The Legend of Mitchell WerBell

As I was doing research for my book and upcoming podcast episodes, the name Mitchell WerBell kept coming up over and over. This name is very familiar to JFK researchers; however, outside of Gaeton Fonzi, there have not been many researchers who have done a deep dive on him. We will start working on an episode because this man is fascinating and was considered a genius at creating weapons.

WerBell joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA, He was a guerrilla operative during WWII and would go on to participate in many secret operations in Indochina, working with some familiar names like E. Howard Hunt and Lucien Conein. He founded the company SIONICS, which designed suppressors for firearms. He would partner with Gordon Ingram, the inventor of the MAC-10 Submachine gun.

WerBell's name comes up in almost every conspiracy theory, including JFK. Some believe that he supplied the weapons used in Dallas. He was hired as a security advisor by Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and Batista in Cuba. He helped plan an invasion of Haiti and the overthrow attempt of "Papa Doc" Duvalier. He was involved in Coup attempts in Panama and Guatemala. This is a serious Black Operator/Spook or whatever shadow term you want to use.

The late great Gaeton Fonzi did some amazing work investigating him and even got him to hint that he knew Jack Ruby. Jim Hougan did some great work on WerBell in his book Spooks. An LA sheriff even claims that Hustler Publisher Larry Flint wrote WerBell a one million dollar check to take out a contract on Frank Sinatra and Hugh Hefner in 1983. WerBell died before cashing the check.

So, what is the truth, and what is a Legend? When you investigate figures like WerBell, Whitey Bulger, Carlos Marcello, Bob Mahue, Frank Sturgis it takes maticulus research to separate the Truth from the Legend around these figures. It takes a lot of time, but WerBell deserves the attention. Stay Tuned!