The Death and Times of a Gangster
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John Roselli aka Filippo Sacco
Many criminals associated with various organized crime families have been the enemies of American law enforcement since the early twentieth century. However, the Central Intelligence Agency contacted a small but notable minority of Mafia leaders and members for use in political assassinations. The target in this case was Fidel Castro, the reasoning questionable, and the unintended flaws numerous. Some of the Castro Plots had multiple phases, each with different leaders and focus on vastly different methods. The only Mafia personality that was verifiably part of multiple plot phases was Filippo Sacco, better known as Johnny Roselli.i
Despite the unverifiable claims offered about Roselli having a direct role in undertaking the JFK assassination, he has no verified connection to the events in Dealey Plaza. However, Roselli's various efforts drew him into the case as he repeatedly tried to influence officials. During one conversation with an Agency lawyer he blamed Castro for President John F. Kennedy's death. This statement circulated among national media outlets, Congressional investigators, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.ii Roselli's unproven claim was likely to reinforce the existing call for military operations against Cuba. If successful, this would potentially allow the Mafia to regain control of the Cuban underworld and its gambling businesses.
Agency Director Allen Dulles authorized the Castro Plots, Agency officers Colonel Sheffield Edwards, Deputy Director Richard Bissell, and Western Hemisphere Chief J. C. King discussed them. CIA employee Robert Maheu subsequently contacts Roselli and later met with him and Office of Security representative James O' Connell. Roselli later arranged for Mafia leaders Sam Giancana and Santos Trafficante to meet officials as well. Agency employees and criminals had found a mutually beneficial arrangement but all their plans failed.
CIA officer William Harvey became personally acquainted with Johnny Roselli during Phase II of the Castro Plots. Harvey was responsible for the recruitment of potential assassins for use in the foreign nations and designing military style assassination plots targeting Fidel Castro. Officials compiled information during some of their later meetings and in time lost trust in Harvey's judgment.iii The two men formed a friendship that outlasted warnings to desist, Harvey's reassignment to Rome, and his eventually dismissal from the Agency.
"Mrs. C.G. Harvey...stated she first became acquainted with John Roselli in the early 1960's when her late husband William, was employed by the CIA. As a result of her husband and Roselli's employments, their frequent contacts developed into a friendship which lasted until Harvey's death...they maintained contact with him on a friendly basis, which included occasional telephone calls and several overnight visits by Roselli at their home."iv Harvey again comes under investigation amidst nineteen sixty-seven by the Agency's Inspector General at the behest of Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms. Director of Security Howard Osborn paid Helms a visit and to gain higher approval to "bury this material."v Johnny also during this period invited his long estranged brother Albert Sacco to a dinner with mafia leader Santo Trafficante.vi
Roselli attempted to blackmail the Agency to avoid prison for other crimes and the Agency dismissed his threats. Johnny or possibly someone acting on his behalf reacted by furnishing reporter Jack Anderson details of the Castro Plots.vii Officials send Roselli to a Federal prison located in Seattle Washington and following his release Johnny went to live with relatives in Florida. He settled into apparent retirement and this seemingly was the final chapter of his notorious life. Roselli also would subsequently testify before a US Congressional Committee regarding the Castro Plots during nineteen seventy-six and vanished months later.
Johnny’s niece Jo Anne Quintana and her husband Jose told the Federal Bureau of Investigation about their interactions with Roselli. Among them were multiple sightings of Santos Trafficante with Roselli and that Jose met Trafficante prior to Roselli’s later introduction. They learned of Roselli's disappearance from another niece Eloise McKnight.viii Roselli's attorney David Walters advised Roselli's brother-in-law Joseph E. Daigle to call authorities and file a missing persons report. Walters also informed Senator Frank Church and the Congressional Committee Johnny prior testified before of his disappearance.ix
Roselli's sister Edith Daigle was the single other living member of his immediate family and she informed officials about the circumstances of his absence. She noted he slept in that day, fixed himself breakfast in the early afternoon, and offered no information regarding any planned destination before leaving the house. Yet she expected him to return for dinner since he left the Daigle home driving his sister's Chevrolet. Mrs. Daigle additionally offers that Roselli had no local Miami acquaintances, girlfriend, and only went away to visit one of his lawyers. Roselli’s sister expressed that he would not cause her undue anxiety and called if he was going to be late for dinner. The report states "...she is not optimistic about him and felt he has met with foul play of some kind." Events would soon confirm her accurate intuition.
Johnny Roselli had prior mentioned in a joking manner to his sister that if he ever disappeared look for the car in airport parking. This was likely due to the Mafia's tactic of killing someone and disposing of the car in airport parking to avoid short-term discovery by authorities. Joseph E. Daigle later received a call from his daughter Eloise; she had found the car Roselli left in parked at the airport.x The car appeared normal beyond a smudged window and Roselli's golf clubs were in the trunk, but Roselli was not there.xii Unfortunately, Daigle disturbed the car and its contents before any police search occurred and may have disrupted the crime scene.
Dade County Department of Public Safety Detective Erwin in the early afternoon of August 7, 1976 made a gruesome discovery and officials recovered "...a 55-gallon steel drum containing a human body from the waters of Dumfoundling Bay". Local authorities contacted Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Edward J. Dunn Jr. and he relayed the case details to Detective Erwin. By the end of the day, the FBI's Identification Division had matched Roselli's thumbprint to the dismembered corpse.xiii Johnny’s cause of death was "asphyxiation" and the killer inflicted his most grievous injuries after he expired.
Bureau agents with the assistance of various industrial business people tracked the Roselli barrel almost to its industrial origin using outer markings and notations. Tallowmasters Plant Manager John Bozsoki offered his professional opinion that an industrial business likely had discarded the drum. He states a "smaller outfit who could not afford to clean it and recondition it..."might have used it. Inside the drum was a notable amount of yellow grease, feasibly used by local Miami restaurants for cooking.xiv Two related sources with questionable motivations offered their suggestions to the FBI indicating about one possible suspect responsible for Roselli's grisly end. Tony Varona's acquaintance and Cuban exile Jose "Pepe" Aleman and militant Frank Sturgis each named Santo Trafficante responsible for Roselli's death.xv xvi Yet both men have offered various contrary and opportunistic statements on different occasions.
It is feasible Mafia and Cuban exile leaders sought revenge for Roselli's testimony that revealed the Castro Plots. This also might have concerned some criminals about future leaks regarding all their former illegal undertakings and endangered other lucrative arrangements with corrupt officials. Roselli's murder numbers among the handful with possible connections to verified operations involving the assassination of a world leader. The murder's victim, timing, associations, and manner present significant questions worth considering.
Sincerely,
C.A.A. Savastano
References:
i. Federal Bureau of Investigation, House Select Committee on Assassination Subject File: John Roselli, No Title, Birth Data Re John Roselli, p. 2, National Archives and Records Administration Identification Number: 124-10288-10198
ii. House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), Staff Notes, Report on the evolution and implications of the CIA sponsored as, pp. 12- 13, NARA ID: 180-10147-10192
iii. HSCA, Segregated CIA file, Collection of Memos Re: Conversations with/between John Roselli and, Subject: Meetings between William K. Harvey and Johnny Roselli, December 11, 1967 pp. 1-3, NARA ID: 1993.08.04.16:43:16:960036
iv. FBI, HSCA Subject File: John Roselli, No Title, Statement of C.G. Harvey, January 6, 1977, p. 1, 124-10289-10035
v. HSCA, Segregated CIA file, Johnny" (Roselli), Box 48, March 29, 1967, NARA ID: 1993.07.01.10:13:43:620800
vi. Ibid, Statement of Albert Sacco, August 23, 1976, NARA ID: 124-10289-10035
vii. HSCA, Seg. CIA file, Roselli, John, Box 1, February 12, 1972
viii. FBI, HSCA Sub. File: John Roselli, No Title, Statement of Jose and Jo Anne Quintana, August 23, 1976, NARA ID: 124-10289-10035
ix. Ibid, Statement of David Walters, August 9, 1976, NARA ID: 124-10289-10035
x. Ibid, Statement of Edith Daigle, August 9, 1976
xi. Ibid, Statement of Joseph E. Daigle, August 20, 1976
xii. Ibid, Statement of J. E. Daigle, August 9, 1976
xiii. Ibid, Memo of Telephone Conversation and Thumbprint ID, August 7, 1976
xiv. Ibid, Statement of John Bozsoki, October 18, 1976
xv. Ibid, Statement of Jose Aleman, November 22, 1976
xvi. Ibid, Statement of Frank Fiorini aka Frank Sturgis, October 14, 1976
Edited: April 2024
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