CIA HISTORY & HERITAGE - 23 DECEMBER 1975-CIA OFFICER RICHARD WELCH MURDERED IN ATHENS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005719369
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 29, 2011
• Case Number: F-2011-01199
• Publication Date: December 23, 1975

(b)(3)
CIA HISTORY & HERITAGE
HISTORYANI)HERITAGE.CIA
REMEMBER OUR PAST. CHART OUR FUTURE.
Home 1 23 December 1975-CIA Officer Richard Welch Murdered in Athens
23 December 1975-CIA Officer Richard Welch Murdered in Athens
(U) At the time, Welch's murder was largely ascribed to
the disclosure of his name a year before in a radical
anti-CIA publication called Counterspy and then--along
Search
Upcoming History and
Heritage Activities
Recent History Staff
Activities
CSI Historical
Publications
Books
Histon
with his address and phone number--the preceding month tudies in ence
in the English-language Athens News. Occurring in the Center for the Study of
midst of congressional inquires into Agency activities, the
killing intensified controversies over media leaks and
alleged mishandling of intelligence information by
Conaress In February 1976. President Gerald Ford
declared that "it is essential that the irresponsible and ?`~ - ?'" -JCIA Trailblazers
dangerous exposure of our nation's intelligence secrets be stopped," strengthening DCI William Colby's American Intelligence
hand in limiting release of information to investigators on the Hill--particularly the Pike Committee in the Overview
House of Representatives. Origins of CIA
Resources
(U) Welch's death also helped bring about passage of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) in Intelligence Community
1982. The Agency estimated that the identities of over a thousand CIA officers had been divulged since History Portal
the mid-1970s in publications like Counterspy, the Covert Action Information Bulletin, and Philip Agee's Current History Archive
expose Inside the Company. During his presidential campaign in 1980, Ronald Reagan stated that Contact Us
passage of legislation to criminalize such disclosures would be a priority of his administration. After CIA Museum
Reagan's election, DCI William Casey worked with the congressional oversight committees to develop
and secure passage of the IIPA.
(U) In December 2003, a Greek court convicted 15 members of 17 November of a series of
assassinations, car bombings, and rocket attacks dating back nearly thirty years. One of those
members had confessed to participating in Welch's murder, but charges were not brought because the
statute of limitations had expired.
54
hot and killed COS Richard Welch on 23 December 1975 outside his home in the
he highest ranking Agency officer killed in the line of duty up to then, and the first
OS to be murdered in a politically motivated assassination. A Harvard-trained
assicist, Welch has just turned 46 and was seven months shy of reaching 25 years
ntelligence Cross and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
APPROVED FOR RELEASE^ DATE:
09-07-2011