SECRET
COMMISSION ON CIA
ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
MEMORANDUM
To: David W. Belin
From: Mason Cargil – MC
Subject: LUIS ANGEL CASTILLO
In the
afternoon of May 12, 1975 ,
I talked with Scott Breckenridge of the Inspector General’s office. He told me
that the Agency’s files concerning Castillo were finally located in the
East-Asia Division of the DDO. Those files dealing with Castillo are files of
the “201” type. However, these files were not filed with normal 201 files.
Breckenridge could give no explanation for this anomaly.
He gave me
a brief overview of what he said the documents in the file demonstrated.
According to him, Castillo left the United
States , probably Chicago ,
in late 1966 or early 1967 for the Philippines .
He was traveling under a Philippine passport which he borrowed from a
Philippine national illegally in the U.S. Apparently he did so to make the U.S.
authorities believe that the illegal Filipino had left the country and
therefore to assure that he would not be deported.
In the Philippines
he was arrested by the security service and interrogated extensively. At first
he claimed to be a Castro agent whose purpose was to establish contact with the
Huk guerrillas in the Philippines .
Later he said that he had been part of an effort by Cuban Premier Castro to
assassinate President Kennedy. He stated that he was one of fourteen Cuban
agents stationed at various points at Kennedy’s parade route in Dallas .
Breckenridge also said that the documents indicate that during his
interrogation Castillo would occasionally go into some type of hypnotic trance.
Further, the Philippine interrogators administered truth serum to him during
his interrogation.
RMC: Clb
SECRET
DECLASSIFIED with portions redacted
JFK Assass. Rec. Collection Act of 1992
FAI, NSC , CIA
Concurrence
PHOTO COPY FROM GERALD R.
FORD LIBRARY
SECRET
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In the opinion of
Breckenridge, Castillo’s story as documented in these files, probably cannot be
dismissed out of hand as inherently incredible. Breckenridge still has no
present memory of how the team preparing the 1967 IG report on assassinations
came to be aware of Castillo or what follow-up action, if any, was taken on the
basis of these documents. He suggests that another person who worked on the
1967 report, Ken Greer, may have worked on this Castillo angle and would be the
person to contact for such information. He stated that Greer is now retired and
living in Wisconsin .
Breckenrigdge also stated that these files do not indicate whether or not
Castillo was ever actually deported to the United
States and if so whether the FBI ever
interrogated him. (But see item 12 below, which indicates Castillo returned to
Chicago on February 10, 1968, and evaded authorities.) Apparently the Agency
has no knowledge of Castillo’s present location.
The Agency’s documents on Castillo
are contained in two manila-type folders, legal size. The first is entitled
“Luis Angel Castillo, 201-817248, thru April 1967.” The second bears the
identical title except for the date, which is May 67 - .”
The first file, though April 1967,
contained the following items of interest:
1. Filed
immediately after a cable, dated March 3, 1967, from [Redacted] to
Headquarters, is a copy of an interrogation of Luis Castillo by a Philippine
agent of the National Bureau of Investigation. This document is about 20
pages long and in it Castillo outlines his story.
His parents were
Cuban nationals. He left Puerto Rico to attend school in
Cuba in about
1960. He states he was trained for several years as a Cuban intelligence agent.
In late 1966, he changed identities with a Filipino living in Chicago named
Antonio Reyes Eloriaga, at the direction of the Cuban Intelligence Service, for
the purpose of using Eloriaga’s Philippine passport to go to the Philippines,
where he was supposed to contact the Huk guerrillas.
Castillo stated that on July 2, 1962 , during a speech, Fidel Castro threatened
to retaliate against President Kennedy. He said Castro said Kennedy had made
two attempt on
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his life and he was prepared to
order that Kennedy himself be assassinated by Cuban intelligence agents.
Castillo also claims to have been in Dallas
at the time of the assassination of President Kennedy, although he is unclear
as to exactly what he was doing. He claims he was taking pictures of buildings
and people in Dallas . There is one
other reference to the assassination of President Kennedy in this long
transcript. On the last page of the transcript, below a large blacked-out area,
is the question, “What other information do you have in connection with the
assassination of President Kennedy?” Castillo answered that all he knew was
that Fidel Castro had made these threats against Kennedy in his speech of July 7, 1962 . It appears that the
blacked-out portion of the transcript may contain certain questions and answers
dealing with the Kennedy assassination.
My
personal impression from this transcript is that Castillo was not in control of
his faculties. He is at times quite rambling, incoherent, and sometimes
inherently incredible. He states that in the Philippines
he wrote a letter to the President of the Philippines
offering to assassinate the leader of the Huk guerrillas.
2. A cable,
dated March 8, 1967 ,
from [Redacted] to Headquarters. In this cable the [Redacted] gives
headquarters a brief outline of the transcribed testimony of Castillo described
in paragraph one. Essentially the [Redacted] is giving certain details of what
Castillo claims was his history, for the purpose of allowing headquarters to
attempt to independently corroborate these details, in order to establish
Castillo’s credibility. The cable states that Castillo is in effect telling a
“pretty wild story.”
3. An FBI
report, dated April 13, 1967 ,
Subject: Luis Angel Castillo. This report contains factual statements made
by Castillo in the Philippines ,
and reports on the FBI’s attempts to corroborate these events, which Castillo
alleged to have taken place primarily in the Chicago
area. With some exceptions, the FBI could not corroborate these events. They
concerned basically hospital and employment records which Castillo claimed
would show that he had been treated by a certain hospital or employed by
certain organizations.
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4.
An FBI Report, dated April
13, 1967 , on Luis Angel Castillo. This report summarizes
a Newark , New Jersey
arrest report on Luis Castillo. He was arrested for robbery and given a
sentence in a reformatory [Bordentown , N.J.
– BK], from which he was paroled. One statement in the report was: “There were
strong indications of homosexual tendencies on the part of Castillo, and he was
described as being of low average intelligence with an unstable personality.”
5. Cable,
dated April 19, 1967 ,
from [Redacted] to Headquarters. Paragraph one of this cable reads as
follows:
During
first two weeks of April, subject underwent consecutively truth serum, truth
serum-hypnotism, and hypnotism during interrogations at [Redacted].* While
confirming some earlier points in his sworn statement, subject consistently
maintained he among 14 other Cuban intel agents who deployed along street in
Dallas on the day President Kennedy was assassinated. He stated that after
assassination accomplished by people other than Oswald, he and a companion flew
to Chicago . He said pilot and
operation were directed by Russian looking women named Jean Dole of Two
Chipawa Court , Madison , Wisconsin .
[Redacted] cannot vouch for professionalism of [Redacted] interrogators and
above seems patently spurious.”
Paragraph two reads in part:
“LNYMA** representatives indicated he would eventually have to effect subject’s
travel to the U.S. since he deported by error and according to LNERGO ***
subject is wanted by Bureau of Parole, Trenton, New Jersey, for violation of
parole.”
· [Redacted]
appears to stand for the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation.
· **
“LNYMA” probably stands for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
· ***
“LNERGO” probably stands for the U.S. FBI
SECRET
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6.
Cable, dated April 21, 1967 ,
from Headquarters to [Redacted] (signed by William E. Colby, Chief, Far-East
Division) Paragraph one reads:
“Par
1 [Redacted] 9456 [Cable referred to in paragraph five above] has created
strong reaction here. Although inclined to agree [Redacted] evaluation Castillo
aka Eloriaga Reyes case, there are disturbing verifications of story and lines
to other individuals. Believe we cannot allow case to idle along. Case
primarily LNERGO LNYUMA responsibility here, but we want [Redacted] actively and
directly involved so long as locus remains Phils.”
Paragraph three
reads: “Unless LNYUMA plans effect travel to U.S.
in near future, headquarters still prepared send qualified officer assist
[Redacted] investigation.”
7. Cable dated April 24, 1967 , from
[Redacted] to Headquarters. This cable transmits a verbatim transcript of
two interrogations of Castillo by the Philippine NBI. This interrogation
contains Castillo’s recitation of the details of his activities on the day
President Kennedy was killed. He claims to have been working for one Jean Dolf
who placed him under hypnosis in Chicago .
He was on the second floor of a building with a rifle when Kennedy was shot by
someone else. The rifle had been given to him by a man who had taken its pieces
from a bowling bag and assembled it.
8. Newspaper articles of April 1967
from the Philippines
indicate that Castillo’s story of participation in the Kennedy assassination
received wide publicity. For instance, an article dated April 22, 1967 , in the Saturday Chronicle
gives practically all the details that Castillo gave to the Philippine NBI
during his interrogation. An even more detailed account of Castillo’s story is
contained in an article in the April 22, 19676 edition of the Philippines
Herald. These newspapers contain the statement that NBI psychiatrists had
examined Castillo and found him to be sane. An article on Castillo and his
story appeared in the Washington Post on April 22, 1967 .
SECRET
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9. One press item of interest was
published by the AP on April 23, 1967 ,
from Washington . One paragraph of
the report reads as follows:
“A
spokesman for Representative Gerald R. Ford, Republican-Michigan, a member of
the Warren Commission, said the congressman would not comment until he had more
information. He said Ford might have a statement if the reported confession of
Luis Angel Castillo, described as a communist agent for Cuba ,
was made officially.”
10.
Cable, dated April 25, 1967 ,
from the American Embassy in Manila
to the Secretary of State in Washington
clearly indicates the State Department considered Castillo to be unbalanced.
Paragraph three of this cable reads:
“Apart from question of delicacy
and prudence, one reason why embassy has not sought to offer good offices to
alleged American citizen is that he appears, in some respects, be irrational,
and has created most of his own problems here. Shortly after arrival he
telephoned Chief of Staff MATA with offer to establish contact with Huks in
order to assassinate prominent Huk leaders. (When asked how he would recognize
leaders, he replied that they could supply him with description). MATA referred
him to one of army intelligence agencies which after two interviews concluded
he was both unbalanced and semi-illiterate before turning him over to NBI.”
11.
FBI report on Castillo, dated April
24, 1967 , forwarded to the CIA
on April 25, 1967 .
This contains a complete FBI report on Castillo (i.e., his background, U.S.
criminal record, etc. ) Only the last paragraph of the FBI report deals with
Castillo’s allegation that he was involved in a plot to assassinate President
Kennedy. This paragraph reads:
SECRET - 7-
“With
reference to subject’s allegations concerning the assassination of President
Kennedy, it is to be noted that the extensive investigation of Lee Harvey
Oswald and the assassination developed no indications that anyone other than
Oswald was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.”
The
second file, beginning with documents of May 1967, contain the follow items of
note:
12.
Memorandum, dated May 3, 1967 ,
for the record,
Subject:
Luis Angel Castillo by [Redacted] , FE/PMI /P.
This
gives the CIA ’s version of the events
beginning with the arrest of Castillo. It substantially agrees with all of the
documents discussed above.
13.
Cable, dated June 20, 1967 ,
from [Redacted], to Chief, Far-East Division, Subject:: Current status of
Illegal Immigrant Luis Castillo. This cable states that the Philippine NBI
was still holding Castillo incommunicado in a hospital in the Philippines .
The cable indicates that the Philippine officers strongly suspect “subject
could have been conditioned by someone to attempt assassination of President
Marcos.” Paragraph three of this cable reads as follows:
[Redacted]
officer who mentioned that a Russian hypnotism expert Libidev or Libibed,
visited Manila while on World
Health Organization business in February 1967 when subject had just come to Philippines
and was still at large before his arrest. [Redacted] suspected this Russian
might have contacted subject to “maintain hypnotic control” which allegedly
subject has been placed under before leaving WOLADY.”
SECRET
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Paragraph
five of this cable reads: “While we are minimizing time devoted to this case,
[Redacted] will keep in close touch with [Redacted] and report further
developments.”
14.
Cable dated June 26, 1967 ,
from [Redacted] to Headquarters. This indicates that a [Redacted] within
Philippine NBI had reported indicated that Castillo had signed a new statement
on June 26, 1967 ,
identifying himself as one Manuel Angelo Ramirez. In this statement Castillo
claimed to have been a WOFACT (Probably referring to the CIA )
employee who participated first in Bay of Pigs invasion,
then in the assassination of President Kennedy. He also indicated that he had
been sent to the Philippines
to attempt to assassinate President Marcos. Cable indicated that the NBI did
not believe Castillo’s claim about his CIA
status and its involvement in assassinations, but needed to “clear up” the
subject’s claims. Paragraph three contains the statement that, “We briefed
minister and will brief FBI and INS on FYI
only basis, at first opportunity.”
Paragraph
four of this cable reads;
“Subject’s
story getting more absurd and we frequently point this out to [Redacted].
Nonetheless, Par 1 [referring to assassination allegations referring to CIA ]
is a leak to local press, no matter how far fetched the story, it could be
embarrassing.”
15.
FBI report dated February
15, 1968 , indicates that Castillo had arrived at Chicago O’Hare
International Airport from Manila
at approximately 11 p.m. , February 10, 1968 . On February 14
officers from the Sheriff’s Department of Cook County, Illinois, visited
Castillo’s mother’s home in an effort to arrest him with a warrant charging him
with parole violation. They were advised that on February 13 Castillo left his
mother’s home in an automobile with a number of unidentified male individuals.
His mother added that she did not expect to see her son again.
SECRET
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16.
FBI report, dated December 30, 1967 ,
on Luis Angel Castillo. This report contains the text of a letter which
Castillo sent to his mother in Chicago
on December 4, 1967 , while
he was still under interrogation by the NBI in Manila .
In the letter he claims that all of his confessions were the result of NBI
torture and none of them were true. He explains that since the NBI recently got
a new director who is anti-American, he was then being tortured to force him to
claim that he is a CIA spy who was sent to
the Philippines
for the purpose of assassinating President Marcos. His mother turned the letter
over to the FBI as soon as she received it.
17.
Memorandum for the record, dated June
18, 1969 , by J.F. Devanon of the Los Angeles Field Office,
Subject: Victor Arcega, Hermosa Beach ,
California . This memorandum
describes contact the Los Angeles
field office had with Arcega. Arcega, on May 26, 1969 , telephoned the Los
Angeles field office of the CIA
on the listed telephone number. He claimed that he had information on a Cuban
Communist in the Philippines
and he agreed to mail the particulars to the CIA ’s
P.O. Box. The letter he subsequently wrote is attached to this memorandum. In
it Arcega claims to have been the hypnotist used by the NBI in its
interrogation of Castillo in 1967. He claims that he used the name Vicente
Sanchez.
Arcega,
in 1969, was a proofreader for the Los Angeles Times, who was about to be
deported to the Philippines
because his visa was expiring. He claims that Castillo had been subject to prior
hypnosis and he had been programmed to undertake certain actions when certain
key words were said to him. One key word dealt with the assassination of
President Marcos of the Philippines .
The letter does not state why Arcega is providing this information to the CIA
at this time. The file does not indicate what follow-up if any CIA
undertook as a result of this letter.
It
should be noted that the summary of the interrogation cabled to headquarters on
April 24, 1967 , discussed
above, included a report on Castillo, signed by one “Vicente Sanchez,
Hypnotist.” It is not clear how Arcega would have known the name used by the hypnotist
in 1967 had he not either been the hypnotist or been associated with the NBI in
some other capacity.
SECRET
PHOTO
COPY
FROM
GERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
GERALD R.
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