LUIS ANGEL CASTILLO
SECRET
COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES
WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
Washington, DC 20500
May 19, 1975
May 19, 1975
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
SECRET
DECLASSIFIED with portions redacted
JFK Assass. Rec. Collection Act of
1992
FAI, NSC, CIA Concurrence
NARA date 2/2/00 By KBH
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 theUnited 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 inCuba 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
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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
Chroniclegives 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
Poston April 22, 1967.
SECRET – 6 –
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 Washingtonclearly 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 Philippinesand 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 – 8 –
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 CIAstatus
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 – 9-
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 inChicago 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 thePhilippines 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
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