C. Osment Moody ?

[James Richards]

A question for any of our Floridian members. I am looking into Clarence Osment Moody (Oz Moody) and was hoping to get some local perspective.

Moody was employed by Howard Hughes and his 'Hughes Tool Company' based on Cay Sal which was leased off the Bahamas and located only about 30 miles from Cuba. Moody was involved with running Cuban exiles who landed on Cay Sal to the United States. This is oversimplifying things but it involved financial support from Hughes to keep them all fed and clothed. This bankrolling may have then extended to Alpha 66 who used Cay Sal as a base of operations.

After the heady days of exile attacks against Castro, Moody became a powerful force in Florida with some political clout.

I was hoping someone can help fill in the blanks which may in turn shed some light on militant exile recruitment and the subsequent monetary backing.

Moody below second from the left.

James

[Pat Speer]

You are probably all over this, James, but I just wanted to make sure you were aware of Hemming's comments about Moody back in the '70s. A related point of interest is that "Colonel" Johnny Rosselli and Robert Maheu were best pals. Yet another point of interest is that Maheu's partner in his detective agency was Robert King, who just so happened to be a wiretap specialist and security officer on the campaign trail with Nixon in the summer of '60.

Could it be that Hughes was financially backing Nixon's dirty work?

[James Richards]

You are probably all over this, James, but I just wanted to make sure you were aware of Hemming's comments about Moody back in the '70s.  A related point of interest  is that "Colonel" Johnny Rosselli and Robert Maheu were best pals.  Yet another point of interest is that Maheu's partner in his detective agency was Robert King, who just so happened to be a wiretap specialist  and security officer on the campaign trail with Nixon in the summer of '60.

Could it be that Hughes was financially backing  Nixon's dirty work?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the reply. I believe there is evidence that Hughes was behind Nixon's dirty tricks. I am absolutely shocked that Tricky Dicky would resort to such foul play.

I am only just beginning this line of research and haven't come across any comments GPH made about Moody yet. I would appreciate any information you might furnish. Maybe Gerry himself will comment now that he is a forum member.

My angle at the moment is via Alpha 66 and the possible funding source provided by Howard Hughes for militant action.

The Roselli/Maheu relationship is a fascinating one given Maheu's connections to government and big business. Maheu and John G. Tower below.

James

[Tim Gratz]

My understanding is by the end of his dealings with the mafia guys, Maheu was no longer friendly with Rosselli but he really liked Giancana. This information is from Maheu's autobiography,

[Chris Cox]

thank you thank you, James he's been on my mind lately

We are psychic twins I swear. Clarence Moody is a quandary. He owned the "Lily M" named after his wife. This was a boat used in counterrev. op. It's mentioned in some article that escapes me now, perhaps "Yacht Wars" but not sure. I'll look for article.

I have a bit on him from NARA. He has the same last name as the true name of the guy who disappeared with my dad. No family connection has come up, alas.

But he was constantly calling the radio program (can't recall the prgm) talking up the counterrev activities in Miami. He was a man of action.

This is an interesting fellow, I recall he was crippled in a chair having suffered a WWII trauma. He was of officer rank. Hope more comes of your request. I think that's all I got on him.

[James Richards]

thank you thank you, James he's been on my mind lately

We are psychic twins I swear.  Clarence Moody is a quandary.  He owned the "Lily M" named after his wife. This was a boat used in counterrev. op.  It's mentioned in some article that escapes me now, perhaps "Yacht Wars" but not sure. I'll look for article.

I have a bit on him from NARA.  He has the same last name as the true name of the guy who disappeared with my dad.  No family connection has come up, alas.

But he was constantly calling the radio program (can't recall the prgm) talking up the counterrev activities in Miami.  He was a man of action.

This is an interesting fellow, I recall he was crippled in a chair having suffered a WWII trauma. He was of officer rank.  Hope more comes of your request.  I think that's all I got on him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Christy.

If Moody was directly involved with counter revolutionary activities, then I would certainly be interested in anything you can dig up there.

The guy who dispppeared with your dad, would that be Floyd Moody? Unfortunately, I don't have any info at all on the Moody family.

Cheers,

James

[Pat Speer]

Here's what Hemming told Dick Russell in a 1974 interview in Argosy.

ARGOSY: You mentioned earlier that Howard Hughes' organization had its own operation in Florida that concentrated on Cuba. Can you go into more detail on that operation'?

HEMMING: Getting research on the Hughes operation is well nigh impossible, but it was a sizeable organization. One Cuban exile organization was on a Hughes retainer handled by C. Osmant Moody, who's now, I think, southeastern director for one of Hughes' larger insurance outfits located in Miami. The guy's a millionaire himself.

ARGOSY: Do you know of any attempts to assassinate Castro that emanated from this Hughes network?

HEMMING: More than one. The group Moody had on retainer inserted numerous teams into Cuba, trying to do hits, and a helluva lot of people got killed. In 1961, eighty-eight of their people were executed by Fidel. Then I know of a job they were gonna do on Fidel in Miramar, Cuba, in 1964. There was a bad scene in Key West when one of the boats blew up and a guy got killed.

For another hit, Sturgis' buddy Diaz Lanz was brought in to do the job, and he left for Cuba from Cay Sal. Cay Sal is technically part of the Bahamas, but the Hughes Tool Company has a ninety-nine year lease on it. From Key West, Osmant Moody oversees it and a Bahamian named Robinson is stationed there. If strangers came on, he'd radio to Moody. You didn't go near Cay Sal unless it was cleared, either through Moody or the Agency. It was really a launching area place to run to when people have a rough time getting out. Of course, others who wanted to get out just went to an intelligence ship -- a Pueblo-type vessel called U.S.S. Oxford that moved up and down the coast.

ARGOSY: Did you know Robert Maheu, the Hughes man who served as the liaison between the CIA and the Mob on some of the other attempts on Castro? Or John Roselli, the Mob guy who was one of Maheu's contacts?

HEMMING: Names like Maheu didn't come up. John Roselli I knew -- but I didn't know who he was. He was using the name Phil. These are guys who don't use their last names.

ARGOSY: Was the Hughes-CIA-Mob link around Cuba a wedding or a rivalry?

HEMMING: Convenience. You're not talking about Hughes himself on a lot of these things. But the interest of some lower- or middle-echelon Hughes people was to provoke situations and lobby where they could. There were things they could all make a buck on. It's hard to say what kind of operations, though.

[Shanet Clark]

According to Michael Drosnin's CITIZEN HUGHES, Nixon invited Howard Hughes to a 1969 dinner for the NASA team that (may have) gone to the Moon.

Nixon knew Hughes would not come, but the invitation was a way to get the FBI to look into Hughes.

According to FBI Director J.E.Hoover, Howard Hughes was "a ruthless, unscrupulous individual who at times acted like a 'screwball paranoic' to the

extent that he, Hughes, might be capable of anything, including murder."

and apparently Maheu was the FBI source....

[James Richards]

Thanks, Pat. That is most interesting, especially the part where one couldn't get on Cay Sal unless it was cleared through Moody or the Agency. I guess the questions now are, which aspect of the Agency and what kind of clearance did Moody have?

Could the guys who supposedly went missing on the Bayo-Pawley raid have been moved back into Miami from Cay Sal via Key West? And was Moody the one who facilitated the operation?

Just thinking aloud.

James

[Shanet Clark]

Robert Maheu, cover photo from

UP AGAINST HOWARD HUGHES: THE MAHEU STORY

[Chris Cox]

Moody links- Lily M doc is here:

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/gringosinthe...erevolution.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~c...rbarrel/Oz.html

[James Richards]

Moody links- Lily M doc is here:

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/gringosinthe...erevolution.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~c...rbarrel/Oz.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the links, Christy. Excellent.

The Gringoes in the revolution is a great website.

James

[Pat Speer]

My understanding is by the end of his dealings with the mafia guys, Maheu was no longer friendly with Rosselli but he really liked Giancana.  This information is from Maheu's autobiography,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As I remember it, he was supposedly mad at Rosselli for talking about the CIA/mafia connection, which is inconsistent because Maheu himself ratted out the CIA/mafiia connection in order to get out of the wiretapping charges. Maheu says that Giancana thanked him for not talking, which is also inconsistent because Sam himself bragged to the FBI that they were on the same team and was overhead on FBI wiretaps in late 1960 discussing a woman trying to kill Castro with some pills. (Which would seem to confirm part of Marita Lorenz' story...remember, the OFFICIAL CIA version of events has the pills not being transferred till early 61. If this is true, of course, it ties Lorenz' contact Sturgis squarely in with the mob.) Could Hughes and Nixon have been involved as well?

It seems likely that Giancana was really thanking Maheu for not talking about the CIA/mafia connection and its role in the Kennedy assassination, the only talking Rosselli participated in that neither he nor Giancana participated in. Adding credence to that theory is that Maheu told the Church Committee that the only murder he was aware of regarding Kennedy were the poor Cubans murdered at the Bay of Pigs when Kennedy cancelled the air strike.

[Tim Gratz]

Pat, I have a Kennedy book that claims a more interesting source for reports about Giancana talking about killing Castro in early Oct of 1960.

It was an informant named Robert Teeter. Anyone heard of Teeter?

[James Richards]

It was an informant named Robert Teeter. Anyone heard of Teeter? (Tim Gratz)

Hi Tim,

Wasn't Sirhan Sirhan's lawyer named Robert Teeter?

James