Danny Casolaro’s goal to uncover The Octopus was so all-consuming that it enveloped his physical life and his legacy as a writer. Sleuths across three decades have poured over the remnants of his manuscripts, voluminous notes and eclectic collection of documents.
Few authors, who were unknown en vivo, have unfinished manuscripts which have sustained such public interest. Are the remnants of his notes worthy of editing into a Pulitzer Prize award winning book? Perchance Danny’s real life deserves a reevaluation like his postmortem counterpart John Kennedy Toole - whose A Confederacy of Dunces was published after he committed suicide.
Granted some of Danny’s files went missing, but can we imagine that perhaps there were some things he was too smart to write down? No one warp speeds into a black hole without some precipitating event.
In the summer of 1990, shortly after Riconosciuto had disgorged the details of this story to the Hamiltons, Danny showed up in their offices on K Street in downtown Washington, expressing interest in doing some kind of story on the INSLAW case. And at some point that summer the Hamiltons made available to Danny their twelve-page Riconosciuto memo with its profusion of suggestive and seductive leads, its wealth of references to code names, cover-ups, corporate fronts, cutouts, and covert ops—all of which show up in the notes Danny left behind, many of which go far beyond the October Surprise.
The moment he got his hands on that maddening memo, with its maze of illusion and reality, was the moment Danny’s life changed and he began his descent into the obsession that would lead to his death. He was slowly, then rapidly, sucked into a kind of covert-ops version of Dungeons & Dragons, with that memo as his guide and Michael Riconosciuto as his Dungeon Master.
Reams of Danny’s notes and documents are available on the Internet Archive. People are often under the impression that going down a rabbit hole is a metaphor to get lost in an netherworld of disparate facts and infinite possibilities. Yet, the goal is to find the carrot and bring it into the sunshine… to sift and sort through ephemera in order to tell a streamlined story of the underworld. Too often people try to “follow the money”, but get buried in the receipts.
My introduction to The Octopus was via my research into MCA, Inc. because I was researching the history of the music industry. There were multiple federal investigations into the mafia’s involvement with MCA in the 1980s, but only a few individual players ended up in trouble, such as Sal Pisello, Tommy Vastola, and Morris Levy.
I will explore the “why” of this at another time, but it goes to the heart of the synergistic activities of the entertainment industry, organized crime, government officials and the clandestine services.
In this clip from the TrineDay’s The Journey podcast Cheri Seymour, author of The Last Circle, explains the importance of MCA to the filmmakers of The Octopus Murders:
Eugene Giaquinto was picked up on FBI wiretaps telling Robert Booth Nichols he would get Attorney General Edwin Meese to shut down the investigation related to MCA. The FBI and DOJ investigations were both quickly shut down and the documents were sealed. Giaquinto was also heard saying that he was childhood friends with John Gotti who was the head of the Gambino crime family.
Meese ultimately stepped down as Attorney General in 1988 in relation to an extensive investigation into the defense contractor Wedtech who had received no-bid government contracts. Meese was cleared of wrongdoing in the Wedtech case, but there were issues discovered related to his personal finances.
The Wedtech investigation did take down Maj. General of the National Guard of New York Vito Castellano - who was convicted of tax evasion related to payments from Wedtech. Reportedly, the Maj. General was Paul Castellano’s first cousin - who was the boss of the Gambino crime family prior to John Gotti. As we shall see, a dizzying tapestry of scandals is woven by many of the same players.
When The Octopus Murders arrived on Netflix I watched it at 1.5 speed. I have been dreaming of the day that MCA gets its due. I was sorely disappointed, but everyone has their own predilections when it comes to their tentacle of choice. The documentary did teach me a new angle in which to view The Octopus.
A peculiar fact remains… the feds have voluminous amounts of publicly available documents on their investigations into INSLAW/PROMIS, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the Iran-Contra Affair and more…
Why was everything about MCA sealed?
My logical leap: MCA must have been acting as an international front for the intelligence services.
I began looking for any mention of MCA and the CIA. I came across this footnote in the book The Last Mogul (p. 339-340).1
“According to their own advertisement in the March 14, 1965, edition of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, MCA-Universal seemed to have offices in more cities around the world than the CIA.”
“While USA officials maintained that the agency had no record of any involvement with MCA, the Central Intelligence Agency responded to the author’s three-year old Freedom of Information Act request in June 1998, acknowledging that seventeen separate computer searches revealed MCA did work with the CIA. The CIA refused to release any of its MCA documents on grounds that it might endanger national security.”
I tried to locate the addresses of MCA’s offices and unfortunately the advert only listed the cities. I then found the address to MCA’s headquarters.
MCA 50th anniversary ad insert, Herald Examiner, March 14, 1975
MCA’s opulent Beverly Hills headquarters was purchased by Litton Industries in 1964.23 Strange that MCA would sell their headquarters to a big time defense contractor. What do MCA and Litton have in common besides somehow overpaying their taxes on their real estate transaction? All was well by 1967.
The building is of historical importance given that Beverly Hills City Council placed the building on the Beverly Hills Register of Historic Properties in 2021. It is interesting that the building is still called the MCA/Litton Headquarters Complex.
MCA/Litton Headquarters Complex
As I have previously described, MCA faced an antitrust case from the DOJ in 1962. This forced MCA to sell their talent agency and also their headquarters. In turn, Lew Wasserman became the top power broker for MCA, while the founder of MCA - Jules Stein receded to the periphery. Although, Stein did trade MCA’s headquarters for stock in Litton Industries. Curious.
The Last Mogul, p. 306
Litton Industries and MCA, Inc.
An Introduction to Litton Industries
My next step was to do a quick google search for “Litton Industries”. It seems odd that a (primarily government funded) military contractor would move into a regal headquarters fit for a king. Upon the occasion when Litton moved its military arm out of the building a journalist reflected a similar thought:
It remains a mystery how a prime Government contractor, a leading builder of ships and electronics systems, maintained such lavish Beverly Hills offices for almost three decades without scrutiny from Washington.
There has always been a synergy between military sponsored technological innovation and the entertainment industry. People often forget that media is essentially an intermediary between transmitter and receiver.
For a century California has been a hub for technological breakthroughs and Litton Industries was a centrifugal force. In California, Inc. (1982) Joel Kotkin wrote of the remarkable heights Litton reached with Charles Thornton at the helm:
In 1953, Thornton left Hughes to establish his own high technology company, Litton Industries. A West Texas native who once chopped cotton for 10$ an hour, Thornton ignored the old-line industrial pattern and concentrated on developing such new technologies as data processing, aircraft guidance systems, digital computers, and scores of other advanced electronic devices. Today Litton stands as one of the giants of American industry, employing over 76,000 workers, with 1979 sales of over $4 billion.4
Charles “Tex” Thornton and Lew Wasserman
I have yet to identify much data on the business relationship between the military contractor and MCA’s entertainment industry monopoly. Yet, there certainly was a personal relationship between Lew Wasserman and Thornton.
Wasserman and Thornton were both listed as being on the Board of Directors in a 1974 brochure for Los Angeles World Affairs Council. The brochure was included in a declassified letter the Council sent to CIA Director William E. Colby offering to host him as their special guest. Other luminaries on the Council’s board included the presidents of the Union Oil Company of California, Northrop Corporation, Aerospace Corporation, and the chairman of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.
Tex Thornton also served on the board of MCA, Inc.
It is documented that MCA has produced electronics for the CIA, while Wasserman and Thornton were both very friendly with President Ronald Reagan.
As George Carlin has said:
You don’t need a formal conspiracy when interests converge. These people went to the same universities and fraternities. They are on the same boards of directors. They are in the same country clubs they have like interests. They don’t need to call a meeting. They know what is good for them - and they’re getting it.
Carlin’s statement is rather conservative when applied to The Octopus - given how many documented intersections there are between these various entities.
The Litton Connection to the Cabazon-Wackenhut Joint Venture
My next task was to explore whether there was a relationship between Litton and Danny Casolaro’s investigation. According to FBI documents there was a Litton presence on the Cabazon Indian Reservation as a part of the Cabazon-Wackenhut Joint Venture (C-WJV). A quick summary: Wackenhut sought to use the sovereignty of the Cabazon Indian reservation to manufacture and sell military products to foreign governments and rebels/guerillas/death squads. The aim was to bypass U.S. regulations and limitations on foreign exports of military products.
Litton Industries, 1215 South 52nd St, Tempe, AZ
According to Wackenhut’s internal correspondence the C-WJV was pursuing the opportunity to assemble Litton night vision goggles on the reservation. The deal had to go through Intersect Corporation who had “the apparent exclusive rights for foreign marketing with the Litton Electron Tube Division in third world countries.”
There was discussion that the goggles could potentially be sold to the Guatemalan and Jordanian governments. It is interesting that the deal had to be firmed up at Litton’s Electron Tube Division, Electro-Optics Department in Tempe, Arizona.
Robert Frye’s inter-office memo, May 25, 1981
The Vice President of Wackenhut Inc. Robert Frye told FBI investigators that Robert Booth Nichols made the initial introduction between C-WJV and the President of Intersect Corporation - John Vanderwerker. There was also talk of brokering a deal for C-WJV to sell Litton night vision goggles to the Nicaraguan government.5
FBI report on their interview with Robert Frye, November 19, 1992
It is notable that Robert Booth Nichols made the introduction of Vanderwerker to the C-WJV. Nichols also ran Meridian International Logistics and Eugene Giaquinto served on its board while he was also the President of the MCA Home Entertainment.6
After browsing Jane’s Infantry Weapons 1983-84 catalog (p. 757), I deduce that the night vision goggles in question may have been the Model 845 lightweight second-generation. I found some for sale on the Pigeon Watch form if anyone wants to take a closer look!
Model 845: Great for military or paramilitary use alike!
Litton and BCCI
Danny was investigating the October Surprise, which was the alleged payment future President Ronald Reagan’s cronies made to the Iranians to keep American hostages until after the 1980 election. This was in an effort to make President Jimmy Carter look weak and maim his chance at reelection. There was an alleged $40 million payment made to the Iranians through the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which was a bank that was laundering tons of profits made by illicit businesses, including drug trafficking and international arms sales.
In December 1992 Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown issued a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations entitled The BCCI Affair. This report reviewed BCCI documents and found they were acting as a go-between for the Argentine government’s attempt to buy night vision goggles produced by Litton. Small arms. Small world.
The BCCI Affair, p. 91
Several authorities, including members of Congress, New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and former Customs Service Commissioner William von Raab, have accused the Justice and Treasury Departments of 'foot-dragging' in the investigation of the rogue bank's involvement in U.S. banks.
The Federal Reserve Board Monday fined BCCI $200 million for violating U.S. banking laws and prohibited its officials from ever again dealing with U.S. banks.
But a Central Intelligence Agency paper released Wednesday indicated the agency back in 1986 knew BCCI had secretly acquired control of Washington's largest banking company, First American Bankshares, in violation of Federal Reserve Board restrictions.
Where Does Litton Industries Fit into Danny’s Octopus?
In the above example two entities of Danny’s Octopus, the Cabazon-Wackenhut Joint Venture and BCCI, are involved in the attempted purchase of Litton night vision goggles. It is odd that Litton, one of the U.S.’s biggest defense contractors, is not a more notable component in the conversations around The Octopus. I wonder how often U.S. defense contractors were using third parties to circumvent the legal process of selling military equipment to foreign governments?
Litton was also subject to a federal investigation in the 1980s, just like Inslaw/PROMIS scandal, BCCI and MCA.
In 1988 a former Litton manager, John Carton, filed a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged that Litton had overcharged the Pentagon $25 million between 1981-1987.8 Litton was charging the Pentagon for computer work that they were actually doing for commercial customers. The DOJ joined in on the lawsuit in 1989. The case was settled in 1994 for $86 million and Carton was entitled to approximately $20 million for exposing the fraud.9 Unfortunately, Carton died the previous year on a vacation cruise.
Litton would face another DOJ investigation in 1999. Two of Litton’s subsidiaries pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by not declaring the commissions they earned on arms deals to Taiwan and Greece.
Hopefully, it is now clear that Litton is a part of The Octopus. So now let’s switch gears. I will provide insight into Danny’s life and how Litton itself played a role in his life’s story.
Danny’s Song: The Son Is Going to Shine Above
There was a Department of Justice inquiry into whether Danny’s death was a suicide or murder. The findings of the Casolaro Reportsuggest that Danny had a life full of tragedy - thus committing suicide is an unsurprising end. Yet, after I conducted a thorough search of newspaper archives it is clear Danny’s family has a history of resilience in the face of tragedy. Additionally, there are a number of curious facts that have been left out of Danny’s origin story which may provide insight into his personal obsession with The Octopus.
Casolaro Report, Department of Justice, p. 7
Immediately following my discovery of MCA’s relationship to Litton I googled “Casolaro” and “Litton”. I didn’t plan to look into Danny’s family, as I was initially motivated to explain the MCA tentacle. Many articles mention that Danny’s dad was a gynecologist and/or doctor. Yet, I was intrigued to find Dr. Joseph Casolaro’s obituary and discover that he was a founder of what would come to be called Litton Bionetics.10 Dr. Joseph Casolaro died of leukemia at the relatively young age of 60.
Dr. Casolaro spent some part of his early career as a space monkey scientist! There were tests run by the U.S. Air Force School of Aviation Medicine to learn how well monkeys tolerated the gravitational force of rocket powered travel. They wanted to determine if humans could ultimately withstand the physics required for space travel.
Right now it is unclear to me exactly what Dr. Casolaro’s scientific involvements were prior to becoming a founder Bionetics Research Laboratories in 1961. Bionetics was at the forefront of using animals in biomedical research. Bionetics would merge with Litton in 1968 and by 1969 Litton Bionetics was so well regarded that they had the honor of studying all the bio waste from the first men on the moon.
A nod to Dr. Joseph D. Casolaro in a tribute to Litton's Charles "Tex" Thornton
Rewiring Danny’s Origin Story
Dr. Joseph Casolaro really had the life of a legend. All the backward reflections on why Danny had a high likelihood of committing suicide should be reinterpreted because they overly rely on a rather simplistic understanding of the tragic events in his life. It feels intentional that Danny’s life story has been disaggregated from his dad’s legacy.
Dr. Casolaro leaves the impression of a man who stood by and fought for his principles. He was deeply involved in the Catholic community. In 1954 he was President of the Mission Guild and activist for tortured and killed missionaries in “Red China.”11 His devout Catholicism is readily apparent in a letter to the editor he sent to the Washington Post on sterilization being immoral.12
Danny’s Traumatic Life Events
The DOJ’s Casolaro Report identifies one of Danny’s childhood traumas as being the death of his baby brother due to a heart defect.
Casolaro Report, Department of Justice, p. 8
The Washington Post, March 29, 1962
The year after Dr. Casolaro’s infant son died from a heart defect - he was part of a cutting edge research team to monitor fetal heartbeats using computers.13 The study was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and in the documents Danny left behind there happens to be a folder on the NIH.
Danny witnessed his dad’s resilience after tragically losing a baby to then go on to develop technology that monitors baby’s heartbeats in utero.
The Washington Post, July 9, 1962
Two other traumatic events noted in the Casolaro Report are a house fire in his parent’s home and the drug overdose-suicide of his younger sister. The authors seem to imply that his sister’s suicide was correlated to the house fire that happened a year prior. The implication being that tragic life events in the Casolaro family may predispose them to suicide. I don’t know if there is any evidence that may indicate that Lisa’s (Elizabeth) death was an accidental overdose.
Casolaro. Report, Department of Justice, p. 10
An article about the house fire relays that the fire began in Dr. Joseph Casolaro’s exam room/home office. Yet, the Casolaro Report simplistically states the fire occurred at his “mother’s house”.
Danny’s dad is essentially missing from the Casolaro Report. As you shall continue to see - Danny’s dad’s history seems to be bound up with his investigation of The Octopus, which may explain why people know so little about Dr. Casolaro.
The Washington Post, March 31, 1970
Lisa (Elizabeth) Ann Casolaro’s obituary
It would be devastating to lose your 18 year-old sister to a drug overdose.14 That same year Danny’s mom decided to go to college. A few years later she completed an internship at a program that helped runaways.15 Here is another scenario where the Casolaro family was resilient in the face of tragedy.
Frances feels she has helped most in the family counseling situation, since she lost a daughter of her own at the age of 18 from a drug overdose, and she feels empathy for both parties.
- Washington Star, August 17, 1975
Perchance Danny would have loved that sleuths have spent three decades deciphering his hopes and frustrations??? He would be wholly unsurprised by the government’s terrible job investigating his death… likely because it means they would have had to investigate themselves.
Dr. Joseph Casolaro’s Other Lines of Business
Dr. Casolaro was involved in other business too. I really wish he had a resume floating around on the internet because I still have so many questions.
In 1965 Dr. Casolaro joined the board of directors of Community Savings and Loan Association in Rosslyn, which is a member of Federal Home Loan Bank Board.16 In another news article described his profession at that time as a “doctor in private practice.”17
Dr. Casolaro was appointed to another bank board of directors in 1971 called Woodlawn National Bank of Alexandria. Dr. Casolaro is now described as “as an assistant professor a Georgetown and President of Caltech Data Processing Co., a computer firm oriented towards bio-medicine.”18
The Morning Star, January 28, 1971
Dr. Casolaro in Martinsburg, WV
I found an eerie coincidence. According to the West Virginia Secretary of State, in 1970 Dr. Casolaro opened two businesses in Martinsburg, WV - the same town where Danny would die.
The businesses were named Valley Credit Corporation and International Bio-Medical Services, Inc. There appears to be continuity in Dr. Casolaro’s professional involvement with businesses related to banking and biomedicine. For unknown reasons - both businesses were dissolved by court order in June 1972.
Why did Dr. Casolaro choose to open businesses in Martinsburg?
The case only gets more curious so let us get back to the Bionetics tentacle.
West Virginia Secretary of State business records
A Short History of Bionetics
Bionetics Research Laboratories was founded in September 1961.19 It is unclear to me how long Dr. Casolaro stayed involved in the company. “Bionetics’ first contract was for $169,000 from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study viruses and leukemia in simians.”20 There are many indicators that Bionetics grew its business very rapidly.
The Washington Post, September 30, 1961
A 1962 Bionetics help wanted ad states they are looking for bio-technicians and animal handlers: “PRIMATE EXPERIENCE DESIRED BUT NOT NECESSARY.”21
The Washington Post, February 6, 1962
This feels like a big ask. How many people in the DC area could already have experience in the monkey business?
“This year the firm [Bionetics] to raise 120 monkeys for the project, among the first large-scale efforts in the country to induce cancer in primates. Newborn monkeys are used because they are too young to have developed full defenses against disease organisms.”22
- The Washington Post, May 5, 1962
1963 was a big year for Bionetics, as they were awarded two very large government contracts. First, Bionetics was awarded a contract by the National Cancer Institute. The contract was “to investigate a list of compounds for (1) possible cancer effect; (2) production of abnormal babies by exposed mothers; (3) effects on heredity.”23
Secondly, they won a contract from the National Health Service to study the relationship between cancer and pesticides, as well as other chemicals like insecticides and fungicides.24
The Washington Post, April 17, 1969
By 1965 Bionetics got a ton of money to build a new facility near the National Institute of Health. The new facility planned to house 2000 monkeys for use in their cancer research projects.25 They also grew their commercial services and were running 5,000 lab tests a week in 1967 for doctors across a number of states.26
It may make you pause and wonder about the liminal space between learning how to fight cancer and learning how to cause it.
Bionetics Research Laboratories received 2 contracts from the Army that ran sequentially between March 1966-September 1968 (p. 83).
Litton Systems, Inc. received 14 contracts between June 1960-November 1967 (p. 85).
Dow Chemicals received 5 contracts May 1963-December 1967 (p. 89-90).
Agent Orange, Bionetics, & Dow Chemicals
Studies conducted by Bionetics (later Litton Bionetics) played a crucial role in the U.S. military’s decision to cease using Agent Orange in Vietnam. Agent Orange (a mix of 2, 4, 5-T and 2,4-D) and Agent White (2, 4-D and picloram) were used during the Vietnam War as a way to kill the vegetation and make it easier for Americans to fight the Vietnamese.
Over the course of the Vietnam War the U.S. sprayed at least “5.5 million acres of Vietnam - about 12% of its total territory.”27 These chemicals cause a host of health risks, including causing birth defects.28
The Washington Post, April 8, 1970
Around 1970 when the results of Bionetics’ Agent Orange study were finally made public the use of these chemicals was swiftly restricted. It is interesting to note that the Army had biowarfare contracts with Bionetics, Litton Industries, and Dow Chemicals.
The Vietnam Association For Victims of Agent Orange brought a lawsuit against Dow Chemicals et al. for injuries caused by Agent Orange. In their lawsuit they cite the 1966 Bionetics study and indicate there was a serious lag between when officials knew Agent Orange was dangerous and when its use was discontinued.
Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange v. Dow Chemicals
Litton Industries Acquires Bionetics
The Montgomery Star, December 6, 1978
In 1968 Litton Industries, one of the United States’ biggest corporate conglomerates, acquired Bionetics Research Labs.29 Bionetics and Litton were both heavily reliant on government contracts, yet Litton’s focus on military contracts may have changed how people viewed Bionetics’ biological and cancer research. In 1969 James (Jim) C. Nance became President and General Manager of Litton Bionetics, which feels like an odd choice given his background working on nuclear powered airplanes and Project Orion.
Evening Star. June 14, 1968.
Litton Bionetics Takes Over The National Cancer Institute
Siege on Cancer Begins, The Sun, August 15, 1972
In 1972 Litton Bionetics received a $6.85 million contract to operate the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI was relocated to Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD, which is about 1.5 hours northwest of Washington, DC. At the time this was the largest single award ever given by the National Institute of Health. Litton Bionetics had already worked with the NCI for many years.3031 We can only wonder how much work Litton/Bionetics did at Fort Detrick prior to the 1972 move.
“The plan for altering Ft. Detrick includes measures designed to protect workers and the public from the escape of animal-cancer viruses, including some suspected of causing human cancer.”32
- The Washington Post, June 24, 1972
The NCI’s takeover of Fort Detrick was met with some suspicion of its true intent, as it had previously been the headquarters of the CIA’s secret MK-NAOMI program.
MK-ULTRA & MK-NAOMI at Fort Detrick
According to a 1977 U.S. Senate hearing on Project MK-ULTRA, the purpose of MK-NAOMI was described as follows:
“Under an agreement reached with the Army in 1952, the Special Operations Division (SOD) at Fort Detrick was to assist [the] CIA in developing, testing, and maintaining biological agents and delivery systems.”
People in the Frederick community often heard stories about what went on at the secret facility, but they would not begin learning the true scope of its experiments until 1975.
“As a kid, we were always hearing stories about people dying and germs that could wipe out crops. You never really knew quite what was going on out there (Ft. Detrick). Probably 90% of what we heard was false, but it may be that the real stuff was more far out than the rumors.”33 - Mayor of Frederick Ronald Young, September 28, 1975
Project MK-ULTRA
The American people first learned of the egregious activities conducted by the MK-ULTRA program via the 1975 Church Committee hearings. MK-ULTRA is often believed to just be the CIA’s mind control program, but it was an umbrella term for an array of 140+ subprojects.
In 1973 the Director of the CIA Richard Helms ordered that all MK-ULTRA records be destroyed. Yet, thousands of documents did remain intact. Helms decided to destroy the documents shortly after the 1972 relocation of the National Cancer Institute to Fort Detrick. What a rebrand!
The MK-ULTRA program was run by the chemist Sidney Gottlieb who only developed methods to horrifically destroy minds. MK-ULTRA was shut down in the 1960s and its subproject MK-NAOMI would carry on for a few more years.
“After the end of MK-ULTRA, [Sidney Gottlieb] used [Fort Detrick] to develop and store the CIA’s arsenal of poisons. In his freezers, he kept biological agents that could cause diseases including smallpox, tuberculosis and anthrax as well as a number of organic toxins, including snake venom and paralytic shellfish poison. He developed poisons intended to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.”
Dr. Gottlieb 1975 testimony to the Senate can be read in the CIA’s Reading Room.
MK-NAOMI: 1952-1970
In a 1975 CIA report on their internal investigation of MK-NAOMI they made this preposterous statement: “Beyond the Castro schemes, no suggestion can be found at any of these materials or devices was ever considered for use for lethal purposes” (p. 15).
In 1967, the CIA summarized the purposes of MKNAOMI:
(a) To provide for a covert support base to meet clandestine operational requirements.
(b) To stockpile severely incapacitating and lethal materials for the specific use of TSD [Technical Services Division].
(c) To maintain in operational readiness special and unique items for the dissemination of biological and chemical materials.
(d) To provide for the required surveillance, testing, upgrading, and evaluation of materials and items in order to assure absence of defects and complete predictability of results to be expected under operational conditions.
Under an agreement reached with the Army in 1952, the Special Operations Division (SOD) at Fort Detrick was to assist [the] CIA in developing, testing, and maintaining biological agents and delivery systems. By this agreement, CIA acquired the knowledge, skill, and facilities of the Army to develop biological weapons suited for CIA use.
SOD developed darts coated with biological agents and pills containing several different biological agents which could remain potent for weeks or months. SOD developed a special gun for firing darts coated with a chemical which could allow CIA agents to incapacitate a guard dog, enter an installation secretly, and return the dog to consciousness when leaving. SOD scientists were unable to develop a similar incapacitant for humans. SOD also physically transferred to CIA personnel biological agents in "bulk" form, and delivery devices, including some containing biological agents.
In addition to the CIA's interest in biological weapons for use against humans, it also asked SOD to study use of biological agents against crops and animals. In its 1967 memorandum, the CIA stated:
Three methods and systems for carrying out a covert attack against crops and causing severe crop loss have been developed and evaluated under field conditions. This was accomplished in anticipation of a requirement which was later developed but was subsequently scrubbed just prior to putting into action.
MKNAOMI was terminated in 1970. On November 25, 1969, President Nixon renounced the use of any form of biological weapons that kill or incapacitate and ordered the disposal of existing stocks of bacteriological weapons.
The Case of Frank Olson
The supposed 1953 suicide of Frank Olson was widely covered in the media throughout the 1970s. Olson began voicing his serious moral reservations about the research being conducted at Fort Detrick and the top brass grew concerned that Olson had become a security threat to the agency’s work. His son worked tirelessly for decades to find out the truth: the CIA had executed his father.
How far would any child go to find out the truth of their father’s mysterious death?
“Olson helped oversee the Special Operations Division at Camp Detrick in Maryland, the biological weapons laboratory jointly operated by the U.S. Army and the CIA. The top secret work conducted by the SO Division included research on LSD-induced mind control, assassination toxins, and biological warfare agents like those allegedly being used in Korea.”
Hazelton Laboratories Corp. bought Litton Bionetics in September 1985… “the company is now focusing solely on its testing and biological products areas, and has consolidated the animal and molecular toxicology laboratories it bought from Litton Bionetics Inc. in September for $3.2 million.”35
Hazelton had an Ebola outbreak in 1989 at their facility in Reston, VA. The Ebola-Reston strain is non-lethal to humans, but dozens of macaques died. The animals were being housed at the facility to be later sold for animal testing.36 The public was not informed of the Ebola outbreak until Richard Preston published the book The Hot Zone in 1995.
"[The Hot Zone is] one of the most horrifying things I've ever read. What a remarkable piece of work." - Stephen King, the author of IT
The Hot Zone, 1995
I can’t think of a more apt person to contextualize how terrifying this Ebola outbreak was than the master of fictional horror Stephen King. A secret military SWAT team was dispatched to control the outbreak. Thus, we have the military collaborating with a private company to withhold this information from the public.
The public had a right to know about the outbreak, as we know viruses can mutate so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that it could have become lethal to humans.
Conspiracies exist. Fake conspiracies can be seeded to the public to obscure real conspiracies. People may develop conspiracy theories because there is an information vacuum or because they have repeatedly learned about real conspiracies well after terrible events have taken place.
The AIDS Hoax
When Hazelton acquired Litton Bionetics the company was described as follows:
“Litton Bionetics, based in Kensington, was among the first companies licensed to develop, manufacture and sell diagnostic tests for the antibodies to the virus associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).”
Thus, is it any wonder some fringe conspiracy literature asserts AIDS was developed by Litton Bionetics - especially considering they took over the former headquarters of MK-NAOMI? Is it truly surprising that people believe that COVID escaped from a government sponsored lab doing “gain-of-function” research.
Emerging Viruses (1996) - Doesn’t the cover look familiar?
Simultaneously, some researchers have studied the “‘HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth,’ [which] asserted that HIV had been a product, accidental or intentional, of bioweaponry research.”37 This line of logic asserts that hostile intelligence services, namely the Soviet KGB and the East German Stasi, took active measures to propagate this myth to sow distrust of the U.S. government.
At the end of the day, many people have legitimate reasons to distrust government institutions. Yet, which institutions are untrustworthy is often the crux of the debate.
The Casolaro Conspiracy
Danny was searching for the truth. He wanted to expose deeply embedded corruption on a global scale. He was open to any type of primary source because he was aiming to tell the true story of The Octopus. Many aspects of his research were ultimately proven to be correct.
The same year Danny died an issue of Covert Action Information Bulletin had articles about his death, as well as Litton Bionetics involvement with biological weapons. The Octopus is so big the publishers did not know that these stories are intertwined. To understand corruption it is better to perceive scandals as tangled than as isolated in parallel.
Covert Action Information Bulletin, #39 (Winter 1991-92)
“Are you hiding from new software opportunities?”
…so asks an ad from a 1983 issue of Computerworld. In the same issue we have Danny describing how he is restructuring his publications to exclusively focus on “original research and analysis, period.” Many have said that his investigation into The Octopus began in 1990, but those assertions don’t ring true to me. His life seems to have always been tangled up with The Octopus, but something triggered him in 1990 which allowed The Octopus to finally consume all of his news and analytic work.
Computerworld, March 21, 1983
The Casolaros and The FBI
Danny’s Dad Reports to the FBI
I’m left wondering how much influence Dr. Casolaro had in Danny’s journey as a journalist. One might imagine that Dr. Casolaro likely had a professional network that was rich for harvesting inside sources. Whatever the case… it seems clear he was supportive of his son’s career.
When Danny was first starting out as a journalist he cultivated a source who told him that the DNC may have had advanced notice regarding the Watergate break-in. Dr. Casolaro went to the FBI on April 4 1974 to share the information that Danny had found so he could help his son’s investigation (Watergate FBI 130-4089 SECTION 45 Serials 2668-2729).
April 4, 1974: Dr. Casolaro goes to the FBI
Dr. Casolaro requested a status report from the FBI on April 29, 1974 regarding the information he previously provided a few weeks earlier. The associated document seems to indicate the FBI was somewhat annoyed, but plainly this is a case of a dad who believes in his son and just wants to help him.
“Information to date has been based on speculation by Dr. Casolaro with no facts furnished to back up his deductions. It is further noted that he does not desire that his son be contacted since it would retard his work as an investigative report.It would appear that Dr. Casolaro is attempting to “drum up” FBI investigation in the prior knowledge aspect to give credence to his son’s story, and therefore, no further action is deemed appropriate until such time as factual information is brought to FBI attention.”
April 29, 1974: Dr. Casolaro asks the FBI for a status report on the Watergate information he provided
Who Reported Danny to the FBI???
On July 17, 1986 someone reported Danny to the New York office of the FBI. The document had been classified SECRET and is still heavily redacted, thus making the report’s purpose unclear. The concern appears to be Danny may have known a person of interest or may have had access to classified information. The information was forwarded to the Alexandria, VA office who ran a background check on Danny and contacted him. They found no cause for concern and closed the case.
FBI file about Danny due to a July 17, 1986
Strange Deaths in a No Man’s Land
Had Danny Been Targeted By Bioweapons?
It is odd to me that Danny’s exploration of biological weapons has been downplayed in the current discourse around The Octopus. Furthermore, shortly before Danny died he had expressed concern that he was potentially developing some kind of brain disease. Moreover, Danny believed he had been targeted by bioweapons.
A few days later, I happened to mention the report of Danny’s seeking information about brain-disease symptoms to Michael Riconosciuto. Who promptly said, “Oh, yes. He, uh, was concerned. And that was one of the reasons he had such an obsession [with this story]. Because he felt he had been hit by these people.”
“Hit by them?”
“He confided this to me to try to get me to talk further” about biological warfare projects he’d discovered, Riconosciuto explained.
Danny’s autopsy report indicated that he had been suffering from multiple sclerosis. I have Parkinson’s myself and I can fully empathize with Danny’s belief he had been targeted by bioweapons - the symptoms can feel like unrelenting torture for some ineffable crime. Yet, could have Danny felt his symptoms were precipitously worsening to the point he felt his natural death was imminent anyhow? It seems he must have been hyperfocused on bioweapons for a reason.
Casolaro Report
Our Father, Who Art in Heaven
Dr. Joseph Casolaro filed a lawsuit against Gillette Co. claiming that their hairspray “The Dry Look” had gotten into his eyes on January 27, 1973 and permanently damaged his vision.38
His lawyer described how a documented study of the hairspray showed that it caused eye irritation in 5 rabbits. Yet, Gillette was negligent because they did not conduct further testing. Dr. Casolaro had asked for $1 million in damages, but received only $75,000.
“If the Gillette Co. were being tried here today for being sloppy in their paperwork, we’d have to plead guilty.” Gillette’s attorney, Jean Pierre Garnier, said in closing arguments. “But he’s trying to make it out as something sinister.”
- The Washington Star, March 12, 1975
The Washington Star, March 12, 1975, p. B-4
Consider that Dr. Casolaro worked to some degree in animal testing and potentially biological weapons. It does not seem to be a far-fetched concern that Dr. Casolaro may have perceived that Gillette’s actions around their product’s safety was “sinister.” Particularly in light of the fact that NCI tests include substances such as “saccharin, cyclamates, hair sprays and dandruff shampoos.”39
The Washington Star, March 12, 1975
Did Danny Think His Dad May Have Been Targeted by Bioweapons?
Given all the data points in Danny’s life perhaps the biggest motivation for his work has been lost to history. Perceptions may not be objectively “real”, but people’s perceptions drastically influence their real world behavior.
Dr. Joseph Casolaro was a founder of Bionetics in the 1960s and they had government contracts for studies that ranged from cancer to biological weapons, as well as with the National Cancer Institute when it relocated to Fort Detrick.
Furthermore, Danny’s dad died of leukemia and Bionetics’ first NIH contract was to study leukemia in simians. I have also documented how there were concerns that the materials used to induce cancer in lab animals could also (intentionally or not) do the same to humans. Plus, there were biological warfare studies around aerosolized biological agents.
Wayne Madsen is widely perceived as a conspiracy theory, but if you were Danny… might you think that the following excerpt from Madsen is applicable to his or his father’s health outcomes?
In 1976, the CIA and Pentagon continued their bio-weapons research at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectuous [sic] Diseases at Fort Detrick and Edgewood Arsenal, also in Maryland. Other parts of the Fort Detrick complex were turned over to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which continued to conduct a liaison with the CIA and Pentagon elements at the facility. The CIA's research into cancer-causing agents centered on the Viral Cancer Program (VCP) of the NCI. One of the cancer weapon projects, funded by the NCI and Office of Naval Research, the latter a favorite research pass-through for the CIA, was called "Aerosol Properties of Potentially Oncogenic Viruses." The clear intent for the interest of the Navy and CIA was the delivery of cancer-causing weapons by aerosolized means. Most of the aerosolized cancer-causing efforts had been conducted from the 1960s to 1972 at the University of Ohio and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In addition to biological cancer-causing agents, research was also conducted on the production of carcinogenic chemicals.
A number of private pharmaceutical companies were also identified with the clandestine bio-war research, including Pfizer, Sandoz, Litton-Bionetics, and Hoffman-Laroche. The research also involved the secretive Department of Agriculture research center on Plum Island off the tip of Long Island.
Martinsburg, WV is a very small town. Numerous people mentioned that Danny had a source in Martinsburg because it is the location of the Internal Revenue's National Computer Center. It was affectionately known as “The Martinsburg Monster” -which is seemingly the town’s only claim to fame prior to Danny’s death. Danny certainly has created his own monster out of Martinsburg, which just happens to be much closer to Fort Detrick than DC.
Map of Martinsburg from Dr. Casolaro’s business to Danny’s death locale
Map of the driving route from Fort Detrick, MD to Martinsburg, WV
Why can’t anyone figure out exactly who Danny was meeting in Martinsburg?
Why did Danny’s dad have two businesses in Martinsburg that were shut down by court order?
Is it a coincidence Danny died so close to his dad’s former business address or is the town just that small?
Is There a Point to All This?
People are inclined to see patterns to understand the world. People often think of conspiracy theorists as kooks or idiots. But, people know that society has serious problems and people want to solve them. They often come to very different conclusions about the why and how of those problems, particularly when institutions lack transparency and cronyism rules the roost.
By uncovering The Octopus Danny was also trying to take power back from the criminals that hoard resources and traffick in human misery.
Human lives are an experience not an experiment. We all just want to escape the lab - especially if we’d have to fly there in a Boeing 737 MAX.40
