David Sánchez Morales

For David Morales the New York Remixer/DJ, see David Morales. For Dave Morales the On-Air Radio Personality, see Dave Morales.

David Sánchez Morales (August 26, 1925 - May 8, 1978) was a Central Intelligence Agency operative who worked in Cuba and Chile.

Biographical highlights

Morales, of Mexican descent, spent his early life in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended school at Arizona State College in Tempe (now Arizona State University) and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles before joining the Army in 1946. He served in the 82nd Airborne, and was recruited into US Army intelligence during that time.[1] Morales maintained an Army 'cover' even after joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 1951.

Shortly after joining the CIA, Morales became an operative for the CIA's Directorate for Plans. It's alleged that he was involved in Executive Action, a series of projects designed to kill foreign leaders deemed unfriendly to the United States. Morales reportedly was involved in Operation PBSUCCESS, the CIA covert operation that overthrew the democratically-elected President of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.[2]

Through the 1960s and mid-1970s, Morales was involved at top levels in a variety of covert projects, including JMWAVE, the ZRRIFLE plot to assassinate Fidel Castro, the Bay of Pigs Invasion operation, the CIA's secret war in Laos,[3] the capture of Che Guevara, and the overthrow of Salvador Allende. He worked closely with Tracy Barnes, William D. Pawley, David Atlee Phillips, John Martino, Johnny Roselli, and the infamous Ted Shackley.

Allegations of involvement with the Kennedy assassinations

John F. Kennedy

After the death of E. Howard Hunt in 2007, Howard St. John Hunt and David Hunt stated that their father had recorded several claims about himself and others being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy.[4][5] In the April 5, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone, Howard St. John Hunt detailed a number of individuals purported to be implicated by his father including Morales, as well as Lyndon B. Johnson, Cord Meyer, David Atlee Phillips, Frank Sturgis, Lucien Sarti, and William Harvey.[5][6] The two sons alleged that their father cut the information from his memoirs, "American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond", to avoid possible perjury charges.[4] According to Hunt's widow and other children, the two sons took advantage of Hunt's loss of lucidity by coaching and exploiting him for financial gain.[4] The Los Angeles Times said they examined the materials offered by the sons to support the story and found them to be "inconclusive".[4]

Robert F. Kennedy

In November 2006, the BBC's Newsnight program presented a report by filmmaker Shane O'Sullivan alleging that three senior CIA operatives - purported to be Morales, Gordon Campbell, and George Joannides - were present at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated.[7] The program featured an interview with Morales's former attorney Robert Walton, who quoted Morales as having said, "I was in Dallas when we got the son of a bitch and I was in Los Angeles when we got the little bastard".[8] It was also alleged that Morales was known for his deep anger toward the Kennedys for what he saw as their betrayal during the Bay of Pigs Invasion.[9]

After further investigation, O'Sullivan produced the feature documentary, RFK Must Die. The film casts doubt on the earlier identifications and ultimately argues that the man previously identified as Gordon Campbell may, in fact, have been Michael D. Roman, a now-deceased Bulova Watch Company employee, who was at the Ambassador Hotel for a company convention.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Fonzi, Gaeton. The Last Investigation, (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993), p. 382. ISBN 1-56025-052-6
  2. ↑ Fonzi, Gaeton. The Last Investigation, (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993), p. 382-3. ISBN 1-56025-052-6
  3. ↑ Fonzi, Gaeton. The Last Investigation, (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993), p. 382-3. ISBN 1-56025-052-6
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Williams, Carol J. (March 20, 2007). "Watergate plotter may have a last tale". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles). Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hedegaard, Erik (April 5, 2007). "The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt". Rolling Stone.
  6. ↑ McAdams, John (2011). "Too Much Evidence of Conspiracy". JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think About Claims of Conspiracy. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. p. 189. ISBN 9781597974899. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "CIA role claim in Kennedy killing". BBC. November 21, 2006. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  8. ↑ Who Killed Bobby?: The Unsolved Murder of Robert F. Kennedy], O'Sullivan, Shane. (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2008) ISBN 1-4027-5444-2
  9. ↑ O'Sullivan, Shane (2006-11-20). "Did the CIA kill Bobby Kennedy?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  10. ↑ O'Sullivan, Shane (2007-11-20). RFK Must Die (DVD). Dokument Films.

External links