One of the identity cards that was in Nagell's possession when he was arrested.
In June 1968, Richard Case Nagell got on a train in Switzerland and headed to West Berlin. At the border with East Germany, it was discovered that he did not have a transit visa, and he was arrested.
When I was writing my book, A Heritage of Nonsense: Jim Garrison's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, I decided to see if there was any new information on Richard Case Nagell. I watched a Dick Russell video from a presentation he gave at a Judyth Vary Baker conference from a few years ago.
He mentioned Nagell's Stasi file, but it was not clear if he actually had the file. I immediately went to find the Stasi website, but it was pretty confusing as to where I should submit an application. I also searched on the web for Nagell's Stasi file and I found this article from Bild which had some good information.
But then serendipity hit. Andrew and I were invited to a dinner party and one of the guests worked for a German NGO. I asked him if he could help me, and he said he could. That night I emailed with information from the Bild article, and he sent me an English-language link to retrieve Stasi files.
I sent in my application, and it took about ten days to get an acknowledgment. They also sent me a price list and they charged higher prices for non-relatives of people whose file is being asked for.
About ten weeks later they sent me a link and there was Nagell's Stasi file -- 280 pages in German. Google translate does not take PDFs and so I took an image of every page and had Google translate.
Here is the Nagell Stasi file along with a Google translation.
And here is my presentation on Nagell's Stasi file from the JFK Lancer conference held last weekend in Dallas.
As you can see from the file, the East Germans arrested Nagell on the suspicion that he was a CIA agent on an espionage mission. That was in June. By October, they realized that he had serious mental problems stemming from his plane crash in 1954. They did not believe his stories about the CIA and about the JFK assassination. And so they just released him in October 1968.
Additional Posts on Richard Case Nagell
The Importance of Richard Case Nagell to Some Conspiracy Theorists
Jim Garrison and a few conspiracy theorists think Nagell is a very important witness. But is he really?
Genesis of the Richard Case Nagell story
David Kroman met Richard Case Nagell at the Springfield Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Stephen Jaffe, a Garrison volunteer, wrote a memo, relating Nagell's story through the eyes and ears of David Kroman.
Nagell was convicted of armed robbery and was sentenced to ten years, but his conviction was overturned because of startling new evidence.
Richard Case Nagell and the JFK Assassination
There is no credible evidence that Nagell had any foreknowledge of either Lee Harvey Oswald or the JFK assassination.
Nagell claims he met Oswald in Japan, Texas, Mexico City, and New Orleans. There is no credible evidence that he ever met Oswald.
Nagell went to Cuba and met with Fidel Castro and even played ping-pong with the man.
Insane Conspiracy Theories about Richard Case Nagell
Richard Case Nagell said that he knew the two Oswalds - Lee Harvey and Leon. Some conspiracy theorists believe this madness.
Combine one part crazy and one part ridiculous and what do you come up with? An early attempt at a unified conspiracy theory of the JFK assassination.
Was there a plot in Los Angeles against JFK?
Two Smoking Guns of the Richard Case Nagell Story
Nagell sent conspiracy theorist Dick Russell one page of a military intelligence file which seemed to indicate that he was monitoring Oswald and his wife on behalf of the CIA. But does the whole document really show that?
Did Richard Case Nagell have an Oswald Military ID in his possession when he was arrested in September 1963?
Richard Case Nagell and Jim Garrison
Richard Case Nagell believes that he wasn't called to testify at Clay Shaw's trial because his testimony would have blown up Jim Garrison's case.
At a conference in September 1968, Garrison and his investigators discuss his face-to-face meeting with Nagell in New York City.
William Martin, an Assistant District Attorney working for Jim Garrison, tried to retrieve a tape that Nagell said contained the voices of three JFK assassination conspirators.
Richard Popkin, author of "The Second Oswald," writes Jim Garrison about Richard Case Nagell. Garrison staffer Tom Bethell thought the Nagell lead was useless.
Richard Case Nagell's Mental Health
A lawsuit by Nagell proves his mental issues.
Nagell won a full disability pension in 1982 and the 60+ page court case provides complete details on his mental problems.
Richard Case Nagell told a psychiatrist why he shot up the bank in El Paso in 1963.
The FBI spoke to Nagell's ex-wife, his mother, his sister, and one of his friends. They all agreed that Nagell had significant mental health problems.
Nagell visited the American consulates in Zurich and Barcelona in 1969. He was a deeply disturbed man.
More shenanigans in Europe in 1970.
His mental issues were apparent during this visit.
Richard Case Nagell's Evidence
None of the so-called evidence that Nagell promised would materialize on his death has shown up. Did this evidence ever exist?
Samoluk was Deputy Director of the ARRB and he doesn't think much of the Nagell story.
You can read the whole Nagell story in my new book, A Heritage of Nonsense: Jim Garrison's Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
