Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (June 16, 1947–August 10, 1991) was an American freelance journalist, who was found dead in a bathtub in the Sheraton Inn, Martinsburg, West Virginia, one day after allegedly arranging to meet a source in connection with an investigation he had referred to as "the octopus." His research centered around a complex story called the Inslaw affair. June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI in Roman) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Martinsburg is a city located in Berkeley County, West Virginia. ... Inslaw, Inc. ...

Casolaro's death was officially ruled a suicide, but since then numerous conspiracy theories have arisen to suggest he was murdered to stop him from publishing his story, which would allegedly have revealed a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy spanning Iran-Contra, October Surprise, the closure of BCCI, the bombing of Pan Am 103, and involving the CIA, Mossad, the Canadian RCMP, the U.S. Justice Dept, the Wackenhut Corporation, and the British security and intelligence services. In the Iran-Contra Affair, United States President Ronald Reagans administration secretly sold arms to Iran, which was engaged in a bloody war with its neighbor Iraq from 1980 to 1988 (see Iran-Iraq War), and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and... The October Surprise Conspiracy was an alleged plot that claimed representatives of the 1980 Ronald Reagan presidential campaign had conspired with Islamic Republic of Iran to delay the release of 66 Americans held hostage in Tehran until after the election. ... BCCI can refer to any of the following: Bank of Credit and Commerce International Berkeley Center for Control and Identification Various Chambers of Commerce and Industry - Bradford, Bulacan, Bulgaria etc. ... The cockpit landed in a farmers field near a tiny church in Tundergarth, Scotland Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan Ams daily Frankfurt-London-New York-Detroit evening flight. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/mnt/upload3/wikipedia/en/2/2a/MossadLogo. ... The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or Mounties; French, Gendarmerie royale du Canada, GRC) is both the federal police force and the national police of Canada. ... The Wackenhut Corporation is a US-based corporation, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ...

A 1991 Vanity Fair article written by Ron Rosenbaum, a journalist friend of Casolaro's, argued that he may have committed suicide after learning he was suffering from multiple schlerosis, but did so in a way suggestive of murder in order to promote the story he had been working on (Rosenbaum 1991). This article is about the novel. ... Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. ...

On the other hand, the notion that Casolaro may have been murdered is not limited to the conspiratorial fringe: a 1992 report on the Inslaw affair, prepared by the U.S. House of Representatives concluded "Based on the evidence collected by the committee, it appears that the path followed by Danny Casolaro in pursuing his investigation into the INSLAW matter brought him in contact with a number of dangerous individuals associated with organized crime and the world of covert intelligence operations. The suspicious circumstances surrounding his death have led some law enforcement professionals and others to believe that his death may not have been a suicide. As long as the possibility exists that Danny Casolaro died as a result of his investigation into the INSLAW matter, it is imperative that further investigation be conducted."[1] House of Representatives is a name used for legislative bodies in many countries. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... Military intelligence (abbreviated MI, int. ... For the band, see The Police. ...

Biography

Casolaro was born in McLean, Virginia, the first of six children. His father was an obstetrician. Casolaro attended Providence College, dropping out when he was 20. He married Terrill Pace, with whom he had a son; the couple divorced after 13 years. Casolaro became a reporter for the National Enquirer and later for the trade magazine/newsletter Computer Age, which he eventually purchased and sold at a loss. Boundaries of the McLean CDP as of 2003. ... Obstetrics (from the Latin obstare, to stand by) is the surgical specialty dealing with the care of a woman and her offspring during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (the period shortly after birth). ... The National Enquirer is a national American supermarket tabloid. ...

His friends described him as a Peter Pan figure with an obsessive streak, who worked for two years in the late 70s on an alternative explanation for Watergate. [2] Statue of Peter Pan in St. ... The Watergate building. ...

The story

Casolaro's investigation began in early 1990 when he began to research the Inslaw affair. Casolaro hoped to write a true crime book about his investigation. He pitched the book to several publishers and agents as he made new discoveries in the case, and got some positive responses (along with some outright rejections), and had not been offered a contract at the time of his death. True Crime is a 1999 film starring Alicia Silverstone and Kevin Dillon. ...

The Inslaw affair had been in the news from the mid-1980s. In his previous position with the Justice Dept, the owner of Inslaw, Inc., Bill Hamilton, had helped to develop a computer software program called Prosecutor's Management Information System (or PROMIS), which was designed to handle the ever-growing papers and documents generated by law enforcement and the courts. When he left the department, he alleged that the department had stolen PROMIS and had illegally distributed it, robbing Inslaw of millions of dollars. Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... The Prosecutors Management Information System, or PROMIS, is a database system developed by American IT company Inslaw. ... PROMIS can refer to: Prosecutors Management Information System, developed by Inslaw Problem-Oriented Medical Information System, developed at the University of Vermont PROMIS MES (Manufacturing Execution System) from Promis Systems, now part of Brooks Automation. ...

Casolaro said he had discovered that the Inslaw case had connections to a number of other conspiracies and scandals, dating back to the supposed October surprise conspiracy of 1980. The October Surprise Conspiracy was an alleged plot that claimed representatives of the 1980 Ronald Reagan presidential campaign had conspired with Islamic Republic of Iran to delay the release of 66 Americans held hostage in Tehran until after the election. ...

One of Casolaro's major sources was Michael Riconosciuto, introduced to him by Hamilton. Riconosciuto claimed to have modified Inslaw's software at the Justice Department's request, so that it could be sold to dozens of foreign governments. This took place mostly at the Cabazon Indian Reservation near Indio, California, according to Riconosciuto. Michael Riconosciuto is an electronics and computer expert from Tacoma, Washington, who was a key player in the Inslaw incident, and who has subsequently been incarcerated on unrelated drug charges. ... A panorama of the Cabazon Dinos Cabazon is a census-designated place located in Riverside County, California. ... Indio, California, is a U.S. city located in the Coachella Valley of Southern Californias desert region. ...

One of his modifications, Riconosciuto insisted, allowed the U.S. government access to other nations' computers via a hidden "back door" feature. According to Riconosciuto, the PROMIS scheme was masterminded by Dr. Earl Brian, a friend of Ed Meese. Riconosciuto claimed that the scheme had its roots in the 1980 October Suprise. He and Brian had supposedly delivered $40 million to Iranians who agreed to hold the U.S. Embassy hostages until President Carter had lost the 1980 presidential election. For his help in the October Surprise, Brian was allegedly allowed to profit from the illegal pirating of the PROMIS system. Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) served as the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States (1985 - 1988). ...

Riconosciuto also claimed to have developed a powerful "fuel air explosive" (which was allegedly tested at Area 51), and hinted at sinister goings on with extraterrestrials and their UFOs. Thermobaric weapons distinguish themselves from conventional weapons by using atmospheric oxygen, instead of carrying an oxidizer in their explosives. ... Satellite view of Area 51 from 1968. ... UFO can mean: Unidentified flying object United Future Organization, a Japanese-Brazilian electronic jazz band UFO, the rock band that previously featured Michael Schenker UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV series United Farmers of Ontario, a political party that formed the government in Ontario from 1919 to 1923 U.F.O...

Some of Riconosciuto's claims seemed to be accurate. For example, he reported that Canadian officials had purchased the PROMIS software illegally. In 1996, C.B. Seltzer wrote "The Hamiltons were able to verify another of Riconiscuito's claim in 1991 quite by accident. The couple inadvertently learned the Canadian government was using their software at 900 locations, after Inslaw received a phone inquiry and a questionaire in the mail asking whether bi-lingual versions of their software were available. When the Hamiltons made their own inquiry, the Canadians at first played coy, but then admitted acquiring Promis from Strategic Software Planning Corp. of Cambridge, Mass."[3]Casolaro also claimed to have located independent witnesses who asserted that Riconosciuto and Brian had been seen together on several occasions. ^{[citation needed]}

Death

Casolaro said that he was going to Martinsburg, West Virginia to meet with a source who promised to provide an important missing piece of the Octopus puzzle. According to Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith, a waitress at the Sheraton's bar reported that in the evening of August 9, 1991, Casolaro met with a man she described as "maybe Arab or Iranian," while hotel guest Mike Looney chatted with Casolaro, who reported that he was at the hotel to meet a man and "Looney thinks that Casolaro told him the contact was an Arab". Kenn Thomas is a writer and editor, and is the publisher of Steamshovel Press, a conspiracy magazine. ... Jim Keith, born 1949, co-author of the non-fiction book The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, about a writer who died mysteriously while investigating an international conspiracy, died himself under suspicious circumstances in 1999. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

The next day, housekeeping staff discovered Casolaro naked in the the bathtub of his room. He was dead. His wrists had been deeply slashed twelve times, and there was blood splattered on the bathroom's walls and floor, a half-empty wine bottle was found in the room as well. According to Ridgeway and Vaughn's Village Voice article, the scene was so gruesome that one of the housekeepers fainted when she saw it. Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... The Village Voice is a New York City-based weekly newspaper featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ...

Authorities were called to the scene. Under Casolaro's body, paramedics found a beer can, two garbage bags, and a straight razor. A note was found in his room, which read: "To my loved ones, please forgive me, most especially my son, and be understanding. God will let me in." [4]

Authorities judged the case a suicide. Writing in Spy in 1993, John Connolly noted "So sure was everyone that Casolaro had killed himself that that very night, even before his family was notified of his death, Charles Brown, the undertaker, embalmed the body. Brown would later give the most ordinary of reasons for doing so- 'I didn't want to come back to work on Sunday' -though embalming a body without the permission of the next of kin is illegal in West Virginia. Had Brown or the authorities spoken to Casolaro's brother Tony, they surely would have proceeded more carefully. Tony would have undoubtedly mentioned what Danny had said to him just a few days before: 'I have been getting some very threatening phone calls. If anything happens to me, don't believe it was accidental.'" It has been suggested that Suicide and culture be merged into this article or section. ... Spy magazine was a satirical monthly founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter. ... This article is about the vocation of a mortician and the death metal band; for the World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, see The Undertaker. ... Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science used to temporarily preserve human remains to forestall decomposition and make it suitable for display at a funeral. ... Next of kin is the term used to describe a persons closest living blood relative or relatives. ... Illegal, or unlawful, is either prohibitted or not authorized by law. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 41st 62,809 km² 210 km 385 km 0. ...

A few days after Casolaro's body was discovered, FBI agent Thomas Gates (an acquanitence of Casolaro's) contacted Martinsburg authorities. Only then, according to Connolly, did Martinsburg authorities learn "they had something stickier on their hands" than a common suicide. Afterwards, an autopsy was performed by the state medical examiner's office. Five months after Casolaro's body was discovered, a suicide verdict was returned. Beyond the cause of death (blood loss due to the wounds on his wrists) the autopsy uncovered Vicodin and antidepressant medication in Casolaro's body, and evidence of the early stages of multiple sclerosis. The type of wine found in the room was identical to several bottles at Casolaro's home. Hydrocodone (dihydrocodeinone) is an orally active analgesic and antitussive Schedule II narcotic which is marketed in multi-ingredient Schedule III products. ... An antidepressant is a medication designed to treat or alleviate the symptoms of clinical depression. ...

Despite this official verdict, a number of suspicious details have been cited which seem to raise questions about the case. Some of these were noted in a series of Spy articles written or co-written by Connolly: Spy magazine was a satirical monthly founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter. ...

• Casolaro's friends and family described him as enthusiastic and upbeat, not remotely suicidal.
• Casoloro's brother Anthony, a physician, reported that Danny had told him a week before his death to be suspicious if he died under unusual circumstances. Danny also claimed to have been receiving threatening telephone calls: his housekeeper reported that she once answered the telephone at Danny's home, only to hear a man say, "You son of a bitch ... you're dead."
• A review of the autopsy by a George Washington University physician concluded that Casolaro's body did not have any so-called hesitation marks: the shallow wounds usually found on suicides as they test their pain tolerance.
• Connolly quotes Don Shirly, a Martinsburgh paramedic who saw Casolaro's body: "I've never seen such deep incisions on a suicide ... I don't know how he didn't pass out from the pain after the first two slashes."
• Connolly notes that some of Casolaro's friends thought the supposed suicide note was odd: it mentioned God (Casolaro was not religious), and was uncommonly brief (Casolaro was known for his verbosity).
• Connolly quoted Barbara Bittinger, the assistant head of housekeeping at the Sheraton Inn, "'It looked like someone threw the towels on the floor and tried to wip up the blood with their foot,' she told us. Given that she'd spent seven years cleaning up bathrooms at the Martinsburg Sheraton, Barbara Bittinger's opinion of what a floor looks like when somebody has tried to wipe it up may be considered expert." Connolly also notes that Ernie Harrison (who worked for the professional cleaning service hired to scour the room after the death) corroborated Bittinger's account about the towels.
• Casolaro's briefcase and accordion file containing his manuscript and notes were missing from his hotel room and his car. Only fragments of his articles and book survive.
• When he testified before a Congressional committee in 1994 regarding the Inslaw affair, FBI Special Agent Thomas Gates, an acquaintance of Casolaro's, insisted that "there is cause for suspicion" regarding Casolaro's death. ^{[citation needed]}
• A House committee looking into the Inslaw affair recommended that Casolaro's death be investigated further." The formal report was titled "The Inslaw Affair: The Investigative Report by the Committee on the Judiciary". (an abbreviated version of this report is online; see external links)
• There were a number of other allegedly suspicious deaths or disappearences connected to the Inslaw case:
  • the shooting death of Anson Ng (a reporter and friend of Casolaro). According to a 1991 issue of the TC Technical Consultant story, "In July, Anson Ng, a reporter for the Financial Times of London was shot and killed in Guatemala. He had reportedly been trying to interview an American there named Jimmy Hughes, a one- time director of security for the Cabazon Indian Reservation secret projects."[5];
  • the shooting death of Dennis Eisman (Riconosciuto's attorney). According to the same TC Technical Consultant story, "In April, a Philadelphia attorney named Dennis Eisman was found dead, killed by a single bullet in his chest. According to a former federal official who worked with Eisman, the attorney was found dead in the parking lot where he had been due to meet with a woman who had crucial evidence to share substantiating Riconosciuto's claims."
  • the poisoning death of Ian Spiro, who was supposedly a Casolaro informant and was allegedly involved in the Inslaw affair; Spiro's wife and children had been killed a few days before Spiro's body was found. in 1995, Kevin Brass reported in San Diego Magazine that Spiro's brother-in-law, Greg Quarton suspected the Mossad was involved in Spiro's death, while "Ex-hostage Peter Jacobsen confirmed to the media that Spiro was indeed involved in the release of hostages in the Middle East." Brass further notes that "According to court documents filed shortly after the murders, Spiro was holding computer equipment essential ... to prove a Justice Department conspiracy to steal sophisticated computer software"

Physician examining a child A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... The George Washington University (GWU) is a private university in Washington, D.C., founded in 1821 as The Columbian College. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel) This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... House of Representatives is a name used for legislative bodies in many countries. ... The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink semi-broadsheet paper. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/mnt/upload3/wikipedia/en/2/2a/MossadLogo. ...

References

• THE INSLAW AFFAIR: SEPTEMBER 10, 1992.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. BROOKS, from the Committee on the Judiciary,submitted the following INVESTIGATIVE REPORT together with DISSENTING AND SEPARATE DISSENTING VIEWS BASED ON A STUDY BY THE FULL COMMITTEE
• The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro
• The Mysterious Death of Danny Casolaro
• The Last Circle ( Non-Fiction Book... Investigative Journalism )
• Brass, Kevin: "Murder in Rancho Santa Fe: The Ian Spiro Case" (San Diego Magazine, October, 1995)
• Connolly, John: "Dead Right" (Spy Magazine, 1993)
• Ridgeway, James & Vaughn, Doug. "The Last Days of Danny Casolaro"; excerpts of an article originally published in The Village Voice
• Rosenbaum, Ron. "The Strange Death of Danny Casolaro," Vanity Fair, December 1991
• Seltzer, C.B: "The Casolaro Files" (1996)
• Thomas, Kenn: "Casolaro's Octopus" (2001)
• Thomas, Kenn and Jim Keith, The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, Chapter 17
• Vankin, Johnathan and John Whalen. The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time: History's Biggest Myserties, Coverups and Cabals; 1996, Citadel Press; ISBN 0806518332