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@ -9,15 +9,22 @@ summary: "Iranian exile involved in secret arms sales and hostage negotiations d
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born: 1938-12-27
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died: 1986-07-21
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location: "Iran"
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updated: 2026-10-14
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---
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[[Cyrus Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]] who claimed connections to [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini's]] son, [[Ahmed Khomeini]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the [[United States|American]] hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
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[[Cyrus Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]] who claimed connections to [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini's]] son, [[Ahmed Khomeini]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the American hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
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[[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi]] and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to [[Iran]], supposedly to gain goodwill for hostage release. He was later indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to [[Iran]], but escaped the [[United States|U.S.]] before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] against the [[Iran|Iranian]] exile community.[^1]
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Hashemi and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to Iran, supposedly to gain goodwill for hostage release. He was later indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to Iran, but escaped the U.S. before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] against the Iranian exile community.[^1]
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[[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi]] was used by [[Oliver North]] and [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence arms sales to [[Iran]]. He was to act as bait, claiming to have $1 billion of [[Iran|Iranian]] money to spend on weapons. He allowed his phone to be tapped and himself to be wired for this operation.[^1]
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The report of the congressional Iran-Contra committees records that in May 1984 federal criminal charges were filed against Cyrus Hashemi and his brothers [[Reza Hashemi|Reza]] and [[Jamshid Hashemi|Jamshid]], among others, for alleged arms export control violations; that Hashemi arranged with the U.S. Customs Service to run a sting operation resulting in the April 22, 1986 indictment of 17 individuals in the Southern District of New York on charges of an illegal scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in American-made weapons to Iran; and that until his death in July 1986 he was to be the primary prosecution witness.[^2] The Second Circuit wrote that the arms in that case were destined for Hashemi, "a government agent pretending to be an Iranian buyer," and that the original indictment was returned in May 1986.[^3] Judge [[Leonard B. Sand]] wrote in 1987 that none of the arms deals charged was consummated and that Hashemi's negotiations with the defendants were tape recorded.[^4]
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[[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi]] was found dead in his [[London]] apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia. However, [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence suspected foul play, noting the presence of [[Joe King]], a [[U.S. Customs|Customs]] officer, at his apartment shortly before his death and needle punctures on his elbow joint. Tapes of his phone calls to the [[United States|U.S.]] Attorney's office indicated a falling out with his controllers.[^1]
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Hashemi was used by [[Oliver North]] and U.S. Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence arms sales to Iran. He was to act as bait, claiming to have $1 billion of Iranian money to spend on weapons. He allowed his phone to be tapped and himself to be wired for this operation.[^1]
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Hashemi was found dead in his [[London]] apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia. However, Israeli intelligence suspected foul play, noting the presence of [[Joe King]], a Customs officer, at his apartment shortly before his death and needle punctures on his elbow joint. Tapes of his phone calls to the U.S. Attorney's office indicated a falling out with his controllers.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
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[^2]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216 (Nov. 1987), ch. 9, note 13, p. 171. https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress87unit
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[^3]: United States v. Evans, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/
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[^4]: United States v. Evans, 667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D.N.Y. 1987). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2158497/united-states-v-evans/
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117
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/David Dominguez Hooper.md
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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/David Dominguez Hooper.md
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@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
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---
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aliases:
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- David Hooper
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- David Dominguez Hooper
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category: "Technologists"
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tags:
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- Person
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- Technologist
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- Founder
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- UAP
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- PassiveRadar
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- CounterUAS
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- Eldaeon
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summary: "Electrical engineer and founder of ELDAEON INC., a California company building passive radar and multisensor hardware for UAP detection, who earlier founded a student drone club at the University of California, Berkeley."
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location: "California"
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created: 2026-10-14
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updated: 2026-10-14
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[ELDAEON]]"
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start: 2025-06-11
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role: "founder and principal architect, per the speaker biography of the 2026 UAP Detection and Tracking Summit; founder and CEO per the Deep Tech Week SF 2025 listing"
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fn: 3
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[ELDAEON]]"
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start: 2025-06-11
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role: "chief executive officer, per the Statement of Information of June 4, 2026 and registry officer data"
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fn: 8
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- type: director_of
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with: "[[ELDAEON]]"
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start: 2025-06-11
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role: "sole director, per the Statement of Information of June 4, 2026"
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fn: 7
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[CRADIN LLC]]"
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start: 2019-11-08
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role: "chief executive officer and manager, and agent for service of process, per California registry officer data for entity 201931710371"
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fn: 9
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- type: founded
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with: "[[UAVs @ Berkeley]]"
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role: "first hatched the plan for the club after finding abandoned research drones in a campus engineering lab in the fall before a December 2016 profile"
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fn: 4
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Fat Shark]]"
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role: "technical role on autonomous drone control systems, per the summit speaker biography"
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fn: 3
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Velodyne LiDAR]]"
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role: "FPGA firmware engineer, per the summit speaker biography"
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fn: 3
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- type: participant_in
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with: "[[Sol Foundation]]"
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role: "leads the Distributed Passive Radar Project, per the foundation's project page captured August 26, 2026"
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fn: 17
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---
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David Dominguez Hooper is an electrical engineer and the founder and chief executive of [[ELDAEON]], a California stock corporation filed on June 11, 2025 to design sensor systems for the detection of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and small drones.[^1][^2] The speaker biography for the 2026 [[UAP Detection and Tracking Summit]] states that he founded a UAV research organization at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and held technical roles at [[Fat Shark]] and [[Velodyne LiDAR]].[^3]
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### Education and UAVs at Berkeley
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Hooper studied electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS) at UC Berkeley. A profile by [[Daniel McGlynn]] published by [[Berkeley Engineering]] on December 9, 2016 describes him as "a senior in electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS)" who first got his hands on a commercial drone in high school, and it recounts his "foray into drone-hacking."[^4]
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Hooper first hatched the plan for the student organization [[UAVs @ Berkeley]] after finding a locker of abandoned research drones in a campus engineering lab. "No one was using them," he said, and with permission he set about refurbishing them. He contacted [[3D Robotics]], whose outreach staff, in his words, "helped us out with hardware and tools." By the time of the December 2016 profile the club had over 50 members.[^4]
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The club was grounded on campus for several months after the [[University of California Police Department]] said that UAVs were not allowed on campus. Its faculty adviser, [[Raja Sengupta]], helped the club make its case to the university administration.[^4]
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A September 14, 2017 item from the [[Institute of Transportation Studies]] at Berkeley reports a community of over 100 students, faculty and research partners, says the club was helping to draft University of California drone policies, and names Hooper among five student pilots sent to the first [[Collegiate Drone Racing National Championship]], scheduled for April 15 at [[Purdue University]].[^5]
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### Industry experience
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The summit speaker biography states that he is a classically trained engineer with a bachelor's degree in EECS from UC Berkeley and "an active real estate investor and developer with experience overseeing residential construction projects." According to the biography he held technical roles at Fat Shark, where he "worked on autonomous drone control systems," and at Velodyne LiDAR, where he "served as an FPGA firmware engineer contributing to advanced LiDAR technologies for autonomous vehicles."[^3] A [[Deep Tech Week]] SF 2025 speaker listing gives his background as computer science, electrical engineering, reverse engineering and LiDAR systems, and describes ELDAEON's platforms as integrating multispectral sensing, time dilation measurement and "quantum-scale anomalies."[^6]
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### ELDAEON and CRADIN LLC
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A Statement of Information for ELDAEON dated June 4, 2026 lists Hooper as chief executive officer, chief financial officer, secretary and sole director.[^7] California registry officer data dates his positions at the company as agent, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, secretary and director from June 11, 2025.[^8]
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Hooper is also the agent for service of process of [[CRADIN LLC]], a California limited liability company, entity number 201931710371, listed as active. The California registry officer data lists him as manager and chief executive officer of CRADIN, with the positions dated from November 8, 2019.[^8][^9]
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### Amateur radio and online profile
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His X profile describes him as the founder and chief executive of ELDAEON, formerly of electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley, the founder of UAVs at Berkeley, a real estate investor, a "Tech Hacker / Reverse Engineer," and the holder of amateur radio call sign KM6JLE.[^10] The call sign is a Technician-class license (valid through March 22, 2027) with a grant date of March 22, 2017.[^11]
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### UAP detection work
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On June 15, 2024, a year before ELDAEON was filed, Hooper posted that he had "presented our UAP detector to [[Eric Davis]]," and that during the demonstration he had shown its capability to detect "the potential blue-shifting effect on EM waves, a phenomenon theorized by [[Hal Puthoff]]" in his spacetime metric engineering paper.[^12]
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Recorded interviews and talks in which he describes the company's detection hardware include a podcast episode posted by [[The Elephant In The Room 411 Podcast]] on February 15, 2025,[^13] a video titled "UAP Detection & Tracking" posted by [[Alt Propulsion]] on April 22, 2025,[^14] a [[Tangent]] video posted on July 12, 2025 on "The Tech, Spirituality & Psionic Potential,"[^15] and a video by [[The Colorado X-Files]] posted on October 3, 2026 under the title "Can This $500 Device Detect UFOs?"[^16] His Deep Tech Week SF 2025 listing gives the company's sector as UAP technology and aerospace defense.[^6]
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The summit biography states that he "designed and built ELDÆON's detection platform from the ground up, integrating passive radar, thermal imaging, magnetometry, atomic clock timing, biometrics, and edge computing into a synchronized architecture for real-time UAP characterization."[^3] On February 8, 2026 he appeared in Session 13 of the 2026 summit, titled "Current Capabilities in UAP Detection and Tracking, Part 2," with three other speakers.[^3]
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### Distributed passive radar
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The [[Sol Foundation]] project page for its Distributed Passive Radar Project names Hooper as the project's leader. The page describes a program to evaluate, deploy and analyze a distributed network of "low-cost passive radar systems," with two stated objectives: detecting non-cooperative aerial threats near commercial airports, and collecting "instrumentally verified scientific data on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)." It describes ELDAEON's NEMESIS passive radar platform, "a $500 bistatic receiver based on commodity hardware and open-source signal processing software," as the basis of a citizen-operated network "modeled on the [[FlightRadar24]] ADS-B receiver community."[^17]
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### Company statements
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In an October 6, 2026 interview with [[CB Insights]], Hooper described the company's business as "low-cost sensing for the airspace below a few thousand feet," sold into two segments, counter-UAS and UAP detection. He described the second segment as "multi-sensor characterization of aerial objects that don't resolve to known aircraft," and said of the two: "Same physics, same hardware stack, two buyers." He said: "If we're wrong about the anomalous side, we built a good counter-UAS company at a price nobody can match."[^18]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: California Secretary of State, ELDAEON INC., entity B20250161991, Articles of Incorporation (initial filing), June 11, 2025. https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business
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[^2]: OpenCorporates, "ELDAEON INC.," company B20250161991, viewed October 14, 2026. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/B20250161991
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[^3]: UAP Detection and Tracking Summit, "David Dominguez Hooper," speaker page (2026 summit, Session 13, February 8, 2026), viewed October 14, 2026. https://uapsummit.org/speaker/david-dominguez-hooper/
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[^4]: Daniel McGlynn, "Collegial airspace," Berkeley Engineering, December 9, 2016. https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2016/12/collegial-airspace/ (archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/2017/https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2016/12/collegial-airspace/)
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[^5]: Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley, "UAVs @ Berkeley Take Flight," September 14, 2017. https://its.berkeley.edu/node/12842
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[^6]: Deep Tech Week, "David Hooper," speaker page, Deep Tech Week SF 2025, viewed October 14, 2026. https://www.deep-tech-week.com/speakers/david-hooper
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[^7]: California Secretary of State, ELDAEON INC., Statement of Information, control ID BA20261195122, June 4, 2026.
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[^8]: OpenCorporates, "David Dominguez Hooper," officer search results reproducing California registry data (ELDAEON INC., B20250161991, from June 11, 2025; CRADIN LLC, 201931710371, from November 8, 2019), viewed October 14, 2026. https://opencorporates.com/officers?q=David+Dominguez+Hooper
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[^9]: OpenCorporates, "CRADIN LLC," California limited liability company 201931710371, status active, agent David Dominguez Hooper, viewed October 14, 2026. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/201931710371
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[^10]: David Hooper (@davidhooperr), X profile, viewed October 14, 2026. https://x.com/davidhooperr
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[^11]: callook.info, license record for call sign KM6JLE (license class and grant date), viewed October 14, 2026. https://callook.info/KM6JLE/json
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[^12]: David Hooper (@davidhooperr), post, June 15, 2024. https://x.com/davidhooperr/status/1802138370790809628
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[^13]: "Elephant In The Room: 2025 EP 3," The Elephant In The Room 411 Podcast, YouTube, February 15, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpdnwATv2c
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[^14]: "UAP Detection & Tracking | David Hooper," Alt Propulsion, YouTube, April 22, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYb3G9jzpCA
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[^15]: "Building Detection tech for UAPs: The Tech, Spirituality & Psionic Potential | David Hooper," Tangent, YouTube, July 12, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mEV7HjwqBA
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[^16]: "Can This $500 Device Detect UFOs? | Passive Radar Explained. ELDÆON's David Hooper," The Colorado X-Files, YouTube, October 3, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwmWomK_bzc
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[^17]: The Sol Foundation, "Distributed Passive Radar Project," project page (archived copy captured August 26, 2026). https://web.archive.org/web/20260826160852/https://thesolfoundation.org/distributed-passive-radar-project/
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[^18]: CB Insights, "CEO Interview: Eldaeon," October 6, 2026. https://www.cbinsights.com/research/ceo-interview-eldaeon/
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@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ The report also describes an almanac for popular sale in the northern cities, fo
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### Diem and the Pentagon, 1955 to 1961
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Lansdale went to the office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington in 1957 as deputy assistant secretary for special operations, served on the staff of the President's Committee on Military Assistance (the Draper Committee) in 1959, and received a temporary promotion to brigadier general in 1960.[^2] In 1961 he held special operations posts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A letter of January 30, 1961 styles him the deputy assistant for special operations, and a memorandum of June 26, 1961 styles him the assistant for special operations.[^21][^22] The Defense Department's Vietnam study identifies him as Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale of the [[Office of Special Operations]] in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, abbreviated OSO/OSD.[^23]
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Lansdale went to the office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington in 1957 as deputy assistant secretary for special operations, served on the staff of the President's Committee on Military Assistance (the [[Draper Committee]]) in 1959, and received a temporary promotion to brigadier general in 1960.[^2] In 1961 he held special operations posts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A letter of January 30, 1961 styles him the deputy assistant for special operations, and a memorandum of June 26, 1961 styles him the assistant for special operations.[^21][^22] The Defense Department's Vietnam study identifies him as Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale of the [[Office of Special Operations]] in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, abbreviated OSO/OSD.[^23]
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Lansdale's January 1961 report on Vietnam, submitted after a visit to Saigon, argued that the United States had to keep supporting Diem, and the Defense Department study notes that memoirs by [[Arthur Schlesinger Jr.|Arthur Schlesinger]] and [[Roger Hilsman]] describe the report as shocking the president about conditions in Vietnam.[^23] A letter Lansdale wrote to Diem on January 30, 1961 is in the Lansdale Papers at the [[Hoover Institution]].[^21]
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- Jorge Morales
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- George Morales
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-10-08
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updated: 2026-10-15
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category: "Organized Crime"
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tags:
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- Person
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@ -22,9 +22,11 @@ George Morales was a major Colombian cocaine trafficker who operated during the
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In March 1984, three Contra officials with close CIA ties ([[Octaviano Cesar]], ARDE logistics chief [[Adolfo Chamorro|Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro]], and ARDE air force commander [[Marcos Aguado]]) met with Morales at his offices in [[Fort Lauderdale]] and asked him to contribute to Pastora's army. Morales testified before the Senate subcommittee on July 15, 1987 that the Contra leaders "represent themselves as CIA agents," and on April 7, 1988 that "they told me that they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were," naming Cesar and Aguado.[^2][^3] Cesar assured Morales that if he assisted the Contras, his legal problems from the pending cocaine indictment would disappear: "He told me he had plenty of friends, being him, the CIA, can advise the superiors about my financial support and airplane and training and therefore they will finally, eventually, will take care of my problem, which they did." During the entire time Morales worked with the Contras on drug deals, no action was taken on his pending indictment. When he started talking to U.S. Senate investigators about his Contra dealings two years later, the case moved quickly to trial and conviction.[^1]
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The subcommittee report instead says that [[Marta Healey]] introduced Morales to Chamorro, Aguado and Cesar at a meeting in [[Miami]], when Morales was under indictment for marijuana smuggling, and that each of the three denied knowing of the indictment when they first met him at Healey's house.[^4] The Justice Department Inspector General records Morales saying that after Healey's May 1984 approach he met Cesar, Chamorro and Aguado in Miami.[^5]
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Morales telephoned [[Gary Betzner|Gary Wayne Betzner]] in Hawaii in 1984 and, Betzner testified, told him that he "had made a deal with CIA to supply them with money and with assistance, and that he wanted me to fly some guns and ammunition and stuff like that down to the Contras and bring some contraband back."[^4] Betzner testified that this was the first time he had heard Morales mention the CIA or the Contras.[^4] The Associated Press reported on April 8, 1988 that Betzner said Morales told him that if he helped fly arms to the Contras there was a chance Morales could use contacts with CIA officials to work a plea bargain.[^5]
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Morales later passed a DEA-administered lie detector test about his drug dealings with the Contras. Two pilots who flew the Contra drug missions for him - [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco]] and [[Gary Betzner|Gary Wayne Betzner]] - confirmed his story under oath as U.S. government witnesses.[^1]
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The subcommittee report instead says that [[Marta Healey]] introduced Morales to Chamorro, Aguado and Cesar at a meeting in [[Miami]], when Morales was under indictment for marijuana smuggling, and that each of the three denied knowing of the indictment when they first met him at Healey's house.[^6] The Justice Department Inspector General records Morales saying that after Healey's May 1984 approach he met Cesar, Chamorro and Aguado in Miami.[^7]
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In November 1988 the Drug Enforcement Administration gave Morales a lengthy polygraph examination on his testimony before the subcommittee, and the subcommittee's report states that he was considered truthful.[^8] Webb wrote that Morales passed a DEA-administered lie detector test about his drug dealings with the Contras. Two pilots who flew the Contra drug missions for him - [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco]] and Gary Wayne Betzner - confirmed his story under oath as U.S. government witnesses.[^1]
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### Drug Flights
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### Aircraft Donations
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Morales gave the Contras an aged C-47 cargo plane stored in [[Haiti]], and the Senate subcommittee found that $10,000 was given to Chamorro to cover the cost of flying it to Ilopango.[^4] The airplane was officially transferred from Morales to Marcos Aguado for $1 on October 1, 1984. Between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986, the C-47 moved 156,000 pounds of material from [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]] to airfields in Costa Rica. Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny obtained the refueling receipts and confirmed the plane "was repeatedly piloted into and out of Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador by Marcos Aguado." Morales contended the C-47 continued from Ilopango to Colombia, where it was reloaded with drugs before flying back to Florida.[^1]
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Morales gave the Contras an aged C-47 cargo plane stored in [[Haiti]], and the Senate subcommittee found that $10,000 was given to Chamorro to cover the cost of flying it to Ilopango.[^6] The airplane was officially transferred from Morales to Marcos Aguado for $1 on October 1, 1984. Between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986, the C-47 moved 156,000 pounds of material from [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]] to airfields in Costa Rica. Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny obtained the refueling receipts and confirmed the plane "was repeatedly piloted into and out of Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador by Marcos Aguado." Morales contended the C-47 continued from Ilopango to Colombia, where it was reloaded with drugs before flying back to Florida.[^1]
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When Aguado quit the war in May 1986, he sold the airplane to [[Norwin Meneses]] for $30,000. In 1997, Aguado said the C-47 was still being used by Meneses in Venezuela.[^1]
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### Aguado and the Cocaine Flights
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The Justice Department Inspector General's account of the Morales debriefing records that in June 1983 Contra pilots Aguado and [[Gerardo Duran]] flew a group that included members of the [[Medellin Cartel]] into Opa Locka airport, and that John Hull accompanied the group without taking part in the meeting. Morales said that Aguado refused to fly the cocaine shipments because of his "CIA connections."[^5] A Customs Service record given to the subcommittee showed Morales entering the United States from the [[Bahamas]] on October 13, 1984 with Aguado, Cesar and Chamorro, carrying $400,000 in cash and checks, which the three declared and said were returned to Morales after clearing customs.[^4]
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The Justice Department Inspector General's account of the Morales debriefing records that in June 1983 Contra pilots Aguado and [[Gerardo Duran]] flew a group that included members of the [[Medellin Cartel]] into Opa Locka airport, and that John Hull accompanied the group without taking part in the meeting. Morales said that Aguado refused to fly the cocaine shipments because of his "CIA connections."[^7] A Customs Service record given to the subcommittee showed Morales entering the United States from the [[Bahamas]] on October 13, 1984 with Aguado, Cesar and Chamorro, carrying $400,000 in cash and checks, which the three declared and said were returned to Morales after clearing customs.[^6]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"
|
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[^2]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings ... May 27, July 15, and October 30, 1987*, Part 1 (1988), testimony of Jorge Morales, July 15, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0003
|
||||
[^3]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: The Cartel, Haiti and Central America*, Part 3, hearing of April 7, 1988, testimony of Jorge Morales (pp. 297 to 300) and videotaped depositions of October 31, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005. Gary Webb, in Dark Alliance (1998), dates the "CIA agents" statement to 1986 congressional testimony, and his chapter notes give April 7, 1986 and March 27, 1987.
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
|
||||
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter XI, section on the debriefing of George Morales, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch11p1.htm
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings*, S. Hrg. 100-773, Part 3 (April 1988), testimony of Gary Betzner, April 7, 1988, pp. 261 to 262. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005
|
||||
[^5]: "Smuggler recalls drugs-for-weapons deal," Associated Press, *Florida Times-Union*, April 8, 1988, p. A-1.
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
|
||||
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter XI, section on the debriefing of George Morales, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch11p1.htm
|
||||
[^8]: S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), p. 54 and note 93 (Morales section, DEA polygraph of November 1988, citing a January 1989 letter from DEA Administrator John C. Lawn to Senator Kerry). https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -6,17 +6,24 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Israel
|
||||
- Military
|
||||
summary: "The Hashemi brothers were a trio of Iranian brothers living in the West who claimed to have connections in Iran with Ahmed Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-14
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The [[Hashemi brothers]] were a trio of [[Iran|Iranian]] brothers living in the [[United States|West]] who claimed to have connections in [[Iran]] with [[Ahmed Khomeini]], the son of [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]]. They offered their services to the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration to help secure the release of the [[United States|American]] hostages held in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
The [[Hashemi brothers]] were a trio of [[Iran|Iranian]] brothers living in the [[United States|West]] who claimed to have connections in Iran with [[Ahmed Khomeini]], the son of [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]]. They offered their services to the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration to help secure the release of the American hostages held in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The brothers, [[Cyrus Hashemi]], [[Jamshid Hashemi]], and [[Reza Hashemi]], also claimed to be cousins of the influential [[Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani|Hojjat El-Islam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]]. They made a significant amount of money in arms sales, using their influence with the [[White House]] to sell small quantities of military equipment to the [[Iran|Iranians]], supposedly to gain goodwill for the release of the hostages.[^1]
|
||||
The brothers, [[Cyrus Hashemi]], [[Jamshid Hashemi]], and [[Reza Hashemi]], also claimed to be cousins of the influential [[Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani|Hojjat El-Islam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]]. They made a significant amount of money in arms sales, using their influence with the [[White House]] to sell small quantities of military equipment to the Iranians, supposedly to gain goodwill for the release of the hostages.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Their [[Tehran]] contact, [[Iran Najd Rankuni]], was connected with the [[Iranian Revolution]] but did not have direct access to the Supreme Council, which made it impossible for them to set up a serious dialogue between the [[United States|Americans]] and the [[Iran|Iranians]] for the hostages' release. The [[Hashemi brothers]] could not promise major arms sales through the [[Israel|Israelis]], which limited their effectiveness.[^1]
|
||||
The report of the congressional Iran-Contra committees records that in May 1984 federal criminal charges were filed against Cyrus Hashemi and his brothers Reza and Jamshid, among others, for alleged arms export control violations; that Cyrus arranged with the U.S. Customs Service to run a sting operation resulting in the April 22, 1986 indictment of 17 individuals in the Southern District of New York on charges of an illegal scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in American-made weapons to Iran; and that until Cyrus's death in July 1986 he was to be the primary prosecution witness.[^2] The Second Circuit wrote that the arms in that case were destined for Cyrus, "a government agent pretending to be an Iranian buyer," and that the original indictment was returned in May 1986.[^3] Judge [[Leonard B. Sand]] wrote in 1987 that none of the arms deals charged was consummated and that Cyrus's negotiations with the defendants were tape recorded.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
After the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] administration took office in 1981 and the hostages were released, the [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] began investigating the [[Hashemi brothers]]. In 1984, they were indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for the illegal sale of weapons to [[Iran]]. [[Cyrus Hashemi|Cyrus]] and [[Jamshid Hashemi|Jamshid]] were tipped off and escaped the [[United States|U.S.]], but [[Reza Hashemi|Reza]] was arrested and became a hostage himself. His elder brothers then negotiated with [[U.S. Customs|Customs]] to become informants against the [[Iran|Iranian]] exile community in [[Europe]] and the [[United States|United States]].[^1]
|
||||
Their Tehran contact, [[Iran Najd Rankuni]], was connected with the [[Iranian Revolution]] but did not have direct access to the Supreme Council, which made it impossible for them to set up a serious dialogue between the Americans and the Iranians for the hostages' release. The Hashemi brothers could not promise major arms sales through the [[Israel|Israelis]], which limited their effectiveness.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Cyrus Hashemi|Cyrus]] was later used by [[Oliver North]] and [[United States|U.S.]] Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence arms sales to [[Iran]]. [[Cyrus Hashemi|Cyrus]] was found dead in his [[London]] apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia, though [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence suspected foul play.[^1]
|
||||
After the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] administration took office in 1981 and the hostages were released, the [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] began investigating the Hashemi brothers. In 1984, they were indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for the illegal sale of weapons to Iran. Cyrus and Jamshid were tipped off and escaped the U.S., but Reza was arrested and became a hostage himself. His elder brothers then negotiated with Customs to become informants against the Iranian exile community in [[Europe]] and the United States.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Cyrus was later used by [[Oliver North]] and U.S. Customs in a sting operation to entrap individuals connected with Israeli intelligence arms sales to Iran. Cyrus was found dead in his [[London]] apartment, with his death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia, though Israeli intelligence suspected foul play.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
|
||||
[^2]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216 (Nov. 1987), ch. 9, note 13, p. 171. https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress87unit
|
||||
[^3]: United States v. Evans, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
[^4]: United States v. Evans, 667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D.N.Y. 1987). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2158497/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -6,11 +6,18 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Israel
|
||||
- Military
|
||||
summary: "One of the Hashemi brothers, involved in secret arms sales to Iran and later became an informant for U.S. Customs."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-14
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[[Jamshid Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the [[United States|American]] hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
[[Jamshid Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the American hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Jamshid Hashemi|Hashemi]] and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to [[Iran]]. He was later indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to [[Iran]], but escaped the [[United States|U.S.]] before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] against the [[Iran|Iranian]] exile community.[^1]
|
||||
Hashemi and his brothers made money selling small quantities of military equipment to Iran. He was later indicted under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to Iran, but escaped the U.S. before apprehension. He subsequently agreed to become an informant for [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] against the Iranian exile community.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The report of the congressional Iran-Contra committees records that in May 1984 federal criminal charges were filed against [[Cyrus Hashemi]] and his brothers [[Reza Hashemi|Reza]] and Jamshid, among others, for alleged arms export control violations; that Cyrus arranged with the U.S. Customs Service to run a sting operation resulting in the April 22, 1986 indictment of 17 individuals in the Southern District of New York on charges of an illegal scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in American-made weapons to Iran; and that until Cyrus's death in July 1986 he was to be the primary prosecution witness.[^2] The Second Circuit wrote that the arms in that case were destined for Cyrus, "a government agent pretending to be an Iranian buyer," and that the original indictment was returned in May 1986.[^3] Judge [[Leonard B. Sand]] wrote in 1987 that none of the arms deals charged was consummated and that Cyrus's negotiations with the defendants were tape recorded.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
|
||||
[^2]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216 (Nov. 1987), ch. 9, note 13, p. 171. https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress87unit
|
||||
[^3]: United States v. Evans, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
[^4]: United States v. Evans, 667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D.N.Y. 1987). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2158497/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Intelligence & Government"
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- Person/Intelligence
|
||||
|
|
@ -21,15 +22,27 @@ Pilot [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco|"Tito" Carrasco]], who flew drug missions for Mor
|
|||
|
||||
On July 31, 1987, Fiers briefed the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] on Hull's alleged relationship with Morales. According to the committee transcript as quoted by the CIA Inspector General, Fiers said that Morales "saw John Hull in his, Morales' office, with [Marcos] Aguado in 1983. However, Morales didn't meet him. He didn't want to." The Inspector General also reports that on March 7, 1989 a Costa Rican judge charged Hull with "hostile acts" and "drug trafficking," and that Costa Rican court documents claimed Hull and Contra pilot [[Gerardo Duran]] had met Morales in Miami to discuss the sale of drugs and weapons, and that planes piloted by Duran and Aguado had landed at Hull's airstrips carrying military supplies and, with Hull's knowledge, left loaded with drugs. The Inspector General quotes Hull's reply to the allegations of [[Gary Betzner|Gary Wayne Betzner]]: "not true, not true! He made it up. He was coached."[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
On April 6, 1987, the [[CBS]] program West 57th Street broadcast Gary Wayne Betzner's statement that "I took two loads, small aircraft loads of weapons to John Hull's ranch in Costa Rica and returned back to Florida with approximately a thousand kilos of cocaine."[^4] On the same program Betzner said that personnel working for Hull "would load the aircraft" and that Hull "physically saw the bags" of cocaine, and he described a whistle used to signal the strip before landing. Hull denied the allegations on the program, saying "There's never been any drug movement through this zone or through any of our farms," and that his strips had no air-to-ground communication system.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Hull told investigators that his grass airstrip had only about 1,600 usable feet, with hills at one end and a river at the other, and that a Cessna 402B loaded as Betzner described would have been about 800 pounds over its gross weight for a takeoff from a grass strip.[^4] Betzner testified in 1988 that the strip he landed on was "a little over 3,000 feet long" and ran along the river.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
At the April 7, 1988 hearing John Kerry introduced a letter from the [[U.S. Customs]] Service to Ralph Martin, Department of Justice public integrity attorney, reporting that a Treasury Enforcement Communications System check of names from the 1986 subcommittee report returned 21 matches, and that "the name John Hull resulted in 293 possible matches." Kerry told the hearing that Hull continued to operate with impunity after that finding.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
Morales said a Cessna 404 Titan had been bought for the Contras and turned over to [[Adolfo Chamorro|Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro]]; [[Federal Aviation Administration]] records showed the aircraft purchased by a Costa Rican company, Cultivos Experimentales, listing Chamorro as vice-president, with a transfer in October 1984. [[Jack Blum]], counsel to the Senate subcommittee, said the committee would not pursue Betzner's allegations because his credibility "could be easily attacked."[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Kelso Visit
|
||||
|
||||
In August 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and [[U.S. Customs]] informant fleeing [[DEA]] agents in Costa Rica, arrived at Hull's ranch seeking refuge. Kelso told Hull and [[Robert Owen|Rob Owen]] that DEA agents had maps of cocaine lab locations but were protecting them, including "one large lab located in southern Nicoya. And another in Talamanca region." Hull wrote a detailed report and gave it to Owen to deliver to [[Oliver North]], noting: "If the DEA people are in the drug business it should be stopped." Hull eventually concluded Kelso was telling the truth: "He was giving me locations of cocaine labs in Costa Rica and who they belonged to and then a week later one of them was busted and it was right where he said it was."[^4]
|
||||
In August 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and U.S. Customs informant fleeing [[DEA]] agents in Costa Rica, arrived at Hull's ranch seeking refuge. Kelso told Hull and [[Robert Owen|Rob Owen]] that DEA agents had maps of cocaine lab locations but were protecting them, including "one large lab located in southern Nicoya. And another in Talamanca region." Hull wrote a detailed report and gave it to Owen to deliver to [[Oliver North]], noting: "If the DEA people are in the drug business it should be stopped." Hull eventually concluded Kelso was telling the truth: "He was giving me locations of cocaine labs in Costa Rica and who they belonged to and then a week later one of them was busted and it was right where he said it was."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
The next morning, Costa Rican Rural Guards awakened Kelso with automatic rifle fire and beat him with rifle butts. A colonel told Hull the embassy said Kelso "should be shot if he resisted arrest." Hull's Contras surrounded the guards with 12-gauge riot guns. Hull broke up the standoff but permitted the guards to take Kelso away.[^4]
|
||||
The next morning, Costa Rican Rural Guards awakened Kelso with automatic rifle fire and beat him with rifle butts. A colonel told Hull the embassy said Kelso "should be shot if he resisted arrest." Hull's Contras surrounded the guards with 12-gauge riot guns. Hull broke up the standoff but permitted the guards to take Kelso away.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"
|
||||
[^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), Chapter 13, "The wrong kind of friends," and Cast of Characters.
|
||||
[^3]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), chapter on other individuals (John Hull; March 7, 1989 reporting; July 31, 1987 SSCI briefing transcript), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/other.html
|
||||
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"
|
||||
[^4]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States* (96-0143-IG), Volume II (October 8, 1998), passages quoting the CBS West 57th Street broadcast of April 6, 1987 and Hull's responses. https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/other.html
|
||||
[^5]: U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings*, S. Hrg. 100-773, Part 3 (April 1988), testimony of Gary Betzner, April 7, 1988, p. 263. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005
|
||||
[^6]: S. Hrg. 100-773, Part 3, pp. 270 to 271 (Kerry's statement and the Customs letter). https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005
|
||||
[^7]: "Committee probes smugglers' claims," *Tampa Tribune*, September 3, 1987, p. 1B.
|
||||
[^8]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -7,18 +7,20 @@ summary: "On December 21, 1978, Joseph R."
|
|||
born: 1940-03-20
|
||||
died: 2015-05-13
|
||||
location: "Des Plaines, Illinois"
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Joseph R. Kozenczak served as a police captain with the Des Plaines Police Department and later advanced to become the detective chief overseeing the investigation into the murders committed by [[John Wayne Gacy]]. His son attended Maine West High School as a classmate of [[Robert Piest]], the 15-year-old victim whose disappearance on December 11, 1978, prompted Kozenczak to take personal charge of the case when it reached his desk. Kozenczak authored a book titled *The Chicago Killer* detailing his experiences leading the probe into Gacy's crimes. He passed away at age 75 on June 25, 2016, with his funeral held at the Maryville Academy.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Role in Investigation
|
||||
Joseph R. Kozenczak led the Des Plaines Police team that investigated [[John Wayne Gacy]] following the disappearance of [[Robert Piest]] from a pharmacy where Gacy had been a contractor. On December 12, 1978, Kozenczak directed officers to pull Gacy's criminal record, revealing a 1968 conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, which escalated the inquiry into Gacy's home at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in [[Norwood Park]]. Kozenczak obtained and executed the first search warrant on December 13, 1978, seizing items including pederasty pornography, date-rape drugs, a hypodermic syringe, a wooden board with rope loops, handcuffs, two driver's licenses, and a Maine West High School graduation ring belonging to victim [[John Szyc]] inscribed with initials 'J.A.S.'. He coordinated surveillance on Gacy's associates such as [[David Cram]] and [[Michael Rossi]], and interviewed witnesses including Gacy's ex-wife [[Carole Hoff]] on December 17, 1978, who provided details on missing youth [[John Butkovich]].[^1]
|
||||
Joseph R. Kozenczak led the Des Plaines Police team that investigated John Wayne Gacy following the disappearance of Robert Piest from a pharmacy where Gacy had been a contractor. On December 12, 1978, Kozenczak directed officers to pull Gacy's criminal record, revealing a 1968 conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, which escalated the inquiry into Gacy's home at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in [[Norwood Park]]. Kozenczak obtained and executed the first search warrant on December 13, 1978, seizing items including pederasty pornography, date-rape drugs, a hypodermic syringe, a wooden board with rope loops, handcuffs, two driver's licenses, and a Maine West High School graduation ring belonging to victim [[John Szyc]] inscribed with initials 'J.A.S.'. He coordinated surveillance on Gacy's associates such as [[David Cram]] and [[Michael Rossi]], and interviewed witnesses including Gacy's ex-wife [[Carole Hoff]] on December 17, 1978, who provided details on missing youth [[John Butkovich]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Key Events
|
||||
On December 21, 1978, Joseph R. Kozenczak secured a second search warrant for Gacy's property based on his claim that [[Robert Piest]]'s photo processing receipt from his jacket pocket was discovered in Gacy's kitchen bin during the initial search, though evidence logs and technician statements later disputed this, indicating it was found curbside. Kozenczak's team executed this warrant, draining the flooded crawlspace and uncovering the first human remains, leading to the exhumation of 29 bodies over subsequent weeks and Gacy's arrest that day. During Gacy's interrogation, Kozenczak oversaw revelations implicating accomplices like Cram and Rossi in body disposal, with Gacy confessing to murders of Piest, Butkovich, and Szyc while claiming multiple personalities and syndicate involvement. Kozenczak collaborated with [[Terry Sullivan]], the prosecuting attorney who secured Gacy's 1980 conviction for 33 murders, and maintained contact with [[Chicago]] throughout the multi-jurisdictional effort.[^1]
|
||||
On December 21, 1978, Joseph R. Kozenczak secured a second search warrant for Gacy's property based on his claim that Robert Piest's photo processing receipt from his jacket pocket was discovered in Gacy's kitchen bin during the initial search, though evidence logs and technician statements later disputed this, indicating it was found curbside. Kozenczak's team executed this warrant, draining the flooded crawlspace and uncovering the first human remains, leading to the exhumation of 29 bodies over subsequent weeks and Gacy's arrest that day. During Gacy's interrogation, Kozenczak oversaw revelations implicating accomplices like Cram and Rossi in body disposal, with Gacy confessing to murders of Piest, Butkovich, and Szyc while claiming multiple personalities and syndicate involvement. Kozenczak collaborated with [[Terry Sullivan]], the prosecuting attorney who secured Gacy's 1980 conviction for 33 murders, and maintained contact with [[Chicago]] throughout the multi-jurisdictional effort.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Connections
|
||||
Joseph R. Kozenczak's investigation linked directly to [[John Wayne Gacy]] as the prime suspect in the disappearances of [[Robert Piest]], [[John Szyc]], and [[John Butkovich]], with evidence from Gacy's home tying back to Maine West High School attended by Piest, Szyc, and Kozenczak's son. He interviewed key witnesses including [[Carole Hoff]], [[David Cram]], and [[Michael Rossi]], who provided details on Gacy's operations and potential accomplices. Kozenczak worked closely with [[Terry Sullivan]] during the prosecution and coordinated with [[Chicago]] on broader network inquiries, including potential ties to child trafficking figures like [[John David Norman]] and [[Phillip Paske]] through Gacy's employment records. His later role as Des Plaines chief involved handling allegations at the Maryville Academy, connecting to youth programs overlapping with Gacy's political influences via [[Cook County]] Superintendent [[Robert Martwick]].[^1]
|
||||
Joseph R. Kozenczak's investigation linked directly to John Wayne Gacy as the prime suspect in the disappearances of Robert Piest, John Szyc, and John Butkovich, with evidence from Gacy's home tying back to Maine West High School attended by Piest, Szyc, and Kozenczak's son. The writer S. Dovey wrote that he interviewed key witnesses including Carole Hoff, David Cram, and Michael Rossi, who provided details on Gacy's operations and potential accomplices. Terry Sullivan wrote that Des Plaines officers Pickell and Adams interviewed the employee he calls Chris Gray (Cram, per the 1980 trial testimony) on December 16, 1978, first at a job site restaurant in Aurora and then at the police station, and that Kozenczak administered the polygraph to the employee he calls Dick Walsh (Rossi), whose responses were erratic and inconsistent and on which the lieutenant was unable to render a definite opinion.[^2] Kozenczak worked closely with Terry Sullivan during the prosecution and coordinated with Chicago on broader network inquiries, including potential ties to child trafficking figures like [[John David Norman]] and [[Phillip Paske]] through Gacy's employment records. His later role as Des Plaines chief involved handling allegations at the Maryville Academy, connecting to youth programs overlapping with Gacy's political influences via [[Cook County]] Superintendent [[Robert Martwick]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.
|
||||
[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.
|
||||
[^2]: Terry Sullivan with Peter T. Maiken, *Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders* (Grosset & Dunlap, 1983), pp. 61 to 65 (December 16, 1978 interview) and pp. 129 to 130 (polygraph).
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,13 +1,58 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Julian Leek
|
||||
created: 2025-08-05
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
category: "Occult & Esoteric"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
summary: "Julian Leek is the son of Sybil Leek, a prominent British witch and astrologer."
|
||||
- Astrology
|
||||
- Witchcraft
|
||||
- Illustrator
|
||||
summary: "Julian Leek is the son of the witch and astrologer Sybil Leek, illustrator of her books, and custodian of her archive."
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: relative_of
|
||||
with: "[[Sybil Leek]]"
|
||||
role: son
|
||||
start: 1982-10-29
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Julian Leek is the son of [[Sybil Leek]], a prominent British witch and astrologer. He maintains his mother's archive and confirmed that his mother maintained silence about her involvement in the [[Rudolf Hess]] affair throughout her life, and that the details remained officially classified[^1].
|
||||
Julian Leek is the son of [[Sybil Leek]], the English witch, astrologer and occult author. He illustrated several of her books from 1969, spoke to the press on her death in [[Melbourne, Florida]] in October 1982, and is named in [[Annie Jacobsen]]'s account of the [[Rudolf Hess]] affair as the person who maintains her archive.
|
||||
|
||||
### Illustrator of Sybil Leek's books
|
||||
|
||||
The Library of Congress record for the 1969 [[Macmillan]] edition of *The Sybil Leek Book of Fortune Telling* carries the statement "Illus. by Julian Leek."[^1] The [[W. H. Allen]] edition of 1970 and the [[Collier Books]] paperback of 1969 carry the same credit.[^1] The Macmillan and Collier editions of *Phrenology* (1970) are credited "Illustrated by Julian Leek," and the 1969 Collier edition of *Numerology* credits "Graphics by Julian Leek."[^1] *Sybil Leek's Book of Herbs* (T. Nelson, 1973) was illustrated with drawings by Julian Leek, Stephen Leek and Gerda Davis.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Death of Sybil Leek
|
||||
|
||||
Sybil Leek died on October 26, 1982, at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Florida, after a nine-month illness with cancer. The [[New York Times]] obituary of October 29, 1982, listed two surviving sons, Stephen and Julian, the latter of [[Melbourne Beach, Florida]]. The funeral was held at a Melbourne funeral home, and her ashes were to be taken to England for burial.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The [[United Press International]] report of October 27, 1982, quoted Julian Leek: "It's not a devil worship. It's not people running around naked. It's not sacrificing things. It is a scientific religion." The report stated that he said most people did not understand what his mother meant by witchcraft, that she claimed her family had practiced witchcraft since 1134, and that she had written 64 books. It recorded that she predicted the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and that Richard Nixon would win the presidency after his defeat in 1960.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The sources differ on her birth year. The New York Times gave her birth date as February 22, 1917, and her age as 65; the 2002 [[BBC]] broadcast gave 1923.[^2][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The archive
|
||||
|
||||
In October 2002 the BBC programme Inside Out reported that Julian Leek, then living in the United States, was building a research centre in Melbourne Beach, Florida, to house "a huge archive dedicated to his mum." The programme's page credited its images of Sybil Leek to Julian Leek as copyright holder.[^4] Jacobsen cites an interview with him as "Sybil's son, who maintains her archive."[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Hess affair
|
||||
|
||||
Jacobsen quotes Julian Leek: "Mum stayed silent about the Hess affair all her life," and, of the affair, "It's still officially classified."[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
The 2002 BBC report attributed the horoscope claim to the "Second World War author Michael Salazar," who said that her role "was to provide phony horoscopes for the Germans who believed in Astrology." The report continues: "She apparently wrote a chart which convinced the Nazi Rudolf Hess to fly to England, where he was captured." Jacobsen gives the same sentence and cites the BBC report as its source.[^4][^6][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### Jacobsen's account of the CIA
|
||||
|
||||
Jacobsen lists Sybil Leek among the people used in American programs, writing that "the CIA hired magicians, hypnotists, and even Sybil Leek, Britain's famous white witch,"[^7] and that "Leek advised the CIA on witchcraft and the supernatural."[^8] The 1972 [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] report by [[John LaMothe]] that Jacobsen discusses there quotes her as saying that "there is great danger that within the next ten years the Soviets will be able to steal our top secrets by using out-of-the-body spies."[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
|
||||
[^1]: Library of Congress catalogue record (MARC), *The Sybil Leek Book of Fortune Telling* (Macmillan, 1969), statement "Illus. by Julian Leek.", as transcribed at https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5694243M.json ; Open Library edition records for W. H. Allen 1970 (OL4060984M), Collier 1969 (OL18789328M), *Phrenology* (OL4728899M, OL5218669M), *Numerology* (OL5681613M) and *Sybil Leek's Book of Herbs*, T. Nelson 1973 (OL5417918M, contributors Julian Leek, Stephen Leek, Gerda Davis).
|
||||
[^2]: The New York Times, "Sybil Leek, 'Ordinary Witch from New Forest,' Dies at 65," October 29, 1982, section B, p. 8. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/29/obituaries/sybil-leek-ordinary-witch-from-new-forest-dies-at-65.html
|
||||
[^3]: United Press International, "Self-proclaimed witch, psychic, author and lecturer Sybil Leek died," October 27, 1982. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/10/27/Self-proclaimed-witch-psychic-author-and-lecturer-Sybil-Leek-died/7758404539200/
|
||||
[^4]: BBC Inside Out South, "Sybil Leek, The South's White Witch," broadcast October 28, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20041230083428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series1/sybil-leek.shtml
|
||||
[^5]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017, p. 595, notes.
|
||||
[^6]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 15.
|
||||
[^7]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 27.
|
||||
[^8]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 112.
|
||||
[^9]: John D. LaMothe, "Controlled Offensive Behavior - USSR," ST-CS-01-169-72, Medical Intelligence Office, Office of the Surgeon General, July 1972. CIA-RDP96-00788R001300010001-7. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00788r001300010001-7
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -5,11 +5,18 @@ tags:
|
|||
- IranContra
|
||||
- Israel
|
||||
summary: "Iranian arms dealer and one of the Hashemi brothers involved in secret arms sales and hostage negotiations related to Iran-Contra."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-14
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[[Reza Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the [[United States|American]] hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
[[Reza Hashemi]] was one of the [[Hashemi brothers]], an [[Iran|Iranian]] living in the [[United States|West]]. He was involved in secret arms sales and negotiations concerning the American hostages in [[Tehran]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Reza Hashemi|Hashemi]] was arrested after his brothers, [[Cyrus Hashemi]] and [[Jamshid Hashemi]], were tipped off about their indictment under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to [[Iran]]. He became a hostage himself, which pressured his elder brothers to negotiate with [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] to become informants.[^1]
|
||||
Hashemi was arrested after his brothers, [[Cyrus Hashemi]] and [[Jamshid Hashemi]], were tipped off about their indictment under the [[Arms Export Control Act]] for illegal arms sales to Iran. He became a hostage himself, which pressured his elder brothers to negotiate with [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs]] to become informants.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The report of the congressional Iran-Contra committees records that in May 1984 federal criminal charges were filed against Cyrus Hashemi and his brothers Reza and Jamshid, among others, for alleged arms export control violations; that Cyrus arranged with the U.S. Customs Service to run a sting operation resulting in the April 22, 1986 indictment of 17 individuals in the Southern District of New York on charges of an illegal scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in American-made weapons to Iran; and that until Cyrus's death in July 1986 he was to be the primary prosecution witness.[^2] The Second Circuit wrote that the arms in that case were destined for Cyrus, "a government agent pretending to be an Iranian buyer," and that the original indictment was returned in May 1986.[^3] Judge [[Leonard B. Sand]] wrote in 1987 that none of the arms deals charged was consummated and that Cyrus's negotiations with the defendants were tape recorded.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
|
||||
[^2]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, H. Rept. 100-433, S. Rept. 100-216 (Nov. 1987), ch. 9, note 13, p. 171. https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress87unit
|
||||
[^3]: United States v. Evans, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
[^4]: United States v. Evans, 667 F. Supp. 974 (S.D.N.Y. 1987). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2158497/united-states-v-evans/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ category: "Political Figure"
|
|||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
summary: "Rudolf Hess was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany, serving as Adolf Hitler's deputy."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
born: 1894-04-26
|
||||
died: 1987-08-17
|
||||
location: "Alexandria, Egypt"
|
||||
|
|
@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ location: "Alexandria, Egypt"
|
|||
|
||||
Rudolf Hess was a prominent figure in [[Nazi Germany]], serving as Adolf Hitler's deputy. He is known for his mysterious solo flight to Scotland in 1941, an event that has been linked to the use of astrology and the occult in psychological warfare.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Hess's flight was allegedly influenced by a phony horoscope created by [[Sybil Leek]], a British astrologer working for [[British Intelligence]]. This act of deception was part of a larger effort to exploit the Nazi belief in the supernatural. After his capture, Hess was declared insane by Hitler, and his actions led to the mass arrest of astrologers and other practitioners of the occult in Germany.[^1]
|
||||
Jacobsen wrote that a phony horoscope produced by [[Sybil Leek]], a British astrologer working for [[British Intelligence]], drew Hess toward Scotland, and that the flight was part of a British effort to exploit the Nazi belief in the supernatural.[^1] Jacobsen also wrote that after his capture Hitler declared Hess insane, and that the flight led to the mass arrest of astrologers and other practitioners of the occult in Germany.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,21 +1,51 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Sybil Leek
|
||||
created: 2025-08-05
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
category: "Occult & Esoteric"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- Soviet
|
||||
- Astrology
|
||||
- Witchcraft
|
||||
summary: "Sybil Leek, known as 'Britain's most famous witch,' was an astrologer and author who was reportedly recruited by British Intelligence during World War II."
|
||||
born: 1917-02-22
|
||||
died: 1982-10-26
|
||||
location: "Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: relative_of
|
||||
with: "[[Julian Leek]]"
|
||||
role: mother
|
||||
start: 1982-10-27
|
||||
fn: 7
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Sybil Leek, known as "Britain's most famous witch," was an astrologer and author who was reportedly recruited by [[British Intelligence]] during [[World War II]]. She was involved in a black propaganda effort, where she provided phony horoscopes for the Germans who believed in astrology[^1]. Her work allegedly included writing a chart that convinced [[Rudolf Hess]], the Deputy Führer of [[Nazi Germany]], to fly to England, leading to his capture[^1]. Her son, Julian Leek, confirmed that the details of her involvement in the Hess affair remained officially classified[^1].
|
||||
Sybil Leek, known as "Britain's most famous witch," was an astrologer and author who was reportedly recruited by [[British Intelligence]] during [[World War II]]. She was involved in a black propaganda effort, where she provided phony horoscopes for the Germans who believed in astrology[^1]. Her work allegedly included writing a chart that convinced [[Rudolf Hess]], the Deputy Führer of [[Nazi Germany]], to fly to England, leading to his capture[^1]. Jacobsen quotes her son, [[Julian Leek]], as saying, "Mum stayed silent about the Hess affair all her life," and, of the affair, "It's still officially classified."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
After the war, Leek moved to America in 1962. She was later quoted in a classified [[Department of Defense]] monograph on [[Extrasensory Perception]] (ESP), which suggested she became an American intelligence asset[^1].
|
||||
After the war, Leek moved to America. The [[New York Times]] obituary gave the year as 1964, after a dispute with the Witchcraft Research Association, of which she had been president, and listed her residences as New York City, Houston, Las Vegas and, for 15 years, Indialantic, Florida.[^3] She was quoted in a classified [[Department of Defense]] monograph on [[Extrasensory Perception]] (ESP) as a noted astrologer and author.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
In the 1970s, [[John LaMothe]]'s report, *Controlled Offensive Behavior - USSR*, identified Sybil Leek as a "noted astrologer and author." She warned that "there is a great danger that within the next ten years the Soviets will be able to steal our top secrets by using out-of-the-body spies"[^1]. Leek also advised the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] on witchcraft and the supernatural[^1]. While her sources were sometimes considered biased in favor of ESP research programs, her insights were noted within the intelligence community[^1].
|
||||
In July 1972, [[John LaMothe]]'s report, *Controlled Offensive Behavior - USSR*, identified Sybil Leek as a "noted astrologer and author." The report states that "there is great danger that within the next ten years the Soviets will be able to steal our top secrets by using out-of-the-body spies."[^4] Jacobsen wrote that Leek advised the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] on witchcraft and the supernatural[^5], and that "the CIA hired magicians, hypnotists, and even Sybil Leek, Britain's famous white witch."[^6] While her sources were sometimes considered biased in favor of ESP research programs, her insights were noted within the intelligence community[^1].
|
||||
|
||||
### Writings
|
||||
|
||||
The New York Times obituary credited her with more than 60 books, among them *The Diary of a Witch* (1968), *The Assassination Chain* with Bert Sugar (Corwin, 1976), *Astrological Guide to the Presidential Candidates* (Abelard-Schuman, 1972), and *Numerology*, *Fortune Telling*, *Phrenology*, *Guide to Telepathy* and *The Story of Faith Healing* (all Macmillan). She wrote on the Burgess-Maclean case and the Algerian War as a journalist and columnist. She told an interviewer in 1969, "We are entering the age of Aquarius, and people are searching," and once said she was "a Druid, not a mere witch."[^3] Her son Julian illustrated the 1969 Macmillan *Book of Fortune Telling*, *Phrenology*, *Numerology* and, with Stephen Leek and Gerda Davis, the 1973 *Book of Herbs*.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Death
|
||||
|
||||
Leek died on October 26, 1982, in [[Melbourne, Florida]], at Holmes Regional Medical Center, after a nine-month battle with cancer. The [[United Press International]] report of October 27, 1982, quoted her son Julian Leek: he said that most people had misunderstood what his mother meant by witchcraft, rejected any association of the practice with devil worship or ritual sacrifice, and described it as a scientific religion. The report recorded that she had written 64 books and claimed that her family had practiced witchcraft since 1134.[^8] Her husband Brian Leek had died in England in 1974; two sons survived her, and her ashes were to be taken to England for burial.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The New York Times obituary gave her birth date as February 22, 1917, and her age as 65; a 2002 [[BBC]] Inside Out page gave her birth year as 1923.[^3][^9]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
|
||||
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
|
||||
[^2]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 15.
|
||||
[^3]: The New York Times, "Sybil Leek, 'Ordinary Witch from New Forest,' Dies at 65," October 29, 1982, section B, p. 8. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/29/obituaries/sybil-leek-ordinary-witch-from-new-forest-dies-at-65.html
|
||||
[^4]: LaMothe, John D., Captain, Medical Service Corps, "Controlled Offensive Behavior - USSR," ST-CS-01-169-72, Medical Intelligence Office, Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army, July 1972, approved by the Directorate for Scientific and Technical Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency. CIA-RDP96-00788R001300010001-7. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00788r001300010001-7
|
||||
[^5]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 112.
|
||||
[^6]: Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (2017), p. 27.
|
||||
[^7]: Library of Congress catalogue record (MARC), *The Sybil Leek Book of Fortune Telling* (Macmillan, 1969), statement "Illus. by Julian Leek.", as transcribed at https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5694243M.json ; Open Library edition records for *Phrenology* (OL4728899M, OL5218669M), *Numerology* (OL5681613M) and *Sybil Leek's Book of Herbs*, T. Nelson 1973 (OL5417918M, contributors Julian Leek, Stephen Leek, Gerda Davis).
|
||||
[^8]: United Press International, "Self-proclaimed witch, psychic, author and lecturer Sybil Leek died," October 27, 1982. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/10/27/Self-proclaimed-witch-psychic-author-and-lecturer-Sybil-Leek-died/7758404539200/
|
||||
[^9]: BBC Inside Out South, "Sybil Leek, The South's White Witch," broadcast October 28, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20041230083428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series1/sybil-leek.shtml
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
---
|
||||
created: 2026-05-15
|
||||
updated: 2026-05-16
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
title: Ulrike Meinhof
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Ulrike Marie Meinhof
|
||||
|
|
@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
|
|||
- RedArmyFaction
|
||||
- 1970s
|
||||
category: "Extremism & Violent Networks"
|
||||
summary: "Ulrike Meinhof was a West German journalist who co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 by participating in Andreas Baader's prison break, authored the group's foundational political documents, was arrested in 1972, and was found dead by hanging in her Stammheim Prison cell on May 9, 1976 in a ruling of suicide that the RAF and supporters disputed."
|
||||
summary: "Ulrike Meinhof was a West German journalist who co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970, was arrested in 1972, and was found hanged in her Stammheim cell on May 9, 1976, a death ruled suicide."
|
||||
born: 1934-10-07
|
||||
died: 1976-05-09
|
||||
location: "Stuttgart-Stammheim Prison, West Germany"
|
||||
|
|
@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Ulrike Marie Meinhof (October 7, 1934 - May 9, 1976) was a [[West Germany|West G
|
|||
|
||||
### Journalism Career
|
||||
|
||||
Meinhof was born in Oldenburg, [[Germany]], and studied philosophy and education at the University of Munster before transferring to Hamburg. She became editor of *konkret*, a left-wing magazine with ties to the [[East Germany|East German]] communist party that provided some financial support in its early years. Her columns addressed West German politics, the [[Vietnam War]], the persistence of former Nazis in positions of authority in the [[West Germany|Federal Republic]], and the student protest movement that emerged in the late 1960s.
|
||||
Meinhof was born in Oldenburg, [[Germany]], and studied philosophy and education at the University of Munster before transferring to Hamburg. She became editor of *konkret*, a left-wing magazine with ties to the [[East Germany|East German]] communist party that provided some financial support in its early years. Her columns addressed West German politics, the [[Vietnam War]], the persistence of former Nazis in positions of authority in the Federal Republic, and the student protest movement that emerged in the late 1960s. Meinhof followed the 1968 trial of the Frankfurt arsonists for the magazine and criticized the arsons in her column, arguing that attacks on the consumer world "do not lift that consumer world off its hinges, do not even injure it."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The shooting of student [[Benno Ohnesorg]] by police at a demonstration against the Shah of Iran's visit to [[Berlin]] in June 1967 radicalized much of the West German student movement. Meinhof increasingly concluded that conventional political journalism could not address what she characterized as the structural violence of the capitalist state.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -35,15 +35,17 @@ The RAF's founding document, "The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla," published in
|
|||
|
||||
Meinhof was arrested in Hanover on June 15, 1972, following the RAF's bombing campaign of May 1972 - a series of attacks on American military installations, the Hamburg police headquarters, and the federal judge's offices in Karlsruhe. She was held in conditions she and her attorneys characterized as sensory deprivation - extended periods of isolation in a sound-deadened cell.
|
||||
|
||||
The trials of Meinhof and the other founding RAF members were conducted at Stammheim Prison, a special high-security facility built to house them. Meinhof was separated from the main trial of Baader, [[Gudrun Ensslin]], and Jan-Carl Raspe and tried first; she was convicted and sentenced to eight years for her role in the prison break.
|
||||
The trials of Meinhof and the other founding RAF members were conducted at Stammheim Prison, a special high-security facility built to house them. Meinhof was separated from the main trial of Baader, [[Gudrun Ensslin]], and Jan-Carl Raspe and tried first; she was convicted and sentenced to eight years for her role in the prison break. The sentence was imposed on November 29, 1974, in the trial over the liberation of Baader, and [[Horst Mahler]] received a combined sentence of 14 years in the same proceedings.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Death
|
||||
|
||||
Meinhof was found dead in her cell at Stammheim on May 9, 1976, before the conclusion of the main Stammheim trial. She was hanging from a rope made from a towel attached to the window of her cell. Prison authorities ruled the death a suicide.
|
||||
|
||||
The RAF and its supporters disputed the ruling, arguing that the prison's maximum-security conditions made access to rope materials impossible without guard complicity and suggesting that Meinhof had been killed by state actors. An international commission convened by sympathizers concluded the evidence was consistent with murder. Subsequent independent forensic examinations did not resolve the dispute to universal satisfaction, though official inquiries consistently upheld the suicide finding.[^2]
|
||||
The RAF and its supporters disputed the ruling, arguing that the prison's maximum-security conditions made access to rope materials impossible without guard complicity and suggesting that Meinhof had been killed by state actors. An international commission convened by sympathizers concluded the evidence was consistent with murder. Subsequent independent forensic examinations did not resolve the dispute to universal satisfaction, though official inquiries consistently upheld the suicide finding.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Aust, Stefan. *The Baader-Meinhof Complex.* Bodley Head, 2008. Colvin, Sarah. *Ulrike Meinhof and West German Terrorism: Language, Violence, and Identity.* Camden House, 2009.
|
||||
[^2]: Varon, Jeremy. *Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies.* University of California Press, 2004. Peters, Butz. *RAF: Terrorismus in Deutschland.* Knaur, 1993.
|
||||
[^2]: Ulrike Meinhof, Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar (1980), p. 153, as quoted in the judgment, footnote 200. German: "Gegen Warenhausbrandstiftung im besonderen spricht, daß dieser Angriff auf die kapitalistische Konsumwelt [...] eben diese Konsumwelt nicht aus den Angeln hebt, sie nicht einmal verletzt [...]."
|
||||
[^3]: Urteil des Oberlandesgerichts Stuttgart vom 28. April 1977, Az. 2 StE (OLG Stgt) 1/74, in: Das Stammheim-Protokoll. Die Gesamtedition (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2021), https://www.stammheim-prozess.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OLG-Stuttgart-Urteil-vom-28.4.1977-2-StE-174-Text.pdf, p. 156 (printed page marker [156], footnote on the Baader liberation trial). German: "Meinhof wurde am 29. November 1974 zu einer Freiheitsstrafe in Höhe von acht Jahren verurteilt, Mahler unter Einbeziehung einer bereits zuvor ausgeurteilten Haftstrafe zu einer Gesamtfreiheitsstrafe in Höhe von 14 Jahren verurteilt."
|
||||
[^4]: Varon, Jeremy. *Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies.* University of California Press, 2004. Peters, Butz. *RAF: Terrorismus in Deutschland.* Knaur, 1993.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
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