James Richards

Thank you James, that is a great help - one more question, the Diaz Garcia that arrived in Havana in July 1963 and was interviewed by CIA personnel described having worked at a casino in Miami, first as a security officer and then as a cashier all the way up to his departure. The CIA gives report from his interview and describes his arrival with a wife and young daughter. It also describes him having been in a Cuban jail a couple of times as a suspected subversive, including during the BOP. The interviews and related CIA docs are all on the MFF site. I was struck by the fact that he sounded like a true anti-Castro type rather than some gun for hire but I suppose you could say that about several of the Batista era folks.

Is that the fellow in the picture you posted and the reputed JFK shooter or yet a third Diaz Garcia?

Larry,

The Trafficante employed Diaz Garcia was the same man who had been hired by Felix Bernardino in the past to perform several murders. He was part of a loose group of 'go to' men named the Riders of the East. HDG was booted out of Costa Rica in late 1956/ early 1957, then started work at the Riviera Hotel in 1959. His father in law was a Canadian geologist named Gerald McKenzie.

HDG had allegedly been involved in plots against Batista (had been close to Castro in the mid 50's) and had done time in Cuban prisons during the early 1960's where the suggestion was made he may have come across John Martino there.

The guy in the photo was the one hired by Bernardino to kill Jose Figures in 1956. The image came from a Costa Rican newspaper in 1957 regarding the assassination attempt. This is the man who was then exiled out of that country and then went to work for Trafficante in Cuba. It is the same man who mixed with Tony Cuesta and was allegedly a shooter during the JFK assassination.

The family member I spoke to said that HDG was very active in revolutionary activity from the early 1950's right through to when he was killed in 1966. Other unverified tid bits is that his case officer from mid 1963 was a guy named Rip and that he was close to Efigenio Amejeiras and Carlos Prio.

FWIW.

FWIW.

James, clearly that Diaz Garcia is not the fellow whose CIA interviews show arriving with wife and young daughter in July 1963 in Miami...there is obviously some confusion over the name, as reflected in one of the CIA name traces. Can you help clear some of that up for us...

-- thanks in advance, Larry

Larry,

The Diaz Garcia mentioned above is the one who associated with Tony Cuesta. He had been a gun for hire and had been used by Felix Bernardino on several occasions including the failed hit on Jose Figueres. He was also known to Arturo Espaillat and Robert Emmett Johnson during their time in the Dominican Republic. He was allegedly killed on a mission in 1966.

There is another Diaz Garcia, same 201 file number, who associated with Evelio Duque and was mixed up with drug running in Costa Rica during the later part of the 1960's and early 1970's.

Speaking with a family member, they were suspicious of his death in 1966 as another family member said they had seen him during 1967 in Miami.

This is him (Sandalio Herminio Diaz Garcia) as he appeared in a Costa Rican newspaper in 1957.

Diaz Garcia had been receiving funding from Jose M. Bosch y Lamarque who ran Bacardi Rum. During the early 1950's, Bosch was also the Cuba Minister of the Treasury under Carlos Prio. During the 60's, he was an exile millionaire funding anti-Castro operations with strategy meetings being held in the Bacardi Building located on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.

Diaz Garcia was his 'go to' man and known to be one who got the job done.

FWIW.

And another. Acre had been misidentified in the past as Bernard Barker.

Here is Frank Sturgis with Remegio Arce.

Doug,

I seem to remember a close associate of Peter O'Donnell was Army Intelligence man Jack Crichton.

James

Might also be worth mentioning that Tower was pretty tight with Robert Maheu, who was in a position to know some 'inside' information.

James

While I don't put much credence in this story, I wonder if John Tower did try to promote this three weeks after the assassination, and if some parts can be confirmed - did Decker know Murphy?

Bill,

Here is a photo of Decker and Audie Murphy.

James

David Morales.

Indeed, always good info to be found at Larry's site:

http://larryhancock.wordpress.com

Rip Robertson was also a beast in college football.

I guess the question is, could Feeney have been the ONI man who after the assassination rode in the police car with Jack Revill to the Dallas police station?

Thanks, David. That old Ed Forum thread brings back memories.

Thank you Harry and Gene. It's nice to be back and going through the various threads.

Just to add to your thoughts, Gene. Those off to South East Asia should be of interest most definitely. Also Nicaragua and the AMWORLD training. Even though the program was never going to go anywhere, it would have been a good place to hide people.

"Send lawyers, guns and money" - indeed. I miss Warren too.

Interesting thread. I seem to remember this being discussed briefly way back in the early days of Rich Delarosa's forum.

I can't get all the pages to load so I apologize if this has been already discussed. Billy Lovelady had his sleeves rolled down that day.

James!

Welcome back.

Thank You, David.

Rip seemed to be somewhat of a complex character. Speaking with some associates of his, they had varying opinions of him and what exactly he was doing at certain times - like officially being on a particular operation but actually participating in something completely different. There is no doubt the Cubans loved him.

What is most curious is Rip's relationship with Hal Feeney and their common handling of a certain Cuban exile who is of great interest to me.

Thanks, Steve. Appreciated.

Great to see you back James. My all-time favourite poster.

Thank you, John. It's nice to be back.

Thanks, Steve. Appreciated.

Steve,

Along with a few others, who can chime in if they so wish, have of late done plenty of research into Robertson. Men like Rip were admired by their subordinates so getting information is difficult and when one does secure interesting operational material it doesn't come from any official records as there just isn't any. These men all want to remain nameless hence everything then becomes alleged.

So with that in mind and from the 'for what it's worth file', comes the following from an Englishman who served in the Five Commando, which was Mike Hoare's old group. At the time it was being run by a Colonel John Peters who BTW passed away January of 1986 at Dallas Airport suffering a massive heart attack. Mmm, sounds somewhat familiar.

Peters told him about Rip and the Cubans who were there primarily to steal a bunch of diamonds. They were working for a company called The Western International Grand Maintenance Organization. They were also running this bar called the Makasi Club which was essentially a place to operate the black market. The diamonds were to be ripped off smugglers who were running them out of the Kasai Province.

Rip was also allegedly running an assassination unit out of the Makasi Club and it was targeting influential folk who were causing static to him and the various money making schemes. The unit was called Force Wildcat and he put a South African in charge. This man later shot 2 cops and was caught. He was executed.

Like I said, for what it's worth.

Very cool, James. Good to see you. Your insights and numerous contributions here continue to spur on researchers.

For those who don't know, get to searching ...

Thanks, Steve.

I appreciate the kind words.

Excellent information, Zach, thanks. Reminiscent of Lee Forman and James Richards. Where are those guys?

Cheers,

Steve

Hi Steve, I am still here.

Tosh,

Seiwell died in 2006.

James

Thanks James. That is very interesting, because I had an appointment around 2008 or 9 to talk with him in Dallas when I was going to also meet with Billy Sol Estes around that same time... neither of those meetings took place and were canceled at the last minute. Someone claiming to be a family member of Seiwells said he was to sick to see me... Ha.. must have been true if he was DEAD. I have been asking around about him for a few years now. I want to thank the research community for working with me on this.... they could have saved me a lot of wasted time if they had told me he was dead. Oh well, thats the way the cookie crumbles. Did he die in Dallas? Has it been confirmed that he was dead?... remember, I FAKED my death a few years ago, RIGHT? NADA .... Thanks James.... been out to that "little place" down your way lately? I'm sure they have it pretty well under control now days. Thanks Amigo. You take care. And Thanks Again, Tosh

Tosh,

The Social Security death index has Seiwell's passing as verified. Don't know where he died.

Interesting character. One of Gen. Walker's guys, Ashland Burchwell was busted in Dallas with a trunk full of weapons. I was working an angle at one time that connected Seiwell to these guns but it went nowhere. I was also fumbling around a connection involving Ed McLemore and a guy named Harrod Miller, they also connecting with Seiwell. Miller is someone of great interest and can be searched here at this forum. I posted a photo of him just recently. Researcher Jim Root is on to him as well.

Regarding Felipe Vidal Santiago, in the months leading up to the assassination, he was working closely with Frank Fiorini/Sturgis and Jerry Buchanan. They were sourcing finance through Dr. Julio Garceran. I am working on a lead that may identify a couple of Vidal's guys as the Cuban team in Chicago.

Roy Hargraves, a couple of Vidal's relatives and some old associates put him in Dallas. A couple of these guys also put him amongst the action.

FWIW.

Anyway, I've been keeping my nose clean of late and out of trouble. A low profile is the way to go.

Cheers,

James

Tosh,

Seiwell died in 2006.

James

I remember reading Hancock's book and wondering if it was Felipe Vidal Santiago but I have not done research to know of his exact whereabouts on the day in question.

Vidal was in Dallas.

This image below of Felipe Vidal Santiago was provided by one of his relatives.

James

Bill,

There was a thread here on Dolan a few years back.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=7374

James

Real name Frank Austin Young. Indiana native. Son of a General Motors executive.

Used the St. John Hotel in Havana as a safe house. Also went by the name Jack Morton which is the name most information will be sourced.

Did a stint at the Isle of Pines same time as Daniel Carswell.

Austin Young and John Lambton below.

James

I also happen to have an interest in Major Harrod G Miller as well as cryptological matters concerning US history, of course books are chock full of factoids which mention the Magic and Purple crypts, as Jim and I have exchanged posts on this before.

The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets by Bamford are examples of some good reading material.

Apparently before his death, Major Harrod G Miller had some type of association with Willow Laboratories, which later morphed into the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan. Although it is only an opinion, there was, at least for me, a Zen-like moment when I perused some of the special projects associated with Willow Labs circa 1962.

What is particularly compelling about Harrod G. Miller, is since he was "Army," at least in a general sense.....

Protocol, or generally speaking, a person of his stature, and Army background would be buried at Arlington National Cemetery or at the Soldiers Home National Cemetery, Washington D.C, unless it was a private burial.

Which ostensibly are the only two major cemeteries for Army personnel, curiously his name doesen't seem to pop up. (Robert Howard)

There is the possibility that Harrod Miller was associated with Ed McLemore, a most curious character. He ran the Sportitorium in Dallas and allegedly knew Jack Ruby.

That aside, the image below (sorry about the poor quality) shows Harrod Miller on the far right. The man second from the left is Col. James P. O'Connell. I have not been able to confirm or not if he is the father of James Patrick O'Connell Jr. aka Big Jim O'Connell, former FBI and CIA man. O'Connell was also Robert Maheu's case officer between 1953 and 1962.

FWIW.

James