Dade County Homicide asks
CIA for help in Murder of
John Roselli
[Reference: NARA record. No RIF
number. Handwritten note at bottom of RIF sheet: "To NARA - Please
replace previously released version of this document with the
attached". Originator: CIA]
8 October 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Security
FROM
: Curtis R. Rivers
SUBJECT
: Dade County Request for Agency Assistance
Regarding the Death of Johnny Roselli
1. The following is provided for your information and pertains to
an assessment of the information contained in Office of Security files
relevant to the request from the Dade County Sheriff's Office pursuant
to their investigation of the death of Johnny Roselli.
2. The Dade County Sheriff's representatives requested all Agency
information pertaining to several Cuban nationals. A review of
Office of Security indices in this regard disclosed the following:
a. Ramon Don Eestevez [Donestevez] Dominquez – Office of Security records were negative.
b. Rolando Masferrer Rojas – Covert.(36 859) and overt (352 772)
security files were located regarding Rolando Masferrer, a Cuban
citizen born 12 January 1918 in Holguin, Cuba. Although limited
national agency checks were conducted on Subject in January 1950, there
is no indication that Masferrer was ever utilized by the Agency.
He is a former Cuban senator and Cuban Communist Party member (expelled
in 1945), a former commander for Batista's private army, and firmly
anti-Castro. The two files contain numerous FBI reports regarding
his activities in connection with an attempt to invade Cuba in 1960 and
a subsequent effort to invade Haiti in 1967. Masferrer and 75 of
his follower were arrested in January 1967 in Marathon, Florida, while
preparing for the invasion of Haiti.
Masferrer claimed that his Haiti invasion plot was approved by the U.
S. Government (varying between the CIA and the FBI as the approving
agency). While the CIA approval claim was untrue, Agency concern,
at the time, centered around the possibility of unfavorable publicity
and the compromise of sources and methods if the Agency was forced to
disprove Masferrer's charges in court. A handwritten note in
Masferrer's file revealed that he died in 1975 when his car was blown
apart by a bomb in Florida. No further details regarding his
death were contained in his subject files. Since Masferrer has
never been affiliated with the Agency, despite his claims, it is
believed that Dade County officials should be referred to the FBI for
information regarding Masferrer.
C. Luciano Nieves – Office of Security files contain
[
] information regarding Luciano Nieves Mestre, date and place of birth
6 October 1933, Santa Clara, Cuba. Nieves was
[
] on 4 February 1966 in Florida. It was developed that he was a
Cuban national who had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to 20 years
in Cuban for allegedly being involved in an anti-Castro plot. He
was released in March 1965 after serving approximately 16 months of his
sentences and went to Spain briefly where he was of interest to the
[
] In August 1965 he entered the United States and in November 1965 was
contacted by Directorate of Operations (DDO) representatives.
From November 1965 until approximately January 1966 he was of
operations interest in the DDO.
It is noted that the DDO maintains a 201 file (201-788521) regarding
Subject and it is believed that the Office of Security would have to
defer any decision regarding the release of information concerning
Nieves to the DDO.
d. Jose de La Torriente – Security records contain only sparse
information provided by the Domestic Contact service in 1970 showing
that one Jose de La Torriente, not further identified, claimed
association with the Agency was not contained in Office of Security
files. It is believed that a decision to release information
regarding Torriente would have to be deferred to the DDO.
e. Jose Quintana – Office of Security records contain no information identifiable with Jose Quintana.
f. Jaoquin Antonio Cortizo – Office of Security records are negative.
g. Manola Artimes – Security records contain overt (611 523) and
covert (210 838) files regarding Manuel Francisco Artime-Buesa.
Artime-Buesa is a former Agency operational asset utilized by the DDO
during the approximate period 1959-1963. Any decision regarding
the release of information regarding Artime-Buesa or his present
whereabouts should be deferred to the DDO.
h. AMLASH – Rolando Cubela (Secades), Agency cryptonym – AMLASH,
is the subject of the Office of Security covert file 101 080.
Cubela is a rather celebrated Cuban national and operational contact of
the DDO mentioned throughout both of the Senate Select Committee
assassination reports. Although Cubela is identified in the
assassination reports as AMLASH and his identity has never been
revealed by the Agency, his true identity has been surfaced in several
recent news articles. All information on Cubela in the possession
of the Office of Security would fall within the purview of the DDO, and
it is believed that any decision to release information pertaining to
Cubela should be deferred to the Latin America Division of the
DDO. It should be noted that during their investigation, Senate
Select Committee staffers reviewed Cubela's raw files from both the DDO
and the Office of Security.
I. Dade County Sheriff's Office representatives requested the
"names of the three Cubans mentioned in the Roselli testimony."
It is believed that the response to this question should be deferred to
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence since the Office of
Security does not have access to the Roselli testimony.
3. Additionally, the Dade County Sheriff's Office representatives
ask for all Agency information pertaining to several individuals of
unknown citizenships, but believed to be U. S. citizens. A review
of the Office of Security indices in this regard disclosed the
following:
a. Fred Black – Office of Security records revealed only
newspaper clippings contained in the Robert G. Baker subject file (260
273) showing that Fred B. Black, Jr., a consultant with North American
Aviation, was a close friend and business associate of "Bobby" G.
Baker. Black was mentioned repeatedly in the news media coverage
of Senate investigations of Baker in the early 1960's. While
Black's citizenship is undetermined, it is probable that he is a U. S.
citizen.
b. Edward Morgan–A covert security file (46 394) was located
regarding Edward Pierpont Morgan, date and place of birth 28 May 1913,
St. Louis, Missouri. Morgan, a U. S. citizen and former FBI agent
from 1941-1945, was granted a
[
] Clearance on 2 February 1951 for use as a "cut out" in connection
[
] The
[
] Clearance was amended and approved in March 1951 to include Morgan's
use in providing covert legal support for operations in the form of a
"cut out", legal advice, transmission of funds, and other assistance of
a legal nature in connection with DDO projects. Since Subject may
have been utilized by the DDO, it is felt that any decision to release
information regarding Morgan should be deferred to the DDO.
It is noted that while only the aforementioned subject file exists
regarding Morgan, in his capacity as Robert A. Maheu's personal
attorney, Morgan is mentioned sporadically in the Maheu, Harvey, and
Roselli files. In 1967 Maheu was interviewed and advised that he
had briefed Morgan regarding the details of his involvement in the
Agency-sponsored Castro assassination plots. Morgan's current
association with Maheu, professional and/or personal, is unknown.
Morgan is currently practicing law in the District of Columbia law firm
of Welch and Morgan.
c. Joseph Shimon – No Office of Security subject file exists
regarding Joseph Shiman. However, he is mentioned in the Johnny
Roselli file as a personal friend of Roselli. It is further noted
in the Roselli file that Shimon knew Maheu, but the nature and extent
of their official/social relationship is unknown. Shimon is
described as a former District of Columbia Metropolitan Police
Department (MPD) inspector who was discharged from the D.C. MPD as a
result of a conviction involving wiretapping activities.
4. To date, no decision has been made as to the type and form of
response to be made to the Dade County Sheriff's Office request.
Additionally, a formal request to the Office of Security has not been
received. Office of Security files have been searched and
pertinent information reviewed. Pending a decision as to what
form the response, if any, will take, it is recommended that the Office
of Security files containing information pertinent to the request by
retained in a readily available status and no further action be taken
at this time.
Curtis R. Rivers
End of Page
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