Here are some very interesting extra tidbits on the Franklin child sex abuse scandal:
www.spitfirelist.com/f318.html
FTR#318Kidding AroundChild Molestation and Pedophilia in the GOP(Two 30-minute segments) (Sources are noted in parentheses.) (Recorded on 8/5/2001.)
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This program examines allegations presented in a book by a very conservative Nebraska state senator concerning organized pedophile rings within the ranks of the Republican party. These alleged activities overlap not only the administration of the elder George Bush but some of the activities involved in the Iran-Contra scandal as well.
1. The program begins with discussion of the arrest of a GOP mayor for allegedly luring a minor for sex. As we shall see, this sort of thing is not as unusual as one might suppose within the ranks of the GOP. The allegations contained in The Franklin Cover-Up put the concept of family valuesmuch ballyhooed by the GOP, in a dramatically different light. Mayor Philip A. Giordano of Waterbury, who lost a long-shot bid last year to unseat Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and whose city has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was arrested in New Haven this morning by federal agents in New Haven and accused of luring a minor for sex. . . . At a news conference at the office of the United States attorney for Connecticut in New Haven, officials said Mr. Giordano had engaged in inappropriate sex with children, though they did not state the number, age or sex of the victims. The special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Connecticut, Michael J. Wolf, said, The public expects and deserves utmost honesty, integrity and strong moral fiber from those who serve on their behalf. He called Mr. Giordanos conduct disgraceful. (Connecticut Mayor Is Arrested by U.S. Agents in Child Sex Case by David M. Herszenhorn; The New York Times; 7/27/2001; p. A19.)
2. According to the conservative Nebraska state legislator John W. De Camp (a decorated Vietnam veteran), the sort of activities that Giordano was accused of engaging in are, to a certain extent, representative of how elements of the GOP get their kicks. While probing the collapse of a Nebraska financial institution, investigators came upon some interesting operations allegedly supervised by a prominent Nebraska GOP bigwig, Larry King (not to be confused with the syndicated talk show host.) Mr. Emory notes that the second edition of the book contains some material which is easily discrediteddue, apparently, to De Camps having been overly trusting of some of the information being disseminated by the less responsible elements of the militia milieu. (The Franklin Cover-Up; by John W. De Camp; Copyright 1992 by AWT, Incorporated; ISBN 0-9632158-0-9.)
3. De Camp describes Larry Kings political and extracurricular activities. When Larry King traveled the political circuit, he evidently had two agendas. To the public, he was the rising GOP star with the resonant baritone voice. Something else went on behind closed doors. (Ibid.; p. 166.)
4. What were the alleged clandestine activities that De Camp was referring to? At the Dallas [GOP] convention in 1984, King threw his splashy party at Southfork Ranch, remembered by me and many other delegates as an unparalleled extravaganza. According to several victim-witnesses, he also arranged some private events during the convention. They recall being flown to Dallas, to be sexually used by convention-goers. Gary Caradori mapped the recollections of the Webb foster children in his notes of February 1990: During this visit [the childrens aunt] Marcy informed [social worker] Joanie that [the youngest Patterson Webb sister] Kendra had told her she had been transported around the country several times, she thought to Texas and Louisiana. Marcy remembered Texas in particular, and a Republican Convention because one of the children, possibly Kendra, had a book of matches from Texas and that is how the children had known where they were at. Joanie stated she remembered that the children had been exploited sexually in Texas, and she indicated that it was [the] feeling this activity had been occurring for several years. (Ibid.; p. 167.)
5. De Camp continues with his allegations concerning King. I was later to learn from Paul Bonacci, that he was also at the famed Southfork party. He described it for me in exact detail, some seven years after the party took place. He had been here for the purpose of providing sexual favors for people Larry King wanted to accommodate, satisfy, or compromise. Paul said he was one of a troop of teenaged boys and girls, whom King had shipped to Dallas for his purposes. (Ibid.; p. 167.)
6. I have talked to Paul repeatedly about this party. I have listened to his description. Only by having been there, could someone describe the setting the way Paul did to me. Because I was there myself for the party, I am certain that Paul Bonacci was there and did not invent his story or his description of the party. This was, it happens, just one of Pauls leads into matters surrounding Larry King and Franklin that I could personally check out and know the boy was telling the truth. Not because somebody told me he was telling the truth. Not because somebody said he passed a lie detector test on the subject. But because I was there and saw a part of it, and saw the exact same things this boy did. (Idem.)
7. More about Kings social activities and a Republican convention, this one in New Orleans in 1988. Again in 1988, attendance at Larry Kings party was virtually mandatory for any true Nebraska Republican attending the Republican National Convention, held this time in New Orleans. Most of the Nebraska delegation was transported to the party by bus. The theme of the festivities was Mardi Gras. (Idem.)
8. De Camp alleges that the fun and games that King was arranging at the New Orleans convention were similar to the activities at the 1984 Dallas convention. Kings parties were designed to bring in everybody, from the innocent to the top-ranking businessmen and politicians. I personally attended the two largest parties he ever threw, as did many Republican officials. As a guest at the party, you would not know from the outer glitter, what sordid activity was going on behind the scenes. I am sure that was the character of many of Larry Kings parties, particularly the political events. Outwardly, they had the appearance of legitimacy, with prominent people in attendance, from mayors to presidents, from businessmen to congressmen. So, when people say to me, Well, I was at one of Larry Kings parties and I did not see any of this sex or drug or pedophilia stuff, I understand that they may be speaking with honesty and accuracy. As to what really went on, I believe they are wrong. (Ibid.; p. 168.)
9. De Camp discusses some other interesting manifestations of King/GOP family values. King acquired contacts in Washingtons homosexual prostitution scene, one of whom was the late Craig Spence. A lobbyist and political operative, Spence maintained a call boy ring that catered to the political elite and, unlike most D.C. call boy rings, offered children to its clients. (Ibid.; p. 169.)
10. More about the aforementioned Craig Spence. Spences activities made banner headlines in the Washington Times on June 29, 1989: Homosexual prostitution inquiry ensnares VIPs with Reagan, Bush. Spences access was so good, that he could arrange nighttime tours of the White House for his clients. The Times added on August 9, 1989, that Spence hinted the tours were arranged by top level persons, including Donald Gregg, national security advisor to Vice President Bush. . . . Spence, according to friends, was also carrying out homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA. (Idem.)
11. De Camp alleges that Larry Kings activities were discovered through an investigation into Spences operations. According to a Washington, D.C. investigative journalist who researched the Spence ring, The way we discovered Larry King and this Nebraska-based call boy ring, was by looking through the credit card chits of Spences ring, where we found Kings name. Another investigator, with personal knowledge of the call-boy rings operating in Washington, put it this way: Larry King and Craig Spence were business partners. Look at two companies, Dream Boys and Man to Man, both of which operated under another service, Bodies by God. (Idem.)
12. Apparently, the investigation of Spences activities was followed by a serious downturn in Spences health. De Camp alleges that both Spence and King were involved with the Iran-Contra imbroglio. When Craig Spence turned up deada suicide, police were quick to sayin a Boston hotel room, in November 1989, it was the latest in the long string of deaths of persons linked to Iran-Contra covert operations and funding. There is evidence that Larry King had Washington business in that area as well. In the 6 months since federal authorities closed Franklin, rumors have persisted that money from the credit union somehow found its way to the Nicaraguan contra rebels, said a World-Herald article on May 21, 1989. (Idem.)
13. The first World-Herald reporter on the Franklin case, James Allen Flanery, apparently found more than rumors about the money-laundering. In late 1988, Flanery called Carol Stitt to discuss what he had learned. Their conversation is related in a February 21, 1989 report by Jerry Lowe: Carols notes also have a reference to Larry King running guns and money into Nicaragua . . . . Carols notes on Dec. 21, 1988 reflect that she talked with Flanery and in addition to the Nicaraguan info, he was also now talking about CIA involvement and provided info that yesterday (Dec. 20) the FBI quit cooperating with him . . . .Carols notes next jump to Feb.6, 1989, where she talked on the phone with Flanery and Flanery told her that the appropriate people didnt want to believe any of this and who was ever going to prosecute it. Apparently Flanery told Carol he was close to resigning and the reasons he didnt think anyone wanted to do anything was because of the possibility of a White House connection, the connections to a number of big people, and he fact that the investigators wanted badly to confine this all to the money. Also many white people made Larry King [who was African-American], he did not happen on his own. (Ibid.; p. 170.)
Apparently Flanery told Carol he was uncomfortable on the phone, his editor was distressed and things he had written were continually edited, he wanted to his byline off the article printed the 9th among other things . . . Flanery also expressed concern to Carol that if he didnt get off this story he worried about being compromised. Soon Flanery was off the Franklin case, which continued for months to be the major news lead in Nebraska, and went to the University of Kansas on Sabbatical. When he returned a year later, Flanery no longer wrote. about Franklin. (Idem.)
14. The subject of the Iran-Contra scandal will be revisited later in the discussion. One should note that the views expressed in what follows are those of the speakers and are not to be misconstrued as homophobia. Rather, the self-righteous chest-beating on the part of the GOP, their embrace of the Christian Right and their excoriation of gays and cynical manipulation of homophobia in order to advance the Republican electoral agenda are quite noteworthy in this context. [Writer David Brock noted the gay skeletons in the Republican Party when he was attacked for his own gayness following the publication of his book The Seduction of Hillary Clinton.] De Camp notes the reaction of an official of the Franklin National Credit Union to his investigation. Again, the views expressed here are De Camps. Squelching interest in an Iran-Contra connection to Fanklin was also a topic of the hour, in that phone call I received from National Credit Union administration official Fenner, back in the early months of the legislative Franklin probe. Why would the head of the NCUA be wanting to talk to me? I wondered out loud, when my secretary said that Fenner was on the line. The man on the other end of the phone said he knew I was a close friend of former CIA head Bill Colby, and that I also was Senator Loran Schmits personal attorney. He quickly came to his point. (Ibid.; pp. 170-171.)
15. De Camp discusses his relationship with former CIA chief William Colby and discussion of the looting of Franklin in order to finance the Contras. I know there are a lot rumors, that Franklin was being used as a front for laundering money for the Contras and that a lot of the money that is missing from Franklin actually went to finance the Contras. I acknowledged that I had heard such talk, and told, him, I myself am one of those who wonder, if that is not a real possibility, in light of the way things have been shaking out on the Contra scandal. Fenner then gave me a flood of details on the secret Franklin accounts, and where the missing money supposedly went. No destinations linked with Iran-Contra were mentioned. (Idem.)
16. Note that the views that follow are those of the speakers. So tell me, I said, just what is at the bottom of it? If it is not laundered money involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, what the blazes is it? And how could Larry King get away with this, without you or somebody else knowing what was going on? Looks to me as if he had to have one heck of a lot powerful political protection at the highest levels. Homosexuals, Fenner said, Franklin financed the biggest group of homosexuals any state has ever seen. A lot of awfully powerful and prominent personalities involved. But probably not anything you can do anything about. (Idem.)
17. Other sources have noted the role of sexual blackmail operations in the context of power politics and the world of covert operations. One of the most powerful alleged players on this stage is Robert Keith Gray. (For more about Gray, see RFA#4.) The career of another Nebraskan, Robert Keith Gray, illuminates this milieu and why it would be so congenial to a person like Larry King. Gray is the chairman and CEO of Hill and Knowlton, one of the two biggest public relations firms in the world, with such blue-chip clients as AT&T, IBM, Xerox, and DuPont. CBS-TVs 60 Minutes has called Hill and Knowlton by far, the biggest, most influential PR firm in Washington, adding that critics accuse them of being an unelected shadow government. Gray first came to Washington D.C. during the Eisenhower Administration, as Ikes appointments secretary and then secretary of the cabinet. He went to Hill and Knowlton in 1961. Gray played a role in Ronald Reagans 1976 presidential campaign and, in 1980, he was deputy director of communications. Reporting directly to Bill Casey. (Ibid.; p. 178.)
18. On the strength of his connections in the new administration, he left Hill and Knowlton to set up his own PR firm. Within a year, Gray and Company secured over $9 million in billings from a clientele including Warner Communications, NBC, GTE, Mutual of Omaha, the American Trucking Association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the governments of Canada and Turkey. In 1986, Hill and Knowlton bought out Gray and Co.; Gray became chairman and CEO of Hill and Knowlton. Said to be Harold Andersens closest friend in Washington, Gray is also reportedly a specialist in homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA. (Idem.)
19. The relationship between Gray and the Wilson, Terpil operations detailed in RFA#4. During the Watergate era, Robert Keith Gray served on the board of Consultants International, founded by CIA agent Edwin Wilson. When Wilson and fellow agent Frank Terpil got caught running guns abroad, Gray tried to deny his connection with Wilson. Yet ten years before, according to Peter Maas book Manhunt, in a top secret Navy review of Wilsons intelligence career, Gray described Wilson as a person of unqualified trust, with whom hed been in contact professionally two or three times a month since 1963. (Ibid.; p. 179.)
20. De Camp relates Jim Hougans account of another aspect of Grays alleged activities. (Note that Tongsun Parka key figure in the Koreagate scandalwas closely associated with the Moon organization, which also has strong connections to the Bush administration (see FTR#291.) Author Jim Hougan in Secret Agenda, reported another aspect of Wilsons work for the CIA: According to fugitive ex-CIA officer Frank Terpil, CIA-directed sexual blackmailing operations were intensive in Washington at about the time of the Watergate scandal. One of those operations, Terpil claims, was run by his former partner, Ed Wilson. Wilsons base of operations for arranging trysts for the politically powerful was, Terpil says, Korean agent Ton Sun Parks George Town Club. In a letter to the author, Terpil explained that Historically, one of Wilsons Agency jobs was to subvert members of both houses [of Congress] by any means necessary. . . .Certain people could be easily coerced by living out their sexual fantasies in the flesh. . . .A remembrance of these occasions [was] permanently recorded via selected cameras. . . .The technicians in charge of filming. . .[were] TSD [Technical Services Division of the CIA] The unwitting porno stars advanced in their political careers, some of [whom] may still be in office. (Idem.)
21. De Camp alleges that the operations in which Wilson, Terpil and Gray allegedly engaged in were an extension of the activities of former Joseph McCarthy aide Roy Cohn. Grays associate Wilson was apparently continuing the work of a reported collaborator of Gray from the 1950sMcCarthy committee counsel Roy Cohn, now dead of AIDS. According to the former head of the vice squad for one of Americas biggest cities, Cohns job was to run the little boys. Say you had an admiral, a general, a congressman, who did not want to go along with the program. Cohns job was to set them up, then they would go along. Cohn told me that himself. The first president of Tong Sun Parks George Town Club, where Wilsons sexual blackmail operations were reportedly run, was Robert Keith Gray. (Ibid.; pp. 179-180.)
22. Grays activities overlap those activities of the Iran-Contra scandal and also the milieu of the Bush family. The Catholic youth home Covenant House was implicated in organized child molestation and also had ties to the Bushes. Gray employee Rob Owen set up a private group to solicit funds for the Contras. Owen was called before Congress, to testify on how he delivered bags of cash to the Contras. In February of 1989, Hill and Knowltons Charles Perkins rushed to New York for a fraction of the firms usual fee, to help with public relations for Covenant House. The youth organizations director, Father Bruce Ritter, was alleged to have molested youth who took refuge with him. (Ibid.; p. 180.)
23. Lauded by the Reagan and Bush Administrations as a showcase for the privatization of social service, Covenant House had expanded into Guatemala as a gateway to South America. According to intelligence community sources, the purpose was procurement of children from South America for exploitation in a pedophile ring. The flagship Guatemalan mission of Covenant House was launched by a former business partner of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza--Roberto Alejos Arzu--who had ties to the CIA, according to the Village Voice of Feb. 20, 1990. The Voice quoted Jean-Marie Simon, author of Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny: Its like having Idi Amin on the board of Amnesty International. (Idem.)
24. A top source of money for Covenant House has been Robert Macauley, founder of Americares, a service organization implicated in channeling funds to the Contras. A close friend of the Bush family since Connecticut, Andover and Yale days, Macauley has George Bushs brother Prescott on the Americares board. Father Ritter was a vice president of Americares, at least until he had to resign from Covenant House in February 1989, and spent weekends at Macauleys estate in Connecticut, according to a former Covenant House employee. As in New York, also in Nebraska an institution that sheltered child abuse could count on protection from Washington. The attitude of federal agencies towards Larry Kings Franklin Credit Union fits the mold. (Ibid.; pp. 180-181.)
25. More of De Camps allegations concerning Larry King imply connections between King, the intelligence community and George Bush (the Elder.) If King was involved with CIA money laundering, that jibes with a report from a member of Concerned Parents: I heard from two different black people in North Omaha that King used to send limousines down to Offutt Air Base [home of the Strategic Air Command] to pick up CIA personnel for parties. The sometimes expansive Larry King used to talk fondly about his friends. In a Sept. 7, 1988 interview with the Metropolitan, King said, I know some of the people I admire arent very popular. Ed Meese. The late Bill Casey of the CIA. And I love former Chief Justice Burger. Those are the people I really like to talk to. Bill Casey. . . .I just thought so very highly of him. (Ibid.; p. 175.)
26. Larry King adored Bill Casey, but what about one of Caseys predecessors at Central IntelligenceGeorge Bush? Ever since July 23, 1989, when the lead editorial in the World-Herald said that one child . . . is said to believe that she saw George Bush at one of Kings Parties, Kings connection with Bush has been a frequently asked question about the Franklin case. Anxiety on this account has run especially high in Omahas black community, where in December 1990, one young lady stood up at a public meeting and proclaimed, I think George Bush is involved in this child abuse case, and that is why all these people have been dying. [More about the Franklin death list later in the program.] (Idem.)
27. According to De Camp, Bushs name surfaced in the beginning of the investigation into the Franklin/pedophilia connection. Inside investigators of Franklin, and the Webb case before it, know that Bushs name came up at the very beginning, and it came up more than once. The July 1989 World-Herald column, in an attempt to discredit this and other victim-witness testimony, attributed the mention of Bush to a person under psychiatric care, meaning Loretta Smith. In reality, the report was from Nelly Patterson Webb. (Idem.)
28. Nelly first brought up Bush in 1986, when she told Julie Walters about the sex parties she was flown to in Washington and Chicago. She saw Bush at two of these parties, she said, one in each city. Nelly also told Walters that one frequent party-goer with King was a boy named Brent, the one who was flown to another city somewhere after a falling out with King. Walters did not have the resources to cross-check this information with the life of Brandt Thomas, the Boys Town resident who had moved in with Larry King. Franklin credit union files contained a letter signed by King, in his capacity as Youth Affairs Committee advisor for the National Black Republican Council, listing Thomas as one of two national contact people for NBRC campus chapters. (Ibid.; p. 176.)
29. Three years later, with an investigation of abuse by King and the Webbs finally under way, Nelly was interviewed again. Speaking to Franklin committee Jerry Lowe, she repeated her account of the Chicago party, and said that Bush and two men he arrived with appeared to have left the affair with a young black man she called Brandt. Of course, as I have made clear, mere attendance by a politician, be he the President or any other office-holder, at a Larry King party does not mean that person knew of or was involved in Larry Kings sordid activities. Almost every top Nebraska Republican, including myself, attended the two largest parties King ever hosted, the ones at the Republican national conventions in 1984 and 1988. (Idem.)
30. De Camp relates another alleged connection between Bush and the Larry King/pedophilia connections. Bushs name surfaced again in Lowes May 1989 review of reports by Thomas Vlahoulis from the state attorney generals office: Sorenson told Vlahoulis that both Kimberly and Nelly brought up the name of George Bush and indicated that they had both met him. . . . On June 10, 1989, Lowe received a letter from a citizen: There is a psychologist in Omaha who used to work for the CIA. In response to a direct question by an Omaha psychiatrist regarding George Bushs private life, this psychologist reported hearing rumors when Bush was head of the CIA, that correspond directly with one of the inferences made by Nelly Webb, and commented to the psychiatrist, But how do you investigate your boss? (Ibid.; pp. 176-177.)
31. De Camp notes the elder Bushs proclivities for appointing Nebraska Republicans. In August 1990, Bush appointed Ronald Roskens of Nebraska, to head the Agency for International Development (AID). Roskens had been fired the previous year as chancellor of the University of Nebraska, where Larry King was a member of his chancellors advisory committee. Gary Caradoris daily notes for Feb. 19, 1989 record: I was informed that Roskins [sic] was terminated by the state because of sexual activities reported to the Regents and verified by them. Mr. Roskins was reported to have had young men at his residence for sexual encounters. As part of the separation from the state, he had to move out of the state-owned house because of the liability to the state if some of this sexual behavior was illegal. Upon Roskins vacating the house, he was provided a house by Joe Seacrist [sic] of the Lincoln Journal-Star. The leadership of AID is the kind of sensitive jobAID assignments have been used as a cover by CIA agents, for instancefor which appointees undergo a background check that would have to turn up what Caradori also heard. Nevertheless, George Bush appointed Roskens. (Idem.)
32. Investigator Gary Caradori was among the many casualties of the Franklin investigation. De Camp has an appendix of a list of suspicious deaths tied to the Franklin case. (1.) BILL BAKER. He was a restaurant owner in Omaha, and a partner of Larry King in homosexual pornography operations. He was found shot in the back of the head. (2.) SHAWN BONER. Brother of victim-witness Troy Boner, he died of a gunshot wound from Russian Roulette. (3.) GARY CARADORI. Chief investigator for he legislative Franklin Committee, Caradori told associates days before his death that he had information that would blow this case wide open. He died when his plane crashed on July 11, 1990. (4.) ANDREW A.J. CARADORI. Died at the age of 8, in the plane crash with his father. (5.) NEWT COPPLE. A confidential informant for Caradori and his investigative firm, Copple was a key behind-the-scenes activist fighting the cover-up of the Franklin case. Son of Commonwealth Savings owner S.E. Copple, businessman in his own right, an ex-champion wrestler with no prior health problems and parents who lived into their late eighties and nineties, Copple suddenly died in his sleep in March 1991, at the age of 70. (Ibid.; p. 250.)
33. More of De Camps Franklin death list follows. (6.) CLARE HOWARD. The former secretary of Alan Baer, who arranged Baers pedophile trysts, Howard died in her sleep in 1991. (7.) MIKE LEWIS. A former caregiver for victim-witness Loretta Smith. He died of a severe diabetic reaction at the age of 32. (8.) JOE MALEK, associate of Larry King and owner of Peony Park, where homosexual galas were held. His death from gunshot was ruled a suicide. (9.) AARON OWEN, the brother of victim-witness Alisha Owen. He was found hanged in his cell in Lincoln, Nebraska, hours before one of his sisters court appearances. (10.) CHARLIE ROGERS. A reputed homosexual partner of Larry King, Rogers said that he feared for his life, in the days before his death. His head was blown off with a shotgun, in what was ruled a suicide. (11.) DAN RYAN, an associate of Larry King. He was found strangled or suffocated in a car. (12.) BILL SKOLESKI. An officer in the Omaha Police Department who was believed to be keeping a file on Larry King, he died of a heart attack. (13.) KATHLEEN SORENSON. The foster parent for Nelly and Kimberly Webb after they fled the home of Larry Kings relatives, Jarrett and Barbara Webb, she was an outspoken activist against Satanism. Her death in a suspicious car crash is related in Chapter 15. (14.) CURTIS TUCKER. An associate of Larry King, he fell or jumped out of the window of the Holiday Inn in Omaha. (15.) HARMON TUCKER. A school superintendent in Nebraska and Iowa, a reputed homosexual, his death had signs of satanic ritual murder. He was found dead in Georgia, near the plantation which Harold Andersen and Nebraska-Iowa FBI chief Nicholas OHara used for hunting. (Ibid.; pp. 250-251.)
34. Among the casualties that De Camp believes to be connected to the Franklin investigation was the late William Colby, former director of the CIA. De Camp worked with Colby during the Vietnam War. Colby had worked with De Camp on the book, and served as an investigative source. It is a little over four years since I, John De Camp, wrote the words you have just read. My closes friend and mentor, Bill Colby, like so many others in the Franklin case, is dead; he was fished out of a river in front of his home, under the most questionable of circumstances, in April of 1996. Was he killed because of his involvement in Franklin? I dont know. What I do know, is that Bill Colby was the heart and soul of the Franklin investigation. Although at a certain point he warned me against investigating the case further, it was he who relentlessly pushed to publicly expose what had already been discovered, when everyone else, including, at times, myself, wanted to call it quits. Without him, this book would never have been written. (Ibid.; p. 1.)
35. It is interesting that the late Colby had been a supporter of President Clinton and that his wife worked for Clinton. Not only was Bills wife, Sally Shelton Colby, in a senior position in the Clinton Administration, but Colby himself had emphasized to me, repeatedly, that Clinton was a great President, and that it was urgent that he be re-elected. (Ibid.; p. 388.)
36. De Camp describes the death of his friend and colleague. A week after out get-together, in which Bill spoke so enthusiastically about his work and his travels, he was deadunder the most unusual circumstances, his death officially labeled an accident. I did not believe it then, and I do not believe it now. But I do believe what Bill said: If its done right, you will never know how it was done, or who did it. (Ibid.; p. 389.)
37. De Camp expounds on his skepticism concerning Colbys death, based on extensive knowledge of the late directors behavior. Colby had a sailboat and his little get-away cottage, where he went as often as he could. I visited him there on several occasions, as Bill invited me sailing whenever I was in town. Inevitably, however, the weather forecast would warn of a possibility of rain, or a drop of rain would fall, or hed notice that the moon was not in the right position, or the sun too hot, or whatever. And Bill would decide not to take the risk and go out sailing. (Ibid.; pp. 384-385.)
38. My point is simple. Bill Colby was the single most meticulously careful, programmed, organized individual I have ever encountered, especially when it came to matters of safety, security, and personal activities. Therefore, the description given in the media, surrounding his death, does not cohere with Bill Colbys personality, his character, his modus operandi, and my personal experiences with him over many years. Bill Colby was not the kind of person who would take off on an evening boating expedition, leaving his computer still turned on at his desk, his half-finished dinner still sitting on the table, and most of the lights on in the cottage. That was not Bill. (Ibid.; p. 385.)
39. Recounting an incident that escaped most peoples notice (including Mr. Emorys), De Camp relates an incident that foreshadowed Colbys death. Furthermore, Bill had been the victim of a robbery in Washington, D.C., not too long before his death, in which he had been badly beaten, and easily could have died. This robbery and his actual death were both mysterious incidents, in a relatively short span of time. I have a hard time believing in coincidences, when it comes to people like Bill Colby. His mysterious death has also brought, to my mind, his own explanations of how people end up dead, in the course of our discussing the death of Franklin case investigator Gary Caradoria death Colby himself had investigated. His exact statement on this was: If its done right, youll never know how it was done, or who did it for sure. Thats what professionalism is all about. (Idem.)
www.spitfirelist.com/f318.html
FTR#318Kidding AroundChild Molestation and Pedophilia in the GOP(Two 30-minute segments) (Sources are noted in parentheses.) (Recorded on 8/5/2001.)
Note: FTR#s 260-315, 317, FTR#325 and succeeding programs are streaming on Real Audio at www.wfmu.org/daveemory. FTR#s 01-270, 316-324 are available for download only, also on Real Audio, at archive.wfmu.org:5555/archive/DX/.)
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This program examines allegations presented in a book by a very conservative Nebraska state senator concerning organized pedophile rings within the ranks of the Republican party. These alleged activities overlap not only the administration of the elder George Bush but some of the activities involved in the Iran-Contra scandal as well.
1. The program begins with discussion of the arrest of a GOP mayor for allegedly luring a minor for sex. As we shall see, this sort of thing is not as unusual as one might suppose within the ranks of the GOP. The allegations contained in The Franklin Cover-Up put the concept of family valuesmuch ballyhooed by the GOP, in a dramatically different light. Mayor Philip A. Giordano of Waterbury, who lost a long-shot bid last year to unseat Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and whose city has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was arrested in New Haven this morning by federal agents in New Haven and accused of luring a minor for sex. . . . At a news conference at the office of the United States attorney for Connecticut in New Haven, officials said Mr. Giordano had engaged in inappropriate sex with children, though they did not state the number, age or sex of the victims. The special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Connecticut, Michael J. Wolf, said, The public expects and deserves utmost honesty, integrity and strong moral fiber from those who serve on their behalf. He called Mr. Giordanos conduct disgraceful. (Connecticut Mayor Is Arrested by U.S. Agents in Child Sex Case by David M. Herszenhorn; The New York Times; 7/27/2001; p. A19.)
2. According to the conservative Nebraska state legislator John W. De Camp (a decorated Vietnam veteran), the sort of activities that Giordano was accused of engaging in are, to a certain extent, representative of how elements of the GOP get their kicks. While probing the collapse of a Nebraska financial institution, investigators came upon some interesting operations allegedly supervised by a prominent Nebraska GOP bigwig, Larry King (not to be confused with the syndicated talk show host.) Mr. Emory notes that the second edition of the book contains some material which is easily discrediteddue, apparently, to De Camps having been overly trusting of some of the information being disseminated by the less responsible elements of the militia milieu. (The Franklin Cover-Up; by John W. De Camp; Copyright 1992 by AWT, Incorporated; ISBN 0-9632158-0-9.)
3. De Camp describes Larry Kings political and extracurricular activities. When Larry King traveled the political circuit, he evidently had two agendas. To the public, he was the rising GOP star with the resonant baritone voice. Something else went on behind closed doors. (Ibid.; p. 166.)
4. What were the alleged clandestine activities that De Camp was referring to? At the Dallas [GOP] convention in 1984, King threw his splashy party at Southfork Ranch, remembered by me and many other delegates as an unparalleled extravaganza. According to several victim-witnesses, he also arranged some private events during the convention. They recall being flown to Dallas, to be sexually used by convention-goers. Gary Caradori mapped the recollections of the Webb foster children in his notes of February 1990: During this visit [the childrens aunt] Marcy informed [social worker] Joanie that [the youngest Patterson Webb sister] Kendra had told her she had been transported around the country several times, she thought to Texas and Louisiana. Marcy remembered Texas in particular, and a Republican Convention because one of the children, possibly Kendra, had a book of matches from Texas and that is how the children had known where they were at. Joanie stated she remembered that the children had been exploited sexually in Texas, and she indicated that it was [the] feeling this activity had been occurring for several years. (Ibid.; p. 167.)
5. De Camp continues with his allegations concerning King. I was later to learn from Paul Bonacci, that he was also at the famed Southfork party. He described it for me in exact detail, some seven years after the party took place. He had been here for the purpose of providing sexual favors for people Larry King wanted to accommodate, satisfy, or compromise. Paul said he was one of a troop of teenaged boys and girls, whom King had shipped to Dallas for his purposes. (Ibid.; p. 167.)
6. I have talked to Paul repeatedly about this party. I have listened to his description. Only by having been there, could someone describe the setting the way Paul did to me. Because I was there myself for the party, I am certain that Paul Bonacci was there and did not invent his story or his description of the party. This was, it happens, just one of Pauls leads into matters surrounding Larry King and Franklin that I could personally check out and know the boy was telling the truth. Not because somebody told me he was telling the truth. Not because somebody said he passed a lie detector test on the subject. But because I was there and saw a part of it, and saw the exact same things this boy did. (Idem.)
7. More about Kings social activities and a Republican convention, this one in New Orleans in 1988. Again in 1988, attendance at Larry Kings party was virtually mandatory for any true Nebraska Republican attending the Republican National Convention, held this time in New Orleans. Most of the Nebraska delegation was transported to the party by bus. The theme of the festivities was Mardi Gras. (Idem.)
8. De Camp alleges that the fun and games that King was arranging at the New Orleans convention were similar to the activities at the 1984 Dallas convention. Kings parties were designed to bring in everybody, from the innocent to the top-ranking businessmen and politicians. I personally attended the two largest parties he ever threw, as did many Republican officials. As a guest at the party, you would not know from the outer glitter, what sordid activity was going on behind the scenes. I am sure that was the character of many of Larry Kings parties, particularly the political events. Outwardly, they had the appearance of legitimacy, with prominent people in attendance, from mayors to presidents, from businessmen to congressmen. So, when people say to me, Well, I was at one of Larry Kings parties and I did not see any of this sex or drug or pedophilia stuff, I understand that they may be speaking with honesty and accuracy. As to what really went on, I believe they are wrong. (Ibid.; p. 168.)
9. De Camp discusses some other interesting manifestations of King/GOP family values. King acquired contacts in Washingtons homosexual prostitution scene, one of whom was the late Craig Spence. A lobbyist and political operative, Spence maintained a call boy ring that catered to the political elite and, unlike most D.C. call boy rings, offered children to its clients. (Ibid.; p. 169.)
10. More about the aforementioned Craig Spence. Spences activities made banner headlines in the Washington Times on June 29, 1989: Homosexual prostitution inquiry ensnares VIPs with Reagan, Bush. Spences access was so good, that he could arrange nighttime tours of the White House for his clients. The Times added on August 9, 1989, that Spence hinted the tours were arranged by top level persons, including Donald Gregg, national security advisor to Vice President Bush. . . . Spence, according to friends, was also carrying out homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA. (Idem.)
11. De Camp alleges that Larry Kings activities were discovered through an investigation into Spences operations. According to a Washington, D.C. investigative journalist who researched the Spence ring, The way we discovered Larry King and this Nebraska-based call boy ring, was by looking through the credit card chits of Spences ring, where we found Kings name. Another investigator, with personal knowledge of the call-boy rings operating in Washington, put it this way: Larry King and Craig Spence were business partners. Look at two companies, Dream Boys and Man to Man, both of which operated under another service, Bodies by God. (Idem.)
12. Apparently, the investigation of Spences activities was followed by a serious downturn in Spences health. De Camp alleges that both Spence and King were involved with the Iran-Contra imbroglio. When Craig Spence turned up deada suicide, police were quick to sayin a Boston hotel room, in November 1989, it was the latest in the long string of deaths of persons linked to Iran-Contra covert operations and funding. There is evidence that Larry King had Washington business in that area as well. In the 6 months since federal authorities closed Franklin, rumors have persisted that money from the credit union somehow found its way to the Nicaraguan contra rebels, said a World-Herald article on May 21, 1989. (Idem.)
13. The first World-Herald reporter on the Franklin case, James Allen Flanery, apparently found more than rumors about the money-laundering. In late 1988, Flanery called Carol Stitt to discuss what he had learned. Their conversation is related in a February 21, 1989 report by Jerry Lowe: Carols notes also have a reference to Larry King running guns and money into Nicaragua . . . . Carols notes on Dec. 21, 1988 reflect that she talked with Flanery and in addition to the Nicaraguan info, he was also now talking about CIA involvement and provided info that yesterday (Dec. 20) the FBI quit cooperating with him . . . .Carols notes next jump to Feb.6, 1989, where she talked on the phone with Flanery and Flanery told her that the appropriate people didnt want to believe any of this and who was ever going to prosecute it. Apparently Flanery told Carol he was close to resigning and the reasons he didnt think anyone wanted to do anything was because of the possibility of a White House connection, the connections to a number of big people, and he fact that the investigators wanted badly to confine this all to the money. Also many white people made Larry King [who was African-American], he did not happen on his own. (Ibid.; p. 170.)
Apparently Flanery told Carol he was uncomfortable on the phone, his editor was distressed and things he had written were continually edited, he wanted to his byline off the article printed the 9th among other things . . . Flanery also expressed concern to Carol that if he didnt get off this story he worried about being compromised. Soon Flanery was off the Franklin case, which continued for months to be the major news lead in Nebraska, and went to the University of Kansas on Sabbatical. When he returned a year later, Flanery no longer wrote. about Franklin. (Idem.)
14. The subject of the Iran-Contra scandal will be revisited later in the discussion. One should note that the views expressed in what follows are those of the speakers and are not to be misconstrued as homophobia. Rather, the self-righteous chest-beating on the part of the GOP, their embrace of the Christian Right and their excoriation of gays and cynical manipulation of homophobia in order to advance the Republican electoral agenda are quite noteworthy in this context. [Writer David Brock noted the gay skeletons in the Republican Party when he was attacked for his own gayness following the publication of his book The Seduction of Hillary Clinton.] De Camp notes the reaction of an official of the Franklin National Credit Union to his investigation. Again, the views expressed here are De Camps. Squelching interest in an Iran-Contra connection to Fanklin was also a topic of the hour, in that phone call I received from National Credit Union administration official Fenner, back in the early months of the legislative Franklin probe. Why would the head of the NCUA be wanting to talk to me? I wondered out loud, when my secretary said that Fenner was on the line. The man on the other end of the phone said he knew I was a close friend of former CIA head Bill Colby, and that I also was Senator Loran Schmits personal attorney. He quickly came to his point. (Ibid.; pp. 170-171.)
15. De Camp discusses his relationship with former CIA chief William Colby and discussion of the looting of Franklin in order to finance the Contras. I know there are a lot rumors, that Franklin was being used as a front for laundering money for the Contras and that a lot of the money that is missing from Franklin actually went to finance the Contras. I acknowledged that I had heard such talk, and told, him, I myself am one of those who wonder, if that is not a real possibility, in light of the way things have been shaking out on the Contra scandal. Fenner then gave me a flood of details on the secret Franklin accounts, and where the missing money supposedly went. No destinations linked with Iran-Contra were mentioned. (Idem.)
16. Note that the views that follow are those of the speakers. So tell me, I said, just what is at the bottom of it? If it is not laundered money involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, what the blazes is it? And how could Larry King get away with this, without you or somebody else knowing what was going on? Looks to me as if he had to have one heck of a lot powerful political protection at the highest levels. Homosexuals, Fenner said, Franklin financed the biggest group of homosexuals any state has ever seen. A lot of awfully powerful and prominent personalities involved. But probably not anything you can do anything about. (Idem.)
17. Other sources have noted the role of sexual blackmail operations in the context of power politics and the world of covert operations. One of the most powerful alleged players on this stage is Robert Keith Gray. (For more about Gray, see RFA#4.) The career of another Nebraskan, Robert Keith Gray, illuminates this milieu and why it would be so congenial to a person like Larry King. Gray is the chairman and CEO of Hill and Knowlton, one of the two biggest public relations firms in the world, with such blue-chip clients as AT&T, IBM, Xerox, and DuPont. CBS-TVs 60 Minutes has called Hill and Knowlton by far, the biggest, most influential PR firm in Washington, adding that critics accuse them of being an unelected shadow government. Gray first came to Washington D.C. during the Eisenhower Administration, as Ikes appointments secretary and then secretary of the cabinet. He went to Hill and Knowlton in 1961. Gray played a role in Ronald Reagans 1976 presidential campaign and, in 1980, he was deputy director of communications. Reporting directly to Bill Casey. (Ibid.; p. 178.)
18. On the strength of his connections in the new administration, he left Hill and Knowlton to set up his own PR firm. Within a year, Gray and Company secured over $9 million in billings from a clientele including Warner Communications, NBC, GTE, Mutual of Omaha, the American Trucking Association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the governments of Canada and Turkey. In 1986, Hill and Knowlton bought out Gray and Co.; Gray became chairman and CEO of Hill and Knowlton. Said to be Harold Andersens closest friend in Washington, Gray is also reportedly a specialist in homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA. (Idem.)
19. The relationship between Gray and the Wilson, Terpil operations detailed in RFA#4. During the Watergate era, Robert Keith Gray served on the board of Consultants International, founded by CIA agent Edwin Wilson. When Wilson and fellow agent Frank Terpil got caught running guns abroad, Gray tried to deny his connection with Wilson. Yet ten years before, according to Peter Maas book Manhunt, in a top secret Navy review of Wilsons intelligence career, Gray described Wilson as a person of unqualified trust, with whom hed been in contact professionally two or three times a month since 1963. (Ibid.; p. 179.)
20. De Camp relates Jim Hougans account of another aspect of Grays alleged activities. (Note that Tongsun Parka key figure in the Koreagate scandalwas closely associated with the Moon organization, which also has strong connections to the Bush administration (see FTR#291.) Author Jim Hougan in Secret Agenda, reported another aspect of Wilsons work for the CIA: According to fugitive ex-CIA officer Frank Terpil, CIA-directed sexual blackmailing operations were intensive in Washington at about the time of the Watergate scandal. One of those operations, Terpil claims, was run by his former partner, Ed Wilson. Wilsons base of operations for arranging trysts for the politically powerful was, Terpil says, Korean agent Ton Sun Parks George Town Club. In a letter to the author, Terpil explained that Historically, one of Wilsons Agency jobs was to subvert members of both houses [of Congress] by any means necessary. . . .Certain people could be easily coerced by living out their sexual fantasies in the flesh. . . .A remembrance of these occasions [was] permanently recorded via selected cameras. . . .The technicians in charge of filming. . .[were] TSD [Technical Services Division of the CIA] The unwitting porno stars advanced in their political careers, some of [whom] may still be in office. (Idem.)
21. De Camp alleges that the operations in which Wilson, Terpil and Gray allegedly engaged in were an extension of the activities of former Joseph McCarthy aide Roy Cohn. Grays associate Wilson was apparently continuing the work of a reported collaborator of Gray from the 1950sMcCarthy committee counsel Roy Cohn, now dead of AIDS. According to the former head of the vice squad for one of Americas biggest cities, Cohns job was to run the little boys. Say you had an admiral, a general, a congressman, who did not want to go along with the program. Cohns job was to set them up, then they would go along. Cohn told me that himself. The first president of Tong Sun Parks George Town Club, where Wilsons sexual blackmail operations were reportedly run, was Robert Keith Gray. (Ibid.; pp. 179-180.)
22. Grays activities overlap those activities of the Iran-Contra scandal and also the milieu of the Bush family. The Catholic youth home Covenant House was implicated in organized child molestation and also had ties to the Bushes. Gray employee Rob Owen set up a private group to solicit funds for the Contras. Owen was called before Congress, to testify on how he delivered bags of cash to the Contras. In February of 1989, Hill and Knowltons Charles Perkins rushed to New York for a fraction of the firms usual fee, to help with public relations for Covenant House. The youth organizations director, Father Bruce Ritter, was alleged to have molested youth who took refuge with him. (Ibid.; p. 180.)
23. Lauded by the Reagan and Bush Administrations as a showcase for the privatization of social service, Covenant House had expanded into Guatemala as a gateway to South America. According to intelligence community sources, the purpose was procurement of children from South America for exploitation in a pedophile ring. The flagship Guatemalan mission of Covenant House was launched by a former business partner of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza--Roberto Alejos Arzu--who had ties to the CIA, according to the Village Voice of Feb. 20, 1990. The Voice quoted Jean-Marie Simon, author of Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny: Its like having Idi Amin on the board of Amnesty International. (Idem.)
24. A top source of money for Covenant House has been Robert Macauley, founder of Americares, a service organization implicated in channeling funds to the Contras. A close friend of the Bush family since Connecticut, Andover and Yale days, Macauley has George Bushs brother Prescott on the Americares board. Father Ritter was a vice president of Americares, at least until he had to resign from Covenant House in February 1989, and spent weekends at Macauleys estate in Connecticut, according to a former Covenant House employee. As in New York, also in Nebraska an institution that sheltered child abuse could count on protection from Washington. The attitude of federal agencies towards Larry Kings Franklin Credit Union fits the mold. (Ibid.; pp. 180-181.)
25. More of De Camps allegations concerning Larry King imply connections between King, the intelligence community and George Bush (the Elder.) If King was involved with CIA money laundering, that jibes with a report from a member of Concerned Parents: I heard from two different black people in North Omaha that King used to send limousines down to Offutt Air Base [home of the Strategic Air Command] to pick up CIA personnel for parties. The sometimes expansive Larry King used to talk fondly about his friends. In a Sept. 7, 1988 interview with the Metropolitan, King said, I know some of the people I admire arent very popular. Ed Meese. The late Bill Casey of the CIA. And I love former Chief Justice Burger. Those are the people I really like to talk to. Bill Casey. . . .I just thought so very highly of him. (Ibid.; p. 175.)
26. Larry King adored Bill Casey, but what about one of Caseys predecessors at Central IntelligenceGeorge Bush? Ever since July 23, 1989, when the lead editorial in the World-Herald said that one child . . . is said to believe that she saw George Bush at one of Kings Parties, Kings connection with Bush has been a frequently asked question about the Franklin case. Anxiety on this account has run especially high in Omahas black community, where in December 1990, one young lady stood up at a public meeting and proclaimed, I think George Bush is involved in this child abuse case, and that is why all these people have been dying. [More about the Franklin death list later in the program.] (Idem.)
27. According to De Camp, Bushs name surfaced in the beginning of the investigation into the Franklin/pedophilia connection. Inside investigators of Franklin, and the Webb case before it, know that Bushs name came up at the very beginning, and it came up more than once. The July 1989 World-Herald column, in an attempt to discredit this and other victim-witness testimony, attributed the mention of Bush to a person under psychiatric care, meaning Loretta Smith. In reality, the report was from Nelly Patterson Webb. (Idem.)
28. Nelly first brought up Bush in 1986, when she told Julie Walters about the sex parties she was flown to in Washington and Chicago. She saw Bush at two of these parties, she said, one in each city. Nelly also told Walters that one frequent party-goer with King was a boy named Brent, the one who was flown to another city somewhere after a falling out with King. Walters did not have the resources to cross-check this information with the life of Brandt Thomas, the Boys Town resident who had moved in with Larry King. Franklin credit union files contained a letter signed by King, in his capacity as Youth Affairs Committee advisor for the National Black Republican Council, listing Thomas as one of two national contact people for NBRC campus chapters. (Ibid.; p. 176.)
29. Three years later, with an investigation of abuse by King and the Webbs finally under way, Nelly was interviewed again. Speaking to Franklin committee Jerry Lowe, she repeated her account of the Chicago party, and said that Bush and two men he arrived with appeared to have left the affair with a young black man she called Brandt. Of course, as I have made clear, mere attendance by a politician, be he the President or any other office-holder, at a Larry King party does not mean that person knew of or was involved in Larry Kings sordid activities. Almost every top Nebraska Republican, including myself, attended the two largest parties King ever hosted, the ones at the Republican national conventions in 1984 and 1988. (Idem.)
30. De Camp relates another alleged connection between Bush and the Larry King/pedophilia connections. Bushs name surfaced again in Lowes May 1989 review of reports by Thomas Vlahoulis from the state attorney generals office: Sorenson told Vlahoulis that both Kimberly and Nelly brought up the name of George Bush and indicated that they had both met him. . . . On June 10, 1989, Lowe received a letter from a citizen: There is a psychologist in Omaha who used to work for the CIA. In response to a direct question by an Omaha psychiatrist regarding George Bushs private life, this psychologist reported hearing rumors when Bush was head of the CIA, that correspond directly with one of the inferences made by Nelly Webb, and commented to the psychiatrist, But how do you investigate your boss? (Ibid.; pp. 176-177.)
31. De Camp notes the elder Bushs proclivities for appointing Nebraska Republicans. In August 1990, Bush appointed Ronald Roskens of Nebraska, to head the Agency for International Development (AID). Roskens had been fired the previous year as chancellor of the University of Nebraska, where Larry King was a member of his chancellors advisory committee. Gary Caradoris daily notes for Feb. 19, 1989 record: I was informed that Roskins [sic] was terminated by the state because of sexual activities reported to the Regents and verified by them. Mr. Roskins was reported to have had young men at his residence for sexual encounters. As part of the separation from the state, he had to move out of the state-owned house because of the liability to the state if some of this sexual behavior was illegal. Upon Roskins vacating the house, he was provided a house by Joe Seacrist [sic] of the Lincoln Journal-Star. The leadership of AID is the kind of sensitive jobAID assignments have been used as a cover by CIA agents, for instancefor which appointees undergo a background check that would have to turn up what Caradori also heard. Nevertheless, George Bush appointed Roskens. (Idem.)
32. Investigator Gary Caradori was among the many casualties of the Franklin investigation. De Camp has an appendix of a list of suspicious deaths tied to the Franklin case. (1.) BILL BAKER. He was a restaurant owner in Omaha, and a partner of Larry King in homosexual pornography operations. He was found shot in the back of the head. (2.) SHAWN BONER. Brother of victim-witness Troy Boner, he died of a gunshot wound from Russian Roulette. (3.) GARY CARADORI. Chief investigator for he legislative Franklin Committee, Caradori told associates days before his death that he had information that would blow this case wide open. He died when his plane crashed on July 11, 1990. (4.) ANDREW A.J. CARADORI. Died at the age of 8, in the plane crash with his father. (5.) NEWT COPPLE. A confidential informant for Caradori and his investigative firm, Copple was a key behind-the-scenes activist fighting the cover-up of the Franklin case. Son of Commonwealth Savings owner S.E. Copple, businessman in his own right, an ex-champion wrestler with no prior health problems and parents who lived into their late eighties and nineties, Copple suddenly died in his sleep in March 1991, at the age of 70. (Ibid.; p. 250.)
33. More of De Camps Franklin death list follows. (6.) CLARE HOWARD. The former secretary of Alan Baer, who arranged Baers pedophile trysts, Howard died in her sleep in 1991. (7.) MIKE LEWIS. A former caregiver for victim-witness Loretta Smith. He died of a severe diabetic reaction at the age of 32. (8.) JOE MALEK, associate of Larry King and owner of Peony Park, where homosexual galas were held. His death from gunshot was ruled a suicide. (9.) AARON OWEN, the brother of victim-witness Alisha Owen. He was found hanged in his cell in Lincoln, Nebraska, hours before one of his sisters court appearances. (10.) CHARLIE ROGERS. A reputed homosexual partner of Larry King, Rogers said that he feared for his life, in the days before his death. His head was blown off with a shotgun, in what was ruled a suicide. (11.) DAN RYAN, an associate of Larry King. He was found strangled or suffocated in a car. (12.) BILL SKOLESKI. An officer in the Omaha Police Department who was believed to be keeping a file on Larry King, he died of a heart attack. (13.) KATHLEEN SORENSON. The foster parent for Nelly and Kimberly Webb after they fled the home of Larry Kings relatives, Jarrett and Barbara Webb, she was an outspoken activist against Satanism. Her death in a suspicious car crash is related in Chapter 15. (14.) CURTIS TUCKER. An associate of Larry King, he fell or jumped out of the window of the Holiday Inn in Omaha. (15.) HARMON TUCKER. A school superintendent in Nebraska and Iowa, a reputed homosexual, his death had signs of satanic ritual murder. He was found dead in Georgia, near the plantation which Harold Andersen and Nebraska-Iowa FBI chief Nicholas OHara used for hunting. (Ibid.; pp. 250-251.)
34. Among the casualties that De Camp believes to be connected to the Franklin investigation was the late William Colby, former director of the CIA. De Camp worked with Colby during the Vietnam War. Colby had worked with De Camp on the book, and served as an investigative source. It is a little over four years since I, John De Camp, wrote the words you have just read. My closes friend and mentor, Bill Colby, like so many others in the Franklin case, is dead; he was fished out of a river in front of his home, under the most questionable of circumstances, in April of 1996. Was he killed because of his involvement in Franklin? I dont know. What I do know, is that Bill Colby was the heart and soul of the Franklin investigation. Although at a certain point he warned me against investigating the case further, it was he who relentlessly pushed to publicly expose what had already been discovered, when everyone else, including, at times, myself, wanted to call it quits. Without him, this book would never have been written. (Ibid.; p. 1.)
35. It is interesting that the late Colby had been a supporter of President Clinton and that his wife worked for Clinton. Not only was Bills wife, Sally Shelton Colby, in a senior position in the Clinton Administration, but Colby himself had emphasized to me, repeatedly, that Clinton was a great President, and that it was urgent that he be re-elected. (Ibid.; p. 388.)
36. De Camp describes the death of his friend and colleague. A week after out get-together, in which Bill spoke so enthusiastically about his work and his travels, he was deadunder the most unusual circumstances, his death officially labeled an accident. I did not believe it then, and I do not believe it now. But I do believe what Bill said: If its done right, you will never know how it was done, or who did it. (Ibid.; p. 389.)
37. De Camp expounds on his skepticism concerning Colbys death, based on extensive knowledge of the late directors behavior. Colby had a sailboat and his little get-away cottage, where he went as often as he could. I visited him there on several occasions, as Bill invited me sailing whenever I was in town. Inevitably, however, the weather forecast would warn of a possibility of rain, or a drop of rain would fall, or hed notice that the moon was not in the right position, or the sun too hot, or whatever. And Bill would decide not to take the risk and go out sailing. (Ibid.; pp. 384-385.)
38. My point is simple. Bill Colby was the single most meticulously careful, programmed, organized individual I have ever encountered, especially when it came to matters of safety, security, and personal activities. Therefore, the description given in the media, surrounding his death, does not cohere with Bill Colbys personality, his character, his modus operandi, and my personal experiences with him over many years. Bill Colby was not the kind of person who would take off on an evening boating expedition, leaving his computer still turned on at his desk, his half-finished dinner still sitting on the table, and most of the lights on in the cottage. That was not Bill. (Ibid.; p. 385.)
39. Recounting an incident that escaped most peoples notice (including Mr. Emorys), De Camp relates an incident that foreshadowed Colbys death. Furthermore, Bill had been the victim of a robbery in Washington, D.C., not too long before his death, in which he had been badly beaten, and easily could have died. This robbery and his actual death were both mysterious incidents, in a relatively short span of time. I have a hard time believing in coincidences, when it comes to people like Bill Colby. His mysterious death has also brought, to my mind, his own explanations of how people end up dead, in the course of our discussing the death of Franklin case investigator Gary Caradoria death Colby himself had investigated. His exact statement on this was: If its done right, youll never know how it was done, or who did it for sure. Thats what professionalism is all about. (Idem.)
