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 MorganA 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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1998-2014 Cuban Information Archives. All Rights
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