480-10410-10123 v9.l 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 : OPENING CRITERIA : COMMENTS : HY 50955 Doctid: 32263528 HSCA 180-101 10-10123 JFK Assassination System Identification Form Agency Information SECURITY CLASSIFIED FILES 153-JFK HSCA 00/00/0000 3 OSWALD, LEE, POST-RUSSIAN PERIOD, TRAVEL, TRIP TO MEXICO Document Information CIA, ADMINISTRATION SUMMARY Unclassified 1A Redact 01/01/2003 Box 5. Page 1 Date: 10/21/20
JFK is3 COORE INTERVIEW OF DANIEL STANLEY WATSON: On June 4, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations staffers Gary Cornwell, Dan Hardway, Edwin J. Lopez and Harold Leap met with Mr. Daniel Stanley Watson, aka Bernard G. Edgebrook, at his home in> |_| Mexico. Mr. Watson was born on November 16, 1917. His Social Security number iss Mr. Watson graduated from Knox College in Illinois and did his graduate work at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He was in the Army from 1941 to 1949, joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1949 and worked with them until he retired in 1973. His assignments while with the Agency were as follows: Rome 1949 to 1950, Germany 1951-1952, Japan 1953-1955, Pakistan 1957- 1962, New York (United Nations) 1963-1964, Mexico 1965-1967 as Chief of Covert Action, and 1967-1969 as Deputy Chief of Station, Saigon 1969-1971, and, finally, United States (Headquarters) 1971-1973. Mr. Watson stated that sometime between 1965 and 1966 while he was stationed in Mexico City he requested Lee Oswald's personality file. When it was brought to him it contained only one or two photographs and intercept transcripts. Mr. Watson stated that the file was very thin and that the photo(s) was a 3/4 shot from behind--"basically an ear and back shot". He did not think there was anyone else in the picture and thoght that it was of Oswald. He could not recall what was on the transcripts but does remember reading them. When asked why he had orig- inally requested the file he stated that he could not recall. When the House Select Committee staffers asked Mr. Watson if it would surprise him if we told him that Oswald's personality file from Mexico was seven volumes, he said yes. The staffers asked him if Scott would destroy files, pictures or would keep highly sensitive material in a special we 50955 Dactld:32263523 Page 2
HW 50955 C00262 . page 2 place. Mr. Watson answered that it would not surprise him if Win Scott had destroyed some files and pictures. He also stated that Scott kept highly sensitive material which he did not want in the system in a personal safe in his office. Mr. Watson stated that when Win Scott retired he took the contents of the personal safe with him and stored them in a safe in his home. When asked if the Oswald p-file he saw had a note from Winston Scott that stated that nothing should be removed as he was highly interested in it, Watson stated that it did not. He said that a note Like that on a file would draw attention to it. "Every one would want to read it." He said that he did not think it likely ' that Scott would put such a note in a file that was sensitive. Stanley Watson stated that before Win Scott had been buried, James Angleton flew to Mexico and emptied the personal safe in Scott's bedroom. Mr. Watson said that he knew this from Scott's wife, Janet. When asked if Angleton and Scott were close friends, Watson said, “they were". Watson stated that he thought the CIA Mexico City Station had given all the material in their possession to the Warren Commission but that he also knew that Win Scott was capable of "phoneying a photo if asked to produce one. I never believed Win Scott the first time he told me something." Watson also remembers Richard Helms congratualating Win Scott for his excellent job on the Oswald trip to Mexico because "the Agency had not looked all that bad." Regarding Charles Thomas, Watson said, "He was rock solid; you can rely on anything he said. He was sharp and perceptive. In fact I found him to be way ahead of me many times." Watson said that he was responsible for keeping Charles Thomas next to Elena Garro de Paz. Watson said that Charles Thomas was skeptical of Elena's story at first. He does Boclda: 322763528 Page 3
6 * HW 450955 DOO 21s > page 3. remember if he later believed her but said that if he did then there must have been someting to her story. | Regarding Elena Garro de Paz, Watson stated that she was a neurotic genius. "All the key people did not give her much credence." He stated that Elena was not an intelligence agent. His last contact with Elena Garro de Paz was in 1968. He thinks she left town around that time. Watson stated that he thinks she left under "hurried" circumstances. He also recalled that when Thomas left -he (Watson) dropped all contact with Elena. Finally, Watson stated that if the Company had helped Elena depart he would not have necessarily known about it. Watson stated that Cynthia Thomas was a troublemaker but that she aided Charles and himself by introducing them to the intellectual crowd. He apologized for not knowing more but stated that there was much compartmentation in the Agency. When asked if he had anything more to add to what he had told us, he stated that it bothered him that the Agency had destroyed many P-files when Win Scott retired. Mr. Watson requested that we use his true name in any writeups. The omnibus release letter was explained to Mr. Watson before the interview started. He stated that he believed us and did not have to see the letter. He was shown the letter at the end of the interview and was asked if he wanted a copy for his. records... He stated that he had read it and understood it and had been truthful in what he had told us and that he did not want £0 copy of the letter lying around the house for the maid to read. Doclda: 3227635278 Page 4