskey Flats, on
the Sara Priest Indian reservation in Mariposa. I was still intent on
forcing the arrest of deputies involved in the meth lab at that
location. (See page 3 of manuscript). Littman instructed me to put
together a detailed synopsis which he would submit to the San Francisco
Chronicle.

******

CHAPTER 10

Through Michael Riconosciuto, Danny Casolaro had compiled a sizable list
of former CIA officers and arms dealers, the most noteworthy of whom was
Robert Booth Nichols, described in various publications as a James Bond
type who jetted around the world trading arms and other products.

At the time of Danny's investigation, Nichols headed Meridian
International Logistics (M.I.L.), a Californiabased company that
conducted extensive business in Australia and Japan. M.I.L. also
controlled Meridian Arms Corporation of which Riconosciuto was briefly
Vice President.

Out of the WackenhutCabazon endeavor grew a business partnership between
Nichols and Riconosciuto, both interested in developing new, hightech
submachine guns and powerful explosive devices that, like a nuclear
blast, could produce an electromagnetic pulse that could wipe out an
enemy's communicatins and electronics.

The secretive Nichols chatted with Casolaro frequently. Casolaro's July
phone bills indicated that he called Nichols fifteen times that month,
often in the wee hours of the morning. Several of those phone
conversations lasted for more than two hours. Before his death on August
10th, Danny Casolaro told his brother, Tony, and Bill Hamilton that
Nichols warned him that his investigations were risky.

According to FBI statements, Nichols is not a man whose warnings should
be taken lightly. In September 1987, Special Agent Thomas Gates of the
Los Angeles FBI had begun an investigation of the activities of Robert
Booth Nichols and his corporation, Meridian International Logistics,
through Japanese and Australian legal attaches abroad.

According to a subsequent deposition filed by Gates, the bureau
suspected Nichols of being involved in a $500 million stock fraud and of
maintaining ties to the Gambino crime family and organized crime in Japan.

Gates's deposition was part of a 1987 wiretapping on the phone of Eugene
Giaquinto, an official of the MCA entertainment corporation with reputed
MOB links. Nichols was one of the people whose calls the bureau
intercepted. According to the wiretap application, Nichols was allegedly
an international money launderer for money generated through narcotics
trafficking and organized crime activities.

In June, 1989, Nichols sued Thomas Gates in a California state court for
libel, slander, and interference with contractural relationships when he
(Gates) allegedly acted outside the scope of his employment by
initiating contacts with the Australian Federal Police and various
individuals in Australia and Japan. The complaint asked for damages in
the amount of $11,000,000.

Ted Gunderson submitted an affidavit on Nichols' behalf, stating that he
believed Gates HAD acted outside the scope of his employment when
investigating Nichols abroad, the suit was subsequently dismissed
through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Robert Booth Nichols was depicted in one eastern publication as a
"handsome, dashing figure, frequently described as `Clark Gable without
the ears' ..." His friendship with movie actor Steven Seagal brought him
a cameo appearance in the movie, "Under Siege," but his real purpose for
being on the set was to act as technical advisor for the weaponry used
in the movie.

The son of a prominent Los Angeles surgeon, Nichols is the inventor of a
submachine pistol that he maintained was superior to the MAC10.

Nichols' weapons permit application, dated January 28, 1985 from the
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, indicated that that he was born
on March 6, 1943 at Loma Linda, California. In addition to his
residences in California, he maintained residences in Italy, France,
Australia and London, England for "business purposes for twenty years."

His medical doctor was listed in Zurich, Switzerland. He had worked for
Harold Okimoto in Hawaii for four years, from 1968 to 1972 as Vice
President of Preventor Security Center, an intruder electronics firm.

The four guns registered to him included two Colt .45 automatics. His
purpose for carrying a concealed weapon was listed as such: "I am
involved in the research and development of weapons systems, ranging
from the basic blowback automatic weapon to various advanced destructive
devices. As I have detailed knowledge of the workings of these systems,
I feel it is imperative to have personal protection for myself and for
the good of the community."

Nichols' corporation, Meridian Arms, a subsidiary of Meridian
International Logistics, was licensed in California in 1987 to posses
and/or transport machine guns, Permit No. 01678, and to sell machine
guns, Permit No. 01677. A 1985 Statement by Domestic Stock Corporation
filed with the Secretary of State in Sacramento listed Harold Okimoto,
Peter Zokosky, and Glen Shockley as Directors in addition to Nichols'
family.

Okimoto, Zokosky and Shockley are also listed as Directors on Meridian
International Logistics, Inc. (MIL). Eugene F. Giaquinto, president of
MCA (Music Corporation of America) Home Entertainment Division in
Universal City, was also a Director of M.I.L. until May 31, 1988, when
he resigned and returned his 10,000 shares of stock as a result of the
Los Angeles Organized Crime Task Force investigation, at that time
headed by Thomas Gates.

The May 25, 1988 Minutes of an MIL Board meeting reflected Robert Booth
Nichols concern with the investigation: " ... Upon meeting with Agent
Gates on March 8, 1988, our legal counsel, Judge Mark Robinson,
interpreted the line of questioning of Agent Gates as having a main
focus on the relationship between Robert Nichols and MCA, Inc. (of which
Mr. Giaquinto is an officer).

" ... Therefore, due to Mr. Nichols' concern, which Mr. Giaquinto
understood and thus stated he would submit written resignation within
two days; it was the unanimous decision of the Board to remove Mr.
Giaquinto from the position of Director of MIL forthwith ..."

Nichols' concern with such an investigation can well be justified when
you review the Minutes of an MIL board meeting held in Sherman Oaks on
August 26, 1988. The following business was discussed and voted upon:
(Excerpted)

"It was the unanimous decision of the Board to draft a letter to the
President of an internationally recognized Medical School in Japan (as
referenced in our corporate minutes of April 24, 1988) with regard to
our corporation's intention to make available a grant of funds to said
School, as the funds become available to our corporation, and under
specific terms and conditions.

" ... The phenomenal success in the field of immunotherapeutics by the
Immunology Department of said Japanese Medical School has convinced the
Board [of MIL] that the EXCLUSIVE training of qualified physicians under
contract to and the direction of Meridian International Logistics, Inc.,
would be of great value and benefit to our company and it's shareholders."

While reading these documents, I couldn't help wondering why an "arms"
dealer, allegedly tied in with organized crime, wanted to fund the
exclusive training of physicians at a Japanese medical school?

The Minutes of MIL dated September 20th, 1988, referred to an agreement
executed on September 14th, which discussed the threeway, equal
ownership between MIL, Dr. Shigeyoshi Fujimoto, and Ajinomoto Co. Inc.,
of certain patented biological technology identified as "a newly devised
technology for induction and activation of cytotoxic Tlymphocytes
(Tcells), referred to as CTL, directed to autologous cancer cells in
vitro with high efficacy utilizing a serumfree medium."

A Power of Attorney was issued to attorney Fujio Kubota in Japan to file
patents and registrations on the technology entitled "The Method for
Induction and Activation of Cytotoxic TLymphocytes."

The signatories on the Agreement to file Registrations and Patents on
September 14, 1988 were listed as Dr. Shigeyoshi Fujimoto; Takasha
Miyamae (Ajinomoto Co., Inc.); Hidetoshi Onogi (representative of MIL);
Kanehiro Ishida (International Service Center, Inc.); and Takashi
Kumakawa (American Embassy).

Hidetoshi Onogi was granted full power of attorney to negotiate and
execute an equity position for Meridian International Logistics related
to the filings and "any other documentation pertaining to the technical
knowledge and the mechanical and/or chemical processes for the
production of T Cells as are present in the immune system of the human
body or any other organism."

In and of itself this transaction seemed innocuous enough. But again I
asked myself, why was an international arms dealer on the Board of
F.I.D.C.O (First Intercontinental Development Corporation), a CIA front
corporation, which offered three billion dollars to rebuild Beirut to
President Amin Gamayel of Lebanon, whose chief of finances (Sami el
Khouri) was shipping tons of heroin to Sicily for reexport to America,
want to invest in "a method for induction and activation of cytotoxic
TLymphocytes"?

Was this technology being developed with the authority of the U.S.
government, or independently? If Nichols' operations were in fact
government sanctioned, then it must have been frustrating for him to be
investigated by the FBI. The concept of the FBI inadvertently
investigating the CIA was ironic. And what had Danny Casolaro learned
about this technology?

I found a possible answer in an obscure letter written on
Wackenhut/Cabazon letterhead, dated January 20, 1983, addressed to Dr.
Harry Fair at Tactical Technology in Arlington, Virginia, from Dr. John
P. Nichols, Cabazon Administrator. The letter noted that on February
15th, 1983, Dr. Nichols would be forwarding to Dr. Fair "a unique list
of agents and production techniques related to biological warfare."

The letter went on to say that the Storemont Laboratories business plan
Dr. Nichols mailed to him was to prepare him for what was to be sent in
the area of biological warfare. Added Dr. Nichols: "[These] products
could be utilized in small countries bordering ALBANIA or large
countries bordering the Soviet Union. You will be amazed at the scope
..." I could not help recalling the Village Voice article ("The Last
Days of Danny Casolaro," October 15, 1991) which had stated, tongue in
cheek, that "Casolaro had traced the Inslaw and related stories back to
a CIA `Old Boy' network that had begun working together in the 1950's
around the ALBANIA covert operations ..."

The hybridoma technology discussed in attached documents (in Michael
Riconosciuto's files), centered around the ability to reorganize and
synthesize genetic structures and to modify "lymphocytes" (immune cells).

Under the heading "Possible Military Applications Utilizing Hybridoma
Technology" was the notation that "genesplicing technology provides the
ability to produce pathogenic (harmful) agents, i.e. viruses."

"In fact," noted the writer, "biological warfare weaponry of this nature
(both production and supply) is limited only by the imagination of the
scientist."

Included in the above mentioned documents (attached to the Dr. Harry
Fair letter), was a proposal to develop monoclonal antibody kits to
detect the presence of such harmful biological agents in a field
(combat) environment. In other words, develop a laboratory created
vaccine for a laboratory created virus. The very same proposal had been
submitted to Peter Zokosky in December 1982 by John P. Nichols.

I wondered, was THIS the same technology that Robert Booth Nichols and
the Directors of MIL, including Peter Zokosky, Glen Shockley and Harold
Okimoto, were fronting to the Japanese? What kind of "weapon" was this?

Other weapons discussed in the same letter included the Cabazon Arms CA
9 SMG which "Peter Zokosky had the British interested in." The CA 9 SMG
could be produced for $75.00 per unit on the reservation and sold for
$100 to $125.00. "It meets all the needs of a small, poor democracy for
9MM parabellum," said Nichols.

"They can afford to purchase this one. We have fired over 50,000 rounds
with the test model using South Korean ammunition without jamming. We
could begin manufacturing within two weeks in a country like Guatemala,
Chile, etc., utilizing USA produced dies and Swedish extrusion
machinery." ... Peter Zokosky has fired both the Viper and the CA 9 SMG
and was impressed with both, but particularly with the CA 9 SMG. Kuwait
has been particularly interested in financing the producion of the CA 9
SMG ..."

Dr. Nichols concluded: "We would initially manufacture on the
reservation. We can purchase an existing small company with all the
licenses to manufacture and export. [Meridian Arms?] We are ready. We
are continuing to experiment with the combination sniper rifle (9MM)
equipped with micropressor vision enhancement (no tubes) (night vision).
Michael Riconosciuto and some friends of the reservation have been
working cooperatively on this project. Within another 90 to 120 days we
should have a working model to use on the CA 9 SMG and the sniper rifle."

The ongoing projects listed in research and development were a second
9MM calibre machine pistol, an assault rifle with laser sighting, a
longdistance sniper rifle, and a small portable rocket system which
could be attached to the assault rifle.

Three months later, on April 13, 1983, Robert Booth Nichols wrote to
Joseph Preloznik in Madison, Wisconsin, recapitulating exactly the same
weapons proposal as outlined above by Dr. John Nichols to Dr. Harry Fair.

I never found out who Joseph Preloznik was, but Dr. Harry Fair's name
popped up in a Wackenhut InterOffice Memorandum in Michael's files.
Dated May 25, 1981, from Robert Frye, a Vice President of Wackenhut in
Indio, to Robert Chasen, a Vice President of Wackenhut in Coral Gables
(and former Commissioner of U.S. Customs) the memorandum detailed a May
1213 visit to Dr. Harry Fair, Chief of Propulsion Technology, Applied
Sciences Division and others at Pickitinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey.

The arsenal was listed under the official heading of "U.S. Army Armament
Research & Development Command, Large Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory"
or ARRADCOM.

The fivepage memo not only outlined the depth of Wackenhut's commitment
and involvement at the Cabazon reservation, but it delineated Peter
Zokosky's importance to the projects underway there. One of those
projects included proposed construction of an "R & D" (Research and
Development) facility on the Cabazon Indian reservation for the
manufacture of 120 mm. combustible cartridge cases for sale to the U.S.
Army, with sales also to NATO, and especially to the Federal Republic of
Germany which at that time, was adopting the use of such cases in their
Leopard tanks.

Wrote Frye: "The obvious key to any such endeavor is [Peter] Zokosky. He
is reportedly one of only 67 personnel in the world who have had any
significant experience in the development and manufacture of the slurry
process involved in combustible cartridge cases. He is under present
noncompete agreement with Armtec, his former company, until August 1981.
Armtec is the present sole source supplier of 120 mm. combustible
cartridge cases to the U.S. Government. Zokosky is also serving as a
consultant to the British Government ..."

It is noteworthy that the Cabazon Indians had enlisted the aid of other
Indian tribes to join in their endeavor. Use of adjacent tribal lands as
a location for a large caliber weapons range test site was obtained from
a sister tribe, the Torres Martinez, involving some 30,000 acres of very
remote and desolate land near the Salton Sea.Potential use of a test
firing range for the "railgun" on the Santa Rosa Mountain, under the
control of the Santa Rosa Indians, had also been pledged to the Cabazons
and the U.S. Government.

A notation was included in the lengthy memorandum to "firm up the deal
between the Joint Venture and John Vanderwerker, President of Intersect
Corporation, [in] Irvine, California," who had the exclusive rights for
foreign marketing with the Litton Electron Tube Division in third world
countries.

Mention of John Vanderwerker in the Wackenhut memorandum was singularly
important in my investigative leap from overt arms operations to
"covert" intelligence operations.

According to Peter Zokosky, Vanderwerker was on the CIA payroll. In
Riconosciuto's files, I located a letter dated April 11, 1983, written
to Vanderwerker at Intersect Corporation from Glenn Shockley, a Board
Director of both F.I.D.C.O. (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation) and MIL (Meridian International Logistics), under
investigation for organized crime activities. Robert Booth Nichols was
also on the Board of both corporations.

The Octopus trail gets a little complicated here, but it is a
significant trail. Both Vanderwerker and Shockley were on the CIA
payroll. Documents to that effect will be noted in future pages. In the
aforementioned letter, Shockley was offering to Vanderwerker fortytwo
AH1S Cobra Helicopters at a unit price of seven million eight hundred
thousand U.S. dollars each.

The rest of the letter read as follows: (Note a few words had been
damaged while xeroxing) "The price offered is F.A.S. location at
Seller's option Europe. The price is net to Buyer possessing the proper
documentation and does not include any government considerations
(taxes), if any, all of which (indecipherable) to the Buyer's account.

"For verification of the existence of these products, you are requested
to refer to telex transmission occuring during the Spring of 1981
between Union Bank Suisse of Zurich, Switzerland, and Omega Industries
of Long Island, New York. The transmissions were addressed to Mr. Parvis
Lavi at Omega and were signed by Mr. N.A. (indecipherable) bank officer.
Your immediate response to this offer would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, Glenn. R. Shockley."

Attached to this letter was a handwritten memorandum, obviously taken
from the above referenced "telex" transmission. The memo delineated the
procedure for "airframe I.D. number acquisition." The buyer's bank
officer was instructed to telephone Seller's bank officer at 8:00 a.m.
Tuesday morning to relay the following Seller's bank data: "Bank Credit
Suisse, Geneva. Officer Mr. Eucomun. Telephone number 0114122365380.
Account Number 02746590 54821 Reference Code J.H."

If the connection was missed, then it was to be repeated Wednesday at
8:00 a.m. $10 million U.S. dollars was to be exchanged at the bank for
[a] Frame I.D. No. on Wednesday. If all was ready to proceed in Geneva
in 5 banking days, then the $10 million would be credited to the buyer's
account toward acquisition of all craft. If not, then $10 million was to
be forfeited.

The bank officer's followup monologue as noted on the memorandum read as
follows: "Acting on behalf of our client, I confirm that he has on
deposit the sum of $10 million U.S.D. Upon receipt of one airframe
identification number, the price of one craft will be set aside
irrevocably for your client. If our client does not present to you
within 5 banking days in Geneva, Switzerland, all necessary data,
documents and fund commitments, he has agreed to forfeit the price of
one craft to your client's account."

Also attached to these documents, was a sheet of handwritten notes
obviously related to the above transaction. The names of various banks
and their locations, along with the name of a bank officer, notations
about metric tons of gold, and a code name, "Messenger Boy," were
cryptically scrawled on the sheet.

I inquired of Michael Riconosciuto what the story was on the sale of the
Cobra helicopters? Riconosciuto briefly related the following story. The
fortytwo Cobra helicopters had been ordered by/for NATO, then after the
helicopters were built, the funding was not available. Nichols and Glenn
Shockley, working for the CIA, were contracted to "get rid of the
helicopters." John Vanderwerker was brought into the operation and the
helicopters were shipped to a warehouse in Europe, destined for North
Korea, then Iraq.

It is important to note here that North Korea was a conduit for arms to
Iraq from both the United States and the Soviet Union. In essence, the
United States was forced to "compete" with the Soviets in providing arms
to Iraq.

This is discussed in further chapters, but in summary, what it all
boiled down to was Oliver North supplied arms to Iran. The CIA supplied
arms to Iraq. And Wackenhut supplied arms to the Contras. All under the
authority and supervision of the U.S. Government.

I asked Michael Riconosciuto if Danny Casolaro had knowledge of the
"helicopter" deal? Michael responded, "I gave him the names of the
people that were involved and Danny went out and confirmed it."

I asked him to elaborate. "Well, Danny went and talked to Roy Furmarc
(phonetic sp.), William Casey's exright hand man, and Furmarc admitted
that he had contact with them [the helicopters]. And when the NATO stuff
disappeared, Bob [Nichols] disappeared with it. They weren't going to
pay Bob and his accomplices what they wanted, per the original deal, and
Bob got angry and just walked away with it all. But Bob got help from
some people in the White House, and they cut a certain group of guys in
the agency [CIA] out."

I asked, "Who was involved with the helicopter sale besides Nichols?"

"Well, Glen Shockley, Parvis Lavi (phonetic sp.), he's an Iranian, but
he worked with the Israeli (indecipherable word) Mission out of New York
..."

Riconosciuto paused, remembering, then continued with his story: " ... I
brought in Stan Singer, former deputy Israeli Defense Minister, to try
and take all those helicopters off everybody's hands. I would have made
a nice, tidy sum of money for myself ..."

"Who were the helicopters originally destined for?"

Mike: "NATO. During the Carter administration, there was a slip up on
some funding, they were really screwy in the way they handled certain
things ..."

"Was this some kind of an undercover operation?"

Mike: "It was on the up and up, regular deliveries from the United
States to NATO, but there was some kind of a misunderstanding between
the upper reaches of the Carter Administration and some of the other
NATO countries, so while they were having highlevel discussions, no
financial instruments exchanged hands.

"They finally came to terms on the financial end of it, but by that time
the stuff [helicopters] had been removed from the loading docks and
warehouses."

"So, they were gone?"

Mike: "They were gone."

"To North Korea?"

Mike: "Into storage in Europe. Later they got sold to North Korea, and
other places. It was hotter than hell ..."

"Where in Europe, do you know?"

Mike: "Well, I don't want to go into it on the phone [from jail], but I
know the whole story behind it. While it was in storage, everbody and
their brother was trying to buy the stuff and the price got jacked way
up. Casey's faction and Carlucci and those guys, they wanted it all,
wanted to screw Bob and his guys, and Bob made an alliance with somebody
else for the stuff ..." "Who?"

"Well, later with Mike McManus in the White House." (McManus was
assistant to President Reagan, and on the Board of Directors of
F.I.D.C.O. with Nichols).

"Why did they call upon Nichols to do this? What was his connection?"

Mike: "Bob had been doing errands for them for years ..."

"Who in particular?"

Mike: "Bob was working under Larry Kern basically. And Ellen's father
[Nichols' wife] was somewhere in there ..."

"Was he working for the NSC at that time?"

Mike: "Just the CIA. He was just doing contract type work. He was good
at what he did. Whatever objectives were given to him, Bob always
achieved them. You know, he has an impeccable track record ..."

In a subsequent interview with Robert Booth Nichols, I asked him about
the helicopter deal. Nichols confirmed that he had, indeed, participated
in the shipment of the helicopters to Europe through the CIA.

In news interviews, Wackenhut had denied association with Michael
Riconosciuto, yet in Michael's files, I found a letter written on
Meridian Arms letterhead, dated February 10, 1984, from Robert Booth
Nichols to Dr. Harry Fair referring to the Wackenhut visit to Pickitinny
Arsenal in May, 1981. Nichols reminded Dr. Fair of the demonstration at
Pickitinny in which "Michael Riconosciuto [had] discussed electrostatic
heat transfer augmentation in a wide range of applications ... and
demonstrated control of heat in electric discharge."

This letter was significant in that it confirmed that Riconosciuto HAD
in fact accompanied Peter Zokosky and Robert Frye, Vice President of
Wackenhut, to the Pickitinny Arsenal to demonstrate the above mentioned
technology.

******

The crux of the Wackenut involvement in arms development and shipments
through various sources, including Peter Zokosky, Robert Booth Nichols,
John Vanderwerker, and others, was tied irrevocably to the Reagan
administration's efforts to aid the Nicaraguan Contras.

A Special Operations Report emanating from the Riverside, California,
District Attorney's office which was sent to John Cohen, investigator
for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, provided indisputable proof
that Wackenhut sold arms to the Contras.

The Special Operations Intelligence Report entitled, "Nicaraguans and
Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla 9/10/81" described a meeting held between
two groups, the Nicaraguans and Wackenhut/Cabazon officials, at a
countyowned police firing range at Lake Cahuilla in Riverside County.

According to the surveillance report, the purpose of the meeting was "to
test a new night vision device and weapons. All [the] weapons tested
were semiautomatic. [A} new sniper rifle tested was a 50 caliber with a
308 bullet."

The report went on to note that "some automatic weapons were present,
but all had necessary permits through Meridian Arms. Meridian Arms [is]
owned by Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols (no relation to John
Phillip Nichols), and Don Oliver former Undersheriff of San Diego
County. Meeting and testing took about one hour, then all parties left."

Police officers had been placed around the surrounding area in a
surveillance/protection type mode. Each of the six Indio police officers
participating in the range surveillance were named individually in the
report.

The license plate numbers of each car that arrived on the scene was
included in the Report along with the names and identification of
everyone who attended the demonstration. Some of those names and I.D.'s
were:

"Michael Riconosciuto Researcher for Cabazon Indians."

"Peter Zokosky President of Armtech Coachella."

"John D. Vanderwerker and a couple of his friends Vanderwerker, CIA
Research Director for CIA [for] 8 years."

"Earl Brian Wisconsin businessman and CIA employee."

"Two Nicaraguan Generals Eden Pastora, Commander Zero and Jose Curdel,
Commander Alpha."

"Raul Arana Central Caribbean research procurement front for liberation
of Nicaragua (PreContra days)."

"John Phillip Nichols Cabazon Indian Manager."

"Wayne Reeder Builder/Developer""Jimmy Hughes Security Chief Cabazon
Indians"

"Art Welmas Tribal Chairman of Cabazon Indians."

"Scott Wesley United States Army."

"Honduran Telephone Company Military connection network in Southern
Hemisphere." And others.

The surveillance report indicated that Wayne Reeder and Earl Brian
arrived together in a 1981 White Rolls Royce, License Plate Number OK
2XG2302. The two Nicaraguan Generals arrived in a 1981 Honda, License
Plate Number AZ AFM877.

A newspaper article in the Los Angeles Times, dated May 16, 1991,
entitled, "Noriega Papers Claim CIA Sent Him Millions," by Mike Clary,
reported that General Manual Noriega, Panama's former strongman leader,
was paid more than $11 million from a CIA slush fund. A 107page Noriega
defense document contended that Noriega once warned the CIA to put an
end to cocaine shipments to the United States that were being used to
raise funds for the Contras in Nicaragua.

Noriega, who was scheduled to go on trial for drug smuggling on July 22,
maintained that planes carrying arms to Nicaraguan rebels returned to
the United States loaded with illegal drugs. It was clearly a guns for
drugs policy, he said.

The article concluded that "Noriega served as a conduit for cash
payments from the CIA to onetime antiSandinista leader EDEN PASTORA."

So, in 1981, Eden Pastora attended the Wackenhut nightvision goggles
demonstration in Indio with numerous CIA employees in attendance, and
ten years later, the L.A. Times reported that Pastora was a recipient of
cash payments, via Noriega, from the CIA.

******

I believe it is safe to theorize at this point that the various
tentacles of the Octopus heretofore outlined were used to develop and
ship arms to various countries such as Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Lebanon,
Pakistan, and other third world countries in exchange for cocaine and
heroin. These countries certainly didn't have the funds to pay with
cash. And it is possible that The Company was in fact the mechanism used
to distribute the drugs after entry into the United States.

The reader may be wondering how I obtained a copy of the abovementioned
"Special Operations [surveillance] Report." I had requested a copy of it
from both the Riverside District Attorney's office and John Cohen,
investigator for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, but the report
was confidential and neither would send me a copy.

I then called Peter Zokosky and asked him to corroborate the report's
existence. He not only corroborated it, but he offered to send me a
copy. When I asked how HE had obtained a copy, he said, "I asked a
friend in Washington D.C. to go into the [House Judiciary] vault and
make a copy for me."

I received a copy shortly thereafter from Peter Zokosky. When I called
John Cohen and mentioned I'd obtained a copy, he said he was aware that
"someone" had gotten past the guards and into the House vault. He didn't
know what had been taken, but he validated the document in my possession.

CHAPTER 11

Michael Riconosciuto had some, if not all, of the answers to the gene
splicing technology that Zokosky and Wackenhut had attempted to sell to
the Army weapons division in 1983, and later fronted to the Japanese,
through Meridian International Logisitcs, in 1988.

I felt that time was of the essence in uncovering the nature of this
technology, so I pushed Riconosciuto to talk about it. "It looks like
Earl Brian, Sir Denis Kendall, Hercules Research, Wackenut, Zokosky and
Bob Nichols were all involved in the same biotechnological agenda ..."

Michael answered, "You got it."

I asked, "Are they connected, or are they all individually working on
their own projects?"

Michael: "Yes."

"How?"

Michael: "Check out Bio-Rad Laboratories. Their international
headquarters are on half of the property that used to be the Hercules
plant, in Hercules, California. Do you understand what I'm saying?
BioRad makes the most toxic biological and radioactive compounds known
to man. And they're now located in the town of Hercules. BioRad
Industrial Park. That building of theirs, the headquarters, doesn't look
like much, but it goes 20 stories down into the ground. It's a huge
underground complex.

"See, BioRad was the flagship company, and then they [Earl Brian]
started InfoTech, and then they got mired in lawsuits and then Hadron
was formed to be a cutout parent corporation, you know, just to be a
firewall from law suits ..."

I asked, "What do they do at BioRad?"

"Well, they make the most hazardous biological and nuclear chemicals in
the world, for medical research."

"Who do they sell it to?"

"Well, front line researchers all over the world. BioRad is the single
source for this stuff ... actually Aldrich Chemical sells it, there's
about 100 companies, but BioRad is head and shoulder above all of them
by a factor of ten on many things like Cytotoxins."

I remembered reading about Cytotoxins in the Wackenhut/Cabazon
biological warfare letters to Dr. Harry Fair.

Michael continued ... "You look at Cytotoxic TLymphocytes. You go ask
any medical professional what they're doing on the leading edge of
research there? What the full implications to humanity are, OK?"

I wanted clarification from Michael, so I answered, "It looks to me like
research on a cure for cancer."

Michael took the bait. "Go ask a professional. I'd rather have you hear
it from a collateral source other than from me."

"Well, give me some indication ..."

Michael responded hesitantly, "It would have been Hitler's wet dream.
It's selective to such a degree that it's awesome. With the appropriate
genetic material, you can wipe out whole segments of humanity. There's
no stopping it."

"I asked, "You mean you could selectively wipe out certain races of
people?"

"Sure."

"Jeez."

Mike continued ..."And, also, from the beneficial side, you can very
specifically wipe out disease cells, cancer cells. Look at the patents.
Look at Immunix (phonetic sp.) Corporation, look at the patent
portfolios on BioRad."

"Who's BioRad's main buyer?"

"Well, the National Institute of Health, you know, every hospital in the
world buys BioRad products."

I had read about Sir Denis Kendall, the famous M16 British intelligence
officer during World War II, in "Who's Who in America," 1989 issue.
Kendall had worked with Michael in some, as yet, undefined capacity.
Bobby Riconosciuto had noted to me that Kendall and Ted Gunderson had
counseled Oliver North prior to his testimony to Congress. Kendall was
also heavily involved in arms and biotechnology, according to Michael
Riconosciuto.

"Who's Who" described Denis William Kendall as a "medical electronic
equipment company executive," born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England on May
27, 1903. Kendall came to the United States in 1923, was naturalized in
1957. His background included being a consultant to the Pentagon on high
velocity small arms from 1940 to 1945. He was listed on Churchill's War
Cabinet Gun Board from 194145. He was later executive vice president of
Brunswick Ordnance Plant in New Jersey from 1952 to 1956. From 1961 to
1973, became president of Dynapower Medonics in Los Angeles, and chief
executive of Kendall Medical International, Inc. in Los Angeles in 1973.

In 1983, the same year that Wackenhut was offering biological warfare
agents to the Army, Sir Denis Kendall was the chairman of Steron
Products, Inc. His club membership listings indicated he was a 32 degree
Shriner in the Pacific Palisades (California) Masons and a member of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), amongst other things.

I asked Riconosciuto, "What was Sir Denis Kendall's connection ...?"

Michael broke in ..."He's involved in all of it. You might be able to
get a handle on Kendall through Tiny Roland, a subsidiary of which is
Penguin Books. And the other goodoleboy in the nail work is Octav
Botnar. Then there's Wolfgang Fosog (phonetic sp.), Renee Hanner, Count
Otto Linkee (phonetic sp.) ..."

"How did you meet these guys?"

"I was introduced through Joe Snell and Norman Davis. Snell was
considered the father of industrial design. He was an industrial design
artist who did the logos for Coca Cola, Chanel No. 5, Life Magazine.
Norm Davis owned (unintelligble) brewery until he sold to Carling. My
dad was his advertising and public relations man. My dad didn't know
Kendall personally, but Norm Davis did. I met Kendall through Davis."

"Do you know what Kendall is into currently?"

"Sure."

"What would that be?"

"There's a pharmaceutical company in Los Angeles. There's a medical
electronics company ... Ted Shannon in Los Angeles supervises all the
production for that stuff. It's very exotic, far out stuff. And he's
still in a controlling position in Brunswick [Ordnance] Corporation."

I asked Riconosciuto, "How close was BioRad to your father's plant,
Hercules?"

Mike answered, "It's on the same property!"

"Mike, when you were conducting research at Hercules, you were
incubating something in fish tanks there. What was it?"

Michael's response had a nervous edge to it. "Where ... where are you
getting this?"

Riconosciuto was unaware at that point that his hidden files were in my
possession. "I'm just thumbing through some old documents ..."

" ... Those documents aren't supposed to exist any more. They've all
been destroyed."

"By whom?"

"Well, it was a matter of routine, you know ... they COULDN'T exist ...""

"Uh, huh."

"That's what they're doing with all this stock manipulation, you know.
The biologicals are what got them in the door at such a high level in
Japan ..."

I sensed Riconosciuto's possible involvement in the project, his
reluctance to discuss it. But he believed I had "all" the records and he
stammered on. " ... That paperwork trail shouldn't exist. I mean it was
kept in a safe place, and then it was shredded. And the only people that
had any direct knowledge of it was [Peter] Zokosky and Earl Barber, John
Nichols, Bob Nichols, you know, those people ..."

Michael was attempting to disengage himself from any responsibility for
the research.

" ... If there are any records left, those are their records, not any of
ours [at Hercules], because I'm sure all of ours were destroyed."

I asked, "Why did you destroy them?"

"Well, do you understand the nature of this technology? You're talking
in vague, general terms."

I answered, "I have an idea ..."

Michael interjected, " ... Horrible things. You know, it makes what the
Nazi's did to the Jews look mild. The Romanian Project, do your homework
on that project, you know it's a horrible germ warfare project ..."

"Uh, huh."

" ... And the Soviets were involved in it, and we countered it with our
own methods."

I noted to Michael that Bill Turner, the man who had met Danny Casolaro
in the parking lot of the Sheraton Martinsburg Inn (with Hughes Aircraft
documents) on the day before his death, was currently in jail. Turner
had written a letter in which he talked about an Iraqi from the Iraqi
Embassy who was facilitating the transportation of biological warfare
items to Iraq.

Michael responded, "Listen, Saddam Hussein introduced chemical and
biological warfare agents to all his top military leaders. And he became
enamored with this technology. He's been on a binge of sorts. Even when
he was in the secret police of Iraq, he used chemical means on a wide
scale ..."

I asked, "But none of these various entities that I've just named were
dealing directly with Iraq, were they?"

"No, no. Not directly. All they needed was a VENDORS LIST."

Riconosciuto noted that the shipments were all ITAR (International
Trafficking of Armaments) regulated chemicals, electronics,
communications equipment, anything that was on the ITAR list.

******

In August, 1991, the Financial Post ran a story on Dr. Earl Brian. At
that time, Brian's main company, Infotechnology Inc. of New York was
bankrupt, and its subsidiary United Press International (UPI) was on the
verge of collapse.

According to the Financial Post, the Securities and Exchange Commission
and the FBI were investigating Brian, and a flurry of affidavits filed
in the Inslaw Inc. scandal accused him of selling bootleg copies of the
computer company's casetracking software (PROMIS) to the intelligence
services of Canada, Israel, and Iraq.

Brian was referred to as "Cash" in the intelligence community and
reportedly had a close relationship with the CIA. He was a highly
decorated combat surgeon in the Vietnam war in the late 1960's,
allegedly working in the controversial Phoenix Program. This, according
to a 1993 "Wired," premier issue, entitled "INSLAW, The Inslaw Octopus"
by Richard L. Fricker. Wrote Fricker, "After a stint in Vietnam, where
he [Brian] worked as a combat physician in the unit that supplied air
support for Operation Phoenix, Brian returned to California ..."

In 1970, Ronald Reagan appointed Brian director of the California
Department of Health Care Services. He was only 27 and destined to
remain a part of Reagan's inner sanctum. U.S. and Israeli intelligence
sources linked Brian's name to the sale of weapons to Iran in the
1980's. "He was serving U.S. intelligence people, " said Ari BenMenashe,
a former Israeli intelligence officer who claims he met Brian several
times, once in Tel Aviv. Brian allegedly had more to do with the
financial end of the transactions.

Other publications listed Brian's holdings in the rapidly developing
biotechnology field. The hightech empire of Dr. Brian was a grab bag of
fledgling companies involved in all the hot areas lasers, cancer
detection kits, bloodtesting products, genetic engineering, computer
programs, telecommunications and investment databases.

One of Brian's companies, Hadron, Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia, which,
incidentally, both Michael Riconosciuto and Robert Nichols maintained
Peter Viedenieks was involved in, was a laser manufacturer and computer
services company.

According to Bill Hamilton, president of Inslaw, Hadron had attempted to
buy Inslaw in 1983. Dominic Laiti, Hadron's chairman at the time, had
phoned Hamilton out of the blue and said Hadron intended to become a
dominant vendor of software to law enforcement agencies. Would Hamilton
like to sell? Hamilton demurred. "We have ways of making you sell,"
Laiti is said to have replied.

Laiti, in an interview in 1988 with the Senate Subcommittee on
Investigations, said he didn't remember calling Hamilton. Nevertheless,
Hamilton said he believes his rejection of Hadron on that day in 1983
triggered an attempt by the Department of Justice to put Inslaw out of
business, or at least bankrupt the small, Washingtonbased software maker.

At that time, Peter Viedenieks was the administrator of the contract
between Inslaw and the DOJ. Within a few months of Hadron's call, the
Department of Justice, citing contract violations, stopped making
payments on Inslaw's $10 million deal to install PROMIS software in its
20 largest U.S. attorney's offices nationwide. (PROMIS stands for
Prosecutor's Management Information System.)

Inslaw, starved of cash, was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in 1985. Hamilton sued the DOJ for theft of property in 1986.

In February 1988, Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge George Bason ordered
the DOJ to pay Inslaw $7 million in licensing and legal fees. The DOJ,
Bason ruled, had "stolen PROMIS from Inslaw through trickery, fraud and
deceit," then tried to put the company out of business.

The DOJ appealed Bason's ruling, but it was upheld. However in May, the
U.S Court of Appeals reversed the decision on a technicality. Hamilton
believed Dr. Brian and his old crony, former Attorney General Edwin
Meese, were behind the attempt to bankrupt and liquidate Inslaw. When
Inslaw refused to sell to Hadron, Hamilton believed the DOJ tried to
bankrupt and liquidate Inslaw to force the sale of its assets, perhaps
to Hadron, at firesale prices.

Several journalistic publications accused Dr. Brian of profiting from
the Justice Department's theft of the PROMIS software. According to a
number of sources, Brian traveled the world during the mideighties,
selling the data management program to intelligence and law enforcement
agencies the world over.

Brian's role, if any, in the October Surprise was less well publicized.
The primary source thus far for the allegations that Brian was involved,
is former Israeli intelligence officer Ari BenMenashe. Menashe alleged
that Earl Brian helped make one of the first contacts between
Republicans and the government of Iran in 1980. BenMenashe claimed Brian
accompanied Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane to Tehran in late February 1980.
The trip came shortly after the New Hampshire primary, when insiders
knew that there would be a ReaganBush ticket.

Earl Brian and McFarlane, then an aide to Senator John Tower (RTX),
allegedly contacted Iranians with whom Brian had conducted business
prior to the fall of the Shah. According to BenMenashe, one of these was
Mehdi Bazargan, onetime Prime Minister, and in February 1980 still
closely connected to the Iranian leadership.

An old 1975 Sacramento Bee newspaper article, dated January 12, 1975,
reported that Earl Brian, called the Genius Doctor by his friends, was
out to get a little "of that Middle Eastern oil money." The article went
on to say that Brian was "helping to write a proposal on health care for
Iran."

Brian, then at the University of Southern California, was working with
Samuel Tibbetts of the California Lutheran Hospital Association, which
in turn was working with a Chicago group. The Chicago group was not
named and details of the proposal were not known. It is significant that
Brian left his post one year before this proposal was written, in 1974,
as Governor Ronald Reagan's Health and Welfare secretary. It was not
known whether the contract with the Iranian government was ever consumated.

Another interesting facet of Brian's background included his
relationship with Senator Terry Sanford (DN.C.). Prior to his election,
Sanford had been the attorney representing Earl Brian in his 1985
takeover bid for United Press International (UPI). Sanford was also
instrumental in winning Brian an appointment to the board of Duke
University Medical School. At that time, Sanford was the president of
Duke University.

Dr. Brian ultimately directed his energies towards biological
technology. Another of his companies, Biotech Capital Corporation of New
York, became 50% owner of American Cytogenetics, which was planning in
1982 to create a subsidiary to engage in genetic research. One notable
investor in Biotech, when it went public in 1981, was Edwin Meese.
Today, American Cytogenetics in North Hollywood, California, conducts
Pap tests for cervical cancer. It also tests tissue samples for cancer
and related diseases. Sales in 1985 were $3.4 million.

Hadron, of which Dr. Brian was a director, provided engineering and
computer consulting services, along with telecommunications products.
Sales were $25.7 million in 1985. Clinical Sciences, Inc. sells
biochemical products used for diagnostic tests and antibody analysis.
Dr. Brian was also a director of this company. Sales in 1986 were about
$4 million.

******


Michael Riconosciuto had stated that he believed Earl Brian held a
financial interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories in Hercules, California. I
was unable to locate Brian's name in Board directories, but obtained
some documents on an OEM agreement between California Integrated
Diagnostics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the InFerGene Company,
("Manufacturer") a Delaware corporation, and BioRad Laboratories, Inc.
("Customer") a Delaware corporation, which listed the terms under which
the manufactuer would provide the customer with various products.

Various exhibits outlined the product price list, delivery schedules,
engineering specifications, etc. What made this agreement significant
was a newspaper article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on May
31, 1991, entitled, "S.F. Firm Faces Toxics Charges." A criminal
complaint had been filed against a law firm, an investment banking house
and several lawyers and financiers involved with InFerGene Company for
abandoning its toxic wastes after filing for bankruptcy.

According to an affidavit filed by the Solano County District Attorney's
office at the Fairfield Municipal Court, after InFerGene was evicted
from the premises, a county inspector found several hundred containers
including petri dishes and vials marked "chlamydia, herpes, and HSV2."
Many others contained "bacteria of unknown etiology."

A Vacaville newspaper reported that on December 7, an environmental
health inspector found 36 55gallon drums of radioactive Butanol
containing "beef mucosa." They were improperly stored and lacked labels
showing content, hazard warning or the owner's business address. A
followup report made by the environmental health office noted that a
Halloween 1990 investigation into a smell was traced to a door with a
radiation warning on it. The department had recommended that the lab
doors be sealed and the pipe opening sealed.

In all, the county Environmental Health Department had responded four
times to complaints about smells from the InFerGene labs in the Benicia
Industrial Park well before it shut down in February. One complaint
listed persistent smells causing nausea, a problem also cited by others
still working in the area.

Founded in 1983, InFerGene specialized in DNA technology, making
diagnostic test kits for AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases.

My research led me to another article on Bay Area bio-labs. In June,
1991, the San Francisco Examiner published a story entitled, "Germ War
Lab Alarms Berkeley" which noted the community of West Berkeley "was
home to the Defense Department's one and only supplier of antiplague
vaccine." On December 28, 1990, four maintenance men made an
unauthorized entrance into a room at Cutter Biological which housed
Yersinia pestis, commonly known as "The Black Plague," which once killed
a quarter of the population of Europe 650 years ago.

There was no harm to the workers and no release of the live bacteria,
but if an accident had occurred, all of Berkeley would have been wiped out.

******


It is impossible NOT to compare the two incidents in the San Francisco
bay area with the Wackenhut proposal to develop biological warfare
viruses on the Cabazon Indian reservation in Indio, California. In order
to develop vaccines, which sounds innocuous enough, the virus must first
be created. In the case of biological warfare viruses, the disease would
have to be highly sophisticated indeed, if it were to be used in
military applications. Certainly nothing that would be easily
recognizable, if it escaped the laboratory, to a layman medical doctor
in Indio, California, or for that matter at any Indian reservation in
the United States.

Any type of biological research on an Indian reservation would not be
subject to scrutiny by the federal government because Indian
reservations are sovereign nations. Nevertheless, if a virus DID escape
a secret government installation at an Indian reservation, the
reservation would provide an ideally "isolated environment" for further
study (by a government entity) of affected subjects or victims under
quarantine. Not a very pretty picture. Yet this was the exact nature of
the proposal by Wackenhut to Dr. Harry Fair of the Army weapons division.

For the first time, I began to notice various "mysterious" illnesses
cropping up in the media. I'm sure there have been unidentified diseases
throughout history, but for the first time, I was conscious of what was
written about them.

The first to capture my attention was the sudden deaths of twelve Navajo
Indians in New Mexico and Arizona. A June 3, 1993, Department of Health
Services interoffice memorandum distributed to public health laboratory
directors throughout California labeled the virus a "Mystery Illness in
New Mexico and Arizona." The memo asked, "Is it in California too?"

On June 2, 1993, New Mexico officials had reported a total of 19 cases,
summarized as follows: Of the 19 cases, 12 were Native American Indians.
Twelve died. All of the victims were residents within a 100 mile area in
northwest New Mexico and Northeast Arizona. The symptoms included
fulminant respiratory distress which killed within hours. There was "NO
IDENTIFIABLE CAUSE." This was printed in capital letters.

Under "Etiology" (origin), the memorandum noted, "[The illness] remains
a mystery despite extensive testing at University of New Mexico
Hospital, New Mexico Department of Health, and CDC. If etiology were
plague, anthrax, tularemia, some cases should have been identified by
cultures/stains ..."

Oddly, nationwide media printed stories stating that the illnesses were
caused by rat droppings, yet the actual documents from the Department of
Health Services in Berkeley, California, confidentially given to me by a
laboratory director in June 1993, mentioned nothing about rat droppings.

I later read about a mystery illness in TIME magazine, November 22, 1993
issue entitled, "The Gulf Gas Mystery," which reported that American
troops in the Persian Gulf, upon returning home, were complaining of
chronic diarrhea, aches in all the joints, and difficulty breathing.
Several veterans and their families testified before a congressional
committee that the Defense Department had ignored their complaints, and
the Veterans Affairs Department downplayed the affair. The veterans
themselves were convinced they had been exposed to "diseasecausing
chemical agents" while in the Persian Gulf. Eightthousand veterans
registered their symptoms with the U.S. government, thus labeling the
disease "Gulf War Syndrome" (GWS).

Ultimately, the disease was determined by Major General Ronald Blanck,
commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, to be "multiple
chemical sensitivity," syndrome. A board of inquiry was created headed
by Joshua Lederberg of Rockefeller University, a Nobelprizewinning
expert on rare and emerging diseases. But, noted TIME, "It is up to the
Pentagon to bridge the credibility gap that seems to have sprouted over
the strange new syndrome." It was not until 1996 that the Pentagon
admitted GWS may have been caused by exposure to bombed
chemical/biological plants in Iraq.

By far the most provocative incident occurred in February, 1994. The
SpokesmanReview, out of Spokane, Washington, printed a story on August
9, 1994, entitled, "Victim of Mysterious Fumes Seeks Investigative
Reports." In Riverside, California, the county in which the Cabazon
Indian/Wackenhut facility is located, Dr. Julie Gorchynski, an emergency
room doctor, was overcome by mysterious fumes while examining a woman
who later died.

"This is a bona fide, genuine medical mystery, and we intend to solve
it," said Russell S. Kussman, attorney for Dr. Gorchynski. Gorchynski
suffered from osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis of bone, posttraumatic
stress disorder, shortness of breath, restrictive lung disease and other
ailments, as a result of exposure to the dying cancer patient on
February 19th. Coincidentally, her symptoms matched those of GWS.

Later, in the same newspaper, dated September 3, 1994, another article
emerged regarding the Riverside mishap. The bizarre episode had sent six
emergency room workers to hospitals after being exposed to fumes
emitting from patient Gloria Ramirez's blood samples drawn on February
19, 1994.

According to the state's 15page report, 11 people reported smelling an
unusual odor after blood was drawn from Ramirez. After five collapsed
and the emergency room was evacuated, 23 people complained of at least
one symptom, most commonly headache, dizziness, and nausea. More serious
complaints included muscle spasms and breathing disruptions. "Despite
extensive epidemiologic, toxicologic and environmental investigations,
the cause of the outbreak of symptoms among emergency room staff members
... remains unknown," the report concluded.

Dr. Gorchynski's lawyer stated that it could only be a toxin. "It's
physically impossible for Julie to have had the symptoms, and not just
the symptoms, the laboratory findings and test results that showed ...
clearly Dr. Gorchynski was poisoned that day."

But epidemiology experts could find no culprit to explain the bizarre
episode. The Department of Health Services ultimately described the
incident as an outbreak of "mass sociogenic illness," perhaps triggered
by an odor.

I could not help wondering if the deceased Gloria Ramirez was an Indian,
or had ever been on the Cabazon reservation in Indio? I later learned
she had been receiving experimental cancer treatments at a clinic in
Mexico.

J.M., Ted Gunderson's live-in partner, on more than one occasion had
noted that she held in her possession a photograph of Gunderson and Sir
Denis Kendall, the British M-I6 officer who owned bio-labs in Los
Angeles, standing in front of a Mexican cancer clinic. According to
J.M., the photo had been used in an advertisement seeking nurses to work
at the clinic. Without a copy of the photo, I was unable to determine if
it "might" be the same clinic which Gloria Ramirez attended prior to her
death.

******

In February 1993, I was contacted by a U.S Customs agent who was
conducting an inquiry into the whole Inslaw, Peter Viedenieks, Wackenhut
affair. The man had flown in to California from back east to interview
Mike and Bobby Riconosciuto and other witnesses associated with the
Inslaw case. Someone, whom he would not identify, advised him to contact
me.

On February 5th, he and his partner drove to my home in Mariposa and
spent the day. I provided him with an affidavit relative to
Riconosciuto's attempted trade into the Witness Protection Program. The
affidavit contained mostly drug-related information on The Company and
Robert Booth Nichols' connection to Michael Abbell (DOJ) and the Cali
Cartel. The agent also obtained a tape-recorded statement, under oath,
relative to my findings and left with an armload of documents. (Two
years later, in 1995, Abbell was indicted for money laundering for the
Cali Cartel and drug related charges).

He called frequently after that (1993), once from a phone booth in the
dead of night after visiting Langley, Virginia. We subsequently struck
up an investigative collaboration of sorts. On September 3, 1993, I
received a call from him in Palm City, Florida. He had interviewed
Robert Chasen, former Executive Vice President, Systems and Services
Group, of Wackenhut Corporation in Coral Gables. Chasen, 70, was still
senior consultant at the Florida facility, but was allegedly dying of
cancer and weighed less than 100 pounds at the time of the interview.

Because he (Chasen) had once been Commissioner of Customs in Washington
D.C., he felt a rapport with this young agent and spoke candidly about
his experience with Wackenhut in Indio.

Of significance, was Chasen's confirmation of the horrendous properties
of the "virus" which he encountered at the Indio facility. He said,
"Wackenhut was running amuck." Robert Nichols and Peter Zokosky had
attempted to sell the biological warfare technology (developed in cow
uterises) through Wackenhut, using Robert Frye, Vice President of the
Indio facility, as the front man.

According to Chasen, Frye went behind his [Chasen's] back in
facilitating the project; when Chasen learned of the project, he shut it
down. (Chasen supervised the Indio facility from Coral Gables, Florida.)
Because of the projects underway at the Cabazon reservation, Chasen
chose not to step foot on the property, but instead met with the Indio
executives in Palm Springs.

In other respects, Chasen was not so candid. Though the Customs agent
said Chasen "said a lot of derogatory things about Wackenhut in Indio,"
he did not admit to knowing Peter Viedenieks. The agent's investigation
had led him to believe that the PROMIS software WAS stolen, and
Viedenieks WAS involved in the theft, but he did not have enough
evidence to take his case to court.

Chasen was evasive on the subject of PROMIS, though his background would
indicate that he must have been knowledgeable about it. He had been a
Special Agent in the Washington D.C. Federal Bureau of Investigation
from 1943 to 1952. From 1952 to 1968, he was Vice President and
President, respectively, of ITT Communications Systems in Chicago,
Illinois and Paramus, New Jersey. He became Commissioner of U.S. Customs
in Washington D.C. from 1969 to 1977 the same time span that Peter
Viedenieks was in and out of Customs.

I called Dick Russell (author of "The Man Who Knew Too Much") to act as
a "cutout" for me and interview Chasen. At that point, I didn't want to
expose myself to Wackenhut, so Russell agreed. When Russell called back,
he said Chasen didn't trust Robert Booth Nichols. Wackenhut had "run a
check" on Nichols and couldn't learn anything about his background. This
had bothered Chasen, but, he said, Robert Frye and Dick Wilson were
"dazzled" with Nichols.

Chasen believed Nichols worked for the CIA, said he was a "slippery
guy," and couldn't understand why Frye and Wilson were dazzled by
Nichols for such a long time. Reportedly, George Wackenhut liked Frye
and Dick Wilson, but did not trust Riconosciuto or Nichols. Michael
Riconosciuto had been introduced to Chasen as a "specialist engineer in
weapons."

Chasen acknowledged the biological technology introduced by Nichols and
Zokosky, saying it had been presented to him as something that could
"create anything from chicken soup to long range missiles." When he
learned of the properties of the technology, he halted it immediately.
When pressed for further details, he added reluctantly, "It was the kind
of thing your mind erases."

Regarding the Cabazons, Chasen said he felt an affinity with Arthur
Welmas, Chairman of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, because his
[Chasen's] wife is part Cherokee. He noted that he sympathized with
their situation and wanted to protect them.

Perhaps he protected them more than he realized when he shut down the
Wackenhut proposal to the Army to develop biological viruses (and
vaccines) on the Cabazon reservation.

******

One year later, on September 5, 1994, TIME magazine published an article
on page 63 entitled, "A Deadly Virus Escapes," in which a Yale
University researcher was exposed to the deadly Brazilian "Sabia" virus
when a container spinning on a highspeed centrifuge cracked, causing the
potentially lethal tissue to spatter. Fortunately, the researcher was
wearing a lab gown, latex gloves and a mask, as required by federal
guidelines.

Every surface of the area was scrubbed with bleach, all instruments were
sterilized, then wiped down again with alcohol. Having decided the
danger was over, he didn't bother to report the accident, and a few days
later he left town to visit an old friend in Boston. Soon after the
researcher returned to Yale, he bagan running a fever that reached 103 F.

An experimental antiviral drug eventually stopped the illness, but the
man had exposed five people, including two children, before being
confined to a hospital isolation ward, and another 75 or so healthcare
workers after that.

The Sabia virus is particularly frightening because it kills in such a
grisly way. Characteristic symptoms are high fever, uncontrolled
bleeding in virtually every organ and finally shock. The liver turns
yellow and decomposes. Blood can leak from literally every bodily
orifice, including the eyes and the pores of the skin. Sabia was never
seen before 1990, when a female agriculatural engineer checked into a
hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a high fever. Within days she was dead.

Fortunately, in the Yale University incident, none of the potential
victims died or showed any evidence of symptoms. A book and movie on the
Sabia virus's counterpart, the lethal Ebola virus from Central Africa,
which is as deadly and as gruesome as AIDS, yet has an incubation period
of only one week, was underway at the time and was later released in 1994.

The book, "The Hot Zone," described a victim who contracted Ebola. TIME
wrote, "His eyes turn red and his head begins to ache. Red spots appear
on his skin and, spreading quickly, become a rash of tiny blisters, and
then the flesh rips. Blood begins to flow from every one of the body's
orifices. The victim coughs up black vomit, sloughing off parts of his
tongue, throat and windpipe. His organs fill with blood and fail. He
suffers seizures, splattering virussaturated blood that can infect
anyone nearby. Within a few days the victim dies, and as the virus
destroys his remaining cells, much of his tissue actually liquifies ..."

The Ebola virus, found in the rainforest regions of Central Africa, once
caused an outbreak in 1976 through villages near the Ebola River in
Zaire, killing as many as 90% of those infected. Such dangerous viruses
may seem a distant menace, wrote TIME, but "The Hot Zone" details a 1989
Ebola crisis that occurred in the Reston, Virginia Primate Quarantine
Unit, run by a company that imports and sells monkeys for use in
research laboratories.

When an unusual number of monkeys originating from the Philippines died,
tissue samples were sent to a U.S. Army research center. There a
technician identified the strands as either Ebola Zaire or something
very close. Even more alarming, the virus found in Reston, Virginia,
unlike the African one, could be transmitted through the air. Frantic
phone calls were made to Virginia health authorites and to the Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta. An Army team, wearing space suits, went
into the Reston building and killed 450 surviving monkeys, then placed
them in plastic bags for safe disposal. Before the building was boarded
up, the Army sterilized every square inch of the interior. No humans
were infected with the virus, but Richard Preston, the author of "The
Hot Zone," wrote, "A tiny change in its genetic code, and it might
[have] zoomed through the human race."

A rival 1995 film on the same subject entitled, "Outbreak," directed by
Wolfgang Peterson, also focused on the Ebola virus.

CHAPTER 12

It was time to interview Robert Booth Nichols. I was communicating
regularly with Ted Gunderson and one day, on an impulse, I asked him for
Nichols's telephone number. Gunderson hesitated, then gave me the
telephone number of a "relative" of Nichols' in Los Angeles, stating
that he really couldn't give out Robert's home number without first
consulting him.

I called the relative and left a message for Nichols to return my call.
The call came back on December 31, 1991. There was an intriguing
international flavor to Nichols' voice. The tone was hostile but polite,
and inquiring. Essentially, Nichols wanted to know why I was
communicating with Michael Riconosciuto?

I explained to him that I was writing a book on government sanctioned
drug trafficking and Michael had information to offer on local
corruption. During the conversation, which lasted about 45 minutes,
Nichols admitted that he worked for FIDCO and used the code word "Wa
Latteral" for the operation in Lebanon.

The following are some excerpts:

CM: "Do you know anything about Michael Riconosciuto in Lebanon?"

Nichols: "Never."

CM: "He [Michael] talked about an interesting operation in Lebanon."

Nichols: "What was it called, the operation? I've heard of quite a few
projects in Lebanon. If I've heard of it, I'll tell you."

CM: "Well, what was the code name of the one that you heard about?"

Nichols: "Wa Latteral."

CM: "Wa Latteral? And what type of operation was that?"

Nichols: "Well, it was trading in two directions. Now what's yours?"

CM: "Same thing."

Nichols: "Wa Latteral? Yours is the same name?"

CM: "No. I've never heard that name before."

Nichols: "Well, what was the code word of the one Michael said he was
involved in?"

CM: "I would have to go over all of my notes, to tell you the truth. It
didn't seem important at the time, so I don't have it off the top of my
head ..."

Nichols: "What the project was, I can tell you very clearly, there's
nothing secret about it now, was to develop an agenda whereby all sides,
the Muslim and the Christian sides, would come to an agreement on a
redevelopment project to where their respective areas would have the
same capitalization, and the same benefit to stop the fighting."

CM: "Did this include rebuilding of the infrastructure of Beirut?"

Nichols: "Very definitely."

CM: "Did this have anything to do with FIDCO?"

Nichols: "Uh, FIDCO was involved in it, right. That was an effort by
that company, as I understood it ... the project was to make sure that
both sides developed building programs that were initiated concurrently
and the development was fair and equitable to all sides, to stop the
fighting." (I wondered why an "arms dealer" wanted to stop the fighting
in Lebanon?)

CM: "Was there ever any subsidiary of that corporation called Euramae?"

Nichols: "I never heard that name before."

CM: "Ted Gunderson gave me a huge manual on The Octopus ..."

Nichols: "In my opinion, to research anything of that magnitude you are
looking at -- it would require a lot of money and a lot of travel and a
lot of patience. I don't think Ted Gunderson knows anything, personally.
He's domestic. It's not his area."

CM: "Did you operate a telex company with him during the Olympic Games?"

Nichols: "Absolutely not. A telex company. Absolutely not. Oh, jeez. Did
you ask Ted Gunderson that?"

CM: "Well, no, I didn't ..."

Nichols: "Well, you can't be shy. You have to ask questions, or else how
do you know?"

CM: "What did Danny Casolaro spend so much time on the phone with you for?"

Nichols: "Danny used to ask me different things. But Danny was more into
the names in Paris and Switzerland and -- Danny was investigating the
whole international situation. You have to spend a lot of money and do a
lot of traveling. Danny had said to me that he had a whole agenda worked
out, you know, where he was going to go and who he was going to see. And
I mean it was literally a global trip ..."

Nichols said he believed Danny was murdered and did not commit suicide.
He believed Danny's death had to do with the international scene,
someone Danny had contacted overseas.

I asked him, "Do you suppose his death had anything to do with the
Justice Department?"

Nichols answered, "I would say, `Time will tell. Time will tell.'"

I pressed Nichols about his civil suit against FBI agent Thomas Gates:

Nichols: "The activities that I've been involved with, I can tell you
very clearly, an effort was made for many years to benefit a lot of
people that were involved in the corporation. That effort was destroyed
by certain moves [by agent Gates]. And it caused a great deal of
hardship to myself and quite a few other people who are very angry about
it. And we'll deal with that matter in court."

CM: "What was Gates investigating?"

Nichols said he wrote two stories for some Italian movie producers.
"They were `sensitive' stories, about overseas. What I did, was I took
two little, very brief parts of two stories to copyright in the United
States. And so they're very diluted, but enough for the copyrights.

"That's when I met the guy from Universal [studios], because he wanted
the stories. And the French wanted the stories ... in 1987, but the
stories haven't changed, they're still pertinent."

Gates had overheard the "pertinent" parts on the wiretap and initiated
an investigation. I made a mental note to try to convince Nichols at a
later date to provide me with the manuscripts. But I didn't want to push
him during our first conversation.

******

I later asked a friend in Washingto D.C. to research Nichols' copyrights
at the Library of Congress. There were indeed two stories copyrighted by
Robert Booth Nichols under the pseudonym of R.N. LeDevoilier. Perhaps he
was unaware that a cross-reference would reveal his true identity.

The 20-page manuscript entitled "Acceptable Casualty," essentially
outlined gays and I.V. drug users as targets of bio-war by a cabal of
military intelligence officers. In the story, a secret file,
"C-911-Tuhnekaw," revealed the origin of the first AIDS infection. Field
research dated November 12, 1977 originated from a Bay Area laboratory
destroyed by fire in December 1975. Assorted bio-labs were mentioned,
one in Palo Alto, California. The hero of the story obtained the secret
cure from "the Chosen Ones" and escaped to Singapore with his family.

Interestingly, the names of those involved included "Yutaka Okimoto" and
"Lawrence Zokosky," the last names of which match those listed on
Nichols' "real life" corporation, Meridian International Logistics (MIL).

Nichols also copyrighted a 90-page James Bond type treatment entitled,
"Decision of Conscience," which described state-of-the-art
electromagnetic technology (launchers) used to demolish a two-story
concrete building. I later found the words, "Decision of Conscience,"
written in Danny Casolaro's handwritten notes also.

Nichols' secret desire to write about his exploits in the CIA had led
him to contact Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of
America, through his (then) corporate partner Eugene Giaquinto. The
three met at the Beverly Hills Hotel where Nichols attempted to sell
Valenti manuscripts disclosing top secret CIA technology.

Nichols later said Valenti refused the manuscripts because they
contained "classified national security information." (Valenti once
served as assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson).

******

During several phone conversations with reporter Jonathan Littman, I
learned that he had communicated with Danny Casolaro on a regular basis
prior to Danny's death. At the time, I wondered why Littman hadn't
written a story on Danny, since he was one of the few reporters to have
spoken extensively with him?

I would have that answer soon enough. My confidence in Littman nearly
cost me my life. An incident which I am about to relate forced me to
document the following events, which I titled, "Vortex," and
subsequently turned over to John Cohen, investigator for the House
Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. Cohen had strenuously advised me to send
it to him as he feared for my life. "Vortex" was also the "affidavit" I
supplied to the Customs Agent who interviewed me in February 1993.

During the course of our conversations, Littman had noted to me that he
had a close relationship with Robert Booth Nichols, Peter Zokosky and
Ben Kalka of The Company. Littman also verified to me that he was in
fact, Kalka's cousin, but he (Littman) was a secretive, noncommunicative
individual and I didn't press him for explanations. Kalka was currently
serving time in prison for possession of 900 pounds of methamphetamine.

Littman did, however, confide that Kalka hated Michael Riconosciuto
because Riconosciuto was responsible for Kalka's imprisonment. I
described how former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Leighton appeared to
have perjured himself at Michael's trial, and asked Littman's opinion of
that. Littman stated simply that it didn't matter if Leighton had
perjured himself, nothing should be done to get Michael out of jail.
There should be no mistrial or acquittal or anything of that nature
because Michael was probably guilty of the crime for which he was
incarcerated. I didn't pursue the matter further at that point.

Meanwhile, Littman offered to arrange an interview with Robert Booth
Nichols and Peter Zokosky for me. In exchange for this, he wanted me to
arrange an interview with Tony Patterson and Raymond Lavas (Ted
Gunderson's former forensics expert) through Bobby Riconosciuto. Tony
Patterson had allegedly served with Robert Booth Nichols in Vietnam, and
Raymond Lavas had access to Michael Riconosciuto's hidden computer tapes.

Both men were watching over Bobby Riconosciuto while Michael was in
jail. I said I would do the best I could to arrange the interviews.
Bobby was the only person communicating with these individuals and only
she knew how to contact them. I never mentioned to Littman that I had
been communicating with Robert Nichols on the phone. I can't say what my
reasoning was at the time. Intuition, I suppose.

Bobby Riconosciuto reluctantly agreed to set up the interviews with
Patterson and Lavas, though she pointed out that neither man trusted
journalists. I naively assured her that Littman would be okay. It is
noteworthy that Littman had been communicating with Bobby and Michael
for several months prior to my introduction to them, yet, they didn't
completely trust him at that stage of their relationship. When they
learned of his relationship with Ben Kalka, they didn't trust him at all.

Elizabeth Riconosciuto's fifth birthday party was scheduled to be
celebrated at the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn on February 14, 1992 at
11 a.m.. Reportedly, Patrick Moriarty and Marshall Riconosciuto had a
financial interest in the hotel and they were paying the bills.

Littman and I decided that would be a good weekend to confidentially
interview Robert Booth Nichols and Peter Zokosky in Los Angeles, and it
would give Littman the opportunity to meet Bobby Riconosciuto
facetoface. We would also squeeze the Patterson/Lavas interviews in
during that time.

Michael Riconosciuto was cooperative about allowing his wife to be
interviewed by Littman because it would give the journalist a closeup
view of Michael's "family" in action. Tom Olmstead, Michael's lawyer,
was scheduled to attend the birthday party as was Patrick Moriarty and
Marshall Riconosciuto. After the luncheon celebration, the children and
those adults who wanted to tag along would go to Disneyland.

Michael Riconosciuto had dual motives for wanting Littman in attendance.
Olmstead had been instructed to pressure Littman to reveal "who" had
sent the incriminating 1983 "drug" transcript to the prosecuting
attorney in Michael's trial - only Littman knew if it had been Ben Kalka
or Littman himself. (Littman had obtained it originally from Peter
Zokosky).

On Tuesday evening, February 11th, Littman confirmed a Thursday
appointment with Robert Booth Nichols. However, he stressed that Nichols
had insisted that the meeting be kept absolutely confidential. No one in
media or Michael Riconosciuto's circle was to know of the interview.

I agreed, but explained that I had already mentioned briefly to Michael
that I "planned" to interview Nichols at some future date. Michael had
said he understood the importance of interviewing Nichols and he would
cooperate. I even asked Michael to notify Tony Patterson and Raymond
Lavas, via Bobby, that Littman and I would be interviewing them during
our trip to Los Angeles.

Littman said that was alright, but I was to tell no one else associated
with Michael. I noted to Jonathan that he might want to inform Nichols
that I had already mentioned to Michael that I "intended" to interview
Nichols at some time in the future. Littman said leave it at that. No
problem.

Littman spent the night at my home in Mariposa on Wednesday night. The
following morning, on February 13th at 7 a.m., we departed for Los
Angeles. Strangely, at the last moment, Littman decided to follow us to
Los Angeles in his own car. I rode intermittently with Littman, then
with my husband, during the fivehour drive. At hour intervals, Littman
pulled off the freeway to report to Nichols - and to a police officer in
San Francisco whom he did not identify, but described as his "security."

At noon, we arrived at Nichols' Sherman Oaks apartment building. Littman
punched in #68 and spoke briefly to Nichols, who buzzed the door open.
At Nichols' apartment, #103, Littman pointed out the electronic security
system on the front door, then at the last moment, instructed my husband
to wait in the van. We owned a 1991 Chevrolet conversion, so he napped
and watched television the rest of the afternoon. Towards the end of the
fivehour meeting, Nichols invited him up for coffee and cake.

Peter Zokosky and his wife (former Mayor of Indio), Robert Booth Nichols
and his wife, Ellen, were present inside the apartment. Littman had
previously warned me that the apartment was electronically wired to
detect any listening devices I might be wearing on my body. I said I had
none.

Littman had also warned me that I would be seated on a couch next to a
stuffed lion which had a tape recording device (bug) under its tail.
Sure enough, when I entered the apartment, I was seated on a white couch
near the lion. A giant anaconda skin hung stretched across the wall.
European and African relics decorated the apartment. It was instantly
obvious that Nichols and his wife didn't live in the apartment, it was a
meeting place.

Nichols smoked cigarettes and as a result, kept the upstairs windows in
the apartment open, allowing a cool February breeze to flow through the
apartment. Nerves, and the cool air induced me to keep my light coat on
during most of the interview. At first, Peter Zokosky, a friendly,
congenial man, did most of the talking. As the conversation warmed up,
Nichols entered intermittently, then took over completely.

A formal gourmet luncheon was served of curried soup, salmon and turkey
finger sandwiches, wine and homemade strawberry cake. Ellen Nichols was
the perfect hostess, but rarely said a word.

At one point during lunch, Nichols instructed Ellen to get the camera
and snap a front and side picture of me, which she carried out silently.
There was no explanation given for the picture. After lunch, Nichols
often stood or sat at the open window while he talked and smoked. It was
cold and rainy, and I wondered why he kept glancing down at my van.
Littman frequently left the room to attend to something in the back of
the apartment. I was unable to determine what he was doing, but noticed
that he took no notes and never once joined in the conversation.

Nichols was aptly described in magazine articles as "Clark Gable without
the ears." But his mannerisms were intense, simultaneously controlled
and dramatic. I intuitively sensed the violence in him, but only through
his eyes. He studied me intently as I spoke, making every effort to
throw me off balance by continuously correcting me. He also would not
speak while I wrote on my notepad, stopping mid-sentence each time I put
pen to paper.

It worked in some cases, but I finally rallied. I was in HIS apartment,
with women present, though they were busy in the kitchen, and my husband
was parked outside the apartment. I was certainly in no physical danger,
so I gathered myself and bluntly asked the questions I had driven 350
miles to ask.

Referring to the U.S. currency and gold transfers into Swiss bank
accounts, Nichols admitted that he was contracted by the government to
"handle" the 42 Cobra helicopters which Michael had said were stored in
Europe, then shipped to Iraq via North Korea.

At first he would not say what he did with the helicopters, but then
revealed the entire operation. John Vanderwerker at Intersect
Corporation in Irvine, California, had been the CIA facilitator. It was
a "classified" CIA operation, though Nichols would not give the name of
the White House official behind it. I assumed it was Michael McManus,
but didn't push it. Glenn Shockley had brought Nichols into the
operation. At least I had verbal confirmation of the operation, and
unknown to Nichols, I had the entire paper trail.

Regarding Danny Casolaro, Nichols and Zokosky both insisted that Danny
had been "murdered." Danny's book research had progressed to a point
where he was looking overseas for answers and Nichols had offered to
direct him to certain connections that would have completed his
investigation.

Nichols confirmed that he was privy to Danny's findings on a regular
basis, but chose not to elaborate on the content of his last
conversation with Danny.

I continued to press him for information on the "cause" of Danny's
death; what had he discovered that caused him to be murdered? Nichols
responded defiantly that he knew why Danny died, but he said "no
journalist or investigator had done enough work to be deserving of that
information yet."

It was not until the end of the meeting, when we had established a
tentative rapport, that Nichols offered to take ME to Europe, as he had
Danny, to find the answers to my investigation of the Octopus. But, he
stressed it would be very expensive and I would be gone for several
months. I remember the probing look on his face as he made the offer. I
had nodded slowly, stating I would give it some thought. I wondered
fleetingly if he was trying to recruit me into the CIA? Or create a new
Manchurian Candidate?

Regarding the stolen PROMISE software, Nichols said he believed Michael
Riconosciuto had been contracted by the government to "derail" Bill
Hamilton at Inslaw. According to Nichols, Michael DID have the PROMIS
software codes. Allegedly, Peter Zokosky's "brother" sold copies of the
software to Israel. Zokosky nodded in agreement at that statement.

Nichols said Michael HAD to know he was going to be arrested for
operating a meth lab, but he (Michael) thought the FBI would bail him
out again. Someone named (Admiral) Al Renkin allegedly "covered
Michael's drug act."

I never knew what that meant and didn't pursue it, as I wasn't there to
learn about Michael Riconosciuto. While we were on the subject of drugs,
I took the opportunity to question Nichols's involvement. I lead in by
describing the drug situation in Mariposa county, adding that the entire
country seemed to be economically dependent on the drug trade. Nichols
nodded in full agreement, then noted that Europe's economy was
completely dependent on drug money. Without drugs, banks and whole
countries would collapse financially.

We moved into another area of discussion. Peter Viedenieks was an
associate of Earl Brian, according to Nichols. Other names were tossed
around such as Senator Terry Sanford, a family friend of Earl Brian.
Sanford was Nichols' link with Earl Brian. And, noted Nichols,
Viedenieks was associated with Earl Brian through Hadron Corporation.

Allegedly, all of these fellows had met at Nichols' "007" Playa Del Ray
condo at one time or another, including Viedenieks.

It is noteworthy that at the time of this meeting, neither Nichols or I
could have foreseen the importance of this information. The issue of
Viedenieks' connection with Earl Brian or Terry Sanford, or even Nichols
himself, had not been raised publicly yet. At the time, I didn't place
any particular significance on Nichols' relationship with Earl Brian or
Peter Viedenieks, I just took the information at face value and wrote it
in my notes.

Nichols reacted violently when I asked him if he had any business
dealings with Brunswick Corporation in New Jersey. He jumped up from his
chair by the window and yelled, "Absolutely not!"

I quickly explained that I had looked up Sir Denis Kendall (the famous
M16 World War II British officer) in "Who's Who in America" and learned
that he had once been associated with Brunswick. Nichols said he did not
know Sir Denis Kendall. His eyes told me otherwise.

I noted that was strange since Michael Riconosciuto seemed to know him
well. Nichols and Zokosky exchanged glances. I further explained that
Bobby Riconosciuto said she had been to Kendall's home on Doheny Drive
in Beverly Hills with her children once. She had often called Kendall
when she was trying to locate Michael, and within hours of calling
Kendall, Michael always called her back. Nichols and Zokosky seemed
disturbed by that statement.

I didn't mention that Riconoscituo had stated Kendall was Nichols'
supervisor (CIA "handler"), or that J.M., Ted Gunderson's research
partner, had found a brochure in Ted's files advertising for Swedish
nurses at a medical research complex in Mexico. The brochure contained
both Gunderson's picture and Sir Denis Kendall's.

I had obtained all of the documents pertaining to Nichols' current
lawsuit against Thomas Gates of the Los Angeles FBI, his corporate
activities and his weapons permits. Nichols had been investigated by
Gates for allegedly turning over sensitive information to organized
crime figures in America and the "Yakuza" crime syndicate in Japan.

Nichols' corporation, Meridian International Logistics, Inc. (MIL), the
parent company to Meridian Arms, had filed a lawsuit against Gates for
contacting Nichols' European and Japanese business associates.

As a result, not only were Nichols' weapons permits cancelled, but his
associates were allegedly intimidated by the investigation, thus
damaging Nichols' ability to transact business.

I was curious about how far Nichols would take the lawsuit, and exactly
what the nature of the research was that MIL fronted to the Japanese. I
started out by asking Nichols if he had provided a "grant" to a Japanese
facility for biological research? Nichols said he had provided no grant
to any Japanese facility and attempted to change the subject.

Nichols was not evasive, but aggressively direct when he did not want to
discuss something. Michael Riconosciuto had once commented to me that
the biological technology which Nichols was involved in was "Hitler's
wet dream." According to Michael, who was uncharacteristically hesitant
about discussing the subject, "biotechnology was the weapon of the
future, making all other weaponry obsolete."

In Michael's files in the desert, I had retreived a small cylindrical
cannister, about six inches in length, with a cap on it. The metal
cannister had not been marked, and instinctively, I had not opened it,
but had placed it on a shelf in our empty guest house in Mariposa.

It was not until months later, after Michael learned I had copies of his
documents, that I had asked him what the cannister contained. Michael
had become disdraught, explaining that the cannister contained genetic
material in a hybridoma base, a military concept, only to be used for
military applications. Michael had stolen the cannister from a shipment
at Wackenhut destined for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and placed the
sample in his files in the desert. (Proposals had also been underway
with King Fahd to provide "security" for his palace).

His voice had been fraught with worry. He implored me to remove the
cannister from my property immediately, take it to a "class 4 facility"
where it could be disposed of. I was absolutely NOT to open the
cannister as it contained lethal toxins.

Later, at the meeting with Robert Booth Nichols, I again wondered why
arms dealers such as Peter Zokosky and Robert Nichols would be
interested in genetic research? Five years earlier, Zokosky and
Wackenhut Corporation had attempted to sell "biological warfare viruses"
and vaccine kits to the U.S. government to be used against small
countries bordering Albania or large countries bordering the Soviet Union.

I did not openly confront Nichols at his apartment about the above
documents, but asked him if he had sold or facilitated the research of
specific biotechnology to the Japanese? Nichols adamantly denied any
involvement in any such research.

When I rephrased the question, and he realized I knew about the MIL
agreements, he admitted that he had in fact facilitated the research of
methodology and induction of cytotoxic TLymphocytes through "five
offshore [outofcountry] research institutes." But, he added that the
research was "classified" by the sponsoring governments and "secret" and
he could not discuss it.

When I pressed for the names of the sponsoring governments, he clammed
up. Had I known more about the technology at the time, I would have
pointedly questioned him about the properties of the virus, but in
retrospect, my ignorance opened doors that otherwise wouldn't have been
opened.

I did, however, mention to Nichols and Zokosky that Michael Riconosciuto
had allegedly worked on the same technology at Hercules Research in the
early 1980's, reportedly using fish for incubation purposes.

Zokosky responded, embarking upon a lengthy discourse on the processes
by which "they" had incubated the virus in cow uterises and udders in
biolabs twenty floors beneath the ground. But Nichols interjected,
discontinuing the narrative. It was obvious that both men were becoming
agitated, so I dropped the subject for the time being.

Regarding Thomas Gates, Nichols expressed real anger and noted he would
take the lawsuit against Gates as far as it would go. He said he didn't
care if he was awarded any money (he was sueing for $11 million), but he
would ruin Tom Gates, no matter what it took.

A thought crossed my mind that he was about to say that he would kill
him, but instead, he sat silently glaring, waiting. I asked him how much
the lawsuit had cost him so far, and he said not a dime. Originally,
Michael McManus had advised Nichols, but then the case was handled by
John Rowell.

It was already apparent that Nichols was warming to the interview, in a
disarming, contentious sort of way. We were reaching a common ground, a
netherworld of danger and intrigue. The room became his stage, the
people his audience. He never took his eyes from mine, making every
effort to distract me from my notes.

Unquestionably, he was a "game" player. The more I entered the game, the
better he liked it. It was a trade off, I gave him a little information,
he gave me a little. But he gave as much as he took ...

I asked him about his relationship with MCA corporation. He said Eugene
Giaquinto, President of MCA Home Entertainment Division, had resigned
from his company, MIL, after the FBI investigation was underway.

But Giaquinto was a smart man, noted Nichols. He had learned much from
the man. Giaquinto drove an older car, as did Nichols. They hid their
assets, living modestly when in the U.S., keeping a low profile. The FBI
would "prove" nothing, said Nichols. He added that MCA Corporation was
"going broke," and the only division that was making a profit was the
home entertainment division, which Giaquinto headed.

I recalled privately the conversation in which Michael Riconosciuto had
told R.J. that MCA was currently facilitating the largest leveraging
scam ever conceived of in this country. MCA was subsequently sold to the
Japanese, but I had no idea what connection that had to the above
referenced conversation.

Nichols continued to lead the conversation towards Riconosciuto. Nichols
and Zokosky could not understand why Ted Gunderson testified for Michael
at his trial in Washington state. At a previous dinner party at Nichols'
apartment in Sherman Oaks, Ted reportedly told the two men that Michael
had loaned him (Gunderson) $60,000 for a joint business venture. Ted
still owed Michael the money.

It is noteworthy that Ted also supplied Robert Booth Nichols an
affidavit for HIS lawsuit against Thomas Gates.

Ellen Nichols had mentioned during lunch that Michael often buried
secret documents and equipment. Obviously, they were trying to learn
what documents I had acquired. I had not uncovered any "buried"
documents, but had obtained his private files from the trailer in the
California desert. I did not reveal this to Nichols, assuming that
Littman had kept my secret.

However, as the conversation progressed, I came to realize that Nichols
did, indeed, know I had obtained Michael's files. One statement which
Nichols said in the presence of Jonathan Littman surprised me. Littman
continued to leave the room to attend to something in the back of the
apartment. When he returned, I asked Nichols to repeat what he had just
said. Nichols obliged by reiterating that "Michael Riconosciuto would
kill me if he learned that I had obtained his private documents."

I asked him "why" he believed Michael would kill me over that? Nichols
seemed to want confirmation of something I'd obtained, something
specific, but wouldn't define what it was and I had no intention of
revealing anything to him at that point.

He randomly discussed the (coroner's grand jury) affidavit in which
Riconosciuto had accused Phillip Arthur Thompson of killing Paul Morasca
(Michael's partner) in San Francisco. Thompson had worked for the FBI
under the code name of "Jason" in some capacity which Nichols would not
define.

But, according to Nichols, it was Riconosciuto who had tortured and
killed Paul Morasca. Peter Zokosky corroborated Nichols' comment. Both
men said the torture of Paul Morasca was Michael's "style" that Michael
had discussed torture techniques of that nature to Nichols prior to
Morasca's death.

They added that "Jason," Phillip Arthur Thompson, was not so creative in
his killing style. Thompson had allegedly killed many people in his
career, but he chose to use a gun and get the job done quickly. Nichols
also said at lunch, with Ellen listening, that he knew who killed Mary
Quick. Ellen rolled her eyes at her husband and beseeched him to change
the subject. I asked Nichols to name the killer or at least give me a
clue. Nichols said the killer of Mary Quick had been arrested and
released. Obviously they were talking about "Jason," who HAD been
arrested and released.

Nichols and Zokosky both agreed in a conversation between themselves
that Michael Riconosciuto had caused the death of other people also.
Nichols repeated at least three times to my face, with Zokosky and
Littman nodding in agreement, that he believed Michael would kill me.

I privately wondered why Nichols was making such an issue of this? I
would understand soon enough. Meanwhile, Nichols continued to press his
point. He said Michael was a patient man and would wait as long as
necessary to accomplish this. I did not respond, as I had become
somewhat immuned to the threat by then.

Littman had made similar statements on the drive up to Sherman Oaks. I
simply did not perceive Riconosciuto as a killer. Nevertheless, I asked
Nichols how Michael would kill me if he was in jail? Nichols said it
would be done by one of Michael's "drug flunkies." He said Riconosciuto
HAD worked for the government, and had been "rescued" by the FBI for
years. He added that Michael could get away with murder.

I was becoming unresponsive to the game, so I presume Nichols decided it
was time to "set the hook." It was not until two years later that I
understood the significance of this incident. At one point during our
conversation, and completely out of context with what we were
discussing, Nichols played a video tape of the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy. The southern wall of Nichols' apartment
contained a sixfootwide screen on which I watched a blownup (enlarged),
slow motion "uncut" version of the famous Zapruder film.

I watched what appeared to be the standard media version of the film,
seen so many times in film clips over the years, but then Nichols slowed
the camera even more, and on the sixfoot screen, I observed the driver
of the limousine turn to his right, first looking at Connolly, then at
Kennedy. The driver's left hand came over his right shoulder, and he was
holding a long barreled gun. Smoke and a bullet emerged from the gun,
traveling ever so slowly across the screen into Kennedy's head, blowing
brain tissue into the air as he fell back against the seat.

Stunned, I watched Jacqueline Kennedy open her mouth in horror as she
glanced at the driver, then try to climb over the back seat of the car.

Littman and Zokosky and I stared at the scene in silence, unable to
believe what we were seeing. Nichols then changed the tape and showed
what he described as the "media" version of the Zapruder tape. In the
media version, the driver continued to drive, unflinching, as the shots
rang out. Then the scene switched to the back part of the limousine.

At this point, Nichols stopped the frame and pointed with a stick at a
tree in the background behind the limousine. From the middle of the tree
to the ground, there was no trunk, just air. The top part of the tree
was growing in air!

I demanded that my husband be allowed to see the film. I felt I must
have been hypnotized. When he arrived, he viewed both films up close, in
slow motion, and saw the same thing. Nichols played both tapes backwards
and forwards as often as we demanded, until the memory of it was burned
forever into our minds.

I wondered if the video had been tampered with. I asked Nichols where he
had obtained the original "uncut" version? He would not say. I had no
idea at that time that his F.I.D.C.O. partner, Clint Murchison, Jr.'s
father had had instant access to the Zapruder film immediately after the
assassination in Dallas, Texas.

Nichols studied me for the longest time, then walked over to the window
and lit a cigarette. He finally commented that the CIA can cover up
anything it wants, even a president's murder. He wanted to show me the
power of the Octopus. "Nothing is as it appears to be," he said.

Somehow, that statement rang true. He then noted that he'd read my first
book, the one I had sent him, then handed me a book entitled, "The
Search for the Manchurian Candidate." He told me to read it, appraising
me silently. Inwardly, I recalled a conversation with J.M., in which she
related a conversation she'd had with Ted after a dinner engagement with
Nichols. Nichols had reportedly stated to Ted that he headed a 200man
assassination team. Jackie had been too frightened to elaborate on this
conversation, but had pointed out that Nichols once worked in the
MKUltra (Manchurian Candidate) program during the Vietnam war. This
program was part of the "Phoenix Project." Interestingly, numerous
publications had mentioned that Earl Brian had also participated in the
Phoenix Project during the war.

Nichols' sister was allegedly a professional hypnotherapist, and Nichols
himself was reportedly trained in the art of hypnotism. According to
Riconosciuto, they all called themselves "The Chosen Ones," wore skull
and crossbones rings, and shared a common interest, if you could call it
that, in the old German SS occultism, its tribal and inner circle rites.

As I was preparing to leave, Nichols pointed his finger at me and
reminded me of the agreement I had made with him through Littman. I
asked him what agreement? He said the agreement that I would tell noone
about this meeting. I again assured him that I would mention it to
noone. He said I had better not or I would end up like the rest ...

******

When we finally left Nichols' apartment around five p.m., I told Littman
I did not intend to accept any more collect calls from Michael
Riconosciuto at the Tacoma jail. I might even wrap up the whole
investigation at that point, because I had more than enough material for
a story or a book.

Littman proceeded to issue a warning which I recorded in my notebook in
the car. It read as follows: "Littman warned me today to watch out.
Noone gets out of this alive. No one walks. If I cut them off, it would
be very dangerous." I was completely numb at that point, and
unresponsive to any further threats. We agreed to meet at 11:00 a.m. at
the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn in La Mirada the following day to
attend Elizabeth Riconosciuto's birthday party. Tom Olmstead, Michael's
lawyer, would be flying in for the meeting, Ted Gunderson and J.M. would
be there, Patrick Moriarty would be picking up Olmstead at the airport,
Raymond Lavas would be there and possibly the elusive Tony Patterson, if
Bobby could arrange it. Also expected was Janice Wynogradsky, the
Australian reporter who produced the news story for Australian T.V.

I was exhausted and looked forward to a restful evening, but first I
drove to the nearest toy store and purchased some birthday presents for
Elizabeth.

That evening, I mentally reviewed the day's events. Nichols and Littman
were undoubtedly screwing with my head. The doctored Zapruder tape gave
them deniability. The information I had obtained at the meeting may or
may not have had value, but I knew one thing, the deaths surrounding
Riconosciuto and Nichols were real enough.

Behind the smoke and mirrors labyrnthe was a story, one they were
working very hard to conceal. I felt sure the corporate and government
connections were little more than "fronts" for large scale drug
trafficking.

******

At 7:30 a.m. the following morning, Bobby Riconosciuto called the hotel
where we were staying (the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn) and informed
me that the luncheon meeting had been changed to a new location and
Jonathan Littman was not going to be allowed to attend.I explained that
I had not heard from Jonathan, did not know where he was staying, and
could not get in touch with him to tell him about the change. Bobby and
I argued about the inconvenience to Littman. I told her that Jonathan
and I were not puppets to be manipulated by she or Michael. Bobby argued
back that Olmstead had not shown up at the airport, Ted and J.M were
having a tiff, and she did not trust Littman because of his relationship
with Ben Kalka and Robert Booth Nichols.

She did not want her daughter's birthday turned into a "circus." I
agreed with that aspect of the meeting, however, Bobby still had not
arranged an interview with Raymond Lavas or Tony Patterson. Bobby argued
that she did not think Lavas or Patterson would talk to Littman. I
pleaded with her to arrange the appointments for Littman's sake, since
he had driven from San Rafael for that purpose. I explained to her that
it was important that Littman be present at the interviews with Lavas
and Patterson because I was working on the Mariposa story with him and
we had made an agreement.

Bobby asked me directly if I had interviewed Robert Booth Nichols? I
said I had not. I felt it was really none of Bobby's business. I
qualified that, however, by saying that I expected to interview Nichols
at some time in the future. Bobby said she understood and would attempt
to arrange the interviews with Lavas and Patterson for the following
day, Sunday.

It is noteworthy that Littman wanted to interview Tony Patterson because
Patterson "claimed" to have been in Vietnam (Phoenix/MK-Ultra) with both
Earl Brian and Robert Booth Nichols. I doubted that. To my knowledge,
Nichols had never served in the military.

Patterson had a rather provocative story to tell about Nichols.
Allegedly, Nichols had smuggled several gold icons out of Vietnam into
the U.S. He later killed the pilot so there would be no witnesses, and
left Tony Patterson stranded in Vietnam to be captured and tortured by
the Viet Cong. Nichol's activities in Vietnam also allegedly included
drug trafficking for the CIA, which both Bobby and Michael Riconosciuto
maintained was still operational today. THAT sounded closer to the truth.

Bobby called me back and instructed me to arrange a dinner meeting with
Littman that evening (Saturday) and she would show up to be interviewed,
then if Littman agreed to provide her with the name of the person who
had sent the 1983 "drug" transcript to the prosecutor at Michael's
trial, she would call Patterson and Lavas for interviews on the
following day.

I was becoming stressed at that point. The whole weekend was spinning
out of control and I was caught in the middle. I noted to Bobby that I
would wait for Littman to show up at the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn
and tell him the meeting had been changed to a new location, but that he
was not invited. I would then give him the new meeting time 7:00 p.m. at
the Belle Isles restaurant in Anaheim. Bobby agreed to that arrangement.

My husband and I waited until 11:30 a.m., but Littman never showed. He
also never called to say he would be late. At 11:40 a.m., I left a
message for Littman at the front desk apologizing for the sudden change
in plans, and said we would meet him at the Belle Isles at 7:00 p.m..

Bobby had changed the luncheon to the hotel where she was staying with
her children in order to be able to sign the tab on Patrick Moriarty's
bill. Janice Wynogradsky was present, along with Ted Gunderson, J.M. and
her two children. Neither Olmstead, Moriarty nor Marshall Riconosciuto
showed up at the birthday party. Elizabeth opened her presents, we ate
lunch and cake and caravanned over to Disneyland. We had a good time
with the kids until six p.m.

At 6:30 p.m., Ted, J.M., Bobby and all the children returned to Bobby's
hotel suite. I drove directly to Belle Isles. At 7:00 p.m., neither
Bobby nor Littman had appeared for dinner. It turned out that Littman
had left a message at the restaurant that he was sorry he missed us at
the La Mirada hotel, but there was no mention of whether he would be
joining us for dinner or not.

I called Sheri Littman, his wife, and she said Jonathan was on his way
home. She did not know why.

Bobby Riconosciuto sat with Ted Gunderson and J.M. in her hotel suite
and ate pizza. When I called her, she said Ted had detained her at the
hotel, she couldn't get away. My husband and I finished our dinner and
drove to San Diego to see my mother.

I never spoke to Bobby or Michael Riconosciuto again until one week
later when I learned Bobby had requested the return of Michael's eight
boxes of documents. My husband had dropped me off at my mother's home
and returned to Mariposa. For days he had been receiving urgent messages
from Bobby requesting that I call her. He simply told her that I was
tired and needed a rest.

Michael Riconosciuto called and asked him if we had interviewed Robert
Booth Nichols? My husband said, "No."

When I returned home, I called Bobby and learned that Littman had told
Michael Riconosciuto all about the meeting with Robert Booth Nichols.
Bobby wanted to know why I had lied to her about the Nichols meeting?
She explained that Littman had also told Michael that he had dug through
Michael's private documents at my home which I had obtained from
Michael's secret trailer in the desert. Bobby had never told Michael
about this because Michael had instructed her to stay away from the
trailer.

I told Bobby that I did not believe Littman would do such a thing. I
added that if I HAD interviewed Nichols, and he requested
confidentiality, I would keep my word to him. There was no reason to
discuss such an interview with Bobby or Michael. Bobby accepted that.

However, to convince me that Littman had in fact told Michael about the
contents of the meeting, she recounted that Michael had told her that
the meeting took place on Thursday, it lasted five hours, and I would
not take my coat off during the entire meeting, which allegedly made
Nichols nervous.

Bobby also stated that I had been seated in a location where I could be
scanned for electronic devices, and since I was not "bugged," Nichols
could not understand why I didn't take my coat off.

I immediately hung up from Bobby and called Littman. There was no answer
at his home, so I called Robert Booth Nichols. Upon answering the phone,
Nichols immediately accused me of "breaking my word to him." There was a
sinister edge to his voice. I explained to him that, to date, I had not
spoken to Michael Riconosciuto since two days prior to the Sherman Oaks
meeting on February 13th.

Nichols countered that Littman had called him and told him that "I" had
immediately reported to Michael the entire contents of the meeting,
because Michael knew all about it. His tone was accusing, attentive, but
devoid of anger. Then silence, waiting. I was indeed caught in the
tentacles of the Octopus, and I felt the weight of it at that moment.

I told Nichols that I would have Bobby Riconosciuto call him and repeat
what she had said to me, that Littman had betrayed both Nichols and myself.

Nichols laughed. "Why should I believe anything Bobby says? I don't want
to talk to her, and I don't want her to have my telephone number. Did
you tell her where we met?" His voice was deeper, throatier, and I felt
like a fool. Why should he believe her? I was grasping at straws and I
had no answers. Why would Littman betray me, with so much at stake?

I said I would get to the bottom of this and let him know the results.
Nichols said he was leaving for Australia the next day, would not be
back for three months. (He had said the same words to Bill Hamilton when
he was searching for Danny Casolaro on August 5th).

Nichols said he was VERY interested in hearing the results. "For my
sake." He added that I should keep Peter Zokosky apprised of the results
of my inquiry, then he hung up.

I called Jonathan Littman and asked him, "What's going on?" His voice
was withdrawn, cautious. "I don't know. What is going on?" I decided to
taperecord the conversation. My life was in danger as a result of
Littman's actions, and I needed a lifeline to save it.

I explained that I had been in San Diego visiting my mother, and when I
returned, Bobby Riconosciuto related the details of my interview with
Nichols. "She said YOU told Michael everything."

Littman said, "Michael knew the truth."

"I haven't talked to Michael since before the interview with Nichols!
How did he know about it?"

Littman's voice took on a slow, malignant tone. "What I'm saying is, you
told him beforehand, and you can't play games with people like Michael."

I was astonished. And somewhat flustered. But I wanted to give him every
opportunity to explain himself. "No. No. Something has happened.
Something's wrong. Bobby just told me that YOU told Michael all about
the meeting. And I told her I didn't believe that. I told her I DIDN'T
have an interview with Robert Booth Nichols ..."

Littman quickly responded, "You shouldn't lie to Michael ..."

I thought to myself, why should I have to report who I interview to
Michael or Bobby? It was none of their business. But instead, I said,
"Bobby told me she knew I interviewed Robert Booth Nichols on Thursday,
for five hours, and I wore my coat through the entire meeting. And she
said, `That made Nichols paranoid.' Now, how in the hell could she have
known that?"Littman answered in an eery, robotic voice, "I want to tell
you something ..."

I interrupted, " ... And how did she know that I allowed you to look at
Michael's documents, Jon?"

Littman began again, "She didn't. She only knows you have them ..."

Littman was being evasive, outright lying. I was becoming increasingly
frustrated. I hated being reduced to that level of conversation. But so
much depended on it. "John, Bobby said Michael called her. Michael NEVER
knew I had those boxes until YOU told him. Bobby said YOU revealed to
him that you had seen the documents, seen the diary, seen everything."

I had withheld portions of the diary from Littman, amongst other things.
I couldn't understand why he would have alarmed Michael about the diary,
or lied about having it. Michael had risked his life at Wackenhut to
obtain the only copy, broken into Dr. John Nichols' office to retreive
it, and fled to Washington state to begin a new life. He had thought it
was secure in the desert. Now I had it. And Michael knew Bobby and I had
kept the secret from him. And Littman had betrayed us both.

I continued ... "How would Michael have known that I didn't take my coat
off in the meeting with Nichols? Nobody knew that except you, Jon."

Littman stayed cool as ice. "Let me get one thing straight with you. I
gave you the conditions under which you were to meet with Nichols ..."

"Absolutely."

" ... And you betrayed those conditions by telling Michael that we were
going to interview Nichols. And that put all of us in an awkward
position ..."

I was astonished at how twisted the whole situation had become. I
stammered, "Jonathan, I didn't know I HAD an appointment with Nichols at
the time I told Michael that. I simply told him I PLANNED to interview
him at sometime in the future. I haven't spoken with Michael since the
interview with Nichols? But YOU have ..."

Littman continued his train of thought, disregarding what I had said.
"Once you told Michael you planned to interview Nichols, then you had to
tell him everything. You had to tell the truth."

I asked pointedly, "Did YOU tell him the truth?"

Perversely, he confessed, "I told him the truth exactly. Because he knew
we'd been there. And I'm not going to lie to Michael. He knew we'd been
there ..."

I interjected, "But you gave your word to Robert Booth Nichols that you
would never divulge the contents of the meeting to anyone. How could you
do that?"

Littman attempted to change the subject, to put me on the defensive.
"YOU are now the fly in the spider's trap ... You gotta be staight with
all these people. With Michael, with Zokosky, with Nichols, these people
can figure these things out. They're not dumb people."

"John, I've been straight with all of them. Every one of them. I have
never betrayed any of them, other than to provide you, as a journalist,
with some documents you requested ..."

He interrupted me, still speaking meticulously, ever so slowly. "You
cannot fool people like Michael and Bobby and Ted Gunderson. Michael
knew the meeting was going to take place. And it's not a good idea to go
back and tell him a story that something didn't happen when it did happen."

There was a monotonous singsong to his voice. He sounded like a tape
recording. I was incredulous. Why was I defending myself to this man? I
tried once again. "Michael doesn't control my life. I didn't tell him
the meeting never took place. I NEVER SPOKE TO MICHAEL AFTER THE MEETING
WITH NICHOLS! I didn't lie to him because I haven't spoken with him. I
was in San Diego. I still haven't spoken to Michael. Why can't you
understand that?" "Well, you're in the middle of it, because you're
involved with Bobby and ..."

" ... Well, I'm not. That's the point, I'm not. It's a dangerous game
and I want no part of it. I made that very clear with Bobby today when I
spoke with her, which is the first time I've spoken with her since the
meeting in Sherman Oaks."

" ... You told Michael that you were going to have a meeting with ..."

I was determined to get a confession from Littman. My life might depend
on it. "Jonathan! Jonathan! You stood in that room with Robert Booth
Nichols, and you heard him say aloud in front of both us, that if
Michael ever found out what I have [the documents], he would kill me. I
would be dead. Do you remember when he said that?"

"Sure."

" ... Yet you told Michael you had come to my home and seen his
documents from the desert? Why?"

Littman repeated over and over the same words. "You lied to Michael.
That was very stupid ..."

I wondered if he was intoxicated. I cut in, "You set me up. You called
Nichols immediately after YOU told Michael about the meeting. Then you
called Nichols and told him that "I" told Michael about the meeting.
Now, Nichols just told me that today. Why did you do that, Jonathan?"

Jonathan did not deny setting me up, but stammered lamely, "I ... I did
not appreciate your phone call to Nichols earlier today. You have placed
me in an awkward position with Zokosky and Nichols ..."

So, Nichols had informed Littman of my phone call! Had he accused
Littman of betraying him to Michael? I would probably never know the
answer to that. I responded, "I called Nichols and asked him what was
going on? How in the world could this have come about? I told Nichols
what Bobby had said."

Littman was outraged that I had called Nichols and conveyed what Bobby
had said. He was also outraged that Bobby had called me and confronted
me about the Nichols meeting. Obviously THIS had not been in the scheme
of things. Littman had obviously NOT expected Bobby to confront me.

After the Los Angeles fiasco, I had been fed up with her treatment of
Littman and was cooling off in San Diego for a week. I had told Littman
that I wouldn't be speaking with either Bobby or Michael again. Littman
had underestimated Bobby's determination to speak to me, and my
assertiveness in calling Nichols. His plan had backfired. Perhaps he had
expected me to be dead before I had an opportunity to talk to anyone?

I was immediately alarmed about the synopsis and backup documents I had
turned over to Littman on the Mariposa drug lab. It had included the
names of the Indians who had confided in me. We had planned to do a
story together for the San Francisco Chronicle. "John, can I ask you one
more question? Did you ever send the Mariposa information to the
Chronicle?"

He answered curtly, "No."

"You asked me to send it to you. Why didn't you send it to the
Chronicle? Why did you even ask for it?"

Jonathan hissed at me. "You lied to Riconosciuto's wife, or your husband
did [regarding the Nichols meeting], and as a consequence of that,
you're in hot water. I warned you about this whole thing ..."

"I'm in hot water because YOU betrayed me to Michael," I countered.

Again he repeated, "I told him EXACTLY what happened. You're a fool, and
you better start getting smart ... I think you should think twice about
continuing with this ..."

The Indians who had turned in the drug lab were at risk. Jonathan had
their names, including detailed information on two deputies implicated
in growing marijuana and distributing methamphetamine on the Indian
reservation in Mariposa. I wanted my paperwork back.

"Jonathan, there's something I need to know right now. This is
important. You have information on Mariposa ..."

Jonathan hung up. I paced the floor of my office for a moment, then
called him back. He didn't answer, but I knew he was standing by the
phone while I talked into his answering machine. I informed him that I
intended to document everything that had transpired at the Nichols
meeting, including his betrayal of me to both Nichols and Riconosciuto,
and that he had attempted to set me up to be killed by one or both of
these men.

I said I was taking the report to the nearest U.S. Attorney and sending
a copy to his editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. And, I wanted my
Mariposa paperwork returned.

I then called Robert Booth Nichols, but there was no answer at his home,
so I called Peter Zokosky. Zokosky, as always, was friendly and
congenial, and confirmed that Nichols was very interested in the results
of my inquiry. I recounted the conversation I'd had with Littman, in
which he had confessed his betrayal, and offered proof of the conversation.

Zokosky said that would be fine and he would pass the information along
to Nichols. On Sunday, February 23rd, I again talked to Bobby
Riconosciuto. We again discussed what Littman had done and why he had
attempted to convince Nichols that I had betrayed him [Nichols] to
Riconosciuto.

Bobby and I both acknowledged that Michael had knowledge of Nichols'
government and drug activities over a twentyyear time span.
Unquestionably, Nichols wanted to discredit Michael in any way he could
... or deter anyone from obtaining Michael's information.

Suddenly, Bobby said she believed I was being "set up for a hit." I said
I thought Michael was being set up with Robert Booth Nichols.

Someone, whoever was controlling Littman, was trying to create friction
between Michael and Nichols, and attempting to use me to do it. My
friendship with Bobby had unexpectedly thrown a monkeywrench into their
plans.

Bobby confided that Michael had taperecorded the conversation in which
Littman had reported the contents of the Nichols meeting. Michael had
called a "friend," and had the friend patch Michael through to Littman.
The conversation had then been monitored and tape recorded by the third
party (obviously Ted Gunderson who performed this functon often). Bobby
agreed to send me a copy of the taperecording.

I asked her why Littman would try to turn both Nichols and Michael
against me. Professional jealousy? Bobby said, "No, the same thing
happened to Danny Casolaro."

Littman had been talking to Danny Casolaro regularly, as well as Nichols
and Riconosciuto at the time of Danny's death. Yet, Littman had never
written a single word about Danny -- or Robert Booth Nichols!!

We both agreed that someone was being set up, but Bobby insisted that it
was me. She said she needed to check something out and she would call me
back. Shortly thereafter, Bobby called back and breathlessly stated she
had confirmed that I was about to die. She would not say who she had
talked to, but intuitively, I felt it was Ted Gunderson.

Bobby said if I died, Michael would be held responsible. I had received
collect calls daily from him for three months, then cut off all
communication with him after meeting with Nichols. I had obtained ALL of
Michael's documents in the desert without his knowledge, until recently.
I held in my possession the bank cards which Paul Morasca and Mary Quick
had died for.

It was a perfect set up, noted Bobby. Everyone, including my own
husband, would believe Michael had contracted my death. Inwardly, I
recalled the numerous statements by Nichols and Littman and Zokosky that
"Michael would kill me."

Undoubtedly, they had expected me to repeat those statements to others,
perhaps other reporters, or friends, or relatives. Who, in turn, would
have repeated it to the police "after my death."

In fact, I hadn't repeated it to anyone, but it WAS scattered throughout
my notes. Bobby advised me to get out of the house immediately, then
call the FBI, the U.S. Attorney, the police or anyone else I could think
of immediately. "They're going to kill you, if you don't RUN!," she yelled.

She said she was going to hang up, and when she called back, she didn't
want me to be in the house. I became somewhat alarmed because of the
various deaths surrounding Michael Riconosciuto. Regardless whether
anyone believed him or not, the deaths were NOT make-believe. To name
just a few: Mary Quick; Paul Morasca, Michael's former partner; Michael
May who had visited Riconosciuto in jail two weeks before his death;
Dennis Eismann, a lawyer Michael tried to hire; and of course, Danny
Casolaro who had been introduced to the Octopus through Michael
Riconosciuto. There were others with less direct connections.

Just three months after Danny's death, I had been approached by
Riconosciuto, and the game of Dungeons and Dragons had begun again, this
time with a new player. It seemed as if Nichols and Michael and Ted, and
others, played a real life game, and when one of the players got
"accidented" or "suicided" (as Ted called it), they simply recruited new
players. Oddly, Michael had once said that anyone could leave "the game"
by simply dropping out while they were still alive. Once it was known
they had dropped out, they were left alone - if they kept their mouths
shut.

Michael had used journalists to gather information he needed to stay
abreast of the game. It was a subtle form of blackmail he used on
Nichols and Ted and, indeed, the government whom he had worked for. I
had once asked him why "they" didn't just kill him. He had answered that
they didn't want to kill him. They wanted his technology. The FMC deal
was, in fact, still on hold. The deaths around him were "punishment" for
his indiscretions, and to keep a lid on their biological warfare,
hightech weaponry, and largescale heroin and cocaine operations
worldwide.But who would believe it all? There were hundreds of deadend
gopher trails ... dried up corporations, discredited witnesses, dead
bodies. Nichols had said only days before, in Littman's presence, that
my death would be brought about by one of Michael's "drug flunkies." Who
would believe otherwise?

Littman had seemed adamant, even outraged, that I HADN'T reported the
contents of the Nichols meeting to Riconosciuto. Why? When it was
Littman who originally warned me not to? When I didn't, Littman reported
it himself.

Somehow, the success of the scheme had hinged upon Riconosciuto having
knowledge of the meeting. I had unexpectedly kept my word to Nichols. Of
course I had. My life depended on it. And, why had Nichols made a point
of showing me the Zapruder film? What possible significance could that
have on my investigation?

(Two years later, after speaking with Dick Russell, author of "The Man
Who Knew Too Much," a 17year investigation of the Kennedy assassination,
and Garby Leon at Silver Pictures, we theorized that the film had been
shown to provide Nichols with "deniability." If I had mentioned the
showing of the film to anyone in media, and placed any credibility on
it, it would have invalidated everything else that took place at that
meeting.)


The phone rang again, and it was Bobby Riconosciuto. She was even more
agitated than before - and furious that I was still in the house. I
assured her that I was leaving and hung up. I called Ray Jenkins and
Roger Imbrogno and asked them to come to my home in Mariposa. Ray was a
former Chief of Police of Merced College and a good friend. His
companion, Roger, was in the State Guard with him. They arrived 45
minutes later carrying military rifles and a bulletproof vest.

I sat at my computer and documented the whole event, entitled, "Vortex."
It was a 17page diary of sorts which began as follows: "The following is
a detailed account of an investigation which I began on December 1, 1991
and continue to work on intermittently as time allows. In all my years
as an investigator and journalist, I have never encountered anything as
bizarre or as alarming as this story. The purpose of this diary is to
document these occurrances for my own safety ..."

I did not send the report to the U.S. Attorney as I had threatened to
do. Nor did I send it to Littman's editor, Michael Yamamoto, at the San
Francisco Chronicle, though I should have. I simply kept it and sent a
copy to R.J., where I'm sure it disappeared, as always, down the big,
black hole.

At that point in time, my sense of reality was diminishing. I couldn't
tell if I was overreacting to Bobby Riconosciuto's warning, or if my
lack of experience might cause my death by staying at home. Ultimately,
I decided to disappear for a while.

I drove to Fresno to stay with a friend, who subsequently accompanied me
to Galveston, Texas where we stayed with her mother for three months.
Walking the beaches of Galveston, I found some measure of balance within
myself, and returned home in June, rested and ready to resume my life.
For several months after that, I had no contact with any of the
principles in my investigation until October, 1992.

CHAPTER 13

Sometime in midOctober, at the offices of the Mariposa Guide, I received
a hurried phone call from Dave Massey, standing in the lobby outside the
Washington D.C. offices of ABC's "20/20" news bureau. I had asked Massey
to pick up key documents at the offices of producer Don Thrasher at
"20/20" who had been holding them there as a safety precaution for me.
("20/20" had aired an indepth piece on the corruption in Mariposa County
and I had developed a friendship with Thrasher at that time).

After Massey emerged from Thrasher's office building, he'd met with John
Cohen, investigator for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. They
talked for a few minutes, then Cohen asked Massey if he would turn over
my documents to him? Massey excused himself and hurriedly called me at
my office in Mariposa. I instructed him NOT to hand over the documents.
Most of them were my originals and I had no copies. (Thrasher had flown
into California to pick the documents up, but we hadn't had time to make
copies).

However, I mentioned to Massey that he was welcome to give Cohen my
telephone number if he wished. Shortly thereafter, Cohen called me at my
home and we had numerous conversations during the next several weeks. It
was my understanding that he was the lead investigator in the House
Judiciary Committee's threeyear investigation of the Inslaw stolen
software. The final Investigative Report, dated September 10, 1992,
titled "The Inslaw Affair," had already been published and I wondered
why he bothered to call me.

After much coaxing, I finally agreed to send him some sort of an
affidavit. I was working as a reporter for the local newspaper and
didn't have time to put together a detailed report, so I simply attached
a notarized cover sheet to "Vortex" and mailed it off to him.

On October 28, 1992, Cohen called back. He was very excited about
Vortex. "There's some great information here," he observed. "You did a
very good investigative job, I have to commend you on that. I realize
it's only a fraction of everything you have. What you have done, you
have put the pieces of the whole thing together. Little bits and pieces
of things that I have known about, that I had theorized about, you have
found the answers to those specific questions."I explained to Cohen that
I planned to publish a book on the subject and his professional opinion
was valuable to me.

He added, "You've done some good investigative work here. It puts me in
a position to say, `Yeah, this stuff is good, and this is some stuff you
may want to get out.' In fact, I can put myself out as being available
to these media people to be an inside source, for background only, which
would also add credibility to your project."

Cohen hesitated, seemingly uncomfortable with what he was about to say.
He drew a deep breath, then proceeded. "You are actually a key witness
to this thing now. And you might want to consider talking to a couple of
the honorable law enforcement people that are still working on this. I
do know there are currently some FBI investigations that are in place on
this ..."

Cohen hesitated again, gathering his thoughts. " ... There has been
coordination on this." He waited for a response, a signal that I
understood what he was trying to say. I said I understood.

"It's been unofficial, but there has been coordination. So, I'd like to
know whether ... maybe it would even keep you out of the limelight,
whether you would mind, as long as I talk about it and clear it with you
first ..."

Cohen was leading up to something, but having trouble getting to the
point. " ... There is a certain sharing of information. Some of the
leads and some of the stuff [in Vortex] (pause) ... Because I'll tell
you, one of the biggest hits (pause) ... I always felt that there was a
narcotics connection in this ..."

I laughed aloud. Cohen continued ... "regarding international narcotics
distribution. And I've sort of made my expertise in my years in law
enforcement, international narcoterrorism, the weaponsdope connections
in the intelligence agencies ..."

I could only say, "Yes, yes, yes."

" ... And when I was in Los Angeles I did a lot of undercover work with
Columbians, where I worked international narcotics conspiracies with DEA
and FBI and, being a local police officer, I didn't really get caught up
in their systems, I just made some great contacts in these agencies. But
I also learned quite a bit about Southeast Asian heroin and the rise of
the Medellin Cartels and the other Cartels in Latin America."

"Yes." By then, I knew Cohen had grasped the significance of the
information Michael Riconosciuto had attempted to trade to the FBI, as
well as Danny Casolaro's fatal inquiry about Mike Abbell of the DOJ and
his connection to Gilbert Rodriguez and Jose Londono of the Cali Cartel.

Cohen continued ... "And I also ran into quite a few law enforcement
professionals who were pretty irritated because of the intelligence
agency, drug dealer connection."

"Yes. Right."

"Well, the thing that is interesting is, one of the most interesting
things in the whole report, was the article on The Company."

"Yes."

" ... Because that immediately answered, or confirmed, what my
suspicions had been. And I know the exact, right channel to push to get
this thing hooked up. And he's a bigtime ... (pause) See this is a very
good time for people like us, who are out for purposes of good, to
...(pause) You see, right now the FBI is in a war with the Department of
Justice. And would like nothing better than to have an investigation
that they can discredit the Department of Justice with. So, the time is
ripe to feed this stuff to the right people."

I agreed that the drug operations needed to be cleaned up, because the
drugs were filtering into the smaller communities. But, thinking of
Mariposa, I added that there were law enforcement people involved in the
drug trade.

Cohen agreed. "I'm very careful with who I deal with. And I think when
these people contact you, you'll be somewhat surprised."

Reluctantly, I said, "Ok, I will work with them."

Cohen concluded by saying, "You said some real interesting things. I
like the section where you said `Bob Nichols runs Glen Shockley, Glen
Shockley runs Jose Londono.' Now that corroborates some information that
I got in the past which talked about one of the reasons PROMISE was
stolen. You see, I've had a side theory about another reason why PROMISE
was taken. And it was that PROMISE could also be modified to track money
laundering.."

"Oh, absolutely."

"... And it could also be used as an active information gathering, or an
active moving software program that can go into other data bases. And it
could be modified to control hundreds of accounts and move money through
the international banking system."

I interjected, "This is what Michael Riconosciuto was trying to trade to
the FBI and to FinCen ..."

Cohen added, "What a lot of people don't realize is that there are two
international banking systems. There's CHIPS and SWIFT. And the word
Swift Chips has been spread out throughout this whole [investigation].
And a lot of people don't realize what that meant. Well, Swift Chips is
a referral to those two clearing house systems. The clearing house
interbank payment system and then the European counterpart, Swift. And
they do $2 billion dollars worth of banking transactions a day."

"Yes ..."

" ... And if one was able to move accounts through there, you could move
money around the world ..."

******

In a subsequent conversation with Cohen he asked me how I had obtained
the document in which Ted Gunderson had mentioned their "drug/arms
operation?" (See Page 60)

I explained that I had found it in Michael Riconosciuto's secret files
in the desert.

Cohen remarked, "That's a great document."

I added, "I have the original."

Cohen: "You have the original?"

"Yeah."

Cohen noted, "You hang on to that. That's `key.'"

******

I was subsequently contacted by Thomas Gates of the Los Angeles FBI, and
John Connolly of SPY magazine. Gates was somewhat cryptic and
noncommunicative about his investigation. It was understandable since he
had been sued by Robert Booth Nichols in a civil court.

Just before Gates called me, I had spoken with Gene Gilbert for the
first time, the investigator at the Riverside District Attorney's
office, and learned that drug activities at Wackenhut had been
investigated for years, but a certain FBI agent, a Fred Reagan, had
always shut the local investigations down.

I related this information to Gates, who seemed not particularly
interested in that avenue of approach. "I'm mostly interested in Robert
Booth Nichols," he said.

I explained to Gates that Nichols had made it very clear that I was not
to discuss the meeting I'd had with him to anyone."

Gates inquired, "Why would he tell you that?"

I responded, "I have no idea. But I think he was serious. He had his
wife take my picture front and side, and he wouldn't allow my husband
into the interview. My husband had to sit downstairs in the van."

I summarized the interview briefly, then noted that I had obtained,
through Bobby Riconosciuto, eight boxes of Michael's documents in the
Mojave Desert near Death Valley. I believed those documents had caused
Nichols and/or Jonathan Littman to want me out of the picture.

"Michael didn't know that we had done this," I noted. "Michael had
instructed his wife not to go near the trailer out there. However, Bobby
and I DID go out there. It was dark and it was cold and the kids were
hungry, so rather than go through all those documents, she just gave
them all to me. I put them in my van and and I came home with them. All
the originals. And I spent a week copying all this stuff, then I shipped
the boxes back to her fatherinlaw."

Gates had a habit of saying nothing when I finished my sentence. So I
continued ... "Some of this stuff was incredibly incriminating for all
of them. And this is why they're all concerned. They're really afraid
that I'm going to send some of this material to someone, somewhere. And,
I did send a 17page summary ("Vortex") to John Cohen, but not the
material itself. There's too much to send. Additionally, I have reams of
notes. I kept notes on all the calls I received."

Gates asked what "Vortex" contained? I replied that it pretty much
summarized everything that had transpired from the first day. "I had
contacted Ted Gunderson regarding a problem here in Mariposa. He had
compiled a 700page report on Tulare County and I wanted to know if he
had anything on Mariposa county, where I live. We had a meeting for
about eight hours and I discussed the things that were going on in our
community, which is close to Fresno. And, the very next morning, Michael
Riconosciuto called me. I'd never heard of the man before, but he
proceeded to give me all the names of the people involved in The Company
out of Fresno, which he was working within the framework of."

Again Gates said nothing. I waited, but there was no response. So I
added, "Now, all of this starts to get real involved at this point. I
don't know if you're interested in this, or not ..."

Gates replied, "The Company?"

"Yes."

Gates noted, "At a future date. I'm more interested in what Nichols had
to tell you right now."

Nichols had sued Gates and lost his case quite recently. I wasn't sure I
wanted to walk into a situation where I would be caught in the middle. I
asked, "Well, I need to find out from you - I'm not real thrilled about
playing with this guy, you know ..."

Gates: "I don't want you to play with him."

"Do you want me to come in as a witness on your behalf, or what?"

Gates explained, "The Civil suit is finished. This is a criminal
proceeding. I want to know what he said to you."

I responded, "Well, I want to know where this is going to go. I want to
know who's listening in ..."

"Nobody's listening in ..."

" ... I want to know what you're going to do with it. Where it's going
to go."

"Well, what do you WANT me to do with it?"

"Well, if I'm going to get involved in it, and once I tell you what I
know, I'm going to be involved. I want to know in what capacity I'm
going to be involved?"

Gates was evasive. "Well, I don't know what you have to say. As far as
looking at the gross amount of evidence we have, we're getting ready to
do that real soon. We have a lot of people out there talking to us, but
we need to find the substance of the criminal act."

"Yes."

Gates continued ..."And you may have the key to some of that."

I was surprised. "So, you're putting together a `criminal case.' You're
going to have to level with me to a certain point. I understand that
you're FBI, and everything goes in and nothing ever comes out again, but
still you're going to have to level with me to a certain point, because
I need to know where I stand."

Gates drawled, "Well, if there's information that would be needed for
criminal prosecution, then we'd have to talk to you about the use of
that material. And if you decide you don't want to use it, or don't want
to relinquish it, then we can't compel you to get on as a free witness
and talk about this."

"Uh,hmmm."

" ... So, we would hope that you would do it. Whatever information you
provide at this point will remain confidential."

"Uh, hmmm."

" ... You know what I'm saying?"

"Uh, hmmm."

" ... That's your choice."

"Yes, well I'll have to think about it."

"Well, if you could give me an idea as to what was mentioned, I could
tell you, basically, how we can handle it."

I didn't know where to begin, what he wanted, so I asked, "May I ask
what are the charges that you're going to bring against Nichols? Would
this have to do with the government aspect of what he's been involved
in, such as arms shipments, or would it have to do with drug trafficking
... murder, or what?"

Gates chuckled, "Well, that sounds like a pretty good package to me."

I laughed. "I'm just curious about what you're specifically focusing on."

He answered, "I'm focusing on any criminal activities that Nichols is
involved in. Obviously, the most significant areas of interest are the
drugs, the murders and the gunrunning."

I explained that it was very complex. I didn't have my notes or "Vortex"
at my home, so I summarized as briefly as possible from memory what I
had obtained from the boxes in the Mojave desert.

Gates listened attentively. When I concluded, he noted, "Do you have
these things [referring to the documents] put away where nobody else can
get at them?"

"Yes. They are not in my home or anywhere on my property."

Gates asked, "Does anybody else know where they are?"

I wondered if he thought I might NOT be around in the near future. "The
person whose house they're at. Nobody else."

His next question confirmed my suspicion. "What if something happens to
you? Where do we find them? How do we find them?"

I noted that I had copies out with two people. Gates asked, "Are they
trustworthy?"

I said, "Absolutely."

Gates pressed further. "The place where the original documents are, can
you trust that individual?" "Yes. Absolutely."

Gates seemed satisfied that the documents were safe for the time being.
He reiterated that I would have to be debriefed extensively and the
information would be maintained under the Attorney General guidelines
for confidential sources.

The word "Attorney General" struck a cord in my consciousness. "You said
`Attorney General,' you mean through the DOJ [Department of Justice]?"

Gates answered carefully, "Yeah."

I laughed sardonically. "This is getting funny ..."

Gates hurried to explain that it was only through the DOJ "guidelines."
He added, "It's their rules, but they don't have access to the
information."

I pointed out that I might consider talking to him, because I knew of
his committment to busting the drug cartels and finding Casolaro's
murderer.I added that I would never talk to "the FBI, quote, unquote,"
and Gates said that was okay. He understood. So I said, "We'll go on
from there then ..."

I proceeded to describe the interviews with Robert Booth Nichols. When I
was finished, Gates asked me what I was going to do with the
information? I explained that I planned to write a nonfiction book about
it because much of the information I had obtained through my
investigation had been independently substantiated by the recently
published House Judiciary Committee Report on Inslaw.

However, I had not decided what the focus of the book would be - the
story still had to develop. A thought occurred to me. "I would be very
interested in what you've experienced in your investigation right from
day one. That's what the public wants to read about."

Gates agreed, "It would make a hell of a book." Then he added, "So, how
do we put Nichols and his group away?" I answered simply, "I don't know,
Tom, that's your department."

I never sent the documents and never spoke to him again until two years
later when I was hot on the trail of Mike Abbell.

******

John Connolly, a former New York police officer turned writer, was also
researching the death of Danny Casolaro. Through sources unknown to me,
he learned of my investigation, and after several conversations, I
agreed to send him documents which he needed for his "Octopus"
investigation. But first, I demanded that he fax me a letter protecting
my copyrights and giving due credit.

Connolly faxed back the following letter, dated October 22, 1992: "I
hereby agree that any and all information, documents, etc. sent to me
from you will be treated confidentially. Any information supplied by you
will not be used by me without your express permission. Furthermore, in
the event that I publish a future story and use any of the information
supplied by you, you will receive the proper reporting credits or
bylines. Sincerely, John Connolly."

Connolly was a gungho journalist, and apparently found it impossible to
withhold such provocative information. The January, 1993 issue of SPY
included much of the information I had sent him in a story entitled,
"Dead Right," by John Connolly.

He had not obtained my permission nor given me a byline, but I didn't
hold it against him. The story was well written, and gutsy, and I had to
respect that. Essentially, the story focused on the death of journalist
Danny Casolaro, but pages 6365 gave an indepth profile of Robert Booth
Nichols, who was portrayed as Danny's "dangerous friend" ... "The Lethal
Robert Booth Nichols."

Wrote Connolly, "By the late Spring of 1991, Robert Booth Nichols had
become one of Danny Casolaro's most important sources. They spoke
frequently and at length ...

"We know Nichols was a man as comfortable in the underworld as in the
intelligence community and that he was associated with people who
treated killing as an ordinary part of doing business."

FBI agent Thomas Gates had identified Nichols in his sworn affidavit as
a drug trafficker and money launderer stemming from a 1987 investigatin
of MOB activities in Hollywood. Interestingly, Nichols had been
identified by the FBI as early as 1978 as being involved in drug
trafficking, the very same year that Gilbert Rodriguez was indicted in
Los Angeles. I wondered if Nichols and Gilbert Rodriguez had been
connected in the FBI investigation?

In 1989, Nichols represented a group of unknown investors who wanted to
take over Summa Corporation, the holding company of Howard Hughes'
empire. Hughes had just died, and Nichols had convinced a Saudi company
called Ali and Fahd Shobokski Group to become partners in the (failed)
takeover attempt.

Joseph Cicippio, who was later taken hostage in Lebanon, was at that
time the London manager of Ali & Fahd. Cicippio told SPY he specifically
remembered Nichols telling him he was representing interests in the U.S.
Government and had been shown U.S. Justice Department identification by
Nichols.

By 1981, Nichols had become partners with retired arms manufacturer
Peter Zokosky and they formed Meridian Arms, which in turn joined up
with Wackenhut Corporation in a scheme to manufacture arms on the
Cabazon Indian reservation.

In Meridian's quest to provide guns for the Contras, Nichols had
obtained all the required California permits to possess and sell machine
guns using recommendations from CIA official Larry Curran.

Connolly pointed out Nichols' listing of Harold Okimoto as a former
employer on his application to carry a concealed weapon, describing
Okimoto as "believed by intelligence sources to be a highranking member
of Japan's Yakuza crime syndicate."

Eugene Giaquinto, president of MCA's Home Entertainment Division, was
mentioned as one of M.I.L.'s board directors. (Nichols' Meridian
International Logistics corporation). Noted Connolly, "[FBI] agents
caught Giaquinto and Nichols lunching at Le Dome, the swank Los Angeles
show business restaurant, and afterward transferring a box from
Giaquinto's car to Nichols's. The [wire] taps caught them discussing
possible takeovers of MCA, and the effect on stock prices. It was also
evident from the wiretaps that Giaquinto enjoyed a special relationship
with John Gotti ..."

Thomas Gates testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw
that he had twice heard from informants that Nichols had put a contract
out on his life. In July 1991, Danny Casolaro became somewhat alarmed
and began confiding in Thomas Gates. Nichols had flown from Puerto Rico
to Washington D.C. to meet with Casolaro, staying several days.

SPY didn't know what they talked about, but after Nichols left, Casolaro
told Agent Gates that Nichols had warned him, "If you continue this
investigation, you will die." Three days before his death, Danny had
asked Gates whether he should take Nichols's threats seriously?

On July 31, 1991, Casolaro had also spoken with Richard Stavin, a former
special prosecutor for the Justice Department who had been assigned to
the MCA case (see Page 78). In his investigation of MCA, Stavin had
unearthed documents implicating Nichols as a money launderer with ties
to the Gambino crime family and the Yakuza.

Connolly wrote, "Danny must have thought he hit the jackpot." Six days
after speaking to Stavin, Danny Casolaro, "who still had a young man's
vision of his immortality," had a long phone conversation with Robert
Booth Nichols, but the contents of that conversation were unknown to
Connolly.

SPY also interviewed Allan Boyak, a former CIA operative now practicing
law in Utah, who had known Nichols for 15 years. Boyak told SPY,
"Nichols is lethal." A transcript of a conversation between Boyack,
Michael Riconosciuto and former FBI agent Ted Gunderson, (which I had
sent Connolly a copy of) described an occasion in which Nichols wanted
to deliver a message to a mobster from Chicago. Nichols hung a man
upside down on a hoist in an airplane hangar in front of a prop plane,
then started the engine of the plane and revved it up, so that the man
hanging on the hoist was sucked toward the propellers. According to
Riconosciuto, "By the time Bob got finished with him, he wanted to die."

******

What Connolly failed to report in his article was the name of the man
who had been "hung up." His name was Sam Marowitz, a professional hit
man, who had been "the trigger man" in the nonfatal shooting of Robert
Ferrante, head of Consolidated Savings and Loan.

Ferrante had been involved with Patrick Moriarti, Marshall
Riconosciuto's partner of 40 years. It is important to remember that
Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto had been close associates
since 1967. Ted Gunderson had located, through his sources, the "trigger
man" in the Ferrante shooting, and Nichols and Riconosciuto had forced
Marowitz to confess to his crime by hanging him upside down in front of
the airplane propellar.

Riconosciuto recalled, " ... So he [Marowitz] starts talking ... and Bob
goes out of the room like this: `Oh my God, I don't want to hear
anymore,' covering his ears. This Marowitz starts confessing to every
hit he's ever done, including the Dorfman killings in Chicago. ... I
mean, all hell breaks loose. All of a sudden Ted has found the torpedo
in the Dorfman killings ..." After the "hanging" incident, Marowitz fled
to Israel.

The transcript was taken from Riconosciuto's first (taperecorded)
meeting with Alan Boyak on May 5, 1991 at the attorney visiting room of
the Tacoma, Washington house of incarceration.

Riconosciuto had been arrested on March 29, 1991 by DEA agents,
reportedly under the supervision of Michael T. Hurley, who had been
transferred from Nicosia, Cyprus to Washington state shortly before the
arrest.It is significant that this arrest took place exactly eight days
after Michael had signed the Inslaw affidavit on March 21, 1991.

Michael already had a law firm representing him, John Crawford and John
Rosalini, but Ted Gunderson had brought Boyak into the case because of
the intense political ramifications. In other words, they needed someone
to put together a case against the government officials involved, "so
they could buy out cheap."

Danny Casolaro had obtained a copy of that transcript from Boyak,
according to Ted Gunderson and Bobby Riconosciuto. Bobby noted that
Danny had taken the transcript to people in the Department of Justice
and confronted them with it.

Michael Riconosciuto later added that Robert Nichols had flown to
Washington D.C. and "followed Danny's trail through the DOJ, doing
`damage control' and repudiating the transcript."

This may well be the encounter (per SPY magazine) that Danny had with
Nichols in Washington D.C. less than a month before his death in which
Nichols had said, "If you continue with this investigation, you will die."

Danny had a unique habit of fearlessly "bouncing" information from one
person to another, particularly between Michael Riconosciuto and Robert
Booth Nichols. After the "transcript" incident, it undoubtedly created a
hostile climate between Nichols and Riconsciuto. (Riconosciuto was
attempting to trade information on Nichols'activities in exchange for
his freedom).

Numerous passages in the transcript openly named narcotics traffickers
allegedly working under Robert Booth Nichols. On page 53, just one of
many named was Bryce Larsen, currently (1991) operating a hotel for "one
of Harold Okimoto's people in Thailand," who smuggled China White heroin
into the U.S.. "The DEA seized two lear jets from him the last time they
busted him," noted Riconosciuto.

"Skip Jahota (phonetic sp.) was here trying to recruit people to go to
work in Thailand, and to offload the boats when they bring the stuff in
[to the U.S.]. They've got some heroin coming in in the next few weeks,
a rather large ..."

Boyak interrupted, " ... There's a big case in Miami where a female
black Assistant U.S. Attorney is handling this gal I was telling you
about, but that's ... I don't want to go into details on that because
she's in a witness protection program ..."

Riconosciuto added, "Well, she's probably working against the Martin
brothers ..."

Boyak interjected, "No, it's against Larsen!"

On page 63, Riconosciuto brought Al Holbert, the Israeli intelligence
agent, into the picture. " ... Now the other area where I can do some
real damage is Al Holbert's procurement of chemicals nationwide. He has
a mailorder chemical company that is mailing out chemicals right now.
What they do is they mail out large multiple orders under threshhold
limit value for the reporting requirements under the new DEA
regulations. Like with Phenol acidic acid, it's one kilo a month, so
they mail out 800 grams per month to one customer. And they've got fifty
customers ..."

Boyak asked, "Where are they doing that?"

Mike answered, "In Miami, Florida."

But, Riconosciuto added, in the California operation, Holbert and
Richard Knozzi weighed their drugs on UHaul trucks! "When they do their
meth lab, they usually do 1,500 to 2,000 pounds."

Holbert's address was listed at Ft. Mead. Riconosciuto informed Boyak
that Holbert was a former Israeli intelligence officer who came to the
United States to give special education classes to law enforcement
agencies. "He's dirty as the day is long," he added. "He's out of OMV
now. I don't know what OMV is doing at Ft. Mead."

Boyak had interjected, "Just so you know, because it may click with you.
Ft. Mead has headquarters ISCOM (Intelligence Security Command) which
has part of the intelligence network for the Delta Force."

In another section of the 65page transcript, Riconosciuto detailed his
operation with Tyme Share Inc. something he had been unable to discuss
with me on the jail phone. "Barry Smith, who is an associate of Bob
Nichols, had done some research on some interlocking directorates with
the board members of Wackenhut, and I started to realize how deeply
involved in the NugenHand Bank the Wackenhut people were.

"Paul Morasca and I were very close to Michael Hand [former President of
NugenHand Bank of Australia]. Now he's on the run, in Canada. I had a
complete set of all the records for NugenHand that had not been destroyed."

Boyak: "What function were you doing for them?"

Mike: "I set up the data processing base. See, I was a principle in Tyme
Share, Inc. Do you know what Tyme Share is?"

Boyak: "No."

Mike: "This is a giant computer communications company, and all the
Justice Department field offices communicate via Tyme Net. FOIMS (Field
Office Information Management System) for the FBI is all done via Tyme
Net. Okay? Most of your big banking institutions ..."

Boyak interrupted, "I'm not even a user friendly person ..."

Mike continued, "I had the NugenHand records and I analyzed the
situation and I looked at the Saudi position. They were taking people's
paychecks, you know, foreign workers, and giving them unbelievable deals
just to put their money in the bank ..."

Boyak: " ... And they were skimming the interest?"

Mike: "Yeah, oh yeah. So, what I did ... I was looking at block
transfers on Swift Chips, and reconciliations ..."

Boyak: " ... You've lost me there."

Mike: "Anyway, what I did was I screwed up everything with the automated
clearing house between NugenHand ..."

Boyak: " ... So nothing could be liquidated." P

Mike: "No, what I did was I created a virtual bank on the automated
clearing house system and I funneled all that money into it, and then I
funneled it out of there into blocked currencies ..."

Boyak interrupted again: "I can't track the technical paper trail. What
I'm trying to do is get to the bottom line ..."

******

The bottom line was, Danny Casolaro allegedly carted the above
transcript around the Department of Justice, demanding answers. Less
than a month later he was dead. The transcript gave details of the Cobra
helicopter shipments to Iraq, via North Korea, corporate structures,
undercover operatives, espionage activities, advanced weapons technology
tested at the Nevada Nuclear test site, and much more.

"Something" in the transcript pushed some buttons, but we can only
theorize as to "whose" buttons were pushed.

******

In all fairness, it is necessary to relate Robert Booth Nichols'
response to Alan Boyak's accusations about him. The following narrative
originiated from a phone conversation with Nichols in which he said
"Boyak was unbelievable."

(Nichols speaking): "I know what he said about me, and that's all well
and dandy. But I don't know why he said it. It's all totally false. The
guy could not be doing this unless he was under the orders of someone.
Or he's crazy.

"The thing with this Boyak, he said I was involved in BCCI, he said
narcotics trafficking, he said money laundering ... as did the FBI.

"The point is, I know people inside the bureau [FBI], I know people
inside the agency [CIA], I know people inside government who are very
responsible people. I speak to people as individuals, not as initials.
In other words, I wouldn't talk to the FBI, I would talk to an agent
that I knew in the FBI who was honest. Or I would talk to an agent in
the company, or the CIA, who I know is honest, but I wouldn't talk to
them as a whole, or someone I didn't know. Because I think they've
become so corrupt and polluted that they don't know what they're doing
half the time ...

"Some people in government are extremely concerned about it. They're
very much involved with it. I mean, the honest ones are the biggest
critics ...

"With regards to the Yakuza, I don't know them. To my knowledge, I've
never been around them. With regard to the Mafia, I don't know them. To
my knowledge, I've never been around them. With regards to narcotics, I
hate narcotics. And anyone who's known me for any length of time, and my
friends are all old friends, knows that I hate narcotics, have never
been around them, have never seen heroin in my life ... except on
television. So, it makes me wonder and many other people that are
friends of mine, wonder what agenda ... who's up to what? Right?

"The Tong, I don't know them, nor have I ever been around them to my
knowledge. One story [newspaper article] said [I was] a hit man for the
Tong. That was one story. I've never been a hit man for anything,
including Tong, which is the Chinese mafia.

"Ask yourself this. I sued them [the FBI], right? We were told, `Don't
sue them,' by a lot of people. `Kill everybody, don't sue them.' But the
point is, there are a lot of people overseas that said pursue them
anyway, and that's it, period. So, it comes down to one thing, really.
When we get to the courtroom, we are not going to say, `This is this,
and that is that, and trust us.' We're going to document everything we
say ..."

When I asked Nichols if Michael Riconosciuto had worked for the CIA, he
said, "Why don't you call the CIA and ask them. I'm sure they're listed
in the phone book."

******

Nichols' lawsuit against Thomas Gates and the Los Angeles FBI was
dismissed twice in federal court. However, he later filed a lawsuit
against the Los Angeles Police Department for alleged false arrest
stemming from a 1986 incident at the Palomino nightclub in North Hollywood.

In March 1993, Nichols stated on the witness stand that he worked for
the CIA for nearly two decades. His lawsuit charged that as a result of
his detainment by the LAPD, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department
rescinded his concealed weapons permit. That action, Nichols claimed,
resulted in the loss of Swiss financing for a multi-million dollar deal
to manufacture machine guns in South Korea.

Nichols also testified that he had no visible income for more than 15
years except for the living expenses he received from the CIA. He said
he was recruited into the CIA while living in Hawaii in the late 1960's
by a man named "Ken." Ken had told him that instead of joining the U.S.
military, he could serve his country in other ways. He was instructed to
take a job with a Hawaiian security firm (Okimoto?) and later to move to
Glendale, California to join a construction company (Pender?).

From that point until 1986, Nichols worked intelligence gathering
operations in more than 30 nations from Central America to Southeast
Asia. To prove this, Nichols' lawyer, John F. Denove, supplied the court
with a list of Washington D.C. personages to be subpoenaed which
ultimately caused Judge Thomas C. Murphy to declare a mistrial. No
record was ever made public of that list of names, though Thomas Gates
(FBI) and Henry Weinstein of the Los Angeles Times respectively
confirmed its existence over the phone, but neither would divulge the
names.


CHAPTER 14

In August 1994 I placed several calls to John Cohen, former investigator
for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, to follow up on Cohen's
investigation of Mike Abbell and Casolaro's findings on him prior to his
death. Cohen was now stationed at the Office of National Drug Control
Policy at the Executive Offices of the President (Clinton) in Washington
D.C.

I also made calls to Special Agent Thomas Gates at the Los Angeles Joint
Drug Intelligence Group, who originally testified before the House
Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. Gates had spoken with Casolaro during the
week before his death and I felt he might help me to identify what
Casolaro learned about Abbell. Both men were congenial, but hesitant to
talk about Abbell at that point in time.

I then called the young Customs Agent to whom I had given the affidavit
mentioning Mike Abbell in February 1993. His supervisor said he was
stationed in Miami, Florida and put me in touch with him. He too was
cryptic and uncommunicative about Mike Abbell.

I soon discovered why. A few weeks later, on September 9th, 1994, the
FBI raided the law offices of Michael Abbell in Washington D.C. The raid
was the result of a Miami federal grand jury probe of the Cali Cartel.
As of that date no criminal charges had yet been filed against Abbell.

I had also placed a call in September 1994 to Steve Zipperstein, Chief
Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, who conducted an investigation
for the DOJ on Inslaw and Casolaro in 1994. Zipperstein was
uncooperative and defensive when approached about Casolaro's
investigation of Michael Abbell and Gilberto Rodriguez.

Less than two weeks later, the DOJ report was released to the public
with no mention of Mike Abbell, Gilberto Rodriguez, Robert Booth
Nichols, or any of the aforementioned information in this manuscript,
including F.I.D.C.O., though it was available for scrutiny through many
sources.

******

In November, 1994, TIME magazine reported that the 56year old Gilberto
Rodriguez was "stressed out" and seeking to surrender to the Columbian
justice system in exchange for reduced jail time, perhaps three or four
years, and his fortune left intact. In a Columbian jail, this would
inevitably amount to a quiet vacation.

However, Gilberto insisted that any deal would have to be endorsed by
the United States. In return, the Rodriguez brothers, Gilberto and
Miguel, would guarantee that a large percentage of Columbian drug
dealers would be willing to get out of the drug business and dismantle
their infrastructure, their labs and their routes. The estimated net
effect would be a 60% reduction in the drug supply to the U.S. alone.

Prior to Rodriguez's offer, President Samper had announced that it would
be necessary to dismantle the Cartels rather than incarcerate their
leaders. An aide to Samper noted that the door was open to a surrender
program.

In light of everything I had learned to date, I could not help wondering
what price did the U.S. government pay to bring the Cartels to the point
of surrender?

******


On June 6th, 1995, The Washington Post broke the news about Mike Abbell
in a front page story entitled, "Ex-Prosecutors Indicted in Cali Case."
Three former federal prosecutors, including Michael Abbell, who served
"as a top ranking Justice Department official, were named in an
indictment [on June 5th] in Miami along with 56 others as part of a
broad racketeering case against the Columbia-based Cali Cartel ..."

Jose Londono, a founder of the Cali Cartel, and Donald Ferguson, an
assistant U.S. attorney in Miami were also charged. Former assistant
U.S. attorney Joel Rosenthal pled guilty in the case to charges of money
laundering. Abbell and other lawyers faced charges of money laundering,
drug conspiracy and racketeering. The indictment charged them with
obstruction of justice, preparing false affidavits and conveying
warnings to arrested cartel members that they should not cooperate with
government investigations.

The Washington Post noted that, ultimately, it was not expensive cocaine
interdiction on the high seas, but detective work by a team of
Miami-based U.S. Customs agents and the Drug Enforcement Administrtion
that compiled the evidence necessary to bring the 161-page indictment.

Tracking cartel shipments, authorites found cocaine hidden inside
40-foot cargo containers used to ship frozen vegetables, lumber,
concrete posts and coffee. The smuggling system effectively evaded U.S.
radar planes and naval vessels deployed in the Caribbean. The
racketeering case began when a load of cement posts and cornerstones
arrived in the Port of Miami on August 23, 1991. DEA and Customs agents
found 12,250 kilos of cocaine hidden inside their hollow cores.

******

Significantly, in early March 1995, THREE MONTHS BEFORE the Miami
indictment was unsealed, I had received a letter from Michael
Riconosciuto who had learned of the initial raid on Mike Abbell's law
offices. He wrote as follows: (Referring to his trial in 1991)

" ... [During] pretrial I made an on the record proffer in an attempt to
dispose of this case. The U.S. Attorney rejected it as garbage. That was
in 1991. Now in 1995, it is a major case. In my proffer, I outlined a
sophisticated smuggling scheme. It involved plastic items and concrete
products. I named both Ackerman and Abbell.

"The DOJ now has evidence seized from attorney's offices. The cement
items were handled through TRANCA Corporation. The specialized equipment
to make concrete posts and beams came from Tacoma, Washington. The
aircraft came from a Canadian brokerage known as THABET Aviation in
Quebec City, Canada.

"Raymond Thabet is Lebanese and has special contacts that give him
privileged access to Canadian military surplus. Fourteen (14) of these
planes were handled through Abbell and Laguna. All the paperwork was
handled by Ed Smith in Darrington, Washington state. These were
ex-submarine patrol planes. Specialized electronics were provided.

"An insider in Customs was involved - Richard Cardwell.

"This is heavy stuff. The fact that I detailed it in 1991 demands an
explanation. Forty (40) tons of coke [cocaine] would have been stopped.
I want a direct explanation from Teresa Van Vlet." Signed "Mike R." Van
Vlet reportedly worked in the drug enforcement administration of the
Department of Justice.

******

CHAPTER 15

I was never able to rectify the purpose behind the biological technology
that Robert Booth Nichols was involved in developing with the Japanese.
Why did his patents stress the "Method for Induction and Activation" of
Cytotoxic TLymphocytes? It is noteworthy that Harold Okimoto, Nichols'
godfather and a member of his Board of Directors, had allegedly been a
highranking intelligence officer during World War II.

While reading Dick Russell's book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," I came
across a chapter referencing Japanese biological experiments conducted
during World War II. In one passage (pp. 125126), Russell noted that, at
the end of World War II, Charles Willoughby, General Douglas MacArthur's
chief of intelligence, had seized Japanese lab records on germ warfare.
When the Pentagon determined that the biological research might prove
useful in the Cold War, the Japanese responsible for the experiments
received immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation.

At least three thousand people died as a result of those experiments,
including an unknown number of captured U.S. military personnel. "Only
in 1982 did this seamy story come to light, including the Pentagon's
1947 acknowledgement of Willoughby's `wholehearted cooperation' in
arranging examination of the human pathological material which had been
transferred to Japan from the biological warfare installations," wrote
Russell.

Another publication, entitled "Unit 731" by Peter Williams and David
Wallace, gave a detailed background on bacteriological warfare
experiments conducted by all of the major combatants during World War
II. When the United States government determined that the Axis Powers,
including Russia, were evaluating this weapon, it became necessary to
study the possibilities. This lead to the thought that if one prepared
for offensive bacteriological warfare, then one must also prepare for
defensive bacteriological warfare.

However, history shows that that reasoning broke down with the first use
of nuclear weapons by the United States in Japan to finish the war in
the East quickly. That action saved American lives if a land attack on
the islands had been effected, but the principle is obvious. Would the
U.S. do the same thing with viruses and bacteria?

In 1939 the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York
studied the virulent, unmodified strain of yellow fever virus,
ostensibly for the purpose of developing a cure for the disease. The
laboratory at that time was under the direction of Dr. Wilbur Sawyer. It
was in 1939 that a Japanese Army doctor, Dr. Ryoichi Naito, visited the
laboratory with credentials from the Japanese military attache in
Washington to obtain a sample of that strain of the Yellow Fever virus.

A report of that incident was subsequently sent to the Army Surgeon
General and after evaluation of similar incidents, it was determined by
Army Intelligence that Japan was interested in the yellow fever virus
for bacteriological warfare purposes.

Based on that information, along with other corollary information, the
decision was made to build Fort Detrick near Frederick, Maryland to
provide a secret laboratory for the study and development of defensive
and offensive capability to wage bacteriological warfare (BW).

The secrecy of the project was of the same magnitude as the nuclear work
done within the Manhattan Project. From the writings and speeches given
by the military men associated with this project, it is apparent that
they were genuinely concerned for the security of the United States, but
inside this organization and within the government at large, was a
potential for ulterior motives. (More on that later).

By 1944, more than sufficient evidence had been gathered by American
intelligence units to indicate that Japan was deeply involved in
bacteriological warfare. Thirtythousand bombs, manufactured at the Osaka
Chemical Research Institute in Japan, containing typhus, diptheria and
bubonic plague were sent to the Chinese front.

By then, overwhelming evidence was coming in, particularly regarding
research being conducted by Major General Shiro Ishii who was awarded a
Technical Meritorious Medal with highest degrees. After the war,
American intelligence learned that General Ishii, through an
organization called "Unit 731," conducted his more serious research at a
camp in northern Manchuria. It was here that General Ishii experimented
on human beings.

The experiments conducted on those human beings made Japan the world's
leading authority on offensive and defensive bacteriological warfare
systems. No other country, Ishii reasoned, would have equivalent
technical data on how epidemics spread and how to protect against them.

Japan's fascination with biological warfare dates as far back as 1932,
when experimentation on prisoners already sentenced to death was
conducted at Harbin, but later during the war with China, the Japanese
used prisoners of war. White Russians, caught in the area of Japan's war
with China were also used, according to an interrogated Japanese army
officer.

Each prisoner was placed in a closely guarded cell where the experiments
were conducted. After each prisoner died, they were cremated in an
electric furnace to remove all evidence of what had occurred. Starting
in 1935, motion pictures of the experiments were taken and these were
shown to senior army officers. It was reported that 3,000 were
sacrificed at a separate test site called Pingfan. Why was it required
to use so many humans?

The Japanese had learned that epidemics occurred naturally but the
method for inducing and activating them artificially was more difficult.
In order to find the most efficient method of transmittal, many
experiments were needed to find the lethal doses required to spread the
agent. What would work with animals might not necessarily work with
humans. Also, a method was needed for immunization and only humans could
be used for that purpose.

General Ishii thought that the West's moral codes would not allow for
such experimentation and that alone would put Japan on the leading edge
of such technology. Healthy humans were needed, so extensive medical
tests were even conducted on prospective prisoners. Diseases were
forcibly injected or administered with a special stickshaped gun. Some
prisoners were infected through food or drink. Cholera, anthrax, TB,
typhoid, rickettsia and dysentry were but a few of the bacteria used in
the tests.

Live human prisoners were also exposed to chemical warfare agents such
as mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide, acetone cyanide and potassium cyanide.
Hydrogen cyanide was given extensive study because of its potential for
ease of delivery into water supplys. In some instances, live human
victims were actually opened up to observe the progress of various
diseases and chemicals.

At one point, American intelligence learned that Japan had developed
techniques for efficient delivery of Botulinus, a germ that attacks the
central nervous system followed by paralysis and rapid death. Vast
quantities of Botulinous germs were developed at Fort Detrick and a
vaccine was hurriedly injected into all military personnel involved in
the invasion of Europe.

What the United States subsequently did with the technical data from the
Japanese experiments, under the direction of General Charles Willoughby,
was shocking. During the War Crimes Trials in Japan following World War
II, "sweetheart deals" were arranged between the United States and Japan
to secure that data. Colonel Murray Sanders was assigned to General
Douglas MacArthur, along with General Charles Wiloughby (Chief of
Intelligence) and Karl T. Compton (Chief of Scientific Intelligence).
General MacArthur specifically assigned these men to investigate the
Japanese bacteriological warfare experiments.

During the war, Lt. Col. Sanders, a medical doctor, had been responsible
for investigating and analyzing the capabilities of the Japanese in
bacteriological warfare. He had also overseen the Fort Detrick
experiments. When the Legal Section of the U.S. government tried to
obtain the Japanese lab records on human experimentation from General
MacArthur's staff, they were stonewalled. MacArthur's staff reasoned
that if the U.S. Army's investigative evidence was given to the Legal
Section in Washington D.C., the Russians would have access to the
records. This sounds logical on the surface, but the resulting
memorandums tell another story.

The StateWarNavy Coordinating Committee (SWNCC) responsible for
coordinating and overseeing the war crimes trials in Japan, made an
extraordinary statement which conclusively supported the intelligence
community's stance on the matter. One excerpt read as follows:

"Data already obtained from Ishii and his colleagues has proven to be of
great value in confirming, supplementing and complementing several
phases of U.S. research in BW, and may suggest new fields for future
research. This Japanese information is the only known source of data
from scientifically controlled experiments showing direct effect of BW
[bacteriological warfare] agents on man. In the past it has been
necessary to evaluate effects of BW agents on man from data through
animal experimentation. Such evaluation is inconclusive and far less
complete than results obtained from certain types of human experimentation.

"It is felt that the use of this information as a basis for war crimes
evidence would be a grave detriment to Japanese cooperation with the
United States occupation forces in Japan. For all practical purposes an
agreement with Ishii and his associates that information given by them
on the Japanese BW program will be retained in intelligence channels is
equivalent to an agreement that this Government will not prosecute any
of those involved in BW activities in which war crimes were committed.
Such an understanding would be of great value to the security of the
American people because of the information which Ishii and his
associates have already furnished and will continue to furnish."

The astounding conclusion went as follows: "The value to the U.S. of
Japanese BW data is of such importance to national security as to far
outweigh the value accruing from `war crimes' prosecution. In the
interests of national security it would not be advisable to make this
information available to other nations as would be the case in the event
of a `war crimes' trial of Japanese BW experts. The BW information
obtained from Japanese sources should be retained in intelligence
channels and should not be employed as `war crimes' evidence."

Communications between Washington D.C. and General MacArthur's
headquarters in Japan were very revealing. One excerpt read as follows:

" ... The feeling of several staff groups in Washington, including G2,
is that this problem is more or less a family affair in the Far Eastern
Command."

No mention was ever made during the war crimes trials in Japan about
bacteriological warfare or chemical warfare experiments being conducted
on human test specimens. No indictments were ever handed down against
those who had perpetrated these crimes. Colonel Sanders was ordered back
to the United States to brief scientists at Fort Detrick but shortly
thereafter became ill with tuberculosis and spent the next two years in
bed. Oddly, the expert who was sent to replace Colonel Sanders, Arvo
Thompson, committed suicide following his work for the Far Eastern
Command and the scientists at Fort Detrick.

What happened to all of the Japanese officers and scientists who worked
in the Manchurian labs during World War II? The military officers were
retired on sizable pensions and the civilian scientists continued their
work with some of the largest chemical and medical companies in Japan.
Some became presidents and professors at leading universities, others
became a part of the industrial complex which so successfully competed
with the West for international trade.

(NOTE: Insert names of Japanese scientists and officers and their
relationship to the Japanese scientist's names on MIL [Nichols'
corporation] agreements for development of biological technology with
Japanese. )

Numerous board directors of F.I.D.C.O., of which Nichols was also a
director, had been closely associated with General Douglas MacArthur. In
fact, Clint Murchison, Sr. had helped finance MacArthur's presidential
campaign.

******

The Vanity Fair article by Ron Rosenbaum had noted on page 98 that not
long before his death, Danny Casolaro had reportedly approached a nurse
he knew and asked her closely about the symptoms of multiple sclerosis
and brain diseases.

Rosenbaum had asked himself what had been going on in Danny's head as he
was being whipsawed between the shadowy Riconosciuto and Nichols and
their death warnings? In Danny's notes, Rosenbaum had found references
to germ warfare and slowacting brain viruses like Mad Cow Disease which
could be used against targeted individuals. Had Danny thought HE'D been
targeted?

A subsequent conversation with Michael Riconosciuto confirmed
Rosenbaum's suspicions. According to Riconosciuto, Danny had not only
been concerned, but had an obsession with the story because he suspected
he'd been "hit by these people." A source had allegedly told Danny that
he, among others, had been targeted with a slow acting virus.
Riconosciuto had advised him to go to a doctor and get tests. The tests
had been inconclusive. "Now, what he probably had was the genesis of a
naturally occurring ailment," said Riconosciuto to Rosenbaum.

Rosenbaum had described the entire Inslaw/Casolaro affair as "Kafkaesque
weirdness." Indeed, after Nichols had handed me the book, "The Search
for the Manchurian Candidate" at his Sherman Oaks apartment, I had
obtained a copy and recalled the author, John Marks, referring to the
CIA MKUltra (Manchurian Candidate) interrogation methods as Kafkaesque
in nature. Though Danny's notes mentioned nothing about "mindcontrol,"
and Bill Hamilton later noted that Danny had spoken mainly about the
biologicals, I found it difficult to believe that he was not subjected
to some form of mind control either subliminally or otherwise by someone
in the field.

******

"The Search for the Manchurian Candidate" gave significant background on
the history of biological warfare and mindcontrol research by the CIA.
The author, John Marks, obtained much of his material from seven boxes
of heavily censored MKUltra financial records and another three or so
Artichoke (CIA behavorcontrol program), documents supplemented by
interviews.

As early as 1943, the CIA, or actually its predecessor, the OSS,
initiated "humanistic psychology," or studies of what the brain can do,
during World War II when a "truth drug" committee headed by Dr. Winfred
Overholser conducted experiements with marijuana and mescaline to find a
way to induce prisoners to confess. A parallel OSS group had also
investigated the use of "quietus medications" lethal poisons for
possible use against Adolf Hitler.

The original program was headed by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan,
a burly, vigorous Republican millionaire who had started as White House
intelligence advisor even before Pearl Harbor. A former Columbia College
and Columbia Law Graduate, Donovan early on recruited Richard Helms, a
young newspaper executive who had gained fame for interviewing Adolf
Hilter in 1936 while working for United Press. He would subsequently
become the most important sponsor of mindcontrol research within the
CIA, nurturing and promoting it throughout his steady climb to the top
of the Agency.

Despite harsh condemnation at the Nuremberg trials after World War II of
Nazi scientific experiments, U.S. investigators found the research
records from the Dachau prison camp to be "an important complement to
existing U.S. knowledge." Doctors connected to the S.S. and Gestapo had
conducted experiments that led to the testing of mescaline on prisoners
at Dachau. Their goal had been to "eliminate the will of the person
examined."

The Japanese, for their part, had stockpiled chemical and biological
warfare substances during World War II and even went so far as to drop
deadly anthrax germs on China during the early stages of the war. OSS
responded by individualizing CBW (Chemical and Biological Warfare) and
creating methods of secretly disorienting, incapacating, injuring or
killing an enemy at Fort Detrick.

The CIA's postWorld War II mindcontrol program was headed by Dr. Sidney
Gottlieb, who presided over investigations that ranged from advanced
research in amnesia caused by electroshock to dragnet searches through
the jungles of Latin America for toxic leaves and barks. Gottlieb's
office not only found ways to make Fidel Castro's beard fall out, but he
personally provided operators with deadly poisons to assassinate foreign
leaders like the Congo's Patrice Lumumba.

Other areas of CIA sponsored research included explorations of
personalities. Henry Murray, a former Donovan protege, devised a battery
of tests which could size up the personality of potential CIA recruits
as well as predict future behavioral patterns. "Spying is attractive to
loonies," wrote Murray. "Psychopaths, who are people who spend their
lives making up stories, revel in the field." The program's prime
objective, according to Murray, was to weed out the crazies, as well as
the "sloths, irritants, bad actors, and freetalkers."

Murray's assessment system subsequently became a fixture in the CIA and
some of his assistants went on to establish CIAlike systems at large
corporations, starting with AT & T.

It is important to remember that at the beginning, the OSS (precurser to
the CIA) researchers from Security and Scientific Intelligence shared
jointly the literature and secret reports seized from the Germans and
the Japanese after World War II. They had theorized that in order to
build an effective defense against mind control and CBW, it was
necessary to understand the "offensive" possibilities. But as the years
went on, the line between offense and defense if it ever existed soon
became so blurred as to be meaningless.

In 1947 when the National Security Act created not only the CIA, but
also the National Security Council in sum, the command stucture of the
Cold War a warlike posture was developed against the new perceived
enemy, the Soviet Union. The men in the CIA took this job seriously. "We
felt we were the first line of defense in the anticommunist crusade,"
recalled Harry Rositzke, an early head of the Agency's Soviet Division.
"There was a clear and heady sense of mission a sense of what a huge job
this was."

A contingent of the CIA behaviorcontrol program, code named "Artichoke,"
developed a progam whereby guinea pigs for mindcontrol experiments were
obtained from the flotsam and jetsam of the international spy trade: "
... individuals of dubious loyalty, suspected agents or plants, subjects
having known reason for deception, etc," as one agency documents
described them. Artichoke officials looked upon these people as unique
research "material" from whom meaningful secrets might be extracted
while the experiments went on.

As one CIA psychologist who worked in the mindcontrol program put it,
"One did not put a high premium on the civil rights of a person who was
treasonable to his own country ..." Thus the Artichoke teams were given
mostly the dregs of the clandestine underworld to work on.

In one experiment in the early 1950's, an alleged Russian double agent
was brought to a safe house and plied for information with a mixture of
drugs and hynopsis under the cover of a "psychiatricmedical exam." A
professional hypnotist had accompanied the team, giving his commands to
an interpreter through an elaborate intercom system, who, in turn, was
able to put the Russian into a hypnotic trance.

Afterward, the team reported to the CIA's director that the Russian had
revealed extremely valuable information and he had been made to forget
his interrogation through hypnotically induced amnesia. The Russian was
also used in a subsequent experiment where he was given Seconal,
Dexedrine and Marijuana in combination in a beer delivered during the
cocktail hour. There were little, if any, positive results.

Nevertheless, the CIA was still consistently on the cutting edge of
specialized behaviorial research, sponsoring the lions share of the most
harrowing experiments. One CIA psychiatric consultant provided a small
personal glimpse of how it felt to be a soldier in the mindcontrol
campaign. The psychiatrist, who insisted on anonymity, estimated that he
made between 125 and 150 trips overseas on Agency operations between
1952 through his retirement in 1966. "To be a psychiatrist chasing off
to Europe instead of just seeing the same patients year after year, that
was extraordinary," he said.

Later, due to bureaucratic squabbling, the CIA transferred its behavior
work to a (CIA) outfit with Ph.D.'s called the Technical Services Staff
(TSS). Under TSS's Chemical Division, research was conducted on the use
of chemicals and germs against specific people. LSD had been used
extensively between 1951 and 1956 by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, a native of
the Bronx with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cal Tech; Gottlieb continued to
oversee most of TSS's behavorial programs up to and including 1973.

At the top of the Clandestine Services (officially called the
Directorate of Operations but popularly known as the "dirty tricks
department"), Sid Gottlieb had a champion who appreciated his qualities,
Richard Helms. For two decades, Gottlieb moved into progressively higher
positions in the wake of Helms' climb to the highest position in the
Agency.

Under the TSS leadership of Gottlieb and Helms, research on the covert
use of biological and chemical materials progressed under the code name
of "MKUltra." The operational arm of MKUltra was labeled MKDelta, the
purpose of which was to "investigate whether and how it was possible to
modify an individual's behavior by covert means." Hashish had been
around for millennia, but LSD was roughly a million times stronger by
weight. A twosuiter suitcase could hold enough LSD to turn on every man,
woman, and child in the United States.

But the CIA was concentrating on individuals. TSS understood that LSD
distorted a person's sense of reality and they felt compelled to learn
if it could alter a person's basic loyalties. Could the CIA make spies
out of tripping Russians or visa versa?

Suddenly there was a huge new market for grants in academia, as Sid
Gottlieb and his aides began to fund LSD projects at prestigious
institutions. Author John Marks ("The Search for the Manchurian
Candidate") identified the Agency's LSD pathfinders as: Bob Hyde's group
at Boston Psychopathic, Harold Abramson at Mt. Sinai Hospital and
Columbia University in New York, Harris Isbell of the NIMHsponsored
Addiction Research Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Louis Jolyon West at
the University of Oklahoma, and Harold Hodge's group at the Univerity of
Rochester.

The Agency disguised its involvement by passing the money through two
conduits: The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation and the Geschickter Fund for
Medical Research, a Washington D.C. family foundation, whose head, Dr.
Charles Geschickter, provided the Agency with a variety of services for
more than a decade.

Beginning in 1952, TSS had an agreement with the Special Operations
Division (SOD) of the Army's biological research center at Fort Detrick,
Maryland, whereby SOD would produce germ weapons for the CIA's use with
the program called MKNaomi. Under MKNaomi, the SOD men developed a whole
arsenal of toxic substances for CIA use.

Wrote Marks: "If Agency operators needed to kill someone in a few
seconds with say, a suicide pill, SOD provided superdeadly shellfish
toxins." Agency operators later supplied pills laced with this lethal
food poison to its Mafia allies for inclusion into Fidel Castro's
milkshake.

In other instances, "If CIA officials wanted an assassination to look
like a death from natural causes, they could choose from a long list of
deadly diseases that normally occurred in particular countries," wrote
Marks. When CIA operators merely wanted to be rid of someone
temporarily, SOD stockpiled for them about a dozen diseases and toxims
of varying strengths. "At the relatively benign end of the SOD list
stood `Staph enterotoxin,' a mild form of food poisoning mild compared
to botulinum," noted Marks.

Even more virulent in the SOD arsenal was "Venezuelan equine
encephalomyelitis" virus which usually immobilized a person for 2 to 5
days and kept him in a weakened state for several more weeks. If the
Agency wanted to incapacitate someone for a period of months, SOD
provided two different kinds of "brucellosis." This incapacitating agent
was allegedly placed on the monogrammed handkerchief of an Iraqi colonel
in 1060 who was said to be promoting Sovietbloc political interests, but
the colonel was shot by a firing squad before the handkerchief arrived."

SOD was forever developing more virulent strains," wrote Marks. Perhaps
the most important question was whether a germ could be covertly
delivered to infect the right person. One branch of SOD specialized in
building "delivery systems," the most notorious of which was a dart gun
fashioned out of a .45 pistol which exCIA Director William Colby once
displayed at a 1975 Senate hearing.

The Agency had long been after SOD to develop a "nondiscernible
microbioinoculator" which could deliver deadly shots that, according to
a CIA document, could not be "easily detected upon a detailed autopsy."
One high Detrick official noted that the best way to infect people was
through the respiratory system. SOD rigged up aerosol sprays that could
be fired by remote control, including a fluorescent starter that was
activated by turning on the light.

A former newspaper journalist turned narcotics agent, George White, was
recruited by MKUltra chief Sid Gottlieb to test drugs on unsuspecting
subjects at a San Francisco "safe house" on Telegraph Hill. The
apartment was bugged with four DD4 microphones disguised as electrical
wall outlets hooked up to two F301 tape recorders which agents monitored
in an adjacent "listening post."

The San Francisco safe house specialized in prostitutes who brought
unwitting victims back for study. In addition to LSD, TSS officials gave
White even more exotic experimental drugs to test. One TSS source noted,
"If we were scared enough of a drug not to try it out on ourselves, we
sent it to San Francisco."

According to a 1963 report by CIA Inspector General John Earman, in a
number of instances, the test subject became ill for hours or days and,
in one case, hospitalization was needed. Wrote Marks, "The Inspector
General was only somewhat reassured by the fact that George White
maintained close working relations with local police authorities which
could be utilized to protect the activity in critical situations."

At another safehouse located in Marin County, TSS scientists tested such
MKUltra specialties and delivery systems as glass ampules that could be
stepped on to release itching or sneezing powders, a fine hypodermic
needle to inject drugs through the cork in a wine bottle, and a
drugcoated swizzle stick.

At one point, an attempt was made to spray LSD from an aerosol spray can
at a house party, but the heat of the summer caused all the windows and
doors to be open. "Years later," wrote John Marks, "George White wrote
an epitaph [in a personal letter to Sid Gottlieb] for his role with the
CIA: `I was a very minor missionary, actually a heretic, but I toiled
wholeheartedly in the vineyards because it was fun, fun, fun. Where else
could a redblooded American boy lie, kill, cheat, steal, rape, and
pillage with the sanction and blessing of the AllHighest?'"

Not every scientist cooperated with the CIA. While conducting
experimental studies on monkeys at the National Institute of Health, Dr.
John Lilly discovered a method of inserting electrodes into the brain to
stimulate precise centers of pleasure, pain, fear, anxiety and anger. As
Lilly refined his brain "maps," officials of the CIA and other agencies
descended upon him with requests for briefings.

Lilly insisted that all briefings remain unclassified, completely open
to outsiders. Other scientists ordinarily had their work officially
classified, which meant that access to the information required a
security clearance. But Lilly's imagination had conjured up pictures of
CIA agents on deadly missions with remotecontrolled electrodes
strategically implanted in their brains, and so he withdrew from that
field of research. By 1958 he had finally concluded that it would be
impossible for him to continue working at the National Institute of
Health without compromising his principles, so he resigned.

MKUltra officials were clearly interested in using grants to build
contracts and associations with prestigious academics. The CIAfunded
Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology, later known as the
"Human Ecology Fund," (HEF) supported such publications as the "Research
in Mental Health Newsletter" published jointly at McGill University by
the sociology and psychiatric departments.

Similarly, HEF gave grants of $26,000 to the wellknown University of
London psychologist, H.J. Eysenck, for his work on motivation. Marks
noted that the MKUltra documents acknowledged that this research had "no
immediate relevance for Agency needs, but it would lend prestige to the
Human Ecology Fund."

A whole category of HEF funding, called "cover grants," served no other
purpose than to build the organization's false front. A TSS source
explained that grants like these "bought legitimacy" for the
organization. Nevertheless, one small grant to a psychologist from the
University of Pennsylvania provided valuable information on "confidence
men." The CIA was intrigued with the ability of con men to manipulate
human behavior. As one CIA official put it, the psychologist unwittingly
gave them "a better understanding of the techniques people use to
establish phony relationships" a subject of interest to the CIA.

Marks wrote that at one point, the CIA took the "Svengali" legend to
heart. In 1954, Morse Allen, the CIA's first behavioral research czar,
simulated the ultimate experiment in hypnosis: the creation of a
"Manchurian Candidate," or programmed assassin. Allen's "victim" was a
secretary whom he put into a deep trance and told to keep sleeping until
he ordered otherwise.

He then hypnotized a second secretary and told her that if she could not
wake up her friend, "her rage would be so great that she would not
hesitate to kill." An unloaded pistol was placed nearby. Even though the
second secretary had expressed a fear of firearms of any kind, she
picked up the gun and "shot" her sleeping friend. After Allen brought
the "killer" out of her trance, she had no recollection of the event,
denying she would ever shoot anyone.

Some of the CIA's experiments wandered so far across ethical borders of
experimental psychiatry that Agency officials ultimately conducted much
of the work outside the United States. The CIA's Human Ecology Fund
provided financing to foreign researchers and American professors to
collect information abroad. The MKUltra men realized that ninetypercent
of their experiments would fail to be of any use to the Agency, but the
"behaviorists" continued to search for the elusive answer to human control.

Unbound by the rules of academia, the CIA took stabs at cracking the
human genetic code with computers and finding out whether animals could
be controlled through electrodes placed in their brains.

Within the Agency itself, the one significant question remained to be
answered: Will a technique work? CIA officials zealously tracked every
lead, sparing no expense to check each angle many times over, yet no
foolproof way was found to brainwash another person. Specific methods
worked "fantastically" on certain people, but not on others. It wasn't
predictable enough, noted one official."

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy reportedly vowed
to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces," wrote John Marks. In the
end, he settled for firing Allen Dulles and his top deputies. Until that
point, the TSS (Technical Services Staff) had been the Agency's largest
scientific component. Under the new head of CIA, John McCone, TSS was
stripped of its main research functions including the behavioral one and
Seymour Russell, a tough covert operator, was brought in as the new
chief. But the highest deputyship at TSS went to Sid Gottlieb, who
became numbertwo man under Russell.

In his new job, Gottlieb kept control of MKUltra. His emphasis switched
back to chemical and biological substances "not because he thought these
could be used to turn men into robots," wrote Marks, "but because he
valued them for their `predictable' ability to disorient, discredit,
injure, or kill people." A $150,000 a year contract was signed with a
Baltimore biological laboratory which provided TSS a private place for
"largescale production of microorganisms" for biological weapons without
the Army's germ warriors knowing about it.

Dr. James Hamilton, the San Francisco psychiatrist who worked with
George White in the original OSS marijuana days, was brought back to
MKUltra by Gottlieb to conduct "clinical testing of behavioral control
materials" on prisoners at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville.
Hamilton worked through a nonprofit research institute connected to the
facility to conduct his research. Marks estimated that he experimented
on between 400 to 1,000 inmates between 1967 and 1968.

In July 1977, after receiving notification that the CIA had located 7
boxes of MKUltra financial records, author John Marks held a press
conference in which he criticized then CIA Director Admiral Stansfield
Turner (later a Wackenhut Board member) for several distortions in
describing the MKUltra program. Turner had described MKUltra as only a
program of drug experimentation and not one aimed at behavior control to
President Carter and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Marks responded by releasing a score of CIA documents to reporters that
indicated the flavor of the CIA behavioral efforts. The documents set
off a media bandwagon that had the story reported on all three network
television news shows as well as others. The Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence and Senator Edward Kennedy's Subcommittee on Health and
Scientific Research soon announced they would hold public hearings on
the subject. The CBW program at Ft. Detrick was subsequently shut down.

In 1979, Marks concluded that he could not be positive that the CIA
never found a technique to control people. CIA officials actively
experimented with behaviorcontrol methods for another decade AFTER Sid
Gottlieb and company lost the research action. The Office of Research
and Development (ORD) picked up the ball by creating its own latterday
version of the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology.

Located outside Boston, it was called the Scientific Engineering
Institute and had originally been used by the CIA as a proprietary
company to conduct radar research. In the early 1960's, ORD officials
built a new wing to the Institute's modernistic building for "life
sciences" or human behavior research.

According to Marks, one scientist from the institute recalled a
colleague joking, "If you could find the natural radio frequency of a
person's sphincter, you could make him run out of the room real fast."

"Just as the MKUltra program had been years ahead of the scientific
community, ORD activities were similarly advanced," wrote Marks. One
researcher noted that MKUltra looked at the manipulation of genes and
gene splintering as early as 1965, eleven years before the rest of the
world even thought about it. Added the scientist, "Everybody was afraid
of building the supersoldier who would take orders without questioning,
like the kamikaze pilot. Creating a subservient society was not out of
sight."

******

The above research was conducted thirty years ago! What had been
developed along those same lines by 1994? Even the most rampant
imagination could not conceive of what might be underway in CIA
laboratories today.

With today's cutting and splicing techniques, scientists can attach any
genes they choose to certain carrier genes. These linked genes, called
"recombinant DNA," are then conveyed inside a host cell, which virtually
adopts the new gene as one of its own. The object of most current
experiments is to transplant genes from the host to bacteria. These
tractable, microscopic cells proliferate faster than rabbits. On a
simple cheap diet a single bacterium makes a few billion copies of
itself overnight. Its DNA, including that of the transplanted gene, is
reproduced at the same rate.

Biochemists at Stanford University have found a technique for combining
DNA from "two different sources" and putting it into a common bacterium.
The bacterium they chose was "E.coli bacteria," commonly found in the
intestine of every living person. Modified E.coli, containing certain
cancer genes, could become a biological bomb. The bacterium carrying its
little package of cancer genes, could then be passed as easily as the
common cold from one human to another.

The U.S. is not the only country to have this technology. A classified
report prepared for the National Security Council (U.S.) and obtained by
the Washington Times claimed "the Soviet Union was using genetic
engineering to create virulent new biological weapons that could be
deployed as early as 1989 - if in fact some had not already been
deployed." Robert H. Kupperman, a chemical warfare expert at Georgetown
University's Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the
Times that "it's like making designer drugs."

A report was prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency which outlined extensive violations by
the Soviets of two anti-biological warfare treaties. The report noted
"the Soviets were using recent advances in biotechnology, such as
genetic engineering, to develop a new class of CBW [chemical, biological
warfare] agents that can be rapidly produced for deployment."

Recent scientific findings on the Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) indicate
genetic material common to Gulf War-era veterans could provide a clue as
to why so many became sick after serving in the 1991 war. In a study
presented to Gulf War veterans at a conference in Tampa, Florida,
microbiologist Dr. Howard Urnovitz said the genetic marker could point
to the existence of a "virus." The virus, in turn, could make veterans
exposed to chemical agents or other toxins more susceptable to illness,
he added.

Beginning on Veterans Day, November 11, 1996 and continuing through
November 17th, KREM T.V. out of Spokane, Washington [phone]), an
affiliate of Northwest News in Seattle, telecast a series on Gulf War
Syndrome (GWS). Reporter Tom Grant interviewed numerous doctors, one of
which was Dr. Garth Nicholson, a microbiologist, who maintained that GWS
contains "altered genetic structures" similar to AIDS. He suggested GWS
is a genetically engineered biological warfare organism, and it's
contagious.

Dr. Larry Goss, in Walters, Oklahoma, not only confirmed Nicholson's
findings, but said on public T.V. that he and his wife "caught" GWS
while treating Gulf War veterans. Dr. William Baumzweiger, a
neurologist/psychiatrist at the V.A. hospital in Los Angeles found
brain-stem damage in GWS vets, and noted the virus turns the immune
system against itself.

GWS veterans were warned NOT to have unprotected sex or have any more
children. The vets themselves were interviewed along with their
families. Tragically, their wives and children were now suffering from
the same GWS symptoms. Pictures were shown of the children, providing
indisputable proof of the infectiousness of the disease.

Doctors warned the public that GWS could soon enter the general
populace, and it could be terminal. However, on November 17th, Dr.
Nicholson noted that treatment was available through antibiotics.

******

Scientists have long suspected the existence of a "lab-created" virus
which attacks the immune system. In January 1986, the French-born and
trained biologists Professor Jakob and Dr. Lilli Segal, published a
pamphlet entitled, "AIDS: USA-Home Made Evil; Not Imported from Africa."
The two scientists, a biophysicist and a biologist affiliated with the
Humboldt University in Berlin, pointed out that examination of the genes
making up the HIV retrovirus revealed it "could not have come about by a
natural way known to biologists." The called the virus a "chimera,"
originally created in 1977 at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

The Segals were not the only researchers to suggest that "genetic
engineering" was involved with AIDS. John Seale, M.D., a London
venereologist, also stated that the molecular structure of HIV suggested
"manipulation of viruses" rather than a natural mutation from known
retroviruses. And Dr. Robert Strecker, M.D., a Los Angeles internist,
has made the same assertion.

These advocates of the artificial HIV theory all note the structural
similarities of HIV to visna virus, a pathogen found in sheep with
similarities to AIDS. The scientists argue that the visna virus was
artificially combined with the HTLV-I virus, another retrovirus which
causes human lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.

Today designer viruses are limited only by the imagination of the
scientist creating them. Thus, bio-labs in both the U.S. and abroad are
in a race to find vaccines which build the human immune system - or
search out and destroy killer T - Cells.

A new study, recently released by Dr. Jeffrey Leiden, director of a
research team at the University of Chicago, showed that genes can be
injected directly into "muscle tissue" to cause production of proteins
needed to correct some blood disorders, such as anemia. Genes in the
injection are taken into the nucleas of cells in the muscle tissue and
become, in effect, a pharmaceutical factory, increasing red blood cell
levels as high as 64%. In the past, gene therapy involved using
"viruses" to transfer genes into the body, a technique that was "poorly
controlled," according to Dr. Leiden.

And another finding by Arthur Vandenbark, of the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center in Portland, Oregon noted the discovery of a new vaccine
which enables the human immune system to churn out more T - Cells, thus
preventing multiple sclerosis patients from becoming sicker.

The ultimate irony of the 21st century could be the development of
vaccines, in response to the threat of biological warfare, which boost
the human immune system to such a degree that people become completely
disease resistant. The question is, with overpopulation looming on the
horizon, would the U.S. government release such a vaccine to the general
populace -- if not, who would have access to it? The Chosen Ones?

Interestingly, Robert Booth Nichols' manuscript, entitled "Acceptable
Casualty," copyrighted at the Library of Congress in May 1987, outlined
an identical scenario.

******

Within Michael Riconosciuto's secret files in the Mojave Desert, I had
found a box marked "Ted Gunderson," which I had dragged home along with
the rest of the material.

This particular box had contained records of most of Gunderson's
investigations, but one report particularly caught my attention. It was
titled, "From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory" by Colonel
Paul E. Vallely with Major Michael A. Aquino.

The 12page Army report was undated but it outlined the use of
"Psychotronics," intelligence and operational weapons systems employing
the use of mind control, commonly known as Psychological Operations
(PSYOP).

Wrote Aquino, "In 1967 and 1968 alone, a total of 29,276 armed Viet
Cong/NVA (the equivalent of 95 enemy infantry battalions) surrendered to
ARVN or MACV forces under the Chieu Hoi amnesty program the major PSYOP
effort of the Vietnam War. At the time MACV estimated that the
elimination of that same number of enemy troops in combat would have
cost us 6,000 dead."

Aquino argued that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam "not because we were
outfought, but because we were outPSYOPed. Our national will to victory
was attacked more effectively than we attacked that of the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong, and preception of this fact encouraged the
enemy to hang on until the United States finally broke and ran for home."

The lesson, according to Aquino, was not to ignore U.S. PSYOP
capability, but rather to change it and strengthen it "so that it can do
precisely that kind of thing to our enemy in the next war." To begin,
there would be a name change from Psychological Operations to "MindWar."
Noted Aquino, "We must reach the people BEFORE they resolve to support
their armies, and we must reach those armies BEFORE our combat troops
ever see them on battlefields."

Aquino went on to compare his proposal with the definition of
Psychological Warfare first introduced by General William Donovan of the
OSS in his World War IIera "Basic Estimate of Psychological Warfare" in
which Donovan discussed the need to destroy the will of the enemy. But
an attendant 1947 letter stressed the need for a "synonym which could be
used in peacetime that would not shock the sensibilities of a citizen of
democracy."

Aquino indicated contempt for the U.S. Army's inability to accept PSYOP
in its "most effective configuration," adding that "the reluctance with
which the Army had accepted even an `antiseptic' PSYOP component" was
well documented.

Having read about General Donovan's "behavioral control" program in the
MKUltra book, I didn't perceive it to be exactly "antiseptic." Aquino's
report, obviously written after the Vietnam war, suggested that future
MindWars should be fought through "skillful use of communications media."

"MindWar," noted Aquino, "states a whole truth that, if it does not now
exist, will be forced into existence by the will of the United States
... A MindWar message does not have to fit conditions of abstract
credibility as do PSYOP themes; its source makes it credible."

Aquino continued, " ... The MindWar operative must KNOW that he speaks
the truth, and he must be PERSONALLY COMMITTED to it. What he says is
only a part of MindWar; the rest and the test of its effectiveness lies
in the conviction he projects to his audience, in the rapport he
establishes with it."

As I read the document it was difficult not to recall Oliver North's
diary in which he called his associates, "The True Believers." (More on
that in another chapter). Aquino noted that the recipient of the
statement by the MindWar operative would judge such messages not only by
his conscious understanding of them, but also by the mental conditions
under which he perceived them. "For the mind to believe its own
decisions," wrote Aquino, "it must feel that it made those decisions
without coercion. Coercive measures used by the MindWar operative,
consequently, must not be detectable by ordinary means ..."

Aquino's basis for his report came from various publications which were
listed at the back of the document. "More effective configurations" of
MindWar as noted by Aquino may well have included the following (taken
from the back of the document):

"ELF (extremely low frequency) waves (up to 100 Hz) ... are naturally
occurring, but they can also be produced artificially ... ELFwaves are
not normally noticed by the unaided senses, yet their resonant effect
upon the human body has been connected to both physiological disorders
and emotional distortion. Infrasound vibration (up to 20 Hz) can
subliminally influence brain activity to align itself to delta, theta,
alpha, or beta wave patterns, inclining an audience toward everything
from alertness to passivity. Infrasound could be used tactically, as
ELFwaves endure for great distances; and it could be used in conjunction
with media broadcasts as well."

So, the human brain can be aligned to infrasound through media
broadcasts. Was that technology used on Manuel Noriega when he was
forced to surrender in Panama under blaring radio broadcasts? And hadn't
the Branch Davidians had been subjected to loud music and chants for
extended periods of time?

Another section of the Aquino report noted that "ionization of the air"
could be used to control an individual's emotions. "An abundance of
negative condensation nucleii (air ions) in ingested air enhances
alertness and exhilaration, while an excess of positive ions enhances
drowsiness and depression. Calculation of a target audience's
atmospheric environment will be correspondingly useful."

After his retirement from the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Aquino,
an exGreen Beret, was later written up in the San Francisco Chronicle as
the head of the Temple of Set, a satanic, devilworshipping church. The
November 1987 headlines read as follows: "Army Says Constitution Lets
Satanist Hold TopSecret Job," by reporters John Whittinger and Bill
Wallace. The story went on to say that "the high priest of a San
Fanciscobased satanic church is able to keep his topsecret security
clearance because his activities are constitutionally protected, Army
officials said yesterday. "Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Aquino, a
highly decorated Vietnam veteran, is the founder and president of Temple
of Set, a satanic church headquartered in Aquino's Russian Hill home ...

"Aquino, a psychological warfare officer who has worked in military
intelligence, holds a top secret security clearance that allows him to
handle information whose release would gravely damage U.S. security,
according to Defense Department regulations.

"He maintains the clearance even though he has performed Nazi occult
rites and has described himself as the `AntiChrist' in literature
published by the Temple of Set ..."

Temple of Set literature described a coming apocalypse in which only
followers of Satan would be saved. Readers were encouraged to read such
works as "Mein Kampf," "Hitler: The Occult Messiah," and "The Occult
Roots of Nazism."

Aquino conducted occult rituals patterned on ceremonies performed by
Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler in a German castle once used by the Nazi SS
for black magic ceremonies during the Third Reich. Nazis considered the
black arts and satanic worship part of an ancient Germanic tradition.

Aquino, in his book, "Crystal Tablet of Set," wrote that he performed
the rituals to recreate an order of Knighthood for followers of Satan.
He even encouraged his followers to study the beliefs of the Nazi
terrorist group, the Vehm, the Thule Gesselschaft, and the Ahnenerbe,
two fanatic rightwing Aryan groups that existed before and during
Hitler's reign.

When the two reporters from the Chronicle inquired about Aquino's
security clearances, Major Rixon declared that "to the best of his
knowledge, there was no part of the liturgy of his church that caused
any (security) problem." Aquino admitted to being involved in devil
worship for 22 years.

Ted Gunderson's box contained reams of literature written by Aquino
along with other documents pertaining to identical subject matter. It
was no secret that Gunderson lectured on the subject of Satanism, as I
learned from a July 1993 Colonel Bo Gritz newsletter which advertised
Gunderson as a featured speaker on one of Gritz's national radio
broadcasts.

But it was not the Satanic aspect of Aquino's writings that caused me to
scrutinize his earlier writings for the Army. Shortly after the Waco
incident in Texas, a secret "classified conference" was held at the Los
Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. Through a friend in Maine, I
was able to obtain an official copy of the speaking agenda for the
November 1993 conference and, oddly, the subject matter under discussion
correlated with not only the original Aquino Army report, but also with
the MKUltra behavior research underway during the 1950's and 1960's.

The title of the conference was "NonLethal Defense" and just a few of
the speakers included such dignitaries as the Honorable U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno; Dr. Edward Teller who had helped develop the nuclear
bomb; Dr. Milt Finger from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Mr.
Andy Andrews, NonLethal Project Leader at Los Alamos National
Laboratory; LTG William H. Forster from Army Research, Development and
Acquisition; Dr. Clay Easterly from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
Dr. Henry Brisker from U.S. Army Research Laboratories; Ms. Astrid Lewis
from the U.S. Army Chemical Research & Development Command; Lt. General
Richard G. Trefry, former Military Advisor to President George Bush; and
many more.

The most noteworthy "nonlethal" technology presentations included the
following: "High Power Microwave Technology" "Application of Extremely
Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields to NonLethal Weapons" "Voice
Synthesis" "Incremental Agression: Requirements for the Future"
"Chemical/Biological AntiTerrorism" "Biological Challenges" "NonLethal
Research: Fracture & Dynamic Behavior, Biotechnology & Structural
Ceramics, and many more.

Interestingly, the opening address was given by General E.C. Meyer
(Ret.), former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army the very same General
Meyer who had set up the Department of Defense conference in which
Michael Riconosciuto had been the principal speaker from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. to a group of seniorlevel national security research and
development officials.

The objective and scope of the 1993 Los Alamos conference included
exploring a nonlethal approach to apply force against not only wartime
enemies (the Soviet Union had already fallen) but against "terrorists"
and "international drug traffickers" as well. The introduction noted
that the purpose of the conference was to bring together "industry,
government, and academia to explore the potential of nonlethal defense
and identify requirements so that the defense community can work
together in leveraging the nonlethal concept."

"Industry [law enforcement], particularly, will benefit from a more
precise understanding of requirements and operational constraints
regarding nonlethal defense technologies," noted the conference's
sponsors, The American Defense Preparedness Association.

Additionally, nonlethal defense was described as "an emerging
technological option being developed conceptually with a sea of
technical opportunity."

Based upon the technical presentations listed in the brochure, it didn't
appear to me that such technology as acoustical, highpower microwave,
laser, ELF/RF weapons and "psychotronic" systems were particulary NEW in
the field of military or intelligence applications. Obviously, what was
occurring at this conference was the presentation of these formidable
weapons to law enforcement for domestic (U.S.) applications.

In late November 1993, a letter came to my attention which discussed the
abovementioned conference. The letter had been written to U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno by a former CIA employee, Julianne McKinney, on
letterhead stationary originating from the "Association of National
Security Alumni, Electronic Surveillance Project, P.O. Box 13625, Silver
Spring, Maryland 209113625."

Portions of the letter read as follows: " ... In December 1992, when
`Microwave Harassment and MindControl Experimentation' was published,
U.S. Government representatives routinely took the position that
directedenergy technologies were nothing more than mere figments of
physicists' imaginations, still on the drawing boards. Shortly following
publication of this report, information concerning these technologies
began to appear in such noteworthy organs as The Wall Street Journal,
Defense News, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Tactical Technology,
Defense Electronics and, most recently, The Washington Post.

"In a flurry of activity these past 10 months, directedenergybased
surveilance and antipersonnel systems have suddenly leaped off of
physicists' drawing boards into the world of reality, thus obviating the
criticism, it would appear, that the attached publication [Los Alamos
conference brochure] concerns nonexistent technologies.

"Indeed, directedenergy technologies appear to have evolved at such a
rapid rate that they are now being promoted as the `Final Solution' to
crime preliminarily, at a classified conference sponsored by the Los
Alamos National Laboratory ..."

McKinney's concern focused primarily on future law enforcement
application of "psychotronic" tools, or directedenergy weapons
technologies. "What, so far, has prevented this goverment and its
contractors from testing these technologies on U.S. citizens under
involuntary circumstances?," she asked.

The letter went on to outline various instances in which people had
complained to her organization of alleged symptoms of directedenergy
technologies in such areas as the United States, England, Canada and
Australia.

******

After reading "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate," I couldn't help
wondering if Danny Casolaro had been subjected to some form of hypnosis.

Any such farreaching scenarios were outside the boundaries of normal
human experience, indeed no mainstream journalist would pursue such a
theory. But, then Robert Booth Nichols, Michael Riconosciuto and the CIA
were not within normal human experience. And, who would have believed,
ten years ago, that the CIA would be investigated by Congress in 1996
for drug trafficking in Los Angeles?

At one point in time Danny had signed an agreement with Nichols in which
Nichols was to give Danny a $25,000 loan against his home in Fairfax,
Virginia. Nichols had offered to take Danny overseas to find the answers
to his questions and Danny had needed the money to make the trip. Where
had they planned to go? What possible motive could Nichols have had for
enticing Danny to go overseas for several months?


During one of my conversations with Bobby Riconosciuto, she had
mentioned a private installation at Alice Springs, Australia which
Michael had visited with Nichols. The tour of the installation had upset
Riconosciuto to such a degree that he had become ill and cut the trip
short. Nichols later confirmed the trip, and recalled that Michael had
indeed become anxious and ill, but would not discuss the purpose of the
trip.

When I subsequently questioned Michael about the Australian
installation, he first asked where I had learned of it? When I noted the
information came from Bobby, he explained that the underground facility
had been built during World War II to be used as a bomb shelter. It was
capable of housing thousands of people and was completely selfcontained.

I asked Riconosciuto if he had been inside the facility? He said he had,
it was owned by a private corporation; inside was a city of sorts,
containing sophisticated communications equipment, laboratory equipment
and other items which he would not define. He chose not to discuss it
further, but concurred that what he saw made him realize that it was
time to terminate his relationship with Robert Booth Nichols.

Both men had confirmed to me that the Australian trip marked the end of
their 20year association. I later contacted a journalist in Alice
Springs to gain more knowledge of the mysterious "installation." I was
able to confirm that the installation existed, that it was leased by a
private corporation, and that it was heavily guarded, but noone seemed
to know what it was being used for.

******

On November 22, 1992, I received a call from Michael Riconosciuto. It
was the first time I had spoken with him in nine months. The first thing
he asked me was, "Did Bob Nichols threaten you?"

I explained to him that I had nothing to fear from Nichols as long as I
didn't reveal the contents of the meeting.Michael pressed further.

"Did he attempt to destroy my credibility, or did the meeting pertain to
HIS activities?"

"Well, essentially, I asked him questions specifically about what he was
doing with his corporation in Japan and overseas ..."

Mike knew I was referring to the genetic engineering project. Michael
interjected, "That is so heavy. I've got a full paperwork trail on that."

I answered, "I have the paperwork trail on it."

Michael: "He didn't like that, did he?"

CM: "No, but after he knew I had information on it, he came right out
and talked about it."

Michael: "Did he tell you what it was for?"

CM: "I think he did."

Michael: "Isn't that a `Dr. Strangelove tale'?"

CM: "Yes, I need to ask you some things ..."

Michael cut in. "Let's not talk about that over this phone."

Once again, Michael became evasive when confronted with the biological
technology Nichols was involved in. This seemed to be one of the few
subjects he refused to discuss over the phone.

His next question caused me some alarm. "Where did you send the metal
cannister you found in my files in the desert?"

I replied, "I sent it out to have it analyzed. I haven't received the
results yet ..."

Michael: "Oh, Jesus. Where ... If they don't know how to handle it ..."

I stammered, "... I haven't heard from them yet ..."

Michael took a deep breath. "Oh, God." Then silence.

I was alarmed. "What is it? Tell me the truth."

Michael seemed shaken. "It's a military concept where you can
genetically engineer these biological agents ... you see, a specific
penetration group can be immunized, and everbody else dies. Now, whoever
you sent that to, if they're not set up ... if they're not a class4
facility, they better call someone who can handle it and get rid of it
..." Mike stopped abruptly. "Has anyone opened or touched the cannister?"

I responded that it had not been opened. He drew another deep breath and
seemed to relax somewhat. "Alright, it's not your problem anymore. As
long as it's off your property."

******

The remainder of this manuscript is not relevent to CIA Drug Trafficking
or the focus of the Investigative Committee. I therefore have sent only
the enclosed pages. If you want more, let me know. C.M.


http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/circle!.htm

[unknown]

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:39:06 -0700, Richard Brautigan
<***@troutfishing.net> wrote:

<snip of MORE THAN NINE THOUSAND LINES of off topic paranoid delusion>

My friend Richard Brautigan was a troubled man. He was eccentric. He
suffered from depression. His personal hygiene was sometimes a bit, uh,
spotty. He could be unpredictable bordering on erratic. But he was never a
full tilt, tin foil hat wearing, paranoid, delusional kook like you.

Back in the day, enjoying an afternoon martini at Persian Aub Zam Zam and
discussing world events and the nature of reality with his small circle of
friends, Brautigan would have been quickly bored by a kook like you. Crusty
by nature, he had little patience for stupidity, unless it was particularly
entertaining. Yours isn't.

I'm sure you meant it as an homage. It's not. That you would appropriate his
name is insult to him, his art, his legacy and everything he ever stood for.
Now you know. Please stop.

Post by Richard Brautigan
If you want more, let me know. C.M.

Um, gee, thanks, but MORE THAN NINE FUCKING THOUSAND LINES of delusional
nonsense is more than adequate...


---
The Metterling List

List No. 5

6 undershirts

6 shorts

6 handkerchiefs

has always puzzled scholars, principally because of the total absence of socks.

-The Collected Laundry Lists of Hans Metterling, Vol. I, 437 pp., plus xxxii-page introduction; indexed; $18.75,
Venal & Sons

[unknown]

Seems to me this nut deserves some kind of AUK recognition for the length of
this copy & paste kook screed alone. Is this new talent or have I just
missed him?

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:39:06 -0700, Richard Brautigan

Post by Richard Brautigan
INTRODUCTION
RE: "The Last Circle"
The following condensed version of The Last Circle was provided in
October 1996 to a secret Investigative Committee comprised of Congress
people, lawyers and former POW's at their request. I originally
contacted Congresswoman Maxine Waters in Washington D.C. and offered
information relative to CIA drug trafficking, but was told the
information was too complex and would I mind putting the information
into a newspaper story, get it published and send it to her office?
I agreed and contacted a local newspaper reporter who, after reading
portions of the material, decided it needed to be reviewed by
individuals who had special knowledge of CIA drug trafficking, arms
shipments, and biological warfare weapons.
After a brief meeting with these individuals, former Special Forces
soldiers from the Vietnam era, they asked for copies of the manuscript,
guaranteed an immediate congressional inquiry, and advised me NOT to
place the information on the Internet as they feared the information
could be, in their words, "taken as just another anti-government
conspiracy."
I condensed the manuscript into the attached treatise, covering
information relative to THEIR focus, and sent it to them along with key
documents. Shortly afterward, they re-contacted me and set up elaborate
security measures to insure my safety. As of this writing, I've had no
need to institute those measures.
I have in my possession five boxes of documents, obtained from a
convicted methamphetamine chemist whose closest friends were a 20-year
CIA operative and a former FBI Senior-Agent-in-Charge of the Los Angeles
and Washington D.C. bureaus. The labyrinthine involvements of these
people and their corporate partners is revealed in this manuscript,
along with information obtained by Washington D.C. journalist Danny
Casolaro prior to his death in 1991.
A great deal of investigation still needs to be accomplished. I have
neither the financial means nor the ability to obtain "evidence" for
"prosecution." I am simply an investigative writer, placing this
information into the public forum in hopes that someone, somewhere, will
grasp the significance of the data and initiate a full-scale
investigation with subsequent subpoena power.
With subpoena power, government agents can testify (some kept anonymous
in this manuscript) who would otherwise lose their jobs and retirement
if they came forward. Witnesses can be protected and/or provided
immunity, and financial transactions of government and underworld
figures can be scrutinized.
To date, I have not had more than one hour conversation with anyone
associated with any Congressional investigation, and therefore am
extremely limited in my ability to present the information I have. Much
of what I learned during my five-year investigation cannot at this point
be inserted into a manuscript. I must be assured the information and
witnesses will be handled appropriately.
I personally do not believe the Department of Justice will ultimately
"prosecute" this or any other drug trafficking case if it involves
government officials. But I have made the effort to put forth enough
information to generate interest and show good faith. I hope it will be
of some value to the American public.
Please keep in mind as you read the attached pages that the complex
corporate structures and technological projects described herein "may"
have been nothing more than an elaborate smoke and mirrors cover for
narcotics trafficking.
This aspect of my investigation was corroborated by several government
investigators, one of whom was a House Judiciary investigator, who spent
three years investigating the Inslaw stolen software case and said in
"There's some great information here. You did a very good investigative
job, I have to commend you on that. I realize it's only a fraction of
everything you have. What you have done, you have put the pieces of the
whole thing together. Little bits and pieces of things that I have known
about, that I had theorized about, you have found answers to those
specific questions." (See Chapter 13 for entire conversation). That
investigator is now in the White House Office of Drug Control Policy.
To those interested, nearly everything noted in the attached manuscript
is supported by documents or tape recorded interviews. Some are
extremely bulky and not quoted extensively in the manuscript, such as
lengthy FBI wire tap summaries.
I wish to thank Garby Leon, formerly Director of Development at Joel
Silver Productions, Warner Bros. in Burbank, California for tirelessly
prompting me to get a first draft of The Last Circle written in 1994 and
helping me with countless tasks during our joint investigation of the
death of Danny Casolaro.
T H E L A S T C I R C L E
Copyright 1994 - All Rights Reserved
By Carol Marshall
This is a FIRST DRAFT, bare-bones, unpolished manuscript without prose,
characterizations etc.
CHAPTER 1
For the deputies of the Mariposa Sheriff's Department, the awakening
occurred on June 24, 1980, when deputy Ron Van Meter drowned in an
alleged boating accident on Lake McClure. The search party consisted
mainly of three divers, deputies Dave Beavers, Rod Cusic and Gary Estep.
Although adjacent counties offered additional divers, sheriff Paul Paige
refused outside help, even a minisubmarine offered by Beavers' associate.
In the shallow, placid waters of Lake McClure, Van Meter's body was not
recovered that week, and indeed would not be found until ten years
later, in September, 1990 when his torso, wrapped in a fish net and
weighted down by various objects, including a fire extinguisher, washed
ashore a few hundred yards from where Sergeant Roderick Sinclair's
houseboat had once been moored.
Van Meter's widow, Leslie, had been at home baking cookies when she was
notified of her husband's disappearance. She was an Indian girl who had
no affinity with sheriff Paul Paige. The horror began for her that day
also. Her home was ransacked and her husband's briefcase and diary were
seized by the Mariposa Sheriff's department. Only she and a few deputies
knew what Van Meter's diary contained. He'd told his wife he'd taken out
a special life insurance policy two weeks before, but after the search
that was missing also.
Leslie was taken to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation shortly after
the incident.The story surfaced years later, one tiny bubble at a time.
The selfinvolved little community of Mariposa did not cough up its
secrets gladly. On March 23, 1984, Leslie Van Meter filed a Citizen's
Complaint with the Mariposa County Sheriff's department alleging that
the Sheriff's office had been negligent and unprofessional in their
investigation of her husband's disappearance. His body had still not
been found, despite private searches by Sergeant Beavers and other
friends of the missing deputy. She wanted the case reopened.
Paul Paige was no longer sheriff, but newly elected Sheriff Ken Mattheys
responded by reopening the investigation. Investigator Raymond Jenkins,
a Merced College Police Chief, and retired FBI agent Tom Walsh from
Merced, were notified by Sheriff Mattheys in October, 1984 that the Van
Meter case had been reopened and he wanted their help in cleaning up the
Sheriff's Department.
Their investigation led them straight to the doorstep of MCA Corporation
(Music Corporation of America), parent company to Curry Company, the
largest concessionaire in Yosemite National Park. A major drug network
had surfaced in the park, compelling one park ranger, Paul Berkowitz, to
go before the House Interior Subcommittee on National Parks and
Recreation to testify about drug distribution by Curry Company officials.
Ed Hardy, the president of Curry Company, was closely associated with
Mariposa County officials, in particular, Mariposa District Attorney
Bruce Eckerson, County Assessor Steve Dunbar, and Congressman Tony
Coelho, whose district encompassed Mariposa and the Park. The annual
camping trips that the three men took together was encouraged by the
local townsfolk because most of Mariposa's tax base emanated from Curry
Company.Coelho and Hardy were regular fixtures around town, seen at most
of the social events. Coelho even cooked and served spaghetti dinners
for the whole town annually at the Mariposa Fair Grounds, and purchased
property in partnership with one member of the Mariposa Board of
Supervisors. In fact, Mariposa was one of the first places he bid
farewell to after resigning from Congress to avoid an investigation of
his finances.
Meanwhile, investigator Raymond Jenkins had followed the drug trail from
Yosemite back to the Mariposa airport, where sheriff's deputies were
seen regularly loading and unloading packages from planes in the dead of
night.
One Indian girl complained bitterly about deputies using the Sara Priest
land allottment (reservation) to grow marijuana and operate
methamphetamine labs. Jenkins, by now retired from the position of
Police Chief of Merced College, was called in to interview the Indian
girl. That same day, as a favor, he provided me with copies of his
notes. I followed up with a tape recorded interview at her home in Bear
valley. Her father and uncle operated a small auto dismantling business
on the reservation in Midpines, and after locating them and gaining
their confidence, the uncle drove me out to Whiskey Flats, the site of
the marijuana and methamphetamine lab operations. That week I rented a
horse and rode down into the rocky, isolated valley of Whiskey Flats.
Brush and shrubbery tore at the saddle on the horse and at the end of
the dirt path I encountered three snarling Rottweiler dogs who put the
horse into a frenzied lather.
Nevertheless, I managed to photograph the irrigation system, artesian
spring and pond from which the water was supplied as well as various
points of identification for future reconnaisance. I later returned in a
fourwheel drive pickup truck and managed to view the trailer and lab shack.
The tape recorded interview with the Indian girl, the photos and notes
from my discovery were provided to the Stanislaus County Drug Task
Force, but jurisdictionally, they couldn't enter Mariposa County without
authority of the Mariposa Sheriff's department. It was a catch 22
situation. Ultimately I provided the same information anonymously to
several related agencies. It was not until 1993 that the fields were
eradicated, and 1994, before the labs were raided. However, no arrests
of any deputies were ever forthcoming. In fact, no arrests occurred at
all, except for a few nonEnglish speaking Mexican nationals who had
handled the "cooking." The head of the Los Angeles Drug Enforcement
Agency noted to a local newspaper that the meth lab was part of a large
California drug network, but they were unable to identify the kingpins.
On July 6, 1985, Mrs. Van Meter filed a "Request for Official Inquiry"
with the State of California Department of Boating and Waterways stating
that no satisfactory investigation was ever conducted into the matter of
her husband's disappearance.
That same month, shortly after a meeting at Lake McClure with Mrs. Van
Meter, Sheriff Mattheys mysteriously resigned from his position at the
Mariposa Sheriff's Department. Mattheys revealed to reporter Anthony
Pirushki that he had been ordered by two county supervisors and the
county's attorney "to stay away from the Van Meter investigation." But
that was not the reason he resigned. The whole story would not surface
until seven years later when a reporter for the Mariposa Guide
interviewed him.
However, while still in office, Mattheys and his internal affairs
investigators had learned the reason for Van Meter's disappearance. A
few weeks prior to his death in 1980, Van Meter had driven to the
Attorney General's office in Sacramento and reported drug dealing and
other types of corruption within the Mariposa Sheriff's Department.
This, according to his friends whom he had confided in, deputies Dave
Beavers, a fifteen year veteran of the sheriff's department, and Rod
Cusic, a seventeen year veteran. Both deputies were ultimately forced
out of the department and retired on stress leave.
On that same day, reserve deputy Lucky Jordan had driven to the Fresno
office of the FBI to report similar information. According to Jordan,
they had split up and reported to separate agencies in the event
"something" happened to one of them.The crux of the story was State
Attorney General Van De Kamp's response to the requested investigaion by
Ron Van Meter. When Ron returned home from Sacramento, he was confronted
by Sheriff Paige. Paige had received a call from the Attorney General
informing him of the visit and its contents, and the sheriff was livid
about Van Meter's betrayal.Van Meter had been photographing and
journalizing drug activity by deputies at Lake McClure. He was part of a
California State Abatement Program which involved harvesting and
eradicating marijuana fields in Yosemite National Park and adjacent
counties. Instead, the harvested marijuana was being stored in abandoned
cars and towed out of town by a local wrecker under contract with the
sheriff's department. It was also being distributed at a hidden cove at
Lake McClure.
On June 24, 1980, frustrated and angry at the Attorney General for
betraying him, Van Meter had borrowed a boat and was on his way to
arrest the deputies at Lake McClure himself. He never returned. The
investigation of Van Meter's "accident" was initially handled by
Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, who could not have known on that fateful day
that in exactly three years, three months, and nineteen days, he would
enter the Twilight Zone where his own private hell awaited him.
******
The first substantial hint that a tentacle of the Octopus had slithered
into Mariposa County occurred on March 5, 1983 when a Mariposa County
Sheriff's vehicle scouting Queen Elizabeth II's motorcade route rounded
a curve in the Yosemite National Park foothills, crossed a highway and
collided headon with a Secret Service car, killing three Secret Service
agents. CHP (California Highway Patrol) Assistant Chief Richard Hanna
reported that the collision occurred at 10:50 a.m. between Coulterville
and La Grange on Highway 132 about 25 minutes ahead of Queen Elizabeth's
motorcade.CHP Sergeant Bob Schilly reported that Mariposa County
Sheriff's Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, 43, was driving with his partner,
Deputy Rod McKean, 51, when "for some reason, [he didn't] know why,"
Sinclair crossed the center line and hit the second of the three Secret
Service cars, which went tumbling down a 10foot embankment.
The three Secret Service agents killed in the collision were identified
as George P. LaBarge, 41, Donald Robinson, 38, and Donald A. Bejcek, 29.
Sinclair, who had sustained broken ribs and a fractured knee, was first
stabilized at Fremont Hospital in Mariposa, then transported several
days later to Modesto Memorial Hospital.
Years later, several nurses who had been present when Sinclair was
brought into Fremont Hospital confided that Sinclair had been drugged on
the day of "the Queen's accident" as it became known in Mariposa. For
months Sinclair had been receiving huge daily shots of Demerol, "enough
to kill most men," according to one billing clerk. Some former deputies
who had feared punitive measures if they spoke up, later corroborated
the story of the nurses.
Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney James White in Fresno ordered Dr.
Arthur Dahlem's files seized to prove Sinclair's drug addiction.
Sinclair's Mariposa doctor and close friend had been prescribing heavy
sedatives to him for years. When White attempted to prosecute Sinclair
for criminal negligence, he was called into chambers during the federal
probe and told by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Coyle to "drop the
criminal investigation" because Sinclair's drug problem was not relevant
to the prosecution and the drug records could not be used in court.
Judge Coyle's reasoning was that no blood tests had been taken on
Sinclair at the Fremont Hospital on the day of the accident, therefore
no case could be made against him.
In fact, the blood tests HAD been taken, but later disappeared.A
significant piece of information relative to Judge Coyle's background
was passed to me during my investigation of the Queen's accident by
retired FBI agent Thomas Walsh. Allegedly, the Judge was once the
attorney of record for Curry Company (owned by MCA Corporation) in
Yosemite National Park. I later learned, in 1992, that Robert Booth
Nichols had strong ties to MCA Corporation through Eugene Giaquinto,
president of MCA Corporation Home Entertainment Division. Giaquinto had
been on the Board of Directors of Nichols' corporation, MIL, Inc.
(Meridian International Logistics, Inc.) and also held 10,000 shares of
stock in the holding corporation. MIL, Inc. was later investigated by
the Los Angeles FBI for allegedly passing classified secrets to overseas
affiliates in Japan and Australia. It is interesting to note, though
unrelated, that shortly afterward, the Japanese purchased MCA
Corporation, one of the largest corporate purchases to take place in
American history.
Relative to the Queens accident, in the civil trial that followed the
tragic accident, Judge Coyle ruled that both Sinclair and the deceased
Secret Service agents were at fault. Mariposa County was ordered to pay
70 percent of the claim filed by the widows, and the Secret Service to
pay 30 percent. The county's insurance company paid the claim, and
ironically, Sinclair was subsequently promoted to Commander of the
Mariposa Sheriff's Department where he is still employed as of this
writing.
In an interview on March 7, 1988, at Yoshino's Restaurant in Fresno,
former U.S. Attorney James White recalled that the original CHP report
on the Queens accident was sent to the State Attorney General's office
(Van De Kamp) in Sacramento. The report was first received by Arnold
Overoye, who agreed with White that Sinclair should be prosecuted. But
when the report crossed Van De Kamp's desk, he told Overoye and his
assistant to discard it trash it.
Van De Kamp then appointed Bruce Eckerson, the Mariposa County District
Attorney, to take charge of the investigation and submit a new report.
Coincidentally, Bruce Eckerson's disclosure statements on file at the
Mariposa County Courthouse indicated that he owned stock in MCA
Entertainment Corporation. White added that ALL of the crack M.A.I.T.S.
team CHP officers involved in the original investigation either resigned
or were transferred (or fired) afterward. The CHP Commander and the
Deputy Commander who supervised the M.A.I.T.S. investigation also
resigned as did Assistant U.S. Attorney White himself after the coverup
took place.
However, White noted that before he resigned, he quietly filed with
Stephan LaPalm of the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento the
transcripts of the trial and an affidavit which listed the
"hallucinatory" drugs Sinclair had used prior to the accident. I
privately continued with the Queen's accident investigation,
interviewing deputies Dave Beavers and Rod Cusic who had been privy to
Sinclair's drugged condition on the day of the accident.
Beavers, who was the first deputy to arrive on the scene, maintained
four years later, in 1987, that he was cognizant of Sinclair's
condition, but when he was questioned by James White he was NOT ASKED
about the drugs. (James White had by then been ordered to drop the
criminal investigation and stay away from the drug aspect of the case).
In January 1988, deputy Rod Cusic strode into the offices of the
Mariposa Guide, a competitor newspaper to the Mariposa Gazette, and
stated that he was "told by Rod Sinclair to lie to a Grand Jury" about
Sinclair's drug addiction and the resulting Queen's accident. Cusic
added that he officially disclosed this to the Fresno FBI on April 26,
1984 and again on October 9, 1987. In 1987, Cusic also noted that he
witnessed a boobytrapped incendiary device explode at Rod Sinclair's
home during a visit to his residence. Additionally, earlier on, Sinclair
allegedly barricaded himself inside his home and boobytrapped the
property, as witnessed by numerous deputies who tried to persuade him to
come out.
While reviewing old newspaper clippings from the Mariposa Gazette, I
discovered an odd sidebar to the story. In December, 1984, during the
Queen's accident civil trial in Fresno, U.S. Attorney James White had
introduced testimony that Sinclair's vehicle contained "a myriad of
automatic weapons including a boobytrapped bomb" when the collision
occurred on March 5, 1983. It was not until 1991 that I discovered the
depth of the coverup.
A CBS television executive and a Secret Service agent who had ridden in
the third car of the Queen's motorcade in 1983, arrived in Mariposa to
enlist my help in putting the pieces of the puzzle together on the
Queen's accident. The Secret Service agent's best friend had been the
driver of the car in which all three agents were killed. I signed a
contract with the television executive for the sale of the story then
drove them to the site of the accident, then to the site of where the
damaged vehicle was stored near Lake McClure. The Secret Service agent
broke down at the sight of the vehicle, remembering the gruesome
appearance of his dead friend in the front seat. He turned, tears
welling in his eyes, and said, "His heart burst right through his chest
and was laying in his lap when I found him."
Dave Beavers joined us the next day. As did former sheriff Ken Mattheys.
Beavers did not know that the same Secret Service agent whom he was
sitting with in the car was the man who had tried to pull Sinclair out
of the sheriff's vehicle on the day of the accident. There had been a
scuffle, Beavers insisting that Sinclair go to the hospital with "his
own people," and the Secret Service ultimately conceding.The Secret
Service agent reflected sadly that they didn't know to ask the hospital
for blood tests on Sinclair that day, didn't know of his drug addiction.
By the time the case went to court, the records at the hospital were gone.
Two weeks after the agent left Mariposa, I received a packet containing
copies of Sinclair's drug records for three years prior to the accident.
They were the same records that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Coyle
had disallowed in the Queen's accident trial. But it was not until
producer Don Thrasher, a tenyear veteran of ABC News "20/20," came to
town, that I learned of Sinclair's background, or the extent of his
addiction.
By chance, at a book signing engagement at B. Dalton Bookstore, I had
mentioned to the manager, Shaula Brent, that my next book contained
information about the Queens accident.Surprised, Shaula blurted out that
she had worked at Fremont Hospital when Sinclair was brought in from the
accident. Shaula recounted the following: Rod Sinclair was brought into
Fremont Hospital and placed in a room with an armed "FBI" agent outside
the door. Sinclair had been receiving huge shots of Demerol in the arm
every day prior to the accident, by order of Dr. Arthur Dahlem. Shaula
noted that Sinclair was a big man and the amount of Demerol he had been
receiving would have killed most men. After the Queen's accident, all
drugs were withdrawn from Sinclair, and employees, including Shaula,
could hear him raving aloud for days from his hospital room. The
employees at the hospital were instructed not to speak about or repeat
what took place at the hospital while Sinclair was there.
Because Shaula and her friend, Barbara Locke, who also worked at the
hospital, were suspicious about Sinclair's hospital records, they
secretly took photostats of the records "before they were destroyed by
the hospital." Blood HAD been drawn on Sinclair on the day of the
Queen's accident, and he HAD been under the influence, according to
Shaula. Shaula gave the names of six nurses who were witness to
Sinclair's condition at the time he was brought into Fremont Hospital.
When his body was finally drugfree, Sinclair was transported, against
his wishes, to Modesto Hospital.
******
In January, 1992, the final pieces to the puzzle fell into place.
Sinclair's background had been the key all along. Producer Don Thrasher
had interviewed the Secret Service agent and, although the information
he obtained would not be used in his production, he advised me to follow
up. The Secret Service corraborated the following profile: Sinclair's
father had been a military attache to General Douglas MacArthur during
World War II. (I had privately mused how many of MacArthur's men later
became arms of the Octopus). In Japan, after the war, Colonel Sinclair
(sr.) supervised the training of selected Japanese in intelligence
gathering operations.
According to the Secret Service, he was an "international figure,"
highly regarded in the intelligence community. Rod Sinclair, Jr.
attended school in Japan during this time. He later reportedly worked in
the Army C.I.D. in a nonmilitary or civilian capacity, allegedly
receiving training at Fort Liggett in San Luis Obispo, a training center
for military intelligence operations.
Could it have been possible for Colonel Sinclair, Sr. to have called
upon old friends in high places to rescue his son, Rod, from the Queen's
accident investigation? Did the Octopus have enough power to alter an
investigation of the death of three Secret Service agents? According to
the Secret Service agent in Los Angeles, it did. And he intended to tell
the story after he retired.
CHAPTER 2
By this time three consecutive grand jury foreman's had sought help from
the Attorney General, to no avail. It came to pass that one of the
deputies, Dave Beavers, was having trouble obtaining his "stress leave"
pay and hired a Jackson, California lawyer to represent him in the case.
The lawyer, Ben Wagner, not only interviewed Beavers, but began
interviewing other deputies who corroborated Beavers' story. Most of
them, thirteen in all, had at one time or another testified before the
grand jury and subsequently been forced out of the department.
Interestingly, none of the deputies knew "why" the others had been been
placed on stress leave or resigned until Wagner finally assembled them
together and the story was aired.
At that point some of the former grand jury members were called in to
confirm the testimony of the individual deputies. Most refused to speak
up, but a few corroborated the deputies' story. Ultimately, after
numerous meetings, the group of deputies and grand jurors formed and
later incorporated an organization they called D.I.G. (Decency in
Government).
By now, Wagner was carrying a gun inside and out of Mariposa for the
first time in his life and writing letters to the Attorney General, the
FBI, and even President Ronald Reagan. One response was forthcoming,
from a special agent at the Fresno Department of Justice, Division of
Law Enforcement.This agent listened to Kay Ritter, a former grand jury
foreman and several deputies after reviewing Wagner's evidence.
Wagner was contemplating a huge civil rights lawsuit against the county
of Mariposa, but it was imperative that he first understand "why" the
attorney general refused to help these people.When the special agent
drove to Sacramento and reviewed the files within the attorney general's
office emanating from Mariposa, and talked to some of the office staff
there, he learned that everything pertaining to Mariposa was
automatically "trashed" when it crossed the A/G's desk.
Disgusted, the agent called Ben Wagner and told him "Go ahead with the
lawsuit." He had no idea why all the grand jury documents had been
trashed, but he was convinced no help would be forthcoming from the
attorney general's office.
On November 20, 1987, Wagner filed with the U.S. District Court in
Fresno the first of two lawsuits, later revealed in a Sacramento
newspaper to be the largest civil rights lawsuits ever recorded in
California history. Newspaper reporters and television crews flocked to
Wagner for interviews. In one instance, Wagner, former Sergeant Dave
Beavers and others stood in front of the Fresno FBI building while being
interviewed by Channel 3 Sacramento News.
On camera, without hesitation, Beavers recalled observing deputies
carrying packages of drugs from the Gold Coin Saloon, a notorious drug
hangout, and placing the packages in the trunk of their patrol car. A
subsequent raid indicated the drugs had been stored by the owner in a
historic underground tunnel once used by the infamous bandit, Juaquin
Murietta, to escape the sheriff's posse.
Meanwhile, on February 10, 1988, attorney Wagner filed at the U.S.
District Court in Sacramento a Writ of Mandamus against John Van De
Camp, the State Attorney General; George Vinson, regional director of
the Fresno FBI; George Deukemejian, then Governor of California, and
David F. Levi, United States Attorney for refusing to investigate
corruption in Mariposa County.
The citizens of Mariposa were choosing sides, writing letters to the
editor, arguing amongst themselves, and being interviewed on the
sidewalks by news media. D.I.G. was the talk of the town. On February
17, 1988, Capitol News Service in Sacramento ran a story entitled, "Law
& Order Failing on Hill County," by Jerry Goldberg. The article noted
that Capitol News Service had had discussions with several Attorney
General staff members who "stonewalled questions about any investigation
of charges or direct answers on the willingness of Van de Kamp to meet
with the citizen's group [D.I.G.]."
Goldberg mentioned the "Queen's accident" in his article: "The Fresno
case charges destruction of records on individuals [Commander Rod
Sinclair] involved in the case. This includes possible information about
the fatal accident which occurred in the area [of Mariposa County] when
an escort vehicle involved in the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 1983
[crashed.]"
Goldberg went on to note that "several people had received threats about
dangerous things happening to them if they continued to stand up to the
sheriff and district attorney." A San Joaquin County official, who asked
not to be named, told Goldberg that a key element to the problems in
Mariposa County "related to the fatal accident which occurred to Queen
Elizabeth's escort vehicle."
On February 19, 1988, Ben Wagner's wife, a legal secretary, sent a
letter to President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The Wagners did
not live in Mariposa County, indeed, lived far away in Jackson County,
unfettered by corruption, yet they saw fit to take it upon themselves to
write for help. That emotionally gripping letter was headed, "Restoring
"Dear President Reagan: I am writing to you not only as the wife of an
attorney, but as a citizen of the United States. My initial concern is
that you personally receive this letter and enclosures, as many
residents of Mariposa County have literally placed their lives, and the
lives of their families in jeopardy by coming forth to expose the local
government corruption detailed herein.I understand that your time is at
a premium, however, your immediate attention regarding these matters is
of the utmost importance, and respectfully requested.
"In August, 1987, our office was approached by several exdeputies and
individuals from Mariposa County requesting assistance in redressing
unlawful and corrupt activities by officials and departments within
their local government, and failure on the part of the State Attorney
General John Van De Kamp, the Office of the Attorney General, and our
Federal agencies, to investigate these alleged activities.
"What we found through our initial investigations and accumulation of
evidence into these allegations was appalling. It took us time to
realize that in fact, the Constitution of the United States had been
suspended in this county.
"The organization, Decency in Government [D.I.G.], was formed, and on
November 20, 1987, the first multimillion dollar Civil Rights suit was
filed in Fresno. We felt media coverage would lay a solid ground of
personal safety for other complaintants to come forth. This coverage
proved to be successful, and on February 11, 1988, the second Civil
Rights suit was filed, along with the filing of a Writ of Mandamus in
Sacramento.
"I have enclosed copies of these suits, including several newspaper
articles regarding the situation. Since 1979, many residents, including
individuals, sheriff's deputies, groups, organizations, members of Grand
Juries and Grand Juries have taken their complaints to the Office of the
Attorney General, State Attorney General John Van De Kamp and Federal
authorities for investigation.
"These agencies have continuously and blatantly failed to redress the
grievances of these citizens. What appears to be a consistent procedure
of one Arnold O. Overoye, of the State Attorney General's Office, is to
refer the complaints directly back to the local agencies to whom the
complaints were made.
"Over the years, this has perpetrated threats, intimidation and fear by
these local officials to the complaining individuals. There has also
been questions regarding the disappearance of citizens possessing
incriminating evidence, and the incompletion or failure to investigate
`homicides' and `suicides'.
"Further, it has recently come to our attention, that Mr. Overoye's
`procedure,' and the inaction of State Attorney John Van De Camp and
Federal agencies is not limited to Mariposa County, but in fact, expands
to a number of foothill counties who are experiencing the same types of
local corruption.
"The grievances of these citizens, as you will note in paragraph IV of
the WRIT are: (1) Violation of Individual Civil Rights (2) Abuse of
discretion in the prosecution of criminal complaints (3) Intentional
obstruction of the due course of Justice (4) Malicious prosecution (5)
Bribery (6) Intimidation of Grand Jury members and witnesses (7) The
deprivation of property (8) Illegal and unlawful land transaction (9)
The failure to arrest and prosecute those involved in illegal drug
sales, including individuals employed by the County of Mariposa (10)
Violation of Property Rights (11) Conspiracy to impede and obstruct
criminal investigations (12) Homicide (13) Attempted homicide (14) Rape
(15) Battery (16) Perjury.
"Why Mr. President, are we bound to the laws of this country, and our
officials are not? Life in Mariposa is as if the citizens were being
held in detention, and the local agencies, the criminals, were running
the county.
"Needless to say, residents feel it is a way of life to literally arm
themselves and their homes against their government! I have been in
these people's homes, and have witnessed the arsenal of weapons they
feel they must possess to protect themselves and their families.
"My husband must travel in, around and out of this county [Mariposa]
with an armed escort. He is transported during `the midnight hours' to
interview Plaintiffs and witnesses.
"I ask you, Mr. President, what country are we living in? We should
certainly make sure that our backyard is clean before we boast to the
Soviets regarding the Civil Rights of Americans.
"On January 19, 1988, my husband took two witnesses, Kay Ritter, a
former Mariposa Grand Jury Forewoman and Robert Ashmore, an exdeputy, to
Mr. [George] Vinson, the Regional Director of the FBI in Fresno. The
testimony, both oral and documentary, took approximately 3 hours to
present. To this date, the FBI has failed to redress the grievances of
these complaintants, and Mr. Vinson did not even have the courtesy to
return my husband's phone calls. It came to our understanding, through a
reliable source, that Mr. Vinson felt the complaints had `no substance.'
"Mr. President, my husband has been a trial attorney for 14 years. He
certainly wouldn't waste his time or expertise, or the time of these
witnesses, if he felt there was `no substance' to the contents of their
testimony.However, this attitude by Attorney General Van De Camp, his
office, and Federal agencies is typical and consistent.
"Shortly after this incident, a major drug dealer contacted our office
with valuable information detailing the sale of illegal drugs to county
officials, and wanted information regarding the Federal Witness Program.
Mr. Vinson, knowing this by telephone messages, again failed to return
my husband's inquiries.
"There is evidence by another credible witness, who was informed by the
FBI, that should they get involved now, it would be `bad publicity,' and
`they have let the problems in Mariposa get too far out of hand.'
"You may wonder why my husband and I became dedicated to the citizens of
this county. We certainly don't foresee large amounts of money at the
end of this case. Our investment in time and expenditures exceeds
$40,000 to date.What we do see are people, just like you and I, who have
been suppressed by their own `elected ' officials, with no help or
assistance from Attorney General Van De Kamp, his office, or Federal
agencies. If someone doesn't help them, they will continue to live under
these conditions, which I could never imagine would exist in America.
"My husband is not a righteous individual, nor is he perfect. None of us
are you know. He also doesn't believe that he can solve the problems of
the world. However, being an attorney, he is an officer of the Court,
and he feels a professional obligation to uphold the laws of the State,
and to maintain the freedom of the citizens of this country.
"This is, however, more than I can say about a number of
`representatives' and officials, who have failed to perform their
appointed duties of their office, and are paid by the taxpayers.Through
my involvement in this case, I have found, to my repulsion, that my
lifelong conception of our government's representation of the `people,'
its vested authority and ability to uphold Civil Rights, and its duty to
maintain the laws and the Constitution, has been only an shattering
illusion.
"Our system has failed, Mr. President. And by its failure, has crushed
and destroyed the lives of many innocent, lawabiding people. Why? There
is an answer. And we will utilize every legal avenue to find it. We will
not be discouraged, or give up in our effort to restore the Constitution
of the United States in Mariposa County, and other foothill communities.
We will continue until the answer is found. Even if it means presenting
the problem to you, Mr. President, on the steps of the White House.
"Our best regards to Mrs. Reagan. Respectfully yours, Vivian L. Wagner."
******
Shortly before Ben Wagner's first scheduled appearance in U.S. District
Court in Fresno on behalf of D.I.G. (Decency in Government), Wagner
received an obscure response from "Chuck" at the Reagan White House.
Wagner excitedly called Kay Ritter and Dave Beavers, myself and a few
others to note that a meeting with "Chuck" was scheduled that week. It
was to be a somewhat secret meeting as requested by the White House.
However, the day after meeting with "Chuck," Wagner unplugged his phone
and walked out on his law practice and his home in Jackson, California,
taking nothing with him except his clothes and his wife, never to be
seen again. I was later told that Jerry Goldberg of Capitol News Service
did the same, on the same day, and I was never able to locate either of
them again.
CHAPTER 3
The last remnants of the D.I.G. group were beginning to call themselves
"The Loser's Club," resembling forlorn characters out of a Stephen King
novel. They had squared off against a labyrnthine evil so
incomprehensible, they didn't know what they were fighting. It was time
to bring in some outside help.
During a strategy meeting in Jackson, California, Ben Wagner had
received an impressive 700 page report commissioned by the Tulare City
Council. The report, compiled by Ted Gunderson, a former Los Angeles FBI
agent, was indepth and straightforward about deputies receiving payoffs
and distributing drugs in the small farmtown of Tulare. Wagner had given
me a copy for my files.
On an impulse, I picked up the phone and called Gunderson's telephone
number listed at the top of the attached resume. The resume was
impressive. He'd worked as SAC (Senior Special Agent in Charge) at Los
Angeles FBI headquarters, Washington D.C. headquarters and in Dallas,
Texas. It would be two years before I would grasp the significance of
the Dallas connection. After retiring from the FBI, he'd worked for F.
Lee Baily, Esq., then formed his own investigative agency in Los Angeles
county.
I left a message with the answering service and he returned the call a
few days later. His voice was open, attentive, devoid of the
bureaucratic hollowness I had come to expect from FBI agents. We talked
briefly, mostly about the problem DIG was experiencing in Mariposa. I
said I needed help, anticipating his next question. But none came forth.
Instead, a clipped knowingness entered his tone, as if nothing more
should be said on the phone. He agreed to meet with me at his home a few
weeks later and we hung up.
Unknown to me at the time, I had taken a quantum leap in the direction
of the Octopus when I contacted Ted Gunderson. The mystery of the
Mariposa coverups would soon be divulged through an associate of his, a
former member of "The Company" in nearby Fresno, California.
******
On November 30, 1991, Ted Gunderson opened the door at his Manhattan
Beach home and ushered us into a small living room cluttered with toys.
He made no explanation for the toys scattered around the floor and the
couch, but offered coffee and donuts, then proceeded to eat most of the
donuts himself. I had expected someone dripping with intrigue, instead
he was classic in the sense of an investigator; rumpled shirt and
slacks, nervous movements, distracted behavior. We sat on the couch
bunched together amongst the toys. Gunderson pulled a kitchen chair up
in front of us, leaned over and began stuffing his mouth with cheese and
crackers, all the while talking, his body in perpetual motion. He was a
big, handsome man with an aging face and tossled silver hair. He seemed
entirely unaware of his appearance or the appearnce of his home, but his
pale eyes were intelligent and probing. Intuitively, I knew he was more
than he appeared to be.
A young woman, perhaps early thirties, entered the room brushing long
blond hair, still wet from the shower. Her faded jeans and sundrenched
appearance reminded me of friends I'd known growing up in Newport Beach.
Gunderson introduced her as his "partner," as she seated herself
silently on the floor next to him. The flush on her face brought a
fleeting prescience to me that they had been making love shortly before
the meeting.
Ray Jenkins recounted the Mariposa story for several hours, with the
rest of us digressing to insert a fact here or there. The investigation
had led beyond Mariposa into MCA Corporation, and various State and
Federal levels of government. I noted that Danny Casolaro's research had
started at the eastern end, in Washington D.C., yet he had been
preparing to travel to California for the rest of the story, before his
death three months earlier.
Gunderson listened carefully, occasionally interrupting to ask
questions, then motioned us to follow him to the backyard. There we
stood in a circle in the middle of his yard while he surveyed the area.
Satisfied that he was not being watched, he agreed to come to Mariposa,
with media, and perform a citizens arrest on the corrupt officials. He
pulled a frazzled piece of paper from his pocket and gave me a list of
telephone numbers to write down. They were numbers to telephone booths
at various locations in the vicinity of his home. Each booth had been
coded 1,2,3,4, or 5. He instructed that the next time I called him, he
would give me the code number of the booth and a time to call. I would
then call him at the designated booth.
Eight hours later, I handed him a copy of my first book, as a courtesy,
then left Manhattan Beach loaded with newspaper clippings and documents,
mostly relating to Casolaro's investigation of the Octopus. One packet
was titled, "The Wonderful Weapons of Wackenhut," others related to the
Inslaw affair, Iran/Contra and various savings and loan scandals.
In the van, reviewing the documents, I wondered what relationship they
had to Mariposa County and why I was given the packet. The documents
were far ranging, beyond anything I had heretofore imagined. But within
days of my visit to Gunderson, I would be introduced to the Octopus.
******
The following morning, at 7:30 a.m., I received a collect call from a
man who identified himself as Michael Riconosciuto (pronounced
Riconoshooto). Riconosciuto, calling from the Pierce County jail in
Tacoma, Washington, said he had been informed by Gunderson that I was
investigating a corruption/drug ring in Mariposa County. For 45 minutes
Riconosciuto related the names of those in charge of methamphetamine
operations in Mariposa, Madera and Fresno counties.
A ton of methamphetamine had been seized in the area of my
investigations, according to Riconosciuto. Richard Knozzi was a high
level "cooker" and Jim DeSilva, Ben Kalka, and others were medium level
distributors or lieutenants. Kalka was currently serving time in a
Pleasanton prison; 900 pounds of methamphetamine had been seized under
his control.
"Who's behind this ring?" I asked. Riconosciuto paused for a moment,
then took a deep breath. "It's The Company. Arms get shipped to the
Contras, the Afghanistan rebels [Mujahaden], the Middle East. You know,
to fight the Soviet influence. But the Contras and the Mujahaden don't
have money to pay for arms, so they pay with drugs, cocaine or heroin.
The Company handles the drug end of it in the U.S ..."
"What's The Company ...?," I asked. Riconosciuto interrupted, "Wait a
minute. It's a long story. You have to start at the beginning."
Concerned that Riconosciuto might have to hang up, I hurriedly pushed
for answers. "Arms for drugs, do you have proof?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a selfsupporting system, they don't have to go through
Congress ..."
"Michael," I pressed, "who ships the arms?" Riconosciuto quieted for a
moment, gathering his thoughts. "Let's start with Wackenhut. I didn't
play ball with Wackenhut so they poisoned the well for me. I'm in jail
because I worked for Wackenhut. The government has put together a very
simple drug case against me ... as if that's what I'm about, just a
druggie."
"Tell me about Wackenhut."
"It's a security corporation headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.
Wackenhut provides security for the Nevada nuclear test site, the
Alaskan pipeline, Lawrence Livermore Labs, you know, all the high
security government facilities in the U.S. They have about fifty
thousand armed security guards that work for minimum wage or slightly
above.
"On the other hand, on the Wackenhut board of directors, they have all
the former heads of every government agency there ever was under Ronald
Reagan and George Bush; FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, etc.
"You know, they've got retired Admiral Stansfield Turner, a former CIA
director; Clarence Kelley, former FBI director; Frank Carlucci, former
CIA deputy director; James Rowley, former Secret Service director;
Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, former acting chairman of President Bush's
foreign intelligence advisory board and former CIA deputy director.
Before his appointment as Reagan's CIA director, the late William Casey
was Wackenhut's outside legal counsel ..."
I interrupted him, wanting to know where HE fit into the picture?
"Well, I served as Director of Research for the Wackenhut facility at
the Cabazon Indian reservation in Indio, California. In 198384 I
modified the PROMISE computer software to be used in law enforcement and
intelligence agencies worldwide. A man named Earl Brian was spearheading
a plan for worldwide use of the software, but essentially, the modified
software was being pirated from the owners, Bill and Nancy Hamilton."
I asked, "So how did that cause your arrest?" Michael was articulate,
but his story was becoming complicated. He continued. "I signed an
affidavit for the Hamiltons stating that I had been responsible for the
modification. The House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw was investigating
the theft of the software and I was afraid I would be implicated since I
had performed the modification. Nine days later, in an attempt to
discredit my testimony, I was arrested for allegedly operating a drug lab."
I didn't want to push Riconosciuto on the subject of a drug lab at that
point, but voiced my foremost concern. "Will the House Judiciary
Committee be bringing you in to testify?"
"Eventually, yes."
"Are you in any danger where you are right now?" I was unaware at the
time that Riconosciuto had been recruited at Stanford University into
the CIA nearly twenty years earlier, and danger was a matter of fact in
his life.
"Oh, you bet! Several of the jail guards here moonlight for Wackenhut
here in Tacoma." Riconosciuto went on to discuss the Wackenhut setup.
"Basically, what you have is a group of politically well connected
people through Wackenhut who wanted to get juicy defense contracts when
Ronald Reagan got elected president. And they did! They also preyed on
high tech start up companies, many of them out of Silicon Valley in
California.
"They saw technology that they wanted and they either forced the
companies into bankruptcy or waited on the sidelines, like vultures, and
picked them up for pennies after they were bankrupt."
I made profuse notes as Riconosciuto spoke, not knowing where he was
leading, but assuming his narrative would eventually intersect with my
investigation of government sanctioned drug operations. Finally it did.
According to Riconosciuto, Wackenhut Corporation "made inroads" into the
methamphetamine operation. A man named Richard Knozzi allegedly headed
major government sanctioned meth laboratories in Fresno, Madera and
Mariposa counties. A man named Al Holbert, a former Israeli intelligence
officer with U.S. citizenship, was the liaison or connection between the
Knozzi operation and the U.S. government.
In subsequent documents obtained from Michael's secret hiding place in
the California desert, I located documents which indicated Michael had
first been recruited into the CIA by Al Holbert. However, during this
first of many phone conversations with Riconosciuto, I found myself
searching for a beginning, something concrete to get a foothold.
"Michael, is there any proof that you worked at Wackenhut?"
Michael responded diffidently. "CNN recently ran a piece, and they
filmed a location shot from the parking lot of the casino. Then they
aired another location shot on the [Cabazon] reservation of just an
expanse of bare land, blue sky, sand and sagebrush. Then the narrator
says, `Here on the Indian reservation is where Michael Riconosciuto
claims to have modified the PROMISE software.' They didn't show the
tribal office complex, they didn't show the industrial park. They showed
a bare expanse of land, like I had a computer out in a teepee in the
middle of the desert! The government is doing a character assassination
on me. I'm fair game now that I'm in jail, because I've raised too many
provocative questions, you know, and they're trying to relegate me to
the area of delusion ..."
******
For three months Riconosciuto called daily from the Pierce County jail
in Tacoma, Washington. At his request, I attached a tape recorder to my
phone and unraveled a complicated web of illegal overseas arms
shipments, espionage, CIA drug trafficking, biological warfare
development, computer software theft, money laundering and corruption at
the highest levels of government.
Throughout this time span, I also obtained every newspaper and magazine
article I could lay my hands on relative to Riconosciuto's background
and contacts. Riconosciuto had been communicating regularly with
journalist Danny Casolaro prior to his death on August 10, 1991 when
Danny's nude body was found in the bathtub of room 517 of the Sheraton
Hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His wrists had been slashed ten or
twelve times. No papers were found in his hotel room or in his car,
though he was known to cart a briefcase and files everywhere he went. An
XActo blade found in the bathtub was not sold locally and his briefcase
is still missing to this day.Casolaro was working on a book entitled,
"Behold a Pale Horse," which encompassed the October Surprise story, the
Inslaw computer software case, the Iran/Contra affair, the B.C.C.I.
scandal, and M.C.A. entertainment corporation, all overlapping and
interconnecting into one network which he dubbed, "The Octopus."
He told friends that he "had traced the Inslaw and related stories back
to a dirty CIA `Old Boy' network" that had begun working together in the
1950's around the Albania covert operations. These men had gotten into
the illegal gun and drug trade back then and had continued in that
business ever since.
Before his death, Danny had made plans to visit the Wackenhut
Corporation in Indio, California, and even considered naming his book,
"Indio."
CHAPTER 4
The history of Wackenhut Corporation is best described from its own
literature. An outdated letter of introduction typed on Wackenhut
letterhead once sent to prospective clients provided me with the
following profile: (Excerpted) "Wackenhut Corporation had its beginnings
in 1954, when George R. Wackenhut and three other former Special Agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation formed a company in Miami,
Special Agent Investigators, to provide investigative services to
business and industry.
"The approach was so well received that a second company was formed in
1955 to apply the same philosophy to physical security problems. In 1958
the companies were combined under the name of Wackenhut Corporation, a
Florida company. From the outset, George Wackenhut was President and
chief executive officer of the enterprise. Wackenhut established its
headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida in 1960, extending its physical
security operations to the United States government through formation of
a whollyowned subsidiary, Wackenhut Services, Incorporated. This was
done in order to comply with federal statute prohibiting the government
from contracting with companies which furnish investigative or detective
services.
"In 1962, Wackenhut operations extended from Florida to California and
Hawaii. On January 1, 1966, the company became international with
offices in Caracas, Venezuela, through half ownership of an affiliate.
"The Wackenhut Corporation became public in 1966 with overthecounter
stock sales and joined the American Stock Exchange in 1967. Through
acquisitions of subsidiaries and affiliates, now totaling more than 20,
and expansion of it contracts into numerous territories and foreign
countries, the Wackenhut Corporation has grown into one of the world's
largest security and investigative firms.
"In 1978 acquisition of NUSAC, a Virginia company providing technical
and consulting services to the nuclear industry, brought Wackenhut into
the fields of environment and energy management. In 1979, Wackenhut
acquired Stellar Systems, Inc., a California company specializing in
outdoor electronic security.
"The executive makeup of the company reflects the stress Mr. Wackenhut
placed on professional leadership. The Wackenhut Corporation is guided
by executives and managers with extensive backgrounds in the FBI and
other military, governmental and private security and investigative fields.
"The principle business of the company is furnishing security and
complete investigative services and systems to business, industry and
professional clients, and to various agencies of the U.S. Government.
"Through a whollyowned subsidiary, Wackenhut Electronic Systems
Corporation, the company develops and produces sophisticated
computerized security systems to complement its guard services.
"Major clients of Wackenhut's investigative services are the insurance
industry and financial interests. These services include insurance
inspections, corporate acquisition surveys, personnel background
reports, preemployment screening, polygraph examinations and general
criminal, fraud and arson investigations.
"The wide variety of services offered by Wackenhut Corporation also
includes guard and electronic security for banks, office buildings,
apartments, industrial complexes and other physical structures; training
programs in English and foreign languages to apply Wackenhut procedures
to individual clients needs; fire, safety and protective patrols; rescue
and first aid services; emergency support programs tailored to
labormanagement disputes, and predeparture screening programs widely
used by airports and airlines.
"The company now has some 20,000 employees and maintains close to 100
offices and facilities with operations spread across the United States
and extending into Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the
Middle East, Indonesia, Central and South America and the Caribbean."
******
On the surface, Wackenhut Corporation seemed innocous enough, but
through documents later obtained from Michael Riconosciuto, I learned
there was another, darker side to Wackenhut operations, at the Cabazon
Indian reservation near Indio, California.
Because Indian reservations are sovereign nations and do not come under
federal jurisdiction, Wackenhut International had formed a partnership
and entered into a business venture with the Cabazon Indians to produce
hightech arms and explosives for export to thirdworld countries. This
maneuver was designed to evade congressional prohibitions against U.S.
weapons being shipped to the Contras and middle eastern countries.
In the early 1980's, Dr. John Nichols, the Cabazon tribal administrator,
obtained a department of Defense secret facility clearance for the
reservation to conduct various research projects. Nichols then
approached Wackenhut with an elaborate "joint venture" proposal to
manufacture 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols,
lasersighted assault weapons, sniper rifles and portable rocket systems
on the Cabazon reservation and in Latin America. At one point, he even
sought to develop biological weapons.
Again, through Michael Riconosciuto's files, I later obtained
interoffice memorandums and correspondence relating to biological
technology, but more on that in chapter 10. Meanwhile, in 1980, Dr. John
Nichols obtained the blueprints to Crown Prince Fahd's palace in Tiaf,
Saudi Arabia, and drafted a plan to provide security for the palace.
The Saudis were interested enough to conduct a background check on the
Cabazons. Mohammad Jameel Hashem, consul of the Royal Embassy of Saudi
Arabia in Washington, D.C., wrote former South Dakota Senator James
Abourezk at his offices in Washington D.C. and noted, "According to our
black list for companies, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians/Cabazon
Trading Company and Wackenhut International are not included."
Translated, that meant that neither the Cabazons or Wackenhut were
Jewishrun enterprises.
George Wackenhut's political leanings were once described in a book
entitled, "The Age of Surveillance, The Aims and Methods of America's
Political Intelligence System," by Frank J. Donner (Knopf, 1980), pp.
424425 as such: "The agency's [Wackenhut] professional concerns reflect
the political values of its director, George Wackenhut. A rightist of
the old blood, he selected as his directors an assortment of ultras
prominent in the John Birch Society, the ASC, and other rightwing
groups. The agency's monthly house organ, the `Wackenhut Security
Review,' systematically decried the subversive inspiration in virtually
all the protest movements of the sixties, from civil rights to peace.
This vigilance earned the publication the accolade of rightwing
organizations, inluding (in 1962) the George Washington Honor Medal and
the Freedom Foundation Award at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; and (in 1965
and 1966) the Vigilant Patriots Award from the AllAmerican Conference to
Combat Communism."
******
Of all the articles written about Wackenhut Corporation, probably the
most provacative was written by John Connolly for SPY magazine,
published in September 1992, pp. 4654. Connolly, a former New York
police officer turned writer, began his story with the following
introduction: "What? A big private company one with a board of former
CIA, FBI and Pentagon officials; one in charge of protecting
nuclearweapons facilities, nuclear reactors, the Alaskan oil pipeline
and more than a dozen American embassies abroad; one with longstanding
ties to a radical rightwing organization; one with 30,000 men and women
under arms secretly helped Iraq in its effort to obtain sophisticated
weapons? And fueled unrest in Venezuela? This is all the plot of a new
bestselling thriller, right? Or the ravings of some overheated
conspiracy buff, right? Right? WRONG."
Connolly highlighted George Wackenhut as a "hardline rightwinger" who
was able to profit from his beliefs by building dossiers on Americans
suspected of being Communists or leftleaning "subversives and
sympathizers" and selling the information to interested parties. By 1965
, Wackenhut was boasting to potential investors that the company
maintained files on 2.5 million suspected dissidents one in 46 American
adults then living.
In 1966, after acquiring the private files of Karl Barslaag, a former
staff member of the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, Wackenhut
could confidently maintain that with more than 4 million names, it had
the largest privately held file on suspected dissidents in America.
Connolly wrote that it was not possible to overstate the special
relationship that Wackenhut enjoys with the federal government. Richard
Babayan, claiming to be a CIA contract employee, told SPY that
"Wackenhut has been used by the CIA and other intelligence agencies for
years. When they [the CIA] need cover, Wackenhut is there to provide it
for them."
Another CIA agent, Bruce Berckmans, who was assigned to the CIA station
in Mexico City, but left the agency in January 1975 (putatively) to
become a Wackenhut internationaloperations vice president, told SPY that
he had seen a formal proposal submitted by George Wackenhut to the CIA
offering Wackenhut offices throughout the world as fronts for CIA
activities. In 1981, Berckmans joined with other senior Wackenhut
executives to form the company's Special Projects Division. It was this
division that linked up with exCIA man Dr. John Phillip Nichols, the
Cabazon tribal administrator, in pursuit of a scheme to manufacture
explosives, poison gas and biological weapons for export to the contras
and other communist fighting rebels worldwide.
SPY also printed testimony from William Corbett, a terrorism expert who
spent 18 years as a CIA analyst and is now an ABC News consultant in
Europe. Said Corbett, "For years Wackenhut has been involved with the
CIA and other intelligence organizations, including the DEA. Wackenhut
would allow the CIA to occupy positions within the company [in order to
carry out] clandestine operations."Additionally, Corbett said that
Wackenhut supplied intelligence agencies with information, and it was
compensated for this "in a quid pro quo arrangement" with government
contracts worth billions of dollars over the years.
On page 51, in a box entitled, "Current and Former Wackenhut Directors,"
SPY published the following names: "John Ammarell, former FBI agent;
Robert Chasen, former FBI agent; Clarence Kelly, former FBI director;
Willis Hawkins, former assistant secretary of the Army; Paul X. Kelley,
fourstar general (ret.), U.S. Marine Corps; Seth McKee, former commander
in chief, North American Air Defense Command; Bernard Schriever, former
member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board; Frank Carlucci,
former Defense Secretary and former deputy CIA director; Joseph Carroll,
former director, Defense Intelligence Agency; James Rawley, former
director, U.S. Secret Service; Bobby Ray Inman, former deputy CIA
director."
CHAPTER 5
Danny Casolaro's body was found at 12:30 p.m. in a bloodfilled bath tub
by a hotel maid who called the Martinsburg police. The body contained
three deep cuts on the right wrist and seven on the left wrist, made by
a single edge razor blade, the kind used to scrape windows or open
packages.At the bottom of the bathwater was an empty Milwaukee beer can,
a paper glass coaster, the razor blade and two white plastic trash bags,
the kind used in wastepaper baskets.On the desk in the hotel room was an
empty mead composition notebook with one page torn out and a suicide
note which read: "To those who I love the most, please forgive me for
the worst possible thing I could have done. Most of all, I'm sorry to my
son. I know deep down inside that God will let me in."
There were no other papers, folders, documents of any sort, nor any
briefcase found in the room. Danny's wallet was intact, stuffed with
credit cards.The body was removed from the tub by Lieutenant Dave
Brining from the Martinsburg fire department, and his wife, Sandra, a
nurse who works in the hospital emergency room. The couple, who often
moonlighted as coroners, took the body to the Brown Funeral Home where
they conducted an examination.Charles Brown then decided to embalm the
body that night and go home, rather than come back to work the next day,
Sunday.
No one in Danny Casolaro's family had been notified of his death at that
time, nor had they requested the body be embalmed.When Casolaro's family
learned of the death, they insisted it was not a suicide and called for
an autopsy and an investigation. Though the body had already been
embalmed, an autopsy was performed at the West Virginia University
Hospital by a Dr. Frost. The findings indicated that no struggle had
taken place because there were no recent bruises on the body. The drugs
found in Casolaro's urine, blood and tissue samples were in minute
amounts but they were also unexplainable by his brother, Tony, who is a
medical doctor.
According to Tony Casolaro, Danny did not take drugs or have any
prescriptions for the drug traces of Hydrocodone and Tricyclic
antidepressant that were found in the body. No pill boxes or written
prescriptions were found. Dr. Casolaro searched through his brother's
Blue Cross records and found no record of the prescriptions or doctor
visits.
During the autopsy of the body, Dr. Frost had found lesions within the
brain which were characteristic of Multiple Sclerosis. It was possible
that Danny was having blurring of vision, but Dr. Frost downplayed the
possibility that this contributed to any suicide. Of particular
interest, was Frost's observation that the deep razor wounds on Danny's
wrists were inflicted "without any hesitation marks." However, the lack
of hesitation did not indicate one way or the other whether they were or
were not selfinflicted.Investigators and police never found Danny's
missing briefcase.
On August 6, 1991, Casolaro's housekeeper, Olga, helped Danny pack a
black leather tote bag. She remembered he also packed a thick sheaf of
papers into a dark brown or black briefcase. She asked him what he had
put into the briefcase and he replied, "I have all my papers ..." He had
been typing for two days, and as he left the house, he said, "Wish me
luck. I'll see you in a couple of days."
By August 9th, Casolaro's friends were alarmed. Noone had heard from him
and Olga was receiving threatening phone calls at Danny's home. On
Saturday, August 10th, Olga received another call, a man's voice said,
"You son of a bitch. You're dead."After learning of Danny's death, Olga
recalled seeing Danny sitting in the kitchen on August 5th with a "heavy
man ... wearing a dark suit. He was a dark man with black hair he turned
towards the door, I saw he was darkskinned. I told police maybe he could
be from India."
At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, the day before Danny's death, Bill Turner, a
friend and confidante, met Danny in the parking lot of the Sheraton
Hotel to deliver some papers to him. The papers allegedly consisted of
two sealed packages which Turner had been keeping in his safe at home
for Danny, and a packet of Hughes Aircraft papers which belonged to Turner.
Danny had appeard exhuberant to most of his friends before his death,
noting that he was about to "wrap up" his investigation of The Octopus.
Casolaro was trying to prove that the alleged theft of the Inslaw
computer program, PROMISE, was related to the October Surprise scandal,
the IranContra affair and the collapse of BCCI (Bank of Credit and
Commerce International).
Turner later admitted to police that he had indeed met with Danny on
August 9th, but at that time he refused to specify what time and would
not describe what was in the papers he delivered to Danny. I later
learned that Turner had been investigating discrepancies involving his
former employer, Hughes Aircraft Company. The documents he had delivered
from his safe to Danny had been sealed, with Casolaro's name written
across the seal, and he claimed not to have known what they
contained.Nevertheless, it is feasible to assume that Turner may have
known who Danny was preparing to meet that evening at the Martinsburg
Hotel because, for reasons of his own, Turner apparently wanted Danny to
show the Hughes Aircraft documents to whoever he was meeting with.
Turner later noted to reporters that he was "scared shitless" about
information he had seen connecting Ollie North and BCCI. "I saw papers
from Danny that connected back through the Keating Five and Silverado
[the failed Denver S & L where Neil Bush had been an officer]," he said.
To his friend, Ben Mason, Danny showed a 22point outline for his book.
Included in the information he shared with Mason were papers referring
to IranContra arms deals. Photocopies of checks made out for $1 million
and $4 million drawn on BCCI accounts held for Adnan Khashoggi, and
international arms merchant and factotum for the House of Saud, and by
Manucher Ghorbanifar, an arms dealer and IranContra middleman, were
presented.
"The last sheet," noted Mason, "was a passport of some guy named
Ibrahim." Casolaro had emphasized that Ibrahim had made a big deal of
showing him (Casolaro) his "Egyptian" passport."Ibrahim" was obviously
the informant whom Olga, Casolaro's housekeeper, had seen sitting in the
kitchen with Danny on August 5th. Hassan Ali Ibrahim Ali, born in 1928,
was later identified as the manager of Sitico, an alleged Iraqi front
company for arms purchases. Casolaro had obtained these papers from Bob
Bickel, who in turn obtained them from October Surprise source Richard
Brenneke.
Ari BenMenasche, a self proclaimed Israeli military intelligence
officer, was responsible for the tipoff to an obscure Lebanese magazine
about what later became known as the IranContra scandal. After
Casolaro's death, Menasche called Bill Hamilton, the president of Inslaw
Company and creator of the PROMISE software. (Hamilton had been in daily
contact with Casolaro until about a week prior to his death).
Menasche claimed that two FBI agents from Lexington, Kentucky, had
embarked on a trip to Martinsburg to meet Casolaro as part of their
investigation of the sale of the PROMISE software to Israel and other
intelligence agencies.Ben Menasche told Hamilton that one of the FBI
agents, E.B. Cartinhour, was disaffected because his superiors had
refused to indict high Reagan officials for their role in the October
Surprise. Ben Menasche claimed the agents were prepared to give Casolaro
proof that the FBI was illegally using PROMISE software.
It is highly unlikely that the two FBI agents were enroute to
Martinsburg to GIVE anything to Casolaro, but they may well have been on
their way to obtain HIS documents and those belonging to Bill Turner.
If, in fact, Danny had disclosed to any one of the many "sources" he had
developed during his investigation, that he was turning over his
documents to the Lexington FBI, that may well have alarmed a few of them.
Casolaro was also investigating Colonel Bo Gritz's expose of CIA drug
trafficking, and had requested to meet with a former police officer who
had information on Laotian warlord Kuhn Sa's Golden Triangle drug trade
proposal to the U.S. He had learned through a Sacramento Bee newspaper
article, dated June 2, 1990 that Patrick Moriarty, the Red Devil
fireworks magnate convicted of laundering political contributions and
bribing city officials in Sacramento, had been subpoenaed to testify on
behalf of Gritz at his trial in Las Vegas where he was tried for using a
false passport. Gritz was acquitted of the charges.
Moriarty's lawyer, Jan Lawrence Handzlik, told the Bee that Moriarty had
paid Gritz to make business trips to China, Singapore and other parts of
Asia. Gritz said his business trip to Asia in July 1989 was for the
purpose of negotiating an oil interest that he and Moriarty had set up
between the People's Republic of China and Indonesia.
It is noteworthy that Patrick Moriarty is the longtime (30 years)
partner of Marshall Riconosciuto, Michael Riconosciuto's father. They
owned several California businesses together, two of which were Hercules
Research Corporation, of which Michael was a partner, and Pyrotronics
Corporation.
******
Casolaro at one time considered the title of "Indio" for the book he was
writing about "The Octopus." His death occurred just days before he
planned to visit the Cabazon Indian reservation near Indio, California.
Though his notes did not divulge what role the Cabazons may have had in
the conspiracy, Casolaro listed Dr. John Phillip Nichols, the Cabazon
administrator, as a former CIA agent.
A source of information which Danny may have read is entitled, "DARK
VICTORY, Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob," by Dan E. Moldea. Moldea
named this unholy alliance "The Octopus" in his book.
Numerous publications reporting on Casolaro's death corroborated that
one of his sources included Michael Riconosciuto, a "44yearold former
hightech scientist who had connections with Wackenhut Corporation ..."
What brought Casolaro to Riconosciuto was an affidavit signed by
Riconosciuto claiming that when he worked on the WackenhutCabazon
project, he was given a copy of the Inslaw software by Earl Brian for
modification. Riconosciuto also swore that Peter Videnieks, a Justice
Department official associated with the Inslaw contract, had visited the
WackenhutCabazon project with Earl Brian.
Earl Brian was a businessman and Edwin Meese crony who served in
Governor Ronald Reagan's cabinet in California.The $6 million in
software stolen from William and Nancy Hamilton, coowners of Inslaw
Company, was allegedly sold by the Justice Department through Earl Brian
to raise offthebooks money for covert government operations.
On May 18, 1990, Riconosciuto had called the Hamiltons and informed them
that the Inslaw case was connected to the October Surprise affair.
Riconosciuto claimed that he and Earl Brian had traveled to Iran in 1980
and paid $40 million to Iranian officials to persuade them NOT to
release the hostages before the presidential election in which Reagan
became president of the United States.
Riconosciuto's information created a domino effect in Washington D.C.,
opening numerous investigations and causing a media blitz. At that time,
Casolaro headed the Hamilton's private investigation of the theft of
their software and he had regular communication with Riconosciuto.
Former U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson, the Hamilton's
attorney, subsequently sent Riconosciuto an affidavit to sign, to be
filed by Inslaw in federal court in connection with Inslaw's pending
Motion for Limited Discovery. The affidavit, Case No. 8500070, entered
into court records, resulted in Riconosciuto's arrest within days. It
"(1) During the early 1980's, I served as the Director of Research for a
joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables,
Florida, and the Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio, California. The joint
venture was located on the Cabazon reservation.
"(2) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture sought to develop and/or
manufacture certain materials that are used in military and national
security operations, including night vision goggles, machine guns,
fuelair explosives, and biological and chemical warfare weapons.
"(3) The Cabazon Band of Indians are a sovereign nation. The sovereign
immunity that is accorded the Cabazons as a consequence of this fact
made it feasible to pursue on the reservation the development and/or
manufacture of materials whose development or manufacture would be
subject to stringent controls off the reservation. As a minority group,
the Cabazon Indians also provided the Wackenhut Corporation with an
enhanced ability to obtain federal contracts through the 8A Set Aside
Program, and in connection with Governmentowned contractoroperated
(GOCO) facilities.
"(4) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture was intended to support the
needs of a number of foreign governments and forces, including forces
and governments in Central America and the Middle East. The Contras in
Nicaragua represented one of the most important priorities for the joint
venture.
"(5) The WackenhutCabazon joint venture maintained close liaison with
certain elements of the United States Government, including
representatives of intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies.
"(6) Among the frequent visitors to the WackenhutCabazon joint venture
were Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington,
D.C., and a close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian.
Brian is a private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has
maintained close ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years.
"(7) In connection with my work for Wackenhut, I engaged in some
software development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on the
proprietary PROMIS computer software product. The copy of PROMIS on
which I worked came from the U.S. Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian
made it available to me through Wackenhut after acquiring it from Peter
Videnieks, who was then a Department of Justice contracting official
with responsibility for the PROMISE software. I performed the
modifications to PROMIS in Indio, California; Silver Spring, Maryland;
and Miami, Florida.
"(8) The purpose of the PROMISE software modifications that I made in
1983 and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in
law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Earl W. Brian was
spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMISE computer
software.
"(9) Some of the modifications that I made were specifically designed to
facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the
Government of Canada; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the
Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Earl W. Brian would
check with me from time to time to make certain that the work would be
completed in time to satisfy the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS
implementations of PROMIS.
"(10) The proprietary version of PROMIS, as modified by me, was, in
fact, implemented in both the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. It was my
understanding that Earl W. Brian had sold this version of PROMIS to the
Government of Canada.
"(11) In February 1991, I had a telephone conversation with Peter
Videnieks, then still employed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Videnicks attempted during this telephone conversation to persuade me
not to cooperate with an independent investigation of the government's
piracy of Inslaw's proprietary PROMIS software being conducted by the
Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"(12) Videnieks stated that I would be rewarded for a decision not to
cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation. Videnieks
forecasted an immediate and favorable resolution of a protracted child
custody dispute being prosecuted against my wife by her former husband,
if I were to decide not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee
investigation.
"(13) Videnieks also outlined specific punishments that I could expect
to receive from the U.S. Department of Justice if I cooperate with the
House Judiciary Committee's investigation.
"(14) One punishment that Videnieks outlined was the future inclusion of
me and my father in a criminal prosecution of certain business
associates of mine in Orange County, California, in connection with the
operation of a savings and loan institution in Orange County. By way of
underscoring his power to influence such decisions at the U.S.
Department of Justice, Videnieks informed me of the indictment of these
business associates prior to the time when that indictment was unsealed
and made public.
"(15) Another punishment that Videnieks threatened against me if I
cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee is prosecution by the U.S.
Department of Justice for perjury. Videnieks warned me that credible
witnesses would come forward to contradict any damaging claims that I
made in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, and that I would
subsequently be prosecuted for perjury by the U.S. Department of Justice
for my testimony before the House Judiciary Committee."
It is noteworthy that in January, 1992 when I obtained boxes of Michael
Riconosciuto's hidden documents, included in those documents were
handwritten pages of telephone numbers belonging to various Washington
D.C. dignitaries. One number, "(202) 4260789" was listed as belonging to
"PV," but it was no longer in service.
******
Danny Casolaro was, of course, intent on interviewing Peter Videnieks. A
strange coincidence occurred during the week prior to his death. While
sitting in a pub, having a beer, a man named Joseph Cuellar approached
him and they began talking. At some point during the conversation, Danny
disclosed the contents of his investigation and expressed a desire to
interview Peter Videnieks.
To Danny's astonishment, Cuellar, claiming to be a Special Forces
operative, said he could arrange a rendevous between Peter Videnieks and
Casolaro. Cuellar's connection to Peter Videnieks allegedly came through
Videnieks' wife, Barbara, who was the executive assistant to the
powerful West Virginia Democratic Senator, Robert Byrd. Byrd played a
major role in the effort to have the CIA move some of its administrative
offices to Charlestown, 20 miles from Martinsburg, on the Virginia
border. It was apparently through Barbara Videnieks that Cuellar
intended to arrange the interview.
Casolaro confided to friends that he was unnerved by this supposedly
chance meeting. He met with Cuellar at other times that week, but it is
unknown whether he ever spoke with Videnieks. To date, that question
remains unanswered.
Significantly, Elliot Richardson, the respected former U.S. Attorney
General representing Inslaw, called for the appointment of a special
counsel to look into the death of Casolaro.
CHAPTER 6
At Michael Riconosciuto's trial in Tacoma Washington, Peter Videnieks
testified that while working for the Justice Department he had contact
with the PROMISE software. He "conducted the competitive contract
competitive procurement for acquisition of the services to implement
PROMISE."Under cross examination he testified that "it required
preparation of a request for proposals issuance of that document to
industry ... negotiating, selecting, and awarding the contract. Then
after award, administering the contract to see that the work that the
government paid for was properly performed."
So, essentially, Videnieks administered the Inslaw contract with the
government. His employment record included work with the Internal
Revenue Service as a revenue officer from 1964 to 1967. From 1967 to
1972 as a contract specialist with NASA. From 1972 to 1973 with Customs
as a contract specialist. From 1973 through 1975 back at NASA as a
contract specialist. From 1975 through 1981 as a contract specialist
with Customs, supervisory at this time. From 1981 through September,
1990, with the Department of Justice as a contract specialist. And from
September 1990 through present (January 1992) as a supervisory contract
specialist at Customs again.
Thomas Olmstead, Riconosciuto's attorney, showed Videnieks the Inslaw
affidavit signed by Riconosciuto. Videnieks said he had seen the
affidavit prior to court, but testified that he'd never heard of the
WackenhutCabazon joint venture and never visited the WackenhutCabazon
facility in Indio, California. He also testified that he'd never met
Earl Brian.
Olmstead asked Videnieks if he knew Robert Chasen [Executive Vice
President of Wackenhut]? Videnieks testified that he knew him "by name
since he was head of Customs for about a threeyear period, from about
1977 through 1980. I met him once in the line of my duties."
Interestingly, according to his resume, Robert Chasen was Commissioner
of Customs in Washington D.C. from 1969 to 1977, then Executive Vice
President of Wackenhut from 1981 to present (1991). And Peter Videnieks,
a contract officer at Customs in Washington D.C. from 1972 to 1974, then
again at Customs from 1976 to 1981, said he did not know Robert Chasen.
How could that be? Videnieks had worked in the same department with
Chasen, off and on, for at least three years.
Videnieks also testified that he met Chasen in the line of his duties
sometime between 1977 and 1980. Yet, Chasen no longer worked at Customs
between 1977 and 1980?
Olmstead asked Videnieks to reiterate his position with the PROMISE
software. "I worked on the [PROMISE] contract. ... The procurement was
assigned to me by a lady named Patricia Rudd. ... My function was to
conduct a competitive procurement, negotiate an award of contract, and
then administer the contract."
Olmstead: "What time frames are we talking when you were ...?"
Videnieks: "We're talking about from the day that I reported for duty at
Justice, which was in September 1981, through about 1985."
Olmstead: "Are you familiar with Hadron Company?" (This was a loaded
question because Earl Brian, who Videnieks testified he did not know,
owned Hadron Company at the time of the court proceedings.)
Videnieks responded, "Yes, I am."
Olmstead: "Have you done work for Hadron Corporation in your procurement
contract?"
Videnieks: "I supervise currently a contract specialist who is
administering a contract with Hadron."
Olmstead: "Prior to supervising someone, did you personally handle that
particular contract?"
Videnieks: "I have administered well over a hundred contracts, maybe a
couple hundred or several hundred over my career, and I don't recall
whether I have or not."
Olmstead: "And you have never given a deposition in regards to the
Inslaw matter?"
Videnieks: "My recall is not that good. Like I said, I have administered
hundreds of contracts, and I may or may not have administered one with
Hadron."
Again Olmstead asked Videnieks if he knew Earl Brian?Videnieks
responded, "No, sir."
Olmstead: "Do you know who owns Hadron?"
Videnieks: "I really don't. I've heard I mean, I don't want to speculate
now. He may be an officer with Hadron. He may be."
Olmstead: "You don't recall any questions in any depositions at all
regarding that?"
Videnieks: "I do recall questions along these same lines. But again,
from general knowledge, I think he is an officer or has been an officer
with Hadron."
Olmstead: "In fact, in your deposition, you admitted you knew that he
was an officer of Hadron, didn't you?"
Videnieks: "I would like to see my transcript from my deposition as to
what I said ..."
Olmstead went on to question Videnieks about "Modification No. 12" of
the PROMISE software. Videnieks stated that he knew what Modification
No. 12 was, but repeatedly refused to discuss it until someone produced
the original Inslaw contract. Finally, under pressure to give a general
recollection, he said it dealt with the twelfth modification to the
PROMISE software.
Olmstead asked, "Were you personally chastised as a result of
Modification No. 12 in the way you handled that?"
Videnieks: "Please define `chastised.'"
Olmstead: "Were you told that you took, converted, and stole six million
dollars worth of Inslaw software through the way you handled
Modification No. 12?"
Videnieks: "A judge in the bankruptcy court ruled that. Since then the
record was erased. And that language should not be the way a nonlawyer
like me understands, it is no longer in existence ..."
******
It is necessary to digress here to disclose the magnitude of the
apparent government coverup relative to Riconosciuto's case. About two
weeks before Riconosciuto's trial began, I had received a call from
Michael asking me to contact Brian Leighton, a former assistant U.S.
Attorney in Fresno, whom Michael claimed to have provided information
to. Michael was lining up his ducks. Essentially his defense rested on
his ability to prove he worked for the U.S. government in intelligence
operations, but his lawyer was behind schedule in making the contacts.
Brian Leighton had been instrumental in prosecuting 29 members of a
drug/arms organization called "The Company." The Company had been
written up in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 28, 1982 under the
heading "Story of Spies, Stolen Arms and Drugs." According to reporter
Bill Wallace, The Company consisted of (quote) "about 300 members, many
of them former military men or expolice officers with nearly $30 million
worth of assets, including planes, ships and real estate."
The article went on to say that "federal drug agents said the
organization had imported billions of dollars worth of narcotics from
Latin America, and was also involved in gunrunning and mercenary
operations." Specialized military equipment consisting of nine infrared
sniperscopes, a television camera for taking pictures in darkness, 1500
rounds of small arms tracer ammunition for night combat, a fivefoot
remotecontrol helicopter, and secret components from the radar unit of a
Sidewinder guided missile were stolen from the U.S. Naval Weapons
Station at China Lake in the Mojave Desert.
Federal agents said some of the stolen equipment was going to be used to
make electronic equipment for drug smugglers and some was traded to drug
suppliers in Columbia. Twentynine members of the Company were indicted
by the Fresno federal grand jury in 1981. Amongst those indicated was
Andrew "Drew" Thornton, 40, a former narcotics officer.
On September 13, 1985, the Los Angeles Times published the story of
Thornton's death, entitled, "Former Narcotics Officer Parachutes Out of
Plane, Dies with 77 Pounds of Cocaine." The article said Thornton was
indicted in 1981 for "allegedly flying a plane to South America for a
reputed drug ring known as `The Company.'" In an interview with the Los
Angeles Times, Brian Leighton said, "I'm glad his parachute didn't open.
I hope he got a hell of a high out of that ..."
Thornton's mysterious death was discussed at length in a book written by
Sally Denton entitled, "The Blue Grass Conspiracy." Part of The Company
was headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. Prosecutors in Lexington,
Fresno, California (Brian Leighton), and Miami, Florida were working
together in a joint effort to bring down The Company.
The San Francisco Chronicle noted that in January, 1982, Gene Berry, a
state prosecutor in Charlotte Harbor, Florida, was shot in the face as
he answered his door. Police subsequently arrested Bonnie Kelly as
Berry's murderer. Bonnie's husband, Mike McClure Kelly, was a suspected
member of The Company who later pleaded guilty in the Fresno, California
case.
In Michael Riconosciuto's documents, I discovered a letter dated March
24, 1982, written on Cabazon letterhead to Michael McClure at Hercules
Corporation from Art Welmas, President of the Cabazon Band of Indians.
Copies (cc:) were also noted to Marshall Riconosciuto and Michael
Riconosciuto. The letter complimented McClure's competence in presenting
a clear and lucid explanation of a power pack under development at
Hercules. (Hercules was owned by Marshall Riconosciuto, Michael
Riconosciuto and Patrick Moriarty, the Red Devil fireworks mogul. More
on Moriarty later.)
Throughout Michael's documents, I found references to Michael McClure
and Bonnie Lynne G. Kelly. Michael's code word for Mike McClure was
"Gopher."
Journalist Danny Casolaro had been communicating regularly with Michael
Riconosciuto and obviously learned about The Company. It is not to be
overlooked that coincidentally or not, Ari BenMenashe (a former Israeli
intelligence agent who lived in Lexington, Kentucky) told Bill Hamilton
that two Lexington FBI agents had been enroute to meet with Danny at the
Martinsburg Hotel on the day of his death. The Company was headquartered
in Lexington. Danny was not meeting with the FBI relative to PROMIS, he
was preparing to turn over drug trafficking information on The Company.
BenMenashe further told Hamilton that one of the agents, E.B.
Cartinhour, was angry that the Justice Department was not pursuing
Reagan administration officials for their role in the October Surprise.
******
Meanwhile, it was necessary to contact Brian Leighton to corroborate
Riconosciuto's story that he had been instrumental in helping Leighton
identify members of The Company.
I did not directly contact Leighton, who had resigned from the U.S.
Attorney's office shortly after the prosecutions and entered into
private law practice, but asked the Secret Service agent in Los Angeles
who had visited my home regarding the "Queen's accident" in Mariposa
(mentioned in the first chapter of this book) to run a check on
Riconosciuto.
Instead, he called Brian Leighton and when I checked back with him, he
acknowledged talking to Leighton about Riconosciuto. Leighton confirmed
to the Secret Service agent that he recalled a threehour facetoface
meeting with Riconosciuto and remembered him well. He gave specific
details of Riconosciuto's cooperation with the U.S. attorney's office. I
thanked the Secret Service agent and hung up.
I next contacted a retired police officer and colleague in the Mariposa
investigation, and asked him to put me in touch with someone trustworthy
in government who could corraborate Leighton's information. The contact
was made and this individual agreed to call Brian Leighton to see if he
could glean further details of Michael's cooperation with the U.S.
attorney's office. For purposes of anonymity, this source will be
identified as "R.J." When I checked back, he confirmed that Leighton did
indeed remember Michael's help with the case and, in fact, said Michael
led law enforcement officers to a marijuana cache belonging to members
of The Company.
At that point I was satisfied that Michael had been operating within the
framework of The Company and had spoken accurately about his cooperation
with Brian Leighton. I called Thomas Olmstead, Michael's attorney, and
related the above information.
Two weeks later, on January 15, 1992, at Michael's trial in Tacoma,
Washington, Brian Leighton testified that the case in question involved
the theft of military equipment from the China Lake Naval Weapons Center
in California. "The FBI and Naval Intelligence Service began the
investigation," he said, "and there were several people that were
targets of the investigation. One of those targets began cooperating
with us and then it became a DEA and FBI investigation. The thefts
occurred in 1979 and 1980, and the case continued on for a couple of
years."
Leighton testified that he "could not recall ever meeting personally
with Mr. Riconosciuto and he didn't know if he spoke to him personally
or spoke to him through a government agent." Under crossexamination,
Leighton testified that he thought Riconosciuto was brought to him by an
agent Barnes from the Oakland or San Francisco office of the FBI, but he
couldn't remember exactly ..."
After Leighton's testimony, Michael called me and asked, "What
happened?" I was astonished at Leighton's testimony. What was at stake
here? Michael speculated that Leighton was operating out of fear. He
said Leighton retired from the U.S. Attorney's office shortly after
prosecuting members of The Company, and recalled that the prosecuting
attorney in Florida had been shot in the head.
I called the Secret Service officer and R.J. individually and asked them
to repeat what Leighton had told them before the trial. They both
repeated verbatim what Leighton had told them the first time about
Michael Riconosciuto. I said it appeared Leighton had perjured himself
in court. Neither could understand why?
******
In August 1994, I received from a friend of Bill Hamilton's (President
of Inslaw) a Declaration, signed by Hamilton, which stated that " ... On
or about April 3, 1991, I spoke by telephone with Mr. Brian Leighton, an
attorney in private practice in Fresno, California. He stated that
during the early 1980's, while serving as an Assistant United States
Attorney in Fresno, California, he had investigated a nationwide
criminal enterprise known as `The Company,' which was engaged in illegal
drug trafficking on a massive scale.
"Mr. Leighton told me that (A) Michael Riconosciuto had furnished Mr.
Leighton `valuable intelligence' on illegal drug activities and The
Company; (B) Mr. Leighton had been unable to use the information in
prosecution but (C) the failure to use Mr. Riconosciuto's intelligence
information was not because of any fault of Mr. Michael Riconosciuto."
Also mentioned in the affidavit was corroboration of Riconosciuto's work
in the defense and national security fields. Section six of the
affidavit noted that during the course of a telephone conversation with
Robert Nichols on or about April 18, 1991, Hamilton learned that Nichols
had attended a meeting that had been organized by a Colonel Bamford, an
aide to General Meyer, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Others participating in the meeting were department heads from
Department of Defense scientific facilities.
Michael Riconosciuto was the principal presenter to this group of
seniorlevel national security research and development officials.
According to Nichols, Riconosciuto made a day long presentation to this
meeting of scientists lasting from approximately 9 a.m. until
approximately 4 p.m., answering questions from the participants and
filling the halls of the conference facility with his handprinted notes
on the scientific and technical issues that arose in the course of his
presentation.
I was able to locate in Riconosciuto's files, a letter written on July
20, 1983 from Tom Bamford, Vice President of Research and Development at
FMC Corporation in Santa Clara, California to William Frash in
Escondido, California. At that time, Frash, a retired USMC Colonel, was
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Lilac Corporation.
Essentially, the letter expressed enthusiasm for the potential
application of technologies being proposed to FMC Corporation by
Meridian Arms, and called for a list of all active participants in the
joint venture. At that time Riconosciuto was vice president of Meridian
Arms. Bamford added, " ... You may want to do this only for Mike at this
stage."
Frash hastened to respond to Bamford on July 27, 1983 to apprise him of
a meeting between himself and Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth
Nichols, Peter Zokosky and Patrick Moriarty (Michael's father's business
partner) regarding "energy transfer phenomena." A proposal was underway
to outline technology in the form of patents applied for jointly between
Meridian Arms and FMC. Frash noted that the technology would "supercede
all existing world patents in the field."
"Had we patented previously, it would only have announced our `edge' in
the field," he wrote. Three of the four major patents that would be
forthcoming were (1) the application of Perturbation Theory to enhanced
energy transfer, (2) the application of stationary methods with powders
and aerosols to enhanced energy transfer and (3) the application of
Perturbation Theory to hydrodynamic flow regimes.
It is noteworthy that the submarine propulsion system depicted in the
movie, "Hunt for Red October" utilized this theory. Frash concluded,
"Tom, as you well know, Mike's tried and true value is in the field of
high voltage and electrostatics and their application. The meetings in
San Jose highlighted application of this technology in over one hundred
areas that are inhouse FMC." He added, " ... Per your reference to
meetings in Washington, D.C., I assume the meetings with Dr. Fair,
Admiral Renkin and the ACCOM people will suffice in this matter. In
closing we are very enthused, Tom, and we look forward to an expeditious
closing. Sincerely, William Frash."
Frash's payment for putting together the above referenced joint venture,
if successful, would be $500,000 for the first fifteen million invested,
or $166,666.66 for only five million invested, a
onehundredthousanddollar per year salary for a period of 20 years, and a
2% share in the gross profits. This, according to a Letter of
Understanding sent to and signed by Robert Booth Nichols and Michael
Riconosciuto in July, 1983.
In questioning Michael Riconosciuto about the FMC agreements, he said he
attempted to break away from Robert Nichols in 1984. "The guy nearly got
me terminated," declared Riconosciuto. "At the time I was working with
Nichols on a proposal to FMC Corporation, which is Food Machinery
Corporation, they produced the Bradley Personnel Carrier. I've got a
complete papertrail on the technology that was being presented. We
conducted a test demonstration of an enhanced airfield device which I
developed. We also conducted a test of a hydrodynamic implosion type of
explosive device.
"The implosion device settled the Nevada Test Range by about 30 feet.
The Lawrence Livermore Labs and the Gallup Ordinance people built a
prototype of the device, but they overbuilt it because they wanted an
impressive demonstration. It created an international incident because
the demonstration was picked up by Soviet monitoring satellites.
"Anyway, the bona fides were established. The next thing was to get the
business done and get me into harness in a program. I was all for it,
but Bob [Nichols] started getting spooky on me. He wanted to receive the
setup of our end offshore, in Singapore. He wanted to receive $20
million dollars in cash in Singapore, and he wanted to use certain of
the technology overseas, namely in Australia, OK?
"Bob started drinking a lot. He was obviously under a lot of pressure
from somewhere, and his fascade of respectability started to crack.
About that time Bob began pressuring me to do things a certain way. We'd
already been approved at the executive level by FMC. But we still had to
go through the legal department and FMC is a publicly held stock
corporation. So we still had to go through the shareholders for about
eight months, which put us about a year away from consummating the deal.
"So, I asked Bob for some extra money to meet my everyday expenses, but
Bob said, `Hurry up and get the business done and then you'll have
plenty of money.' I tried to explain to Bob that there was no way he
could expedite this thing, and so on and so forth. Well, Bob became
really overbearing. And that's when he demanded that I state things in
the contract proposal to FMC which would have been misstatements, to the
point of being illegal. That's when I started having second thoughts
about it.
"There were other people involved in the development of that technology.
Bob wanted me to pay him out of my share and make no reference to the
other people in the agreement. But when you've got the University of
California and the University of Chicago having 16 percent of your
company, having 16 percent of Hercules Research and Interprobe, you
know, how could I misrepresent the interests of my dad, Moriarty and
[Admiral] Al Renkin in a deal with a U.S. publicly held corporation [FMC]?
"At that time, Riconosciuto had been Vice President of Meridian Arms, a
subsidiary of Meridian International Logistics. But he was also
technical advisor for F.I.D.C.O. (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation) of which Nichols was on the Board of Directors. Noted
Riconosciuto, "I walked into F.I.D.C.O. in equal good faith. And that
also turned sour because Bob wanted me to illegally take embargoed
technology out of the United States, to run an operation with embargoed
armaments and high technology outside of the United States.
"So I walked out on Bob. And Bob put the heat on me and they wouldn't
leave me alone. When I got remarried [to Bobby Riconosciuto], they
continued to harrass me by putting out false intelligence reports on me
to law enforcement ..."
I asked Michael why he didn't fight back? Michael responded, "You don't
seem to understand. All my involvements were under closely controlled
situations. There's only one time in my life when I was planning on
doing something offcolor, and it never went anywhere. All the rest of
the time, everything was under complete controls. I never took any
elective actions. Everything was, you know, on direct orders. And I got
to the point where I balked with Bob Nichols and that's when he went
ballistic on me."
Riconosciuto said he was in the process of cleaning up his life in
Washington state when a private investigator from Inslaw contacted him.
"I didn't want to get nailed for piracy of that software, so I talked to
my attorney, who talked to the Inslaw attorneys, and I gave them a
declaration. And about that time, Peter Viedenieks, who was an associate
of both Robert Booth Nichols and Dr. John Nichols, called me and told me
I was my own worst enemy. He said if I didn't cool it, if I didn't
stonewall any further requests for information from the House Judiciary
Committee, I was going away forever. I told Viedenieks that I was
already in too deep, and he repeated that `I was my own worst enemy.'
Seven days later I was arrested on drug charges."
******
Ted Gunderson was one of the few "cooperating" witnesses at Michael's
trial. Through his affidavit and testimony, Ted hoped to supply the
defense with needed corroboration of Michael's covert government
sanctioned activities. Unfortunately for Michael, Ted could not disclose
numerous activities which had included Robert Booth Nichols. At one time
Gunderson, Nichols and Riconosciuto had been inseparable, like the three
musketeers. But, Nichols was currently under investigation by the Los
Angeles FBI for alleged involvement in organized crime in the U.S. and
abroad.
Fortunately, however, Gunderson's resume added credibility to the
provocative affidavit he entered into court on Michael's behalf. He had
been Senior Special Agent in Charge (SAC) at Los Angeles FBI
headquarters from 1977 to 1979 when he retired from the FBI and went to
work as chief investigator for F. Lee Bailey, Esq. Prior to that, from
1960 to 1965, Gunderson was Special Agent Supervisor at FBI headquarters
in Washington, D.C.. Interestingly, amongst a prestigious list of
positions nationwide, he was also SAC from 1973 to 1977 in Dallas, Texas
(where he became friends with Clint Murchison, Jr., according to his
livein partner, J.M.. J.M. stated in phone interviews that she and
Gunderson attended parties with Murchison in Dallas, and Gunderson
phoned him often from their Manhattan Beach home).
In 1979, Gunderson received the Alumni Highest Effort Award in the Field
of Law Enforcement from Sigma Alpha Epsilon Social Fraternity at the
University of Nebraska. In 1979, he also received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from the University of Nebraska in recognition of
distinguished and devoted service to his country.
Gunderson's handwritten affidavit, submitted to Michael's lawyer on
September 27, 1991, read as follows (excerpted): "I, Ted L. Gunderson,
make the following free and voluntary statement. No threats or promises
were made to get me to make this statement. I was born 11/7/28 at
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"In early 1986, I met one Ralph Olberg through a friend of mine, Bill
Sloane. Sloane is a former official with HUD. Sloane was appointed by
President Ronald Reagan to the HUD position after the president was
elected in 1980.
"Olberg is a prominent American businessman who was spearheading
procurement of U.S. weapons and technology for the Afghanistan rebels.
"In late Spring or early summer of 1986, Ralph Olberg, one Tim Osman,
Michael Riconosciuto and I met in a room at the Hilton Hotel, Ventura
Blvd., Sherman Oaks, California. I accompanied Michael Riconosciuto, and
Osman and Olberg were together. We were there to discuss Olberg's role
with the worldwide support network involving the Mujahaden, Afghanistan
Resistance Movement against the Soviets.
"In particular we discussed the ability of the Mujahaden's willingness
to field test weapons, new and esoteric in the field and to return a
research report, complete with photos.
"We also discussed the capture and/or defection of high ranking Soviet
military personnel who had sensitive compartmentalized information and
the availability of their briefings. We discussed one person who was a
Soviet defector and was a communications officer who had detailed
information of the highest levels of Soviet military C3I (Command
Control Intelligence and Communications).
"We also discussed the Soviet directed weapons system referred to in the
conversation as `Blue Death.' Michael and I were told by Olberg that
witnesses stated the corpses did not decay even after being exposed and
unburied for six months.
"We discussed the possibility of Michael analyzing one of these units
captured in the field by the Afghan rebels for the purpose of having
Michael help their technical experts develop effective countermeasures.
"We discussed a military joint venture in Turkey to produce specialized
ammunition. We discussed a lobbying effort to legally obtain Stinger II
missiles as well as the various Stinger post and Stinger alternates.
Michael was to formulate a plan to sanitize the electronics of any
Stingers that would be at risk of Soviet capture so any information
gained from a captured Stinger could not be effectively used against the
U.S. or NATO forces.
"This report was to be presented to a Congressional position as support
for the lobbying effort to convince Congress to legally sanction the
shipment of these missiles to the Afghan rebels.
"We discussed Michael's proposed modification of Chinese 107 MM rockets
and how to reconfigure the package into a backpack portable effective
artillery counter battlery system.
"We discussed Michael's connection with the Chinese weapons position,
Norinco, to provide the basic components for the unassembled rocket
system. We discussed the modification and assembly of these 107 MM
rockets and their launchers at a facility in Pakistan known as the
Pakistan Ordinance Works.
"It was my understanding from the discussion that we were working on a
legally sanctioned arms assistance project to the Afghan rebels and that
Ralph Olberg was working through the Afghan desk at the State Department
as well as through Senator Humphreys office. "This was subsequently
confirmed by journalist Danny Casolaro who was recently `suicided.'
"Olberg indicated a potential turf battle problem with certain factions
of the CIA and his group MSH (Management Science For Health). In
negotiations and/or lobbying efforts with Congress, the CIA MSH people
were arguing that Ralph and Tim Osman's group did not truly represent
the leadership of the Afghan rebel resistance.
"Tim and Ralph proposed calling their people and having an unprecedented
leadership meeting in Washington D.C. to prove that their group did in
fact represent the full leadership of the Mujahaden.
"When I recently called Ralph, he denied that the above meeting had
taken place and then after prodding, he finally admitted to it and he
asked me not to talk about it. This five page statement is true and
correct to the best of my knowledge. Ted L. Gunderson."
******
Later in my investigation, I obtained from Michael Riconosciuto's files
in the desert, a handwritten note from "T.G." to "Michael" which read as
follows: "Raymond is arriving at LAX 7:55 p.m. Air Canada via Flight 793
from Toronto. Will have to go through Customs. This will give us another
member for our drug/arms operation." The note gave a telephone number
where "T.G." could be reached. "Raymond," referred to in the note, is
presumably Raymond Lavas, Gunderson's former forensic's expert during
his tenure in the FBI.
******
Michael's trial was not going well. He called and asked me to contact
R.J. and bring him to my house. Michael was ready to talk he wanted me
to set up a phone conversation in which he could preliminarily open
negotiations for entry into the Federal Witness Protection Program. I
was out of my depth here. I had no idea whether R.J. would cooperate
with such a request. Nevertheless, I called him and related Michael's
proposal. He said he had no authority to approve such a request, but he
would take the information and pass it along.
He arrived at my home early the following week and Michael called as
scheduled. Excerpts from that first taperecorded conversation went as
follows: (Michael did most of the talking) " ... In the Fresno area,
there was a group of people known as the Fresno Company, and the Bernard
brothers were involved in it and Jamie Clark was involved and all of
these people seemed to have charmed lives ...
"The Company was originally out of Lexington, Kentucky and Mena,
Arkansas. Brian Leighton was the assistant U.S. Attorney who was the
most effective person in formulating a strategy in the Justice
Department to go after these people.
"We recognized what they were, for what they were, at that time, and
there were a few ATF guys down in Los Angeles that recognized them for
what they were, OK? Here was a group of over 300 people, most of them
exlaw enforcement and exmilitary, exintelligence people involved in a
major drug and smuggling operation. And they were involved in
compromising activities. The bottom line was espionage.
"And all Leighton served to do was vaccinate the group against further
penetration. Just hardened them. And all the major sources that were
developed from inside turned up dead. A federal judge in Texas turned up
dead.
" ... This is a nasty bunch of people. And they're still alive and well.
Now where that dovetails into my current situation, is in 1984 I was
involved with Robert Booth Nichols who owns Meridian Arms Corporation
and is a principle in F.I.D.C.O., First Intercontinental Development
Corporation. The CEO of FIDCO is George Pender and Bob Maheu was Vice
President ...
"FIDCO was an NSC [National Security Council] corporate cutout. FIDCO
was created to be the corporate vehicle to secure the financing for the
reconstruction of the cities of Beirut and Damour in Lebanon. And they
were working out of an office in Nicosia, Cyprus.
" ... And here I got involved with a group of people that were all high
profile and should have been above reproach. FIDCO had a companion
company called Euramae Trading which operated througout the Middle East.
I came in contact with the PROMISE software (unintelligible). Euramae
had a distribution contract with several Arab countries and I was asked
to evaluate the hardware platforms they had chosen. That was IBM/AS400
stuff ...
" ... That had come from IBM Tel Aviv but it came through a cutout, Link
Systems, because they couldn't deal directly with the Arabs.
"And I came across a guy named Michael T. Hurley and I thought he worked
for the State Department but it turned out he was incountry attache for
the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus. [Nicosia is the capital of the island of
Cyprus, off the coast of Lebanon]. Now, the DEA had no real presence in
Lebanon. Neither did anybody else, including the Israelis. They had
their usual network of contacts but it was very ineffective. The only
way to penetrate that situation, was to get into the drug trade.
"Euramae got into the drug trade and I was told that it was a fully
sanctioned NSC directed operation, which it turns out that it was ...
All those operations were bonafide and all the people who were in them
were definitely key government people, although they were not who they
said they were.
"They all worked for different agencies other than was stated. Probably
part of the normal disinformation that goes with that. And I was
technical advisor for FIDCO and we had auspices through the government
of Lebanon to get in and out of Lebanon.
"But as far as going to the eastern part of Lebanon, unless you were
connected with the drug trade, your chances were slim coming out
unscathed ... They built a network throughout the Bekaa Valley, and
[Robert Booth] Nichols ... he is under Harold Okimoto from the Hawaiian
Islands.
"Harold Okimoto was represented to me as being an intelligence person,
which he is. He has worked under the auspices of [Frank] Carlucci for
years. [Carlucci was former CIA deputy director and former Defense
secretary]. Apparently Harold performed services for the U.S. government
during World War II. He's of Japanese ancestry. I guess he was rewarded
for services well done.
" ... Harold operates through a company called Island Tobacco
Corporation. He has contracts for all the condiments at all the casinos
in Atlantic City, in Reno, in Vegas, in Macao, China ... he's got
contacts in Honolulu, the Orient ... a couple of Jews he knows in Bankok
... and there is a casino, no a city about 15 miles north of Beruit that
Harold has his fingers in.
"When FIDCO was wheeling and dealing on financing for the reconstruction
of the infrastructure of Beirut, they were making sweetheart deals with
Syrian mobsters and the brother of the president of Syria, Hafez Assad.
" ... The intelligence people in their infinite wisdom decided to
capitalize on the longstanding battle between Rifat Assad and his group
and the Jafaar family. Selectively they were backing both people, but
they were also playing them off against one another, developing
networks. They got a bunch of prominent Syrians thoroughly compromised
and they were in tow in the intelligence game. And they had people that
could get me in and out of the Bekaa Valley, even out of certain areas
of Syria.
"From an intelligence standpoint, it was a success. But to maintain the
credibility of those intelligence operations the heroin had to flow. To
make it real. And the stuff was starting to accumulate in a warehouse
outside of Larnaca. "I personally was in a warehouse where Hurley and
George Pender and George Marcobie (phonetic spelling) told me there was
upwards of twentytwo tons. And even though it was packaged for shipment,
the smell of it in that closed warehouse was overpowering. You know,
white heroin like that has a certain odor because of the way it's
processed.
"They had authorization for what they called `controlled deliveries'
into the United States. And they would target certain cities and then
follow the stuff out, ostensibly unmasking the network and conducting
prosecutions.
"However, the operation became perverted at the U.S. end of the
pipeline. Controlled heroin shipments were doubled, sometimes tripled,
and only one third of the heroin was returned to the DEA.
"At a certain transfer point at the airport in Larnaca, the excess
baggage from the original controlled delivery would be allowed to go
through. I was given the names of the narcotics people who were handling
that. But there were a couple of agents who were on the up and up, and
they had suspicions.
"An intelligence agent who worked with DIA is now deceased. His name was
Tony Asmar and he got on to the operation early on, and started going
toe to toe with Hurley [DEA]. He died in a bomb blast and it was
ascribed to terrorists. And it actually was terrorists who did it, but
his cover was deliberately blown. Myself and others suspected Hurley and
Bob Nichols and Glen Shockley were responsible for that ... "
******
After researching Michael Riconosciuto's information, R.J. noted to me
that Michael gave mostly valid information, but he could not prove that
Michael had been involved. He did, however, verify (through Customs)
that Michael HAD been in Lebanon, but he could not verify the details of
the drug operation.
Michael responded (on a taped message to R.J.) by visually recounting
the DEA apartment/condo in Nicosia, Cyprus: "The DEA had a condo, I
think it was on Columbra (phonetically spelled) Street, in Nicosia,
Cyprus [off the coast of Lebanon].
"They had a ham radio station there. It was an ICOM single side band
amateur radio setup, with a linear ..."
"Were you actually there?" I asked. Michael quipped, "Yes, I was there,"
then continued. "I can describe the antenna system, on the top floor and
the way it's wired up and everything. Unless you were there, you
wouldn't know it was ICOM equipment.
"Now, the game plan with Euramae and Hurley's operation ..." Pause. "
... You need to understand that the airport in Lebanon was closed down.
I took the ferry from Larnaca to Jounieb. Now Jounieb was slightly south
of where the casino city was and the casino city was intact. Beirut was
a nightmare, and so was Damour, because the PLO destroyed the
infrastructure by burrowing bunkers, and there was no water, electricity
or phones. It was a combat zone.
"The Syrian mob controlled the Casino du Liban in a little city north of
Beirut. It was used as a front by narcotics people. Island Tobacco,
owned by Harold Okimoto, sells all the cigarettes there. Now, I could
give you the names of the families. They pitted them off against one
another. F.I.D.C.O. was to finance the reconstruction of the
infrastructure of the cities of Beirut and Damour. Deals were cut as to
who got what concessions. There were certain families, like the ElJorr
family that had to be placated. And there was Rifat Assad and his group.
"Tony Asmar figured out what was going on with Hurley, that they were
shipping `noncontrolled' loads of heroin back to the U.S.. They killed
Tony ..."
"What were the names of the people you were working for over there?," I
asked. Michael's time was always limited on the phone.
"Ok, there was a man named Maurice Ganem. He had a relative, either a
brother or a cousin, who is a senior DEA official with Michael Hurley. I
can't remember his name right now. Anyways, Maurice was agency, you
know, in country, in Lebanon. And Maurice and I and George Pender worked
together."
"Which agency? CIA or DEA?," I asked.
"CIA." Michael continued. " ... And then there was Danny Habib. Danny
Habib and Bob Nichols worked out of Cario (phonetic spelling) and Italy."
"And Bob was NSA or ..." "No, Bob was NSC at that time."
"George Pender and Bob Clark were the high level contacts on all of
this. Bob Clark got drummed out because he was clean. And McFarland then
took over, OK?"
"Uh huh."
"So, it was George Pender and McFarland and Michael McManus[Assistant to
President Reagan at the White House]."
I asked, "What was your involvement with that particular operation?"
"I handled communications protocol. All the communications and financial
transactions. If I could get my records on line I could show all the
money flows, everything."
******
Michael called back later that day and we continued our conversation. He
was intent on talking to someone in FinCen (Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network). " ... The keystone cops are working on my defense. You know
it's really an ordeal. Have you talked to R.J. again?"
"No Mike, he's not giving much information."
"Listen, tell him that not only am I willing to polygraph, but I need
some expert help and I think he needs some expert help. In the league
we're playing in, the only guys we can get that have the wherewithall
are with FinCen. That stands for Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Get me a technical guy that speaks my language."
"Alright, Mike ..."
"I'm talking about Swift Chips. That stands for Clearing House Interbank
Payment System, Ok?"
"Right."
"Im mad, OK?"
"Uh huh."
"I'm real mad. The government has all my files and records. They've got
all of my optical storage disks. Each of those optical storages, 130 of
them, contains 20,000 plus pages. They jacked me around so bad ..."
"Mike ..."
" ... Get an expert that speaks my language, and I'll tell him
everything I know and he can do so much damage, they won't need my
testimony or anything else."
"Mike, everything you know about what?"
"Tell R.J. it goes all the way back to the Cayman Islands and the
Bahamas and Castle Bank. Norm Caspar ... Resorts International Bank ..."
"How'd you get this stuff?"
"I handled the money for them, OK?"
"For who?"
" ... For the Wackenhut people. For Norm Caspar who was a Wackenhut
employee during all of this. Now, there was the Workers Bank in
Columbia. I can't pronounce the Spanish name for it, I just know it as
Workers Bank. I set up their virtual dead-drops ..."
"What's that?"
"It's a way to get around A.C.H. reconciliations on a daily basis. It'll
take an expert, you know, I can't even talk to a normal human being
about this ..."
"O.K."
" ... And the bottom line here is Bob Nichols and Gilbert Rodriguez,
Michael Abbell, whose now an attorney in D.C., but he was with the
criminal section of the Justice Department and Harold Okimoto, and Jose
Londodo, and Glenn Shockley are all in bed together. (Three years after
this conversation, Michael Abbell was indicted for laundering money for
the Cali Cartel).
"Now Ted Gunderson ..."
"Mike, have you got any paperwork on that?"
"Now, wait a minute. Gunderson was physically with me when Wayne Reeder,
Peter Zokosky and his wife and several of Wayne Reeder's lieutenants,
Bob Nichols and his wife, Harold Okimoto, George Pender, Deborah Pender,
Dill Pender, and myself were all together ..."
" ... Where?"
" ... At Wayne Reeders country club, golf club, in Indio, California.
And Bob discussed openly in front of Ted Gunderson and myself and
everyone present bragged about Glenn Shockley and Jose Londono having
3,500 soldiers. It's now almost double that ..."
"What does that mean? What are the soldiers?"
Mike: "R.J. will know what it means."
"Alright. OK."
"This took place in 1983. I have correspondence on the things we were
doing. But I was in fear of my life because Bob was starting to act
irrational. The guy was getting drunk all the time, waving a gun out of
the car window, shooting in the air, you know, just really doing a mind
trip on me. I've been on the run ever since ..."
"Listen, Mike, what do you need from FinCen?"
"If I had help from the FinCen people, I could reconstruct my files.
Tell them that I need two types of computers. I need a VAX 11730 set up
with two RLO II disks; one RA80 and a TU80 tape drive. That's one
package. And then I need a VAX 3900 computer. Now the reason why I need
the older, slower VAX and I know where to get all this stuff, no
problem, I've got the VAX's in Southern California, but I need a place
to set them up and somebody to operate them, and just follow my
instructions."
"Alright."
"Now, the VAX Series 3900 machine ... it's too complicated to go into
what mass storage devices, but those are the two levels of machines I need.
"Ok, I'm thinking about going to visit your wife in Southern California,
do you want us to bring those computers up here?"
"No, No! No, leave them where they're at. Tell R.J. to find someone at
FinCen. If we move them around, we're going to wreck them. I'm not
trying to talk down to R.J., but this is too far above him."
"Mike, Raymond Lavas turned some of your disks over to the Jack Brooks
investigative committee (House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw)."
"Yeah, I know. There's no data on those disks. What that is, is that is
a subset of VAX B.M.S., OK? What I do is I modify some of the VAX BMS
routines to activate a one time pad encryption scheme. That's why I have
to have two RLO2 drives on the VAX 11730, because one RLO2 Platter is a
system planner, the other one is the one time pad. The data is on a 1625
BPI 9 track tape on the TU80 tape drive. That's the system configuration."
"If you say so."
"Now, R.J. needs to put me in touch with somebody he trusts at FinCen.
There's about 120 experts there. There are a few guys there that speak
my language.
"What's the encryption key?"
"Well, they're ten digit numbers ... it's a one time pad, but it has a
pseudorandom, prime number expansion system ..."
"Mike, do you have access to PROMISE through this system?"
"What? Oh, I've got access to PROMISE, I've got access to FOIMS ..."
"Well, PROMISE is the one that's going to get you off the hook in court."
"Ok, I understand that. But PROMISE and FOIMS are one and the same. Now
they will say no, that's not true, but in Virginia where the FBI has
their center, and where the Justice Department has a center in D.C.,
they're both Amdahl mainframes, OK?"
"Yes."
" ... You see, I want that RLO II Platter out of the hands of the Brooks
Committee and into the hands of somebody who'll do with it what I tell
them to do. I don't want somebody to run it up without first getting my
instruction."
"Does it have to be that particular one?"
"Yes, either that or it will take me six months to rewrite the subset.
They want me to give them the codes to unravel everything. If I did,
they wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. They'd make a mess out of
things."
"Mike, what are you going to provide to FinCen?"
"I'm going to show them how these boys handled the life blood of the
cash flow on a day to day basis. I'm going to unmask the whole operation
..."
"Anything specific on Robert Booth Nichols?"
Mike: "Nichols is Harold Okimoto's godson. He's also Renee Hanner's
(phonetic sp.) boy, and Wolfgang Fosog's (phonetic sp.) boy."
" ... And who are they?"
"The FinCen people will know. There's also Octon Potnar "
"Alright. Well, if I'm going to play around with this, I don't want to
be in the dark ... I could end up like Danny. I've got to know what I'm
dealing with ."
"If you get the right guy at FinCen, he'll jump at this, OK? We've got
to start right now. We're talking about some time getting things up and
rolling to where we're fluid and flexible and functional in their system
internationally. They'll be able to watch the daily transactions ..."
******
Michael continued to request of R.J. that he be connected with someone
"trustworthy" at FinCen, to no avail. He also requested to be placed
into a Witness Protection Program, again offering to assemble his
computer equipment in a secret location and provide FinCen with a day by
day view of Mob (and MCA Corporation) illegal banking transactions.
According to Michael, before his arrest, he had been handling gold
transfers, money laundering, "virtual dead drops," altered ACH daily
reconciliations and other transactions for various underworld figures
including Robert Booth Nichols, Harold Okimoto, George Pender, Wayne
Reeder, Michael A. McManus, Norm Caspar, Gilbert Rodriguez, Jose
Londono, Glen Shockley, and others.
Michael continued to call and give me taperecorded (at his request)
messages to pass on to R.J. The man accepted the messages, but they just
went down the big, black hole and never emerged again.
One message in particular later became significant to me. The message
from Michael to R.J. went as follows: (Quote) "There are three dozen
C130's down at the Firebird Lake Airstrip on the Gila Indian Reservation
in Arizona. Check out J & G Aviation, it's an FBO. The Fresno Company is
alive and well down there.
"The real activity is not at Mirana, it's at Firebird Lake Airstrip.
Other airlines operating at Firebird are Beigert, Macavia International,
Pacific Air Express, Evergreen and Southern Air.
"Question to R.J.: How much cocaine or heroin can be transported in a
C130? Do you want the C130, or do you want the guys who orchestrate it?
"Do a matrix link analysis, then sit down and pick the targets.
Otherwise, you will tip off the others and the proof will dry up.
" ... Brian Leighton made 29 arrests out of five hundred within the
Fresno Company. All Leighton succeeded in doing was to `vaccinate' the
Fresno Company against further penetration."
Riconosciuto said he had a fragile window into this organization (The
Company), but Leighton and others were causing the window to close by
being too public about their investigation.
The message continued regarding Robert Booth Nichols: "Bob Nichols runs
Glen Shockley. Glen Shockley runs Jose Londono. I [Michael] sat with Bob
Nichols and Mike Abbell. Bob handed him $50,000 cash to handle an
internal affairs investigation that the Justice Department conducted
which would have led to the extradition of Gilbert and Miguel Rodriguez
and Jose Londono.
"Bob Nichols told me [Michael] that it was necessary to `crowbar' the
investigation because they were `intelligence people.'
"Michael wanted to hand The Company and Bob Nichols over to FinCen in
exchange for entry into the Witness Protection Program, but nothing was
forthcoming from R.J.
It was two years before I learned who Mike Abbell, Gilbert Rodriguez and
Jose Londono were. Abbell had worked in the criminal division of the
Justice Department, according to Bill Hamilton. Hamilton added that, to
his knowledge, Abbell had left the DOJ in 1982 and went directly into
the Bogota, Columbia law offices of Kaplan and Russin.
A member of our loosely coalesced investigative team, George Williamson,
a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter, obtained Abbell's background
from library directories: From 1973 to 1979 Abbell was staff assistant
to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General. From 1979 to 1981 he was the
Director of the Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division
of the Department of Justice.
After leaving the Department of Justice in 1982, Abbell became counsel
at the law firm of Kaplan, Russin and Becchi, with offices in San
Francisco, California Bogota, Columbia Santo Domingo in the Dominican
Republic Bangkok, Thailand Tapai, Taiwan New York Madrid, Spain and
Miami, Florida.
As of this writing, Abbell was listed as working in his own firm with a
partner named Bruno Ristau (Ristau and Abbell) in Washington D.C. Ristau
was also formerly with the law firm of Kaplan, Russin and Becchi. And
from 1958 to 1963 he was an attorney in the Internal Security Division
and Civil Division of the Department of Justice. He was also with the
DOJ from 1963 to 1981 where he was Director of the Office of Foreign
Litigation. Ristau speaks German, Polish, Spanish and French. He was
Chairman of the Division of International Law of the Washington D.C. Bar
from 1971 to 1973. In the American Bar Association from 1981 to 1984, he
was Chairman of the Committee of Private International Law Practice. He
is also a member of the American Society of International Law. Ristau is
obviously a heavyweight in the field of international law.
A TIME magazine article, dated July 4, 1994, described Gilbert Rodriguez
as a "leader of the Cali [Columbian drug] cartel, which controls 80% of
the world's cocaine trade." The newly elected president of Columbia,
Ernesto Samper Pizano, was accused of taking $3.7 million in campaign
funds from Rodriguez, which in effect, put Samper in league with
Columbia's drug lords.
Three audio tapes of conversations between Rodriguez and Samper's
campaign manager, Santiago Medina, had been handed over to U.S. State
Department officials before the election, but nothing was done. DEA
officials were furious, stating to TIME that "No one did anything. They
[the State Department] allowed this travesty to take place. Everybody,
including the U.S. government, is participating in this coverup."
The State Department responded, "We can't interfere with elections."
I pulled out a book from a dusty corner of my library entitled, "Cocaine
Politics" by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, and looked up the
name Gilbert Rodriguez. On page 83, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and Jose
Santacruz Londono were mentioned as part of the early leadership of the
Cali cartel. On page 88 it was noted that the "Calibased Ocampo and
Gilberto Rodriguez had been the principal targets of a major DEA Centac
investigtion that resulted in indictments of Rodriguez in Los Angeles
and New York in 1978."
At that time, President Jimmy Carter's Human Rights foreign policy in
Latin America distanced the CIA under Stansfield Turner (later a
Wackenhut Board Director) from any deathsquad interdiction. The Carter
administration was also reportedly reluctant to go after Ocampo because
of its determination in 1977 to sign a Panama Canal treaty with General
Torrijos, even though Torrijos and family members were heavily involved
at the highest levels of the world cocaine trade.
The Cali cartel, described in a 1983 Customs report, laundered its
profits through Miami banks, one of which was Northside Bank of Miami,
owned by Gilberto Rodriguez. Rodriguez popped up again as the leader of
a delegation to the "cocaine summit conference" in Panama City in the
early 1980's. Yet, Rodriguez's name was subsequently removed from DEA
reports under the Ronald Reagan administration. In fact, according to
disgruntled DEA agents, some of whom suspected they were stumbling into
a CIA connection, the case was never pursued past the indictment level
and the Centac 21 task force was totally dismantled when Reagan and Bush
came to office.
So, Gilbert Rodriguez and Jose Londono were revealed to be high ranking
members of the Cali drug Cartel in Columbia. I wondered if they were
also CIA intelligence operatives? Or CIA drug operatives? Or both, as
Manuel Noriega had been? Noriega had ultimately been ousted when he
chose to back the violent Medellin cartel, George Bush's target. If in
fact Gilberto Rodriguez had been compromised and forced to cooperate
with U.S. officials after his 1978 indictment, and taking into account
his strategic position of leadership in the Cali cartel and his alleged
funding of the newly elected president of Columbia in 1994, it would
indeed place the U.S. government in a powerful controlling position
within the cartels today. In fact, it would place CIA drug operatives
behind the election of the president of Columbia! The implications were
earthshaking.
******
It is important to point out here that, on August 5, 1991, Michael
Riconosciuto had called Bill Hamilton at Inslaw and asked him to obtain
information on former DOJ official Mike Abbell. Riconosciuto planned to
trade information on Abbell, Rodriguez, Nichols and others to the FBI in
exchange for entry into a Witness Protection Program.
But Hamilton, pressed for time and not comprehending the significance of
the "drug" connection, had turned the investigation over to Danny
Casolaro. Riconosciuto had stressed to Hamilton that Abbell's activities
might be risky to track and he should not take the information lightly.
That same day, August 5, Casolaro called Bob Bickel, the Texas oil
engineer who once worked as an informant for the Customs Bureau, to
discuss Mike Abbell. Bickel later confirmed that Casolaro had in fact
discussed Abbell, Nichols and Rodriguez at length during that last phone
conversation. And he added, "Danny confronted Robert Booth Nichols about
his relationship with Mike Abbell."
Hamilton and Casolaro secretly devised a plan whereby Danny would
conduct an inquiry with the Department of Justice, but would couch a
number of other inquiries in with the Mike Abbell inquiry to avoid
alerting authorities to the real "focus" of their search.
An October 15, 1991 Village Voice investigative piece, entitled "The
Last Days of Danny Casolaro," by James Ridgeway and Doug Vaughan, shed
(Note that most of Danny's last calls focused on "drug connections.") On
Monday, August 5th, "Riconosciuto called Bill Hamilton from his jail in
Tacoma. He wanted some information about a former Justice Department
attorney [Mike Abbell], and warned Hamilton that getting the information
might be dangerous. Hamilton called Casolaro to help him find out about
the attorney.
"That same day, Danny called Bob Bickel to say that he was "getting
close to the source, and he would soon go to Martinsburg and bring back
the head of the Octopus."
Tuesday, August 6: Casolaro had been typing steadily since Monday, and
by afternoon, he'd finished. Olga, his housekeeper, helped him pack a
leather tote bag. She also remembered him packing a thick sheaf of
papers into a dark brown or black briefcase. Danny walked out the door
saying, "I have all my papers ... Wish me luck. I'll see you in a couple
of days." That was the last time Olga saw Casolaro alive.
Wednesday, August 7: According to Inslaw records, Casolaro called the
Hamiltons in the afternoon, and was put on hold. Before Hamilton could
get free, he had hung up. At some time on that same day, Riconosciuto
called Hamilton again to ask for the information about the Justice
Department lawyer [Mike Abbell]. Hamilton called Casolaro, but he had
already left for Martinsburg.
Thursday, August 8: Casolaro called Danielle Stalling and asked her to
set up appointments for him the next week with a former police officer,
now employed as a private investigator, to learn more about the Laotian
warlord Kuhn Sa's proposed Golden Triangle drug trade.
Friday, August 9: By now Hamilton was starting to worry. I talk to Danny
everyday," Hamilton said. "I had never [gone without speaking to him for
so long] before, so I called Bob Nichols in Los Angeles and asked
whether he had heard from Danny recently."
Nichols told Hamilton "Yes," he had spoken with Danny late Monday night
[August 5th] and he had been "euphoric." Nichols told Hamilton he
(Nichols) was taking off for Europe that evening.
It was at that point that Olga, Danny's housekeeper, received four or
five threatening phone calls. The first was about 9 a.m., a man's voice,
in good English, said, "I will cut his [Danny's] body and throw it to
the sharks."About a half hour later, another call came in. "Drop dead,"
the man's voice said.
Saturday, August 10: At 12:30 that afternoon, a maid knocked on the door
of room 517 at the Sheraton Martinsburg Inn. Nobody answered, so she
used her passkey to open the door; though it had both a security bolt
and a chain lock on the inside, neither one was attached. When she
glanced into the bathroom, she saw a lot of blood on the tile floor and
screamed. Another hotel maid came into the bathroom and saw a man's nude
body lying in the bloodfilled tub. There was blood not only on the tile
floor but splattered up onto the wall above the tub as well. The police
were called to the scene.
At 8:30 p.m. that night, unaware that Danny's body had been found, Olga,
Danny's housekeeper, returned to Casolaro's house to look for him. The
phone rang. A man's voice said, "You son of a bitch. You're dead." It
was not until Monday, August 12, that authorities notified family and
friends that Danny Casolaro was dead.
Had Danny in fact called Robert Booth Nichols on Monday, August 5th, and
confronted him about his relationship with Mike Abbell? Had he told
Nichols he planned to meet with FBI officials from Lexington, Kentucky?
And what about FBI agent Thomas Gates, Nichols' antagonist? SPY
magazine's article on Danny Casolaro indicated that he spoke with Gates
three days before his death, relating a conversation in which Nichols
had warned him to abandon the investigation.
Riconosciuto later conceded that he had tried repeatedly to reach
Hamilton and Casolaro between August 5 and 10th to warn them NOT to
mention Abbell or Rodriguez to Nichols, but it had been too late. Bill
Hamilton told one investigator that he did NOT know WHY Riconosciuto was
inquiring about Mike Abbell - until AFTER Danny's death.
Bob Bickel's confirmation that Danny WAS trailing Mike Abbell in the
last days before his death indicate that Danny may have unknowingly
stepped into the largest narcotics trafficking/intelligence operation
the world.
******
Another indepth article came to my attention which further corroborated
Danny's investigation of Gilberto Rodriguez. "The Strange Death of Danny
Casolaro," by Ron Rosembaum in Vanity Fair's December 1991 issue
included an interview with Michael Riconosciuto. According to Rosenbaum,
Danny's investigations were taking him into areas that involved
dangerous knowledge and dangerous characters. It was Danny's habit of
"bouncing" Riconosciuto's stories off Robert Nichols that put him in
peril, Riconosciuto told Rosenbaum. One of the things he reportedly
"bounced" involved a major heroinrelated sting operation.
Another involved Riconosciuto's claim about an "effort by the Cali
cocaine cartel to derail the extradition of an alleged Columbian kingpin
called Gilberto."
Nichols "went ballistic," according to Riconosciuto, when Danny bounced
the Gilberto (Rodriguez) matter off him. Riconosciuto said he tried to
warn Danny. "I called from that day on it was on a late Monday Tuesday,
Wednesday, all the way through the weekend when they found Danny
[dead]," he said. "Every day I was calling the Hamiltons, asking if
anybody had heard from Danny. And I was frantic."
Labeled by Rosenbaum as the "resident demon of the labyrinth,"
Riconosciuto said "Danny's theory was different from the typical
megaconspiracy theory. Danny was dealing with real people and real crimes."
Rosenbaum asked Riconosciuto about the germ warfare technology he had
found in Danny's notes. Riconosciuto admitted that he had learned about
"horrible things" going on at the Cabazon Indian reservation but did not
elaborate on the subject. Wrote Rosenbaum, "This is the labyrinth [that]
Riconosciuto was leading Danny into the one he died in."
Just days before his death, Danny had planned to visit the reservation.
In his notes were cryptic references to slowacting brain viruses like
Mad Cow Disease, which could be used against targeted people by slipping
the virus into meat pies. Riconosciuto told Rosenbaum that Danny was
"concerned" that he may have been a target of this virus. "That was one
of the reasons he [Danny] had such an obsession with this story. He felt
he had been hit by these people."
Accordingly, Riconosciuto filled Danny's head with allegations of Robert
Booth Nichols' sinister, international covertworld connections. He
painted a picture linking Nichols to organized crime syndicates, the
fearsome Japanese Yakuza, and various CIA and British intelligence plots
emanating from Nichols' friendship with "a legendary Bondish Brit known
as `Double Deuce' [Sir Denis Kendall]."
Riconosciuto said Nichols was the key to Danny's Octopus. But Danny was
receiving warnings from Riconosciuto's counterpart as well. Robert Booth
Nichols had flown to Washington D.C. from Puerto Rico to warn Danny to
stay away from Riconosciuto.
Danny's girlfriend, Wendy Weaver, had been present at one of the
"You don't know how bad this guy Riconosciuto is ... he might not get
you today, he might not get you next month. He might get you two years
from now. If you say anything against him he will kill you."
Nichols repeated the warning several times, said Weaver. "At least five
times." Weaver described Nichols as "very charming, very handsome," but
said "it [the meeting] was a weird night, so weird."
Another friend of Danny's met Nichols at a luncheon at Clyde's in Tysons
Corner where Nichols allegedly informed them that he had just been asked
to become "minister of state security" on the island of Dominica.
Reportedly, the island was going to be transformed into a CIA base. The
friend, who spoke to Rosenbaum on condition of anonymity, said Nichols
was "very slick, very civilizedappearing" ... "oozing intrigue," but he
added that he had never witnessed a performance like the one that ensued.
After lunch Danny had pulled his friend aside and showed him a purported
FBI wiretap summary on Nichols. The summary was part of FBI agent Thomas
Gates's affidavit in Nichols' slander suit against him. The summary
linked Nichols to the Yakuza and to the Gambino crime family as a money
launderer.
Danny's friend had been shocked. "You just put me in a meeting with this
man and didn't tell me what the hell why didn't you tell me before?," he
asked Danny. Danny said he wanted to see how Nichols would react. The
friend told Rosenbaum, "In other words, he gaffed me with a hook and
tossed me in the water to see if the Octopus would move!"
Danny HAD in fact been receiving death threats on the phone. One threat
reported by his housekeeper, "You're dead, you son of a bitch," which
came hours AFTER Danny's body had been found, ruled out Danny himself as
a possible source of the threats. And his prophesy to his brother, Tony
Casolaro, "If anything happens to me it won't be an accident," made it
unmistakably clear that Danny did, indeed, feel threatened.
Nevertheless, Danny appeared upbeat to most of the people he talked to
prior to his death. Dr. Tony Casolaro, a specialist in pulmonary
medicine, told Vanity Fair that he didn't believe his brother committed
suicide because Danny was so excited and upbeat about his investigation
on that last Monday when he saw him.
The autopsy examination of Danny's brain had revealed possible symptoms
of Multiple Schlerosis, but friends and family dismissed this as
irrelevant because Danny had never complained of symptoms or, to their
knowledge, known of the disease, if he had it.
Tony was also troubled by a number of facts, one of which was Danny's
current papers and files which he took to West Virginia were missing
from his motel room. His body had been embalmed even before family
members were notified of the death, and the motel room had been
commercially cleaned before any type of investigation, other than a
cursory look at the death scene by police, could occur.
In his Vanity Fair article, Ron Rosenbaum wrote that he had obtained one
of Casolaro 's surviving notebooks and found mentioned under the heading
of August 6, four days before Danny's death, the name "Gilberto." It
read: "Bill Hamilton August 6. MR ... also brought up `Gilberto.'"
Rosenbaum did not speculate publicly who Gilberto might be, but it was
obviously Gilberto Rodriguez, head of the Cali Cartel, at that time
deeply involved with Michael Abbell, formerly of the Department of Justice.
******
A dozen or so drafts of Casolaro's proposed manuscript along with notes
and phone bills had been sent to the Western Historical Manuscript
Collection at the University of Missouri by his brother, Dr. Tony
Casolaro.Tony Casolaro had sent the material to the University because,
at one time, the IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) Association,
headquartered at the University, had researched the fatal carbombing of
reporter Don Bolles in Arizona.
Bolles had been researching a mobconnected gold smuggling operation in
that state. Through Tracy Barnett at IRE, I learned that a graduate
student at the University had been assigned to catalog all Danny's
material for eventual insertion into a data base. In contacting the
graduate student, who by then (September 1994) worked for ABC in
Houston, Texas, I learned that few if any journalists had inquired about
the notes.
But, interestingly, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Zipperstein from
Los Angeles, working for the Department of Justice, had requested copies
of Danny's NOTES, but declined Danny's phone records. The graduate
student noted that the notes and drafts of Danny's proposed manuscript
focused on a Cabal of intelligence people who, originally consisting of
numerous names, were subsequently narrowed down to about eight. One of
those names was Glen Shockley. Shockley, of course, was listed on the
Board of Directors of F.I.D.C.O. along with Robert Booth Nichols.
Shockley was also a corporate partner in Meridian International
Logistics, headed by Nichols. Shockley was also a CIA contract employee
(according to several sources) who allegedly "ran Jose Londono" of the
Cali Cartel. This according to Riconosciuto's taped interview with
government agents while negotiating for Witness Protection.
I purchased everything of any significance pertaining to Danny's
writings and documents, including the FBI wire tap summaries which
corroborated everything I had learned to date.
In reviewing the summaries, it became apparent that the FBI had
inadvertently stumbled onto a CIA drug trafficking operation which
included high ranking La Cosa Nostra figures, the Gambino crime family
and the Japanese Yakuza.
One affidavit in support of an application to intercept wire
communications over the telephone listed names of those to be
intercepted: Robert Booth Nichols, Eugene Giaquinto (then President of
MCA Corportion Entertainment Division, and corporate partner with
Nichols in Meridian International Logistics), Angelo Commito, Edward
Sciandra, Michael Del Gaizo, Joseph Garofalo, and others.
The purpose of the interceptions was to determine "source, type and
quantity of narcotics/controlled substances, methods and means of
delivery, and the source of funding for purchasing of
narcotics/controlled substances."
The intercepted conversations read like a "Who's Who" of organized
crime. It was also apparent that Eugene Giaquinto enjoyed a special
relationship with John Gotti.
******
Ann Klenk, a long time friend of Danny Casolaro's and former associate
of Washington D.C. columnist Jack Anderson, held all his personal notes
which were not sent to the University. In a September 14, 1994 phone
interview, she noted that the last time she talked to Danny, that last
Monday before his death, he told her he'd cracked the Inslaw case.
I asked her, "Do you think he resolved that?"
Ann responded, "Oh, yes. I KNOW he did. He TOLD me he did. He said,
`Ann, I broke Inslaw.' And I said, `Geez, Danny that's great!' But, I
never asked him what he found because he was very despondent about it.
He said, `You can have it. You and Jack [Anderson] can have the story. I
don't even want it.'"
Ann said Danny was disgusted and related their last conversation: "I
said, `Danny, you worked on this [so long] and now you don't want it?'
He said, `It's just a little piece of the puzzle anyway.' See, Inslaw
led him into this, but Danny quickly became more involved with the drug
aspects ... with the CIA aspects, with the Wackenhut aspects."
I said, "I know what you mean, because I followed the same trail."
******
Danny's proposed drafts and notes obtained from Western Historical
Manuscript Collection at University of Missouri revealed information
never published in mainstream media. Typewritten and handwritten lists
of contacts included names and telephone numbers of Ted Gunderson,
Raymond Lavas, Robert Nichols, Peter Zokosky, Bob Bickel, Fahim Safar,
Earl Brian, Peter Dale Scott, Art Welmus, John Vanderwerker, Jack Blum,
Dr. Harry Fair, Bill Hamilton, Bob Parry, Bill McCoy, and numerous others.
Most of Danny's drafts focused on the Southeast Asian heroin connection,
CIA drug money used to finance the Contras, and the ability of
terrorists to send missiles containing dangerous chemicals and
biological diseases into the U.S.
One typewritten draft, entitled, "Behold, A Pale Horse," described an
"international cabal [in Southern California] whose freelance services
covered parochial political intrigue, espionage, sophisticated weapon
technologies that included biotoxins, drug trafficking, money laundering
and murder-for-hire." According to Danny, the cabal continues today,
"its origins spawned thirty years ago in the shadow of the Cold War."
Casolaro's June - July (1991) phone bills told a story of their own.
Having followed Danny's investigative trail for three years, I had an
entire directory of phone numbers relating to his inquiries. Most
obvious were Danny's numerous calls prior to his death to Robert Booth
Nichols in Los Angeles. Most of the calls from Washington D.C. to Los
Angeles lasted an average of one to two hours, invariably in the wee
hours of the morning 1:50 a.m., 12:36 a.m., 1:13 a.m., 12:18 a.m., etc.
It was also apparent that Danny was riding a seesaw with Nichols and
Riconosciuto. He would talk to one, then the other, often on the same
day, back and forth for months. Then suddenly, he cut off Riconosciuto
and his calls to Nichols increased in frequency.
Other phone numbers matched those of Ted Gunderson, Alan Boyak, a lawyer
in Utah, Bo Gritz, Heinrich Rupp and Chuck Hayes, a self-professed (on
the Internet) CIA operative. Danny often called Hayes immediately after
he spoke with Nichols. Oddly, Hayes never came forward during the
official investigation of Danny's death to disclose the content of those
conversations.
******
Within six months of Casolaro's death, Riconosciuto was again attempting
to trade information in exchange for entry into a Witness Protection
Program. But this time, instead of using Casolaro or Bill Hamilton, he
was using me to make the contacts.
At Riconosciuto's request, I contacted a man whom I will identify as
N.B. at the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) in San
Francisco. Michael had advised me to call this agent because the BATF
was "Treasury Department" as was FinCen.
I set up the phone meeting and Riconosciuto called the San Francisco
BATF collect, as scheduled. N.B. listened attentively to Michael, then
ran a check on him through the departmental computer system. Shortly
thereafter, I received an unnerving phone call.
N.B. advised me in strong terms to "get out of this" while I still
could. He said I would end up getting subpoenaed as a witness if I
didn't discontinue my investigation. He added that sometimes people got
killed or committed suicide when they got involved with Michael
Riconosciuto or Robert Booth Nichols.
N.B.'s computer inquiry had bounced back on him. His superior in the
BATF had been notified by someone from another agency he didn't say who
who had instructed N.B. that he was to have NO further contact with
Michael Riconosciuto or me.
When I related this conversation to Michael, he indicated no surprise,
but immediately wanted to be put back in touch with R.J. He needed
someone in the government with access to his files to verify his
credibility and get that information back to Tom Olmstead, his attorney.
Regarding the computer inquiry, Riconosciuto explained as follows: "I
know what's happening here. Tell R.J. if he uses FOIMS, Field Office
Information Management System, and if he leaves an audit trail, he's
going to be exposed. There are all sorts of different levels of flags on
my name. Whenever the computer gets a hit, the issuing agency is
notified as to who made the request and from where it came."
"Mike," I asked, "how can he get around that? I don't understand ..."
"Listen, whenever there's a hit on one of those flags, whether it's a
want or [a] warrant, or whether it's simply an administrative interest,
unbeknownst to the user who's making the request, his access is audited.
Tell R.J. before he starts making inquiries, no matter how discreet he
thinks they are, that he should have someone totally uncoupled from him
to enter into FOIMS."
"Alright."
"Now," Michael continued, "if he goes into NCIC or NADDIS, ah, NCIC is
the least dangerous as far as making inquiries, because NADDIS can track
just like FOIMS ..."
"Alright."
"Now, on NCIC there is a `nonelectric' filing on me and he can make the
request that way without alerting anyone. If he has trouble checking
anything out, tell him I can help him along."
"He can't call you at the jail. How can he get in touch with you?"
"Through my attorney. The minute he [R.J.] gets a line on me, ask him to
notify my attorney. Tell him he can check my attorney out through the
government. Tom has excellent records with the government."
"Alright."
"Explain to R.J. that I know PROMISE, I know FOIMS inside out. I helped
develop that internal tracking audit trail ..."
I had lost all hope of R.J. rescuing Michael Riconosciuto, and I think
in his heart, Michael knew that too, but I passed the information along
as requested. R.J. politely accepted the information as he always did,
then I never heard from him again.
CHAPTER 7
Through one of Michael's contacts, I was able to obtain the corporate
documents on F.I.D.C.O. Corporation (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation). This formidable organization lead me straight to the head
of The Octopus.The Board of Directors of FIDCO consisted of the
(1) Robert Maheu, Sr, Vice President, Director former FBI agent, former
CEO of Howard Hughes Operations, senior consultant to Leisure Industries.
(2) Michael A. McManus, Director, Vice President and General Counsel to
FIDCO former Assistant to the President [Reagan] of the United States at
the White House in Washington D.C.
(3) Robert Booth Nichols, Director, Sr. Vice President and Chairman of
Investment Committee Chief Executive Officer of R.B.N. Companies,
International, a holding company for manufacturing and development of
high technology electronics, real estate development, construction and
international finance.
(4) George K. Pender, Director former Director of Pacific Ocean area of
Burns & Roe, Inc., an international engineering & construction
corporation with active projects on all seven continents of the world.
Senior engineer consultant to Burns & Roe, Inc.
(5) Kenneth A. Roe, Director Chairman and President of Burns & Roe,
Inc., International engineers and Constructors, a family corporation
owned by Kenneth Roe and family. Major current project of the company is
the engineering design and construction of the U.S.A. Fast Breeder
Nuclear Reactor Plant in conjunction with Westinghouse Electric
Corporation which is responsible for the nuclear system supply of steam.
Construction value of present business backlog of Burns & Roe, Inc. is
in excess of six billion U.S. dollar.
(6) Frances T. Fox, Vice President and Director former General Manager
of L.A. International Airport, former Director of Aviation for Howard
Hughes Nevada operations, now called Summa Corporation, City Manager of
San Jose, California.
(7) Clint W. Murchison, Jr. Director Owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL
football team.
(8) William M. Pender, Director and Sr. Vice President licensed
contractor, State of California.
(9) Glen R. Shockley, Director Consultant to Fortune 500 Companies in
business management. Internationally known as financial consultant in
funding.
The list of directors was accompanied by a letter dated January 11, 1983
on FIDCO letterhead originating out of Santa Monica, California
addressed to Robert Booth Nichols in Marina Del Rey, California. The
letter, signed by George K. Pender, briefly referenced a copy of a
resolution resulting from a meeting of the Board of Directors of FIDCO.
On April 13, 1983, Robert Booth Nichols wrote a letter to Joseph F.
Preloznik in Madison, Wisconsin, outlining proposed arms projects, one
of which was to build a two story building of approximately 7500 square
feet with concrete walls and floors to house the "R & D position." (I
later found the R & D facility referenced in a 1981 Wackenhut
Interoffice memorandum as a companion facility to Wackenhut to be
constructed on the Cabazon Indian reservation for the assembly of shell
casings, propellants, war heads, fuses, combustible cartridge cases and
other weapons systems).
Nichols wrote to Preloznik, "Should there be any questions with regard
to my credibility, verification can be made through F.I.D.C.O. I have
enclosed a copy of that appointment."
If in fact, F.I.D.C.O. was a vehicle of The Octopus, then the tentacles
of its Board of Directors lead straight to the head. Clint Murchison,
Jr. of Dallas, Texas was the son of Clint Murchison, Sr. who, according
to Dick Russell, author of the book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," (pp.
521523) was cut from the same political cloth as H.L. Hunt.
Wrote Russell: "Back in 1951, after General Douglas MacArthur was
relieved of his Korean command by President Truman, H.L. Hunt
accompanied MacArthur on a flight to Texas for a speaking tour. Hunt and
Murchison were the chief organizers of the proMacArthur forces in Texas.
They would always remember the general standing bareheaded in front of
the Alamo, urging removal of the `burden of taxation' from enterprising
men like themselves, charging that such restraints were imposed by
`those who seek to convert us to a form of socialistic endeavor, leading
directly to the path of Communist slavery.'"
According to Russell, Hunt went on to set up a MacArthurforpresident
headquarters in Chicago, spending $150,000 of his own money on the
general's reluctant 1952 campaign, which eventually fell apart as
MacArthur adopted the strident rhetoric of the right wing.
"Still, connections were made," wrote Russell, "Charles Willoughby, for
example, was a regular part of the MacArthurHunt entourage and
undoubtedly was acquainted with Murchison as well." Both [the Hunts and
the Murchisons] cultivated not only powerful people on the far right,
but also J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, organized crime figures, and
Lyndon Johnson, whose rise to power emanated directly from his friends
in Texas oil.
"Like Hunt, Murchison was an ardent supporter of Senator Joseph
McCarthy's anticommunist crusade. McCarthy came often to the exclusive
hotel that Murchson opened in La Jolla, California, in the early 1950's.
So did Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover.
"In 1961, after Nixon had lost the presidential election to JFK the
previous year, Murchison sold Nixon a lot in Beverly Hills for only
$35,000 a lot Murchison had financed through a Hoffa loan which Nixon
sold two years later for $86,000.
When Hoover visited the (Murchison) Hotel Del Charro, as he did every
summer between 1953 and 1959, Murchison picked up his tab. That amounted
to about $19,000 of free vacations for the FBI Director over those years.
Whether Hoover knew it or not, almost 20 percent of the Murchison Oil
Lease Company in Oklahoma was then owned by Gerardo Catena, chief
lieutenant to the Genovese crime family.
By the autumn of 1963, a major scandal was brewing around Bobby Baker,
whom Vice President Lyndon Johnson had made secretary of the Senate
Democrats in 1955, when LBJ was majority leader. LBJ called Baker "my
strong right arm, the last man I see at night, the first I see in the
morning."
On October 8, 1963 Baker was forced to resign, as a Senate investigation
of his outside business activities began producing sensational testimony
on numerous questionable deals. "Baker's deals were tightly interwoven
with the Murchison family and the Mob," wrote Dick Russell. "What first
attracted the attention of Senate investigators was a lawsuit brought
against Baker in 1963 by his associates in a vending company, alleging
that he failed to live up to certain bargains. Those associates were,
for the most part, Las Vegas gamblers; one of them, Edward Levinson, was
a lieutenant of Florida mobster Meyer Lansky, whose Fremont Hotel in
Vegas was financed through a Hoffa loan.
"Baker, it later turned out, did considerable business with the Mob in
Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisiana, and the Caribbean. Through Baker,
Levinson had also gotten to know Clint Murchison."
"Clint Murchison, Jr. [listed on the Board of Directors of FIDCO] tried
to persuade the Senate Rules Committee in 1964 that his ownreal estate
dealings with Jimmy Hoffa in Florida were `hardly relevant' to the Baker
investigation."
Robert Maheu (Senior Vice President and Director of F.I.D.C.O.), was
also mentioned in Russell's book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," (pp.
190). Wrote Russell: "Back in 1960, with then vice president Richard
Nixon serving as the White House's liaison to the CIA's Cuban
operations, the CIA had initiated its long series of assassination
attempts against Castro. The `cutouts' in the operation started with Las
Vegas billionaire Howard Hughes's righthand man, Robert Maheu, who got
in touch with organizedcrime leaders Sam Giancana, Johnny Rosselli, and
Santos Trafficante, Jr. They in turn enlisted the direct assistance of
Cuban exiles ..."
Throughout my conversations with Michael Riconosciuto the names of
Robert Booth Nichols, George Pender, Glenn Shockley and Michael McManus
(other directors of F.I.D.C.O.) cropped up repeatedly, but I found few
references to them in any published books or magazines. Riconosciuto
often stated that George Pender and Glenn Shockley were CIA officials,
which I later corroborated through Peter Zokosky, a partner of Robert
Booth Nichols's.
In August, 1994, I did, however, manage to obtain three significant
letters with the signatures of Michael A. McManus and George Pender on
them.
The following letters on F.I.D.C.O. confirm its presence in Lebanon.
Letter No. 1 Written on White House letterhead stationary, dated, June
29, 1983, from Michael A. McManus, Assistant to the President (Reagan)
"Dear George: It was good to see you again. I appreciate the update you
and your associates gave me concerning the status of your efforts in the
rebuilding of Lebanon.
"Without question FIDCO seems to have a considerable role to offer
particularly in the massive financial participation being made available
to the government of Lebanon.
"As you are aware, the United States government is providing financial
aid. We are very interested in the success of the rebuilding effort in
Lebanon. I will appreciate your continuing to keep me posted. Best
personal regards. Sincerely, Michael A. McManus, Assistant to the
President."
It is interesting to note that in 1982, one year before the above letter
was written, Israel invaded Lebanon in a bid to crush the PLO
strongholds there and install the Gamayel family in power. At that time
TelAviv was supporting the ultraright Christian Phalange militia . It
was the Christian Phalangist militia which first brought Lebanon into
the heroin trade. And the powerful Christian Gamayel family which led
the way in turning to outside forces for money, guns and political
support. Foremost among those sources was the international heroin
trafficking network.
This according to Bill Weinberg, editor of High Times magazine, who
wrote the indepth article, "The Syrian Connection" in March 1993.
Weinberg also noted that as far back as 1955, U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee hearings learned that Sami el Khouri, the Gamayel's chief of
finances, was importing raw Turkish opium into Lebanon, where it was
processed into heroin and then shipped to Sicily for reexport throughout
America and Europe.
El Khouri controlled the Gamayel family's shipping lines, trading,
trucking and air freight companies. El Khouri's machine was the Lebanese
wing of the French Connection the wing that continued to do business
with the Sicilians in a bid to propel the Gamayel family to power.
After the Israeli invasion, the Lebanese Parliament elected to the
presidency Bechir Gamayel who had long been on the CIA payroll. But
before he could take office, Bashir was killed by an assassins bomb, and
Bechir's brother, Amin, was installed as president.
The following letter from George Pender, President of FIDCO, to
President Amin Gamayel in Beirut is printed in its entirety here.
Letter No. 2 Written on F.I.D.C.O. letterhead stationary, dated July 12,
1983, from George K. Pender, President of FIDCO, to President Amin
"Dear Mr. President: I had visited Beirut in February and May, 1983 to
discuss FIDCO participation in the redevelopment of Lebanon. These
meetings were held with the Chamouns, Maurice Ghanem and Mourad Baroudy.
Of particular interest is the fact that FIDCO offered to arrange the
financing of projects considered, provided they were in the government
sector. Unfortunately, the response, to date, is dragging and a golden
opportunity for Lebanon is slowly dying.
"I had made no effort to see you at that time as I thought it more
prudent to delay until I had something more tangible to present. I
expressed specific interest in the rebuilding of Damour and Alkhyam.
FIDCO has presented these projects to an international Trust with whom
we have a close relationship, and we are very confident that we can
arrange the funding under International Chamber of Commerce format,
provided FIDCO can negotiate turnkey contracts on both projects. We are
ready, willing and able to proceed immediately on this basis.
"I understand you will be at the White House on July 22nd. Would it be
possible for me to meet with you in Washington, D.C. on July 21st
briefly so that I may personally present our interest in Lebanon? As per
copy of attached letter, the White House is actively interested in our
efforts.
"For your personal information, I was a good friend of Bechir. I was
with him in Beirut in 1976 when the Syrian Army came in to police. When
he later visited the United States on a speaking tour, my wife and I
went to Framingham, Massachusetts to meet with him. I miss him
tremendously.
"I would appreciate your reply as soon as possible. You can also reach
me via telex 652483 RBN [Robert Booth Nichols] ASSOCS LSA. Thank you for
your time and consideration. Sincerely yours, George K. Pender."
I cannot stress enough the importance of this letter From George Pender
to Amin Gamayel. In the very first paragraph of Pender's letter he noted
that "Maurice Ghanem" participated in the meetings held in Beirut in May
1983 to discuss F.I.D.C.O.'s participation in the redevelopment of Lebanon.
Michael Riconosciuto had stated (on page 40 of this manuscript) that he
had worked directly under "Maurice Ganem" and George Pender in Lebanon!
Riconosciuto had explained that Maurice had a "relative, either a
brother or a cousin, who was a senior DEA official with Michael Hurley."
Then, in a 1993 book entitled, "Trail of the Octopus" by Donald Goddard
with Lester Coleman, on page 152, I stumbled across the name of Fred
Ganem in the following context: "The number of DEAcontrolled deliveries
of heroin down the pipeline to the United States had increased
noticeably during the winter as a result of Fred Ganem's special
knowledge of the Lebanese communities in Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles."
This was independent corroboration of a link between F.I.D.C.O. (George
Pender and Michael McManus) and the very same heroin operation in
Nicosia, Cyprus which Riconosciuto had described in detail to me in
December 1991!
It also directly connected George Pender with Michael T. Hurley. Goddard
and Coleman recounted how "members of the Jafaar clan and other DEA
couriers would arrive at Larnaca with suitcases full of highgrade
heroin, white and crystal, and be met off the boat ... by officers of
the Cypriot Police Narcotics Squad, who then drove them up to the
Euramae office in Nicosia."In his interview with R.J. (page 37),
Riconosciuto had maintained that "F.I.D.C.O. had a companion company
called Euramae Trading ..." Three years later, "Trail of the Octopus,"
described Euramae as such: "Coleman was given a desk at the Euramae
Trading Company., Ltd., a DEA/CIA `front' newly set up by the Cypriot
Police Narcotics Squad in a luxury threebedroomed penthouse apartment
down the street from the US Embassy. It gave him the creeps from the start.
"Intended as a place where DEA and CIA agents could meet unobserved with
informants and clients, as a message drop for CIA arms dealers supplying
Iraq and the Afghan rebels, as a waiting room for DEA CI's and couriers
from Lebanon, and as a transit point, not just for heroin, but for cash,
documents and bootleg computer software moving to and fro along the
BeirutNicosiaUS pipeline, Eurame, as run by ElJorr, was more like a
lowlife social club than a secret intelligence centre." Coleman had
complained to Hurley, but Hurley had just brushed it aside.
It is noteworthy that George Pender listed Robert Booth Nichols's
"telex" number at the bottom of his letter to Lebanon President Amin
Gamayel. During that time span, Nichols and Pender (when they weren't in
Lebanon) were operating a NSC listening post from a condo at Marina Del
Rey. It was allegedly the U.S. end of the Nicosia, Cyprus operation.
Michael Riconosciuto, Ted Gunderson and Allan Boyak, an attorney
representing Riconosciuto, all had stories to tell about apartment
number "007." More on this in a moment. Next, was the Lebanese response
to George Pender's aforementioned letter (No.2).
Letter No. 3 Written on Arab Bank Limited letterhead, dated November 23,
1983, from Abdul Majeed Shoman, Chairman/General Manager of Arab Bank
"Dear Mr. Pender: Mr. Ahmad has talked to me about the fund to
reconstruct Lebanon and we the Arab Bank together with a group of other
banks will be glad to cooperate with you concerning this respect.
"We shall discuss, in future, how this cooperation will be made and on
what conditions and plans.
"You have mentioned in your letter to Mr. Ahmad on September 27th that
this fund amounts to US$ three billion or more. There is no problem to
take care of this by the Arab Bank and the other group of banks as
stated above. The terms and conditions will be discussed with you
provided the condition is clear in Lebanon and subject to the approval
and counter guarantees of the Lebanese Authority. Yours sincerely, Abdul
Majeed Shoman, Chairman/General Manager."
It is unlikely any "reconstruction" (funded by F.I.D.C.O.) ever took
place in Lebanon. Only a Congressional investigation could determine
what the US$three billion dollars was actually used for.
The next document, pertaining to Robert Booth Nichols, Senior Vice
President of F.I.D.C.O., originated from an interview between Jeffrey
Steinberg, a writer for Executive Intelligence Review, and Allan Boyak,
an attorney in Utah whom Michael Riconosciuto contacted immediately
after his arrest in Washington state.
Michael T. Hurley had allegedly been transferred from Nicosia, Cyprus to
DEA in Washington state shortly before Michael's arrest. Riconosciuto's
arrest had taken place with a week after signing the Inslaw affidavit.
It is noteworthy that Danny Casolaro also contacted and interviewed
Allan Boyak shortly before his death. According to Ted Gunderson and
others who knew Danny, Boyak met with Casolaro in Washington D.C. and
provided him with a copy of a transcript of the meeting between himself
(Boyak), Riconosciuto, and Ted Gunderson, who at that time was
Riconosciuto's investigator.
I later obtained the same transcript from Gunderson's live-in partner,
J.M., and have related the contents of that explosive transcript in
Chapter 13.
Meanwhile, the following "Memorandum for the File," dated 62591, was
written by Steinberg after his interview with Boyak: (Excerpted) "I met
at length Saturday, June 22, 1991 with Allan Boyak, an attorney from
Utah who is representing Michael Riconosciuto in his pending drug case.
Boyak is not the lead attorney and will not apparently be making court
appearances in the case.
"Boyak recounted the following personal background information: He was
in the U.S. Army in Special Forces and apparently did some contract work
for the CIA during the 1960's and early 1970's. At some point in the
early 70's, he worked briefly for the Drug Enforcement Administration
(or its antecedent agency), being stationed in California.
"Boyak had some falling out with the DEA and left the government service
altogether, entering law school. While in law school, Boyak became
friendly with Jim Nichols, a classmate. Nichols told him that he had a
brother who was heavily involved in organized crime and had been
disowned by his family.
"Once out of law school, Boyak joined a Hollywood law firm and became
involved in criminal defense work, representing a number of well placed
West Coast drug traffickers. At some point, Boyak moved to Utah (he is a
practicing Mormon), while retaining his California law practice on a
parttime basis.
"In addition to his o.c. [organized crime] clientel, Boyak also
maintained contacts and apparently did some legal work for some of his
old buddies from his Green Beret and CIA days. One such pal was Art
Suchesk, who ran a CIA proprietary company called Hoffman Electronics.
" ... At some point in the late 1970's, one of Boyak's clients, a Mormon
old boy named Cap Kressop, who was a technical wizard, was approached by
Robert Nichols and asked to manufacture a prototype laser site for a
rifle. Kressop was offered a $200,000 contract for the job but he became
suspicious when Nichols wanted to pay him in cash.
"Boyak contacted Nichols at his Marina Del Rey, California home/office
[apartment "007"] and the two had a lengthy meeting there. Boyack's
description of that meeting is that it was continuously interrupted by
telephone calls and telex messages. Boyak came away convinced that
Nichols was involved in large scale illegal drug operations.
"After consulting with one of his close friends from Green Beret days,
then an assistant U.S. Attorney named Dexter Leitenen (now the Miami
U.S. Attorney), Boyak went to the Los Angeles FBI office with the
suspicions about Nichols' activities.
"The FBI background check [conducted by Ted Gunderson] on Robert Booth
Nichols (born 1943 or 1944 he couldn't remember for sure) revealed that
he was `squeeky clean.' In fact, he had a Class I machine gun license.
"Boyak did discover, however, that one of the people Nichols referenced
as a business associate and personal friend, Harold Okimoto, was
believed by some of his sources to be a top Japanese organized crime
figure based in Hawaii. Okimoto was described as a top agent in the
Yakuza overseas.
"Over the next two year period, after the L.A. FBI had dropped any
interest in the Nichols matter, Boyack's friend, [Arthur] Suchesk,
repeatedly ran into Nichols in such places as Singapore, the
Philippines, and Taiwan. Suchesk was based out of Zurich, Switzerland
during this period, apparently still doing his front man work for the CIA.
"Boyak says that information developed during this period, through
Suchesk and others, [indicated] that Nichols was indeed a bigtime drug
dealer who was very well insulated from any U.S. law enforcement
problems. Nichols operated exclusively overseas. Whenever he came to the
United States, he never engaged in any illegal activities.
"However, Boyak described Nichols' rum importing business as a cover for
bigtime heroin trafficking from the Golden Triangle. Nichols was also
named as `Mr. Big', according to Boyak, in the Medellin Cartel, in drug
prosecutions in Utah and Los Angeles.
"Three to four years ago, Boyack received an out of the blue telephone
call from Michael Riconosciuto. Michael identified himself as a former
employee of Robert Nichols. He also referenced Ted Gunderson as a
`mutual friend.' Boyak had only met Ted once very briefly when he was
pressing the L.A. FBI to look into the Nichols dope suspicions ..."
" ... Then in April 1991, Boyak received a phone call from Ted
Gunderson, informing him that `Michael was in trouble. He was caught in
a government frameup.'
"Boyak returned to his background profile of Bob Nichols, parts of which
were apparently provided by Bob's estranged brother, Jim Nichols. It
seems that as a young man, Robert Nichols wound up in Hawii functioning
as a hitman for the Tongs. He was `adopted' as the Yakuza godson of
Harold Okimoto, a 67yearold car dealer in Hawaii.
"Nichols grew up to be a big business front man for the Far East
syndicate. He reportedly laundered between $50200 million for Ferdinand
Marcos. He now owns an estate in Hawaii, a feudal castle outside of
Milan, Italy and the referenced Marina Del Ray home in California.
"Nichols has an office in Zurich. At one point, he was reportedly
involved in the smuggling of China White heroin into Mexico where it was
treated to look like the Mexican brown heroin which was more popular at
the time.
"It should be emphasized that all of this information about Robert
Nichols comes exclusively from Allan Boyak. None of it has yet been
independently corroborated to my knowledge. Bill Hamilton and some other
people involved in tracking the Inslaw story have all spoken to [Robert]
Nichols and report that he has been straightforward with them and has
provided leads and documents re: Michael Riconosciuto.
"Nichols is listed on the board of directors of First Intercontinental
Development Corporation (FIDCO) along with George Pender and several
officials of the Howard Hughes linked Suma Corporation."
One of the most surprising, and disturbing, documents I found in Michael
Riconosciuto's hidden files (see Chapter 9) was an envelope with a
notation on it, handwritten and signed by Ted Gunderson, which read as
"Michael: Raymond [Lavas] is arriving at LAX, 7:55 p.m., Air Canada via
flight 793 from Toronto. Will have to go through Customs. This will give
us another member for our drug/arms operation. Only problem [is] Raymond
will probably be using instead of selling. Sorry I didn't get to D.A.
office. I tried to call, but no answer. By the time I fought the traffic
to the bank and did my banking, it was too late Will be home tonight
(818) 8806238. T.G."
Raymond Lavas was Ted Gunderson's forensic expert when he worked for the
FBI. Lavas was in constant contact with Bobby Riconosciuto after Michael
was incarcerated. In fact, everyone was watching Michael and Bobby very
closely.
CHAPTER 8
In March, 1993, two years after Michael Riconosciuto had attempted to
trade information on the F.I.D.C.O./Euramae drug/intelligence operation
in Lebanon to the government, the aforementioned magazine article
printed in High Times magazine by Bill Weinberg, entitled, "The Syrian
Connection," exposed CIA penetration into the Bekaa Valley drug trade in
Lebanon.
Essentially, this article validated much of Riconosciuto's earlier
" ... Many of Lebanon's armed factions depend on the international drug
trade for funds," wrote Weinberg. "Each paramilitary group controls its
own port in or around Beirut which serves as a transfer point for drugs
on the way out of Europe and America and weaponry on the way in from the
international market. Whoever holds the fertile Bekaa [Valley] holds the
ticket to power. As the war escalated in the late 1970's, hashish, the
traditional mainstay of the Bekaa, started to be replaced by the more
lucrative heroin. Marijuana fields were converted to opium fields,
hashish production compounds converted to heroin labs."
Heroin production exploded in the Bekaa Valley under the Syrian
occupation. However, the Syrian occupation forces didn't touch the
drugs, but "profited from the trade and protected it." It was estimated
that up to $2 billion in protection money was paid annually by dope
plantation operators to Syrian occupation forces.
DEA official Felix Jimenez told a reporter in 1990 that the Syrian
occupation received $10,000 per kilogram of Bekaa heroin. With the
valley producing over 20,000 pounds a year, that was a lot of money.
Bekaa also became a center for processing Columbian cartel cocaine for
reexport to European markets.
In 1988, two Syrians arrested with large quantities of heroin and coke
in Milan [Italy] claimed to be working for a Syrian colonel in Bekaa.
Prior to Desert Storm, Syria's president Hafez Assad and Iraq's Saddam
Hussein were rival factions in the Arab nationalist Ba'ath Party. Syria
was the only Arab nation to back Iran in the long and brutal war against
Iraq in the 1980's. So when President George Bush invited Syria to join
the Arab coalition against Saddam after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Assad
accepted.
After Desert Storm, Assad closed ranks with the White House and even
softened his stand against Israel. President Bush and Secretary of State
James Baker peddled a postwar peace plan for the region and Syria and
Israel were encouraged to recognize each others' Lebanese occupation zones.
Under a 1990 accord, Christians and Muslims were finally granted equal
representation, officially bringing the civil war to an end. A new
Syriabacked Muslimled government came to power. Under the accord, Syria
maintained control of the Bekaa Valley. Among the areas still under
Syrian control were the notorious drug ports north of Beirut.
High Times maintained that there were long standing backchannel
relations between Washington D.C. and Damascus. According to a 1987
Pentagon memo leaked to the Chicago paper, In These Times, Lt. Col.
Oliver North was personally notified that Syrian intelligence in Lebanon
was willing to negotiate with the White House for release of the
hostages held by Lebanese terrorists.
The Washington Jewish Week reported that Bush himself had made secret
visits to Damascus for hostage negotiations. But there were other
reasons for the U.S. to be in Lebanon. In 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103
exploded over Scotland, Pan Am hired the private investigative firm of
Interfor to look into the bombing. The owner, Juval Aviv, was reportedly
a former Mossad agent.
Interfor maintained that the Syrianbacked Popular Front for the
Liberation of PalestineGeneral Command (PFLPGC) was behind the bombing.
The PFLPGC had been able to get their bomb on board the 747 because the
flight was part of a heroin smuggling route run by a drug trafficking
ring connected to the Syrian regime and protected by both the U.S. DEA
and the CIA.
Interfor claimed the ring was overseen by Syrian kingpin Monzer AlKassar
often known as the world's biggest arms dealer. The CIA was protecting
the AlKassar operation because he was cooperating with efforts to free
U.S. hostages in Lebanon.
Reporter Bill Weinberg added that "the CIA and DEA had apparently both
instructed Germany's internal intelligence agency, the BKA, to allow
certain suitcases to pass uninspected onto USbound flights at the
Frankfort airport, where Flight 103 originated."
Apparently, unknown to anyone except the PFLPGC and AlKassar, a suitcase
which was supposed to be full of the usual heroin was covertly
substituted with a suitcase full of explosives.
A London Times news article, dated July 22, 1991, entitled, "US Drugs
Sting Gave Pan Am Bomber Cover," noted that the DEA admitted that the
protection program had existed. The explanation for this operation,
which was codenamed Khourah, was provided by Ronald Caffrey, acting
assistant administrator of the operational division of the DEA. In a
U.S. government submission, dated March 20, 1991, Caffrey said the drug
operation was a "controlled delivery."
According to Caffrey, in a controlled delivery, a law enforcement agency
permits and monitors shipments of contraband, including drugs, to move
from a source or transit location to its intended destination. Use of
this technique is sometimes essential to enable law enforcement agencies
to identify and arrest highranking members of trafficking organizations,
rather than simply arrest low level couriers.
Pan Am argued in court that it had been the pawn of an international
intelligence operation, but still lost the case and was forced into
bankruptcy.
In 1990, when the White House started to woo Syria as a partner in the
Allied coalition, blame for the Pan Am bombing suddenly shifted from
Assad's Syria to Qaddafi's Libya, and that is pretty much where it
stands today.
Meanwhile, AlKassar was alleged to have provided Oliver North with drug
profits to purchase arms for the Nicaraguan Contras. The U.S. Tower
Commission probe into Irangate revealed that AlKassar had been paid $1.2
million by Oliver North's coconspirator General Richard Secord to move
weapons from Israel to the Contras.
In her book "October Surprise," former Reagan White House aide Barbara
Honegger alleged that AlKassar's heroin smuggling network in Italy was
used to launder NATO arms stocks for diversion to Iran with the help of
corrupt Italian intelligence officials linked to the secretive fascist
Masonic lodge, P2.
It is noteworthy that AlKassar was reported to hold large tracts of land
in the Bekaa Valley. The PFLPGC also has camps in the Bekaa which were
the target of Israeli air strikes in 1989.
******
The U.S. government's presence in Lebanon is not to be taken lightly
according to Lester Coleman, a selfemployed freelance writer, editor and
security consultant who once moonlighted as a DIA (Defense Intelligence
Agency) covert intelligence officer when he was called to serve.
Coleman, age 47, told the London Times that for six years he worked as
an intelligence officer with the secret unit, Middle East Collection 10
(MC10) in Cyprus, running a network of agents in Beirut whose mission
was to find American hostages held by extremists.
Coleman was paid in travelers checks sent from the Luxembourg branch of
the now collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Two
senior MC10 members, Mathew Kevin Gannon and Major Charles Dennis McKee,
had been on PanAm flight 103 and had just returned from a mission in
Beirut.
Coleman explained that the DEA, with the narcotics squad of the Cypriot
national police, the German BKA police and British customs, ran a "drug
sting operation" through Cyprus and airports in Europe, including
Frankfurt.
The operation involved delivering heroin from the Bekaa Valley in
Lebanon to the United States; the operation was codenamed "Khourah."
Coleman maintained that Pan Am Flight 103 was being used by the DEA as a
"controlled delivery" flight.
After the explosion, the Beirut end of MC10 had obviously been "blown."
There were five key members of the MC10 cell in Cyprus and Beirut, one
of whom was Lester Coleman. Another was Werner Tony Asmar, a German
Lebanese, who was killed in a bomb explosion at his office in east
Beirut on May 26, 1988.
Another member of MC10 was Charlie Frezeli, a Lebanese army officer, who
was shot dead at his home in east Beirut in November 1989. When Asmar
was killed, the DIA ordered Coleman home.
Danny Casolaro had contacted Coleman in Sweden on August 3, 1991, seven
days before his death in Martinsburg, West Virgnia. They talked about
the sale of the PROMISE software by the U.S. Government to foreign
governments, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), and
the IranContra scandal.
After Coleman learned of Danny's death on August 10th, 1991, he provided
Inslaw president Bill Hamilton with an affidavit in October 1991. That
"Affidavit of Lester K. Coleman, being duly sworn, do hereby state as
"(1) I am currently selfemployed as a freelance writer, editor, and
security consultant. I am a United States citizen and am temporarily
outside of the United States.
"(2) In November 1984, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) offered me
a position in human intelligence operations in the Middle East. I was
raised in the Middle East, where I lived in Iran, Libya and Saudi
Arabia. I speak three dialects of Arabic and some Farsi. I accepted the
position and received training from the DIA. I was assigned to a Middle
East intelligence unit.
"(3) Between February and September 1987, I was seconded by DIA to the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Nicosia, Cyprus, reporting to
the DEA Country Attache, Michael T. Hurley.
"(4) After a cover assignment in the United States, I was again seconded
to the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus, in early 1988.
"(5) During April and May 1988, I worked in the office of Euramae
Trading Company, Ltd. in Nicosia, Cyprus, a DEA proprietary company. On
or about May 29, 1988, because of my concern about poor security in the
DEA operation in Cyprus, I returned to the United States, having
previously obtained the concurrence of DIA.
"(6) During my two stints as a DIA covert intelligence officer seconded
to the DEA in Nicosia, Cyprus, I became aware of the fact that DEA was
using its proprietary company, Euramae Trading Company, Ltd. to sell
computer software called PROMISE or PROMIS to the drug abuse control
agencies of various countries in the Middle East, including Cyprus,
Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Turkey.
"(7) I personally witnessed the unpacking at the Nicosia, Cyprus, Police
Force Narcotics Squad of boxes containing reels of computer tapes and
computer hardware. The boxes bore the name and red logo of a Canadian
corporation with the words `PROMISE' or `PROMIS' and `Ltd' in the
company name.
"(8) The DEA objective in inducing the implementation of this
computerized PROMIS[E] system in the drug abuse control agencies of the
Middle East countries was to augment the drug control resources
available to the United States Government by making it possible for the
United States Government to access sensitive drug control law
enforcement and intelligence files of these Middle East governments.
"(9) It is also my understanding that thirdparty funds were generally
made available for the purchase of these computer software and hardware
systems. One thirdparty funding source was the United Nations Fund for
Drug Abuse Control in Vienna, Austria.
"(10) As DEA Country Attache for Cyprus, Michael T. Hurley had overall
responsibility for both the Euramae Trading Company, Ltd. and its
initiative to sell PROMIS[E] computer systems to Middle East countries
for drug abuse control.
"(11) In 1990, DEA reassigned Hurley to a DEA intelligence position in
Washington State.
"(12) I became aware in 1991 that Michael Riconosciuto, known to me as a
longtime CIA asset, was arrested in Washington State by DEA for the
manufacturing of illegal chemical drugs. I had also become aware of the
fact that Riconosciuto had made a sworn statement, prior to his arrest,
about his participation in a covert U.S. intelligence initiative to sell
Inslaw's PROMISE software to foreign governments.
"(13) In light of Hurley's personal involvement in the U.S. Government's
covert intelligence initiative to sell PROMIS[E] software to foreign
governments and his reassignment to a DEA intelligence position in
Washington State in advance of the DEA's arrest of Riconosciuto, the
arrest of Riconosciuto should be regarded as suspect. I do not believe
that Hurley's posting to a drug intelligence position in Washington
State in advance of Riconosciuto's arrest on drug charges is merely
coincidental. Rather, the probability is that Hurley was reassigned to
Washington State to manufacture a case against Riconosciuto in order to
prevent Riconosciuto from becoming a credible witness about the U.S.
Government's covert sale of the PROMIS software to foreign governments.
"(14) The investigative journalist Danny Casolaro contacted me in Europe
on August 3, 1991. Mr. Casolaro had leads and hard information about
things that I know about, including Department of Justice groups
operating overseas, the sale of PROMIS[E] software by the U.S.
Government to foreign governments, the Bank of Credit and Commerce
International (BCCI), and the IranContra scandal. I subsequently learned
of Mr. Casolaro's death in Martinsburg, West Virginia, one week later,
on August 10, 1991. I contacted Inslaw in October 1991, after learning
about Mr. Casolaro's death under suspicious circumstances."
CHAPTER 9
Village Voice magazine ran an article entitled, "The Last Days of Danny
Casolaro," by James Ridgeway and Doug Vaughan on October 15, 1991 which
"The 44yearold Riconosciuto is to put it mildly a colorful character,
wilder than anything in `The Falcon and the Snowman.' He was a gifted
child. When he was just 10 years old, Michael wired his parents'
neighborhood with a working, private telephone system that undercut Ma
Bell; in the eighth grade, he won a science fair with a model for a
threedimensional sonar system. By the time he was a teenager, he had won
so many science fairs with exhibits of laser technology that he was
invited to be a summer research assistant at Stanford's [University]
prestigious Cooper Vaper Laser Laboratory. Dr. Arthur Schalow, a Nobel
laureate, remembered him: `You don't forget a 16yearold youngster who
shows up with his own argon laser,' he told Casolaro."
******
Bobby Riconosciuto lived with Michael Riconosciuto at the time of his
arrest in Washington state. Immediately upon learning of his arrest, she
had fled to California with her four children, the youngest of which,
Elizabeth, had been fathered by Michael.
Bobby was well situated in an exclusive suite at the Embassy Suites
Hotel in Orange County, California. Her suite contained a living room
and bar overlooking lush indoor tropical gardens and water fountains,
marble walkways over bridgecovered ponds and a gazebo where free
breakfasts were cooked and served to order.
Within the room, she had at her disposal office equipment, phones in
every room, answering machines, room service and anything else she
needed for herself and her children. Patrick Moriarty, Marshall
Riconosciuto's business partner of 40 years, was paying the bills.
Moriarty and the Riconosciutos, father and son, had once owned Hercules
Research Corporation together in Hercules, California. An old Contra
Costa County newspaper article, dating back to April, 1981, gave the
story of Hercules. The subheading of the article pretty much said it
all, "Device Could Make Hercules a Silicon Valley."
In 1981, Hercules had developed a small electronic power supply the size
of a tissue box, designed to specifically feed 30,000 volts of
electricity to another device, a METC (Modular Energy Transfer
Catalyzer) unit, that would cut the heating and cooling time in food
processing and of making glass, metal and other products by 40 percent.
The METC unit, patented by Interprobe of Chicago, worked by
electrostatically exciting air molecules by moving them through a
charged field. This removed a boundary layer of molecules that inhibited
the exchange of thermal energy. Hercules' highvoltage power supply was
essential to the application of Interprobe's METC unit, so both
companies were in the process of working out a merger in order to market
both technologies as a complete system.
Admiral Henry Rankin, vice president of Interprobe, was a longtime
family friend, and was very enthuiastic about incorporating the Hercules
power pack with Interprobe's high voltage electrostatic technology.
Patrick Moriarty and Marshall Riconosciuto had funded research for 15
years and spent about $1 million of their own money on the project.
By 1983, things were not looking so good for Patrick Moriarty. The Los
Angeles Times newspaper reported in a series of articles that "fireworks
magnate W. Patrick Moriarty, his business and associates spent nearly
half a million dollars in the last three years to influence government
decisions throughout California."
Moriarty's relationships with several key state legislators and his
campaign contributions to elected officials from Anaheim to Sacramento
had made him a powerful force in state and local politics. His
association with the notorious Robert Ferrante, head of Consolidated
Savings and Loan which failed in 1985, and who was the subject of a
disorganized, onagain offagain FBI investigation, was written up in the
book, "Inside Job," by (Mary Frick?).
Patrick Moriarty was described as "the manufacturer of Red Devil
fireworks, who founded the Bank of Irvine. The bank failed in 1984, the
victim of fraud and mismanagement, according to regulators." In 1985,
Moriarty pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a case that became the biggest
political scandal in California in 30 years. Over 10 prominent
politicians, including one state senator, were indicted for taking
bribes from Moriarty.
Though I'd spoken with her on the phone numerous times, I first met
Bobby Riconosciuto facetoface on January 15th, 1992. On the day I
visited her hotel suite, I hauled my Mita copy machine on a cart up to
her room and we talked and made copies of documents all morning. Bobby
was young, boxom and attractive in a natural, mother earth sort of way.
Her long blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders, she wore no
makeup, and her nose and mouth had an impish upturn that made her appear
to be smiling even when she was not.
We became friends as the day progressed. Bobby confided that some of the
more sensitive material was stored at Michael's hidden trailer in Trona,
California.
While working at Wackenhut, Michael had anticipated a future need to
have a hiding place for himself and his files in the event that things
got out of control. Bobby, who had met Michael in Washington state after
he left Wackenhut, had been instructed by Michael to stay away from the
trailer in case she was being surveillanced.
The files and computer equipment stored there were Michael's last ace in
the hole. Nevertheless, Bobby was frustrated by the slow progress of
Michael's court defense, by R.J.'s lack of response to Michael's request
for Witness Protection - and she had been barraged by reporters who
wanted documented proof of Michael's statements.
I offered to drive her out to Trona, near Death Valley, to retrieve
Michael's files and ultimately, she acquiesced. We arrived at the
isolated trailer at dusk and began sorting through documents that could
substantiate Michael's claim that he worked for the government.
The electricity had been shut off and as it became dark, we were forced
to use flashlights. Bobby was terrified that we might get caught in that
Godforsaken place. The children were cold and tired, and from sheer
exhaustion, she finally offered to turn all the boxes and documents over
to me to make copies at home.
We threw everything helter skelter into large plastic trash bags, dumped
the bags into my Chevy van, and quickly headed back to civilization.
It is noteworthy that before we left, Bobby pointed the flashlight
towards another, smaller trailer situated on a knoll overlooking the
road, which she claimed contained Michael's hidden computer equipment.
It was several weeks before Michael learned that Bobby had turned the
documents over to me. She never told him, nor did I. It was through
Jonathan Littman, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter whom I had confided
in, that Riconosciuto learned of our secret.
Upon arriving home from my trip to the desert, I had xeroxed
roundtheclock for five days with help from trusted friends. The
documents corroborated everything Michael had related over the phone,
and more.
It was an exciting time. Boxes and boxes of documents provided me for
the first time with a window into the CIA corporate structure, arms
deals, drug operations, money laundering, biological technology, all the
connecting tentacles of Danny Casolaro's "Octopus."
After making copies, I squeezed the originals into eight large packing
boxes, sealed them tightly, and sent them back to Bobby Riconosciuto,
via a friend, who gave them to Michael's father, Marshall Riconosciuto.
I later learned Marshall allegedly shipped them to Ian Stuart Spiro for
safekeeping. It was not until April, 1993, that I learned what became of
Spiro and the documents.
An Associated Press news story entitled, "Deaths Linked to Spy Network,"
published in the Merced Sun Star newspaper, outlined the death of Ian
Stuart Spiro, 46, who was found dead of cyanide poisoning in the
AnzaBorrego desert on November 8, 1992, one week after his wife and
children were found shot to death in their Rancho Santa Fe home.
The news story, originating from the Oceanside Blade Citizen, noted that
"documents and U.S. intelligence sources implicated Spiro in the
IranContra armsforhostages affair and an alleged Justice Department
conspiracy to pirate software from a private company and sell it to
foreign intelligence agencies."
Spiro's name also appeared in Lt. Col. Oliver North's personal notebooks
documenting the IranContra affair, according to the National Security
Archives in Washington D.C..
Former hostage David Jacobsen told the BladeCitizen shortly after
Spiro's death that Spiro helped negotiate the release of hostages in the
Middle East.
After obtaining a copy of a followup BladeCitizen article dated June 3,
1993, entitled, "Spiro Probers Want to Talk to North" by Wade Booth,
Stacy Finz and Michael Williams, I learned that Ian Spiro lived in
Beirut, Lebanon during the 1970's and 1980's where he "made contacts
with Lebanese religious leaders and the Islamic Jihad."
Greg Quarton, Spiro's brotherinlaw, told reporters at the BladeCitizen
that Spiro maintained communication with Lebanese business associates
until the time of his death, but investigating officers had possession
of Spiro's phone bills, and as of this writing, they had not released them.
San Diego sheriff's Capt. Jim Marmack said detectives were investigating
allegations by Spiro's relatives that his file cabinets and business
papers were missing.
The week of the Spiro family's death, Robert Corson, a business
associate of Spiro's indicted in a savings and loan scam, was found dead
in an El Paso, Texas, motel room. Corson, who reportedly worked for the
CIA, died of a heart attack, officials said. The BladeCitizen reported
that Corson once carried money to South America in a deal to deliver
covert weapons. Corson also allegedly associated with California
investor Wayne Reeder who was seen at a Wackenhut/Contra meeting in
Riverside county (See Chapter 10).
The newspaper article went on to say that Alan Michael May, age 50, [a
former Northern California field director in Richard Nixon's
presidential campaign and attorney for Nixon's brothers Donald and
Edward] was found dead in his San Francisco home on June 19, 1991, four
days after a newspaper story in the Napa Sentinel outlined his role in
an alleged plot by Republican Party officials to bribe Iranian officials
to delay the release of U.S. hostages until after President Reagan's
inauguration.
Immediately after May's death, Raymond Lavas, Ted Gunderson's former
forensic's expert, (and a former protege of Robert Maheu according to
Michael Riconociuto) wrote a letter to one of Michael's friends,
expressing his professional opinion about the death of Michael May. A
copy of that letter was faxed to me and the following excerpts quickly
"... I don't understand why it's going to take two weeks to determine
May's cause of death. Did you know that certain chemical assassination
methods will have been evaporated out of the body by that time?
"Then, the cause of death would be ruled as natural, since the chemical
agents are the primary cause that result in a secondary action such as
heart failure, kidney or liver damage, etc.
"Some examples of these agents include BZ2, Ricin, Tropodotoxin,
shellfish toxia and a variety of methlamine based neurotoxinsthat affect
the central nervous system and cause failure of one or more organs in
the human body.
"Some, if not most of these toxins are solvent based [DMSO] and may be
introduced in minute quantities through the skin. Their effect [may]
vary and some toxins take weeks to months to take effect. Others take
moments to damage the nervous system, then evaporate within hours.
"Unless the body is immediately refrigerated, the toxins are quickly
evaporated, leaving only one or two parts per million in quantity.
Unless there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, a
trained forensic expert would never detect any traces of the toxin.
"So there you have it. [Michael] May is dead and they are dragging their
asses to find out how! What is next? A statement that May died of
natural causes? Let me predict this now ... and we'll see. Regards, Ray."
Michael May also apparently attended briefings connected with Lawrence
Livermore Labs in California according to an official listing of
Lawrence Livermore employees at a "Briefings and Discussions" document
obtained from Riconosciuto's files.
The document, stamped, "Official Use Only," listed Edward Teller along
with nine other names, including Michael May, under the heading
"Lawrence Livermore Laboratory." Other headings with names listed
underneath included the Department of Energy, Department of State,
Defense Nuclear Agency and Naval Research Laboratory. There were no
other pages accompanying the document, so it was impossible to determine
from what manual it came from.
May's name also popped up in a letter Michael Riconosciuto wrote to Dr.
John Phillip Nichols at the Cabazon Indian reservation when he was being
screened for security clearances to work on the Cabazon/Wackenhut joint
venture.
The letter focused primarily on Al Holbert, an Israeli intelligence
officer who allegedly recruited Riconosciuto into the CIA, and May's
name was mentioned only once, in connection with members of "The
Company." That one sentence read as follows: "Ben Kalka's relationship
with Holbert and `May' will give the proper authorities the necessary
auspices to come in and swiftly clean it [The Company] up."
Other portions of the letter gave a history of Riconosciuto's experience
" ... My problems stemmed from my association with Al C. Holbert. I
first met Holbert when I was still in high school and I was led to
believe that he was an `unofficial' representative of the Israeli
government. I was further led to believe that his interests were not
contrary to those of the United States. It was not until July of 1981
that I learned the truth about Holbert. It came directly from him to me
personally in what I will call a confrontational situation.
"August of 1981 was when I first brought Holbert to your [Dr. John
Nichols] attention. At that time, I still did not know much and I was
still in a sort of state of shock from my `new awareness' of Holbert. I
was in deep with this guy and so was Paul [Morasca].
"At first Paul thought that I was off base and overreacting and then by
degrees he started to come around. Much of the incredible account of
Paul's doings (money transfers, gems, weapons, drugs) were the result of
his relationship to Burt and Jensen. Burt, Jensen and Kalka all met Paul
through his brother Joe. I was the one who introduced Al Holbert to
Paul, and Paul was the one who introduced me to Burt, Jensen and Kalka.
This was in early 1967.
"I was introduced to [Al] Holbert through the Stanford crowd at the home
of [name withheld] in Portola Valley, California. Interesting enough,
[name withheld] is a former State Department employee ..."
" ... The realization of who and what Holbert is, and Paul's death, have
taken me some time to adjust to. And that required professional help. I
now have a clear idea and good perspective on what has really happened
in my life.
"I am in awe of Holbert and his group's power [The Company]. During the
last year, I have forced this structure to rear its ugly head in many
different times and places, and in ways that can't be covered up. I have
also spread far and wide what knowledge I have with the intent to first
protect others involved and secondly to chisel the story in stone.
"Where it all stands now is that no matter who the group attempts to
silence or what ruse they attempt to perpetrate, the truth cannot be
destroyed. This is now in the hands of a competent attorney. My direct
involvement is finished except to be available to answer questions.
" ... I feel that Holbert and his group represent a current national
security nightmare to this country. I feel that I have been extricated
from the hold of this group. But I also feel that the destruction by
legal means of this group ranks in importance with my scientific and
engineering skills to the overall picture.
"Ben Kalka's relationship with Holbert and May will give the proper
authorities the necessary auspices to come in and swiftly clean it up. I
would now like to start out where we should have been a year ago. The
first point I will start with is a recap of our visit to Pickitinny
Arsenal ..."
It is noteworthy that two of the people mentioned in the above letter
are now dead: Paul Morasca and Michael May.
The bizarre circumstances of Morasa's death are detailed in the next few
pages. Ben Kalka of The Company, is now serving time in prison for
having 900 pounds of methamphetamine in his possession at time of arrest.
Through one of Michael's contacts, I managed to locate the current
(1991) whereabouts of Al Holbert and confirm his identity. A letter
written on "Solomon Investigations" letterhead, dated June 13, 1991, to
(Excerpted) " ... I enlisted the services of my electronic
countermeasures expert, A.C. Holbert, for an immediate survey and sweep
of the premises. Mr. Holbert is highly regarded as the best electronics
man in the [San Francisco] Bay Area and has recently worked with Israeli
intelligence services in the field of electronic countermeasures. He
agreed to take on this job. I have enclosed a copy of Mr. Holbert's
faxed report ..."
The mystery of Al Holbert was further uncovered in a 1983 transcript in
which Michael stated, "After Paul's [Morasca] death, Holbert admitted to
me that he was a Soviet backed agent, and they had a home, or he had a
home for me, and I could be treated like royalty, and he reiterated that
offer in the latest meeting, and he said, `He was prepared to deliver
some fivehundredthousand dollars cash to me us a show of good faith ..."
The transcript, originating from a series of tape recorded interviews
between Michael Riconosciuto, Ted Gunderson and Robert Booth Nichols at
Nichols' "007" apartment in Marina Del Ray, provided a window into the
entire drug scene in California from the early 1960's through the
1980's, mostly relating to methamphetamine operations in the Bay Area.
It had been typed by Ellen Nichols, Robert's wife.
Riconosciuto's relationship with Ted Gunderson dated back at least as
far as 1982. Michael and Nichols dated back to 1967. In reading the
transcript, it appeared that Gunderson and Nichols were interviewing
Riconosciuto for recruitment into a drug/sting operation.
Riconosciuto later verified that he was, in fact, being recruited into
the overseas Lebanon drug operation by Gunderson and Nichols because of
his (Riconosciuto's) undercover experience in the drug trade.
It is noteworthy that Al Holbert, the Israeli intelligence agent who
originally recruited Michael into the CIA, is mentioned extensively
throughout the 71page transcript.
Riconosciuto's relationship with Holbert had lasted from 1966 to 1981, a
span of fifteen years. Most of that time had been devoted to complex
drug activities in California. In one passage, Riconosciuto stated that
"Ben Kalka was one of [Al] Holbert's lieutenants. The other lieutenant
with Kalka was Charlie Weinberg, who set up the Vortex Chemical Company
in Berkeley, California for Holbert."
Holbert was also interested in technology. "I really confided in him. I
was constantly steering him to various people in the Silicon Valley, you
know, for requests that he made which were very sophisticated technical
requests."
In the transcript, Ted Gunderson asked Michael, "Holbert had a technical
mind for that sort of thing?"
Michael responded, "Absolutely! [He had] a firm grasp of physics,
mathematics, chemistry, military hardware ..."
Gunderson asked, "Let's go back to '66 to '81, you were close to him?"
Michael: "Not on a regular basis. He would get in contact with me when
he needed consultation in certain areas. I made some good money. I
designed communications equipment for them. I did a lot of software
development ..."
Ted: "And then he gave it to the Israelis?"
Mike: "Yes."
Ted: "And he admitted this?"
Mike: "Oh yeah, none of it was really classified. I did software for the
analysis of radar change data. It was based on mathematical models that
the Department of Defense wasn't using you know, my approach was new and
different from theirs, but it wasn't connected with any of their
projects, so technically it wasn't classified."
Michael developed other technology along the way and subsequently
attracted the attention of Dr. John Phillip Nichols at Wackenhut/Cabazon
who wanted his services. But Michael's association with Al Holbert was
hindering Michael's security clearances. Through the screening process
and Dr. John Nichols, Michael had learned more about Al Holbert.
Ted: "Well, how could he [Holbert] be a Soviet agent and an Israeli agent?"
Mike: "Your guess is as good as mine. I talked to Major General Peratt
on that subject last May and he said, `You don't understand the ways of
the world.' Regarding Al Holbert, I said, `That man has done more damage
to my generation and my country [drugs] How can you people say that
you're friends of the United States, when you send us a guy like that?"
Michael continued ..."You know, Holbert came to the United States and he
went to work for the Treasury Department out of Philadelphia and ..."
Ted interrupted. "In what way? As an agent?"
Mike: "I don't know what the relationship was. The Treasury Department
wouldn't tell me. They wouldn't comment at all except to acknowledge
that, `Yes, he was involved at very high levels, giving special training.'
" ... Holbert taught courses in interrogation techniques. He taught
touchkill techniques you know, with the thumbs on the temples and
various scare areas like that. He moved around to a lot of different
agencies. He got involved with the FBI, and he was involved with the
Drug Enforcement people ..."
Ted: "He indicated to you for fifteen years [that] he was with the
Israelis?"
Mike: "Israelis. Yes."
Ted: "And then you realized through Dr. Nichols that he was a Soviet?"
Riconosciuto explained that he thought it was John Ammarell at Wackenhut
who had "zeroed in on Holbert."
Gunderson continued to press Riconosciuto about Holbert being a double
agent. Michael responded: "Well, he was with the Soviets, but he was
also with the Israelis. Holbert definitely is connected with Israeli
intelligence. I mean there's no ifs, ands, buts, or maybes ... He was
decorated in combat for them."
Riconosciuto further recounted a visit to Israel in April 1982. He had
met a man (name unspecified) who was the assistant Secretary of Defense
of Israel for a number of years and was in charge of defense production
for the Israeli government. This man was a friend of Ariel Sharon and he
had introduced Riconosciuto to Sharon. It was through this man and a man
named "General Peratt," that Riconosciuto confirmed Holbert's position
with the Israelis.
"Holbert definitely is one of their boys. I got an admission out of
General Peratt that Holbert was funny, that he's a Trotskiite, and they
knew about it, and I couldn't understand why they kept a guy like that
around? I was told that I just didn't understand the ways of the world!"
Ted asked, "Who does Holbert report to?"
Mike: "Jean Pierre Boegner."
At this point in the transcript, Robert Booth Nichols interceded and
provided Boegner's address: " ... His address in Paris is 114 Champs
Elysees, Paris 8, France. That goes into my territory ..."
Mike added, "Jean Pierre reports directly to Colonel Stefan Uznanski of
the Ukraine ..." Nichols noted, "I have strict files on him."
Ted asked, "And is he GRU?"
Mike answered, "No KGB."
Nichols added, "As high as you can go ..."
Ted asked, "And where is he, in the Kremlin?"
Mike answered, "No, he's in Vienna."
Nichols interjected, " ... Out of Salzberg. He has a home twenty minutes
from Salzberg. His hobby is boar hunting. He has about a twenty man
contingent."
Gunderson asked, "Is Boegner a Canadian?"
Nichols responded, "Boegner is French. Boegner was involved in the
assassination attempt on de Gaulle. Boegner served time."
Ted: "He's KGB?"
Nichols: "Oh yeah, a Colonel."
Ted: "Okay, anything else. Anything more on Holbert that we should bring
up?"
Riconosciuto noted that Holbert was very disappointed that he couldn't
"turn him" (Riconosciuto) in August of 1981. Ted asked Michael if
Holbert admitted at that time that he was KGB?
Michael corrected Ted, "GRU, he was GRU. He told me that he was GRU and
he bragged that there were over thirtyfive thousand GRU agents active on
the North American continent. And I checked with John Ammarall and with
Robert Frye [executives at Wackenhut Corporation] and they told me it
was about half that number.
" ... He [Holbert] wanted me to leave the United States, through Canada,
and go to Israel."
Riconosciuto added, "You know, he's touched the Central Intelligence
Agency, the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and various local
law enforcement agencies all over the country ..."
The abovementioned transcript was mailed by one of three people to the
"prosecutor" at Michael Riconosciuto's trial in Washington state where
it was entered into evidence.
******
At that time, to Michael's knowledge, only Robert Booth Nichols, Peter
Zokosky and Jonathan Littman, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter, had
possession of it.
I subsequently received a copy of it from Jonathan Littman, who
coincidentally, I learned later, happened to be Ben Kalka's "cousin"
(Kalka belonged to The Company, according to Riconosciuto, and had been
arrested with 900 pounds of methamphetamine in his possession). Littman
had obtained the transcript from Peter Zokosky, Robert Booth Nichols'
partner.
Riconosciuto believed Littman had given the transcript to Kalka during
one his visits with him at the Pleasanton prison, and Kalka had sent it
on to the prosecutor at Michael's trial.
Nichols later confirmed to me that he (Nichols) had indeed interviewed
Riconosciuto with Ted Gunderson in 1983 and the transcript was
legitimate, though he wouldn't state the purpose of the interview.
******
It is significant that a passage in the 1983 transcript mentioned
Michael May as "one of the top three guys in the Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory management structure" who was associated with Riconosciuto.
******
Michael and Bobby Riconosciuto had been communicating with Jonathan
Littman for months, as had Danny Casolaro before his death, and they
wanted me to connect with him. At that point, Littman had written a
series of indepth articles on the Cabazon Indians and Dr. John Nichols,
and I hadn't been interested in talking to him ... until he wrote about
the death of Michael's partner, Paul Morasca.
The article, entitled, "Bizarre Murders Puzzle Cops," published on the
front page of the San Francisco Chronicle on December 30, 1991, noted
that the body of Paul Morasca, 31, had been found by Michael
Riconosciuto. Morasca's arms had been lashed behind his back as he was
hogtied with a telephone cord from his curledup legs to his neck. Police
believed he died when his legs finally gave out and the cord tightened
like a bowstring, drawing the noose around his neck until he slowly
strangled.
Before his death, Morasca and Riconosciuto had planned a business
venture with Cabazon administrator John Phillip Nichols to develop
hightechnology military hardware. Morasca was also described as a "San
Francisco entrepreneur suspected of being a money launderer involved in
a major Northern California drug ring."
Oddly, when Riconosciuto found Morasca's body, he drove 500 miles to the
Cabazon reservation and told John Nichols about the death. Nichols then
called his Los Angeles attorney, who telephoned the San Francisco police.
Just three days after Morasca's death, Mary Quick, a 63yearold school
teacher was shot in the face and her purse stolen as she was about to
enter Fresno's American legion Post 509, where she was president of the
Woman's Auxiliary.
At first, police assumed it to be a routine mugging murder, until it was
discovered that her nephew, Brian Weiss, who had been living at his
aunt's house in Fresno, was a business associate of Michael
Riconosciuto's. (Brian Weiss was also mentioned in the abovementioned
1983 "drug transcript").
Riconosciuto explained to police that he told Paul Morasca that he had
given Mary Quick a card containing secret bank account code numbers
because "she had no connection to any of the principles and could be
trusted." She had been instructed to give the code numbers over the
phone only to Paul Morasca or Michael Riconosciuto.
It was not until I obtained Michael Riconosciuto's "desert" files that
the above story affected me personally. Within one of the boxes was an
envelope containing eight coded computer cards with large sums of money
handwritten next to the account numbers. One card, containing ten
account numbers, indicated sums of upwards of $3.5 million dollars. That
was just one card of eight.
In my next conversation with Michael Riconosciuto, I inquired of him the
"real" story behind Paul Morasca and Mary Quick's death. I did not
reveal to him that I was in possession of his bank cards, but referred
to the S.F. Chronicle newspaper story.
Michael remorsefully indicated that he had not, in fact, given any cards
to Mary Quick as he had told Paul Morasca he did. Michael had kept them
(and obviously hidden them at his desert trailer). Nevertheless, Morasca
believed, and under torture revealed, that one of the cards was being
held by Mary Quick and the rest were stored in a safe deposit box. As we
know, Mary Quick died three days later.
After that conversation I immediately took the cards to a professional
photographer, had closeup photographs taken of them, and returned them
in a separate envelope to Bobby Riconosciuto. I never knew what she did
with them.
During subsequent phone conversations, Riconosciuto often referred to
his former partner, Paul Morasca. During his attempted trade into the
Federal Witness Protection Program, he had made a statement which caught
my attention, and which I later inquired about. While relating his
background in the electronics field, he had mentioned that he once
worked at Tyme Share, Inc. Chuck Evert, a longtime family friend, had
reportedly been one of the founders along with Tom O'Roarke.
Noted Riconosciuto, " ... And at the time of Paul Morosca's death, the
biggest loss I received was a big bag of bearer shares of original Tyme
Shares stock. And that was the main reason why Paul got killed."
Riconosciuto had stressed that only the FinCen people would understand
the significance of that. I later learned that the computer cards which
Paul Morasca and Mary Quick had died for belonged to the Tyme Shares
online financial clearing house used worldwide by banking institutions.
Essentially, the cards were provided to a subscriber or "user" who
rented time on the computer for conducting banking transactions.
Riconosciuto chose not to elaborate on his operation at Tyme Shares from
a "jail" phone, nevertheless, I was able to decipher that he and Paul
Morasca had accessed bank accounts using the computer cards in
conjunction with a "password" determined by the user. Michael had
created the passwords from the "pets" named in Phyllis Riconosciuto's
(Michael's exwife's) diary.
He did, however, randomly discuss his background with Tyme Shares: "I
developed the modem, error trapping routines for Tyme Share used on the
original network. I developed the protected mode memory for the
scientific data systems, SDS, Sigma 7 computers. And I developed the
capital PERT, Pert Software, which was the next generation of critical
path method. That's a Programmed Evaluation Review Technique that Tyme
Shares, for years, was the leader in.
"And then Electronic Data Systems bought a license from them, and you
know, EDS's story is legendary. Now, PROMISE is an outgrowth of PERT.
The Hamiltons had a woman programmer who was selftaught and she's the
one, her signature is in the code structures of PROMIS. It's just like
her signature because she was out of the mainstream and did things her
own way ..."
Shortly thereafter, while reviewing Riconosciuto's documents, I came
across a copy of an obscure statement submitted by Riconosciuto in
February 1984 to the San Francisco Grand Jury on the death of Paul
Morasca. It cryptically tied Morasca to Wackenhut and appeared to have
been transcribed from a tape recorded interview. The statement in its
"I first heard of Phil Porath in December of 1981. John Phillip Nichols
[Cabazon administrator] told Paul Morasca and myself that we needed Phil
Porath as a consultant to Recovery Technology, Inc. Porath was
represented by John P. Nichols as being able to smoothly handle metals
transactions for RTI on a large scale. Phil Porath was one of the
contacts that John Phillip Nichols had committed to arrange for Paul as
part of our deal. Paul Morasca's body was found after he failed to
contact Porath for that scheduled meeting in January 1982.
"After Paul's death, JPN [John Phillip Nichols] came to me with a
request. He asked me if I could recover some of Ben Kalka's LSD because
he had a sale for 5 lbs. of it to someone in Romania. John Phillip
Nichols claimed that this was an authorized covert intelligence
operation and the proceeds would be used to purchase George Wackenhut's
yacht, Top Secret.
"Military electronics equipment to be delivered to South Africa was also
to be purchased according to JPN and delivered by the yacht. I went
along with the program because JPN told me that the `agency' was
involved through WSI. I did some checking on my own and became
suspicious of JPN. Then JPN met with myself and Raoul Arana of Central
Carribean Research, Inc.
"At this meeting, the details were plainly discussed by Mr. Arana. At
that point, JPN directed me to have PAT (Phillip Arthur Thompson)
recover [all] of Kalka's assets. I then contacted DeSilva, who had
control of Kalka's assets and he agreed to release them to me. DeSilva
later called the Indian reservation and gave the location of the assets
which included: one bobtail semitruck with power lift gate loaded with
amphetamine production chemicals; one red Datsun truck with a portable
refrigerator containing the acid.
"I accompanied PAT and Steve Finley to the locations of these vehicles
in the Oakland area. The keys, title and registration were with each
vehicle. PAT and SF drove the vehicles off and I reported to JPN that
the vehicles had been located and picked up.
"I also reported to my attorney, DW (Don Wager), the details. I
contacted JPN a few days later and he complained to me that PAT had made
off with everything.
" ... with George Wackenhut in Las Vegas. JPN told me that my problems
would be over with if I went along with the program. Brian Weiss [Mary
Quick's nephew] drove me to Palm Springs where I rented a car. JPN,
myself and Brian Weiss then drove to Las Vegas.
"We arrived in Las Vegas late in the afternoon. We checked into the
hotel. After we checked in, I was then introduced to Phil Porath by JPN.
Porath seemed a little nervous and upset with JPN. JPN seemed desperate
to have Phil Porath stall George W. on the sale of the yacht. Phil
Porath seemed reluctant to go along with JPN.
"JPN, myself and Porath then went to a private section of the dining
room and met with GW [George Wackenhut] and JA[John Ammarell]. During
dinner, JPN outlined my situation. [Al] Holbert, [Ben] Kalka, [Richard]
Knozzi, [and] the Fresno Company were covered in detail.
"A cutaway, sectioned high security lock was also shown to JA and GW
[George Wackenhut]. JA said that this should be presented to his
personal friend, Bud Miller, for action and that I would be contacted.
"The sale of the WH [Wackenhut] yacht then came up. Porath gave GW a
story [at] JPN's prompting. GW was impatient and asked where the `South
African' Thompson could be reached?I then asked GW [George Wackenhut] if
he was referring to PAT [Phillip Arthur Thompson] and he said, `Yes.'
"I then demanded to know what was going on? I laid out to GW what PAT
had done, including murdering PM [Paul Morasca]. JPN interrupted me and
told GW that I was mistaken and it was a different PT that I was talking
about. It was at that point that GW [George Wackenhut] said he had a
hearing problem and the dinner broke up.
"I went immediately to make telephone calls. I spread the word that I
felt my life was in danger and that JPN, WH, and PAT had conspired to
kill PM [Paul Morasca]. I then went back to the dining area where I saw
PP [Phil Porath] and GW [George Wackenhut] at a small twoperson table
talking about the yacht deal. JPN and JA were standing up and they asked
me to come to JA's room.
"At JA's room, everybody acted like nothing had happened. There we
talked for an hour or so about hitech projects. JPN and I then went to
PP's room and talked [about] P's missed meeting with Paul M., Bill
Jensen, Burt Gardener and metal projects. We then went to bed. The next
morning JPN, BW [Brian Weiss] and I drove back to Indio. At no time did
JPN mention the problem that came down at dinner."
******
In John Connolly's SPY magazine article on Wackenhut, September 1992
issue, on page 54, a brief notation mentioned Riconosciuto's meeting in
Las Vegas with George Wackenhut and John Ammarell, a Wackenhut board
member and consultant to George Wackenhut. SPY contacted Ammarell
regarding the meeting, and Ammarell confirmed that such a meeting did
indeed take place in Las Vegas. "I don't remember any specific
conversations," Ammarell said, "but I think we were there to discuss the
sale of George's [Wackenhut] yacht, the Top Secret. I think Nichols said
he had a potential buyer."
Wrote SPY, "So, the wealthy president of a large security company with
CIA ties and one of his board members meet with a drug dealer turned
electronics expert and a spook turned arms supplier and all they discuss
is the sale of a boat?"
******
After reading the newspaper article on the death of Paul Morasca, I
contacted Jonathan Littman at the San Francisco Chronicle. Littman
jumped in the car and drove from San Francisco to Mariposa (near
Yosemite National Park) when he learned I had obtained Michael's hidden
documents.
Interestingly, when he arrived at my home he thumbed through piles of
documents, but seemed to be looking for something specific. I later
learned he was searching for Phyllis Riconosciuto's (Michael's first
wife's) diary.
While Michael had worked at Wackenhut, Phyllis had been treated
psychiatrically by the Cabazon administrator, Dr. John Phillip Nichols.
Part of her treatment included writing a "diary" of her life with
Michael. Michael later broke into Nichols' office at the reservation and
stole the original diary before fleeing to Washington state.
The original diary was in fact included in the documents I had obtained
in the desert, but I decided to withhold specific pages from Littman
until I could determine what his purpose for wanting them was. An
incident which I have enumerated in Chapter 10, confirmed that my
instincts had been subliminally correct.
Meanwhile, I attempted to satisfy Littman with a few documents sent to
me by Henry Weinstein, court reporter for the Los Angeles Times. I had
contacted Weinstein to inquire if he had written anything on Robert
Booth Nichols' (unrelated to Dr. John Phillip Nichols) lawsuit against
the Los Angeles FBI, specifically FBI agent Thomas Gates?
Weinstein had not heard of the lawsuit, but immediately investigated at
the Los Angeles courthouse. Shortly thereafter, he sent a package of
documents relating not only to Nichols' lawsuit against Thomas Gates,
but also relative to Nichols' corporate minutes on the facilitation of
biological technology to Japanese institutes, copies of his weapons
permits, and documents indicating that Eugene Giaquinto, Vice president
of MCA Entertainment Division, was on the board of directors of Nichols'
corporation, Meridian International Logistics.
Marvin Rudnick, now a Pasadena lawyer, once tried to prosecute MCA
Corporation for organized crime involvement, but got shut down at the
highest level, and the Organized Crime Strike Force was disbanned. One
member of that investigative team was Richard Stavin, who talked to
Danny Casolaro shortly before his death.
Eugene Giaquinto and Jack Valente played heavily in Rudnick's
investigation of MCA, as did Curry Company (a subsidiary of MCA) in
Yosemite National Park. Rudnick was written up in American Lawyer for
his explorations through the MCA labrynth, and at some point, worked
closely with Thomas Gates during his investigation of Robert Nichols.
Gates and Weinstein were also well acquainted with Mariposa County
government's relationship with Curry Company. (See page 2 of manuscript).
In return for sharing copies of these documents with him, I asked
Littman to collaborate with me on a story concerning the government
sanctioned (10 years!) methamphetamine operations at Whiskey Flats, on
the Sara Priest Indian reservation in Mariposa. I was still intent on
forcing the arrest of deputies involved in the meth lab at that
location. (See page 3 of manuscript). Littman instructed me to put
together a detailed synopsis which he would submit to the San Francisco
Chronicle.
******
CHAPTER 10
Through Michael Riconosciuto, Danny Casolaro had compiled a sizable list
of former CIA officers and arms dealers, the most noteworthy of whom was
Robert Booth Nichols, described in various publications as a James Bond
type who jetted around the world trading arms and other products.
At the time of Danny's investigation, Nichols headed Meridian
International Logistics (M.I.L.), a Californiabased company that
conducted extensive business in Australia and Japan. M.I.L. also
controlled Meridian Arms Corporation of which Riconosciuto was briefly
Vice President.
Out of the WackenhutCabazon endeavor grew a business partnership between
Nichols and Riconosciuto, both interested in developing new, hightech
submachine guns and powerful explosive devices that, like a nuclear
blast, could produce an electromagnetic pulse that could wipe out an
enemy's communicatins and electronics.
The secretive Nichols chatted with Casolaro frequently. Casolaro's July
phone bills indicated that he called Nichols fifteen times that month,
often in the wee hours of the morning. Several of those phone
conversations lasted for more than two hours. Before his death on August
10th, Danny Casolaro told his brother, Tony, and Bill Hamilton that
Nichols warned him that his investigations were risky.
According to FBI statements, Nichols is not a man whose warnings should
be taken lightly. In September 1987, Special Agent Thomas Gates of the
Los Angeles FBI had begun an investigation of the activities of Robert
Booth Nichols and his corporation, Meridian International Logistics,
through Japanese and Australian legal attaches abroad.
According to a subsequent deposition filed by Gates, the bureau
suspected Nichols of being involved in a $500 million stock fraud and of
maintaining ties to the Gambino crime family and organized crime in Japan.
Gates's deposition was part of a 1987 wiretapping on the phone of Eugene
Giaquinto, an official of the MCA entertainment corporation with reputed
MOB links. Nichols was one of the people whose calls the bureau
intercepted. According to the wiretap application, Nichols was allegedly
an international money launderer for money generated through narcotics
trafficking and organized crime activities.
In June, 1989, Nichols sued Thomas Gates in a California state court for
libel, slander, and interference with contractural relationships when he
(Gates) allegedly acted outside the scope of his employment by
initiating contacts with the Australian Federal Police and various
individuals in Australia and Japan. The complaint asked for damages in
the amount of $11,000,000.
Ted Gunderson submitted an affidavit on Nichols' behalf, stating that he
believed Gates HAD acted outside the scope of his employment when
investigating Nichols abroad, the suit was subsequently dismissed
through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Robert Booth Nichols was depicted in one eastern publication as a
"handsome, dashing figure, frequently described as `Clark Gable without
the ears' ..." His friendship with movie actor Steven Seagal brought him
a cameo appearance in the movie, "Under Siege," but his real purpose for
being on the set was to act as technical advisor for the weaponry used
in the movie.
The son of a prominent Los Angeles surgeon, Nichols is the inventor of a
submachine pistol that he maintained was superior to the MAC10.
Nichols' weapons permit application, dated January 28, 1985 from the
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, indicated that that he was born
on March 6, 1943 at Loma Linda, California. In addition to his
residences in California, he maintained residences in Italy, France,
Australia and London, England for "business purposes for twenty years."
His medical doctor was listed in Zurich, Switzerland. He had worked for
Harold Okimoto in Hawaii for four years, from 1968 to 1972 as Vice
President of Preventor Security Center, an intruder electronics firm.
The four guns registered to him included two Colt .45 automatics. His
purpose for carrying a concealed weapon was listed as such: "I am
involved in the research and development of weapons systems, ranging
from the basic blowback automatic weapon to various advanced destructive
devices. As I have detailed knowledge of the workings of these systems,
I feel it is imperative to have personal protection for myself and for
the good of the community."
Nichols' corporation, Meridian Arms, a subsidiary of Meridian
International Logistics, was licensed in California in 1987 to posses
and/or transport machine guns, Permit No. 01678, and to sell machine
guns, Permit No. 01677. A 1985 Statement by Domestic Stock Corporation
filed with the Secretary of State in Sacramento listed Harold Okimoto,
Peter Zokosky, and Glen Shockley as Directors in addition to Nichols'
family.
Okimoto, Zokosky and Shockley are also listed as Directors on Meridian
International Logistics, Inc. (MIL). Eugene F. Giaquinto, president of
MCA (Music Corporation of America) Home Entertainment Division in
Universal City, was also a Director of M.I.L. until May 31, 1988, when
he resigned and returned his 10,000 shares of stock as a result of the
Los Angeles Organized Crime Task Force investigation, at that time
headed by Thomas Gates.
The May 25, 1988 Minutes of an MIL Board meeting reflected Robert Booth
Nichols concern with the investigation: " ... Upon meeting with Agent
Gates on March 8, 1988, our legal counsel, Judge Mark Robinson,
interpreted the line of questioning of Agent Gates as having a main
focus on the relationship between Robert Nichols and MCA, Inc. (of which
Mr. Giaquinto is an officer).
" ... Therefore, due to Mr. Nichols' concern, which Mr. Giaquinto
understood and thus stated he would submit written resignation within
two days; it was the unanimous decision of the Board to remove Mr.
Giaquinto from the position of Director of MIL forthwith ..."
Nichols' concern with such an investigation can well be justified when
you review the Minutes of an MIL board meeting held in Sherman Oaks on
(Excerpted)
"It was the unanimous decision of the Board to draft a letter to the
President of an internationally recognized Medical School in Japan (as
referenced in our corporate minutes of April 24, 1988) with regard to
our corporation's intention to make available a grant of funds to said
School, as the funds become available to our corporation, and under
specific terms and conditions.
" ... The phenomenal success in the field of immunotherapeutics by the
Immunology Department of said Japanese Medical School has convinced the
Board [of MIL] that the EXCLUSIVE training of qualified physicians under
contract to and the direction of Meridian International Logistics, Inc.,
would be of great value and benefit to our company and it's shareholders."
While reading these documents, I couldn't help wondering why an "arms"
dealer, allegedly tied in with organized crime, wanted to fund the
exclusive training of physicians at a Japanese medical school?
The Minutes of MIL dated September 20th, 1988, referred to an agreement
executed on September 14th, which discussed the threeway, equal
ownership between MIL, Dr. Shigeyoshi Fujimoto, and Ajinomoto Co. Inc.,
of certain patented biological technology identified as "a newly devised
technology for induction and activation of cytotoxic Tlymphocytes
(Tcells), referred to as CTL, directed to autologous cancer cells in
vitro with high efficacy utilizing a serumfree medium."
A Power of Attorney was issued to attorney Fujio Kubota in Japan to file
patents and registrations on the technology entitled "The Method for
Induction and Activation of Cytotoxic TLymphocytes."
The signatories on the Agreement to file Registrations and Patents on
September 14, 1988 were listed as Dr. Shigeyoshi Fujimoto; Takasha
Miyamae (Ajinomoto Co., Inc.); Hidetoshi Onogi (representative of MIL);
Kanehiro Ishida (International Service Center, Inc.); and Takashi
Kumakawa (American Embassy).
Hidetoshi Onogi was granted full power of attorney to negotiate and
execute an equity position for Meridian International Logistics related
to the filings and "any other documentation pertaining to the technical
knowledge and the mechanical and/or chemical processes for the
production of T Cells as are present in the immune system of the human
body or any other organism."
In and of itself this transaction seemed innocuous enough. But again I
asked myself, why was an international arms dealer on the Board of
F.I.D.C.O (First Intercontinental Development Corporation), a CIA front
corporation, which offered three billion dollars to rebuild Beirut to
President Amin Gamayel of Lebanon, whose chief of finances (Sami el
Khouri) was shipping tons of heroin to Sicily for reexport to America,
want to invest in "a method for induction and activation of cytotoxic
TLymphocytes"?
Was this technology being developed with the authority of the U.S.
government, or independently? If Nichols' operations were in fact
government sanctioned, then it must have been frustrating for him to be
investigated by the FBI. The concept of the FBI inadvertently
investigating the CIA was ironic. And what had Danny Casolaro learned
about this technology?
I found a possible answer in an obscure letter written on
Wackenhut/Cabazon letterhead, dated January 20, 1983, addressed to Dr.
Harry Fair at Tactical Technology in Arlington, Virginia, from Dr. John
P. Nichols, Cabazon Administrator. The letter noted that on February
15th, 1983, Dr. Nichols would be forwarding to Dr. Fair "a unique list
of agents and production techniques related to biological warfare."
The letter went on to say that the Storemont Laboratories business plan
Dr. Nichols mailed to him was to prepare him for what was to be sent in
the area of biological warfare. Added Dr. Nichols: "[These] products
could be utilized in small countries bordering ALBANIA or large
countries bordering the Soviet Union. You will be amazed at the scope
..." I could not help recalling the Village Voice article ("The Last
Days of Danny Casolaro," October 15, 1991) which had stated, tongue in
cheek, that "Casolaro had traced the Inslaw and related stories back to
a CIA `Old Boy' network that had begun working together in the 1950's
around the ALBANIA covert operations ..."
The hybridoma technology discussed in attached documents (in Michael
Riconosciuto's files), centered around the ability to reorganize and
synthesize genetic structures and to modify "lymphocytes" (immune cells).
Under the heading "Possible Military Applications Utilizing Hybridoma
Technology" was the notation that "genesplicing technology provides the
ability to produce pathogenic (harmful) agents, i.e. viruses."
"In fact," noted the writer, "biological warfare weaponry of this nature
(both production and supply) is limited only by the imagination of the
scientist."
Included in the above mentioned documents (attached to the Dr. Harry
Fair letter), was a proposal to develop monoclonal antibody kits to
detect the presence of such harmful biological agents in a field
(combat) environment. In other words, develop a laboratory created
vaccine for a laboratory created virus. The very same proposal had been
submitted to Peter Zokosky in December 1982 by John P. Nichols.
I wondered, was THIS the same technology that Robert Booth Nichols and
the Directors of MIL, including Peter Zokosky, Glen Shockley and Harold
Okimoto, were fronting to the Japanese? What kind of "weapon" was this?
Other weapons discussed in the same letter included the Cabazon Arms CA
9 SMG which "Peter Zokosky had the British interested in." The CA 9 SMG
could be produced for $75.00 per unit on the reservation and sold for
$100 to $125.00. "It meets all the needs of a small, poor democracy for
9MM parabellum," said Nichols.
"They can afford to purchase this one. We have fired over 50,000 rounds
with the test model using South Korean ammunition without jamming. We
could begin manufacturing within two weeks in a country like Guatemala,
Chile, etc., utilizing USA produced dies and Swedish extrusion
machinery." ... Peter Zokosky has fired both the Viper and the CA 9 SMG
and was impressed with both, but particularly with the CA 9 SMG. Kuwait
has been particularly interested in financing the producion of the CA 9
SMG ..."
Dr. Nichols concluded: "We would initially manufacture on the
reservation. We can purchase an existing small company with all the
licenses to manufacture and export. [Meridian Arms?] We are ready. We
are continuing to experiment with the combination sniper rifle (9MM)
equipped with micropressor vision enhancement (no tubes) (night vision).
Michael Riconosciuto and some friends of the reservation have been
working cooperatively on this project. Within another 90 to 120 days we
should have a working model to use on the CA 9 SMG and the sniper rifle."
The ongoing projects listed in research and development were a second
9MM calibre machine pistol, an assault rifle with laser sighting, a
longdistance sniper rifle, and a small portable rocket system which
could be attached to the assault rifle.
Three months later, on April 13, 1983, Robert Booth Nichols wrote to
Joseph Preloznik in Madison, Wisconsin, recapitulating exactly the same
weapons proposal as outlined above by Dr. John Nichols to Dr. Harry Fair.
I never found out who Joseph Preloznik was, but Dr. Harry Fair's name
popped up in a Wackenhut InterOffice Memorandum in Michael's files.
Dated May 25, 1981, from Robert Frye, a Vice President of Wackenhut in
Indio, to Robert Chasen, a Vice President of Wackenhut in Coral Gables
(and former Commissioner of U.S. Customs) the memorandum detailed a May
1213 visit to Dr. Harry Fair, Chief of Propulsion Technology, Applied
Sciences Division and others at Pickitinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey.
The arsenal was listed under the official heading of "U.S. Army Armament
Research & Development Command, Large Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory"
or ARRADCOM.
The fivepage memo not only outlined the depth of Wackenhut's commitment
and involvement at the Cabazon reservation, but it delineated Peter
Zokosky's importance to the projects underway there. One of those
projects included proposed construction of an "R & D" (Research and
Development) facility on the Cabazon Indian reservation for the
manufacture of 120 mm. combustible cartridge cases for sale to the U.S.
Army, with sales also to NATO, and especially to the Federal Republic of
Germany which at that time, was adopting the use of such cases in their
Leopard tanks.
Wrote Frye: "The obvious key to any such endeavor is [Peter] Zokosky. He
is reportedly one of only 67 personnel in the world who have had any
significant experience in the development and manufacture of the slurry
process involved in combustible cartridge cases. He is under present
noncompete agreement with Armtec, his former company, until August 1981.
Armtec is the present sole source supplier of 120 mm. combustible
cartridge cases to the U.S. Government. Zokosky is also serving as a
consultant to the British Government ..."
It is noteworthy that the Cabazon Indians had enlisted the aid of other
Indian tribes to join in their endeavor. Use of adjacent tribal lands as
a location for a large caliber weapons range test site was obtained from
a sister tribe, the Torres Martinez, involving some 30,000 acres of very
remote and desolate land near the Salton Sea.Potential use of a test
firing range for the "railgun" on the Santa Rosa Mountain, under the
control of the Santa Rosa Indians, had also been pledged to the Cabazons
and the U.S. Government.
A notation was included in the lengthy memorandum to "firm up the deal
between the Joint Venture and John Vanderwerker, President of Intersect
Corporation, [in] Irvine, California," who had the exclusive rights for
foreign marketing with the Litton Electron Tube Division in third world
countries.
Mention of John Vanderwerker in the Wackenhut memorandum was singularly
important in my investigative leap from overt arms operations to
"covert" intelligence operations.
According to Peter Zokosky, Vanderwerker was on the CIA payroll. In
Riconosciuto's files, I located a letter dated April 11, 1983, written
to Vanderwerker at Intersect Corporation from Glenn Shockley, a Board
Director of both F.I.D.C.O. (First Intercontinental Development
Corporation) and MIL (Meridian International Logistics), under
investigation for organized crime activities. Robert Booth Nichols was
also on the Board of both corporations.
The Octopus trail gets a little complicated here, but it is a
significant trail. Both Vanderwerker and Shockley were on the CIA
payroll. Documents to that effect will be noted in future pages. In the
aforementioned letter, Shockley was offering to Vanderwerker fortytwo
AH1S Cobra Helicopters at a unit price of seven million eight hundred
thousand U.S. dollars each.
The rest of the letter read as follows: (Note a few words had been
damaged while xeroxing) "The price offered is F.A.S. location at
Seller's option Europe. The price is net to Buyer possessing the proper
documentation and does not include any government considerations
(taxes), if any, all of which (indecipherable) to the Buyer's account.
"For verification of the existence of these products, you are requested
to refer to telex transmission occuring during the Spring of 1981
between Union Bank Suisse of Zurich, Switzerland, and Omega Industries
of Long Island, New York. The transmissions were addressed to Mr. Parvis
Lavi at Omega and were signed by Mr. N.A. (indecipherable) bank officer.
Your immediate response to this offer would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, Glenn. R. Shockley."
Attached to this letter was a handwritten memorandum, obviously taken
from the above referenced "telex" transmission. The memo delineated the
procedure for "airframe I.D. number acquisition." The buyer's bank
officer was instructed to telephone Seller's bank officer at 8:00 a.m.
Tuesday morning to relay the following Seller's bank data: "Bank Credit
Suisse, Geneva. Officer Mr. Eucomun. Telephone number 0114122365380.
Account Number 02746590 54821 Reference Code J.H."
If the connection was missed, then it was to be repeated Wednesday at
8:00 a.m. $10 million U.S. dollars was to be exchanged at the bank for
[a] Frame I.D. No. on Wednesday. If all was ready to proceed in Geneva
in 5 banking days, then the $10 million would be credited to the buyer's
account toward acquisition of all craft. If not, then $10 million was to
be forfeited.
The bank officer's followup monologue as noted on the memorandum read as
follows: "Acting on behalf of our client, I confirm that he has on
deposit the sum of $10 million U.S.D. Upon receipt of one airframe
identification number, the price of one craft will be set aside
irrevocably for your client. If our client does not present to you
within 5 banking days in Geneva, Switzerland, all necessary data,
documents and fund commitments, he has agreed to forfeit the price of
one craft to your client's account."
Also attached to these documents, was a sheet of handwritten notes
obviously related to the above transaction. The names of various banks
and their locations, along with the name of a bank officer, notations
about metric tons of gold, and a code name, "Messenger Boy," were
cryptically scrawled on the sheet.
I inquired of Michael Riconosciuto what the story was on the sale of the
Cobra helicopters? Riconosciuto briefly related the following story. The
fortytwo Cobra helicopters had been ordered by/for NATO, then after the
helicopters were built, the funding was not available. Nichols and Glenn
Shockley, working for the CIA, were contracted to "get rid of the
helicopters." John Vanderwerker was brought into the operation and the
helicopters were shipped to a warehouse in Europe, destined for North
Korea, then Iraq.
It is important to note here that North Korea was a conduit for arms to
Iraq from both the United States and the Soviet Union. In essence, the
United States was forced to "compete" with the Soviets in providing arms
to Iraq.
This is discussed in further chapters, but in summary, what it all
boiled down to was Oliver North supplied arms to Iran. The CIA supplied
arms to Iraq. And Wackenhut supplied arms to the Contras. All under the
authority and supervision of the U.S. Government.
I asked Michael Riconosciuto if Danny Casolaro had knowledge of the
"helicopter" deal? Michael responded, "I gave him the names of the
people that were involved and Danny went out and confirmed it."
I asked him to elaborate. "Well, Danny went and talked to Roy Furmarc
(phonetic sp.), William Casey's exright hand man, and Furmarc admitted
that he had contact with them [the helicopters]. And when the NATO stuff
disappeared, Bob [Nichols] disappeared with it. They weren't going to
pay Bob and his accomplices what they wanted, per the original deal, and
Bob got angry and just walked away with it all. But Bob got help from
some people in the White House, and they cut a certain group of guys in
the agency [CIA] out."
I asked, "Who was involved with the helicopter sale besides Nichols?"
"Well, Glen Shockley, Parvis Lavi (phonetic sp.), he's an Iranian, but
he worked with the Israeli (indecipherable word) Mission out of New York
..."
Riconosciuto paused, remembering, then continued with his story: " ... I
brought in Stan Singer, former deputy Israeli Defense Minister, to try
and take all those helicopters off everybody's hands. I would have made
a nice, tidy sum of money for myself ..."
"Who were the helicopters originally destined for?"
Mike: "NATO. During the Carter administration, there was a slip up on
some funding, they were really screwy in the way they handled certain
things ..."
"Was this some kind of an undercover operation?"
Mike: "It was on the up and up, regular deliveries from the United
States to NATO, but there was some kind of a misunderstanding between
the upper reaches of the Carter Administration and some of the other
NATO countries, so while they were having highlevel discussions, no
financial instruments exchanged hands.
"They finally came to terms on the financial end of it, but by that time
the stuff [helicopters] had been removed from the loading docks and
warehouses."
"So, they were gone?"
Mike: "They were gone."
"To North Korea?"
Mike: "Into storage in Europe. Later they got sold to North Korea, and
other places. It was hotter than hell ..."
"Where in Europe, do you know?"
Mike: "Well, I don't want to go into it on the phone [from jail], but I
know the whole story behind it. While it was in storage, everbody and
their brother was trying to buy the stuff and the price got jacked way
up. Casey's faction and Carlucci and those guys, they wanted it all,
wanted to screw Bob and his guys, and Bob made an alliance with somebody
else for the stuff ..." "Who?"
"Well, later with Mike McManus in the White House." (McManus was
assistant to President Reagan, and on the Board of Directors of
F.I.D.C.O. with Nichols).
"Why did they call upon Nichols to do this? What was his connection?"
Mike: "Bob had been doing errands for them for years ..."
"Who in particular?"
Mike: "Bob was working under Larry Kern basically. And Ellen's father
[Nichols' wife] was somewhere in there ..."
"Was he working for the NSC at that time?"
Mike: "Just the CIA. He was just doing contract type work. He was good
at what he did. Whatever objectives were given to him, Bob always
achieved them. You know, he has an impeccable track record ..."
In a subsequent interview with Robert Booth Nichols, I asked him about
the helicopter deal. Nichols confirmed that he had, indeed, participated
in the shipment of the helicopters to Europe through the CIA.
In news interviews, Wackenhut had denied association with Michael
Riconosciuto, yet in Michael's files, I found a letter written on
Meridian Arms letterhead, dated February 10, 1984, from Robert Booth
Nichols to Dr. Harry Fair referring to the Wackenhut visit to Pickitinny
Arsenal in May, 1981. Nichols reminded Dr. Fair of the demonstration at
Pickitinny in which "Michael Riconosciuto [had] discussed electrostatic
heat transfer augmentation in a wide range of applications ... and
demonstrated control of heat in electric discharge."
This letter was significant in that it confirmed that Riconosciuto HAD
in fact accompanied Peter Zokosky and Robert Frye, Vice President of
Wackenhut, to the Pickitinny Arsenal to demonstrate the above mentioned
technology.
******
The crux of the Wackenut involvement in arms development and shipments
through various sources, including Peter Zokosky, Robert Booth Nichols,
John Vanderwerker, and others, was tied irrevocably to the Reagan
administration's efforts to aid the Nicaraguan Contras.
A Special Operations Report emanating from the Riverside, California,
District Attorney's office which was sent to John Cohen, investigator
for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, provided indisputable proof
that Wackenhut sold arms to the Contras.
The Special Operations Intelligence Report entitled, "Nicaraguans and
Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla 9/10/81" described a meeting held between
two groups, the Nicaraguans and Wackenhut/Cabazon officials, at a
countyowned police firing range at Lake Cahuilla in Riverside County.
According to the surveillance report, the purpose of the meeting was "to
test a new night vision device and weapons. All [the] weapons tested
were semiautomatic. [A} new sniper rifle tested was a 50 caliber with a
308 bullet."
The report went on to note that "some automatic weapons were present,
but all had necessary permits through Meridian Arms. Meridian Arms [is]
owned by Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols (no relation to John
Phillip Nichols), and Don Oliver former Undersheriff of San Diego
County. Meeting and testing took about one hour, then all parties left."
Police officers had been placed around the surrounding area in a
surveillance/protection type mode. Each of the six Indio police officers
participating in the range surveillance were named individually in the
report.
The license plate numbers of each car that arrived on the scene was
included in the Report along with the names and identification of
everyone who attended the demonstration. Some of those names and I.D.'s
"Michael Riconosciuto Researcher for Cabazon Indians."
"Peter Zokosky President of Armtech Coachella."
"John D. Vanderwerker and a couple of his friends Vanderwerker, CIA
Research Director for CIA [for] 8 years."
"Earl Brian Wisconsin businessman and CIA employee."
"Two Nicaraguan Generals Eden Pastora, Commander Zero and Jose Curdel,
Commander Alpha."
"Raul Arana Central Caribbean research procurement front for liberation
of Nicaragua (PreContra days)."
"John Phillip Nichols Cabazon Indian Manager."
"Wayne Reeder Builder/Developer""Jimmy Hughes Security Chief Cabazon
Indians"
"Art Welmas Tribal Chairman of Cabazon Indians."
"Scott Wesley United States Army."
"Honduran Telephone Company Military connection network in Southern
Hemisphere." And others.
The surveillance report indicated that Wayne Reeder and Earl Brian
arrived together in a 1981 White Rolls Royce, License Plate Number OK
2XG2302. The two Nicaraguan Generals arrived in a 1981 Honda, License
Plate Number AZ AFM877.
A newspaper article in the Los Angeles Times, dated May 16, 1991,
entitled, "Noriega Papers Claim CIA Sent Him Millions," by Mike Clary,
reported that General Manual Noriega, Panama's former strongman leader,
was paid more than $11 million from a CIA slush fund. A 107page Noriega
defense document contended that Noriega once warned the CIA to put an
end to cocaine shipments to the United States that were being used to
raise funds for the Contras in Nicaragua.
Noriega, who was scheduled to go on trial for drug smuggling on July 22,
maintained that planes carrying arms to Nicaraguan rebels returned to
the United States loaded with illegal drugs. It was clearly a guns for
drugs policy, he said.
The article concluded that "Noriega served as a conduit for cash
payments from the CIA to onetime antiSandinista leader EDEN PASTORA."
So, in 1981, Eden Pastora attended the Wackenhut nightvision goggles
demonstration in Indio with numerous CIA employees in attendance, and
ten years later, the L.A. Times reported that Pastora was a recipient of
cash payments, via Noriega, from the CIA.
******
I believe it is safe to theorize at this point that the various
tentacles of the Octopus heretofore outlined were used to develop and
ship arms to various countries such as Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Lebanon,
Pakistan, and other third world countries in exchange for cocaine and
heroin. These countries certainly didn't have the funds to pay with
cash. And it is possible that The Company was in fact the mechanism used
to distribute the drugs after entry into the United States.
The reader may be wondering how I obtained a copy of the abovementioned
"Special Operations [surveillance] Report." I had requested a copy of it
from both the Riverside District Attorney's office and John Cohen,
investigator for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, but the report
was confidential and neither would send me a copy.
I then called Peter Zokosky and asked him to corroborate the report's
existence. He not only corroborated it, but he offered to send me a
copy. When I asked how HE had obtained a copy, he said, "I asked a
friend in Washington D.C. to go into the [House Judiciary] vault and
make a copy for me."
I received a copy shortly thereafter from Peter Zokosky. When I called
John Cohen and mentioned I'd obtained a copy, he said he was aware that
"someone" had gotten past the guards and into the House vault. He didn't
know what had been taken, but he validated the document in my possession.
CHAPTER 11
Michael Riconosciuto had some, if not all, of the answers to the gene
splicing technology that Zokosky and Wackenhut had attempted to sell to
the Army weapons division in 1983, and later fronted to the Japanese,
through Meridian International Logisitcs, in 1988.
I felt that time was of the essence in uncovering the nature of this
technology, so I pushed Riconosciuto to talk about it. "It looks like
Earl Brian, Sir Denis Kendall, Hercules Research, Wackenut, Zokosky and
Bob Nichols were all involved in the same biotechnological agenda ..."
Michael answered, "You got it."
I asked, "Are they connected, or are they all individually working on
their own projects?"
Michael: "Yes."
"How?"
Michael: "Check out Bio-Rad Laboratories. Their international
headquarters are on half of the property that used to be the Hercules
plant, in Hercules, California. Do you understand what I'm saying?
BioRad makes the most toxic biological and radioactive compounds known
to man. And they're now located in the town of Hercules. BioRad
Industrial Park. That building of theirs, the headquarters, doesn't look
like much, but it goes 20 stories down into the ground. It's a huge
underground complex.
"See, BioRad was the flagship company, and then they [Earl Brian]
started InfoTech, and then they got mired in lawsuits and then Hadron
was formed to be a cutout parent corporation, you know, just to be a
firewall from law suits ..."
I asked, "What do they do at BioRad?"
"Well, they make the most hazardous biological and nuclear chemicals in
the world, for medical research."
"Who do they sell it to?"
"Well, front line researchers all over the world. BioRad is the single
source for this stuff ... actually Aldrich Chemical sells it, there's
about 100 companies, but BioRad is head and shoulder above all of them
by a factor of ten on many things like Cytotoxins."
I remembered reading about Cytotoxins in the Wackenhut/Cabazon
biological warfare letters to Dr. Harry Fair.
Michael continued ... "You look at Cytotoxic TLymphocytes. You go ask
any medical professional what they're doing on the leading edge of
research there? What the full implications to humanity are, OK?"
I wanted clarification from Michael, so I answered, "It looks to me like
research on a cure for cancer."
Michael took the bait. "Go ask a professional. I'd rather have you hear
it from a collateral source other than from me."
"Well, give me some indication ..."
Michael responded hesitantly, "It would have been Hitler's wet dream.
It's selective to such a degree that it's awesome. With the appropriate
genetic material, you can wipe out whole segments of humanity. There's
no stopping it."
"I asked, "You mean you could selectively wipe out certain races of
people?"
"Sure."
"Jeez."
Mike continued ..."And, also, from the beneficial side, you can very
specifically wipe out disease cells, cancer cells. Look at the patents.
Look at Immunix (phonetic sp.) Corporation, look at the patent
portfolios on BioRad."
"Who's BioRad's main buyer?"
"Well, the National Institute of Health, you know, every hospital in the
world buys BioRad products."
I had read about Sir Denis Kendall, the famous M16 British intelligence
officer during World War II, in "Who's Who in America," 1989 issue.
Kendall had worked with Michael in some, as yet, undefined capacity.
Bobby Riconosciuto had noted to me that Kendall and Ted Gunderson had
counseled Oliver North prior to his testimony to Congress. Kendall was
also heavily involved in arms and biotechnology, according to Michael
Riconosciuto.
"Who's Who" described Denis William Kendall as a "medical electronic
equipment company executive," born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England on May
27, 1903. Kendall came to the United States in 1923, was naturalized in
1957. His background included being a consultant to the Pentagon on high
velocity small arms from 1940 to 1945. He was listed on Churchill's War
Cabinet Gun Board from 194145. He was later executive vice president of
Brunswick Ordnance Plant in New Jersey from 1952 to 1956. From 1961 to
1973, became president of Dynapower Medonics in Los Angeles, and chief
executive of Kendall Medical International, Inc. in Los Angeles in 1973.
In 1983, the same year that Wackenhut was offering biological warfare
agents to the Army, Sir Denis Kendall was the chairman of Steron
Products, Inc. His club membership listings indicated he was a 32 degree
Shriner in the Pacific Palisades (California) Masons and a member of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), amongst other things.
I asked Riconosciuto, "What was Sir Denis Kendall's connection ...?"
Michael broke in ..."He's involved in all of it. You might be able to
get a handle on Kendall through Tiny Roland, a subsidiary of which is
Penguin Books. And the other goodoleboy in the nail work is Octav
Botnar. Then there's Wolfgang Fosog (phonetic sp.), Renee Hanner, Count
Otto Linkee (phonetic sp.) ..."
"How did you meet these guys?"
"I was introduced through Joe Snell and Norman Davis. Snell was
considered the father of industrial design. He was an industrial design
artist who did the logos for Coca Cola, Chanel No. 5, Life Magazine.
Norm Davis owned (unintelligble) brewery until he sold to Carling. My
dad was his advertising and public relations man. My dad didn't know
Kendall personally, but Norm Davis did. I met Kendall through Davis."
"Do you know what Kendall is into currently?"
"Sure."
"What would that be?"
"There's a pharmaceutical company in Los Angeles. There's a medical
electronics company ... Ted Shannon in Los Angeles supervises all the
production for that stuff. It's very exotic, far out stuff. And he's
still in a controlling position in Brunswick [Ordnance] Corporation."
I asked Riconosciuto, "How close was BioRad to your father's plant,
Hercules?"
Mike answered, "It's on the same property!"
"Mike, when you were conducting research at Hercules, you were
incubating something in fish tanks there. What was it?"
Michael's response had a nervous edge to it. "Where ... where are you
getting this?"
Riconosciuto was unaware at that point that his hidden files were in my
possession. "I'm just thumbing through some old documents ..."
" ... Those documents aren't supposed to exist any more. They've all
been destroyed."
"By whom?"
"Well, it was a matter of routine, you know ... they COULDN'T exist ...""
"Uh, huh."
"That's what they're doing with all this stock manipulation, you know.
The biologicals are what got them in the door at such a high level in
Japan ..."
I sensed Riconosciuto's possible involvement in the project, his
reluctance to discuss it. But he believed I had "all" the records and he
stammered on. " ... That paperwork trail shouldn't exist. I mean it was
kept in a safe place, and then it was shredded. And the only people that
had any direct knowledge of it was [Peter] Zokosky and Earl Barber, John
Nichols, Bob Nichols, you know, those people ..."
Michael was attempting to disengage himself from any responsibility for
the research.
" ... If there are any records left, those are their records, not any of
ours [at Hercules], because I'm sure all of ours were destroyed."
I asked, "Why did you destroy them?"
"Well, do you understand the nature of this technology? You're talking
in vague, general terms."
I answered, "I have an idea ..."
Michael interjected, " ... Horrible things. You know, it makes what the
Nazi's did to the Jews look mild. The Romanian Project, do your homework
on that project, you know it's a horrible germ warfare project ..."
"Uh, huh."
" ... And the Soviets were involved in it, and we countered it with our
own methods."
I noted to Michael that Bill Turner, the man who had met Danny Casolaro
in the parking lot of the Sheraton Martinsburg Inn (with Hughes Aircraft
documents) on the day before his death, was currently in jail. Turner
had written a letter in which he talked about an Iraqi from the Iraqi
Embassy who was facilitating the transportation of biological warfare
items to Iraq.
Michael responded, "Listen, Saddam Hussein introduced chemical and
biological warfare agents to all his top military leaders. And he became
enamored with this technology. He's been on a binge of sorts. Even when
he was in the secret police of Iraq, he used chemical means on a wide
scale ..."
I asked, "But none of these various entities that I've just named were
dealing directly with Iraq, were they?"
"No, no. Not directly. All they needed was a VENDORS LIST."
Riconosciuto noted that the shipments were all ITAR (International
Trafficking of Armaments) regulated chemicals, electronics,
communications equipment, anything that was on the ITAR list.
******
In August, 1991, the Financial Post ran a story on Dr. Earl Brian. At
that time, Brian's main company, Infotechnology Inc. of New York was
bankrupt, and its subsidiary United Press International (UPI) was on the
verge of collapse.
According to the Financial Post, the Securities and Exchange Commission
and the FBI were investigating Brian, and a flurry of affidavits filed
in the Inslaw Inc. scandal accused him of selling bootleg copies of the
computer company's casetracking software (PROMIS) to the intelligence
services of Canada, Israel, and Iraq.
Brian was referred to as "Cash" in the intelligence community and
reportedly had a close relationship with the CIA. He was a highly
decorated combat surgeon in the Vietnam war in the late 1960's,
allegedly working in the controversial Phoenix Program. This, according
to a 1993 "Wired," premier issue, entitled "INSLAW, The Inslaw Octopus"
by Richard L. Fricker. Wrote Fricker, "After a stint in Vietnam, where
he [Brian] worked as a combat physician in the unit that supplied air
support for Operation Phoenix, Brian returned to California ..."
In 1970, Ronald Reagan appointed Brian director of the California
Department of Health Care Services. He was only 27 and destined to
remain a part of Reagan's inner sanctum. U.S. and Israeli intelligence
sources linked Brian's name to the sale of weapons to Iran in the
1980's. "He was serving U.S. intelligence people, " said Ari BenMenashe,
a former Israeli intelligence officer who claims he met Brian several
times, once in Tel Aviv. Brian allegedly had more to do with the
financial end of the transactions.
Other publications listed Brian's holdings in the rapidly developing
biotechnology field. The hightech empire of Dr. Brian was a grab bag of
fledgling companies involved in all the hot areas lasers, cancer
detection kits, bloodtesting products, genetic engineering, computer
programs, telecommunications and investment databases.
One of Brian's companies, Hadron, Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia, which,
incidentally, both Michael Riconosciuto and Robert Nichols maintained
Peter Viedenieks was involved in, was a laser manufacturer and computer
services company.
According to Bill Hamilton, president of Inslaw, Hadron had attempted to
buy Inslaw in 1983. Dominic Laiti, Hadron's chairman at the time, had
phoned Hamilton out of the blue and said Hadron intended to become a
dominant vendor of software to law enforcement agencies. Would Hamilton
like to sell? Hamilton demurred. "We have ways of making you sell,"
Laiti is said to have replied.
Laiti, in an interview in 1988 with the Senate Subcommittee on
Investigations, said he didn't remember calling Hamilton. Nevertheless,
Hamilton said he believes his rejection of Hadron on that day in 1983
triggered an attempt by the Department of Justice to put Inslaw out of
business, or at least bankrupt the small, Washingtonbased software maker.
At that time, Peter Viedenieks was the administrator of the contract
between Inslaw and the DOJ. Within a few months of Hadron's call, the
Department of Justice, citing contract violations, stopped making
payments on Inslaw's $10 million deal to install PROMIS software in its
20 largest U.S. attorney's offices nationwide. (PROMIS stands for
Prosecutor's Management Information System.)
Inslaw, starved of cash, was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in 1985. Hamilton sued the DOJ for theft of property in 1986.
In February 1988, Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge George Bason ordered
the DOJ to pay Inslaw $7 million in licensing and legal fees. The DOJ,
Bason ruled, had "stolen PROMIS from Inslaw through trickery, fraud and
deceit," then tried to put the company out of business.
The DOJ appealed Bason's ruling, but it was upheld. However in May, the
U.S Court of Appeals reversed the decision on a technicality. Hamilton
believed Dr. Brian and his old crony, former Attorney General Edwin
Meese, were behind the attempt to bankrupt and liquidate Inslaw. When
Inslaw refused to sell to Hadron, Hamilton believed the DOJ tried to
bankrupt and liquidate Inslaw to force the sale of its assets, perhaps
to Hadron, at firesale prices.
Several journalistic publications accused Dr. Brian of profiting from
the Justice Department's theft of the PROMIS software. According to a
number of sources, Brian traveled the world during the mideighties,
selling the data management program to intelligence and law enforcement
agencies the world over.
Brian's role, if any, in the October Surprise was less well publicized.
The primary source thus far for the allegations that Brian was involved,
is former Israeli intelligence officer Ari BenMenashe. Menashe alleged
that Earl Brian helped make one of the first contacts between
Republicans and the government of Iran in 1980. BenMenashe claimed Brian
accompanied Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane to Tehran in late February 1980.
The trip came shortly after the New Hampshire primary, when insiders
knew that there would be a ReaganBush ticket.
Earl Brian and McFarlane, then an aide to Senator John Tower (RTX),
allegedly contacted Iranians with whom Brian had conducted business
prior to the fall of the Shah. According to BenMenashe, one of these was
Mehdi Bazargan, onetime Prime Minister, and in February 1980 still
closely connected to the Iranian leadership.
An old 1975 Sacramento Bee newspaper article, dated January 12, 1975,
reported that Earl Brian, called the Genius Doctor by his friends, was
out to get a little "of that Middle Eastern oil money." The article went
on to say that Brian was "helping to write a proposal on health care for
Iran."
Brian, then at the University of Southern California, was working with
Samuel Tibbetts of the California Lutheran Hospital Association, which
in turn was working with a Chicago group. The Chicago group was not
named and details of the proposal were not known. It is significant that
Brian left his post one year before this proposal was written, in 1974,
as Governor Ronald Reagan's Health and Welfare secretary. It was not
known whether the contract with the Iranian government was ever consumated.
Another interesting facet of Brian's background included his
relationship with Senator Terry Sanford (DN.C.). Prior to his election,
Sanford had been the attorney representing Earl Brian in his 1985
takeover bid for United Press International (UPI). Sanford was also
instrumental in winning Brian an appointment to the board of Duke
University Medical School. At that time, Sanford was the president of
Duke University.
Dr. Brian ultimately directed his energies towards biological
technology. Another of his companies, Biotech Capital Corporation of New
York, became 50% owner of American Cytogenetics, which was planning in
1982 to create a subsidiary to engage in genetic research. One notable
investor in Biotech, when it went public in 1981, was Edwin Meese.
Today, American Cytogenetics in North Hollywood, California, conducts
Pap tests for cervical cancer. It also tests tissue samples for cancer
and related diseases. Sales in 1985 were $3.4 million.
Hadron, of which Dr. Brian was a director, provided engineering and
computer consulting services, along with telecommunications products.
Sales were $25.7 million in 1985. Clinical Sciences, Inc. sells
biochemical products used for diagnostic tests and antibody analysis.
Dr. Brian was also a director of this company. Sales in 1986 were about
$4 million.
******
Michael Riconosciuto had stated that he believed Earl Brian held a
financial interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories in Hercules, California. I
was unable to locate Brian's name in Board directories, but obtained
some documents on an OEM agreement between California Integrated
Diagnostics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the InFerGene Company,
("Manufacturer") a Delaware corporation, and BioRad Laboratories, Inc.
("Customer") a Delaware corporation, which listed the terms under which
the manufactuer would provide the customer with various products.
Various exhibits outlined the product price list, delivery schedules,
engineering specifications, etc. What made this agreement significant
was a newspaper article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on May
31, 1991, entitled, "S.F. Firm Faces Toxics Charges." A criminal
complaint had been filed against a law firm, an investment banking house
and several lawyers and financiers involved with InFerGene Company for
abandoning its toxic wastes after filing for bankruptcy.
According to an affidavit filed by the Solano County District Attorney's
office at the Fairfield Municipal Court, after InFerGene was evicted
from the premises, a county inspector found several hundred containers
including petri dishes and vials marked "chlamydia, herpes, and HSV2."
Many others contained "bacteria of unknown etiology."
A Vacaville newspaper reported that on December 7, an environmental
health inspector found 36 55gallon drums of radioactive Butanol
containing "beef mucosa." They were improperly stored and lacked labels
showing content, hazard warning or the owner's business address. A
followup report made by the environmental health office noted that a
Halloween 1990 investigation into a smell was traced to a door with a
radiation warning on it. The department had recommended that the lab
doors be sealed and the pipe opening sealed.
In all, the county Environmental Health Department had responded four
times to complaints about smells from the InFerGene labs in the Benicia
Industrial Park well before it shut down in February. One complaint
listed persistent smells causing nausea, a problem also cited by others
still working in the area.
Founded in 1983, InFerGene specialized in DNA technology, making
diagnostic test kits for AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases.
My research led me to another article on Bay Area bio-labs. In June,
1991, the San Francisco Examiner published a story entitled, "Germ War
Lab Alarms Berkeley" which noted the community of West Berkeley "was
home to the Defense Department's one and only supplier of antiplague
vaccine." On December 28, 1990, four maintenance men made an
unauthorized entrance into a room at Cutter Biological which housed
Yersinia pestis, commonly known as "The Black Plague," which once killed
a quarter of the population of Europe 650 years ago.
There was no harm to the workers and no release of the live bacteria,
but if an accident had occurred, all of Berkeley would have been wiped out.
******
It is impossible NOT to compare the two incidents in the San Francisco
bay area with the Wackenhut proposal to develop biological warfare
viruses on the Cabazon Indian reservation in Indio, California. In order
to develop vaccines, which sounds innocuous enough, the virus must first
be created. In the case of biological warfare viruses, the disease would
have to be highly sophisticated indeed, if it were to be used in
military applications. Certainly nothing that would be easily
recognizable, if it escaped the laboratory, to a layman medical doctor
in Indio, California, or for that matter at any Indian reservation in
the United States.
Any type of biological research on an Indian reservation would not be
subject to scrutiny by the federal government because Indian
reservations are sovereign nations. Nevertheless, if a virus DID escape
a secret government installation at an Indian reservation, the
reservation would provide an ideally "isolated environment" for further
study (by a government entity) of affected subjects or victims under
quarantine. Not a very pretty picture. Yet this was the exact nature of
the proposal by Wackenhut to Dr. Harry Fair of the Army weapons division.
For the first time, I began to notice various "mysterious" illnesses
cropping up in the media. I'm sure there have been unidentified diseases
throughout history, but for the first time, I was conscious of what was
written about them.
The first to capture my attention was the sudden deaths of twelve Navajo
Indians in New Mexico and Arizona. A June 3, 1993, Department of Health
Services interoffice memorandum distributed to public health laboratory
directors throughout California labeled the virus a "Mystery Illness in
New Mexico and Arizona." The memo asked, "Is it in California too?"
On June 2, 1993, New Mexico officials had reported a total of 19 cases,
summarized as follows: Of the 19 cases, 12 were Native American Indians.
Twelve died. All of the victims were residents within a 100 mile area in
northwest New Mexico and Northeast Arizona. The symptoms included
fulminant respiratory distress which killed within hours. There was "NO
IDENTIFIABLE CAUSE." This was printed in capital letters.
Under "Etiology" (origin), the memorandum noted, "[The illness] remains
a mystery despite extensive testing at University of New Mexico
Hospital, New Mexico Department of Health, and CDC. If etiology were
plague, anthrax, tularemia, some cases should have been identified by
cultures/stains ..."
Oddly, nationwide media printed stories stating that the illnesses were
caused by rat droppings, yet the actual documents from the Department of
Health Services in Berkeley, California, confidentially given to me by a
laboratory director in June 1993, mentioned nothing about rat droppings.
I later read about a mystery illness in TIME magazine, November 22, 1993
issue entitled, "The Gulf Gas Mystery," which reported that American
troops in the Persian Gulf, upon returning home, were complaining of
chronic diarrhea, aches in all the joints, and difficulty breathing.
Several veterans and their families testified before a congressional
committee that the Defense Department had ignored their complaints, and
the Veterans Affairs Department downplayed the affair. The veterans
themselves were convinced they had been exposed to "diseasecausing
chemical agents" while in the Persian Gulf. Eightthousand veterans
registered their symptoms with the U.S. government, thus labeling the
disease "Gulf War Syndrome" (GWS).
Ultimately, the disease was determined by Major General Ronald Blanck,
commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, to be "multiple
chemical sensitivity," syndrome. A board of inquiry was created headed
by Joshua Lederberg of Rockefeller University, a Nobelprizewinning
expert on rare and emerging diseases. But, noted TIME, "It is up to the
Pentagon to bridge the credibility gap that seems to have sprouted over
the strange new syndrome." It was not until 1996 that the Pentagon
admitted GWS may have been caused by exposure to bombed
chemical/biological plants in Iraq.
By far the most provocative incident occurred in February, 1994. The
SpokesmanReview, out of Spokane, Washington, printed a story on August
9, 1994, entitled, "Victim of Mysterious Fumes Seeks Investigative
Reports." In Riverside, California, the county in which the Cabazon
Indian/Wackenhut facility is located, Dr. Julie Gorchynski, an emergency
room doctor, was overcome by mysterious fumes while examining a woman
who later died.
"This is a bona fide, genuine medical mystery, and we intend to solve
it," said Russell S. Kussman, attorney for Dr. Gorchynski. Gorchynski
suffered from osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis of bone, posttraumatic
stress disorder, shortness of breath, restrictive lung disease and other
ailments, as a result of exposure to the dying cancer patient on
February 19th. Coincidentally, her symptoms matched those of GWS.
Later, in the same newspaper, dated September 3, 1994, another article
emerged regarding the Riverside mishap. The bizarre episode had sent six
emergency room workers to hospitals after being exposed to fumes
emitting from patient Gloria Ramirez's blood samples drawn on February
19, 1994.
According to the state's 15page report, 11 people reported smelling an
unusual odor after blood was drawn from Ramirez. After five collapsed
and the emergency room was evacuated, 23 people complained of at least
one symptom, most commonly headache, dizziness, and nausea. More serious
complaints included muscle spasms and breathing disruptions. "Despite
extensive epidemiologic, toxicologic and environmental investigations,
the cause of the outbreak of symptoms among emergency room staff members
... remains unknown," the report concluded.
Dr. Gorchynski's lawyer stated that it could only be a toxin. "It's
physically impossible for Julie to have had the symptoms, and not just
the symptoms, the laboratory findings and test results that showed ...
clearly Dr. Gorchynski was poisoned that day."
But epidemiology experts could find no culprit to explain the bizarre
episode. The Department of Health Services ultimately described the
incident as an outbreak of "mass sociogenic illness," perhaps triggered
by an odor.
I could not help wondering if the deceased Gloria Ramirez was an Indian,
or had ever been on the Cabazon reservation in Indio? I later learned
she had been receiving experimental cancer treatments at a clinic in
Mexico.
J.M., Ted Gunderson's live-in partner, on more than one occasion had
noted that she held in her possession a photograph of Gunderson and Sir
Denis Kendall, the British M-I6 officer who owned bio-labs in Los
Angeles, standing in front of a Mexican cancer clinic. According to
J.M., the photo had been used in an advertisement seeking nurses to work
at the clinic. Without a copy of the photo, I was unable to determine if
it "might" be the same clinic which Gloria Ramirez attended prior to her
death.
******
In February 1993, I was contacted by a U.S Customs agent who was
conducting an inquiry into the whole Inslaw, Peter Viedenieks, Wackenhut
affair. The man had flown in to California from back east to interview
Mike and Bobby Riconosciuto and other witnesses associated with the
Inslaw case. Someone, whom he would not identify, advised him to contact
me.
On February 5th, he and his partner drove to my home in Mariposa and
spent the day. I provided him with an affidavit relative to
Riconosciuto's attempted trade into the Witness Protection Program. The
affidavit contained mostly drug-related information on The Company and
Robert Booth Nichols' connection to Michael Abbell (DOJ) and the Cali
Cartel. The agent also obtained a tape-recorded statement, under oath,
relative to my findings and left with an armload of documents. (Two
years later, in 1995, Abbell was indicted for money laundering for the
Cali Cartel and drug related charges).
He called frequently after that (1993), once from a phone booth in the
dead of night after visiting Langley, Virginia. We subsequently struck
up an investigative collaboration of sorts. On September 3, 1993, I
received a call from him in Palm City, Florida. He had interviewed
Robert Chasen, former Executive Vice President, Systems and Services
Group, of Wackenhut Corporation in Coral Gables. Chasen, 70, was still
senior consultant at the Florida facility, but was allegedly dying of
cancer and weighed less than 100 pounds at the time of the interview.
Because he (Chasen) had once been Commissioner of Customs in Washington
D.C., he felt a rapport with this young agent and spoke candidly about
his experience with Wackenhut in Indio.
Of significance, was Chasen's confirmation of the horrendous properties
of the "virus" which he encountered at the Indio facility. He said,
"Wackenhut was running amuck." Robert Nichols and Peter Zokosky had
attempted to sell the biological warfare technology (developed in cow
uterises) through Wackenhut, using Robert Frye, Vice President of the
Indio facility, as the front man.
According to Chasen, Frye went behind his [Chasen's] back in
facilitating the project; when Chasen learned of the project, he shut it
down. (Chasen supervised the Indio facility from Coral Gables, Florida.)
Because of the projects underway at the Cabazon reservation, Chasen
chose not to step foot on the property, but instead met with the Indio
executives in Palm Springs.
In other respects, Chasen was not so candid. Though the Customs agent
said Chasen "said a lot of derogatory things about Wackenhut in Indio,"
he did not admit to knowing Peter Viedenieks. The agent's investigation
had led him to believe that the PROMIS software WAS stolen, and
Viedenieks WAS involved in the theft, but he did not have enough
evidence to take his case to court.
Chasen was evasive on the subject of PROMIS, though his background would
indicate that he must have been knowledgeable about it. He had been a
Special Agent in the Washington D.C. Federal Bureau of Investigation
from 1943 to 1952. From 1952 to 1968, he was Vice President and
President, respectively, of ITT Communications Systems in Chicago,
Illinois and Paramus, New Jersey. He became Commissioner of U.S. Customs
in Washington D.C. from 1969 to 1977 the same time span that Peter
Viedenieks was in and out of Customs.
I called Dick Russell (author of "The Man Who Knew Too Much") to act as
a "cutout" for me and interview Chasen. At that point, I didn't want to
expose myself to Wackenhut, so Russell agreed. When Russell called back,
he said Chasen didn't trust Robert Booth Nichols. Wackenhut had "run a
check" on Nichols and couldn't learn anything about his background. This
had bothered Chasen, but, he said, Robert Frye and Dick Wilson were
"dazzled" with Nichols.
Chasen believed Nichols worked for the CIA, said he was a "slippery
guy," and couldn't understand why Frye and Wilson were dazzled by
Nichols for such a long time. Reportedly, George Wackenhut liked Frye
and Dick Wilson, but did not trust Riconosciuto or Nichols. Michael
Riconosciuto had been introduced to Chasen as a "specialist engineer in
weapons."
Chasen acknowledged the biological technology introduced by Nichols and
Zokosky, saying it had been presented to him as something that could
"create anything from chicken soup to long range missiles." When he
learned of the properties of the technology, he halted it immediately.
When pressed for further details, he added reluctantly, "It was the kind
of thing your mind erases."
Regarding the Cabazons, Chasen said he felt an affinity with Arthur
Welmas, Chairman of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, because his
[Chasen's] wife is part Cherokee. He noted that he sympathized with
their situation and wanted to protect them.
Perhaps he protected them more than he realized when he shut down the
Wackenhut proposal to the Army to develop biological viruses (and
vaccines) on the Cabazon reservation.
******
One year later, on September 5, 1994, TIME magazine published an article
on page 63 entitled, "A Deadly Virus Escapes," in which a Yale
University researcher was exposed to the deadly Brazilian "Sabia" virus
when a container spinning on a highspeed centrifuge cracked, causing the
potentially lethal tissue to spatter. Fortunately, the researcher was
wearing a lab gown, latex gloves and a mask, as required by federal
guidelines.
Every surface of the area was scrubbed with bleach, all instruments were
sterilized, then wiped down again with alcohol. Having decided the
danger was over, he didn't bother to report the accident, and a few days
later he left town to visit an old friend in Boston. Soon after the
researcher returned to Yale, he bagan running a fever that reached 103 F.
An experimental antiviral drug eventually stopped the illness, but the
man had exposed five people, including two children, before being
confined to a hospital isolation ward, and another 75 or so healthcare
workers after that.
The Sabia virus is particularly frightening because it kills in such a
grisly way. Characteristic symptoms are high fever, uncontrolled
bleeding in virtually every organ and finally shock. The liver turns
yellow and decomposes. Blood can leak from literally every bodily
orifice, including the eyes and the pores of the skin. Sabia was never
seen before 1990, when a female agriculatural engineer checked into a
hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a high fever. Within days she was dead.
Fortunately, in the Yale University incident, none of the potential
victims died or showed any evidence of symptoms. A book and movie on the
Sabia virus's counterpart, the lethal Ebola virus from Central Africa,
which is as deadly and as gruesome as AIDS, yet has an incubation period
of only one week, was underway at the time and was later released in 1994.
The book, "The Hot Zone," described a victim who contracted Ebola. TIME
wrote, "His eyes turn red and his head begins to ache. Red spots appear
on his skin and, spreading quickly, become a rash of tiny blisters, and
then the flesh rips. Blood begins to flow from every one of the body's
orifices. The victim coughs up black vomit, sloughing off parts of his
tongue, throat and windpipe. His organs fill with blood and fail. He
suffers seizures, splattering virussaturated blood that can infect
anyone nearby. Within a few days the victim dies, and as the virus
destroys his remaining cells, much of his tissue actually liquifies ..."
The Ebola virus, found in the rainforest regions of Central Africa, once
caused an outbreak in 1976 through villages near the Ebola River in
Zaire, killing as many as 90% of those infected. Such dangerous viruses
may seem a distant menace, wrote TIME, but "The Hot Zone" details a 1989
Ebola crisis that occurred in the Reston, Virginia Primate Quarantine
Unit, run by a company that imports and sells monkeys for use in
research laboratories.
When an unusual number of monkeys originating from the Philippines died,
tissue samples were sent to a U.S. Army research center. There a
technician identified the strands as either Ebola Zaire or something
very close. Even more alarming, the virus found in Reston, Virginia,
unlike the African one, could be transmitted through the air. Frantic
phone calls were made to Virginia health authorites and to the Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta. An Army team, wearing space suits, went
into the Reston building and killed 450 surviving monkeys, then placed
them in plastic bags for safe disposal. Before the building was boarded
up, the Army sterilized every square inch of the interior. No humans
were infected with the virus, but Richard Preston, the author of "The
Hot Zone," wrote, "A tiny change in its genetic code, and it might
[have] zoomed through the human race."
A rival 1995 film on the same subject entitled, "Outbreak," directed by
Wolfgang Peterson, also focused on the Ebola virus.
CHAPTER 12
It was time to interview Robert Booth Nichols. I was communicating
regularly with Ted Gunderson and one day, on an impulse, I asked him for
Nichols's telephone number. Gunderson hesitated, then gave me the
telephone number of a "relative" of Nichols' in Los Angeles, stating
that he really couldn't give out Robert's home number without first
consulting him.
I called the relative and left a message for Nichols to return my call.
The call came back on December 31, 1991. There was an intriguing
international flavor to Nichols' voice. The tone was hostile but polite,
and inquiring. Essentially, Nichols wanted to know why I was
communicating with Michael Riconosciuto?
I explained to him that I was writing a book on government sanctioned
drug trafficking and Michael had information to offer on local
corruption. During the conversation, which lasted about 45 minutes,
Nichols admitted that he worked for FIDCO and used the code word "Wa
Latteral" for the operation in Lebanon.
CM: "Do you know anything about Michael Riconosciuto in Lebanon?"
Nichols: "Never."
CM: "He [Michael] talked about an interesting operation in Lebanon."
Nichols: "What was it called, the operation? I've heard of quite a few
projects in Lebanon. If I've heard of it, I'll tell you."
CM: "Well, what was the code name of the one that you heard about?"
Nichols: "Wa Latteral."
CM: "Wa Latteral? And what type of operation was that?"
Nichols: "Well, it was trading in two directions. Now what's yours?"
CM: "Same thing."
Nichols: "Wa Latteral? Yours is the same name?"
CM: "No. I've never heard that name before."
Nichols: "Well, what was the code word of the one Michael said he was
involved in?"
CM: "I would have to go over all of my notes, to tell you the truth. It
didn't seem important at the time, so I don't have it off the top of my
head ..."
Nichols: "What the project was, I can tell you very clearly, there's
nothing secret about it now, was to develop an agenda whereby all sides,
the Muslim and the Christian sides, would come to an agreement on a
redevelopment project to where their respective areas would have the
same capitalization, and the same benefit to stop the fighting."
CM: "Did this include rebuilding of the infrastructure of Beirut?"
Nichols: "Very definitely."
CM: "Did this have anything to do with FIDCO?"
Nichols: "Uh, FIDCO was involved in it, right. That was an effort by
that company, as I understood it ... the project was to make sure that
both sides developed building programs that were initiated concurrently
and the development was fair and equitable to all sides, to stop the
fighting." (I wondered why an "arms dealer" wanted to stop the fighting
in Lebanon?)
CM: "Was there ever any subsidiary of that corporation called Euramae?"
Nichols: "I never heard that name before."
CM: "Ted Gunderson gave me a huge manual on The Octopus ..."
Nichols: "In my opinion, to research anything of that magnitude you are
looking at -- it would require a lot of money and a lot of travel and a
lot of patience. I don't think Ted Gunderson knows anything, personally.
He's domestic. It's not his area."
CM: "Did you operate a telex company with him during the Olympic Games?"
Nichols: "Absolutely not. A telex company. Absolutely not. Oh, jeez. Did
you ask Ted Gunderson that?"
CM: "Well, no, I didn't ..."
Nichols: "Well, you can't be shy. You have to ask questions, or else how
do you know?"
CM: "What did Danny Casolaro spend so much time on the phone with you for?"
Nichols: "Danny used to ask me different things. But Danny was more into
the names in Paris and Switzerland and -- Danny was investigating the
whole international situation. You have to spend a lot of money and do a
lot of traveling. Danny had said to me that he had a whole agenda worked
out, you know, where he was going to go and who he was going to see. And
I mean it was literally a global trip ..."
Nichols said he believed Danny was murdered and did not commit suicide.
He believed Danny's death had to do with the international scene,
someone Danny had contacted overseas.
I asked him, "Do you suppose his death had anything to do with the
Justice Department?"
Nichols answered, "I would say, `Time will tell. Time will tell.'"
Nichols: "The activities that I've been involved with, I can tell you
very clearly, an effort was made for many years to benefit a lot of
people that were involved in the corporation. That effort was destroyed
by certain moves [by agent Gates]. And it caused a great deal of
hardship to myself and quite a few other people who are very angry about
it. And we'll deal with that matter in court."
CM: "What was Gates investigating?"
Nichols said he wrote two stories for some Italian movie producers.
"They were `sensitive' stories, about overseas. What I did, was I took
two little, very brief parts of two stories to copyright in the United
States. And so they're very diluted, but enough for the copyrights.
"That's when I met the guy from Universal [studios], because he wanted
the stories. And the French wanted the stories ... in 1987, but the
stories haven't changed, they're still pertinent."
Gates had overheard the "pertinent" parts on the wiretap and initiated
an investigation. I made a mental note to try to convince Nichols at a
later date to provide me with the manuscripts. But I didn't want to push
him during our first conversation.
******
I later asked a friend in Washingto D.C. to research Nichols' copyrights
at the Library of Congress. There were indeed two stories copyrighted by
Robert Booth Nichols under the pseudonym of R.N. LeDevoilier. Perhaps he
was unaware that a cross-reference would reveal his true identity.
The 20-page manuscript entitled "Acceptable Casualty," essentially
outlined gays and I.V. drug users as targets of bio-war by a cabal of
military intelligence officers. In the story, a secret file,
"C-911-Tuhnekaw," revealed the origin of the first AIDS infection. Field
research dated November 12, 1977 originated from a Bay Area laboratory
destroyed by fire in December 1975. Assorted bio-labs were mentioned,
one in Palo Alto, California. The hero of the story obtained the secret
cure from "the Chosen Ones" and escaped to Singapore with his family.
Interestingly, the names of those involved included "Yutaka Okimoto" and
"Lawrence Zokosky," the last names of which match those listed on
Nichols' "real life" corporation, Meridian International Logistics (MIL).
Nichols also copyrighted a 90-page James Bond type treatment entitled,
"Decision of Conscience," which described state-of-the-art
electromagnetic technology (launchers) used to demolish a two-story
concrete building. I later found the words, "Decision of Conscience,"
written in Danny Casolaro's handwritten notes also.
Nichols' secret desire to write about his exploits in the CIA had led
him to contact Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of
America, through his (then) corporate partner Eugene Giaquinto. The
three met at the Beverly Hills Hotel where Nichols attempted to sell
Valenti manuscripts disclosing top secret CIA technology.
Nichols later said Valenti refused the manuscripts because they
contained "classified national security information." (Valenti once
served as assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson).
******
During several phone conversations with reporter Jonathan Littman, I
learned that he had communicated with Danny Casolaro on a regular basis
prior to Danny's death. At the time, I wondered why Littman hadn't
written a story on Danny, since he was one of the few reporters to have
spoken extensively with him?
I would have that answer soon enough. My confidence in Littman nearly
cost me my life. An incident which I am about to relate forced me to
document the following events, which I titled, "Vortex," and
subsequently turned over to John Cohen, investigator for the House
Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. Cohen had strenuously advised me to send
it to him as he feared for my life. "Vortex" was also the "affidavit" I
supplied to the Customs Agent who interviewed me in February 1993.
During the course of our conversations, Littman had noted to me that he
had a close relationship with Robert Booth Nichols, Peter Zokosky and
Ben Kalka of The Company. Littman also verified to me that he was in
fact, Kalka's cousin, but he (Littman) was a secretive, noncommunicative
individual and I didn't press him for explanations. Kalka was currently
serving time in prison for possession of 900 pounds of methamphetamine.
Littman did, however, confide that Kalka hated Michael Riconosciuto
because Riconosciuto was responsible for Kalka's imprisonment. I
described how former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Leighton appeared to
have perjured himself at Michael's trial, and asked Littman's opinion of
that. Littman stated simply that it didn't matter if Leighton had
perjured himself, nothing should be done to get Michael out of jail.
There should be no mistrial or acquittal or anything of that nature
because Michael was probably guilty of the crime for which he was
incarcerated. I didn't pursue the matter further at that point.
Meanwhile, Littman offered to arrange an interview with Robert Booth
Nichols and Peter Zokosky for me. In exchange for this, he wanted me to
arrange an interview with Tony Patterson and Raymond Lavas (Ted
Gunderson's former forensics expert) through Bobby Riconosciuto. Tony
Patterson had allegedly served with Robert Booth Nichols in Vietnam, and
Raymond Lavas had access to Michael Riconosciuto's hidden computer tapes.
Both men were watching over Bobby Riconosciuto while Michael was in
jail. I said I would do the best I could to arrange the interviews.
Bobby was the only person communicating with these individuals and only
she knew how to contact them. I never mentioned to Littman that I had
been communicating with Robert Nichols on the phone. I can't say what my
reasoning was at the time. Intuition, I suppose.
Bobby Riconosciuto reluctantly agreed to set up the interviews with
Patterson and Lavas, though she pointed out that neither man trusted
journalists. I naively assured her that Littman would be okay. It is
noteworthy that Littman had been communicating with Bobby and Michael
for several months prior to my introduction to them, yet, they didn't
completely trust him at that stage of their relationship. When they
learned of his relationship with Ben Kalka, they didn't trust him at all.
Elizabeth Riconosciuto's fifth birthday party was scheduled to be
celebrated at the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn on February 14, 1992 at
11 a.m.. Reportedly, Patrick Moriarty and Marshall Riconosciuto had a
financial interest in the hotel and they were paying the bills.
Littman and I decided that would be a good weekend to confidentially
interview Robert Booth Nichols and Peter Zokosky in Los Angeles, and it
would give Littman the opportunity to meet Bobby Riconosciuto
facetoface. We would also squeeze the Patterson/Lavas interviews in
during that time.
Michael Riconosciuto was cooperative about allowing his wife to be
interviewed by Littman because it would give the journalist a closeup
view of Michael's "family" in action. Tom Olmstead, Michael's lawyer,
was scheduled to attend the birthday party as was Patrick Moriarty and
Marshall Riconosciuto. After the luncheon celebration, the children and
those adults who wanted to tag along would go to Disneyland.
Michael Riconosciuto had dual motives for wanting Littman in attendance.
Olmstead had been instructed to pressure Littman to reveal "who" had
sent the incriminating 1983 "drug" transcript to the prosecuting
attorney in Michael's trial - only Littman knew if it had been Ben Kalka
or Littman himself. (Littman had obtained it originally from Peter
Zokosky).
On Tuesday evening, February 11th, Littman confirmed a Thursday
appointment with Robert Booth Nichols. However, he stressed that Nichols
had insisted that the meeting be kept absolutely confidential. No one in
media or Michael Riconosciuto's circle was to know of the interview.
I agreed, but explained that I had already mentioned briefly to Michael
that I "planned" to interview Nichols at some future date. Michael had
said he understood the importance of interviewing Nichols and he would
cooperate. I even asked Michael to notify Tony Patterson and Raymond
Lavas, via Bobby, that Littman and I would be interviewing them during
our trip to Los Angeles.
Littman said that was alright, but I was to tell no one else associated
with Michael. I noted to Jonathan that he might want to inform Nichols
that I had already mentioned to Michael that I "intended" to interview
Nichols at some time in the future. Littman said leave it at that. No
problem.
Littman spent the night at my home in Mariposa on Wednesday night. The
following morning, on February 13th at 7 a.m., we departed for Los
Angeles. Strangely, at the last moment, Littman decided to follow us to
Los Angeles in his own car. I rode intermittently with Littman, then
with my husband, during the fivehour drive. At hour intervals, Littman
pulled off the freeway to report to Nichols - and to a police officer in
San Francisco whom he did not identify, but described as his "security."
At noon, we arrived at Nichols' Sherman Oaks apartment building. Littman
punched in #68 and spoke briefly to Nichols, who buzzed the door open.
At Nichols' apartment, #103, Littman pointed out the electronic security
system on the front door, then at the last moment, instructed my husband
to wait in the van. We owned a 1991 Chevrolet conversion, so he napped
and watched television the rest of the afternoon. Towards the end of the
fivehour meeting, Nichols invited him up for coffee and cake.
Peter Zokosky and his wife (former Mayor of Indio), Robert Booth Nichols
and his wife, Ellen, were present inside the apartment. Littman had
previously warned me that the apartment was electronically wired to
detect any listening devices I might be wearing on my body. I said I had
none.
Littman had also warned me that I would be seated on a couch next to a
stuffed lion which had a tape recording device (bug) under its tail.
Sure enough, when I entered the apartment, I was seated on a white couch
near the lion. A giant anaconda skin hung stretched across the wall.
European and African relics decorated the apartment. It was instantly
obvious that Nichols and his wife didn't live in the apartment, it was a
meeting place.
Nichols smoked cigarettes and as a result, kept the upstairs windows in
the apartment open, allowing a cool February breeze to flow through the
apartment. Nerves, and the cool air induced me to keep my light coat on
during most of the interview. At first, Peter Zokosky, a friendly,
congenial man, did most of the talking. As the conversation warmed up,
Nichols entered intermittently, then took over completely.
A formal gourmet luncheon was served of curried soup, salmon and turkey
finger sandwiches, wine and homemade strawberry cake. Ellen Nichols was
the perfect hostess, but rarely said a word.
At one point during lunch, Nichols instructed Ellen to get the camera
and snap a front and side picture of me, which she carried out silently.
There was no explanation given for the picture. After lunch, Nichols
often stood or sat at the open window while he talked and smoked. It was
cold and rainy, and I wondered why he kept glancing down at my van.
Littman frequently left the room to attend to something in the back of
the apartment. I was unable to determine what he was doing, but noticed
that he took no notes and never once joined in the conversation.
Nichols was aptly described in magazine articles as "Clark Gable without
the ears." But his mannerisms were intense, simultaneously controlled
and dramatic. I intuitively sensed the violence in him, but only through
his eyes. He studied me intently as I spoke, making every effort to
throw me off balance by continuously correcting me. He also would not
speak while I wrote on my notepad, stopping mid-sentence each time I put
pen to paper.
It worked in some cases, but I finally rallied. I was in HIS apartment,
with women present, though they were busy in the kitchen, and my husband
was parked outside the apartment. I was certainly in no physical danger,
so I gathered myself and bluntly asked the questions I had driven 350
miles to ask.
Referring to the U.S. currency and gold transfers into Swiss bank
accounts, Nichols admitted that he was contracted by the government to
"handle" the 42 Cobra helicopters which Michael had said were stored in
Europe, then shipped to Iraq via North Korea.
At first he would not say what he did with the helicopters, but then
revealed the entire operation. John Vanderwerker at Intersect
Corporation in Irvine, California, had been the CIA facilitator. It was
a "classified" CIA operation, though Nichols would not give the name of
the White House official behind it. I assumed it was Michael McManus,
but didn't push it. Glenn Shockley had brought Nichols into the
operation. At least I had verbal confirmation of the operation, and
unknown to Nichols, I had the entire paper trail.
Regarding Danny Casolaro, Nichols and Zokosky both insisted that Danny
had been "murdered." Danny's book research had progressed to a point
where he was looking overseas for answers and Nichols had offered to
direct him to certain connections that would have completed his
investigation.
Nichols confirmed that he was privy to Danny's findings on a regular
basis, but chose not to elaborate on the content of his last
conversation with Danny.
I continued to press him for information on the "cause" of Danny's
death; what had he discovered that caused him to be murdered? Nichols
responded defiantly that he knew why Danny died, but he said "no
journalist or investigator had done enough work to be deserving of that
information yet."
It was not until the end of the meeting, when we had established a
tentative rapport, that Nichols offered to take ME to Europe, as he had
Danny, to find the answers to my investigation of the Octopus. But, he
stressed it would be very expensive and I would be gone for several
months. I remember the probing look on his face as he made the offer. I
had nodded slowly, stating I would give it some thought. I wondered
fleetingly if he was trying to recruit me into the CIA? Or create a new
Manchurian Candidate?
Regarding the stolen PROMISE software, Nichols said he believed Michael
Riconosciuto had been contracted by the government to "derail" Bill
Hamilton at Inslaw. According to Nichols, Michael DID have the PROMIS
software codes. Allegedly, Peter Zokosky's "brother" sold copies of the
software to Israel. Zokosky nodded in agreement at that statement.
Nichols said Michael HAD to know he was going to be arrested for
operating a meth lab, but he (Michael) thought the FBI would bail him
out again. Someone named (Admiral) Al Renkin allegedly "covered
Michael's drug act."
I never knew what that meant and didn't pursue it, as I wasn't there to
learn about Michael Riconosciuto. While we were on the subject of drugs,
I took the opportunity to question Nichols's involvement. I lead in by
describing the drug situation in Mariposa county, adding that the entire
country seemed to be economically dependent on the drug trade. Nichols
nodded in full agreement, then noted that Europe's economy was
completely dependent on drug money. Without drugs, banks and whole
countries would collapse financially.
We moved into another area of discussion. Peter Viedenieks was an
associate of Earl Brian, according to Nichols. Other names were tossed
around such as Senator Terry Sanford, a family friend of Earl Brian.
Sanford was Nichols' link with Earl Brian. And, noted Nichols,
Viedenieks was associated with Earl Brian through Hadron Corporation.
Allegedly, all of these fellows had met at Nichols' "007" Playa Del Ray
condo at one time or another, including Viedenieks.
It is noteworthy that at the time of this meeting, neither Nichols or I
could have foreseen the importance of this information. The issue of
Viedenieks' connection with Earl Brian or Terry Sanford, or even Nichols
himself, had not been raised publicly yet. At the time, I didn't place
any particular significance on Nichols' relationship with Earl Brian or
Peter Viedenieks, I just took the information at face value and wrote it
in my notes.
Nichols reacted violently when I asked him if he had any business
dealings with Brunswick Corporation in New Jersey. He jumped up from his
chair by the window and yelled, "Absolutely not!"
I quickly explained that I had looked up Sir Denis Kendall (the famous
M16 World War II British officer) in "Who's Who in America" and learned
that he had once been associated with Brunswick. Nichols said he did not
know Sir Denis Kendall. His eyes told me otherwise.
I noted that was strange since Michael Riconosciuto seemed to know him
well. Nichols and Zokosky exchanged glances. I further explained that
Bobby Riconosciuto said she had been to Kendall's home on Doheny Drive
in Beverly Hills with her children once. She had often called Kendall
when she was trying to locate Michael, and within hours of calling
Kendall, Michael always called her back. Nichols and Zokosky seemed
disturbed by that statement.
I didn't mention that Riconoscituo had stated Kendall was Nichols'
supervisor (CIA "handler"), or that J.M., Ted Gunderson's research
partner, had found a brochure in Ted's files advertising for Swedish
nurses at a medical research complex in Mexico. The brochure contained
both Gunderson's picture and Sir Denis Kendall's.
I had obtained all of the documents pertaining to Nichols' current
lawsuit against Thomas Gates of the Los Angeles FBI, his corporate
activities and his weapons permits. Nichols had been investigated by
Gates for allegedly turning over sensitive information to organized
crime figures in America and the "Yakuza" crime syndicate in Japan.
Nichols' corporation, Meridian International Logistics, Inc. (MIL), the
parent company to Meridian Arms, had filed a lawsuit against Gates for
contacting Nichols' European and Japanese business associates.
As a result, not only were Nichols' weapons permits cancelled, but his
associates were allegedly intimidated by the investigation, thus
damaging Nichols' ability to transact business.
I was curious about how far Nichols would take the lawsuit, and exactly
what the nature of the research was that MIL fronted to the Japanese. I
started out by asking Nichols if he had provided a "grant" to a Japanese
facility for biological research? Nichols said he had provided no grant
to any Japanese facility and attempted to change the subject.
Nichols was not evasive, but aggressively direct when he did not want to
discuss something. Michael Riconosciuto had once commented to me that
the biological technology which Nichols was involved in was "Hitler's
wet dream." According to Michael, who was uncharacteristically hesitant
about discussing the subject, "biotechnology was the weapon of the
future, making all other weaponry obsolete."
In Michael's files in the desert, I had retreived a small cylindrical
cannister, about six inches in length, with a cap on it. The metal
cannister had not been marked, and instinctively, I had not opened it,
but had placed it on a shelf in our empty guest house in Mariposa.
It was not until months later, after Michael learned I had copies of his
documents, that I had asked him what the cannister contained. Michael
had become disdraught, explaining that the cannister contained genetic
material in a hybridoma base, a military concept, only to be used for
military applications. Michael had stolen the cannister from a shipment
at Wackenhut destined for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and placed the
sample in his files in the desert. (Proposals had also been underway
with King Fahd to provide "security" for his palace).
His voice had been fraught with worry. He implored me to remove the
cannister from my property immediately, take it to a "class 4 facility"
where it could be disposed of. I was absolutely NOT to open the
cannister as it contained lethal toxins.
Later, at the meeting with Robert Booth Nichols, I again wondered why
arms dealers such as Peter Zokosky and Robert Nichols would be
interested in genetic research? Five years earlier, Zokosky and
Wackenhut Corporation had attempted to sell "biological warfare viruses"
and vaccine kits to the U.S. government to be used against small
countries bordering Albania or large countries bordering the Soviet Union.
I did not openly confront Nichols at his apartment about the above
documents, but asked him if he had sold or facilitated the research of
specific biotechnology to the Japanese? Nichols adamantly denied any
involvement in any such research.
When I rephrased the question, and he realized I knew about the MIL
agreements, he admitted that he had in fact facilitated the research of
methodology and induction of cytotoxic TLymphocytes through "five
offshore [outofcountry] research institutes." But, he added that the
research was "classified" by the sponsoring governments and "secret" and
he could not discuss it.
When I pressed for the names of the sponsoring governments, he clammed
up. Had I known more about the technology at the time, I would have
pointedly questioned him about the properties of the virus, but in
retrospect, my ignorance opened doors that otherwise wouldn't have been
opened.
I did, however, mention to Nichols and Zokosky that Michael Riconosciuto
had allegedly worked on the same technology at Hercules Research in the
early 1980's, reportedly using fish for incubation purposes.
Zokosky responded, embarking upon a lengthy discourse on the processes
by which "they" had incubated the virus in cow uterises and udders in
biolabs twenty floors beneath the ground. But Nichols interjected,
discontinuing the narrative. It was obvious that both men were becoming
agitated, so I dropped the subject for the time being.
Regarding Thomas Gates, Nichols expressed real anger and noted he would
take the lawsuit against Gates as far as it would go. He said he didn't
care if he was awarded any money (he was sueing for $11 million), but he
would ruin Tom Gates, no matter what it took.
A thought crossed my mind that he was about to say that he would kill
him, but instead, he sat silently glaring, waiting. I asked him how much
the lawsuit had cost him so far, and he said not a dime. Originally,
Michael McManus had advised Nichols, but then the case was handled by
John Rowell.
It was already apparent that Nichols was warming to the interview, in a
disarming, contentious sort of way. We were reaching a common ground, a
netherworld of danger and intrigue. The room became his stage, the
people his audience. He never took his eyes from mine, making every
effort to distract me from my notes.
Unquestionably, he was a "game" player. The more I entered the game, the
better he liked it. It was a trade off, I gave him a little information,
he gave me a little. But he gave as much as he took ...
I asked him about his relationship with MCA corporation. He said Eugene
Giaquinto, President of MCA Home Entertainment Division, had resigned
from his company, MIL, after the FBI investigation was underway.
But Giaquinto was a smart man, noted Nichols. He had learned much from
the man. Giaquinto drove an older car, as did Nichols. They hid their
assets, living modestly when in the U.S., keeping a low profile. The FBI
would "prove" nothing, said Nichols. He added that MCA Corporation was
"going broke," and the only division that was making a profit was the
home entertainment division, which Giaquinto headed.
I recalled privately the conversation in which Michael Riconosciuto had
told R.J. that MCA was currently facilitating the largest leveraging
scam ever conceived of in this country. MCA was subsequently sold to the
Japanese, but I had no idea what connection that had to the above
referenced conversation.
Nichols continued to lead the conversation towards Riconosciuto. Nichols
and Zokosky could not understand why Ted Gunderson testified for Michael
at his trial in Washington state. At a previous dinner party at Nichols'
apartment in Sherman Oaks, Ted reportedly told the two men that Michael
had loaned him (Gunderson) $60,000 for a joint business venture. Ted
still owed Michael the money.
It is noteworthy that Ted also supplied Robert Booth Nichols an
affidavit for HIS lawsuit against Thomas Gates.
Ellen Nichols had mentioned during lunch that Michael often buried
secret documents and equipment. Obviously, they were trying to learn
what documents I had acquired. I had not uncovered any "buried"
documents, but had obtained his private files from the trailer in the
California desert. I did not reveal this to Nichols, assuming that
Littman had kept my secret.
However, as the conversation progressed, I came to realize that Nichols
did, indeed, know I had obtained Michael's files. One statement which
Nichols said in the presence of Jonathan Littman surprised me. Littman
continued to leave the room to attend to something in the back of the
apartment. When he returned, I asked Nichols to repeat what he had just
said. Nichols obliged by reiterating that "Michael Riconosciuto would
kill me if he learned that I had obtained his private documents."
I asked him "why" he believed Michael would kill me over that? Nichols
seemed to want confirmation of something I'd obtained, something
specific, but wouldn't define what it was and I had no intention of
revealing anything to him at that point.
He randomly discussed the (coroner's grand jury) affidavit in which
Riconosciuto had accused Phillip Arthur Thompson of killing Paul Morasca
(Michael's partner) in San Francisco. Thompson had worked for the FBI
under the code name of "Jason" in some capacity which Nichols would not
define.
But, according to Nichols, it was Riconosciuto who had tortured and
killed Paul Morasca. Peter Zokosky corroborated Nichols' comment. Both
men said the torture of Paul Morasca was Michael's "style" that Michael
had discussed torture techniques of that nature to Nichols prior to
Morasca's death.
They added that "Jason," Phillip Arthur Thompson, was not so creative in
his killing style. Thompson had allegedly killed many people in his
career, but he chose to use a gun and get the job done quickly. Nichols
also said at lunch, with Ellen listening, that he knew who killed Mary
Quick. Ellen rolled her eyes at her husband and beseeched him to change
the subject. I asked Nichols to name the killer or at least give me a
clue. Nichols said the killer of Mary Quick had been arrested and
released. Obviously they were talking about "Jason," who HAD been
arrested and released.
Nichols and Zokosky both agreed in a conversation between themselves
that Michael Riconosciuto had caused the death of other people also.
Nichols repeated at least three times to my face, with Zokosky and
Littman nodding in agreement, that he believed Michael would kill me.
I privately wondered why Nichols was making such an issue of this? I
would understand soon enough. Meanwhile, Nichols continued to press his
point. He said Michael was a patient man and would wait as long as
necessary to accomplish this. I did not respond, as I had become
somewhat immuned to the threat by then.
Littman had made similar statements on the drive up to Sherman Oaks. I
simply did not perceive Riconosciuto as a killer. Nevertheless, I asked
Nichols how Michael would kill me if he was in jail? Nichols said it
would be done by one of Michael's "drug flunkies." He said Riconosciuto
HAD worked for the government, and had been "rescued" by the FBI for
years. He added that Michael could get away with murder.
I was becoming unresponsive to the game, so I presume Nichols decided it
was time to "set the hook." It was not until two years later that I
understood the significance of this incident. At one point during our
conversation, and completely out of context with what we were
discussing, Nichols played a video tape of the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy. The southern wall of Nichols' apartment
contained a sixfootwide screen on which I watched a blownup (enlarged),
slow motion "uncut" version of the famous Zapruder film.
I watched what appeared to be the standard media version of the film,
seen so many times in film clips over the years, but then Nichols slowed
the camera even more, and on the sixfoot screen, I observed the driver
of the limousine turn to his right, first looking at Connolly, then at
Kennedy. The driver's left hand came over his right shoulder, and he was
holding a long barreled gun. Smoke and a bullet emerged from the gun,
traveling ever so slowly across the screen into Kennedy's head, blowing
brain tissue into the air as he fell back against the seat.
Stunned, I watched Jacqueline Kennedy open her mouth in horror as she
glanced at the driver, then try to climb over the back seat of the car.
Littman and Zokosky and I stared at the scene in silence, unable to
believe what we were seeing. Nichols then changed the tape and showed
what he described as the "media" version of the Zapruder tape. In the
media version, the driver continued to drive, unflinching, as the shots
rang out. Then the scene switched to the back part of the limousine.
At this point, Nichols stopped the frame and pointed with a stick at a
tree in the background behind the limousine. From the middle of the tree
to the ground, there was no trunk, just air. The top part of the tree
was growing in air!
I demanded that my husband be allowed to see the film. I felt I must
have been hypnotized. When he arrived, he viewed both films up close, in
slow motion, and saw the same thing. Nichols played both tapes backwards
and forwards as often as we demanded, until the memory of it was burned
forever into our minds.
I wondered if the video had been tampered with. I asked Nichols where he
had obtained the original "uncut" version? He would not say. I had no
idea at that time that his F.I.D.C.O. partner, Clint Murchison, Jr.'s
father had had instant access to the Zapruder film immediately after the
assassination in Dallas, Texas.
Nichols studied me for the longest time, then walked over to the window
and lit a cigarette. He finally commented that the CIA can cover up
anything it wants, even a president's murder. He wanted to show me the
power of the Octopus. "Nothing is as it appears to be," he said.
Somehow, that statement rang true. He then noted that he'd read my first
book, the one I had sent him, then handed me a book entitled, "The
Search for the Manchurian Candidate." He told me to read it, appraising
me silently. Inwardly, I recalled a conversation with J.M., in which she
related a conversation she'd had with Ted after a dinner engagement with
Nichols. Nichols had reportedly stated to Ted that he headed a 200man
assassination team. Jackie had been too frightened to elaborate on this
conversation, but had pointed out that Nichols once worked in the
MKUltra (Manchurian Candidate) program during the Vietnam war. This
program was part of the "Phoenix Project." Interestingly, numerous
publications had mentioned that Earl Brian had also participated in the
Phoenix Project during the war.
Nichols' sister was allegedly a professional hypnotherapist, and Nichols
himself was reportedly trained in the art of hypnotism. According to
Riconosciuto, they all called themselves "The Chosen Ones," wore skull
and crossbones rings, and shared a common interest, if you could call it
that, in the old German SS occultism, its tribal and inner circle rites.
As I was preparing to leave, Nichols pointed his finger at me and
reminded me of the agreement I had made with him through Littman. I
asked him what agreement? He said the agreement that I would tell noone
about this meeting. I again assured him that I would mention it to
noone. He said I had better not or I would end up like the rest ...
******
When we finally left Nichols' apartment around five p.m., I told Littman
I did not intend to accept any more collect calls from Michael
Riconosciuto at the Tacoma jail. I might even wrap up the whole
investigation at that point, because I had more than enough material for
a story or a book.
Littman proceeded to issue a warning which I recorded in my notebook in
the car. It read as follows: "Littman warned me today to watch out.
Noone gets out of this alive. No one walks. If I cut them off, it would
be very dangerous." I was completely numb at that point, and
unresponsive to any further threats. We agreed to meet at 11:00 a.m. at
the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn in La Mirada the following day to
attend Elizabeth Riconosciuto's birthday party. Tom Olmstead, Michael's
lawyer, would be flying in for the meeting, Ted Gunderson and J.M. would
be there, Patrick Moriarty would be picking up Olmstead at the airport,
Raymond Lavas would be there and possibly the elusive Tony Patterson, if
Bobby could arrange it. Also expected was Janice Wynogradsky, the
Australian reporter who produced the news story for Australian T.V.
I was exhausted and looked forward to a restful evening, but first I
drove to the nearest toy store and purchased some birthday presents for
Elizabeth.
That evening, I mentally reviewed the day's events. Nichols and Littman
were undoubtedly screwing with my head. The doctored Zapruder tape gave
them deniability. The information I had obtained at the meeting may or
may not have had value, but I knew one thing, the deaths surrounding
Riconosciuto and Nichols were real enough.
Behind the smoke and mirrors labyrnthe was a story, one they were
working very hard to conceal. I felt sure the corporate and government
connections were little more than "fronts" for large scale drug
trafficking.
******
At 7:30 a.m. the following morning, Bobby Riconosciuto called the hotel
where we were staying (the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn) and informed
me that the luncheon meeting had been changed to a new location and
Jonathan Littman was not going to be allowed to attend.I explained that
I had not heard from Jonathan, did not know where he was staying, and
could not get in touch with him to tell him about the change. Bobby and
I argued about the inconvenience to Littman. I told her that Jonathan
and I were not puppets to be manipulated by she or Michael. Bobby argued
back that Olmstead had not shown up at the airport, Ted and J.M were
having a tiff, and she did not trust Littman because of his relationship
with Ben Kalka and Robert Booth Nichols.
She did not want her daughter's birthday turned into a "circus." I
agreed with that aspect of the meeting, however, Bobby still had not
arranged an interview with Raymond Lavas or Tony Patterson. Bobby argued
that she did not think Lavas or Patterson would talk to Littman. I
pleaded with her to arrange the appointments for Littman's sake, since
he had driven from San Rafael for that purpose. I explained to her that
it was important that Littman be present at the interviews with Lavas
and Patterson because I was working on the Mariposa story with him and
we had made an agreement.
Bobby asked me directly if I had interviewed Robert Booth Nichols? I
said I had not. I felt it was really none of Bobby's business. I
qualified that, however, by saying that I expected to interview Nichols
at some time in the future. Bobby said she understood and would attempt
to arrange the interviews with Lavas and Patterson for the following
day, Sunday.
It is noteworthy that Littman wanted to interview Tony Patterson because
Patterson "claimed" to have been in Vietnam (Phoenix/MK-Ultra) with both
Earl Brian and Robert Booth Nichols. I doubted that. To my knowledge,
Nichols had never served in the military.
Patterson had a rather provocative story to tell about Nichols.
Allegedly, Nichols had smuggled several gold icons out of Vietnam into
the U.S. He later killed the pilot so there would be no witnesses, and
left Tony Patterson stranded in Vietnam to be captured and tortured by
the Viet Cong. Nichol's activities in Vietnam also allegedly included
drug trafficking for the CIA, which both Bobby and Michael Riconosciuto
maintained was still operational today. THAT sounded closer to the truth.
Bobby called me back and instructed me to arrange a dinner meeting with
Littman that evening (Saturday) and she would show up to be interviewed,
then if Littman agreed to provide her with the name of the person who
had sent the 1983 "drug" transcript to the prosecutor at Michael's
trial, she would call Patterson and Lavas for interviews on the
following day.
I was becoming stressed at that point. The whole weekend was spinning
out of control and I was caught in the middle. I noted to Bobby that I
would wait for Littman to show up at the La Mirada Gateway Holiday Inn
and tell him the meeting had been changed to a new location, but that he
was not invited. I would then give him the new meeting time 7:00 p.m. at
the Belle Isles restaurant in Anaheim. Bobby agreed to that arrangement.
My husband and I waited until 11:30 a.m., but Littman never showed. He
also never called to say he would be late. At 11:40 a.m., I left a
message for Littman at the front desk apologizing for the sudden change
in plans, and said we would meet him at the Belle Isles at 7:00 p.m..
Bobby had changed the luncheon to the hotel where she was staying with
her children in order to be able to sign the tab on Patrick Moriarty's
bill. Janice Wynogradsky was present, along with Ted Gunderson, J.M. and
her two children. Neither Olmstead, Moriarty nor Marshall Riconosciuto
showed up at the birthday party. Elizabeth opened her presents, we ate
lunch and cake and caravanned over to Disneyland. We had a good time
with the kids until six p.m.
At 6:30 p.m., Ted, J.M., Bobby and all the children returned to Bobby's
hotel suite. I drove directly to Belle Isles. At 7:00 p.m., neither
Bobby nor Littman had appeared for dinner. It turned out that Littman
had left a message at the restaurant that he was sorry he missed us at
the La Mirada hotel, but there was no mention of whether he would be
joining us for dinner or not.
I called Sheri Littman, his wife, and she said Jonathan was on his way
home. She did not know why.
Bobby Riconosciuto sat with Ted Gunderson and J.M. in her hotel suite
and ate pizza. When I called her, she said Ted had detained her at the
hotel, she couldn't get away. My husband and I finished our dinner and
drove to San Diego to see my mother.
I never spoke to Bobby or Michael Riconosciuto again until one week
later when I learned Bobby had requested the return of Michael's eight
boxes of documents. My husband had dropped me off at my mother's home
and returned to Mariposa. For days he had been receiving urgent messages
from Bobby requesting that I call her. He simply told her that I was
tired and needed a rest.
Michael Riconosciuto called and asked him if we had interviewed Robert
Booth Nichols? My husband said, "No."
When I returned home, I called Bobby and learned that Littman had told
Michael Riconosciuto all about the meeting with Robert Booth Nichols.
Bobby wanted to know why I had lied to her about the Nichols meeting?
She explained that Littman had also told Michael that he had dug through
Michael's private documents at my home which I had obtained from
Michael's secret trailer in the desert. Bobby had never told Michael
about this because Michael had instructed her to stay away from the
trailer.
I told Bobby that I did not believe Littman would do such a thing. I
added that if I HAD interviewed Nichols, and he requested
confidentiality, I would keep my word to him. There was no reason to
discuss such an interview with Bobby or Michael. Bobby accepted that.
However, to convince me that Littman had in fact told Michael about the
contents of the meeting, she recounted that Michael had told her that
the meeting took place on Thursday, it lasted five hours, and I would
not take my coat off during the entire meeting, which allegedly made
Nichols nervous.
Bobby also stated that I had been seated in a location where I could be
scanned for electronic devices, and since I was not "bugged," Nichols
could not understand why I didn't take my coat off.
I immediately hung up from Bobby and called Littman. There was no answer
at his home, so I called Robert Booth Nichols. Upon answering the phone,
Nichols immediately accused me of "breaking my word to him." There was a
sinister edge to his voice. I explained to him that, to date, I had not
spoken to Michael Riconosciuto since two days prior to the Sherman Oaks
meeting on February 13th.
Nichols countered that Littman had called him and told him that "I" had
immediately reported to Michael the entire contents of the meeting,
because Michael knew all about it. His tone was accusing, attentive, but
devoid of anger. Then silence, waiting. I was indeed caught in the
tentacles of the Octopus, and I felt the weight of it at that moment.
I told Nichols that I would have Bobby Riconosciuto call him and repeat
what she had said to me, that Littman had betrayed both Nichols and myself.
Nichols laughed. "Why should I believe anything Bobby says? I don't want
to talk to her, and I don't want her to have my telephone number. Did
you tell her where we met?" His voice was deeper, throatier, and I felt
like a fool. Why should he believe her? I was grasping at straws and I
had no answers. Why would Littman betray me, with so much at stake?
I said I would get to the bottom of this and let him know the results.
Nichols said he was leaving for Australia the next day, would not be
back for three months. (He had said the same words to Bill Hamilton when
he was searching for Danny Casolaro on August 5th).
Nichols said he was VERY interested in hearing the results. "For my
sake." He added that I should keep Peter Zokosky apprised of the results
of my inquiry, then he hung up.
I called Jonathan Littman and asked him, "What's going on?" His voice
was withdrawn, cautious. "I don't know. What is going on?" I decided to
taperecord the conversation. My life was in danger as a result of
Littman's actions, and I needed a lifeline to save it.
I explained that I had been in San Diego visiting my mother, and when I
returned, Bobby Riconosciuto related the details of my interview with
Nichols. "She said YOU told Michael everything."
Littman said, "Michael knew the truth."
"I haven't talked to Michael since before the interview with Nichols!
How did he know about it?"
Littman's voice took on a slow, malignant tone. "What I'm saying is, you
told him beforehand, and you can't play games with people like Michael."
I was astonished. And somewhat flustered. But I wanted to give him every
opportunity to explain himself. "No. No. Something has happened.
Something's wrong. Bobby just told me that YOU told Michael all about
the meeting. And I told her I didn't believe that. I told her I DIDN'T
have an interview with Robert Booth Nichols ..."
Littman quickly responded, "You shouldn't lie to Michael ..."
I thought to myself, why should I have to report who I interview to
Michael or Bobby? It was none of their business. But instead, I said,
"Bobby told me she knew I interviewed Robert Booth Nichols on Thursday,
for five hours, and I wore my coat through the entire meeting. And she
said, `That made Nichols paranoid.' Now, how in the hell could she have
known that?"Littman answered in an eery, robotic voice, "I want to tell
you something ..."
I interrupted, " ... And how did she know that I allowed you to look at
Michael's documents, Jon?"
Littman began again, "She didn't. She only knows you have them ..."
Littman was being evasive, outright lying. I was becoming increasingly
frustrated. I hated being reduced to that level of conversation. But so
much depended on it. "John, Bobby said Michael called her. Michael NEVER
knew I had those boxes until YOU told him. Bobby said YOU revealed to
him that you had seen the documents, seen the diary, seen everything."
I had withheld portions of the diary from Littman, amongst other things.
I couldn't understand why he would have alarmed Michael about the diary,
or lied about having it. Michael had risked his life at Wackenhut to
obtain the only copy, broken into Dr. John Nichols' office to retreive
it, and fled to Washington state to begin a new life. He had thought it
was secure in the desert. Now I had it. And Michael knew Bobby and I had
kept the secret from him. And Littman had betrayed us both.
I continued ... "How would Michael have known that I didn't take my coat
off in the meeting with Nichols? Nobody knew that except you, Jon."
Littman stayed cool as ice. "Let me get one thing straight with you. I
gave you the conditions under which you were to meet with Nichols ..."
"Absolutely."
" ... And you betrayed those conditions by telling Michael that we were
going to interview Nichols. And that put all of us in an awkward
position ..."
I was astonished at how twisted the whole situation had become. I
stammered, "Jonathan, I didn't know I HAD an appointment with Nichols at
the time I told Michael that. I simply told him I PLANNED to interview
him at sometime in the future. I haven't spoken with Michael since the
interview with Nichols? But YOU have ..."
Littman continued his train of thought, disregarding what I had said.
"Once you told Michael you planned to interview Nichols, then you had to
tell him everything. You had to tell the truth."
I asked pointedly, "Did YOU tell him the truth?"
Perversely, he confessed, "I told him the truth exactly. Because he knew
we'd been there. And I'm not going to lie to Michael. He knew we'd been
there ..."
I interjected, "But you gave your word to Robert Booth Nichols that you
would never divulge the contents of the meeting to anyone. How could you
do that?"
Littman attempted to change the subject, to put me on the defensive.
"YOU are now the fly in the spider's trap ... You gotta be staight with
all these people. With Michael, with Zokosky, with Nichols, these people
can figure these things out. They're not dumb people."
"John, I've been straight with all of them. Every one of them. I have
never betrayed any of them, other than to provide you, as a journalist,
with some documents you requested ..."
He interrupted me, still speaking meticulously, ever so slowly. "You
cannot fool people like Michael and Bobby and Ted Gunderson. Michael
knew the meeting was going to take place. And it's not a good idea to go
back and tell him a story that something didn't happen when it did happen."
There was a monotonous singsong to his voice. He sounded like a tape
recording. I was incredulous. Why was I defending myself to this man? I
tried once again. "Michael doesn't control my life. I didn't tell him
the meeting never took place. I NEVER SPOKE TO MICHAEL AFTER THE MEETING
WITH NICHOLS! I didn't lie to him because I haven't spoken with him. I
was in San Diego. I still haven't spoken to Michael. Why can't you
understand that?" "Well, you're in the middle of it, because you're
involved with Bobby and ..."
" ... Well, I'm not. That's the point, I'm not. It's a dangerous game
and I want no part of it. I made that very clear with Bobby today when I
spoke with her, which is the first time I've spoken with her since the
meeting in Sherman Oaks."
" ... You told Michael that you were going to have a meeting with ..."
I was determined to get a confession from Littman. My life might depend
on it. "Jonathan! Jonathan! You stood in that room with Robert Booth
Nichols, and you heard him say aloud in front of both us, that if
Michael ever found out what I have [the documents], he would kill me. I
would be dead. Do you remember when he said that?"
"Sure."
" ... Yet you told Michael you had come to my home and seen his
documents from the desert? Why?"
Littman repeated over and over the same words. "You lied to Michael.
That was very stupid ..."
I wondered if he was intoxicated. I cut in, "You set me up. You called
Nichols immediately after YOU told Michael about the meeting. Then you
called Nichols and told him that "I" told Michael about the meeting.
Now, Nichols just told me that today. Why did you do that, Jonathan?"
Jonathan did not deny setting me up, but stammered lamely, "I ... I did
not appreciate your phone call to Nichols earlier today. You have placed
me in an awkward position with Zokosky and Nichols ..."
So, Nichols had informed Littman of my phone call! Had he accused
Littman of betraying him to Michael? I would probably never know the
answer to that. I responded, "I called Nichols and asked him what was
going on? How in the world could this have come about? I told Nichols
what Bobby had said."
Littman was outraged that I had called Nichols and conveyed what Bobby
had said. He was also outraged that Bobby had called me and confronted
me about the Nichols meeting. Obviously THIS had not been in the scheme
of things. Littman had obviously NOT expected Bobby to confront me.
After the Los Angeles fiasco, I had been fed up with her treatment of
Littman and was cooling off in San Diego for a week. I had told Littman
that I wouldn't be speaking with either Bobby or Michael again. Littman
had underestimated Bobby's determination to speak to me, and my
assertiveness in calling Nichols. His plan had backfired. Perhaps he had
expected me to be dead before I had an opportunity to talk to anyone?
I was immediately alarmed about the synopsis and backup documents I had
turned over to Littman on the Mariposa drug lab. It had included the
names of the Indians who had confided in me. We had planned to do a
story together for the San Francisco Chronicle. "John, can I ask you one
more question? Did you ever send the Mariposa information to the
Chronicle?"
He answered curtly, "No."
"You asked me to send it to you. Why didn't you send it to the
Chronicle? Why did you even ask for it?"
Jonathan hissed at me. "You lied to Riconosciuto's wife, or your husband
did [regarding the Nichols meeting], and as a consequence of that,
you're in hot water. I warned you about this whole thing ..."
"I'm in hot water because YOU betrayed me to Michael," I countered.
Again he repeated, "I told him EXACTLY what happened. You're a fool, and
you better start getting smart ... I think you should think twice about
continuing with this ..."
The Indians who had turned in the drug lab were at risk. Jonathan had
their names, including detailed information on two deputies implicated
in growing marijuana and distributing methamphetamine on the Indian
reservation in Mariposa. I wanted my paperwork back.
"Jonathan, there's something I need to know right now. This is
important. You have information on Mariposa ..."
Jonathan hung up. I paced the floor of my office for a moment, then
called him back. He didn't answer, but I knew he was standing by the
phone while I talked into his answering machine. I informed him that I
intended to document everything that had transpired at the Nichols
meeting, including his betrayal of me to both Nichols and Riconosciuto,
and that he had attempted to set me up to be killed by one or both of
these men.
I said I was taking the report to the nearest U.S. Attorney and sending
a copy to his editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. And, I wanted my
Mariposa paperwork returned.
I then called Robert Booth Nichols, but there was no answer at his home,
so I called Peter Zokosky. Zokosky, as always, was friendly and
congenial, and confirmed that Nichols was very interested in the results
of my inquiry. I recounted the conversation I'd had with Littman, in
which he had confessed his betrayal, and offered proof of the conversation.
Zokosky said that would be fine and he would pass the information along
to Nichols. On Sunday, February 23rd, I again talked to Bobby
Riconosciuto. We again discussed what Littman had done and why he had
attempted to convince Nichols that I had betrayed him [Nichols] to
Riconosciuto.
Bobby and I both acknowledged that Michael had knowledge of Nichols'
government and drug activities over a twentyyear time span.
Unquestionably, Nichols wanted to discredit Michael in any way he could
... or deter anyone from obtaining Michael's information.
Suddenly, Bobby said she believed I was being "set up for a hit." I said
I thought Michael was being set up with Robert Booth Nichols.
Someone, whoever was controlling Littman, was trying to create friction
between Michael and Nichols, and attempting to use me to do it. My
friendship with Bobby had unexpectedly thrown a monkeywrench into their
plans.
Bobby confided that Michael had taperecorded the conversation in which
Littman had reported the contents of the Nichols meeting. Michael had
called a "friend," and had the friend patch Michael through to Littman.
The conversation had then been monitored and tape recorded by the third
party (obviously Ted Gunderson who performed this functon often). Bobby
agreed to send me a copy of the taperecording.
I asked her why Littman would try to turn both Nichols and Michael
against me. Professional jealousy? Bobby said, "No, the same thing
happened to Danny Casolaro."
Littman had been talking to Danny Casolaro regularly, as well as Nichols
and Riconosciuto at the time of Danny's death. Yet, Littman had never
written a single word about Danny -- or Robert Booth Nichols!!
We both agreed that someone was being set up, but Bobby insisted that it
was me. She said she needed to check something out and she would call me
back. Shortly thereafter, Bobby called back and breathlessly stated she
had confirmed that I was about to die. She would not say who she had
talked to, but intuitively, I felt it was Ted Gunderson.
Bobby said if I died, Michael would be held responsible. I had received
collect calls daily from him for three months, then cut off all
communication with him after meeting with Nichols. I had obtained ALL of
Michael's documents in the desert without his knowledge, until recently.
I held in my possession the bank cards which Paul Morasca and Mary Quick
had died for.
It was a perfect set up, noted Bobby. Everyone, including my own
husband, would believe Michael had contracted my death. Inwardly, I
recalled the numerous statements by Nichols and Littman and Zokosky that
"Michael would kill me."
Undoubtedly, they had expected me to repeat those statements to others,
perhaps other reporters, or friends, or relatives. Who, in turn, would
have repeated it to the police "after my death."
In fact, I hadn't repeated it to anyone, but it WAS scattered throughout
my notes. Bobby advised me to get out of the house immediately, then
call the FBI, the U.S. Attorney, the police or anyone else I could think
of immediately. "They're going to kill you, if you don't RUN!," she yelled.
She said she was going to hang up, and when she called back, she didn't
want me to be in the house. I became somewhat alarmed because of the
various deaths surrounding Michael Riconosciuto. Regardless whether
anyone believed him or not, the deaths were NOT make-believe. To name
just a few: Mary Quick; Paul Morasca, Michael's former partner; Michael
May who had visited Riconosciuto in jail two weeks before his death;
Dennis Eismann, a lawyer Michael tried to hire; and of course, Danny
Casolaro who had been introduced to the Octopus through Michael
Riconosciuto. There were others with less direct connections.
Just three months after Danny's death, I had been approached by
Riconosciuto, and the game of Dungeons and Dragons had begun again, this
time with a new player. It seemed as if Nichols and Michael and Ted, and
others, played a real life game, and when one of the players got
"accidented" or "suicided" (as Ted called it), they simply recruited new
players. Oddly, Michael had once said that anyone could leave "the game"
by simply dropping out while they were still alive. Once it was known
they had dropped out, they were left alone - if they kept their mouths
shut.
Michael had used journalists to gather information he needed to stay
abreast of the game. It was a subtle form of blackmail he used on
Nichols and Ted and, indeed, the government whom he had worked for. I
had once asked him why "they" didn't just kill him. He had answered that
they didn't want to kill him. They wanted his technology. The FMC deal
was, in fact, still on hold. The deaths around him were "punishment" for
his indiscretions, and to keep a lid on their biological warfare,
hightech weaponry, and largescale heroin and cocaine operations
worldwide.But who would believe it all? There were hundreds of deadend
gopher trails ... dried up corporations, discredited witnesses, dead
bodies. Nichols had said only days before, in Littman's presence, that
my death would be brought about by one of Michael's "drug flunkies." Who
would believe otherwise?
Littman had seemed adamant, even outraged, that I HADN'T reported the
contents of the Nichols meeting to Riconosciuto. Why? When it was
Littman who originally warned me not to? When I didn't, Littman reported
it himself.
Somehow, the success of the scheme had hinged upon Riconosciuto having
knowledge of the meeting. I had unexpectedly kept my word to Nichols. Of
course I had. My life depended on it. And, why had Nichols made a point
of showing me the Zapruder film? What possible significance could that
have on my investigation?
(Two years later, after speaking with Dick Russell, author of "The Man
Who Knew Too Much," a 17year investigation of the Kennedy assassination,
and Garby Leon at Silver Pictures, we theorized that the film had been
shown to provide Nichols with "deniability." If I had mentioned the
showing of the film to anyone in media, and placed any credibility on
it, it would have invalidated everything else that took place at that
meeting.)
The phone rang again, and it was Bobby Riconosciuto. She was even more
agitated than before - and furious that I was still in the house. I
assured her that I was leaving and hung up. I called Ray Jenkins and
Roger Imbrogno and asked them to come to my home in Mariposa. Ray was a
former Chief of Police of Merced College and a good friend. His
companion, Roger, was in the State Guard with him. They arrived 45
minutes later carrying military rifles and a bulletproof vest.
I sat at my computer and documented the whole event, entitled, "Vortex."
It was a 17page diary of sorts which began as follows: "The following is
a detailed account of an investigation which I began on December 1, 1991
and continue to work on intermittently as time allows. In all my years
as an investigator and journalist, I have never encountered anything as
bizarre or as alarming as this story. The purpose of this diary is to
document these occurrances for my own safety ..."
I did not send the report to the U.S. Attorney as I had threatened to
do. Nor did I send it to Littman's editor, Michael Yamamoto, at the San
Francisco Chronicle, though I should have. I simply kept it and sent a
copy to R.J., where I'm sure it disappeared, as always, down the big,
black hole.
At that point in time, my sense of reality was diminishing. I couldn't
tell if I was overreacting to Bobby Riconosciuto's warning, or if my
lack of experience might cause my death by staying at home. Ultimately,
I decided to disappear for a while.
I drove to Fresno to stay with a friend, who subsequently accompanied me
to Galveston, Texas where we stayed with her mother for three months.
Walking the beaches of Galveston, I found some measure of balance within
myself, and returned home in June, rested and ready to resume my life.
For several months after that, I had no contact with any of the
principles in my investigation until October, 1992.
CHAPTER 13
Sometime in midOctober, at the offices of the Mariposa Guide, I received
a hurried phone call from Dave Massey, standing in the lobby outside the
Washington D.C. offices of ABC's "20/20" news bureau. I had asked Massey
to pick up key documents at the offices of producer Don Thrasher at
"20/20" who had been holding them there as a safety precaution for me.
("20/20" had aired an indepth piece on the corruption in Mariposa County
and I had developed a friendship with Thrasher at that time).
After Massey emerged from Thrasher's office building, he'd met with John
Cohen, investigator for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. They
talked for a few minutes, then Cohen asked Massey if he would turn over
my documents to him? Massey excused himself and hurriedly called me at
my office in Mariposa. I instructed him NOT to hand over the documents.
Most of them were my originals and I had no copies. (Thrasher had flown
into California to pick the documents up, but we hadn't had time to make
copies).
However, I mentioned to Massey that he was welcome to give Cohen my
telephone number if he wished. Shortly thereafter, Cohen called me at my
home and we had numerous conversations during the next several weeks. It
was my understanding that he was the lead investigator in the House
Judiciary Committee's threeyear investigation of the Inslaw stolen
software. The final Investigative Report, dated September 10, 1992,
titled "The Inslaw Affair," had already been published and I wondered
why he bothered to call me.
After much coaxing, I finally agreed to send him some sort of an
affidavit. I was working as a reporter for the local newspaper and
didn't have time to put together a detailed report, so I simply attached
a notarized cover sheet to "Vortex" and mailed it off to him.
On October 28, 1992, Cohen called back. He was very excited about
Vortex. "There's some great information here," he observed. "You did a
very good investigative job, I have to commend you on that. I realize
it's only a fraction of everything you have. What you have done, you
have put the pieces of the whole thing together. Little bits and pieces
of things that I have known about, that I had theorized about, you have
found the answers to those specific questions."I explained to Cohen that
I planned to publish a book on the subject and his professional opinion
was valuable to me.
He added, "You've done some good investigative work here. It puts me in
a position to say, `Yeah, this stuff is good, and this is some stuff you
may want to get out.' In fact, I can put myself out as being available
to these media people to be an inside source, for background only, which
would also add credibility to your project."
Cohen hesitated, seemingly uncomfortable with what he was about to say.
He drew a deep breath, then proceeded. "You are actually a key witness
to this thing now. And you might want to consider talking to a couple of
the honorable law enforcement people that are still working on this. I
do know there are currently some FBI investigations that are in place on
this ..."
Cohen hesitated again, gathering his thoughts. " ... There has been
coordination on this." He waited for a response, a signal that I
understood what he was trying to say. I said I understood.
"It's been unofficial, but there has been coordination. So, I'd like to
know whether ... maybe it would even keep you out of the limelight,
whether you would mind, as long as I talk about it and clear it with you
first ..."
Cohen was leading up to something, but having trouble getting to the
point. " ... There is a certain sharing of information. Some of the
leads and some of the stuff [in Vortex] (pause) ... Because I'll tell
you, one of the biggest hits (pause) ... I always felt that there was a
narcotics connection in this ..."
I laughed aloud. Cohen continued ... "regarding international narcotics
distribution. And I've sort of made my expertise in my years in law
enforcement, international narcoterrorism, the weaponsdope connections
in the intelligence agencies ..."
I could only say, "Yes, yes, yes."
" ... And when I was in Los Angeles I did a lot of undercover work with
Columbians, where I worked international narcotics conspiracies with DEA
and FBI and, being a local police officer, I didn't really get caught up
in their systems, I just made some great contacts in these agencies. But
I also learned quite a bit about Southeast Asian heroin and the rise of
the Medellin Cartels and the other Cartels in Latin America."
"Yes." By then, I knew Cohen had grasped the significance of the
information Michael Riconosciuto had attempted to trade to the FBI, as
well as Danny Casolaro's fatal inquiry about Mike Abbell of the DOJ and
his connection to Gilbert Rodriguez and Jose Londono of the Cali Cartel.
Cohen continued ... "And I also ran into quite a few law enforcement
professionals who were pretty irritated because of the intelligence
agency, drug dealer connection."
"Yes. Right."
"Well, the thing that is interesting is, one of the most interesting
things in the whole report, was the article on The Company."
"Yes."
" ... Because that immediately answered, or confirmed, what my
suspicions had been. And I know the exact, right channel to push to get
this thing hooked up. And he's a bigtime ... (pause) See this is a very
good time for people like us, who are out for purposes of good, to
...(pause) You see, right now the FBI is in a war with the Department of
Justice. And would like nothing better than to have an investigation
that they can discredit the Department of Justice with. So, the time is
ripe to feed this stuff to the right people."
I agreed that the drug operations needed to be cleaned up, because the
drugs were filtering into the smaller communities. But, thinking of
Mariposa, I added that there were law enforcement people involved in the
drug trade.
Cohen agreed. "I'm very careful with who I deal with. And I think when
these people contact you, you'll be somewhat surprised."
Reluctantly, I said, "Ok, I will work with them."
Cohen concluded by saying, "You said some real interesting things. I
like the section where you said `Bob Nichols runs Glen Shockley, Glen
Shockley runs Jose Londono.' Now that corroborates some information that
I got in the past which talked about one of the reasons PROMISE was
stolen. You see, I've had a side theory about another reason why PROMISE
was taken. And it was that PROMISE could also be modified to track money
laundering.."
"Oh, absolutely."
"... And it could also be used as an active information gathering, or an
active moving software program that can go into other data bases. And it
could be modified to control hundreds of accounts and move money through
the international banking system."
I interjected, "This is what Michael Riconosciuto was trying to trade to
the FBI and to FinCen ..."
Cohen added, "What a lot of people don't realize is that there are two
international banking systems. There's CHIPS and SWIFT. And the word
Swift Chips has been spread out throughout this whole [investigation].
And a lot of people don't realize what that meant. Well, Swift Chips is
a referral to those two clearing house systems. The clearing house
interbank payment system and then the European counterpart, Swift. And
they do $2 billion dollars worth of banking transactions a day."
"Yes ..."
" ... And if one was able to move accounts through there, you could move
money around the world ..."
******
In a subsequent conversation with Cohen he asked me how I had obtained
the document in which Ted Gunderson had mentioned their "drug/arms
operation?" (See Page 60)
I explained that I had found it in Michael Riconosciuto's secret files
in the desert.
Cohen remarked, "That's a great document."
I added, "I have the original."
Cohen: "You have the original?"
"Yeah."
Cohen noted, "You hang on to that. That's `key.'"
******
I was subsequently contacted by Thomas Gates of the Los Angeles FBI, and
John Connolly of SPY magazine. Gates was somewhat cryptic and
noncommunicative about his investigation. It was understandable since he
had been sued by Robert Booth Nichols in a civil court.
Just before Gates called me, I had spoken with Gene Gilbert for the
first time, the investigator at the Riverside District Attorney's
office, and learned that drug activities at Wackenhut had been
investigated for years, but a certain FBI agent, a Fred Reagan, had
always shut the local investigations down.
I related this information to Gates, who seemed not particularly
interested in that avenue of approach. "I'm mostly interested in Robert
Booth Nichols," he said.
I explained to Gates that Nichols had made it very clear that I was not
to discuss the meeting I'd had with him to anyone."
Gates inquired, "Why would he tell you that?"
I responded, "I have no idea. But I think he was serious. He had his
wife take my picture front and side, and he wouldn't allow my husband
into the interview. My husband had to sit downstairs in the van."
I summarized the interview briefly, then noted that I had obtained,
through Bobby Riconosciuto, eight boxes of Michael's documents in the
Mojave Desert near Death Valley. I believed those documents had caused
Nichols and/or Jonathan Littman to want me out of the picture.
"Michael didn't know that we had done this," I noted. "Michael had
instructed his wife not to go near the trailer out there. However, Bobby
and I DID go out there. It was dark and it was cold and the kids were
hungry, so rather than go through all those documents, she just gave
them all to me. I put them in my van and and I came home with them. All
the originals. And I spent a week copying all this stuff, then I shipped
the boxes back to her fatherinlaw."
Gates had a habit of saying nothing when I finished my sentence. So I
continued ... "Some of this stuff was incredibly incriminating for all
of them. And this is why they're all concerned. They're really afraid
that I'm going to send some of this material to someone, somewhere. And,
I did send a 17page summary ("Vortex") to John Cohen, but not the
material itself. There's too much to send. Additionally, I have reams of
notes. I kept notes on all the calls I received."
Gates asked what "Vortex" contained? I replied that it pretty much
summarized everything that had transpired from the first day. "I had
contacted Ted Gunderson regarding a problem here in Mariposa. He had
compiled a 700page report on Tulare County and I wanted to know if he
had anything on Mariposa county, where I live. We had a meeting for
about eight hours and I discussed the things that were going on in our
community, which is close to Fresno. And, the very next morning, Michael
Riconosciuto called me. I'd never heard of the man before, but he
proceeded to give me all the names of the people involved in The Company
out of Fresno, which he was working within the framework of."
Again Gates said nothing. I waited, but there was no response. So I
added, "Now, all of this starts to get real involved at this point. I
don't know if you're interested in this, or not ..."
Gates replied, "The Company?"
"Yes."
Gates noted, "At a future date. I'm more interested in what Nichols had
to tell you right now."
Nichols had sued Gates and lost his case quite recently. I wasn't sure I
wanted to walk into a situation where I would be caught in the middle. I
asked, "Well, I need to find out from you - I'm not real thrilled about
playing with this guy, you know ..."
Gates: "I don't want you to play with him."
"Do you want me to come in as a witness on your behalf, or what?"
Gates explained, "The Civil suit is finished. This is a criminal
proceeding. I want to know what he said to you."
I responded, "Well, I want to know where this is going to go. I want to
know who's listening in ..."
"Nobody's listening in ..."
" ... I want to know what you're going to do with it. Where it's going
to go."
"Well, what do you WANT me to do with it?"
"Well, if I'm going to get involved in it, and once I tell you what I
know, I'm going to be involved. I want to know in what capacity I'm
going to be involved?"
Gates was evasive. "Well, I don't know what you have to say. As far as
looking at the gross amount of evidence we have, we're getting ready to
do that real soon. We have a lot of people out there talking to us, but
we need to find the substance of the criminal act."
"Yes."
Gates continued ..."And you may have the key to some of that."
I was surprised. "So, you're putting together a `criminal case.' You're
going to have to level with me to a certain point. I understand that
you're FBI, and everything goes in and nothing ever comes out again, but
still you're going to have to level with me to a certain point, because
I need to know where I stand."
Gates drawled, "Well, if there's information that would be needed for
criminal prosecution, then we'd have to talk to you about the use of
that material. And if you decide you don't want to use it, or don't want
to relinquish it, then we can't compel you to get on as a free witness
and talk about this."
"Uh,hmmm."
" ... So, we would hope that you would do it. Whatever information you
provide at this point will remain confidential."
"Uh, hmmm."
" ... You know what I'm saying?"
"Uh, hmmm."
" ... That's your choice."
"Yes, well I'll have to think about it."
"Well, if you could give me an idea as to what was mentioned, I could
tell you, basically, how we can handle it."
I didn't know where to begin, what he wanted, so I asked, "May I ask
what are the charges that you're going to bring against Nichols? Would
this have to do with the government aspect of what he's been involved
in, such as arms shipments, or would it have to do with drug trafficking
... murder, or what?"
Gates chuckled, "Well, that sounds like a pretty good package to me."
I laughed. "I'm just curious about what you're specifically focusing on."
He answered, "I'm focusing on any criminal activities that Nichols is
involved in. Obviously, the most significant areas of interest are the
drugs, the murders and the gunrunning."
I explained that it was very complex. I didn't have my notes or "Vortex"
at my home, so I summarized as briefly as possible from memory what I
had obtained from the boxes in the Mojave desert.
Gates listened attentively. When I concluded, he noted, "Do you have
these things [referring to the documents] put away where nobody else can
get at them?"
"Yes. They are not in my home or anywhere on my property."
Gates asked, "Does anybody else know where they are?"
I wondered if he thought I might NOT be around in the near future. "The
person whose house they're at. Nobody else."
His next question confirmed my suspicion. "What if something happens to
you? Where do we find them? How do we find them?"
I noted that I had copies out with two people. Gates asked, "Are they
trustworthy?"
I said, "Absolutely."
Gates pressed further. "The place where the original documents are, can
you trust that individual?" "Yes. Absolutely."
Gates seemed satisfied that the documents were safe for the time being.
He reiterated that I would have to be debriefed extensively and the
information would be maintained under the Attorney General guidelines
for confidential sources.
The word "Attorney General" struck a cord in my consciousness. "You said
`Attorney General,' you mean through the DOJ [Department of Justice]?"
Gates answered carefully, "Yeah."
I laughed sardonically. "This is getting funny ..."
Gates hurried to explain that it was only through the DOJ "guidelines."
He added, "It's their rules, but they don't have access to the
information."
I pointed out that I might consider talking to him, because I knew of
his committment to busting the drug cartels and finding Casolaro's
murderer.I added that I would never talk to "the FBI, quote, unquote,"
and Gates said that was okay. He understood. So I said, "We'll go on
from there then ..."
I proceeded to describe the interviews with Robert Booth Nichols. When I
was finished, Gates asked me what I was going to do with the
information? I explained that I planned to write a nonfiction book about
it because much of the information I had obtained through my
investigation had been independently substantiated by the recently
published House Judiciary Committee Report on Inslaw.
However, I had not decided what the focus of the book would be - the
story still had to develop. A thought occurred to me. "I would be very
interested in what you've experienced in your investigation right from
day one. That's what the public wants to read about."
Gates agreed, "It would make a hell of a book." Then he added, "So, how
do we put Nichols and his group away?" I answered simply, "I don't know,
Tom, that's your department."
I never sent the documents and never spoke to him again until two years
later when I was hot on the trail of Mike Abbell.
******
John Connolly, a former New York police officer turned writer, was also
researching the death of Danny Casolaro. Through sources unknown to me,
he learned of my investigation, and after several conversations, I
agreed to send him documents which he needed for his "Octopus"
investigation. But first, I demanded that he fax me a letter protecting
my copyrights and giving due credit.
Connolly faxed back the following letter, dated October 22, 1992: "I
hereby agree that any and all information, documents, etc. sent to me
from you will be treated confidentially. Any information supplied by you
will not be used by me without your express permission. Furthermore, in
the event that I publish a future story and use any of the information
supplied by you, you will receive the proper reporting credits or
bylines. Sincerely, John Connolly."
Connolly was a gungho journalist, and apparently found it impossible to
withhold such provocative information. The January, 1993 issue of SPY
included much of the information I had sent him in a story entitled,
"Dead Right," by John Connolly.
He had not obtained my permission nor given me a byline, but I didn't
hold it against him. The story was well written, and gutsy, and I had to
respect that. Essentially, the story focused on the death of journalist
Danny Casolaro, but pages 6365 gave an indepth profile of Robert Booth
Nichols, who was portrayed as Danny's "dangerous friend" ... "The Lethal
Robert Booth Nichols."
Wrote Connolly, "By the late Spring of 1991, Robert Booth Nichols had
become one of Danny Casolaro's most important sources. They spoke
frequently and at length ...
"We know Nichols was a man as comfortable in the underworld as in the
intelligence community and that he was associated with people who
treated killing as an ordinary part of doing business."
FBI agent Thomas Gates had identified Nichols in his sworn affidavit as
a drug trafficker and money launderer stemming from a 1987 investigatin
of MOB activities in Hollywood. Interestingly, Nichols had been
identified by the FBI as early as 1978 as being involved in drug
trafficking, the very same year that Gilbert Rodriguez was indicted in
Los Angeles. I wondered if Nichols and Gilbert Rodriguez had been
connected in the FBI investigation?
In 1989, Nichols represented a group of unknown investors who wanted to
take over Summa Corporation, the holding company of Howard Hughes'
empire. Hughes had just died, and Nichols had convinced a Saudi company
called Ali and Fahd Shobokski Group to become partners in the (failed)
takeover attempt.
Joseph Cicippio, who was later taken hostage in Lebanon, was at that
time the London manager of Ali & Fahd. Cicippio told SPY he specifically
remembered Nichols telling him he was representing interests in the U.S.
Government and had been shown U.S. Justice Department identification by
Nichols.
By 1981, Nichols had become partners with retired arms manufacturer
Peter Zokosky and they formed Meridian Arms, which in turn joined up
with Wackenhut Corporation in a scheme to manufacture arms on the
Cabazon Indian reservation.
In Meridian's quest to provide guns for the Contras, Nichols had
obtained all the required California permits to possess and sell machine
guns using recommendations from CIA official Larry Curran.
Connolly pointed out Nichols' listing of Harold Okimoto as a former
employer on his application to carry a concealed weapon, describing
Okimoto as "believed by intelligence sources to be a highranking member
of Japan's Yakuza crime syndicate."
Eugene Giaquinto, president of MCA's Home Entertainment Division, was
mentioned as one of M.I.L.'s board directors. (Nichols' Meridian
International Logistics corporation). Noted Connolly, "[FBI] agents
caught Giaquinto and Nichols lunching at Le Dome, the swank Los Angeles
show business restaurant, and afterward transferring a box from
Giaquinto's car to Nichols's. The [wire] taps caught them discussing
possible takeovers of MCA, and the effect on stock prices. It was also
evident from the wiretaps that Giaquinto enjoyed a special relationship
with John Gotti ..."
Thomas Gates testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw
that he had twice heard from informants that Nichols had put a contract
out on his life. In July 1991, Danny Casolaro became somewhat alarmed
and began confiding in Thomas Gates. Nichols had flown from Puerto Rico
to Washington D.C. to meet with Casolaro, staying several days.
SPY didn't know what they talked about, but after Nichols left, Casolaro
told Agent Gates that Nichols had warned him, "If you continue this
investigation, you will die." Three days before his death, Danny had
asked Gates whether he should take Nichols's threats seriously?
On July 31, 1991, Casolaro had also spoken with Richard Stavin, a former
special prosecutor for the Justice Department who had been assigned to
the MCA case (see Page 78). In his investigation of MCA, Stavin had
unearthed documents implicating Nichols as a money launderer with ties
to the Gambino crime family and the Yakuza.
Connolly wrote, "Danny must have thought he hit the jackpot." Six days
after speaking to Stavin, Danny Casolaro, "who still had a young man's
vision of his immortality," had a long phone conversation with Robert
Booth Nichols, but the contents of that conversation were unknown to
Connolly.
SPY also interviewed Allan Boyak, a former CIA operative now practicing
law in Utah, who had known Nichols for 15 years. Boyak told SPY,
"Nichols is lethal." A transcript of a conversation between Boyack,
Michael Riconosciuto and former FBI agent Ted Gunderson, (which I had
sent Connolly a copy of) described an occasion in which Nichols wanted
to deliver a message to a mobster from Chicago. Nichols hung a man
upside down on a hoist in an airplane hangar in front of a prop plane,
then started the engine of the plane and revved it up, so that the man
hanging on the hoist was sucked toward the propellers. According to
Riconosciuto, "By the time Bob got finished with him, he wanted to die."
******
What Connolly failed to report in his article was the name of the man
who had been "hung up." His name was Sam Marowitz, a professional hit
man, who had been "the trigger man" in the nonfatal shooting of Robert
Ferrante, head of Consolidated Savings and Loan.
Ferrante had been involved with Patrick Moriarti, Marshall
Riconosciuto's partner of 40 years. It is important to remember that
Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto had been close associates
since 1967. Ted Gunderson had located, through his sources, the "trigger
man" in the Ferrante shooting, and Nichols and Riconosciuto had forced
Marowitz to confess to his crime by hanging him upside down in front of
the airplane propellar.
Riconosciuto recalled, " ... So he [Marowitz] starts talking ... and Bob
goes out of the room like this: `Oh my God, I don't want to hear
anymore,' covering his ears. This Marowitz starts confessing to every
hit he's ever done, including the Dorfman killings in Chicago. ... I
mean, all hell breaks loose. All of a sudden Ted has found the torpedo
in the Dorfman killings ..." After the "hanging" incident, Marowitz fled
to Israel.
The transcript was taken from Riconosciuto's first (taperecorded)
meeting with Alan Boyak on May 5, 1991 at the attorney visiting room of
the Tacoma, Washington house of incarceration.
Riconosciuto had been arrested on March 29, 1991 by DEA agents,
reportedly under the supervision of Michael T. Hurley, who had been
transferred from Nicosia, Cyprus to Washington state shortly before the
arrest.It is significant that this arrest took place exactly eight days
after Michael had signed the Inslaw affidavit on March 21, 1991.
Michael already had a law firm representing him, John Crawford and John
Rosalini, but Ted Gunderson had brought Boyak into the case because of
the intense political ramifications. In other words, they needed someone
to put together a case against the government officials involved, "so
they could buy out cheap."
Danny Casolaro had obtained a copy of that transcript from Boyak,
according to Ted Gunderson and Bobby Riconosciuto. Bobby noted that
Danny had taken the transcript to people in the Department of Justice
and confronted them with it.
Michael Riconosciuto later added that Robert Nichols had flown to
Washington D.C. and "followed Danny's trail through the DOJ, doing
`damage control' and repudiating the transcript."
This may well be the encounter (per SPY magazine) that Danny had with
Nichols in Washington D.C. less than a month before his death in which
Nichols had said, "If you continue with this investigation, you will die."
Danny had a unique habit of fearlessly "bouncing" information from one
person to another, particularly between Michael Riconosciuto and Robert
Booth Nichols. After the "transcript" incident, it undoubtedly created a
hostile climate between Nichols and Riconsciuto. (Riconosciuto was
attempting to trade information on Nichols'activities in exchange for
his freedom).
Numerous passages in the transcript openly named narcotics traffickers
allegedly working under Robert Booth Nichols. On page 53, just one of
many named was Bryce Larsen, currently (1991) operating a hotel for "one
of Harold Okimoto's people in Thailand," who smuggled China White heroin
into the U.S.. "The DEA seized two lear jets from him the last time they
busted him," noted Riconosciuto.
"Skip Jahota (phonetic sp.) was here trying to recruit people to go to
work in Thailand, and to offload the boats when they bring the stuff in
[to the U.S.]. They've got some heroin coming in in the next few weeks,
a rather large ..."
Boyak interrupted, " ... There's a big case in Miami where a female
black Assistant U.S. Attorney is handling this gal I was telling you
about, but that's ... I don't want to go into details on that because
she's in a witness protection program ..."
Riconosciuto added, "Well, she's probably working against the Martin
brothers ..."
Boyak interjected, "No, it's against Larsen!"
On page 63, Riconosciuto brought Al Holbert, the Israeli intelligence
agent, into the picture. " ... Now the other area where I can do some
real damage is Al Holbert's procurement of chemicals nationwide. He has
a mailorder chemical company that is mailing out chemicals right now.
What they do is they mail out large multiple orders under threshhold
limit value for the reporting requirements under the new DEA
regulations. Like with Phenol acidic acid, it's one kilo a month, so
they mail out 800 grams per month to one customer. And they've got fifty
customers ..."
Boyak asked, "Where are they doing that?"
Mike answered, "In Miami, Florida."
But, Riconosciuto added, in the California operation, Holbert and
Richard Knozzi weighed their drugs on UHaul trucks! "When they do their
meth lab, they usually do 1,500 to 2,000 pounds."
Holbert's address was listed at Ft. Mead. Riconosciuto informed Boyak
that Holbert was a former Israeli intelligence officer who came to the
United States to give special education classes to law enforcement
agencies. "He's dirty as the day is long," he added. "He's out of OMV
now. I don't know what OMV is doing at Ft. Mead."
Boyak had interjected, "Just so you know, because it may click with you.
Ft. Mead has headquarters ISCOM (Intelligence Security Command) which
has part of the intelligence network for the Delta Force."
In another section of the 65page transcript, Riconosciuto detailed his
operation with Tyme Share Inc. something he had been unable to discuss
with me on the jail phone. "Barry Smith, who is an associate of Bob
Nichols, had done some research on some interlocking directorates with
the board members of Wackenhut, and I started to realize how deeply
involved in the NugenHand Bank the Wackenhut people were.
"Paul Morasca and I were very close to Michael Hand [former President of
NugenHand Bank of Australia]. Now he's on the run, in Canada. I had a
complete set of all the records for NugenHand that had not been destroyed."
Boyak: "What function were you doing for them?"
Mike: "I set up the data processing base. See, I was a principle in Tyme
Share, Inc. Do you know what Tyme Share is?"
Boyak: "No."
Mike: "This is a giant computer communications company, and all the
Justice Department field offices communicate via Tyme Net. FOIMS (Field
Office Information Management System) for the FBI is all done via Tyme
Net. Okay? Most of your big banking institutions ..."
Boyak interrupted, "I'm not even a user friendly person ..."
Mike continued, "I had the NugenHand records and I analyzed the
situation and I looked at the Saudi position. They were taking people's
paychecks, you know, foreign workers, and giving them unbelievable deals
just to put their money in the bank ..."
Boyak: " ... And they were skimming the interest?"
Mike: "Yeah, oh yeah. So, what I did ... I was looking at block
transfers on Swift Chips, and reconciliations ..."
Boyak: " ... You've lost me there."
Mike: "Anyway, what I did was I screwed up everything with the automated
clearing house between NugenHand ..."
Boyak: " ... So nothing could be liquidated." P
Mike: "No, what I did was I created a virtual bank on the automated
clearing house system and I funneled all that money into it, and then I
funneled it out of there into blocked currencies ..."
Boyak interrupted again: "I can't track the technical paper trail. What
I'm trying to do is get to the bottom line ..."
******
The bottom line was, Danny Casolaro allegedly carted the above
transcript around the Department of Justice, demanding answers. Less
than a month later he was dead. The transcript gave details of the Cobra
helicopter shipments to Iraq, via North Korea, corporate structures,
undercover operatives, espionage activities, advanced weapons technology
tested at the Nevada Nuclear test site, and much more.
"Something" in the transcript pushed some buttons, but we can only
theorize as to "whose" buttons were pushed.
******
In all fairness, it is necessary to relate Robert Booth Nichols'
response to Alan Boyak's accusations about him. The following narrative
originiated from a phone conversation with Nichols in which he said
"Boyak was unbelievable."
(Nichols speaking): "I know what he said about me, and that's all well
and dandy. But I don't know why he said it. It's all totally false. The
guy could not be doing this unless he was under the orders of someone.
Or he's crazy.
"The thing with this Boyak, he said I was involved in BCCI, he said
narcotics trafficking, he said money laundering ... as did the FBI.
"The point is, I know people inside the bureau [FBI], I know people
inside the agency [CIA], I know people inside government who are very
responsible people. I speak to people as individuals, not as initials.
In other words, I wouldn't talk to the FBI, I would talk to an agent
that I knew in the FBI who was honest. Or I would talk to an agent in
the company, or the CIA, who I know is honest, but I wouldn't talk to
them as a whole, or someone I didn't know. Because I think they've
become so corrupt and polluted that they don't know what they're doing
half the time ...
"Some people in government are extremely concerned about it. They're
very much involved with it. I mean, the honest ones are the biggest
critics ...
"With regards to the Yakuza, I don't know them. To my knowledge, I've
never been around them. With regard to the Mafia, I don't know them. To
my knowledge, I've never been around them. With regards to narcotics, I
hate narcotics. And anyone who's known me for any length of time, and my
friends are all old friends, knows that I hate narcotics, have never
been around them, have never seen heroin in my life ... except on
television. So, it makes me wonder and many other people that are
friends of mine, wonder what agenda ... who's up to what? Right?
"The Tong, I don't know them, nor have I ever been around them to my
knowledge. One story [newspaper article] said [I was] a hit man for the
Tong. That was one story. I've never been a hit man for anything,
including Tong, which is the Chinese mafia.
"Ask yourself this. I sued them [the FBI], right? We were told, `Don't
sue them,' by a lot of people. `Kill everybody, don't sue them.' But the
point is, there are a lot of people overseas that said pursue them
anyway, and that's it, period. So, it comes down to one thing, really.
When we get to the courtroom, we are not going to say, `This is this,
and that is that, and trust us.' We're going to document everything we
say ..."
When I asked Nichols if Michael Riconosciuto had worked for the CIA, he
said, "Why don't you call the CIA and ask them. I'm sure they're listed
in the phone book."
******
Nichols' lawsuit against Thomas Gates and the Los Angeles FBI was
dismissed twice in federal court. However, he later filed a lawsuit
against the Los Angeles Police Department for alleged false arrest
stemming from a 1986 incident at the Palomino nightclub in North Hollywood.
In March 1993, Nichols stated on the witness stand that he worked for
the CIA for nearly two decades. His lawsuit charged that as a result of
his detainment by the LAPD, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department
rescinded his concealed weapons permit. That action, Nichols claimed,
resulted in the loss of Swiss financing for a multi-million dollar deal
to manufacture machine guns in South Korea.
Nichols also testified that he had no visible income for more than 15
years except for the living expenses he received from the CIA. He said
he was recruited into the CIA while living in Hawaii in the late 1960's
by a man named "Ken." Ken had told him that instead of joining the U.S.
military, he could serve his country in other ways. He was instructed to
take a job with a Hawaiian security firm (Okimoto?) and later to move to
Glendale, California to join a construction company (Pender?).
From that point until 1986, Nichols worked intelligence gathering
operations in more than 30 nations from Central America to Southeast
Asia. To prove this, Nichols' lawyer, John F. Denove, supplied the court
with a list of Washington D.C. personages to be subpoenaed which
ultimately caused Judge Thomas C. Murphy to declare a mistrial. No
record was ever made public of that list of names, though Thomas Gates
(FBI) and Henry Weinstein of the Los Angeles Times respectively
confirmed its existence over the phone, but neither would divulge the
names.
CHAPTER 14
In August 1994 I placed several calls to John Cohen, former investigator
for the House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw, to follow up on Cohen's
investigation of Mike Abbell and Casolaro's findings on him prior to his
death. Cohen was now stationed at the Office of National Drug Control
Policy at the Executive Offices of the President (Clinton) in Washington
D.C.
I also made calls to Special Agent Thomas Gates at the Los Angeles Joint
Drug Intelligence Group, who originally testified before the House
Judiciary Committee on Inslaw. Gates had spoken with Casolaro during the
week before his death and I felt he might help me to identify what
Casolaro learned about Abbell. Both men were congenial, but hesitant to
talk about Abbell at that point in time.
I then called the young Customs Agent to whom I had given the affidavit
mentioning Mike Abbell in February 1993. His supervisor said he was
stationed in Miami, Florida and put me in touch with him. He too was
cryptic and uncommunicative about Mike Abbell.
I soon discovered why. A few weeks later, on September 9th, 1994, the
FBI raided the law offices of Michael Abbell in Washington D.C. The raid
was the result of a Miami federal grand jury probe of the Cali Cartel.
As of that date no criminal charges had yet been filed against Abbell.
I had also placed a call in September 1994 to Steve Zipperstein, Chief
Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, who conducted an investigation
for the DOJ on Inslaw and Casolaro in 1994. Zipperstein was
uncooperative and defensive when approached about Casolaro's
investigation of Michael Abbell and Gilberto Rodriguez.
Less than two weeks later, the DOJ report was released to the public
with no mention of Mike Abbell, Gilberto Rodriguez, Robert Booth
Nichols, or any of the aforementioned information in this manuscript,
including F.I.D.C.O., though it was available for scrutiny through many
sources.
******
In November, 1994, TIME magazine reported that the 56year old Gilberto
Rodriguez was "stressed out" and seeking to surrender to the Columbian
justice system in exchange for reduced jail time, perhaps three or four
years, and his fortune left intact. In a Columbian jail, this would
inevitably amount to a quiet vacation.
However, Gilberto insisted that any deal would have to be endorsed by
the United States. In return, the Rodriguez brothers, Gilberto and
Miguel, would guarantee that a large percentage of Columbian drug
dealers would be willing to get out of the drug business and dismantle
their infrastructure, their labs and their routes. The estimated net
effect would be a 60% reduction in the drug supply to the U.S. alone.
Prior to Rodriguez's offer, President Samper had announced that it would
be necessary to dismantle the Cartels rather than incarcerate their
leaders. An aide to Samper noted that the door was open to a surrender
program.
In light of everything I had learned to date, I could not help wondering
what price did the U.S. government pay to bring the Cartels to the point
of surrender?
******
On June 6th, 1995, The Washington Post broke the news about Mike Abbell
in a front page story entitled, "Ex-Prosecutors Indicted in Cali Case."
Three former federal prosecutors, including Michael Abbell, who served
"as a top ranking Justice Department official, were named in an
indictment [on June 5th] in Miami along with 56 others as part of a
broad racketeering case against the Columbia-based Cali Cartel ..."
Jose Londono, a founder of the Cali Cartel, and Donald Ferguson, an
assistant U.S. attorney in Miami were also charged. Former assistant
U.S. attorney Joel Rosenthal pled guilty in the case to charges of money
laundering. Abbell and other lawyers faced charges of money laundering,
drug conspiracy and racketeering. The indictment charged them with
obstruction of justice, preparing false affidavits and conveying
warnings to arrested cartel members that they should not cooperate with
government investigations.
The Washington Post noted that, ultimately, it was not expensive cocaine
interdiction on the high seas, but detective work by a team of
Miami-based U.S. Customs agents and the Drug Enforcement Administrtion
that compiled the evidence necessary to bring the 161-page indictment.
Tracking cartel shipments, authorites found cocaine hidden inside
40-foot cargo containers used to ship frozen vegetables, lumber,
concrete posts and coffee. The smuggling system effectively evaded U.S.
radar planes and naval vessels deployed in the Caribbean. The
racketeering case began when a load of cement posts and cornerstones
arrived in the Port of Miami on August 23, 1991. DEA and Customs agents
found 12,250 kilos of cocaine hidden inside their hollow cores.
******
Significantly, in early March 1995, THREE MONTHS BEFORE the Miami
indictment was unsealed, I had received a letter from Michael
Riconosciuto who had learned of the initial raid on Mike Abbell's law
offices. He wrote as follows: (Referring to his trial in 1991)
" ... [During] pretrial I made an on the record proffer in an attempt to
dispose of this case. The U.S. Attorney rejected it as garbage. That was
in 1991. Now in 1995, it is a major case. In my proffer, I outlined a
sophisticated smuggling scheme. It involved plastic items and concrete
products. I named both Ackerman and Abbell.
"The DOJ now has evidence seized from attorney's offices. The cement
items were handled through TRANCA Corporation. The specialized equipment
to make concrete posts and beams came from Tacoma, Washington. The
aircraft came from a Canadian brokerage known as THABET Aviation in
Quebec City, Canada.
"Raymond Thabet is Lebanese and has special contacts that give him
privileged access to Canadian military surplus. Fourteen (14) of these
planes were handled through Abbell and Laguna. All the paperwork was
handled by Ed Smith in Darrington, Washington state. These were
ex-submarine patrol planes. Specialized electronics were provided.
"An insider in Customs was involved - Richard Cardwell.
"This is heavy stuff. The fact that I detailed it in 1991 demands an
explanation. Forty (40) tons of coke [cocaine] would have been stopped.
I want a direct explanation from Teresa Van Vlet." Signed "Mike R." Van
Vlet reportedly worked in the drug enforcement administration of the
Department of Justice.
******
CHAPTER 15
I was never able to rectify the purpose behind the biological technology
that Robert Booth Nichols was involved in developing with the Japanese.
Why did his patents stress the "Method for Induction and Activation" of
Cytotoxic TLymphocytes? It is noteworthy that Harold Okimoto, Nichols'
godfather and a member of his Board of Directors, had allegedly been a
highranking intelligence officer during World War II.
While reading Dick Russell's book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," I came
across a chapter referencing Japanese biological experiments conducted
during World War II. In one passage (pp. 125126), Russell noted that, at
the end of World War II, Charles Willoughby, General Douglas MacArthur's
chief of intelligence, had seized Japanese lab records on germ warfare.
When the Pentagon determined that the biological research might prove
useful in the Cold War, the Japanese responsible for the experiments
received immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation.
At least three thousand people died as a result of those experiments,
including an unknown number of captured U.S. military personnel. "Only
in 1982 did this seamy story come to light, including the Pentagon's
1947 acknowledgement of Willoughby's `wholehearted cooperation' in
arranging examination of the human pathological material which had been
Russell.
Another publication, entitled "Unit 731" by Peter Williams and David
Wallace, gave a detailed background on bacteriological warfare
experiments conducted by all of the major combatants during World War
II. When the United States government determined that the Axis Powers,
including Russia, were evaluating this weapon, it became necessary to
study the possibilities. This lead to the thought that if one prepared
for offensive bacteriological warfare, then one must also prepare for
defensive bacteriological warfare.
However, history shows that that reasoning broke down with the first use
of nuclear weapons by the United States in Japan to finish the war in
the East quickly. That action saved American lives if a land attack on
the islands had been effected, but the principle is obvious. Would the
U.S. do the same thing with viruses and bacteria?
In 1939 the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York
studied the virulent, unmodified strain of yellow fever virus,
ostensibly for the purpose of developing a cure for the disease. The
laboratory at that time was under the direction of Dr. Wilbur Sawyer. It
was in 1939 that a Japanese Army doctor, Dr. Ryoichi Naito, visited the
laboratory with credentials from the Japanese military attache in
Washington to obtain a sample of that strain of the Yellow Fever virus.
A report of that incident was subsequently sent to the Army Surgeon
General and after evaluation of similar incidents, it was determined by
Army Intelligence that Japan was interested in the yellow fever virus
for bacteriological warfare purposes.
Based on that information, along with other corollary information, the
decision was made to build Fort Detrick near Frederick, Maryland to
provide a secret laboratory for the study and development of defensive
and offensive capability to wage bacteriological warfare (BW).
The secrecy of the project was of the same magnitude as the nuclear work
done within the Manhattan Project. From the writings and speeches given
by the military men associated with this project, it is apparent that
they were genuinely concerned for the security of the United States, but
inside this organization and within the government at large, was a
potential for ulterior motives. (More on that later).
By 1944, more than sufficient evidence had been gathered by American
intelligence units to indicate that Japan was deeply involved in
bacteriological warfare. Thirtythousand bombs, manufactured at the Osaka
Chemical Research Institute in Japan, containing typhus, diptheria and
bubonic plague were sent to the Chinese front.
By then, overwhelming evidence was coming in, particularly regarding
research being conducted by Major General Shiro Ishii who was awarded a
Technical Meritorious Medal with highest degrees. After the war,
American intelligence learned that General Ishii, through an
organization called "Unit 731," conducted his more serious research at a
camp in northern Manchuria. It was here that General Ishii experimented
on human beings.
The experiments conducted on those human beings made Japan the world's
leading authority on offensive and defensive bacteriological warfare
systems. No other country, Ishii reasoned, would have equivalent
technical data on how epidemics spread and how to protect against them.
Japan's fascination with biological warfare dates as far back as 1932,
when experimentation on prisoners already sentenced to death was
conducted at Harbin, but later during the war with China, the Japanese
used prisoners of war. White Russians, caught in the area of Japan's war
with China were also used, according to an interrogated Japanese army
officer.
Each prisoner was placed in a closely guarded cell where the experiments
were conducted. After each prisoner died, they were cremated in an
electric furnace to remove all evidence of what had occurred. Starting
in 1935, motion pictures of the experiments were taken and these were
shown to senior army officers. It was reported that 3,000 were
sacrificed at a separate test site called Pingfan. Why was it required
to use so many humans?
The Japanese had learned that epidemics occurred naturally but the
method for inducing and activating them artificially was more difficult.
In order to find the most efficient method of transmittal, many
experiments were needed to find the lethal doses required to spread the
agent. What would work with animals might not necessarily work with
humans. Also, a method was needed for immunization and only humans could
be used for that purpose.
General Ishii thought that the West's moral codes would not allow for
such experimentation and that alone would put Japan on the leading edge
of such technology. Healthy humans were needed, so extensive medical
tests were even conducted on prospective prisoners. Diseases were
forcibly injected or administered with a special stickshaped gun. Some
prisoners were infected through food or drink. Cholera, anthrax, TB,
typhoid, rickettsia and dysentry were but a few of the bacteria used in
the tests.
Live human prisoners were also exposed to chemical warfare agents such
as mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide, acetone cyanide and potassium cyanide.
Hydrogen cyanide was given extensive study because of its potential for
ease of delivery into water supplys. In some instances, live human
victims were actually opened up to observe the progress of various
diseases and chemicals.
At one point, American intelligence learned that Japan had developed
techniques for efficient delivery of Botulinus, a germ that attacks the
central nervous system followed by paralysis and rapid death. Vast
quantities of Botulinous germs were developed at Fort Detrick and a
vaccine was hurriedly injected into all military personnel involved in
the invasion of Europe.
What the United States subsequently did with the technical data from the
Japanese experiments, under the direction of General Charles Willoughby,
was shocking. During the War Crimes Trials in Japan following World War
II, "sweetheart deals" were arranged between the United States and Japan
to secure that data. Colonel Murray Sanders was assigned to General
Douglas MacArthur, along with General Charles Wiloughby (Chief of
Intelligence) and Karl T. Compton (Chief of Scientific Intelligence).
General MacArthur specifically assigned these men to investigate the
Japanese bacteriological warfare experiments.
During the war, Lt. Col. Sanders, a medical doctor, had been responsible
for investigating and analyzing the capabilities of the Japanese in
bacteriological warfare. He had also overseen the Fort Detrick
experiments. When the Legal Section of the U.S. government tried to
obtain the Japanese lab records on human experimentation from General
MacArthur's staff, they were stonewalled. MacArthur's staff reasoned
that if the U.S. Army's investigative evidence was given to the Legal
Section in Washington D.C., the Russians would have access to the
records. This sounds logical on the surface, but the resulting
memorandums tell another story.
The StateWarNavy Coordinating Committee (SWNCC) responsible for
coordinating and overseeing the war crimes trials in Japan, made an
extraordinary statement which conclusively supported the intelligence
"Data already obtained from Ishii and his colleagues has proven to be of
great value in confirming, supplementing and complementing several
phases of U.S. research in BW, and may suggest new fields for future
research. This Japanese information is the only known source of data
from scientifically controlled experiments showing direct effect of BW
[bacteriological warfare] agents on man. In the past it has been
necessary to evaluate effects of BW agents on man from data through
animal experimentation. Such evaluation is inconclusive and far less
complete than results obtained from certain types of human experimentation.
"It is felt that the use of this information as a basis for war crimes
evidence would be a grave detriment to Japanese cooperation with the
United States occupation forces in Japan. For all practical purposes an
agreement with Ishii and his associates that information given by them
on the Japanese BW program will be retained in intelligence channels is
equivalent to an agreement that this Government will not prosecute any
of those involved in BW activities in which war crimes were committed.
Such an understanding would be of great value to the security of the
American people because of the information which Ishii and his
associates have already furnished and will continue to furnish."
The astounding conclusion went as follows: "The value to the U.S. of
Japanese BW data is of such importance to national security as to far
outweigh the value accruing from `war crimes' prosecution. In the
interests of national security it would not be advisable to make this
information available to other nations as would be the case in the event
of a `war crimes' trial of Japanese BW experts. The BW information
obtained from Japanese sources should be retained in intelligence
channels and should not be employed as `war crimes' evidence."
Communications between Washington D.C. and General MacArthur's
" ... The feeling of several staff groups in Washington, including G2,
is that this problem is more or less a family affair in the Far Eastern
Command."
No mention was ever made during the war crimes trials in Japan about
bacteriological warfare or chemical warfare experiments being conducted
on human test specimens. No indictments were ever handed down against
those who had perpetrated these crimes. Colonel Sanders was ordered back
to the United States to brief scientists at Fort Detrick but shortly
thereafter became ill with tuberculosis and spent the next two years in
bed. Oddly, the expert who was sent to replace Colonel Sanders, Arvo
Thompson, committed suicide following his work for the Far Eastern
Command and the scientists at Fort Detrick.
What happened to all of the Japanese officers and scientists who worked
in the Manchurian labs during World War II? The military officers were
retired on sizable pensions and the civilian scientists continued their
work with some of the largest chemical and medical companies in Japan.
Some became presidents and professors at leading universities, others
became a part of the industrial complex which so successfully competed
with the West for international trade.
(NOTE: Insert names of Japanese scientists and officers and their
relationship to the Japanese scientist's names on MIL [Nichols'
corporation] agreements for development of biological technology with
Japanese. )
Numerous board directors of F.I.D.C.O., of which Nichols was also a
director, had been closely associated with General Douglas MacArthur. In
fact, Clint Murchison, Sr. had helped finance MacArthur's presidential
campaign.
******
The Vanity Fair article by Ron Rosenbaum had noted on page 98 that not
long before his death, Danny Casolaro had reportedly approached a nurse
he knew and asked her closely about the symptoms of multiple sclerosis
and brain diseases.
Rosenbaum had asked himself what had been going on in Danny's head as he
was being whipsawed between the shadowy Riconosciuto and Nichols and
their death warnings? In Danny's notes, Rosenbaum had found references
to germ warfare and slowacting brain viruses like Mad Cow Disease which
could be used against targeted individuals. Had Danny thought HE'D been
targeted?
A subsequent conversation with Michael Riconosciuto confirmed
Rosenbaum's suspicions. According to Riconosciuto, Danny had not only
been concerned, but had an obsession with the story because he suspected
he'd been "hit by these people." A source had allegedly told Danny that
he, among others, had been targeted with a slow acting virus.
Riconosciuto had advised him to go to a doctor and get tests. The tests
had been inconclusive. "Now, what he probably had was the genesis of a
naturally occurring ailment," said Riconosciuto to Rosenbaum.
Rosenbaum had described the entire Inslaw/Casolaro affair as "Kafkaesque
weirdness." Indeed, after Nichols had handed me the book, "The Search
for the Manchurian Candidate" at his Sherman Oaks apartment, I had
obtained a copy and recalled the author, John Marks, referring to the
CIA MKUltra (Manchurian Candidate) interrogation methods as Kafkaesque
in nature. Though Danny's notes mentioned nothing about "mindcontrol,"
and Bill Hamilton later noted that Danny had spoken mainly about the
biologicals, I found it difficult to believe that he was not subjected
to some form of mind control either subliminally or otherwise by someone
in the field.
******
"The Search for the Manchurian Candidate" gave significant background on
the history of biological warfare and mindcontrol research by the CIA.
The author, John Marks, obtained much of his material from seven boxes
of heavily censored MKUltra financial records and another three or so
Artichoke (CIA behavorcontrol program), documents supplemented by
interviews.
As early as 1943, the CIA, or actually its predecessor, the OSS,
initiated "humanistic psychology," or studies of what the brain can do,
during World War II when a "truth drug" committee headed by Dr. Winfred
Overholser conducted experiements with marijuana and mescaline to find a
way to induce prisoners to confess. A parallel OSS group had also
investigated the use of "quietus medications" lethal poisons for
possible use against Adolf Hitler.
The original program was headed by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan,
a burly, vigorous Republican millionaire who had started as White House
intelligence advisor even before Pearl Harbor. A former Columbia College
and Columbia Law Graduate, Donovan early on recruited Richard Helms, a
young newspaper executive who had gained fame for interviewing Adolf
Hilter in 1936 while working for United Press. He would subsequently
become the most important sponsor of mindcontrol research within the
CIA, nurturing and promoting it throughout his steady climb to the top
of the Agency.
Despite harsh condemnation at the Nuremberg trials after World War II of
Nazi scientific experiments, U.S. investigators found the research
records from the Dachau prison camp to be "an important complement to
existing U.S. knowledge." Doctors connected to the S.S. and Gestapo had
conducted experiments that led to the testing of mescaline on prisoners
at Dachau. Their goal had been to "eliminate the will of the person
examined."
The Japanese, for their part, had stockpiled chemical and biological
warfare substances during World War II and even went so far as to drop
deadly anthrax germs on China during the early stages of the war. OSS
responded by individualizing CBW (Chemical and Biological Warfare) and
creating methods of secretly disorienting, incapacating, injuring or
killing an enemy at Fort Detrick.
The CIA's postWorld War II mindcontrol program was headed by Dr. Sidney
Gottlieb, who presided over investigations that ranged from advanced
research in amnesia caused by electroshock to dragnet searches through
the jungles of Latin America for toxic leaves and barks. Gottlieb's
office not only found ways to make Fidel Castro's beard fall out, but he
personally provided operators with deadly poisons to assassinate foreign
leaders like the Congo's Patrice Lumumba.
Other areas of CIA sponsored research included explorations of
personalities. Henry Murray, a former Donovan protege, devised a battery
of tests which could size up the personality of potential CIA recruits
as well as predict future behavioral patterns. "Spying is attractive to
loonies," wrote Murray. "Psychopaths, who are people who spend their
lives making up stories, revel in the field." The program's prime
objective, according to Murray, was to weed out the crazies, as well as
the "sloths, irritants, bad actors, and freetalkers."
Murray's assessment system subsequently became a fixture in the CIA and
some of his assistants went on to establish CIAlike systems at large
corporations, starting with AT & T.
It is important to remember that at the beginning, the OSS (precurser to
the CIA) researchers from Security and Scientific Intelligence shared
jointly the literature and secret reports seized from the Germans and
the Japanese after World War II. They had theorized that in order to
build an effective defense against mind control and CBW, it was
necessary to understand the "offensive" possibilities. But as the years
went on, the line between offense and defense if it ever existed soon
became so blurred as to be meaningless.
In 1947 when the National Security Act created not only the CIA, but
also the National Security Council in sum, the command stucture of the
Cold War a warlike posture was developed against the new perceived
enemy, the Soviet Union. The men in the CIA took this job seriously. "We
felt we were the first line of defense in the anticommunist crusade,"
recalled Harry Rositzke, an early head of the Agency's Soviet Division.
"There was a clear and heady sense of mission a sense of what a huge job
this was."
A contingent of the CIA behaviorcontrol program, code named "Artichoke,"
developed a progam whereby guinea pigs for mindcontrol experiments were
obtained from the flotsam and jetsam of the international spy trade: "
... individuals of dubious loyalty, suspected agents or plants, subjects
having known reason for deception, etc," as one agency documents
described them. Artichoke officials looked upon these people as unique
research "material" from whom meaningful secrets might be extracted
while the experiments went on.
As one CIA psychologist who worked in the mindcontrol program put it,
"One did not put a high premium on the civil rights of a person who was
treasonable to his own country ..." Thus the Artichoke teams were given
mostly the dregs of the clandestine underworld to work on.
In one experiment in the early 1950's, an alleged Russian double agent
was brought to a safe house and plied for information with a mixture of
drugs and hynopsis under the cover of a "psychiatricmedical exam." A
professional hypnotist had accompanied the team, giving his commands to
an interpreter through an elaborate intercom system, who, in turn, was
able to put the Russian into a hypnotic trance.
Afterward, the team reported to the CIA's director that the Russian had
revealed extremely valuable information and he had been made to forget
his interrogation through hypnotically induced amnesia. The Russian was
also used in a subsequent experiment where he was given Seconal,
Dexedrine and Marijuana in combination in a beer delivered during the
cocktail hour. There were little, if any, positive results.
Nevertheless, the CIA was still consistently on the cutting edge of
specialized behaviorial research, sponsoring the lions share of the most
harrowing experiments. One CIA psychiatric consultant provided a small
personal glimpse of how it felt to be a soldier in the mindcontrol
campaign. The psychiatrist, who insisted on anonymity, estimated that he
made between 125 and 150 trips overseas on Agency operations between
1952 through his retirement in 1966. "To be a psychiatrist chasing off
to Europe instead of just seeing the same patients year after year, that
was extraordinary," he said.
Later, due to bureaucratic squabbling, the CIA transferred its behavior
work to a (CIA) outfit with Ph.D.'s called the Technical Services Staff
(TSS). Under TSS's Chemical Division, research was conducted on the use
of chemicals and germs against specific people. LSD had been used
extensively between 1951 and 1956 by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, a native of
the Bronx with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cal Tech; Gottlieb continued to
oversee most of TSS's behavorial programs up to and including 1973.
At the top of the Clandestine Services (officially called the
Directorate of Operations but popularly known as the "dirty tricks
department"), Sid Gottlieb had a champion who appreciated his qualities,
Richard Helms. For two decades, Gottlieb moved into progressively higher
positions in the wake of Helms' climb to the highest position in the
Agency.
Under the TSS leadership of Gottlieb and Helms, research on the covert
use of biological and chemical materials progressed under the code name
of "MKUltra." The operational arm of MKUltra was labeled MKDelta, the
purpose of which was to "investigate whether and how it was possible to
modify an individual's behavior by covert means." Hashish had been
around for millennia, but LSD was roughly a million times stronger by
weight. A twosuiter suitcase could hold enough LSD to turn on every man,
woman, and child in the United States.
But the CIA was concentrating on individuals. TSS understood that LSD
distorted a person's sense of reality and they felt compelled to learn
if it could alter a person's basic loyalties. Could the CIA make spies
out of tripping Russians or visa versa?
Suddenly there was a huge new market for grants in academia, as Sid
Gottlieb and his aides began to fund LSD projects at prestigious
institutions. Author John Marks ("The Search for the Manchurian
Candidate") identified the Agency's LSD pathfinders as: Bob Hyde's group
at Boston Psychopathic, Harold Abramson at Mt. Sinai Hospital and
Columbia University in New York, Harris Isbell of the NIMHsponsored
Addiction Research Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Louis Jolyon West at
the University of Oklahoma, and Harold Hodge's group at the Univerity of
Rochester.
The Agency disguised its involvement by passing the money through two
conduits: The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation and the Geschickter Fund for
Medical Research, a Washington D.C. family foundation, whose head, Dr.
Charles Geschickter, provided the Agency with a variety of services for
more than a decade.
Beginning in 1952, TSS had an agreement with the Special Operations
Division (SOD) of the Army's biological research center at Fort Detrick,
Maryland, whereby SOD would produce germ weapons for the CIA's use with
the program called MKNaomi. Under MKNaomi, the SOD men developed a whole
arsenal of toxic substances for CIA use.
Wrote Marks: "If Agency operators needed to kill someone in a few
seconds with say, a suicide pill, SOD provided superdeadly shellfish
toxins." Agency operators later supplied pills laced with this lethal
food poison to its Mafia allies for inclusion into Fidel Castro's
milkshake.
In other instances, "If CIA officials wanted an assassination to look
like a death from natural causes, they could choose from a long list of
Marks. When CIA operators merely wanted to be rid of someone
temporarily, SOD stockpiled for them about a dozen diseases and toxims
of varying strengths. "At the relatively benign end of the SOD list
stood `Staph enterotoxin,' a mild form of food poisoning mild compared
to botulinum," noted Marks.
Even more virulent in the SOD arsenal was "Venezuelan equine
encephalomyelitis" virus which usually immobilized a person for 2 to 5
days and kept him in a weakened state for several more weeks. If the
Agency wanted to incapacitate someone for a period of months, SOD
provided two different kinds of "brucellosis." This incapacitating agent
was allegedly placed on the monogrammed handkerchief of an Iraqi colonel
in 1060 who was said to be promoting Sovietbloc political interests, but
the colonel was shot by a firing squad before the handkerchief arrived."
SOD was forever developing more virulent strains," wrote Marks. Perhaps
the most important question was whether a germ could be covertly
delivered to infect the right person. One branch of SOD specialized in
building "delivery systems," the most notorious of which was a dart gun
fashioned out of a .45 pistol which exCIA Director William Colby once
displayed at a 1975 Senate hearing.
The Agency had long been after SOD to develop a "nondiscernible
microbioinoculator" which could deliver deadly shots that, according to
a CIA document, could not be "easily detected upon a detailed autopsy."
One high Detrick official noted that the best way to infect people was
through the respiratory system. SOD rigged up aerosol sprays that could
be fired by remote control, including a fluorescent starter that was
activated by turning on the light.
A former newspaper journalist turned narcotics agent, George White, was
recruited by MKUltra chief Sid Gottlieb to test drugs on unsuspecting
subjects at a San Francisco "safe house" on Telegraph Hill. The
apartment was bugged with four DD4 microphones disguised as electrical
wall outlets hooked up to two F301 tape recorders which agents monitored
in an adjacent "listening post."
The San Francisco safe house specialized in prostitutes who brought
unwitting victims back for study. In addition to LSD, TSS officials gave
White even more exotic experimental drugs to test. One TSS source noted,
"If we were scared enough of a drug not to try it out on ourselves, we
sent it to San Francisco."
According to a 1963 report by CIA Inspector General John Earman, in a
number of instances, the test subject became ill for hours or days and,
in one case, hospitalization was needed. Wrote Marks, "The Inspector
General was only somewhat reassured by the fact that George White
maintained close working relations with local police authorities which
could be utilized to protect the activity in critical situations."
At another safehouse located in Marin County, TSS scientists tested such
MKUltra specialties and delivery systems as glass ampules that could be
stepped on to release itching or sneezing powders, a fine hypodermic
needle to inject drugs through the cork in a wine bottle, and a
drugcoated swizzle stick.
At one point, an attempt was made to spray LSD from an aerosol spray can
at a house party, but the heat of the summer caused all the windows and
an epitaph [in a personal letter to Sid Gottlieb] for his role with the
CIA: `I was a very minor missionary, actually a heretic, but I toiled
wholeheartedly in the vineyards because it was fun, fun, fun. Where else
could a redblooded American boy lie, kill, cheat, steal, rape, and
pillage with the sanction and blessing of the AllHighest?'"
Not every scientist cooperated with the CIA. While conducting
experimental studies on monkeys at the National Institute of Health, Dr.
John Lilly discovered a method of inserting electrodes into the brain to
stimulate precise centers of pleasure, pain, fear, anxiety and anger. As
Lilly refined his brain "maps," officials of the CIA and other agencies
descended upon him with requests for briefings.
Lilly insisted that all briefings remain unclassified, completely open
to outsiders. Other scientists ordinarily had their work officially
classified, which meant that access to the information required a
security clearance. But Lilly's imagination had conjured up pictures of
CIA agents on deadly missions with remotecontrolled electrodes
strategically implanted in their brains, and so he withdrew from that
field of research. By 1958 he had finally concluded that it would be
impossible for him to continue working at the National Institute of
Health without compromising his principles, so he resigned.
MKUltra officials were clearly interested in using grants to build
contracts and associations with prestigious academics. The CIAfunded
Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology, later known as the
"Human Ecology Fund," (HEF) supported such publications as the "Research
in Mental Health Newsletter" published jointly at McGill University by
the sociology and psychiatric departments.
Similarly, HEF gave grants of $26,000 to the wellknown University of
London psychologist, H.J. Eysenck, for his work on motivation. Marks
noted that the MKUltra documents acknowledged that this research had "no
immediate relevance for Agency needs, but it would lend prestige to the
Human Ecology Fund."
A whole category of HEF funding, called "cover grants," served no other
purpose than to build the organization's false front. A TSS source
explained that grants like these "bought legitimacy" for the
organization. Nevertheless, one small grant to a psychologist from the
University of Pennsylvania provided valuable information on "confidence
men." The CIA was intrigued with the ability of con men to manipulate
human behavior. As one CIA official put it, the psychologist unwittingly
gave them "a better understanding of the techniques people use to
establish phony relationships" a subject of interest to the CIA.
Marks wrote that at one point, the CIA took the "Svengali" legend to
heart. In 1954, Morse Allen, the CIA's first behavioral research czar,
simulated the ultimate experiment in hypnosis: the creation of a
"Manchurian Candidate," or programmed assassin. Allen's "victim" was a
secretary whom he put into a deep trance and told to keep sleeping until
he ordered otherwise.
He then hypnotized a second secretary and told her that if she could not
wake up her friend, "her rage would be so great that she would not
hesitate to kill." An unloaded pistol was placed nearby. Even though the
second secretary had expressed a fear of firearms of any kind, she
picked up the gun and "shot" her sleeping friend. After Allen brought
the "killer" out of her trance, she had no recollection of the event,
denying she would ever shoot anyone.
Some of the CIA's experiments wandered so far across ethical borders of
experimental psychiatry that Agency officials ultimately conducted much
of the work outside the United States. The CIA's Human Ecology Fund
provided financing to foreign researchers and American professors to
collect information abroad. The MKUltra men realized that ninetypercent
of their experiments would fail to be of any use to the Agency, but the
"behaviorists" continued to search for the elusive answer to human control.
Unbound by the rules of academia, the CIA took stabs at cracking the
human genetic code with computers and finding out whether animals could
be controlled through electrodes placed in their brains.
Within the Agency itself, the one significant question remained to be
answered: Will a technique work? CIA officials zealously tracked every
lead, sparing no expense to check each angle many times over, yet no
foolproof way was found to brainwash another person. Specific methods
worked "fantastically" on certain people, but not on others. It wasn't
predictable enough, noted one official."
In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy reportedly vowed
to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces," wrote John Marks. In the
end, he settled for firing Allen Dulles and his top deputies. Until that
point, the TSS (Technical Services Staff) had been the Agency's largest
scientific component. Under the new head of CIA, John McCone, TSS was
stripped of its main research functions including the behavioral one and
Seymour Russell, a tough covert operator, was brought in as the new
chief. But the highest deputyship at TSS went to Sid Gottlieb, who
became numbertwo man under Russell.
In his new job, Gottlieb kept control of MKUltra. His emphasis switched
back to chemical and biological substances "not because he thought these
could be used to turn men into robots," wrote Marks, "but because he
valued them for their `predictable' ability to disorient, discredit,
injure, or kill people." A $150,000 a year contract was signed with a
Baltimore biological laboratory which provided TSS a private place for
"largescale production of microorganisms" for biological weapons without
the Army's germ warriors knowing about it.
Dr. James Hamilton, the San Francisco psychiatrist who worked with
George White in the original OSS marijuana days, was brought back to
MKUltra by Gottlieb to conduct "clinical testing of behavioral control
materials" on prisoners at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville.
Hamilton worked through a nonprofit research institute connected to the
facility to conduct his research. Marks estimated that he experimented
on between 400 to 1,000 inmates between 1967 and 1968.
In July 1977, after receiving notification that the CIA had located 7
boxes of MKUltra financial records, author John Marks held a press
conference in which he criticized then CIA Director Admiral Stansfield
Turner (later a Wackenhut Board member) for several distortions in
describing the MKUltra program. Turner had described MKUltra as only a
program of drug experimentation and not one aimed at behavior control to
President Carter and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Marks responded by releasing a score of CIA documents to reporters that
indicated the flavor of the CIA behavioral efforts. The documents set
off a media bandwagon that had the story reported on all three network
television news shows as well as others. The Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence and Senator Edward Kennedy's Subcommittee on Health and
Scientific Research soon announced they would hold public hearings on
the subject. The CBW program at Ft. Detrick was subsequently shut down.
In 1979, Marks concluded that he could not be positive that the CIA
never found a technique to control people. CIA officials actively
experimented with behaviorcontrol methods for another decade AFTER Sid
Gottlieb and company lost the research action. The Office of Research
and Development (ORD) picked up the ball by creating its own latterday
version of the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology.
Located outside Boston, it was called the Scientific Engineering
Institute and had originally been used by the CIA as a proprietary
company to conduct radar research. In the early 1960's, ORD officials
built a new wing to the Institute's modernistic building for "life
sciences" or human behavior research.
According to Marks, one scientist from the institute recalled a
colleague joking, "If you could find the natural radio frequency of a
person's sphincter, you could make him run out of the room real fast."
"Just as the MKUltra program had been years ahead of the scientific
community, ORD activities were similarly advanced," wrote Marks. One
researcher noted that MKUltra looked at the manipulation of genes and
gene splintering as early as 1965, eleven years before the rest of the
world even thought about it. Added the scientist, "Everybody was afraid
of building the supersoldier who would take orders without questioning,
like the kamikaze pilot. Creating a subservient society was not out of
sight."
******
The above research was conducted thirty years ago! What had been
developed along those same lines by 1994? Even the most rampant
imagination could not conceive of what might be underway in CIA
laboratories today.
With today's cutting and splicing techniques, scientists can attach any
genes they choose to certain carrier genes. These linked genes, called
"recombinant DNA," are then conveyed inside a host cell, which virtually
adopts the new gene as one of its own. The object of most current
experiments is to transplant genes from the host to bacteria. These
tractable, microscopic cells proliferate faster than rabbits. On a
simple cheap diet a single bacterium makes a few billion copies of
itself overnight. Its DNA, including that of the transplanted gene, is
reproduced at the same rate.
Biochemists at Stanford University have found a technique for combining
DNA from "two different sources" and putting it into a common bacterium.
The bacterium they chose was "E.coli bacteria," commonly found in the
intestine of every living person. Modified E.coli, containing certain
cancer genes, could become a biological bomb. The bacterium carrying its
little package of cancer genes, could then be passed as easily as the
common cold from one human to another.
The U.S. is not the only country to have this technology. A classified
report prepared for the National Security Council (U.S.) and obtained by
the Washington Times claimed "the Soviet Union was using genetic
engineering to create virulent new biological weapons that could be
deployed as early as 1989 - if in fact some had not already been
deployed." Robert H. Kupperman, a chemical warfare expert at Georgetown
University's Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the
Times that "it's like making designer drugs."
A report was prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency which outlined extensive violations by
the Soviets of two anti-biological warfare treaties. The report noted
"the Soviets were using recent advances in biotechnology, such as
genetic engineering, to develop a new class of CBW [chemical, biological
warfare] agents that can be rapidly produced for deployment."
Recent scientific findings on the Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) indicate
genetic material common to Gulf War-era veterans could provide a clue as
to why so many became sick after serving in the 1991 war. In a study
presented to Gulf War veterans at a conference in Tampa, Florida,
microbiologist Dr. Howard Urnovitz said the genetic marker could point
to the existence of a "virus." The virus, in turn, could make veterans
exposed to chemical agents or other toxins more susceptable to illness,
he added.
Beginning on Veterans Day, November 11, 1996 and continuing through
November 17th, KREM T.V. out of Spokane, Washington [phone]), an
affiliate of Northwest News in Seattle, telecast a series on Gulf War
Syndrome (GWS). Reporter Tom Grant interviewed numerous doctors, one of
which was Dr. Garth Nicholson, a microbiologist, who maintained that GWS
contains "altered genetic structures" similar to AIDS. He suggested GWS
is a genetically engineered biological warfare organism, and it's
contagious.
Dr. Larry Goss, in Walters, Oklahoma, not only confirmed Nicholson's
findings, but said on public T.V. that he and his wife "caught" GWS
while treating Gulf War veterans. Dr. William Baumzweiger, a
neurologist/psychiatrist at the V.A. hospital in Los Angeles found
brain-stem damage in GWS vets, and noted the virus turns the immune
system against itself.
GWS veterans were warned NOT to have unprotected sex or have any more
children. The vets themselves were interviewed along with their
families. Tragically, their wives and children were now suffering from
the same GWS symptoms. Pictures were shown of the children, providing
indisputable proof of the infectiousness of the disease.
Doctors warned the public that GWS could soon enter the general
populace, and it could be terminal. However, on November 17th, Dr.
Nicholson noted that treatment was available through antibiotics.
******
Scientists have long suspected the existence of a "lab-created" virus
which attacks the immune system. In January 1986, the French-born and
trained biologists Professor Jakob and Dr. Lilli Segal, published a
pamphlet entitled, "AIDS: USA-Home Made Evil; Not Imported from Africa."
The two scientists, a biophysicist and a biologist affiliated with the
Humboldt University in Berlin, pointed out that examination of the genes
making up the HIV retrovirus revealed it "could not have come about by a
natural way known to biologists." The called the virus a "chimera,"
originally created in 1977 at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
The Segals were not the only researchers to suggest that "genetic
engineering" was involved with AIDS. John Seale, M.D., a London
venereologist, also stated that the molecular structure of HIV suggested
"manipulation of viruses" rather than a natural mutation from known
retroviruses. And Dr. Robert Strecker, M.D., a Los Angeles internist,
has made the same assertion.
These advocates of the artificial HIV theory all note the structural
similarities of HIV to visna virus, a pathogen found in sheep with
similarities to AIDS. The scientists argue that the visna virus was
artificially combined with the HTLV-I virus, another retrovirus which
causes human lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.
Today designer viruses are limited only by the imagination of the
scientist creating them. Thus, bio-labs in both the U.S. and abroad are
in a race to find vaccines which build the human immune system - or
search out and destroy killer T - Cells.
A new study, recently released by Dr. Jeffrey Leiden, director of a
research team at the University of Chicago, showed that genes can be
injected directly into "muscle tissue" to cause production of proteins
needed to correct some blood disorders, such as anemia. Genes in the
injection are taken into the nucleas of cells in the muscle tissue and
become, in effect, a pharmaceutical factory, increasing red blood cell
levels as high as 64%. In the past, gene therapy involved using
"viruses" to transfer genes into the body, a technique that was "poorly
controlled," according to Dr. Leiden.
And another finding by Arthur Vandenbark, of the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center in Portland, Oregon noted the discovery of a new vaccine
which enables the human immune system to churn out more T - Cells, thus
preventing multiple sclerosis patients from becoming sicker.
The ultimate irony of the 21st century could be the development of
vaccines, in response to the threat of biological warfare, which boost
the human immune system to such a degree that people become completely
disease resistant. The question is, with overpopulation looming on the
horizon, would the U.S. government release such a vaccine to the general
populace -- if not, who would have access to it? The Chosen Ones?
Interestingly, Robert Booth Nichols' manuscript, entitled "Acceptable
Casualty," copyrighted at the Library of Congress in May 1987, outlined
an identical scenario.
******
Within Michael Riconosciuto's secret files in the Mojave Desert, I had
found a box marked "Ted Gunderson," which I had dragged home along with
the rest of the material.
This particular box had contained records of most of Gunderson's
investigations, but one report particularly caught my attention. It was
titled, "From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory" by Colonel
Paul E. Vallely with Major Michael A. Aquino.
The 12page Army report was undated but it outlined the use of
"Psychotronics," intelligence and operational weapons systems employing
the use of mind control, commonly known as Psychological Operations
(PSYOP).
Wrote Aquino, "In 1967 and 1968 alone, a total of 29,276 armed Viet
Cong/NVA (the equivalent of 95 enemy infantry battalions) surrendered to
ARVN or MACV forces under the Chieu Hoi amnesty program the major PSYOP
effort of the Vietnam War. At the time MACV estimated that the
elimination of that same number of enemy troops in combat would have
cost us 6,000 dead."
Aquino argued that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam "not because we were
outfought, but because we were outPSYOPed. Our national will to victory
was attacked more effectively than we attacked that of the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong, and preception of this fact encouraged the
enemy to hang on until the United States finally broke and ran for home."
The lesson, according to Aquino, was not to ignore U.S. PSYOP
capability, but rather to change it and strengthen it "so that it can do
precisely that kind of thing to our enemy in the next war." To begin,
there would be a name change from Psychological Operations to "MindWar."
Noted Aquino, "We must reach the people BEFORE they resolve to support
their armies, and we must reach those armies BEFORE our combat troops
ever see them on battlefields."
Aquino went on to compare his proposal with the definition of
Psychological Warfare first introduced by General William Donovan of the
OSS in his World War IIera "Basic Estimate of Psychological Warfare" in
which Donovan discussed the need to destroy the will of the enemy. But
an attendant 1947 letter stressed the need for a "synonym which could be
used in peacetime that would not shock the sensibilities of a citizen of
democracy."
Aquino indicated contempt for the U.S. Army's inability to accept PSYOP
in its "most effective configuration," adding that "the reluctance with
which the Army had accepted even an `antiseptic' PSYOP component" was
well documented.
Having read about General Donovan's "behavioral control" program in the
MKUltra book, I didn't perceive it to be exactly "antiseptic." Aquino's
report, obviously written after the Vietnam war, suggested that future
MindWars should be fought through "skillful use of communications media."
"MindWar," noted Aquino, "states a whole truth that, if it does not now
exist, will be forced into existence by the will of the United States
... A MindWar message does not have to fit conditions of abstract
credibility as do PSYOP themes; its source makes it credible."
Aquino continued, " ... The MindWar operative must KNOW that he speaks
the truth, and he must be PERSONALLY COMMITTED to it. What he says is
only a part of MindWar; the rest and the test of its effectiveness lies
in the conviction he projects to his audience, in the rapport he
establishes with it."
As I read the document it was difficult not to recall Oliver North's
diary in which he called his associates, "The True Believers." (More on
that in another chapter). Aquino noted that the recipient of the
statement by the MindWar operative would judge such messages not only by
his conscious understanding of them, but also by the mental conditions
under which he perceived them. "For the mind to believe its own
decisions," wrote Aquino, "it must feel that it made those decisions
without coercion. Coercive measures used by the MindWar operative,
consequently, must not be detectable by ordinary means ..."
Aquino's basis for his report came from various publications which were
listed at the back of the document. "More effective configurations" of
MindWar as noted by Aquino may well have included the following (taken
"ELF (extremely low frequency) waves (up to 100 Hz) ... are naturally
occurring, but they can also be produced artificially ... ELFwaves are
not normally noticed by the unaided senses, yet their resonant effect
upon the human body has been connected to both physiological disorders
and emotional distortion. Infrasound vibration (up to 20 Hz) can
subliminally influence brain activity to align itself to delta, theta,
alpha, or beta wave patterns, inclining an audience toward everything
from alertness to passivity. Infrasound could be used tactically, as
ELFwaves endure for great distances; and it could be used in conjunction
with media broadcasts as well."
So, the human brain can be aligned to infrasound through media
broadcasts. Was that technology used on Manuel Noriega when he was
forced to surrender in Panama under blaring radio broadcasts? And hadn't
the Branch Davidians had been subjected to loud music and chants for
extended periods of time?
Another section of the Aquino report noted that "ionization of the air"
could be used to control an individual's emotions. "An abundance of
negative condensation nucleii (air ions) in ingested air enhances
alertness and exhilaration, while an excess of positive ions enhances
drowsiness and depression. Calculation of a target audience's
atmospheric environment will be correspondingly useful."
After his retirement from the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Aquino,
an exGreen Beret, was later written up in the San Francisco Chronicle as
the head of the Temple of Set, a satanic, devilworshipping church. The
November 1987 headlines read as follows: "Army Says Constitution Lets
Satanist Hold TopSecret Job," by reporters John Whittinger and Bill
Wallace. The story went on to say that "the high priest of a San
Fanciscobased satanic church is able to keep his topsecret security
clearance because his activities are constitutionally protected, Army
officials said yesterday. "Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Aquino, a
highly decorated Vietnam veteran, is the founder and president of Temple
of Set, a satanic church headquartered in Aquino's Russian Hill home ...
"Aquino, a psychological warfare officer who has worked in military
intelligence, holds a top secret security clearance that allows him to
handle information whose release would gravely damage U.S. security,
according to Defense Department regulations.
"He maintains the clearance even though he has performed Nazi occult
rites and has described himself as the `AntiChrist' in literature
published by the Temple of Set ..."
Temple of Set literature described a coming apocalypse in which only
followers of Satan would be saved. Readers were encouraged to read such
works as "Mein Kampf," "Hitler: The Occult Messiah," and "The Occult
Roots of Nazism."
Aquino conducted occult rituals patterned on ceremonies performed by
Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler in a German castle once used by the Nazi SS
for black magic ceremonies during the Third Reich. Nazis considered the
black arts and satanic worship part of an ancient Germanic tradition.
Aquino, in his book, "Crystal Tablet of Set," wrote that he performed
the rituals to recreate an order of Knighthood for followers of Satan.
He even encouraged his followers to study the beliefs of the Nazi
terrorist group, the Vehm, the Thule Gesselschaft, and the Ahnenerbe,
two fanatic rightwing Aryan groups that existed before and during
Hitler's reign.
When the two reporters from the Chronicle inquired about Aquino's
security clearances, Major Rixon declared that "to the best of his
knowledge, there was no part of the liturgy of his church that caused
any (security) problem." Aquino admitted to being involved in devil
worship for 22 years.
Ted Gunderson's box contained reams of literature written by Aquino
along with other documents pertaining to identical subject matter. It
was no secret that Gunderson lectured on the subject of Satanism, as I
learned from a July 1993 Colonel Bo Gritz newsletter which advertised
Gunderson as a featured speaker on one of Gritz's national radio
broadcasts.
But it was not the Satanic aspect of Aquino's writings that caused me to
scrutinize his earlier writings for the Army. Shortly after the Waco
incident in Texas, a secret "classified conference" was held at the Los
Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. Through a friend in Maine, I
was able to obtain an official copy of the speaking agenda for the
November 1993 conference and, oddly, the subject matter under discussion
correlated with not only the original Aquino Army report, but also with
the MKUltra behavior research underway during the 1950's and 1960's.
The title of the conference was "NonLethal Defense" and just a few of
the speakers included such dignitaries as the Honorable U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno; Dr. Edward Teller who had helped develop the nuclear
bomb; Dr. Milt Finger from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Mr.
Andy Andrews, NonLethal Project Leader at Los Alamos National
Laboratory; LTG William H. Forster from Army Research, Development and
Acquisition; Dr. Clay Easterly from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
Dr. Henry Brisker from U.S. Army Research Laboratories; Ms. Astrid Lewis
from the U.S. Army Chemical Research & Development Command; Lt. General
Richard G. Trefry, former Military Advisor to President George Bush; and
many more.
The most noteworthy "nonlethal" technology presentations included the
following: "High Power Microwave Technology" "Application of Extremely
Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields to NonLethal Weapons" "Voice
Synthesis" "Incremental Agression: Requirements for the Future"
"Chemical/Biological AntiTerrorism" "Biological Challenges" "NonLethal
Research: Fracture & Dynamic Behavior, Biotechnology & Structural
Ceramics, and many more.
Interestingly, the opening address was given by General E.C. Meyer
(Ret.), former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army the very same General
Meyer who had set up the Department of Defense conference in which
Michael Riconosciuto had been the principal speaker from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. to a group of seniorlevel national security research and
development officials.
The objective and scope of the 1993 Los Alamos conference included
exploring a nonlethal approach to apply force against not only wartime
enemies (the Soviet Union had already fallen) but against "terrorists"
and "international drug traffickers" as well. The introduction noted
that the purpose of the conference was to bring together "industry,
government, and academia to explore the potential of nonlethal defense
and identify requirements so that the defense community can work
together in leveraging the nonlethal concept."
"Industry [law enforcement], particularly, will benefit from a more
precise understanding of requirements and operational constraints
regarding nonlethal defense technologies," noted the conference's
sponsors, The American Defense Preparedness Association.
Additionally, nonlethal defense was described as "an emerging
technological option being developed conceptually with a sea of
technical opportunity."
Based upon the technical presentations listed in the brochure, it didn't
appear to me that such technology as acoustical, highpower microwave,
laser, ELF/RF weapons and "psychotronic" systems were particulary NEW in
the field of military or intelligence applications. Obviously, what was
occurring at this conference was the presentation of these formidable
weapons to law enforcement for domestic (U.S.) applications.
In late November 1993, a letter came to my attention which discussed the
abovementioned conference. The letter had been written to U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno by a former CIA employee, Julianne McKinney, on
letterhead stationary originating from the "Association of National
Security Alumni, Electronic Surveillance Project, P.O. Box 13625, Silver
Spring, Maryland 209113625."
Portions of the letter read as follows: " ... In December 1992, when
`Microwave Harassment and MindControl Experimentation' was published,
U.S. Government representatives routinely took the position that
directedenergy technologies were nothing more than mere figments of
physicists' imaginations, still on the drawing boards. Shortly following
publication of this report, information concerning these technologies
began to appear in such noteworthy organs as The Wall Street Journal,
Defense News, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Tactical Technology,
Defense Electronics and, most recently, The Washington Post.
"In a flurry of activity these past 10 months, directedenergybased
surveilance and antipersonnel systems have suddenly leaped off of
physicists' drawing boards into the world of reality, thus obviating the
criticism, it would appear, that the attached publication [Los Alamos
conference brochure] concerns nonexistent technologies.
"Indeed, directedenergy technologies appear to have evolved at such a
rapid rate that they are now being promoted as the `Final Solution' to
crime preliminarily, at a classified conference sponsored by the Los
Alamos National Laboratory ..."
McKinney's concern focused primarily on future law enforcement
application of "psychotronic" tools, or directedenergy weapons
technologies. "What, so far, has prevented this goverment and its
contractors from testing these technologies on U.S. citizens under
involuntary circumstances?," she asked.
The letter went on to outline various instances in which people had
complained to her organization of alleged symptoms of directedenergy
technologies in such areas as the United States, England, Canada and
Australia.
******
After reading "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate," I couldn't help
wondering if Danny Casolaro had been subjected to some form of hypnosis.
Any such farreaching scenarios were outside the boundaries of normal
human experience, indeed no mainstream journalist would pursue such a
theory. But, then Robert Booth Nichols, Michael Riconosciuto and the CIA
were not within normal human experience. And, who would have believed,
ten years ago, that the CIA would be investigated by Congress in 1996
for drug trafficking in Los Angeles?
At one point in time Danny had signed an agreement with Nichols in which
Nichols was to give Danny a $25,000 loan against his home in Fairfax,
Virginia. Nichols had offered to take Danny overseas to find the answers
to his questions and Danny had needed the money to make the trip. Where
had they planned to go? What possible motive could Nichols have had for
enticing Danny to go overseas for several months?
During one of my conversations with Bobby Riconosciuto, she had
mentioned a private installation at Alice Springs, Australia which
Michael had visited with Nichols. The tour of the installation had upset
Riconosciuto to such a degree that he had become ill and cut the trip
short. Nichols later confirmed the trip, and recalled that Michael had
indeed become anxious and ill, but would not discuss the purpose of the
trip.
When I subsequently questioned Michael about the Australian
installation, he first asked where I had learned of it? When I noted the
information came from Bobby, he explained that the underground facility
had been built during World War II to be used as a bomb shelter. It was
capable of housing thousands of people and was completely selfcontained.
I asked Riconosciuto if he had been inside the facility? He said he had,
it was owned by a private corporation; inside was a city of sorts,
containing sophisticated communications equipment, laboratory equipment
and other items which he would not define. He chose not to discuss it
further, but concurred that what he saw made him realize that it was
time to terminate his relationship with Robert Booth Nichols.
Both men had confirmed to me that the Australian trip marked the end of
their 20year association. I later contacted a journalist in Alice
Springs to gain more knowledge of the mysterious "installation." I was
able to confirm that the installation existed, that it was leased by a
private corporation, and that it was heavily guarded, but noone seemed
to know what it was being used for.
******
On November 22, 1992, I received a call from Michael Riconosciuto. It
was the first time I had spoken with him in nine months. The first thing
he asked me was, "Did Bob Nichols threaten you?"
I explained to him that I had nothing to fear from Nichols as long as I
didn't reveal the contents of the meeting.Michael pressed further.
"Did he attempt to destroy my credibility, or did the meeting pertain to
HIS activities?"
"Well, essentially, I asked him questions specifically about what he was
doing with his corporation in Japan and overseas ..."
Mike knew I was referring to the genetic engineering project. Michael
interjected, "That is so heavy. I've got a full paperwork trail on that."
I answered, "I have the paperwork trail on it."
Michael: "He didn't like that, did he?"
CM: "No, but after he knew I had information on it, he came right out
and talked about it."
Michael: "Did he tell you what it was for?"
CM: "I think he did."
Michael: "Isn't that a `Dr. Strangelove tale'?"
CM: "Yes, I need to ask you some things ..."
Michael cut in. "Let's not talk about that over this phone."
Once again, Michael became evasive when confronted with the biological
technology Nichols was involved in. This seemed to be one of the few
subjects he refused to discuss over the phone.
His next question caused me some alarm. "Where did you send the metal
cannister you found in my files in the desert?"
I replied, "I sent it out to have it analyzed. I haven't received the
results yet ..."
Michael: "Oh, Jesus. Where ... If they don't know how to handle it ..."
I stammered, "... I haven't heard from them yet ..."
Michael took a deep breath. "Oh, God." Then silence.
I was alarmed. "What is it? Tell me the truth."
Michael seemed shaken. "It's a military concept where you can
genetically engineer these biological agents ... you see, a specific
penetration group can be immunized, and everbody else dies. Now, whoever
you sent that to, if they're not set up ... if they're not a class4
facility, they better call someone who can handle it and get rid of it
..." Mike stopped abruptly. "Has anyone opened or touched the cannister?"
I responded that it had not been opened. He drew another deep breath and
seemed to relax somewhat. "Alright, it's not your problem anymore. As
long as it's off your property."
******
The remainder of this manuscript is not relevent to CIA Drug Trafficking
or the focus of the Investigative Committee. I therefore have sent only
the enclosed pages. If you want more, let me know. C.M.
http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/circle!.htm

---
The Metterling List

List No. 5

6 undershirts

6 shorts

6 handkerchiefs

has always puzzled scholars, principally because of the total absence of socks.

-The Collected Laundry Lists of Hans Metterling, Vol. I, 437 pp., plus xxxii-page introduction; indexed; $18.75,
Venal & Sons