200000
104-10305-10005
3 ☑
☑
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
(GFCBYRGBECOCENONCAGİ
GROGCACEOGEOGGERCOCOP
104-10305-10005
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE AS SANTIZED.
1998 23 August 1978
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Bruce L. Solie
Chief, Security Analysis Group
NAGELL, Richard Case
#264 170
1. This memorandum identifies those Office of Security
files which were reviewed by House Select Committee on
Assassinations (HSCA) staff members in conjunction with the
HSCA's investigation into the deaths of President John F.
Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2.
Under procedures established with the HSCA, certain
items of information were not reviewed by HSCA staff members.
These items were placed in envelopes, sealed, appropriately
identified, and put back into the security file prior to
HSCA review. Office of Security personnel reviewing these
files should maintain the integrity of each envelope below
so that interested parties may know what was and was not
reviewed by HSCA staff members.
3. In some instances, the above files contain material
marked in the lower right-hand corner with a green circular
dot. This mark should alert Office of Security personnel to
the fact that this material was located and placed in the
file at the time of the HSCA review and was seen by an HSCA
staffer(s). This material should not be removed from the
file.
4. Attached to this memorandum is a review sheet which
identifies the name of the HSCA reviewer(s) and the date of
his review.
5.
Questions regarding the above procedure and/or the
HSCA's review should be directed to the Security Analysis
Group.
EBU no
Attachment
REVIEWED BY FBVJFK TASK FORCE
9/7/88
✓ RELEASE IN FULL
RELEASE IN PART
TOTAL DENIAL
SECRET
Bruce L. Solie
BEE!
[
हव
1370
1. ☑
37
13-00000
MATERIAL REVIEWED AT CIA HEADQUARTERS. BY
HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS STAFF MEMBERS
LE TITLE/NUMBER/VOLUME: NAGELL Richard Case
264170
INCLUSIVE DATES:
1958
1975
CUSTODIAL UNIT/LOCATION:
05/Sag
ROOM: 4€-13
DELETIONS, IF ANY:
Five Sealed ENVELOPES
DATE
DATE:
RECEIVED RETURNED
REVIEWED BY
(PRINT NAME)
SIGNATURE OF
REVIEWING OFFICIAL:
NO DUCUMENTS MAY BE COPIED OR REMOVED FROM, THIS FILE.
13-00000
i
Registered Mail
August 12, 1975
Ms. Penelope Grenoble, Editor
Los Angeles Free Press
5850 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90028
Dear Ms. Grenoble:
.
This letter is in response to the distortions and outright falsities
printed about me in the article written by William W. Turner, titled
BANK ROBBER, MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE' LINKED TO JFK ASSASSINATION PROBE,
which appeared in the July 25-31 edition of the Los Angeles Free Press
I request that the Free Press either print a retraction of such lies
and distortions or publish this letter.
Mr. Turner, who spent ten years as a Special Agent of the FBI, is not
unfamiliar to me. He has authored similar articles, both during my
imprisonment in the United States and while I was detained in the
German Democratic Republic, in which he knowingly and purposefully
cited numerous lies about me. He has proved himself adept at putting
words in my mouth and misquoting his sources of information to lend
credence to his major untruths, a skill he probably developed while
serving with the Bureau's intelligence-security division. His recent
claims cause me to wonder whether or not he ever left the FBI.
Professor Richard H. Popkin, from whom Mr. Turner obviously collected
much of his latest baloney, is a character that I feel should either
purchase a hearing aid or consult a psychiatrist. Each of my so-
called discussions with him (all but one occurred over the telephone)
were duly tape-recorded by me, and if he did in fact assert what Mr.
Turner has attributed to him about me, then he too is a liar.
I am listing the following facts in rebuttal to the Turner-Popkin
fable:
"
The "papers" that I "carried" when arrested did not show me to be a
"decorated hero of the Korean War," nor did they reveal anything
about "a career in Army intelligence. More to the point, the docu-
ments found in my possession and under my control (some of which were
returned to me only last year by the FBI) ensured my incarceration
for a longer period than I had anticipated. They also guaranteed my
being held practically incommunicado for many months (for eleven
months I was not even permitted to read a newspaper), not to mention
the curtailment of my most basic constitutional safeguards.
My contacts with Lee Harvey Oswald did not entail any "friendship,"
nor were they effected for the purpose of establishing rapport.
After my acquittal (in 1968, not in 1967) I did not "drop from sight,
13-00000
as Mr. Turner, the FBI and the CIA damn well know.
well
I have never stated to anybody, either verbally or in writing, that
in 1963 I was an agent for the CIA, although in 1974 I did state,
under oath, that I thought I had been functioning for the CIA during
part of 1963. Mr. Turner is also aware that less than two months
after President Kennedy's death FBI agents confronted me with their
suspicion that I had "acted as an unregistered agent for a foreign
power," inferring that I was a spy for one of the Cuban intelligence
services (several years later the CIA, through one of its "former"
case officers, accused me of having been a Soviet spy; still later,
one FBI agent suggested that I had worked for the Chinese).
The registered letter that was dispatched at my instance to FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover in September 1963 (not necessarily on the
13th) revealed sufficient details to warrant an immediate investiga-
tion (if not the arrest) of Lee Harvey Oswald and two Cuban refugees.
I certainly "assumed" that some "action" would be taken by the FBI.
I was not the least bit "frantic" about anything in September 1963.
I did not set foot inside the Republic of Cuba during that month.
To my knowledge I have never talked to any "Castro aides." The main
distinction between some American intelligence officers that I knew
and hired killers were the procedures utilized in murdering their
victims and/or the methods used to disassociate themselves and the
U. S. government from their crimes.
I had no fear of being implicated "in the planned assassination" at
the time of my arrest or prior thereto.
The two letters that I mailed to James L. Rankin, General Counsel to
the Warren Commission, were not sent through "private channels." They
were sent through proper jail authority.
I have never claimed that I "squirreled away a snapshot of (myself)
with Lee Harvey Oswald taken in Jackson Square in New Orleans in 1963.
I have never stated that I am "willing to surface and tell (any) story
to Congress" or to anybody. And I did not reveal any details about
Mr. Oswald to Professor Popkin that are "new" or unknown to the FBI.
Dickard C. Hagelt
Richard C. Nagell
13-00000
Los Angeles Free Press July 25-31, 1975
Bank robber, 'Manchurian Candidate'
linked to JFK assassination probe
ED. NOTE: Recent exposure of
what many consider to be im-
proper CIA activity, both at
home and abroad, has
reawakened interest in decade-
old challenges to official ver-
sions of the assassinations of
John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy
and Martin Luther King. As new
facts also begin to emerge,
Congress faces growing
pressure to reinvestigate the
JFK assassination.
-
What follows are the strange
stories, disclosed here for the
first time, of two figures
Richard Case Nagell and Luis
Angel Castillo - long of interest:
to assassination researchers.
WILLIAM W. TURNER
SAN DIEGO, (PNS) On Sept.
20, 1963, a rangy man with a
vertical scar on his forehead
strade into the State National
Bank in El Paso, Tex., and re-
quested $100 in travelers'
checks. Before the teller could
comply, he whipped out a pistol
and fired two shots into the ceil-
ing. Then he waited to be
arrested.
Police quickly realized that
the suspect, Richard Case
Nagell, 32, was no ordinary
bank robber. Papers he carried
showed that he was a decorated
hero of the Korean War who had
gone on to a career in Army
: Intelligence before being dis-
charged with the rank of captain
in 1959.
Why had he pulled the non-
robbery?
Last week Dr. Richard H.
Popkin, a philosophy professor imposter. The FBI knew Oswald
at Washington University in St. at that time as a defector to
Louis, stepped off a plane in the Russia, and, some conspiracy
nation's capital lugging a brief-theorists believe, as a possible
case containing documents il- CIA agent.
luminating the strange case of
the man who shot a bank. Also
crammed into the briefcase was
a thick sheaf of papers relating
to a bizarre "Manchurian Can-
didate" episode in the Philip-
pines in 1967.
Both the El Paso and Manila
incidents, Popkin said in an in-
terview before leaving for
Washington, were linked to the
Dallas assassination of John F.
Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. They
would "crack the case wide
open," he predicted.
☐
• The slight, bearded academi-
cian was stopping In
Washington to present his dis-
coveries to Attorney General
Edward Levi and the Senate
Select Committee on
intelligence Activities before go-
ing on to a conference of learn-
ed philosophers..
The Second Oswald
Popkin is no stranger to the
JFK investigation. In 1966 he
published The Second Oswald,
which chronicled several in-
stances of someone imper-
sonating the man later accused
of slaying the president. At the
time the book gained scant
attention, but recently it was dis-
closed that as early as June 3,
1960, FBI Director J. Edgar
Hoover himself wrote an in-
terdepartmental memorandum
citing evidence of an- Oswald
Popkin said he had been in
touch with Richard Nagell, now
living near San Diego, and had
learned about Nagell's
friendship with Lee Harvey
Oswald. Nagell has fascinated
assassination researchers ever
since an FBI report filed with the
Warren Commission. quoted
him as saying he had met with
Oswald in Mexico City and Tex-
as. But the former intelligence
officer had been inacessible. He
remained in prison for the El
Paso caper until his conviction
was reversed for insufficient
evidence in 1967, after which he
dropped from sight.
Nagell's Version
Nevertheless. researchers.
were able to glean some picture
of Nagell's significance from his
defense pleadings and cryptic
letters from prison.
In August 1963 Nagell, work-
ing as a CIA agent, learned of a
domestic plot to assassinate the
president, involving Oswald and
anti-Castro Cubans. He in-
formed his CIA superior but
feared nothing would be done
because he lacked details. On
Sept. 13 he dispatched a letter
warning J. Edgar Hoover of the
plot but again assumed no ac-.
tion would be taken.
As Nagell understood, it,
Kennedy was to be shot in
(please turn to page 33)
13-00000
INATION
(continued from e 4)
Washington about Sept. 26 (as
It turned out, JFK left Sept. 25
for a whirlwind tour of the West).
Frantic, Nagell flew to Havana
on Sept. 19 to see if Castro
aides could shed light on the
assassination plot, but the only
advice they could offer was to
execute Oswald in the hope that
would stop the plan.
..
But Nagell left Cuba deciding
that he "was an intelligence
agent, not a killer." Flying to El
Paso via Mexico City, he walked
into the bank the next day for
"the sole purpose of having
myself arrested and detained by
federal authorities"
parently. fearing that his
association with Oswald would
Implicate himself in the planned.
assassination.
ap-
Nagell was in the El Paso jail
when Kennedy was shot in
· Dallas two months later. He sent
an offer to testify before the
Warren Commission through
"private channels" but received
no reply.
Dedicated Leftist
In his recent discussions with
Popkin, Nagell has revealed
new details about Oswald. He
first met Oswald, he said, in the
late fifties at the U.S. naval base
at Atsugi, Japan, where Oswald
was a Marine Corps radar
_ specialist. They became friends
but didn't encounter one
another again until August 1963
when Nagell learned of the plot
against Kennedy.
'Disputing claims that Oswald
had ties with the CIA, Nagell
belleves that Oswald was a
dedicated leftist who was duped
by anti-Castro exiles involved in
the conspiracy. Posing as
Castro G-2 intelligence agents,
the exiles wheedled Oswald into
becoming a "fall guy" by playing
on his Castro sympathies, pain-
ting Kennedy as anti-Castro and
promising that he would be
spirited to Havana after the
assassination.
Nagell told Popkin he met
with Oswald both in Mexico City
and New Orleans, hotbeds of
the anti-Castro movement.
"Nagell claims he has squirrel-
ed away a snapshot of himself
Iwith Lee Harvey Oswald taken
in Jackson Square in New
Orleans in 1963," Popkin as-
serted. "In the picture are two
other men, both anti-Castro
Cubans, who were pretending
is
If this photograph does exist
it would lend credibility to
Nagell's account. And Ne
willing to surface and te
story to Congress, Popkin says,
provided protective conditions
are met.
is
"Manchurian Candidate"
Popkin is also convinced that
the Manila "Manchurian Can-
didate" case was connected to.
the JFK assassination. On
March 2, 1967, a man named
Luis Angel Castillo was detain-
ed by the Philippine National
Bureau of Investigation after he
had contacted left-wing Huk
guerrillas. Questioned under
truth serum and hypnosis.
Castillo blurted out a tale of hav-
ing been taken to a building in
Dallas, Tex., the day Kennedy
was shot. handed a rifle
assembled from components
hidden in a bowling bag and in-
structed to fire at a man in an
open car sitting next to a lady.
The signal to fire would be given
by mirror flashes.
The story caused a brief sen-
sation at the time. The Manila
Times bannered: "JFK Plotter'
In Manila!" Wire service dis-
patches to the United States
said Castillo was a "Cuban-
trained Communist agent" who
hadn't shot because he heard
that a man named Joe "had
I already shot the man in the
open car." The story was so im-
plausible that it quickly died.
Not long ago the hypnotist
who conducted the interroga-
tion of Castillo for the Philippine
authorities arrived in this coun-
try under the name Vincente R.
Sanchez. When Popkin took a
look at his reports, his eyes
popped.
The reports termed Castillo a
"zombie"
a hyp-
noprogrammed robot.
Double-Agent Network
Sanchez extracted Castillo's
rambling story over a period of
weeks. Castillo, then 28, was in-
ducted around 1960 into a
"Special Operations Group"
which afforded him paramilitary
training. In 1961 he participated
in the Bay of Pigs invasion, as a
pilot for the CIA. Thereafter he
infiltrated a double-agent
network, posing as a Com--.
munist in Venezuela and li-
quidating a Communist agent in
Mexico.
In talking about the JFK
assassination, Castillo
despite some disjointed
phrases was nevertheless
able to describe in some detail
:
ཨ་པས་ ་་ས ་་པ་་ ་་་བས་་་ས་ ageTit
ordered. "They got him already.
Let's get out of here." After the
rifle was disassembled and
stuffed in the bowling bag, he
was hustled into the car which
had brought him to the building.
It stopped twice within blocks to
pick up other men.
In 1967, according to
Sanchez. Castillo was
programmed to assassinate
Philippine President Ferdinand
Marcos after openly associating
with the leftist Huks which
would implicate them in the
assassination. Popkin points
out that this is a similar ploy to
the one Nagell attributed to the
anti-Castro Cubans' use of
Oswald.
Until recently, the Castillo
episode might have seemed a
logcial impossibility. But the
release of the Rockefeller
Report, with its revelations.
about secret CIA projects to in-
duce behavior modification in
unsuspecting subjects, make.
the possibility of a "Manchurian
Candidate" more than mere
fantasy. (In the Robert Kennedy
assassination, Dr. Bernard Dia-
mond, who examined Sirhan
Sirhan for the defense, testified
that he believed Sirhan was
hypnotized at the time of the
shooting.)
Although the current.
whereabouts of Castillo is un-
known, the Sanchez reports
contain the names of six per-
sons who supposedly ran his
network, including the "control
officer" and a woman who hyp-
notized him. Popkin's own in-
vestigations have shown that
these people do exist.
Through Popkin their stories
have now been passed on to the
Attorney General and the
Church Committee.
William Turner's latest book.
The Cuba Project, the story of
the CIA's secret war against
Castro, will be published this fall
by Houghton Mifflin.
☐
13-00000
File
SAME Birthday
KRAMER JOE
KRAMER, JOE
YM /B 05A UG 30
D. LST
OR 69 M341008
18JUN69 P23 DEFECTORS MACHINE LST
DEFECTORS FILE
13-00000
SEGRET
EXTRACT
U.S. DEFECTOR MACHINE LISTING
JULY 1973
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
SEGRET
13-00000
100000 A 137202
R
0000 B
NAGELL
00400 C
60100 D
USA/NEW YORK
USA
M 48A01 A
M 63A01 A
SECRET
*******
201-0746537
RICHARD
GREENWICH
M 63A01 X- A3 ATTEMPTED SUICIDE SEVERAL TIMES
M 69A02 A
***
CASE
*******
05 AUG 30
SOB
EXACT
AGROAD
**********
M 69A03 A
M 48A01 B
NAGELL
R
M 51401 8
KRAMER
4.54A01 B
CRAMER
R
M. 59A01 B
NOLAN
M 62401 B
CRANE
R
M 48A01 C
USA/NEW YORK
R
M 43401 D
USA
RICHARD
JOF
A
JOE
ROBERT
C
.A.
มกร
A
GREENWICH
J-543069
05 AUG 30
NEW YORK
M
ZOI?
CASE
M 50A01 X
M 62A01 E
E4 FLUENT
M 48A01 G
M 48401 X
R
M 48A01
E1-DISMISSED FROM JOB JUN 62
PRIVATE SN 12 115 891
G1 ENLISTED AS PRIVATE 48/DISCHARGED AS SERGEANT 51
G1 TO ACCEPT COMMISSION
24 MAY 68
JAPANESE.
R
M 48AC1 H
ARMY USA
R
M 48A01 N
USA
48
51
R
M 48A01 Q
STATIONED IN NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY AND OVERSEAS
R
M 48A01 U
AGENCY.
201 SUMMARY
20. MAR 69
R
M 51A01 G
CAPTAIN SN 2028346
R
M 51A01 H
ARMY USA
R
M 51A01 N
USA/NEW JERSEY
FT DIX
51
59
R
M 51 401 Q
HONORABLY DISCHARGED OCT 59
R
M 51 01 U
AGENCY
201 SUMMARY
20 MAR 69
R
M 51401
X
R
M 54401 L
R
M 54A01 M
GRANTED TOP SECRET CLEARANCE 22 SEP 55/ASSIGNED CIC
14 FACIAL SCARS FROM PLANE CRASH
WALTER REED HOSPITAL
R
M 54701 N
USA/DISTRICT
WASHINGTON
R
R
M 5%A01 Q
M.54A01 U
FRI
R
M. 54A01 X
R
R
M 59401 H
M 54A01 Z
M 59A01 G
HERE FOR TREATMENT OF INJURIES NOV 54-APR 55.
SOLE SURVIVOR AIRPLANE CRASH 28 NOV 54 SUFFERED
☐ XL FACIAL DISFIGUREMENT/GIVEN PSYCHIATRIC EXAMS
SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL/DEPARTMENT OF
DBA-63177
HEAD
NOV 54
APR 55
04 FEB 64
R
M 59A01 M
LEEWARD AVENUE
R
M 59401 N
USA/CALIFORNIA
M 59A01 Q
RESIDENCE
R
M 59A01 U
AGENCY
M 62A01 M
EMBASSY USA
R
M 62A01 N.
MEXI
२
M. 62A01 Q
VISITED EMBASSY/VOLUNTEERED INFORMATION
xxxp
R
M 62A01 U
FBI
R
M 63A01 M
EL PASO COUNTY JAIL
M 63A01 N
M 63A01 Q
USA/TEXAS
ARRESTED ATTEMPTING TO ROB BANK
CHARACTERIZED AS MENTALLY UNSTABLE
LOS ANGELES
201 SUMMARY
MEXICO CITY
084-24397
EL PASO
3 201-SUMMARY
4037
59
62
20 MAR 69
UNK
02 OCT 62
UNK
e
0
R
R
M 63A01 U
AGENCY
20 MAR. 69
M 63ACI Z
M. 68A01 M
CONSULATE USA
M 68A01 NSUIS.
ZURICH
68
UNK
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M68401 Q
M68401 "}
M63401 ✗
M 68A02 N
M 68A02 Q
M 69A02 1
VISITED CONSULATE 4 AND 5 JUNE.
AGENCY
ZUR 1-1331
06 JUN 68
APPEARED PSYCHOTIC/POSSIBLY DANGEROUS
EGER
68
UNK
HELD HERE 4 MONTHS
FBI
OBC-43667
18 FEB 69
R
M 68A02 X
M 68A02 Z
९
M 69A01 M
TAKEN OFF TRAIN GOING TO W BERLIN BY E GERMANS JULY 68
✗1 MADE REMARKS EAST GERMANS CONSIDERED DEROGATORY
CONSULATE USA
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M. 69A01 N
SHIS
ZURICH
69
UNK
R
M 69A01 0
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VISITED MAR 7 FOR ASSISTANCE/THREATENED EXPOSE US GOVT
AGENCY
ZURI-1629
17 MAR 69
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CLAIMED WORKING FOR US GOVT ON SECRET MISSION
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X1 TO MEET JAPANESE IN GENEVA
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CONSULATE. USA
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SPAN
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M 69A02 Q
M 69402 U
HERE MAR 10/THREATENED EXPOSE US GOVT
..
AGENCY
ZURI-1529
२
M 69AC3 -N
USA/NEW YORK?
NEW YORK
69
69
• UNK
17 MAR 69
UNK
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M 69A03 Q
PLACED NOTICE IN UNDERGROUND NEWSPAPER AUG 69
R
M 69A03 U
STATE
DST-18786
SECRET 05 SEP 69
*********************
13-00000
SECRET
(When Filled In)
DATE
REPLY REQUESTED
27 March 1969
SPEED LETTER
LETTER NO.
YES
NO
ΤΟ
:
FROM:
Mr. Paul Gaynor, C/OS/SRS/
N. Scott Miler, CI/SIG
ATTN:
The attached telegram from American Embassy, Madrid, may
not have come to your attention. It may be of some significance
in connection with information about a Richard Case NAGELL with
akas your office sent to the FBI 7 April 1964 (Solie originated)
and Richard FECTEAU.
REPLY
r. Sconhirer.
DATE
SIGNATURE'
The mayoly
По
What went tFBIP
See Buck-SLP
Hall 4/1/69
Juso
Mr Tighe no
FFOB an
This
夕
no further act by Deses on
FOR YOUR Info.
FOR 1831
RETURN TO ORIGINATOR
SECRET
SIGNATURE

13-00000
SUBJECT: NAGELL, Richard Case
SECRET
18 January 1968
ALLEGATION:
Richard Case NAGELL,
highly decorated infantry
Captain in the Korean War",
alleges that he became a
CIA agent. He said he
fired the gun in the bank at
El Paso, Texas because he
wanted to be in custody when
the assassination of
President KENNEDY took
place. NAGELL charged
that "the FBI illegally
seized from him evidence
crucial to his defense,
such as notebooks containing
the names of certain CIA
employees, photographs, two
Mexican tourist cards (one
in the name of Joseph KRAMER,
the other in the name of
Albert HIDEL) and receipts for
registered mail, including the one
for the letter sent HOOVER
warning of the assassination.
NAGELL daimed he was in-
structed to "arrow" the
patsy, that is kill him
(OSWALD) after the assassi-
nation. He contended he
got cold feet and this was
his reason for the attempted
bank robbery, he would rather
be arrested than commit
murder and treason. The
article alleges that while it
was suggested in court that
an airplane crash NAGELL
survived mentally affected him,
he was given intelligence
training after the crash.
Also, NAGELL complains he has
been salted away because of
what he knows.
CIA CONNECTION:
None; although, Subject was of
interest to OS in 1964 and early
1965 because of information
furnished to the Agency by the
FBI that he had in his possession
the names of six CIA employees
at the time of his arrest for bank
robbery at El Paso, Texas on 20
September 1963.
GROUP
Excluded entomatic
doy gaming and
eclassification
13-00000
SECRET
C
SOURCE:
1968 RAMPARTS
Article by William
W. TURNER
OS INDICES RESULTS:
Subject became of interest to the Office of Security in March 1964
when the FBI informed the Agency that Subject had in his possession at
the time of his arest for bank robbery at El Paso, Texas on 20 September
1963 the name of Richard FECTEAU (an individual by this name was captured
by the Chinese Communists and is now in prison in China) and of six Agency
employees. Research failed to reveal any reason why NAGELL had these
names in his possession. It was concluded that while NAGELL is unquestionably
unbalanced, his story of being involved in espionage is not fully contradicted
by evidence. He could have been contacted by a Soviet agent while in Washington,
D. C. in December 1962 or while he was in Mexico City in September and October
1962. His file contains mostly FBI reports dated 1962 and 1964 and in these
are documented his history of mental instability and physical complaints
stemming from the plane crash. Attached is a chronology dated 3 March 1965
made from the information contained in the FBI reports. At the time this
security research was conducted, it was recommended that NAGELL be personally
interviewed by a representative of OS in the hope that NAGELL might reveal
how he came into the possession/these names but no further action is indicated
in his file and this interview was not undertaken.
DETAILS:
Subject's file reflects no Agency interest in him prior to March 1964
when the names of CIA employees were found in his possession when arrested
for bank robbery.
The RAMPARTS claim that he received intelligence training after the plane
crash is true. The crash occurred 28 November 1954 and he graduated from
Army Intelligence School, Ft. Holabird, Maryland on 15 August 1955. Не
served in Korea and Japan as a member of the U. S. Army Counterintelligence
Corps, terminating about 1958. A Lt. Col. Ned W. GLENN who served with
NAGELL personally in Korea advised that NAGELL was not stable mentally and
that this instability was probably due to brain damage suffered in the airplane
crash.
The RAMPARTS article's claim that NAGELL said he fired the gun in the
bank at El Paso, Texas because he wanted to be in custody when the assassination
took place is not completely in conflict with a statement NAGELL made on
1 January 1964 which was, however, after the assassination. (see page 4 of
chronology)
The RAMPARTS article's allegation that the FBI took from NAGELL a note-
book containing the names of CIA employees is true.
NAGELL's complaint that he was "salted away" is open to speculation. A
ten year prison sentence does appear harsh, considering the documented brain
SEGRET
13-00000
SEGRET
damage he suffered in the B-25 plane crash while he was in the U. S.
Army.
13-00000
5 Aug 1948:
28 Nov 1954:
15 Aug 1955:
29 Oct 1959:
14 Dec 1959:
8 June 1962:
27 June 1962:
SECRET
Richard Case NAGELL
اس
Chronological Record of Activities
Entered Army (18 years old)
"Brilliant Korean War Record"
"Many Campaign Awards"
26417
Sole survivor of plane crash. Suffered facial disfigure
ment; given psychiatric exam.
Graduated from Army Intelligence School, Ft. Holabir
Maryland. Served as advisor to ROK Army in Korea.
Concerned with intelligence activities; served as a mer
of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps in Japan, Senc
and Tokyo, terminating about 1958.
A Lt. Col. Ned W. GLENN, Deputy G-2, U.S. Navy,
Japan, advised on 24 March 1964 that he had served
personally in Korea with NAGELL. GLENN advised
that NAGELL was not stable mentally and that the
this in-
stability was probably due to damage to brain tissues
suffered in an airplane crash during the Korean War.
Honorable Discharge - Captain, U.S. Army
Employed by Department of Alcoholic Beverage Contro.
of State of California as a special investigator.
Suspended by ABC, State of California
Dismissed by ABC
16 July 1962: Shot in chest "while making a meet" between Malibu and
17 Aug 1962:
24 Aug 1962:
Oxnard. Refused to identify assailants or furnish infor
mation to police, subsequently, filed Civil Rights com-
plaint against police. Withdrew request for hearing so
he could get money from state of California consisting ‹
retirement contributions and accumulated leave.
Issued tourist card at Los Angeles, California.
Entered Mexico through Ciudad, Juarez.
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
Classification
13-00000
28 Sept 1962:
1 Oct 1962:
28 Oct 1962:
16 Nov 1962:
15 Dec 1962:
SECRET
Appeared voluntarily at American Embassy, Mexico City,
tense, nervous, agitated and antagonistic.
Inter alia-stated he had been approached in Mexico
City for recruiting, refused to say by whom on behalf of
what country. Stated that one job of this sont would be
in New York. He volunteered that he fully realized that
what he was saying could be used against him in any
court or prosecution. He stated that he was "bitter,
disgusted, disillusioned and disaffected". Stated he knew
the full significance of the term disaffected. He stated
that if he did go to some other country, it would cost the
United States millions. He stated that he was "through
being a good citizen" and thought that he had gotten a
"dirty deal all around."
Again appeared at American Embassy, Mexico City,
wanting to know what had been done in regard to getting
the state of California to pay him the money due him.
Was sent to protection section. Asked what section of
Embassy he should contact to renounce his United States
citizenship. Was advised by collection section that they
could not intercede for him in collecting money from
state of California. Appeared in passport and citizenship
section and asked what the penalty would be for going to
an Iron Curtain country and what effect it would have on
his citizenship. Was advised that such action would be
violation of federal law.
Left Mexico City, Mexico.
Advised FBI in New York City he wanted to expose
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in California.
Advised FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, that he had been
approached shortly before in Washington, D. G., by
individual believed to be working for Soviets. NAGELL
at this time was noted to be in an inebriated condition
vague in answering questions.
20 Dec 1962:22 Jan 1963: NAGELL at Bay Pines, Florida VA Hospital.
Condition diagnosed as "chronic brain syndrome associated
with brain trauma with behavioral reaction characterized
by passive aggressive and paranoid features".
-2-
SECRET
13-00000
24 Jan 1963:
19 April 1963:
4 June 1963:
20 Sept 1963:
SECRET
Asked FBI in Miami if his Cuban or Russian sources
gave him a pistol with silencer and microfilm if he
would be permitted to return same to his contact so
he could be of further use to U.S. Government. He
stated that in August or September 1962 he met a man
from Maryland in Mexico City who introduced him to
individuals whom he believed may have been Soviet Agent.
Advised FBI in Los Angeles, California, that he had
taken his former wife to court for failure to comply with
court order giving NAGELL visitation rights with children.
NAGELL appeared at the Out Patient Clinic and was re-
ferred to the Neurological Clinic for treatment. His
condition was diagnosed as 'depression, tearful, nervous,
rigid". Would only utter words "Got to see my kids".
NAGELL arrested in El Paso, Texas, on charge of at-
tempting to rob State National Bank. Slashed wrist night
of 9/20/63. NAGELL consistently denied he had tried
to rob the bank; stated that the fact that he fired two shots
in the ceiling proved he had not been trying to hit anyone.
He stated that he was certain that "all of my problems have
been solved for a long time, and now I won't have to go to
Cuba".
A notebook which the Subject had on his person when ar-
rested made reference to Fair Play for Cuba Committee,
the names of purported CIA agents and other information.
Cell mate in jail reported that NAGELL disclosed to him
that NAGELL, during confused period after discharge,
decided everything against him in Los Angeles and made
arrangements with Communist Party in Los Angeles to
pick up visa and passport from contact in El Paso and
eventually end up in Czechoslovakia. NAGELL reportedly
attempted suicide three times enroute to El Passo but
lost nerve.
(Noteworthy that State Department records reflect issuance
of Passport to NAGELL on 7 August 1962 at Los Angeles,
California, and that on 9 July 1963 NAGELL signed affi-
davit that his passport had been lost or stolen. He was
issued a new passport on 6 August 1963.)
-3-
SECRET
13-00000
4 Nov 1963:
19 Dec 1963:
1. Jan 1964:
24 Jan 1964:
9 June 1964:
17 June 1964:
SECRET
El Paso Herald-Post article states that NAGELL told
U.S. District Court that he did not attempt to hold up
the bank. "I had a motive for doing what I did" NAGELL
told Judge, "but my motive was not to hold up the bank.
I do not intend to disclose my motive at this time.".
Subsequent to President's assassination, Subject claimed
acquaintance with OSWALD and wife. Marina OSWALD
on 1/18/65 disclaimed any knowledge of NAGELL.
NAGELL furnished a signed statement:
"... In September 1962, while I was in Mexico City,a
representative of a foreign government proposed to me
that I participate in an act; such act being a criminal
offense and inimical to the best interest of the United
States. At that time, I refused such proposal. In May
1963, another representative of the same foreign govern-
ment made the same proposal to me. At that time, I
agreed to such a proposal."
"In September 1963, I was informed by an American,
known to me as an Agent of the same foreign government,
that arrangements for my participation in the aforementioned
act were completed. At that time, I refused the aforesaid
proposal.
Approximately one week later, I was instructed by this
same person to either participate as previously agreed
or derrogatory information pertaining to me would be
disclosed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There-
upon, I agreed to follow the instructions of this person,
although I did not intend to do so. This existing situation
actuated my conduct of September 20, 1963, for which I
was arrested and am presently charged.
I did not actually attempt to rob any bank. I thought that
my arrest would provide an immediate, though temporary,
solution to the problem with which I was confronted.
I am not guilty as charged. !!
NAGELL arraigned in connection with indictment for
bank robbery and was committed for 30 days for the
purpose of psychiatric examination.
Sentenced in U.S. District Court, El Paso, Texas to
serve 10 years.
NAGELL swallowed several sleeping pills while lodged
at the El Paso County Jail.
SECRET
-4-
13-00000
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT:
NAGELL, Richard C.
AIN 0 264 170
24 October 1997
On 23 October 1997, the undersigned met with Mr
Gary Brennanmen, Historical Review Group, Central
Intelligence Agency and Ms. Kathleen M. Combs, Assassination
Records Review Board.
Ms. Combs reviewed the Office of Personnel
Security's security file of subject.
3
Curtis Chaloner
OPS/CD/IMB
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
1/mc
13-00000
FORM 681G
NTL NO 6051 REQUES TOR HALL
CNTL6051 NAGELL, RICHARD CASE
NAGELL, RICHARD CASE
/A CRAMER, JOE
/A KRAMER JOE
/A CRANE, JOE
ZA NOLAN, ROBERT ( ZB
/Z
0933604
See
E
OFFICE SRS
CIR1930
15JAN1968
DOB
OS 64 M264170
NAGELL, RICHARD C
/T MRS
--NI--I/ND--U/ND--SA-CO.
OR 64 R264170
ZA NAGELL, MITSUKO/MRS /Y F /D EBL 12JUN64 P1 NAGELL, RICHARD CASE EX
/Z 0933603
-NI--I/ND--U/ND-SA-CO-
13-00000
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brought in a rifle to have a telescopic
sight mounted; he produced a repair tag
in that name as confirmation (Report,
p. 315). Garland G. Slack and other
target shooters patronizing the Sports
Drome Rifle Range reported that a man
resembling Oswald had practiced there
as late as November; the man made him-
self obvious, at one time incurring
Slack's displeasure by firing on his tar-
get (Report, pp. 318-319).
An incident at Downtown Lincoln-
Mercury is highly revealing. Immedi-
ately after the assassination, salesman
Albert Guy Bogard reported to the FBI
that a man giving the name Lee Oswald,
who closely resembled the accused as-
sassin, came into the showroom on No-
vember 9. Remarking that in several
weeks he would have the money to make
the purchase, he test-drove an expensive
model on the Stemmons Freeway at 60
to 70 miles an hour. Both Bogard and
another salesman, Oren Brown, wrote
name.
so that
going to have to go back to Russia to
buy a car" (Report, p. 320).
Given a lie detector test by the FBI,
Bogard's responses were those "normally
expected of a person telling the truth.".
Nevertheless, the Warren Commission
dismissed the incident by noting that
Oswald supposedly could not operate an
automobile and that on November 9 he
allegedly spent the day drafting a
lengthy letter to the Soviet Embassy. It
evidently never considered the possibility ·
someone might be impersonating O
wald. But Bogard will never identify the
impersonator. He stuck to his story in
news interviews, and subsequently was
beaten to within an inch of his life by an
unknown assailant and arrested by the
Dallas police on seemingly trumped-up
bad check charges. He retreated to his
native Louisiana, where on St. Valen-
tine's Day 1966, he was found dead of
exhaust fumes in his automobile.
The main ingredients of the patsy:
are
would remembered back in a story that has
if he
A third salesman, Eugene M. Wilson,
recalled that when the man purporting
to be Oswald was told he would need a
credit rating, he snapped, ""Maybe I'm
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ARIES
Box 666R
Aptos, California 95003
out of Leavenworth
Penitentiary. The story is that of inmate
Richard Case Nagell, and paradoxically,
the most cogent confirmation for it is the
manner in which he wound up sentenced
to ten years in federal custody.
Nagell was a highly decorated infantry.
captain in the Korean War who, he
claims, subsequently became a CIA
agent. It is a matter of record that in
1957 he was seriously injured in a plane
crash in Cambodia, which tends to sup
port his contention, since Cambodia was
not exactly a tourist playground. On
September 20, 1963, Nagell walked into
a bank in El Paso, Texas, fired a gun into
the ceiling, and then sat outside waiting.
to be arrested. He says he staged the
affair because he wanted to be in custody.
as an alibi when the assassination took
place. It was a desperate measure, he ad-
mits. But he had sent a registered letter:
to J. Edgar Hoover warning him of the
impending assassination, which he says
was then scheduled for the latter part of
September (probably the 26th in Wash-
ington, D.C.), and the letter had gone
unanswered.
There is an incredibly brief FBI inter-
view report stating, in part, that on De-
cember 19, 1963, Nagell advised, "For
the record he would like to say that his
association with OSWALD (meaning:
LEE HARVEY OSWALD) was purely
social and that he had met him in Mexico
City and in Texas" (CD 197). Another
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states that when the prisoner was
being led from court on January 24,
1964, he "made wild accusations to news-
paper reporters, accusing the FBI of not
attempting to prevent the assassination
of President Kennedy..." (CD 404).
That the charges may not be so wild is
indicated by the fact that the government
threw the book at Nagell, a first offender
who says he expected to be charged only
with discharging a firearm on govern.
ment-protected property. Since his sen-
tencing, he has been shuttled between
Leavenworth and the federal medical
center (a euphemism for mental institu-
tion) at Springfield, Missouri. While the
government has suggested in court that
his airplane crash mentally affected.
Nagell, the fact remains that he was.
given intelligence training after the crash.
What Nagell alleges is damning not only
to the FBI, but to the CIA. In brief,
he says that the motive for the assassina-
tion was Kennedy's move in the direction
of a rapprochement with Castro, which
was a rank betrayal in the eyes of
anti-Castro elements. As he puts it, an
anti-Castro group in New Orleans and
Mexico City, code name Bravo Club,
decided to give Kennedy a “Christmas
present" to be delivered September 26, a
date that was postponed. A party was
required. Two members of Bravo Club
foreign countries under the authorization
of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He
states that the files of the FBI and the
CIA contain information that Oswald
was using the aliases Albert Hidel and
Aleksei Hidel. He charges that the FBI
illegally seized from him evidence crucial
to his defense, such as notebooks con-
taining the names of certain CIA em-
ployees, photographs, two Mexican
tourist cards (one in the name Joseph
Kramer, the other in the name Albert
Hidel), and receipts for registered mail,
including the one for the letter sent
Hoover warning of the assassination.
When Nagell complains he has been
"salted away" because of what he
knows, he just might be making the un-
derstatement of the year.
[THE ELIMINATION OF A PATSY]
I
DIDN'T KILL ANYBODY I'm just
a patsy," Oswald shouted to news-
men while in police custody. A
marked patsy, contends Garrison-one
who was not supposed to have lived long
enough to utter his cry of innocence. But
something had misfired, and Oswald fell
not into the hands of his would-be ex
cutioners, but into the comparative
safety of the Dallas jail. The denouement
presented a crisis that the conspirators
could solve only by pressing police buff
Jack Ruby into service.
approached Oswald while he was work-Ja
ing at the Reily coffee firm in New Or
leans in the summer of 1963, and ap-
pealed to his ego in setting him up as the
patsy. When the "delivery" site was
shifted to Dallas, Bravo Club enlisted
the aid of a Dallas "subsidiary,” Delta
Club.
Meanwhile the CIA got wind of the
plans and sent several agents into the
field to ascertain whether they were.
"for
real." Nagell says he was one of the
agents dispatched. Within a short time,
he claims, he was pulled in. It had been
verified that the plans were authentic,
that "gusanos [anti-Castroites] were.
making the watch tick," and that the
sum of the plot was right-wing in nature.
Nagell says that he was instructed to
"arrow" the patsy, that is kill him, after
the assassination. At this point, he con-
tends, he got cold feet and bailed out. "I
would rather be arrested than commit
murder and treason," he declared in a
self-prepared petition for habeas corpus.
In the petition, Nagell asserts that he
used the pseudonyms Robert Nolan and
Joseph Kramer in the U.S. and three.
Although the Warren Commission:
concluded that Oswald ducked into his.
Oak Cliff rooming house to pick up the
.38 revolver, later confiscated from him
in the Texas Theater, it did not explain
why, if he had gone to work at the School
Book Depository that morning intend-
ing to kill the President and escape,
he did not take the revolver with him.
That he made a beeline to his rooming
house for the sole purpose of getting the
revolver speaks of a man who desper-
ately wanted to protect himself from.
treacherous comrades rather than from
the police. Notwithstanding the mild re-
sistance he put up in his refuge in the
Texas Theater, Oswald's demeanor in
custody gave every indication that he
would resolve the great riddle-given.
the time.
Oswald does not appear to be the only
double-cross victim of that bloody after-
noon: the evidence is persuasive that
someone other than the accused assassin
killed Officer J. D. Tippit, a friend of
Jack Ruby, whose patrol area included.
the Harlandale Street section headquar-
RAMPARTS
13-00000
OCOL ULITTIAL
Office Memorandum
ΤΟ
FROM
* Chief, Research Section/CB/PSD
L. J. Dunn
•
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
SUBJECT DUGAN, Emmet E. 1 GF-6-371, page 22
DATE:
18 April 1958
As matter of information you may be interested in know-
ing that the DDP initiated a request through the CIA Library
to obtain all newspaper clippings which pertain to the death
of Subject. Miss Barbara Wade (X 2457) advised on 18 April
1958 that the Library has articles from the Washington Post on
March 14 & 16; New York Times on March 16; New York Mirror on⠀
March 17; ; and Christian Science Monitor on March 15.
CONFIDENTIAL
Dunn
L. J. Dunn
13-00000
.3125/58
Mr-3 way
GI Death Probe
Turns to Poison
TOKYC, March 15 (M)-The undergoing psychiatric treat-
United 
States 
Army said today, ment.
one of its intelligence agents,
whose body was found floating as an intelligance agent. But a
in Tokyo Bay,
may have been
poisoned after
handing his in-
surance policy
to his wife and
disappearing.
M/Sgt. Em
met E. Dugan,
39, of Crafton,
Pa., left his
wife Feb. 4 in
a Tokyo hotel
with the policy
Dugan
and personal papers, saying:
"If I don't return, you'll need
these."
| As usual, the Army main-
tained silence on Dugan's work
spokesman termed Dugan "a
fine soldier" and denied he had
any psycopathic troubles. The
infantry,veteran had finished
Chinese language training last
year and was assigned to an in-
telligence unit for the first
time..
The Army said Dugan and his
wife, Maud, came to Tokyo Feb.
4 by train from Camp. Zamal
near 
Yokohama. The sergeant
had a pass to visit the capital.
That night he left his wife. She'
money on the policy.
said they planned to borrow
Then, the Army said, Dugan
His body was found last
went to an Army camp north;
Wednesday. The Army said pay and sold his typewriter to
of Tokyo, drew $40 in advance
!
there were indications he was a Japanese 
dealer for $22. He
dead before hitting the 
water stopped at the camp's noncom
more than two weeks ago. missioned 
officers' club, lost
["The possibility of poison is $39 
playing slot machines and
not 
being overlooked," the vanished
. There was no wallet
Army said, the United Press 
on the body when it was found.
reported. "Extensive 
pathologi
cal tests 
will be conducted on absent without leave but on
Dugan was first listed as
body samples."]
March 1 this was changed to
6 Japanese newspaper specula-missing because the Army was
tion ranged from the possibility 
convinced he was absent
that Dugan was murdered while 
through no fault of his own.
Investigating Chinese Com-
munists in Japan, to a Japanese Cross worker he met in Korca
Mrs. Dugan, a former Red
police report that he had been 
has returned to Crafton.
23
Sund
13-00000
to me
Al No Thince
MAR 15 1958
2 HUNTED IN TOKYO
"
of external injury, but there
was no sea water in his lungs.
IN DEATH OF AG. Las there would have been had
Special to The New York Times..
he died of drowning.
Sergeant Dugan's wife, re-
TOKYO, March 11-The Tokyo Monday by military aircraft. An
turned to the United States last
police are reported to be search- Army. 
spokesman said he had
ing for an unidentified 'Chinese no "definite
" "knowledge that
and a Caucasian 
foreigner in the sergeant was engaged in
connection with 
the suspected. "investigative activity" at time:
murder of a United 
States Army been a victim of robbery, he
jof his death. He could 
have
sergeant assigned to intelligence added.
work.
A body in civilian clothes,
found floating in Tokyo Bay
Wednesday was identified this
morning as that of M/Sgt.
Emmet E. Dugan, 39 years old.
·
FIC 
had been missing from his
intelligence unit in Yokohama,
twenty-five miles south
Tokyo, since Feb. 4.
of
An examination indicated the
man had been dead two weeks.
An autopsy conducted by United
States Army surgeons yester-
day sugested he had died before
he was thrown into the water.;
Except for a bruise on the fore-
head, his body bore no marks
20
13-00000
Tokyo Bay Yields Body
Of GI Intelligence Aide
TOKYO, March 14 (Friday) Tokyo. The Center coordi
P-The body of a 39-year-old nates all United States Army
United 
States Army intelli-intelligence work in Japan.
gence agent, missing since
Feb. 4, has been found float- was not immediately released.
The name of the victim
ing in Tokyo Bay, the Army
said today. The Army added
had been murdered.
Japanese newspapers quoted
it was possible that the agent police as saying the sergeant
was investigating Communist
The body, fished out of the of his disappearance, but the
activities in Japan at the time
Bay 
by a Japanese policeman
on Wednesday, had been ten- Army declined to confirm this.
The Army 
spokesman said
tatively identified as that of
a master sergeant attached to cated the man was dead he
a preliminary autopsy indų
the Intelligence Support Cen-
fore he entered the water.
ter at 
Camp Zama, near
Vitaringsen
3/14/58
13-00000
UNCLASSIFIED
NTERNAL
SE ONLY
SUBJECT: (Optional)
FROM:
CO DENTIAL
✓ SECRET
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
EXTENSION NO.
CI/R&A/Hartman
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
2
Chief, SR S
Office of Security
Mr. Paul Gaynor
3.
"Milligan]
Mis Hall
-SK/CD
Sall
7.
2C-29
6748
DATE
RECEIVED
DATE
OFFICER'S
INITIALS
FORWARDED
17 April 1970
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
4-20-70 Paul,
4/20/70
7/20/40
ни
This material arrived attached
to a dispatch from [Berlin.] I
to 
Index
thought you might want
Richard Case NAGELL as a
crank because he is mentally
deranged. He was the sole
survivor of an air crash of a
military craft in ca. 1956 and
suffered brain damage. He
has claimed CIA employment
but was never connected with
the Agency.
S
8.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
FORM 610
3-62
USE PREVIOUS
EDITIONS
3-4
after review of
lease
ochon
Aetern
SECRET
CONFIDENTIAL
INTERNAL
USE ONLY
UNCLASSIFIED
2/mc
13-00000
altered that he announced himself in b
'Communist
. He had made one serious
WILLIAM R. MARTIN
COUNSELOR AT LAW
INTERNATIONAL 
TRADE MART
56 completely
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
lchard C. Nagell
25 
Grand Avenue
urst
, 
Long Island
York
: Mr. Nagell:
D NO.
gistered lette
to have bee
.....
my fi
11936
Spec. dely fee .....
Bel. receipt fee
Part. dely fee S....
མ་:་.
mester. By
yo.........
tod
-
48-14-70113-4
NO
12
196
USP
court to be a
23 November
again, the exact date
Decause th
Special Agent 
of the 
F)
gation into 
the assassin
himself as a 
member of 
th
answer any questions
, at
Mr. White.
Secret Service in the presel
And I made it
I think this can be checked
Secret Service 
- because 
that
Service Division
, U.S.
was known as
Wels
Ed States
FOR THE FIFTH CIICH
No. 21620
2.3
RICHARD CASE NAGE
versus
Appellee.
ITED STATES OF AMERICA,
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
The
inside story
(WHAT THE CONTROLLED PRESS AND OFFICIAL REPORTS FORGOT TO MENTION)
25, 1968
Commission
Assassination 
of
E. Germany Frees
THE WASHINGTON POST-
Kennedy
and activities
of the United States, ..
Ans by the Secret Service regarding_
thre
refused to
tates Court of Appeal
THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 24152
RICHARD CASE NAGELL,
:
versus
App
Nagell also refused
jectives 
yesterday 
afte
refused 
to sign a 
state
plainclothesman 
put 
it
us 
the 
time 
of day
.
"
tempora
of
he
Sincerely yours.
Ricoy
communist
The bank p
ested
on
Your Life Will Be in Danger,'
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
other than to say
on, 
however
HEADQUARTERS, US ARMY HOSPITAL, BERL
▲ considered at the
APO- 09742
UT
nexe nerchant danger."
the
thu
"Well the
SUBJECT: Travel Authorization Chinese Trader Warned Di
Aes of your
ere given to read
Garrison. It was 
on
flooding 
the offi
rich FBI inter-
he
stating, in part, that 
on De-
Germany has released a for. sell was taken off a train by ssociation with OSWALD (meaning able to separate yo
BERLIN, Oct. 24 (AP)-East Informed sources sald Nahe record he would like to say that his
for four months.
mer U.S. Army captain it held ago while he was on his way
the East Germans four months
Amber 19, 1963, Nagell advised, "For
Informed sources said Rich- Berlin through East Germany. City and in Texas" (CD 197). Another of our meeting
from West Germany to West social and that he had met him in Mexico those days. I 
was
ard Case Nagell, 38, was deliv. Apparently he made some re
ered at a border-crossing point marks which the East Ger
between East and West Berlin mans considered derogatory,
yesterday in the presence of the sources said..
East Berlin attorney Wolfgang
Vogel; attorney Ricey S. New release
Arrangements for Nagell's
were
of Washington and an official Vogel, New, West Berlin attor
from the U.S. Mission in West Bey Juergen Stange and var.
Berlin.
ious government officials, the
handled by
A U.S. spokesman sald Na-sources reported.
gell left by plane today for the The U.S. Mission had not
United States. Nagell was de disclosed that Nagell was
scribed as a Californian and a being held.
former U.S. Army captain who brought to trial and appar-
left the service in 1959. In ently no specific charges were
854, he was the sole survivor brought
✓ an airplane crash near sources added..
lendship Airport that killed
servicemen.
Classication Form 1b-Cop
Rev, January 1955
Committed Name
He
was not
LEE HARVEY OSWALD) was purely
report states that when the prisoner was
being 
led from court on January 24
1964, he "made wild accusations to news.
the three
paper reporters, accusing the FBI of nomight have 55
attempting to prevent the assassination to visiting y
of President Kennedy, (CD 404).
You've
Onterested
The time
DEPARTAVE
against him, the
He was reported in gener-
ally good condition on his re-EPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
lease.
NAGELL, Richard Case
OF PRISONS
CLASSIFICATION STUDY
(Continued)
Register Number
SAOMR
staff and asked
of 
my opinions
.
4-68
AEUHM-BLN
10.
I have today spoke
Mr. 
Garrison, and 
la
Iraan.
Rent
Mr. Richard C.. Nagell, 516 on gave awa p
be away for a week of
three volumes in the 
m
I do not take the New Yor
thearticle to which you 
re
Richa 1. The old In
Grand 
passed out "
F
stamped with tr
2. The building
anti-Castro group
st tried i
0-1029
1. Later,
for an unpopular political party.
The 
record also alleges that he worked for approximatoly one you
implied
The unpopular political party being
the Communist Party. Nagell, in the course of his interview,
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
my Denies CIA Links
EL PASO HERALD POST, September 21, 1963 ANT GENT".
# 1 to E6BA-89473
Ung
L
CS COPY
linked Oswald
Sold 
U.S. 
Cou
bouse.
8. Ref
Sum
G
sured bank with intent
/car
In Reply, Ph
File
No.
ID
Under the provisions of USÁRF
ent 
AFSTPEBI, dtd 16 Fab 65
1.
RICEY B. N
ARGYLE
UNITED STA
FEDERAL D
201 E.
New 
York
Deger
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Washington, D.C. 20523
200
120
.
C. Negell
•nue
New
102
13-00000
28 January 1970
Washington, D.C.
An editor of a trade journal, whom I first met while on
an intelligence assignment in Latin America,
has urged me
'
for some time to
make public the facts dealing with my
involvement in
in 
a conspiracy to murder the late Chief
Executive, John F. Kennedy, in 1963 and the circumstances
surrounding my arrest and imprisonment in the United States
and East Germany. For reasons that are more personal than
advisable I can think of little else that I would like to do
better. Put with the copious amount of documentation and
background material on hand, that I feel should be adduced
to in any valid treatise of the subject, it would require
writing no less than a tome, an undertaking for which I am
hardly qualified. Then, too, there is a growing skepticism
on my part concerning the kind of reception that a topic of
this sort would elicit from a society long since inured to
violence, corruption and injustice. Still, after over six
years of relative silence, I've decided that I must say
something about all this, if only to answer the lies and
distortions concocted about me in the press. Thus,
compiled this small booklet, a throwaway, ‹ which
easily discarded at the whim of the reader.
taken the liberty to set forth a reproduction of one of the
least sanitized references to my case that has appeared in
the news media, an article printed last summer in the
OVERSEAS FAMILY, a weekly tabloid catering to U.S. service-
men in Europe. I have utilized this particular article as a
vehicle to tell bit of my side of the story by writing an
addendum to it.
I have
may be
In it I've
R. C. Nagell
13-00000
ige 12
The FAMILY.
Friday, June 20, 1949
'I want to find my children'
Ex-Army spook who fingered Oswald claims Uncle Sam hides his family / by Thomas C. Lucey.
UNCLE SAM has given Richard Case
Nagell three Purple Hearts - one
earned on Christmas Day. and a medal.
for heroism in combat.
-
But what this ex-Army counterspy and
alleged CIA undercoverman wants is that
Uncle keep a promise to locate his wife
and two small children.
The 38-year-old former officer hasn't
seen them since 1963.
Officials inside the Federal Govern.
ment most likely FBI and CIA agents
know where they are and deliberately
isolated him from his family, the tall, lean
chain-smoker claims.
Nagell became separated from his
Japanese-born wife Mitsuko Takahashi
and their children, Teresa, now 9, and Ro-
bert, now 8, when he was arrested for.
robbing an El Paso, Tex., bank in Sep-
tember 1963.
He staged the robbery and immedi
ately surrendered to the police, Nagell
claims, because he had refused to kill
Kennedy-assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and
ICHARD CASE
Nagell first went
to work for the.
CIA as an in-
✓ formant in Au-
gust 1962.
"Some publications have
Identified him as a CIA agent,".
the FAMILY source said. "But
Nagell never claimed to be a
CIA agent. For the year that'
he worked off and on for the
CIA the first time, he was
never told what he was. But it.
was in the capacity of an in-
vestigator or informant."
Nagell had a good back-
ground for Investigative and
undercover assignments.
In the Army, he was a CIC
· captain who worked in field of-
fices in the United States and
with the then super hush-hush
Field Operations Intelligence in
Japan and Korca.
He had made captain with a
battlefield commission during
the Korean War at the age of.
22 possibly the youngest man
to carm that distinction. Nagell
I served two volunteer combat
tours as an infantryman in Ko-
rea, signing up for the second
as soon as he returned to the
States from the first. It was in
Korea that he won the Bronze
Star and three Purple Hearts.
Copyright 1969, Thomas C..
Lucey. Reproduction in whole
or in part strictly prohibited
without the prior written per-
mission of the author.
was afraid he would be killed himself.
The ex-Army captain was convicted of
the crime and sent to Leavenworth, but
Mrs. Nagell was never told where he was,
Since then Nagell has been written
about in national American magazines
and has worked his way inside a politi-
cal prison in Communist East Germany
for the CIA.
Two major magazines intimated that
Nagell had been insane.
New Orleans district attorney Jim Gar-
rison allegedly interviewed Nagell three
times in his controversial probe of what
he called the plot to kill Kennedy.
However, despite all the publicity
about Nagell, no public mention has
been made of his charges that:
- ➤FBI special agents who questioned
Mrs. Nagell about her husband while he
was in prison said they didn't know
where he was;
The CIA used the promise of reunit-
ing Nagell with his family as part of the
incentive for him to undertake a one-man
During a subsequent tour in
.the Far East with the CIC and
FOI, Nagel met and married
his Japanese wife in the spring
of 1959. Being married to a
foreign national meant an
automatic removal from intel-
ligence work so Nagell decided
to leave the Army.
For two years he was a Cal-
ifornia state special investiga-
tor, working on fraud cases and
liquor violations.
In the summer of 1962 he left
that job to work for the CIA.
Oswald. He told him he was an
intelligence man, not a killer,
and he couldn't kill Oswald.
"Threats were made to Na-
gell which indicated to him that
he had better do what he had
been instructed to do.
"Instead, he wrote about'
Oswald's assassination plans to
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
in Washington. Hoover didn't
reply, but Nagell didn't expect
CIA assignment inside East Germany.
Nagell came to Europe in February
1969 on a hunch that the path to his fam-
ily started in West Berlin. In Zurich he was
almost killed, he says. In Barcelona, he
was watched. And in West Berlin he was
attacked in a side-street bar by two
strangers one of whom had been fol-
lowing him for two days and hit on
the top of his head so hard a molar
cracked in half.
-
Fearing that the next attacker might
murder him and reassured that the Gov-
ernment would finally keep its promise
this time, Nagell flew home to the United
States.
-
Now he's back where he started in
1963 when he tipped off the FBI that
Oswald was planning to assassinate Pres-
ident Kennedy.
Working through a source with access
to. documents on the Nagell case, The
FAMILY has been able to reconstruct this.
incredible story of the spy who couldn't
come in from the cold.
be arrested. He expected to be
held briefly for discharging a
.firearm on Federally insured
property. By that time the as-
sassination would be over and
he'd be safe.
Apparently Nagell felt police
custody would keep him safe
from the CIA and from the
assassins. He feared the CIA
because he didn't "take care
of" Oswald. He feared the
His last assignment was to Richard Nagell: a
penetrate the Fair Play for
Cuba Committee, where he met
Oswald. Nagell also briefly in-
vestigated Oswald's Russian-
born wife Marisa.
Nagel considered Oswald
. intelligent, "but some right-
wingers were using him by
feeding his ego. They made
him think he was a big man,
important. Oswald himself was
definitely a left-winger, lean-
ing toward Mao or maybe even
Castro. He wasn't pro-Moscow.
He hated the Russians.
"And when Oswald said he
was going to do something, you
knew he meant it."
In September Oswald told
Nagell, "We will kill him be-
fore the month is out."
The "we," according to Na-
gell, were Oswald and two Lat-.
Ins possibly Cubans who
belonged to anti-Castro organ-
izations in the United States.
"Him" was President Kennedy.
Nagell reported the threat to
a man known only as Bob, his
CIA contact. According to The
FAMILY's source, "Nagell's in-
structions were to take care of
"
him to. He wanted that letter
as a matter of record.
"After Nagell's tip, the FBI
questioned Oswald and re-
leased him. as not being a
danger or a threat."
Two months later Nagell
heard the assassination news
bulletin on the radio. "The FBI
screwed up!" he explained.
"That was Oswald!" This was
before there was any public
mention of Oswald.
"After the assassination the
FBI tried to clean their skirts,"
The FAMILY was told. "FBI
agents insisted to Nagell that
he hadn't told them this about
Oswald or that about Oswald.
But he had."
By this time Nagell was in
Leavenworth penitentiary.
On Sept. 20, 1963, alx days
before what Nagell thought
I was to be the assassination
date, he went into an El Paso
bank, shot one bullet into the.
celling and waited outside to
tentiary," the source smiled.
"All you have to do is be
there."
The source continued:
"In 1966 Nagell's sister
wrote that she had had a
letter from his wife. She
wanted to know where her
husband was and why hadn't
she heard from him.
"Here is the sticky part. In
Mrs. Nagell's letter she said
self-deluded crank or
assassins because he might be
considered one of them.
But the police held Nagell
longer than six days.
He was tried twice, in May
1964 and September 1966, for
attempted robbery with force
and violence and sentenced to
the maximum of 10 years.
"I was bum-rapped," Nagell
complained.
"The court instructed that
any attorneys retained by his
relatives would have to come
under the supervision and
control of court-appointed
attorneys," The FAMILY's
source said. "In effect, this de-
nied him counsel of his choice
all during prison."
As prisoner A-83286-L, Na-
gell was allowed to write to
Ionly his sister and a friend.
He couldn't get an explan-
ation why he wasn't allowed
mail from or to his wife and
.children. "They don't explain
to you in Leavenworth peni-
.
the FBI had questioned her a
few days before about her hus-
band's activities in the Army.
The FBI knew where Nagell
was but didn't tell his wife."
The letter had been sent
from a Hollywood post office
box and Nagell tried unsuc-
cessfully to trace it after he
got out of Leavenworth.
On April 29, 1968, after 4½
years in prison, Nagell was re-
leased after he had won an
acquittal on appeal and flew
to New York..
."We pulled a lot of strings
to get your freedom," said a
man who met Nagell when he
landed at Kennedy Airport.
The man and his nontalking
partner gave Nagell $500 in
$20 bills. "More will come
where this comes from," the
unidentified man promised.
"We appreciate your cooper-
ation in prison."
"To this day," the source
told The FAMILY, "Nagell
13-00000
Jim Garrison
Richard Nage!!
CAST OF
CHARACTERS:
Richard Nagell was ques-
tioned by New Orleans
D.A. Jim Garrison because
Nageli claims he fingered
Kennedy assassin Lee Har-
vey Oswald while working
for the CIA. Nagell also
says U.S. Government offi-
cials isolated him from his
two children after the as-
sassination.
Oswald and guards
Nagell's children
still has not got the money
promised him for his im-
prisonment in the United
States."
In New York Nagell kept an
appointment with a CIA offi-
cial he knew only as Buchel.
The CIA official told Nagell he
had heard that his wife had di-
vorced him while he was in
Leavenworth..
"It might be true," the source
through East Germany and he
would be arrested.
"The main objective of his
Imprisonment was twofold:
One concerned a U.S. naval
officer who had allegedly de-
fected and Nagell had to find
out if he was there. But his
main purpose was to get as
3 much information as possible.
on techniques of interrogation
and methods of treatment of
J
were talking about. So they'
took him off the train because
he didn't have a valid transit
. visa.
"They drove to Erfurt (an
East German city), where Na-
gell was held for three days in
a safe house (a private home
used as a cover for intelligence
purposes). There some men in
civilian clothes questioned
Nagell.
the victim of dagger-in-the-back CIA tactics?
noted, "but wouldn't it be nice
for Nagell to know for sure.
He assumes his children are
still with his wife."
be
_. Nagell met Buehel to
briefed for another CIA assign-
ment.
Why did he go back to the
CIA?
"It was the only practical
thing for him to do," the
source said, "because of his
financial situation."
Almost a month to the day
after he arrived in New York
Nagell jetted to Zurich.
"During his last week of
discussions with Buehel and
another man in New York,"
The FAMILY's source said,
"It was Nagell's understanding
that he was to have himself
arrested by East German
authorities. All he had to do
was buy a train ticket from
Zurich, Switzerland, to East
Berlin. The train would go
the MIS (East German Ministry.
for State Security)."
Everything went according
to the CIA's plan-up' to a
point.
In Zurich, Nagell reported to
his CIA contact in the Ameri-
can Consulate General. About.
the only thing the CIA agent
seems to have said to Nagell
was to ask him the train com-
partment number on his reser-
vation. Nagell told him, No. 46.
Early in the morning of .
June 10, 1968, around 12:30
a.m. to 1:30 a.m., Nagell's train
stopped after crossing the East
German border.
"He could hear people get
on the train and clomp down
the aisle, directly to his com-
partment," the source said..
"There were two men in uni-
form and two men in civilian
clothes. They asked Nagell for
his passport-by name. Then
they asked for his transit visa.
He didn't know what they
"Next he was driven to an
East Berlin political prison for
extensive interrogation. They
accused him of espionage and
said they were going to try
him.
"Nagell had been told that if
he was in East Germany for
over three months, his release
would be effected by the agen-
cy (CIA), but he was not told
how. On his own he started to
play crazy because he was
there over four and a half.:
months and he began to think
there was another reason for
his being there. He felt the
CIA had deserted him and
that, quite frankly, he had
been sent to Germany to get
him out of sight or to get rid
of him.
"He was released on October
23. He didn't know he was go-
ing to be released until he was
taken out of prison and driven
to a Berlin checkpoint identi-
fied to him as Sandkrug-
bruecke."
Waiting to meet Nagell were,
according to the source:
Andor Klay, head of the
Eastern Affairs Section of the
U.S. Mission in Berlin;
Wolfgang Vogel, a well-
known East Berlin lawyer who
participated on the Feb. 10.4
1962, exchange of Soviet master
spy Col Rudolf Abel and A-
merican U2 pilot Francis Gary
Powers and other spies and
accused spies:
● Ricey S. New, a wealthy
Washington lawyer, supposed-
ly "a representative - not a
member of the CIA";
● Bruce A. Flatin, head of
the U.S. Berlin Mission's
public safety section, allegedly
"a longtime CIA member-and
Flatin is not his real name"; |
● Dr. (Capt - now Maj)
George Raymond Babineau, a
psychiatrist at the U.S. Army
hospital in Berlin, who ap-
peared in civilian clothes, and
An unidentified man.
Nagell was driven to the
U.S. Mission at 170 Clay Allee
and interviewed by Babineau.
"That was probably because
Nagell had played crazy with
the East Germans," the source
said.
Washington lawyer New was
also present.
"Somebody brought Nagell
a cup of coffee," the source
continued. "Nobody else had
coffee. Nagell drank a small
portion of his coffee. It was
black but it tasted more bitter
than ordinary coffee. Approxi-
mately five minutes later he
began feeling sleepy and
thought he was under the in-
fluence of a drug. He went to
the bathroom and looked at
his eyes in a mirror. They were
almost pinpoints and he was
feeling exceedingly sleepy.
"Back in the room he asked,
'Did anybody put something
in my coffee?'
"Dr. Babineau said no; New
said nothing. Nagell began to
feel so sleepy he had to oc-
casionally stand up to stay a-
wake. Finally, he asked to be
examined by a civilian psychi-
atrist if there was any ques-
tion of his sanity.
"No,' the doctor said, 'as far
as I'm concerned you're free
to go.'
"New spoke to the doctor in
a corner - the doctor kept
shaking his head no - and
then New told-Nagell, 'I think
you ought to leave for the
United States. The German
newspapers are going to pick
this thing up any moment and
might want to talk to you. I
don't think you should talk to
titem.'
"Nagell said he wanted to go
back to Zurich first to pick up
his belongings to be exact,
certain documents in a safe de-
posit box. Nagell keeps records,
plenty of them."
When Nagell was driven to
Tempelhof Airport, New ac-
companied him and walted un-
til he boarded the plane. Some
time during their talk New
asked Nagell about his disabil-
ity-Nagel was getting a 60
percent disability for service-
(Continued on Next Page)
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(Continued From Page 13)
connected injuries and New
promised him help in getting a
disability retirement.
"But," the source added, New
also told Nagell: "Of course,
this (offer of help in getting a
disability retirement) is pred-
icated on your staying away
from the news media.""
On the afternoon flight to
Stuttgart Nagell fell asleep,
convincing him that he had
been given a drug or a bar-
biturate.
Because of fog he didn't get
to Zurich until 4 a.m. and "he
was feeling extremely sick," the
source said. "He rested for a
few hours and went to the U.S..
Consulate General. New had
told him to stay away from the
'consulate in Zurich because
'they will question you and
send it to Washington. Nagell
couldn't understand New's rea-
soning, but he went to the
· consulate to get a doctor, not to
tell them about Berlin. He was
drastically sick and wanted a
doctor. He thought he was dy-
ing."
⚫ Referred to a civilian doctor,
Nagell was told "he had been
given an overdose of Seconal,
a most potent sleeping drug."
Nagell was sick for about six
days.
Meanwhile, he was also wait-
ing to hear from New, who had
promised to phone him in two
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or three days. Nagell had told
him he wanted the search for
his family to be agreed upon
before he returned to the
States.
Twice Nagell called New's
room at the Berlin Hilton. First
New was "unavailable," then
he had checked out for the U.S.
(Later, back in Washington,
New allegedly explained it had
been "unadvisable" to go to Zu-
rich because the East Germans
might have tapped his phone
and he didn't want them to
know Nagell was there. Nagell
didn't buy that.)
With New hot showing up to
discuss the search for his faml-
ly, Nagell violated his instruc-
tions and went to the consulate
for help.
On his first visit Nagell found
"they had a classified file on
him and knew he had been in
East Berlin," the source con-
tinued. "But he refused to an-
swer questions about his im-
prisonment and told them about
New's promise.
"The next time, he told the
consulate he was angry that he
had not heard from New and
that if he didn't get help he was
going to the news media. This
is when he was offered State
Department help in locating his
family predicated on his
early return to the United
States. Nagell agreed and flew
back to New York."
In New York, Nagell waited
about two or three weeks to
hear from the State Dept. When
he didn't he contacted a State
Dept, agency in New York and
was allegedly told that a letter
I would be sent to Washington.
"That was the last time Na-
gell heard from them," the
source said. "He never received
a copy of the letter to Washing-
ton, as promised, and they were
always unavailable when he
called."
Meanwhile, Nagell was see-
ing New in Washington and
called in person at the State
Dept.
"They told him that the
State Department didn't have
the facilities to search for the
children," the source said, "but
on account of the circumstances
surrounding the case and 'be-
cause one of our employes ap-
parently made a promise in Zu-
rich, they would conduct a
search for his children and de-
termine whether he was mar-
ried or divorced.
"He never heard from them
again. When he called they
were quote unavailable un-
quote."
:
Through a lawyer in New's
office, described as a luxurious
suite visited by Pentagon of-
ficers in civilian clothes, Nagell
got an appointment at the VA
for "a-two-and-a-half-minute
physical with his clothes on,"
according to the source. "Two
hours later he was awarded a
100 percent disability allow-
ance for a nervous condition. *
"Nagell went back to New
and told him they wanted to
tag him (Nagell) with a nervous
condition to destroy his credi-
bility."
For good reason, Nagell wor-
ried that a nervous condition
might be used to tag him as a
nut who didn't know what he
was talking about.
In July 1968, while Nagell
was in the Communist prison,
Edward Jay Epstein, author of
a book on the Warren Com-
mission, wrote an article in
the New Yorker magazine at-
tacking New Orleans District
Attorney Jim Garrison's in-
vestigation of the Kennedy as-
sassination.
Epstein described Nagell as
"another witness found in the
mail (of crank letters, publicity
seekers and bogus tips).., an
inmate of a Federal institution.
for the criminally insane in
Springfield, Miss.... court
records indicated that Nagell
had suffered brain damage in.
an airplane crash in 1957."
Nagell's rebuttal:'
He was sent to the U.S.
Medical Center for Federal
to
Prisoners in Springfield
determine whether he could
stand trial and when he was
up for parole;
On each occasion he was
found mentally competent;
In 1954 (not in 1957) he
was the only survivor of a
crash
B52
⚫
at Baltimore's
Friendship Airport (not in
Cambodia, as reported in Ram-
parts magazine by former FBI
agent William W. Turner);
After hospitalization he
returned to Army Intelligence
School, received a top secret
clearance and was assigned to
the CIC;
A June 17, 1966, psychiatric
report from the Springfield
Medical Center stated there
was no "evidence or finding
suggestible of brain damage."
All this runaround in
Washington convinced Nagell
that no one in the States was
going to help him find his
family, He decided to return
to Europe.
in Zurich
SomoonO
tried
to kill him
On Feb. 21 of this year he
flew from Mexico City to
Zurich. But the vice-consul who
had promised State Dept. help
last fall was no longer there.
Nagell asked for the man he
claimed to be the CIA station
chief. He, too, was gone.
Sent to the consulate's politi-
cal section, Nagell told them
of the promises he'd been
given and threatened to go to
Swiss newspapers about a
CIA agent in Bern, the Swiss
capital.
"A member of the consulate
asked Nagell to give them two
weeks and telexed Washing-
ton," the source said. "But then
one night there was an at-
tempt on Nagell's life and he
left for Barcelona the next
day.
"There he contacted the U.S.
Consulate General and told
them why he had left Zurich
and asked that Zurich's reply
from Washington be sent to
Barcelona.
"Nagell was in Barcelona for
two weeks. But then he real-
ized he was being watched and
left to see an ex-Army intelli-
gence officer at the American
Embassy in Madrid.
"Again he stayed for two
weeks. The embassy gave him
no satisfaction, not even telling
him what Washington had
said. So he decided to go back
to Berlin where this thing
started and made some prom-
ises to himself - one of them
being that if he didn't find his
children he would go to the
news media."
He was referred to Andor
Klay and Bruce Flatin, two of
the men who had met Nagell
when he came from East
Berlin, and eventually to a
"
Kenneth Hill in the passport
section.
"A week or two later," the
source continued, "they finally
got confirmation from Washing-
ton that they had been unable
to locate Nagell's children so
far but were continuing their
efforts.
"So he finally agreed to go
back to the States as long as
the State Department was con-
tinuing their efforts."
Pointing out that he had
spent a great deal of his money
"running around," Nagell asked
for Government transportation
home and was refused.
On April 19 or 20 Nagell real-
ized he was under surveillance.
"Around 10:30 on the night
of April 22, Nagell was walk-
ing down Kurfuerstendamm
when he lost his tail," the
source continued. "They just
disappeared. He didn't try to
lose them.
"Nagell then went down a
side street and into a small res-
taurant with a bar.
"He ordered a beer and was
standing at the bar, talking to
a guy on his right, when he
saw the door open and two
men came directly toward him.
"Nagell was getting ready to
tell the men he didn't speak
German when he saw one pick
something out of his pocket
and swing at him. Nageli
turned and was hit on the back
of the head."
Police took Nagell to the
Albrecht Achilles Hospital.
When he told the Germans he
thought he had been hit by
the CIA, "they called an
American from the CID, a
British representative (ap-
parently the side street was in
the British Sector) and a mem-
ber of the Berlin political
police."
Around midnight Nagell
went to the U.S. Mission and
asked for Hill in the passport
section. Instead, he got the
Army staff duty officer and a
CIC agent.
"He gave his bloody shirt
and T-shirt in a bag to the
CIC agent," the source said,
"and told him to give it to Hill.
"If something happens to
me,' he told the agent, the
responsibility is going to be
pinned because I'm going to
the papers.'
"Back in his hotel, Nagell
was worried that he was going
to be killed."
In the morning: he went to
the Army hospital and then to
Hill in the consulate.
"Hill had the bloody cloth-
ing. You must get out of
Berlin, he told Nagell. 'We
cannot give you protection
here. The German police think
it's either mistaken identity or
the MIS."
"Last night I thought some-
body wanted to kill me," Nagell
replied. 'Now I take it as (only)
a warning." "
(Later, Hill told The FAMILY
he considered Nagell merely
"a private American citizen
traveling abroad." He added:
"Ninety-nine and a half per-
cent of his story is fantasy."
Hill confirmed that he had re-
ceived Nagell's bloody clothing
and that Nagell had come to
him with a stitched-up head
wound. But he would only
say that the attack "is his
story, not that I have any
other story about it.")
But shortly after that Nagell
was placed on orders as an
ambulatory patient and sent on
the Berlin duty train to Frank-
furt. His orders also put him
on a military flight back to the
States.
That's where he apparently
is now.
But he still doesn't know if
he's married or divorced and
the whereabouts of his nil-
dren.
13-00000
have not sought to reluce or
M. 110 OVERSEAS FAMILY article
confirm each and every assertion made by its author, Thomas C. Lucey. Mr. Lucey, despite
his citing a substantial number of inaccuracies, has nonetheless depicted a vast area of
what may be termed the fundamental truth. With this in mind, I have tried to set the
record straight only insofar
1
88 it pertains to those inaccuracies and omissions
which in my opinion reflect adversely on the whole.
earlier than August 1962.
I
In order to view Mr. Lucey's account in a somewhat different perspective, I shall
begin by advising that I first went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency much
It was during the winter of 1955-56, while assigned as a Case
Review Officer with the Counter Intelligence Corps at Los Angeles, that I was initially.
recruited into the CIA's farflung network of informants and agents, one of a number,
Виррове, within the Defense Department's intelligence community who helped the Agency
keep an eye on its not always tame competitor. My recruitment "was handled by a Herbert
Leibacher, an agent of the CIA's Los Angeles office, and a Joe DaVanon, later identified:
to me through photographs as an official from CIA headquarters, then located on "E".
street in Washington, D.C. Motivated by a degree of naivete and the Agency's subtle
reminders that I owed a greater duty to my country than to the military establishment, I
served as a non-paid, confidential informant off and on until my resignation from the
Army in October 1959. A complete description of the information I supplied to the Agency.
during my military career would only add to what must perforce become a lengthy addendum;
may it suffice to say that it did not always seem germane to intelligence affairs, but
when it did it consisted mainly of an assortment of data that for so-called discretionary
reasons WAB seldom passed on to the
Agency (or for that matter, to our own higher
echelons) through regular channels.
removal
Mr. Lucey's statement, "Being married to a foreign national meant an automatic
from intelligence work so Nagell decided to leave the Army," is misleading and
incorrect in its entirety. The only military intelligence organization from which an
individual is normally removed subsequent to marrying a foreign national is the CIC
primarily a security type orgen and this rule does not necessarily apply when the agent
is an enlisted man or warrant officer. As a commissioned officer, I was declared
ineligible for further duty with the CIC effective 14 April 1959, a full year after my
marriage to a foreign national. I was not barred from assignment to other, even more
sensitive, MI organizations such as Field Operations Intelligence, then the clandestine
espionage department of military intelligence. As for the reasons I left the Army, they
were clearly if euphemistically explained in my second letter of resignation, dated
31 August 1959, namely: "I desire to tender my resignation because I wish to further my
civilian education. It is not possible for me to pursue the curriculum of which I am
desirous while on active duty. Also, compassionate reasons of a personal nature exist
for desiring to tender my resignation at this time."
My patronage under the CIA did not end with my discharge from the Army and ensuing
employment in December 1959 as an investigator for the State of California;
in fact,
henceforth I was offered remuneration for my services, however nominal it sometimes was.
What my new tasks comprised is of no real pertinence to this addendum or to later
_ developments, except perhaps to mention that one of my contacts said he worked out of
"Domestic Intelligence," possibly the forerunner of the present-day Domestic Operations
Division, which illegally keeps tabs on a wide range of American civilian organizations
and activities. I should also point out that I did not quit my position with the State
of California "to work for the CIA," as implied by Mr. Lucey. I was dismissed, in June
1962, at my own option and in my opinion for doing my job. (The following month I was
shot through the right chest during an altercation with a person whose identity I have
never disclosed
not through the left chest by myself, my wife, an Alcoholic
.Beverage Control inspector then under investigation or by a Los Angeles police officer
"because of communistic implications," as has been reported at various times by various
(sources).
For the next year, from approximately the middle of August 1962 until my arrest in
13-00000
Texas on 20 September 19
accurately
was
)
employed by the Agency in a capacity which can be
described as that of an agent, in every sense of the word. My assignments
varied and necessitated travel to three Latin American nations and many states, including
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. · They also necessitated my taking on cover employment
for one week in New York and for about ten weeks in Los Angeles, though usually I posed
as a tourist, an investigator for the Immigration & Naturalization Service or as a
researcher for a private firm, the appropriate credentials being furnished to me by the
CIA. То sum it up briefly, I operated in Mexico City at the onset of the Cuban Missile
Crisis in an effort. aimed chiefly at the Soviet government; I conducted inquiries
relative to "dissident": members of several Cuban refugee groups based in the United
States; I checked out an alleged connection between a Miami resident named Eladio Del
Valle and New Orleans CIA informant Sergio Arcacha-Smith; I investigated an associate of
the now deceased right-wing extremist David W. Ferrie of New Orleans, as I did the
activities of left-wingers Vaughn L. Snipes and his wife, Priscilla, near Venice,
California, and others; I conducted a surveillance on a man, said to have been an ex-CIA
employee, observed talking to MRP leader Manuel Artime and former Cuban senator/racketeer.
Rolando Masferrer; I inquired into an allegation that Marina Oswald intended to divorce'
her husband and return to the U.S.S.R. (although I never stated that I met her personally,
as was reported by the FBI and Secret Service); and I performed courier duties and acted
as a cut-out. At the time of my arrest I was operating in an undercover role, having
become involved in a domestic-inspired plot to assassinate President Kennedy and,
leastwise ostensibly, other highly-placed government officials.
Mr. Lucey goes on to state that my last assignment at the time "was to penetrate the
Fair Play for Cuba Committee, where he met Oswald." Such statement is also incorrect. I
was never a member, bona-fide or otherwise, of the FPCC. And my conversations with FPCC
functionaries like Steve Roberts, an official of the Socialist Workers Party at Los.
Angeles, could hardly be construed as a penetration. Furthermore, I had been introduced
to Mr. Oswald long before the FPCC came into existence, albeit under an assumed name.
As to the allusion that I told "Bob" I was an intelligence man, not a killer,
therefore I couldn't kill Mr. Oswald, while the reference is true its connotation is
deceptive. I had killed before and I had participated in homicides under the auspices of
both MI and the CIA (one instance being the part I played in the February 1958 abduction-
interrogation-murder of an FOI agent, a U.S. soldier, MSCT Emmett E. Dugan, from Crafton,
Pa., suspected of having defected in place to the Chinese), under the guise that an
American variation of the Soviet "wet affair" was the only alternative, that it was
Feither essential to some. overall intelligence effort or in the best interests of our
national security. And it was a similar-sounding argument, ultimately reduced to a
threat, that was advanced to me by Robert Graham as an incentive to dispose of Mr. Oswald
in September 1963. But my refusal to do so had absolutely no bearing on the reason for
effecting my arrest in the manner I chose, nor did it engender in me fear of reprisal by
the CIA.
"
Pertaining to
my arrest and convictions at El Paso, Texas, which the official
spokesmen and the press have so neatly labeled as being for "bank robbery," let one of
the government's own spurious records, the appelate court decision that finally yawned a
judgement of acquittal in my case, give its version: "The charge was then, and is now,
entering a federally insured bank with intent to rob." What the record aptly ignores is
the fact that two juries, incensed by the prosecution's innuendoes in and out of the
courtroom (and by the ramifications of perjured testimony and a false Bureau of Prisons
report made available to the jury during its deliberations at the second trial though
never formally admitted into evidence) that I was a Communist, no doubt a very red spy,
Atwice convicted me of having "intended" to take by force and violence one hundred dollars
worth of Travelers Cheques from a bank teller.
-
I shall not herein attempt to list even generally the injustices to which I was
subjected by a corrupt judicial system, nor shall I bother to enumerate the cruelties
13-00000
at Leavenworth Telktentiary.
Most of them are adequat y detailed in my 1967 Memorandum in Support of Petition for
Writ of Habeas Corpus, sworn to and subscribed before William R. Martin (a former member
of the CIA's Dirty Tricks Division, who by his own admission is still in "the reserves").
But I shall opine that if President Kennedy had not met his demise when and where he did,
I would not have been brought to trial on charges of commiting a felony.
While my return to the fold of the CIA in May 1968 may have been the only "practical
"thing" for me to do, it definitely was not predicated on my financial situation, as a few
old bank account passbooks will substantiate (I am not quite the mercenary that Mr. Lucey
has portrayed). Nor was it because of any peculiar allegiance to those who had tossed me
on the scrap heap for the sake of expediency 4 years earlier, love of country, masochis-
tic tendencies or wont of further intrigue. And while it remains axiomatic in my mind:
that the sole requisite for one's use by the Agency is his qualification to fit into
whatever may happen to be the scheme of things, even this did not apply in my
circumstance,
not really. I agreed to go back out into the cold, so to speak, strictly
for personal reasons and I think the explanation is wisely left at that for now.
-
My mission inside East Germany if indeed it was a mission was neither as well-
defined nor as elementary as Mr. Lucey has perceived. I am sure the CIA knows all it
needs to know about American defectors in Berlin and the modus operandi of the Mfs. In
fact, the mission was not directed against East Germany, per se. Preparations bore the
trademarks of an authentic, even typical, Agency project targeted in the main to another
nation. That I was unable to comprehend the German language, that I had been a recent,
unwilling guest of the U.S. Attorney General, branded a Communist in the public records,
etc., merely served to strengthen an already plausible cover built up by chance rather
than by design. Paradoxically, the chinks in the armor were that the cover was not
wholly untrue, the ufs (unlike the FBI) not in the least irresponsible to the laws and
policies of its government. In the past I had engaged in certain covert intelligence
activities hositle to other socialist states, to which as an integral part of my
cover
-
-
I freely confessed. Oddly enough, however, my mentors from Langely had neglected
to tell me during the briefings that these previous activities constituted a violation of
the criminal statutes of the GDR, warranting a maximum penalty of death upon conviction.
By inadvertence or by plan I found myself in a not altogether unfamiliar predicament. If
I had confessed to my real mission, assuming that it was genuine, without doubt I would
have been spared execution, probably even escaped long-term imprisonment. Instead, I
selected what I considered to be a better alternative
and gained my freedom. As
for my treatment by the MfS, from begining to end it was far more gentle than that
experienced beneath the cudgel of the U.S. Department of Justice.
.
.
•
or
nor
With regard to my marital status and my children, the foremost area that Mr. Lucey
appears to have exploited, I have never claimed that "Uncle Sam hides my family"
stated that FBI and CIA agents deliberately isolated me from my wife and children;
have I claimed that the Agency used the promise of reuniting me with my family as part of
the incentive for accepting the assignment in the GDR. My accusations in this respect
centered around my children and they were leveled at the State Department as the result
of a promise made to me shortly after my release from the GDR. Since returning to the
United States last spring a reliable source has informed me that my wife was granted a
final decree of divorce at some period during my imprisonment in the USA and although I
have never been served with a copy of the decree or other notification of divorce (or
notice of a divorce hearing) I see no cause to dispute the advisement.
Lastly, concerning the aspersions cast on my sanity, at this writing permit me to
say only that I have never. in my life been certified psychotic by any U.S. medical
authority or adjudicated mentally-incompetent in a court of law, notwithstanding the
conflicting legal and medical opinions as to my mental condition on the day of my arrest
in Texas, over six years ago.
00-120-102
102
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#07/11/RA, SECUR/A, CA/PROP, CAS
QU
15-18
SECRET 151047Z MAR 69 CITE [ZURICH] 1629
20-10
DIRECTOR INFO [BERN]
REF DIRECTOR 83209
Mrs Hall
17 MAR 69 IN 15450
1. NAGELL LAST APPEARED AT ZURICH CONSULATE MORNING:
7 MARCH AND STATED THAT IF HE RECEIVED NO SATISFACTION BY
イ
FIVE O'CLOCK THAT AFTERNOON HE WOULD CARRY OUR HIS THREATS
AND EXPOSE US GOVERNMENT ON RADIO, TELEVISION AND IN THE
PRESS.
2.
HE THEN DISAPPEARED, NOTHING FURTHER HEARD FROM HIM AND
NO PUBLICITY GIVEN. MORNING MONDAY 10 MARCH CONSULATE ZURICH
ADVISED BY TELEPHONE FROM US CONSULATE BARCELONA THAT NAGELL
HAD APPROACHED THEM AND MADE SIMILAR THREATS.
.3.
FILE:
201-746537.
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SecuR-4 & RI/AN, CS/DO, CA/PROP
(date and time Tiled).
BREZURICH] INFO BERN
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20-10
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REFS: A. BERN 4908 (IN 07192)
1.
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DIRECTOR 80955
R
MAR 69
CITE DIRECTOR
(reference number)
8 32 09
Mrs HAM
на
HE
FOR RECORD ON/NAGELL PLEASE ADVISE US IF ROTAL AIRED
GRIEVANCES ON RADIO/TV AS THREATENED
(pica
み
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(classification)
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_PRIORITY
Clicz, C/RA, F12, SECUR 4
(date and time filed)
2015-18
06 00 03 MAR 69
BERN] INPOLBURGSH]
A 20-15-10
INK MHORDER WOMUSE
[ZURICH 1610 (IN 03310)
-15-18
REFS: A.
B.
BERN 74908 (IN 07192)
2615-10
(elite)
(reference number)
(pica)
CITE DIRECTOR 80955
Mrs
iz
INFO REF A PASSED LNERGO 28 FEBRUARY 1969. NO INFO SUBJECT'S
FILE SUBSEQUENT DIRECTOR 06625,
JUNE 1968.
EXCEPT FOR PARA 3 BELOW.
SUBJECT HAS NEVER HAD ANY WOFIRM CONNECTIONS. NO EVIDENCE
ANY CURRENT LNHARP RELATIONSHIPS (ISR HAS NO RECORD) PAST HISTORY
INDICATES HE FABRICATOR AND MENTALLY DISTURBED INDIVIDUAL.
NOT PREVIOUSLY REPORTED WAS FACT SUBJECT SERVED JAPAN
EARLY 1958 WITH 441ST CIC DETACHMENT. WAS RELIEVED CIC DUTIES IN
APRIL 1958 DUE MENTAL INSTABILITY AND CLEARANCES REVOKED. JUNE 1968
LNGOLD REQUESTED WOFIRM TRACES ON SUBJECT AND REFERRED TO LNERGO.
PRESUME THIS REQUEST STEMS FROM HIS APPROACH AMCONGEN ZURICH JUNE 1968
AND DETAILED INFO ALREADY KNOWN CONSULATIONS.
4. BERN PASS ZURICH WHEN
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XSPANNA, 
shaped,cilors, ci/1cz, α/RA CAS, CA/PRO
SEGUR 4 PICS 2
SECRET 28075 1Z CITE ZURICH 1610
28 FEB 69 IN 03310
BRANCH ☐
PRIORITY DIRECT OR,
2015-10 ED
[BERN
1518
T
INK MHOR DER WOM USE
REFS Ao DIRECT OR 06625 JUNE 1968
15-18
a (ZURICH) ISSI (IN 25955) R
B. 1331
CONSULATE WILL BE REPORTING ON VIA STATE CHANNELS ON VISIT
TO CONSULATE 27 FEB OF RICHARD CASE NA GELL, AKA JOE CRAMER JOE CRANE,
ROBERT C. NOLAN 201-746537. HE WAREND INTERVIEWING CONSUL THAT
UNLESS PROMISES MADE TO HIM BY US OFFICIALS WERE HONORED HE WOULD
REVEAL TO THE PRESS ENTIRE STORY OF HIS ALLEGED CONTACTS WITH WOF IRM
AND WOULD EX POSE IND IV IDUALS WITH WHOM HE HAD DEALT IN THE
ORGANIZATION.
20 UNLESS ADVISED TO CONTRARY BASE WILL, AS IT HAS IN THE PAST, S
15-10
LEAVE THIS MATTER STRICTLY TO CONSULATE. BERN PLEASE ADVISE LNER GO®. O
3. MOST RECENT STATE MESSAGE WAS US MISSION BERLIN 2567 OF 26
OCTOBER 68.
SECRET
264170
SECRET
4/mc
13-00000
CTL NO 3065
REQUESTOR PARRISH
N3065 NAGELL, RICHARD CASE
NAGELL, RICHARD CASE
Sarah Hall
SECRE
OFFICE ID/1
04MAR69
T= S
OS
::
64 M264170
/A CRAMER, JOE
/A KRAMER, JOE
/A CRANE, JOE
/A NOLAN, ROBERT C /Y M /B CIR30
/M CHO TO SRS
/Z 0933604
-NI--I/ND--U/ND:
SA
CO
SECRET
13-00000
ADVANCE
-ISSUE
JUR
18,0
DISSEM BY:
ACTION
EURG
(SECARA
PER.
...
SECRET EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC
(When Filled in)
DOWNGRADING AND
DECLASSIFICATION
REPRODUCTION OF THIS COPY PROHIBITED
SLOTTED
INDEX:
☐ RID COPY
INFO:
YES ☐ NO
CLASSIFY TO FILE NO
X-REF TO FILE NO.
FILE RID RET. TO
VR.
5
SR
7
8
PRECE
BRANCH ☐
C/
9
10
DESTROY ☐ SIG.
NCE
FILE. IR RYAN DDS ADDS C CAS copies ci/RADY
CA/PEG CA/PAOS CCS2, F12
SERET 051726Z MAR 69 CITE [BERN] 4908
PRIORITY DIRECTOR INFO ZURICH]
INK MHORDER WOM USE
REFS: Ao
B.
DIRECT OR 06625, 10 JUNE
15-18
ZURICH 1610
Tigh
569 N 07192
* HAL!
H] 1618 (№ 03310).
Richard Case
Rigell
ON 5 MARCH SUBJAGA IN CONTACTED ZURICH CG AND IN
EVEN MORE THREATENING FASHION CLAIMED HE HAS RADIO TV TIME
EVEN IN G 6 MARCH AND WILL TELL ALL ABOUT HIS ALLEGED W OF IRM
CONTACTS UNLESS HE RECEIVES ASSURANCE THAT PROMISES MADE BY
US OFFICIALS WILL BE HONORED. CONSIDER THIS HIGHLY IM PROBABLE
BUT REQUEST HQS CONFIRM PRIORITY THAT SUBJ HAS HAD NO WOFIRM
OR OTHER LN HARP TIES.
20 FILE DEFER.
SECRET
SECRET
3/mc

13-00000
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD:
SECRET
SUBJECT: NAGELL, Richard Case - #264170
REF:
13 December 1968
State Dept. Airgram No. A-903 from Berlin
Subject: Psychiatrist's.
Report on Richard Case NAGELL, U. S. Citizen Released by GDR
-
Reference airgram furnishes background information on Subject and.
fills in gaps in the chronology of events in Subject's life of interest
to the Agency. Of particular note is the fact that Subject was acquitted
on 29 April 1968 after his claim of temporary insanity at the time of
the crime found support in the expert testimony of a noted American
neurologist, Dr. Edwin WEINSTEIN. An article in the January 1968 issue
of RAMPARTS by William W. TURNER implied that NAGELL had been involved
in the assassination plot against President KENNEDY and that he had been
"salted away". Subject denied any involvement in any conspiracy and denied
that he had any information of use to GARRISON. Subject alleged that his
fear that the CIA might try to "eliminate" him was planted in his mind by
Mr. GARRISON. (See page 2 of interview report). On page 3 of the interview
report Subject states he no longer believes that it is realistic to think that the
CIA was trying to kill him.
George R. BABINEAU, Cpt., MC, the psychiatrist at the U. S. Army Hospital,
Berlin who interviewed Subject, was granted a continuing liaison clearance
on 17 October 1968 at the request of DDP/E/G/IS.
Dr. Edwin A. WEINSTEIN was security approved as a continuing contact
through SECRET for/the Medical Staff on 13 July 1965. WEINSTEIN is with the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D. C.
Ricey S. NEW, Jr. NAGELL's attorney who was present during the
interview, is with the Washington, D. C. law firm of NEW, MACKEY and
GEORGE. Newspaper clippings from the WASHINGTON STAR for 17 March 1966
and the NEW YORK TIMES for 29 August 1965 reflect that NICEY has been
associated with East Berlin attorney, Wolfgang VOGEL and West Berlin
attorney, Juergen STANCE, in a number of cases involving the release
of Americans from East Germany. According to an FBI report dated 3
February 1967 these releases usually involved the payment of specified
sums of money and VOGEL and STANGE were allegedly reaping large monetary
benefits for their services.
Att. Ref.
SECRET
Sarah Hall
Sarah K. Hall
SRS/OS
GROUP 1
Excluded from aulematic
downgrading and -
declassificalisa
15/16/68
义
13-00000
UNLASSIFIED
INTERNAL
U.
ONLY
SUBJECT: (Optional)
FROM:
12 DEC 1968
fith
☐ CONFI
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
Raymond G. Rocca
C/CI/R&A
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
RECEIVED
EXTENSION NO.
ITIAL
CRET
DATE
FORWARDED
13 DEC
1968
DATE
1653
OFFICER'S
INITIALS
що
10 December 1968
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
1.
2.
Office of Security
4E60
Security /S
Do/Sen
3.
4.
5.
DD/105
C/SRS
"Tighe
Mrs Hail
7.
17.PEC 12/18
1968
丝
30 J.PW
12-30-68 1984
1/7/69/6
1/7/68 ich
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
FORM 610
3-62
USE PREVIOUS
EDITIONS
☑
CONFIDENTIAL
INTERNAL
USE ONLY
UNCLASSIFIED
13-00000
10 DEC 1968
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination:
Richard Case Nagell (201-746537)
1. Subject was born 5 Angust 1930 at Greenwich, New York
City, N. Y. He is a U. S. citizen with passport J 543069 .
2. Subject is not associated with CIA and has not been so
associated.
3. He entered the U.S. Army on 5 August 1948, his eighteenth
birthday. His military career was distinguished. He was awarded
many military decorations for his service in Korea. He was never
AWOL or court-martialled.
4. On 28 November 1954 Subject was one of six men in a
B-25 which crashed near Friendship Airport. Nagell was the sole
survivor. The plane was not found for 11 1/2 hours. Nagell Buffered
severe injury to the head and facial disfigurement. He was honorably
discharged from the Army on 20 October 1959 with the rank of captain.
In December 1959 he was employed as a special investigator by the
Department of Alcoholic Control, State of California. He was dismissed
from this position in June 1962. In July 1962 he was shot in the chest
but refused to provide the police with further information. In August
1962 he went to Mexico City. In September and again in October 1962.
he appeared at the American Embassy in Mexico City. He asked for
help in collecting money from the State of California. He claimed that
he had been approached for espionage recruitment while in Mexico
City but refused to provide any particulars. He said that he wanted to
renounce his U.S. citizenship. He left Mexico City on 28 October
1962. On 16 November and 15 December 1962 he was in touch with the
FBI in New York City and Jacksonville, Florida. During the latter
meeting he said that he had been approached in Washington, D. C., by
someone whom he considered to be working for the Sovieta.
Celay
13-00000
SECRET
5. In December 1962 and January 1963 Nagell was examined
at the VA hospital at Bay Pines, Florida. The diagnosis was
"chronic brain syndrome associated with brain trauma with behavioral
reaction characterized by passive aggressive and paranoid features. "
(An FBI memorandum of 12 June 1964 noted that Nagell was considered
mentally disturbed by his mother, his brother, an ex-wife, and a
friend. The mother, who said that she had been under psychiatric care
for several years, described Subject's brother, Louis, as an almost
hopeless alcoholic.)
6. On 20 September 1963 Subject was arrested in El Paso,
Texas, on the charge of having tried to rob the State National Bank.
A cell mate concluded from Subject's remarks that he had become a
Communist Party member after his discharge from the army, that he
had attempted suicide three times after his arrest, and that he had made
arrangements with the CP in Los Angeles to pick up his passport in
El Paso so that he could go to Czechoslovakia.
7. In a letter of 6 January 1964 Nagell advised the FBI in
El Paso that in September of 1963 he had been instructed by an agent
of a foreign government to comply with an agreement made in May 1963
to participate in a criminal offense against the U.S. or be exposed to
the FBL. It was this threat, said Nagell, that led him to try to hold up the
bank. The reference appears to be to the assassination of President
Kennedy. At any rate, sometime after the assassination Nagell claimed
that he had known both Oswald and his wife. Pictures of Nagell were
shown to Marina Oswald on 18 January 1964. She said that she did not
know him.
8. At the time of his arrest Subject had in his possession a
notebook which made reference to "Medical Aid to Cuba", the "Fair
Play for Cuba Committee," the names of six persons alleged to be
CIA agents, and other information. The FBI informed the Office of
Security on 12 March 1964 that at the time of arrest Nagell also had a
list of six names, marked CIA. The names were F. Parker, Mrs.
Guthries, C. Churchill, J. Sloss, E. Leibacher, and J. Davanon. It
was later determined that Richard Fecteau also appeared on this list,
where he was marked as "Lynn, Mass.", and "DAC (CIA)".
2
13-00000
B. Our records show that Richard G. Fecteau was
aboard an American plane shot down over Manchuria in
November 1952 and that he is serving in Peiping a twenty
year sentence on spy charges. Fecteau, an OPG employee,
was quoted in the press as saying that he worked for CIA.
b. F. Parker was not identified. He may possibly be
John Floyd Parker, an Agency employee in 1964 who was in
Japan in 1962.
c. There is no pertinent identifiable information about
Mrs. Inu Guthries. She may be Frances Agnes Guthrie, an
Agency employee in 1964.
d. C. Churchill was not identified. He may be Creighton
Churchill, who was in Japan in 1952.
e. J. Sloss may be John Richard Sloss, an Agency
employee in 1964.
f. E. Lelbacher could be identical with Ernst Leibäcker
who in 1964 was in the Los Angeles field office of the DCS.
g. J. Davanon may refer to Joseph Frances Davanon,
also in the Los Angeles field office at the time.
9. John Floyd Parker, Frances Guthrie, Ernst Lelbacker,
Joseph Frances Davanon, and John Richard Sloss all stated to the best
of their knowledge they had never met Nagell. It is possible, however,
that Nagell knew or knew of Parker, Churchill, and Guthrie through
their work in the Far East. As for Leibacker and Davanon, Nagell
lived in Los Angeles in 1962.
10. ¨On 16 April 1964 Nagell sent to the FBI a letter claiming
that in September 1963 he had sent to the Bureau a registered letter
signed "Jack Kramer". The 1964 letter implied that the 1963 letter
had warned the FBI about the impending assassination. The FBI, of
course, did not receive such a letter.
11. In January 1968 William T. Turner stated in an article in
Ramparts, "The Garrison Commission on the Assassination of
13-00000
President Kennedy", p. 56, that Nagell was then still confined
at Leavenworth, that he had been a highly decorated infantry captain
in the Korean War, and that he claimed to have become a CIA agent
thereafter. Ramparts shifted the plane crash in which Nagell was
injured from 1954 and Maryland to 1957 and Cambodia. The article
repeated the allegation that he staged a phony holdup in order to be
under arrest when the assassination occurred.
12. On 6 June 1968 the American Consulate in Zurich cabled
Washington to say that Richard Case Nagell, passport J 543069, had
appeared at the consulate on 4 June and had said that he was working
for a secret U.S. Government agency on a mission to Geneva, where
he was to meet some Japanese. He asked for money. He returned to
the consulate the next day, was incoherent, and seemed psychotic. He
claimed that on 14-16 May 1968 he had been interviewed by District
Attorney Jim Garrison. He said that Garrison had warned him that he
was in danger of being killed and that he wanted to inform CIA that he
was in Zurich.
13. On 7 September 1968 another William Turner plece was
printed by Ramparts under the heading "[Assassinations 7 Epstein's
Garrison". It referred to Nagell as a former U.S. intelligence agent
and repeated much the same story that it had told in January. Turner
and Ramparts may have been unaware that Nagell was out of jail by then.
14. On 25 October 1968 the Washington Post reported that after
holding Nagell for four months, the East Germans had released him
on 23 October at an East-West Berlin crossing-point. Nagell left-by
plane for the U.S. on 25 October. "Informed sources” said that Nagell
was taken off a train en route through East Germany to Berlin because
he made some remarks which the East Germans considered derogatory.
15. On 31 October 1968 State forwarded the text of a report by a
U. S. Army psychiatrist who examined Nagell on 23 October. Nagell
said that he was on active duty with the army from 1948 to 1959 and that
from 1953 to 1959 he was an officer in military intelligence. He also
provided accurate information about the 1954 plane crash and its results --
among them, in his own words, his "unstable personality and immature
or impulsive behaviour". He said that he draws 64% disability pay. He
lost his job in California because one night in 1962, while drunk, he tried
to break down the door of the apartment of his estranged wife.
After his confused attempt in 1963 to rob the El Paso bank, he
spent 4 1/2 years in prison. He was examined by Dr. Edwin Weinstein,
13-00000
a noted American neurologist, who found his electroencephalograms
abnormal, and as a result he was released from prison on 29 April 1968.
Nagell said that because of the Ramparts article of January 1968 he
was paid a visit by Jim Garrison. He told Garrison that he had no
information of any use to him. The interview left him, however, with
two fears: that Garrison might try to subpoena him and that CIA might
try to "eliminate" him. (By the time he was providing this information
in Berlin Nagell was well aware that he was not involved in any conspiracy
to assassinate President Kennedy.) He said that his fear of CIA was
planted in his mind by Mr. Garrison.
After his release he went to New York, where a sister lives. He
was almost hit by a car
to escape being killed by
without lights and decided to go to Europe
set out for West Bery, in June he appeared in Zurich. He next
was taken off the train on 11 June 1968.
For several months he was repeatedly asked to admit that he was a spy.
Eventually he concluded that the only way to obtain his release was to
pretend that he was mentally ill. He did so, was examined by a
psychiatrist, and was released.
"He no longer believes that it is realistic to think that the CIA was
trying to kill him." He termed himself "chronically paranoid". The
Army psychiatrist concluded "Currently he is not psychotic and seems
competent in a legal and psychiatric sense
Nagell's final remark was, "Well, I'll tell you one thing, that's
the last time I ever take a train through East Germany."
5
13-00000
Originated by: DC/CI/R&A:DEPrattidim 10 December 1968
Distribution:
Orig - DDP
Office of General Counsel
1 - A/DCI
1 - Office of Security
1 - DCS (Attn: George Musulin)
1 - FBI via C/CI/R&A
1
-
CI/R&A chrono
I DP chrono
-
13-00000
SECRET
MEMORANDUM FOR: DC/R&A
SUBJECT
CI Staff
Richard Case NAGELL
20 November 1968
Attached for your information is memorandum dated 26 March 1964
from Mr. Solle of this staff listing the names of seven persons found in an
address book by the FBI on the occasion of their arrest of Richard Case
NAGELL
I have noted in longhand on the attachment the names of those
individuals on whom we have a record. The others are designated either
unidentifiable or no record.
SECRET
Cecil C. Tighe
CROCY 1
Excluded fr
tematic
downgrading and
declassification
13-00000
SECRET
Mr. R. J. Leonard
Chief, Research Branch/SRS
NAGELL, Richard Case
26 March 1964
1. Attached is a copy of a 2 October 1962 memorandum from
the FBI in regard to Richard Case NAGELL.
2. SA Alexander W. NEALE, Jr. of the Washington Field
Office, FBI, has informally advised the undersigned that NAGELL has
been arrested on the West Coast for bank robbery, is going to be
tried in the near future for the alleged crime, and that NAGELL had in
his possession the following information:
Richard FECTEAU
(Lynn, Mass)
CLA
DAC (CIA)
-
Os record
Mr. S. PARKER 4.I.
Mrs. GUTHRIES · N.R.
Mr. C. CHURCHILL-U..
Mr. J. DAVANON- OS record
Mr. J. SLOSS - OS recad
Mr. E. LEIBACHER - Os record
3. A check of SO Indices has revealed no record of NAGELL, and
an RI check only disclosed the attached FBI report. Please recheck SO
Indices on the subject, have a file set up on an expedite basis, and on an
expedite basis identify the above individuals as to whether any have any
connection with this Agency. The above Richard FECTEAU may be
identical to the individual who was captured by the Chinese Communists
and is now in prison.
4. Also check with Mrs. THORN of 00/C to determine whether
00/C has any record of NAGELL. It is believed that very possibly some
GROEP
Excluded from automatic
vegrading and
declassification
SECRET

13-00000
SECRET
of the above individuals may be connected with the Los Angeles or San
Francisco Field Office of 00/C, but at the present moment limit the
check with Mrs. THORN to determine if they have any record of
Richard Case NAGELL.
BLS:jrg
Bruce L. Solie
SEGRET
13-00000
G
SECRET
2 November 1968
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD:
SUBJECT:
REF:
-
NAGELL, Richard Case #264170
1. State Telegrams No. 258355 to U. S. Mission Berlin dtd 19 Oct
1968 and No. 2538 from Berlin dtd 22 Oct 1968
2. Clipping from WASHINGTON POST dtd 25 Oct 1968
See summary
Subject is one of the characters in the GARRISON case.
dtd 18 January 1968 in his file. He was arrested for bank robbery at El
Paso, Texas on 20 September 1963 and sentenced to Leavenworth penitentiary.
In June 1968 CIA received a cable from Bern in which NAGELL was quoted as
telling the CONGEN he wanted them to 'inform CIA he in Zurich".
"
The details of how and why NAGELL is in Europe, in particular East
Berlin, are missing. State Telegram No. 2538 from Berlin states that
the charges are still unknown. "Basic documents -- are still in hand of State
Security authorities."
Subject was released by East German authorities together with one
Leon Burris JAMES. An intensive review of JAMES' file (#266602) failed
to reveal any connection between JAMES and Subject. State Department
reported both cases simultaneously because JAMES and Subject are currently
in the same situation in East Berlin. JAMES is also mentally unstable and
has cause embarrassment abroad for the State Department since 1964. He was of
Agency interest in 1965 because he had in his possession while in Switzerland
the names of two Agency employees who were in a covert status. It was never
determined how JAMES obtained these names.
Sarah K. Hall
Sarah K. Hall
SRS/OS
SECRET
CHOUP 1
Excluded from autematic
downgrading and
declassification
12/2/6
кто
13-00000
E. Germany Frees
U.S. Ex-Office1968
BERLIN Oct.
Germany has
mer U.S. Arm
for four month
Informed sou
ard Cas
ered
between East and
yesterday in
SHIN
East Berlin att ney Wolfgang
Vogel; attorney Ricey
of Washington and an
from the U.S. Mission in Wes
Berli
spok an saida
gell left by plane toda
United States.
scribed as a Califo
former U.S. AT y capt
left the ser
1954 he was the sole
ne
irport tha
for the
Sources said.
off a train
mans four months
he was on his way
West Germany to West
hrough East Germany.
arently, he made some re-
marks which the East Ger-
mans considered derogatory,
the sources said
by
Arrangements for Nagell's
release were handled
Vogel, New, West Berlin attor-
ergen Stange and var
rnment officials, the
Mission had not
at Nagell was
13-00000
ET
CTL NO 5046
REQUESTOR HALL
OFFICE SRS
N5046 JAMES LEON BURRIS
T= S
JAMES,LEON BURRIS
05NOV68
OS 67 G363004-185
/A JAMES, LEQ PAUL
/A NELSON, THOMAS
/A JOHNSON, HOLDEN
/Z 2113602
JAMES, LEON BURRIS
/Y M /L 67CAL LOS ANGELES /T JR /R SER 2
-NI--I/ND--U/ND--SA--CO--
CAL /T JR
-NI--I/ND--U/ND--SA--CO-
A NELSON, THOMAS GEORGE /B 23NOV44
/Z 9023755
OS 64 M266602,
...
13-00000
- [Assassinations] 46
SIRHAN'S MOTIVES
Unlike Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan
has lived to tell of his motivations-but he
has chosen to remain silent. The only other
potential source of information is his
family, which had not, spoken to the press.
Mahmoud Abdel-Hadl, an Egyptian
correspondent for Akhbar Elyoum in
Cairo, recently gained access to Sirhan's
family. Based upon information supplied
him by the family, he has written exclusiv-
ely for RAMPARTS the following account
of Sirhan's motivations and the strategy
he plans for his trial,
Because of the forthcoming trial and
the difficulty of dealing with this subject
without emotional involvement, the editors
of RAMPARTS have elected to present this
information of historic interest to our
readers without display, and in as ob-
jective a form as possible.
ECAUSE I AM AN ARAB I was able to
break through the barrier of sus-
picion that had stopped other
journalists cold and obtain the first in-
depth interviews the Sirhan family has
given since the assassination. From their
comments and from what Sirhan has said
to them, a picture of the man and his
motives begins to emerge, replacing the
misleading portraits which have swamped
the U.S. press.
The fact that Sirhan has not publicly
discussed his trial is no accident. It is his
own strategy, something he developed
after thinking about it for long hours in
his specially made jail cell. In fact, he
has confided to his family that he will
never make any statement unless special
provisions are made for the courtroom
proceedings. What Sirhan wants is,
quite simply, publicity. He wants the
major television networks to be allowed
to broadcast the entire trial. If they do
this, he says, he will tell all. "And if they
refuse?" his brother Adel recently asked
him. "Then I shall go to the gas chamber
-silent," Sirhan replied.
To understand why Sirhan is indeed
capable of such an act, one múst under-
stand that he is first and foremost an
Arab, born in Palestine and consumed
with interest in the Middle Eastern con-
flict. He is deeply committed to making
his trial a public and political forum for
the Arab position.
College educated, articulate and a
voracious reader, Sirhan is confident
about his own ability to cope with his
predicament. His eldest brother, Shereif,
told me that Sirhan studies the intrica-
cies of his case as many as ten hours a
day in his cell. Shereif recalls that Sirhan
recently said to him, “I do not need a
lawyer. I understand my case and know
how to defend myself." But even so,
Attorney Russell Parsons is defending
his client, and doing it on Sirhan's own
grounds. "The main issue," Parsons told
me, "is to answer this question: why, for
what reason, did Sirhan kill Robert
Kennedy? There are 100 witnesses who
saw Sirhan shooting Mr. Kennedy, but
no one seems to know why he did it."
☐☐ Sirhan and his attorney hope that the
defense presuming that the television
networks are allowed into the court-
room-will show that Sirhan did not
have "malice aforethought" in shoot-
ing Kennedy because the act was a polit-
ical gesture, and that Kennedy, to Sirhan
at least, was merely a symbol. His
brother Adel notes that "if Sirhan was
just an assassin, he could have done it in
another way, just by having a gun with a
telescope. He went to the Ambassador
Hotel expecting to get caught; that is
why he left his notes at home. I believe
that Sirhan wanted to get caught so that
he could say what he believes."
W
HEN I FIRST TRIED to meet with
the Sirhan family, I was re-
fused. Security is extremely
heavy around them, and they are under-
standably wary of new faces. Later, when
I finally obtained an invitation to meet
with them, Mrs. Sirhan apologized, I
believe for having been inhospitable to
a fellow Arab.
This family, which fled Jordan to seek
greater safety and security than it had
known, is now living in terror. They are
somewhat at a loss to understand the
events which have suddenly catapulted
them into history. None of the four
brothers goes to his job; they all feel that
death follows them everywhere, and they
move carefully, with a heavy guard.
“Why don't you just leave this country?"
I asked Shereif. "Where shall we go?"
he answered. "To whom shall we leave
our brother? Our land is under Israel's
occupation." Shereif clarified his state-
ment: "Our brother is in jail; we have to
stay."
I sensed not only the Sirhans' con-
fusion, but also some bitterness. They
have not received any aid from the Arab
countries, as they originally thought they
might. Parsons is also somewhat sur-
prised; he had hoped that the various
local Arab consulates would help defray
court costs.
Indeed, Los Angeles' Jordanian con-
sul, who visited Sirhan in jail at Sirhan's
request, indicated to me that the accused
assassin had expected the Arab people
to treat him as a hero. However, except
for some Palestinian extremists, his act
has been universally repudiated by the
Arab world. One Arab newspaper has
said editorially, "We don't feel any
responsibility for this. It is the society.
that fed him with hostility, the society
that gave him the gun, that is responsi-
ble." Members of the Arab Students'
Association, of which Sirhan was once
an officer, feel that the killing of Kennedy
was a terrible mistake. One of them said
to me, "What are we going to do with
the rest of the American candidates? Kill
them all because they want to help¨
Israel?"
Still, the Sirhans' friends are primarily ··
Arab, and they live in an atmosphere
that is more Arab than American. The
entire family spent a good deal of time
discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict. The
mother says that Sirhan was the most
sensitive and the most involved during
these discussions. Adel says that Sirhan
once saw a television report of Robert-
Kennedy addressing the members of the
Neveh Shalom Temple in Portland,
Oregon. While in the synagogue, Ken-
nedy, wearing a yarmulke, declared that
the United States must help Israel
against aggression from whatever source.
"Unlike the South Vietnamese," Ken-
nedy said, "the Israelis have shown they
are willing to fight for their own survival.
Indeed, Israel is the very opposite of
Vietnam: the Israeli government is very
democratic, effective and free of corrup-
tion. Its people are united in its support.”
The senator then urged the Johnson Ad-
ministration to proceed at once with the
sale of 50 Phantom jet fighters to the
Isrnell Air Force and to cut off' economic
aid to the Arab countries. This whole
episode made Sichan very angry, Shereif
recalls. “He left the room putting his
hands on his ears and almost weeping."
Continued on page 8
" RAMPARTS
13-00000
Continued from page 6
I asked Sirhan's mother why she
thought her son had shot Kennedy.
"Everything in this country was helping
Sirhan," she maintained. "It was push-
ing him to the danger point. Everything,
the propaganda of the Zionists, every-
thing, was against his country, against
his people."
Adel described Sirhan's current state
of mind: "He feels he has done a terrible
thing, but he feels now it is too late to be
sorry. Now he wants Americans to listen
to something they have never listened
to."
And at their first meeting in the jail,
Sirhan's mother said to him, “Shame on
you. Why have you done such a thing?”
He replied, “It's too late to speak of it..
But all the Americans will know why."
-MAHMOUD ABDEL-HADI
[Assassinations]
EPSTEIN'S GARRISON
[WO SUMMERS AGO a fandem attack
on the Warren Report all but rele-
that work to the fiction
I Buted
section of your local library. The first
was Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment,
which convincingly demonstrated-us-
ing the Warren Commission's own evi-
dence that Oswald could not have done
it alone, and drew the first dim outlines
of the conspiracy theory. The second
was Edward Jay Epstein's Inquest, which
exposed the rather shoddy inner work-
ings of the Commission and laid bare the
tortured logic it finally employed to dis-
pel notions of a conspiracy.
Both books became best sellers, but
their authors have since gone different
ways. Lane, who shuttered his law prac-
tice and struggled for years to get his
manuscript published in the United
States (it was first published in Britain),
has stumped the country in support of
District Attorney Jim Garrison's theory
that the assassination was carried out by
an anti-Castro paramilitary team super-
vised by persons with CIA affiliations,
Epstein, whose book was a converted
Cornell University master's thesis—the
subject was urged upon him by his men-
tor, Andrew Hacker-has emerged as
one of Garrison's most fervid accusers.
His vehicle is The New Yorker: in the
issue of July 13, he delivered a 25,000-
word blast at Garrison, calling the DA's
investigation a fraud.
The New Yorker article had its genesis
over a year ago, when the author showed
up at Garrison's office in New Orleans.
According to Chief Investigator Louis
Ivon, Epstein spent about 48 hours in
town, some three hours at the office, and
hasn't been seen since. Much of what he
writes about has occurred since this
touch-and-go visit and is obviously hear-
I say on his part, yet he writes with the
authoritative tone of a participant. Un-
doubtedly this technique is convincing
to his audience, which assumedly is un-
familiar with the intricacies of Garrison's
investigation. But to those familiar with
the facts, the article is badly slanted.
For example, Philosophy Professor
Richard Popkin of the University of
California at San Diego, author of the
book The Second Oswald (propounding
the theory of an Oswald double) and
"Garrison's Case" in The New York
Review of Books (September 14, 1967),
recently commented on the article:
So 1 think it's a quite unfair presenta-
tion, which has some factual base, but
which also has a lot of very dubious
elements in it.
"I found it a queer mix of facts, half-
facts, rumors and very dubious informa-
tion from people hostile to Garrison.
Epstein has compressed all this to make
it look like everything's on the same
level. I think it would take an awful lot
of work to disentangle what he's saying
on almost any page as to how much of
it has a factual base, how much of it is
rumor that he has heard from people,
how much of it are charges that have
been made by people like [William] Gur-
vich [who volunteered to work on the
investigation without pay, passed him-
self off as the Chief Investigator, then
* turned on Garrison] against Garrison,"
which haven't been substantiated any-
where except by Gurvich's statement of
them. And also that he tends to take
facts and information and rumors and so
on, that occurred over a year and a half's
period, and compress them all into
simultaneous events, so that a statement
made by Garrison at one time is
pounced upon on the basis of informa-
tion or statements he made a year and a
half later in a totally different context.
One of the dubious elements is Ep-
stein's version of the testimony of Dean
Andrews Jr., a colorful attorney who
numbers among his former clients Os-
wald (who wanted his undesirable dis-
charge from the Marine Corps rectified).
and the late David William Ferrie, a
central figure in the Garrison investiga-¨¨
tion. The day after the assassination,
Andrews told the Commission he re-
ceived a phone call from a man he knew
as Clay Bertrand, whom he described as
a "lawyer without a briefcase" for local
homosexuals. Bertrand asked him to go
to Dallas and defend Oswald. Garrison:
contends Bertrand is Clay Shaw, whom
he has charged with conspiracy.
According to Epstein, Andrews ini-
tially gave the FBI “several different de-
scriptions" of Bertrand, and finally ad-
mitted that Bertrand "was merely a
figment of his imagination." Later, be-
fore the Commission, Andrews stated
that he had recently seen Bertrand in a
bar and, Epstein says, described him as
"a boy" who was "five feet eight inches"
and had "sandy hair." "No other clues
to Bertrand's identity turned up, how-
ever," writes: Epstein, "and Wesley J.
Liebeler, a Commission lawyer who con-
ducted the investigation in this arca, said
he was convinced that no such person
existed."
An objective reading of Andrews'
testimony, however, reveals that he
told the FBI that Bertrand was "approxi-
mately six feet one inch to six feet two
inches in height, brown hair, and well
dressed" a description that closely
matches the tall, aristocratic Shaw. As
for Bertrand being a figment of his
imagination, Andrews declared, "That's
what the Feebees [FBI] put on." He re-
counted that G-men had pestered him
to the point where he told them, "Write
what you want, that I am nuts. I don't
care." As for his later remark to the
Commission's Mr. Liebeler that Ber-
trand was only five feet, eight inches,
Andrews explained that "this time I was
looking for the fellow, he was sitting
down." Nowhere does he refer to Ber-
trand as a “boy." Epstein was perhaps
confused by his exclamation: "I don't
play Boy Scout and measure them."
In his superficial examination of Gur-
Continued on page 12.
RAMDAD TO
Sketch by Mary Morhoff
13-00000
"Continued from page 8
rison's case, Epstein evidently failed to
check the police records prepared upon
Shaw's arrest. Thoroughly shaken by the
arrest. Shaw blurted out, according to
Patrolman Aloysius Habighorst, that he
had used the alias "Clay Bertrand." The
alias was duly entered on the fingerprint
card and booking sheet.
One of the most fascinating charac
ters in the conspiracy drama is_Richard
Case Nagell, a former U.S. Intelligence"
agent who claims he encountered Oswald
in Mexico City in 1963, and had been
instructed by his spy superiors to deter-
mine if the rumors of an assassination
attempt had any foundation. Nagell says
he learned that the first attempt against
Kennedy was scheduled for September
26 in Washington, D.C., and that Oswald
(who crossed the border into Mexico the
day before) was to be set up as the
"patsy" and shot in front of the Cuban
Embassy in Mexico City. When the anti-
Castro paramilitary team could not
penetrate the Presidential security in
Washington, Oswald got a reprieve. But
Nagell, who says he was sure the attempt
would come off but failed to get the FBI
to listen, faked a bank robbery in El
Paso on September 20 so that he would
be arrested and in federal custody when
the assassination occurred.
Epstein dismisses Nagell as being
mentally unbalanced, noting that "court
records indicated that Nagell had suf-
fered brain damage in an airplane crash
in 1957" and that, following the bank
episode, he was "an inmate of a federal
institution for the criminally insane in
Springfield, Missouri." As he does so
frequently throughout the article, Ep-
stein delivers a version which if devel-
oped fully would throw a different light
on the matter. Nagell was in a plane
crash, but he was given Intelligence
training after his recovery, indicating
that he had no permanent brain injury.
Moreover, the fact that he stood trial
implies that he was legally sane. Re-
cently, he was released from Leaven-
worth Penitentiary-he had been at
Springfield only temporarily.
The publication of the Epstein article
came at an opportune time for Clay
Shaw. Obtaining advance copies, his at-
torneys entered it as evidence before a
three-judge federal panel which was hear-
ing arguments that the DA was "con-
ducting a reign of terror" and "perse-
cuting" the defendant. Apparently the
panel was unimpressed, for it unani-
mously rejected the defense's argument
and ordered the case to trial.
If Garrison does get his day in court-
a day Epstein has struggled to deny him
-chances are his case will hold up better
than The New Yorker's brief for the
defense.
-WILLIAM TURNER
chan
“HERE COME DE JUDGE”
C°
ONSIDER THE REVOLT ON THE LEFT
if the following occured:
The President, on the eve of
his abdication, arranged to accept the
resignation of the chief justice of the
United States Supreme Court in order
to replace him with the President's
former lawyer, then an associate justice;
As a parlay, the President submitted
to the Senate the name of his oldest hand-.
holding crony to fill the vacancy created
by the promotion of his former lawyer;
The chief justice, who had written a
famous report designed to satisfy the
people that the assassination of the
President's predecessor was sans con-
spiracy and the sole act of a demented
mind, conditioned his resignation on the
Senate's approval of the appointments;
The President's ex-lawyer, when called
to testify before a Senate committee,
conceded that during his three years on
the high court he had continued to act
as the President's advisor;
That pursuant to this role, he had sat
in on numerous cabinet-level meetings,
but that he had merely "summarized"
the views of others for the benefit of the
President;
That as a justice he had dressed down
a prominent businessman who had criti-
Law
cized war spending, though whether his
call was made at the President's request
he could not say and remain faithful to
the Separation of Powers;
That the businessman had retracted
his statement, though in the end it
proved to be accurate;
That the justice could not answer
questions concerning his judicial opin-
ions since the Constitution specifies that
members of Congress may not be ques-
tioned about their acts in any place other
than in Congress;
That despite this asserted Constitu-
tional bar, the justice pointed to his dis-
senting vote against extending the 'one-
man-one-vote principle to local govern-
ment as proof of his devotion to State's
rights;
That although he had been at the
President's disposal as advisor-summar-
izer, he had never been involved in dis-
cussions that could conceivably reach
the Court;
That the issues under discussion at the
top-level meetings had ranged from the
Vietnam War to riots in the cities;
That the justice had voted to jail đruft
card burners and had voted against
taking up for consideration the legality
of the war;
That he voted to give the police sweep-
ing rights to stop-and-frisk suspects on
suspicion alone;
That within two months of his pro-
posed elevation he had authored a book-
let, "Concerning Dissent and Disobedi-
ence," which limited the moral right to
disobey laws to those "basically offensive
to fundamental values of life or the Con-
stitution" and held that even in such
cases no legal defense could be urged...
but jailing must be willingly accepted;
That shortly after that book was pub-
lished, the justice denounced, in a ritre
interview from Washington, the netivities
of some of the Columbia University
protestors as "totally inexcusable, from
the point of even primitive morality";
That during his first term on the
Court, he cast the deciding vote uphold-
ing the conviction and five-year sentence
of Ralph Ginzburg for “pandering” a
non-obscene magazine;
That during each of his three terms he
nearly always voted for business interests
and against efforts to cut down the
trusts:
That throughout his years on the
Court he was widely rumored to have
been one of the President's most hawkish
advisors on the Vietnam War.
Consider the revolt on the left if any
thing like this happened in 1968.
-SIDNEY E. ZION
RAMPOT
13-00000
OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIP
ΤΟ
NAME AND ADDRESS
1
C/SRS
2
DC/SRS
3
5
DATE
INITIALS
6-12-68139844
6-13 B
s All 4/13/68-ba
H
Pars Hall
же
1/15/68 ath
6
TIGHE
ACTION
APPROVAL
COMMENT
DIRECT REPLY
DISPATCH
CONCURRENCE
FILE
INFORMATION
Remarks:
PREPARE REPLY
RECOMMENDATION
RETURN
SIGNATURE
The attached report by Mrs. Hall
-based on cable traffic re appearance of
a Richard NAGELL in Zurich raises question for
FBI.
Is NAGELL in GARRISON investigation
still in prison, or is he one and the same
person in Switzerland?
Since FBI
has been ackn
by Been Station do not lik
check up nemay Bl.
пржет
FOLD HERE TO RETURN TO SENDER
FROM NAME ADDRESS AND PHONE NO
Cecil C. Tighe
UNCLASSIFIED,
2-61 237
Use previous editions
DATE
6/12/68
CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
(40)
1
FORM NO
མ་།
ཚད་དང་ངས
13-00000
SECRET
MEMORANDUM FOR:
Chief, LEOB/SRS
SUBJECT:
REF:
12 June 1968
6016/12/67
NAGELL, Richard Case - #264170
15-18
IN Cable 25955 dtd 6 June 1968 from (Zurich]
OUT Cable 06625 atd 7 June 1968 to [Zurich]
15-18
Reference cables concern the claim of an individual appearing at
the Consul General's office in Zurich, Switzerland on 4 June 1968 that
he is one Richard Case NAGELL. NAGELL was sentenced to a 10 year term for
bank robbery on 9 June 1964 and is supposedly in a federal prison in Missouri.
GARRISON interviewed Subject as a witness in his investigation
according to a news clipping from the CHICAGO AMERICAN dated 2 January
1968. The clipping is marked in Subject's file which is attached. This
file also contains a copy of the summary dated 18 January 1968 prepared
in research on the GARRISON CASE.
It would be of interest for documentation of Subject's file to
ascertain from the FBI if Subject is still in prison.
I did not receive reference IN Cable 25955 initially.
Attached is
a copy I obtained from OS Cable Desk. However, the original copy was
routed to SRS and it is possible some one else on the Staff is already
handling the matter.
Att. as Stated
Sarah K. Hall
SRS/OS
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded fram automatic
downgrading 
and
declassification
Hall
2/mL
13-00000
ABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEMINATION
ERSON/UNIT.NOTIFIED
CLASSIFI
1ESSAGE
SECRET
(When Filled In).
TOTAL COPIES
GROUP 1
EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC
DOWNGRADING AND
DECLASSIFICATION
'D/OR INITIALS - SEEN BY
7
REPRODUCTION OF THIS COPY PROHIBITED
OVANCE COPY
ISSUED
SLOTTED
INDEX:
SSEM BY
CTION
..
EURA
PER
☑
RID COPY
YES ☐ NO
CLASSIFY TO FILE NO..
X-REF. TO FILE NO.
FILE RID ☐ RET. TO
INFO:
FILE,
VR.
BRANCH
8
9
DESTROY ☐ SIG.
01/163
Zighe
DOP ADD/ C/ CAS C/f1c3 CYRA
SECURITY 208 ADDS CTDD FI Gyops
SECRET 0610272 JUN 68 CITE ZURICH 1331
DIRECT OR INFO BERN) 15-10.
INK MHORDER OMUSE
15-18
6 JUN 68 IN 25955
1. SUBJ, RICHARD CASE NAGELL, DPOB 5 AUG 30 NEW YORK
CITY, US PASSPORT NUMBER J 543069, CAME TO CONGEN 4 JUNE
INTERVIEWED BY VICE CONSUL. TOLD INCOHERENT STORY ABOUT
"WORKING FOR US GOVERNMENT SECRET AGENCY ON MISSION TO
GENEVA WHERE TO MEET JAPANESE" WANTED CONGEN ASSISTANCE
TO GET MONEY WHICH CLAIMS HAD DEPOSITED NEW YORK BANK
BEFORE DEPARTURE US SUBJECT WAS TOLD BY VICE
COULD NOT ASSIST.
CONSUL CONGEN
2. SUBJ RETURNED TO CONGEN 5 JUNE, ASKED FOR POLITICALE
OFFICER, THUS WAS REFERRED TO TEGET HOFF BY RECEPTIONIST.
SUBJ MADE ASSUMPTION TEGET HOFF WAS WOFIRM, WHICH DENIED
SUBJ PUITE INCOHERENT, IN FACT, APPEARS PSYCHOTIC
POSSIBLY DANGEROUS. CLAIMS WAS INTERVIEWED BY
NEW ORLEANS DISTRICT ATT OR NEY GARRISON
14-16 MAY ON CONNECTION "CIA AND PRES KENNEDY ASSASSINATION."
SUBJ CLAIMS GARRISON TOLD HIM HE IN DANGER BEING KILLED.
THEREFORE WANTS INFORM CIA HE IN ZURICH."
15-18
PAGE 2 ZURICH/1331 S E CRET
3. ABOVE FYI. CONGEN REPORTING SEPARATELY.
SECRET
SECRET
3/mc

13-00000
ORIGI
m
MARY KOUREMBIS
UNIT EAS/S
EXT:
DATE:
7963/9108
7 JUNE 1968
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEMINATION
MESSAGE FORM
TOTAL COPIES:
SECRET
POUTING AND/OR INITIALS SEEN BY
6
7
8
9
10
BRANCH
FILE RID
BY.
53
PER.
CONF:
EUR 6
TO
کو
INDEX
☐ DESTROY
RETURN TO:
☑ NO INDEX
FILE IN CS FILE NO.
INFO:
RID. COPY
FILE
9/102, C/RA, CA 5, SECUR 4, l
(classification)
SECRET
15-18
15-10
ZURICH INFO BERN /
INK MHORDER WOMUSE
REF:
[ZUR
NOLAN
(date and time filed)
07 22 59 z JUN 68
ZURICH 1331 (IN 25955)*
15-18
201-746537
• DDP, ADDP, C1, 41/ops, cs/20
✓ (elite)"
ference number);
CITE DIRECTOR 06625
Saya
(pica)
Ligh 6 6/11/687
Mrs 
Hall
RICHARD CASE NAGELL, AKA JOE CRAMER, JOE KRANE, ROBERT
201-746537 WELL KNOWN TO LNERGO. SUBJECT ENTERED US ARMY 1948
HONORABLY DISCHARGED CAPTAIN 1959. DURING KOREAN CONFLICT RECEIVED
MANY CAMPAIGN AWARDS. SOLE SURVIVOR AIRPLANE CRASH NOVEMBER 1954,
SEVERAL
SUFFERED FACIAL DISFIGUREMENT AND GIVEN/ PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION.
MOTHER, BROTHER, FORMER WIFE, AND FRIEND OF NAGELL ALL CONSIDER HIM
TO BE MENTALLY DISTRUBED. NO INDICATION NAGELL INVOLVED IN ESPIONAGE
COMMUNIST PARTY, OR FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA COMMITTEE ACTIVITY.
ESPIONAGE*
IN 1964 LETTER TO LNERGO NAGELL REFERRED TO ANOTHER LETTER
RE OSWALD.
WHICH HE ALLEGEDLY WROTE TO LNERGO IN 1963/ LNERGO FILES CONTAIN NO
RECORD OF 1963 LETTER. NAGELL IMPRISONED ON BANK ROBBERY CHARGE AND
HAS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.
3.
FBI
WE ASSUME BERN PASSING REFERENCE INFO TO LNERGO,
Say Tile
RELEASING OFFICER
END OF MESSAGE
CI/STAFF
B. R. You
COORDINATING OFFICETS
SECRET
GROUP T
Excluded from automatic
: downgrading and
declassification
REPRODUCTION BY OTHER THAN THE ISSUING OFFICE IS PROHIBITED.
C/E/AS
AUTHENTICATING
OFFICER
3/mc
COPY NO.
13-00000
SUBJECT: NAGELL, Richard Case
SECRET
18 January 1968
ALLEGATION:
Richard Case NAGELL,
highly decorated infantry
Captain in the Korean War",
alleges that he became a
CIA agent. He said he
fired the gun in the bank at
El Paso, Texas because he
vented to be in custody when
the assassination of
President KERLEY took
place. NAGELL charged
that "the FBI illegally
seized from him evidence
crucial to his defense,
such as notebooks containing
the names of certain CIA
employees, photographs,
Mexican tourist cards (one
in the name of Joseph KRAMER,
the other in the name of
Albert HIDEL) and receipts for
registered mail, including the one
for the letter aent 20OVER
warning of the assassination.
NAGELL daimed he was in-
structed to "arrow" the
patay, that is kill him
(OSWALD) after the assassi…
nation. Es contended he
got cold feet and this VAS
his reason for the attempted
bank robbery, he would rather
be arrested than commit
murder and treason.The
article alleges that while it
vos suggested in court that
en airplane crash RAGELL
survived mentally affected him,
he was given intelligence
training after the crash.
Also, HAGELL complains he has
been salted away because of
what he knows.
CIA CONFECTION:
Bone; although, Subject was of
interest to Os in 1964 and early
1965 because of information
furnished to the Agency by the
FBI that he had in his possession
the names of six CIA employees
at the time of his arrest for bank
robbery at El Paso, Texas on 20
September 1963.
SECRET
GROUP
Excluded free automatic
downgrading and
declassification
13-00000
SEGRET
SOURCE:
1968 RAMPARTS
Article by Willism
W. TURNER
OS INDICES MERILIS:
Subject became of interest to the Office of Security in March 1964
when the FBI informed the Agency that Subject had in his possession at
the time of his arest for bank robbery at El Paso, Texas on 20 September
1963 the name of Richard FECTEAU (en individual by this nime seo captured
by the Chinese Communists and is now in prison in China) sad of six Agency
employees. Research failed to reveal any reason why NAGSIL had these
nomes in his possession. It was concluded that while NAGELL is unquestionably
unbalanced, his story of being involved in espionage is not fully contradicted
by evidence. He could have been contacted by a Soviet egent while in Washington,
D. C. in December 1962 or while he was in Mexico City in September and October
1962. Bis file contains mostly FRI reports dated 1962 and 1964 and in these
are decusented his history of mental instability and physical complaints
stemming from the plow crash. Attached is a chronology dated 3 March 1965
made from the information contained in the FBI reports. At the time this
security research was conducted, it was recommended that MACHTL be personally
interviewed by a representative of 05 in the hope that MUSEL night reveal
how he came into the possessica these names but no further action is indicated
in his file and this interview was not undertaken.
DETAILS:
Subject's file reflects no Agency interest in his prior to March 1964
when the names of CIA employees were found in his possessica when arrested
for bank robbery.
The RAMPARTS claim that he received intelligence training after the plane
crash is true. The crash occurred 29 November 1954 and he graduated from
Army Intelligence School, Ft. Holabird, Maryland on 15 August 1955. He
served in Korea and Japan as a member of the B. S. Army Counterintelligence
Corps, terminating about 1956. A Lt. Col. Rad K. OLETT vho served with
NAGELL personally in Korea advised that MAGELL was not stable mentally and
that this instability was probably due to brain damage suffered in the airplane
erash.
The RAMPARTS article's claim that NAGELL said he fired the gun in the
bank at El Paso, Texas because he wanted to be in custody when the assassination
took place is not completely in conflict with a statement NAGELL made on
1 January 1964 which was, however, after the assassination. (see page 4 of
chronology)
The RAMPARTS ortiels's allegation that the FBI took from NAGELL, e note-
book containing the names of CIA employees is true.
HAQELL's complaint that he was "salted away" is open to speculation. A
ten year prison sentence does sppear harsh, considering the documented brain
SEGRET
13-00000
SECRET
dosage he suffered in the B-25 plane crash while he was in the U. S.
Army*
SECRET
13-0000-0
Faga rago "
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS:
AMERICAN
E-439,360
S-494,503
JAN 2 1988
Mabley's Report:
Garrison Case-
Can We Afford
Not to Listen?
BY JACK MABLEY
THE INVESTIGATION INTO the assassination of Presi-
dent Kennedy is being reopened. It is being conducted by a
prosecutor with the power of subpena and a grand jury
with the power to indict.
JIM GARRISON
- It would be better for the country
if the fedoral government were mak-
ing the investigation rather than a
New Orleans official who has been
accused of being unstable and of
seeking headlines.
However, the federal government
shows. no
no 
signs of wanting to reopen
the matter, and the prosecutor, Jim
Garrison, appears to be quite insistent
on carrying it thru.
A number of writers and self-
appointed investigators also are dis-
satisfied with conflicting facts and
unanswered questions, and they con-
tinue to publish evidence to rebut the
Warren commission conclusion that
Lee Harvey Oswald alone was involved in the assassination.
ONE OF THE MOST persistent critics of the Warren
conclusion is Ramparts magazine. This is a liberal, no, a
radical publication which represents the viewpoint of a small
minority. However, it has done some effective investigative
reporting, particularly in exposing the CIA infiltration into
college activities.
Ramparts assigned an investigator, William W. Turner,
I who they say is a former FBI agent, to spend 9 months
looking into the New Orleans evidence.
"I have worked closely with the D. A. [Garrison] and his
staff," Turner reports. "In my opinion, there is no question
that they have uncovered a conspiracy."
The gist of the New Orleans case is that. Oswald was
involved with a heterogeneous group of adventurers, anti-
Castro Cubans, and radical righters who included members
of the Minutemen and American Nazis.
Their common cause was to encourage or mount a revolt
in Cuba against Castro. They also were strongly anti-
Mammunist.
There is no question this group existed. Garrison has
sence that Oswald was part of it. Garrison's investigators
ve evidence that Oswald's pro-Russian leanings actually
a front, or a disguise to conceal his real role as an
☐ communist.
GARRISON BELIEVES THAT Oswald was schooled in
covert operations by the CIA while in the marine corps.
at Atsugi naval station in Japan. Supporting evidence is
Oswald's proficiency in the Russian language, the source of
which was never explained, the ease with which he entered
Russia, and the lack of censure by the government-on his
return, or by the marine corps in his discharge.
In effect, Garrison feels Oswald was either a CIA agent
or was involved with CIA activities.
The New Orleans group was angry at President Kennedy
because of the failure of the Bay of Pigs operation and
because they thought Kennedy wasn't sufficiently anti-
communist:
Garrison has dozens of witnesses he will subpena to fit
bits and pieces into the puzzle. Individually, many can be
dismissed as unreliable, but collectively they raise many
questions 
that an objective observer would like to see
resolved
...
It certainly is within the power of the federal govern-
Iment to disprove every one of these witnesses' stories, if.
they can be disproved. Presumably, the federal government
does not want to dignify Garrison's allegations with formal
denials
.
IF THERE IS ANY substance to Garrison's charges,
two powerful agencies of the federal government stand to be
discredited. Garrison has interviewed one witness, Richard
Cass Nagell, a highly decorated Korean war veteran who
claims 
to have been a CIA agent, who says he sent a
registered letter to J. Edgar Hoover warning him of the
assassination plot: If this is true, Hoover and the FBI would
be guilty 
of dreadful dereliction of duty.
The CIA and CIA fronts are deeply involved in the
activities of the men Garrison believes plotted the Presi-
dent's murder.
-Turner, the Ramparts investigator, believes powerful
government agencies are doing everything in their power
to discredit 
Garrison.
Ten persons involved in the case have died, most of
them violently, since the assassination. All went to their
graves with information Garrison considers pertinent to his
investigation..
Unless Garrison is killed or removed from office in
some way, it is difficult to see what can stop him from
airing 
these stories, probably in a court of law that the
public may judge their validity.
13-00000;
approved
Melactions
in last
document of
This package.
44 ALON
STATE DEPT TELEGRAMS RE RICHARD NAGELL
:D DATED:
D
25 MAR 1969
216 APR. 1969
317 APR. 1969
:
22 May, 1969
3 Psychiatrist's REPORT, STATE AIRGRAM FROM BERLin
DATED 29 OCT. 1968.
3 STATE DEPT. TELEGRAMS DATED 19 OCT. 1968
AND 22 Oct. 1968
13-00000
•
TRANSMITTAL SLIP
DATE
1-6-69
nr.mur@ht
TO:
ROOM NO.
BUILDING
REMARKS:
file on Richaid
Case Nageel
# 264 170, is
permanent to Sara
Hall; This is 
a
James Garrison
Case
FROM:
ROOM NO.
1 FEB 55
FORM NO.241
BUILDING
REPLACES FORM 36-8.
WHICH MAY BE USED.
TRANSMITTAL SLIP
TO:
ROOM NO.
Jamh
BUILDING
REMARKS:
DATE
EXTENSION
-3
check
my
SRS has
In FIORS has file
This or
m
card art.
гип трасет
but don't full fles
Jun
FROM:
ROOM NO.
BUILDING
FORM NO
1 FEB 55 241
REPLACES FORM 36-8
WHICH MAY BE USED.
EXTENSION
(47)
(47)
13-00000
99146
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY
FILE, RF.
40
Department of State
PER #
ONE, OCI/NES, H8/05
TOTAL COPIES:
19
CH/E
INDICO, CERE,
Eufe, a
2
DCS, SECUR
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 01 STATE
069053
17
TELEGRAM
HCG 639
M
ORIGIN SCS 04
INFO OCT 01,EUR 08,SCA 01,PPT 02,CIAE 00,INR 07, NSAE 00, RSC 01,
DODE 00, TRSY 11,/035 R
66665
DRAFTED BY:SCA:SCS:HLUPPI/WRJOCHIMSEN
APPROVED BY: SCS: HOBART LUPPI
PPT:MR. RITCHIE (PHO NE)
R. Ø22142Z MAY 69.
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
INFO AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY ROME
AMEMBASSY MADRID
075118
AMCONSUL ZURICH
USMISSION BERLIN
CONFIDENTIAL STATE 069053
PARIS PASS USSS
REF: BERLIN 754; STATE 62744
-
RICHARD NAGELL
1. IF NAGELL STILL FRANKFURT OR INQUIRES AT ADDRESSEE POSTS
HE MAY BE INFORMED DEPARTMENT ATTEMPTED TO TRACE WIFE BUT
WAS UNABLE TO DO SO.
2.
A SEARCH OF THE AVAILABLE PASSPORT FILES DISCLOSED NO
RECORD ON MITSUKO TAKAHASHI NAGELL.
GP-4. ROGERS
CONFIDENTIAL
13-00000
92224
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY
FILE, RF,
Department of State
PER #
TOTAL COPIES:
28 TELEGRAM
CF/2. ONE OFR2 SECUR
091/WE5, 091/083
EUR3. FEZ Cl.ci/PS, FIDOP
SECRET
HCG 117
PAGE 01 MADRID 01429
181241Z
.41
ACTION SCS 04
INFO EUR 17,SCA 01, VA 01,L 03,CIAE 00, DODE 00, INR 07, NSAE 00, P 04,
RSC Ø1,USIA 12,PPT Ø2,SY 03,FBI 01,7056 W
R 171704Z APR 69 ZFF BERLIN ZURICH
114417
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO USMISSION BERLIN
INFO SECSTATE WASHDC 5522.
AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY ROME
AMCONSUL ZURICH
:
SECRET MADRID 1429
ROME FOR VA OFFICE EUROPE
SUBJECT: WELFARE RICHARD CASE NAGELL
REF: BERLIN 668
To mangely
Mis 
Hall
1. IN INTERVIEWS WITH CONSULAR OFFICER ZURICH FEBRUARY 27
AND 28 NAGELL MADE USUAL COMPLAINTS AGAINST USG PARTICULARLY
FBI AND CIA, AND PUBLICITY THREATS.
2. NAGELL SUBSEQUENTLY VISITED CONSULATE BARCELONA MARCH
10, AND MADE FIRST OF SEVERAL VISITS EMBASSY MADRID MARCH
20 WHERE HE TALKED AT GREAT LENGTH WITH P&W OFFICERS,
DEFENSE ATTACHE, CHIEF CONSEC, AND MADE BUT DID NOT KEEP
APPOINTMENT WITH CULTURAL ATTACHE.
3. ACCORDING CAS, NAGELL IS NOT AND HAS NEVER BEEN
ASSOCIATED WITH CAS. INFO FROM DEPT: NAGELL'S MENTAL AFFLIC
TION ORIGINATED IN BRAIN DAMAGE SUFFERED AIR CRASH
NOVEMBER 1954. DIAGNOSIS DATED 4 FEB 1955: PARANOID PERSON-
ALITY, PASSIVE AGRESSIVE PERSONALITY REACTION.
4. ACTIVITIES IN MADRID: IN INTERVIEW WITH THREE CONSULAR
OFFICERS NAGELL ACCUSED USG AGENCIES OF "LEANING ON HIM"
AND DEMAND OFFICERS PASS THE WORD AROUND TO "LAY OFF" OR HE
SECRET
th
13-00000
1
Department of State
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY
PER $
TOTAL COPIES:
TELEGRAM
FILE, RF,
).
PAGE 02 MADRID Ø1429
SECRET
181241Z
WOULD BLOW UP. ALSO ASSERTED DEPT HAD BROKEN PROMISE
LOCATE WIFE AND CHILDREN, REPEATED THAT CHILDREN ONLY THING
IN WORLD THAT MEANT ANYTHING TO HIM, THAT IF HE COULD NOT
FIND THEM. HE WOULD TAKE LEAVE OF THIS WORLD AND WOULD
TAKE SOMEBODY WITH HIM. IN LAST MEETING WITH CONSUL APRIL 7
CONSUL HAD TWO MARINE GUARDS PRESENT VIEW USAF PSYCHIATRIST'S
ADVISE TO TAKE NO CHANCES WHATEVER. NAGELL UPSET BY GUARDS
PRESENCE AND BY CONSUL'S REFUSAL PERMIT HIS TAPING RECORDING
INTERVIEW AND TO SHOW HIM REGULATIONS PROHIBITING
RECORDING. NAGELL BELABORED PATIENT CONSUL FOR NEARLY TWO.
HOURS. CONSUL INFO DEPT HAD ENDEAVORED LOCATE
WIFE AND CHILDREN
SUCCESS, AND PROMISED TO QUERY
DEPT WHAT SPECIFIC STEPS DEPT HAD TAKEN THIS MATTER. NAGELL
FINALLY SAID
ACTION (USE HE WOULD LEAVE SPAIN BECAUSE OF CONSUL'S
GUARDS) AND REQUESTED THAT REPLY FROM DEPT
BE FORWARDED PARIS WHERE HE WAS GOING. ALSO INFORMED CONSUL
HE WOULD GET HIM", BUT THROUGH POCKETBOOK, BY SUING HIM
IN US. IN THIS INTERVIEW NAGELL DENIED HAVING MADE THREATS
OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, ONLY "PROMISES" OF PUBLICITY AND OF
"PLAYING FOOTSIE WITH CERTAIN SOURCES" IF DEPT DID NOT LOCATE
CHILDREN. PRIOR DEPARTURE FROM MADRID NAGEL SENT CONSUL
POST CARD WITH MESSAGE IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND WRITING,
WHICH TRANSLATED MEANS "WITHOUT EYES WE CANNOT SEE", AND
SALUATION IN SPANISH MEANING "GOOD LUCK".
5. DEVELOPMENTS OF INTEREST IN LAST MADRID INTERVIEW: (1)
CONSUL TOLD NAGELL GENTLY HE (NAGELL) NEVER EMPLOYED BY CAS.
NAGELL INSISTED YES, HE COULD PROVE IT, BUT CONSUL DID
NOT PURSUE SUBJECT. (2) NAGELL SEVERELY CRITICIZED STATE
DEPT FOR PERMITTING CAS AGENTS INTO ITS MIDST IN FOREIGN
ESTABLISHMENTS, SAID HE KNEW OF AT LEAST TWO CAS AGENTS
IN ZURICH AND THAT CAS NOT RPT NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE AGENTS
IN SWITZERLAND. (3) NAGELL HAD ANOTHER STORY WHICH COULD
BE OF INTEREST TO NEWS MEDIA: HE ALLEGED THAT IN 1957,
BEEN COURIER OF TREASURY PLATES
NORTH KOREAN CURRENCY.
"IN TIME OF PEACE CORFEITING NORTH
FROM US TO JAPAN FOR
6. COPIES OF RELEVANT CORRESPONDENCE FOLLOW BY POUCH.
GP-1. MCAULIFFE
SECRET
(LF)

13-00000
]
92140
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY 12
FILE, RF,
Department of State
PER $
ONE, 04/WE 5, DCS, SECUR, INDICAT
EUR 3, CI, Ou/EED 3
TOTAL COPIES:
19 TELEGRAM
OR/E,
CONFIDENTIAL
HCF 755
PAGE 01
STATE
059324
17
SRS
S
ORIGIN. SCS 04
INFO EUR 08,SCA 01,VA 01,L 03,CIAE 00,INR 07,NSAE ØØ,RSC Ø1,DODE 00,
/025 R
DRAFTED BY:
SCA:SCS: AMHARTL
APPROVED BY: SC S HOBART LUPPI
BC
)
SCS - WRJOCHIMSEN
DESIRED DISTRIBUTION:
66667
R 172201Z APR 69
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION BERLIN
INFO AMEMBASSY MADRID
AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY ROME
AMCONSUL ZURICH
EUR/GER
CONFIDENTIAL STATE 059324
ROME FOR VA
REF: BERLIN: 668 RICHARD NAGELL
1.
113473
при
Mrs. Hall
• FEBRUARY 27 AND 28, 1969 NAGELL CALLED CONGEN ZURICH
STATING HE HAD BEEN ENTICED RETURN US IN 1968 WITH PROMISES
HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN WOULD BE LOCATED. ON MARCH 10 NAGELL
APPEARED CONGEN BARCELONA REQUESTING INFO RE WIFE AND
CHILDREN.
2. NAGELL APPEARED AT EMBASSY MADRID MARCH 21 WITHOUT FUNDS.
REQUESTED HIS SISTER, MRS. GAMBERT, BE ASKED SEND HIM DOLS
WITH DEPARTMENT AND
75 FROM HIS BANK ACCOUNT FOR TRUST FOR HIM AND CABLE THE
THAT SISTER CASH HIS MONTHLY CHECK FOR
MONEY TO HIM CARE AMEXCO MADRID. APRIL 3 VISITED EMBASSY
AGAIN RE HIS VA CHECK AND REQUESTED ASSISTANCE ADMISSION
TORREJON AFBASE HOSPITAL FOR QUOTE NERVOUS CONDITION UNQUOTE.
ACCUSED DEPARTMENT AGAIN OF BREAKING ITS PROMISE HELP HIM
LOCATE WIFE AND CHILDREN. LAST CALLED EMBASSY MADRID APRIL
CONFIDENTIAL
13-00000
CRET
CTL NO 3034
REQUE STOR HALL
OFFICE SRS
N3034 NAGELL, MITSUKO TAKAHASHI
NAGELL, MITSUKO
A TAKAHASHI, MITSUKO
/A NAGELL RICHARD C/MRS
Y F
24APR69
OR
R264170
/D FBI 12JUN64 P1 NAGELL, RICHARD CASE EX SPO /T MRS
/Z 0933602
-NI-I/ND--U/ND--SA--CO--
SEC
13-00000
Li
90943
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY 12
Department of State
PER #
TOTAL COPIES:
23 TELEGRAM
FILE, RF. ONE, OUWE 5, OUEED 3, OER 4, SECUR, DCS, INDICO,
CR/E, EUR 3, Cl
CONFIDENTIAL
HCG 655
Sp
PAGE 01 BERLIN 00668
161130Z
se flie
21
ACTION SCS 04
INFO EUR 17,SCA 01,VA 01,L 03, INR 07,CIAE 00, NSAE 00, P 04,USIA 12,
DODE 00,PPT 02,/051 W
R 161100Z APR 69
FM USMISSION BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4104
INFO AMEMBASSY MADRID
AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY ROME
AMCONSUL ZURICH
098049
مار
CONFIDENT I A L BERLIN 0668
ROME FOR VA
SUBJECT: WELFARE: RICHARD CASE NAGELL
REF:
BERLIN 2567
что
H
HAFF
1. NAGELL HAS RETURNED TO BERLIN. HE CALLED AT MISSION
APRIL 10 AND AGAIN APRIL 14. SINCE HE WAS OBVIOUSLY IRRAT-
IONAL CONSULAR OFFICER URGED HIM TO CALL ON ARMY PSYCHIATRIST
IN BERLIN FAMILIAR WITH HIS CASE, WHICH HE DID APRIL 15.
PSYCHIATRIST SAYS HE IS MENTALLY ILL AND SHOULD BE HOSPITAL-
IZED.
2. NAGELL SAID HE RETURNED TO BERLIN BECAUSE HE HAD 'CON-
NECTIONS" WITH LOCAL PRESS WHO WOULD PUBLICIZE HIS "COMPLAINTS"
AGAINST US GOVT (LACK OF MEDICAL AND DENTAL TREATMENT, LACK
OF ASSISTANCE IN LOCATING FAMILY IN US, "TRUE" ROLE OF WASH-
INGTON LAWYER RICEY NEW, ETC.).
3. IN VIEW NAGELL'S HISTORY OF IMPRISONMENT IN EAST GERMANY,
FORMER INTELLIGENCE CONNECTIONS AND MENTAL CONDITION (FOR
WHICH HE IS APPARENTLY ENTITLED TO FULL VA BENEFITS) WE CON-
SIDER NAGELL'S PRESENCE IN BERLIN UNDESIRABLE (BOTH FOR HIMSELF
AND FOR US GOVT) AND HOPE WE CAN PERSUADE HIM LEAVE OF HIS
"OWN ACCORD. ANY INFORMATION ON HIS ACTIVITIES SINCE LEAVING
CONFIDENTIAL
13-00000
SCS Mr. Wallace Clarke
CONFIDENTIAL
September 5, 1969
SY/PrS Keith 0. Lynch
201-746537
CKAGELL, Richard Case
70201
Reference is made to your memorandum of April 25, 1969 concerning your re-
quest to locate Mrs. Mitsuko Takahasi NAGELL, the wife of Subject..
Efforts by the SY Los Angeles Field Office to locate Mitsuko Takahashi
✓ NAGELL, aka Mrs. Richard Case NAGELL, aka Mitsuko TAKAHASHI, met with
negative results.
Attached for your information and retention is a copy of an SY memorandum.
dated September 2, 1969 which indicates that an individual identified only
as .C. NAGELL placed an advertisement in the East Village Other, a New
York underground newspaper, which makes obscene reference to both the Central
Intelligence Agency and SY.
Attachment:
cc
As stated
h
Central Intelligence Agency\
United States Secret Service
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Mr. Johnson
PPT
✓
W
C/SRSRA
Murphy
Wall
3.
mis
Bl
Previous renda NAGELL
TATT H/W
CONFIDENTIAL
DST
18786
201-746537
13-00000
TO
Memorandum
Director, O/SY
Thru: Chief, O/SY/ED.
FROM L.G.Marcell, 0/SY/
:
SUBJECT: Item in East Village Other, August 20, 1969
DATE: September 2, 1969
This past weekend, I visited a friend who had just returned from New
York City, bringing back a copy of a New York underground newspaper,
the East Village Other, dated August 20, 1969.
Out of curiosity, I paged through the paper and, on page 17, found a
so-called classified section, consisting generally of ads for male and
(female artists models and offerings of books alleged to instruct one.
in the art of synthesizing hallucinogenics.
In the personal columns of this section, the following was noted, a
verbatim transcript of which is set forth:
"Caught In The Act. Notice to the CIA and all SY
sshitheads who participated in Project Purple Shaft:
After that fiasco in the GDR you worms did your best
to screw, blue and tattoo me. You even tried to have
my ass dusted in Berlin
。 you fuckups. Now its
my turn to do a little shafting.
• °
Cordially, R. C. NAGELL."
Card indices in SY/E reflect no indication that anyone named R. C.
NAGELL or any variation thereof, including NAGLE or NOGELL, has
ever been granted clearance in this office.
A check in SY files reflected a record on Richard Case NAGELL, þorn
August 5, 1930, who apprently is identical with the individual who
authored the above item. A cursory review of the file reflects that
NAGELL has been of interest to both the FBI and the Department in
recent years.
RECEIVED
DEPARTMENT OF
While NAGELL may be something of a crackpot, the item does appear to
contain somewhat of an implied threat. For this reason, the informa-
tion is forwarded for your consideration and for any action which may
be considered necessary.
Attachment: SY file on Richard Case NAGELL
DST
18786
Input to US Defector
Machine Program
· 25. Sep. 69-ALS
CS COPY
CONFIDENTIAL
Group 1
Excluded from Automatic Down-
grading and Declassification
Buy US Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan
0/SY/E: LaMarcoll
H/W ATT
786537
201-746537
13-00000
81491
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY 33
Department of State
PER $
TOTAL COPIES:
26 TELEGRAM
FILE, RF,
09/WE5, 09/EED3
ONE, INDICO, CR/E, DCS, OERZ, OBG12, HIC, SECUR
EUR3;CADOR, 05/00
CONFIDENTIAL
THCM231
287a69
SIG
PAGE 01 MADRID Ø1109 252 147Z
84 - S
ACTION SCS 04
INFO SCA 01,EUR 08, FBI 01, SY 03, PPT 02, SSO 00, INR 07,CIAE 00,NSAE 00,
L 03,/029 W
103605
0 25 1816Z MAR 69]
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5385
CONFIDENTIAL MADRID 1109
SUBJ: NAGELL, RICHARD C.
Y LIMDIS CAPTION DELETED)
1. DOB POB UNKNOWN. RICHARD C. NAGELL, PPT J543069, ISSUED
5/24/68, ADDRESS 8225 GRAND AVENUE, ELM HURST, N. Y. 11373,
VISITED CONSULATE GENERAL IN BARCELONA ON MARCH 10, AND
VISITED THE EMBASSY ON MARCH 21. DURING CONVERSATIONS WITH
ROBERT S. DRISCOLL, CONSUL OFFICER, NAGELL REVEALED THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION.
2. IN THE SUMMER OF 1968, NAGELL WAS ARRESTED ON A TRAIN
ENROUTE TO BERLIN FROM FRANKFURT. HE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY PLACED
IN CONFINEMENT IN EAST GERMANY AND HELD THERE AS A PRISONER
UNT IL OCTOBER 1968. AFTER HE WAS RELEASED, HE CROSSED INTO
WEST BERLIN, WHERE HE WAS DEBRIEFED AT THE U.S. MISSION BY
STATE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES, ONE OF WHOM HE SUSPECTED TO
BE AN EMPLOYEE OF ANOTHER U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY. HE ALLEGED
THAT HE WAS "WORKED OVER" BY HIS EAST. GERMAN CAPTORS, WHO
SUSPECTED THAT HE WAS WORKING FOR ANOTHER U.S. GOVERNMENT
AGENCY. NAGELL CLAIMED THAT AT TIME OF HIS ARREST, HE WAS
TAKEN FROM HIS TRAIN COMPARTMENT "BY NAME".
3. NAGELL CLAIMED THAT DURING DEBRIEFING, HE WAS PROMISED
ASSISTANCE IN LOCATING. HIS CHILDREN WHOM HE SAID WERE RESIDING
WITH THEIR MOTHER SOMEWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. HE
CLAIMED THE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT KEPT ITS PROMISE, AND DEMANDED
THAT THE EMBASSY IN MADRID TAKE ACTION TO HELP LOCATE
HIS CHILDREN, WHOM HE SAID ARE THE ONLY THINGS THAT MEAN
CONFIDENTIAL
7/
13-00000
☐
Department of State
CABLE SECRetariat DisSEM BY
PER #
TOTAL COPIES:
TELEGRAM
'
FILE, RF,
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02
MADRID Ø1109 252147Z
ANYTHING TO HIM.
4. NAGELL THREATENED TO HAVE HIMSELF ARRESTED BY SPANISH
POLICE, OR DEFECT TO EAST GERMANY IF HE DOESN'T RECEIVE
ASSISTANCE FROM U.S. SOURCE. NAGELL CLAIMED THAT HE HAS LEFT
"VERY COMPROMISING" CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS WITH "FRIENDS".
IN SWITZERLAND WHO WILL FORWARD THEM TO THE "APPROPRIATE"
NEWSPAPER REPRESENTATIVES, ONE OF WHOM HE SAID IS LUDWIG
MORELLI WHOM NAGELL CLAIMED IS DERSPIEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
IN ZURICH.
5. NAGELL CLAIMED TO BE A FORMER ARMY OFFICER WHO HELD THE
RANK OF CAPTAIN. HE ALLEGED THAT HIS ARMY SERIAL NUMBER IS
02028346, THAT HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY ON OCTOBER 29,
1959, AND THAT HE IS RECEIVING 100 PERCENT DISABILITY FROM:
THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION.
6. NAGELL EXPLAINED, IN A RATHER ARTICULATE MANNER, THAT HE HAD.
BEEN ARRESTED BY THE FBI SHORTLY AFTER PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S
ASSASSINATION IN 1963, AND THAT HE HAD BEEN IMPRISONED,
UNJUSTLY IN HIS OPINION, IN THE FEDERAL PENITENTIARY,
LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, UNTIL EARLY 1968 AT WHICH TIME HE HAD
BEEN ACQUITTED AND RELEASED. HE SAID THAT THE REASON WHY
HE HAD BEEN ARRESTED IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS THAT HE HAD
WORKED WITH LEE HARVEY OSWALD IN AN ASSIGNMENT WITH A "U.S.
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.
IT WAS A LONG STORY, HE SAID, AND HE DID NOT WANT TO GIVE ME
ALL THE DETAILS, BUT INSTEAD WANTED TO ASSURE ME THAT HE HAD
BEEN IN THE "INTELLIGENCE GAME" FOR A LONG TIME. NAGELL
ALSO STATED THAT HE HAD BEEN HELD IN THE FEDERAL PENITENTIARY
FOR SUCH A LONG PERIOD BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO REVEAL TO THE
FBI ANY INFORMATION ABOUT HIS INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES--
AND THAT FURTHERMORE HE WAS VISITED BY CIA AGENTS WHILE IN
PRISON WHO CAUTIONED HIM TO KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT ABOUT HIS
TIES WITH OSWALD.
7. REQUEST COPY OF OM FROM ZURICH TO DEPARTMENT PERTAINING
TO SUBJECT, AND REQUEST CHECK OF APPROPRIATE SOURCES IN NAME
OF SUBJECT. AND ADVISE OF RESULTS SOONEST.
MCAULIFFE
:
:
NOTE: LIMDIS CAPTION DELETED PER MR. HARRIS S/S-0 3/25/59
CONFIDENTIAL
4/8/69
__
13-00000
5-56 PAIRGRAM-1 s-
RS/R
REP
AF
ARA
Original to be Filed in
EUR
FE
NEA
CU
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
INR
E
P
10
FBO
AID
HANDLING INDICATOR
Decentralized Files.
COLFIDENTIAL
RECEIVED
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
:
ΤΟ
INFO
: BONN
AGR
COM
FRB
INT
FROM
LAB
TAR
TR
XMB
זיז ן
OCT 31 4 of PH 1989.
NAGELL, Richnes
CASE
FILE DESIGNATION
D/08
S R & B D
445509036/8
Limited Distribution
ANALYSIS BRANCH
USBER, Berlin
Light
DATE: October 29, 1968
SUBJECT: Psychiatrist's Report on Richard Case Nagell,
US Citizen Released by GDR
Berlin A-901, October 24, 1968
AIR
ARMY NAVY
OSD
REF
:
USIA
NSA
CIA
୮
LIMIT DISTRIBUTION
COPY NO. _
SERIES B
11 OCT 31 P 544
COPYFLO-PER
SUGGESTED DISTRIBUTION:
1
POST ROUTING
TO:
Action Info. Initials
AMB/
PO
DCM
POL
[CON
CONS
ADM
AID
LISIS
FILE
Action Taken:
A detailed statement prepared by the psychiatrist of
the U.S. Army Hospital in Berlin, dated October 23,
1968, has been received on the results of an
examination of Richard Case Nagell.
The full text of the psychiatrist's findings is
transmitted in the enclosure.
Enclosure
Text of psychiatrist's &
findings.
MORRIS
Ak
Group 4
Downgraded at three-year intervals.
Declassified 12 years after date of origin.
Date:
Initials:
Drafted by:
FORM
10-64 DS-323
EAS:AKlay: dh
Clearances:
The MIN:DKlein
CONFIDENTIAL
Drafting Date: Phone No.:
10/28/68
For Department Use Only
NJ In
1. j Out
Contents and Classification Approved by:
EAS:AKlay
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
012634
13-00000
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL
LIMIT DISTRIBUTION
Page of 4
Background
My initial contact with Mr. Nagell was when he was expelled
from the DDR by the East German officials who forcibly
propelled him toward us over the borderline into West Berlin.
As we initially escorted Mr. Nagell back to US Army Hospital
Berlin in the US Mission vehicle, he seemed unsure of where
he was, and who we were, as well as being angry and belligerent
about his treatment by the East Germans. In the course of
the two hour interview which was then conducted at the
hospital, Mr. Nagell gradually regained his composure and
gave a more cooperative and coherent history. At his
insistance, the interview took place in the presence of the
attorney Mr. Ricey S. New, Jr., who acted in an unofficial
capacity as a legally oriented "friend."
The salient aspects of Mr. Nagell's history are as follows.
He says he was on active military duty (Army) from 1948 until
1959. For the first three of these years he was an enlisted
man, and for the last six he was an officer, working in
military intelligence. In 1954 he was the sole survivor in
a plane crash which resulted in a brain concussion, numerous
physical injuries, and prolonged military hospitalization.
Mr. Nagell now claims that he believes it was this head
injury which resulted in his "unstable personality and
immature or impulsive behaviour." He attributes to this
instability his marital difficulties and his decision to
resign his commission in 1959, something which he now considers
unwise. At the time of his leaving the service he was not
awarded a disability pension, but he says that he was later
able to successfully petition the VA for a "64% disability."
He claims that he had never seen a psychiatrist during his
military career.
From 1959 to 1962 he says that he worked for the State of
California as an investigator for various bureaus. itis
marital difficulties had increased and his wife insisted on
separation, keeping with her their two children. Hagell
says that one night in 1962 he became intoxicated, and tried
to break down the door to her apartment. On this basis he
says he lost his job and says that for the next year he
"just drifted," apparently without motivation to work,
supporting himself on his disability pension and financial
aid from his sister. lle is not certain about whether or not
the divorce from his wife has ever been legally completed.
CONFIDENTIAL
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
13-00000
BACKGROUND USE ONLY.
Pag 2 of 4
0
CONFIDENTIAL
LINIT DISTRIBUTION
In September 1963 he was accused of committing an act which
The now says was bred out of his feeling of hopelessness
and desperation. le claims that in a confused way he
attempted while armed to rob a bank and was easily appre-
hended. For the next 4 1/2 years followed a complicated
series of trials, appeals and retrials. In addition to
spending these years in prison, he also had at least three
prison hospitalizations for psychiatric observation.
His
appeals apparently hinged on his contention that he was
"temporarily insane" at the time of the crime. He was not
considered insane at any time during his imprisonment, and
his claim to temporary insanity found support in the expert
testimony of a noted American neurologist, Dr. Edwin
Weinstein. Dr. Weinstein apparently interpreted Nagell's
EEG's (electro-encephalograms) as being abnormal and argued
that Nagell had developed a "paranoid personality, and
instability" on the basis of his brain injury. This conten-
tion was apparently disputed by other expert witnesses, but
in any case Nagell was officially acquitted on April 29 of
this year.
On
Nagell says he then went to the New York area, where his
sister (his closest relative) resides, but he claims an
additional complication in his life had risen in that he
had once been an "acquaintance" of Lee Harvey Oswald, and
had been implicated in a possible plot to assassinate
President Kennedy in an article in RAMPARTS magazine which
appeared in January 1968. Mr. Nagell firmly denies that he
was involved in any way with any such conspiracy, and was
in fact imprisoned at the time of the assassination.
the basis of this magazine article Nagell says that
Mr. Garrison, the attorney general from New Orleans who is
arguing that a conspiracy existed in the assassination,
came up to New York to interview him. Nagell says that he
denied that he had any information of use to Mr. Garrison,
but that the interview left him with two fears. One fear
was that Garrison might subpoena him to testify in the New
Orleans proceedings, and the other fear was that the CIA
might try to "eliminate" him, a suspicion which he says
was planted in his mind by Mr. Garrison, He says that soon
afterwards while walking down a street at night in New York
City he was almost run over by a car without lights. Hle
interpreted this as being an attempt at murder by the CIA
and in some haste left the country for a tour of Europe.
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL

13-00000
BEP IN A YOUS
Pa
3 of 4
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL
LIMIT DISTRIBUTION
In June, shortly thereafter, he discussed with an American
consular official in Zurich his recurrent fear that the
CIA was going to "hit" him. His next travel point was to
West Berlin, and on June 11, 1968, while his train was
traversing the DDR, he says that he was taken off the
train and illegally detained. He is not certain why he
was taken off the train but admits to having talked freely
on the train to other passengers about his life history,
and he was also carrying with him a heavy portfolio of all
of his Army and government records involved with his service
career, disability, and imprisonment. For several months
Nagell claims that he was interrogated by the East Germans
and repeatedly asked to confess his role as a spy or govern-
ment agent. Eventually, Nagell says that he concluded the
only way to be released would be to feign mental illness,
which he says he proceeded to do. This was several weeks
ago and he says he was soon examined by an East German
psychiatrist and events were set in motion which culminated
in his release today, four and one-half months after his
detention began.
Mr. Nagell's plans for the future center around returning
to the United States and beginning an appeal to the govern-
ment to grant him a psychiatric disability pension, as well
as for his physical disability, on the basis of his head
injury. He no longer believes that it is realistic to think
that the CIA was trying to kill him.
Mental Status Exam
Mr. Nagell is a tall, 38 year old male who shows the evidence
of a prior head injury in the form of extensive scars on
the left side of his face, facial asymmetry due to seventh-
nerve injury, reconstructive surgery on his left ear, etc.
In addition he shows some healed incisions on his left wrist
which he claims were superficial lacerations self-inflicted
at the time of his first imprisonment in 1963, and again a
few weeks ago in the DDR. He denies that in either instance
he seriously intended to kill himself. He is of superior.
intelligence and shows a remarkable memory for dates and
names. Initially he was belligerent, angry, and suspicious
of every effort made to help him. Over the span of two
hours, he gradually became more cooperative and rational.
He is in his own terms a "chronically paranoid person" by.
which he means that he is always highly suspicious and tends
to impute intentions where none may exist. Despite his
CONFIDENTIAL
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
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Page 4 f 4
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overall suspiciousness, and his fears about the CIA, there
was no overt evidence of psychosis. His nutritional state
and general well-being both appeared to be good.
Summary
In summary then we seem to be dealing with a person who has
had a personality disorder for a number of years, manifested
by emotional instability, impulsive behaviour, a tendency
to be litigious, and a general suspicious or paranoic
orientation. It is difficult to know how much of what he
is saying is factual, but it may be that in June of this
year he was becoming "borderline" or even delusional in his
thinking about possible attempts on his life, and this
probably explains his flight to Europe. Currently, he is
not psychotic and seems competent in a legal and psychiatric.
sense to negotiate his own affairs and be a free citizen
again.
His own closing words provide a lighter note to what other-
wise has been a complicated and serious mishap. "Well, I'll
tell you one thing, that's the last time I ever take a train
through East Germany!"
BACKGROUND USE ONLY
/s/
George R. Babineau
CPT, MC
Psychiatrist
U.S. Army Hospital, Berlin
CONFIDENTIAL
13-00000
CTL NO 2036
REQUESTOR HALL
N2036 NEW,RICEY S(JR)
NEW RICEY S
/L DC WAS /T JR 10 ATTY
72 2021595
SECRET
OFFICE SRS
-NI--I/ND--U/ND--SA--CO-
11DEC68
05 66 M491129
N2036 WEINSTEIN, ECW IN
WEINSTEIN, ECW IN
D WAS SCHOOL OF PSYCHIATRY T DR
/Z
1419454
WEINSTEIN,EDWIN
OR 57 E413494
-NI--I/ND--U/ND--SA--CO-
/D ACS 30 APR57 P20 JAFFF, ADRIAN
12
1420401
WEINSTEIN, EDWIN A
CR 57 R154557
NI 1/NDU/ND-- SA-CO
OS 65
C463298
/B 18 FEB09 OMAHA NEB /L 65MD BETHESDA
'
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1419455
12036 BALINEAL, GEORGE R
BABINEAU, GEORGE RAYMOND
NII/ND--U/ND--SA-CO
OS
68 G363001-1999
/Y M /T CAPT /E ARMY /R SER 5 /0 68MIL /C USA
72 2250142
NII/ND-UND--SA-CO--
SECRET
13-00000
15584
CRETARIAT DISSEM BY
Department of State
PER 4 202
TOTAL COPIES:
TELEGRAM
DIOCI 6, P/ONE, DDE P/CKS C/EUR, D/OR D/0B610/11
C/CA
SECRET
PAGE B BERLIN 02538 221750z
46
ACTION SE 70
INFO CIAR 00,SSO 00,1070 W.
P 2217107 OCT 68
FM USMISSION BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3311
INFO AMEMBASSY BONN PRIORITY
SECRET BERLIN 2538
LIMDIS
HCM869
Su
soud
0287095
SUBJI US PRISONERS IN EAST GERMANY
AND LEON BURRIS JAMES
REF STATE 258355
rice.
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
1. RICEY NEW CALLED AT MISSION OCT 21 AND OUTLINED BOTH
CASES IN SENSE REFTEL.
2 VOGEL INVITED RICEY NEW AND MISSION OFFICER TO CALL AT
HIS EAST BERLIN OFFICE OCT 22. STANGE NOT IN A ACTION DUE
TO INJURIES SUFFERED IN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT LAST WEEK.
3. AT CONFERENCE IN HIS OFFICE, VOGEL STATED NAGELL RELEASE
SCHEDULED BY EAST GERMAN AUTHORITIES FOR OCT 23 AT 0938,
TO TAKE PLACE AT SANDKRUGBRUECKE CROSSING POINT. THE
RELEASE WILL BE UNCONDITIONAL AS AN EXPRESSION OF GOODWILL,
ACCORDING TO VOGEL.
4. VOGEL DESCRIBED NAGELL CONDITION AS "NOT GOOD AT ALL.
FREQUENTLY QUITE BAD, ACCORDING TO PHYSICIAN WHO WILL BE
WITH HIM WHEN HE IS DELIVERED BY AMBULANCE. VOGEL WILL DELIVER
NAGELL TO RICEY NEW WHO WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY MISSION OFFICER
AND CHIEF PSYCHIATRIST US ARMY H HOSPITAL, BERLIN,
5. WHEN DELIVERY MADE DEPARTMENT WILL BE INFORMED IN BRIEF
FLASH TELEGRAM. NO RPT NO. PRESS STATEMENT, WILL BE ISSUED:
BY MISSION.
SECRET
STATE DEPT. DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW
☐ Retain classr
Change to
Declassify in part and excise as shown
Declassify
☐ After
EO 12958, 2SX (
(-)
(not)fobtained)
Date.
9/2
3/98
☐ With concurrence of
IPS/CR/IR by.
13-00000
Department of State
TAL COPIES;
TELEGRAM
CABLE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY
PER
FILE, RF.
SECRET
PAGE 02 BERLIN 02538 221750Z
10
6. VOGEL EXPRESSED HOPE THAT CASE OF JAMES COULD ALSO BE
CLOSED IN SIMILAR 
FASHION "WITHIN NEXT FEW DAYS,
STILL UNKNOWN 
IN BOTH CASES BUT VOGEL EXPECTS TO HAVE IN
CHARGES
NEAR FUTURE "BASIC 
DOCUMENTS WHICH ARE STILL IN HANDS OF
STATE SECURITY AUTHORITIES
" AND WILL INFORM US.C
GP-3 MORRIS
SECRET
13-00000
14554
SEGRETARIAT DISSEM BY
Department of State
PER #
TOTAL COPIES;
TELEGRAM
250, D/OCI 6, DIONE, DDP., J/CRS, 0/0861, C/EUR, 9/38,
c/sea, c/ci
CRISN
SEGRET
HCM582PAGE Ø! STATE 258355 A
DRAS E BLUR GERHRPHELPS
APPROVED BY GER MR JOHNPOLL
SAMO SMITH DRAFT
EUR MR CUHAN
500072 OCT 68
EN SECSTATE WASHDO.
30 USMISSION DERLIN
NO AMEMBASSY BONN
CIMDIS
RESTATE 258355
Mi
190168
c//5
К
266602
011460
C
FI
simply.
SUBJECT PRISONERS IN EAST GERMANY RICHARD CASE NAGELL
AND LEON BURRIS JAMES.
RICEY NEW INFORMED DEPARTMENT OCTOBER 18 THAT NAGELL WILL
BE RELEASED OCTOBER 23; WILL REQUIRE IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION
DUE TO MENTAL CONDITION RICEY NEW ARRIVING BERLIN AFTERNOON
OCTOBER 21 AND WILL COORDINATE ARRANGEMENTS WITH MISSION
RICEY NEW ALSO INFORMED BY VOGEL THAT ANOTHER AMCIT, LEON
BURR S JAMES, BEING DETAINED IN EAST GERMANY ON UN-
SPECIFIED CHARGES AS MISSION AWARE FROM PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
WITH HIM, JAMES HAS LONG HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS AND
HAS BEEN IN FREQUENT DIFFICULTIES IN MANY COUNTRIES OVER
LAST FIVE YEA 50. HE WAS CONVICTED OF PASSPORT FRAUD
IN JANUARY 906 15. CURRENTLY UNDER INDICTMENT FOR VIO
LATION OF TITLE 18 USC SECTION 1542. A WARRANT HAS BEEN ISSUED
FOR HIS ARREST, MOST RECENT EPISODE OF WHICH DEPARTMENT AWARE
WAS HIS DEPORTATION FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA TO FRG IN APRIL THIS
YEAR A SUMMARY OF JAMES ADVENTURES AND ARRESTS IS BEING
AIR OUCHED WE HAVE INFORMED RICEY NEW IN A GENERAL WAY OF THIS
BACKGROUND
insert
I here follows
personal informator
Comernen
Leon Burris.
James
3 RICE NEW WISHED TO INFORM USBER HIMSELF OF STATUS OF THESE
SECRET
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEET
APPROVED FOR RELEASE BY
STATE ON 12/15/98
STATE DEPT. DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW
Retain class n Change to
✓ Declassify in part and excise as shown
Declassify
Privic
After 20 VIS
EO 12958. 25X (
DE
(not)(obtained).
Date
With concurrence of
IPS/CR/IR by:
13-00000
Department of State
ILE SECRETARIAT DISSEM BY
PER #
TOTAL COPIES;
TELEGRAM
...RF
SECRET
PAGE 02 STATE 258355
CASES SO MISSION OFFICERS SHOULD NOT INDICATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
DR NAGELL RELEASE OR JAMES LATEST ARREST. GP-3. RUSK
SECRET
13-00000
Mama Re John RICHARD SLOES
INFO RE NAGELL FROM
This memo has Been
EXTRACTED AND PUT
INTO NAGELL FILE
13-00000
Chief, Research Branch, SRS
Robert J. Leonard
John Richard SLÖSS
#34490
SECRET
3 MAR 1965 ·
GIST: SLOSS, a staff employee since 1948, has recently been
repolygraphed with inconclusivė results, having reacted to questions
regarding disclosure of classified information, association with a com-
munist sympathiser, and homosexuality. He has also been involved
with cooperation in an extramarital affair which ſliminated in a black-
mail attempt on one of the parties. His name is perhaps identical with
a name among six names of Agency employees found on a mentally dis-
turbed and disaffected former CIC intelligence officer who alleges contact
with Russian and Cuban Intelligence agents. Details of these questionable
areas in regard to SLOSS are set forth below. Recommend intensive and
thorough investigation of SLOSS including surveillance of activities.
DETAILS: 1. Mr. John Richard SLOSS, born 24 September 1919
at Cleveland, Ohio, has been a staff employee of this Agency since 1948.
His parents are American born. He graduated from Yale University in
1941 and was assigned to Military Intelligence Training Center, Gamp
Ritchie, Maryland, as an instructor, from January 1943 to July 1945.
He attended Columbia University, School of International Affairs and the
Russian Institute from 1946 to 1948, receiving an M. A. Degree in Inter-
national Affairs.
2., SLOSS is currently a Special Intelligence Duty Officer ta
OCI, GS-14. During his assignment in Germany 1953-1955 and on a TDY
to Germany in 1958, he had been authorized to deal with foreign intelli-
gence elements in the OCI overseas liaison program. SLOSS was poly- .
graphed in 1950 and 1953 with favorable results; in 1955 with unfavorable
results; and twice in 1964 with inconclusive results regarding giving CIA
documents or classified information to unauthorized persons, contact
with a possible communist sympathizer, and engaging in homosexual acti-
vities since working for CIA. He was granted a "Q" Clearance in October
1963. His Top Secret Clearance was certified to the White House on 23.
NAGELL
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
13-00000
SECRET
February 1965 in connection with a visit to a Presidential relocation site,
3. The name of John SLOSS may be identical with the name J.
SLOSS found on the person of Richard Chma NAGELL when arrested in con-
nection with a bank robbery in El Paso, Texas, on 20 September 1963. A
notebook found on NAGELL made reference to Fair Play for Cuba Commit-
tes, the addresses of Foreign Embassies, the names of purported GIA
agents and other information. Although NAGELL is unquestionably ment-
ally unbalanced, he tells a story of being involved in espionage which is
not fully contradicted by evidence. There is no apparent explanation of
why the name J. SLOSS as well as five other names of CIA personnel
should have been in the possession of Richard Case NAGELL. The weird
story of NAGELL is contained in a chronological listing of his activities
appended to this memorandum,
A review of the Security file on SLOSS in connection with the
Richard Case NACELL matter revealed that SLOSS, for the past few years,
1960-1964, had provided his apartment as a place of assignation in the
adulterous relationship of Philip Barry KENNEDY, a GS-15 Intelligence of-
fice, assigned to OCI and Mrs. (Betty BARKER, a former employee of the
Central Intelligence Agency from 19 October 1953 until 26 July 1962. The
relationship between Kennedy) and Barker was disclosed on 19 May 1964
when KENNEDY reported to the Office of Security that Mrs. [BARKER had
received a strange telephone call from an unknown male on 18 May 1964
who advised her that he knew what was going on between her and her boy
friend and that he had pictures. The unknown caller attempted to black-
mail Mrs. BARKER into meeting him. Mrs. BARKER/apparently told
her husband the whole story and informed (KENNEDY? 3
5. It is noteworthy in the SLOSS KENNEDY-BARKER matter
that SLOSS has been involved in cooperating in an unlawful and immoral
activity which, according to the direct testimony of one of the parties,
(believed to be true because the report was against her own interest)
resulted in a blackmail attempt against her in May 1964.
6. Of particular concern should be the results of the latest
two polygraph examinations, the validity of which, because of medication
including a tranquilizer type drug and alcohol in the Subject's system, was
deemed to be inconclusive.
7. During the 1955 polygraph examination, the Subject admitted
to homosexual desires but stated that these had never caused a personal
problem and had never resulted in his participation in a homosexual act,
During the 24 April 1964 examination, the Subject showed consistent re-
actions to the homosexual question which indicated deception. During
SECRET

further specific questioning on 22 May 1964 covering the various homosexual
areas however, there were no strong reactions to indicate that Subject might
be practicing deception on the specific question regarding engaging in homo-
sexual activities since working for CIA.
8. In connection with the phase of questions concerning contact
with any possible communist sympathizer, the Subject reflected overall
disturbance indicating that all the questions obviously bothered him and
that deception was being practiced within that phase. The polygraph opera-
tor noted that there were outstanding reactions to the following two questions:
20 b "Other than your comments about FISHER, during your ·
undergraduate period at Yale did you have any contact
with any Communist or Communist sympathizer?
20 e
Answer: No.
During your CIA employment, have you had any contact
with any Communist or Communist sympathizer?
Answer: No."
9. It is particularly noteworthy that during his examination on
22 May 1964 when asked nine questions as to whether he had been acquaint-
ed with certain individuals. Subject only reacted when he answered "no"
to having been acquainted with Jerry SEVERN and Ilya WOLSTON. These
names had been submitted to Subject based upon pure conjecture that there
possibly might have been some connection with these individuals at Camp
Ritchie Military Intelligence Training Center. Since the fact that both
Jerry SEVERN and Ilya WOLSTAN have cooperated with Soviet Intelligence
should have been unknown to SLOSS and he declared he is not acquainted
with them, there should have been no reason for him to react to these names.
The polygraph operator states that $LOSS was not pressed further regarding
FISHER (whom he had characterized as "left of center") or his own possible
knowledge of SEVERN or WOLSTON since it was obvious that SLOSS was
beginning to feel harassed on this matter and stated that he did not enjoy
being asked these questions.
10. During SLOSS' interview on 4 April 1964, SLOSS reflected
consistent reactions on the questions:
"Since working for CIA,have you given CIA documents or
classified information to unauthorized persons?"
SECRET
00000-ЄL
13-00000
SECRET™
"Have you ever deliberately given classified information on
documents to any unauthorized person?"
In explanation, Subject said he was bothered by this idea, but
that he had no knowledge of any particular situation wherein he had di-
vulged information to anyone who was unauthorized to receive it or who
would have used it against the Agency's interest. On the test administered
on 22 May 1964 to resolve any possible compromise to communist or foreign
intelligence organizations, it was determined that there were no significant
reactions to relevant questions in this area.
11. It should be especially noted that the polygraph operator,during
the 4 April 1964 interview, detected an odd smell on Subject's breath and
noted his flushed face, frequent silly grins and lethargic movements, sug-
gesting that the Subject may have been slightly intoxicated. The operator
did not ask during this interview whether the Subject had taken any drug
or alcohol prior to the interview but recalled an incident wherein the Sub-
ject when arrested for drunken driving in 1963 had produced evidence that
he was a diabetic and had taken medication prior to the incident. Conse-
quently, during the second interview on 22 May 1964, Subject was questioned
regarding his physical health. He replied that he had stopped taking medi-
cation for diabetes in November 1963. He explained that he took three or
four diuretic pills. He specifically denied that he had taken any other drug,
narcotic or alcohol. When this question was asked during interrogation,
he reflected reaction indicative of deception and then admitted that for
breakfast he had taken one glass of vodka with some orange juice. He
stated that he drank vodka for breakfast sometimes whenever he was tense
or nervous over anything.
12. The polygraph operator in his report concluded that the
"validity of final test charts is held in question and there is no
strong evidence that the specific areas of concern have been
conclusively resolved at this time. It is recommended that a
further study be conducted on this case and that information
resulting from such a study be sent to IRD for possible reinter-
view of the Subject and polygraph resolution".
13. SLOSS has indicated reactions indicative of deception during
the polygraph examinations. In one specific question where these re-
actions were present, he admitted to lying. This was in the question as
to whether or not he had taken any alcohol prior to the examination.
SECRET
13-00000
CONCLUSION:
1. SLOSS has lied in his most recent polygraph examination and
has evidenced indications of deception in areas concerning divulging
classified information to unauthorized individuals, association with a
communist sympathizer and homosexual inclinations. SLOSS' reaction
to the names of Jerry SEVERN and Ilya WOLSTON has not been fully ex-
plored. The polygraph operator has recommended further investigation
and a repolygraph because the recent tests are inconclusive.
2. SLOSS has been involved in an immoral and illegal extra-
marital activity between a Staff employee and a former Staff employee
where one of the parties was subjected to a blackmail attempt.
3. The name J. SLOSS (possibly identical to Subject) appeared
on a list of CIA employees found on the person of a self-designated "dis-
affected American" arrested by the FBI for bank robbery in September
1963. This individual (mentally disturbed) with previous intelligence ex-
perience has declared that he was approached by Soviet Intelligence while
and/or after he was in Mexico City in September 1962.
4. It is suggested that the extent of the adverse security implica-
tions concerning SLOSS is such, that if SLOSS is ever found to be a security
risk, the failure at this time to pursue an aggressive investigation of all
his contacts and activities to resolve all areas of doubt could possibly lead
to a conclusion that we have been remiss in our duties. The undersigned
recommends the following action:
That physical and technical surveillance of at least two
weeks duration be made of SLOSS to determine his contacts and
activities after working hours.
b. That current seven way National Agency Checks be made
on SLOSS.
That Richard B. FISHER, a friend of SLOSS', characterized
by him as having been involved in radical and left of center ideas
while en undergraduate at Yale,be fully identified, his present lo-
cation be ascertained and the degree of his association with LOSS
be determined by a personal interview with FISHER.
d. That Richard Case NAGELL be personally interviewed by
the undersigned in the hope that by a sympathetic approach he may
reveal how he came into the possession of the name J, SLOSS and
other employees of CIA.
SECRET
-5-
13-00000
SECRET
That police and credit checks be made on SLOSS in the
Washington, D. C. areas Baltimore, Maryland; New York City;
Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago and El Paso, Texas.
f. That listed references, Charles L. VENABLE, Philip
B. KENNEDY and Richard LEHMAN previously interviewed in
September 1963 in connection with a "Q" Clearance of SLOSS,
be reinterviewed by the undersigned with intensive emphasis
SLOSS' activities and acquaintances outside of working hours.
That SLOSS be repolygraphed with unrelenting pressure
on previously unresolved matters.
Attachment:
Bio on NAGELL
Robert J. Leonard
SECRET
3/10
13-00000
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
FBI Reports
Dated Oct. 2, 1962
DATED FEB 4, 1964
RE RICHARD CASE NAGELL
FILE NO. EP (EL PASO) 65-951
DATED MAR 17, 1964 RE RICHARD CASE NAGELL
j FILE No 65-23126, NEW YORK OFFICE
✈ DATED FEB 4, 1964 RE RICHARD CASE NAGELL
4
• FILE No EP 65-951 (SAME DATE AS No 2 ABOVE DOT SEPARATE REPORT
13-00000,
FD-204 (Itev. 3-3-59)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
331615895
Copy to:
Report of:
Date:
Field Office File No.:
Title:
RICHARD
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
THOMAS J. DOWLING
Office:
New York, New York
MAR 17 1944
65-23126
Bureau File No.:
Character:
ESPIONAGE
-
X
Synopsis:
-201-746537
Confidential informants familiar with certain
prases of Cuban and/or Communist activities in
the NYC area, when contacted during February,
1964, advised that the subject'is unknown
to them. Subject's sister, Mrs. ELEANORE GAMBERT,
when interviewed on 2/28/64, advised that subject
last stayed at her home during the latter part
of 1962. She indicated that she knows of no
subversive activity on the part of the subject,
and stated further that she would.
have nothing
to do with him if she ever found out he had
ever been involved in such activities. She
advised subject maintains a metal-type foot
locker at her residence, and has maintained it
at her home for a number of years. She hoted
that she does not know the contents of this
foot locker nor is she even aware of whether
it is opened or loaked.
Juna
Вв
DETAILS
JS COPY
P
VIEWED BY JFK TASK FORCE
9/27/98
RELEASE IN FULL
RELEASE IN PART.
TOTAL DENIAL
201-746537
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency: it and
its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
ملوكة
13-00000
Confidential informants familiar with certain
of Cuban and/or Communist activities in the NYC
phase hen contacted during February, 1964, advised that
area,
the subject is unknown to them.
NY 65-23126
HISINI KIBE TH
13-00000
FD-302 (Rev. 1-25-60)
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGA UN.
1
3/9764
Date
Eleanore Gambert was contacted at her home
located at 82-25 Grand Avenue, Queens, New York, on
February 28, 1964, by Special Agents Thomas J. Dowling
and Benjamin P. Grogan, who identified themselves to
her as Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
She was told that the Special Agents wished to talk to her
about her brother, Richard Case Nagell; that she would not
have to speak with the interviewing agents, that anything
she might say could be used in court; and that she had
a right to counsel before making any statement. Nrs.
Gambert advised that she had no objection to being interviewed
and that she would cooperate in any way possible.
She advised that her brother, Richard Case
Nagell, last resided with her in her home for a 5 or 6 #
week period which ended just prior to Christmas, 1962.
While in New York, he was for the most partunemployed and
seeking a position. She noted that he did obtain
position as a store detective but that this lasted
for only several days when he decided that this was not
the type of investigative work he wanted to do.
When questioned as to whether or not she knew
of any activity on the part of her brother which could
have been of a subversive nature, she stated that she
knew of no such activity; that she did not believe her
brother capable of taking part in such activity; and
that if she ever became aware that he was engaging at
any time in such activity she would have nothing to do
with him.. At this point she noted that approximately
a month prior to the interview she had received several
letters that were returned to her from El Paso, Texas,
which she had written to her brother, indicating that
he was no longer at the El Paso County Jail. She
subsequently received a letter from her brother indicating
that he was at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners,
Springfield, Missouri. She noted that she answered this
letter immediately, but has not as yet heard from her
On
by
2/28/64
82-25 Grand Avenue
at Queens, New York
SAS FENJANIN P. GROGAN and
THOMAS J. DOWLING kgm
File # NY 65-23126
Date dictated 3/5/64
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI
your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency:
and is loaned to
13-00000
2
cul
DB.A
65895
HIGHLIL DUARSTA TONED FRUISE TOAN FTA WITO ANGEL FORMENTERANS S
NY 65-23126
brother. She stated that she expected to hear from her
brother immediately after he received her letter and the
fact that she has not heard has made her uneasy. She
noted that she offered, if permitted, to visit him, and
that she hoped to ascertain as a result of this visit,
the reason he attempted to rob a bank in El Paso, Texas,
on September 20, 1963. She advised that she has had no
reason to believe that her brother is not responsible for
his actions, and she noted that in one letter he wrote
to her that the bank robbery attempt was a pre-meditated
action on his part. She advised that her brother has
been in a depressed state of mind ever since he had been
accused of taking a bribe and fired from his position
with the California State Liquor Authority. She noted
that she believed, as her brother claims, that this
purported bribe was set up to remove her brother from his
position with the California State Liquor Authority
because of his honesty and failure to handle investigations
as insturated by superiors.
When questioned as to whether or not her brother,
Richard Case Nagell, maintains any type of property at her
residence, she advised that he does maintain a military
type metal foot locker, and that he has maintained it at
her residence since his discharge from the United
States Army. She noted that as this foot locker is
her brother's property, she is not aware of its contents,
although she believes it contains mementoes of his
military service, including his medals and a complete
uniform. She advised that she does not even know whether or
not the foot locker is open or locked.
It is noted that during the course of the inter-
view of Eleanore Gambert, her husband, Loui Gambert
was present.
13-00000
FD-204 (Rev. 3-3-50)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BA (03/77
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Copy to:
Report of: SA DAVID J REID
Date: February 4, 1964
Field Office File Noir EP 65-951
Office: EL PASO
Bureau File No.:
Character:
Synopsis:
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
ESPIONAGE
REVIEWED BY FRV FK TASK FORCE
9/27/98
EN FULL
RELEASE IN PART
TOTAL DENIAL
Background: Subject entered U.S. Army 8/5/48 and
honorably discharged as Captain 10/29/59. Received many
campaign awards during Korean conflict Sole survivor
airplane crash 11/28/54, suffered facial disfigurement
and given psychiatric examination. Subject claimed he was
released from employment by
Los Angeles, California, 6% Beverage Department,
taking $20,000
of his shooting
did
9 •
having been accused of
Subject refused furnish police details
unidentified assailant on 7/16/62 and
subsequently filed Civil Rights complaint against police
In September 1962, subject advised U. S. Embassy, Mexico
City, he had been approached for recruiting in Mexico City,
refused to elaborate,
not desire to return to U. S., was
"bitter, disgusted, disillusioned and disaffected." Said if
he did go to some other country it would cost U. S. millions
was "through being a good citizen" and thought he had gotten
a dirty deal all around." Advised FBI in New Ye City on
11/16/62 he wanted to expose Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control in California. Advised FBI in Jacksonville, Fla
12/15/62 he had been approached shortly before in Washington,
D. C., by individual believed to be working for Soviets;
contacted CIA in Virginia for instructions, was sent to
Miami. Fla by his Soviet contact and said he believed he
actually working for Soviets. Subject's condition
diagnosed at VA Hospital, Bay Pines, Fla.,
on
January, 1963,
as "chronic brain syndrome associated with brain trauma with
behavioral reaction characterized by passive, aggressive and
paranoid features. Asked FBI Fiami on 1/24/63 if his
This document contains the
་་
CS.
.COPY...
✓ the 
property of the FRI and is loaned to your agency. It and
mendations for conclusions of the I.
ntents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
201-146537.

13-00000
65-951
Cuban or Russian sources gave him a pistol and microfilm,
would he be permitted to return same to his contact so he
could be of further use to U. 5. Government, Claimed to be.
constantly under surveillance. Advised FBI in Los Angeles
on 4/19/63 he had taken former wife to court on same date for
failure to comply with court order giving subject visitation
rights with children. Subject's condition diagnosed by VA,
Los Angeles, on 6/4/63 as "depression, tearful, nervous
rigid Would only utter words 'Got to see
my kids.!!
Attempted Bank Robbery: Subject arrested 9/20/63 in El Paso,
Texas on charge of
to rob State National Bank,
El Paso, same date
Slashed wrist ni section 2113, Title 18, USC.
treatment, highly
y.
9/20/63, felt he needed psychiatric
emotional when interviewed, given to spells
of crying stated unable to get on feet since discharge
from U. S. Army.
Cell mate said subject apparently became
member Communist Party during confused period after discharge,
decided everything was against him in Los Angeles and made
arrangements with Communist Party in Los A Angeles to pick up
visa and passport from contact in El Paso and eventually
end up in Czechoslovakia. Subject reportedly attempted
suicide three times enroute to Paso but lost nerve.
Advised FBI in El Paso on 1/6,64 he was instructed by agent
of foreign government in September, 1963, to comply with agree-
ment made in May, 1963, to participate in criminal offense
against United States or be exposed to FBI, which caused
Subject to act as he did on 9/20/63. Subject ordered
sent to Medical Center for Federal Prisoners; Springfield,
Missouri, on 1/24/64, by USDC, El Paso, for 30-day period to
undergo psychiatric examination. Alleged Connection with
LEE HARVEY OSWALD: Subsequent to President's assassination,
subject claimed acquaintance with OSWALD and wife. On 1/18/64,
MARINA C
OSWALD disclaimed any knowledge of subject. Description
and Identification Record : Set out. SUBJECT HAS ATTEMPTED
SUICIDE.
la.
13-00000
CP 65-951
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chronological Record of Subject's Background
Attempted Bank Robbery and Aftermath
289248
Alleged Connection with LEE HARVEY OSWALD
Description
Identification Record
Page
30
30. 49
49
50
50 - 55
8
55
lb.
13-00000
EP 65-951
DETAILS:
AT EL PASO, TEXAS:
Investigation in this matter is based on statements
arrest in El Paso,
made by the subject subsequent to
Texas on September
Subject hinted that
1963, on a
9 robbery charge
might have been attempting to go
to Cuba and that he really did not have the intention of
robbing the State National Bank but committed the act due
to the direction he had taken toward going to Cuba
notebook which the subject had on his person when arrested
:
made reference to Medical Aid to Cuba, Fair Play for Cuba
"
Committee, the names of purported CIA Agents and other
information.
"
The April 6, 1960, edition of "The New York Times"
newspaper contained a full-page advertisement captioned
"What Is Really Happening in Cuba, placed by the
Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC). This advertisement
announced the formation of the FPCC in New York City
and declared the FPCC intended to promulgate "the
truth about revolutionary Cuba" to neutralize the
distorted American press,
"The New York Times" edition of January 11, 1961
reported that at a hearing conducted before the United
States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee on
January 10, 1961, Dr. CHARLES A. SANTOS-BUCH identified
himself and ROBERT TABER as organizers of the FPCC.
He also testified he and TABER obtained funds from the
Cuban Government which were applied toward the cost of
the afore-mentioned advertisement.
On May 16, 1963, a source advised that during the first
two years of the FPCC's existence there was a struggle
between Communist Party (CP) and Socialist Workers
Party (SWP) elements to exert their power within the
FPCC and thereby influence FPCC policy. However, during
past year this source observed there has been a
successful effort by FPCC leadership to minimize the
role of these and other organizations in the FPCC so
that today their influence is negligible.
13-00000
EP 65-951
On May 20, 1963, a second source advised that the
National Headquarters of the FPCC is located in Room 329
at 799 Broadway, New York City. According to this source
the position of National Office Director was created in
the fall of 1962 and was filled by VINCENT "TED" LEE,
who now formulates FPCC policy.. This source observed
LEE has followed a course of entertaining and accepting
the cooperation of many other organizations including
the CP and the SWP when he has felt it would be to his
personal benefit as well as the FPCC's. However, LEE
has indicated to this source he has no intention of
permitting FPCC policy
organization.
LEE fee O be determined by any other
the FPCC should advocate resump-
tion of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the
United States and support the right of Cubans to
manage their revolution without interference from
other nations, but not support the Cuban revolution
per se.
The CP and the SWP have been designated pursuant to
Executive Order 10450.
CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF SUBJECT'S BACKGROUND
August 5, 1948
A review on October 17, 1963, of the Military
Service Records on file at the Military Personnel Records
Center, St. Louis, Missouri, indicated that RICHARD CASE
NAGELL, Serial Number 12 115 891, enlisted in the United
States Army on August 5, 1948
November 28, 1954 to April 8 1955
On September 30, 1963, EP T-1 furnished the following
information regarding RICHARD CASE NAGELL:
The subject underwent treatment at the Walter Reed
Hospital, Washington, D. C. as a result of an airplane crash
on November 28, 1954, in which the subject was involved.
The subject was the sole survivor of this crash. The subject
3.
13-00000
P65-951
DJ C.
on
as admitted to Bolling Air Force Base Hospital in Washington,
in a comotose condition. When examined by a doctor
March 17, 1955, at Walter Reed Hospital, the subject was
conscious, confused and hostile, complaining of a pain in his
head. The subject was depressed and expressed the wish that
he had died in the crash. Subject had facial disfigurement
as a result of the crash. The subject was suspicious of
S asked him. When subject was examined on Apri 8,
the hostility had disappeared and his suspicions mad
been lessened. His responses at that time were regarded as
normal.
In 1960 the subject's sister, Mrs. GAMBERT, 8225
Grand Avenue, Elmhurst, Long Island, New York, indicated that
the subject could then be contacted through Post Office
Box 76121, Sanford Station Los Angeles, California.
She indicated that the subject had been discharged from the
United States Army in November, 1959. She also indicated
that the subject still complained of head injuries and when
he was tired he had a twitch in one eye as well as some loss
of mobility in his other eye
When contacted on September 30, 1963, EP T-1 was
of the opinion that the subject still apparently needed
psychiatric treatment. He said he was unable to evaluate
the subject's activities subsequent to 1955 ct since
fact that no contacts had been made with the
that time.
view of the
The above information as furnished by EP T-1 can
be made available only the issuance of a subpoena duces:
tecum. The identity of person to be subpoenaed is Lieutenant
Colonel JOHN J. WARD, Registrar, Walter Reed General Hospital,
6825 16th Street, Northwest, Washington, D
D. C.
April, 1956
In April, 1956, Captain CHARLES STANLEY, Administrative:
Vice Detail, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles,
California, advised that one RICHARD C. NAGELL had questioned
13-00000
EP 65-951
two of his officers at a Japanese restaurant which they were
checking in regard to well known Oriental gamblers. When
refused to answer NAGELL's questions, NAGELL
card purporting to be an identification card of
Counter-Intelligence. Nothing of value was obtained by
the
dis
NAGELL
October 29, 1959
A review on October 17, 1963, of the military
service records on a file at the Military Personnel Records
Center St. Louis, Missouri, indicated that RICHARD CASE
NAGELL, serial number 02 028 346, was honorably discharged
from the United States Army as a Captain at Fort Dix New
Jersey, on October 29, 1959, by reason of unqualified
resignation.
After having enlisted in the United States Army
on August 5, 1948, with serial number 12 115 891, NAGELL
was honorably discharged on the first
1951, as a Sergeant at Fort
a commission in the United on on August 1,
to accept
Officers Reserve
་
Corps. NAGELL was appointed and commissioned a Second
Lieutenant on August 2, 1951, under serial number 02 028 346,
and entered on active duty on the same date at Fort Benning,
Georgia. While serving on active duty as an officer, he
..
was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Officers
Reserva Corps on November 14, 1952.
The service records indicated that NAGELL served
in the United Nations Summer-Fall Campaign in Korea, the
Second Korean Winter Campaign in Korea, the Korean Summer-
Fall Campaign in 1952. the Third Korean Winter Campaign in
1953, and the United States Summer-Fall Campaign in 1953
Ke was awarded the Korean Service Medal with one Silver Star,
the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service
Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart with two Oak
Leaf Clusters, the Expert Infantry Badge, the Parachute
Glider Badge, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the Republic
of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.
HIA character and efficiency ratings ranged from
unknown to s
superior, and there is no record of courts-martial
or absence without official leave.
5.
13-00000
EP 65-951
December 14, 1959
On December 15, 1962, the subject advised Special
Agents of the FBI at Jacksonville, Florida, that he began
his employment with the State Beverage Department in Los
Angeles, California, on December 14, 1959.
March 28, 1962 and May 14, 1962
On September 23, 1963, EP T-2 made available the
records of the United States Veterans Administration Hospital,
Sastell California, which were found to contain the
informauon that the subject was admitted d to the hospital
on March 28, 1952, and again on May 14, 1962, complaining
of foreign matter in his eyes.
The above information can be made available only
The identity
upon the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum.
of the person to be subpoenaed is HAROLD G. COBB, Chief, Registrar
Division, Veterans Administration Admission Center Los Angeles 25,
California.
May 31 1962
The FBI Identification Record of RICHARD CASE
NAGELLA
number 631 219 E, dated September 21, 1963,
contains the information that the subject was arrested by
the Los Angeles, California, Police Department on May 31,
1962, on a drunk charge. No disposition is shown on the
record.
June 8, 1962
On December 15, 1962, the subject advised Special
Agents of the FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, that in June,
1962, he was accused of taking a $20,000 bribe by the State
Beverage Department, Los Angeles, California, and was
released from his employment on June 8, 1962, for refusing
to answe
questions. The subject said he talked to the FBI
possibility of his dismissal
in Los Angeles regarding il rights.
being a violation of his
13-00000
EP 65-951
July 16, 1962 to July 23 1962
On September 23, 1963, EP T-2 made available the
records of the United States Veterans Administration Hospital
Sawtell California, which were found to contain t
mation that the subject was admitted to the hosp the infor-
on
July 16, 1962 for a small caliber gun shot wound in his right
chest The subject was released on July 23, 1962, according
to the records, which further indicated that the subject
furnished only vague information regarding this matter.
The a above information
be made available only
upon the issuance of a subpoes tecum.
the person to be subpoenaed
The identity of
HAROLD G. COBB, Chief, Registrar
Division, Veterans Administration Admission Center, Los Angeles 25,
California.
July 30, 1962
On July 30, 1962, the subject advised Special Agents.
of the Los Angeles Office of the FBI that he was residing
at 4037 Leeward Avenue, Los Angel
CO California, and that
he was on suspension from the Alcoholic and Beverage Control
(ABC), State of California. He stated that on April 1, 1961,
he transferred from the Department of ent to the
ABC and had been employed since that time
until his suspension on June 8, 1962.
a Special Agent,
NAGELL stated that on May 30, 1962, he and his wife
had a domestic argument and, as a result of this, the police
were called and he was arrested for being drunk. NAGELL
claims he was not drunk and that the Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment was "rousting him." NAGELL was able to make bond the
Affairs,
same night and the next morning went to Internal s
Los Angeles Police Department, because he was mad at the
previous night's treatment and made some general complaints
to them about Los Angeles Police personnel. NAGELL stated
make any specific complaints and told Internal
Affairs he would contact them at a later date to furnish them
more detailed information.
that he did not s
NAGELL advised that he then went to his superiors
and advised them of what had happened. As a result of all of
this, NAGELL stated he was placed on suspension on June 8,
1962, on charges of creating a disturbance for being drunk
13-00000
EP 65-951
and making allegations to the Los Angeles Police Department,
which he later stated were not true.
NAGELL stated
2 at he is presently une
awaiting a hearing
suspension. He stated
hopes to be reinstated so he can clear his name and then he
will resign his position. NAGELL advised that on the
evening of July 16, 1962, he was returning from Oxnard,
California. He
noticed an automobile on two occasions
behind him, and at about 8:00 PM stopped his car on the
highway near Malibu, California. Two men from the car
jumped into his car They were dressed in business suits,
and he thought at first they were police officers. One of
the men asked him where his gun was, and he told the man it
was locked in the glove compartment. He gave this man the
key to his glove compartment, and while the man was opening
the compartment, NAGELL took his gun from his waist. The
.
man struggled with NAGELL for the gun and four shots were
fired, one hitting NAGELL in the chest. The man said that
if NAGELL had not grabbed for the gun he would not have been
shot.
NAGELL advised that these men drove him to a medical
and left him. NAGELL stated
center in Malibu, California,
that he then drove himself back to Los Angeles, California,
and ended up at the Veterans Hospital Sawtell California.
NAGELL stated that he is sure now that the men were not
police officers. He stated that he does not know who shot
him or why he was shot.
As a result of the shooting, detectives from the
Los Angeles Police Department came to the hospital to
question him. He stated that he did not like their attitude and
refused to tell them any details. The investigating officers
impounded his 1957 Ford and also took all of his personal
belongings he had with him at the time, including his driver.
license Social Security card, and Selective Service
Registration. NAGELL stated that on July 25, 1962, he
received a money order from a relative, and because he had
identi and that this situation made him "hot
was unable to cash it He advised that he
has a quick
under the collar."
For this reason he contacted the FBI,
13-00000
EP. 65-951
complaining that his c civil rights had been violated in hopes
that the
contact the Los Angeles Police and
the
facilita Would
return of his property. Later, on the same
day of July 25, 1962, the Police Department did return all
of his property except the automobile, which was returned
on July 26, 1962.
Mr.
stated that in retrospect he believes
that the Policent did have a right to take the
above items
line with their investigation. He stated that
if it would be possible, he would like to rescind his
original complaint. Mr. NAGELL declined to furnish a
signed statement.
The following article appeared in the Santa Monica
Outlook of July 18, 1962:
"Police Probe Mystery Shooting of Detective
"West Los Angeles police today are investigating
the strange shooting of RICHARD C. NAGELL, 32, former
investigative officer for the Alcoholic Beverage Control
Board.
"NAGELL, in satisfactory condition in Veterans
Hospital in West Los Angeles with a bullet wound in the
chest, isn't talking, according to police.
ording to poll
"Officer JIM MAXWELL said he received a call Monday
from NAGELL asking that the California Central Investigative
and Identification Bureau be notified that he had been
shot Then NAGELL hung up.
☐ Wound
"A few moments later, a second call came in from a
witness who said that a man suffering from a bullet
had driven up to him and asked for directions to a
hospital.
"At the Veterans Hospital, officers found:
9

13-00000
EP 65-951
"NAGELL being treated for wounds from a bullet which
had pénétrated into his chest and out his back.
"Powder burns and a hole in NAGELL's shirt,
"A .32-caliber bullet embedded in the back of
the driver's seat of NAGELL's car.
"A dent in the roof and a hole in the upholstery in
NAGELL's car, which we
caused by a second bullet,
officers believed
"NAGELL would say only that his wound was not self-
inflicted, officers said.
"Detectives are e continuing to investigate all
possibilities of the case
September 28, 1962 and October 1, 1962
On September 28, 1962, the subject appeared of his
own volition at the American Embassy, Nexico City, Mexico,
and volunteered the following information:
Although he declined to furnish a local residence
address for himself in Mexico City, he stated he could be
contacted through a friend d named ARTHUR GREENSTEIN,. Room
#415, Hotel Iuma, whom he said he contacts every day. He
also exhibited his Tourist Card Number 152087, which listed
his address as 4037 Leeward Avenue, Los Angeles, California
This card showed that it had been issued at Los Angeles on
August 17, 1962 and that NAGELL had entered Mexico through
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, on August 24, 1962. The card also
reflected that he established his identification by
exhibiting United States Passport Number C526729.
:
He related that he had formerly been employed
by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control of the
State of California as a Special Investigator. He stated
that as a result of his investigation of some large cafes
and bars in the Los Angeles area, one of which he named as
the Mauna Loa, and some controversy which he had had with
10.
13-00000
EP 65-951
C
officers of the Los Angeles Police Department during the
course of his investigations, he had been suspended on
June 8, 1962, and later on June 22, 1962, had been
dismissed.
He mentioned that on July 15, 1962, "while
making a meet" between Malibu and Oxnard, he had been shot
in the chest. In connection with this latter incident,
he exhibited a brief newspaper clipping which mentioned
that he had refused
or furnish informat, mpletely to identify his assailants
which would assist the police in
“identifying and locating the person or persons involved
He stated further that on August 6, 1962, he had
withdrawn his
his 
request for a hearing so that he could get
the money which he alleged was due him from the State of
California, consisting of $800.00 retirement contributions
and $300.00 for unused accumulated leave.
dat
have
He stated that he felt he had been "let down" by
the United States Government, both in the United States
and during the time he had been in Mexico. He stated
representatives of the United States Government could
assisted him in obtaining
ning 
his money from the State of
California but were only interested in soliciting from
him information concerning hoodlums and other lawless
elements, for the giving of which information he "could
get his head blown off." He stated that he felt he had
been let down by the United S
States Government in Mexico
because nothing had been done by the Embassy in regard to
his requests to have it assist him i
in collecting this money
which he alleged was due him from the Stateof California.
He said that he himself had sent letters to California
asking for payment of this money
of payment of this mone
S
By way of further background, he claimed to have
served in the United States Army from August 5, 1948, (then
18 years old) until October 29, 1959, and had held the rank
of Captain between the ages of 22 and 29. He stated that
he had received an honorable discharge and had been wounded
11.
13-00000
EP 65-951
three times in the Korean War. He stated that he made the
major mistake of his life when he did not re-enlist and
continue in the Army. Besides combat duty in the Infantry,
he worked as an Investigator in the Counter Intelligence
Corps.
He mentioned that he spoke Japanese fluently
and had been married to a Japanese woman, who he said was
divorcing him in California. He also complained in this
connection that the California Courts had awarded the
custody of their children to her.
He stated that he thought he had been approached
here in Mexico
City for recruiting, but
although asked
specifically in this regard, refused to state by whom nor.
for what or on behalf of what country. He stated that
one job of this sort would be in New York.
volunteered
in so many words that he
fully realized that what he was
saying could be used against him in any court or prosecu-
tion. He stated that he had almost made up his mind
definitely that he would leave Mexico, but that he would
not go back to the United States. He stated that he did
not care to return to the es. He stated that
so far he had "done nothing
to the United States.
He stated that he was completely "disaffected, and that
be knew the full significance of that term. He also stated
and disaffected
that he was "bitter, disgusted dis tf he did
One thing, he said, that he could say.
go to some other country, it would cost the United States
millions. He
citizen
and Stated that he was "through being a good
thought he had gotten a "dirty deal all around
He was told to go to the Protection Section in
regard to any problems s in Mexico as an American citizen.
He stated that he had been to the Protection Section and
would
he not go there again, and that the way he was feeling,
not go back to the United States. He said that
“he had nothing to go back for, and that his dismissal
record would prevent him from getting a good job anywhere
in the United States. He mentioned that the only job he
had ever worked at was that of an investigator.
12.
13-00000
EP 65-951
He also mentioned that the Veterans Affairs Attache
in the American Embassy had his military record in connection
College on the G.I. Bill, but to do that he would have
enroll first and pay tuition himself which he could not
view of his financial straits.
with a request he had previously made to attend Mexico
in
He stated at first that he was behind in his hotel
bill, but later indicated that he had been keeping his hotel
charges paid. He also mentioned that he had previously
obtained a small loan from the American Benevolent Society
which he had since repaid.
In regard to finances, he stated that he was
receiving $150.00 disability pension a month because of
wounds received in the Korean hostilities during which
he was wounded three times
He stated that he had come to the Embassy to
state his side in case something should happen and was
told that the statements he was making would be made a matter
of record with the Embassy. He was advised not to do anything
he might regret, to which he replied, "What have 1 to lose?.??
He stated that unless he received the $1,100.00 soon, that the
State of California owed him, he was going to some other
country, and that it would not be the United States,
refused to say what for or what the Country might be
through specifically questioned as to whether he had in
mind Russia or Cuba. He said he wanted to have the Embassy
know how he felt, but added, "I'm not going to lay my head
down on the chopping block.
but he
even
It was noted that he was very tense, nervous
agitated and antagonistic throughout this interview.
On October 1, 1962, this same individual reappeared
and wanted to know what had been done
When asked what he meant by this,
at the American Embassy
in regard to his case
he stated he meant in regard to getting the State of California
to pay him the money due him.
He was told that at his
13.
13-00000
EP 65-951
request, he had been permitted to make statements on the
previous occasion for the purpose of having those statements
made of record with the Embassy and he was assured that this
was being done. However, he was told that for any assistance
in regard to his financial situation in Mexico, he should
contact the Protection and Welfare Section to see if that
section could be of any assistance.
At first ated he
would not visit the Protection Section again,
of
on leaving
he stated he was going there and also asked what section.
the Embassy he should contact to renounce his United
States
citizenship.
A short time later on October 1, 1962, he d did:
contact the Protection and Welfare Section, where he was
advised that the section could not intercede for him
in the collection of his alleged debt from the State of
California.
Shortly thereafter, he
and Citizenship Section, where h Peared in the Passport
refused to give his name
but asked what the penalty would be for going to an Iron
and what effect it would have on his citizen-
Curtain was ced that such an action would be a violation
ship. He
of Federal law
NAGELL also on October 1, 1962, appeared in the
Office of Veterans Affairs, American Embassy, Mexico City,
and stated that he was withdrawing his request for G.I.
educational benefits as a Korean veteran.
with short time later on October 1, 1962, he left
6
Embassy a copy of his letter of August 7, 1962,
to the S State of California Personnel Board, which, for
the purpose of further background, is set out in its
entirety as follows:
"State J Personnel Board
"801 Capitol Avenue
'Sacramento, California
"Gentlemen
"August 7, 1962
14.
13-00000
EP 65-951
"I hereby withdraw my appeal of the punitive
action taken against me for dismissal by the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control. I withdraw my request for
à hearing in this matter by the State Personnel Board
"I hereby state that the sole reason for this
withdrawal of my appeal and request for a hearing is because
of my financial situation. Continued, and what I consider to
be unjustified.
situation in which I
pos of my hearing have created a
afford to meet my daily living
.9.
the most recent date given
Also, I am unable to obtain
expenses until August 30,
to me as the date of my he
employment in Los Angeles because of the stigma attached to
my dismissal.
"Previously, I had hoped to remove such stigma by
Showing at the hearing that my dismissal was not only improper,
but that the alleged reasons for my dismissal were exagerated,
distorted, and untrue, and the result of v vindictiveness on
the part of certain senior members of the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control after it came to their attention that i
intended to disclose to the State Attorney General's Office
adverse information pertaining to corruption withir said
Department and the liquor industry here in Southern California
"I request that my retirement contributions and
reimbursement for unused leave be forwarded to me at t
the
below listed address as soon as practical.
"Yours truly
"/s/ RICHARD C. NAGELL
"RICHARD CASE NAGELL.
"Box 76121, Sanford Station
Los Angeles 5, California"
November 16, 1962
On November 16, 1962, the subject advised Special
Agents of the New York City Office of the FBI that he was.
15.
13-00000
EP 65-951
a Special Investigator for the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control (ABC), State of California, Los Angeles
California, and had been dismissed in June, 1962, for
his failure to answer questions pertaining to allegations
he made concerning corruption within that organization.
:
NAGELL stated he was presently residing with his
sister, ELEANOR GAMBERT, 82-25 Grand Avenue, Elmhurst,
Queens, Long Island, New York, telephone number HA 6-6830,
and was attempting to obtain employment in the New York area.
NAGELL advised his present objective was to have the California
ABC exposed, and he was willing to furnish "court room
testimony that would result in the prosecution of many
Los Angeles hoodlums and their attorneys, who have acted
as go-betweens in securing alcoholic beverage licenses
through payoffs.
NAGELL advised that he was shot in July 1962, as
a result of his refusal to "lay off" the Mauna-Loa investiga-
tion; however he declined to disclose the details concerning
the actual shooting.
NAGELL stated he had furnished some information to
the State of California investigators assigned to the
California Attorney General's Office; however, nothing was
accomplished through this.
NAGELL appeared overwrought and obsessed with a
desire to expose the ABC, and, as a result, clear his n name
He stated this situation has caused a separation between
himself and his wife and children, who are still residing in
Los Angeles.
NAGELL advised he had spoken with SA "DICK" RICHARDS
of the Los Angeles Office on three or four occasions; however,
he had given limited information to him, due to personal
circumstances at the time. He requested that apologies be
conveyed to SA RICHARDS for not "going all the way" on
revealing all he knew concerning individuals in whom SA
RICHARDS expressed an interest.
The following information was presented by NAGELL
to the interviewing Special Agent on two typewritten sheets
16.
13-00000
EP 65-951
о
"As of the aforementioned date, and prior thereto,
responsible authorities of the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control were aware of the foregoing information.
The two agents who handled special ownership investigations
in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area (consisting of 3500
licensees) were OWEN J. MC CARD, a hanger-on and close friend
of WILLIAM G. BONELLI, former Director of SBE, and myself
During the course of my investigations I received pressure
from both MC CARD and certain superiors to fluff off on
certain investigations, and to p press others depending on the
licensee or who the hoodlums were in back of the business
concerned This I did not do. In my opinion this resulted
directly in my dismissal from the
Issa from 
the 
department, regardless of
what other ostensible reasons were tendered. It is a fact
that 1 was shot as a result of one of my investigations even
though it could have been avoided by myself. Certain
reports of investigations which I turned in were not forwarded
thru proper
Channels; some of them were destroyed;
pulled off of some investigations before their comp
(which were not reassigned); certain licensees
T
that I was investigating them; and I was aware Fre notified
of bribes being
offered in quite a few instances. Some of the attorneys who
acted as go-betweens in these affairs were as follows:
"Murray Choitner
Paul Angelillo
Michael Flynn
Nate Snyder
Harry Weiss
a Mr. Hall
Carl Sturzenacker
Goodwin J Knight
"Los Angeles:
"Following is a partial list of persons who are not
qualified to hold alcoholic beverage licenses, but who in
fact owned businesses, partly or completely, which were
licensed (or which were in the process of being licensed)
as of August 21, 1962.
"Morris Bort
Rudy Cleye
Sam Cuda
Louis Dragna
Mickey Cohen
Martin Cusimano
17.
13-00000
EP 65-951
C
"Herman Duboff
Sam Hollock
Johnny LaGuardia
Harry Nishimoto:
Joe Sica
Fujiko Thomas
Benson Wong
Carlo Fiorentino
Mickey Koomer
Joe Neil
Fred Sica
Nick Simponis
Oscar Wakefield
Esther Wright
"Following is a partial list of licensed premises
(or premises in the process of being licensed) whose businesses
were owned, partly or completely, by unqualified persons, or
in which such persons held a controlling interest, as of August
21, 1962.
"Beverly Hilton Hotel
Black Orchid.
Carlo's Little Italy.
Dorando's Pizza House
Figer
Imperial Gardens
Jerry Lewis
Moma Lion
Moulin Rouge
New Ginza
Sherry's
The Abbey
November 28, 1962
Black Bear Cafe.
Blarney Castle
Date Room
El Rancho
Harold's 901 Club
It Club
The Largo
Mauna-loa
My Place.
Papa Lion
TJ's Cafe
The Annex"
On November 2 28, 1962, the subject contacted the
New York City Office of the FBI and advised as follows
the FBI and advised as fol
November 19, 1962 S
The subject stated that he believed that the
Superior Court of Los Angeles County did not give him a
fair chance to be heard when it granted his wife MITSUKO
NAGELL (nee TAKAHASHI) an interlocutory divorce decree on
of which he had just received notice.
NAGELL claimed that he was aware of the divorce proceedings
and, in fact, did appear during preliminary bearings and
actually entered a cross-complaint but it was his understanding
18
13-00000
EP 65-951
that the actual trial would not take place until December
next. He stated that he left California in August, 1962, and
went to Mexico, where he remained until October 28, 1962.
He claimed that his wife's attorney knew this and apparently
brought the case on prematurely so that he would be deprived
of his day in court
NAGELL claimed that he has written a protest to the
court granting the divorce, claiming he was deprived of his
right to be heard and to have a jury trial. He stated that
he is consulting the Legal Aid Society and the Veterans
Administration concerning this matter since his Army pension
his only current income
is
December 15, 1962
in intelligence "
On December 15, 1962, the subject advised Special
Agents of
of 
the FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, that he had
served as a captain in the U. 5. Army and had been i involved
investigations for the CIC for approximately
seven years. He said he served in Japan for most of his
period of time and married a Japanese woman named MITSUKI NAGELL
from whom he is presently divorced. He advised that during
1957 and 1958 he became acquainted in Japan with one Doctor
e at Tokyo,
CHAKAO FUJISAWI, a professor of Political r of the
Japan, University. He said this person was
Cabinet Research Office (CRO), a rightist organization. He
said this person is presently in the United States, place
unknown and deems him detrimental to the safety of f the internal
security of the United States. He said in either 1958 or 1959
he directed an anonymous letter to the FBI in Washington,
D. C. relative to the above information concerning FUJISAWI.
He stated he was discharged honorably from the U. S. Army on
October 29, 1959, and subsequently became employed on December 14,
1959 by the State Beverage Department in Los Angeles, California
He said in June, 1962, he was accused of taking a $20,000
bribe by the State Beverage Department and was released from
his employment on June 8, 1962, for refusing to answer
questions. He stated he talked d to the FBI in Los Angeles
regarding the possibility of his dismissal being a violation
of his civil rights.
19.

13-00000
EP 65-951
NAGELL advised that he went to Washington, D.
He stated while in
where he resided until recently.
Washington, N
D. C. he had been a approached by an individual
whom he felt was either a Special Agent of the FBI or a
Soviet Espionage Agent. He said he met this person in
bar in Washington, D. C., located at 811 14th Street NW,
Washington, D. C. He said this person talked of Domestic
intelligence and also talked of giving him an intelligence
assignment. He said the more he thought this matter over
ho was positive that this individual works for the Soviets
He said that in September, 1962, he was invited
to attend a reception at the Russian Embassy. He could not
identify the individual who invited him to t
the reception.
He advised that he contacted the Central Intelligence Agency
at either Langley, Virginia, or Elwood, Virginia, and used
the name of JOE CRAMER or KRAMER during this contact with
GTA He said he told them of the above information and
wanted some advice as to whether to go through with such
an assignment He said he was to meet this individual who
was to give him the assignment at the above-mentioned bar
on 14th Street, and in order to be recognized, he was to
place three n
on the bar in line with a dime placed
directly over 1 middle nickel. He said the CIA told him
that since this matter involved domestic rather than foreign
intelligence he should refer this information to the FBI
"
::,,,。,”
He stated he went to the above bar and there was
contacted by the same person and was told to go to Miami
Florida, to a bar and wear a red sweater, where he would
be contacted relative to an assignment.
It is to be noted that during the
interview
and was very vague in answein an ine ondition
with NAGELL, he was noted to
*
questions.
He was unable to
identify by name any of the individuals he discussed and was
also unable to furnish a physical description of any of these
individuals. In addition
also gave the impression 0 being slightly inebriated he
mentally unbalanced.
the i
interviewing agents of being
20%
13-00000
EP 65-951
:.
NAGELL stated he is presently residing at the
Holiday Inn, Jacksonville, Florida, and would be there for
the next few days. He said he is presently driving a 1959
Ford which bears California license MYU 890. He said he has
no living relatives except his former wife, who resides at
440 South Union Avenue, Los Angeles, California, and his
sister, ELEANORE GAMBERT, 8225 Grand Avenue, Elmhurst,
New York.
☐ for the
NAGELL advised that he believes in connection
with his contacts that he is actually working
Soviets. He could furnish no information as to a specific
assignment given him other than that he was
wait it in a bar which he is unable
Miami
to
go to
to identify and
contacted by a Soviet Agent. He said he spoke.
an fluently and
Japanese and Russian
Spanish language. He said he was well versed in the
shot in June, 1962,
but refused to discuss any of the incidents surrounding the
shooting. He said his auto has several bullet holes in it.
He furnished a photograph of himself.
On December 17, 1962 efforts were made to locate
NAGELL for reinterview; however, it was determined that he
had checked out of the motel and left no forwarding address
December 20, 1962 to January 22, 1963
November 25, 1963, T-2
records regarding the subject, covering the period when the a
Hospital,
Bay Pines, Florida, from December 20, 1962, to January 22,
1963 One clinical record contained the following informa-
tion
"INTERIM SUMMARY (INTERSERVICE)
"1. HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS: This 32 year old white male
veteran of Korean War was admitted to Ward 1-5-S on 12-20-62
because of complaints of headache and lapses of memoi y.
He claims these since an airplane accident he had had in
21,
13-00000
EP 65-951
1954 with head injury and brain concussion. He said he was
admitted to Walter Reed Hospital for a period of approximately
six months and at that time he was unconscious for approximately
twenty days. This accident left
Aim with a left facial
paralysis and some difficulty in his memory. Since two
weeks ago his headache is worse and he complains of it all
the time. He feels more nervous and looks as though he is
in real emotional distress with periods of depression.
Y.
"2 PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: Revealed a well nourished well
developed patient with periods of depression during which he
cries and sometimes said that he wishes he were dead. Other
times, he looks angry and anxious He is well oriented
as to time and place, but sometimes needs to look in
a small
booklet to remember dates or names Sometimes during the
conversation he stops and tries to remember what he wanted to
tell at that time it seems that he is not able to continue
and cries. Blood pressure 120/80, pulse 68, height 6'1" and
weight 175 pounds. Pupils are equal and normal reaction to
light and consensual reflex. He shows a left facial paralysis.
idual from the head injury Lungs are clear. Heart
in good toņus and sinus rhythm, No edema. Abdomen is flat,
no masses and organs
palpable. Neurological
examination is normal except a left facial paralysis and
Some staggering during Romberg procedure. Optic fundi was
normal, peripheral vision by confrontation is normal
soft 9
LABORATORY AND X-RAY FINDINGS: Skull and chest x-ray
essentially negative. EKG normal. EEG without a definite
abnormality The s spinal fluid shows a total protein of
55 mg. without any increase of globulin, 1 ymph, and
serology negative. Pressure was 80 mm of water. Routine
laboratory study normal. A psychological evaluation done
by Dr. Martin reports some
3.
with inability to integrat efect in the intellectual sphere
.:
and a waxing and waning of
alertness, which he said resembles that seen in epileptoid
individuals.
COURSE IN HOSPITAL: During the time he was in this ward,
this
patient complained of headache more of the time and said
tay only stop during the time he is asleep. Most of the
13-00000
EP 65-951
time he looks depressed, but sometimes angry He wrote many
letters about different subjects and
nd 
some of these, it seems
emanate from a patient who is under the effect of a depressive
The patient was transferred to Ward 22-4-S on
feeling
1-15-63.
TRANSFER DIAGNOSES AND PRESENT STATUS:
1. Chronic brain syndrome secondary to
brain concussion in 1954.
Treated Unchanged
Untreated Unchanged
Behavorial reaction passive-aggresive
type with paranoid traits.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Transfer to 22-4-S.
Another clinical record made reference to the above
mentioned clinical record and stated "Paragraphs 1, 2, 3
and 4 of Interim Summary (Interservice) dated 1-15-63
remain unchanged with the following addendum.
COURSE IN HOSPITAL (Cont'd): This patient was transferred
to the open section of
the Psychiatric ward after having been
seen by the Chief of the Psychiatric Service on two occasions
At that time the Neurological Service felt that patient had
received maximum hospital benefit from their viewpoint and
because of his hostility and irritability that he should be
placed on the Psychiatric ward for further observation. He
complains frequently of not receiving
the at
attention that he
felt he should have and that he wasn't getting the p privacy
that he also thought he should have. On his initial interview
he refused to discuss why he was in the hospital, saying that
he had been through all this before. He relates that he did
not
want to attend the group psychiatric conferences because
he did not want anyone to know about his private business.
-
interview if I want
He insisted' am entitled to on the ward and showed poor
on e. He was somewhat withdrawn o
inter-personal relationship. One of his chief complaints
while being on this ward was his headaches and he related that
they were getting worse. He stated 'Nothing that they give
me here is doing any good After several days of listening
:
23
13-00000
انفعة الاكتفاء
EP 65-951
to his demands a better rapport was established and a private
interview, was given him. He seemed well oriented in all
spheres. Speech was of normal flow and coherent. He showed
no flight of ideas He denied delusions or hallucinations.
No suicidal or homicidal tendencies were elicited. He states
that his main trouble is 'headaches which I have had continuously
recently. He also complains of 'dizziness, and at times an
unsteady gait. These symptoms are sometimes associated with
a transient loss of memory. During the interview his retention
and recall were good. Sensorium was intact. When I asked
him what he thought was wrong he said 'I think my trouble is
physiologic.' When I asked
he stated My trouble is alm what he meant by physiologic
due to my head injury. He felt
reassured when I told him that I thought some of his symptoms
were due to that mishap. Although he smoked continuously
during the interview he related quite a story about his Army
but was somewhat evasive
about the trouble he was in while in California, especially
the trouble involving the F.B.I. and some shooting event. He
was presented before t the Psychiatric stand and at first was
somewhat reluctant to answer questions and when asked a question
that was not due to his liking he would
'this is my
private life. During the Staff
said 'you
Psychiatrists are all stereotyped.
Staff
activities and his domestic situatio a
Conference "to"
During the
Conference, however, his mood was one of friendliness and
not one of depression, although he will occasionally get irri-
table when supposedly asked a personal question. After the
interview at the Staff Meeting he approached me saying that
he did not want any of the nurses aides to know about his
business and that was the reason why he refused to give out
any information. He further related that he keeps everything
in a
a little book that he has done or said because he has a poor
memory, although some of these memory deficits were not brought
out in the interview with him. He was advised to stay on the
ward for another week or two for further observation but he
felt that he did not
for him.
reason for him wishing to leave
was that 'he had a job in mind and was going for an interview.
Since his insight and judgment were unpredictable at times
and although no psychotic behavior was noted, it was felt
He also Sa O since nothing more could be done
24.
13-00000
EP 65-951
of the chronic
that he could leave the hospital AMA. In
nature of his illness the future prognosis
must be guarded as
to a possibility of a permanent future social economic adjustment.
Patient discharged A.M.A. on 1-22-63.
FINAL DIAGNOSIS AND PRESENT STATUS:
Chronic brain syndrome associated with brain trauma
(by history o of) with behavioral reaction characterized
by passive aggressive and paranoid features.
Treated.
(a)
(b)
(0)
Unchanged.
Precipitating Stress:
Unknown.
Predisposition: Moderate, by history of
frequent hospitalizations and interviews
for his present type of behavior.
Psychiatric,
Incapacity: Minimal
is competent at this time
Patient
RECOMMENDATIONS: That this patient should remain in a
hospital for further observation. However, if he so desired,
he could go A.M.A. to seek further NP care when indicated.
7. PRESENT STATUS OF SC DISABILITY Not examined for
rating purposes
The above mentioned clinical record from the Veterans
Administration Hospital in Bay Pines, Florida, can only be
made available upon the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum
The identity of the person to be subpoenaed is HAROLD G. COBB,
Chief, Registrar Division, Veterans Administration Admission-
Center, Los Angeles 25, California.
January 24, 1963
On January 24, 1963, the subject was contacted
by Special Agents of the Miami, Florida, Office of the
FBI at Northeast First Avenue and Fifth Street, Miami,
at which time he stated that his name was JOE KRAMER.
He
was sitting in his 1957 Ford hardtop, black and white in
color, bearing California license MYU 890.
25
13-00000
KP 65-951
Subject was very reluctant to furnish any informa-
tion but identified himself as
RICHARD CASE NAGELL, a former
Special Agent for the Liquor Control Office, State of
and a former Captain in
California, Los Angeles off rience in intelligence
the United States Army with
work with the CIC.
-
Subject stated he wished to be advised if he was
given a pistol with a silencer and possibly some microfilm
by sources Cuban, Russian or both - from Mexico City through
a Cuban in Miami - if he would be permitted to return these
items to his s contact so he could be of further use to the
United States Government. Subject stated he did not want to
cooperate fully with the United States Government or anyone
else. He gave the impression that he was better at
determining what the enemy is up to than
the agencies regularly
handling these matters, except the FBI. He stated the FBI'
is the only agency that has treated him well.
Subject stated within the next few days the
individual with the
gun would contact him and he would
immediately contact the FBI, provided the gun could be
returned to him in time to make the delivery to whomever
he had t to deliver it. When pressed for details subject was
very evasive and vague.
No, promises were made to the subject and the
espionage statutes and the registration act together with
other laws were explained to him and he acknowledged he was
fully aware of their provisions.
Subject stated he was discharged from the Liquor
Control authority in California under false charges of
accepting bribes. Immediately thereafter he left for
Mexico because he was disgusted with the United States.
In August or September, 1962, he met a man from Maryland in
Mexico City who introduced him to individuals whom he believed
may have been soviet agents. He refused to give descriptions
names or other details When questioned on specific points
he became
mysteriously evasive.
26.
13-00000
EP 65-951
the
Subject claimed he had names of all Americans
involved in activities against the United States in a safe
deposit box, the key to which he gave to a close friend in
the event of his death.
-
When subject was questioned concerning the details
of possible microfilm he might deliver, he stated that
maybe there would not be any microfilm, and that was a
conclusion on his part that microfilm would be delivered with
the pistol. He also stated he did not know what the gun
would be used for but since he was not stupid he thought it
might be used to kill someone with. Subject tore off the
corner of a $10.00 bill and offered it to the interviewing
agents to be used as identification in contacting him when
he would later call the FBI for a meeting. He suggested.
that the corner of the $10.00 bill be shown to a bartender
in a bar that he would name and then a waiter could let him
know that a friend wanted to see him. The agent stated this
would be unnecessary and he agreed to call the office
January 25, 1963.
Subject was highly critical of the operations of the
Central Intelligence Agency in Mexico, but trusted the FBI
and claimed he had contacts with FBI Agents in Mexico
City, Los Angeles and Jacksonville.
Subject furnished his driver's license which gave
his address as Box 76121 Sanford Station, Los Angeles,
fornia. His date of birth on the license is August 5
1938 and the address to notify in the event of emergency was
3751 6th Street, Los Angeles, California.
Late in the interview, subject reluctantly furnished
his temporary address in Miami which is Room 303, Holiday Inn,
2500 Brickell Avenue
Subject stated he is constantly under surveillance
that he has not been under the care of a psychiatrist and
that he might return to Mexico City.
April 19, 1963
On April 19, 1963, the subject contacted the Los
Angeles, California Office of the FBI and furnished the
following information to a Special Agent of that Office:
27.
13-00000
EP 65-951
The subject stated that he and his wife obtained
an interlocutory decree of divorce in Los Angeles County on
October 16, 1962 He said that one of the terms of this
decree was that he was to have reasonable visitation'
rights with his two small children. He said that his wife
has not complied with this court order so he had her
subpoenaed into court for contempt.
Subject said that he and his wife appeared in
court on April 19, 1963, and a female judge, name not known,
listened to the matter with subject acting as his own attorney
He said that the Judge interrupted him and instructed him to
obtain a lawyer before the proceedings would continue.
Subject advised that he argued with the Judge to no avail.
Subject said that he is unemployed and has no funds
to hire an attorney. He said that he went to the Legal Aid
Society
y 
and California Bar Association to obtain an attorney
but neither would furnish counsel.
At this point in the interview, the subject became
emotional and quite rude. He said that the Judge cannot order
him to hire an attorney if
he does not w
want one and to do
so is a violation of his civil rights. He raved on that
he was well aware of the law and demanded that the FBI
investigate the judge involved.
Civil
Subject was informed of the provisions of the
"
case Statutes and told that he should discuss this
satisfied
the United States Attorney, Los Angeles, if not
the matter. He mentioned as he was leaving that
comment ubject then left the office with no further.
if he did not get a job in the near future, he was going to
"blow the
lid off"concerning Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Sheriff's Office, Los Angeles County District
Attorney and the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
It is noted that subject at first refused to give
his address. He then stated that he had lived in Mexico City,
D.F. until about 30 days ago. He then gave his Los Angeles
28.
13-00000
EP
65-951
address as Post Office Box 75801, Sanford Station, Los Angeles
He then said he lived at 610 South Oxford Street, Los Angeles 45.
June 4, 1963 and August 14, 1963
On September 23, 1963, FP T-3 advised that the
medical records, Veterans Administration (VA) Outpatient
Clinic, 1031 South Broadway, Los Angeles, ☐ California,
contained the following information regarding the subject:
Wolowing infor
On June 4, 1963, NAGELL appeared at the Outpatient
Clinic and was referred to the Neurological Clinic for
treatment. His condition was diagnosed as "depression, tearful
nervous, rigid. Would only utter words Got to see my kids.
Records
On August 14, 1963, NAGELL appeared at the Outpatient
Clinic, complaining of "impairment of vision, left eye."
indicate foreign matter removed from eye and NAGELL discharged.
An appointment for September 16, 1963, was made for NAGELL,
but he failed to keep this appointment.
Records indicate the following service-connected
injuries have been entered on NAGELL's records:
Multiple scars, left face and head
Reconstructed left ear canal
Paresia (paralysis), partial, left facial nerve
Lagophthalmos left (defective hearing bilateral)
Multiple scars, left forearm, left buttocks, right
leg, and right knee
Tracheotomy
Fractures, right and left mandibles (jaw)
Rrain a concussion
Right hypertropia
The above information can be made available only
upon the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum. The identity of
the person to be subpoenaed is Mrs. MARGUERITE COFFEE,
Chief of Medical Records, VA Outpatient Clinic, 1031 South
Broadway, Los Angeles, California.
29.

13-00000
EP 65-951
August 23, 1963
On August 23, 1963, Assistant United States Attorney
THOMAS R. SHERIDAN, Los Angeles, California, advised that
one RICHARD C. NAGELL had been employed as a taxi cab driver:
in Beverly Hills, California, during recent weeks and claimed
to have formerly been an officer in the CIC Division of the
United States Army, Mr. SHERIDAN S
said NAGELL had claimed
recently to Special Agents of the Intelligence Division,
Internal Revenue Service, and to Mr. SHERIDAN that he, NAGELL,
had carried messages to various persons in the Beverly Hills
area, including JOHN BEBER, of Brand Motors, and others
connected with the Friar's Club in Beverly Hills. Mr. SHERIDAN
indicated that much of the information NAGELL had furnished
could also be found in newspapers and other publications,
except information which could not be proved or disproved,
such as NAGELL's carrying of messages. Mr. SHERIDAN indicated
that he was skeptical of the reliability of NAGELL.
ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY AND AFTERMATH
An individual identified by material in his possession
as ROBERT CASE NAGELL was brought
to the El Paso Office of
the FBI at 4:55 PM on September 20, 1963 by Patrolmen W. L.WESTFALL and
JANES S. BUNDREN, El Paso Police Department. At that time
NAGELL was advised that he was suspected of a felony crime
within the investigative jurisdiction c
of the FBI, that he
did not have to make any statement, that any statement he
"
"
And that
did make could be used in a court of law against him,
he had a right to consult an attorney. No threats or promises
were made by anyone to secure a statement from NAGELL.
NAGELL requested permission to telephonically
contact an attorney in Los Angeles, California, at about
5:00 PM. This request was
whic
NAGELL stated, "No, ately granted, upon
:
want to call that shyster.
asked the time on the west coast and on the east coast.
Although refusing to directly discuss the attempted
hold up of the State National Bank, El Paso, NAGELL stated
that he had fired two shots in the bank "to keep anyone from
following me." He stated that he was an excellent shot, and
30.
13-00000
EP 65-951
the fact that he had fired the two shots into the ceiling
proved he had not been trying to hit anyone. He stated that
solved for
he was certain that "all of my problems to his
a long time, and now I won't have to go
statement was not further explained. When requested to
explain this statement, NAGELL refused, stating "I can see
this is going to be a frame, which is to be expected in our
capitalistic system."
the bank
When asked for his motive in attempting to hold up
NAGELL stated that he was unhappy with the American
judicial system, because he had attempted, through. judicial
procedures, to get to see his two children, a girl 3½ and a
boy 22, in custody of his divorced wife, and the California
court had not executed an order in keeping with his request.
"
NAGELL advised that he had been living in Mexico until
short time ago
In regard to his Army career, NAGELL stated that he
had resigned his commission as a Captain, effective October 29,
1959.
He said that at the time he resigned he was on the
list for promotion to Major. He further advised that he
entered the U. S. Army on August 5, 1948 at Albany, New York
He said he was drawing 60% compensation from the government
and had been declared disabled to the extent of 63%.
He advised that he had been assigned Enlisted Army
Serial Number RA 12115891, Officers' Serial Numbers 02028346
and 01438346. He stated that the last serial number had been
assigned to him when he had been assigned to counter-
intelligence. He advised that he had been trained in the
Army Counterintelligence School, He said that he had been
assigned to Field Operations Intelligence and had taught
interrogation.
In addition, NAGELL stated that he had been wounded
in connection with his service
he had received three purple
on three separate occas
in the Korean campaign,
hearts. Continuing he advised that he received a battle
field commission.
31.
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On September 21, 1963, Assistant United States
Attorney FREDERICK J. MORTON was furnished the facts of the
case involving the attempted robbery of the State National
Bank of El Paso, on September 20, 1963, and Mr. MORTON
then authorized the filing of a complaint charging the
subject with bank robbery.
On September 21, 1963, a complaint was filed before
United States ( Commissioner HENRY C. CLIFTON, El Paso,
Texas, charging NAGELL with violation of Section 2113,
Title 18, United States Code, in that NAGELL did on September 20,
1963, at El Paso, Texas, enter the State National Bank of
El Paso, a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, organized and operated under the laws of the
United States, and make a felonious attempt by force and
violence and putting in fear by use of a .45 caliber
revolver, one PATSY CLYDINE GORDON, an employee of the said
bank to take a thing of value, to wit, Travelers Cheques,
which were in the care and custody and controlled by the
said bank.
The subject waived hearing and stated that he did
not desire to be represented by an attorney. Commissioner
CLIFTON set bond in the amount of $25,000, in lieu of which
the subject was remanded to the c custody of the United
States Marshal and placed in the El Paso County Jail.
On September 21, 1963, RICHARD Case nagell was
interviewed at the El Paso County Jail subsequent to a
hearing before U. S. Commissioner HENRY C. CLIFTON, ElPaso,
Texas, at which hearing the charges of bank robbery filed
against him were read to him by the United States Commissioner
and at which time he was advised of his right to counsel.
Special Agents
him and was
NAGELL was again advised as to the identity of the
the FBI who were desirous of interviewing
that he did not have to make any statement
tatement he made could be used against him
a court of law. He was also advised that he had the
and that any
in
right to consult an attorney and that no threats or promises
would be made to him to induce him to make a s statement a
32.
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EP 65-951
In the presence of El Paso Police Department
Detective THOMAS F. MC CONNELL, JR. and his partner,
NAGELL stated that he desired to talk to Special Agents
of the FBI. He stated that he did not desire to talk
in the presence of anyone else and Detective MC CONNELL
and his partner then departed.
NAGELL started off his conversation by saying that
when he had appeared before the US Commissioner just prior
to this interview, that he had "pled not guilty" since he
did not know what else to do. He stated that he did not desire
to be represented by an attorney and that he did not care
what happened to him. He exhibited his left wrist, the inside
of which was covered with a great number of superficial
wounds to the skin
stated that the night before while
he was in the El Paso City Jail he had used a piece of tin
in an attempt to cut his wrists. He said he had lost about
a pint of blood.
Ho
He stated that when he entered the State National
Bank of El Paso on the afternoon of September 20, 1963, that
he would not have taken any money. He said that to the
best of his recollection he had been in El Paso for
and had made an attempt to find a former
several days a
*
buddy of his named JOSE C. IBARRA, who formerly resin Hal K
904 South Hill Street in El Paso.
Made inquiry
He stated that he had
this address, but IBARRA had moved and he was
out where he had gone.
not able to find
He said that he had
known IBARRA in 1948 and 1949 when both of them were Sergeants
in the Army. Continuing, he advised that he had driven to
El Paso from San Diego, California. NAGELL stated that he
had
not eaten in t
three days because he did not feel like
doing so. When asked if he desired food he stated that he was
afraid that it would make him sick if he attempted to eat.
's
NAGELL stated that he wanted to point out that
he had in the past received psychiatric treatment and that in
1955 he had been hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Hospital as
a result of the crash of an Air Force B-25. He advised that
he had been the sole survivor of this crash and had spent
a considerable length of time in the hospital. He advised
33
13-00000
EP 65-951
that Doctor EDWIN A. WEINSTEIN, a civilian doctor assigned to
the Neuropsychiatric Center at Walter Reed Hospital had
treated him and had a considerable amount of information
as to his mental condition. Continuing, he advised that he
did not think that he was crazy, but that he felt that he
needed psychiatric attention and advice because of the fact
that he was highly emotional and at times he could not remember
what he was saying. or where he was for short periods. He
stated that he had requested admission to the psychiatric
ward at the Veterans' Hospital, Brentwood, Los Angeles,
California, however, he was not granted admission and he
stated that to the best of his recollection he made this
request in May or June of 1963. He pointed out that all of
his medical records could be obtained at the Veterans
Administration Regional Office, 1380 South Sepulveda Roulevard,
Los Angeles, California.
He further advised that he had been hospitalized at
the Veterans Hospital, Bay Pines, Florida, from December 20,
1962
against medical advice.
• Until January, 1963,
in this hospital as
which time
he
was discharged
confined
He stated that he had been c
of "spells" that he had been
having and that he was in the hospital for observation.
NAGELL was highly emotional, WAS given to spells of
crying, ari stated that he had not been able to get his feet
on the ground since his discharge from the United States Army
in 1959.” In this connection, he stated that his wife was a
Japanese and that he had resigned his commission as a Captain
in the nited States Army since she was extremely unhappy
assigned to the Infantry.
He
said that he had
commission and that after the divorce had been
with his bein
resigned the
granted, he
had not been allowed to see his two small children
because he had not been able to pay the required alimony
He stated that he had been employed by the Alcoholic
and Beverage Control in California, but had lost his job in
1962. He said that he had not worked since then and actually
was not able to do any kind of work because of the time he
had spent in the Army. He stated that the only job that he
was prepared for was that of an investigator since he had
learned this as a Counter-Intelligence Corps representative
34.
13-00000
EP 65-951
of the Ụ. S. Army. He stated that he had been shot through
the chest in 1962 in Los Angeles, California, but that the
shooting was a result of a private matter and he did not
care to discuss it further.
He stated that lately he had been too upset to
be even considered for a job and then intimated that he
had gone into the State National Bank "so
take him back in the hospital. He stated
the bank to get any money and that he
"
fi, would.
he was not in
the shots to
keep anyone from following g him. He said that he had used
the names of JOE KRANE and ROBERT C. NOLAN and advised that
he had used the name of NOLAN while in the Military
Intelligence.
NAGELL further advised that he had been suffering
from a headache for several days and stated that he had been
taking some kind of pills that were furnished to him by the
Veterans' Administration, but that he was out of these pills
and did not know what they were. He requested an aspirin,
which was obtained for him. In response to a question as to
whether or not he desired to see a doctor, he stated that he
did not.
Times
an
In the September 21 1963, issue of the El Paso
article appeared on page 1-A entitled "Veteran
Tries Daring Bank Robbery." The article contained a
sub-caption "Fires Two Shots As Clerk Flees From Counter.
The article states
34-year-old battle-scarred Korean
war hero armed with a 45 Colt, made a daring b but unsuccessful
attempt to rob the State National Bank about 4:30 PM Friday,
firing two shots as he ran out of the crowded bank.
"Detectives and FBI Agents going through the suspect'
suitcase found photostatic copies of numerous certificates and
commendations showing he had acquired an outstanding military
record in 11 years of service with the U. 5. Army in Korea.
A photostat showed he had been honorably discharged from
the
Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey, October, 1959, with the rank
of Captain.
"Other military papers found in NAGELL's suitcase
showed he had been awarded the Purple Heart three times for
35.
13-00000
EP 65-951
wounds received in battle with the enemy in Korea. Other
papers also disclosed he had been awarded the Bronze Star
for meritorious and outstanding service in Korea.
us and outstan
"Speaking to FBI Agents and other officers NAGELL
admitted he had entered the
Army as s a buck private and was
in li
for promotion to major when he was given his honorable
discharge. He told agents he spoke Russian, Japanese and
Spanish fluently.
"His Army papers disclosed NAGELL had graduated
with honors from the Army Military Intelligence School
from a special leader's course, and had served in the
Counter intelligence corps (CIC). He had records showing
he had been given top secret security clearance on September 22,
1950.
The September 22, 1963, issue of the El Paso
Times contains an article on page 1-A entitled "NAGELL
Pleads Not Guilty." According to the article, "City
jailers reported NAGELL has refused to eat his meals since
he was booked in jail. They also reported the prisoner
attempted to cut his wrists in his City Jail cell Friday
night by using a tin can converted to an ash tray.
Y using a tin can con
"After he was turned over to the custody of Sheriff
BOB BAILEY, jailers were instructed to maintain a close watch
on the prisoner and stop him from making any attempts on his
life.
The September 26, 1963, issue of the El Paso Times
contains an article on page 7-A entitled "NAGELL To Take
Sanity Test at La Tuna." According to the article "Former
Army Captain RICHARD CASE NAGELL, 34, charged with bank robbery
in an unsuccessful attempt to hold up the State National Bank
will be taken to La Tuna Correctional Institution Thursday for
a sanity test.
"He will be examined by Dr. R. J. BENNETT on the
motion of Assistant U. S. District A
Attorney FRED MORTON, who
obtained an order authorizing the check up from U. S. District
Judge R. E. THOMASON.
36.
13-00000
EP 65-951
"MORTON said the preliminary investigation indicated
✓ necessary before the
that a psychiatric examination would be
government could proceed further in the case. The investiga-
tion showed that NAGELL was the sole survivor of a military
plane crash, that since his discharge he had
FBI offices offering "highly secret"
༧!,?
counter, veral
information, and earlier this year had been under psychiatric
care in Florida for a month.
On September 27, 1963, Staff Sergeant (E-6) PHILIP
DALY, US Army, RA 32 293 739, presently assigned to the 4th
Enlisted Student Battery, School Support Command, Fort Bliss,
Texas, stated that he served in the same detachment in Tokyo,
Japan, with RICHARD CASE NAGELL, the 441st CIC, during the
spring of 1958, from approximately February to May, when he
(DALY) returned to the United States. He has had no
contact:
with NAGELL since that time.
since that time.
There was only a normal acquaintance between
Captain (NAGELL) and a Master Sergeant (DALY) during
this period of time.
DALY first met NAGELL on a temporary duty trip to
Sendai, in northern Japan, where
replace the Operations Officer.
that he was being shunted int AGELL had been sent to
NÄGELL stated at that time
a corner
DALY next met NAGELL about a month later in Fort
Drake Tokyo.
All enlisted men of the 441st CIC Detachment
thought that NAGELL, was slightly unbalanced, and was not a
normal officer. The reputation among the enlisted men was
to stay away from NAGELL.
The November 4, 1963. issue of the El Paso Herald-Post
contained an article on page e 1 entitled "Holdup Suspect.
"Fires Lawyer." According to the article, "RICHARD CASE
NAGELL charged in U. S. District Court with an attempt to
hold up the State
National Bank told the Court today he did
not attempt to hold up the bank.
37.
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EP 65-951
'I had a motive for doing what I did,' NAGELL
told Federal Judge R. E. THOMASON. "But my motive was not to
hold up the bank. I do not intend to disclose my motive at
this time.
"NAGELL, 33, told Judge THOMASON that he is a veteran
of the Korean War, that he was injured three times, and that
I am a 64 per cent disabled veteran.'
filed by
accused man was before the court on a petition
own hand for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming
he was being held prisoner illegally.
"NAGELL asked Judge THOMASON to discharge Attorney
JAMES HAMMOND, who had been appointed by the court to
represent NAGELL. Judge THOMASON &
granted the request,
after telling NAGELL that Mr. HAMMOND 1s considered an able,
conscientious member of El Paso Bar. NAGELL had refused to
talk to Mr HAMMOND before the hearing opened.
"The matter of whether NAGELL would consent to
undergo psychiatric treatment was discussed, and NAGELL
said he would be willing go to La Tuna Federal Correctional
Institution, and that:
'I will obey all their rules but I will not cooperate
for any
psychiatric examination except an examination conducted
by a psychiatrist for the Veterans Administration.
Judge THOMASON said he would name a psychiatrist
from William Beaumont Army Hospital to examine NAGELL.
The Judge said he would appoint another attorney to represent
NAGELL."
On November 18, 1963, the subject filed a writ of
habaes corpus in the United States District Court in
El Paso. NAGELL requested interview with a Special Agent
of the FBI. On interview, 'NAGELL furnished the following
signed statement::
"11/19/63
"El Paso, Texas
"I, Richard Case Nagell, do hereby make the following
38.
13-00000
EP 65-951.
free and voluntary statement to Edward Joseph Murphy and George
E. Aiken, who have identified themselves to me as Special
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
advised me that the information furnished herein
in court. No threats, promises or force of any kind was used
to get me to make this statement.
They have
may be used
was born in Greenwich,
on August 5, 1930
was arrested on September 20, 1963, in El Paso,
Texas. On September 21, 1963, I was arraigned before the
United States Commissioner in El Paso, Texas, on a charge of
bank robbery, at which t
time I I entered a plea of not guilty and
was bound over for indictment by the Federal Grand Jury. Bail
was set at $25,000. On September 21, 1963 I was incarcerated
in the El Paso County jail, where I since have been and am
presently confined.
"On September 24, 1963, the United States District
Court ordered that I be given a psychiatric examination to
determine mental competency to stand trial, and that if
determined necessary by the examining psychiatrist, to conduct.
'
such examination, to be committed to the Federal Correctional
Institution, La Tuna, Texas, for a period not exceding two weeks.
or a period not exce
"On November 4, 1963, the court nullified that part
of the aforesaid order, pertaining to the committment, and
re-ordered that I be committed to Beaumont Army Hospital,
El Paso, Texas, for said psychiatric examination.
"On September 2
the U.S. District Court
against me, be deferred
1963 and again on November 4,
1963
that
further prosecutive action
such time as the Court is in
receipt of the results of said psychiatric examination.
"As of this date I have not received the afore-
mentioned psychiatric examination nor
to either of the aforementioned insty been committed
for such examina-
tion, nor have I been indicted by the Federal Grand Jury.
"I believe that an unnecessary and undue delay has
occurred in bringing me to trial, as a result of my reluctance
39.

13-00000
以
EP 65-951
to participate in a psychiatric consultation and/or examination.
I believe that this is a violation of my right to a speedy trial
as guaranteed to me by Amendment 6 of the Constitution.
"In relation to the foregoing statement, I believe
that I, as an accused person, am not required by law to emit.
any statement or to answer any questions, whatsoever, to any
person, whomsoever, including a psychiatrist, psychologist,
or physiologist, nor that I am required by law to partici-
pate in any
any 
examination, test or activity, verbal, written or
other ise, if I do not so elect. To be coerced to do so, is
a violation of my rights under Amendment 5 of the Constitution.
"An attempt has been made to indirectly coerce me
to incriminate myself, by a court appointed psy st
known to me as Doctor Bennett, in that he queried
as to
my motive for committing the alleged offense and stated to
me that if I did not give him such information, I was being
uncooperative, and that I might have to be sent to Springfield
Medical Center, if I did not cooperate with him.
taking
...
"I further believe t
that I am being coerced into
result, aduc examination and/or consultation by the
delay in bringing me to trial.
"I have read this statement consisting of this and
and it is true and correct.
other pages
"Witness
/s/ Richard Case Nagell
"/s/ Edward Joseph Murphy, Special Agent FBI, El Paso, Texas,
11/19/63
// George E. Aiken, Jr. Special Agent, F.B.I. El Paso, Texas
11/19/63"
:
On November 19, 1963, Assistant United States Attorney
FREDERICK J. MORTON, El Paso, advised that there is no validity
to subject's allegation inasmuch as Title 18, Section 4244,
U. S. Code, states that upon a motion by the United States
40.
13-00000
RP 65-951
Attorney, the defense attorney, or upon its own motion, the
court shall cause the accused to be examined as to his
mental condition where it is felt that he may be presently
insane or otherwise mentally incompetent as to be unable
to understan
the proceedings against him or to properly
S. Attorney
assist in his own defense. Assistant US
MORTON advised that according to this Statute, t
the examination
can be made with or without the consent of the accused.
Assistant U. S. Attorney MORTON stated that the subject
has constantly refused to cooperate with psychiatrists, and
has refused
speak to them, and that this refusal
To ev
on his part has held up any possible psychiatric
examination, necessitating postponing further action.
The subject, who is still incarcerated in the
El Paso County Jail, sent the following note to SA THOMAS B.
WHITE, JR. of the El Paso Office of the FBI, which reads
as follows
"Mr White
"When one's actions are motivated by an ideological
conviction, he cannot deviate from his pursued path simply
because society may censure it as wrong. But when he becomes
disillusioned with such ideology, and an existing situation
so dictates he must initiate immediate corrective action
as befits circumstance and as best he knows how.
"I have always acted from a principal of love for.
my country, and this same principle actuated my conduct of
September 20th, however inappropriate or incomprehensible it
may appear.
"/s/ Richard C. Nagell"
:
The December 10, 1963, issue of the El Paso Times
contained an article on pages 1 and 3-A entitled "Says Bank
Holdup Try 'Patriotic'." According to the article, NAGELL
had submitted several handwritten petitions to the Judge
of the United States District Court in El Paso. The article
states, "In one petition, dated December 5, he wrote, 'I have
41
13-00000
EP 65-951
always acted from a principle of love for my country and
this same principle actuated
1963, however inappropriate or conduct on Septe
appear.
guilty.
incomprehensible
20,
God and I, and also the FBI, know that I am not
"NAGELL is accused of pulling a gun on a teller
at the bank. When the teller fled, NAGELL is alleged to have
fired two shots into the bank ceiling.
hots into the ba
"NAGELL had previously indicated he might submit to
examination by a psychiatrist at William Beaumont General
Hospital. But at the hearing it was brought o
out he refused
to do so now
a
Federal
"Judge THOMASON then overruled his motion for a
writ and asked that NAGELL's case be taken before
Grand Jury. Previously the judge had ordered that all
prosecution be deferred until an examination report on
NAGELL's mental competency was obtained.
"The judge said NAGELL's argument on the bond
'more thoroughly convinces the court you need psychiatric
help.
'When NAGELL was returned to the jail, he would not
tell reporters why he entered the bank. As in the past he
said he would not disclose his motive.
"FRED MORTON, Assistant U. S. District Attorney,
said Monday afternoon that the case will probably be taken
before a U. S. Grand Jury in January in San Antonio.
་་
On January 3, 1964, GEORGE NORMAN STANGA was
contacted and interviewed at the El Paso County Jail after
he contacted the El Paso Office of the FBI and specifically
requested that he be interviewed regarding RICHARD CASE
NAGELL. At the time of the interview, NAGELL was incar-
cerated at
for the crim El Paso County Jail as a Federal prisoner
of bank robbery.
42.
13-00000
EP 65-951
STANGA stated that since his arrest
at the El Paso
friendly with RICHARD CASE NAGELL.
and incarceration
܀
has become quite
County Jail for bad stated that NAGELL was a
very mixed-up individual, but that he enjoyed the company of
STANGA and confided in him. He went on to say that NAGELL
had recently confided in him to the extent that he had told
him why he attempted to hold up the State National Bank of
El Paso, Texas. NAGELL
STANGA that after his
release
from the United States old e drifted from job to job and
became more and more mentally confused as to his political,
religious, and economic allegiances. During this confused
period, NAGELL apparently became a member of the Communist
Party of
of 
the United States and told
STANGA that he did some
minor work for this organization prior to his trip to El Paso
NAGELL also
lso 
explained to STANGA that he divorced his wife c during
this period, and after making several scenes with his wife,
was barred by court order from seeing his children. During
this period
of his life, NAGELL told STANGA that he lived in
the Los Angeles, California, area.
NAGELL explained to STANGA that he came to El Paso,
Texas, after making a decision that everything was against
him in Los Angeles and that he should attempt to leave the
United States for a Communist country in Europe. In line with
this decision to leave the United States, NAGELL made a contact
with the Communist Party in Los Angeles, and arranged to meet
a courier or contact man for the Party in El Paso, Texas This
contact man was allegedly to have a visa and passport for
NAGELL so that he might leave the United States and eventually
end up in Czechoslovakia. NAGELL then left the Los Angeles
area and drove to El Paso, Texas. He told STANGA that during
this trip, he stopped by the side of the road on at least
three occasions and attempted suicide with a pistol which
was in his possession.
explained to STANGA, however,
guts to do it and just let things
drift along. After arriving in El Paso, Texas, NAGELL said
that he got a hotel room and again attempted suicide with
the revolver. He again did not have the nerve to "pull the
trigger"
" 
and decided that the best way to commit suicide
would be by leaving the hotel and having a "shoot-out" with
that he did not have the e
43
13-00000
65-951
policeman He left the hotel room, get in his car, and
proceded down the streets of El Paso looking for a policeman
who looked like he would shoot it out with him NAGELL told
STANGA that he did not see a patrolman, however, and decided
that he would enter the State National Bank of El Paso and
cause a big ruckus because he knew that a policeman was in
the building guarding a Treasury Department money display.
NAGELL entered the bank and fired two shots into a wall and
then left the bank, fully expecting to be shot down by a
passing policeman: However, he escaped to his car, which
parked in an alley, and gave up peaceably when arrested by
the policeman who was guarding the money display in the bank
NAGELI told STANGA that his robbery of the bank was purely a
Suicide attempt and
intention of robbing the
bank for any monetary gain.
"that he had no o
In addition to the Communist mentioned
above STANGA reported that NAGELL told him of
rolls of microfilm which contained names,
number of
places
which were in his
and other activities of the Communist Par crofilms were hidden
possession. NAGEL explained that these
"
in a gas mask (Japanese type) which was located at his sister's
house in New York City. He went on to say th
that these micro-
film are hidden in the salve container which is afixed to the
mask NAGELL also explained to STANGA that he had not
given this i information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
because he felt they would indict him as a spy and put him in
jail for life:
On January 6, 1964, the subject furnished the
following signed statement:
"1/6/64
"El Paso, Texas
Richard Case Nagell, do hereby make the following
free and voluntary statement to Edward Joseph Murphy and
Jawrence . Gorman, who have identified themselves to me as
Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They
have advised me that I do not have to make
statement and
13-00000
EP 65-951
that any statement that I do make may be used against me in
a court of law. They have advised me that I may have an
attorney if I desire. No threats, promises, force, or
inducements of any kind have been used to get me to furnish
this statement
"I was born on August 5, 1930 at Greenwich, New York.
"The following statement is relative to the motive
which actuated my conduct on September 20, 1963.
.
"In September 1962, while I was in Mexico City a
representative of a foreign government proposed to me that I
participate in an act; Such act being a criminal offense and
inimical to the best interests of the United States. At that
time I refused such proposal. In May, 1963, another representa-
tive of the same foreign government made the same proposal
At that time I agreed to such a proposal.
to me.
At that time I agreed to such a Degr
"In Sept. 1963, I was informed by an American, known
to me as an agent of the same foreign government, that arrange-
ments
my participation in the aforementioned act were
Com
At this time I refused the aforesaid proposal
"Approximately one week later I was instructed by
previously agreed
this same person to either participate
or derrogatory information pertaining "S
me would be disclosed
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thereupon I agreed
to follow the instructions of this person, although I did
not intend to do s so This existing situation actuated my
conduct of September 20, 1963, for which I was
arrested and
am presently charged.
"I did not actually attempt to rob any bank.
thought that my arrest would provide an immediate, though.
temporary solution to the problem with which I was confronted.
"I am not guilty as charged
45.
13-00000
EP. 65-951
"I have read this statement consisting of this and
two other pages, and which I have init and it is true
and correct to the best of my knowledge
"Witness:
"/s/ Richard Case Nagell
belief
"/s/ Edward Joseph Murphy, Special Agent FBI, El Paso, Texas,
1/6/64
Lawrence i
1/6/64"
W. Gorman, Special Agent FBI, El Paso, Texas
On January 15, 1964, Mrs. FRANCES
Catalina, Los Angeles,
California, tele AGELL, 856 South
Special Agent of the El Paso Office of
advised
FBI that she
was the mother of the subject and that she had heard on
the evening before about the bank robbery charge filed
against the subject.
She stated that she last saw the subject in August,
1963, at which time subject indicated! he wanted nothing to
do with his relatives and no interference with his private life.
She commented that
:
the military servic son had had a brilliant career in
up until the time of the plane crash
near Washington, D. C. following which he was unconscious
for three weeks in the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington.
Upon his recuperation from those injuries, he underwent
a complete personality change.
in
On January 24, 1964, the subject was arraigned
before the United States District Court in El Paso in connection
with the two-count indictment returned January 8, 1964,
San Antonio, Texas, charging NAGELL with bank robbery.
Assistant United States Attorney FREDERICK J. MORTON filed
2 motion before the U. S. District Court under Section 4244,
Title 18, United States Code, to have the subject committed
for psychiatric treatment. U. S. District Judge HOMER THORNBERRY
granted the motion and ordered the subject committed to the
13-00000
SALAA
EP 65-951
Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield, Missouri,
for an period of 30 days for the purpose of psychiatric
subject advised the court that he would
examination.
The the psychiatrists at the Medical Center
not cooperate with
for Federal Prisoners at Springfield.
:
While being removed from the United States District
Court House in El
Texas, enroute to the El Paso County
Jail on January 24, 1964, and while in the custody of the
Deputy United States Marshals, the subject accused the
Assistant United States Attorney of violating his constitutional
rights. This accusation was a repetition of numerous accusations
which the subject had previously made at the
United States Attorney, according to Assistant I. S. Attorney MORTON.
the
On January 24, 1964. Assistant United St
Assistant
On January 24, 1964, Assistant United States Attorney
FREDERICK J. MORTON, El Paso, advised that he had received
information on a confidential basis a short while before to
tion on a co
effect that there was a man incarcerated in the El Paso
County Jail under a Federal charge of attempted bank robbery
by the name of RICHARD CASE NAGELL who was a Communist and
who was about to defect to Russia when arrested. Mr MORTON
related that the story was generally that NAGELL, a retired
Army Captain who served with distinction in the Korean War i in
combat and with CIC, became embittered with the United States
and our form of government partially due to the alleged denial
of visitation privileges of his children, custody over whom
was awarded to his Japanese wife by California divorce decree
He allegedly turned over secret material to Soviet agents
while in the Military Service. He was supposed to obtain
passport to Russia here in El Paso from a Communist agent
but was so distraught over the possibility of never again
“seeing his children that he considered suicide or some other
drastic means of preventing his defecting that he went in
a bank in El Paso, asked for $100.00 in cashier's cheques,
pulled a gun which caused d the teller to run, and fired two
shots high into the wall and fled. At the time of
arrest, he called the policeman a "capitalistic s.o.
.b.
and has stated that what he did was done out of "love for
Country
concerning the bank robbery except to say that he did not
Other than that he has made no statements:
..
47
13-00000
EP 65-951
His
intend to take any money. He has refused to talk to a
psychiatrist and fired two court appointed attorneys.
court room appearances have convinced all that he is
intelligent and competent mentally but extremely confused
and disturbed. He files motions and writs almost daily,
which are well written and lawyer like.
At the time of his arrest, September 20, 1963, a
notebook was taken from him a containing what purport to be
various codes, CIA and FBI agents names, Soviet and other
Communist embassy addresses and names, and the addresses
of various other people and organizations, including the
Los Angeles address of the "Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
NAGELL has supposedly recently received a 1963 Information Please
almanac with a scrambled message. Mention is made of this
in the notebook.
'
NAGELL is supposed to have located at the address
of his sister, Mrs. ELEANORE GAMBERT, 82-25 Grand Avenue,
Elmhurst 73, Long Island, New York, HA 6-6830, a trunk in
which a Japanese gas mask is contained. In the salve box of
this mask are supposedly 4 rolls of microfilm containing
the names of various Communist Party members, agents, couriers
their activities, etc. A man by the name of FRED JOHN (BENJO)
an insurance agent in California, is supposed to get these
things from NAGELL's sister in the event of NAGELL's death
The sister supposedly knows nothing of the contents and is
not a Communist. NAGELL recently wrote a letter to this
Mr. JOHN Nin California mentioning the almanac bit. Mr.
MORTON said he rejected an offer of a deal for information
purportedly furnished by NAGELL to the FBI regarding Communists
in exchange for favorable consideration made through NAGELL's
prior court appointed attorney on the basis that the information
of no value. Mr. MORTON's confidential source told him
that NAGELL's prior r contacts with the FBI were not revealing
because they were made by him solely to determine what the
FBI knew of him.
"
48
13-00000
FP65-951
RICHARD CASE
ALLEGED CONNECTION WITH LEE HARVEY OSWALD
NAGELL
50-500
On December 19, 1963, the subject advised Special
Agents of the El Paso Office of the FBI that "for the record"
he would like to say that his association with LEE HARVEY
OSWALD was purely social and that he had met OSWALD in
Mexico City and in Texas. NAGELL refused to comment further
regarding this matter.
On January 2, 1964, the subject advised a Secret
Service Agent and a Special Agent of
Texac
that he had been acquainted
1 wie FBI in El Paso;
MARINA, the wife
of LEE HARVEY OSWALD. Subject further pointed out that
OSWALD W
having marital difficulties with MARINA. The
subject stated that he knew "certain things' in the.
Fort Worth-Dallas area. He said he wanted to let the
Secret Service know that someone like OSWALD was in that
area, however, he knew nothing of OSWALD's intention to
assassinate the President. The subject stated that the
requests made by prisoners in the El Paso County Jail for
interviews were at times honored and at other times they were
not
The above interview was conducted with the subject
in response to a request made by this subject to be interviewed
by a Secret Service Agent. The Secret Service Agent was
introduced to NAGELL, and he attempted to interview NAGELL,
however, NAGELL stated that the information he originally
desired to report to the Secret Service was "too late now
On January 23, 1964, an Agent of the United States
Secret Service, El Paso, Texas, advised that an Agent of
the United States Secret Service Dallas, Texas, had
displayed a photograph of the subject to Mrs. MARINA OSWALD,
wife of LEE HARVEY OSWALD, on January 18, 1964. This photo-
graph was
taken of the subject on September 21, 1963, at the
Paso County Sheriff's Office. Mrs. MARINA OSWALD carefully
i
NOTE: It is A. 49.
MENTAL CATE ACCORDING T
MAIN FAY

13-00000
EP 65-951
examined the photograph and then stated that she did not
know the individual who appeared in the photograph and
had never seen him before. Mrs. OSWALD was advised of the
name and aliases of the subject and she stated that she did
not know anyone by any of those names
On January 24, 1964, while the subject was being
removed from the United States Court House in El Paso to
the El Paso County Jail for incarceration and while in
custody of the Deputy W. S. Marshals, the subject made
wild accusations to newspaper reporters, accusing the FBI
of not attempting to prevent the assassination of President
KENNEDY and stating that the FBI had questioned him regarding
LEE HARVEY OSWALD. These
in a shouting gmanner on
County Jail and within rents were made by the subject
according to AUSA MORTON.
RICHARD
elevator enroute to the El Paso
of the newspaper reporters,
DESCRIPTION
BANK KOB MOR
The following descriptive information regarding
NAGEL CASE NAGELL was obtained through interviews with
checks
and his acquaintances, observation, and record
Names
Race
Sex
Nationality
Date and place
of birth
Height
Weight
Build
Hair
Eyes
Scars and marks
RICHARD CASE NAGELL, also known
as Joe Cramer, Joe Kramer,
Joe Krane, Robert C. Nolan
White
Male
American
August 5, 1930, Greenwich, New York
6'2”
180 pounds
Medium
Reddish-brown
Brown
Left eye slants downward toward
outside; 2" vertical scar in front
of left ear; half circle shape
scar commencing in left eyebrow
and extending down to cheek
50.
13-00000
EP 65-951
Parents
Brother
Sisters
Stepsister
Uncle
Residence
Social Security No
Army Serial No.
LOUIS NAGELL, born Norway
deceased; FRANCES KAUFMAN
NAGELL, born United States,
856 South Catalina, Los Angeles
California (January 15, 1964),
resided 22 First Street, Troy,
New York as of August 5, 1948
LOUIS NAGELL, Syracuse, New York
(as of August 23, 1950)
Mrs. ELEANORE GAMBERT, 82-25
Grand Avenue, Elmhurst, Long
Island, New York (as of December 15,
1962)
Mrs. NORMAN LE BEAUF, Ogdensburg
New York (as of August
st 23, 1950)
ELEANORE HOPPER, 8222 Ankener
Avenue, Elmhurst, Long Island,
New York (as of February 19, 1951)
HOBART KAUFMAN, Delaware Avenue,
Albany, New York (as of August 5
1948)
Box 75801, Sanford Station,
Los Angeles 5, California
104-24-8340
RA 12115891 (Enlisted)
02 028 346 (Officer)
01 438 346 (Officer)
Army Service Record: August 5, 1948, Private, resigned
as Captain, October 29, 1959,
Fort Dix, New Jersey
Service Decorations: Bronze Star; Purple Heart (two
Divorced wife
clusters)
MITSUKO TAKAHASHI, born July 16
1939, Japan, married March 20,
1958, United States Consulate,
Tokyo, Japan, residence 533A
"B" Street, Fort Dix, New Jersey,
(as of February 30, 1959);
Apartment 12, 440 South Union.
Street, Los Angeles, California
(as of July 30, 1962 while separated)
51.
13-00000
EP 65-951
Divorced wife
(cont'd)
Children
Education
Employment
Wife granted interlocutory
divorce, November 19, 1962,
Superior Court of Los Angeles
County, California;
440 South Union, Los Angeles,
California (as of December 15
1962)
NAI
TERESA DOLORES NAGELL, born
June 28, 1959. Fort Dix,
New Jersey
ROBERT LAMONT NAGELL, born
November 20, 1960, Los Angeles
California
Hackett Junior High and
School, Albany,
Albany ated 1948,
New York,
two years of college while in
service
New York Central Railroad,
July, 1948, to August 4, 1948,
Albany, New York;
December 14, 1959 to June 8,
1962
Residences since
January 1, 1937
State Beverage Department, Los
Angeles, California;
As of August, 1963, cab driver,
Beverly Hills, California
January 1, 1937 to December, 1941,
Route 1, Glen Falls, New York;
December, 1941 to June, 1948,
140 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York;
July, 1948 to August, 1948,
304 Madison Avenue, Albany
New York;
8222 Ankener Avenue, Elmhurst,
Long Island, New York (as of
August 1,
(1951);
1533A "B" Street, Fort Dix,
New Jersey (as of December, 1959)
P.O. Box 76121, Sanford Station
Los Angeles, California (as of
1960 and as of August 20, 1962);
52.
13-00000
EP 65-951
Residences
(cont'd)
4037 Leeward Avenue, Los
Angeles, California (as of
July and September, 1962);
Mexico City, D. F., Mexico
(subject claimed this residence
from August, 1962 to October 28,
1962. On a subsequent occasion,
subject claimed this residence
for a period lasting until
about March 15, 1963);
Washington, D. C. (subject
claimed this residence during
period subsequent to June,
1962, and prior to December, 1962;
8225 Grand Avenue, Elmhurst,
Queens, Long Island, New York
(as of November 15, 1962, and
again on December 7, 1962);
Holiday Inn, Jacksonville,
Florida (temporary residence
as of December 15, 1962).
Room 303, Holiday Inn, 2500
Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida
(temporary residence as
January 24, 1963);
610 South Oxford Street,
Los Angeles, California (as.
of April 19, 1963),
Box 75801, Sanford Station,
Los Angeles, California (as of
July 26, 1963);
3751 6th Street, Los Angeles,
California (no date given);
West Boulevard, Los Angeles,
California (no date given);
2712 Saturn Street, Los Angeles 19,
California (no date given);
20245 Cajon Boulevard San Diego,
California (no date given).
53
13-00000
EP 65-951
Bank Account
Languages spoken
United States
Passport
Address to notify
in case of
emergency
Character refer-
ences
Credit references
Automobile
Security First National Bank
Wilshire and Virgil Branch,
Los Angeles, California (date
not known)
Subject claims to speak Russian
Japanese and Spanish fluently
(as of September 21, 1963)
C526729
3751 6th Street, Los Angeles.
California (appeared on driver
license as of January 24, 1963).
Miss ELIZABETH B. CAMPBELL
Academy Road Albany 3, New
York (September 19, 1950),
39
Mrs. RENE TEMPLETON 48 Parkwood
Street, Albany, New York
(September 19, 1950)
KENNETH A. ZELLER, 301 Ney
Scotland Avenue, Albany
New York (September 19, 1950)
Dr. HARRY E. PRATT Albany
High School Albany, New York-
(September 19 1950). Mr
WAYNE HALLAR Albany High
School Albany, New York
(September 19, 1950)
WILLIAM SLOANE HOUSE (MCA),
“Ith Street, New York,
York (August 23, 1950);
Times Square Hotel West 43rd
New York, New York
(August 23, 1950). Mrs NANCY
TURNER, Providence Street
Albany 3. New York (August 23
1950)
1957 Ford hardtop, black and
white, bearing California.
license MYU 890 (in possession
of this automobile when interviewed
January 24, 1963, in Miami, Florida)
54.
13-00000
EP 65-951
Automobile
(Cont'd)
Records of the Division of
Motor Vehicles, Los Angeles,
California, reflect 1957
Ford sedan with 1963 California
license LVZ 076, vehicle
identification number
C7LT138540, registered to
RICHARD C.
C. NAGELL, Box 76121,
Sanford Station, Los Angeles,
California, in December, 1962
or January, 1963.
1963
California a license OCZ 155
for identical vehicle registered
to RICHARD C. NAGELL, Box 75801,
Sanford Station, Los Angeles,
in February or March, 1963
(in
possession of this vehicle
when arrested in El Paso on
September 20, 1963)
IDENTIFICATION RECORD.
The following is the FBI Identification Record for
RICHARD CASE NAGELL under FBI number 631 219 E, dated
October 3,
1963:
CONTRIBUTOR OF NAME AND NUMBER
FINGERPRINTS
Army
ARRESTED OR CHARGE DISPOSITION
RECEIVED
Richard Case
Nagell
8-5-48
Albany
RA 12 115 891
NY
Camp Holabird
Richard C.
FP:
Baltimore MD.
Nagell #-
1-27-54
PD Los Angeles Richard Case
Calif
5-31-62
drk
Nagell
#LA 616 479-N
USM
Richard Case
9-21-63
El Paso, Texas
Nagell
Sect #2313
bank rob
#2248-A
55*
13-00000
In Reply, Please Refer to
File No.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
202 U. S. Court House
El Paso, Texas 79901
February 4, 1964
DBA
63177
RE:
RICHARD CASE NAGELL, Aka.
ESPIONAGE
Re Report of SA DAVID J. REID at El Paso, Texas
dated February 4, 1964.
EP T-1 through EP T-3, contacts with whom have been
insufficient to judge the reliability of their information, are in
a position to have official access to the medical records of the
United States Army and the Veteran's Administration pertaining to
the subject.
The sources used to characterize the Fair Play for
Guba Committee have furnished reliable information in the past.
.".
This document contains neither recommendations nor
It is i the property of the FBI and is
it and its contents are not to be distributed
conclusions of the FBI.
leaned to your agency;
outside your agency.
JC17465
13-00000
0647×26: 86/235 IZ
2623507 ZEA
TWO TWO SIX UA
CIA HIS
SPORT
R
RET TOTG 3693362,
CITE LANG 8294
TORNE FROM, DEVANON
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
(AYLAND 6280
WA-63394
VA 68519
CRED
ON 20 DAR 64, FBI-LA ADVISED US THAT OUR EXPRESS!
CLOSED THE MATTER FOR THEM, AND THAT FURTHER AGENCY CONTACTS,
IF ANY WOULD PROBABLY BE VIA TBI VASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE.
CFNI 6294 THORNE DEVANON RICHARD CASE NAGELL $280 63594 635 19 2
LA REDA BI-WASHINGTON-
13-00000
RR 0215
DE 0647/12/12/21952
R 128107Z ZEA
RT
XXXXX ZEA
TWO ONE TWO WA
SEGRET
CRET IDTG 1221682
VA CITE LANG $230
SUPPORT FROM DAVANON
9-64
no record in OS
SUBJS RICHARD CASE NAGELL - 20
FYI FRI-LA REPORTED TODAY (12 MAR 647 THAT SUBJECT WAS
ARRESTED IN EL PASO IN CONNECTION WITH A BANK ROBBERY IN HIS
POSSESSION. HE HAD A LIST OF SIX NAMES MARKED "CIA.” “THEY
INCLUDED
PARKER
MRS. GUTHRIES
CHURCHILL
GLOSS
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
LEIBACHER
1. DAVANON.
NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER. US ATTORNEY IN EL PASO WANTS
CIA INTERVIEWED AS TO CIRCUMSTANCES, IF ANY. WE ADVISED FBI NO
RECORD IN OUR INDICES AND NO PERSONAL RECOLLECTION OF SUBJECT.
SUBJECT DESCRIBED AS "NUT" ONCE SURVIVED AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT,
AND HAS RUN IN AND OUT OF BUREAU OFFICES IN PAST. WE NOTE THE
CURRENT AGENCY DIRECTORY LISTS A JOHN SLOSS, POSSIBLY IN THE
WATCH OFFICE.
13-00000
OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
5010-104
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Memorandum
SECRET
ΤΟ
Mr. R. J. Leonard
с
DATE: 26 March 1964
FROM Chief, Research Branch/SRS
SUBJECT: NAGELL, Richard Case
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
11. Attached is a copy of a 2 October 1962 memorandum from
the FBI in regard to Richard Case NAGELL.
2. SA Alexander W. NEALE, Jr. of the Washington Field
Office, FBI, has informally advised the undersigned that NAGELL has
been arrested on the West Coast for bank robbery, is going to be
tried in the near future for the alleged crime, and that NAGELL had in
his possession the following information:
Richard FECTEAU
(Lynn, Mass)
DAC (CIA)
CIA
Mrs. GUTHRIES.
Mr. S. PARKER
Mr. J. SLOSS
Mr. J. DAVANON
Mr. C. CHURCHILL
10 Contact.
1911
Mr. E. LEIBACHER
Joseph F
Join
ERNST
INT OFF - CURR 11
15.
1919
1909.
1
contant
3. A check of SO Indices has revealed no record of NAGELL, and
an RI check only disclosed the attached FBI report. Please recheck SO:
Indices on the subject, have a file set up on an expedite basis, and on an
expedite basis identify the above individuals as to whether any have any
connection with this Agency. The above Richard FECTEAU may be
identical to the individual who was captured by the Chinese Communists
and is now in prison.
4.
Also check with Mrs. THORN of OO/C to determine whether
00/C has any record of NAGELL. It is believed that very possibly some
GROEP 1.
Excludes from atomatic
ing and
declassification
SECRET

13-00000
SECRET
- 2 -
of the above individuals may be connected with the Los Angeles or San
Francisco Field Office of OO/C, but at the present moment limit the
check with Mrs. THORN to determine if they have any record of
Richard Case NAGELL. 1
BLS;jrg
Bruce Hole
Bruce L. Solie
SECRET
13-00000
NAME OF SUBJECT
SEORET
(When Filled In)
FILE NO.
KEY TO ANALYSIS SYMBOLS*
NI = NOT IDENTICAL
I-ND = IDENTICAL
-
NOT DEROGATORY
U-ND-UNABLE TO IDENTIFY-NOT DEROGATORY
SA = SEE ATTACHED MEMORANDUM
SEARCH INSTRUCTIONS (To be completed by requester)
SEARCH NAMES AS WRITTEN
SEARCH NAME VARIATIONS (Record known to exist)
SRD/CAB ANALYSIS OF FILES
SEARCH OVERT CARDS ONLY
SEARCH COVERT CARDS ONLY
✓
INDICES CHECK ONLY (Do not pull files)
SEARCH SUBJECT CARDS ONLY
SEARCH ALL CARDS
RESULTS
NO.
-
NAME LAST. FIRST, MIDDLE (Type or print)
SOURCE DOCUMENT
PAGE
OVERT
COVERT
1 CHURCHILL C
(male)
2
DAVANON, Joseph
Record
# 70905
3
FECTEAU, RICHARD
Recad
4
GUTHRIES
FNU (FEMAle)
(NR)
5
LEIBACHER, ERNEST
Record
6
NAGELL, RICHARD
NR
7
PARKER, F (male)
UI
8
Shoss, J (male)
[Reand I
9
10
NO.
FILE NO.
TYPE
NAMES CONTINUED ON ATTACHED SHEET
REFERENCE DOCUMENT
PAGE
ANALYSIS✶ OR CHARGEOUT
REQUESTER (Name.
FORM
1-63
-
Component
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
RESULTS CONTINUED ON REVERSE SIDE
-
Extension)
DATE COMPLETED
APPROVE FOR FILING
(Initials)
REPLACES FORMS
745 745. 1734.
AND
1735
WHICH ARE OBSOLETE.
INDICES SEARCH REQUEST
SECRET
GROUP 1
(38-43)
13-00000
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
SECRET
4 March 196
1963.
that que
SLOSS, John Richard
434493
Ebject, & ex-34 in 001, han been with the Aganay
sessser organisatiems simma 1949. Na was reemntly
sted under procedures of the Buinnstigstien
and be was granted a q clearance as of 21 October
an 19 March 1944, Mrs. Virginie Thoras, 00/C edvised
Richard Cams Ball (03-12) had been picked up in the
Zareas area for beak robbery. As Engell had in his
im a list of six memes, with "CIA" written after them,
Barsan inquired as to whether Fagall might possibly be en
my employee. Sve of the individuals moed were 00/C Las
ales employees who never heard of Esgall. The other BEMBA
those of F. Parker (EPTI), Mrs. Guthries (HR), C. Churchill
(08-MR) and J. Slons.
On 19 March I telephonically contacted Subject and
inquired as to whether he had ever heard of Fagall. Es replied
in the negative. When I farther explained the entire situation,
bjest still held with the view that he has absalutely no
llection of Engell, although it was a trio coincidence
hat he had been in the El Paso area in Jemmary of this year,
Ich time he and his mother opent three days with an eld
Sheet frient of Abject's nothar.
4. Gus manamdam is for the purpose of making my brief
discussion with Subject a matter of record. It is not necessarily
darogatory to him.
reth
Leo J. Fes
Special Assistant/PSS
SEGRET
GROUP 1
Excluded fruitsma
13-00000
FB-204 (Rev. 3-3-50)
Copy to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BA (317)
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Wo
Howard
Report of:
Date:
DAVID J. REID
February 4, 1964
Office:
EL PASO
Field Office File No EP 65-951
Bureau File No.:
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
Title:
Character:
ESPIONAGE - X
Synopsis:
FK TASK FORCE
9/27/98d
☑E IN FULL
RELEASE IN PART:
EL TOTAL DENIAL
was
Background: Subject entered US Army 8/5/48 and
honorably discharged as Captain 10/29/59. Received many
campaign awards during Korean conflict Sole survivor
airplane crash 11/28/54. suffered facial disfigurement
and given psychiatric examination Subject claimed he was
released from employment by State Beverage Department.
Los Angeles, California, 6/8/62, having been accused of
taking $20,000 bribe. Subject refused furnish police details
of his shooting by unidentified assailant on 7/16/62 and
subsequently filed Civil Rights complaint against police
In September 1962. subject advised U. S. Embassy. Mexico
City, he had been approached for recruiting in City.
refused to elaborate, did not oire to return to
"bitter, disgusted, disillusionce and disaffected " Said if
he did go to some other country it would cost U. S millions
was "through being a good citizen" and thought he ad gotten
"dirty deal all around." Advised FBI in New
City on
11/16/62 he wanted to expose Department of Alcohoric Beverage
Control in California. Advised FBI in Jacksonville, Fla
12/15/62 he had been approached shortly before in Washington,
D. C.. by individual believed to be working for Soviets;
contacted CIA in Virginia for instructions was sent to
Miami Fla., by his Soviet contact and said he believed he
was actually working for Soviets. Subject's condition
diagnosed at VA Hospital, Bay Pines, Fla in January, 1963,
as "chronic brain syndrome associated with brain trauma with
behavioral
reaction characterized by passi we aggressive and
paranoid features.
iami on 1/24/63 if his
Asked FB1
ob
on
This document contains or conclusions of the GSI.
CS 
COPY.
the 
property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency: it. and
BAGIS OF THUS DACtents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
201-746537
500
13-00000
PP 65-951
Cuban or Russian source return same to his contact so he
gave him a pistol and microfilm.
would he be permitted
could be of further use to " 5. Government
constantly under surveillance
" "
Claimed to be
Advised FBI in Los Angeles
on 4/19/63 he had taken former wife to court on same date for
failure to comply with court order giving subject visitation
rights with children. Subject's condition diagnosed by VA,
Los Angeles, on 6/4/63 as "depression, tearful, nervous,
rigid would only utter words 'Cot to see my kids.
Attempted Bank Robbery. Subject arrested 9/20/63 in El Paso,
Texas, on charge of attempting to rob State National Bank,
El Paso, Same date in violation Section 2113. Title 18, USC.
blashed wrist night of 9/20/63, felt he herded psychiatric
treatment, highly emotional when interviewed given to spells
of crying, stated unable to get on feet since discharge
from Army. Cell mate said subject apparently became
member Communist Party during confused period after discharge
decided everything was against him in Los Angeles and made
arrangements with Communist Party in Los Angeles to pick up
Visa and passport from contact in El Paso and eventually
end up in Czechoslovakia. Subject reportedly attempted
Paso but lost nerve
suicide Three times enroute
Elvised FET in El Paso on 1,6, 04 he was instructed by agent
03 foreign government in September. 1963, to comply with agree
menumade in May, 1963. to per ipate in criminal offense
agrinst United States or b. exposed to FBI which caused
Subject to act as he did op 9:20,63 Subject ordered
seat
:
•
to Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Springfield,
Misuri, on 1/24/64, by USDC, El Paso, for 30-day period to
undergo psychiatric examination. Alleged Connection with
LEE HARVEY OSWALD: Subsequent to President s assassination
subject claimed acquaintance with OSWALD and wife On 1/18/64,
MARINA OSWALD disclaimed any knowledge of subject. Description
and Identification Record: Set out. SUBJECT HAS ATTEMPTED
SUICIDE.
la.
13-00000
EP 65-951
that the actual trial would not take place until December
next
went
stated that he left California in August, 1962, and
He co where
he 
remained until October 26, 1982
that his wife's attorney knew this and apparently
brought the case on prematurely so that he would be deprived
of his day in court
NAGEL claimed that he has written a protest to the
court granting the divorce, claiming he was deprived of his
right to be heard and to have a jury trial. He stated that
he is consulting the Legal Aid Society and the Veterans
Administration concerning this matter since his Army pension
is his only current income
December 15 1962
On December 15, 1962 the subject advised Special
Agents of the FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, that he had
served as a captain in the U. S Army and had been involved
in intelligence investigation for the Cff for approximately
seven years. He said he served in Japan for most of his
period of time and married a Japanese woman named MITSUKI NAGELL
from whom he is presently divorced We advised that during
1957 and 1958 he became acquainted in Japan with one Doctor
CHAKAO FUJISAWĘ, professor of Political Science at Tokyo
He sai
Japan University
Cabinet Research Office
said this person is
this person was a member of the
a mightist organization. He
unknown and deems suptly in the United States, place
ofrimental to the safety of the internal
security of the United States He said in either 1958 or 1959
he directed
D
"anonymous letter to the FR in Washington
October
to the above information concerning FUMSAWY
he was discharged honorably from the S. Army on
29 1959, and subsequently became employed on December 14,
1959 by the State e Beverage Department in Los Angeles, California.
He said in June 1962, he was accused of taking a $20,000
bribe by the State Beverage Department and was released from
his employment on June 8, 1962 for refusing to answer
questions He stated he talked to the FBI in Los Angeles
regarding the possibility of his dismissal being a violation
of his civil rights
19
13-00000
EP 65-951
NAGELL advised that he went to Washington, D. C.
where he resided until recently. He stated while in
Washington. D. C. he had been approached by an individual
whom he felt was either a Special Agent of the FBI or a
Soviet Espionage Agent. He said he met this person in a GARVIN'S
bar in Washington, D. C., located at 811 14th Street NW,
Washington, D. C. He said this person talked of Domestic
Intelligence and also talked of giving him an intelligence
assignment. He said the more he thought this matter over
he was positive that this individual works for the Soviets.
GRILL
He said that in September, 1962, he was invited
to attend a reception at the Russian Embassy. He could not
identify the individual who invited him to the reception
He advised that he contacted the Central Intelligence Agency
at either Langley, Virginia or Elwood, Virginia, and used
the name of JOE CRAMER or KRAMER during this contact with
CIA.
He said he told them of the above information and
wanted some advice as to whether to go through with such
an assignment. He said he was to meet this individual who
was to give him the assignment at the above-mentioned bar
on 14th Street, and in order to be recognized, he was to
place three nickels on the bar in line with a dime placed
directly over the middle nickel. He said the CIA told him
that since this matter involved domestic rather than foreign
intelligence he should refer this information to the FBI.
He stated he went to the above bar and there was
contacted by the same person and was told to go to Miami,
Florida, to a bar and wear a red sweater, where he would
be contacted relative to an assignment.
It is to be noted that during the entire interview
with NAGELL, he was noted to be in an inebriated condition
and was very vague in answering questions. He was unable to
identify by name any of the individuals he discussed and was
also unable to furnish a physical description of any of these
Individuals. In addition to being slightly inebriated he
the impression to the interviewing agents of being
mentally unbalanced.
also gave”.
M.
20%
13-00000
EP 65-951
NAGELL stated he is presently residing at the
Holiday Inn, Jacksonville, Florida, and would be there for
the next few days. He said he is presently driving a 1959.
Ford which bears California license MYU 890 He said he has
no living relatives except his former wife, who resides at
440 South Union Avenue, Los Angeles, California, and his
sister, ELEANORE GAMBERT, 8225 Grand Avenue, Elmhurst,
New York.
NAGELL advised that he believes in connection
with his contacts that he is actually working for the
Soviets He could furnish no information as to a specific.
assignment given him other than that he was to go to
Miami and sit in a bar which he is unable to identify and
wait to be contacted by a Soviet Agent. He said he spoke
Japanese and Russian fluently and is well versed in the
Spanish language. He said he was shot in June, 1962,
but refused to discuss any of the incidents surrounding the
shooting. He said his auto has several bullet holes in it.
He furnished a photograph of himself.
On December 17, 1962 efforts were made to locate
NAGELL for reinterview; however, it was determined that he
had checked out of the motel and left no forwarding address
December 20 1962 to January 22, 1963
the
On November 25, 1963, EP T-2 made available clinical
records regarding t the subject covering the period when
subject was a patient at the Veterans Administration Hospital
Bay Pines, Florida, from December 20, 1962, to January 22,
1963. One clinical record contained the following informa-
tion:
"INTERIM SUMMARY (INTERSERVICE)
"11 HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS: This 32 year old white male
veteran of Korean War was admitted to Ward 1-5-S on 12-20-62
because of complaints of
headache and lapses of memory.
He claims these since an airplane accident he had had in
21.
13-00000
In Reply, Pirasu Rojen ta
File No.
UN 10/6/98
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
PEDERAL, BAREA! OF INVESTE OPION
دوحة
WASHINGTON IN B. C.
Ovtober 2, 1952
REVIEWED BY FBWVJFK TASK FORCE
10/6/98
RELEASE IN FULL
ON
RICHARD CASE MACELL
This document contains neither
mendatio
is lo
isions of
not to be
RELEASE IN PART.
☐ TOTAL DENIAL
distributed outside your agency.
Above named individual appeared of/his 9681
Fallties at the cries Rubany, Rezico City. on
September 20, 1964, and voluntoured the following infor
mation conserting himself :
Album he declined to Amiga loaal
residence addrem for himself in Nexico pity, no stated
he could be contacted through a fiona possed ANTHUR
GREEDEREIN, Roou 415, Hotel Lama, way he said hs con-
tects Opt
He also mhibited lys Tairiet Curð
Sumber 152007, which listed his gidro as 4057 Laura
Avenue, Los Angeles, California. mis and showed that
it had been insund at Los Angeles of August 17, 1962,
and that dull had anfared Basico hrough cluded diges
Tng card also reflected
Millared hide identification by exhibiting
United States Susport Maker
No related that he had m
st of Algoalie DeS
as & Specia
been epiqre
5668-510/64
(JFK)
and deter on
which he had to
ad
sedly in mexe.
1962 no forable
COPY
Judy H
50-500
13-00000
He motioned that on July 15, 1962, "while
a meet" between Malibu and Cunard, he had boon that
in the cheat. In cannestion with this letter incident,
exhibited a brief nem per aligning which mentioned
that he had refused completely to identify his asszilents
or furnish information which would seeist the police in
identifying and locating the person or persona involved,
De stated further that on August 6, 1962, he had
hic request for a bearing so that he could ot
money midch he alleged we due him from the State of
California, consisting of $300.00 retirement
and $300.00 for unused secundated leave.
He stated that he felt he had been "let duam'
the United States Govermas, both in the (kribed States
and charing the time he had been in kertoo. He stated that
catives of the United States Goverment couli lavo
ed him in obtaining his naaay from the State of
California, but were only interested in soliciting from
him information concerning hoodlume and other lawless
elements, for the giving of which information he "could
get his head blown off. He stated that he felt he had
been let dom by the United States Government in Mexico
became nothing had been done by the Embassy in regard to
his requants to have it sesint him in collecting this moneT
which he alleged was dus him from the State of California.
He said that he himself had sont letters to California
salding for pegment of this money.
By way of further background, he claimed to have
served in the United States Army from August 5, 1948 (then
18 years old) until October 29, 1959, and had held the rank
of Čeptain between the area 22 and 29. the stated that
received an honorable discharge and had been wounded
se times in the Korean War. He stated that he made the
major mistake of his life then he did not re-enlist and
continue in the Army. Besides outbat duty in the Infirst
he varied so m Inventienter in the Counter Intelligens
Coaps.
med the

13-00000
No stated that he thought he had bean apparuecheu
here in Mexico City for recruiting, but although naked
specifically in this regard, refused to state by when
for that oc in behalf of what custry. He stated that
ano job af tile sart would be in New York. He velitoared.
in so many words that he fully realised that what he was
saying could be used against him in any court or prose-
cution. He stated that he had almost made up his mind
definitely that he would leave culco, but that he would
not go back to the United States. He stated that he 40
not care to return to the United States. He stated that
so far he had done nothing dial to the United States.
fle stated that he was completely, "disaffected," and that
he knew the full significance of that torn. He also stated
that he was "hitter, disgusted, disillusioned and dientTected."
are thing, he said, that he could agy was that if he did.
go to same other country, it wand cost the United States
millions To stated that he was through being a good
citizen and thought he had gotten a "dirty deal all around.
He was told to go to the Protection Section in
regard to any problem in Mexico as an American citizen.
He stated that he had been to the Protection Section and
would not go there again, and that the way he was feeling,
ho would not go back to the United States. He said that
he had nothing to go beck for, and that his liminal
recard would event him from getting & Bood Job
Y
in the Whited States, He mentioned that the only fou the
had ever worked at was that of an investigate.
He also mentioned that the Veterans Affairs
Attache in the American Ebay had his military resce
in commotion with a request he had previously made to
attend Nexico City College on the G.1. 8111, but to do
that he would have to enroll first and pay tuition himself
which he could not do in view of his financial straite.
Ils stated at first that he was mind in his
hotel bill, but inter indicated that he had been heaping
his hotel ou paid. He also menbiesiad that he had
previously obtained a call loan from the Ameriown
Benevolent Soalety, which he bed since repaid.
13-00000
in has to floors, he stated that he w
receiving 10.00 41ability on a month because of
wounds receive in the falitise ring thigh
he was wonded three time.
state is
told that
cheted that he
in case some
statements to
me to the Embase G
should happen aIL WA
anding would be mea
matter ✅ * with the Embassy Ne ves alvine. Not
to do anything he might regret, bo won be replied,
"What have i to lose?He stated that unless he receivou
the $1,100.0. som, that
him, he was du to ease othe
not be the White
or what the
quetion) an
He said
but added,
chopping bloc
States, but
micther he
to have the
of Califo
try, and tha
refused to say what
Hus
know how heels,
going to lay wy head down on the
16. was noted that 42 voly barvous,
agitated its this intervia,
based on
Instant
to pet nut balar
itizenship
ACD RURAL
Unite Staten
34
613"
Abart 100
Madiun
Reddish-l°CEN
Stalin,
e
hairline 65
en left 200
cubed straig
back on 1 li
13-00000
Eyes:
Service Statis
Former Locupation:
Civil Status :
Anguages. Spakan:
Addreasen :
Attire
Regel
Korean hostilit
veteran, repaiving
$150.00 Mouris
disability
Special Investiofor,
State of California
Department of Mechalle
Beverage Contral
In process of being
divorced
Besides Blis!),
he claims to speak
Japanese fluently
4037 Leeward Avon
and Book 76121.
Sanford Station,
Los Angeles 5,
California
Left eye olante
domward toward
outside; vertical
scar in front of
left ear; half-
eirale shaped sear
commencing in loft
eyetrov and exbending
down to cheek.
Kell dreesed tu
solid brown ligns
weight suit
Ctober 1, 1962, this eme individual reappear
at the American Embassy and wanted to know vinst had been done
in regard to his case, th
stated he meant in Perand
to pay is the money Cus
mated what he meant by this, he
getting the State of California
I was told that this
13-00000
states
been permitted to make statements on the
for the purpose of having those statementa
the Embassy and he was assured that this
ha was told that for any assistance
Rimtion in Nexico, he should
and Welfare Section to see if that
any assistance. At first he stated he
the Protection Section again, but on leaving
as going there and also asked what section
ha should contact to renounce his United
izenship.
time later on October 1, 1962, he did
otection and Welfare Section, where he wa
the section could not intercede for him in
otion of his alleged debt from the State of
Shortly thereafter, he entered in the Passport
section, where he refused to give his
the penalty would be for going to an Iren
and what effort it would have on his citisen-
advised that such an action wild be a violation
Federal Lost,
(mil also on October 1, 1962, appeared in the
Affairs, American Dabassy, Maico City,
he was withdresting his request for O.I.
enefits as a Kencan veteran.
later on October 1962,
copy of his letter
1962
fornia Personnal oard, which, for
her beaks round, is set out in its
Board
iforata
"August 7, 1962
vist of the positive
13-00000
24397
I
Departasot of Alcoholic loverage Control.
withdraw w roquent for a hearing in this matter
by the State Personel Board.
"I hereby state that the sole reason for this
withdrawal of my appeal request for a hearing
is because of my financial situation. Continued,
and that I consider to be justified, postponements
of my hearing have created a situation in which I
cannot afford to meet my daily living expenses
until August 30, 1962, the most recent date give
to me as the date of my houring. Also, I am unable
to obtain exployment in Los Angeles because of the
stigma attached to my dismissal,
I had hoped to remove such stigna
at the hearing that my dimussal vas, -
not only improper, but that the alleged reasome
for my dismissal were exagerated, distorted, and
untrue, a and the result of vindictivenese on the
part of certain senior members of the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control after it came to
their attention that I insanded to disclose to the
State Attorney Generals (Ifice adverse informatio
pertaining to corruption within said Department and
the liquor industry here in Southern Californie.
"I request that wy retirement contributions
and retaburement for unwed lesve be Cortandod
to me at the below listed address as soon as
practical.
Yours truly,
"/s/ RICHARD C. ALL
"RICHARD CASE MAGELL
"Fox 76121, Sanford Station
Los Angeles 5, California
13-00000
Do
FBI Reports
DATED 12 JUNE 64 RE Rich C. NAGELL
BUR FILE WO: 64-48933
DATED 24 JULY 64, RE Rich, C. NAGELL
BUR FILE No: 64-48933
RELEASE IN FULL 1998.
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
13-00000
FD-223 (Rev. 11-29-61)
In Reply, Please Refer to
LA 65-7445
File No.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Los Angeles, California
June 12, 1964
DBA 75519
Title
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
Character
Reference
ESPIONAGE
X
Report of SA JAMES H. HOOSE, JR.,
dated as above at Los Angeles,
California.
All sources (except any listed below) whose identities
are concealed in referenced communication have furnished reliable
information in the past.
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property
of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside
your agency.
201-746537
13-00000
FD-204 (Rev. 3-3-59)
201 (Rov.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
· FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Copy to:
Report of: JAMES H. HOOSE, JR.
6/12/64
Date:
Field Office File No.: 65-7445
75519
Office:
Los Angeles, California
64-48933
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
201-746537
Character:
ESPIONAGE
- X
Synopsis:
Bureau File No.:
NEVIEWED BY PROFK TASK FORCE
9/27/98dat
X BECAUSE I FULL
RELEASE IN PART
TOTAL DENIA
Mother, brother, former wife, and friend of RICHARD
NAGELL all consider him to be mentally disturbed.
No indication NAGELL involved in espionage, Communist.
Party, or "Fair Play for Cuba Committee" activity.
NAGELL told his brother he had been to Cuba and once
jokingly told his former wife he was thinking of going.
to Russia. Information concerning NAGELL's bank
accounts set forth. SUBJECT HAS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.
DETAILS:
RUC
Mrs. MITSUKO NAGELL, nee
Mitsuko Takahashi, aka
Mrs. Richard C. Nagell
(divorced from RICHARD C. NAGELL
On February 3, 1964, Mrs. MITSUKO NAGELL furnished
the following information to SAS JAMES H. HOOSE, JR., and JOSEPH
DOYLE POWELL at her residence at 440 South Union Avenue,
Apartment 12, Los Angeles, California:
She filed for divorce from RICHARD NAGELL in Los
Angeles on April 19, 1962, but has not received the final
decree. NAGELL stayed out late nights, beat her, never gave
Вр
CS COPY
Solie
201-746537
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and
its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
13-00000
LA 65-7445
her any money, and did not like the children. She believes
NAGELL's mother resides in the Los Angeles area, but she
does not know the mother's address and has never met her.
She repeatedly asked NAGELL to introduce her to his mother,
but he always refused to do so.
"
Mrs. NAGELL stated NAGELL never exhibited any
political interest, never mentioned communism or the "Fair
Play for Cuba Committee, or Cuba. Once in the summer of
1963 NAGELL was mad about something unrecalled and jokingly
said he was thinking of going to Russia, but Mrs. NAGELL is
certain this was said in jest.
Mrs. NAGELL is of the opinion there is something
mentally wrong with NAGELL. He would fly into violent rages
without apparent reason. She pointed out that her television
set has a split plastic case and stated NAGELL hit the set
with his fist once while angry and this resulted in this
damage.
Although NAGELL did not like his children, during
the marriage, he has frequently complained about not being
with them since the divorce. He sends them cards from various
places in the United States, but has never since the divorce
furnished support for the children or Mrs. NAGELL. As a con-
sequence, Mrs. NAGELL has been supporting herself and the
children through employment as a waitress and has to board
the children out.
On March 6, 1964, Mrs. NAGELL stated to SA HOOSE
that she never knew NAGELL to be involved in espionage in any
manner. She further commented that they were always in finan-
cial difficulty during their residence in the United States.
During the marriage NAGELL had a bank account at the Bank of
America, Wilshire and Vermont, Los Angeles, but Mrs. NAGELL
doubts there was ever much money in the account. She said
that since the separation in April of 1962, NAGELL has sent
her a total of about $180.00.
11
There is no information in the files of the Los
Angeles Office of the FBI identifiable with Mrs. MITSUKO NAGELL.
13-00000
LA 65-7445
Mrs. FRANCES M. NAGELL,
nee Frances Kaufman
(mother of RICHARD C. NAGELL)
On March 5, 1964, Mrs. FRANCES NAGELL furnished
the following information to SAS JAMES H. HOOSE, JR., and
PHILIP J. REILLY at her residence at 856 South Catalina
Avenue, Apartment 104, Los Angeles:
Mrs. NAGELL stated that for many years and for
various reasons, none of which relate to this case, there
has been dissension in the family. However, until the time
that RICHARD NAGELL was in the airplane crash, they had gotten
along well together. Since the c crash there has been a marked
change in RICHARD NAGELL, and Mrs. NAGELL is certain her son has
some form of mental trouble.
She saw RICHARD in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954, and
she moved to Los Angeles in May of 1955. It was then seven
years before she heard directly from him or saw him. She ran
into RICHARD by chance on the street in Los Angeles, saw that
he needed help, and thereafter tried to give him both moral and
financial assistance..
Mrs. NAGELL gave her son $1,000.00 on one occasion
and much smaller amounts on other occasions. He never expressed
appreciation for this help. RICHARD never seemed to have enough
money. She does not know if he had a bank account or not.
Mrs. NAGELL was trying to locate RICHARD after he
had disappeared for several days. She knew he could often
be found at The Happy Rabbit, a beer joint at 2709 West Sixth
Street, Los Angeles. She went there and found RICHARD, and
he flew into an uncontrollable rage because she had gone inside
this bar, claiming it was no place for a decent woman.
Mrs. NAGELL stated it was really not that bad a place. She
became definitely convinced after this incident that there
was something seriously wrong with her son. But even prior
to this time she observed RICHARD became extremely angry over
nothing, and he would cry without explaining what was troubling
him.
-= 3

13-00000
LA 65-7445
After above mentioned incident, RICHARD again
would have nothing to do with her. She kept track of him
through her other son, LOUIS, who is a year and a half older
than RICHARD. Mrs. NAGELL was in a way happy to have the
boys get together after years of estrangement. She
described LOUIS as being an almost hopeless alcoholic.
She thought since both sons had serious problems, they might
be able to help each other. LOUIS has told her, however,
that he was never able to straighten out RICHARD.
She stated that RICHARD never discussed communism,
never mentioned Cuba or the "Fair Play for Cuba Committee”
or gave any indication he was in any manner involved in
espionage.
On March 9, 1964, Mrs. NAGELL informed SA HOOSE
that she wanted to point out that RICHARD had never physically
abused her, that the abuse was always vocal. She also mentioned
that she herself has been under psychiatric care for several
years, and she does not think her problem has yet been
eliminated..
There is no information in the files of the Los
Angeles Office of the FBI identifiable with Mrs. FRANCES NAGELL.
LOUIS KAUFMAN, true name
LOUIS NAGELL (brother of
RICHARD C. NAGELL)
On March 5, 1964, LOUIS KAUFMAN furnished the
following information to SAS JAMES H. HOOSE, JR., and PHILIP.
J. REILLY at his residence at 10130 Samoa Avenue, Tujunga,
California, telephone 353-1224:
LOUIS stated he got in trouble at age 16 and since
that time has used his mother's maiden name as his last name.
He considers himself to be the "black sheep" of the family and
has had little contact with other family members until the last
year or two. At one time in Korea he discovered he was in the
same army outfit as his brother, RICHARD, and looked him up.
RICHARD was an officer in intelligence while LOUIS was an
enlisted man, and RICHARD did not want to have much contact
with LOUIS. However, when their mother told RICHARD that LOUIS
-
13-00000
LA 65-7445
had cancer of the throat in 1962, RICHARD went to LOUIS and
offered to help him. LOUIS later discovered he did not have
cancer and also discovered that RICHARD was the one who needed
help. LOUIS frequently saw RICHARD in 1962 and until about
August of 1963 when RICHARD left the Los Angeles area.
LOUIS considers RICHARD to be mentally disturbed.
He recalled an afternoon when both were at The Happy Rabbit
and the newspapers carried an account of the burglary of the
local armory. RICHARD told LOUIS he had pulled the burglary
and had some machine guns in his car parked on the street
near the beer joint. LOUIS immediately said he would like
to see the machine guns and the two of them welked out to the
car. LOUIS saw no guns and upon asking RICHARD where they were
(the latter replied he did not know what LOUIS was talking about.
RICHARD said he had no recollection of telling LOUIS anything
about guns or burglarizing any armory. In addition to this
LOUIS said that RICHARD was usually in a state of deep
depression. RICHARD complained about his wife divorcing him
and about his employment problems..
RICHARD never spoke in favor of communism but he
did say that he thought the American government should do
more for him in view of his army service. He never mentioned
Russia. When RICHARD returned from Mexico City in 1962, he
told LOUIS he had gone to Cuba from Mexico. He gave no
reason for having made this trip. LOUIS has no information
indicating RICHARD was ever involved in espionage. He never
heard RICHARD mention the "Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
tt
LOUIS does not know if RICHARD had a bank account;
he does know RICHARD usually was broke.
There is no information in the files of the Los
Angeles Office of the FBI identifiable with LOUIS KAUFMAN.
FREDERICK HOWARD JOHN
(friend of RICHARD C. NAGELL)
FRED JOHN furnished the following information to
SA JAMES H. HOOSE, JR., on March 9, 1964:
5
201-746·537
13-00000
LA 65-7445
JOHN resides in a boarding house at 817 South
Catalina Avenue, Los Angeles. He is employed by the Hartford
Insurance Company, 548 South Spring Street, Los Angeles,
He has known RICHARD NAGELL for about one year.
He met him through BILL LYNN of the California Alcoholic
Beverage Controll at The Happy Rabbit. JOHN does not know
any members of NAGELL's family nor does he know of any other
close friends of NAGELL.
NAGELL left Los Angeles the first or second week of
September, 1963, Just before leaving he told JOHN he would
be traveling and asked him to share his Post Office box so
he could forward on the government disability checks which
he receives monthly. He also asked JOHN to mail him an almanac
whenever it was convenient as he liked to refer to the almanac
from time to time as a general source of information. JOHN
complied with both requests. Near the end of each month JOHN
has sent the checks to NAGELL at a Post Office box in El Paso,
Texas. He also sent him an almanac with a yellow cover as he
becalls it. JOHN did not mark or alter this almanac in any way.
JOHN recently received a form letter from a hospital
in Missouri, informing him he had been named as a correspondent
authorized to communicate with RICHARD NAGELL. JOHN has received
no indication that NAGELL is in any sort of trouble, and he
wondered what was behind the hospital letter.
JOHN has never heard anything about his receiving
four reels of microfilm or any personal papers should NAGELL
die. JOHN does not have a key to any safety deposit box and
does not know if NAGELL does or does not have a safety deposit
box. JOHN has heard NAGELL mention his sister but knows
nothing concerning any Japanese gas mask or anything else
stored with her which is to be turned over to him upon NAGELL's
death.
ij
About a month or two after NAGELL left Los Angeles
he wrote to JOHN, probably just on one occasion, and that
concerned paying the rent on the joint postal box.
JOHN is of the opinion NAGELL is a paranoiac in
that he is depressed at the manner his ex-wife treated him
and the manner in which the local, state, and Federal governments
have treated him. JOHN definitely considers NAGELL to be mentally
disturbed.
6.
13-00000
LA 65-7445
JOHN has never heard. NAGELL speak in favor of
communism or Cuba. He has never heard of the "Fair Play
for Cuba Committee. JOHN has no indication NAGELL was ever
involved in espionage.
18
NAGELL never had much money, just his income from
driving a Yellow Cab and from his disability check. JOHN
does not know if NAGELL had a bank account.
There is no information in the files of the Los
Angeles Office of the FBI identifiable with FRED JOHN.
BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION
On March 5, 1964, LA T-1, whose information may
not be made public except upon issuance of a subpoena duces
tecum, stated RICHARD C. NAGELL had commercial checking account
number 002-857 at the Wilshire Virgil Branch of the Security
First National Bank, Los Angeles.
-
The account was opened October 2, 1961, with a
deposit of $350.00, closed January 31, 1963, no balance.
NAGELL gave a bank reference of Bank of America, Wilshire
Vermont Branch, Los Angeles. Upon opening, residence was given
as 4712 Saturn Street, telephone WE 442739.
LA T-1 recalls NAGELL vividly as he caused a com-
motion every time he came in the bank. He would shout at
the tellers, complain about the service, and threaten to
report the tellers to the management. On one occasion a girl
teller working next to LA T-1 wore a red dress to work on a
day that NAGELL was in the bank. NAGELL shouted at the girl
that only a prostitute would wear a red dress.
LA T-1 thinks some local finance company has been
trying to locate NAGELL recently to collect a debt.
i
On March 9, 1964, LA T-2, whose information may not
be made public except upon issuance of a subpoena duces tecum,
stated RICHARD NAGELL opened commercial checking account
number 9-4492 on November 6, 1959, at the Wilshire Vermont
Branch of the Bank of America, Los Angeles. NAGELL gave his
address as the Cloud Motel, 3400 West Third Street. His bank
reference was the Union Bank, Mount Holly, New Jersey, and he
-
-7-
13-00000
LA 65-7445
apparently exhibited New Jersey driver's license number
44342. Opening deposit was $900.00, and the account was
closed September 27, 1961.
On February 28, 1962, RICHARD NAGELL opened checking
account number 3-2873 at this same bank with a deposit of
$143.10, the account being closed on July 16, 1962. During
part of this time it was a joint account with MITSUKO NAGELL.
INFORMATION FROM INFORMANTS.
AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION
On March 9, 1964, SA WILLIAM J. MC CAULEY was advised
by the following that they had no information concerning RICHARD
NAGELL:
ANTHONY F. LIBERATO, Investigator,
Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Los Angeles, who is cognizant of many.
Cuban activities in Los Angeles.
MANUEL GONZALEZ, 1070 West Kensington
Road, Los Angeles, who headed the pro-
Castro movement in Los Angeles 1960-1961.
MAYER G. ROYAL, 5825 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, who is acquainted with some
activities of the "Fair Play for Cuba:
Committee," Los Angeles.
LA T-3, who is cognizant of many Cuban
activities in Los Angeles.
LA T-4 and LA T-5, who are familiar with.
Communist Party activity in the general
area where RICHARD NAGELL has resided in
Los Angeles.
There is no information of substance in the files
of the Los Angeles Office of the FBI identifying NAGELL with
any Communist Party, Cuban, or espionage activity.
- 8 - .
13-00000
LA 65-7445
JOHN NOBURO MIYAKI (JACK MIYAKI) stated on
March 23, 1964, to SA HOOSE that he and his wife, CAROLINE.
MIYAKI, reside at 645 North Westmoreland Avenue, Los Angeles,
California. MIYAKI did not recognize name or photograph of
RICHARD NAGELL. When further descriptive data was furnished
MIYAKI, he recalled he had met NAGELL on one occasion about
a year ago at The Happy Rabbit, a beer joint at 2709 West
Sixth Street, Los Angeles
:
NAGELL told MIYAKI he either was or had been a
Yellow Cab driver, that he had a Japanese wife who had
divorced him. MIYAKI said he possibly told NAGELL he worked
as a machinist at Aero-Space Manufacturing Corporation, 3825
Cohasset Street, Burbank, California, but cannot recall having
told NAGELL anything else. MIYAKI stated he thinks NAGELL left
the bar at the same time he did which may account for NAGELL.
having MIYAKI's license number. MIYAKI drives a cream
colored 1962 Buick Special, four door, license JOG 823.
(California Department of Motor Vehicles verifies this license
is for this car.) MIYAKI said he does not work on any classi-
fied material and has no clearance. MIYAKI was born in Japan,
naturalized in Hawaii on January 21, 1954, certificate number
7121559.
.J
MIYAKI is of the opinion he, and NAGELL only con-
versed about ten or fifteen minutes on this one occasion,
and he has no information apart from above concerning NAGELL.
There is no information in the files of the Los
Angeles Office of the FBI identifiable with JOHN (JACK)
MIYAKI or CAROLINE MIYAKI.
-
9*
-
13-00000
FD-204 (Rev. 3-3-(?)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Copy to:
Report of:
Date:
SA DAVID J. REID
July 24, 1964.
Field Office File No.: EP 65-951
DP 80190
Office:
EL PASO
Thi
Bureau File No.: 64-48933.
Title: RICHARD CASE NAGELL
021-746537
Character:
ESPIONAGE X
Synopsis:
REVIEWED BY PBWJFK TASK FORCE
9/27/88
LEASE IN FULL
HELEASE IN PART
TOTAL DENIAL.
Subject described by a former acquaintance in the
United States Army in Korea as having had a brilliant
war record but as not stable mentally, this instability
probably being due to brain tissue damage resulting from an
airplane crash during the Korean War. With regard to names
found in the possession of the subject when he was arrested
on September 20, 1963, U.S. Army, Japan, advised that the
subject had previously served in Korea and Japan and that it
was not unusual for individuals to retain lists of persons
in such areas for future reference. U.S. Army, Japan, also
advised that the reason for some names in the subject's
possession at the time of his arrest could not be assessed;
On June 9, 1964, subject sentenced in the United States District
Court, El Paso, Texas, to serve ten years under the provisions
of Section 4208 (a) (II), Title 18, U.S. Code, for violation
of Section 2113, Title 18, U.S. Code. Subject attempted suicide
on June 17, 1964. SUBJECT HAS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.
Have mesures
CS COPY
B
ВЉ
Group
DEPRESIFIED BY 5668 SCO/GEL
0:10/6/98 (JFK)
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
Solie
.201-746539
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and
its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
13-00000
EP 65-951
DETAILS:
AT TOKYO, JAPAN:
At the time of the arrest of Richard Case Nagell
in El Paso, Texas, on September 20, 1963, on a bank robbery
charge, he had many papers and documents in his possession.
These papers and documents were reviewed and were found to
contain the following notations:
Mural Jun- (Cabinet Research
Office- C.R.O.) (National Rural
Police Agency) (Private Secretary
to P.M. Yoshida) (Intelligence
Agency in China)- Now in
Tukuoka- SHI
Tsio Sai Fue
Literature Dept.
Tohoku Daigaku
(Naikaku Chosa Shitsu)
Hoshiyama Sadeo (Lee Chang Suk)
c/o Maruei Pachinko
169- Baba-Machi, Choshi-Shi
Chiba-Ken, Japan
Kin Kai Co.
(Kinka So)
#2-3 Ginza, Chuo-Ku
Tokyo-To (56-5330)
Nicolai G. Eroshkin (FMR)
Military Attache- Soviet Embassy
Tokyo
Envelope addressed to: Capt. Robert C.
Nolan, Advisor, FROKA Det. HID
with return address of Col Lee Churl Hi,
CO, HID, ROKA
CS COPY
2.
201-746537
Х
13-00000
EP 65-951
Ikejiri starataku.
(Tel. 41-2449) Tokyo
Utsumi Koetsu- Chief of Liaison
Section, Miyagi Prefectural Gov't.
Kanemaru Makoto- Chief of
Public Safety Section, Guard
and Rescue Dept, 2nd Regional
Hqs, Maritime Safety Bureau (MSB).
(Shiogama shi, Miyagi-ken.
Prakei
Tomita Takeji, Chief of 2nd.
Investigative Section, Tohoku Regional
Public Safety Investigation Bureau (PSIB)
Konno Saburo- Chief of 1st
Investigative Section, Tohoku
Regional PSIB
Suzuki Kinji- Head of Guard
Section, Public Safety Dept,
Tohoku Regional Police Bureau
(Police Superintendent)
Ryosuke-
Matsumoto Ryosuke- Head
of General Affairs Division,
Tohoku Regional Police Bureau
(Senior Police Superintendent)
Akiyama Jiro-
Regional PSIB
Chief of Tohoku
Matsumoto Shogo- Chief of
Miyagi Prefectural Police
Hqs (Senior Police Superintendent)
Matsumoto Takehiro- Chief
Procurator of Sendai Higher
Procurator's Office
9/10/6K
13-00000
65-951
See p. 5
السعيد
Matsuich
Kuriyama Matsuichi- CG, 6th
Div. JGSDF
Sugaya Eijiro- Chief of 2nd.
Regional Hqs, MSB
Kudo Masumi- Chief of Public
Safety Dept. Tohoku Regional
Police Bureau
\vuil-
Tsuchiya Kyuii- Chief of Sendai
Immigration Control Agency,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Fukuhara Yukinori- Vice-Chief
of 2nd Regional Hqs, MSB
Ishimaru Hotaro- Chief of Guard
and Rescue Dept, 2nd Regional
Hqs, MSB
Mural Jun- Director of Tohoku
Regional Folice Bureau
基
DUPLICATE
#2-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo-to
Tel. 56-5330
Photograph with name Lee Chang Suk
underneath. Along side/of photograph
is the name Hoshiyama Sadao, C/o Maruei
Pachinko Store, 169-1 Baba-machi,
Choshi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan
Kaji Wataru
9/10/64
NAW

13-00000
EP 65-951
Mura Jun
Director, Tohoku Regional Police Bureau
Mr. Masui
Chier, Crime Prevention Section, Criminal
Department, National Police Agency
Department
An envelope addressed to: Capt
Robert C. Nolan, Advisor,
FROKA det, HID with return
address of Col Lee Churl Hi,
CO, HID, ROKA
Four photographs identified on the back
as follows;
Akiyama
Kuriyama Matsuichi
Sugaya Eiiiro
Seo.R
4
Murai Jun
In addition, the subject had in his possession at
the time of his arrest on September 20, 1963, a piece of
paper containing the listing of what appeared to be United
States Army Officers and their serial numbers. One section.
of this paper was listed under the heading "Third Operations
Group".
On March 24, 1964, Lieutenant Colonel NED W. GLENN,
Deputy G-2, United States Army, Japan, advised that he had
known the subject personally and had served in Korea with
the subject. GLENN noted that his name appeared in one of
the above mentioned photographs of papers which were found
in the possession of the subject when arrested in El Paso
on September 20, 1963. GLENN stated that he and the subject
had been attached to an Intelligence Branch of the United
States Army in the Far East during the period of their acquaintance.
:
GLENN explained that the names in parentheses in
one of the above mentioned photographs were "code names" used
5.
aliday
13-00000
EP 65-951
by members of Army Intelligence Units in Korea in order to
protect their real identities from informants.
GLENN also advised that the subject was not
stable mentally and that this instability was probably due
to damage to brain tissues suffered in an airplane crash
during the Korean War in which the subject was the only
survivor. GLENN stated that the subject, in fact, did have
a brilliant war record, which was the reason for his
assignment to Army Intelligence in spite of what should
have been an obvious psychological defect.
GLENN pointed out as an example of the subject's
instability that the subject had turned in allegations
against an Intelligence Officer in Korea, which became the
subject of extensive investigation. GLENN added that te
subject was subsequently transferred to another Army unit
and upon reporting to that unit, was greeted in a friendly.
way by his new Commanding Officer, who told him he hoped
the subject would enjoy his new assignment and that he,
the Commander, would do all he could to make it a worthwhile
tour of duty for the subject.
To this, NAGELL allegedly replied that the Commander
had certainly better see that this was the case as, NAGELL
told him, he made a practice of keeping a record of every.
move made by his Commanding Officer and if he stepped out
of line one whit at any time, it would be made the subject
of an immediate report to higher headquarters.
GLENN made available a letter from the Assistant
Chief of Staff, G-2/G-3, United States Army, Japan, which
was in answer to a request for information regarding the
subject and which contained the following information:
SUBJECT, after graduation from the Army Intelligence
School, Fort Holabird, Maryland, in August 1955, served as an
advisor to the First Republic of Korea Army and subsequently
in Sendai, and Tokyo, Japan, terminating in about 1958.
These assignments were concerned with intelligence activities,
13-00000
EP 65-951
as an advisor to the ROK Army in Korea, and as a member of the
US Army Counterintelligence Corps in Japan. During the
latter tour of duty, the counterintelligence unit was designated
the 3rd Operations Group, with Headquarters in Tokyo and
Detachment B in Sendai, as referred to in photographic inclosures
to your letter.
In assignments of this nature it is common practice
for members to become acquainted with personnel of various.
Japanese security agencies, such as are mentioned in March
5 Memorandum of the FBI, El Paso, Texas. It is not unusual
for individuals assigned counterintelligence duties to retain
lists of these persons for reference in the event they are
again reassigned to the area, or for dispatching cards or
thank you notes from the United States.
This would appear
to be the reason for SUBJECT having kept the list of agency
personnel, although to have retained the list for a number of
years after leaving the service appears unusual. The names Kaji,
Wataru and Jack Cannon were known to the public as the results
of allegations of illegal intelligence operations that were
publicized in the Japanese press, but SUBJECT'S reason for
including those names in HIS lists cannot be assessed.
no reason can be given for the two or three miscellaneous :.
names in NAGELL'S file.
Also,
The list of Americans mentioned in one of the photographic
attachments pertains to US personnel in the intelligence field.
It appears that the subject maintained a roster of those persons
with whom he would or had contact, which is not unusual.
Information contained on those rosters, particularly that
portion indicating code names, was and is regarded as classified
information by this office.
Files of the Counterintelligence Repository, USARJ,
disclosed no information relative to NAGELL or of his alisses.
AT EL PASO, TEXAS:
On June 9, 1964, Federal Judge HOMER THORNBERRY, United
7.
13-00000
EP 65-951
DBA
80170
States District Court, denied the motion for a new trial
and sentenced the subject to serve ten years under the
provisions of Section 4208 (a) (II), Title 18, United States
Code, which provides that the subject can be released under
parole at any time it is deemed advisable. This sentence
was for violation of Section 2113, Title 18, United States
Code..
The June 17, 1964 issue of "The El Paso Herald
Post", contained an article entitled "Inmate 'Serious After
Suicide Try". According to the article, the subject swallowed
several sleeping pills while lodged at the El Paso County Jail
on June 17, 1964. According to the article, NAGELL was to
be kept under observation all night and was to be transferred
to the William Beaumont General Hospital from the La Tuna
Federal Correctional Institution Hospital unless his condition
improved.
The article further stated that Deputy U.S. Marshal
JACK GRAVES said seconal pills had been prescribed for the
subject and that the subject evidently had been hoarding them.
8
13-00000
RICHARD CASE NAGELL, ΑΚΑ
JOE CRAMER
JOE KRAMER
JOE CRANE
ROBERT C. NOLAN
Born-8--30, Greenwich, NY.
Nagell claims around the middle on 1962, he was in Washington, D
C. and he had been approached by an individual whom he felt was
either a Special Agent of the FBI or a Soviet Espionage Agent. He said
he meet this person in a bar in Washington, D.C. located at 811 14th St,
NW. He said this person talked of Domestic Intelligence and also talked
of giving him an intelligence assignment.
on 28 Sept 62 apa at ji City
เน
med at
Nagell claims in September, 1962, he was invited to attend a
LA on 17 a reception at the Soviet Embassy. He states he contacted CIA at either
tered Langley, Virginia, or Elwood, Virginia, and used the name of
on 24 any
6
JOE CRAMER or KRAMER during this contact with CIA.He said he told CIA
the above information and wanted some advise as to whether to go
through with such an assignment. CIA told him to see the FBI.
Nagell said he went to the above bar and there was contacted
by the same person and was told to go to Miami, Florida, to a bar and
wear a red sweater, where he would be contacted.
Certain material was seized from Nagell when he was arrested
on bank robbery charges on 9/20/63.
AT CIA
The following names were located on material and papers taken
from Nagell/
RICHARD FECTEAU, LYNN, MASS
( DAC) ( C.I.A.).
R: 58244 (MASS) (JAN. 63)
C.I.A.
1. Mr.F. PARKER
2. Miss GUTHRIES.
3. Mr. C. Churchill
4. Mr. J. DA VANON
5. Mr. J. SLOSS
6. Mr. E. LEIBACHER
Lust
10p/62 for
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN PULL 1998
13-00000
SEORET
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
FESTEAU
Shoos
1
APR 1964
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Director
ATTENTION
SUBJECT
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Mr. William O. Cregar
Richard Case Nagell, aka
Joe Cramer
Joe Kramer
Joe Crane
Robert C. Nolan
Reference is made to a memorandum from your Bureau
dated 2 October 1962, captioned as above. Representatives of your
Washington Field Office have advised that Richard Case Nagell is
currently under arrest for bank robbery and that the following names
and information were contained on material and papers in the posses-
sion of Nagell:
RICHARD FECTEAU, Lynn, Mass
(DAC) (C.LA.)
R 58244 (MASS) (Jan. 63)
C. LA.
1. Mr. F. PARKER
2. Miss GUTHRIES
3. Mr. C. CHURCHILL
4. Mr. J. DA VANON
5. Mr. J. SLOSS
6. Mr. E. LEIBACHER
The records of this Agency have been searched in regard
to the above individuals with the following results:
GROWP 1
Excluded from automatic
grading and
declassification
SECRET
13-00000
SEGRET
"Richard Fecteau, Lynn, Mass." is undoubtedly identical to
Richard George Fecteau who is in prison in Communist China.
Fecteau was taken prisoner by the Communists during an Agency
operation in November 1952.
"Mr. F. Parker" may be identical to John Floyd Parker, cur-
rent Agency employee, who was born 2 January 1898, Louisville,
Kentucky.
"Miss Guthries" may be identical to Frances Agnes Guthrie,
born 29 February 1908, Charleston, West Virginia, who is also cur-
rently employed by this Agency,
"Mr. C. Churchill" may be identical to Greighton Churchill
who was born 1 October 1912, Cornish, New Hampshire, whose pres-
ent address is not known and whose address in 1952 was 27 West 44th
Street, New York City.
John Floyd Parker and Frances Guthrie have been interviewed
in regard to any knowledge of Nagell but neither individual has any
recollection of having ever met Richard Case Nagell. Guthrie was em-
ployed by this Agency in Japan in the 1950's. Creighton Churchill and
John Floyd Parker were in Japan in 1952 to interview and debrief
United States servicemen who had been held prisoners of war by the
Communists.
In view of the background of Nagell in the Far East, the possi-
bility exists that Nagell could have obtained the names of Parker,
Guthrie and Churchill in the approximate 1952 period, although a speci-
fie statement concerning this cannot be made in view of the limited in-
formation concerning Nagell.
"Mr. E. Leibacher' and'Mr. Da Vanon" are believed to refer to
Ernst Leibacker and Joseph Frances Davanon of the Los Angeles Field
Office of this Agency. Your Los Angeles Field Office has been previ-
ously aware that Leíbacker and Davanon have no personal knowledge of
Nagell. There is no record of any past interest in Nagell by this
Agency.
"J. Sloss" may refer to John Richard Slose who was born 24 Sep-
tember 1919, Cleveland, Ohio and is currently employed in Head-
quarters by this Agency, John Richard Sloss has been interviewed in
SCONET
13-00000
SEGRET
3
-
regard to any knowledge of Nagell and has advised that he has no
recollection of having met any individual by that name. If John
Richard Sloss is identical to "J. Sloes," it is not possible from
available information to even speculate as to how the name came
into the possession of Nagell.
In view of the fact that Richard George Fecteau is currently
în prison in China and the Indication that the other six names- listed
above may refer to Agency employees, it is requested that the
above information not be disseminated outside your Bureau. It
does not appear that the above information could affect either the
prosecution of or the defense of Nagell on the charge of bank rob-
bery and disclosure of the above information could create a later
cover problem for this Agency, as well as directing additional at-
tention to the position of Fecteau.
It would be appreciated if your Bureau would advise this
Agency of any information brought to your attention concerning how
the above names came into the possession of Nagell.
FOR THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE:
OS/SRS/Bruce LSolie:jrg - 6 Apr 64
R. L. Bannerman
Director of Security
RICHARD FECTEAU
# #
59201
JOHN FLOYD
PARKER
1050
FRANCES AGIVES
AGIVES GUTHRIE
42.291
CREIGHTON
CHURCHILL
#
46575
JOHN RICHARD
SLOSS
34490
ERNST LEIBACHER
67460
13-00000
OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
5010-104
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Memorandum
ΤΟ
FROM
:
SEGRET
Chief, Security Research Staff, OS
ATT:
Mr. Robert Leonard.
Acting Chief, Contact Division, 00
SUBJECT:
NAGELL, Richard Case
REF
DATE: 27 March 1964
Arrest in El Paso/List of Names
Marked "CIA".
Telephone conversations between Mr. Robert Leonard
and Mrs. Virginia Thorne, 26 and 27 March 1964.
1.
Enclosed for your records and any action you
may consider appropriate, are copies of self-
explanatory teletypes from our San Francisco,
Office concerning Subject's arrest in El Paso.
2. Any questions pertaining to this memorandum
should be directed to Mrs. Virginia Thorne,
Ext-2202. .
Dirginia C. Thorne
for JOEN
W. MCCONNELL
ENCLOSURES: As stated above.
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
13-00000
RR 0215
DE 0647/26 26/23512
R 2623302 ZEA
BT
3333
AAAAK GEA
TWO TWO SIX WA
SEC
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
SECRET TDTG 2623302
WA CITE LANG 8294
INDEX (THORNE) FROM DEVANON
RICHARD CASE NAGELL
SUBJI
REF :
(B)
(A) LANG 8280
WA-63394
(C) NA 63519
ON 20 MAR 64, FBI-LA ADVISED US THAT OUR EXPRESSION (REF A)
CLOSED THE MATTER FOR THEM, AND THAT FURTHER AGENCY CONTACTS.
IF ANY, WOULD PROBABLY BE VIA FBI-VACHINSTON FIELD OFFICE.
SECRET
M 27 11:12 AM 64
CFN: 8294 THORNE DEVANON RICHARD CASE NAGILL 8260 63394 635 19 20 64
FBI-LA REF A. FBI-WASHINGTON
BT
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from autora"
downgrading
declassification

13-00000
CREIGHTON CHURCHILL
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW FROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
Dear Floyd:
WOODSTOCK, VERMONT
18 April 1964
JIFLOYD PARKER
#1050
7876
TEL Ext
Creighton CHURCHILL #4657
It was good to hear from you, to learn
you are still at the old shop; etc..
I got your letter yesterday in New York,
and while driving the 300-odd miles hoped that my
subconscious would perhaps come out with a peal of
a bell regarding an individual named Ed Nagell. But
no bells rang.
I have only a small hunch a piccolo-toot
in my memory. When I worked for the shop I once went
to see Mr. James Bennett, Director of Federal Prisons,
( with whom I had once shared a table on an ocean
liner, years before). You can guess why I wanted to
see Bennett: I was seeking ways for birds to fly out
of cages. Bennett mentioned a guy ( with a questionable
record, as far as he was concerned) who claimed to
know us, you and me, what we were doing., etc. etc.
He had aproached Bennett " as from us" Ed Nagell
rings a piccolo-toot on this, but only
that. Incidentally, I filed a report on the incident.
when I got back to the shop.
--
the name
Club
--
――
--
at the Harvard
I am often in New York
and should you ever be in town, give me a ring.
It would be fun to see you. I met Harry Osterweis in
a restaurant the other day fater some many, many
years. You may remember him.
--
I have recently become an author an Wines.
After a year in France in 1959, I wrote a book on French
wines which was published by Knopf, and am about to bring
out one on wines of the world with MacMillan in September.
That is about the extent of my news.
My best to you.
13-00000
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR: FILE
Attached bio summary on NAGELL was received from SRD
11/27/79 - after House Select Committee on Assassinations
review
PLEASE DO NOT SEPARATE THIS MEMO FROM THE ATTACHED
Date
USE PREVIOUS
FORM
5-75 101 EDITIONS
13-00000
SECRET
Richard Case NAGELL
Chronological Record of Activities
264170
5 Aug 1948:
Entered Army (18 years old)
28 Nov 1954:
15 Aug 1955:
"Brilliant Korean War Record"
"Many Campaign Awards"
Sole survivor of plane crash. Suffered facial disfigure-
ment; given psychiatric exam.
Graduated from Army Intelligence School, Ft. Holabird,
Maryland. Served as advisor to ROK Army in Korea.
Concerned with intelligence activities; served as a member
of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps in Japan, Sendai
and Tokyo, terminating about 1958.
A Lt. Col. Ned W. GLENN, Deputy G-2, U.S. Navy,
Japan, advised on 24 March 1964 that he had served
personally in Korea with NAGELL. GLENN advised
that NAGELL was not stable mentally and that this in-
stability was probably due to damage to brain'
tissues
suffered in an airplane crash during the Korean War.
29 Oct 1959:
Honorable Discharge
14 Dec 1959:
8 June 1962:
27 June 1962:
Captain, U.S. Army
Employed by Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
of State of California as a special investigator.
Suspended by ABC, State of California
Dismissed by ABC
16 July 1962: Shot in chest "while making a meet" between Malibu and
17 Aug 1962:
24 Aug 1962:
Oxnard. Refused to identify assailants or furnish infor-
mation to police, subsequently, filed Civil Rights com-
plaint against police. Withdrew request for hearing so
he could get money from state of California consisting of
retirement contributions and accumulated leave.
Issued tourist card at Los Angeles, California.
Entered Mexico through Ciudad, Juarez.
SECRET
GROUP
Excluded on automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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28 Sept 1962:
1 Oct 1962:
28 Oct 1962:
16 Nov 1962:
15 Dec 1962:
SECRET
Appeared voluntarily at American Embassy, Mexico City,
tense, nervous, agitated and antagonistic.
Inter alia-stated he had been approached in Mexico
City for recruiting, refused to say by whom on behalf of
what country. Stated that one job of this sont would be
in New York. He volunteered that he fully realized that
what he was saying could be used against him in any
court or prosecution. He stated that he was "bitter,
disgusted, disillusioned and disaffected". Stated he knew
the full significance of the term disaffected. He stated
that if he did go to some other country, it would cost the
United States millions. He stated that he was "through
being a good citizen" and thought that he had gotten a
"dirty deal all around."
Again appeared at American Embassy, Mexico City,
wanting to know what had been done in regard to getting
the state of California to pay him the money due him.
Was sent to protection section. Asked what section of
Embassy he should contact to renounce his United States
citizenship. Was advised by collection section that they
could not intercede for him in collecting money from
state of California. Appeared in passport and citizenship
section and asked what the penalty would be for going to
an Iron Curtain country and what effect it would have on
his citizenship. Was advised that such action would be
violation of federal law.
Left Mexico City, Mexico.
Advised FBI in New York City he wanted to expose.
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in California.
Advised FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, that he had been
approached shortly before in Washington, D. C., by
individual believed to be working for Soviets. NAGELL
at this time was noted to be in an inebriated condition
vague in answering questions.
20 Dec 1962:22 Jan 1963: NAGELL at Bay Pines, Florida VA Hospital.
-
)
Condition diagnosed as "chronic brain syndrome associated
with brain trauma with behavioral reaction characterized
by passive aggressive and paranoid features".
-2-
SEGRET
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SECRET
24 Jan 1963:
19 April 1963:
4 June 1963:
20 Sept 1963:
Asked FBI in Miami if his Cuban or Russian sources
gave him a pistol with silencer and microfilm if he
would be permitted to return same to his contact so
he could be of further use to U.S. Government. He
stated that in August or September 1962 he met a man
from Maryland in Mexico City who introduced him to
individuals whom he believed may have been Soviet Agent.
Advised FBI in Los Angeles, California, that he had
taken his former wife to court for failure to comply with
court order giving NAGELL visitation rights with children.
NAGELL appeared at the Out Patient Clinic and was re-
ferred to the Neurological Clinic for treatment. His
condition was diagnosed as depression, tearful, nervous,
rigid". . Would only utter words "Got to see my kids".
NAGELL arrested in El Paso, Texas, on charge of at-
tempting to rob State National Bank. Slashed wrist night
of 9/20/63. NAGELL consistently denied he had tried
to rob the bank; stated that the fact that he fired two shots
in the ceiling proved he had not been trying to hit anyone.
He stated that he was certain that "all of my problems have
been solved for a long time, and now I won't have to go to
Cuba".
A notebook which the Subject had on his person when ar-
rested made reference to Fair Play for Cuba Committee,
the names of purported CIA agents and other information.
Cell mate in jail reported that NAGELL disclosed to him
that NAGELL, during confused period after discharge,
decided everything against him in Los Angeles and made
arrangements with Communist Party in Los Angeles to
pick up visa and passport from contact in El Paso and
eventually end up in Czechoslovakia. NAGELL reportedly
attempted suicide three times enroute to El Passo but
lost nerve.
(Noteworthy that State Department records reflect issuance
of Passport to NAGELL on 7 August 1962 at Los Angeles,
California, and that on 9 July 1963 NAGELL signed affi-
davit that his passport had been lost or stolen.
issued a new passport on 6 August 1963.)
He was
-3-
SECRET™
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4 Nov 1963:
19 Dec 1963:
1 Jan 1964:
24 Jan 1964:
9 June 1964:
17 June 1964:
SECRET
El Paso Herald-Post article states that NAGELL told
U.S. District Court that he did not attempt to hold up
the bank. "I had a motive for doing what I did" NAGELL
told Judge, "but my motive was not to hold up the bank.
I do not intend to disclose my motive at this time."
Subsequent to President's assassination, Subject claimed
acquaintance with OSWALD and wife. Marina OSWALD
on 1/18/65 disclaimed any knowledge of NAGELL.
NAGELL furnished a signed statement:
"... In September 1962, while I was in Mexico City,a
representative of a foreign government proposed to me
that I participate in an act; such act being a criminal
offense and inimical to the best interest of the United
States. At that time, I refused such proposal. In May
1963, another representative of the same foreign govern-
ment made the same proposal to me. At that time, I
agreed to such a proposal."
"In September 1963, I was informed by an American,
known to me as an Agent of the same foreign government,
that arrangements for my participation in the aforementioned
act were completed. At that time, I refused the aforesaid
proposal.
Approximately one week later, I was instructed by this
same person to either participate as previously agreed
or derrogatory information pertaining to me would be
disclosed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There-
upon, I agreed to follow the instructions of this person,
although I did not intend to do so. This existing situation
actuated my conduct of September 20, 1963, for which I
was arrested and am presently charged.
I did not actually attempt to rob any bank. I thought that
my arrest would provide an immediate, though temporary,
solution to the problem with which I was confronted.
I am not guilty as charged."
NAGELL arraigned in connection with indictment for
bank robbery and was committed for 30 days for the
purpose of psychiatric examination.
Sentenced in U.S. District Court, El Paso, Texas to
serve 10 years.
NAGELL swallowed several sleeping pills while lodged
at the El Paso County Jail.
SECRET
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CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1998
3RD AGENCY MATERIAL
CONTAINS COPY OF LETTER, DATED 24 APR 1970,
Which NAGELL SENT TO FRANCIS X. PLANT,
SPEC ASST. OFFICE, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
SUBTECT WAS his COMPLAINT AGAINST The
Army Ro LACK OF A COMPLETE MEDICAL
EXAM, AS WELL AS his CLAIM TO
HAVING PARTICIPATED IN THE MATTER
INVOLVING MSGT. EMMETT E. DUGAN
13-00000
CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
UNCLASSIFIED
SUBJECT: (Optional).
FROM:
Findlum
INTAL
US ONLY
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building).
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
01/150
RECEIVED
DATE
FORWARDED
EXTENSION
NO.
OFFICER'S
INITIALS
DATE
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
m
2.
5.
Chay
e
Attached
are
CI Staff In from Ken Korbei
"C/JKO P
of aray
Als
E
8.
10 JUN 1970
aum
croute on
05
Du
Sine
Seventy
Mrs Jarak Hall 4/24/10
9/27/70
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
FORM
3-62
610
USE PREVIOUS
EDITIONS
SECRET
CONFIDENTIAL
INTERNAL
USE ON
UNCLASSIFIED
13-00000.
TO
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
ATTN: MR. JAMES LUDLUM
INITIALS
CIRCULATE
COORDINATION
INITIALS FILE
DATE
INFORMATION
INITIALS NOTE AND
RETURN
DATE
PER CON-
VERSATION
INITIALS SEE ME
DATE
SIGNATURE
REMARKS
The attached is forwarded for your information since
your Agency is mentioned by Nagell, the writer of the
letter to Mr. Plant, Special Assistant, Office of
Undersecretary of the Army.
Nagell was at one time in CIC.
It seems that he may be mentally unbalanced..
Nagell's dossier is available in Security Divison,
OACSI DA for your review if desired.
FROM
Do NOT use this form as a RECORD of approvals, concurrences,
disapprovals, clearances, and similar actions
Taro Yoshihashi, CI Div, OACSI DA
OPTIONAL FORM 41
AUGUST 1967
DATE
4 Jun 70
PHONE
x77017
GPO 1969 OF-352-829
GSA FPMR (41CFR) 100-11.206
5041-101
13-00000
Francis X. Plant
Special Assistant
Office, Under Secretary of the Army
Room 1E520, The Pentagon.
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Plant:
24 April 1970
In further reference to my letter from Switzerland: During our conver-
sation of 6 April you made it clear that I must step back into time and prove
the existence of a condition over ten years ago that could and should have
been resolved by the Army then
a feat that is all the more complicated
by the ABCMR's refusal to interview the appropriate witnesses, view certain
pertinent records and to place the blame for my not receiving an adequate
medical examination where it belongs.
I believe what you really meant to say was that in my particular case
(as opposed to others much less valid) the function of the Board to correct
an injustice does not apply.
So if this assumption is fact, as I have every reason to feel it is, then
you may pass on to the Secretary that before my case is closed the Army will be
confronted with a scandal that will make France's Dreyfus affair seem inconse-
quential by comparison. I am not quite the fool that apparently I have been
taken for.
Very truly,
chard C. Hel
P.S.
Richard C. Nagell
Enclosed are some xerox copies of several documents which your house-
cleaning office might find of interest. The originals, together with
numerous other documents and the details about them, are safely locked
away.

13-00000
deceptive. I had killed before and I had participated in homicidos under the auspices of
both MI and the CIA (one instance being the part I played in the February 1958 abduction-
interrogation-murder of an FOI agent, à U.S. soldier, MSCT Emmott E. Dugan, from Crafton,
Pa., suspected of having defected in place to the Chinese), under the guise that arr
American variation of the Soviet "wet affair" was the only alternative, that it was
either w essential to some ovorall intelligence effort or in the best interests of our
national security. And it was
similar-sounding argument, ultimately reduced to a
50%
13-00000
May Have Killed Hir self
By LARRY: SAKAMOTO,
INS Writer
police raised
yesterday the ☐
Army intelligence agai
vies, body, was fish d; ou
Bay March 12. may
itted suicide.
far, both Japanese
earlier was believed an
by Communist agents.
a
Although US. Any
declined comment, Tokyo new
papers reported
that Dugan
was engaged in undercove
investigation of the flow of U.S.
Usitary police Investiga: military equipment into the
ors aseve announced that they hands of the Chinese Commu-
are p against a "stone walenists.
gaining cluues to the death of Tokyo police officials revealed
M. Sgt. Emmett F. Dugan, 39, yesterday--and the U.S." Army"
of Crafton, PT.
confirmed that they have ask;
A Tokyo ponce official raided Army authorities in the US.
yesterday in connection with to question Mrs. Maud Dugan
the case:
In order to exhaust all possibi-
"There is one definite poart-lities,
bility that Dugan was not mund An Ariny spokesman af Camp
dered, as s generally believed. Zama, said 2n Army Headi
but may save committed quarters at Ft. Merde. Md. had
cide
been asked by Japanese police
to contact Mrs. Dugani.
"We are pursuing our inves
tigation into possible sturida
with utmory thoroughnes."
Dugan. whose wife has re
turned to ne United States
Some of the questions which
Japanese police wanted put to
Mrs. Dugan were those cheern-
ing a description of the tienin,
watch costente on his
and clothes of
disappeare
Dugan isap
ter leaving
hotel.
when he
Feb. 4 af-
wife at a Tokyo
Supporting the theory that
Dugan TMN have committed
suicide, Tokyo University
pathologer it is "possible"
for a person to drown himself
without water being found in
(person's lungs if the body is in.
an advanced stage of decomposi-
tian.
'An authopsy revealed no
water in Dugan's lungs.
Police authorities said "the
cause of death has not been de
termined but are fairly sure
that be no die of suffoca-
tion or poisoning."
When Dugan said goodby to
his wife on Feb. 4. Indications
are that he sensed death was!
near when he handed her an in-
suranes policy, saying,
don't return, you'll need these."
Meanwhile, the Army spokes-
man said "nothing new" has
been uncovered in the case thus
far.
Dugan fluent Chinese
and was ka to have many
"contact among Chinese Hving
in Japan
13-00000
100
GENUINE
ON 222242
COUNTERFEIT
13-00000
Re: Teams 25 & & 2ô, U.S. Army Coordinat-
ing Detachment (USACRAFE 8177 A.U.),
Korea. 1956-1957. And RA HID:
operations sponsored and directed by
U.S. Military Intelligence.
"Completely true!"
UNC Rejects Red
Kidnaping Charge
PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP-The U.N. Command Sat
urday labeled "completely false" a Communist charge tha
an armed raiding party from the Republic of Korea broke
into a North Korean village and killed a farmer and kid
naped a teen-age boy.
"There is no evidence that these actions were done.
by the military personnel of the
U.N.. Con mand." U.S. Maj. Gen.
Matthew R. Deichelmann told
Communist North Korean mem-
ebers of Abd Military Armisticg
Commission,
A gald the Communist clai
could have been manufactured for
• propaganda
MAJ. CEN. Chung Kok Rok.
Senior Communist delegate to the
commission demanded immediate
return of the 17-year-old North Ko.
rean boy allegedly kidnaped
2.1
Gen. Chung also handed the
U.N.side a list of 150 North No
reand it aimed have been kil
maped from North Korea since
the korean, wär ended three
years ago.
Techielmann said the roster was
accepted and would be studied;
MERELY" pointed out that it
as a well-known fact that miny
thoused of, unhappy people livi
ing andgnan; inhuman, regime rust.
ey their lives to escape to the laud
where they live according to their
consciener, he arided.
The North Korean she called
the 4th meeting of the Armis-
Hird einantissiini (to ventsplain of
the alleged Dee, 2 kidnaping
Hvedele aan said "is decentire
13-00000
Partying neu cimese
ROK Guests, U.N. Char
MUNSAN-NI, Korea (UP)-The| The
the Commun
morning of Sept. 19,
festival day.
The ROK and Chinos C.
U.N. Command Military Armist- story to the MAC joint observer
ROK soldiers fold their
ice Commission discloses that Red team 
which conducted on-the-spot
Chinese troops created a shoot-
investigations Sept. 22 and 23 and
ing incident at a moon festival met 
again Thursday at Panmun-munist troops sat down
party with a Republic of Koren jom to complete the investiga- 
each other across the denia
patrol in Korea's Demilitarized
. tions.
(
Zone Sept. 20.
tion line 
and talked about
moon 
festival the
A UNCMAC announcement said
one ROK soldier was wounded
in the shooting, and tho Com-
munists 
alleged: 0::0 Chinese
soldier was 
killed.
It said testimony given by the
three 
ROK 
soldiers involved in
the 
incident has placed respon
sibility (for 
the incident)
the 
Communists."!
upon
night befor
THE INCIDENT took place
about five miles northwest of THE ROK soldiers toeiled
Kumhwa on the east central sec- Chinese produced 
some food
tor of the truce front.
wine 
and also suggested; that
lay 
aside their rifles to and
a more 
friendly atmosphere.
After 
about an hour's com
the UNCMAC an
ment reported the ROK solel
as saying
, the RO paired le
rose and 
told his two
leavo when
The shooting started at S
"party" between three Chineso
troops patroling the Demilitarization,
Communist and three
. ROK
cd Zone. 
Originally the ROK
soldiers 
were invited to meet
An American sponsored and directed
attempt 
to kidnap a Chinese soldier
(Intelligence Agent) during peacetime:
20 September 1956
.
Quite a story behind this one,
since 
one of them was an
American officer.
fourth Chi
Communist soldier hiding a
the trees 
opened fire on the E
patrol 
and wounded one
back.
The patrol leader,
announcement sild,
his pistol and fired.
Communists,
cover.
he
The ROK soldiers said that
Chinese fired more shots
brief Incident.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
the Communists denied there
a fourth Chinese and
that
one of the three
claia
Chin
soldiers was killed and a sec
was 
wounded.
The MAC Oncement
[the Communists presented
one 
witness whose account of
incident 
conflicted sharply
the 
testimony given by the
oldiers
. The Chinese did adj
ey brought food and whe
#party.
the announcem
1.
UNC.Dismisses Red Infiltration Charg
two
MUNSAN-NI. Korea (UNC/
MAC
)
A. United Nations Com
mand
representative Friday
branded
as "wholly ⚫ without
foundation" Communist charges
that
DESONS
under GNC orders, had crossed
allegedly
the military demarcation line
into 
North Korean territory on
Apr. 
27, 1957, to perpetrate "hos
tlio nets
.".
1.t.
Jamen Dyson,
cenior member oi the UNG
component of tho tenm that
conducted an Investigation, in-
formed 
his Communist counter-
puri:
Col.
"Comploto and careful exami-
"
nation and chrack of the testl
mony and eve in this casà
shows clearly tint, the conclas
sions contained your report.
substantiated by ev
Hot
'dence."
COL DYSON was referring to
to an on-the-spot estigation of
the 
alleged incident, conducted
by a Military Arinistice Commis-
son joint observer team May.
± 3.
According to. Com mu nil's 5
clicines. Awe armed
personnel
crossed the military "demarea-
tion Huo disguised in uniformis
of soldiers of the Koran
ples Army and penetrated a
1,000 yards into Communist
ritory on the night in quest
before being stopped by
Demimized
munist
police.
F2
won
One of the persons
rested while the other eac
to t 1: s south, Conimmunist
nesses said."
CHARACTERIZING He al
tions of the Cammists as
pletely unfounded. Cal. D
oxpressed denial of the ch
"
the strengest pos
terms."
13-00000
DJ C
R. C. Nagell
Box 2337, Grd Cen Sta
New York, N.Y. 10017
U.S.A.
do
PLANETARIUM UND
DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST DEALIN
DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST BERLIN
Mr. Francis X. Plant
Special Assistant.
Office, Under Secretary of the Army
Room 1E520, The Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20300
• USA
DO DO OD DOD D D
DO D D
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13-00000
XXX
CPT ROBERT C. NOLAN, ASN 01438346 = CPT RICHARD C. NAGELL,
ASN 02028346
*Team 26, Combined Command for Reconnaissance Activities Far
East (C-CRAFE)
*ACRAFE
*USACRAFE
HID
FOI
CIC
DIAISON SECTION, ARMY COORDINATING DETACHMENT
13-00000
SHINGTON
MAY
1970
Mr. Francis X. Plant
Special Assistant to the Under Secretary
of the Army
Room 3E520, The Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310
་་་
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Chief, Research Branch, SRS
Robert J. Leonard
John Richard SLOSS
#34490
SECRET
3
MAR 1965
His name is perhaps identical with.
a name among six names of Agency employees found on a mentally dis-
turbed and disaffected former CIC intelligence officerwho alleges contact
with Russian and Cuban Intelligence agents.
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
RELEASE IN FULL 1908
Mine
SECRET

13-00000
SEGRET
3. The name of John SLOSS may be identical with the name J.
SLOSS found on the person of Richard Case NAGELL when arrested in con-
nection with a bank robbery in El Paso, Texas, on 20 September 1963. A
notebook found on NAGELL made reference to Fair Play for Cuba Commit-
tee, the addresses of Foreign Embassies, the names of purported CIA
agents and other information. Although NAGELL is unquestionably ment-
ally unbalanced, he tells a story of being involved in espionage which is
not fully contradicted by evidence. There is no apparent explanation of
why the name J. SLOSS as well as five other names of CIA personnel
should have been in the possession of Richard Case NAGELL. The weird
story of NAGELL is contained in a chronological listing of his activities
appended to this memorandum.
SECRET