vault backup: 2026-10-15 14:01:13
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@ -4,10 +4,27 @@ tags:
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- Person
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- OrganizedCrime
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summary: "Individual under FBI investigation for extortion, insider trading at MCA/Universal, narcotics trafficking, and ties to organized crime."
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updated: 2026-10-15
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relations:
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- type: partner_of
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with: "[[Martin Bacow]]"
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start: 1987-03
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role: "named co-subject of the same wiretap applications; calls recorded March and August 1987; the affidavit alleges a kickback on labor benefit plans"
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fn: 2
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---
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[[Angelo Commito]] was an individual who was under investigation in 1987 for various suspected offenses, including extortion, insider trading (MCA/Universal), the purchase and sale of narcotics/controlled substances, and the allocation and use of the proceeds of its trafficking. His name appeared in [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] wiretap affidavits related to the investigation of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] and its alleged ties to organized crime.[^1]
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### Wiretaps and the benefit-plan allegation
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Commito was then the president of Labor Health and Benefit Plans, Inc., a company that administers employee benefit plans for unions and private companies.[^2] On March 12, 1987, Commito told a Chicago-area contact that he had spoken with [[Martin Bacow]], who was making a movie that [[Eugene Giaquinto]] was going to distribute.[^2] The affidavit alleges that agents were investigating whether Commito offered Bacow a kickback to guarantee the selection of benefit plans that Commito represented.[^2]
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The Ninth Circuit's opinion in the Tham appeal recounts that Chief Judge Peckham, sitting as a magistrate, initially authorized the April 22, 1987 wiretap application against Commito, and that the April affidavits named Commito, Bacow, real estate developer William Richard Baldwin and others.[^3] In the appeal of [[Michael Rudy Tham]], a Teamsters official in San Francisco, Tham argued that the affidavit omitted a March 12, 1987 call in which Commito told Bacow that he did not want to talk to Tham or involve him in further discussions about an eye-care insurance kickback scheme. The court held that the omission was at worst negligent and that Tham had offered no proof it was intentional or reckless.[^3] The Ninth Circuit later reversed Judge Patel's suppression of the April wiretap, which Judge Patel had ordered in Commito's trial.[^4] On December 15, 1987 the Los Angeles Times reported Commito's indictment on labor racketeering charges, described as another organized crime figure and Bacow associate.[^5]
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---
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
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[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
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[^2]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 5(c), 58 and 59 (continuation affidavit, Judge J. Spencer Letts, C.D. Cal., intercepts through September 1, 1987). https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf).
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[^3]: United States v. Tham, 948 F.2d 1107 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 1991). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/571500/united-states-v-michael-rudy-tham/
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[^4]: United States v. Commito, 918 F.2d 95 (9th Cir. 1990), as stated in the note to United States v. Tham, 948 F.2d 1107. https://static.case.law/f2d/918/cases/0095-01.json
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[^5]: William Knoedelseder, Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 436.
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@ -2,28 +2,170 @@
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aliases:
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- Cheryl Bentov
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- Cheryl Hanin
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- Cheryl Hanin Bentov
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- Cheryl Ben-Tov
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- Cindy
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- Cindy Hanin
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- Cindy Hanin Bentov
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category: "Intelligence & Government"
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tags:
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- Person
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- CherylBentov
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- Mossad
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- MordechaiVanunu
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- Dimona
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- SundayTimes
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- PeterHounam
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- Israel
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- Florida
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summary: "Florida-born Mossad agent Cheryl Hanin Bentov, who under the name Cindy lured Mordechai Vanunu from London to Rome in September 1986, identified by the Sunday Times through a London hotel register."
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updated: 2026-09-21
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updated: 2026-10-15
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relations:
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Mossad]]"
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role: "alleged operative, per Cohen and Hounam"
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fn: 15
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- type: spouse_of
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with: "[[Ofer Bentov]]"
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start: 1985-03
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fn: 13
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- type: participant_in
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with: "[[Abduction of Mordecai Vanunu]]"
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start: 1986-09-30
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role: "lured Vanunu from London to Rome"
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fn: 2
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[Peter Hounam]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1987-07
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fn: 5
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[The Sunday Times]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1986-10
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fn: 5
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[Uzi Mahnaimi]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1998-01
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fn: 33
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[CFI Sales and Marketing]]"
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end: 1997
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role: "real estate sales, per the St. Petersburg Times"
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fn: 38
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---
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Cheryl Hanin Bentov, who used the name Cindy, was a [[Mossad]] agent. She enticed [[Mordecai Vanunu]] to leave [[London]] for [[Rome]] a few days before the publication of his story in the *London Sunday Times*. Once in Rome, Vanunu was drugged and returned to [[Israel]] by ship to stand trial.[^1]
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Cheryl Hanin Bentov, who used the name Cindy, was a [[Mossad]] agent born in 1960 in [[Orlando]], [[Florida]]. She enticed [[Mordecai Vanunu]] to leave [[London]] for [[Rome]] a few days before the [[The Sunday Times|London Sunday Times]] published his story on October 5, 1986.[^1] Once in Rome, Vanunu was drugged and returned to [[Israel]] by ship to stand trial.[^2]
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### Identification
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The passenger list of the flight to Rome on September 30, 1986, showed Vanunu in seat 6F and "a Miss C. Hanin" beside him. A Cynthia Hanin of Longwood, [[Florida]], was found and proved to be a different woman, who had married a Randy Hanin a month after the abduction. [[Peter Hounam]] of [[The Sunday Times]] then found that "a Cheryl Hanin had stayed at the Eccleston Hotel in London just before [[Oscar Guerrero]] had checked in," giving the Hanin family address and American nationality. "The woman who lured Vanunu to Rome used a false identity, that of her sister-in-law."[^2]
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The passenger list of the flight to Rome on September 30, 1986, showed Vanunu in seat 6F and "a Miss C. Hanin" beside him.[^3] The name led the paper to a Florida woman, Cynthia Hanin of Longwood, known as Cindy, who was a beautician trainee and was the wife of Cheryl's brother. Cynthia had married him on November 2, 1986, a month after the abduction. She was shown to be a different woman. Cohen wrote that "Cindy Hanin" did not exist on September 30, 1986, the day of the abduction, and that Cheryl had given Vanunu only the first name Cindy while using the surname Hanin when she bought her plane ticket to Rome.[^4]
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Cheryl Hanin, Randy's sister, was the daughter of Stanley Hanin, owner of Allied District Tire Stores, who later sold the business for 32 million dollars. She "returned to Israel in 1978 and enlisted for the Israeli Army," joined a kibbutz in [[Galilee]], and in March 1985 married [[Ofer Bentov]], "a former major in Israeli military intelligence" who "had been active in West Africa." A family acquaintance said: "Presumably, she was recruited into Mossad from the army." Asked about his service, Bentov said: "It is not true. I was a chauffeur in the army." Her father told the newspaper: "I haven't seen her for years. Where is she, what's she doing?" Vanunu petitioned Israel's High Court to have investigated "the possibility that Cindy was an American citizen working for the CIA." People close to the case in Israel held that one reason for the secrecy around it was "the fear that an American involvement in the abduction might be exposed." She has not returned to [[United Kingdom|Britain]], where she could be charged with conspiracy to kidnap.[^2]
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[[Peter Hounam]] of the Sunday Times then found that "a Cheryl Hanin had stayed at the [[Eccleston Hotel]] in London just before [[Oscar Guerrero]] had checked in." The registration form gave her family's Florida address and listed her nationality as "USA." Hounam wrote that at that point "the hunt was over."[^5] Two reporters who had seen Cindy with Vanunu in London, [[Max Prangnell]] and [[David Connett]], were shown college and family-wedding photographs of Cheryl, and both said it was the same woman.[^6]
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Hounam's 1999 book rebuts the Rome magistrate's view of the identity in the same terms: "The woman who lured Vanunu to Rome used a false identity, that of her sister-in-law."[^7]
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### Family and early life
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Hounam reported that Cheryl's father, Stanley Hanin, owned Allied District Tire Stores, a chain of Florida outlets, and that he later sold the business for $32 million.[^8] [[Yoel Cohen]] gives the family business as a chain of perfumeries.[^9] When the Sunday Times telephoned Stanley Hanin in Florida, he replied: "I haven't seen her for years. Where is she, what's she doing?" Told that the paper knew he had seen Cheryl the previous year at a family wedding, he said: "Look, I don't want to get involved in this. I know nothing about it." Asked about Ofer Bentov, he said: "All I know is, he's a nice boy."[^10] Cohen wrote that Hanin found the story totally unbelievable and thought there was not a speck of truth in it.[^11] Cheryl graduated from [[Edgewater High School]] in Orlando. Reporting by the [[St. Petersburg Times]] in 2004 has her growing up in Pennsylvania and Orlando.[^12] She spent a semester in Israel on a Jewish studies program while still in high school, returned to Israel in 1978, and enlisted in the Israeli army. Hounam wrote that she then joined a kibbutz at [[Hephzibah]] in the [[Galilee]].[^13] Cohen wrote that she joined a [[Nahal]] unit, and that Hounam was first led to [[Kibbutz Bet Alpha]] before he found the couple living in [[Netanya]].[^14]
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In March 1985 she married [[Ofer Bentov]]. Hounam described him as "a former major in Israeli military intelligence" who had been active in West Africa.[^13] Cohen wrote that he came from a military family and that his father was a retired army general.[^15]
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Ofer Bentov denied to Hounam that he had served in military intelligence. Asked about it, he said: "It is not true. I was a chauffeur in the army." Told that he had not denied his wife's involvement, he said: "Yes, I deny it. We have nothing to say."[^16] Cohen recorded that in a later telephone call Ofer Bentov described himself as a fiberglass salesman who had done his national service as a driver.[^17]
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Jack Schiffman, a family friend who told Hounam he had known the Hanins for many years, gave him a long interview in 1996. Schiffman said that when the Vanunu story broke there was a front-page story in the Orlando newspaper, with a picture of Cheryl, about the high school graduate involved in the affair. Schiffman said: "Presumably, she was recruited into Mossad from the army." He said Mossad was her main employer, and he reported that Cheryl once told her mother: "There were other things that I did for the Israeli government which were even more pertinent and more involved than this." Schiffman also said that Cheryl was a full-timer who left for work in Tel Aviv in a secretive way, that her mother called her "my daughter the spy," that Ofer Bentov's annual army call-ups had been quashed at her instigation since the Vanunu affair, and that she "continued to work for them, but in what capacity I don't know." He said that Cheryl would never go back to England, because she felt very vulnerable legally there.[^18]
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### The Rome operation
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Vanunu's written statement at his trial described the approach: "On 9/30/86 she persuaded me to come with her to Rome to visit her sister."[^19] His hand, held up to photographers at the court, bore the words "Vanunu M was hi-jacked in Rome. ITL. 30.9.86. 21.00 Came to Rome by fly BA504."[^20]
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[[Seymour Hersh]] wrote that Vanunu was enticed to leave for Rome by a Mossad agent named Cindy Hanin Bentov (a pseudonym) a few days before publication, and that Vanunu has told family members he was taken by taxi to an apartment in Rome, drugged, and returned to Israel by ship.[^21] Hersh later relayed Ben-Menashe's statement that Vanunu was entrapped by "the Mossad's Cindy Hanin Bentov" and was on his way to Rome within days of Mossad locating his hotel in London.[^22]
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[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] wrote that Vanunu met "Cindy Hanin Bentov" in [[Leicester Square]] and that she told him of an apartment she had in Rome. He wrote that he "heard all the fine details from 'Cindy,' with whom, it happened, I had worked at an earlier period."[^23]
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The Rome magistrate [[Domenico Sica]] closed his inquiry in June 1988 with the finding that Vanunu had worked with the Mossad and that the affair was "a disinformation exercise." Sica reasoned, among other things, that Cindy had used her real name, "Hanin," which Hounam quotes him calling "highly suspicious."[^7] Hounam replied that Sica "never once advanced the view that The Sunday Times was the victim of a hoax."[^7]
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### Exposure in 1987
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In July 1987 Hounam and Connett went to a house in Netanya. Cohen recorded that when Hounam told her the paper had established that she had lured Vanunu from London, she did not deny it. Her only reaction was "Are you going to publish this?" She then rose and, "almost screaming," said "I deny this, I deny everything," and ran into a bedroom.[^24] Hounam's own account gives her words as "I deny it. I deny everything," and says she ran into a bedroom and locked the door.[^24] Hounam later telephoned Ofer Bentov, who refused to meet and told him: "We have nothing to say."[^16]
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Cohen described the identification as the work of the Sunday Times Insight team, which had tracked the Florida lead and the hotel register. He wrote that the naming of Cheryl Bentov came after Vanunu had been returned to Israel, and he lists a Sunday Times report headlined "Revealed: The Woman from Mossad" among the paper's coverage of Vanunu.[^25] [[Hirsh Goodman]], then military correspondent of the [[Jerusalem Post]], wrote that by assuming the identity of a close living relative, Cindy (or rather her masters) had left herself open to exposure and ridicule.[^26]
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Cohen reported that [[Zeev Boim]], a [[Knesset]] member, asked the government's law adviser, [[Elyakim Rubinstein]], to bring charges against Sunday Times reporter [[Uzi Mahnaimi]] for disclosing national secrets. Rubinstein declined, and Cohen noted that the decision left open whether a journalist working abroad must submit material to the Israeli military censor.[^27]
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### Spotlight and the American question
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The American magazine [[Spotlight]], which Cohen describes as a right-wing and anti-Israeli publication, was the first to report Cheryl's Florida origins.[^28] Hounam quoted its item as saying that a source with access to Middle East intelligence data had described a covert operation "staged jointly by agents from Mossad and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]." The item said Cindy "is believed to be an American divorcee who moved from Miami, Florida, to Israel in her early twenties," and that she "went to work for the CIA as a covert action operative who also did occasional assignments for Mossad." It further claimed that [[Shimon Peres]] had telephoned the White House to ask for United States help.[^29]
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Cohen wrote that the CIA and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] asked to examine the school records of Cheryl's high school, and that the CIA's London office asked British counterparts whether Israel had approached the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] government about the operation. Cohen concluded that United States authorities did not appear to have been involved in the abduction.[^28]
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Hounam wrote that people in Israel close to the case believed one reason for the heavy security around it was the fear that an American involvement in the abduction might be exposed.[^29]
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### The Vanunu petition
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In a petition to the Israeli High Court, Vanunu asked for an investigation into "the possibility that Cindy was an American citizen working for the CIA," and into the possibility that she had been "murdered by the same people who carried out the kidnapping." Hounam later described the second claim as probably false.[^30]
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### Later life
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Hounam reported that in 1997 Cheryl was seen driving a red sports convertible in the Orlando area, where she and Ofer had lived for a time. He wrote that the couple were said to be selling timeshare properties, although neighbors in Israel described this as a cover story.[^31]
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The St. Petersburg Times reported that a Sunday Times reporter had found her in 1997 at home in Orlando. She said little, except to voice concern that any story about her should not harm her position in America. The paper quoted the Sunday Times as saying she "continues to work for Mossad, according to her Israeli neighbors."[^32] Cohen dates the search to January 1998, when Mahnaimi located her and had her photographed as she left her house. Cohen wrote that she told him she had nothing to say, and that she did not deny being Cindy.[^33]
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Cohen records that Vanunu, after seeing that photograph in the Sunday Times, told the Knesset member [[Dedi Zucker]]: "it was not the woman I was with." He said he would be able to identify the real Cindy.[^34] Some sailors on the naval craft that had brought Vanunu from Italy to Israel thought the woman on the boat was far prettier than the woman in the Sunday Times photograph. Cohen suggested that the woman aboard may have been another Mossad agent.[^35] Cohen describes Mahnaimi as the son of a general in army intelligence and as a former major in Unit 504, which Cohen says is reportedly responsible for planting agents abroad.[^36]
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A close friend of Cheryl's in Florida, quoted by [[Yedioth Ahronoth]] according to Hounam's own website, said: "She left Israel to flee the media and the people who burrowed into her life."[^37]
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In a 2004 feature, the St. Petersburg Times reported that state records had listed Cheryl as holding an active real estate sales license and as employed by [[CFI Sales and Marketing]], an Orlando company that is part of [[Westgate Resorts]]. The company's president, [[David A. Siegel]], said she had been terminated in 1997, likely for not meeting sales goals. After the paper began to inquire, the state records were changed to show the license as inactive, without a reference to the company. Officials could not say who had requested the change, and the company said it had not.[^38]
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The same article reported that Ofer Bentov was a trainee appraiser for an Orlando appraisal firm and declined an interview. When the paper reached Cheryl by telephone at home, a voice said: "I have no interest in talking."[^39] [[Yossi Melman]] of [[Ha'aretz]] said she was unlikely to still work for the Mossad: "No way," he said. "She was burned." Hounam said: "I think she probably is still doing some stuff for the Mossad."[^40] Vanunu's brother, [[Meir Vanunu|Meir]], said that Vanunu now realized Cindy had been a Mossad plant. Hounam said Vanunu still insisted that Hounam did not have the right woman.[^40]
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Cohen wrote in 2003 that Cindy was probably still on the Mossad payroll as a "sleeper" and living in Florida.[^25]
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### Legal exposure
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Hounam wrote that Cheryl was afraid to return to England for fear of arrest, and that there was surely enough evidence to pursue a criminal prosecution for conspiracy to kidnap.[^41] She has not returned to [[United Kingdom|Britain]].
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 15.
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[^2]: Hounam, Peter. *The Woman from Mossad: The Story of Mordechai Vanunu and the Israeli Nuclear Program*. Vision Paperbacks, 1999, pp. 88-98, 127-129.
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[^1]: Susan Taylor Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," _St. Petersburg Times_, March 21, 2004, which gives the publication date of October 5, 1986. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/03/21/the-spy-and-the-man-she-busted/
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[^2]: Peter Hounam, _The Woman from Mossad: The Story of Mordechai Vanunu and the Israeli Nuclear Program_. Vision Paperbacks, 1999, pp. 1, 76, 80. Lending copy: https://archive.org/details/womanfrommossads0000houn
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[^3]: Hounam, _The Woman from Mossad_, p. 88.
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[^4]: Yoel Cohen, _The Whistleblower of Dimona: Israel, Vanunu, and the Bomb_. Holmes & Meier, 2003, p. 135. Lending copy: https://archive.org/details/whistleblowerofd0000cohe . Hounam, pp. 88, 90-91 (Cynthia's trade, and the mother's denial that she had been a beautician).
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[^5]: Hounam, pp. 93-94.
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[^6]: Hounam, p. 90.
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[^7]: Hounam, p. 127.
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[^8]: Hounam, pp. 89, 94.
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[^9]: Cohen, p. 135.
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[^10]: Hounam, p. 92.
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[^11]: Cohen, p. 135 (Hanin's reaction on first hearing of the allegation).
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[^12]: Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," March 21, 2004.
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[^13]: Hounam, p. 90.
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[^14]: Cohen, pp. 135-136.
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[^15]: Cohen, p. 94.
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[^16]: Hounam, p. 92.
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[^17]: Cohen, pp. 135-136.
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[^18]: Hounam, pp. 94-98 (Schiffman interview, 1996).
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[^19]: Hounam, p. 80.
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[^20]: Hounam, p. 87.
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[^21]: Seymour Hersh, _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991, ch. 15 ("The Tunnel"), p. 198.
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[^22]: Hersh, _The Samson Option_, ch. 22 ("An Israeli Asset"), p. 315.
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[^23]: Ari Ben-Menashe, _Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network_. Sheridan Square Press, 1992, pp. 203-204.
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[^24]: Cohen, p. 134; Hounam, pp. 90-92.
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[^25]: Cohen, ch. 14 (the 2003 "sleeper" passage and the list of Sunday Times coverage, including the headline "Revealed: The Woman from Mossad").
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[^26]: Cohen, pp. 136-137.
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[^27]: Cohen, p. 138.
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[^28]: Cohen, pp. 94-95 (Spotlight, the school-record requests, the CIA London office, and Cohen's conclusion on US involvement).
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[^29]: Hounam, p. 94 (the Spotlight item as quoted by Hounam, and the account of Israeli opinion).
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[^30]: Hounam, pp. 97-98.
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[^31]: Hounam, p. 97.
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[^32]: Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," March 21, 2004.
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[^33]: Cohen, p. 137.
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[^34]: Cohen, p. 137.
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[^35]: Cohen, p. 137.
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[^36]: Cohen, pp. 137-138.
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[^37]: Peter Hounam, "How I Escaped Mossad's Clutches," peterhounam.com (undated author's account).
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[^38]: Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," March 21, 2004 (state records, CFI Sales and Marketing).
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[^39]: Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," March 21, 2004 (Ofer Bentov's appraisal work, his interview refusal, and the telephone reply).
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[^40]: Martin, "The spy and the man she busted," March 21, 2004 (Melman, Hounam, and Meir Vanunu).
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[^41]: Hounam, p. 129.
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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ aliases:
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- Danny Casolaro
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- Joseph Daniel Casolaro
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created: 2024-04-25
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updated: 2026-10-09
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updated: 2026-10-15
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category: "Authors & Journalists"
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tags:
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- KeyFigure
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@ -59,17 +59,17 @@ The family disputed the suicide ruling, citing Casolaro's known fear of blood an
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Casolaro had packed his notes, handwritten outlines, a 12-page Riconosciuto memo detailing PROMIS allegations, newspaper clippings, and names of former CIA officers and arms dealers into a black leather tote bag and a dark brown briefcase when he left for Martinsburg. The briefcase, which his associates said contained documents central to his investigation, was not recovered.[^1]
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In 2024, Martinsburg police released records under a Freedom of Information Act request by researchers Zachary Treitz and Christian Hansen. These records indicated that another person had visited Casolaro's room on the night of August 9, and that an eyewitness had provided police with a written statement and sketch of this visitor - a description matching [[Joseph Cuellar]], a man who had made contact with Casolaro weeks earlier at a local bar. Cuellar talked of his exploits in the Army special forces, and Casolaro asked him repeatedly to arrange a meeting with [[Peter Videnieks]], the DOJ contracting official central to the PROMIS case, to question him about Riconosciuto's March 1991 affidavit. The Justice Department's 1994 review of the Bua report recorded that Videnieks' wife works for Senator [[Robert Byrd]], and that Cuellar said a former fiancée had worked with her in the Senator's Capitol Hill office. Cuellar called Videnieks, who refused.[^1][^5]
|
||||
The Martinsburg police report on the death was obtained by the Australian researcher Peter Osborne through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2004, according to a *CovertAction Magazine* article by Jeremy Kuzmarov of October 16, 2024, which also stated that [[Christian Hansen]] and [[Zachary Treitz]], the producers of the Netflix series *American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders*, had received a copy in 2014.[^5] The article reported that the report includes a witness sketch of a man seen entering and leaving Casolaro's room on the day he was found dead, and that the man "bears strong resemblance to Major Joseph Cuellar."[^5] A Justice Department review of the Casolaro matter by Steven E. Zipperstein and Scott A. Erskine records a different witness account: a guest in an adjoining room saw someone matching Casolaro's general description enter room 517 with a key at about 9:00 p.m. on August 9, 1991, carrying a brown paper bag, and did not see the man's face; the same text states that no one was seen entering or leaving the room on the morning of August 10.[^6] [[Joseph Cuellar]] had made contact with Casolaro weeks earlier at a local bar. Cuellar talked of his exploits in the Army special forces, and Casolaro asked him repeatedly to arrange a meeting with [[Peter Videnieks]], the DOJ contracting official central to the PROMIS case, to question him about Riconosciuto's March 1991 affidavit. The Justice Department's 1994 review of the Bua report recorded that Videnieks' wife works for Senator [[Robert Byrd]], and that Cuellar said a former fiancée had worked with her in the Senator's Capitol Hill office. Cuellar called Videnieks, who refused.[^1][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
The 1994 Justice Department review of the Bua report addressed the allegation that Videnieks was involved in the death. The review found "no evidence whatsoever" of his involvement and recorded that Videnieks said he had been at a summer cottage in New York state from August 5 to August 11, 1991. His personnel records reflect leave in that period, and a credit card receipt shows a purchase at a bookstore in Oneonta, New York, on August 9. The review found no evidence linking Cuellar to the death, and recorded that Cuellar was in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 1991.[^6]
|
||||
The 1994 Justice Department review of the Bua report addressed the allegation that Videnieks was involved in the death. The review found "no evidence whatsoever" of his involvement and recorded that Videnieks said he had been at a summer cottage in New York state from August 5 to August 11, 1991. His personnel records reflect leave in that period, and a credit card receipt shows a purchase at a bookstore in Oneonta, New York, on August 9. The review found no evidence linking Cuellar to the death, and recorded that Cuellar was in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 1991.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Congressional and Official Findings
|
||||
|
||||
The [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]]'s September 1992 report noted that Casolaro had "encountered dangerous individuals associated with organized crime and the world of covert intelligence operations" and recommended further investigation into the circumstances of his death. The committee found no evidence that DOJ had sought to influence the local West Virginia investigation.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua Report, completed in March 1993, stated that "the physical evidence in Casolaro's hotel room strongly supports the conclusion of the local authorities that the death was a suicide," found no DOJ influence on the local investigation, and stated that "there was ample reason to believe Casolaro had a motive to commit suicide," noting that he had been unemployed for months, was dependent on family for support, faced a balloon mortgage, and had been told by a prospective publisher shortly before his death that it would not advance him money on his proposed book about the "Octopus."[^7]
|
||||
The Bua Report, completed in March 1993, stated that "the physical evidence in Casolaro's hotel room strongly supports the conclusion of the local authorities that the death was a suicide," found no DOJ influence on the local investigation, and stated that "there was ample reason to believe Casolaro had a motive to commit suicide," noting that he had been unemployed for months, was dependent on family for support, faced a balloon mortgage, and had been told by a prospective publisher shortly before his death that it would not advance him money on his proposed book about the "Octopus."[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report listed the tests it relied on: handwriting analysis confirming that Casolaro wrote the note found in the room; fingerprint analysis finding his prints and none other except a single print on an ash tray; hair and fiber analysis; an analysis of the bloodstains by Dr. Lee of the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory consistent with suicide; and an autopsy finding hemorrhage from the wrist wounds as the cause of death and no evidence that he was unconscious or debilitated when cut. It addressed criticisms that the room was not sealed, that notification of next of kin was delayed while the body was embalmed, and that Martinsburg authorities discounted suspicions about his "sources," stating that "no credible evidence suggested that any of Casolaro's 'sources' played any role in his death." The report also records that Michael Riconosciuto, in a lawsuit against Bua, alleged that one of the FBI agents assigned to the investigation had murdered Casolaro; the district court dismissed the suit as patently frivolous (*Riconosciuto v. Bua*, No. 92 C 6217, N.D. Ill.).[^8]
|
||||
The Bua report listed the tests it relied on: handwriting analysis confirming that Casolaro wrote the note found in the room; fingerprint analysis finding his prints and none other except a single print on an ash tray; hair and fiber analysis; an analysis of the bloodstains by Dr. Lee of the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory consistent with suicide; and an autopsy finding hemorrhage from the wrist wounds as the cause of death and no evidence that he was unconscious or debilitated when cut. It addressed criticisms that the room was not sealed, that notification of next of kin was delayed while the body was embalmed, and that Martinsburg authorities discounted suspicions about his "sources," stating that "no credible evidence suggested that any of Casolaro's 'sources' played any role in his death." The report also records that Michael Riconosciuto, in a lawsuit against Bua, alleged that one of the FBI agents assigned to the investigation had murdered Casolaro; the district court dismissed the suit as patently frivolous (*Riconosciuto v. Bua*, No. 92 C 6217, N.D. Ill.).[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
FBI task force members assigned to examine Casolaro's death privately "questioned the conclusion of suicide" and recommended further investigation; expressing doubt about the ruling reportedly "risked one's career" within the Bureau as of December 1992. FBI documents related to Casolaro remain partially withheld from public release under national security exemptions, while the Bureau simultaneously claims the files are missing - a contradiction noted by MuckRock journalists who filed FOIA requests.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ Casolaro's investigation intersected with the drug-trafficking networks document
|
|||
|
||||
### The research files
|
||||
|
||||
Casolaro's research files, photographed by [[Christian Hansen]] at the Missouri State Historical Society and published on the Internet Archive, include a folder labelled "Promotional Material" of corporate and weapons literature, hand-numbered "BD|AI|PM-01" onward. Its items are a brochure for the Inter-Probe modular energy transfer catalyzer (PM-01), a printed page numbered 207 on fuel air munitions (PM-02), a [[Brunswick Corporation]] defense division cover sheet and drawing for the Rifleman's Assault Weapon for urban warfare dated October 1976 (PM-03), a sales sheet of the defense division of the Chilean firm [[Industrias Cardoen]] (PM-04) and a fax of the resumes of the associates of [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]], whose fax counters run 141 P01 to 141 P12 (PM-05) and whose page headers carry the date June 20, 1990 and times from 16:53 to 17:01.[^9] In the order of the photographs the folder runs PM-04, PM-02, PM-03, PM-05, PM-01.[^9] The packet names [[Carter Cornick]], [[Eugene Propper]], [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.|E. Lawrence Barcella]], [[Francis J. McNeil]], [[James B. Motley]] (a vice president of [[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]]), [[Mayer Nudell]] and a former CIA counterterrorism chief whose entry carries no name.[^9] The files also contain a folder of 1980s newspaper and magazine material on [[Frank Terpil]] and [[Edwin Wilson]], folders of Wackenhut annual reports, correspondence, profiles and newsletters, and, in a folder of Department of Defense publications, a magazine article by David Corn on Barcella and the Pan Am 103 bombing.[^10]
|
||||
Casolaro's research files, photographed by Christian Hansen at the Missouri State Historical Society and published on the Internet Archive, include a folder labelled "Promotional Material" of corporate and weapons literature, hand-numbered "BD|AI|PM-01" onward. Its items are a brochure for the Inter-Probe modular energy transfer catalyzer (PM-01), a printed page numbered 207 on fuel air munitions (PM-02), a [[Brunswick Corporation]] defense division cover sheet and drawing for the Rifleman's Assault Weapon for urban warfare dated October 1976 (PM-03), a sales sheet of the defense division of the Chilean firm [[Industrias Cardoen]] (PM-04) and a fax of the resumes of the associates of [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]], whose fax counters run 141 P01 to 141 P12 (PM-05) and whose page headers carry the date June 20, 1990 and times from 16:53 to 17:01.[^11] In the order of the photographs the folder runs PM-04, PM-02, PM-03, PM-05, PM-01.[^11] The packet names [[Carter Cornick]], [[Eugene Propper]], [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.|E. Lawrence Barcella]], [[Francis J. McNeil]], [[James B. Motley]] (a vice president of [[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]]), [[Mayer Nudell]] and a former CIA counterterrorism chief whose entry carries no name.[^11] The files also contain a folder of 1980s newspaper and magazine material on [[Frank Terpil]] and [[Edwin Wilson]], folders of Wackenhut annual reports, correspondence, profiles and newsletters, and, in a folder of Department of Defense publications, a magazine article by David Corn on Barcella and the Pan Am 103 bombing.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
The INSLAW folder of the research files includes a *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* report of February 19, 1991 that names Industrias Cardoen and its owner [[Carlos Cardoen]]. It states that [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], in an affidavit filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, said that Cardoen told him in January 1989 that Cardoen had brokered a deal between Earl Brian and an Iraqi military intelligence representative for the use of PROMIS, and that the sale was consummated in Santiago, Chile.[^11] Brian called the allegations "nonsense," according to the report.[^11] The report of Special Counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] dates the affidavit February 17, 1991.[^12]
|
||||
The INSLAW folder of the research files includes a *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* report of February 19, 1991 that names Industrias Cardoen and its owner [[Carlos Cardoen]]. It states that [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], in an affidavit filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, said that Cardoen told him in January 1989 that Cardoen had brokered a deal between Earl Brian and an Iraqi military intelligence representative for the use of PROMIS, and that the sale was consummated in Santiago, Chile.[^13] Brian called the allegations "nonsense," according to the report.[^13] The report of Special Counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] dates the affidavit February 17, 1991.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Bibliography
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -95,11 +95,13 @@ The INSLAW folder of the research files includes a *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* rep
|
|||
[^2]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary. *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report.* House Report 102-857, 102nd Congress, 2nd Session, September 10, 1992.
|
||||
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty."
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Report of the United States Department of Justice on the Review of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua's Report on the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.*, September 27, 1994, p. 9 (Summary item 4) and pp. 107-168 (Section V), at pp. 137 (August 7, 1991 call, August 17, 1991 letter, later interview), 146 (September 1990 agent meeting; "part-time author"), 148 to 149 (December 1990 New York meetings) and 154 (his account of Casolaro's state of mind). https://archive.org/details/InslawPROMISBuaReport.
|
||||
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 161-162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 159-160, 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 246-250 ("B. The Death of Joseph Daniel Casolaro").
|
||||
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 246-250 and p. 69. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^9]: Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," Internet Archive items casolaro-notebooks (PromotionalMaterial.pdf) and PromotionalMaterial, https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
|
||||
[^10]: Danny Casolaro papers, folders "CIA Frank Terpil Renegades," "Wackenhut - Newsletters" and "DOD PUBLICATIONS," https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files (the Corn item is headed "SPECIAL EDITION - TERRORISM / Did It Blow Up Flight 103?").
|
||||
[^11]: *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*, February 19, 1991, "Stolen Software Scattered: Affidavits Allege Sales To Iraqis And Israelis," clipping in the INSLAW folder, https://archive.org/download/casolaro-notebooks/InslawIi_djvu.txt.
|
||||
[^12]: Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General regarding the allegations of INSLAW, Inc. (March 1993), pp. 73-74.
|
||||
[^5]: Kuzmarov, Jeremy. "Witness Sketch of Man Seen Entering and Leaving Journalist's Room on the Day He Was Found Dead Resembles Former CIA Agent." *CovertAction Magazine*, October 16, 2024. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/10/16/witness-sketch-of-man-seen-entering-and-leaving-journalists-room-on-the-day-he-was-found-dead-resembles-former-cia-agent/
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, review of the Casolaro matter by Steven E. Zipperstein and Scott A. Erskine, as reproduced in a memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release pp. 69-70 (printed pp. 53-54), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
|
||||
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 161-162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 159-160, 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 246-250 ("B. The Death of Joseph Daniel Casolaro").
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 246-250 and p. 69. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^11]: Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," Internet Archive items casolaro-notebooks (PromotionalMaterial.pdf) and PromotionalMaterial, https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
|
||||
[^12]: Danny Casolaro papers, folders "CIA Frank Terpil Renegades," "Wackenhut - Newsletters" and "DOD PUBLICATIONS," https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files (the Corn item is headed "SPECIAL EDITION - TERRORISM / Did It Blow Up Flight 103?").
|
||||
[^13]: *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*, February 19, 1991, "Stolen Software Scattered: Affidavits Allege Sales To Iraqis And Israelis," clipping in the INSLAW folder, https://archive.org/download/casolaro-notebooks/InslawIi_djvu.txt.
|
||||
[^14]: Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General regarding the allegations of INSLAW, Inc. (March 1993), pp. 73-74.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,76 +1,216 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Joris Demmink
|
||||
- Mr. J. Demmink
|
||||
- Mr. J. (Joris) Demmink
|
||||
- J. Demmink
|
||||
category: "Intelligence & Government"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- CIA
|
||||
- Military
|
||||
summary: "Joris Demmink was a senior Dutch justice official who served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands from 2002 until his resignation in 2012."
|
||||
- Netherlands
|
||||
- MinistryOfJustice
|
||||
- RolodexInvestigation
|
||||
- TurkeyAllegations
|
||||
- Article12
|
||||
- HelsinkiCommission
|
||||
- GovernmentCorruption
|
||||
summary: "Joris Demmink was secretary-general of the Dutch Ministry of Justice from 2002 to 2012, and a 2017 Arnhem-Leeuwarden court decision ended a criminal case over rape allegations from two Turkish complainants without charges."
|
||||
born: 1947-12-11
|
||||
location: "Laren, North Holland, Netherlands"
|
||||
created: 2026-04-28
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Ministry of Defence]]"
|
||||
role: "legal affairs staff, later head of the legislation and public law section"
|
||||
start: 1971
|
||||
end: 1982
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: head_of
|
||||
with: "[[Ministry of Justice]]"
|
||||
role: "secretary-general"
|
||||
start: 2002-11-01
|
||||
end: 2012-11-01
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: participant_in
|
||||
with: "[[K4 Committee]]"
|
||||
role: "chairman during the Dutch EU presidency"
|
||||
start: 1997-01-01
|
||||
end: 1997-07-01
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
- type: subject_of
|
||||
with: "[[Rolodex Investigation]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "named by a witness in 1998; official summary says he did not appear in the file"
|
||||
start: 1997-02
|
||||
end: 1999-09-21
|
||||
fn: 5
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Rijksrecherche]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "criminal investigation ordered under Article 12 Sv"
|
||||
start: 2014-02
|
||||
end: 2017-08-18
|
||||
fn: 17
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[Openbaar Ministerie]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "prosecution ordered by the court on January 20, 2014; request to waive prosecution granted August 18, 2017"
|
||||
start: 2014-01-20
|
||||
end: 2017-08-18
|
||||
fn: 17
|
||||
- type: subject_of
|
||||
with: "[[U.S. Helsinki Commission]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "briefing of October 4, 2012 on alleged child sex trafficking"
|
||||
start: 2012-10-04
|
||||
fn: 4
|
||||
- type: represented
|
||||
with: "[[Mischa Wladimiroff]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "criminal defence counsel, fees paid by the ministry until January 2014"
|
||||
end: 2014-01-22
|
||||
fn: 22
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Joris Demmink (born December 11, 1947, in [[Laren]]) is a Dutch civil servant who served as secretary-general of the [[Ministry of Justice]] of the [[Netherlands]] from November 1, 2002, to November 1, 2012. The ministry was renamed Veiligheid en Justitie in October 2010.[^1] He is named in the [[Rolodex Investigation]], a 1997 to 1999 probe in [[Amsterdam]] of an escort and brothel operation, and in criminal complaints filed through their attorney by two Turkish men who allege that he raped them in [[Turkey]] in the mid-1990s. In 2017 the [[Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden]] found that, in its view, no reasonable suspicion of guilt remained, and no charges were filed. The official findings, the claims of the attorney and witnesses, and the press accounts are attributed to their makers below.
|
||||
|
||||
### Overview
|
||||
### Career
|
||||
|
||||
Joris Demmink was a senior Dutch justice official who served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. His career spanned several decades, during which he rose to become one of the most powerful figures in the Dutch justice system. Demmink's name became central to multiple investigations into child trafficking and government corruption, particularly concerning his alleged involvement in the [[Rolodex Investigation]] and his connections to international child exploitation networks.[^1]
|
||||
Demmink began in 1971 on the legal affairs staff of the [[Ministry of Defence]] and was head of its legislation and public law section from 1977 to 1982. He then moved to the Justice ministry, where he was deputy director and then director of the police directorate (1982 to 1988), head of the judicial organisation directorate (1988 to 1990), director-general of the administration of justice (1990 to 1993), and director-general for international affairs and aliens (1993 to 2002).[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Early Career and Rise to Power
|
||||
He chaired the [[K4 Committee]], the EU body for justice and home affairs, during the Dutch presidency from January 1 to July 1, 1997.[^2] The government's 2012 answers to parliamentary questions add that an EU delegation visited [[Istanbul]] and [[Ankara]] on March 9 and 10, 1998, and that Demmink was not a member of it.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink began his career in the Dutch justice system in the 1970s, steadily advancing through the ranks to positions of increasing responsibility. By the 1990s, he had become a senior official within the Ministry of Justice, wielding significant influence over legal policy and prosecution decisions.[^2]
|
||||
He was appointed secretary-general on November 1, 2002. [[Advocatie]] reported in January 2014 that he retired as of November 1, 2012. The [[Rechtbank Rotterdam]] recorded in 2014 that he was secretary-general from 2002 until his retirement on October 31, 2012.[^3] In 2012 his departure from the ministry coincided with the launch of a U.S. Helsinki Commission inquiry into his connection to child sex trafficking, and even after leaving office he continued to deny all allegations against him.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
By 1997, when the Rolodex Investigation into the Bell Boys callboy service began, Demmink was already a powerful figure within the Dutch justice system. His position gave him considerable influence over which cases were pursued, how investigations were conducted, and which officials were protected from prosecution.[^2]
|
||||
### Rolodex Investigation, 1997 to 1999
|
||||
|
||||
### Rolodex Investigation Involvement
|
||||
The Rolodex Investigation of 1997 and 1998 concerned the Bell Boys callboy service operated by [[Karel Maasdam]].[^5] The Dutch government's summary of the Rolodex Investigation, dated December 23, 2013, and released under the Public Access to Government Information Act, describes a probe that began in February 1997 of an Amsterdam brothel for homosexual clients with an attached escort agency. The probe was halted for tactical reasons and reopened in May 1998, after a suspect in an unrelated sex case began describing the brothel in detail. On July 17, 1998, that witness named two chief prosecutors whose names he said he had seen on the brothel owner's rolodex. A multidisciplinary team was formed on August 25, 1998. The rolodex was never found in searches.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink's name first emerged in a significant context during the 1997-1998 Rolodex Investigation into the Bell Boys callboy service operated by [[Karel Maasdam]]. The Dutch government's summary of the investigation states that the former secretary-general of the ministry did not appear in the Rolodex file in any way, and a ministerial letter of March 27, 2014 repeats this.[^3][^4] Former detective [[Leendert de Koter]] testified on March 5, 2014 before an examining magistrate in Utrecht that the [[Rijksrecherche]] had supplied Demmink's name, with those of three chief prosecutors, and that the probe produced no further indications against Demmink.[^5][^6] At the time, Demmink was a senior ministry official.[^7]
|
||||
The summary states that the former secretary-general did not appear in the Rolodex file in any way and that nothing in the file showed he had any involvement. The same position was given to the [[Tweede Kamer]] on June 15, 2007, and repeated in 2014.[^5][^6] In questions of January 30, 2015, MP Bontes asked whether the earlier answers that Demmink did not appear in the Rolodex file could be wrong in light of two statements under oath in the civil witness hearings. The minister had answered on January 21, 2015 that for the second statement, of April 15, 2014, he had asked the chairman of the College of Procurators-General for an assessment, who reported by official message of May 1, 2014 that no information had been found confirming it.[^7] The summary also records that two other officials with legal government functions came into view through witness statements, wiretaps and observations, and that on September 21, 1999 the College of Procurators-General found it had not been shown that they had committed offences.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
A boy prostitute who worked at Maasdam's Festival Bar later described at a U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing on October 5, 2012 how he had been introduced to Demmink by a university professor and instructed to have sex with Demmink inside his government car. The witness described refusing anal sex but performing oral sex with Demmink, who then wanted to take him to his home in Den Haag.[^8]
|
||||
The Minister of Security and Justice, [[Ivo Opstelten]], wrote on March 27, 2014 that the Rolodex probe began in August 1998 on the basis of a statement by a suspect in another sex case, that this statement did not concern the former secretary-general, and that his name did not appear in the start information.[^6] The 1997 start date given by former detective [[Leendert de Koter]] and the August 1998 date in the ministerial letter are both on the record.[^6][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Government Vehicle Abuse Allegations
|
||||
On March 5, 2014, De Koter testified before an examining magistrate in [[Utrecht]] in preliminary witness hearings sought by the [[Stichting De Roestige Spijker]]. He said that the [[Rijksrecherche]] supplied Demmink's name together with those of three chief prosecutors, [[Jan Wolter Wabeke]], [[Henry Hans Holthuis]] and [[Wooldrik]], and that the suspicion against the four was repeated sexual abuse of minors. He said the four names were already in the Rijksrecherche's system, that searches at the home of a university professor who was the focus of the probe found the computer, video recorder and tapes gone (he said the professor had been warned in advance), and that [[Fred Teeven]], who led the probe as chief prosecutor, knew the names. He said the probe produced no further indications against Demmink.[^8][^9]
|
||||
|
||||
Further evidence emerged from complaints filed by drivers assigned to Demmink's government car. One driver complained that Demmink had sex with boys in the backseat of his government car in his presence. The driver died shortly after lodging the complaint, which was never followed up on. Similar complaints were made by other drivers.[^9]
|
||||
The accounts differ on who refused a request to place Demmink and the prosecutors under observation. [[NOS]] reported that the Openbaar Ministerie did not grant the request. [[Omroep Brabant]] reported that De Koter said the request was turned down by the head of the national police investigative information service, [[Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg]].[^8][^9] [[Jaap Hoek]], a former head of the Amsterdam youth and vice police who was heard the same day, said he did not remember Demmink's name appearing in the investigation.[^9] Omroep Brabant wrote that the probe produced no tangible result as far as high-ranking figures were concerned.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
Justice officer Tjeerd Postma later confirmed that he had warned the BVD (Dedishness Dienst, the Dutch security service) about complaints from drivers regarding Demmink's activities. Postma stated that drivers had reported nightly visits to clubs and a business trip to Brussels where Demmink had sex with a young boy in the back seat of the official car while the driver witnessed everything through the rearview mirror.[^9]
|
||||
[[S. Dovey]] wrote that a man Dovey describes as Karel Maasdam's bookkeeper told the Dutch current-affairs programme [[EenVandaag]] that [[Warwick Spinks]] frequently supplied boys to Demmink and Henry Hans Holthuis.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### Turkish Allegations and International Investigation
|
||||
### Witness account, October 2012
|
||||
|
||||
In 2012, Demmink's resignation coincided with the launch of a U.S. Helsinki Commission inquiry into his connection to child sex trafficking. The inquiry focused on allegations that Demmink had raped two Turkish boys aged 12-15 during visits to Istanbul in the mid-1990s. Demmink denied these claims, stating he was not in Turkey at the time.[^10]
|
||||
A witness identified in the record as "Mr. B" testified at the [[U.S. Helsinki Commission]] briefing on October 4, 2012. He said he ran away from home at 14, was taken to a bar and introduced to the operator of a brothel for boys, and worked as an escort from a bar called the [[Festival Bar]]. He said a university professor introduced him to Demmink and told him to go outside to meet Demmink in his car. He said Demmink wanted anal sex, which he refused, and that he performed oral sex. He said Demmink later asked him to go to his home in [[The Hague]], which he declined because the pimp forbade leaving Amsterdam. He said the professor was a key suspect in the Rolodex probe and kept a rolodex of high-ranking clients, and that he was later asked to cooperate in a Dutch television news programme about Demmink that was never broadcast.[^4][^10] The witness's face was hidden at the hearing, and he is not named here.
|
||||
|
||||
### Connections to Other Investigations
|
||||
### Government vehicle complaints
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink's name surfaced in multiple investigations beyond the Rolodex Investigation. S. Dovey wrote that a man Dovey describes as Karel Maasdam's bookkeeper told the Dutch current-affairs programme EenVandaag that [[Warwick Spinks]] frequently supplied boys to Demmink and [[Henry Hans Holthuis]].[^11]
|
||||
[[Tjeerd Postma]], who headed facilities management at the Ministry of Justice from 1990 to 1998 (the chauffeur pool was part of his responsibility), told the [[Algemeen Dagblad]] in March 2014 that a driver, Hans Bakker, had told him after a trip to [[Brussels]] in the 1990s that Demmink had picked up a young boy and had sex with him on the back seat of the official car while the driver watched in the rear-view mirror. Postma said Bakker filed no formal complaint, that other drivers complained of waiting through the night outside clubs in The Hague, and that he raised the matter with Demmink, who in Postma's account called it "allemaal gezeur" and played it down. Postma said that in 2001, when Demmink was being considered for secretary-general and the [[Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst]] (BVD, the predecessor of the [[AIVD]]) screened him, he told two BVD officers about the club visits and the Brussels trip and warned them explicitly that Demmink was open to blackmail. A consultant who trained the ministry's works council told the AD that he had told the BVD that Demmink "jongetjes in zijn dienstauto bestelde" (ordered young boys to his official car), which he said he had heard from the works council.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
### Protection and Official Cover-up
|
||||
Bakker told the AD that Postma's account was "uit de lucht gegrepen" (plucked from the air) and that nothing improper had happened in the years he drove Demmink.[^11][^12] John Moeleker, a former change manager at the ministry, told the AD that in about 1999 Bakker, by then head of the chauffeur service, told the director of general affairs that a second driver had filed a complaint against Demmink, and that the director later told him the driver had died suddenly of a cardiac arrest, so the complaint had lapsed. Moeleker said the secretary-general of the time, Harry Borghouts, was to be informed; Borghouts told the AD the complaint never reached him. The driver died on January 25, 2000. His widow told the AD that he had died of a heart condition that ran in his family, called stories of mysterious circumstances nonsense, and said he had filed the complaint on behalf of another driver. The former Amsterdam chief public prosecutor Hans Vrakking told [[NRC Handelsblad]] that the driver himself had told the BVD he could no longer bear that Demmink sometimes had sex with boys in the official car.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
De Koter testified on March 5, 2014 that a request for an observation team on Demmink and the prosecutors was refused and that searches at the home of the university professor on whom the probe concentrated found the computer, video recorder and videotapes gone.[^5][^6] The government summary records that the underlying probe was halted for tactical reasons in 1997 and reopened in May 1998, and the start of the Rolodex probe is given as 1997 by De Koter and as August 1998 in the ministerial letter.[^3][^4] Jaap Hoek, a former head of the Amsterdam youth and vice police heard the same day, said he did not remember Demmink's name appearing in the investigation.[^6] No criminal charges were filed against Demmink in the Netherlands.[^12]
|
||||
Minister Opstelten answered that the AIVD had taken into account all information it held when assessing Demmink's security clearance, and had never found reason to refuse or reconsider the declaration of no objection for his post.[^6][^11] Demmink has denied the allegations throughout.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### Media Exposure and Public Scrutiny
|
||||
### Gay Krant report and the 2003 denial
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink's case received increased media attention, particularly after 2012 when the Helsinki Commission hearings and Turkish allegations brought international scrutiny. Dutch media outlets began reporting on the long history of allegations against him and the apparent protection he had enjoyed within the government.[^13]
|
||||
The magazine [[Gay Krant]] and the magazine [[Panorama]] reported suspicions about Demmink in 2003. The Gay Krant's editor-in-chief, [[Henk Krol]], published the allegations in that year.[^13] Omroep Brabant wrote that Demmink, then secretary-general, said in 2003 that he was not the official concerned himself and could not imagine that another official had such contacts, though the matter would be discussed internally.[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### Death of Els Borst and Political Connections
|
||||
[[Adèle van der Plas]], the attorney for the Turkish complainants, told the Helsinki Commission that the Gay Krant was forced to withdraw its accusations under threat of bankruptcy from Demmink's lawyer, and that Demmink told Krol in a private meeting that he had had sex with young boys without asking their age. In her account Demmink added: "Remember well, Mr. Krol, that we are the ones who make the laws in this country."[^14] She also told the commission that major Dutch media had not written about the case for several years.[^14] These are her claims.
|
||||
|
||||
In February 2014, Els Borst, the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1998-2002) and former Minister for Health, was found murdered in her garage, stabbed 41 times in what was initially reported as a possible suicide. Borst had been Demmink's minister when he served in the justice system and died just weeks after a Dutch court in Arnhem ruled to launch an investigation into historic allegations of child abuse against Demmink.[^14]
|
||||
### Turkish complaints and the Article 12 procedure
|
||||
|
||||
Dutch author Tomas Ross, who knew Demmink personally, suggested that Borst was murdered over what she had learned during her tenure at the Ministry of Health in the 1990s, particularly reports of rampant child abuse by Dutch politicians and other prominent figures that had flowed up to her office from social workers at government care facilities.[^14]
|
||||
Van der Plas testified that she filed three criminal charges against Demmink in 2008 and 2010 on behalf of two Turkish clients, for rape and sexual abuse of minors under sixteen. She said the boys were 11 and 14 at the time, and that the offences took place in Turkey in the mid-1990s, including a 1995 party in [[Bodrum]] that she described.[^14] The Bakker Schut Foundation's release of January 4, 2013, issued in her name, gave the ages as twelve and fourteen and said Demmink assaulted boys "between the ages of twelve and sixteen" in Turkey.[^15] The January 2014 press reports said the claimed abuse took place in 1996.[^16] The Justice ministry gives different dates. Its answer to parliamentary questions states that the Openbaar Ministerie carried out orienting fact-finding inquiries after complaints in 2007 and 2011. The 2007 inquiry led to no reason to order a criminal investigation, as minister [[Hirsch Ballin]] reported on July 16, 2007. The 2011 inquiry found no confirmation that Demmink had been in Turkey in the relevant period, and the minister reported that conclusion on February 2, 2012.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Resignation
|
||||
On January 20, 2014, the Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden issued a decision in an Article 12 Sv complaint procedure ordering that criminal prosecution of Demmink be instituted, to be carried out through a request for a judicial preliminary investigation (vordering tot gerechtelijk vooronderzoek).[^17] Press reports of January 21, 2014 gave the court as Arnhem.[^13][^18] A ministerial letter of July 1, 2015 gives the court as 's-Hertogenbosch and the date as January 21, 2014, and states that the court ordered prosecution and instructed the Openbaar Ministerie to conduct a preliminary investigation.[^19] The 2017 court release gives the date as January 20 and the court as Arnhem-Leeuwarden.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink resigned from his position as Secretary General in 2012 amid growing scrutiny and the launch of the U.S. Helsinki Commission inquiry. Even after leaving office, Demmink continued to deny all allegations against him, and no criminal charges were ever filed against him in the Netherlands.[^1]
|
||||
In January 2014 DutchNews.nl reported, citing NRC, that the order required the Openbaar Ministerie to interview one witness in Turkey (a second witness had since died) and to study Demmink's movements in the year in question.[^16] Advocatie reported that the court found the earlier fact-finding had produced enough facts and circumstances to support a reasonable suspicion that Demmink had committed the other offences alleged by the complainant, and that those inquiries had not yet given the clarity needed, so a criminal investigation was warranted.[^18] Advocatie also reported that the Justice ministry had searched for a document showing Demmink was in Turkey in the relevant period and had found no evidence, including in entry and exit records. It suggested that 1990s records may be missing because Demmink held a diplomatic passport at the time.[^18] According to Advocatie, Demmink himself said he had last been in Turkey in 1986. Van der Plas gave the date as 1987, describing it as his "alibi".[^14][^18]
|
||||
|
||||
### Investigation, 2014 to 2017
|
||||
|
||||
The Openbaar Ministerie began a criminal investigation about a month after the order, carried out by the Rijksrecherche. At its request, the investigating magistrate (rechter-commissaris) of the [[Hague district court]] also opened an investigation in 2014. The magistrate heard witnesses, examined documents, searched premises, tapped Demmink's telephone briefly, and questioned Demmink.[^17][^20] The magistrate and the prosecutor visited the prosecutors' offices in Istanbul and Ankara in 2014 and 2015 to press requests for legal assistance. Turkish authorities refused, and Turkey said that Turkish law stood in the way.[^20][^21]
|
||||
|
||||
In January 2014 Opstelten wrote to the Tweede Kamer that Demmink was now a suspect in a criminal investigation and that the ministry would stop paying the fees of Demmink's criminal lawyer, [[Mischa Wladimiroff]], although it would continue to pay for a civil case against the [[AD]] newspaper.[^22] That civil case, a claim for 100,000 euros, is described in the same report. The minister's letter of March 27, 2014 also refers to a criminal investigation into an allegation of offences committed in Turkey, which was under way.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
The Openbaar Ministerie's statement of June 30, 2017 said that its investigation, conducted at the court's direction, did not give rise to a reasonable suspicion that Demmink committed the rapes of 1995 to 1997 reported by the two Turkish boys.[^20] The same day the OM asked the court to approve dropping prosecution. The complainants' lawyer asked the court to order further investigation and to refuse the request. The court's decision of August 18, 2017 approved the OM's request.[^17][^21] The court built a day-by-day timeline of Demmink's whereabouts from documents from him and from third parties, checked against the underlying records. It found no basis for the claim that he was in Turkey in 1995, 1996 or 1997, and considered it highly unlikely that a later criminal court would reach a different conclusion on the evidence.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
### Helsinki Commission briefing, October 4, 2012
|
||||
|
||||
The briefing was chaired by Representative [[Christopher Smith]] of New Jersey, with Representative [[Steve Cohen]] present. The witnesses were "Mr. B," [[Klaas Langendoen]], a former chief of Dutch criminal intelligence who had run his own advisory firm since 1998, and van der Plas.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Langendoen testified that his investigation, commissioned by van der Plas's law firm, examined alleged manipulation of wiretaps and possible blackmail by the Turkish government of members of the Dutch justice department in the case against [[Hüseyin Baybaşin]]. He said he concluded that the attorneys' theory was correct, and that a high-ranking Turkish intelligence officer had given him a copy of a Turkish report about a Dutch official who had boys brought to his hotel room. He said that after one of the Turkish complainants travelled to the Netherlands to give a statement, the head of the National Investigation Unit told him that "there will be no criminal investigation".[^23]
|
||||
|
||||
Smith said in his opening remarks that Demmink had a right to be presumed innocent, and that the allegations, "when taken in their full context, are credible and deserve to be properly investigated". He said Demmink maintained his innocence and appealed to him to request a public investigation.[^24] A counsellor at the [[Netherlands Embassy]] said at the close of the hearing that the Netherlands takes child sex trafficking seriously and that the panel was one-sided, and that the Dutch government's position was set out in the minister's letter to parliament. Smith said he would convene a second hearing if the Dutch government wished.[^24]
|
||||
|
||||
Van der Plas's testimony added claims that a Turkish policeman who had been Demmink's security officer on visits to Turkey had admitted kidnapping boys for Demmink to abuse, that former Istanbul police chief [[Necdet Menzir]] was willing to testify that Demmink was in Turkey in the 1990s and that his officers had been ordered to protect him, and that prosecutors in [[Diyarbakır]] were investigating Demmink and two Turkish officials, including former interior minister [[Mehmet Agar]] and former police and intelligence chief [[Emin Arslan]], for corruption and child abuse. She also described a report, which she called the EK report, written by the Turkish intelligence officer [[Hüseyin Celebi]] (dated 2006 in her testimony and to January 2007 in an appendix she cited). She said the report gives dates of Demmink's entries into Turkey and says he used aliases. She said Turkish authorities had leaked a travel list, and that the Dutch authorities who received a copy never checked it.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Official position on the Turkish claims
|
||||
|
||||
The Dutch government's position has been stated consistently. In December 2012 the ministers confirmed that the Public Prosecution Service had concluded the accusations were unfounded and had established that Demmink was not in Turkey in the period in question.[^2] In 2014 the minister described the Turkish complaint as the subject of a criminal investigation.[^6] In July 2015 the minister declined to give a view on a remark attributed to his predecessor that the matter was nothing and never would be, because a criminal investigation was under way.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
The Dutch embassy's letter of August 17, 2012 was addressed, according to the government's answers to parliamentary questions, to Representative [[Joseph Pitts]].[^2] A 2015 ministerial letter gives the recipient as a Representative named Wolf.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
### Baybaşin case
|
||||
|
||||
Hüseyin Baybaşin, a Turkish-Kurdish man, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the [[Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch]] in 2002 for complicity in murder, attempted incitement to murder, hostage-taking, preparation of heroin imports and leading a criminal organisation.[^25][^26] His lawyers, including van der Plas, have argued that the wiretap evidence was manipulated and that Turkish and Dutch officials conspired against him. His lawyer applied for a revision of the case in April 2011. On April 17, 2018 the [[Hoge Raad]] refused the revision request (ECLI:NL:HR:2018:605). The Hoge Raad summarised the applicant's theory as a secret collusion between the Netherlands and Turkey to have him convicted of offences he had not committed so as to silence him, and found that no collusion between the authorities had been shown.[^25][^26]
|
||||
|
||||
Van der Plas's account links Demmink to the case through a 1997 Justice ministry memorandum, which she said named him as the responsible official for using the Baybaşin case as leverage over Turkey.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Els Borst
|
||||
|
||||
[[Els Borst]] was minister of Health, Welfare and Sport from August 22, 1994 to July 22, 2002, and deputy prime minister from 1998.[^27] From 1994 to 2002 she headed the Health ministry while Demmink was a director-general in the Justice ministry. She was found dead by a friend in the garage of her home in [[Bilthoven]] on February 10, 2014, next to her car. On February 11, NOS reported that it was not established whether she had died a natural death, and that police were treating the case with care because a crime could not be excluded.[^28] Her death was initially reported as a possible suicide.[^29] It came about three weeks after the court's order in the Demmink case.
|
||||
|
||||
On April 13, 2016 the Rechtbank Rotterdam found proven that [[Bart van U.]] killed Borst in the period February 8 to 10, 2014, and his sister in January 2015. The indictment charged that he stabbed Borst 41 times, and the proven statement uses that figure ("eenenveertig maal, althans meermalen"). The court held that he acted in a sudden emotional outburst, so that both killings were manslaughter and not murder, and found him fully unaccountable, departing from the reports of the experts at the [[Pieter Baan Centre]]. It discharged him from prosecution and ordered TBS with compulsory detention.[^30][^31] The court recorded that he said much later that he had a divine commission to kill the person responsible for the euthanasia legislation, and the court's release states that he said this about Borst.[^30][^31] Dutch media reported the 41 stab wounds in September 2015 on the basis of statements by Van U.'s lawyer.[^28]
|
||||
|
||||
Dutch author [[Tomas Ross]], whose 2014 novel De vrienden van Pinocchio concerns a network of Dutch officials who abuse boys and protect one another, and who knew Demmink personally, suggested that Borst was murdered over what she had learned at the Health ministry in the 1990s, particularly reports of child abuse by politicians and other prominent figures that had reached her office from social workers at state care facilities.[^32][^33]
|
||||
|
||||
### Later litigation
|
||||
|
||||
Demmink sued the Algemeen Dagblad, its editor-in-chief and a reporter in 2013 over articles of October 6 and 8, 2012. The first, headed "Justitiebaas had contact met pooier van jongetjes", reported that three eyewitnesses in The Hague's Schilderswijk described Demmink meeting a procurer of minor boys in the early 1980s; the second reviewed the earlier investigations and why they had come to nothing. Demmink demanded a rectification and 100,000 euros in damages, and the ministry paid his costs. His lawyer wrote to the AD before publication that Demmink had never met the procurer and had not been in Turkey since 1986, and that Demmink had received the Gay Krant and Panorama editors in 2003, which had led to a rectification. The Stichting De Roestige Spijker joined the case on the AD's side.[^3][^22]
|
||||
|
||||
On December 17, 2014 the Rechtbank Rotterdam rejected all claims (ECLI:NL:RBROT:2014:10259), holding that the AD and its journalist had researched carefully, that there were serious indications and sources to support the accusations, that Demmink had been given the chance to respond, and that the public interest in publication outweighed his interest in silence. The court stated that the civil case concerned only whether the articles were unlawful, not whether the events described took place.[^3][^34] In questions of January 30, 2015, the MP Bontes asked whether the judgment meant the court had found the allegations about contacts with a procurer probably true, and whether Demmink would appeal at taxpayers' expense.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
On October 29, 2015 the Amsterdam court ordered Opstelten, Teeven and Demmink to testify under oath in a preliminary witness hearing sought by a former boy prostitute who says he had sex with Demmink in the 1990s, including in the back of his official car, according to the AD as reported by Advocatie. Demmink has denied this.[^35] In September 2015 NRC reported that the Openbaar Ministerie in The Hague had abandoned efforts to trace witnesses in Turkey, which had cited legal considerations, and van der Plas said she suspected an agreement between Turkey and the Netherlands not to hand over files.[^36]
|
||||
|
||||
### Congressional correspondence
|
||||
|
||||
On December 21, 2012 Representatives [[Ted Poe]], [[Jim Costa]] and Chris Smith, writing as members of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, wrote to the Turkish ambassador [[Namik Tan]] of "serious concerns regarding reports that two victims of child sex tourism in your country are being threatened and intimidated into dropping their allegations against Joris Demmink". The text is quoted in a release issued by the Bakker Schut Foundation on January 4, 2013, in which van der Plas said that former Turkish police chief Emin Arslan had offered her clients money to recant.[^37] Smith's press statement for the October 4, 2012 briefing said that Dutch authorities had interviewed only one of three alleged victims, that a witness had accused Demmink of raping him in an Amsterdam brothel at 15, and that the investigation into those accusations "was suddenly and inexplicably halted" with the officers involved "allegedly sworn to secrecy".[^38] [[Samantha Healy Vardaman]] of [[Shared Hope International]] also testified.[^39]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Joris Demmink career timeline and official positions; Dutch government records and media reports
|
||||
[^2]: Demmink's early career in Dutch justice system; Rise to senior positions within Ministry of Justice, 1970s-1990s
|
||||
[^3]: "Samenvatting van de aanleiding, het verloop, de resultaten en de besluitvorming in het Rolodex-onderzoek," December 23, 2013. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvgs5kjg27kof_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vjigib8p5szh
|
||||
[^4]: Tweede Kamer, Kamerstuk 33 750 VI, nr. 116, letter of March 27, 2014. https://www.eerstekamer.nl/behandeling/20140327/brief_regering/document3/f=/vjifeja4nlzk.pdf
|
||||
[^5]: NOS, "Politie onderzocht Demmink in '97," March 5, 2014. https://nos.nl/artikel/619220-politie-onderzocht-demmink-in-97
|
||||
[^6]: "Oud-hoofdofficier justitie Jan Wolter Wabeke uit Best genoemd in zedenzaak Joris Demmink," Omroep Brabant, March 5, 2014. https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/1720283/oud-hoofdofficier-justitie-jan-wolter-wabeke-uit-best-genoemd-in-zedenzaak-joris-demmink
|
||||
[^7]: Rolodex Investigation files and Demmink's implication; Dutch police reports, 1997-1998
|
||||
[^8]: U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing, "Listening To Victims of Child Sex Trafficking," October 5, 2012; Bell Boys service victim statements regarding Demmink
|
||||
[^9]: Government vehicle abuse complaints and driver testimony; Justice officer Tjeerd Postma statements to BVD
|
||||
[^10]: Turkish allegations and U.S. Helsinki Commission inquiry; Demmink's resignation statement, 2012
|
||||
[^11]: Dovey, S. *Eye of the Chickenhawk.* Thehotstar, 2023.
|
||||
[^12]: Evidence of official protection and cover-up; Multiple investigation shutdowns after Demmink's implication
|
||||
[^13]: Media coverage of Demmink case, 2012-2014; Dutch press reports on government corruption
|
||||
[^14]: Els Borst murder investigation and timing; Dutch court ruling on Demmink investigation, January 2014
|
||||
[^1]: Parlement.com, "Mr. J. (Joris) Demmink," biographical entry (Laren, December 11, 1947; Ministry of Defence 1971 to 1982; Justice ministry posts 1982 to 2002; secretary-general from November 1, 2002 to November 1, 2012). https://parlement.com/biografie/mr-j-joris-demmink
|
||||
[^2]: Tweede Kamer, Aanhangsel Handelingen 2012-2013, nr. 691, answers of December 4, 2012 by ministers Timmermans and Opstelten to questions by Omtzigt and Oskam on the August 17, 2012 letter (answers 1 to 13: the 2007 and 2011 orienting inquiries, the Hirsch Ballin letter of July 16, 2007, the February 2, 2012 letter, the K4 chairmanship, and the March 1998 EU visit). https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/ah-tk-20122013-691-n1.html
|
||||
[^3]: Rechtbank Rotterdam, judgment of December 17, 2014, C/10/419404 / HA ZA 13-226, ECLI:NL:RBROT:2014:10259 (undisputed facts 2.1 to 2.6: retirement on October 31, 2012, the AD articles of October 6 and 8, 2012, the letter of Demmink's lawyer of October 3, 2012; decision). https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBROT:2014:10259
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), "Listening to Victims of Child Sex Trafficking," hearing transcript, October 4, 2012 (opening remarks of Chairman Smith; testimony of Mr. B, Langendoen and van der Plas; Embassy statement). https://www.csce.gov/sites/evo-subsites/csce.house.gov/files/migrated/uploads/2016/02/Transcript-Listening-to-Victims-of-Child-Sex-Trafficking-2012-10-04.pdf
|
||||
[^5]: Ministry of Security and Justice, "Samenvatting van de aanleiding, het verloop, de resultaten en de besluitvorming in het Rolodex-onderzoek," with the chronological inventory of the Rolodex file, December 23, 2013. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvgs5kjg27kof_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vjigib8p5szh
|
||||
[^6]: Tweede Kamer, Kamerstuk 33 750 VI, nr. 116, letter from Minister Opstelten to the Speaker, March 27, 2014 (Rolodex start date, AIVD clearance, criminal investigation into an allegation of offences in Turkey). https://www.eerstekamer.nl/behandeling/20140327/brief_regering/document3/f=/vjifeja4nlzk.pdf
|
||||
[^7]: Tweede Kamer, questions of MP Bontes (Groep Bontes/Van Klaveren) on the Demmink affair, 2015Z01581, January 30, 2015 (questions 1, 7, 10, 12; footnote 1 on the answers of January 21, 2015). https://berthub.eu/tkconv/getraw/2015D03269
|
||||
[^8]: NOS, "Politie onderzocht Demmink in '97," March 5, 2014 (De Koter testimony; Rijksrecherche names; observation request; search at the professor's home). https://nos.nl/artikel/619220-politie-onderzocht-demmink-in-97
|
||||
[^9]: "Oud-hoofdofficier justitie Jan Wolter Wabeke uit Best genoemd in zedenzaak Joris Demmink," Omroep Brabant, March 5, 2014 (De Koter on the observation request and Aalbersberg; Hoek; probe results). https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/1720283/oud-hoofdofficier-justitie-jan-wolter-wabeke-uit-best-genoemd-in-zedenzaak-joris-demmink
|
||||
[^10]: Dovey, S., *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. The EenVandaag bookkeeper account is Dovey's.
|
||||
[^11]: Tobias den Hartog and Koen Voskuil, "Escapades van Joris gaan een keer uitkomen," Algemeen Dagblad, March 29, 2014, p. 11 (statements of Postma, Moeleker, an external adviser to the works council, a driver's widow and Hans Vrakking; Bakker's denial). Summarized in Welingelichte Kringen, "Seks in dienstauto: BVD was gewaarschuwd over Joris Demmink," March 29, 2014. https://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/politiek/seks-in-dienstauto-bvd-was-gewaarschuwd-over-joris-demminkbvd-was-gewaarschuwd-over-joris-demmink
|
||||
[^12]: Welingelichte Kringen, "Seks in dienstauto: BVD was gewaarschuwd over Joris Demmink," March 29, 2014 (Bakker: "Het is allemaal uit de lucht gegrepen"; Demmink continues to deny). https://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/politiek/seks-in-dienstauto-bvd-was-gewaarschuwd-over-joris-demminkbvd-was-gewaarschuwd-over-joris-demmink
|
||||
[^13]: "Onthulling Gay Krant Best leidt jaren later tot vervolging van voormalig topambtenaar Demmink," Omroep Brabant, January 21, 2014 (Henk Krol as editor-in-chief of the Gay Krant; 2003 reports; Demmink's 2003 response; court decision reported as Arnhem). https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/1675299/onthulling-gay-krant-best-leidt-jaren-later-tot-vervolging-van-voormalig-topambtenaar-demmink
|
||||
[^14]: Written testimony of Adèle van der Plas, Helsinki Commission briefing, October 4, 2012 (complaints in 2008 and 2010; Gay Krant account; media remarks; Turkish claims, EK report, Diyarbakır investigation, 1997 memorandum; attributed to van der Plas throughout). https://www.csce.gov/sites/evo-subsites/csce.house.gov/files/migrated/uploads/2016/02/van-der-Plas-Testimony.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: Bakker Schut Foundation, release "Adele van der Plas Urges 113th Session of Congress to Further Investigate Concerns of Congressmen Ted Poe, Jim Costa, and Chris Smith," PR Newswire, January 4, 2013 (ages twelve and fourteen; twelve to sixteen). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/attorney-for-turkish-victims-of-former-dutch-justice-ministry-secretary-general-joris-demminks-alleged-crimes-applauds-letter-from-congress-expressing-concern-to-turkish-ambassador-about-pedophilia-investigation-185655552.html
|
||||
[^16]: DutchNews.nl, "Former justice top dog should face probe for child rape: court," January 21, 2014 (claims of abuse on business in Turkey in 1996; one witness to be interviewed in Turkey; second witness dead). https://www.dutchnews.nl/2014/01/former_justice_top_dog_should/
|
||||
[^17]: Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden, press release on the request to waive prosecution in the Article 12 proceedings against J. Demmink, August 18, 2017 (describes the beschikking of January 20, 2014, the investigation, the timeline and the court's conclusions). https://www.rechtspraak.nl/organisatie-en-contact/organisatie/gerechtshoven/gerechtshof-arnhem-leeuwarden/nieuws/2017/08/beslissing-gerechtshof-over-bewilligingsverzoek-in-de-beklagzaak-tegen-j-demmink
|
||||
[^18]: Advocatie, "Hof: OM moet Demmink vervolgen om seksueel misbruik," January 21, 2014 (Arnhem-Leeuwarden order; retirement as of November 1, 2012; Justice ministry findings on Turkish travel; diplomatic passport suggestion; Demmink's 1986 statement). https://www.advocatie.nl/?p=37223
|
||||
[^19]: Tweede Kamer, Kamerstuk 31 015, nr. 115, letter from Minister Van der Steur, July 1, 2015 (answers 1, 2 and 5 on the Bekink letter, the January 2014 order and the criminal investigation). https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvi0xeni9vr2l_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vme26leaeuex/f=/vjvdn6hc42z9.pdf
|
||||
[^20]: Openbaar Ministerie, "OM vraagt bewilliging van verzoek af te zien van vervolging Demmink," June 30, 2017 (investigation summary, legal assistance requests to Turkey, Turkish refusal). https://www.om.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/06/30/om-vraagt-bewilliging-van-verzoek-af-te-zien-van-vervolging-demmink
|
||||
[^21]: Openbaar Ministerie, "OM tevreden met beslissing hof om Demmink niet verder te vervolgen," August 18, 2017 (court's approval; one complainant heard in the Netherlands, the other never came to the Netherlands). https://www.om.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/08/18/om-tevreden-met-beslissing-hof-om-demmink-niet-verder-te-vervolgen
|
||||
[^22]: Advocatie, "Opstelten betaalt strafrechtadvocaat Demmink niet meer," January 22, 2014 (letter to parliament on the fees of Wladimiroff; civil claim against the AD for 100,000 euros). https://advocatie.nl/nieuws/opstelten-betaalt-strafrechtadvocaat-demmink-niet-meer
|
||||
[^23]: Written testimony of Klaas Langendoen, Helsinki Commission briefing, October 4, 2012 (commission from the law firm; wiretap and blackmail claims; account of the National Investigation Unit). https://www.csce.gov/sites/evo-subsites/csce.house.gov/files/migrated/uploads/2016/02/Langendoen-Testimony.pdf
|
||||
[^24]: Helsinki Commission transcript, October 4, 2012 (Smith's opening and closing remarks; Embassy counsellor's statement; announcement of a second hearing). https://www.csce.gov/sites/evo-subsites/csce.house.gov/files/migrated/uploads/2016/02/Transcript-Listening-to-Victims-of-Child-Sex-Trafficking-2012-10-04.pdf
|
||||
[^25]: Rechtspraak.nl, "Levenslang veroordeelde Hüseyin Baybaşin," case summary (revision request filed April 2011; refused by the Hoge Raad on April 17, 2018). https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Bekende-rechtszaken/Levenslang-veroordeelde-Huseyin-B/Paginas/default.aspx
|
||||
[^26]: Hoge Raad, April 17, 2018, 11/02065, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:605 (revision of ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2002:AE5920). https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:HR:2018:605
|
||||
[^27]: Parlement.com, "Dr. E. (Els) Borst-Eilers," biographical entry (minister of Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, August 22, 1994 to July 22, 2002; place of death Bilthoven). https://parlement.com/biografie/dr-e-els-borst-eilers
|
||||
[^28]: NOS, Gerard Driehuis, "Of ex-minister Els Borst een natuurlijke dood is gestorven staat nog altijd niet vast," February 11, 2014; DutchNews.nl, "Former health minister Els Borst was stabbed 41 times," September 2, 2015 (stab count from the suspect's lawyer, as reported by Dutch media). https://www.dutchnews.nl/2015/09/former-health-minister-els-borst-was-stabbed-41-times
|
||||
[^29]: Reports of the Els Borst murder investigation and timing, and of the Dutch court ruling on the Demmink investigation, January 2014.
|
||||
[^30]: Rechtbank Rotterdam, press release "Rechtbank Rotterdam veroordeelt Bart van U. tot tbs met dwangverpleging," April 13, 2016. https://www.rechtspraak.nl/organisatie-en-contact/organisatie/rechtbanken/rechtbank-rotterdam/nieuws/2016/04/rechtbank-rotterdam-veroordeelt-bart-van-u-tot-tbs-met-dwangverpleging
|
||||
[^31]: Rechtbank Rotterdam, judgment of April 13, 2016, 10/660017-15 and 10/662040-15, ECLI:NL:RBROT:2016:2699 (indictment and proven statement of 41 stabs; manslaughter in a sudden emotional outburst; full unaccountability; TBS). https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBROT:2016:2699
|
||||
[^32]: Statements attributed to Tomas Ross.
|
||||
[^33]: Thrillerweb, review of Tomas Ross, De vrienden van Pinocchio (2014) (plot of the novel). https://thrillerweb.nl/tomas-ross-de-vrienden-van-pinocchio/
|
||||
[^34]: Advocatie, "Joris Demmink verliest rechtszaak tegen AD op alle fronten," December 17, 2014. https://advocatie.nl/?p=39325
|
||||
[^35]: Advocatie, "Rechtbank: Demmink, Opstelten en Teeven moeten getuigen over kindermisbruik," October 29, 2015. https://advocatie.nl/?p=40915
|
||||
[^36]: DutchNews.nl, "Turkey won't cooperate with Demmink abuse inquiry: NRC," September 14, 2015. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2015/09/turkey-wont-cooperate-with-demmink-abuse-inquiry-nrc/
|
||||
[^37]: Bakker Schut Foundation release, PR Newswire, January 4, 2013 (text of the December 21, 2012 letter of Poe, Costa and Smith to Ambassador Tan). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/attorney-for-turkish-victims-of-former-dutch-justice-ministry-secretary-general-joris-demminks-alleged-crimes-applauds-letter-from-congress-expressing-concern-to-turkish-ambassador-about-pedophilia-investigation-185655552.html
|
||||
[^38]: Rep. Chris Smith, "Child Sex Trafficking Topic of Congressional Briefing," press statement on the October 4, 2012 briefing. https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=310525
|
||||
[^39]: Remarks by Samantha Healy Vardaman, Shared Hope International, Helsinki Commission briefing, October 4, 2012. https://www.csce.gov/sites/evo-subsites/csce.house.gov/files/migrated/uploads/2016/02/Vardaman-Testimony.pdf
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,22 +1,102 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Other"
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Joseph Cuellar
|
||||
- Joe Cuellar
|
||||
- Joseph Cuéllar
|
||||
category: "Military"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- PROMIS
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
summary: "Joseph Cuellar, an Army Reserve major, met Danny Casolaro at a bar in Arlington, Virginia, in May 1991 and called Peter Videnieks at Casolaro's request."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-09
|
||||
- PROMIS
|
||||
- TheOctopus
|
||||
- CasolaroDeath
|
||||
- ArmyReserve
|
||||
- DesertStorm
|
||||
summary: "Army Reserve major who met Danny Casolaro in a bar in May 1991 and was asked to arrange a meeting with Peter Videnieks, and whom a 2024 article compared to a police witness sketch."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[U.S. Army]]"
|
||||
role: "Army Reserve major"
|
||||
start: 1991
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[United States Southern Command]]"
|
||||
role: "in-processing after Operation Desert Storm, per the 1994 review"
|
||||
start: 1991-08
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: participant_in
|
||||
with: "[[PROMIS Software Scandal]]"
|
||||
role: "contact of Casolaro during the INSLAW inquiry, interviewed by the 1994 review"
|
||||
start: 1991-05
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
---
|
||||
[[Joseph Cuellar]], an Army Reserve major, met [[Danny Casolaro]] by chance at a bar in Arlington, Virginia, in May 1991. Cuellar talked of his exploits in the Army special forces, and according to Cuellar, Casolaro became fascinated. In a later conversation Casolaro asked about people in his "Octopus" story, and Cuellar told him he knew [[Peter Videnieks]], because a former fiancée had worked with Videnieks' wife in the Capitol Hill office of [[Robert Byrd]]. Cuellar and Videnieks both told the reviewers that their relationship was social.[^1]
|
||||
[[Joseph Cuellar]] is an Army Reserve major who met [[Danny Casolaro]] in May 1991, during the last months of Casolaro's work on the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]] and on what Casolaro called [[The Octopus]]. Casolaro later asked him to arrange a meeting with [[Peter Videnieks]]. The [[Department of Justice]]'s 1994 review found no evidence that Cuellar was involved in Casolaro's death; a 2024 article by Jeremy Kuzmarov compared a Martinsburg police witness sketch to him.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Casolaro asked Cuellar repeatedly to arrange a meeting with Videnieks, so that he could interview him about Riconosciuto's March 1991 affidavit. Cuellar called Videnieks, who refused.[^2] The review found that Cuellar was in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 1991, working on his separation from Operation Desert Storm and his reassignment to a Southern Command post, and that several witnesses verified this.[^2]
|
||||
### Meeting at the bar
|
||||
|
||||
The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that Cuellar approached Casolaro in a pub during the week before his death, claimed to be a Special Forces operative and offered to arrange a rendezvous with Videnieks, and that Casolaro confided to friends that he was unnerved by the encounter.[^3] Sources later suggested that Cuellar was a [[U.S. Army|U.S. Army]] Major in an [[Army Intelligence Agency|Army intelligence]] unit who went to work for a company that was a [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]] cutout. One [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent reported that Cuellar spoke Arabic fluently and had spent time in [[Iraq]].[^3]
|
||||
According to the Justice Department's 1994 review of the report of [[Nicholas J. Bua]], Cuellar and Casolaro met in May 1991 at "The Sign of the Whale" bar in Arlington, Virginia. Cuellar had gone there expecting to meet friends who were celebrating his return from [[Operation Desert Storm]]. Casolaro was already seated at the bar, waiting for a friend, and struck up a conversation with him. Cuellar talked of his exploits in the Army special forces, and, according to Cuellar, Casolaro became fascinated. The two men talked on the telephone several times and saw each other at least twice more. Cuellar also began dating the woman Casolaro had been waiting to meet.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Bill Hamilton]], president of [[INSLAW]], stated that he had received an affidavit from [[Bill Turner]] on "highly classified computer printouts on off-shore accounts that he claimed Casolaro intended to use the night he died in a planned meeting with Peter Videnieks and Joseph Cuellar and others."[^3]
|
||||
A Justice Department review of the Casolaro matter, ordered on November 1, 1993 and carried out by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven E. Zipperstein with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Scott A. Erskine, gives the same account. Its text describes Cuellar as "an Army Reserve Major named Joseph Cuellar, who is attached to the United States Southern Command."[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Other accounts place the first contact differently. [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Cuellar approached Casolaro in a pub during the week before his death, claimed to be a Special Forces operative, and offered to arrange a rendezvous with Videnieks, and that Casolaro confided to friends that he was unnerved by the encounter.[^5] Seymour also wrote that sources suggested Cuellar had been a major in an [[Army Intelligence Agency|Army intelligence]] unit and later went to work for a company that was a cutout for the [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]]. She wrote that an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent reported Cuellar spoke Arabic fluently and had spent time in [[Iraq]].[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
Jeremy Kuzmarov wrote in [[CovertAction Magazine]] in October 2024 that in the days before Casolaro's death Cuellar "happened to bump into Casolaro near his home in Fairfax, Virginia, and gave him his business card," and that Cuellar at the time "had been contracted to investigate the theft of INSLAW's software."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Kenn Thomas]] and [[Jim Keith]] wrote that the Hamiltons, whose firm was [[INSLAW]], believed that in the last days of Casolaro's life he was being tailed by a man named Joseph Cuellar, an Army special services officer and friend of Videnieks.[^6] In the same chapter they described a restaurant encounter in which a friend of Videnieks claimed Special Forces service and earlier work for a company connected to INSLAW, and was so forthcoming that he alarmed Casolaro's companions. They did not name that man.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas and Keith also reported that [[Sarah McClendon]]'s notes recorded complaints by the Hamiltons that [[Webster Hubbell]] and the FBI investigator Erskine planned to release a report without interviewing important Casolaro associates or looking into incidents that included a threat against Casolaro made by a friend of Videnieks, Cuellar, who apparently was also trailing the writer.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Videnieks
|
||||
|
||||
In one conversation, Casolaro asked about the people in the Octopus story, and Cuellar said he knew Videnieks. Cuellar explained that a former fiancée had worked with Videnieks's wife in the Capitol Hill office of Senator [[Robert Byrd]]. Both men told the reviewers that "their relationship was social," that they had double-dated with their partners several times, and that they saw less of each other after Cuellar broke up with his fiancée.[^8] The Zipperstein and Erskine text states: "As best as we can tell, there was nothing sinister about the fact that Cuellar knew Videnieks; it was, at most, a coincidence."[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Casolaro then asked Cuellar repeatedly to arrange a meeting with Videnieks, so that he could ask about the allegation in the March 1991 affidavit of [[Michael Riconosciuto]] that Videnieks had threatened him. Cuellar called Videnieks, who refused.[^9] The Zipperstein and Erskine text records that Casolaro's notes reflect a telephone call he made to Videnieks on June 13, 1991. In that call Videnieks refused to talk and referred him to his lawyer, [[Charles Ruff]].[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### Casolaro's last weeks
|
||||
|
||||
Cuellar told the reviewers that Casolaro confided in him near the end of his life. Casolaro, Cuellar said, had become so absorbed in the Octopus story that he had lost his perspective and could not arrange the material into a cohesive story, and he was in financial distress and close to losing his house.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
A woman who was briefly involved with Cuellar after the bar meeting told the reviewers that, after Casolaro's death and as their relationship deteriorated, Cuellar made a veiled threat. She said he told her she was asking too many questions about Casolaro, that she had two children, and that she would not be doing them a favor if she wound up like Casolaro or another journalist who had been killed in Guatemala. Cuellar denied making those statements.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### Findings on August 10, 1991
|
||||
|
||||
Casolaro's body was found in room 517 of the Sheraton Inn in Martinsburg, [[West Virginia]], on August 10, 1991. Local authorities ruled the death a suicide in 1991 and again on January 25, 1992, after over 1,000 man-hours of investigation. The House Judiciary Committee's 1992 report recorded that it had not included the death in its formal INSLAW investigation and that the controversy over the death continued in the press.[^13] The March 1993 report of the Special Counsel, Bua, stated that Casolaro's death "was fully and fairly investigated" and that the local conclusion of suicide "was amply supported by the facts."[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
The 1994 review wrote that several people had suggested Cuellar was somehow involved in Casolaro's death. "We found no evidence supporting that hypothesis." The review stated that on August 10, 1991, Cuellar was in Washington, D.C., working on his "Outprocessing" from Desert Storm and his "in-processing" into the Southern Command, and that several witnesses had verified that he was in Washington that day.[^1] The review also said that it was unaware of any evidence linking Videnieks to the death.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Bill Hamilton]], president of INSLAW, stated that he had received an affidavit from [[Bill Turner]] on "highly classified computer printouts on off-shore accounts that he claimed Casolaro intended to use the night he died in a planned meeting with Peter Videnieks and Joseph Cuellar and others."[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### Martinsburg police file and witness sketch
|
||||
|
||||
The Zipperstein and Erskine text records a detail from the hotel. At about 9:00 p.m. on August 9, 1991, a guest in an adjoining room saw someone matching Casolaro's general description enter room 517 with a key. The guest did not see the man's face, because his back was to her, and he was carrying a brown paper bag.[^16] The same text states that no one was seen entering or leaving Casolaro's room on the morning of August 10.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
In October 2024, Kuzmarov published an article in CovertAction Magazine on the Martinsburg police report, which he wrote had recently been obtained by the Australian researcher Peter Osborne through a Freedom of Information Act request Osborne filed in 2004. The article said the report "includes a witness sketch of a man seen entering and leaving Danny Casolaro's room on the day he was found dead" and continued: "The man bears strong resemblance to Major Joseph Cuellar, a CIA and military intelligence Special Forces operative, who had long been a lead suspect in Casolaro's apparent murder." Kuzmarov added that the police file includes signed statements from a witness who saw a man other than Casolaro leaving the room with a key on the night before and the morning of Casolaro's death. A footnote to the article states that the sketch witness described the man leaving the room as wearing sports clothes that Cuellar was also known to wear.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Kuzmarov wrote that the Martinsburg police never interviewed Cuellar and that the Justice Department claimed not to be able to find him even though he worked with the U.S. Southern Command. The 1994 review records that Cuellar and Videnieks each spoke with its reviewers.[^8] Kuzmarov further wrote that [[Janet Reno]], [[John Dwyer]] and Zipperstein left the match between the sketch and Cuellar out of their investigation reports. He wrote that the producers of the Netflix series American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, [[Christian Hansen]] and [[Zachary Treitz]], received a copy of the Martinsburg report in 2014, and that the series presented Cuellar favorably on the basis of an interview with his son.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Service record
|
||||
|
||||
The Justice Department's 1994 review records Cuellar as an Army Reserve major who was returning from Operation Desert Storm in May 1991 and was being processed into the Southern Command in August 1991.[^1][^3] Kuzmarov reported that he was born in Los Angeles in 1954, took part in covert operations in Venezuela, Bosnia, Saudi Arabia and Africa, served in the Persian Gulf War, and worked at NATO headquarters.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Kuzmarov also quoted an October 11, 1991 letter from Don Walker, whom he identified as president of [[Business Risks International]], to Hamilton. The letter described Cuellar as an "intelligent and articulate individual" who "speaks several languages" and who had "extensive experience in U.S. army intelligence and the CIA." Kuzmarov described Business Risks International as a CIA front where Cuellar worked, and a footnote to the article states that Cuellar "is thought to have been a 'wet operative' ie. a CIA assassin."[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 161. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^3]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
|
||||
[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^2]: Kuzmarov, Jeremy. "Witness Sketch of Man Seen Entering and Leaving Journalist's Room on the Day He Was Found Dead Resembles Former CIA Agent." *CovertAction Magazine*, October 16, 2024. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/10/16/witness-sketch-of-man-seen-entering-and-leaving-journalists-room-on-the-day-he-was-found-dead-resembles-former-cia-agent/
|
||||
[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 160-161. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, review of the Casolaro matter by Steven E. Zipperstein and Scott A. Erskine, ordered November 1, 1993, as reproduced in a memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release pp. 41-42 (printed pp. 25-26), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
|
||||
[^5]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010.
|
||||
[^6]: Thomas, Kenn, and Jim Keith. *The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro.* Feral House, 2004, p. 102.
|
||||
[^7]: Thomas, Kenn, and Jim Keith. *The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro.* Feral House, 2004, p. 132, reporting the notes of Sarah McClendon.
|
||||
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 161. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, review of the Casolaro matter by Zipperstein and Erskine, as reproduced in a memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release p. 42 (printed p. 26), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
|
||||
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162 n.5. Cuellar's account to the reviewers. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162. Account given to the reviewers by a woman who had been involved with Cuellar; she is not named here as a private individual. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^13]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary. *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report.* House Report 102-857, 102nd Congress, 2nd Session, September 10, 1992, pp. 69-72. https://archive.org/stream/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport/TheInslawAffair_djvu.txt
|
||||
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 246-250 ("B. The Death of Joseph Daniel Casolaro"), quotation at p. 248. https://archive.org/details/InslawPROMISBuaReport
|
||||
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 160. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^16]: U.S. Department of Justice, review of the Casolaro matter by Zipperstein and Erskine, as reproduced in a memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release p. 69 (printed p. 53), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
|
||||
[^17]: U.S. Department of Justice, review of the Casolaro matter by Zipperstein and Erskine, as reproduced in a memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release p. 70 (printed p. 54), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
|
||||
[^18]: Don Walker to William Hamilton, October 11, 1991, as quoted in Kuzmarov, *CovertAction Magazine*, October 16, 2024 (its note 3). https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/10/16/witness-sketch-of-man-seen-entering-and-leaving-journalists-room-on-the-day-he-was-found-dead-resembles-former-cia-agent/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ tags:
|
|||
- RussianImperialMovement
|
||||
- USA
|
||||
created: 2026-05-21
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-23
|
||||
summary: "Kaleb Cole was a Washington state-based Atomwaffen Division leader who received paramilitary training from the Russian Imperial Movement in St. Petersburg in 2018, ran a coordinated intimidation campaign against journalists and activists, and was convicted of civil rights conspiracy and sentenced to 84 months in federal prison."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
summary: "Washington state Atomwaffen Division leader trained in Russia in 2018, convicted in 2021 of conspiring to threaten journalists and activists, and sentenced to 84 months."
|
||||
location: "Washington State"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -22,11 +22,15 @@ Kaleb Cole was a Washington state-based [[Atomwaffen Division]] leader who rose
|
|||
|
||||
Cole became one of AWD's most operationally active members in the period after Russell's initial incarceration. He worked to maintain the organization's cohesion and continued its recruitment and propaganda activities while Russell was imprisoned. His role in AWD's operations placed him at the center of the organization's internal communications and gave him visibility into the network's full scope of activities.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The government's sentencing memorandum in the Western District of Washington case (Dkt. 261, filed January 4, 2022) states that AWD members formed a relationship with a Denver, Colorado resident who wrote [[Siege]], which the memorandum describes as the basis for AWD ideology. It describes the book as advocating leaderless resistance and lone-offender strategies as a means to accelerate the collapse of the United States government.[^2] The same memorandum states that AWD hosted a "Death Valley Hate Camp" in [[Las Vegas]] on January 25, 2018.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The memorandum also states that the "Death to Pigs" image used in AWD propaganda was lifted from a crime-scene photograph taken at one of the [[Charles Manson]] murders, and that Cole's selection of the phrase was not coincidental, because a reporter had written that he embraced Manson's "race war" ideology.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Russia Training Trip (2018)
|
||||
|
||||
In 2018, Cole traveled to Europe with fellow AWD member [[Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh]] of Olympia, Washington, on a trip that included passage through [[Ukraine]] via the Donbas green corridor into Russia, followed by attendance at the Russian Imperial Movement's Partizan paramilitary training facility in St. Petersburg. The training covered firearms, explosives, squad movement, and tactical operations. Former Russian military instructors ran the program. The same facility had trained members of the [[Nordic Resistance Movement]] from [[Sweden]] in 2016, who subsequently carried out bombings in Gothenburg in 2017, the case that formed the basis for the U.S. State Department's 2020 designation of RIM as an SDGT entity.[^2]
|
||||
In 2018, Cole traveled to Europe with fellow AWD member [[Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh]] of Olympia, Washington, on a trip that included passage through [[Ukraine]] via the Donbas green corridor into Russia, followed by attendance at the Russian Imperial Movement's Partizan paramilitary training facility in St. Petersburg. The training covered firearms, explosives, squad movement, and tactical operations. Former Russian military instructors ran the program. The same facility had trained members of the [[Nordic Resistance Movement]] from [[Sweden]] in 2016, who subsequently carried out bombings in Gothenburg in 2017, the case that formed the basis for the U.S. State Department's 2020 designation of RIM as an SDGT entity.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
After completing Partizan training, Cole and Bruce-Umbaugh traveled back through Ukraine into Poland and documented the trip with a photograph at [[Auschwitz]] concentration camp. The Russia trip is referenced in federal prosecution materials from both Cole's case (2:20-cr-00032, [[Western District of Washington]]) and Bruce-Umbaugh's case (5:19-cr-00130, [[Northern District of Texas]]), and is documented in investigative reporting on AWD's transnational connections.[^3]
|
||||
After completing Partizan training, Cole and Bruce-Umbaugh traveled back through Ukraine into Poland and documented the trip with a photograph at [[Auschwitz]] concentration camp. The Russia trip is referenced in federal prosecution materials from both Cole's case (2:20-cr-00032, [[Western District of Washington]]) and Bruce-Umbaugh's case (5:19-cr-00130, [[Northern District of Texas]]), and is documented in investigative reporting on AWD's transnational connections.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
The RIM training represents the most documented instance of a senior AWD leader receiving in-person foreign paramilitary training from an organization later designated a terrorist entity by the U.S. government.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -38,10 +42,13 @@ Following the [[2019 AWD Nuclear Congress]], [[Cameron Shea]] created an encrypt
|
|||
|
||||
The FBI investigated Cole's intimidation operations. He was arrested in 2020 as part of the broader federal crackdown on AWD leadership that also ensnared [[John Cameron Denton]], [[Ethan Phelan Melzer]], and others during that period.
|
||||
|
||||
Cole was convicted by a federal jury in the Western District of Washington on all five counts: conspiracy to commit hate crimes, mailing threatening communications, cyberstalking (two counts), and a fifth related count. He was sentenced to 84 months (seven years) in federal prison. The case drew national attention in 2021 when motion-to-suppress filings revealed that [[Joshua Caleb Sutter]], who had infiltrated AWD as a senior leader, had been an FBI informant throughout his entire tenure inside the organization.[^1]
|
||||
A federal jury in the Western District of Washington convicted Cole on September 29, 2021, on all five counts: conspiracy to commit hate crimes, mailing threatening communications, cyberstalking (two counts), and a fifth related count.[^6] He was sentenced on January 11, 2022, to 84 months (seven years) in federal prison. The case drew national attention in 2021 when motion-to-suppress filings revealed that [[Joshua Caleb Sutter]], who had infiltrated AWD as a senior leader, had been an FBI informant throughout his entire tenure inside the organization.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, OPA. "Member of Violent Extremist Group Sentenced to 84 Months for Civil Rights Conspiracy." https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/member-violent-extremist-group-sentenced-84-months-civil-rights-conspiracy
|
||||
[^2]: Malcontent News. "Washington's Defunct Atomwaffen Division had Deep Ties to the Terrorist Org, Russia Imperialist Movement." July 4, 2022. https://malcontentment.com/washingtons-defunct-atomwaffen-division-had-deep-ties-to-the-terrorist-org-russia-imperialist-movement/; Cipher Brief. "Examining Atomwaffen Division's Transnational Linkages." https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column_article/examining-atomwaffen-divisions-transnational-linkages
|
||||
[^3]: GovInfo. USA v. Bruce-Umbaugh, 5:19-cr-00130 (N.D. Tex.). https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-txnd-5_19-cr-00130/USCOURTS-txnd-5_19-cr-00130-0
|
||||
[^2]: United States v. Cole, No. CR20-032JCC (W.D. Wash.), Government's Sentencing Memorandum, Dkt. 261 (filed January 4, 2022), at 3. https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Kaleb%20Cole%20Government%20Sentencing%20Memorandum.pdf
|
||||
[^3]: United States v. Cole, No. CR20-032JCC (W.D. Wash.), Government's Sentencing Memorandum, Dkt. 261 (filed January 4, 2022), at 15. https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Kaleb%20Cole%20Government%20Sentencing%20Memorandum.pdf
|
||||
[^4]: Malcontent News. "Washington's Defunct Atomwaffen Division had Deep Ties to the Terrorist Org, Russia Imperialist Movement." July 4, 2022. https://malcontentment.com/washingtons-defunct-atomwaffen-division-had-deep-ties-to-the-terrorist-org-russia-imperialist-movement/; Cipher Brief. "Examining Atomwaffen Division's Transnational Linkages." https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column_article/examining-atomwaffen-divisions-transnational-linkages
|
||||
[^5]: GovInfo. USA v. Bruce-Umbaugh, 5:19-cr-00130 (N.D. Tex.). https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-txnd-5_19-cr-00130/USCOURTS-txnd-5_19-cr-00130-0
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, "Leader of 'Atomwaffen' hate group convicted of five federal felonies for conspiracy to threaten journalists and Anti-Defamation League employees," September 29, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/leader-atomwaffen-hate-group-convicted-five-federal-felonies-conspiracy-threaten
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -4,19 +4,128 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Person
|
||||
- OrganizedCrime
|
||||
- Mafia
|
||||
summary: "Bacow was described in the wiretaps as 'the back door liaison Teamsters connection to the movie industry.' He was under investigation in 1987 for various suspected offenses, including extortion, insider trading (MCA/Universal), the purchase and sale of narcotics/controlled substances, and the alloca"
|
||||
- Teamsters
|
||||
- LaborRacketeering
|
||||
- MCA
|
||||
- Wiretaps
|
||||
- LosAngeles
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Marty Bacow
|
||||
- Martin Bacow
|
||||
summary: "Labor consultant described in a 1987 FBI wiretap affidavit as the 'back door liaison Teamsters connection to the movie industry,' investigated in Los Angeles and never charged."
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1987-03
|
||||
role: "subject of the Los Angeles organized-crime wiretap investigation"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Thomas Gates]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1987-03
|
||||
role: "affiant on the wiretap applications naming Bacow"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[Eugene Giaquinto]]"
|
||||
start: 1987-03
|
||||
role: "named with Giaquinto as co-subject of the same wiretap applications; the affidavit alleges a joint scheme"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[Angelo Commito]]"
|
||||
start: 1987-03
|
||||
role: "named co-subject; calls with Commito recorded in March and August 1987; the affidavit alleges a kickback on labor benefit plans"
|
||||
fn: 8
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
[[Martin Bacow]] was a friend of [[Eugene Giaquinto]], then president of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] home entertainment division. He was a figure in the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] wiretap investigation into alleged organized crime penetration of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]].[^1]
|
||||
[[Martin Bacow]], also known as [[Marty Bacow]] and William Martin, was a labor consultant in [[Los Angeles]] who was the subject of a 1987 wiretap investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] into alleged extortion through [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters|Teamsters]] influence in the motion picture industry.[^1] He was never charged with a crime.
|
||||
|
||||
Bacow was described in the wiretaps as "the back door liaison Teamsters connection to the movie industry." He was under investigation in 1987 for various suspected offenses, including extortion, insider trading (MCA/Universal), the purchase and sale of narcotics/controlled substances, and the allocation and use of the proceeds of its trafficking.[^1]
|
||||
### Identity and aliases
|
||||
|
||||
Intercepted conversations revealed Bacow's discussions with Giaquinto about the internal situation at [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] and plans to produce a film about [[Meyer Lansky]]. The intercepts indicated that [[La Cosa Nostra]] from either [[Florida]] or [[New York City]] was attempting to get involved in the Lansky film. Bacow also informed Giaquinto that his "guy downtown" (Detective [[John St. John]] at the [[Los Angeles Police Department|Los Angeles Police Department]]'s Organized Crime Intelligence Division) was tied up with [[John Gotti]] and could obtain intelligence reports on organized crime figures.[^1]
|
||||
The continuation affidavit sworn by the FBI agent [[Thomas Gates]] describes Bacow as "recognized as the 'back door liaison Teamsters connection to the movie industry'" and cites an earlier affidavit for the description. The same paragraph records a date of birth, a Studio City residence and telephone number, no employment address, and "no known criminal record."[^1] The affidavit lists his aliases as William Martin, Frank Harris, Frank Walters and Frank Price, Jr.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Bacow boasted to Giaquinto about [[John St. John]]'s status within [[OCID]], which allowed him to obtain intelligence reports on organized crime figures across the nation, and Bacow could then pass that information along to Giaquinto. A grand jury investigation into the mob's involvement in the motion picture industry was in the process of being opened at that time, which would have included a close look at Giaquinto, Bacow, and others. St. John called Bacow and told him he would listen and not give up too much, and try to find out what the investigators were looking at and let Bacow know. Bacow then called Giaquinto and related what St. John had said. Giaquinto responded that he would call [[Edwin Meese]] and get the investigation shut down.[^1]
|
||||
A later paragraph reports that a Frank Harris of [[El Cajon]], California, took part in a 1982 stock-inflation scheme that used surrogates and fictitious names to buy shares. The affidavit states that Bacow had used the name Frank Harris in intercepted calls, that Bacow said he owned property outside [[San Diego]], and that the affiant asked the San Diego division of the FBI to check whether the El Cajon Frank Harris was Bacow.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Richard Stavin]] confirmed that the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] wiretap revealed a conversation in which Giaquinto told Bacow that he would call [[Edwin Meese]] and have the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s investigation of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] stopped. No indictment was ever issued against Bacow for any criminal violations, with the prosecution of these suspects reportedly not going forward because no one at the [[Department of Justice|DOJ]] in Washington D.C. wanted all the wiretap affidavits in the case to be released.[^1]
|
||||
The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] later described Bacow as a "labor consultant."[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The 1987 Los Angeles wiretaps
|
||||
|
||||
Seymour described Bacow as a friend of Giaquinto.[^5] [[William Knoedelseder]] wrote that investigators led by Stavin, unable to tap Giaquinto's office telephone, installed a wiretap on the telephone of a Giaquinto confidante named Marty Bacow, "a self-styled labor negotiator with ties to Teamster president Jackie Presser" who was suspected of trying to extort Hollywood film companies in exchange for labor peace.[^5] Gates's affidavits of March 27, May 20, June 25, July 15 and August 3, 1987 were attached to a continuation application before Judge [[J. Spencer Letts]] of the [[United States District Court for the Central District of California]]. The continuation sought to intercept the telephones of Bacow, [[Eugene Giaquinto]], [[Angelo Commito]], [[Edward Sciandra]], [[Michael Del Gaizo]], [[Joseph Garofalo]] and [[Robert Booth Nichols]], and covers intercepts through September 1, 1987.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The affidavit lists the investigations the FBI was pursuing in Los Angeles. Agents were investigating whether Bacow, through his influence with Teamsters General President [[Jackie Presser]] and local officials in the entertainment industry, performed labor favors for money, and whether he threatened or caused strikes to extort money from movie and television production companies. Agents were also investigating whether Commito offered Bacow a kickback to steer labor benefit-plan business, whether [[John St. John]] of the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] was revealing investigative information to Bacow, whether Bacow and others manipulated stock prices, and whether Bacow and others were using extortion to ensure that [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] executive Giaquinto retained his position as president of the home entertainment division.[^2] The affidavit lists the suspected offenses, which include the extortion and obstruction provisions of Title 18 and Section 186 of Title 29.[^2] Among the stated objectives of the interception were the identities of purchasers, couriers and sellers of narcotics and controlled substances, the source of funding for their purchase, and the allocation and use of the proceeds of the trafficking.[^6] The affiant's belief, stated in paragraph 155, is that Bacow, with Giaquinto, Edward Sciandra, Commito, Michael Del Gaizo, Garofalo and Nichols, committed violations of Title 21, sections 841, 844 and 846, which concern controlled substances, as well as Title 18 sections 371, 1343, 1503 and 1951.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Commito and the benefit-plan scheme
|
||||
|
||||
Commito was then the president of [[Labor Health and Benefit Plans]], Inc., a company that administers employee benefit plans for unions and private companies.[^1] On March 12, 1987, Commito told a [[Chicago]]-area contact that he had spoken with "Marty" Bacow, who was making a movie that Giaquinto was going to distribute. In a second call the same evening, Commito and Bacow discussed film casting and a union official, and Bacow said that the official was insecure and that nothing he had touched outside the union had worked.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
On August 31, 1987, Bacow said that a man the affidavit calls the "Fat Guy," who had once owned the Chez Paris in Chicago, was to be involved in a takeover, possibly of the Teamsters.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
The April 1987 wiretap application against Commito was authorized by Chief Judge [[Peckham]], sitting as a magistrate. Bacow was among the people named in those April affidavits, along with Commito, real estate developer [[William Richard Baldwin]], and others.[^4][^10] [[Michael Rudy Tham]], a Teamsters official in San Francisco who was a defendant in that matter, argued on appeal that the affidavit had left out a March 12, 1987 call in which Commito told Bacow that he did not want to talk to Tham or involve him in further discussions about an eye-care insurance kickback scheme. The court held that the omission was at worst negligent and that Tham had offered no proof that it was intentional or reckless. The court also wrote that Tham had continued calling Bacow, among others, as late as mid-April 1987, and that "Bacow, in turn, stayed in frequent touch with Commito."[^4][^11] [[Judge Patel]] had suppressed the April wiretap in Commito's own trial, and the Ninth Circuit later reversed that ruling in *United States v. Commito*.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### The MCA intercepts
|
||||
|
||||
On June 30, 1987, Giaquinto told Bacow that [[Irving Azoff]], in charge of the record division of MCA, was planning to take over the whole operation. Bacow told him to wait, because "it's warfare."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
Intercepts in early July 1987 record Bacow discussing a proposed film about [[Meyer Lansky]]. In one call, Bacow reported that a visitor had come to a third party's house to say that some people wanted to talk to Bacow and wanted to produce the Lansky film with "Jimmy Caan." Bacow said that people from [[Florida]] and Chicago were involved and that Chicago was backing off. The affiant concluded that [[La Cosa Nostra]] figures from Florida or [[New York City|New York]] were trying to get involved in the Lansky film, noted that Bacow had said he would resist them, and recorded that Bacow and Giaquinto had each obtained a gun.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
On July 13, 1987, Giaquinto said he had told Commito, who had asked whether to hold a sit-down meeting with certain people, not to do anything, and to call "Frank," the Frank Harris alias that Bacow had used. Bacow said that the detective the affidavit identifies as St. John had told him that a permit application had to go through a small-town office or the sheriff's office.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
In an intercepted call, Bacow and Giaquinto discussed a figure the affidavit identifies only as Policar and the film laboratory [[Movielab]]. Bacow said he would ask Policar whether he knew Giaquinto. The two men speculated that Policar might be another messenger on the Lansky film. The affidavit reports that "Jimmy Caan" had attended a luncheon with eight members of a local La Cosa Nostra family. The affidavit reports that Giaquinto and Bacow stated that at the luncheon Caan was overheard to say that the movie would never be distributed. It also reports that Bacow said the local family had been instructed never to come near him, and it identifies [[Russell Massetta]], an organizer for [[Teamsters Local 848]] in [[El Monte]], California, as the son-in-law of [[Peter John Milano]], whom it describes as indicted and sent away.[^16]
|
||||
|
||||
The affiant's opinion, stated in a paragraph on Giaquinto's contacts with unions, is that Giaquinto would use his influence with the unions through Bacow and or La Cosa Nostra through an associate to threaten MCA and its top executives if they moved to end his employment. The affiant wrote that the conversation "may also indicate" that Giaquinto was using his telephone in furtherance of a stock fraud by furnishing MCA inside information.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
On a call of July 7, 1987, Giaquinto told Bacow that he had held a meeting in New York and had whatever he wanted from number one. Bacow asked whether that was "the G guy," and Giaquinto said yes; the affiant stated his belief that the reference was to [[John Gotti]], boss of the Gambino family. Bacow told Giaquinto that the guy downtown, whom the affiant bracketed as St. John, was tied up with them and was their friend. In a separate intercept Bacow said that their friend St. John was in charge of the whole country, which the affiant read as a reference to St. John's position gathering La Cosa Nostra intelligence for the Los Angeles Police Department nationwide.[^18] Knoedelseder wrote that the same call, as quoted in the affidavit, had Giaquinto saying he could put certain people "all on planes," and that on July 8 Giaquinto spoke of carte blanche with "G."[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
A July 7, 1987 call recorded in the affidavit refers to a meeting of June 18, 1987 at the Bistro Gardens attended by Bacow, Giaquinto and Edward Sciandra, and to a contract with Michael Del Gaizo's Northstar Graphics.[^20] On July 8, according to Knoedelseder, the conversation covered retiring Sciandra and "the younger guys are taking over," and whether [[Sidney Sheinberg]] might "break a leg." On July 12 Bacow asked whether Azoff had something on "S.S."[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
### Meese, St. John and the obstruction question
|
||||
|
||||
[[Cheri Seymour]] reproduced reports of conversations between [[John Cohen]] and Gates, in which Gates said that the wiretap revealed a conversation in which Giaquinto told Bacow that he would call [[Edwin Meese]] and have the FBI investigation of MCA stopped. Gates also said the wiretap revealed "there was a close working relationship between the Board of Directors of MCA, Attorney General Edwin Meese, and the White House."[^22] Seymour wrote that the investigation was shut down afterward by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]. Knoedelseder wrote that what the agents overheard convinced Stavin and Gates that the Gambino and Genovese families were engaged in a dispute over control of MCA's home entertainment division.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Richard Stavin]], the strike force attorney, confirmed in an e-mail to Seymour that the wiretap had recorded Giaquinto telling Bacow that he would call Meese and have the FBI's investigation stopped, in reply to what was already in the public record. Stavin said that he and Gates had handled the wiretaps. [[Marvin Rudnick]] said that he did not handle the wiretaps and had no involvement in their management.[^23]
|
||||
|
||||
Stavin left the strike force in May 1989. Seymour wrote that [[Michael DeFeo]] had threatened him about talking about the circumstances of the case. Seymour also wrote that the wiretaps were shut down around September 1988 and that Stavin's investigation was unofficially closed around January 1989, when the first draft of his prosecution memorandum was given to [[John Newcomer]].[^24]
|
||||
|
||||
The wiretap material reportedly gathered enough evidence to justify seeking indictments of St. John, Giaquinto and Bacow for obstruction of justice. No indictment was issued. Seymour quoted Stavin saying that any indictment would have had to be approved by the then U.S. Attorney, [[Rob Bonner]], and Main Justice, including [[David Margolis]] and DeFeo. Stavin neither confirmed nor denied that such approval was given. Stavin's surmise, as Seymour quoted it, was that the prosecution did not go forward because no one at the Justice Department in Washington wanted all the wiretap affidavits in the case released.[^25]
|
||||
|
||||
Seymour wrote that Bacow boasted to Giaquinto about St. John's status within the [[OCID|Organized Crime Intelligence Division]], which allowed St. John to obtain intelligence reports on organized crime figures across the country that Bacow could pass to Giaquinto. Seymour wrote that a grand jury investigation into the mob's involvement in the motion picture industry was being opened at that time, which would have included a close look at Giaquinto, Bacow and others.[^25] Seymour also wrote that St. John told Bacow he would listen, not give up too much, and try to learn what the investigators were looking at, and that Bacow then relayed this to Giaquinto, who replied that he would call Meese.[^25][^26]
|
||||
|
||||
### Indictments and aftermath
|
||||
|
||||
On December 15, 1987 the Los Angeles Times reported the indictment of Commito on labor racketeering charges, described as another organized crime figure and Bacow associate, and the next day MCA relieved Giaquinto of his responsibilities pending investigation.[^27] Knoedelseder wrote that by early 1989 Stavin had presented 95 percent of his evidence to the grand jury and was ready to seek indictments of Giaquinto and Bacow, and that his prosecution memorandum stalled on the desk of strike force chief John Newcomer, after DeFeo and Margolis had approved the theory.[^28]
|
||||
|
||||
Knoedelseder also wrote that DeFeo and Margolis rebuked Stavin for granting informal "pocket" immunity to [[Sylvester Stallone]] without Newcomer's written permission. Stallone apparently knew Bacow, and Stallone's production company, [[White Eagle]], had employed Bacow as a consultant on the film Over the Top.[^29] As of the book's 1993 publication Giaquinto had never been prosecuted in the Hollywood labor racketeering case, and the wiretaps of his conversations with Bacow remained sealed.[^30]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
|
||||
[^1]: Affidavit of Special Agent Thomas G. Gates in support of an application to continue interception of wire communications of Martin Bacow, Eugene Giaquinto, Angelo Commito, Edward Sciandra, Michael Del Gaizo, Joseph Garofalo, Robert Nichols and others, before Judge J. Spencer Letts, C.D. Cal. (continuation affidavit citing intercepts through September 1, 1987), paragraphs 5(b) and 5(c), citing Exhibit D, paragraph 53 for the "back door liaison" description. Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Gates." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf).
|
||||
[^2]: Gates affidavit, the section listing the investigations in Los Angeles, which follows paragraph 155 and names Bacow's aliases, the Presser, Commito and St. John matters, and the stock and controlled-substance offenses. Same source as note 1.
|
||||
[^3]: Gates affidavit, paragraph 68. Same source as note 1.
|
||||
[^4]: United States v. Tham, 948 F.2d 1107 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 1991), superseded by the amended opinion at 960 F.2d 1391 (Apr. 7, 1992), factual and procedural background. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/571500/united-states-v-michael-rudy-tham/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/948/cases/1107-01.json.
|
||||
[^5]: Cheri Seymour, The Last Circle (TrineDay, 2010); William Knoedelseder, Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 435.
|
||||
[^6]: Gates affidavit, paragraph 5 (objectives of the interception). Same source as note 1.
|
||||
[^7]: Gates affidavit, paragraph 155 (the affiant's belief on the offenses for which interception was sought). Same source as note 1.
|
||||
[^8]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 58 and 59 (March 12, 1987 calls).
|
||||
[^9]: Gates affidavit, Commito exhibit, paragraph 96 (August 31, 1987 calls), with paragraph 58 for the identification of the "Fat Guy."
|
||||
[^10]: United States v. Tham, 960 F.2d 1391 (9th Cir. Apr. 7, 1992), background to the April 1987 affidavits. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/580895/united-states-v-michael-rudy-tham/
|
||||
[^11]: United States v. Tham, 948 F.2d 1107 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 1991), discussion of the omitted March 12, 1987 call and of the frequent-contact passage. Same source as note 4.
|
||||
[^12]: United States v. Commito, 918 F.2d 95 (9th Cir. 1990), reversal of the suppression ruling as stated in the note to United States v. Tham, 948 F.2d 1107. https://static.case.law/f2d/918/cases/0095-01.json.
|
||||
[^13]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 14 and 15 (June 30 and July 6, 1987 calls).
|
||||
[^14]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 19 and 20 (Lansky film, Florida and New York involvement, gun).
|
||||
[^15]: Gates affidavit, paragraph 41 (July 13, 1987 calls).
|
||||
[^16]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 56 and 57 (calls concerning Policar, Movielab and the Lansky film, the luncheon, and the Teamsters Local 848 organizer).
|
||||
[^17]: Gates affidavit, paragraph 70 (the affiant's opinion, not an intercept).
|
||||
[^18]: Gates affidavit, paragraphs 23 through 25 (July 7, 1987 call) and the paragraph following the Wasserman and Villano discussion (St. John "in charge of the whole country"). Same source as note 1.
|
||||
[^19]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 435.
|
||||
[^20]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 437.
|
||||
[^21]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, pp. 438 and 440.
|
||||
[^22]: Cheri Seymour, The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal (TrineDay, 2010), pp. 347-348 (reports Seymour attributes to John Cohen, Reports 5 and 6).
|
||||
[^23]: Seymour, The Last Circle, p. 358.
|
||||
[^24]: Seymour, The Last Circle, pp. 358-359.
|
||||
[^25]: Seymour, The Last Circle, pp. 359-360.
|
||||
[^26]: Seymour, The Last Circle, p. 368.
|
||||
[^27]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 436.
|
||||
[^28]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 439.
|
||||
[^29]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 442.
|
||||
[^30]: Knoedelseder, Stiffed, p. 464.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Anna Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Anna M. Horsch
|
||||
- Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Myroslawa Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Myroslawa A. Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Myroslawa Anna Horsch
|
||||
- Myroslawa Anna Hoersch
|
||||
- Anna Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Anna M. Ferkuniak
|
||||
- Anna M. Horsch
|
||||
- Anna Horsch
|
||||
- M. Horsch
|
||||
category: "Other"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- AbuseNetworks
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- RCHorsch
|
||||
- NewZealand
|
||||
- Wales
|
||||
- IdentityFraud
|
||||
- Fugitive
|
||||
summary: "Welsh-born wife of the fugitive R.C. Horsch, whom she married in Reno in 1980 under his stolen name and accompanied to New Zealand, and mother of Eugene Horsch."
|
||||
|
|
@ -19,45 +27,93 @@ relations:
|
|||
- type: spouse_of
|
||||
with: "[[R.C. Horsch]]"
|
||||
start: 1980-09-12
|
||||
end: 1989
|
||||
fn: 5
|
||||
end: 1989-07-28
|
||||
fn: 9
|
||||
- type: relative_of
|
||||
with: "[[Eugene Horsch]]"
|
||||
role: "mother"
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
start: 1981
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
created: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Myroslawa "Anna" Ferkuniak (October 7, 1949, to July 28, 1989), known after her marriage as Anna M. Horsch, was the second wife of the [[Philadelphia]] pornographer and counterfeiter [[R.C. Horsch]] and the mother of [[Eugene Horsch]]. She married Horsch in [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]] on September 12, 1980, while he was a fugitive using the stolen identity of a [[California]] chemist, Dr. Stanley Edward Stokowski, and lived with him in [[New Zealand]] until he fled the country in 1984.[^1][^2]
|
||||
Myroslawa "Anna" Ferkuniak (October 7, 1949, to July 28, 1989), known after her marriage as Anna M. Horsch, was the second wife of [[R.C. Horsch]], a [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker, counterfeiter and methamphetamine manufacturer who was a fugitive from 1977 to 1984. She married him in [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]] on September 12, 1980, while he was using the identity of a [[California]] chemist, [[Stanley Edward Stokowski]]. She lived with him in [[New Zealand]] until he left the country in March 1984, and she was the mother of [[Eugene Horsch]].[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Family
|
||||
### Early life
|
||||
|
||||
She was born in [[Nantymoel]], [[Wales]], a daughter of Michael and Maria (Perwiczko) Ferkuniak, and her parents later lived on a rural route outside [[Lehighton, Pennsylvania|Lehighton]] in [[Carbon County, Pennsylvania|Carbon County]]. She had one sister. Her birth was registered in the Bridgend district of [[Glamorgan]] in the last quarter of 1949, and she arrived in [[New York City|New York]] on March 2, 1961, at 11. Her Social Security record also carries the names Myroslawa Anna Hoersch and M Horsch.[^2][^3][^4]
|
||||
She was born in [[Nantymoel]], [[Glamorgan]], [[Wales]], a daughter of Michael and Maria (Perwiczko) Ferkuniak.[^2] Her birth was registered in the [[Bridgend]] district in the last quarter of 1949.[^3] A 2026 [[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Inquirer]] article gives the same birthplace, spelled Nant-y-moel.[^1] She arrived in [[New York City|New York]] on March 2, 1961, at the age of 11.[^4] Her parents later lived on a rural route outside [[Lehighton, Pennsylvania|Lehighton]] in [[Carbon County, Pennsylvania|Carbon County]], and she had one sister, who survived her.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### With Horsch
|
||||
### The fugitive years
|
||||
|
||||
According to the *[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]*, she met Horsch at some point after her arrest in an [[LSD]] raid on a house near [[Temple University]]. After Horsch was arrested by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] for manufacturing methamphetamine in February 1977 and jumped bail, she went with him to the West Coast, where he took the identity of Stokowski, a chemist with a doctorate from [[Stanford University]]. They married in Reno on September 12, 1980, before a religious celebrant, he as Stanley E. Stokowski; the marriage was recorded on September 16, and both gave their residence as [[Florida]]. It was the opening day of the 1980 [[Reno Air Races]], where Horsch later claimed to have flown a jet. Horsch said in 2013 that they had been together five or six years and married "specifically because we needed a marriage license to get into New Zealand."[^1][^5][^6] The New Zealand Minister of Immigration said in 1984 that her husband had entered the country in 1980.[^7] *[[The Press]]* of [[Christchurch]] reported in June 1984 that "Stokowski" had come to New Zealand "with his wife, Anna, and 18-month-old son," and in April 1985 that he had fled "with his wife and 18-month-old son"; the *Inquirer* gives her son Eugene's birth as 1981, in New Zealand.[^1][^8][^9][^10] The family lived at [[Hadlow, New Zealand|Hadlow]], near Timaru, until March 1984.[^11] The family lived near [[Timaru]], where Horsch worked with [[Chemical Technology Limited]] at [[Clandeboye, New Zealand|Clandeboye]] on a whey-to-ethanol plant, and the company's founder, [[John Rutherford (New Zealand lawyer)|John Rutherford]], described Horsch to *The Press* as "an excellent family man."[^1][^8] When Horsch left New Zealand on March 17, 1984, on a passport that police believed had been stolen in a burglary at [[Temuka]], he left his wife and son behind, and they returned to the [[United States]] later. Detective Superintendent [[R.N. MacDonald]] told *The Press* that the family had left "soon after," and in mid-June police said they were looking for the wife and child, having searched properties at Clandeboye and Hadlow. Horsch said in 2013 that he got his wife and son out first, on their own passports, before leaving himself.[^1][^6][^8][^9][^12]
|
||||
The Inquirer reported that Horsch met her sometime after she was arrested in an [[LSD]] raid at a house near [[Temple University]], and that she was his longtime girlfriend when he fled to the West Coast.[^1] Agents of the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] arrested Horsch in Philadelphia on methamphetamine charges in February 1977.[^5] *[[The Press]]* of [[Christchurch]] reported in 1985 that the offences occurred in 1977 and that Horsch "skipped bail."[^6] In California he took the identity of Stanley Edward Stokowski, a chemist with a 1968 doctorate from [[Stanford University]]. The real Stokowski, 42 in 1984 and working at the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|Lawrence Livermore Laboratory]], told the paper's [[San Francisco]] correspondent that he had never lost his passport and was unaware that anyone had used his name.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
The psychologist [[Don Seraydarian]], who examined Horsch in 1985 before his federal sentencing, recorded that his only real support at the time was his wife, who had a "therapeutic and rehabilitative effect" on him. Horsch was released from federal prison in 1987.[^13]
|
||||
In a 2013 interview Horsch described her as the steadier partner of the fugitive years. "She was the practical one. She was the one who kept me from making big mistakes," he said, calling her "kind of the sea anchor."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Marriage in Reno
|
||||
|
||||
They married in Reno on September 12, 1980. The groom is recorded as Stanley E Stokowski, and both residences are given as [[Florida]].[^9][^10] The [[Reno Air Races]] opened that day. Horsch's self-published biography later claimed that he flew a BD-5J micro-jet in air shows during his years as a fugitive and appeared on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s Wide World of Sports during the 1980 Reno races.[^11] The official program lists the daily BD-5J demonstration as flown by [[George Marshall (pilot)|George Marshall]].[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
Horsch said in 2013 that the two had been together "five or six years or something like that" before they married, and that they "got married specifically because we needed a marriage license to get into New Zealand."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### New Zealand, 1980 to 1984
|
||||
|
||||
On October 3, 1984, The Press reported that the Minister of Immigration and Regional Development, [[Kerry Burke]], had announced the completion of further inquiries into the case of an American-born man "now known to be Raymond Charles Hoersch, who entered New Zealand in 1980 and worked for a [[South Canterbury]] firm as an alternative fuels expert." The report said that Hoersch "has since left New Zealand with his wife and child." Burke said that the immigration department had been under "some pressure from the man's proposed employer to make an early decision," and that the transcript submitted in the stolen name was one the genuine Stokowski had since confirmed as his.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
On June 9, 1984, The Press wrote that "Stokowski" came to New Zealand "with his wife, Anna, and 18-month-old son," after the Christchurch lawyer [[John Rutherford (New Zealand lawyer)|John Rutherford]] contacted him and with Rutherford set up [[Chemical Technology Limited]] in South Canterbury.[^15] A [[The New Zealand Herald|New Zealand Herald]] article of September 23, 2026, repeated the account of "wife Anna and 18-month-old son" and placed the arrival in Canterbury in 1980.[^16] The Inquirer gives Eugene's birth as 1981, in its passage on the family's years at [[Timaru]], and a 2026 Inquirer report on the 1985 evaluation describes him as four years old.[^1][^17] In 2013 Horsch said that his son was three at the time of his 1984 arrest.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
The family lived at [[Hadlow, New Zealand|Hadlow]], near Timaru, until mid-March 1984.[^19] Horsch was a director of Chemical Technology, which owned an ethanol plant at [[Clandeboye, New Zealand|Clandeboye]] that converted whey into ethanol, and he ran a computer software exchange at [[Washdyke]]. Rutherford told The Press in June 1984 that he found Horsch "a particularly smart fellow, a real toiler and an excellent family man."[^19][^20]
|
||||
|
||||
Horsch left New Zealand on March 17, 1984, on a passport that police believed had been stolen in a burglary at [[Temuka]]. Detective Superintendent [[R.N. MacDonald]] said on June 9 that his family left "soon after."[^15] On June 12 he said that police had confirmation that "Stokowski" had left the country but none that his wife and child had gone, and that properties at Clandeboye and Hadlow had been searched in the inquiry; police were looking for the wife and child.[^21] In 2013 Horsch said that he got them out first: "I got my son and my wife out of the country. They were able to travel in their passports."[^18] The Inquirer wrote that he "left Anna and Eugene behind, and they returned to America later."[^1] The Press reported in April 1985 that he had fled New Zealand "with his wife and 18-month-old son," and quoted [[Joanne Epps]], a Philadelphia assistant district attorney, as saying that he left New Zealand in June 1984 and was arrested in Florida in October.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### Return to the United States and the last years
|
||||
|
||||
Horsch said in 2013 that after returning to the [[United States]] he settled in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] and started a computer business, and that he had arranged through a Philadelphia lawyer to surrender when agents of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] arrested him there at 4 a.m. on the Monday he was to do so. He had set up businesses "which I thought would provide my wife and son with a little bit of income while I was in jail." They failed, he said, and "Her family and my family got together and we got through it."[^18] He was sentenced in Philadelphia on April 25, 1985, to a total of four years.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
A psychologist, [[Don Seraydarian]], examined Horsch for four hours in 1985 at the request of his defense team before his sentencing. He recorded that Horsch's only real friend or support system was his wife, who had a "therapeutic and rehabilitative effect" on him, and that Horsch was "very protective" of his wife and son, who were the "most important things in his life."[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
After an early release from prison in 1987, Horsch moved the family to [[Northeast Philadelphia]] and took a job as an IT director. She found work cleaning houses. Although he claimed never to have taken drugs, he "watched Anna fall into addiction," according to the Inquirer.[^1] In 2013 Horsch said that after the move "she started using prescription painkillers and that, and ended up killing herself," and that during the last year "I would go to work during the day and never know what was happening, whether she'd be driving the car stoned out of her mind, whether she was taking care of our son or not."[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
### Death
|
||||
|
||||
She died at the family's house at 1101 Devereaux Avenue in Philadelphia on Friday, July 28, 1989, at 39. Her obituary in *[[The Morning Call]]* of [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] said that she died "after a lengthy illness"; the *Inquirer* reported in 2026 that she died of an accidental overdose of glutethimide and codeine while sitting in the living room. Her funeral was held from the Andrew P. Ovsak Funeral Home in Lehighton, with a Divine Liturgy at [[St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church (Lehighton)|St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Catholic Church]]. The following month Horsch bought a house in [[New Britain Township, Pennsylvania|New Britain Township]], where their son grew up.[^1][^2][^14]
|
||||
She died on Friday, July 28, 1989, at the family's home in Philadelphia, at the age of 39.[^2] Her death in 1989 is also recorded in the Social Security index.[^3] Her obituary in *[[The Morning Call]]* of [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] described her as the wife of Raymond Horsch, said that she died "after a lengthy illness," and listed her husband, her parents and her son Eugene, then at home, among the survivors. Her funeral was held from the [[Andrew P. Ovsak Funeral Home]] in Lehighton, with a Divine Liturgy at [[St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church (Lehighton)|St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Catholic Church]].[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The Inquirer reported in 2026 that she was sitting in the family's living room when she accidentally overdosed on glutethimide and codeine, and that Eugene, then seven, was in the room.[^1] Horsch's 2013 account attributes the death to her use of prescription painkillers and says the son was in the room. "My basic fundamental reaction was and is anger," he said. "Because she kind of bailed out, left me with a kid to raise by myself."[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
The following month Horsch bought a house in [[New Britain Township, Pennsylvania|New Britain Township]], [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], where, according to the Inquirer, he raised Eugene as a single father. A county real-estate transfer dated October 29, 1989, names him as the buyer.[^17][^23]
|
||||
|
||||
### Books credited to her
|
||||
|
||||
In 2013 Horsch said that one of the books he wrote in prison was written with one of his ex-wives, was her memoir of growing up, and was banned for content.[^24] In January 2014 Horsch's website, [[Eroto]], credited "authors R.C. Hörsch and Anna M. Ferkuniak," along with "publisher S.E. Stokowski," with books that [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] had banned, and offered their eBooks free.[^25] The site's books page of September 2014 lists *Annie*, "the intimate journal of a troubled young girl wrestling with addiction, destructive behavior, bulimia and rampant promiscuity," by "Anna M. Ferkuniak and R. C. Hörsch," of about 162 pages. Its Foreword, signed A. M. Ferkuniak, begins: "My ex-husband, R. C., is the one who got me to write this memoir."[^26] A paperback edition of *Annie*, crediting R. Horsch and Anna Ferkuniak, was issued by [[CreateSpace]] in 2014.[^27]
|
||||
|
||||
The Inquirer wrote that Horsch was "always looking for new women," particularly women who resembled his deceased wife, and that he told one woman he asked to appear in *Slaves*, a 2003 film he was producing, that she reminded him of Anna. *Slaves* is also the title of a Horsch book on the same site.[^1][^26]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: "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
|
||||
[^2]: "Anna M. Horsch," obituary, *The Morning Call,* August 1, 1989, p. 18 ("Born in Nantymoel, England [sic], she was a daughter of Michael and Maria (Perwiczko) Ferkuniak of Lehighton R.2."; survivors include "son Eugene, at home"). https://www.newspapers.com/image/283766965/ Death notices ran in the same paper on August 1, 1989, p. 30, and August 2, 1989, p. 37.
|
||||
[^3]: England and Wales Civil Registration Birth Index, fourth quarter 1949, Bridgend registration district, Glamorgan, "Myroslawa A Ferkuniak"; U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, "Anna Ferkuniak," also recorded as Myroslawa Anna Hoersch and M Horsch, born October 7, 1949, Nantymoel, died July 1989 (both via Ancestry.com), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.ancestry.com/
|
||||
[^4]: New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1967, "Myroslawa A Ferkuniak," arrival March 2, 1961, New York (Ancestry.com), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.ancestry.com/
|
||||
[^5]: Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005, record for Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak, spouse Stanley E Stokowski, marriage date September 12, 1980, Reno, officiant a religious celebrant, recorded September 16, 1980, Book 722, page 654, instrument number 4784, both parties residing in Florida (Ancestry.com, collection 1100), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1100/
|
||||
[^6]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:05:45 to 1:09:27 (audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
|
||||
[^7]: "Impostor: immigration cleared of blame," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 3, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841003.2.23
|
||||
[^8]: 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). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/raymond-horsch-man-linked-to-philadelphia-house-of-horrors-lived-near-timaru-under-stolen-name/BVQSWBL3LZDL3GIXFEHHBFY6RY/
|
||||
[^9]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
|
||||
[^10]: "Ethanol 'scientist' jailed for drug offences," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 27, 1985 (Press Association). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19850427.2.26
|
||||
[^11]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
|
||||
[^12]: "Police seek wife, child," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 13, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840613.2.7
|
||||
[^13]: Marin, Max, Ryan W. Briggs, and Ellie Rushing. "'Consumed by anger': Inside the 1985 psych profile of Raymond Horsch," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* September 3, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/raymond-horsch-olney-missing-women-psych-exam-20260903.html
|
||||
[^14]: [Bucks County real-estate transfers], *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* October 29, 1989, p. 480 ("520 Airy Ave. ... to Raymond C. Horsch"). https://www.newspapers.com/image/177531276/
|
||||
[^1]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026 (the passages on the LSD raid and flight to the West Coast, the 1980 Nevada marriage, the 1981 birth, the departure from New Zealand, the 1987 move, the addiction, the 1989 death and the glutethimide overdose, the 2003 film, and the embedded profile line "He married Anna Ferkuniak, a native of Nant-y-moel, Wales, who was Eugene Horsch's mother. She died in 1989 at age 39 after a lengthy illness, according to her obituary."). https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
|
||||
[^2]: "Anna M. Horsch," obituary, *The Morning Call,* August 1, 1989, p. 18 ("died Friday in her home after a lengthy illness," "She was the wife of Raymond Horsch," "Born in Nantymoel, England," "a daughter of Michael and Maria (Perwiczko) Ferkuniak of Lehighton R.2"; survivors include her husband, her parents, "son Eugene, at home" and one sister; funeral at the Andrew P. Ovsak Funeral Home with a Divine Liturgy at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Catholic Church). https://www.newspapers.com/image/283766965/ Death notices ran August 1, 1989, p. 30, and August 2, 1989, p. 37.
|
||||
[^3]: England and Wales Civil Registration Birth Index, December quarter 1949, "Ferkuniak, Myroslawa A," Bridgend, volume 8b, page 44 (FreeBMD, search of October 15, 2026); the same index lists "Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak" with a death in 1989 (Ancestry.com, record 23055146); U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, "Anna Ferkuniak" with the names "Myroslawa Anna Hoersch" and "M Horsch," born in the United Kingdom, death 1989 (Ancestry.com, record 37433855). https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl and https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Myroslawa_Ferkuniak
|
||||
[^4]: New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1967, "Myroslawa A Ferkuniak," arrival at New York, March 2, 1961 (Ancestry.com, record 8290685), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Myroslawa_Ferkuniak
|
||||
[^5]: "A Philadelphia man is arrested on drug charges," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* February 5, 1977, p. 10. https://www.newspapers.com/image/172176774/
|
||||
[^6]: "Ethanol 'scientist' jailed for drug offences," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 27, 1985, p. 3 (Press Association; "The offences occurred in 1977, but Hoersch skipped bail and later spent three years in New Zealand. He left New Zealand in June last year and was arrested in Florida in October, Ms Epps said"; "He used the passport to flee New Zealand with his wife and 18-month-old son"; sentenced "on Thursday" to a total of four years). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19850427.2.26
|
||||
[^7]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984, p. 1 (the real Stokowski, "aged 42," a Stanford doctorate of 1968 who "works for the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory"; "He had never lost his passport and was puzzled and surprised about the affair"; "was unaware that someone had used his name"). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
|
||||
[^8]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:12:32 to 1:12:42 (Horsch interview; audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
|
||||
[^9]: Nevada, U.S., Marriage Index, 1956-2005, "Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak," spouse "Stanley E Stokowski," both residences Florida, marriage date September 12, 1980 (Ancestry.com, record 3523542), accessed October 15, 2026. https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Myroslawa_Ferkuniak
|
||||
[^10]: Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005, same record: recorded September 16, 1980, Book 722, page 654, instrument number 4784, religious celebrant, Reno (Ancestry.com, collection 1100). https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1100/
|
||||
[^11]: "Biographical Note," by "S.E. Stokowski," eroto.com, Internet Archive capture of November 5, 2016 (the self-published claim that Horsch "somehow managed to fly a BD5-J micro-jet aircraft in various U.S. air shows, boldly (and foolishly) appearing on ABC's 'Wide World of Sports' during the 1980 Reno Air Races"). https://web.archive.org/web/20161105021502/http://eroto.com:80/commentary/3-biography
|
||||
[^12]: "Official Air Races schedule," *Reno Gazette-Journal,* September 12, 1980, p. 74 (the daily program of the National Championship Air Races, which ran from September 12 to 14, 1980; "BD5J" demonstration listed under George Marshall). https://www.newspapers.com/image/149117327/
|
||||
[^13]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:05:45 to 1:06:01 (Horsch interview). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
|
||||
[^14]: "Impostor: immigration cleared of blame," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 3, 1984, p. 3 (Parliamentary reporter; Burke's announcement "yesterday"; "the department was under some pressure from the man's proposed employer to make an early decision"; the transcript "which the genuine Dr Stokowski had since confirmed as his"). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841003.2.23
|
||||
[^15]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984, p. 1 ("came to New Zealand with his wife, Anna, and 18-month-old son, and with Mr Rutherford set up Chemical Technology, Ltd"; Detective Superintendent MacDonald: "the bogus Stokowski left New Zealand on March 17, using a stolen passport, and that his family left soon after"; the Temuka burglary). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
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[^16]: 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 ("He reportedly travelled to Canterbury in 1980 with his 'wife Anna and 18-month-old son'"). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/raymond-horsch-man-linked-to-philadelphia-house-of-horrors-lived-near-timaru-under-stolen-name/BVQSWBL3LZDL3GIXFEHHBFY6RY/
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[^17]: Marin, Max, Ryan W. Briggs, and Ellie Rushing. "'Consumed by anger': Inside the 1985 psych profile of Raymond Horsch," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* September 3, 2026 (the four-hour assessment commissioned by the defense before sentencing; the wife's "therapeutic and rehabilitative effect"; "very protective" of "his wife and then-4-year-old son, Eugene"; the move to Bucks County after her death and the raising of Eugene as a single father). https://www.inquirer.com/news/raymond-horsch-olney-missing-women-psych-exam-20260903.html
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[^18]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:07:13 to 1:07:51 ("I got my son and my wife out of the country"; "They were able to travel in their passports") and 1:08:12 to 1:10:14 (Orlando; "my son was three years old at the time"; the arrest at 4 a.m.; the businesses; "Her family and my family got together and we got through it"). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
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[^19]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984, p. 1 (Press Association, Timaru; "Dr Stokowski lived in Hadlow, near Timaru, until mid-March"; "a director of the Clandeboye ethanol plant owned by Chemical Technology, Ltd, and also ran a computer software exchange at Washdyke"). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
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[^20]: Same article (Rutherford: he found Horsch "a particularly smart fellow, a real toiler and an excellent family man"); "Ethanol by September," *The Press* (Christchurch), July 20, 1981 (Chemical Technology, Ltd., "formed earlier this year"; the $1.5 million plant near Temuka and its whey feedstock; "Dr Stanly Stokowski, the director"). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48 and https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19810720.2.23
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[^21]: "Police seek wife, child," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 13, 1984, p. 1 (Press Association, Timaru; "the police had confirmation that 'Stokowski' had left New Zealand, but they had no confirmation that his wife and child had gone"; searches of properties at Clandeboye and Hadlow). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840613.2.7
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[^22]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:12:48 to 1:14:21 (Horsch interview: "ended up killing herself"; "my son was seven at the time. He was in the room when she died"; "Because she kind of bailed out, left me with a kid to raise by myself"; "My basic fundamental reaction was and is anger"; the last year). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
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[^23]: "[Bucks County real-estate transfers]," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* October 29, 1989, p. 480 (transfer to Raymond C. Horsch in New Britain Township). https://www.newspapers.com/image/177531276/
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[^24]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:36:23 to 1:36:59 ("I wrote four or five books in prison"; "a book that I wrote with one of my ex-wives. The book was her memoir of when she was growing up"; "That was banned for content"). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
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[^25]: eroto.com front page, Internet Archive capture of January 13, 2014 ("In honor of having three of four posted books banned by Amazon, authors R.C. Hörsch and Anna M. Ferkuniak, along with publisher S.E. Stokowski, have decided to make the eBook versions of everything available to all our friends for FREE download."). https://web.archive.org/web/20140113132225/http://eroto.com/
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[^26]: eroto.com, "Books," Internet Archive capture of September 28, 2014 (*Annie*, "By Anna M. Ferkuniak and R. C. Hörsch," "approximately 23,000 words, 162 pages"; *Slaves*, "By R.C. Hörsch," "the book upon which the 'Slaves' film is based"), https://web.archive.org/web/20140928154523/http://www.eroto.com:80/books ; eroto.com, "Annie," capture of September 27, 2020 (Foreword "By A. M. Ferkuniak": "My ex-husband, R. C., is the one who got me to write this memoir."), https://web.archive.org/web/20200927100923/https://eroto.com/books/35-annie
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[^27]: *Annie* (2014), authors R. Horsch and Anna Ferkuniak, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, ISBN 9781492971054, 162 pages (Open Library edition OL55275516M, work OL40660562W). https://openlibrary.org/books/OL55275516M
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@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ tags:
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- Nuclear
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- Israel
|
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summary: "Freelance Colombian journalist who met Mordecai Vanunu in Sydney and received top-secret photographs of Israel's nuclear facility."
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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||||
[[Oscar Guerrero]] was a freelance journalist from [[Colombia]]. He met [[Mordecai Vanunu]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], where Vanunu was sharing top-secret photographs of [[Israel|Israel's]] nuclear facility.[^1]
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@ -13,5 +14,9 @@ Guerrero saw the photographs and proposed publishing them for a fee. He first ap
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[[Nicholas Davies]], a London *[[Daily Mirror]]* foreign editor and Israeli agent, stalled Guerrero by telling him the newspaper needed an expert to check his claims. Guerrero had already struck a deal with *The [[The Sunday Times|Sunday Times]]* to publish Vanunu's story and photographs, with Vanunu receiving a £250,000 advance on a book and Guerrero receiving a 10% cut. Guerrero approached the *Mirror* because he believed he was being cut out of *The Sunday Times* deal.[^1]
|
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||||
A hotel register at the [[Eccleston Hotel]] in London recorded a Cheryl Hanin as a guest just before Guerrero checked in. [[Peter Hounam]] of the Sunday Times found the entry while tracing the woman who had lured Mordecai Vanunu from London. The form gave a Florida family address and the nationality "USA."[^2] She is profiled on the page for [[Cindy Hanin Bentov]].
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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]: Peter Hounam, _The Woman from Mossad: The Story of Mordechai Vanunu and the Israeli Nuclear Program_. Vision Paperbacks, 1999, pp. 93-94. Lending copy: https://archive.org/details/womanfrommossads0000houn
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@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ tags:
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summary: "Operations director of DINA, indicted in Washington for the Letelier murder in 1978, named by Michael Townley as the man who asked for the killing of General Prats, and convicted in the Horman case."
|
||||
location: "Santiago, Chile"
|
||||
created: 2026-09-21
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-21
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updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Pedro Espinoza Bravo was a [[Chile|Chilean]] army colonel and director of operations of [[DINA]], the secret police of General [[Augusto Pinochet]], under [[Manuel Contreras]].[^1]
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|
@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ In a sworn statement of April 24, 1978, in the file of the military prosecutor [
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||||
A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Contreras, Espinoza, and [[Armando Fernandez Larios|Armando Fernández Larios]] in 1978 for the murder of [[Orlando Letelier]] and [[Ronni Moffitt]]. Chile put the three under military detention and refused to extradite them, and a military court dismissed the domestic case. On an appeal by Letelier's sister the [[Supreme Court of Chile|Chilean Supreme Court]] ruled in January 1982 that the dismissal "was temporary and not definitive." Contreras was sentenced to seven years for the murder in 1995.[^3]
|
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|
||||
A man who sought asylum in 1987 told American officials that [[Charles Horman]] had been put to death in the [[Estadio Nacional (Chile)|National Stadium]] in September 1973 on Espinoza's orders. A Chilean court sentenced Espinoza to seven years in the Horman and [[Frank Teruggi]] case in 2015, and the Supreme Court raised the term to fifteen years in 2016.[^4]
|
||||
A man who sought asylum in 1987 told American officials that [[Charles Horman]] had been put to death in the [[Estadio Nacional (Chile)|National Stadium]] in September 1973 on Espinoza's orders. A Chilean court sentenced Espinoza to seven years in the Horman and [[Frank Teruggi]] case in 2015.[^4] The Appeals Court of Santiago upheld the sentence on September 5, 2015.[^5] On July 21, 2016 the Supreme Court sentenced Espinoza unanimously to fifteen years, as the author of both killings, and raised the term of the civilian [[Rafael González (Chilean intelligence)|Rafael González]] to three years as an accomplice in the Horman killing.[^6] The journalist [[John Dinges]] reports that the trial court had ignored González's 2003 recantation of his 1976 statements.[^7]
|
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|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -33,3 +33,6 @@ A man who sought asylum in 1987 told American officials that [[Charles Horman]]
|
|||
[^2]: Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78 (fiscal Héctor Orozco), as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* ministro instructor Adolfo Bañados, tomo 1, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, declaración of Pedro Espinoza Bravo, April 24, 1978; declaración of René Riveros Valderrama, March 22, 1978; resolution of April 10, 1978.
|
||||
[^3]: "Letelier Case Reversal," *The Washington Post,* January 16, 1982, CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP90-00552R000403680022-8; "Ex-Chile spy chief dies while serving 500-year sentence," Al Jazeera, August 8, 2015.
|
||||
[^4]: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 33, document 2; "Sentencing in Chile begins to bring closure in 41-year-old murder cases of US citizens Frank Teruggi and Charles Horman," *The Tico Times,* January 30, 2015.
|
||||
[^5]: "Chilean appeals court upholds convictions of 2 in killings of Americans portrayed in 'Missing,'" Fox News, September 5, 2015. https://www.foxnews.com/world/chilean-appeals-court-upholds-convictions-of-2-in-killings-of-americans-portrayed-in-missing
|
||||
[^6]: "Chile eleva penas a militares por morte de dois americanos na ditadura," Swissinfo, July 21, 2016. https://www.swissinfo.ch/por/chile-eleva-penas-a-militares-por-morte-de-dois-americanos-na-ditadura/42317540
|
||||
[^7]: National Security Archive, "Chile in Their Hearts," May 7, 2025, with Dinges's summary of the 2015 verdict. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2025-05-07/chile-their-hearts
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