Truth or Dare: the Lives and Lies of Richard Case Nagell Richard Case Nagell -- had inside knowledge of the JFK assassination?

Part 4: Dick Nagell's Excellent Adventure

Beyond evaluating Richard Case Nagell's statements on their own apparent merits, the fact is that many of his claims regarding the period of late 1962 through September 1963 cannot be proved or disproved. There simply are no witnesses to confirm the majority of Nagell's claims, and his whereabouts for much of this period cannot be verified.(1) The question of credibility thus becomes crucial. If he could be shown to be reliable about other episodes in his life, it would tend to lend credence to his story of the assassination. Conversely, if his verifiable claims fail to check out, it casts doubt on his more controversial allegations.

Next to his assassination-related claims, the most mysterious events of his life occurred subsequent to his release from prison. In April of 1968, Nagell's conviction for bank robbery was overturned by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.(2) On April 29, 1968, he was a free man.(3) Or was he?

No sooner had Nagell disembarked at Kennedy International Airport in New York than he was allegedly met by two individuals "who identified themselves as representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency." (4) "We pulled a lot of strings to get your freedom," one of the men allegedly told him. Then he was reportedly handed the first of several cash payments of $500, and informed, "More will come where this comes from. We appreciate your cooperation in prison."(5) Over the next three weeks Nagell allegedly received a total of $15,000 cash.(6) It should be noted, however, that these alleged cash payments bear a close resemblance to the $505 monthly disability pension Nagell was receiving from the Army.(7) Assuming he received these payments while imprisoned, he would have had approximately $25,000 waiting for him upon his release.

In late May Nagell allegedly had several meetings "with a CIA official he knew only as Buehel," who supposedly "told Nagell he had heard that his wife had divorced him while he was in Leavenworth." Nagell later told reporter Thomas C. Lucey that the CIA had promised to reunite him with his family if he undertook an assignment for them.(8) We are to believe then, that not only has the CIA falsified its records to show no such relationship with Nagell, but that the Agency would offer contract employment to an individual who had been named in the January 1968 issue of Ramparts magazine as an agent of the CIA.(9)

We are to believe then, that not only has the CIA falsified its records to show no such relationship with Nagell, but that the Agency would offer contract employment to an individual who had been named in the January 1968 issue of Ramparts magazine as an agent of the CIA.

On May 24, 1968, Nagell received a new passport, and six days later he was on a plane to Zurich, Switzerland.(10) He claimed that his children "were reported by a State Department official as living in Europe."(11) (Later they would turn up in Los Angeles, right where Nagell had left them.)(12)

On June 4, 1968, Nagell appeared at the US Embassy in Zurich and reportedly told an "incoherent story" about "working for [a] US government secret agency on [a] mission to Geneva," where he was to meet an unnamed Japanese individual or individuals. He said that Jim Garrison had warned him that his life could be in danger, so he wanted to inform the CIA that he was in Zurich.(13) He returned the following day and asked to speak to a "political officer." Upon being introduced to the officer, Nagell accused him of being an impostor. A report of the ensuing encounter notes that Nagell appeared "seriously incoherent, in fact, appears psychotic, possibly dangerous."(14)

A few days later, on June 10, Nagell was taken off a train in East Germany and into police custody, where he was held for four months. He would later claim that the entire incident had been planned by him and the mysterious "Buehel."(15) The Washington Post reported that Nagell had been arrested for making derogatory remarks about East Germans.(16)

On October 23, Nagell was released to American authorities at the Berlin border and received in West Berlin by attorney Wolfgang Vogel and Bruce Flatin, Chief of the Public Safety Division of the US Mission in Berlin. No sooner had Nagell crossed the border than he "accused Flatin of wanting to kill him and ran back to East Berlin." He was confined briefly to a military mental hospital.(17) Nagell later told Family reporter Thomas C. Lucey that Flatin was actually "a longtime CIA member — and Flatin is not his real name."(18) "Apparently [Nagell] has overlooked the facts that I am actually a career Foreign Service Officer of the Department of State," Flatin would later respond, "and that our family has been using the name Flatin since the Viking days in old Norge."

Upon being introduced to the officer, Nagell accused him of being an impostor. A report of the ensuing encounter notes that Nagell appeared "seriously incoherent, in fact, appears psychotic, possibly dangerous."

According to Nagell, one of the men who negotiated for his release, attorney Ricey New, promised him "legal assistance in obtaining a disability retirement from the Army . . . if I stayed away from the West German news media." New denies this.(19) New allegedly told Nagell "that he had handled negotiations for the CIA and the Army in effecting the releases and exchanges of other American prisoners held by the East Germans . . ." According to Nagell, New said "that I could consider him as a representative of the CIA."(20)

When Dick Russell spoke with Ricey New in 1978, New was operating a small law office ("basically just my wife and myself") in the US. When asked if he was acting on behalf of the CIA in 1968, New replied, "Certainly not, I never had any connection with them."(21) As far as New could recall, "I think [Nagell] had gotten off a train in East Germany and was wandering around the station there in an unauthorized area. They questioned him and kept him, on a violation of their laws."(22)

New suggested that Russell contact a former employee of the US Mission in Berlin, Andor Klay. Klay recalled Nagell very well: "Nagell, yes! The Nagell case. Well, the question is not what he was doing over there, the question is what he was charged with. They can charge a man with anything. They probably thought at first he was some kind of spy — a military or CIA agent — and then later on perhaps they reached the conclusion that he was a nut. This is just my speculation, you realize . . . that at first he got himself involved in some shady activities so the East German police went after him and slapped him in jail, and then possibly it was during his trial there that his mental shape became questionable." "There is, of course, intervention on our part for any and every American citizen. We went out of our way, either to try to get this man out or have some kind of exchange deal, or have the sentence reduced. It could well be the latter, some manipulations about reducing the sentence, or a realization on the part of the East Germans that the man was worthless. Or both."(23)

So, Russell asked, there was no indication that Nagell was a spy? "No, not on my side," Klay said. "I mean, I can only tell you that from the files I had . . . I am not competent to judge his mental condition, but assuming that he's okay mentally, then I would say there is probably a kind of morbid ambition to get on the front page of the papers or have himself accepted as a man who can perform great services for us."(24)

"I think this was a somewhat confused man," Klay added, noting Nagell's attempt to flee back to East Berlin. "We struggled with him physically, finally, to put him in the car and take him out."(25) "But then he took his revenge in suggesting, giving all kinds of information — of course, most of it quite false — to this long overseas weekly newspaper [The Family] that was published. We could never really make head or tail of it."(26)

During a psychiatric examination at this time, Nagell claimed "to have been tortured by East Germans," and the psychiatrist noted that he "displayed [a] fixation" regarding his alleged relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald. However, he denied "any involvement in any [JFK] conspiracy and denied that he had any information of use to Garrison." He "alleged that his fear that the CIA might try to 'eliminate' him was planted in his mind by Mr. Garrison," and "states he no longer believes it is realistic to think that the CIA was trying to kill him."(27) He admitted that his "unstable personality and immature or impulsive behaviour [sic]" were the result of his 1954 plane crash.(28)

By his own account, Nagell next sought medical help at the US Consulate in Zurich, claiming his American rescuers had drugged him to keep him from talking to the press.(29) He claimed he was referred to a civilian doctor who told him he'd been drugged with Seconal.(30) The official record is a bit different, however. The Consulate noted that Nagell "claims to be ill from injections administered in East German prison . . ."(31) However, a psychiatrist at Berlin's US Army Hospital noted, 'Symptoms after such [a] long delay [are] extremely unlikely regardless of [the] nature of [the alleged] injections.'" Rather, it was observed that "complaints [and] various efforts to delay and complicate matters" fit into the psychological pattern demonstrated previously by the patient.(32)

On November 2, 1968, Nagell returned to New York.(33) He reportedly traveled to Washington, where yet another government agency — the State Department this time — allegedly offered to help find his children. Again no records support this.(34)

On or about February 12, 1969, Nagell was allegedly attacked in New York with a "practice Mark IV hand grenade thrown from a speeding automobile."(35) The purported grenade attack failed to make the news. Nagell next reportedly flew to New Orleans and "turned over what remained of the practice grenade to Mr. Garrison in the presence of one of his investigators."(36) No one at the NODA has ever confirmed this remarkable claim — it didn't even rate a mention in Jim Garrison's memoirs.(37)

Nagell next appeared again in Zurich, where on February 27 and 28, 1969, he appeared at the US embassy and warned the interviewing Consul that "unless promises made to him by US officials were honored he would reveal to the press [the] entire story of his alleged contacts with CIA and would expose individuals with whom he had dealt in the organization."(38) A March 3, 1969, CIA teletype states that Nagell "has never had any CIA connections. No evidence [of] any current CIA relationships (ISR has no record). Past history indicates he [is a] fabricator and mentally disturbed individual . . ."(39)

On March 5, Nagell again contacted the US General Consul in Zurich "and in more threatening fashion claimed he has radio [and] TV time [on the] evening [of] 6 March and will tell all about his alleged CIA contacts unless he receives assurance that promises made by US officials will be honored."(40) Two days later he returned and "stated that if he received no satisfaction by five o'clock that afternoon he would carry out his threats and expose US government on radio, television and in the press."(41) Nagell "then disappeared," a government teletype states, with "nothing further heard from him and no publicity given."(42) Nagell would later claim he left Switzerland for Spain when a shooting attempt was made on his life,(43) though no such attack was ever noted by the press or police.

On March 10, 1969, the US Consulate in Zurich was "advised by telephone from [the] US Consulate [in] Barcelona that Nagell had approached them and made similar threats."(44) He now also claimed that he had been offered quite a sum "to go over to the other side" and would consider it if he had no hope of ever seeing his children again.(45)

"Nagell claimed that he has left 'very compromising' classified documents with 'friends' in Switzerland," continued the Consul, "who will forward them to the 'appropriate' newspaper representatives . . ." The self-proclaimed spy also raised the subject of his 1963 arrest, claiming that "the reason why he had been arrested in the first place was that he had worked with Lee Harvey Oswald in an assignment with a 'US intelligence agency.'" "Nagell also stated that he had been held in the federal penitentiary for such a long period because he refused to reveal to the FBI any information about his intelligence activities — and that furthermore he was visited by CIA agents while in prison who cautioned him to keep his mouth shut about his ties with Oswald."(46)

Oddly, in addition to stating his intention to "defect to East Germany if he doesn't receive assistance from [the] US," "Nagell threatened to have himself arrested by Spanish police."(47) Why Nagell would consider such an act a threat to the US government is unclear, but in light of his history, it seems a most revealing statement.

On March 12 Nagell appeared again at the Consulate and was shown a telegram demonstrating that the government was indeed trying to help him locate his children. He left, seemingly mollified.(48) On March 14 he returned again and was advised to be patient. He said that "although he had been offered a great sum and guarantee of a 'good life' if he defected, he basically did not believe that would be the case. He stressed that he had sacrificed much for his country and only asked that his right to see his children be recognized. He said that he needed something to hold on to — like his children — in order to restore some equanimity to his life."(49)

He appeared yet again at the Consulate on March 17, asking if any results had arrived. He discussed the recent Ramparts article about the Kennedy assassination with the Consul and noted that "the references to him in connection with the assassination" were "completely erroneous."(50) The following day Nagell was back at the Consulate. "Showing and expressing signs of depression and desperation, he made repeated references to the fact that he would really do something dramatic, like 'blowing someone's head off,' if he did not get a positive answer from the Department of State" about his children.(51)

On April 7, 1969, Nagell appeared at the US Embassy in Madrid,(52) where he "proceeded to harangue [the] Consul for nearly two hours, accusing him of deliberately creating [a] situation to provoke Nagell into action harmful to him.(53)

Nagell A CIA Agent?
Secret internal Agency documents show that he was not: See also Note 1 of Part 3 of this essay.

On April 8, Nagell left Spain for West Berlin. A Department of State telegram notes his return to Berlin and the fact that he has called at the US Mission on April 10 and 14. "Since he was obviously irrational," a Consular official urged him to call on an Army psychiatrist in Berlin familiar with his case, "which he did [on] April 15. Psychiatrist says he is mentally ill and should be hospitalized." (54)

On April 14, the Department of State in Washington informed the US Embassy in Madrid that the department had been unable to locate Nagell's family, and would have been unable to inform Nagell of their whereabouts even if they had unless his ex-wife gave her consent. The State Department also cautioned the Embassy to exercise tact in discussing the subject with Nagell, and to "remember [that Nagell] is mentally unbalanced and may be dangerous."(55)

On April 15, Nagell made an unsolicited appearance at Police Group West in Berlin, where he said he wanted "to talk to an official" of the department because of information he had to offer "concerning East bloc countries." Nagell claimed that he had been involved in intelligence since the age of eighteen, "with smaller tasks for the American secret service. He had been a member of the CIA during 1954 to 1956. During the following years he claimed [to have] worked for various secret services in the USA. During 1962/63 he had been again with CIA." Nagell delivered a short, innocuous statement about having been questioned about his passport the previous January, then departed.(56)

On April 22, 1969, Nagell suffered a head wound at a Berlin bar and restaurant, the Royal. He was taken by ambulance to the Hospital Wilmerdorf, where he was treated for a head wound. "He stated that he was hit for unknown reasons by an unknown person," a police report reads. However, "A witness of that accident in the restaurant was Herr Werner Margret," who stated that Nagell "had fallen from a bar stool without outside influence." "The wound was most likely caused by his fall," the report notes. According to this report, Nagell had a card on his person identifying him as an employee of the CIA. The police judged him to be "mentally disturbed."(57)

By the time Nagell spoke to reporter Thomas Lucey, his alleged "unknown assailant" had been transformed into "two strangers," one of whom had allegedly been following Nagell for two days.(58) On April 26, Nagell departed Berlin, claiming to reporter Thomas C. Lucey that he feared "the next attacker would murder him . . ."(59)

On May 5, Nagell appeared at the New York Regional Office of the Veterans Administration, saying he wanted to be admitted to a VA hospital "in order to be examined for injuries he claimed to have sustained while in East Germany. When the subject was told he would have to wait for an appointment, he threatened to go to the local newspapers and to Washington, DC, in order to obtain satisfaction."(60) The VA informed the Secret Service that Nagell "is constantly appearing at their office and complaining of physical ills and requesting hospitalization. He is also constantly telling stories of his espionage activity and his importance to the United States Government." They stated that Nagell "has at times been boisterous and that GSA guards have assisted in escorting him from the offices of the Veterans Administration."(61)

On August 20, 1969, an unusual ad was noted in New York's East Village Other. It read, "Caught In The Act. Notice to the CIA and all SY shitheads who participated in Project Purple Shaft. After that fiasco in the GDR you worms did your best to screw, blue and tattoo me. You even tried to have my ass dusted in Berlin . . . Now it's my turn to do a little shafting. Cordially, R. C. Nagell."(62) Apparently, Nagell did no more to make good on this threat than on any of his earlier ones.

On April 14, 1970, Nagell was in Switzerland again. The following day he reported to the Zurich police that his raincoat had disappeared, and claimed that "an important document intended for the American military authorities in Berlin was in the pocket. Document was entitled 'Fiscal Year 70 (USAREUR).'" The police report notes, "Raincoat was found [a] short while later" in Nagell's hotel "sans alleged document. Hotel turned raincoat over to Zurich police," where Nagell subsequently picked it up. The report concludes with a recommendation: "Please advise appropriate US Army authorities on off chance they are missing copy of 'Fiscal Year 70 (USAREUR).'"(63)

On April 17, the CIA noted Nagell's return to Zurich with a recommendation that Nagell be classified as "a crank because he is mentally deranged. He was the sole survivor of an air crash . . . and suffered brain damage. He has claimed CIA employment but was never connected with the Agency."(64)

In June of 1970, Richard Case Nagell was reunited with his two children in Los Angeles, presumably without government assistance.(65) Any happiness Nagell felt over this turn of events must have been short-lived. On July 16, 1970, he appeared at a VA hospital in Los Angeles, where his behavior was noted as "very abusive."(66) On August 17, 1971, Nagell obtained legal custody of his children.(67)

In February 1992, Dick Russell succeeded in tracking down Nagell's son, Robert Lamont Nagell, a 32-year-old California veterinarian. "I saw my father for the first time in 1970," Robert Nagell recalled. "And I lived with him for a number of years, until eventually he decided he was not into parenting." He noted that he hadn't spoken with his father in eleven years, though their parting was amicable enough.(68)

Not even his children could bring Richard Case Nagell the "equilibrium" he had sought for so long. The only constant in Richard Case Nagell's life, it would seem, was the solace he found in threats never enacted and evidence never produced.


Next: A detailed timeline of Nagell's activities and allegations

You may wish to see:

A Note on Sources

One easily accessible source for many of the documents cited below is a three-part collection of documents compiled by Anna Marie Kuhns-Walko from releases under the JFK Records Act of 1992 and marketed commercially by such organizations as JFK/Lancer. As the collection appears to be circulating in slightly differing formats and its pages are not numbered, documents available in the collection will be distinguished simply by the notation "AMKW."

1. In his book, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Dick Russell utilizes alleged witnesses Robert Morrow and William Bishop to support Nagell's story. Such witnesses do little to help Nagell or Russell. Morrow has been shown to be unworthy of trust, and Bishop claimed, among other things, to have personally executed Jimmy Hoffa (Noel Twyman, Bloody Treason, 642-3).

2. Russell, 645.

3. Russell, 646.

4. Russell, 648-9.

5. Russell, 648.

6. Russell, 649.

7. Secret Service report, May 21, 1969; SS 96.

8. Thomas C. Lucey, "Man in the Middle: The Inside Story," The Family, June 26, 1969; SS 50-2; AMKW. Nagell later denied saying that the CIA had promised to reunite him with his family. As discussed earlier in this essay, there is reason to believe that the Nagells were divorced earlier than this.

9. William W. Turner, "The Garrison Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy," Ramparts, January 1968. (The full article used to be posted on-line, but currently there only seems to be a zipped fileof three out of four sections. The fourth part is the least significant, however, dealing primarily with the slaying of J. D. Tippit and theories about Jack Ruby.)

10. Russell, 652.

11. Russell, 652.

12. Russell, 669.

13.Department of State cable, June 6, 1968; AMKW; Russell, 653.

14. Department of State telegram, June 7, 1968; SS 158

15. Russell, 655. "Was 'Mr. Buehel' CIA or KGB?" Nagell would muse in a letter to Arthur Greenstein. "Was it the looney CIA or the sly KGB that sent me to East Germany? Was I on a mission for the CIA or was I sent there after volunteering as a witness at the Clay Shaw trial or was I sent there to get debriefed by the KGB, MfS, DSE, Cuban G-2, BND, Hai Wai, or what have you?" (Russell, 656)

16. Washington Post, October 25, 1968; SS 89.

17 Secret Service memorandum, June 18, 1969; SS 92.

18. "Man in the Middle," Thomas C. Lucey, The Family, June 20, 1969; SS 51; AMKW.

19. Russell, 659, 661-2.

20. Russell, 658.

21. Russell, 659. Russell states that Garrison investigator William Wood (aka Bill Boxley) identified New as a CIA agent or employee. However, Russell's source is William Turner.

22. Russell, 659.

23. Russell, 660.

24. Russell, 660.

25. Russell, 661.

26. Russell, 661.

27. CIA memorandum, December 10, 1968, "Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination: Richard Case Nagell (201-746537); AMKW.

28. CIA memorandum, December 10, 1968, "Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination: Richard Case Nagell (201-746537); AMKW.

29. Russell, 662. He alleged that he was brought a cup of coffee and that he drank a small portion, finding it bitter. Five minutes later, he said, he "began feeling sleepy and thought that he was under the influence of a drug."

30. Russell, 663.

31. Telegram from US Embassy, Zurich, to US Mission, Berlin, October 23, 1968; SS 151.

32. Telegram from US Mission, Berlin, to US Embassy, Zurich, October 28, 1968; SS 157

33. Russell, 663.

34. Russell, 663. A month or two later he allegedly paid several visits to Ricey New's office in New York. New reportedly put him in touch with John H. Gullett to help him with his disability pension. Nagell wrote that "Mr. New accompanied me to the elevator, apologizing for 'the misunderstanding' in West Berlin" regarding Nagell's allegation that New had promised to aid him in that respect.

35. Russell, 664.

36. Russell, 664.

37. By his own account, Nagell informed Jim Garrison "that I felt it inadvisable for me to appear as a prosecution witness at the Clay Shaw trial, which was then in progress" (Russell, 664). This contrasts with the statement in Garrison's 1988 memoirs that the DA himself decided not to call Nagell as a witness, due to Nagell's refusal to identify "the intelligence agency with which he had been associated" in 1963, "and might still be associated" in 1969 (Jim Garrison, On the Trail of the Assassins, 1991 ed., 216). It "was all too clear to me," Garrison writes, "what a field day the defense lawyers would have when they discovered on cross-examination that he would not disclose his affiliation" (Ibid.). Given Garrison's own notable lack of reliability, it cannot be stated with certainty which claim is closer to the truth.

38. CIA teletype, February 28, 1969; AMKW.

39. CIA teletype, March 3, 1969; AMKW.

40. CIA teletype, March 5, 1969; AMKW.

41. CIA teletype, March 17, 1969; AMKW.

42. CIA teletype, March 17, 1969; AMKW.

43. Thomas C. Lucey, "Man in the Middle: The Inside Story," The Family, June 26, 1969; SS 50-2; AMKW.

44. CIA teletype, March 17, 1969; AMKW.

45. Richard C. Brown, American Consul, Barcelona, Memorandum of Conversation, March 10, 1969)

46. Department of State telegram from US Embassy, Madrid, April 3, 1969; SS 143.

47. Department of State telegram from US Embassy, Madrid, April 3, 1969; SS 143.

48. Memorandum of Coversation, Participants: Richard Case Nagell — American Citizen, Richard C. Brown — American Consul, March 10, 1969; SS 118.

49. Memorandum of Coversation, Participants: Richard Case Nagell — American Citizen, Richard C. Brown — American Consul, March 10, 1969; SS 118

50. Memorandum of Coversation, Participants: Richard Case Nagell — American Citizen, Richard C. Brown — American Consul, March 10, 1969; SS 118

51. Memorandum of Coversation, Participants: Richard Case Nagell — American Citizen, Richard C. Brown — American Consul, March 10, 1969; SS 119. Nagell would claim to reporter Thomas C. Lucey that in Barcelona, "he was watched" (Thomas C. Lucey, "Man in the Middle: The Inside Story," The Family, June 26, 1969; SS 50-2; AMKW).

52. His reputation preceded him. "In interview with Richard Case Nagell [on] April 7, [the] Chief Consular Section had two Marine guards present [in] view [of] previous threats [of Nagell's] and strong recommendation [from the] TAB Hospital psychiatrist 'not to take any chances whatever,' [on the] basis [of Nagell's previous] diagnosis . . . Guards' presence upset Nagell, who insisted on recording interview with tape recorder he brought." The Consul informed Nagell that regulations forbid tape recording on the premises, but that he could have a witness present for the interview. Nagell "said he had no friends in Madrid" (Telegram from US Embassy, Madrid, to Department of State; SS 137-8).

53. Telegram from US Embassy, Madrid, to RUEHC/Secretary of State; SS 137-8. He also claimed that he had been the "courier of treasury plates from US to Japan for counterfeiting North Korean currency in 1957, 'in time of peace,' and [he] showed Consul two North Korean bills, one marked as real, the other counterfeit. This, according [to] Nagell . . . could be of interest to [the] news media." The Consul expressed to Nagell his opinion that a US government official "should not be intimidated by threats, to which Nagell repeated [that] he made no threats, only promises to 'go out and do it' if dept. does not keep its promise. Consul informed him that dept. had already investigated and had no success in locating [his] wife and children, but did not know if dept. had utilized FBI and INS in [the] search. Consul promised [to] query dept. to find out what measures dept. has taken." "What finally calmed Nagell, relatively, was Consul's acceding to his request that [the] guards not accompany him [out of the office] and that he be permitted to sit a few minutes in [the] reception room to cover up [the] situation. Consul readily agreed and accompanied Nagell as far as [the] reception room, and thereafter surreptitiously observed him until Nagell departed after sitting quietly, perusing or pretending [to] peruse documents. Consul followed to assure [that] Nagell [had] departed Embassy building, but found him at [the] reception desk talking to [the] Chief Marine Sergeant (in civvies). There Nagell requested Consul forward dept.'s reply to Paris; he said he was leaving Spain because of Consul's action (using guards). At this time Nagell was fairly calm, although he made [a] 'threat' to Consul that he would get him (Consul) 'legally' through his pocket book by suing him in [the] US. Consul agreed [to] forward [the] message to Paris. . . ." "Embassy still believes that effort by dept. to locate Nagell's children through appropriate agencies may avert considerable trouble in [the] future for FS posts. Nagell undoubtedly feels that his country owes him something, inter alia, because of previous distinguished service and [the] fact that [his] present condition resulted from [an] accident [in the] line of duty."

54. Department of State telegram from US Mission, Berlin, to Department of State, Washington, DC, April 18, 1969; AMKW.

55. Department of State telegram from Department of State, Washington, to US Embassy, Madrid; March 26, 1969; SS 139.

56. Police Group West memorandum, Berlin, April 15, 1969; SS 63-4. The report states that Nagell identified himself as "a former captain of the US Air Force," but this is probably inaccurate. The following day Nagell called the police station and said he was too far away to make his appointment, but offered to call again the following day (Police Group West memorandum, Berlin, April 16, 1969; SS 65).

57. Police Group West memorandum, Berlin, April 22, 1969; SS 67.

58. Thomas C. Lucey, "Man in the Middle: The Inside Story," The Family, June 26, 1969; June 26, 1969; SS 50-2; AMKW.

59. Thomas C. Lucey, "Man in the Middle: The Inside Story," The Family, June 26, 1969; June 26, 1969; SS 50-2; AMKW.

60. Secret Service report, May 20, 1969; SS 95-6.

61. Secret Service report, May 20, 1969; SS 95-6.

62. SS 61; AMKW.

63. CIA teletype, June 12, 1970; AMKW.

64. CIA Routing and Record Sheet, April 17, 1970; AMKW

65. Russell, 728.

66. Secret Service memorandum, July 16, 1970; SS 46.

67. Russell, 669.

68. Russell, 669.

69. Russell, 47.


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