Charles R. Carson

I stumbled on this guy by accident on MFF, and found some interesting stuff so I figured I'd make a post. Carson was an FBI agent in New Orleans who quit in the early 1960's to join and become Manager of Southern Research Co., the sketchy private eye firm clandestinely retained by Clay Shaw's lawyers during the Garrison case. Southern Research also employed former Bannister investigator and FBI Informant Joseph Oster, and SA Milton Kaack after he was disciplined by the FBI in '64 for the pre-assassination investigation of Oswald. 

Southern Research was at some point taken over by the Wackenhut Corporation, or was associated from the beginning - it's not entirely clear. Carson's assigned duties are pretty interesting: he went from the point man investigating Carlos Marcello with the FBI to becoming involved in the Eastern Airlines investigation into David Ferrie with Southern Research. During the Garrison case, Carson tipped off the FBI that Garrison was conducting a Grand Jury investigation shortly after the Garrison story broke in the press in Feb '67. The memo covering this contact caught my attention:



According to all other documents I've seen (not many), Southern Research was located in the Maritime Building. 333 St. Charles Ave. was the Masonic Temple Building, location of the CIA office in New Orleans, and also the Civil Air Patrol. From what I have seen, according to Wackenhut they didn't even have a New Orleans office. 

Carson contacted the FBI again in April '67 which generated the following teletype plus a couple memos:  



(redacted name revealed as Carson in other documents)

Based on the heavily redacted (on MFF) CIA Security file, it looks like Wackenhut was utilized by the CIA as a non-official cover organization in the 1960s. The line "contacts with" on the following document was only declassified in 2017, but there's all kinds of other stuff in the 51-page OS file that confirms Wackenhut was utilized for cover purposes. I'd really like to get a hold of an unreacted version of this file:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=104127#relPageId=1

It just seemed to me like quite the coincidence that a CIA contractor was operating out of the same building as the CIA in New Orleans:



Also in April '67, Dick Helms placed an indefinite restriction on use of the Wackenhut Corporation by the CIA, supposedly based on Wackenhut's newfound notoriety in being appointed by the governor of Florida to lead their "war on crime". The actual appointment and press release happened three months earlier however, and Southern Research had just been mentioned in Grand Jury testimony in connection with Garrison's case in March.  

Both Wackenhut and Southern Research were investigated by the HSCA and the ARRB for CIA connections; but Carson is a guy I haven't really seen mentioned anywhere. What I'm trying to find out is if there is any other reference besides the FBI reports from Carson to Wackenhut/Southern Research having an office in the Masonic Temple Building.

There were other companies at 333 St. Charles: the NO Credit Bureau, VA Outpatient Services, interesting one is the stenographers who covered the Clay Shaw trial, but the only references I can find to Wackenhut/Southern Research working out of that building are from Charles Carson to his former employer the FBI. It could be nothing but I'm wondering if Carson screwed up in giving that address.

I found something that might be pretty interesting. In Jim Garrison's files there's a report from one of his ADAs who found the incorporation paperwork for Southern Research. Charles R. Carson is listed as one of the directors, as is an Edward E. Parent:



Edward E. Parent, for whom I can find no record of whatsoever, has his address listed as 4525 Duplessis St. The date on the incorporation paperwork, according to the ADA, was 8/26/63. Guess who lived at 4525 Duplessis St. at that time:



Did Carlos Bringuier, captain CIA, really help incorporate Southern Research under an alias two weeks after he was arrested with Oswald? Also, up until 12/20/62, Sergio Arcacha Smith was his next door neighbor (yes Bringuier lived there at the time):



Carson had been operating Southern Research since early 1961. If the above is legit Carson decided to incorporate and partner with Bringuier just a couple weeks after Oswald's arrest. I'm not sure what to make of this quite yet, but it seemed like a pretty solid lead.

Excellent research once again, Tom.

Awesome finds!

There is this idea everything has been gone over with a fine tooth comb in the JFK case and we can all go back to sleep as its all been done, looked at and investigated... BULLSHIT!
Look at what this Forum ALONE has and continues to unearth.

Nice job Tom.

Reminds me of all these CIA types moving to New Orleans and acquiring property during this time when they had no reason or business there....or so they claimed.

Keep on ROKC'n!

PS Ive heard that name Edward Parent somewhere...lemme chk.

Outstanding stuff Tom, I agree with Ed, there is still so much to be discovered in the fine print. It's there hidden in plain sight. Excellent find!

From the Malcolm Blunt archives. The second page of it is missing, one could enq w NARA and get the  missing page sent.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GB0UcjP2SEEeSr3hBDkzdfyospWlrDjR/view?usp=sharing

Duplessis St.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16ZCbkMcyU4Mr7UFNP8b5v6R3HaBsDeVH/view?usp=sharing  page 3

James Harrison Vance lived on that same st.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R9mlCM_a9C-O9b_3duDCZonMqfsI2WQb/view?usp=sharing

It looks like Bringuier actually gave the NOPD the same address he gave the Warren Commission, 501 Adele St., and said he’d been living there for three months when he was arrested. He also gave a previous address as 2046 Pelopidas St., so this isn’t quite as blatantly suspicious as I originally thought - but it’s still definitely in need of more research. Seems like quite a coincidence that this Edward E. Parent gave an address previously used by Bringuier, and that another notorious CIA affiliated Cuban exile had lived right next door to that address.

After taking a second look, the latest report I could find confirming Bringuier at 4525 Duplessis is a July ‘62 report from Warren DeBruyes (which I think I’d mixed up with ‘63). There’s also a teletype from July ‘63 reporting his address as 2046 Pelopidas. Will update if I find anything else.

Duplessis was a popular St to live in.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gvrtR2A4-gQvgeJSEdTEP7WP3q7nEd4E/view?usp=sharing

barto wrote:From the Malcolm Blunt archives. The second page of it is missing, one could enq w NARA and get the  missing page sent.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GB0UcjP2SEEeSr3hBDkzdfyospWlrDjR/view?usp=sharing

Duplessis St.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16ZCbkMcyU4Mr7UFNP8b5v6R3HaBsDeVH/view?usp=sharing  page 3

Great stuff Bart. That’s a third militant Cuban exile, Manuel Blanco, living right next door to Arcacha and two doors down from Bringuier at 4521 Duplessis. If accurate that Sept. ‘62 memo also narrows down Bringuier’s move from Duplessis to Pelopidas within the previous sixty days. 

I have a random question about the missing pages on the first doc. For documents in the Blunt archive where there is only a RIF sheet or pages are missing, is that generally reflective of the state of the record when Blunt copied it at NARA - as in certain records just weren’t there or incomplete - or has a bunch of material gone missing in Blunt’s collection over the years? One example is 180-10086-10024 which is a report on Ruth Paine/ACLU matters that Blunt only has as a RIF sheet. What’s especially weird is that the RIF sheet says the record was postponed in full as of 1996, but the updated NARA database says it was released in full in 1993. I posted the RIF sheet in the Paine/TSBD thread. 

I’ve been talking to Robert Reynolds who runs jfkarc.info, and the Blunt archive, as well as your DPUK talks with Malcolm came up in conversation. Basically, the question is how common, or uncommon, are incomplete/missing records at NARA that are listed in the database as “open in full”.

I have been chasing Edward.
Answr machine... and then got a call back hang up.
I see there may be a connection to HARRIS AND HARRIS LTD.
Edward and Ruth live in a fourplex so it may be mixed up but if so is an interesting one.

I wanna know!

Pretty common if you'd ask me. There is also that Malcolm sometime sdid not photo copy certain pages as there was nothing to be read of importance in those files. Plus pages are missing at NARA. Small page numbers and there is something missing then it is gone, if it is a big doc and only has a small set of pages in the pdf at Malcolm then you can bet you money on Malcolm doing an edit. But this is rare.

Ed.Ledoux wrote:I have been chasing Edward.
Answr machine... and then got a call back hang up.
I see there may be a connection to HARRIS AND HARRIS LTD.
Edward and Ruth live in a fourplex so it may be mixed up but if so is an interesting one.

I wanna know!

Is it the 86yo Edward E. Parent in Kenner? Can't wait to see what you find out Ed. There are three email addresses listed that might be worth a try. Could also leave an interesting voicemail...

I found something else that might be relevant. Warren DeBruyes had a PCI named Betty Parent, who informed on William Dalzell and Sergio Arcacha Smith during Dalzell's internal security case in 1961. Any relation? One of the reports says Betty had "close contact" with Dalzell and that's how she got her information.  

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=166142#relPageId=2

It looks like Betty's identity on a number of the older FBI reports was only released in 2017/2018. Also, it looks like Betty informed on both Cuban affairs and Marcello's organization in the early '60s. Charles R. Carson was one of the agents running the Marcello investigation in New Orleans before he quit the FBI to form/join Southern Research in Dec. 1960. Betty was also interviewed after the assassination by Regis Kennedy when he was trying to track down Clay Bertrand. 

There's also another NO PCI John Wilbur Parent who told the FBI on 11/23 of a couple arms dealers selling Carcanos around New Orleans - a lead that looks like it was never checked out cause the gun was already traced. 

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=2372#relPageId=3

Still nothing on Edward though. 

Also, thanks for the answer Bart. I have a pending reproduction request with NARA that includes at least one of the incomplete Blunt records. It'll be interesting to see how they compare.

EDIT: I found something else that might be interesting. Southern Research Co. is still around today, the same organization whose president Thomas Ostendorff was contacted by the ARRB for records on David Ferrie:

https://southernresearchinc.com

I don't know the significance of this, or anything about business law, but it looks like Southern Research Company of New Orleans Inc. incorporated by Carson and Edward Parent dissolved and liquidated at the end of 1967 which is when Carson left to work for the state police investigating labor racketeering: 

https://coraweb.sos.la.gov/CommercialSearch/CommercialSearchDetails.aspx?CharterID=102516_9B1604EC33

That's Carson's address 4769 Overton Dr. Why would Carson incorporate a separate entity in New Orleans? Southern Research had been operating in Louisiana for years, and I think were based out of Louisiana to begin with. The main corporate entity that's still around today was incorporated in 1958, then Carson, Parent and co. incorporate this New Orleans "branch" two weeks after Oswald's arrest with Parent using one of Carlos Bringuier's previous addresses.   

I'm not sure how Wackenhut fits in to this, but I'm thinking Carson's outfit might have been a subcontractor on the Shaw case or something. No idea.

Yes Ed and Ruth in Kenner are the one.
Trying various times to ring.
Wilbur Parent is whom I was thinking with the guns.
There was a listing that gives credit to Joseph A.Oster for starting Southern Research Company after leaving Guy Bannister. He them forms Joseph A Oster and Associates in NO.

Not sure if you have him factored in.

Ed.Ledoux wrote:Yes Ed and Ruth in Kenner are the one.
Trying various times to ring.
Wilbur Parent is whom I was thinking with the guns.
There was a listing that gives credit to Joseph A.Oster for starting Southern Research Company after leaving Guy Bannister. He them forms Joseph A Oster and Associates in NO.

Not sure if you have him factored in.

Oster is a bit of an enigma. From what I can tell, he worked with Carson for Southern Research Co. on the Eastern Airlines Ferrie investigation, but is not listed on the paperwork for Carson's New Orleans "branch" that incorporated on 8/26/63 and dissolved in late 1967.  

Oster told Garrison he went into business with Bannister in 1956, then left in 1958 to form Southern Research, which is when the Southern Research Co. Inc. that's still around today was incorporated - so I think he was involved in that. Not sure what the deal is with Joseph A. Oster & Associates though - all I can find is a Joseph A. Oster & Company that was incorporated in 1976. 

It looks like Oster went to work as a state police investigator for the Labor Rackets Commission with A. Harry Roberts in late '67 or '68. Roberts was one of the partners listed on the charter for Carson and Parent's short-lived "branch" Southern Research Co. of New Orleans Inc. (though with no listed address), and is listed as "President of Southern Research Co. Inc." in an FBI doc from March '63. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=141370#relPageId=94

Roberts is also listed as an officer for a Southern Research Company of St. Charles Inc. that was incorporated in 1965. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/26912970D

Again, why incorporate multiple different entities in the same state? I'm no lawyer but that seems a little strange right? Roberts seems to be the head honcho though, with Oster most likely participating in formation of the "parent company" Southern Research Co. Inc. in Dec. 1958.    

One thing that's interesting is that Oster denied to the ARRB that Southern Research was hired by Clay Shaw's defense team, which might actually be technically true. Southern Research Co. of New Orleans Inc. was a completely separate company, opened by some of the same people, but it looks like Oster may have had no direct involvement. I think it's a solid bet that Shaw's lawyers hired Wackenhut, who then subcontracted to Carson's special "branch". 

The takeaway is that Southern Research Co. of New Orleans Inc. is sketchy as hell. Formed two weeks after Oswald's arrest, dissolved in Dec. 1967, working out of the same building as CIA, and one of the officers on the charter, Edward Parent, used Carlos Bringuier's previous address, which was on Bringuier's drivers license when he was arrested with Oswald. 

-------------

In Bill Davy's book Let Justice Be Done, he mentions that William Walter (Nov. 17 teletype whistleblower guy) told Garrison in 1977 that Garrison's offices were bugged in '67 by Special Agents Chandler Josey and Ed. Parent - that it was an FBI operation disguised to look like Southern Research/Wackenhut on behalf of Aaron Kohn, and that "Parent later went to work for Charles Carson at Wackenhut". Something's obviously wrong here, since Parent was working with Carson since at least 1963, but was he really an FBI agent? If he was I feel like his name would pop up somewhere in the declassified record, but who knows. Walter worked out of the New Orleans Field Office, so you'd think he'd know if the guy was an agent or not. Would an FBI agent in '63 really be living in a 1000+ unit Cuban dominated apartment complex though, and partnering in shady private detective agencies? Our Ed from Kenner, LA was 27 in 1963, so maybe? Is it just a coincidence he rents the exact same apartment as Bringuier? Or is there something else going on here.

EDIT: The other mysterious partner in Southern Research of New Orleans Inc. is Shirley Riggs, who gave an address as 2003 Metairie Rd. 2003 Metairie is directly across the street from 2030 Metairie, which was the Pelican Bar owned by Carlos Marcello. I can't find any record of Shirley Riggs either.

Found some more stuff. From July 1962 through December 1967 (the same time Carson's "branch" of Southern Research was dissolved), 2003 Metairie Rd. was the address for the non-profit The Officer's Club Downtown Inc.: 

https://coraweb.sos.la.gov/CommercialSearch/CommercialSearchDetails.aspx?CharterID=15620_C358F8357E

I can't find any information about this place on MFF or anywhere else, just that it was across the street from Marcello's Pelican Bar. 

I found an obit for a Shirley Ann Johnson Riggs who was a Navy veteran who died in 2014 at age 73 in Louisiana, and spent 21 years as a bus driver. Seems like an odd fit for a 22yo girl to be partnering in a shady private detective agency, but I have no idea if it's the right person.

I also found out that it's common to incorporate different entities in the same state, and it's usually done to shield the parent company from liability - which is pretty interesting given the circumstances and timing of Carson's "branch" incorporating in New Orleans.

I was just looking at Street View of 2003 Metairie Rd.
An old old one story commercial property next to similar structures all very much older looking.
Across the street is large vacant lot in what appears to be residential area.

For my taste there are far too many firms by all the same players, and what are the odds of the coincideces ... 1 in a million, 1 in a billion.

I too saw Johnson Riggs obit and dismissed it based on her age at the time.

https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/find/person/pxnn00lu2896r0r2n299n

This is a really great thread. It's a school watching you guys work it. In fact I think the best work happening anywhere at present. Seems like it has the potential to expose the true underpinnings for how Oswald was being manipulated. My sense at this point is he had outlived his usefulness to the CIA after Russia and the FBI was tasked with keeping him on a leash while somebody figured out what to do with him. Then when the shit hit the fan somebody finally figured out what to do with him.

Jake_Sykes wrote:This is a really great thread. It's a school watching you guys work it. In fact I think the best work happening anywhere at present. Seems like it has the potential to expose the true underpinnings for how Oswald was being manipulated. My sense at this point is he had outlived his usefulness to the CIA after Russia and the FBI was tasked with keeping him on a leash while somebody figured out what to do with him. Then when the shit hit the fan somebody finally figured out what to do with him.

Indeed!

FWIW, Edward and Ruth started a business in the 1990s, SCUBA-TECH INCORPORATED.
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/34605954D

Sophisticated scuba equipment is used in sabotage, but also for diving to the bottom of cargo ships to retrieve special packages attached to the hulls. 

A recent case: https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-drugs-dead-scuba-diver-found-in-newcastle-with-cocaine-identified/c73136f6-aa5b-44eb-96f7-b56dc75e8c53

Police said Borges was wearing highly-technical diving gear including breathing equipment that doesn't emit any bubbles.

Not that I am saying his business was used for that purpose... but hey... you have to be open to all possibilities.

I found something else that seems pretty relevant. Courtesy Pharmacy Inc, 1535 Metairie Rd, was incorporated on 9/7/62, just over a month after incorporation of The Officers Club Downtown Inc. at 2003 Metairie Rd. One of the officers listed on the charter for Courtesy Pharmacy is a Nicholas J Gagliano ... who gave his address as 2003 Metairie Rd.

https://coraweb.sos.la.gov//commercialsearch/CommercialSearchDetails.aspx?CharterID=99241_32FC17EBC1

I can't find reference to a Nicholas, but MFF has literally hundreds of documents related to Gaglianos in New Orleans that were associates of Carlos Marcello. Marcello owned a bar right across the street, so I think it's a pretty safe bet that 2003 Metairie Rd. was owned by the Mafia.  

So now we have Edward E. Parent using an address linked to CIA asset Carlos Bringuier, and Shirley Riggs using an address linked to the Mafia two weeks after Oswald's arrest in New Orleans to incorporate a branch of a private detective agency linked to Guy Bannister. The plot thickens.

greg_parker wrote:FWIW, Edward and Ruth started a business in the 1990s, SCUBA-TECH INCORPORATED.
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/34605954D

Sophisticated scuba equipment is used in sabotage, but also for diving to the bottom of cargo ships to retrieve special packages attached to the hulls. 

A recent case: https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-drugs-dead-scuba-diver-found-in-newcastle-with-cocaine-identified/c73136f6-aa5b-44eb-96f7-b56dc75e8c53

Police said Borges was wearing highly-technical diving gear including breathing equipment that doesn't emit any bubbles.

Not that I am saying his business was used for that purpose... but hey... you have to be open to all possibilities.

More examples...
https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/video-greek-diver-recovers-cocaine-smuggled-in-ship-s-hull

https://insightcrime.org/news/brazilian-drug-traffickers-attached-cocaine-ships-hull/

greg_parker wrote:

greg_parker wrote:FWIW, Edward and Ruth started a business in the 1990s, SCUBA-TECH INCORPORATED.
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/34605954D

Sophisticated scuba equipment is used in sabotage, but also for diving to the bottom of cargo ships to retrieve special packages attached to the hulls. 

A recent case: https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-drugs-dead-scuba-diver-found-in-newcastle-with-cocaine-identified/c73136f6-aa5b-44eb-96f7-b56dc75e8c53

Police said Borges was wearing highly-technical diving gear including breathing equipment that doesn't emit any bubbles.

Not that I am saying his business was used for that purpose... but hey... you have to be open to all possibilities.

More examples...
https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/video-greek-diver-recovers-cocaine-smuggled-in-ship-s-hull

https://insightcrime.org/news/brazilian-drug-traffickers-attached-cocaine-ships-hull

It looks like Ed and Ruth also own Scuba Quest Sport Diving Center Inc., with the same listed address as Scuba Tech Inc. 4740 Veterans Memorial Blvd., incorporated ten years earlier:

https://coraweb.sos.la.gov//commercialsearch/CommercialSearchDetails.aspx?CharterID=338957_36181776FF

I'm sure it no longer exists, but it's still listed on this dive center website, and there's a phone number... http://www.dive-centers.net/dive_center_1106-scuba_quest_sport_diving_center.html

There's also a Scuba-Tech Inc. from California in the mid 70s but there are no officers or addresses listed online from what I can tell.