Taus, Part 1: Death of a Scuba-Diver

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a New York state prison, for the purpose of contacting a friend of my late friend Rodney Stich.  Rodney, a pilot in WWII, was a whistle blower in the Federal Aviation Agency. His friend, whom I went to visit, is Richard Taus. In a 2018 Gumshoe article I noted that The Powers That Be punished Taus, for his whistle blowing, by laying a false charge of pedophilia on him.

He is an army colonel and FBI agent who is now in his 29^th year of imprisonment. At Gumshoe we have discerned that two patsy-prisoners are never to go free – Martin Bryant and Jahar Tsarnaev – because they would be able to reveal the nature of their “patsification.” Richard Taus could I think go free as he had long since spilled all his secrets. He spilled them to Rodney Stich who published them in 2005.

In this series about Taus, I will pull things from one of Rodney’s many books, viz., FBI, CIA, the Mob and Treachery. This particular book mainly contains material that Taus passed to Rodney Stich. (So please don’t give me any credit for sleuthing.)

The Pattern

Two men, Steve Lopez and Richard Taus, were creating problems for the CIA, and the White House, during the late 1980s – the time of Iran/Contra and the Savings and Loan scandal. Today’s article is about Steve Lopez. While reading it, I found some things all-too-familiar. Indeed during the past year while concentrating on my two special topics, the Tsarnaev trial and “judicial kidnap,” I have frequently wondered “Is it just me or do these cases have a lot in common?”

Now to the excerpt from Rodney Stich’s book, pages 547-551:

Utter Ruthlessness

There are various methods to silence or discredit people seeking to expose corruption in government offices. Discrediting a person, charging him or her with a crime, indicating a person has a psychological anomaly, … are all actions, which can prevent the truth from being believed. There are other methods: disappearance, or death. Death happened Sunday morning, October 1, 1989, on a Staten Island pier.

A New York City fireman, Steve Lopez, became the target of an intelligence assassination plot. Lopez had an excellent record as a New York City firefighter and as a former U.S. Marine, and also worked for the FBI in various operations. Lopez became a problem for his FBI and CIA handlers. One problem was that he knew too much about some highly irregular FBI activities. …

A plan was devised to eliminate him, using his scuba- diving hobby against him. The type of scuba diving Lopez did for the FBI was high-risk, where mishaps could easily occur underwater. …

Lopez was part of a group called the Restricted Interagency Group (RIG) or Core Group, created by Secretary of State George Shultz under President Reagan. RIG assembled the following policy-makers: Duane “Dewey” Clarridge, Deputy Director CIA; Admiral Arthur Mobreau, Jr., Joint Chiefs of Staff; Oliver North, NSC staffer; Lanhome “Tony” Motley …. It was Dewey Clarridge, upon DCI Casey’s advice, who organized a small clandestine navy to disrupt the Nicaraguan government’s flow of petroleum.

In October 1983, Clarridge decided to mine the Nicaraguan harbors. The idea was to frighten oil shippers from Nicaragua and place a stranglehold over the Nicaraguan economy. The CIA used non-lethal magnetic mines. In January and February 1984, these mines were placed in Corinto, Puerto Sandino and El Buff by the CIA mercenary force. Its membership consisted of soldiers of fortune from Latin America and the United States, and a former U.S. Marine, Steve Lopez.

There was little reaction to the mining, even after a few smaller ship sunk due to mine denotations. When a Soviet oil tanker was damaged by a mine, The Wall Street Journal edition of April 6 reported the mining was a U.S. operation.  On April 9, Nicaragua sued the United States in the International Court of Justice in The Hague for compensation due to the mining. The US refused to recognize the court’s jurisdiction in the matter….

As the Iran Contra Arms Initiative Affair began to unfold, Steve Lopez became concerned about his involvement with the CIA and the FBI.

With three other FBI special agents, Lopez was engaged in various secretive operations for the Bureau. When members of his group became involved in the Irangate scandal and were called before Congress, Lopez grew increasingly nervous. In the late 1980s, Lopez frequently called FBI Agent Thomas Pierce in the same FBI New York office where Richard Taus was assigned.

On one occasion, when Pierce was away from the office, Taus answered Pierce’s squad phone. …

A lengthy interview followed, during which Lopez and Taus found a common ground in their Vietnam experiences. Lopez confided to Taus that he worked with the CIA since the late 1970s….  Taus learned of CIA activities that Piece had withheld from him, and realized that he could no longer trust Pierce.

The information about CIA unlawful activities that Lopez disclosed was sufficient for Taus to bring to the assistant director (ADIC) in New York. However, Lopez declined, at Taus’ suggestion, to speak with the ADIC. He was very concerned about what his CIA handler would say and wanted FBI protection. [Oh dear.] Further contacts between Taus and Lopez were halted when the FBI suddenly filed the sham charges against Taus.

Shortly thereafter, Lopez’s life would come to a sudden end. Lopez told FBI Agent Pierce that he might go public with his information. This warning prompted breaking into Lopez’s apartment and removing any writings that could contain information harmful to the intelligence agencies with whom Lopez was working. Lopez’ telephone line had also been tapped.

The wiretap in Lopez’ residence made FBI agents aware that Lopez was upset and presented a serious threat. A break-in at his residence occurred on Friday night. By early Saturday morning, the agencies knew that Lopez would divulge their secrets. CIA maintained a 24-hour surveillance on him.

Pierce asked Lopez to wait until Sunday morning when they could discuss the matter at the pier before their diving session. Lopez was festering, but reluctantly agreed. The surveillance team would ensure that no secrets would be revealed…. If it became evident that Lopez would call anyone, his phone would be quickly disconnected. If he decided to personally visit anyone, the team would close in and apprehend him.

According to what Richard Taus stated to me [Rodney Stich], this is what happened next. As part of the FBI scuba diving team, it was possible to carry out the scheme of eliminating Lopez without incurring any suspicion….

The elimination would occur while FBI agents and Lopez were scuba diving. The initial schemes included changing the air mixture in Lopez’ oxygen tanks and entrapment during an exploration of an underwater wreck. The FBI agents could handle those conditions and return to the surface with their whistle-blower dead, and no one would know what really happened.

FBI and CIA personnel arranged a meeting late Saturday afternoon in New York City to decide upon their final and fatal course of action with Lopez. As part of the plan, weapons would be secreted afterwards in Lopez’ personal vehicle to show that he had a malicious intent. [Standard, standard, standard.]

A Remington Model 870 pump shotgun would be planted in Lopez’ Jeep. The shotgun contained double-o buckshot, an ammunition used by law enforcement agents but not sportsmen.

Two of the members of the Scuba team arrived earlier than usual and waited for Lopez, who was being tailed by the CIA surveillance team. The scene was set with the intention that the Scuba team would go out to sea and accomplish their elimination mission. It was 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning in early October 1989.

When Lopez arrived, unarmed, he wanted questions answered. His own weapons at his house, including an AK-47, had disappeared.

Three FBI agents stood some 25 feet apart from each other as Lopez arrived. Their positions offered several fields of fire if necessary. [Imagine it!]

When Lopez leaped from his jeep, he approached one of the FBI agents and complained about the ransacking of his apartment and the wiretapping. He also complained about the illegal operations. Lopez refused to take part in the planned scuba diving, making it necessary to carry out the elimination then and there.

As Lopez sensed danger and walk away from Pierce and toward his car, one of the agents signaled to close in for the kill. One FBI agent tackled Lopez and wrestled him to the ground. During the struggle, another FBI agent, sitting in a car, aimed his weapon at Lopez and then shot when the other two agents released their hold of Lopez, striking Lopez in the back and shoulder.

One agent used a 357 Magnum with hollow-point bullets, called a “dum-dum” round, that upon impact, expands like a mushroom, seemingly exploding. Any hit to the body trunk would be mortal. A hit to an extremity, an arm or a leg, would cause severe loss of blood.

The Bureau always taught its agents to shot to kill, never try to merely wound a person. [Think Todashev.]

The shooting caused several people to appear. To insure that Lopez would bleed to death before help arrived, one agent placed handcuffs on the mortally wounded Lopez, who died before medical help arrived.

A member from the CIA’s surveillance team carried Lopez’ missing AK-47 to the scene, placing it next to him, providing the news media with the notion that Lopez was intent upon killing the federal agents. [Again, Todashev.]

Initial news reports about the shooting differed significantly. The Monday issue of the New York Post newspaper showed a picture of the dead fireman lying face down in the parking lot. Both his hands were covered with his own blood as he attempted to suppress the flow. Medical attention did not arrive until it was much too late.

The Staten Island Advance newspaper carried another story, provided by witnesses at the scene. The FBI provided their own version, which was dutifully carried by the media. None said it was an assassination.

The FBI story was that Lopez was mentally unstable and went berserk on the pier. [Why would he do that?] Further, that Lopez was a member of a diving “club.” The media never satisfactorily explained his relationship to the three FBI agents or what the FBI scuba diving team did.

On the very next day, the FBI claimed that the shooting was justified, that Lopez threatened the FBI agents with his weapons, and that the agents fired in self-defense. [Todashev, Todashev, Todashev.]

The Bureau conducted no investigation into the matter and only accepted the accounts of the three assassins.

The other witnesses, whose accounts differed, were dismissed. Their version of the shooting was never recorded. [Tamerlan’s naked appearance on Gabe Ramirez’s camera still unremarked by CNN or The Law.]

Steve Lopez was a 4-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a 15- year veteran of the NYC fire department. He worked for the CIA since the late 1970s and worked for the FBI in the mid 1980s. He was the only outsider who ever served on the FBI scuba diving team.

Lopez was trusted by his fellow FBI divers. Yet the Bureau claimed he had a long history of mental problems. If correct, why did the FBI employ him on their exclusive diving team?

What were the secrets that Lopez possessed?  Secrets which called for an assassination by the US government. Within a ten-month period, two events happened that attracted media attention to the FBI New York office. Not particularly startling except both events came off the same FBI squad.

The first event occurred on November 5, 1988, when Taus was arrested by the FBI on sham charges after he sought to report criminal activities involving the CIA, the FBI, and White House [Bush, Sr] politicians.

The second event that occurred was the death of Lopez in October 1989.     [All bolding added.]

— End of excerpt from Rodney Stich’s 2005 book, FBI, CIA, The Mob and Treachery