Heroes Behind Headlines

Daughter Of A Scoundrel: Karen Holt On CIA Cutout Dad Chauncey Marvin Holt

Karen Holt didn’t realize her childhood was anything other than normal--whether it was her father’s absence every Monday to Friday; their odd moves from town to town without any warning;  the FBI arresting her father; seeing Detroit mafioso Peter Licavoli on his ranch; or even visiting her father in his ‘country club’ prison. One of the most unusual figures in recent memory, Chauncey served as accountant and money manager for mobster Meyer Lansky, he was also an off-the-books CIA operative and specialist in forged documents and credentials, a ballistics expert, a circus performer and fine artist. He was also present at Dealey Plaza the day JFK was assassinated, November 22, 1963. In fact, Holt was pictured in Life Magazine as one of the three hobos detained as witnesses. Chauncey's outrageous life, which also included bootlegging, gunrunning, and maintaining multiple aliases, is captured in his autobiography “Self-Portrait of a Scoundrel,”  which reads like a CIA thriller. Heroes Behind Headlines Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Friend’s Death Reveals Web Of Arms Deals And Money Laundering

Born on a U.S. airbase in London of American parents, Geoffrey Gilson began his career writing  speeches for Margaret Thatcher, leveraging his dual British-US citizenship to navigate elite political circles. With decades of front-row access to senior UK and U.S. officials, Gilson served as a key operative for the British Conservative Party, gaining unparalleled insight into global power structures. In 1988, when his friend and business partner Hugh Simmonds turned up dead in the woods near where they lived with seven million dollars were missing from his law firm’s account, Geoff launched his own investigation into this friend’s death, which eventually revealed a complex web of money laundering, arms deals and political collusion and connections between high-level political leaders, intelligence organizations, and money launderers and arms dealers.  The result is detailed in his riveting book, "Maggie’s Hammer," a meticulously researched and gripping exposé.  Heroes Behind Headlines Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Attacked Outside A Bar; Arrested For Attempted Murder

Former U.S. Army Ranger, Barry Todd, was out celebrating a professional milestone with his wife and several friends at a local watering hole in Yuma, Arizona, when he was attacked by a drunken patron along with some buddies. Barry was slammed headfirst into a cement wall, incurring a concussion and other bodily injuries until his gun went off and shot the man who’d insisted on attacking him. The police were called and incomprehensibly arrested Barry, who explains how self-defense and stand your ground laws don’t always protect you as they should. Police in his case didn’t actually know the law in Arizona, and elected DAs often pursue charges & convictions rather than the truth, as is their legal obligation. Barry also discovered that one friend of his attackers was linked to the local police.  Barry walks us through his battle of five years to get his case dismissed, and his record cleared, and how he feels a calling to help anyone unfairly charged with a crime. All proceeds from his book, “Stand Your Ground: One Man’s Self Defense Nightmare,” go to his foundation that helps the charged person and their attorney successfully get their case dismissed. The original culprit was never charged. Heroes Behind Headlines Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Murder Of State Assemblyman’s Father

California State Assemblyman Mike Gatto was a rising star in the California Democratic Party when on November 12th, 2013, his retired father Joseph Gatto was found murdered in their family home in the neighborhood of Los Angeles. Emotionally devastated, Mike put his career on hold to pursue his father's murderer. With very few clues nad more questions than evidence, the murder has never been solved, and the rate of unsolved murders is higher than ever. Mike recounts the facts of this still unsolved crime, and his own experience grappling with his grief. He asks anyone with information about the murder to step forward. Heroes Behind Headlines Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

One Writer's Trudeau Nightmare

Proud Canadian and innovative thinker and author, Jeff Brown was flattered beyond  when Sophie Trudeau, (his country’s “first lady” at the time.) reached out to compliment his writing and aphorisms, and engage him to think about ideas that expressed the spirit of what Justin Trudeau and his wife sought to communicate as part of their platform. At their first meeting, Sophie quickly disclosed her own dissatisfaction in her marriage, and proceeded to behave in a flirty and what felt inappropriate manner through their subsequent conversations and collaborations, both live and virtual. Uncomfortable as an unpaid, uncredited speech writer, and deeply distressed by his growing insight into the Trudeaus’ life, marriage, and hypocrisy, Jeff sought to separate in a civil manner, putting polite space between them and retreating from future requests. And then the nightmare began… Sophie sought to pressure Jeff to stay tethered to the ‘first couple,’ and when he resisted, Jeff and his wife were subjected to  a four-year whirlwind of digital surveillance, political pressure, and personal transformation which reshaped his understanding of trust, truth and freedom.social ostracism, government monitoring, and even harassment, including the suppression of his book about the experience, In Trudeau’s Kitchen. Jeff describes how an ordinary citizen can become the target of not only the political world— but of a hidden network of covert systems, governmental agencies, and corporations. His book stands as a warning to all of us.  Heroes Behind Headlines Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com