BERET ADMITS KILLING AGENT ON CIA ORDER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73B00296R000200240001-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP73Q926R000 02 0001-3
r., ! Y-,
"Not Galley himself," said) hundreds of summary execu-
?n CIA Order Marasco, "but the Calley thing tions were carried out in
-all the others who could South Vietnam, most of them
BLOOMFIELD, N. J., April follow him. This Calley thing by a CIA-trained and -financed
3 (AP) - Robert F. Marasco, should be the last one." Vietnamese assassination squad
a former captain in the U. S. Neither Calley, he said, nor called the Provincial Recon-
Special Forces in Vietnam, any other soldiers should be naissance Unit.
said tonight he shot and kill- made to stand trial for acs Marasco said Chuyen was
ed a South Vietnamese double. performed under orders and first drugged with morphine
agent two years ago - a slay- the necessities of duty. and then put aboard a motor.
ing he and others were ac- The agent he killed, Thai boat the night that he shot
cused of but never tried for. Khac Chuyen, was discovered him twice in the head with a
The execution was, carried to be a double agent when a .22-caliber gun equipped with
out at the behest of the Cen- captured Vietcong site yielded silencer. A mail sack weighted
tral Intelligence Agency and photograph of Chuyen yielded with chains and tire rims was
with the knowledge of "our a his final shroud and he was
a North Vietnamese general',.
chain of command," Marasco pushed over into the sea by
"Over the last year and ti
thi
'
:;
ve wanted to release
? half I
Beret Admits information," he said. He got
conflicting advice from law-
. yers, he said, but decided to
Killing Agent speak because of "the' Galley
thing."
interview that he came for-
ward now, at the risk of pros-
Later, it was determines ficers, Marasco said.
that his true allegiance was to Executing Chuyen, he said.
what Marasco identified as was a job that had to be done
"The Third Force," a mostly and he said he was extremely
South Vietnamese organiaa- resentful that he ever was
tion striving to set up a Com-I charged with the slaying.
munist-desired coalition gov "Maybe our people have
ernment in Saigon, he said. learned this Calley thing
"He was my agent and it was should be the last one," he
my responsibility to eliminate; aid "and that's why I'm tell-
s
ed him from a boat into the
South China Sea on June 20,
1969.
Marasco said in a telephone
said.
He said he shot the man
twice in the head and, with
two other officers, put him
into a weighted sack and dump-
of his anger over the court-
martial of Lt. William L. Cal-
ley Jr.
ecution for murder, because " 1..1__
said Marasco, adding that the
felt were legal orders." but elimination is your best)
Marasco and seven others, . course of action." I
last expression meant to kill
Chuyen.
He said the execution order,
never explicit,. came from a
Marasco continued: "When'
someone in the CIA says to
you 'your best course of action
is elimination,' that means,
The former captain said he
estimated conservatively that
ing , this now. My decision
was based on my principles,
my love for my country, for
what it stands for and what
it was built for."
because "of orders that were , CIA operative who said: "We
including the Green Berets'
commander-in Vietnam, Col.
Robert B. Rheault, were ac. t
cused by the Army of the
slaying. The Army later drop-
ped the charges, saying it did
so because it was told that the
CIA would not permit any
of its men to testify at a trial.
Marasco, now 29, and in the
insurance business, left the
service in October, 1969.
While out of reach now of
military prosecution, Marasco
said. "I'm open to having the
charges brought against me
again by civilian authority.
That potential was always!,
there. There is no statute of
limitatmion."
See MARASCO, All, Col. 1
Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP73B00296R000200240001-3
 Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP73B00296R000200240001-3
THE NEW YORK T_:ivv .S
Ex-Beret Says He Killed
A gent on Orders of C.I. A.j
By JOHN DARNTON
Robert F. Marasco, one of thej I
eight Green Berets who were
charged but never tried in the
slaying two years ago of a
ISouth Vietnamese suspected to
lave been a double agent, says
it uuiique yet very, very clear
ence Agency.
"He was my agent and it was
my responsibility to eliminate
him with extreme prejudice,"
Mr. Marasco said in an inter-
view Friday. "Eliminate with
extreme prejudice" is the Spe-
cial Forces' euphemism for a
killing.
The "elimination" was ap-
proved "up and down our chain
of command," the former Army
captain added. Although he cor-
roborated details of the slaying,
Ire refused to divulge the names
of other persons involved.
Mr. Marasco, now 29 years
old and a life insurance sales-
man in Bloomfield, N. J., said
that he was admitting his com-1
plicity out of a sense of anger!
over the conviction of First
Lieut. William L. Calley Jr. on
charges of premeditated mur-
der in the deaths of 22 civilians
at Mylai.
His statements coincide with
the publication of a novel
called "Court Martial," written
jointly by Robin Moore, the au-
thor of "The Green Berets,"
and Henry Rothblatt, the attor-
ney who represented several of
the Green Berets arrested in
the alleged killing.
The novel is said to be a
close rendering of the events
that led to the arrest of the
Berets, including Col. Robert B.
Rheault, then commander of
of the Army's 3,000 Special
Forces personnel in Vietnam.
The 'elite corps, which special-
izes in counterinsurgency, is
still in existence, but is now
Continued on Pa 58 Column 4
g
deployed elsewhere, according
to the Pentagon.
Six of the eight Berets
(charges against to were held
in abeyance) were to have
stood trial on charges of mur-,
der and conspiracy in October,;!
PAGE
1 me question or what to do
with Mr.Chuyen led to meet-
ings between Green Beret offi-
cers and C.I.A. officials. The
C.I.A. in Saigon finally sent a
message reading "return agent
to duty" and warning of "flap
potential." The message, how-
arrived after his death.
ever
,
Mr. Marasco sail Mr. Chuyen
was a "principal agent," whose
were carried out by American
"advisers," he said.
Mr. Marasco resigned ffrom
the Army on Oct. 14, 1969, and
shortly thereafter was injured
in a car, collision in New Jersey
that kept him on a hospital crit-
ical list for 10 days.
Because he is no longer in the
Army, he is not subject to
court-martial. Previously, he has
made guarded statements on the
killing, but has never before ad-
mitted it. He said he is receiv-
ing no money from the novel
"Court Martial."
Did he regret his actions?
"No," he said. "I felt that it was
my duty. Anything I did in mil-
itary duty in Vietnam was with
the biggest patriotic motives. I
never wake up in the middle of
the night screamig."
function was to hire, train, pay
and coordinate sub-agents on
intelligence missions. He re-
fused to give the ultimate aim
of the missions and referred
the question to a. "fact sheet"
drawn up by Mr. Moore to pub-
licize his new novel. The "fact
sheet" is based on a transcript
1969. But the Army abruptly' of the "pre-trial" hearings of
dropped the case on Sept. 29, ! the case.
in a decision reviewed by the The "fact-sheet."' stated that
Nixon Administration, on the ' Mr. Chuyen had ben involved
ground that it could not enlist i. -
the cooperation of the C.I.A., in a secret Special Forces unit
which had refused to provide
witnesses.
The Vietnamese agent was
Thai Khac Chuyen, whose body
was dropped into the South
China Sea off Nhatrang, the
Special Forces headquarters 180
miles north of Saigon. Despite
intensive dredging, it was ap-
parently never recovered.
Mr. Marasco corroborated the
following details, all of which
have previously been reported
in the press with unnamed
sources cited.
41Mr. Chuyen's role as a
double. agent was discovered
when a raid on a Vietcong camp
turned up a photograph of him
with a high-ranking North Viet-
namese official. He was told he
would be sent on an important
mission and instead was held in
solitary confinement, where he
compromised himself through
lie detector tests and sodium
pentathol (truth serum).
cHe was first drugged with
morphine and then killed by Mr.
Marasco in a motorboat with
two shots to the head from a
.22-caliber pistol. equipped with
a silencer (which jammed be-
tween shots). His body was
tossed overboard in a mail sack
weighted with chains and tire
rims by the three officers in the
boat. This was on June 20,
1969.
cA cover story was fabri-
cated in which a Japanese-
American fitting Mr. Chuyen's
description was sent on an air-
supported "secret mission" near
the Cambodian border.
known as b-57, whose goal was
to pick military uxgets in Cam-
bodia for a projected incursion
by United States and South
Vietnamese forces and to train
3,000 Cambodia.-i troops to
guard the country from Com-
munism should Prince Norodom
Sihanouk be deposed.
In reality, Mr. Marasco stated,
Mr. Chuyen was a triple-agent,
whose real allegiance was to
an organization led by Gen.
Duong Van Minh. The success
of this group, which was striv-
ing for a, coaliticn government,
would have led 'to "Communist
control" and "massive exter-
mination," Mr. 'Marasco assert-
ed.
When the charges against
the Berets were dropped, the
Secretary of the Army, Stanley
R. Resor, said :hat the C.I.A.
was "not directly involved in
he alleged Incident."
But Mr. Marasco maintains
that a vaguely-worded execu-
tion order was passed on to his
superior officers in Saigon by
a "C.I:A. operative whose cover
was a lieutenant-colonel, United
States Army." He quoted the
wording as: "We cannot offi-
cially sanction it, but elimina-
tion is your best course of
ction."
"The C.I.A. does not give
written orders," Mr. Marasco
said. "When sDmeone in the
C.I.A. says to you . . 'your
best course of action is elimi-
nation' that means 'we ap-
prove it."'
Mr. Marasco claimed there
had been "hundreds" - "and
I'm being conservative" - of
summary executions in South
Vietnam. Most, he said, were
carried out by the Provincial
Reconnaissance Unit, which he
299F
a e Ru} sassination
d
"trained, financed and equip-
ped by the C. 1. A." But others
- - ------
sued For Release 2000/08/24
The New York Times
Robert F. Marasco
00200240001-3
 Approved For Release 2000/08/24 :LgAIARDP7ZBQ0296R00040,Q?Q001-3
SUNDAY STAR
Former Green Beret Captain'
Tells of Killing Triple Agent
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (AP) - officially sanction it, but elimi-
Robert F. Marasco, a former ".:...,:.: nation is your best course of
captain in the U.S. Special action.
Forces in Vietnam, said last G....,..:... Marasco continued: "When
night he shot and killed a South someone in the CIA says to you,
Vietnamese triple agent two 'Your best course of action is
years ago - a slaying he and elimination,' that means, 'we ap-
others were accused of but were prove it.'
never brought to trial for. The former captain said he
The execution was carried out estimated conservatively that
at the behest of the Central In hundreds of summary execu-
telligence Agency and with the tions were carried out in South
knowledge of "our chain of com Vietnam, most of them by a Vi-
mand," Marasco said. etnamese assassination squad
He said he shot the man twice called the Provincial Recon-
in the head and, with two other LAM: ry ., naissance Unit that was trained
x,. ? H and financed by the CIA.
officers, put him into a weighted Marasco said Chuyyen was first
sack and dumped him from a
boat into the South China Sea on drugged with morphine and then
put aboard a motorboat the
June 20, 1969. night that he shot him twice in
ward now, at the risk of prose-
cution for murder, because of CAPT. ROBERT F. MARASCO asauck weighted with chains and
his anger over the court-martial tire rims was his final shroud
of Lt. William L. Calley Jr. again by civilian authority. That nd he was pushed over into the
He said he killed the agent potential was always there. a sea by Marasco and two other
because "of orders that were There is no statute of limitation, officers, Marasco said.
given to me - orders that If elt "Over the last year and a half' Executing Chuye'n, he said,
were legal orders." I've wanted to release this infor? was a job that had to be done. t
Marasco and seven others, in- mation." He said he was extremely se-
eluding the Green Beret's com- He got conflicting advice from.; sentful that he ever was charged
mander in Vietnam, Col. Robert lawyers, he said, but decided to with the slaying. It
B. Rheault, were accused by the speak because of "the Calley "Maybe our people have
Army of the slaying. The Army thing." learned this Calley thing should i,
later dropped the charges, say- "Not Calley himself," said be the last one," he said, "and Is
ing it did so because it was told Marasco, "but 'the Calley thing' that's why I'm telling this now.. c
the CIA would not permit any of - all the others who could fol? "My decision was based on c
its men to testify at a trail. low him. This Calley thing my principles, my love for my' c
Marasco, now 29 and in the should be the last one." country, for what it stands for
insurance business, left the serv- Neither Calley, he said, no: . ! and for what it was built for." jc
ice in October 1939. any other soldiers, should bl.
While out of reach now of made to stand trial for acts per-
mil.etary prosecution, Marasco formed under orders and the ne-
said, "I'm open to having the cessities of duty.
charges brought against me The agent he killed, Thai Kha:
Chuyen, was discovered to be a
double agent when a captured
Viet Cong site yielded a photo-
graph of Chuyen with a North
Iietnamese general, Marasc,)
paid.
Later, it was determined that,
its true allegience was to what
Marasco identified as "the Third
orce," a mostly South Viet-
iamese organization striving to
;et up a Communist-desired coa-
dtion government in Saigon, the
;aid.
"He was my agent and it was
my responsibility to eliminate
him with extreme prejudice,"
which meant to kill Chuyen,
.Marasco said.
Approved For Release 2M(901 ra , ? QP 3B00296R000200240001-3
operative who said: "We cannot!,