David Atlee Phillips: The Mastermind?

[William Kelly]

HERE'S AN ARICLE I WROTE YEARS AGO. MY COPY WAS TYPED WITH WHITEOUT, SO IT PREDATES ANY COMPUTER I HAD, AND I HOPE SOMEBODY APPRECIATES ME RETYPING IT. -BK

Is David Atlee Phillips AKA Maurice Bishop? You Make the Call

By William Kelly

At one time there were entertainment news reports that Dallas broadcast millionaire Gordon McLendon and former CIA officer David Atlee Philips were planning to produce a television series. The show would be similar to the FBI Story but based on the exploits of agents of the CIA.

One possible true-to-life script is how both men came to be entwined in the drama surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Both men were interviewed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), an official federal government body that concluded there was evidence of conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

McClendon denied knowing Jack Ruby very well, although Ruby patronized McLendon’s Dallas radio station, had reportedly made a bet with him on the outcome of a Dallas Cowboys football game, and on the weekend of the assassination, Ruby called McLendon's home, visited his radio station studio and arranged for the station’s exclusive interviews with Dallas officials, to the extent that Ruby’s name was mentioned on the radio before Ruby shot the accused assassin.

David Atlee Phillips on the other hand, worked at the Mexico City CIA station, and was personally responsible for monitoring the Cuban and Russian embassies when the accused assassin reportedly visited there a few weeks before the assassination.

Phillips is also suspected of being the mysterious “Maurice Bishop” spymaster and case officer for Antonio Veciana Blanch, a Cuban exile and leader of the Alpha-66 anti-Castro terrorist organization.

Senate investigator Gaeton Fonzi, questioned Antonio Veciana Blanch in the course of his work for Sen. Richard Schweiker (R. Pa.), of the Schweiker-Hart sub-committee of the Church Intelligence Committee, a forerunner of the HSCA. Veciana told Fonzi that his case officer, “Maurice Bishop,” worked for a domestic American anti-Communist government intelligence agency believed to be the CIA. Veciana gave a description of “Maurice Bishop” to a professional sketch artitst, and gave Fonzi a detailed description of the man who directed his covert operations against Castro for years that extended into decades. Veciana also said, without being prompted by Fonzi, that during the summer of 1963 he met “Maurice Bishop” in the foyer of a Dallas office (the Southland Building), where Bishop also met with Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin. Veciana implied that Bishop had a relationship with Oswald that was similar to his own.

The identity of “Maurice Bishop” is one of the most perplexing questions about the assassination of President Kennedy that remains unresolved, despite the issue being delt with extensively by the HSCA (Volume X), written by Fonzi. The issue is also examined in a lengthly article Fonzi wrote for Washingtonian Magazine, and his book, The Last Investigaiton.

Gaeton Fonzi is a former writer and editor at Greater Philadelphia Magazine, which later became Philadelphia Magazine, with editor Alan Halpern, who later helped arrange for the publication of the Washingtonian Magazine article. Having authored a number of articles about the Philadelphia connections to the assassination of President Kennedy, Fonzi was recommended and hired by Schweiker, when the Pennsylvania Republican was named to the subcommittee of the Church Intelligence Committee with Colorado Senator Gary Hart.

Fonzi first interviewed Veciana in the course of his investigation for Schweiker, and then again for the HSCA. Veciana was one of hundreds of Cubans Fonzi interviewed and investigated, but he stood out as a leader of one of the most active and violent of the anti-Castro groups. Fonzi told Veciana he was investigating the relationship between the anti-Castro groups and the U.S. government.

Although the man who financed and directed most of Veciana’s operations - “Maurice Bishop,” could have worked for any private or foreign anti-Communist intelligence agency, certain facts indicate that he had strong U.S. government connections. Bishop assisted Veciana in obtaining a cover job with the Aid for International Development (AID) in the passport division of the American Embassy in Bolivia (from August 1968 until June 1972).

Bishop also had Veciana contact a U.S. Army Colonel at the American Embassy in Havana who was once an associate of the accused assassin’s friend George DeMohrenschildt.

In attempting to determine the true identity of “Maurice Bishop,” many suspects and factors were considered. Ironically, there was Maurice Bishop, Sr., the assassinated leftist leader of Grenada, and other CIA officers named Bishop, but no one fit the composite sketch and the background profile provided by Veciana as much as David Atlee Phillips.

After Veciana’s physical description of “Maurice Bishop” produced a composite sketch, the black and white pen and ink drawing was passed around and released to the press. When Senator Schweiker first saw the sketch he thought it familiar, and while driving along sometime later he remembered where he saw that face before and pulled over and made a phone call. The man had previously testified before one of the Congressional committees Schweiker was on – the Senate Intelligence Committee. As the former Deputy Director of CIA Operations and chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, David Atlee Phillips had earlier testified before Schwiker and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities.

Besides the striking resembalance between David Atlee Phillips and Veciana’s description of “Maurice Bishop,” the CIA career of Phillipos corresponds with most of the known facts about “Bishop.”

Born in Ft. Worth, Texas on October 31, 1922, a Holloween birthday for a spook, David Atlee Phillips attended William and Mary and Texas Christian University though he may not have graduated before he began working for a professional acting company out of New York city. Drafted into service during WWII, he flew eleven bombing missions over occupied Europe before being shot down. After spending a year in prison as the camp’s escape committee director, Phillips escaped, made his way back to the allied lines, and reported directly to Gen. Omar Bradley.

Phillips claims the CIA recruited him as a contract agent in 1950 when he was working as a freelance journalist in Santiago Chile. While publishing the South Pacific Mail, Latin America’s oldest English language newspaper, Phillips also served as a deep cover CIA operative specially trained in propaganda. As the propaganda officer for Operation Success, Phillips took much of the credit for the successful 1954 Coup in Guatemala, and was promoted to the rank of GS-14, a mid-level, full time intelligence officer with an office at CIA headquarters in Washington.

In 1955 Phillips was assigned to Cuba under deep cover by the Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, Colonel J.C. King.

In 1957 he was transferred to Beirut, Lebanon, where he met the notorious KGB-MI6 double-agent Adrian “Kim” Philby at the bar of the St. George Hotel. Phillips caught the last plane out of Beirut on July 15, 1958, shortly before the arrival of the U.S. Marines. He then resigned his full time position and reverted back to a contract employee status while running a public relations firm in Havana, Cuba. At 4am on January 1, 1959 Phillips was the first American agent to report the departure of Batista from Cuba.

With Castro in power Phillips’ PR firm did not become very profitable so he resumed his full time work with the CIA and used his business as a cover for this anti-Castro activities. He eventually fled Cuba with his family and began working at the Cuban Desk at “Quarter’s Eye,” CIA HQ in Washington. Phillips helped set up the Cuban Task Force and developed the propaganda campaign for the “Guatamalan scenario” in Cuba that would become the Bay of Pigs.

In his HSCA report on Antonio Veciana Blanch, Gaeton Fonzi wrote that, “…The committee considered other factors in examining Phillips, including his principal area of expertise and operations until 1963. From 1961 to 1963, Phillips was Chief of Covert Acton in another relevant country. When Oswald visited the Cuban Consulate in Mexico City in 1963, Phillips was in charge of Cuban operations for the CIA in the same country. Phillips had earlier lived in and had numerous associations in another relevant country. He had also served as chief of station in several other places of general relevance.”

Indeed, by comparing excerpts from the HSCA report on Veciana’s sworn testimony about “Maurice Bishop” with an outline of Phillip’s career from his own autobiography (Nightwatch – Twenty-five Years of Peculiar Service, Atheneum Press, NY, 1977), there are ten relevant incidents about “Maurice Bishop” that correspond with significant events in the career of David Atlee Phillips. Very peculiar.

At the time Veciana first met “Bishop” in Havana, Cuba in 1960, both “Bishop” and Phillips specialized in propaganda and intelligence operations there.

When E. Howard Hunt returned from Cuba, he refers to David Phillips as “Knight” in his book and claims that he recommended Castro be assassinated. Bishop then had Veciana initiate an assassination attempt against Castro that involved the parents of Sylvia Odio. She later claimed to have met Lee Harvey Oswald in the company of two latin men soliciting aid for her father’s anti-Castro organization JURE, on the night the accused assassin was enroute to Mexico City.

In 1961 Phillips directed covert operations against Cuba from Mexico while “Bishop” and Veciana established Alpha 66, a violent anti-Castro terrorist organization.

Phillips then became responsible for monitoring the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City and “any nexus it might have with pro-Castro Cuban organizations in the Hemisphere,” which would include the Fair Play for Cuba (FPCC), which Oswald affiliated himself with in New Orleans before embarking on his trip to Mexico.

It was at that time when Veciana claimed he saw Oswald meeting with “Bishop” in Dallas.

After the assassination of President Kennedy, Phillips interrogated a Nicaraguan disinformation agent who claimed to have seen Oswald in Mexico City take money from a Cuban intelligence officer. Shortly thereafter “Bishop” asked Veciana to contact his cousin, a Cuban intelligence officer stationed at the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City, and offer him a large sum of money to say that he was the person who met with Oswald, though that part of the plan never materialized.

After Phillips was appointed Chief of the CIA Station in the Dominican Republic, the Second Naval Guerilla operation set up a training base there. The commandos planned to invade Cuba at the same time Castro was assassinated. That plan fell apart when the U.S. Marines landed in the Dominican Republic and the assassination plot was foiled when Rolando Cubella (aka AMLASH) was arrested and jailed in Cuba.

In 1967 David Phillips was promoted to Chief of Cuban operations in the Western Hemisphere Division of the CIA and December 1969 he became Chief of the CIA Station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the same time, at the behest of “Mr. Bishop,” Veciana worked on anti-Castro operations out of the American Embassy in Bolivia.

In 1970 Phillips directed a special task force directed at preventing Salvatore Allende from being elected president of Chile. After Allende’s election, Phillips became Chief of CIA Station in Caracas, Venezula. At the same time Veciana claimed that “Bishop” directed his attempt to kill Castro during a visit to Chile. Castro claimed that in the November 1971 plot used assassins with documents from Venezula, where Phillips was COS, and they arrived via the American Embassy in Boliva, where Veciana worked.

In July 1972 an incident occurred that is related to and affected Phillips, “Bishop” and Veciana. A “walk-in” defector at the Chilean Embassy in Mexico City presented forged and ciphered documents which he claimed were plan CENTAUR – the CIA operations against Allende. The backlash from this betrayal led to Phillips being reprimanded by his CIA superior. At the same time Veciana met with “Bishop,” who was extremely upset. “Biship” accused Veciana of being a part of an unauthorized scheme involving sub-agents recruited by Veciana during the 1971 Castro assassination attempt. These sub agents had gone beyond the plot devised by “Bishop” and they “produced phony documents and photographs” that attempted to blame the assassination attempt on certain Russian agents in Caracas. Because of this breach in security – the hiring of sub agents unknown to “Bishop,” and their attempt to give information to Chile in Mexico, “Bishop” decided to terminate their relationship.

The following year Phillips was asked if there was anything that would prevent him from being named Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, one of the CIA’s top five positions. Phillips replied that there was not. Three months later Phillips assumed that post and “Bishop” met with Veciana for the last time, giving him a suitcase full of cash ($250,000) for his years of work for “Bishop.”

That was the last time Veciana saw “Bishop,” though Veciana told Fonzi he was anxious to meet with him again in order to resume his anti-Castro operations.

On September 17, 1976, Veciana accompanied Fonzi to a Reston, Virginia convention of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, an organization that David Atlee Phillips founded upon his retirement from the CIA. Fonzi and Philllips sat at the same table, directly across from David A. Phillips while Clare Booth Luce gave a speech. Veciana studied Phillips closely, close and intently enough to make Phillips quite uncomfortable. Following the encounter, Fonzi asked Veciana if David Philips was “Maurice Bishop” and Veciana said he was not.

Fonzi later wrote that despite the basic honesty of most of what he said, Veciana’s credibility on denying Phillips is “Bishop” should be doubted “…because of Veciana’s renewed interest in continuing his anti-Castro operations and his expressed desire to recontact Bishop to help him.” (173).

In addition, Fonzi expressed doubt that David Atlee Phillips, “who was in charge of Cuban operations for the CIA and whose career was deeply entwined in anti-Castro operations, could not recognize the name of Veciana as one of the founders and vociferous public spokesmen for one of the largest and most active anti-Castro Cuban groups, Alpha 66.”

Shortly after David Atlee Phillips initiated a civil libel suit against Gaeton Fonzi and Washingtonian Magazine for the implication that Phillips was “Bishop” and associated with the accused assassin of President Kennedy, I obtained Phillips suburban Maryland phone number from the public directory and called him. In a half-hour or so frank conversation, Phillips once again denied that he was Veciana’s “Maurice Bishop” and that he knew or ever met Oswald.

When I asked him about Gordon McLendon, Phillips said that even though they came from the same part of Texas, and should have met earlier, he didn’t know McLendon until he joined Phillips association of ex-intelligence officers.

Phillips died of cancer before the libel trial went to court.

In exploring the associations of David Atlee Phillips, Antonio Vecianna Blanch, Lee Harvey Oswald and spymaster “Maurice Bishop,” what Phillips himself said should be considered: “The intelligence profession does not exactly condition one to accept coincidence as an explanation for a sequence of events.” (Nightwatch, p. 265).

Bill Kelly

Bkjfk3@yahoo.com

Edited September 12, 2006 by William Kelly

[Wim Dankbaar]

Good summary and appreciated.

I would like to add that Veciana admitted privately , in a covert way, that Bishop was indeed Phillips:

From The last Investigation by Gaeton Fonzi:

Chapter: "The final confirmation"

About a week after Veciana was shot, I received a call from him. He was out of the hospital, he was fine and walking about. It was only a slight wound near the left temple. "My wife said it was higher I might have to wear a toupee," he said laughing. The reason he called, he said, was because he had read the staff report and he wanted to talk with me and show me some papers.

The next evening, I drove down to see Veciana. I did not park my car in front of his house. He had a small bandage on the side of his head and another one on his right arm. He was pale but appeared in good spirits. He took me back outside to show me the bullet holes in the pick-up truck he was driving when he was shot. He was coming home late, he said, from the marine supply business he sometimes helps manage with some relatives. Normally, he takes different routes home, but this was the one he used the most. He made a left-hand turn into a street and saw a brown station wagon parked on the corner facing him. He noticed a lone figure sitting in it, but gave it only a glance and didn't get a good look at him. Then he heard a loud noise and felt a sharp blow on the side of his head. The front vent window exploded on the second shot. "Then I knew' that it was an attempt on my life," Veciana said matter- of- factly. The third shot ripped through the door at his ribs, was deflected by the door's interior mechanism passed in front of his stomach, burned across his right arm and tore out the other side of the truck and into an open field. The fourth shot produced a spiderweb of cracks as it the front windshield.

Veciana showed me the bullet holes and explained them with a sense of amused wonderment. It's funny I'm still alive, isn't it? That was his tone. I heard absolutely no muted note of fear. What fear there was a around was in me as I stood there in the eerie shadows of the lone street lamp and looked at the size of the holes the .45 caliber slugs had made in the truck. The first shot had gone completely through the outside rearview mirror producing as it emerged an ugly flower of jagged metal. I suggested to Veciana that we continue our talk in his house.

I asked him who he thought was trying to kill him. "It was a Castro agent," he said with certainty. Have you ever considered,"'I asked, that it could be anyone else?" He looked at me and smiled. "No,," he said. "It is Castro. I am sure of.

Our talk eventually turned to 'the staff report I had previously left with him. Yes, he said, he had read it carefully and that's why he wanted to talk with me. There are certain things in it, he said, that question his credibility. His credibility is very important to him because he in still gathering evidence to overturn his narcotics conviction, even though he had served the sentence.

What bothered him, Veciana said, was the denial the two individuals in Caracas, Lucilo Pena and Luis Posada, that they were involved with him in the Castro assassination attempt in Chile in 1971. "Sure they were with me," Veciana said. "They are not telling the truth." To prove that to me, he said, he had asked a friend who had just come from Caracas to bring some papers that would prove it. He would also give me the name of an individual in Miami who could corroborate it. He did, and he gave me copies of the documents. We talked for a few hours in detail about other points in that report and I slowly began to realize that Veciana was not an going to bring up the one key doubt I had expressed about his credibility. In the report, I said specifically that I had doubted his credibility when he told me that David Phillips was not Maurice Bishop. In our discussion now, Veciana was letting that pass.

We had come to the point of a close but odd relationship, Veciana and I. I had told him I understood his position and he said he appreciated that. "You know,"he said, "I have given sworn statements.11 I knew what he meant. But that evening as we talked I was moved to take advantage of the certain camaraderie that had developed between us. "Tony," I said, "I am not going to put you on the spot, but I would like to ask you just one question and I would like you to be totally honest with me because the answer that you give me is very important to me.

His face got very serious and his dark eyes stared suddenly at me without expression.

"I know that you feel you have a mission in life," I said, "and I want you to know that I respect that and all the things you must do to be faithful to that mission. Believe me, I do not want to interfere with it. "He nodded his head. "I understand," he said softly. "You know that I believe what you have told me," I went on. "I believe you about everything. Except when you told me that David Phillips is not Maurice Bishop."

His eyes never moved, his expression never changed as I spoke. "Now," I said, "I would like you to tell me this one time very truthfully: Would you have told me if I had found Maurice Bishop?"

A slow smile crossed Veciana's face as he let out his breath. He put his head down and scratched his forehead, obviously: taking time now to think carefully. Then he looked up with that half-smile still on his face. "Well, you know," he said, "I would like to talk with him first." That was his answer. I looked at him for a moment, then laughed. Veciana nodded his head and laughed with me.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

John Simkin says that Phillips told Jack Limpert that he used the pseudonym “Maurice Bishop” and that he met Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas shortly before the assassination."

If this story is true it would actually be the first link beteen Phillips and Lee Oswald ..., but the question is: Is it true? Does anyone have a deposition, or an affidavit from Jack Limpert?

I will not bother to Ray's post directed at me.

Actually my question was not directed at John, per se. It was directed at anyone who could provide credible evidence that Jack Limpert actually said that Phillips told him that he had used the name Maurice Bishop.

If such evidence does exist it might be important, because it would at least provide the only known testimonial evidence that Phillips did in fact use the name "Maurice Bishop."

Perhaps someone else will be kind enough to provide the answer if John can't.

[William Kelly]

John Simkin says that Phillips told Jack Limpert that he used the pseudonym “Maurice Bishop” and that he met Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas shortly before the assassination."

If this story is true it would actually be the first link beteen Phillips and Lee Oswald ..., but the question is: Is it true? Does anyone have a deposition, or an affidavit from Jack Limpert?

I will not bother to Ray's post directed at me.

Actually my question was not directed at John, per se. It was directed at anyone who could provide credible evidence that Jack Limpert actually said that Phillips told him that he had used the name Maurice Bishop.

If such evidence does exist it might be important, because it would at least provide the only known testimonial evidence that Phillips did in fact use the name "Maurice Bishop."

Perhaps someone else will be kind enough to provide the answer if John can't.

JRC, There are a number of independent witnesses to Phillips use of the Maurice Bishop handle, including Veciana's former Havana bank secretary, the NANA reporter who knew both Phillips and Bishop, and apparently Jack Limpert - and this is the first I've heard of him. Maybe somebody can supply some more info on his source.

BK

[Wim Dankbaar]

I had not heard from Jack Limpert either. Who is he? What's the story on him?

But I do believe that Phillips was a narcistic guy and wanted to tell more of the story before he died. In fact he gave all kinds of hints.

Here are page 165 and 166 from "The Carlos Contract", a novel based on true events, published in 1978 by David Atlee Phillips.

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page165.JPG

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page166.JPG

"The Carlos contract" could well be a hint to Carlos Marcello who may have initiated the contract on Kennedy.

As we know now, Phillips was the CIA controller of Lee Harvey Oswald and James Files. On page 165 he describes a "Hal Benson" who "retired recently".

We know from Cuban general Fabian Escalante Font that "Harold Benson" was a cover name that Phillips used. This was disclosed by Cuban state papers in the early nineties, well after Phillips died. Also, In 1978 Phillips had recently retired from the CIA. So it is very likely that with "Hal Benson", he refers to himself.

We also know that Phillips was a smart and very narcistic guy. Initially he wanted to become a celebrated actor and then a director. However, he found he lacked the talent. I'm sure that he was actually proud of his role in the Kennedy assassination. But of course he could not freely talk about it.

Towards the end of the book he calls for the help of "Mr. Rubbers", an expert on terrorism. Now, try to find the name "Rubbers" in the whitepages.

http://www.whitepages.com/

Can you find one?

Does anyone know who can be connected with "Mr Rubbers"?

Do some googling, if no one can find it, I'll give the answer later.

Edited September 13, 2006 by Wim Dankbaar

[James Richards]

Does anyone know who can be connected with "Mr Rubbers"? (Wim Dankbaar)

Mr. Rubbers was George H.W. Bush right?

James

[Wim Dankbaar]

Does anyone know who can be connected with "Mr Rubbers"? (Wim Dankbaar)

Mr. Rubbers was George H.W. Bush right?

James

Yes. http://www.tarpley.net/bush10.htm

Wilbur Mills may have let himself in for a lot of trouble in later years by not always treating George with due respect. Because of Bush's obsession with birth control for the lower orders, Mills gave Bush the nickname "Rubbers," which stuck with him during his years in Congress. [fn 10] Poppy Bush was not amused. One day Mills might ponder in retrospect, as so many others have, on Bush's vindictiveness.

[Wim Dankbaar]

By the way, for some footage of Phillips, you can watch this:

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/film/Garrison5.wmv

Go to 5:30 to 7: 15

Phillips: "Many of the participants in the Bay of Pigs were on that landing force, because I had known them personally".

So much for David Perry's statement : In 1961 Phillips was Chief of Covert Action in Mexico City and additionally ran the CIA's "propaganda shop." He had nothing to do with CIA recruitment.

[William Kelly]

I had not heard from Jack Limpert either. Who is he? What's the story on him?

But I do believe that Phillips was a narcistic guy and wanted to tell more of the story before he died.

ONE PERSON WHO COULD PROBABLY CONFIRM OR REFUTE THAT IS KEVIN WALSH, A DC BASED PI WHO WORKED ON THE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS AND BECAME A DRINKING BUDDY OF PHILLIPS WHEN HE WAS NEAR THE END OF THE LINE. I REMEMBER WALSH AS BEING VERY PESSAMISTIC ABOUT EVERYTHING, SO IF PHILLIPS WAS NARCISTIC THEY MUST HAVE GOT ALONG.....

In fact he gave all kinds of hints.

IN MY PHONE CONVERSATION WITH PHILLIPS HE DENIED USING THE NAME MAURICE BISHOP, DENIED HAVING MET WITH LEE HARVEY OSWALD AND CLAIMED HE DIDN'T BECOME FRIENDS WITH GORDON MCLENDON UNTIL AFTER MCLENDON JOINED HIS SPOOKS ASSOCIATION.

I'VE SINCE LEARNED THAT PHILLIPS AND MCLENDON KNEW EACH OTHER FROM BACK IN TEXAS BEFORE WWII, WHICH MAKES YOU WANT TO QUESTION THE OTHER DENIALS AS WELL.

Here are page 165 and 166 from "The Carlos Contract", a novel based on true events, published in 1978 by David Atlee Phillips.

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page165.JPG

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page166.JPG

"The Carlos contract" could well be a hint to Carlos Marcello who may have initiated the contract on Kennedy.

THE CARLOS CONTRACT IS NOT ABOUT CARLOS MARCHELLO, WHO MANY HAVE PUT A CONTRACT OUT ON KENNEDY BUT DIDN'T FRAME OSWALD, CONTROL THE MOTORCADE, COMMUNICATIONS OR THE AUTOPSY, OR TAKE OVER THE GOVERNMENT.

DAP'S 'FICTIONAL' CARLOS CONTRACT IS ABOUT AN IMMAGINARY ATTEMPT TO GET CARLOS RAMEREZ SANCHEZ - THE JACKLE, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MUNICH OLYMPICS MASSACRE, AMONG OTHER TERRORIST ACTS.

WHILE MOST OF THE CHARACTERS ARE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE WITH THINLY DISGUISED NAMES - INDIGO IS MORRALES, HYPHINATED JAKE IS JACK ESTERLINE, ETC., CARLOS USES AN AMERICAN PASSPORT IN THE NAME OF GLEN GEBHARD.

GLEN GEBHARD IS A REAL PERSON FROM LONG ISLAND NEW YORK WHO ATTENED THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, OHIO WITH ME AND JOHN JUDGE. WHEN I VISITED GLEN IN SANTA MONICA CALIFORNIA WHEN HE WAS DRIVING A CAB AND ATTENDING FILM SCHOOL, HE TOLD ME HIS PASSPORT WAS STOLEN IN PARIS. IT WAS A REAL HASSTLE TO GET ANOTHER ONE, HE SAID, BUT A FEW YEARS LATER WHEN HE RETURNED TO EUROPE FOR A VACATION, HE WAS STOPPED AT A BOARDER AND VIOLENTLY INTERROGATED, MISTAKEN FOR CARLOS THE JACKLE, WHO USED HIS STOLEN PASSPORT. SO THAT PART OF THE CARLOS CONTRACT IS FOR REAL, AND I SUSPECT THERE ARE OTHERS.

As we know now, Phillips was the CIA controller of Lee Harvey Oswald

WIM, JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE SEEN TOGETHE ONCE, DOESN'T MAKE PHILLIPS ANYTHING. THE LOCATION OF THE REPORTED MEETING - THE SOUTHLAND BUILDING, IS OF SIGNIFIANCE HOWEVER. OSWALD APPLIED FOR A JOB THERE IN THE PARKING GARAGE, AND WALKED FOUR BLOCKS IN THAT DIRECTION IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ASSASSINATION, WHILE RUBY KNEW THE OPERATOR OF THE ALL NIGHT COFFEE SHOP THERE AND STOPPED THERE THE NIGHT OF THE ASSASSINATION AT FOUR IN THE MORNING, NOT FOR COFFEE. WE ALSO KNOW THE NAMES OF THE BUSINESSES AND CORPORATIONS IN THE BUILDING IN

1963 THANKS TO ROBERT HOWARD, AND CAN SPECULATE WHO WHO PHILLIPS WAS VISITING THERE.

and James Files. On page 165 he describes a "Hal Benson" who "retired recently".

HE DESCRIBES HAL BENSON AS A RETIRED NSA CODEBREAKER AND A COMMON WAY FOR TWO PEOPLE TO SECRETLY COMMUNICATE USING TWO COPIES OF THE SAME BOOK, WHICH WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO APPLY TO OSWALD SINCE HE READ SO MUCH. IF LHO HAD SUCH A 'BIBLE' HOWEVER, IT WOULD BE A BOOK THAT HE OWNED. IN ADDITION, SECRET WRITING MATERIALS WERE FOUND AMONG OSWALD'S BELONGINGS IN THE PAINE GARAGE, AND I DON'T SUSPECT THAT HE WAS SECRETELY COMMUNICATING WITH HIMSELF.

We know from Cuban general Fabian Escalante Font that "Harold Benson" was a cover name that Phillips used. This was disclosed by Cuban state papers in the early nineties, well after Phillips died. Also, In 1978 Phillips had recently retired from the CIA. So it is very likely that with "Hal Benson", he refers to himself.

We also know that Phillips was a smart and very narcistic guy. Initially he wanted to become a celebrated actor and then a director. However, he found he lacked the talent.

PHILLIPS TOLD ME HE WROTE A PLAY ABOUT HIS WWII PRISON ESCAPE EXPERIENCE, BUT COULDN'T HAVE IT DEVELOPED BECAUSE OF THE SUCCESS OF ANOTHER, SIMILAR PLAY AND MOVIE, STALAG 17, WHICH STARS WILLIAM HOLDEN, AN ACTOR WHO STRONGLY RESEMBLES PHILLIPS. I TOLD PHILLIPS THAT THE CARLOS CONTRACT WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE AND HE AGREED, AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT CBS WAS CONSIDERING THE IDEA OF DEVELOPING A CIA STORY.

AND HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T LACK TALENT. HE WAS IN AN AMATEUR ACTOR'S CIRCLE IN MEXICO CITY WITH WAYNE SMITH, AND USED HIS ACTING TALENTS IN THE COURSE OF HIS DECEPTIONS.

I'm sure that he was actually proud of his role in the Kennedy assassination. But of course he could not freely talk about it.

THE CUBANS SAID PHILLIPS PISSED ON JFK'S GRAVE.

I AGREE WITH THE OVERALL THEME OF THE CARLOS CONTRACT STORY HOWEVER - THAT A COVERT OPERATION LIKE WHAT HAPPENED AT DEALEY PLAZA CAN BE SOLVED BY A DETERMINED AND COORDINATED COUNTER-OPERATION, IF CONDUCTED BY A TEAM SIMILAR TO THE ONE PHILLIPS PUTS TOGETHER TO GO AFTER CARLOS. ANOTHER ASSUMPTION WOULD BE THAT ANY SUCH TEAM WOULD BE INFILTRATED BY THE PERPETRATORS.

Towards the end of the book he calls for the help of "Mr. Rubbers", an expert on terrorism. Now, try to find the name "Rubbers" in the whitepages.

http://www.whitepages.com/

Can you find one?

Does anyone know who can be connected with "Mr Rubbers"?

Do some googling, if no one can find it, I'll give the answer later.

Edited September 14, 2006 by William Kelly

[Wim Dankbaar]

Bill,

I know the novel is about Carlos the terrorist. Still the title could also be applied to the JFK assassination. Phillips didn't avoid that. Then again, there may be nothing to it.

It's interesting that you spoke with Phillips over the phone. However, not much value can be put to whatever he said. Nobody would expect him to confirm the accusations on his involvement. Plausible denial and non attributability are ground rules in covert operations.

My conviction that Phillips was Oswald's controller is not solely based on the Veciana-Dallas encounter.

Wim

Here's another example of what I mean:

When he died on 7th July, 1988, Phillips left behind an unpublished manuscript. The novel is about a CIA officer who lived in Mexico City. In the novel the character states: "I was one of those officers who handled Lee Harvey Oswald... We gave him the mission of killing Fidel Castro in Cuba... I don't know why he killed Kennedy. But I do know he used precisely the plan we had devised against Castro. Thus the CIA did not anticipate the president's assassination, but it was responsible for it. I share that guilt."

See? A little truth, a little lie. That's Phillips all the way. Black and white makes grey. He wants to tell, but keeps plausible denial by changing one or two details.

[John Simkin]

Here are page 165 and 166 from "The Carlos Contract", a novel based on true events, published in 1978 by David Atlee Phillips.

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page165.JPG

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/page166.JPG

"The Carlos contract" could well be a hint to Carlos Marcello who may have initiated the contract on Kennedy.

As we know now, Phillips was the CIA controller of Lee Harvey Oswald and James Files. On page 165 he describes a "Hal Benson" who "retired recently".

Phillips was also the controller of Michael Vernon Townley, the man who organized the assassinations of several people for Chile/CIA. This included General Carlos Prats (September 30, 1974) and Orlando Letelier (September 18, 1976). According to Donald Freed (Death in Washington: The Murder of Orlando Letelier) Towney was called Carlos by Phillips and other figures in the CIA.

[Wim Dankbaar]

Speaking about Carlos, this is also interesting:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/arrb/index33.htm

General Escalante also provided additional information on another mysterious exile named Carlos Roca, who is discussed in the book Oswald Talked by Ray and Mary La Fontaine. Roca was also member of the Cuban exile group DRE, which was funded and run by CIA under the code name of AMSPELL. The DRE issued a press release in Mexico City on December 8, 1963 stating that Carlos Roca and three other DRE members had been killed in a battle in Cuba's Excambre Mountains in mid-September of '63. The others were identified as Andre Tartabul, Julio Garcia and Sergio Perez. According to Escalante's information only Tartabul was actually killed in this battle. Furthermore he stated that Roca, according to him, was seen in Miami a day or two after the assassination of President Kennedy in the company of Juan Manuel Salvat another member of the DRE. According to Escalante's information they were on their way to Nicaragua at that time. Escalante said that Roca was also connected to Carlos Bringuier in New Orleans who operated a business there called Casa Roca or Roca House. Roca had gone to religious school in Cuba with Jose Bringuier, the brother of Carlos Bringuier, and after the Cuban revolution Roca had sought asylum in a Latin American Embassy in Havana along with Jose Bringuier, according to this information. Escalante also stated that his files indicated that Roca was a qualified single engine pilot. He pointed out that in Jim Garrison's investigation David Ferrie had told investigators that he traveled to Houston after the assassination and was supposed to pick up two of the assassins who were flying from Dallas in a single engine plane. One of them was a Cuban named Carlos who would be flying the plane, and Escalante speculated that this may in fact may have been Carlos Roca.

According to Escalante's files Mr. Salva was in Dallas, he says, during the week of November 2nd, went to Miami and then on to Nicaragua with Roca. He also stated that Mr. Salva allegedly was in Mexico City when the allegedly false story about Roca's death was published in early December. Escalante that according to his information Salvat was an agent of David Phillips of the CIA, as was Angel Gonzalez, the DRE in Mexico City who issued the press release. He told me that his source was a human source for intelligence and that he had filed some documents to substantiate this.

The question is if Carlos Roca was a true Cuban exile or just a CIA guy infiltrated into Cuba by men like Phillips. For example running guns like fellow pilot David Ferrie.

We know that Charles Frederick Rogers was a pilot (like Ferrie in the CAP) and used the name "Carlos".

Could Charles Rogers be Carlos Roca? "Mysterious" he is for certain. Fabian Escalante did not reject it. "Sobre el tema de Carlos Roca, creo probable su hipótesis. "

Wim

[Wim Dankbaar]

One more thing to ponder. John Simkin writes on the Phillips page:

Another reason why I do not believe Phillips was involved in the assassination is the interview he gave to Kevin Walsh. If he had been part of a conspiracy would he really have said: "My private opinion is that JFK was done in by a conspiracy, likely including American intelligence officers." If he had been guilty of such a crime he would have kept on denying any possibility that the CIA could have been involved in such an event.

That's my point. My take is that shortly before his death, he didn't care so much whether the truth came out.

It should be noted that he changed his advocated opinion. In the nightwatch he asserts on page 144: I am one of the 15% which believe he acted alone, and that the Warren Commission was right.

"My private opinion is that JFK was done in by a conspiracy, likely including American intelligence officers."

With what we know now, Phillips would have been in the perfect spot to have been one of those American intelligence officers. My next question would have been: So why didn't you know about it? But I was born too late.

[Dawn Meredith]

The Night Watch by David Atlee Phillips.Read about "Peter" on this page:

In this whole biography, nor in the index of the night watch, is no mention of Shackley, Morales, Veciana and Diosdado. With Phillips' background this is simply impossible. Very fascinating .

Files – Shackley recommended me. Phillips is the one that recruited me. He had come to see me and told me he had a job waiting for me. I walked out of the Veteran’s hospital.

If this is FIles's story, I would not believe a single word.

If I remember rightly, it was Veciana who first raised suspicion that David Phillips was involved with Lee Oswald. What Veciana offered with one hand, he took away with the other, making it clear that the the "man" he "saw" with Oswald was NOT Phillips.

Given so much misinformation pointig towards Phillips, I suggest he can be safely eliminated as a suspect.

I did not come away from reading this with this conclusion. Veciana was clearly terrified. Yes he SAID it was "not Philips" , but he also said something to the effect that Phillips was involved. And the two murder attempts on Veciana would have had a rather quieting affect.

Dawn

[Wim Dankbaar]

Anyway, very interesting. It certainly makes sense that Veciana was given that message by Phillips (in words and bullets).

Escalante: I was telling you we have so much information. In 1979 Bercia told to one of our own informants in Miami that he had been pushed by a select committee that he had given a fake name to the CIA

officer that was in charge of him. He had given the name of Maurice Bishop. But, truly the official that

had to deal with him was David Phillips.

It has always been my take that Veciana has known from day one that Bishop was Phillips, even before he went through the hanky panky of the composite sketch.

This is also interesting:

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/leek1.JPG

http://jfkmurdersolved.com/images/leek2.JPG

See that part about the LBJ cigarettes?