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---
category: "Private Organization"
tags:
- Organization
- NewZealand
- Ethanol
- AlternativeFuels
- RCHorsch
- IdentityFraud
alias:
- Chemical Technology Ltd
summary: "South Canterbury company, set up by the Christchurch lawyer John Rutherford, that built a whey-to-ethanol plant at Clandeboye with the American fugitive R.C. Horsch working under a stolen chemist's identity."
start: 1981
end: 2013
location: "Clandeboye, Canterbury, New Zealand"
relations:
- type: director_of
with: "[[Dorothy Verna Rutherford]]"
reverse: true
fn: 3
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Chemical Technology Limited was a [[New Zealand]] company at [[Clandeboye, New Zealand|Clandeboye]], near [[Timaru]] in South [[Canterbury, New Zealand|Canterbury]], set up by the [[Christchurch]] lawyer [[John Rutherford (New Zealand lawyer)|John Rutherford]] to work on byproducts of milk. From about 1980 to 1984 its plant for converting whey into ethanol fuel was built and run by [[R.C. Horsch]], an American fugitive from a [[Philadelphia]] methamphetamine charge who was working under the stolen identity of Dr. Stanley Eugene Stokowski, a [[California]] chemist.[^1][^2]
### Registration
The company, registered as Chemical Technology Ltd, company number 141090, was incorporated on May 26, 1981, with its registered office at Ibis House, 183 Hereford Street, Christchurch. The register lists two directors, John Gordon Rutherford and [[Dorothy Verna Rutherford]], who shared a Christchurch address; neither Horsch nor the name Stokowski appears among its officers. The register records the company as in receivership from its incorporation until December 17, 1984, and then as registered until it was removed from the register in November 2013.[^3]
Whey ethanol was then an established New Zealand industry: the technology for fermenting deproteinated whey into ethyl alcohol was bought from [[Ireland]] by the [[Anchor Ethanol Company]] in the late 1970s and used at plants at [[Tirau]] and [[Reporoa]].[^4]
### Stokowski
Rutherford told *[[The Press]]* in 1984 that he had contacted "Stokowski" "after reading American advertisements about new technology," and that the man was "brilliant and hard working" and "trained unskilled men in skills from welding to more complex tasks." Horsch had obtained the post with a forged [[Stanford University]] transcript in Stokowski's name.[^1][^2] A New Zealand government investigation into his admission to the country found that his papers included a transcript of a university degree, that the [[New Zealand Department of Immigration|Department of Immigration]] had been "under some pressure" from his "proposed employer" to "make an early decision," and that "checks were not made with the [[New Zealand Ministry of Energy|Ministry of Energy]] and other Government departments." The real Stokowski later confirmed that the transcript was his.[^1] The *Philadelphia Daily News* reported at Horsch's sentencing in April 1985 that while on the run he had "helped design and build an ethanol plant for the New Zealand government."[^5]
In March 1984 Horsch returned from a trip to the [[United States]] carrying several passports and on March 17 left New Zealand on another passport, which police believed had been stolen in a burglary at [[Temuka]]. Rumors followed that he was a Soviet or Bulgarian spy or was sought by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. Rutherford told *The Press* that his partner might have had trouble in the United States "perhaps of the scale of being a draft dodger during the [[Vietnam War]]," dismissed the suggestion that he was a spy, and said of the company: "As far as I am concerned, it is business as usual."[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Leask, Anna. "Man linked to multiple missing women in US had fled NZ 40 years ago after posing as scientist," *The New Zealand Herald,* September 23, 2026 (quoting *The Press* of 1984 and the New Zealand immigration investigation report). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/raymond-horsch-man-linked-to-philadelphia-house-of-horrors-lived-near-timaru-under-stolen-name/BVQSWBL3LZDL3GIXFEHHBFY6RY/
[^2]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^3]: New Zealand Companies Office, Companies Register, "Chemical Technology Ltd," company number 141090 (incorporated May 26, 1981; status "In Receivership" May 26, 1981, to December 17, 1984; "Removed," updated November 3, 2013), accessed September 23, 2026. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/141090
[^4]: Hamilton, Ron. "The Manufacture of Ethanol from Whey," ed. Heather Wansbrough, Bioenergy Association of New Zealand, undated. https://www.bioenergy.org.nz/documents/resource/Reports/Manufacture-of-Ethanol-from-Whey-3H.pdf
[^5]: Smith, Jim. "Fugitive's Luck Runs Out With 4-Year Jail Sentence," *Philadelphia Daily News,* April 27, 1985, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/185948055/

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---
category: "Private Organization"
tags:
- Organization
- Philadelphia
- UndergroundFilm
- RCHorsch
alias:
- Cinema 16 (Philadelphia)
- The Roxy (Sansom Street)
summary: "Sixteen-millimeter underground film theater on Sansom Street in Philadelphia, opened by R.C. Horsch in 1969 and closed within weeks by the city for lack of licenses."
start: 1969
location: "2021 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"
relations:
- type: investigated
with: "[[Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections]]"
reverse: true
start: 1969
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Underground Cinema 16 was a 16-millimeter film theater at 2021 [[Sansom Street]] in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]], [[Philadelphia]], opened in mid-October 1969 by [[R.C. Horsch]], then known as Raymond Hoersch, a 26-year-old filmmaker. The *[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]* called it "Philadelphia's first commercial venture into noncommercial underground theater."[^1]
### 1969
The theater occupied premises where the Pocket Playhouse had once "packed them in." Horsch tore out the stage, installed plush blue seats taken from a small preview theater in the city, remodeled the lobby, hung white-framed photographs of his own, and built a projection booth. It opened with an underground double bill, *Lenny Bruce* and *Relativity*, and Horsch said he would draw its films from the [[Film-Makers' Cooperative|Filmmakers Cooperative]] in [[New York City]] and had started the theater in part to finance an 80,000-dollar feature of his own.[^1]
On Wednesday, October 29, 1969, [[Leo Goldstein]], deputy commissioner of the [[Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections]], posted the theater as closed for lack of the required licenses, and police were instructed to keep it empty. Horsch described his failure to obtain the papers as a "simple confusion" over the city's requirements and said the officials at City Hall were "bureaucratic, but helpful." A preview of the [[Vietnam War]] documentary *[[In the Year of the Pig]]* had been scheduled for that night. Horsch said the city would inspect the building the next day; Goldstein said the process could take two weeks.[^1] Horsch later said that he ran the theater on Sansom Street as the Roxy.[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Police to Inspect Building: Cinema 16 Shut Down In License Dispute; Owner Is 'Confused'," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* October 30, 1969, p. 19. https://www.newspapers.com/image/169186622/
[^2]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026, audio. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/

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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Wackenhut Corporation.md
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@ -71,29 +71,29 @@ The retired FBI agent [[William Hinshaw]] told Connolly: "It is known throughout
### Horsch
The [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker [[R.C. Horsch]] said in a recorded interview that after leaving high school in 1961 he worked freelance for Wackenhut, "a security firm staffed by FBI agents," until about 1965. "I bugged telephones and committed burglaries for them," he said. "The burglaries were mostly to install electronics or bug telephones or just things like burglarizing a potential client to demonstrate that their security was not up to par." He said one regular client, introduced as "Mr. Smith," was [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] of the CIA, and described jobs at the [[Fairchild Hiller]] plant in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and in Philadelphia. Horsch was convicted in later years of forgery, counterfeiting, and passport fraud.[^19]
The [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker [[R.C. Horsch]] said in a recorded interview that after leaving high school in 1961 he worked freelance for Wackenhut, "a security firm staffed by FBI agents," until about 1965. "I bugged telephones and committed burglaries for them," he said. "The burglaries were mostly to install electronics or bug telephones or just things like burglarizing a potential client to demonstrate that their security was not up to par." He said one regular client, introduced as "Mr. Smith," was [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] of the CIA, and described jobs at the [[Fairchild Hiller]] plant in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and in Philadelphia. Horsch was convicted in later years of forgery, counterfeiting, and passport fraud.[^19] The CIA memorandum of March 26, 1963, lists Philadelphia among the company's offices.[^3] When the Secret Service arrested Horsch, then Raymond Hoersch, for counterfeiting in December 1974, officials said he described himself as unemployed and said he "hadn't worked for 11 years."[^20] In May 1967 George Wackenhut told the Senate subcommittee of [[Edward V. Long]] under oath: "The Wackenhut Corporation has never tapped a telephone wire, and I'm under oath, sir, so help me God." He said his men had used miniature radio transmitters "infrequently" until the [[Federal Communications Commission]] ruled them illegal the year before.[^21] No document located names a Hoersch or Horsch in connection with the company.
### Schaefer
[[Gerard John Schaefer]], the Martin County deputy convicted of two murders in 1973, worked as a security guard in Florida in 1970, between his dismissal from two teaching posts and his entry into the Wilton Manors police, for Wackenhut by one account and Florida Power & Light by another.[^30]
[[Gerard John Schaefer]], the Martin County deputy convicted of two murders in 1973, worked as a security guard in Florida in 1970, between his dismissal from two teaching posts and his entry into the Wilton Manors police, for Wackenhut by one account and Florida Power & Light by another.[^22]
### Florida, 1967
On January 13, 1967, FBI headquarters instructed its Florida offices to give Kirk's investigators nothing: "The Bureau does not recognize the Wackenhut Corporation as a properly constituted law enforcement agency." The order was repeated by telephone on April 3, after Kirk had seen the attorney general. [[Hank Messick]], the Miami Herald crime reporter whose articles had led to the indictment of two county sheriffs in 1966, and to whom the bureau had itself been passing leads, joined Wackenhut that December and left after six weeks. "I quit the Wackenhut Corp. because I have reluctantly concluded a cruel hoax is being perpetrated upon the people of Florida," he said. He objected that the company kept as a private client Sir [[Stafford Sands]], the former Bahamian minister with gambling interests, while it was supposed to be pursuing [[Meyer Lansky]]. Wackenhut replied: "I do not find it necessary to dignify Mr. Messick's remarks with a reply." In September 1967 the Miami office reported the reaction of an informant inside the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno family]] to press reports that a "contract" had been let on the Dade County state attorney, Richard Gerstein, a tip that "had been 'leaked' to the press by GERSTEIN'S office, which had received the tip from a Wackenhut Detective Agency source." The informant "stated that this was the biggest laugh to hit Miami in some time, in that GERSTEIN was, and still is, 'their' number one connection in the Miami area." He said: "Them guys, including Wackenhut, and all the locals haven't yet come close to us. The only people who have the proper line on us are those in the FBI."[^20] A former Wackenhut detective, [[Norman Casper]], later worked as an informant for the [[Internal Revenue Service]] against the [[Castle Bank and Trust|Castle Bank]] in the [[Bahamas]].[^21]
On January 13, 1967, FBI headquarters instructed its Florida offices to give Kirk's investigators nothing: "The Bureau does not recognize the Wackenhut Corporation as a properly constituted law enforcement agency." The order was repeated by telephone on April 3, after Kirk had seen the attorney general. [[Hank Messick]], the Miami Herald crime reporter whose articles had led to the indictment of two county sheriffs in 1966, and to whom the bureau had itself been passing leads, joined Wackenhut that December and left after six weeks. "I quit the Wackenhut Corp. because I have reluctantly concluded a cruel hoax is being perpetrated upon the people of Florida," he said. He objected that the company kept as a private client Sir [[Stafford Sands]], the former Bahamian minister with gambling interests, while it was supposed to be pursuing [[Meyer Lansky]]. Wackenhut replied: "I do not find it necessary to dignify Mr. Messick's remarks with a reply." In September 1967 the Miami office reported the reaction of an informant inside the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno family]] to press reports that a "contract" had been let on the Dade County state attorney, Richard Gerstein, a tip that "had been 'leaked' to the press by GERSTEIN'S office, which had received the tip from a Wackenhut Detective Agency source." The informant "stated that this was the biggest laugh to hit Miami in some time, in that GERSTEIN was, and still is, 'their' number one connection in the Miami area." He said: "Them guys, including Wackenhut, and all the locals haven't yet come close to us. The only people who have the proper line on us are those in the FBI."[^23] A former Wackenhut detective, [[Norman Casper]], later worked as an informant for the [[Internal Revenue Service]] against the [[Castle Bank and Trust|Castle Bank]] in the [[Bahamas]].[^24]
In the course of Governor Kirk's campaign Wackenhut told the legislature that "overlord of the whole state's criminal syndicates" was [[Santos Trafficante, Jr.|Santo Trafficante]], "longtime [[Trafficante crime family|Tampa Mafia]] boss, now living in Miami." The clippings are in the FBI's Miami file on the company. Trafficante's casino manager in [[Havana]], [[Lewis McWillie]], had been visited there in 1959 by his friend [[Jack Ruby]], and a CIA memorandum in the [[Warren Commission]]'s files reported that Trafficante, while held by [[Fidel Castro]]'s government that year, was "frequently visited" by "an American gangster" named "Ruby." McWillie told the House committee in 1978 that he had twice visited the detention camp and seen Trafficante there, and was not clear whether Ruby had gone with him. The FBI's four files on the company contain no reference to Ruby, to McWillie, or to a Wackenhut office in [[Texas]] before 1968.[^21][^22][^23]
In the course of Governor Kirk's campaign Wackenhut told the legislature that "overlord of the whole state's criminal syndicates" was [[Santos Trafficante, Jr.|Santo Trafficante]], "longtime [[Trafficante crime family|Tampa Mafia]] boss, now living in Miami." The clippings are in the FBI's Miami file on the company. Trafficante's casino manager in [[Havana]], [[Lewis McWillie]], had been visited there in 1959 by his friend [[Jack Ruby]], and a CIA memorandum in the [[Warren Commission]]'s files reported that Trafficante, while held by [[Fidel Castro]]'s government that year, was "frequently visited" by "an American gangster" named "Ruby." McWillie told the House committee in 1978 that he had twice visited the detention camp and seen Trafficante there, and was not clear whether Ruby had gone with him. The FBI's four files on the company contain no reference to Ruby, to McWillie, or to a Wackenhut office in [[Texas]] before 1968.[^24][^25][^26]
### The Assassinations Committee
The security file reached the public through the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]]. On January 6, 1978, the committee's chief counsel, [[G. Robert Blakey]], sent the CIA a request for 38 files. Item 18 was E. Howard Hunt. Item 19 was "[[Jim Garrison]] aka Wackenhut Corp.," item 28 "Garrison 1967 investigation," and item 36 "Southern Research Corp." The [[National Photographic Interpretation Center]] answered on January 30 that it had "no documented information or files on the [[Southern Research Company|Southern Research Corporation]], presently known as the Wackenhut Corporation." The [[CIA Office of Logistics|Office of Logistics]] found under item 36 contract actions with Wackenhut for 1970 to 1975 in the management information system of the Directorate of Science and Technology. [[Bruce Solie]] of the [[CIA Office of Security|Office of Security]] certified on July 18, 1978, that committee staff had reviewed the Wackenhut file "in conjunction with the HSCA's investigation into the deaths of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." His memorandum adds: "Under procedures established with the HSCA, certain items of information were not reviewed by HSCA staff members. These items were placed in envelopes, sealed, appropriately identified, and put back into the security file prior to HSCA review." Material the staff did see was marked "with a green circular dot."[^24]
The security file reached the public through the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]]. On January 6, 1978, the committee's chief counsel, [[G. Robert Blakey]], sent the CIA a request for 38 files. Item 18 was E. Howard Hunt. Item 19 was "[[Jim Garrison]] aka Wackenhut Corp.," item 28 "Garrison 1967 investigation," and item 36 "Southern Research Corp." The [[National Photographic Interpretation Center]] answered on January 30 that it had "no documented information or files on the [[Southern Research Company|Southern Research Corporation]], presently known as the Wackenhut Corporation." The [[CIA Office of Logistics|Office of Logistics]] found under item 36 contract actions with Wackenhut for 1970 to 1975 in the management information system of the Directorate of Science and Technology. [[Bruce Solie]] of the [[CIA Office of Security|Office of Security]] certified on July 18, 1978, that committee staff had reviewed the Wackenhut file "in conjunction with the HSCA's investigation into the deaths of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." His memorandum adds: "Under procedures established with the HSCA, certain items of information were not reviewed by HSCA staff members. These items were placed in envelopes, sealed, appropriately identified, and put back into the security file prior to HSCA review." Material the staff did see was marked "with a green circular dot."[^27]
The pairing of the names goes back to [[New Orleans]]. The lawyers who defended [[Clay Shaw]] against District Attorney Garrison's conspiracy charge, [[Edward Wegmann]] and his brother William, engaged two firms of former federal agents, Wackenhut and [[Holloway Associates]] of Texas. Edward Wegmann's files, given to the [[Assassination Records Review Board]] by his daughter in 1995, show Wackenhut men reporting to the defense with the WDSU television reporter [[Rick Townley]] on April 19, 1967, and interviewing the Cuban exile [[Carlos Bringuier]] on May 9. The researcher who first went through the files wrote that Wackenhut "was the same company that did the reports for [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern Airlines]] in the dismissal proceedings against [[David Ferrie]]. The firm was then called Southern Research." The company's own histories do not mention the name, and the phrase "presently known as" first appears in Blakey's letter. [[Louisiana]]'s corporate register shows a Southern Research Company, Inc., chartered in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] on December 2, 1958, which absorbed a polygraph firm, [[Truth Verification of Louisiana]], in 1973 and is still in business, with sister companies in [[Baton Rouge]] and [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]]. Its New Orleans company, Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc., was chartered on September 5, 1963. It filed notice of dissolution on October 5, 1967, and was dissolved on December 13. The Wackenhut Corporation had qualified to do business in Louisiana on May 3, 1965. Shaw was arrested on March 1, 1967. The CIA rescinded George Wackenhut's security approval the following month.[^25]
The pairing of the names goes back to [[New Orleans]]. The lawyers who defended [[Clay Shaw]] against District Attorney Garrison's conspiracy charge, [[Edward Wegmann]] and his brother William, engaged two firms of former federal agents, Wackenhut and [[Holloway Associates]] of Texas. Edward Wegmann's files, given to the [[Assassination Records Review Board]] by his daughter in 1995, show Wackenhut men reporting to the defense with the WDSU television reporter [[Rick Townley]] on April 19, 1967, and interviewing the Cuban exile [[Carlos Bringuier]] on May 9. The researcher who first went through the files wrote that Wackenhut "was the same company that did the reports for [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern Airlines]] in the dismissal proceedings against [[David Ferrie]]. The firm was then called Southern Research." The company's own histories do not mention the name, and the phrase "presently known as" first appears in Blakey's letter. [[Louisiana]]'s corporate register shows a Southern Research Company, Inc., chartered in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] on December 2, 1958, which absorbed a polygraph firm, [[Truth Verification of Louisiana]], in 1973 and is still in business, with sister companies in [[Baton Rouge]] and [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]]. Its New Orleans company, Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc., was chartered on September 5, 1963. It filed notice of dissolution on October 5, 1967, and was dissolved on December 13. The Wackenhut Corporation had qualified to do business in Louisiana on May 3, 1965. Shaw was arrested on March 1, 1967. The CIA rescinded George Wackenhut's security approval the following month.[^28]
The New Orleans office of Southern Research was run by [[Joseph Oster]], a former city police detective who had worked for [[Guy Banister]]. A credit report of July 1960 in a CIA security file describes him as vice president of "Southern Research, Inc., whose home office is in Shreveport," a firm of ten or twelve employees, and as having come to it from "[[Guy Banister Associates|Guy B------ Associates]], Inc." Oster told a lawyer for the Assassination Records Review Board in January 1996 that he had left Banister "because Banister was getting more involved in controversial political causes, to the detriment of attracting paying clients," that he had investigated Ferrie for Eastern Air Lines in 1962 and 1963, and that he had gone with the district attorney's men to Ferrie's house on the night of the assassination. He left the firm in the middle 1960s. The president of the Shreveport company, [[Thomas Ostendorff]], gave the board its file on Ferrie, number 11-N-224. Wegmann's records, the board wrote, "indicate that the Shaw defense team had retained Southern Research Company as of mid-1967," a witness before the [[Orleans Parish]] grand jury was asked in January 1969 whether he had been "interviewed by Southern Research or any investigating firm that is doing Shaw's investigation," and a file on [[Gordon Novel]] records that Southern Research interviewed his lawyer, [[Steven Plotkin]], on April 7, 1967. "Mr. Oster stated that neither he nor Southern Research had worked for the Clay Shaw defense team." The board's lawyer noted "the conflicting accounts we have found."[^26]
The New Orleans office of Southern Research was run by [[Joseph Oster]], a former city police detective who had worked for [[Guy Banister]]. A credit report of July 1960 in a CIA security file describes him as vice president of "Southern Research, Inc., whose home office is in Shreveport," a firm of ten or twelve employees, and as having come to it from "[[Guy Banister Associates|Guy B------ Associates]], Inc." Oster told a lawyer for the Assassination Records Review Board in January 1996 that he had left Banister "because Banister was getting more involved in controversial political causes, to the detriment of attracting paying clients," that he had investigated Ferrie for Eastern Air Lines in 1962 and 1963, and that he had gone with the district attorney's men to Ferrie's house on the night of the assassination. He left the firm in the middle 1960s. The president of the Shreveport company, [[Thomas Ostendorff]], gave the board its file on Ferrie, number 11-N-224. Wegmann's records, the board wrote, "indicate that the Shaw defense team had retained Southern Research Company as of mid-1967," a witness before the [[Orleans Parish]] grand jury was asked in January 1969 whether he had been "interviewed by Southern Research or any investigating firm that is doing Shaw's investigation," and a file on [[Gordon Novel]] records that Southern Research interviewed his lawyer, [[Steven Plotkin]], on April 7, 1967. "Mr. Oster stated that neither he nor Southern Research had worked for the Clay Shaw defense team." The board's lawyer noted "the conflicting accounts we have found."[^29]
On April 14, 1967, the FBI's [[FBI Domestic Intelligence Division|Domestic Intelligence Division]] recorded that [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Ramsey Clark]] had told reporters the bureau had investigated Shaw and cleared him. "This is not true and we so informed the Attorney General." The New Orleans office, it went on, had told "[[Charles R. Carson (Wackenhut)|Charles R. Carson]], a Wackenhut Corporation investigator, and [[Dean Andrews]]" only that it had no comment, and the bureau "has no intention of telling these or any other individuals that the Attorney General's statement is incorrect." A witness told the review board at a public hearing that the former FBI employee [[William Walter]] had said to Garrison in 1973 "that the FBI through Wackenhut, the [[Metropolitan Crime Commission]] and [[Aaron Kohn]], had wire tapped his office." On May 3, 1967, [[George Walker (Wackenhut)|George Walker]] of the company's Coral Gables headquarters gave the FBI in Miami a letter from a man who said that before the assassination a Cuban in his boarding house, known as "Cash," had remarked that to kill Kennedy one had only to excite a Cuban with a high-powered rifle.[^27]
On April 14, 1967, the FBI's [[FBI Domestic Intelligence Division|Domestic Intelligence Division]] recorded that [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Ramsey Clark]] had told reporters the bureau had investigated Shaw and cleared him. "This is not true and we so informed the Attorney General." The New Orleans office, it went on, had told "[[Charles R. Carson (Wackenhut)|Charles R. Carson]], a Wackenhut Corporation investigator, and [[Dean Andrews]]" only that it had no comment, and the bureau "has no intention of telling these or any other individuals that the Attorney General's statement is incorrect." A witness told the review board at a public hearing that the former FBI employee [[William Walter]] had said to Garrison in 1973 "that the FBI through Wackenhut, the [[Metropolitan Crime Commission]] and [[Aaron Kohn]], had wire tapped his office." On May 3, 1967, [[George Walker (Wackenhut)|George Walker]] of the company's Coral Gables headquarters gave the FBI in Miami a letter from a man who said that before the assassination a Cuban in his boarding house, known as "Cash," had remarked that to kill Kennedy one had only to excite a Cuban with a high-powered rifle.[^30]
In November 1967 [[William Harvey]], the former head of the CIA's [[Task Force W]], who was planning a law practice, asked the FBI's liaison officer, [[Sam Papich]], about "reputable private investigators that might be willing to use Harvey's services to establish contacts and investigative coverage on the Continent." The CIA's director of security, [[Howard Osborn]], recorded the answer: "Mr. Papich suggested Wackenhut Corporation or the [[Fidelifax|Fidelifax Company]] as having a good reputation in the trade." The same memorandum reports two telephone calls in October from [[Johnny Roselli|John Roselli]] asking Harvey to act as his lawyer.[^28]
In November 1967 [[William Harvey]], the former head of the CIA's [[Task Force W]], who was planning a law practice, asked the FBI's liaison officer, [[Sam Papich]], about "reputable private investigators that might be willing to use Harvey's services to establish contacts and investigative coverage on the Continent." The CIA's director of security, [[Howard Osborn]], recorded the answer: "Mr. Papich suggested Wackenhut Corporation or the [[Fidelifax|Fidelifax Company]] as having a good reputation in the trade." The same memorandum reports two telephone calls in October from [[Johnny Roselli|John Roselli]] asking Harvey to act as his lawyer.[^31]
### Controversies and Allegations
@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ A particularly controversial aspect of Wackenhut's operations was its joint vent
Within the Cabazon Joint Venture, Michael Riconosciuto claimed to have modified the proprietary [[PROMIS]] computer software. This modification, allegedly spearheaded by [[Earl Brian]] and made available through [[Peter Videnieks]] of the [[Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], was intended to facilitate the worldwide implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed his work on the software, including specific modifications for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]]. This alleged pirating and modification of the PROMIS software became a central component of the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]].[^1]
It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^29]
It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^32]
### Danny Casolaro Investigation
@ -156,14 +156,16 @@ The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984, following
[^17]: Connolly, John. "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy,* September 1992, pp. 46-54.
[^18]: Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University, finding aid to the Church League of America Collection of the Research Files of Counterattack, the Wackenhut Corporation, and Karl Baarslag, TAM 148. https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/tam_148/
[^19]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 1: Youth," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 171, September 13, 2026, audio at 18:34 to 22:49. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/13/ray-horsch-2/
[^20]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami office to Director, September 15, 1967, file 92-6054, pp. 3-4, JFK record 124-10293-10312.
[^21]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, airtel to SAC Jacksonville, January 13, 1967, and memorandum recording the instruction of April 3, 1967, headquarters file on the Wackenhut Corporation; "Wackenhut Aide Quits; 'Cruel Hoax,'" *The Tampa Tribune,* February 17, 1967, and *St. Petersburg Times* clipping, Tampa file. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation ; Hougan, Jim. *Spooks*. William Morrow, 1978; House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* vol. 9, pp. 802-805, and testimony of Lewis McWillie, vol. 5.
[^22]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami file 80-1229, "The Wackenhut Corporation," with clipping "Wackenhut Is 'Shocked' At Crime's Extent In State," Times-Miami Herald Service, 1967. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation
[^23]: Hougan, Jim. *Spooks: The Haunting of America: The Private Use of Secret Agents*. William Morrow, 1978, pp. 345-346, citing Warren Commission Document 206 and Commission Exhibit 1697.
[^24]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, "HSCA Chrono for 1977-1978 of Reports and Requests," CIA Reading Room document 00548292; Office of Legislative Counsel, HSCA request OLC 78-0070/1, January 12, 1978, with National Photographic Interpretation Center memorandum of January 30, 1978, document 00491180; McDonald, James H., Director of Logistics, memorandum on item 36, JFK record 104-10135-10200; Solie, Bruce L. "Wackenhut Corp.," memorandum for the record, July 18, 1978, JFK record 104-10130-10450.
[^25]: DiEugenio, James. "The Wegmann Files," *Probe,* vol. 4, no. 4, May-June 1997, pp. 8-9, in the Harold Weisberg Collection, Hood College; Central Intelligence Agency, "Names Traces on OLC Requests," February 6, 1978, CIA Reading Room document 00419231, listing item 36 as "Southern Research Corp (Wachenhut Corp)." Louisiana Secretary of State, business filings, charters 24407110D (Southern Research Company, Inc.), 26310590D (Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc.), and 27005970F (The Wackenhut Corporation), consulted September 21, 2026.
[^26]: Golrick, Philip D. Memorandum to David G. Marwell, "Phone Conversation with Joseph Oster," January 19, 1996, and letters and subpoena to Southern Research Company, Assassination Records Review Board electronic files of Philip G. Golrick (OSTER.WPD, SOURES.WPD); Central Intelligence Agency, report of investigation, September 13, 1960, JFK record 104-10109-10379, p. 14; Orleans Parish Grand Jury, testimony of Arthur Bidderson, January 9, 1969; Assassination Records Review Board, file inventory (082395.WPD). All consulted at the Mary Ferrell Foundation archive.
[^27]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Domestic Intelligence Division, informative note, April 14, 1967, JFK record 124-10369-10048; Assassination Records Review Board, public hearing transcript, testimony of James DiEugenio, p. 89; FBI Miami, memorandum of May 10, 1967, headquarters file 62-109060, section 129, p. 166.
[^28]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076.
[^29]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.
[^30]: Lane, Brian. "Gerard Schaefer," *Real-Life Crimes,* Eaglemoss, 1992-93, p. 162, as cited in later accounts and not examined; the Crime Library profile gives "Florida Light and Power." No account describes his duties or names who hired him. See [[Gerard John Schaefer]].
[^20]: "[...] bogus $180,000 in Bucks raid," *The Morning Call* (Allentown), December 11, 1974, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/275702319/
[^21]: [New York Times report of George R. Wackenhut's testimony, dateline Washington, May 18, 1967], clipping preserved in Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Wackenhut Corporation," headquarters file, section 2. https://archive.org/stream/WackenhutCorporation/Wackenhut%20Corp.-HQ-2_djvu.txt
[^22]: Lane, Brian. "Gerard Schaefer," *Real-Life Crimes,* Eaglemoss, 1992-93, p. 162, as cited in later accounts and not examined; the Crime Library profile gives "Florida Light and Power." No account describes his duties or names who hired him. See [[Gerard John Schaefer]].
[^23]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami office to Director, September 15, 1967, file 92-6054, pp. 3-4, JFK record 124-10293-10312.
[^24]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, airtel to SAC Jacksonville, January 13, 1967, and memorandum recording the instruction of April 3, 1967, headquarters file on the Wackenhut Corporation; "Wackenhut Aide Quits; 'Cruel Hoax,'" *The Tampa Tribune,* February 17, 1967, and *St. Petersburg Times* clipping, Tampa file. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation ; Hougan, Jim. *Spooks*. William Morrow, 1978; House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* vol. 9, pp. 802-805, and testimony of Lewis McWillie, vol. 5.
[^25]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami file 80-1229, "The Wackenhut Corporation," with clipping "Wackenhut Is 'Shocked' At Crime's Extent In State," Times-Miami Herald Service, 1967. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation
[^26]: Hougan, Jim. *Spooks: The Haunting of America: The Private Use of Secret Agents*. William Morrow, 1978, pp. 345-346, citing Warren Commission Document 206 and Commission Exhibit 1697.
[^27]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, "HSCA Chrono for 1977-1978 of Reports and Requests," CIA Reading Room document 00548292; Office of Legislative Counsel, HSCA request OLC 78-0070/1, January 12, 1978, with National Photographic Interpretation Center memorandum of January 30, 1978, document 00491180; McDonald, James H., Director of Logistics, memorandum on item 36, JFK record 104-10135-10200; Solie, Bruce L. "Wackenhut Corp.," memorandum for the record, July 18, 1978, JFK record 104-10130-10450.
[^28]: DiEugenio, James. "The Wegmann Files," *Probe,* vol. 4, no. 4, May-June 1997, pp. 8-9, in the Harold Weisberg Collection, Hood College; Central Intelligence Agency, "Names Traces on OLC Requests," February 6, 1978, CIA Reading Room document 00419231, listing item 36 as "Southern Research Corp (Wachenhut Corp)." Louisiana Secretary of State, business filings, charters 24407110D (Southern Research Company, Inc.), 26310590D (Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc.), and 27005970F (The Wackenhut Corporation), consulted September 21, 2026.
[^29]: Golrick, Philip D. Memorandum to David G. Marwell, "Phone Conversation with Joseph Oster," January 19, 1996, and letters and subpoena to Southern Research Company, Assassination Records Review Board electronic files of Philip G. Golrick (OSTER.WPD, SOURES.WPD); Central Intelligence Agency, report of investigation, September 13, 1960, JFK record 104-10109-10379, p. 14; Orleans Parish Grand Jury, testimony of Arthur Bidderson, January 9, 1969; Assassination Records Review Board, file inventory (082395.WPD). All consulted at the Mary Ferrell Foundation archive.
[^30]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Domestic Intelligence Division, informative note, April 14, 1967, JFK record 124-10369-10048; Assassination Records Review Board, public hearing transcript, testimony of James DiEugenio, p. 89; FBI Miami, memorandum of May 10, 1967, headquarters file 62-109060, section 129, p. 166.
[^31]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076.
[^32]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.