{{Short description|American mercenary (1918–1983)}}{{Infobox military person | image = File:Mitchell WerBell III.jpg | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1918|3|18}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date|1983|12|16}} (aged 65) | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | burial_place = | allegiance = {{flagu|United States}} | branch = {{army|United States}} | service_years = 1942–1946 | unit = Office Of Strategic Services | rank = Captain | battles = {{Tree list}} *World War II *Dominican Civil War {{tree list/end}} | relations = | other_work = }} '''Mitchell Livingston WerBell III''' (March 18, 1918 – December 16, 1983) was a U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative, mercenary, paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.

==Early life and OSS service== WerBell was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Tsarist cavalry officer in the Imperial Army of Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mitchell WerBell III Part 01 (Final) |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/mitchell-werbell-iii/Mitchell%20WerBell%20III%20Part%2001%20(Final)/view |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250316232324/https://vault.fbi.gov/mitchell-werbell-iii/Mitchell%20WerBell%20III%20Part%2001%20(Final)/view |archive-date=March 16, 2025 |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref> Journalist Penny Lernoux described WerBell in her 1984 book ''In Banks We Trust'' as "a mysterious White Russian."<ref name=lernoux>Lernoux, Penny (1984). [https://ia601001.us.archive.org/23/items/inbankswetrustpennylernoux1984/In%20Banks%20We%20Trust%2C%20Penny%20Lernoux%20%281984%29.pdf ''In Banks We Trust—Bankers and Their Close Associates: The CIA, the Mafia, Drug Traders, Dictators, Politicians, and the Vatican''.] New York: Anchor Press / Doubleday. p. 158. {{ISBN|978-0385183291}}. {{OCLC|230577909}}.</ref> In 1942 WerBell joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and served in China, Burma, and French Indochina. As a guerrilla operative during World War II, he carried out a secret mission for the OSS under the command of Paul Helliwell in China with E. Howard Hunt, Lucien Conein, John K. Singlaub and Ray Cline.<ref>Scott, Peter Dale (1987). [https://archive.org/download/the-iran-contra-connection-secret-teams-and-covert-operations-in-reagan-era-by-j/The%20Iran-Contra%20Connection%20Secret%20Teams%20and%20Covert%20Operations%20in%20Reagan%20Era%20by%20Jonathan%20Marshall%2C%20Peter%20Dale%20Scott%2C%20Jane%20Hunter%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf ''The Iran-Contra Connection Secret Teams And Covert Operations In The Reagan Era''.] Boston: South End Press (1987). p. 64. {{ISBN|0896082911}}.</ref><ref>Hunt, E. Howard (1974). ''Undercover: Memoirs of an American Secret Agent''. Berkeley, Calif.: Berkley Publishing Corporation. {{ISBN|978-0399114465}}.</ref><ref>Mintz, John (Jan. 14, 1985). [https://archive.today/20120524215923/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/main.htm "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right."] ''Washington Post''. Archived from [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/main.htm the original.]</ref><ref name = ssa>Truby, J. David (1972). ''Silencers, Snipers & Assassins: An Overview of Whispering Death''. Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press. pp. 108–110. {{ISBN|978-0873640121}}.</ref><ref name=lernoux/> Following World War II, WerBell briefly worked as the director of advertising and public relations for Rich's, a department store in Atlanta, Georgia; he left after a year to open his own PR firm.<ref name=dunkin>Dunkin, Tom (Jan. 1, 1980). [https://www.mac-11.info/files/articles/SOF80_Cobray.pdf "Cobray: Turning the Tables on Terrorists."] ''Soldier of Fortune'', vol. 5, no. 1. [https://www.mac-11.info/files/articles/SOF80_Cobray.pdf pp. 46–50.]</ref>

==SIONICS== After WerBell closed his PR firm to design suppressors for firearms, he incorporated SIONICS to design suppressors for the M16 rifle. The name was an acronym for "Studies In the Operational Negation of Insurgents and Counter-Subversion". Through SIONICS he developed a low cost, efficient suppressor for machine guns.

In 1967, he partnered with Gordon B. Ingram, inventor of the MAC-10 submachine gun. They added WerBell's suppressor to Ingram's machinegun and attempted to market it to the U.S. military as "Whispering Death" for use in the Vietnam War.<ref name="TT">{{cite book| last = Long| first = Duncan| title = Terrifying Three: Uzi, Ingram And Intratec Weapons Families| publisher = Paladin Press| year = 1989| pages = 25–31| location = Boulder, Colorado| isbn = 978-0-87364-523-2 }}</ref> WerBell is credited with over 25 different suppressor designs and the "WerBell Relief Valve", a mechanism designed for machinegun suppressors.<ref name=ssa/> WerBell's modular designs and use of exotic materials such as titanium in sound suppressors influence their design to the present day.<ref name=ssa/>

SIONICS was absorbed by Military Armament Corporation (MAC), later called Cobray, where WerBell developed a training center for counterterrorism in the 1970s. The courses lasted 11 weeks and students included members of the military, high-risk executives, CIA agents, and private individuals.<ref name=dunkin/> WerBell concurrently ran Defense Systems International, an arms brokerage firm.

==Mercenary activities== In the 1950s, WerBell served as a security advisor to Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and to the Batista regime in Cuba.

According to FBI archives, WerBell may have attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Mitchell WerBell III Part 01 (Final) |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/mitchell-werbell-iii/Mitchell%20WerBell%20III%20Part%2001%20(Final)/view |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref>

In 1965 WerBell allegedly played a large part in planning the US intervention in the Dominican Civil War, codenamed 'Operation Power Pack'. The intervention was largely successful in restoring order on the island.

WerBell helped plan an invasion of Haiti by Cuban and Haitian exiles against "Papa Doc" François Duvalier in 1966 called Project Nassau (but internally referred to as Operation Istanbul). The mission, which, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the House Commerce Committee, was financially subsidized, and to be filmed by CBS News, was aborted when the participants were arrested by the FBI. WerBell was released without being charged.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081001221315/http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_091/TECH_V091_S0103_P006.pdf "Agnew Assails CBS Special"]. ''The Tech'', March 23, 1971. p. 6. Archived from [http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_091/TECH_V091_S0103_P006.pdf the original] October 1, 2008.</ref>

In 1971 he co-founded the Miami-based arms sales company Parabellum Corporation with his friend Gerry Patrick Hemming and the Cuban exile Anselmo Alliegro.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Krüger |first1=Henrik |title=The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence & International Fascism |date=1980 |page=182 |publisher=South End Press}}</ref> In 1972, WerBell was approached by the Abaco Independence Movement (AIM) from the Abaco Islands, a region of the Bahamas, who were worried about the direction the Bahamas were taking and were considering other options, such as independence or remaining a separate Commonwealth nation under the Crown in case of the Bahamas gaining independence (which they did in 1973). AIM was funded by the Phoenix Foundation, a group that helps to build micronations. The AIM collapsed into internal bickering before a coup by WerBell could be carried out.<ref>Naylor, Robin T. ''Wages of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance and the Underworld Economy''. Cornell University Press (2002).</ref>

In 1973, WerBell was asked to assist with a ''coup d'état'' against Omar Torrijos of Panama, according to CIA documents released in 1993. WerBell sought clearance from the CIA which denied getting involved in coups. The plan was not implemented.<ref>Corn, David. [https://archive.org/download/corn-david.-secrets-from-the-c.-i.-a.-archives.-the-nation-vol.-257-no.-18-nov.-29-1993-pp.-656-660/Corn%2C%20David.%20%22Secrets%20from%20the%20C.I.A.%20Archives.%22%20The%20Nation%2C%20vol.%20257%2C%20no.%2018%20%28Nov.%2029%2C%201993%29%2C%20pp.%20656%E2%80%93660.pdf "Secrets from the C.I.A. Archives."] ''The Nation'', vol. 257, no. 18 (Nov. 29, 1993), pp. 656–660. {{ProQuest|231524760}}.</ref> In 1977, at the suggestion of Roy Frankhouser, WerBell was hired by Lyndon LaRouche as his head of security.<ref>{{cite book |last1=George |first1=John |title=Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe: Political Extremism in America |date=1992 |publisher=Prometheus Books |page=320}}</ref>

In a 1979 ''20/20'' interview WerBell claimed that Coca-Cola had hired him for $1&nbsp;million to take care of kidnapping threats against its Argentine executives during an urban terrorist wave in 1973. Coca-Cola later denied the claim.<ref name = dunkin/><ref>Louis. "How Coke Runs a Foreign Empire." ''Business Week'' (Aug. 15, 1973), p. 41.</ref>

In a 1981 interview, WerBell revealed he was about to break with the U.S. Labor Party, whose security staff he had been training at his Powder Springs, Georgia estate.<ref>''Critique'' (Spring 1981)</ref>

Later in life WerBell claimed he was a retired Lieutenant General in the Royal Free Afghan Army or sometimes an Afghan Defense Minister after supplying Afghanistan with large weapons contracts and training.<ref>{{cite book| last = Didion| first = Joan| title = We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction| publisher = Knopf| year = 2006| pages = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780307264879/page/651 651–652]| isbn = 978-0-307-26487-9| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780307264879/page/651}}</ref> WerBell claimed he was given the billet of Major General in the US Army to allow him to travel freely in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War to demonstrate and sell his silenced submachineguns and sound suppressors. This has been confirmed by Major General John Singlaub and Lt Col. William Mozey.<ref>{{Cite video | people = Major General John Singlaub, Mitch WerBell, Lt Col. William Mozey | title = American Mercenaries: The Story of Mitch WerBell | medium = video | publisher = Brigade Quartermasters | location = Powder Springs, Georgia | date = 1984}}</ref>

===Other exploits=== WerBell and Mario Sandoval Alarcón's associate Leonel Sisniega Otero plotted a coup in Guatemala that failed in 1982.<ref>Scott, Peter Dale. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/29766330 "Contragate: Reagan, Foreign Money, and the Contra Deal."] ''Crime and Social Justice'', no. 27/28, Contragate and Counter Terrorism: A Global Perspective (1987), p. 137. {{JSTOR|29766330}}.</ref>

In 1988, Sheriff Sherman Block of Los Angeles announced that ''Hustler'' publisher Larry Flynt wrote WerBell a $1&nbsp;million check in 1983 to kill Hugh Hefner (founder of ''Playboy''), Bob Guccione (founder of ''Penthouse''), Walter Annenberg (owner of Triangle Publications), and Frank Sinatra.<ref name=LAT/> Los Angeles television station KNBC displayed a photocopy of the check.<ref name=LAT/> WerBell died at the UCLA medical facility in Los Angeles on December 16, a month after receiving the check.<ref name="LAT">{{Cite web |last=Freed |first=David |date=1988-10-27 |title=Alleged Flynt Plot to Have Sinatra, 3 Others Slain Revealed |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-27-me-420-story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250628200744/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-27-me-420-story.html |archive-date=June 28, 2025 |access-date=2025-06-28 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Stern, Gary. "Sheriff: Flynt Offered $1M for Slayings." ''USA TODAY'' (Oct. 27, 1988), p. 03A.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1983-12-19 |title=Mitchell Livingston WerBell III Obituary |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/12/19/5c79a35d-b5bc-4900-977b-a019d0b3669f/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250509182905/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/12/19/5c79a35d-b5bc-4900-977b-a019d0b3669f/ |archive-date=May 9, 2025 |access-date=2025-05-09 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en}}</ref>

===Death and courtroom poisoning claim=== In the 1989 ''Cotton Club'' murder case of Roy Radin, Arthur Michael Pascal, then owner of a Beverly Hills security firm,<ref name=MC>Connelly, Michael (Nov. 17, 1991). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210914034445/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-17-me-525-story.html "Slaying Case Takes a New Twist With Security Firm Owner's Arrest Crime: A. Michael Pascal is charged with arranging the 1984 killing of a prostitute in Van Nuys. He'll be arraigned Monday."] ''Los Angeles Times'' (Nov. 17, 1991), [https://web.archive.org/web/20210914034445/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-17-me-525-story.html p. 3.]</ref> testified that prosecution witness William Rider, Flynt's former brother-in-law and private security agent,<ref name=MC/> "told him of poisoning soldier of fortune Mitchell WerBell III in 1983 in order to take over WerBell's counterterrorist school based in Atlanta. Pascal said that Rider and Flynt poured four to six ounces of a digoxin, a powerful heart relaxant, into WerBell's drink during a cocktail party at Flynt's Los Angeles mansion. WerBell, 65, a security consultant for Flynt, died of a heart attack at UCLA Medical Center a few days later."<ref name=DM/> Flynt and his attorney, Alan Isaacman, were in Bangkok and "unavailable for comment, according to a ''Hustler'' magazine spokeswoman".<ref name=DM/> "Isaacman characterized an earlier Rider claim of a Flynt-paid murder contract as 'fantasy.'"<ref name=DM/> Rider passed a polygraph test regarding "possible involvement in homicides," according to courtroom testimony.<ref name=DM>McDougal, Dennis. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210914033728/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-30-me-2932-story.html "'Cotton Club' Witness Linked to Two Murders."] ''Los Angeles Times'' (Jun. 20, 1989), [https://web.archive.org/web/20210914033728/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-30-me-2932-story.html p. 3.]</ref> Pascal was later arraigned on a murder charge in 1991 due to tapes Rider provided investigators.<ref name=MC/> In 1993, Pascal pleaded guilty to killing a prostitute.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tamaki |first=Julie |date=1993-10-13 |title=Investigator Pleads No Contest in Prostitute's Death |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-13-me-45201-story.html |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also== *SIONICS *Cobray Company *Military Armament Corporation (MAC)

==References== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * Hougan, Jim (1978). [https://archive.org/download/spooks-the-haunting-of-america-the-private-use-of-secret-agents-by-jim-hougan-william-morrow-1978/Spooks%20-%20The%20Haunting%20of%20America%E2%80%94The%20Private%20Use%20of%20Secret%20Agents%2C%20by%20Jim%20Hougan%20%28William%20Morrow%2C%201978%29.pdf ''Spooks: The Haunting of America & the Private Use of Secret Agents''.] New York: William Morrow. {{ISBN|978-0688033552}}.

==Further reading== * AP (Dec. 18, 1983). [https://web.archive.org/web/20180720054422/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/18/obituaries/mitchell-livingston-werbell-anti-communist-arms-dealer.html "Mitchell Livingston WerBell: Anti-Communist Arms Dealer."] ''New York Times''. p. 52. Archived from [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/18/obituaries/mitchell-livingston-werbell-anti-communist-arms-dealer.html the original.] * Eringer, Robert (1986). [https://archive.org/download/interview-with-the-antiterrorist-by-robert-eringer-saga-1986-pp.-6-9/Interview%20with%20the%20Antiterrorist%20%2C%20by%20Robert%20Eringer%20%28SAGA%2C%201986%29%20pp.%206-9.pdf "Interview With the Antiterrorist."] Interview with Mitchell L. WerBell III. ''SAGA'' (magazine). [https://archive.org/download/interview-with-the-antiterrorist-by-robert-eringer-saga-1986-pp.-6-9/Interview%20with%20the%20Antiterrorist%20%2C%20by%20Robert%20Eringer%20%28SAGA%2C%201986%29%20pp.%206-9.pdf pp. 6-9.] [http://www.atomiclabrat.com/MAC%20Pages%20for%20Atomic%20Lab%20Rat.com/WerBell_Interview_SAGA_86%5B1%5D.pdf Archived.] * Brown, Robert K., Lt. Col. (ret.) (Feb. 14, 2024). [https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/mitchell-livingston-werbell/491353 "Mitchell Livingston Werbell, III."] ''Firearms News''.

==External links== * [https://archive.org/download/MitchellLivingstonWerBell/Mitchell%20Livingston%20WerBell%20III.pdf FBI files] at Internet Archive released in response to FOIA requests and appeals on behalf of Alan Jules Weberman * [https://www.spartacus-educational.com/JFKwerbell.htm Biography] at Spartacus Educational * [https://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2pnassau.html Cuban Exiles - Project Nassau documents] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081001221315/http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_091/TECH_V091_S0103_P006.pdf Related newspaper article from MIT archives: Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the House Commerce Committee] Archived from [http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_091/TECH_V091_S0103_P006.pdf the original] on October 1, 2008. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVHQ8bOC4gg American Mercenaries: The True Story of Mitchell L. WerBell III] (documentary)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werbell, Mitchell}} Category:1918 births Category:1983 deaths Category:Arms traders Category:American anti-communists Category:American mercenaries Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Firearm designers Category:People from Philadelphia Category:People of the Office of Strategic Services