The Man Who Knew Too Much

by Dick Russell

A reexamination of the JFK assassination, based on interviews with the former CIA operative who was assigned by the KGB to prevent the murder, reveals what Nagell knows about the conspiracy. 75,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Conspiracy Theories, True Crime

824 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Man Who Knew Too Much' was originally published back in 1992. At a recent conference in Dallas in 2013, Dick Russell described this book as 'The Book That Grew Too Much'. At the request of his publishers, this second edition from 2003 has been trimmed down somewhat.
Even so, in it's present state, Russell's work contains a massive amount of detail, covering a story that is entangled in covert intelligence agents and double agents, involving C.I.A., Secret Service, F.B.I., K.G.B., M.I. and Cuba's G-2.
I have to recommend strongly Russell's writings on the Kennedy assassination, both this contribution as well as his later book, 'On The Trail of the JFK Assassins'. (2008)
The incredible story of Richard Case Nagell makes the writings of Ian Fleming seem like Enid Blyton. I always maintain that truth is often stranger than fiction and nowhere is that more ably demonstrated than in Nagell's odyssey. The subject walks into a Texan bank in September '63, fires two shots into the ceiling and awaits to be arrested. In his notebook are details of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, names, abbreviations and phone numbers, just the same as Lee Harvey Oswald had on his person when arrested. Nagell served in Japan at the same time as LHO served there in the Marines. Nagell had infiltrated the plotters of a JFK assassination. Did the KGB hire Nagell to eliminate Oswald? Instead, Nagell notified F.B.I. and C.I.A. of this plot. Was LHO deceived into thinking he was infiltrating a Castro plot? Was the mysterious Angel and Leopoldo of the Odio incident Eladio del Valle and Herminio Diaz Garcia? Was LHO being used and watched by C.I.A. as part of a mole hunt? Was James Angleton the mole? Was Nagell killed after he received his subpoena from the A.R.R.B. in '95?
All utterly fascinating stuff.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another exploration of the evidence as concerns the assassination of JFK as amplified by the testimony and activities of Richard Case Nagell. It is by no means presented as being conclusive, but it is suggestive, almost overwhelmingly so.

Nagell was in the intelligence business, first with the military, then with the CIA and, possibly, as a double agent, with the KGB. He became publicly noteworthy when he walked into an El Paso bank, shot two bullets into the wall, then allowed himself to be arrested some weeks before the events in Dallas. His subsequent imprisonment removed him from those events, about which he had some foreknowledge.

Exactly what Nagell knew is only hinted at in this 800-page book. Fearful for his life and the lives of those he cared for, Nagell played his cards close to his chest, making it clear that the full story would come out should he die under suspicious circumstances. Meanwhile, it appears that he tried to prevent the assassination by reaching out beforehand to various offices, including Hoover's FBI, none of which took his--or many other--warnings seriously.

As regards the KGB connection, author Russell interprets Nagell's mission, the one Nagell avoided by his acts in El Paso, was to assassinate Lee Harvey Oswald--and that, apparently, at the behest of the KGB (or of KGB moles in the CIA) which saw JFK as an agent of peace. --and, yes, Nagell believed Oswald was involved with the events in Dallas, although certainly not alone and quite possibly not as one of those who actually shot JFK.

I'd not recommend this book to readers unfamiliar with the assassination literature.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Half-way through -- and I feel that I've seen most of this before -- I'll put it aside as "read"...)


Assassination buffs (dumb phrase...) should read Dick Russell. This book is dynamite (in the slang sense....). It's my view that 100 years from now, history will see the JFK assassination as conspiracy as an absolute certainty -- the evidence is just overwhelming -- and the reluctance of late age America to see this as a form of popular delusion. It is simply hard to believe that any objective reader of the best literature in this area can walk away from it with much doubt. There is, moreover, a direct thread in American History from Arbenz (Guatemala) and Kermit Roosevelt (Iran), through Oswald, Watergate, to the Bushes and to where we sit today... mired in multiple catastrophes of our own making.... with the American public the constant recipient of (...literally drenched in a downpour of) very sophisticated psy ops at every flick of the clicker...

It's not that complicated....

[Jamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's taken me about two years to read this thing. It's a huge sprawling mass of a book. I admire the prodigious legwork and original investigative research here. Unfortunately Russell's writing is not very good, but it's not terrible writing either. And the story is remarkable, a very important set of threads in the tapestry.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so detailed and full of sources, it can't help but merit 5 stars. The protagonist in the history, Richard Case Nagell, was evidently an American double agent who knew JFK's accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in Japan, Mexico City and elsewhere. He was arrested in El Paso in September 1963 for discharging a handgun inside a bank, but after he fired his gun, he did not attempt to escape. He waited for the police instead. On his detainment, police found interesting items in his car, including a copy of Oswald's military ID card. This was 2 months before anyone knew who Oswald was, and Nagell said he did what he did to avoid becoming a patsy for the assassination. He felt safer in an El Paso jail cell than walking around at large.

Nagell is not a totally sympathetic character, but according to the history he was a decorated veteran of the Korean War and had suffered head injuries that left him bran damaged. Perhaps as a consequence, some of his statements are suspect and inconsistent. He was convinced that, although Oswald was not alone in firing at Kennedy, he nevertheless "got a few shots off" or something to that effect. Having long believed that, whatever Oswald was guilty of, he could not have been a gunman in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, I questioned Nagell's grip on reality, if not his honesty.

But he knew things no one could have known without an intelligence background, in his case with something called Foreign Operations Intelligence (FOI, now defunct) and with the US Army's Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). But he must have lost his mind to a large degree, and (spoiler alert) he refuses in the end to give the author the whole story, saying he had worked too hard to secure his disability pension from the military and didn't want to jeopardize it by saying too much. He then died in 1995 at age 65, just as he had been called to appear before the Assassination Records Review Board. HIs house had been searched, and items had been removed. In sum, Nagell remains an enigmatic but credible figure in the assassination saga. Russell's book will surely remain the ultimate authority on him for all time.

[Graham Catt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dick Russell's book on the JFK Assassination revolves around the testimony of Richard Case Nagell, an intelligence operative whose career often intersected with Lee Harvey Oswald, from Japan in the late 50's, to Mexico in 1963. The book is enormously detailed, featuring a myriad individuals and organisations with likely involvement in the assassination. Unlike similar books, 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' does not speculate on the actual events of 22nd November, instead relying on Nagell's knowledge to provide some background. Unfortunately, Nagell's secretive nature means we never know the answers to some basic questions. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating read, and essential for anyone interested in Assassination literature.

[John Mruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled mightily with this book. It was clear that Richard Case Nagell knew about the JFK assassination in advance. But throughout the book, I was hoping to get a better sense of who this man was and, perhaps unrealistically, some closure about various threads related to the JFK assassination. But about 3/4 the way through, I realized that intelligence agents will never reveal who they are and who they are/were working for. Nor whose side they are/were on. I found this book frustrating and concluded that we will never know who killed JFK if, for no other reason, that intelligence agents are trained to keep quiet (or lie).

[Bunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was unable to finish this book. I like conspiracy theories and have read a number of books on the Kennedy assassination. This book appeared to be well researched. But, I felt I was being asked to believe that just because individuals were in the same city or area at the same time as Oswald meant they had to be part of it. It has many interesting threads but they simply are conjecture.

[Lis Kovach · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extensive study into everyone who might have known something about JFK's murder. The book is not chronological so it's confusing. Too many names, places, people, associations makes it too complex to digest. And according to the author, Oswald was everywhere. Seems like Oswald was the original Forrest Gump. Written in 1992, I don't know that it is relevant today.

[Don Mcrae · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and comprehensive look at the assassination of JFK. Perhaps one of the most in depth looks at the players involved; from the CIA, FBI, KGB, the MOB and Cuban dissidents. A wonderful companion to Rob Reiners podcast on the JFK assassination.

[Shane Clews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute fantasy

[Grump · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far thus book is brutal in its length. It's boring and speculative-feeling. Still I press on. - 6/15/13
Still brutal. Still boring. Still unpersuasive. Must continue. - 7/26/13

This book was brutal. Boring boring boring. Basically, the author talked to a guy that may have known Lee Harvey Oswald prior to 11/22/63. But a bunch of people write this guy off as a mental case and ALMOST EVERYTHING that could be a clue in they book is speculative. Needs three things: 1.) visual map of the cast of characters or at least more substantial bios. There are 900 million people in this book and it's confusing to make all the connections. 2.) A timeline of events. Every paragraph works like this "In our last interview in 1995 so and so spoke an interaction he had in 1975 where individuals asked him about his whereabouts in 1961." 3.) An editor. This book could have been one well written wikipedia entry. It did not have to be this long. At the end of the day here's what I gleaned: The assassination of JFK was executed by Charles Willoughby via David Atlee Phillips with the help of two unknown Cubans named Angel and Leopoldo. And THEY got Oswald to think he was helping out Castro when he wasn't. WTF.

Don't waste your time.

[Fordan Bonardi]

I, like other readers of this book found it to be too long in length, as the author repeated information along the way. I found some information to be helpful, but can only muster Three stars for it, I wanted more! but it seems to come down to this: There were many sinister people and groups in Dallas that day, many with a deadly grudge against the Kennedy's. They all might have had a hand in before or after the Assination, but I feel it was one group who wanted to separate themselves from the blame, and hired another group to do the deed. I lean towards the mob, they hired the Cubans to do the killing, and set Oswald up to take the fall. Sounds to simple? Maybe.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man Who Knew Too Much is the best researched book I have come across on the Kennedy assassination. I picked this fat tomb up out of my local library after coming across a reference to it on the web years after it was published. You come away knowing that there really was and probably still is a "military industrial complex." Mr. Nagell is quite a character, and you learn he was not the only one who tried to warn the government about the conspiracy to kill Kennedy. Jaw-dropping in many respects, disheartening in others, this a book that all Americans should wade through.

[Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

not so much another conspiracy as it does more concentrate on the intelligence community, branches of intel, & history of espionage & intel. during the 60's & even b4.
great stuff. greatly researched..fascinating book

[Mat Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

RCN

[Garry Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very heavy going. At times confusing. However, very much part of the jigsaw.

[Tom Nolan]

6x9 paperback

[Félix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Case Nagell was an interesting man.