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@ -13,40 +13,47 @@ relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]"
role: "tribal administrator"
fn: 2
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Wackenhut Corporation]]"
role: "Cabazon side of the 1981 joint venture"
start: 1981-04
fn: 2
fn: 1
- type: relative_of
with: "[[John Paul Nichols]]"
role: "father"
fn: 1
fn: 9
created: 2025-08-05
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-09
---
John Philip Nichols, a non-Indian, was the tribal administrator of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]] at Indio, California, under Tribal Chairman [[Arthur Welmas]], and managed the tribe's business affairs; in the early 1980s the only building on the reservation was a casino.[^2]
John Philip Nichols, a non-Indian, was the tribal administrator of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]] at Indio, California, under Tribal Chairman [[Arthur Welmas]], and managed the tribe's business affairs; in the early 1980s the only building on the reservation was a casino.[^1]
Nichols told Los Angeles Magazine in September 1983 that a friend referred the tribe to the baseball manager [[Leo Durocher]] for help setting up the cardroom, that Durocher "brought in a guy named Rocco Zangari," and that the tribe eventually fired him.[^2] The California Attorney General's office paper states that Nichols hired [[Rocco Zangari]], a Southern California organized crime figure, to operate the cardroom, and that Zangari and Nichols accused each other of financial wrongdoing.[^3] The 1988 Press-Enterprise reports that Nichols (the article does not specify which) said he had admitted a mistake in hiring Zangari as the first manager.[^4]
### The Wackenhut Joint Venture
In April 1981 the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] entered into a joint venture with the Cabazon Security Corporation, signed by [[Robert Frye]] for Wackenhut and Welmas for the tribe's company; its stated primary purpose was to "qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts." Early on Nichols wanted the joint venture to sell night-vision equipment, and it pursued sales to representatives of Guatemala and Honduras; as far as the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s special counsel could tell, no sales were made. The venture also pursued the manufacture of combustible cartridge cases with [[Peter Zokosky]] of Armtec Defense Products, which took people from the joint venture to Picatinny Arsenal in 1981.[^2] Investigating [[Michael Riconosciuto]]'s claims for the Justice Department between 1991 and 1993, Special Counsel [[Nicholas Bua]] found that any business relationship Riconosciuto had was with Nichols or the Cabazons rather than with Wackenhut, and that no witness could "even corroborate that Riconosciuto had access to computer equipment while on the Cabazon reservation."[^2]
In April 1981 the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] entered into a joint venture with the Cabazon Security Corporation, signed by [[Robert Frye]] for Wackenhut and Welmas for the tribe's company; its stated primary purpose was to "qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts." Early on Nichols wanted the joint venture to sell night-vision equipment, and it pursued sales to representatives of Guatemala and Honduras; as far as the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s special counsel could tell, no sales were made. The venture also pursued the manufacture of combustible cartridge cases with [[Peter Zokosky]] of Armtec Defense Products, which took people from the joint venture to Picatinny Arsenal in 1981.[^1] Investigating [[Michael Riconosciuto]]'s claims for the Justice Department between 1991 and 1993, Special Counsel [[Nicholas Bua]] found that any business relationship Riconosciuto had was with Nichols or the Cabazons rather than with Wackenhut, and that no witness could "even corroborate that Riconosciuto had access to computer equipment while on the Cabazon reservation."[^1]
### Arrest and Conviction
The Indio police arrested Nichols in January 1985 on charges of soliciting murder; a contemporaneous clipping in his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] file described him as in state prison for diagnostic evaluation "on two counts of murder solicitation," and the FBI recorded that he had been convicted and was serving his sentence. The same file preserves a 1985 report that the California State Board of Equalization was seeking about 2 million dollars in cigarette taxes from Nichols and his son, [[John Paul Nichols]], over a reservation smoke shop run until 1980.[^3]
The Indio police arrested Nichols in January 1985 on charges of soliciting murder; an April 1985 clipping in his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] file described him as in state prison for diagnostic evaluation to help decide his sentence "on two counts of murder solicitation," and a later 1985 clipping reported that he was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading no contest to charges that he arranged contract murders for two people, in a plot authorities said was unrelated to tribal business.[^5] A paper submitted to a February 8, 1989 Senate hearing by the California Attorney General's office states that he pleaded no contest in May 1985 to two charges of solicitation for murder, that the intended victims were undercover Indio police officers, and that he was sentenced to four years.[^3] The FBI recorded that he had been convicted and was serving his sentence.[^6] The same file preserves a 1985 report that the California State Board of Equalization was seeking about 2 million dollars in cigarette taxes from Nichols and his son, [[John Paul Nichols]], over a reservation smoke shop run until 1980.[^7]
### The Alvarez Murders
On July 1, 1981, Tribal Vice Chairman [[Fred Alvarez]], 32, his friend [[Ralph Boger]], 42, and [[Patricia Castro]], 44, were found shot to death at 35040 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. A grand jury in the mid-1980s brought no charges. After new documents surfaced in 2007, the former Cabazon security chief [[Jimmy Hughes]] was arrested at Miami International Airport on September 26, 2009, on his way to Honduras, and charged with conspiring with three other men to commit the murders to keep Alvarez from exposing alleged illegal activities by Nichols. On July 1, 2010, after Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy said prosecutors had "lost confidence to proceed," Judge Dale R. Wells dismissed the charges. No one has been convicted of the murders.[^4]
On July 1, 1981, Tribal Vice Chairman [[Fred Alvarez]], 32, his friend [[Ralph Boger]], 42, and [[Patricia Castro]], 44, were found shot to death at 35040 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. The California Attorney General's office paper submitted to the Senate Special Committee on Investigations in February 1989 states that Alvarez and two others were found dead on July 2, 1981, shot in the head the evening before.[^3] A grand jury in the mid-1980s brought no charges. After new documents surfaced in 2007, the former Cabazon security chief [[Jimmy Hughes]] was arrested at Miami International Airport on September 26, 2009, on his way to Honduras, and charged with conspiring with three other men to commit the murders to keep Alvarez from exposing alleged illegal activities by Nichols. On July 1, 2010, after Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy said prosecutors had "lost confidence to proceed," Judge Dale R. Wells dismissed the charges. No one has been convicted of the murders.[^8]
### Arms, the Mob and the Alibi
[[Michael Riconosciuto]] described Nichols as a former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent. The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that the joint venture was formalized on April 1, 1981, as "[[Cabazon Arms]]," to manufacture arms and explosives for export under the reservation's sovereign status, with a [[Department of Defense]] secret facility clearance, and that it proposed 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rockets and biological weapons; that Nichols introduced Riconosciuto to Frye, and that Riconosciuto did a railgun exercise for [[Dr. Harry Fair]] at Picatinny; and that the murder solicitation involved five intended victims and drugs and that Nichols served 18 months, his son acting as administrator. Seymour also wrote that he had done business in [[Saudi Arabia]], [[South Africa]], [[Panama]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Brazil]], the [[Netherlands]], [[England]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]] and [[Taiwan]], had managed a Coca-Cola bottling plant in São Paulo in 1960 and led in the Chilean Pentecostal movement, had written himself a ten-year contract with the tribe in 1978 for half the profits of any business he brought in, and had proposed security for [[Crown Prince Fahd]]'s palace, and that Indio police surveillance in August 1981 observed him with [[Tommy Marson]], [[Vincent Caci Bologna]], [[Anthony Fratianno]] and [[Daniel Magano]]. Zokosky's timeline placed Nichols in Canada with him from June 22 to June 30, 1981, which [[John Belton]] said had been arranged as an alibi. Hughes said he had been told in Nichols's presence to take 5,000 dollars as partial payment for the Alvarez killings, and that the tribe's gambling enterprises were fronts for government-sanctioned covert military activity. Riconosciuto said Nichols's office was broken into to retrieve [[Phyllis Riconosciuto]]'s diary with passwords for [[Tyme Shares]], and that Nichols and Zokosky blamed him for the murder of [[Paul Morasca]].[^1]
Michael Riconosciuto described Nichols as a former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent. The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that the joint venture was formalized on April 1, 1981, as "[[Cabazon Arms]]," to manufacture arms and explosives for export under the reservation's sovereign status, with a [[Department of Defense]] secret facility clearance, and that it proposed 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rockets and biological weapons; that Nichols introduced Riconosciuto to Frye, and that Riconosciuto did a railgun exercise for [[Dr. Harry Fair]] at Picatinny; and that the murder solicitation involved five intended victims and drugs and that Nichols served 18 months, his son acting as administrator. Seymour also wrote that he had done business in [[Saudi Arabia]], [[South Africa]], [[Panama]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Brazil]], the [[Netherlands]], [[England]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]] and [[Taiwan]], had managed a Coca-Cola bottling plant in São Paulo in 1960 and led in the Chilean Pentecostal movement, had written himself a ten-year contract with the tribe in 1978 for half the profits of any business he brought in, and had proposed security for [[Crown Prince Fahd]]'s palace, and that Indio police surveillance in August 1981 observed him with [[Tommy Marson]], [[Vincent Caci Bologna]], [[Anthony Fratianno]] and [[Daniel Magano]]. Zokosky's timeline placed Nichols in Canada with him from June 22 to June 30, 1981, which [[John Belton]] said had been arranged as an alibi. Hughes said he had been told in Nichols's presence to take 5,000 dollars as partial payment for the Alvarez killings, and that the tribe's gambling enterprises were fronts for government-sanctioned covert military activity. Riconosciuto said Nichols's office was broken into to retrieve [[Phyllis Riconosciuto]]'s diary with passwords for [[Tyme Shares]], and that Nichols and Zokosky blamed him for the murder of [[Paul Morasca]].[^9]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. The CIA claim is not supported by his FBI file. The venture's name and date are corrected by the special counsel's report, and the book dates the murders to June 29, 1981. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.,* March 1993, pp. 54-64.
[^3]: Federal Bureau of Investigation. File on John Philip Nichols, FOIPA Request No. 1344360-000, files 183A-LA-1746 and 198D-LA-96, released August 3, 2016. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^4]: "Only On 3: 'Octopus Murder' Suspect Caught On Hidden Camera." KESQ, September 29, 2009, https://kesq.com/news/2009/09/29/only-on-3-octopus-murder-suspect-caught-on-hidden-camera/ ; "Jimmy Hughes Speaks To KESQ After Charges Dropped." KESQ, July 2, 2010. https://kesq.com/news/2010/07/02/jimmy-hughes-speaks-to-kesq-after-charges-dropped/
[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.,* March 1993, pp. 54-64.
[^2]: *Los Angeles Magazine*, September 1983, pp. 126 ff. Reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^3]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), Robert Morehouse, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 417 to 419. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
[^4]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews." Reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), April 17, 1985 ("Court ruling may ...") and 1985 article "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^6]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986, reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^7]: Federal Bureau of Investigation. File on John Philip Nichols, FOIPA Request No. 1344360-000, files 183A-LA-1746 and 198D-LA-96, released August 3, 2016. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
[^8]: "Only On 3: 'Octopus Murder' Suspect Caught On Hidden Camera." KESQ, September 29, 2009, https://kesq.com/news/2009/09/29/only-on-3-octopus-murder-suspect-caught-on-hidden-camera/ ; "Jimmy Hughes Speaks To KESQ After Charges Dropped." KESQ, July 2, 2010. https://kesq.com/news/2010/07/02/jimmy-hughes-speaks-to-kesq-after-charges-dropped/
[^9]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. The CIA claim is not supported by his FBI file. The venture's name and date are corrected by the special counsel's report, and the book dates the murders to June 29, 1981.