AGENCY : RECORD NUMBER : RECORD SERIES : AGENCY FILE NUMBER : ORIGINATOR : FROM: ~ TO: TITLE: DATE: PAGES: SUBJECTS : DOCUMENT TYPE : CLASSIFICATION : __.. RESTRICTIONS : ~~ CURRENT STATUS : DATE OF LAST REVIEW: of OPENING CRITERIA : COMMENTS : v9.1 HW 54653 DBocld:322762492 Page 1 JFK Assassination System Identification Form Agency Information HSCA 180-10108-10061 NUMBERED FILES. 015107 (FOLDER 1 OF 4) Document Information HSCA FONZI, GAETON. MARSTON, DAVE. 05/25/1976 7 FAA. KEY-WEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. USIA Date: 10/13/20 Peleased under the John Kennedy 45sassination Records Ollection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Note). ase#:NWU 54653 Date: 1O-23-2017 OSWALD, LEE; POST-RUSSIAN POLITICAL & SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES. RUBY, JACK; BACKGROUND ASSOCIATES & RELATIVES OF OSWALD, LEADS & INFORMATION. MEMORANDUM. Unclassified Consulted Withhold 06/24/1993 Box 297.
MEMO - 5/25/76 | | TO: "Dave Marston FROM: Gaeton Fonzi. q returned from Key West early this morning more frustrated than tired. “Although there are a few lines | left out down, there which ae check back on ina couple. of days, and a few here in Miami -yet to. be checked, there's a possibility that George. Faraldo! Ss- “story. may eventual ly wind up a valid question mark. For Fhat reason, . there should be a record.of the details of my investigation, in addition to minor nuances and suspicions which later may turn -out to-be relevant. More importantly, - however, are a couple of fascinating investigative sidestreets. which coincidentally a like to believe) popped up. initially talked to Faratdo Yast. Friday by telephone. After an. hour's conversation with him, | was left with the impression, .as” | mentioned. then, that he- seemed a credible character. There were, . -. however, * “strange. undulations in his: ability -to recall details. .°Some ‘récollections were extremely detailed, others extremely fuzzy. “(He was-absolutely sure the number of the plane was “CU-T 583; yet he wasn't too sure about the month or even the year.) . Still, ; there.were no inconsistencies in the details. he told Sarah, those he. told to me on the telephone and those he told to me in ‘person. “And, in fact, undulations in recollected details may be a characteristic > of. memory after 13 years. . OO _ _ The basic details remain the same: The incident occurred in the. late summer months, late July, August or early September, in, he believes, 1963. He is absolutely not sure of ‘the year, but doubts whether he would have remembered Oswald or Ruby if he’ had seen - them more: than a year prior to the. assassination. Faraldo was in the hospital Ween Kennedy was killed. He had had, | believe, a’ -heart problem. His recollection of the. incident ts that it Occurred . “not too tong before that. He was manager of the Key West -International Airport.then and arrived at work between 9 and 9:30 in the morning. The group was in the lobby of the airport when he arrived. The: Jobby- ‘has two-parts to it, the ticket counter. area and the waiting: area, both very small, a glass partition and doors separating them. The group was’ in the ticket counter. area, and most of them remained ‘in that area all day. There were between 30 and 40 in the. group. They. were, most of the time, in clusters, many sitting in. small - circles on-the floor, a few with guitars. They were relatively. quiet, well-behaved and caused no disturbance. Neither, according to.the guy who was janitor then, did.they leave much of a mess. They were: mostly young, boyS:and girls, “hippie-looking," a few dressed in olive-drab fatigues. Faraldo recalls he had a rule. against being shirtless in the lobby area (not a general rule Yn. “most Key West establishments) and he did have to tell’ a few (of | the guys, |! presume) who had wandered outside, removed their shirts in’ the heat, to put them back on when they returned to the lobby. That's. one of the factors which makes him sure it was in the summer. = HW 54653 Docld:32262492 Page 2
- . Faraldo says he learned from talking with a few in the group ‘2 That ‘they were going to Cuba to:cut ‘sugar cane and that they had. something to do with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. The leader of the group appeared to be a guy with a beard, “but che wasn't an obvious leader barking. orders or giving conimands. ‘Although Oswald was a part of the group,. ‘Says Faraldo, he was more distinctive than the others: in-that he moved about more ‘and: appeared a bit nervous. (That, at least, made him | distinctive to Faraldo who was then dai ty on the look-out for ; potential hijackers. ). Oswald was dressed casually, sport shirt | - and pants.’ Ruby also was casually dressed, but he spent most of the time.not mingling with the group ‘but standing against | the doorway that led from the waiting area toarear plane- boarding’ area. (There are no ramps or corridors;:the airport buitding is rectangular, the planes taxi right°off the runway and up to the building.) | | Once, as Faraldo reported to Sarah, he saw Oswald approach Ruby -- . and: heard: himcask: ."Havesyouvheard. anything. from the Big Bird "yet?" Faraldo recalls thinking Oswald may have been asking about when the plane was coming in, but he later had doubts about that assumption when he again overheard Oswald asked others.in the group, specifically about the time. the plane- was coming in. | Faraldo recalls that a plane finally did arrive late in the evening... . to pick*up the group: He says. Oswald got on the plane with the ~ a i group. - He didn't see Ruby get on and doesn't know if he did. , At various. times. during the day, Faraldo wandered around the airport. taki ng: photographs of the group. He used.a movie camera and a. 35-mm still camera. (At first he told.me he used a Pentax: 35mm, later said he had. thought about it and. didn't think he had his. Pentax at the time and used either a Leica or’ an Argus.) He © shot. the. movie. film for WTVJ-TV, a Miami: ‘television station, for: ‘which he Was a ‘regular stringer. He sent both his movie tilm and his 35mm f£i'Im: undeveloped to-Miami with-d crew member of a National Airlines flight, which was his regular procedure, LY His movie: film was in an envelope marked WTVJ. The crew member. Was. told to give it: to a cab driver:at. the. Miami airport to deliver: ‘to the television station. I+ was. addressed to Ralph Renick, “the. news - director. ‘The still film was put ‘in a brown manilta envelope, folded. over, taped and addressed to "Director, FBI, Washington, D.C." (Faraldo believes he .put just his name as a return’ address. ) The National crew member was told to drop the envelope in’‘a mail. pouch .or box at the Miami airport. fFaraldo doesn't remember the crew member” s- name or the National flight number. ~ i spoke with about 20 persons who might possibly have been in a position to corroborate Faraldo's memory of the group being at: Key West Airport. Less than a half dozen were directly. suggested. by Faraldo. “Only a few remembered: such an incident, none with any clarity or detail. Clennie Demeritt, for instance, who worked the ticket counter. for National Airlines at Key West then, says he does remember something HW 54653 ‘ Docld:32262492 Page 3
about a group. going to Cuba to cut sugar cane, thinks they were -Amertcans, and Canadians, but doesn't remember when they went. He thinks it might have happened on his day off and he was told about ite. - oo re | Herbert Carmen, with the Immigration Department then, vaguely ‘remembers reading something about such. a group in the newspapers, but thought. they left from Canada, or; Mexico. . Kenneth Bauman, who has been with. the: Federal. Aviation Administration at Key West. for 20 years, also vaguely remembers reading about such - a group, but thinks he didn't see them because he was on the late | shift:then. ¢ . a Anthony Alonso Sr., then the Key West Airport janitor, does recall the group, corroborated Faraldo's contention: that there were 30 or 40 in the group, thinks they were "foreigners" or "strangers," and. pins the time<down as "162 of *'63.". (He-is’a very old,man, initially answered "Yeah!" to most of my questions and would not be considered a reliable witness, probably, because of his age.) Don Pinda, a photographer for the Key. West Citizen, who Faraldo thinks might have.covered the incident, doesnit remember it at all.-and says-all his negatives from that time were lost in a shurcicane,— a ; “Aipage-by-page.check of. the.bound volumes at the Citizen's office produced :no record. The Historian at ‘the Public Library, 3 Mrs. | Betty Bruce, who-was described as "remembering everything," could not recall the incident but will doublecheck: the microfilm files this week..for me, oO ee John Mangialleto, currently FAA Chief at Key West, told me FAA | records are kept only 15 days before being destroyed. He had 2% no recollection of the incideAt.- Neither U.S. Customs:ror Immigration has any: records: of any such outgoing flight as Faraldo describes... | : No one who.worked the contro! tower in 1965 has any recollection of such’a flight. (Prior to the Cuban missile crisis in October of” 1962, Key West Airport had no control tower.) ‘ One of ‘the key questionable factors.in Faraldo's contention is that 3 Cuban-owned Aerovia Q Airline plane was sent up from Cuba to pick ~ up the. group late at night. Although we spoke. to about a half-dozen . former Key. West employees of Aerovia 9, none could-remember such an ‘incident. ‘Aerovia Q, however, quit its. regular flights from : Cuba ‘to Key West late in 1961 and* records indicate that the last. payment: for office space in the airport was made in March, 1962. - Faraldo contends it would still -have been possible for am Aerovia Q plane to fly-in from Cuba to Key West in 1963 merely by filing a flight plan with the FAA. (As noted, -flight plan records’ are not retained beyond 15 days.) Henry Till, flight service attendant for | the FAA-in Key West since 1961, says it's "very unlikely" that a. Cuban plane landed in Key West in 1965. a There is another major inconsistency. in Faraldo's contention. He- says he is absolutely sure he kegf a copy of the manifest (the-. passenger. List) of the flight. He says he kept the manifests of all of Aerovia Q's daily flights, each day would staple them all together, fold them and put them in.a white envelope and put the | envelope in.a cardboard box. He says the manifests were prepared | HW 54653 ~ DocId:32262492 “Page 4 oS cee emeee
“2 by Aerovias Q ‘personnel and said that. the person who would -have ., PFepared the. manifest for the flight in question.was Celia »Godinet. “Through her brother who is*still in Key West, Faraldo- «got me hercaddress in Miami. She told me she left Aerovias Q. when it: closed down its flights.In 4961... ° Hevertheless, Faraldo specifically remembered where he had kept. that box of manifests at the alrport. With the help of the current. airport.manager, we rummaged through every. possible storage area without Success, ‘The one storage room where Faraldo is most sure they were Was recently gutted after a rain storm ruined the ceiling and flooded it: ‘The box, Said Faraldo, was on a shelf Suspended — from the ceiling between air conditioning ducts. The ceiling and the ducts were torn out and thrown in’a ‘black soggy heap on - the side of The building. The current manager, R. Kenneth Agnew, said everything that ‘had been stored in that room also was thrown out. We probed through the heap of discarded material without any Luck. Oo With the Key West angles almost exhausted, 1héinal ly decided to- - Farotdate  reRenick at WTVS this morning. “As soon os | nose goto, Feraldols.name'he said, "I know-what you're talking about. He - mentioned it .to. us some time ago and we went back through our files” and couldn't find anything. It would have been a damn good story for us to break, obviously, if we did find it. He had: Oswald” and Ruby in the group, right?" That took care of my oblique. approach. . Because of my interest, Renick said he would check the files again, ‘He said he did vaguely recall such a.group. being in Key West. “eltber “coming or going." He admitted, however, that contributions. from. | stringers, doesn't get the same careful treatment as the station's own. ‘film; and that's not too careful, "so," he Said, "there's. a the possibility it Slipped through our fingers. It it's not filed it didn't happen." _ oe me en BC So, in.sum, what do we .have? On the-'surface we have, up until. this: point, a story that cannot be corroboratéd with hard evidence jin’ . any way. We have, in fact, a few-factors that. seem strangely. a suspect and may’ even fit into a pattern of misinformation ‘associated - with assassination investigations. There are, however, other factors ~ which make-it difficult to totally discard Faraldo's contention. He is, most of all, a guy with a good reputation. An engineering graduate of Auburn, he was airport manager. at. Key West for.31 years and is nationally known in his field. Today he runs a-successful’ diesel vinjection servicing business and does commercial aerial Photography: He has provided information for other govenment. agencies . and was. described by one. Federal agent forme as a source. of "highest ranking" whose information is always "very good.” a , Faraldo retained his credibility over the many hours | spent with. him. -He‘is now, however, very anxiety ridden and perhaps on the edge of a nervous breakdown, He was visibly distraught when we wextold the manifest records he had kept over the years were | Lo, so casually discarded. In addition, he and his wife are extremely. upset about the Shooting and sinking of their houseboat.. In checking out that. incident, i am absolutely certain now it has nothing ‘to ; HW 54653 Docld:32262492 Page 5 $ i t «t '
do with our investigation. A few weeks ago, Faraldo had filed a claim. in court against a fellow named Michael Gill for an © unpaid $599-bill for repair to his 40' sailboat, the "Restless Lady." Faraldo won the case and got. a Judgement against Gill. Gill's lawyer-was Key West city attorney Manny James, recently -indicted.with a few tuk other city officials for drug “dealing; most were. convicted, James was acquitted on a legal. technicality. Faraldo had noticed some marijuana stashed on Gill's boat’when _ he was repairing it. Before the jud nent, Gill had the boat ownership transferred toa friend named Hollifiéld.. A week after the judgement was filed, Gill was arrested for-cocaine dealing. It appears that Gill and his friends are seeking revenge.on Faraldo. ‘“Hollifield was seen just. bast Saturday pm cruising around the boatyard where Faraldo is repairing his boat. As credible as he is, there is another factor which may be an influence on.the.quality: of Faraldo's mémory: Several years. © ago he was attacked by an irate :tourist who had gone bezerk after - being told.to move -his car out of a no-parking lane. ~A huge ae guy, @ building contractor from North Carolina, he smashed Faraldo's:. face in; crushing his facial bones and-damaging his eyés.. He then kicked him: on The .ground,..breaking hls. neck .and- back. ‘Faraldo “still-wears.-a. neck brace constantly and: often a back brace.. He has’ been unable to get the guy. extradicted from North Carolina, despite ‘the fact ‘the fellow has attacked three other people there. Here are a few other things | found out about George Faraldo: A Navy veteran, he is an experienced pilot, an expert .photographic™ technictan.and an electronic expert. | would estimate the value of photographic and electronic equipment 1. saw myself at well oe .over. $100,000. He was very early involved in intelligence. ... gathering activity in Cuba for the United States Information: .- gplue 7 Agency. (t.-asked him if: he thought it was possible: that he. was { Vey really working for the CIA... "Yes," he .said, "Il would think so." pee’ em ' He said he had. ‘Known Batista personally ("Il think he was one of | ° the best. friends the United States ever had," he said) and was On ‘ very friendly with former Castro Air Force Ehief, Pedro :Diaz Lanz -- although, like Howard Hunt, he didn't remember the guy who fled Cuba'‘with Lanz, our friend Frank Fiorini. , Faraldo..said he. made a number of intelligence gathering trips into Cuba after. Castro took over and was once retained and beaten’ by Castro police: He also flew numerous aerial photographic missions : and claims to have shots of the missile sights long before Kennedy announced they existed. He explained how he had aerial cameras | built: into the bottom of his plane and wired to be triggered. by him from the cockpit. He claims he never accepted a cent jin pay for his intelligence-gathering work but when | asked himywas ‘funding. - his equipment, he smiled and said, "No comment." es Once, Faratldo said, he was approached byca man from Washington who _. gave himycard which said he represented the "Union"-something. — (Perhaps "Union News," Faraldo isn't sure.) The man said he was”: interested in Faraldo's "Cuban operations" and said he would © -pay him a quarter of wo million dollars if he worked with him. HW 54653 Docld:32262492 . Page 6 Arte nee ee tere em dae Seen eta
Faraldo said*he didn't believor end told him to deposit the : “money first in his bank account. The man said he would but, “according to Faraldo, he never showed up again. Faraldo said “he thought he still had the man's card, but. before | left ‘on Monday night, we spent two hours looking for it, first at his home and then at his office. In the course of that search here are-names from other cards we came across, each of whom Faraldo Says he has had contact with: , , Reinaldo Padial - a "hunting and fishing guide"who led Faraldo to the’ Cuban. interior on one trip to a possible submarine base near the Bay of Pigs. - Gordon Kelly - United States Information Agency; Washington | #383-7700.. : ~~ Forrest-K.. Geerkin ~ Consul of the United States of America. ~ C. Conrad Manley - Officer in Charge, USIA, Miami G. Ll. Latimer - U.S. Customs, Enforcement, Miami. Faraldo wouldn't tell me the details of his relationship with any of :these fellows, neither would he tell me the name of his regular contact with the "USIA." Faraldo says he stopped working for the USIA a few years ago | when after a dangerous trip to Cuba he personally hand-carried his film to Washington to the USIA office .om Pennsylvania Avenue. Yet when he checked on it several days later he was given ; The run-around ‘about what had happened to it and £% finally fold it had been "lost in the soup." (ruined while being developed) - 50, Faraldo says, except for his supplying information to © oo rertain drug enforcement agencies, he is out of the intelligence . business today. mmm.” Funny how these casual over-theé-transom leads turn out fo be far more maze-like than they first appear % * x ddendum: However the Faraldo lead turns out, | may have come. cross a bigger break in coincidentally meeting the current :manager f the Key. West airport, Ken A new. Faraldo told me he had once ™ anaged.the Marathon airport and my grapevine sources here in Miami ad some time ago told me that the fellow who once managed the. Marathon. irport had extensive photos of the-No Name Key op: tion.-: Turns . ut Agnew is thé.man. He had, intfact,. gotten -to know the boys. retty. well. Yes, he knew Richard Whatley and,yes, he remembered he fellow with .the mohawk haircut. He didn't remember his name, . ut his description of the guy makes him a pretty warm prospect or the Odio connection. Agnew is going to dig up some photos or. me. (Remember the No Name Key group was a Fiorini/InterPen/IAB - peration described by Hans Tanner as. financed by. "dispossessed hotel» nd gambling room owners who operated under Batista." SF HW 54653 DoclId: 32262492 Page. 7
~. PLS.:  Sust located and called Faraxd!ido's former secretary who: now tives here in Miami... It's by no means hard - corroboration, but she does recal! the group being at the -airport and Faraldo running up and down to his office _ taking photos. She doesn't remember anything in particular ‘about. the group, except that it was:at the: Key West Airport. She worked upstairs in the office and only went down to. the coffee shop:to get a cup of coffee. .She says she went to .work-for Faraldo shortly after the Cuban missile crisis in - October, 1962. She left Key West 10 years ago. Although cher memory wasn't detailed, she thus far provides the best in the summer of 1963. | as backing of Faraldo's recollection that the incident occurred a | { | | | | | ! | : HW 54653 " DocId:32262492 Page 8.