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Soon to be a TV movie:

The following article in reference to Col. Sabow is very good information and background on the "murder" and coverup.
For those who have express interest in this case, I have been asked to post the following link to the article from May of 2008, as found in "CounterPunch. I have been asked by many to post the link:

CounterPunch:

Business Office
PO Box 228, Petrolia, CA 95558
Tells The Facts and names The names

The Story of a 15 - Year Pentagon Cover-Up
The Murder of Colonel Sabow
By James G. Abourezk
May 1-15, 2008 Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair vol. 15, no. 9

Author James G. Abourezk is a lawyer practicing in South Dakota. He is a former United States senator and the author of two books, "Advise and Dissent", and a co-
author of "Through Different Eyes.". He can
be reached at georgepatton@alyajames. net.


http://colonelsabow.com/Files/vol%2015%20no%209.pdf

".... On January 22, 1991, the wife
of Marine Corps Col. James
Sabow found him shot dead in
the backyard of their base housing unit at
the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro,
California. Naval Investigators sent to
the death scene immediately pronounced
his death a suicide and just as quickly
notified Dr. David Sabow, the Colonel’s
brother, of their conclusion.
Any nonprofessional taking a first
look at the scene could easily come to
that same conclusion. Col. Sabow’s body,
in pajamas and bathrobe, was found
lying on his right side, with a lawn chair
perched on top of his body. The shotgun
that caused his death was lying under his
body. But these were not amateur inves-
tigators. The Navy had sent professional
crime scene investigators to inquire into
the death of Col. Sabow, but what these
professionals overlooked – whether de-
liberately or through incompetence – was
evidence that Col. Sabow had been blud-
geoned, after which a shotgun was placed
in his mouth by the killers, who pulled the
shotgun’s trigger, then arranged the body
to make it look like a suicide. Dr. Sabow
conducted his own investigation and
found from the autopsy records evidence
of a massive skull fracture over the right
ear, clearly showing that his brother had
been clubbed over the head, following
which the scene was arranged to make
it look like a suicide. Dr. Sabow shared
much of the critical autopsy findings with
competent university medical experts
who came to the same conclusion.
This more accurate evidence, as well
as additional findings and the conclu-
sions that followed, all came together fif-
teen years later, in 2005, when Dr. David
Sabow ultimately hired a forensic scien-
tist to re-examine the crime scene and
the evidence. What spurred Dr. Sabow’s
hiring of Bryan Burnett, the independent
forensic scientist, was the issuance of a
newly written report by Dr. Jon Nordby,
who had been hired by the Pentagon
under a mandate from Congress to re-in-
vestigate the killing.

Nordby’s investigation changed noth-
ing from the government’s point of view,
only confirming the earlier Pentagon
conclusion that, in the face of all evi-
dence to the contrary, Col. Sabow’s death
was suicide. However, using modern
scientific methods to re-enact what had
actually happened, Burnett concluded
that, without question, Col. Sabow, in-
deed, had been murdered. Burnett also
concluded from the crime scene evidence
that at least three people were involved
in the murder. These are conclusions the
Pentagon has been desperately trying to
avoid ever since Col. Sabow’s death.
Colonel James Sabow was a veteran
Marine Corps pilot who had survived
over 200 combat missions during the
Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star for
valor. The colonel’s brother, Dr. David
Sabow, is a neurologist who has practiced
medicine in Rapid City, South Dakota,
for the last 25 years. As the Pentagon has
learned the hard way, he is someone who
is not easily deterred.
In his third year in college in 1961, Dr.
Sabow was injured in a water-skiing ac-
cident which rendered him a total quad-
riplegic. Since then, with a partial recov-
ery of some of his motor functions, he is
now able to move around in a motorized
wheelchair, which he has learned to navi-
gate with seemingly great ease.

Since that day in January 1991, when
the Naval investigators called to tell him
his brother committed suicide, Dr. Sabow
has spent many of his waking moments
gathering evidence to prove something
he knew instinctively – that his brother
would not have killed himself, and that
someone other than his brother had
fired the shotgun. His determination to
prove that it was murder and not suicide
has cost him his life savings, most of his
earnings, and, as a final blow, he is now
being forced to sell his home nestled in
the Black Hills of western South Dakota
to pay for the accumulated debts he has
incurred over the years. The burden that
the case has laid over him and his family
is one that is difficult to describe.
Dr. Sabow has lived in nearly per-
petual outrage, not only because of the
murder itself but also because of the 15-
year Pentagon cover-up. Military officials
have surpassed themselves in their efforts
to deny the charges that Col. Sabow was
murdered – denials which have only in-
creased Dr. Sabow’s resolve to prove otherwise.

In March of 1991, at the beginning of
the investigation, both Dr. Sabow and
Col. Sabow’s widow, Sally, were warned,
with threats of dire sanctions, by General
Adams that they should not speak to the
news media.....".

The Murder? (go to web link for conclusion of article)

http://colonelsabow.com/Files/vol%2015%20no%209.pdf
Thanks for this Tosh. I recieved an email about this from Dr Sabow yesterday and was going to contact him about it. Good to see a movie about the murder of Col Sabow. It will bring the truth to a much wider audience and with any luck get the wheels of justice moving.
Magda; Perhaps this is old stuff for some. However, I think this background information is an important matter in reference as to WHY the Col. was killed. Most of the following has been classified in detail. However, some of this information has been in print and is in the public domain, thus in general not classified:

I post it here in order to help a new breed of researcher-- who have as yet not been contaminated by some of the self appointed experts on these matters or those special interest pawns in the CIA who act as, "clean-up" artist in behalf of various elements of the Federal government.

"... The Motive behind the murder of Col. Sabow.

There is no definite evidence with re- spect to who the murderer or murderers are. There is only suspicion, and given the government’s frenzied efforts to cover up the killing, ultimately finding the guilty party or parties will not be easy.
David Sabow believes that his brother, Col. Sabow, was part of a Marine Corps operation flying weapons to South America as part of the arms-for-drugs operation in the Reagan era, designed to supply the Contras subsidized by the U.S.A. He is also convinced that, not long before his murder, his brother learned of the senior Marine Corps officers who were involved in bringing illegal drugs back into the country.
C-123 cargo planes were geared up so they could fly weapons south to Colombia and to bring back illegal drugs on the return trip to the United States. Once converted, the C-123s were flown to El Toro Marine Air Station, where a senior officer would authorize the planes to be re-fueled at night, and then sent to the Southern Mexico weapons dump to transfer on to Columbia. On the return trip from Columbia, the C-123s brought cocaine back to El Toro, always at night, where the drugs were unloaded.

(parts of testimony to the Senate is still classified. The following is a rough recap of events before various details were classified and are found hidden in dark places of the public domain.)

".......
Tosh Plumlee, one of the civilian pilots running guns for the U.S. government in the 1980s, has told this writer that he made a number of operationally approved trips to Latin America, trips that were described as “sanctioned drug interdiction operations.” These trips were approved by military intelligence personnel attached to the Pentagon, with CIA logistical support. They were made in
total secrecy to the extent that other government agencies were not aware of the existence of these flights, or of the operation. The pilots were given a specific coded transponder number to squawk so their aircraft would not be challenged by U.S. Customs aircraft when patrolling the U.S. border.
When, in the 1980s, the 82nd and 101st Airborne were sent to Costa Rica for maneuvers, a great deal of weapons were sent with them. However, some of the weapons did not return to the United States and were later taken off the books by the military, marked as either lost or destroyed and reported to the Government Accounting Office as such. Plumlee and other pilots have testified to Congress that they were working for a secret U.S. military intelligence operation that clandestinely sent them from the United States to bring back the so-called damaged and disappeared weapons for
retrofitting and repair.
When the weapons were repaired and tested at China Lake and Twentynine Palms, in California, they were staged and once again flown back from El Toro Marine Air Base to Latin America, via Mexico, to be supplied to the Contras, the American-financed rebel group seek- ing to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
The aircraft used by this group were designated as “cutouts” and certified as belonging to the U.S. Forest Service’s air- craft fleet, but they were controlled by U.S. military intelligence, and contracted by civilian operators for whom Plumlee and other pilots worked. These pilots used secret air bases in Costa Rica, as well as on the notorious John Hall Ranch, as unloading and staging areas for the illegal weapons. They also used hidden runways in Costa Rica and El Salvador, controlled by the drug cartel, which then allowed them to bring into the United States drugs on the return trips.
These flyways and airstrips were secretly recorded by undercover flight crews and reported to various government interdiction agencies in the United States. In 1986, an early operation known by the code name, “Penetrate,” was shut down because of the politically explosive Iran-Contra matter. In 1990, however, there was still a covert weapons operation – detailed above – that continued to fly weapons to Latin America, mostly to Bogota, Columbia, which allowed the group to bring back illegal drugs into the United States via Mexico. These flyways and staging areas in Mexico were duly noted by undercover pilots and passed on to CIA and DEA personnel. According to Plumlee, an American DEA agent from Guadalajara, Mexico, by the name of Kiki Camarena, was killed because of his knowledge concerning the “CIA-Mexico” thing, as it was widely known among the covert civilian pilots.
Plumlee states that the word being spread from military personnel at El Toro through his group was that Col. Sabow had discovered illegal flights coming into El Toro Marine Air Base at 2 or 3 a.m., obviously carrying illegal contraband, and that he intended to blow the whistle. He had also heard that Col. Sabow was going to be relieved of his duties because of his intention to report the drug shipments.
Plumlee is convinced that Col. Sabow was murdered to silence him.
It is highly probable that Col. Sabow
became aware of the night flights into El Toro, as his base housing was on the landing flight path.
A serious hitch in the operation came when a new loadmaster assigned to El Toro complained about the unregistered planes landing at night and demanded that they be registered, but a senior officer ordered him to shut up and to stop insisting on registration. The loadmaster complained to the inspector general, which prompted the IG to come to El Toro for an investigation.
Dr. Sabow believes the inspector
general was making an effort to force the officers under suspicion to resign for the good of the Corps. But because Col. Sabow knew he was clean so far as drug shipments were concerned, instead of quietly accepting the accusations, he planned to insist that a court martial be convened in order to clear his name. He was willing to expose the operation that sent American weapons into Latin America on American cargo aircraft, and he would prove that he had no hand in bringing illegal drugs into the country on return trips.
Sally Sabow, Col. Sabow’s wife, has told her brother in law that the day before her husband was killed, a senior officer had walked into Col. Sabow’s home, and, dur- ing a conversation overheard by her, she saw the officer shaking his finger in Col. Sabow’s face, shouting, “You will never go to a court martial". ...".
Tosh Plumlee Wrote:Magda; Perhaps this is old stuff for some. However, I think this background information is an important matter in reference as to WHY the Col. was killed. Most of the following has been classified in detail. However, some of this information has been in print and is in the public domain, thus in general not classified:

I post it here in order to help a new breed of researcher-- who have as yet not been contaminated by some of the self appointed experts on these matters or those special interest pawns in the CIA who act as, "clean-up" artist in behalf of various elements of the Federal government.

"... The Motive behind the murder of Col. Sabow.

There is no definite evidence with re- spect to who the murderer or murderers are. There is only suspicion, and given the government’s frenzied efforts to cover up the killing, ultimately finding the guilty party or parties will not be easy.
David Sabow believes that his brother, Col. Sabow, was part of a Marine Corps operation flying weapons to South America as part of the arms-for-drugs operation in the Reagan era, designed to supply the Contras subsidized by the U.S.A. He is also convinced that, not long before his murder, his brother learned of the senior Marine Corps officers who were involved in bringing illegal drugs back into the country.
C-123 cargo planes were geared up so they could fly weapons south to Colombia and to bring back illegal drugs on the return trip to the United States. Once converted, the C-123s were flown to El Toro Marine Air Station, where a senior officer would authorize the planes to be re-fueled at night, and then sent to the Southern Mexico weapons dump to transfer on to Columbia. On the return trip from Columbia, the C-123s brought cocaine back to El Toro, always at night, where the drugs were unloaded.

(parts of testimony to the Senate is still classified. The following is a rough recap of events before various details were classified and are found hidden in dark places of the public domain.)

".......
Tosh Plumlee, one of the civilian pilots running guns for the U.S. government in the 1980s, has told this writer that he made a number of operationally approved trips to Latin America, trips that were described as “sanctioned drug interdiction operations.” These trips were approved by military intelligence personnel attached to the Pentagon, with CIA logistical support. They were made in
total secrecy to the extent that other government agencies were not aware of the existence of these flights, or of the operation. The pilots were given a specific coded transponder number to squawk so their aircraft would not be challenged by U.S. Customs aircraft when patrolling the U.S. border.
When, in the 1980s, the 82nd and 101st Airborne were sent to Costa Rica for maneuvers, a great deal of weapons were sent with them. However, some of the weapons did not return to the United States and were later taken off the books by the military, marked as either lost or destroyed and reported to the Government Accounting Office as such. Plumlee and other pilots have testified to Congress that they were working for a secret U.S. military intelligence operation that clandestinely sent them from the United States to bring back the so-called damaged and disappeared weapons for
retrofitting and repair.
When the weapons were repaired and tested at China Lake and Twentynine Palms, in California, they were staged and once again flown back from El Toro Marine Air Base to Latin America, via Mexico, to be supplied to the Contras, the American-financed rebel group seek- ing to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
The aircraft used by this group were designated as “cutouts” and certified as belonging to the U.S. Forest Service’s air- craft fleet, but they were controlled by U.S. military intelligence, and contracted by civilian operators for whom Plumlee and other pilots worked. These pilots used secret air bases in Costa Rica, as well as on the notorious John Hall Ranch, as unloading and staging areas for the illegal weapons. They also used hidden runways in Costa Rica and El Salvador, controlled by the drug cartel, which then allowed them to bring into the United States drugs on the return trips.
These flyways and airstrips were secretly recorded by undercover flight crews and reported to various government interdiction agencies in the United States. In 1986, an early operation known by the code name, “Penetrate,” was shut down because of the politically explosive Iran-Contra matter. In 1990, however, there was still a covert weapons operation – detailed above – that continued to fly weapons to Latin America, mostly to Bogota, Columbia, which allowed the group to bring back illegal drugs into the United States via Mexico. These flyways and staging areas in Mexico were duly noted by undercover pilots and passed on to CIA and DEA personnel. According to Plumlee, an American DEA agent from Guadalajara, Mexico, by the name of Kiki Camarena, was killed because of his knowledge concerning the “CIA-Mexico” thing, as it was widely known among the covert civilian pilots.
Plumlee states that the word being spread from military personnel at El Toro through his group was that Col. Sabow had discovered illegal flights coming into El Toro Marine Air Base at 2 or 3 a.m., obviously carrying illegal contraband, and that he intended to blow the whistle. He had also heard that Col. Sabow was going to be relieved of his duties because of his intention to report the drug shipments.
Plumlee is convinced that Col. Sabow was murdered to silence him.
It is highly probable that Col. Sabow
became aware of the night flights into El Toro, as his base housing was on the landing flight path.
A serious hitch in the operation came when a new loadmaster assigned to El Toro complained about the unregistered planes landing at night and demanded that they be registered, but a senior officer ordered him to shut up and to stop insisting on registration. The loadmaster complained to the inspector general, which prompted the IG to come to El Toro for an investigation.
Dr. Sabow believes the inspector
general was making an effort to force the officers under suspicion to resign for the good of the Corps. But because Col. Sabow knew he was clean so far as drug shipments were concerned, instead of quietly accepting the accusations, he planned to insist that a court martial be convened in order to clear his name. He was willing to expose the operation that sent American weapons into Latin America on American cargo aircraft, and he would prove that he had no hand in bringing illegal drugs into the country on return trips.
Sally Sabow, Col. Sabow’s wife, has told her brother in law that the day before her husband was killed, a senior officer had walked into Col. Sabow’s home, and, dur- ing a conversation overheard by her, she saw the officer shaking his finger in Col. Sabow’s face, shouting, “You will never go to a court martial". ...".

Thanks Tosh. Please tell whoever is in charge to put it up on the internet, after it is broadcast, so a much larger audience can see it and see it again and again with attached information to follow-up on.
Web link to article:

file:///Users/williamplumlee/Downloads/attachments_2010_02_10/Who%20Killed%20Colonel%20James%20E.%20Sabow,%20USMC%3F%20:%20Veterans%20Today.webarchive

Who Killed Colonel James E. Sabow, USMC?
January 23, 2010 by Robert ODowd · 4 Comments
Nineteen years ago today, a Marine Corps Colonel was murdered at MCAS El Toro, California. His brother has relentlessly pursued the investigation of his death for all of these years. Guns, drugs, and a government cover-up make this a perfect crime.
(IRVINE, CA) – On January 22, 1991, Marine Colonel James E. Sabow, age 51, was found dead by his wife in the backyard of his quarters at MCAS El Toro, California. The Orange County Coroner ruled the death a suicide. Investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) reported suicide as the cause of death. However, on a review of the autopsy reports and other evidence, his family and other medical professionals and forensic experts strongly disagree. Dr. David Sabow, a neurologist from Rapid City, South Dakota, continues the effort to clear his brother’s name, devoting much of the past 19 years and his personal financial resources to this cause.
Dr. Sabow provides support and convincing arguments that Colonel Sabow was clubbed to death in his backyard and then shot in the head with his own shotgun to suggest suicide. The motive for the murder was to stop Colonel Sabow from exposing criminal weapons and drug smuggling from and to military bases (See: http://www.colonelsabow.com/).
After hearing this story from another Marine veteran, I have to admit at first that I was skeptical and unconvinced of a government cover-up of the murder of decorated Marine Corps officer. My view of government conspiracies involving the deaths of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, MKULTRA and even 911 is there mostly grist for cheap paperback novels.
However, after reading the accounts of Colonel Sabow’s tragic death now I’m not so sure.
Why would a Marine Colonel, happily married and the father of two children, with 28 years in the Marine Corps who had faced death countless times with 221 combat missions in an A-6 Intruder in Vietnam and no medical history of depression or PTSD take his own life and not even leave a suicide note?
Colonel Sabow, described by other officers who knew him as a straight as an arrow Marine, objected to the illegal transit of drugs on unmarked C-130 aircraft.
Relieved of his duties by Brigadier General Adams, Commanding General, MCAS El Toro, for some minor infraction of the rules and pressured to retire from the Marines, he told senior Marine officers that he would disclose all he knew about the shipment of guns for drugs at a court martial.

MCAS El Toro Closed in July '99
The unmarked C-130s unloaded their drug cargo in the Marine Wing Support Group 37 area in the southwest quadrant of the base in the early morning hours. This is the most industrialized portion of the base. Coincidentally, I know the area well. As a young Marine in the 1960s, I worked in one of the two huge maintenance hangars in MWSG-37. Even after 40 plus years, I still remember the distinctive sound of the C-130 turboprops keeping me awake in the early morning hours on duty watch in the hangar.
Marines were told to stay away from this portion of the base. David Hoffman reported that a Sgt. Robinson, a former El Toro Marine MP, and Captain Harries, the El Toro Provost Marshall, were told by Colonel Joseph Underwood, Chief of Staff, MCAS El Toro, when the subject of C-130s landing at the base late at night to: ‘Keep your ass off the airstrip at night. Leave those airplanes alone. Don’t go near them. Don’t worry about them.’ (See: http://www.american-buddha.com/semper.fidelis.htm )
According to Dr. Sabow: “Colonel Sabow was Chief of Operations for Marine Air, Western Area. Shortly before his death, he learned of criminal activity by higher officials at El Toro Marine Air Base and others, involving illegal weapon shipments to Latin America, and drug shipments into various military bases on the return flights. He was intent on exposing these activities. The cover-up involves the DOD, the FBI and others.”
Guns for Drugs
The involvement of the CIA in drug trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration as part of the Contra war in Nicaragua was the subject of several official and journalistic investigations since the mid-1980s.
In 1987, the Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and International Operations, led by Senator John Kerry, launched an investigation of contra-drug links:
”The logic of having drug money pay for pressings needs of the Contras appealed to a number of people who became involved in the covert war. Indeed, senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contra’s funding problems.”
“As DEA officials testified last July before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Lt. Col Oliver North suggested to the DEA in June 1985 that $1.5 million in drug money carried aboard a plane piloted by DEA informant Barry Seal and generated in a sting of the Medellin Cartel and Sandinista officials, be provided to the Contras. While the suggestion was rejected by the DEA, the fact that it was made highlights the potential appeal of drug profits for persons engaged in covert activity.”
“Lotz [the head of the Costa Rican Air Force and personal pilot to two presidents] said that Contra operations on the Southern Front were in fact funded by drug operations. He testified that weapons for the Contras came from Panama on small planes carrying mixed loads which included drugs. The pilots unloaded the weapons, refueled, and headed north toward the U.S. with drugs.” (See: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/ccc5_1.gif ) \
In fact, there’s evidence that El Toro was used as transient point for drug shipments into the United States. David Hoffman quotes testimony from a June 5, 1996, Defense Department Office of the Inspector General report: “Mr. [Gene] Wheaton alleged that MCAS El Toro was being used in support of a legal covert activity that had been undertaken by a U.S. intelligence agency under the cover of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program named “Screw Worm,” allegedly a program to eradicate the screw worm in Mexico. Mr. Wheaton also alleged that the covert operation was actually legitimately providing weapons, ammunition and other material to the Government of Peru in their struggle against guerrilla forces know as the “Shining Path.” Mr. Wheaton further alleged that a number of individuals involved in this covert operation were concurrently conducting an illegal covert operation whereby they were smuggling additional weapons, ammunition and material to Peru. The individuals were allegedly selling the weapons, ammunition and material to the Shining Path as well as to the Government of Peru, for money and narcotics. The money and narcotics were then allegedly smuggled back into the United States and air dropped at remote locations on military installations in the western part of the United States…. Mr. Wheaton further alleged that this operation continued until approximately the time of Col. Sabow’s death.” (See: http://www.american-buddha.com/semper.fidelis.htm#fn34 )
So in effective, the motive for Colonel Sabow’s murder was to prevent him from disclosing the use of former military aircraft to illegally ship guns for drugs. This all sounds too familiar. It all goes back to the green. Based on the information reported by Dr. Sabow, David Hoffman and others on the internet, there’s enough evidence for a motive to murder.
Forensic Evidence Supports Murder
I’m not a trained forensic expert or even an amateur ‘Sherlock Homes,’ but the evidence to support murder as presented by Dr. David Sabow appears overwhelming (See: http://colonelsabow.com/evidence.html ).
In my view, some of the damming evidence supporting the murder of this officer are:
1. Head Contusion: The body of Colonel Sabow showed “an orange-sized contusion existed behind the right ear and extended downward to the neck.” The autopsy showed a massive blood clot…within that swollen area and between the scalp and skull. Skull x-rays were taken and showed a large depressed skull fracture under the blood clot with the fragment pressed inward over 3/4 in. deep. Since the victim was alleged to have shot himself in the mouth, any displaced fragments should have been blown outward not inward.” And, “X-rays showed that there were no shotgun pellets nor bone spicules within the blood clot.” The conclusion was “the swelling (contusion) of the back of the head and the depressed skull fracture is characteristic of an external blunt force applied to the right occipital area of the skull. It is inconsistent with an intaoral shotgun wound.” In short, Colonel Sabow was hit on the head by someone intent on killing him or at the very least knocking him unconscious.
2. Skull X-Ray: Skull x-rays taken at the Orange County Medical Examiner’s facility show a “large depressed occipital skull fracture.” The x-rays were reviewed by university medical specialists. “A conference at the University of Minnesota consisting of three Professors of Neuroradiology and three Professors of Neurosurgery evaluated these x-rays and corresponding autopsy photos. Their conclusions were: the fracture was from blunt force inflicted to the right posterior skull; the fracture could not have occurred as a result of the gunshot; from a review of the photos, it was apparent that the blunt force occurred prior to death.”
3. Fingerprints: There are no fingerprints on the 12 gauge Ithaca shotgun found under the body of Colonel Sabow. As related by Dr. Sabow, the “gun was stored in a scabbard-style gun case on a shelf in a vacant bedroom.” If Colonel Sabow shot himself, he would have had to remove the gun from the scabbard, carry the gun through the house from the garage to the backyard; place the gun on a counter in the garage and open a cabinet and remove a box filled with ammunition and place it on the counter; select two shells from one of boxes; break open the shotgun and load the shells into the chamber; close the shotgun and place it on the counter; replace the box of ammunition in the cabinet and reclasp the cabinet; carry the gun across the yard; place the butt of the shotgun on the ground and grasp the barrel with his left hand while reaching down with his right to depress the trigger. All of these activities would have left Colonel Sabow’s fingerprints on the shotguns. A dead man doesn’t wipe clean the weapon used to kill himself. The only reasonable conclusion is that Colonel Sabow did not pull the trigger of the shotgun.
4. Blood Filled Lungs: the autopsy report, in part, stated that “no intact brainstem could be identified” and the right lung contained “large amount of aspirated blood…hemorrhage more marked on the right side …lumens of trachea and bronchi have large amount of aspirated blood.” Dr. Sabow observed that “it is absolutely impossible to breathe without an intact brainstem. Not even a gasp! This victim was not only brain dead but, was actually, “brain absent”. Furthermore, there was “disintegration of the superior end of the spinal cord.” The victim could not have aspirated blood after being shot! The conclusion was the Colonel Sabow had to be “have been very actively breathing blood while he was still alive and, obviously, before he was shot, for death would have been instantaneous after the shot.”
5. Blow to Head: Dr. Jack Feldman, Professor of Neuroscience and Chairman of the Department of Physiologic Science at UCLA concluded: “Col. Sabow was rendered unconscious or immobile by a blow to the head that fractured the base of the skull, causing bleeding into the pharynx. Breathing continued after the injury, aspirating blood into the lung. At sometime later, a shotgun was placed in the mouth and triggered (by another party), causing death and obscuring any evidence of prior injury. I conclude that the evidence does not support …a self-inflicted gunshot wound”.
There’s no statue of limitation on murder. However, it’s doubtfull that any grand jury will ever hear any of the forensic evidence supporting homicide. The F.B.I. and Justice Department have shown no interest according to Dr. Sabow.
We don’t know the names of the killers. David Hoffman’s internet account of the murder provides the names of senior Marine Corps officers connected with Colonel Sabow’s murder.
The murder was committed on a U.S. military base in Orange County, California. There are no witnesses. MCAS El Toro was closed in July 1999. The perfect crime. Maybe. The good guys don’t always win.
Take a few moments today to remember in prayer Colonel Sabow and his family. (end)

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Comments

4 Responses to “Who Killed Colonel James E. Sabow, USMC?”
Tom Dillman says:
January 24, 2010 at 4:14 am
Well done, Bob O’Dowd. If the evidence you claim is accurate, there is no question it was murder. Whether it had to do with drugs or not, I can’t say. But in that timeframe, drugs were rampant around the El Toro and the Laguna Hills area. That crap destroyed many a family and business in Orange County, military and civilian. Of course, El Toro was off-limits to the local police.

BTW, are you any relation to the O’Dowd family in the South Seattle area?

Cheers on a well-written, thoughful article. Tom, Houston Grunt.

Reply
Robert says:
January 24, 2010 at 4:47 am
Tom,

The forensic evidence was supported by professional experts and documented by Dr. David Sabow, Colonel Jim Sabow’s brother. I have no doubt that it is accurate. The information on the drug connection and use of C-130 aircraft to transport drugs from Central and South America came from David Hoffman, investigative journalist. Dr. Sabow believes that his brother was killed to cover up the government’s drug-smuggling activities. Fantasy or fact? The issue would have been resolved in a court martial but that never happened after Colonel Sabow’s death.

No, to my knowledge I’m not related to the O’Dowd family in the Seattle area.

Reply
Tj Bronco says:
January 25, 2010 at 7:04 am
Yaa, this is an absolute. Look into the Christic Institute Lawsuit of the Eighties, that helpeed expose the Guns for drugs opereration, or more aptly named ‘The Israel, Iran, Contra, Cocaine Affair’, Or the Iran Contra Affair. Reagan 125 out of 150 questions, ‘Could not recall’. I don’t want to empower the Christics, because their lawsuit was finally thrown out as a ‘ fairy tale’ by an appeals judge who said he didn’t read it. All the money collected from the left, went, in a summary judgement, to the Right. Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Rait, Et Al, gave great performances, but the money collected had to be summarily delivered to the defendants and their lawyers. Yet, the Ayatollah, the man who alledgedly held us hostage at the Iranian embassy for four hundred plus days, during the waning days of Carter, where there were gas rationing lines, fights at the gas stations, was again, a manipulation by the ‘Right’. Right wing, conservative, Adolph loves you, right wing Republicans. Richard Secord, Gen. Singlaub, Oliver North(YA that talk radio host, like Darrel Gates, former LAPD chief, who refused to step down, inventor of SWAT, They always have a voice.), were seen to be involved,(Not Gates) in the botched rescue attempt by Carter, of our hostages in October 1981. This later, with the expose’ of the TOW missles to the Ayatollah, in the IRAN CONTRA AFFAIR, shows how some aspects of our government funds the ‘ENEMY’, to Keep the ball Rollin’. Look up how Prescott Bush was, with Union Bank funding the Nazis, while we were at war with them…there is more, just want you to savor this for a while. ANd listen to Reagans rebuff, when he found we had traded arms for hosages. IT’S HYTERICAL! Something like, “In my heart I don’t feel it’s true, although the evidence points to something different”…(Paraphrased) HAVE A NICE DAY!

Reply
Tj Bronco says:
January 25, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Wanted to correct myself. The ‘botched’ rescue attempt was October, 1980, NOT 1981. And it was a Delta Force Operation, where nine Americans died in the desert. In speaking to numerous Iranians here in America through the years, they all know about the missile deals and the fact that the Iranians in Iran, October, 1980, knew 24 hours in advance that we were coming. I do not believe, think, or hold Carter responsible for the failed attempt. There were moles and weasils within our Government. They were right wingers, and Adolph loves them. Thankyou, Sorry about the first factual error.

William Plumlee aks "Tosh" says:
February 10, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Yes. This should be looked into in detail. I did testify three times to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to Senator John Kerry and staff with documented information and detailed references. Most of the information in article above (at a later date) was given to those committees, under oath, concerning guns for drugs as well as the, “CIA Mexico Thing”, the information and testimony was “classified committee sensitive”, and remains so as of this date. Additional documentation with references was given to then Senator Gary Hart (1985*1.., and 1991) with detailed maps, names and dates noted long before the Iran Contra affair was exposed to the public. Leslie Cockburn, who wrote the book “Out of Control” (1987) and CBS producer Ty West, received detailed information concerning “Point West” aka Santa Elena Costa Rica and its “secret airfield” which was used for drug running and Contra-Resupply activities of the time: Some of these flights did route into El Torro as well as other drop points, as early as 1988 through 1991. DEA agent Ki Ki Camarena, also received most of the Senate information concerning CIA pilots and The Mexico CIA Thing, as it was called. He and his pilot Alverez were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in Mexico as a result of the exposed Mexico CIA matter.

reference *1: http://toshplumlee.info/pdf/sengaryhart.PDF

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Forensic Evidence Supports Marine Murder
March 3, 2010 by Robert ODowd · Leave a Comment
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/03/...ne-murder/
Forensic evidence supports the murder of a Marine Colonel at MCAS El Toro. Former supervisor in Orange County District Attorney's office said the Marine officer was injured by a blow to the head and while unconscious suffered a shotgun blast in the mouth.
(IRVINE, CA) – The murder of Colonel James Sabow is the story of the loss of our country's moral compass. Mounting evidence strongly indicates that "Thou shall not kill" was ignored to support the Contra War in Nicaragua and to protect the "butts" of those involved in bringing cocaine into the U.S. on former military aircraft.

Colonel James Sabow, USMC
The overwhelming forensic evidence supports murder of a senior Marine Officer to prevent him from "telling all" at a courts martial.

In an unexpected move, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) passed jurisdiction to the state of California almost 4 years ago. No action has been taken by Orange County where former Marine Corps Base El Toro, CA, is located.

The murder of Colonel James Sabow, Assistant Chief Staff, MCAS El Toro, CA, on January 22, 1991, was done in his quarters on a major Marine Corps base. The Orange County coroner ruled suicide before an investigation was completed. Subsequent independent investigations by scientific experts support murder. As expected, investigations by the Navy and the Department of Defense supported suicide.

Oliver Stone, check your voice mail! The Colonel Sabow story has all of the right ingredients for an Academy award winner. Marines, drugs, war, murder, CIA, government cover-up to name a few. It even has a made to order hero. He may not be comfortable with this, but Dr. David Sabow, brother of Col. Sabow, is the one who has carried this fight for almost 20 years.

Dr. David Sabow, South Dakota neurologist, has devoted years to investigating the murder of his older brother. He's spent several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees, private investigators, and much of his own time and energy. Now in physically poor health, he's confined to a wheel chair and no longer in medical practice.

In his own words, "he became suspicious of foul play due to a number of inconsistencies. He shared his concerns with the NCIS [Naval Criminal Investigative Service], as well as a number of senior Marine Corps officers. He became ever more suspicious when relevant documents, including the autopsy report were denied him by the Marine Corps.

Having become aware of Dr. Sabow's concerns, El Toro base commander, Brig. General Tom Adams summoned him to El Toro for a meeting. Dr. Sabow accompanied by Sally Sabow, the Colonel's widow, sat through a 5-hour vicious and grueling session. Dr. Sabow was assured that Colonel William Lucas who was the chief legal officer at El Toro at the time his brother's death, would be present to answer pertinent questions that bothered the Sabow family.

However, in his place, Colonel Wayne Rich, a Reserve Marine Corps officer, took his place. Wayne Rich turned out to be a special Assistant Attorney General from Washington and he dominated the meeting.

Both General Adams and Colonel Rich accused Colonel Sabow of being a "crook and felon" while two other Marine Corps generals in attendance, David Shuter and J.K. Davis remained silent. This, in spite of their glowing "Fitness Reports" of Colonel Sabow during his almost three decade career. Furthermore, the representatives of the NCIS, as well as General Adams and Colonel Rich, repeatedly stated: "There was not one shred of evidence, other than that proving, that Colonel Sabow committed suicide."

For the most part, Congressional committees have not been interested in Colonel Sabow's death or in any testimony from Dr. Sabow.

Dr. Sabow told us one instance where he was cut off from making remarks before a Congressional committee, "I was accompanied by Danny Sheehan [his attorney] on Sept 12, 1996, when I gave time restricted testimony at a Senate hearing chaired by Senator Dirk Kempthorn (R-Idaho). Following statements proffered by me and several others about military suicides, the various heads of criminal investigations for all the branches of the armed services gave their unrestricted "speeches" about how thorough they were. After they were finished Dirk Kempthorn invited each and everyone of them to make a closing statement. I was incensed that they had all the time they wanted for their addresses and now were given even more time of which they all took advantage. After they finished, I tried to stand and demand equal time for rebuttal. Kempthorn banged his gavel louder and louder to get me to be quiet. I refused but in the excitement I fell to the ground. I could not get up. Danny knelt next to me. Kempthorn and several other Senators walked off the elevated dais toward the audience which took several of them right past me. Not only did they not stop to help me, but Kempthorn and some others stopped 10 or 15 feet from where I was on the floor and started a conversation with General Krulack, CMC. I could not help but notice Krulack and others glance at me on the floor. Two big security guards arrived with a wheelchair a few minutes later and stayed with me until they helped me into taxi outside the Hart Senate Building. Both were large, strapping black men who complimented me on my testimony."

The Marine Corps has a proud tradition of never leaving anyone behind. The tragic death of Colonel James Sabow gave an entirely different meaning to Semper Fidelis. Colonel Sabow never gave any serious thought that his life and that of his family were at risk. He was an outstanding Marine fighter pilot. By all accounts, he was general officer material.

Born in Pittsburgh, PA, on August 5, 1939, Colonel Sabow was by every conceivable measure a highly successful Marine Corps officer with every reason to live. One of three boys whose father had been a Army flight surgeon in the WW II, he graduated from Georgetown University in 1962 and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1963. Married to the same woman for twenty-three years, the father of two children, he was in excellent physical and mental condition and at the time of his death was worth an estimated two to three million dollars according to his brother. After receiving his wings, he was assigned to an A-6 Intruder squadron in Vietnam, flew 221 combat missions, earning the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and 15 Air Medals. All of his Marine Corps fitness reports were outstanding.

There's no question that if his life was in danger, he would have been prepared to defend himself. Since he was in government quarters on a Marine Corps base, he made the tragic mistake of letting his guard down and not taking his own advice. In the later part of 1987, Colonel Sabow, concerned about the use of drugs at El Toro and Tustin, asked Captain Pete Barbee, a Mustang [former enlisted Marine], to investigate the use of drugs on the base but "not to trust anyone." Had he taken his own advice he may have been alive today.

General David Shuter gave a glowing eulogy of Colonel Sabow, in which he described him as a man "without compromise," one of the few who could give himself fully to the Corps and country and simultaneously to his family. He also described Sabow by all those in the Corps who knew him as the "straightest of straight arrows."

Contra War

During the Reagan administration, a civil war or Contra war raged in Nicaragua, pitting the left-wing Sandinista regime against CIA-financed Contra rebels. The war covered the period roughly from 1981 to 1990.
A series of CIA supported acts of sabotage without Congressional intelligence committees approval led to the passage of the Boland Amendment, which cut off appropriated funding for the Contras.

The funding of the Contra war was secured by the sale of drugs, especially cocaine which spread to epidemic proportions in the U.S. with the introduction of cheap crack cocaine in the inner cities.

For the most part, our government looked the other way, allowing the drugs to be sold, killing an untold number of citizens. Many of these were black Americans from the ghettos. If you're still unsure, just ask Congresswomen Maxine Walters, (D, CA). She can tell you from personal experience the tragic impact crack cocaine had on black Americans in Los Angeles.

"Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and then injected. Crack is the street name given to the form of cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal, which, when heated, produces vapors that are smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Congresswoman Maxine Walter knows all too well the disastrous health effects on those to become addicted to crack cocaine. According to Congresswoman Maxine Walter, "The time I spent investigating the allegations of the "Dark Alliance" series [Gary Webb's account reported in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996] led me to the undeniable conclusion that the CIA, DEA, DIA, and FBI knew about drug trafficking in South Central Los Angeles. They were either part of the trafficking or turned a blind eye to it, in an effort to fund the Contra war. I am convinced that drug money played an important role in the Contra war and that drug money was used by both sides."

Dr. Sabow met with Maxine Walter in 1996. He told us that: "I appeared with Maxine Waters at a rally that was organized by a group headed by Mike Rupert. The group flew me to LAX and drove me to a small house in South Central where I met others who were to speak at the rally on the following day. We spoke from the steps of the LA Municipal Bldg (I call it the Dragnet Building) and then marched in downtown LA for a few blocks. The park in front of the Municipal building was crowded with people from South Central. Still being naive, I thought it quite odd that the LA Times did not cover it to any significant degree. It was at this time that I met Cellerino Castillo. Celli showed me photographs of C-130 aircraft at the Ilipango Air force Base in El Salvador being loaded with drugs. He was the chief DEA agent in all of Central America at the time. He tried to blow the whistle and was blackballed and ruined. I had a long talk with him at that house on the night before the rally. Maxine Waters made a stink about the Drug issue when she returned to Washington. John Deutsch was DCI under Clinton and he sent his IG out to LA. After he returned Deutsch made a statement that there was no foundation whatsoever that the CIA was involved in drug trafficking or knew anything about such activity (surprise, surprise)."

The sad truth is that thousands of African-Americans in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore, and other urban centers became addicted to crack cocaine, lost their minds, were incarcerated, and died from overdoses.

Guns Down and Drugs Up

Former military aircraft leased to CIA proprietary companies transported guns to Central America. On the return trips, these aircraft carried cocaine into the U.S. MCAS El Toro was one of the bases in the 80s and early 90s used to offload the cocaine and service these civilian aircraft.


Tosh Plumlee in Santa Elena, Costa Rica, mid-1980s
Based on interviews with William Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, Nick Schou,OC Weekly reporter, wrote about the secret flights into El Toro William and the suicide' of Colonel Sabow in September 2006. See: "Cocaine Airways" athttp://www.ocweekly.com/2006-09-14/news/cocaine-airways/.

According to Nick Schou, "All of Plumlee's landings were late at night, and the unmarked airplanes—massive C-130 cargo carriersâwere painted dark green. And though Plumlee landed at military installations, the men who unloaded his planes were dressed just as he wasin civilian attire, sporting long hair. Plumlee says he guesses they could have easily passed for drug dealers."

Plumlee told Schou that the "the pilots officially worked for civilian air charters under contract to the CIA, including the infamous Southern Air Transport and Evergreen International Airlines. He was always paid in cash, usually about $5,000 per flight. Once he landed at El Toro, Plumlee says, he'd taxi the C-130 to the southwest side of the field, close to Interstate 5. "I had long hair in those days—bushy hair," he says. "I looked likke a drug runner. There was nobody in uniform offloading our aircraft. I figured they were CIA spooks. When you see people like that on a military base in the early morning, unloading, I say that's CIA. It's an assumption on my part, but it is based on a preponderance of evidence."

Apparently, the Marine Corps Inspector General knew something about the misuse of former government aircraft, too. In January 1991, Lieutenant General Davison, the Marine Corps IG, arrived at MCAS El Toro, skipped the entrance conference with Brigadier General Tom Adams, El Toro's Commanding General, and went immediately to Building No. 53. He asked for the data processing file on civilian aircraft (containing records for refueling and other servicing of civilian aircraft at El Toro). The file had been purged.

According to Dr. Sabow, Colonel Sabow would have known of the legal' shipment of weapons to Central America, but not the use of these aircraft to illegally carry cocaine into the U.S.

After the IG arrived at El Toro, Colonel Sabow was relieved of command for a minor infraction of carrying personal items to his son while making a routine flight on board a military aircraft.

"Retired Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Major General J.K. Davis said that any pilot who had ever flown in the military would be canned had they been held to the same standards as the allegations against Colonel Sabow," according to David Hoffman in "Semper Fidelis: "The Story of Colonel James E. Sabow." See: http://www.american-buddha.com/semper.fidelis.htm#fn2.

Dr Sabow said that when Colonel Sabow learned of the illegal shipment of cocaine in January 1991 from Colonel Joseph Underwood, his immediate boss and Chief of Staff, MCAS El Toro and next door neighbor, he objected and told Underwood that he would chose to tell all at a courts martial rather than retire early under a cloud. In refusing to retire early, Colonel Sabow unknowingly signed his own death warrant.

Sara Sabow said that the night before her husband was killed Colonel Underwood, pointing his finger in Colonel Sabow's face said, "You will never see a courts-martial." He was right. Colonel Sabow was murdered the next morning.

Forensic Evidence

As part of his effort to document the scientific support for murder Dr. Sabow and Bryan R. Burnett, Meixa Tech, Cardiff, Ca, wrote a paper entitled, "Pathological and Physiological Principles of Instantaneous Death: How It Can Help Distinguish Suicide from Homicide" as part of the effort to document the murder of Colonel Sabow. See: http://colonelsabow.com/home.html.

In the paper's abstract, Dr. Sabow and Burnett wrote that: "The body of a Marine Corps officer was discovered lying on a 12 gauge shotgun in the backyard of his home. Naval Investigative Service personnel identified an intraoral wound and immediately informed the base commander and the victim's family that the death was a suicide. The following day an autopsy was performed and death certificate issued, designating death as suicide. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to distinguish the difference between instantaneous and sudden death and its application in distinguishing homicide from suicide and, secondly, to propose that the death certificate in any unwitnessed traumatic death should be considered a preliminary document until there is comprehensive evaluation of all evidence. The correct conclusion of death in this case requires understanding of physiologic principles which determine when death is instantaneous as opposed to sudden. If the initial trauma to the officer was the shotgun wound, then death had to have been instantaneous. However, autopsy results, skull x-rays and crime scene evidence demonstrate that death was sudden but not instantaneous. The initial trauma was a fatal blow to the back of the head causing a depressed skull fracture behind the right ear. Therefore, the manner of death was homicide not suicide."

Evidence supporting homicide:


Crime Scene, MCAS El Toro, January 22, 1991
CIRCUMSTANTIAL

Talked on phone at 8:20 AM with Capt. McBride
Watching tv when received anonymous phone call at 8:30 AM
Death occurred between 8:34 AM and 9 AM
Placed tv on "mute"
Took dogs from backyard and put them in garage
FLIGHT RECORDS-no take-offs from 8:30-9 AM
Next door neighbor "didn't hear shotgun blast"
Underwood greets visitor at Sabow front yard at 9:15 AM, states "Sabow not at home" later states "I was going over to see Col. Sabow"
Between 9:20-9:30 wife discovers body in yard
Feels large swelling on back of head
Runs next door, yells "Jimmy is dead".
Col. Underwood runs to gate between yards and observes body about 40 to 50 feet away
Calls Gen Adams, says "Jimmy is dead. He shot himself in the mouth".
Joan Underwood yells,"Joe, this has gone too far!"
PHYSICAL

Blood evidence-volume, stain and pattern
Body and gun position
Lump on back of head, blood clot between skull and scalp
Depressed skull fracture
Total destruction of brainstem
Lungs filled with aspirated blood
Fingerprint evidence
OTHER

No suicide note
devout Catholic
loved family
financially stable


Intimidation Tactics Used on Others

The use of intimation to scare people has been used since the beginning of time. Cain may have even resorted to this before killing Abel.

Gary Null in an internet article, "The Strange Death of Colonel Sabow" described documentation sent to Dr. Sabow from a Marine Corps source that supports the attempt to intimate Dr. Sabow and the Colonel's widow during the March 9th meeting:

"The most damaging evidence was a five-page hand-written summary by Wayne Rich. By this time, David knew that Rich was an Assistant Attorney General from Washington, who replaced Colonel Lucas at the March 9 meeting. These notes were written by Rich during a telephone conversation with the deputy SJA in Washington, Colonel Lang, on the day before the El Toro meeting, and included statements such as: "We are about to try to convince Sabow's brother that his brother was a crook and so big a crook…â"

"The packet also contained an order from one legal officer to another regarding the investigation of ways to have Dr. Sabow's medical license revoked."

"There was also a copy of a memorandum written by the head legal officer, SJA Colonel Lucas. The memorandum was in reference to the peculiar behavior of Lieutenant General Hollis Davison, the Inspector General of the Marine Corps, during an investigation into Colonel Sabow and Colonel Underwood at El Toro from January 10 until January 17, 1991, days before the murder. Lucas talked about the repetitiveness of the Inspector General's questions, and his peculiar behavior while conducting his interviews. The last paragraph of Lucas' memorandum stated that he put this into his personal files to protect himself for the future. He stated that if the Inspector General's behavior became public, it would be very bad for the Marine Corps."

"There was also a memorandum from Captain McBride to Colonel Lucas. The memo reported conversations between McBride and Dr. Sabow. This order was from Rich or Adams ordering McBride to divulge confidential information, and violated the trust of the attorney-client relationship."

"The packet also included transcribed responses of "witnesses" interviewed by the IG in an attempt to depict Colonel Sabow's misconduct. There was a glaring omission in the transcription–the questions asked of those "witnesses." Dr. Saboow learned that at least one person interviewed, Major Bob Friend, would not sign the transcript because the statements did not reflect his responses.

Tosh Plumlee, the former CIA pilot who told of drugs into El Toro, knows from experience the intimidation tactics used to keep you from talking. In a 2006 interview with Nick Schou of the OC Weekly, Tosh said he's been beaten, shot at, and stopped on the street by strangers who flashed 'badges' who told him. "We just want to let you know that you're being investigated for making false allegations against the government."

After being attacked in Evergreen, Colorado, Tosh said, "I got pretty well beat up and the Evergreen Police Department never showed up Plumlee says. "And I drove home and that's when I see my house is on fire." Neighbors were able to retrieve Plumlee's dogs from the house, but most of his belongings—inncluding his documents and partially written manuscript—went up in fflames. "There was a hole in the window, and accelerant was all over the place," he says. "It was firebombed. Who was behind it? Was it the CIA? The Cubans? I have no idea."

The ultimate intimation is death. Tom Wade, the young Marine sergeant who reported the file purged to the Marine Corps IG in January 91, was later transferred to a base in Florida and killed execution style with two shots to the back of his head on Christmas Eve several years later. His six year old daughter was found by an elderly couple the next morning, crying in the back seat of her father's car. Nothing was taken from his car or his person. A follow-up call to the local police by Dr. Sabow revealed that Tom Wade's apartment was sealed by military authorities who cited national security as the reason for securing the area for several days.

In November 1996, a patient of Dr. Sabow signed an affidavit stating that she had been pressured by someone claiming to be a DEA agent who told her that if she agreed to assist them in the prosecution that no charges would be brought against her for alternating prescription refills. She refused to cooperate since Dr. Sabow had not don't anything wrong. Portions of the affidavit are redacted to protect the identity of the patient and others:

"…I am presently a patient of John David Sabbow, M.D. I have been a patient of Dr. Sabow's for these purposes as far back as l994."

"In March of 1994, I received a prescription form Dr. Sabow, which I subsequently altered so as to increase the number of refills that I could obtain from the drugstore. In In JuIy of 1994, I needed to speak to Dr. Sabow and he was out of town. I then went to the emergency room and they gave me a prescription which I subsequently altered also. However, I took the prescription from the emergency room to the drug store and the druggist on duty….notted that I had altered the prescription…called the emergency room physician and subsequently the police. I was arrested. When my case came before Judge…he dismiissed the charges for a failure to properly state a violation of a crime. A month later, I received a letter indicating that the matter had been dropped."

"A year later in 1995, I received a telephone call from a gentleman representing himself as a DEA agent. He claimed that I had witnessed a crime and wanted to know if he could come to my house to discuss the same. I consented and gave him directions to my home. He showed up with another agent and once they got into my home, one agent took my husband in one room and another agent took me in another room and began to interrogate me."

"They indicated that they had a list of all of the prescriptions that I have obtained in the last five years. The list was quite lengthy. On the list, they had certain prescriptions circled or identified."

"The agents then advised me that I had five possible felonies and that if I wanted to assist them in the prosecution of Dr. Sabow, they would see to it that no charges were brought against me. I told the agents that I could not enter into such an agreement because if I did so, I would be lying. I am not addicted to any medication. Even if I were, it would not be Dr. Sabow's fault and I so informed the agents."

"In December of 1995, I received a telephone call from the…sheriff asking me to come intoo his office. When I arrived, I was presented with a warrant for my arrest."

"I posted a $750 bond and in April of 1996, the matter was resolved when I plea bargained and eventually pled guilty to one of the two counts. By this time, the state had identified and discovered the alterations that I had made on the emergency room prescription, as well as on the prescription I received from Dr. Sabow. I was fined and put on two years, probation. It was my understanding in the plea bargain that a plea of guilty would take care of any and all prior offenses that had to do with prescription drugs and or narcotics. In November of 1996, I was again contacted by the same DEA agents. They came to my home; however, this time when they asked for permission to come in, I refused. we conducted our conversations and business on the front porch. The DEA agents again informed me that they had access to at least five felonies concerning drugs and that I was in no position to refuse to assist them since they were cognizant or aware of the fact that I was presently on probation. The agents again advised me that they wanted my assistance so as to get Dr. Sabow (who is the individual they claim had prescribed the medication and caused my alleged addiction). I again told them that I would have no part in this type of discussion and I asked them to leave."

Justice Dept. Gives California Jurisdiction

The U.S. Department of Justice is content with the official questionable suicide finding and passing off the jurisdictional responsibility to State of California, even though the crime was committed on Federal property.

The State of California and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appear to be playing a kind of jurisdictional musical chairs and the only one left standing is Dr. Sabow.

It's obvious that neither the state of California or the DOJ wants anything to do with investigating the murder of Colonel Sabow. The Orange County coroner performed the autopsy and signed the death certificate in January 1991. The cause of death was suicide according to the coroner.

Subsequent investigation by a number of independent medical experts of the forensic evidence concluded that homicide was the cause of death.

The California Bureau of Investigation under the Attorney General's office advised Dr. Sabow on December 26, 2002, that "as you are aware a determination was made several years ago the state of California has no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation as the result of Colonel Sabow's death having occurred on property under the jurisdiction of military authorities."

Almost 5 years later, the DOJ in a letter of July 6, 2007, to Congressman Duncan Hunter passed the buck back to the California Attorney General. According to the DOJ, "…the investigation of hhis death appears to be a state matter and not within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. Dr. David Sabow may wish to direct his inquiry to the Attorney General's Office for the State of California and other state law enforcement authorities for further assistance."

Attorneys Agree Colonel Murdered

Michael A. Jacobs, attorney and retired supervisor of the Orange County District Attorney's Homicide Trials Division, believes that homicide is supported by the (1) compressed fracture to the right rear occipital skull and the resulting hemorrhaging beneath the skull and (2) the large amount of aspirated blood found in the alveoli of Colonel Sabow's lungs. Mr. Jacobs concluded in a letter to Congressman Duncan Hunter that "Colonel Sabow's death could not have been a suicide but had to have been a homicide inflicted by the hands of another."

Additional support comes from Lt. Col. Anthony Verducci, a Marine Corps JAG [attorney] who was stationed at MCAC El Toro in a letter to Dr. Sabow stated that, "I have reviewed x-rays, crimes scene photos, and letters submitted by forensic pathologists and other experts about Col. Sabow's death…thesematterials lead me to believe that Colonel Sabow did not die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound [my emphasis]. As a Marine, former prosecutor, and citizen, I believe that an impartial law enforcement agency must review this case."

Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General has a well deserved reputation for taking on tough issues. Jerry Brown, check your voice mail. Dr. Sabow and other scientists are willing to provide whatever information you need to conduct an independent investigation of Colonel Sabow's death. Colonel Sabow's death may be a cold case' but, there's no statute of limitation on murder.


Forensic evidence supports the murder of a Marine Colonel at MCAS El Toro. Former supervisor in Orange County District Attorney's office said the Marine officer was injured by a blow to the head and while unconscious suffered a shotgun blast in the mouth.
(IRVINE, CA) – The murder of Colonel James Sabow is the story of the loss of our country's moral compass. Mounting evidence strongly indicates that "Thou shall not kill" was ignored to support the Contra War in Nicaragua and to protect the "butts" of those involved in bringing cocaine into the U.S. on former military aircraft.

Colonel James Sabow, USMC
The overwhelming forensic evidence supports murder of a senior Marine Officer to prevent him from "telling all" at a courts martial.

In an unexpected move, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) passed jurisdiction to the state of California almost 4 years ago. No action has been taken by Orange County where former Marine Corps Base El Toro, CA, is located.

The murder of Colonel James Sabow, Assistant Chief Staff, MCAS El Toro, CA, on January 22, 1991, was done in his quarters on a major Marine Corps base. The Orange County coroner ruled suicide before an investigation was completed. Subsequent independent investigations by scientific experts support murder. As expected, investigations by the Navy and the Department of Defense supported suicide.

Oliver Stone, check your voice mail! The Colonel Sabow story has all of the right ingredients for an Academy award winner. Marines, drugs, war, murder, CIA, government cover-up to name a few. It even has a made to order hero. He may not be comfortable with this, but Dr. David Sabow, brother of Col. Sabow, is the one who has carried this fight for almost 20 years.

Dr. David Sabow, South Dakota neurologist, has devoted years to investigating the murder of his older brother. He's spent several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees, private investigators, and much of his own time and energy. Now in physically poor health, he's confined to a wheel chair and no longer in medical practice.

In his own words, "he became suspicious of foul play due to a number of inconsistencies. He shared his concerns with the NCIS [Naval Criminal Investigative Service], as well as a number of senior Marine Corps officers. He became ever more suspicious when relevant documents, including the autopsy report were denied him by the Marine Corps.

Having become aware of Dr. Sabow's concerns, El Toro base commander, Brig. General Tom Adams summoned him to El Toro for a meeting. Dr. Sabow accompanied by Sally Sabow, the Colonel's widow, sat through a 5-hour vicious and grueling session. Dr. Sabow was assured that Colonel William Lucas who was the chief legal officer at El Toro at the time his brother's death, would be present to answer pertinent questions that bothered the Sabow family.

However, in his place, Colonel Wayne Rich, a Reserve Marine Corps officer, took his place. Wayne Rich turned out to be a special Assistant Attorney General from Washington and he dominated the meeting.

Both General Adams and Colonel Rich accused Colonel Sabow of being a "crook and felon" while two other Marine Corps generals in attendance, David Shuter and J.K. Davis remained silent. This, in spite of their glowing "Fitness Reports" of Colonel Sabow during his almost three decade career. Furthermore, the representatives of the NCIS, as well as General Adams and Colonel Rich, repeatedly stated: "There was not one shred of evidence, other than that proving, that Colonel Sabow committed suicide."

For the most part, Congressional committees have not been interested in Colonel Sabow's death or in any testimony from Dr. Sabow.

Dr. Sabow told us one instance where he was cut off from making remarks before a Congressional committee, "I was accompanied by Danny Sheehan [his attorney] on Sept 12, 1996, when I gave time restricted testimony at a Senate hearing chaired by Senator Dirk Kempthorn (R-Idaho). Following statements proffered by me and several others about military suicides, the various heads of criminal investigations for all the branches of the armed services gave their unrestricted "speeches" about how thorough they were. After they were finished Dirk Kempthorn invited each and everyone of them to make a closing statement. I was incensed that they had all the time they wanted for their addresses and now were given even more time of which they all took advantage. After they finished, I tried to stand and demand equal time for rebuttal. Kempthorn banged his gavel louder and louder to get me to be quiet. I refused but in the excitement I fell to the ground. I could not get up. Danny knelt next to me. Kempthorn and several other Senators walked off the elevated dais toward the audience which took several of them right past me. Not only did they not stop to help me, but Kempthorn and some others stopped 10 or 15 feet from where I was on the floor and started a conversation with General Krulack, CMC. I could not help but notice Krulack and others glance at me on the floor. Two big security guards arrived with a wheelchair a few minutes later and stayed with me until they helped me into taxi outside the Hart Senate Building. Both were large, strapping black men who complimented me on my testimony."

The Marine Corps has a proud tradition of never leaving anyone behind. The tragic death of Colonel James Sabow gave an entirely different meaning to Semper Fidelis. Colonel Sabow never gave any serious thought that his life and that of his family were at risk. He was an outstanding Marine fighter pilot. By all accounts, he was general officer material.

Born in Pittsburgh, PA, on August 5, 1939, Colonel Sabow was by every conceivable measure a highly successful Marine Corps officer with every reason to live. One of three boys whose father had been a Army flight surgeon in the WW II, he graduated from Georgetown University in 1962 and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1963. Married to the same woman for twenty-three years, the father of two children, he was in excellent physical and mental condition and at the time of his death was worth an estimated two to three million dollars according to his brother. After receiving his wings, he was assigned to an A-6 Intruder squadron in Vietnam, flew 221 combat missions, earning the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and 15 Air Medals. All of his Marine Corps fitness reports were outstanding.

There's no question that if his life was in danger, he would have been prepared to defend himself. Since he was in government quarters on a Marine Corps base, he made the tragic mistake of letting his guard down and not taking his own advice. In the later part of 1987, Colonel Sabow, concerned about the use of drugs at El Toro and Tustin, asked Captain Pete Barbee, a Mustang [former enlisted Marine], to investigate the use of drugs on the base but "not to trust anyone." Had he taken his own advice he may have been alive today.

General David Shuter gave a glowing eulogy of Colonel Sabow, in which he described him as a man "without compromise," one of the few who could give himself fully to the Corps and country and simultaneously to his family. He also described Sabow by all those in the Corps who knew him as the "straightest of straight arrows."

Contra War

During the Reagan administration, a civil war or Contra war raged in Nicaragua, pitting the left-wing Sandinista regime against CIA-financed Contra rebels. The war covered the period roughly from 1981 to 1990.
A series of CIA supported acts of sabotage without Congressional intelligence committees approval led to the passage of the Boland Amendment, which cut off appropriated funding for the Contras.

The funding of the Contra war was secured by the sale of drugs, especially cocaine which spread to epidemic proportions in the U.S. with the introduction of cheap crack cocaine in the inner cities.

For the most part, our government looked the other way, allowing the drugs to be sold, killing an untold number of citizens. Many of these were black Americans from the ghettos. If you're still unsure, just ask Congresswomen Maxine Walters, (D, CA). She can tell you from personal experience the tragic impact crack cocaine had on black Americans in Los Angeles.

"Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and then injected. Crack is the street name given to the form of cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal, which, when heated, produces vapors that are smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Congresswoman Maxine Walter knows all too well the disastrous health effects on those to become addicted to crack cocaine. According to Congresswoman Maxine Walter, "The time I spent investigating the allegations of the "Dark Alliance" series [Gary Webb's account reported in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996] led me to the undeniable conclusion that the CIA, DEA, DIA, and FBI knew about drug trafficking in South Central Los Angeles. They were either part of the trafficking or turned a blind eye to it, in an effort to fund the Contra war. I am convinced that drug money played an important role in the Contra war and that drug money was used by both sides."

Dr. Sabow met with Maxine Walter in 1996. He told us that: "I appeared with Maxine Waters at a rally that was organized by a group headed by Mike Rupert. The group flew me to LAX and drove me to a small house in South Central where I met others who were to speak at the rally on the following day. We spoke from the steps of the LA Municipal Bldg (I call it the Dragnet Building) and then marched in downtown LA for a few blocks. The park in front of the Municipal building was crowded with people from South Central. Still being naive, I thought it quite odd that the LA Times did not cover it to any significant degree. It was at this time that I met Cellerino Castillo. Celli showed me photographs of C-130 aircraft at the Ilipango Air force Base in El Salvador being loaded with drugs. He was the chief DEA agent in all of Central America at the time. He tried to blow the whistle and was blackballed and ruined. I had a long talk with him at that house on the night before the rally. Maxine Waters made a stink about the Drug issue when she returned to Washington. John Deutsch was DCI under Clinton and he sent his IG out to LA. After he returned Deutsch made a statement that there was no foundation whatsoever that the CIA was involved in drug trafficking or knew anything about such activity (surprise, surprise)."

The sad truth is that thousands of African-Americans in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore, and other urban centers became addicted to crack cocaine, lost their minds, were incarcerated, and died from overdoses.

Guns Down and Drugs Up

Former military aircraft leased to CIA proprietary companies transported guns to Central America. On the return trips, these aircraft carried cocaine into the U.S. MCAS El Toro was one of the bases in the 80s and early 90s used to offload the cocaine and service these civilian aircraft.


Tosh Plumlee in Santa Elena, Costa Rica, mid-1980s
Based on interviews with William Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, Nick Schou,OC Weekly reporter, wrote about the secret flights into El Toro William and the suicide' of Colonel Sabow in September 2006. See: "Cocaine Airways" athttp://www.ocweekly.com/2006-09-14/news/cocaine-airways/.

According to Nick Schou, "All of Plumlee's landings were late at night, and the unmarked airplanes—massive C-130 cargo carriersâwere painted dark green. And though Plumlee landed at military installations, the men who unloaded his planes were dressed just as he wasin civilian attire, sporting long hair. Plumlee says he guesses they could have easily passed for drug dealers."

Plumlee told Schou that the "the pilots officially worked for civilian air charters under contract to the CIA, including the infamous Southern Air Transport and Evergreen International Airlines. He was always paid in cash, usually about $5,000 per flight. Once he landed at El Toro, Plumlee says, he'd taxi the C-130 to the southwest side of the field, close to Interstate 5. "I had long hair in those days—bushy hair," he says. "I looked likke a drug runner. There was nobody in uniform offloading our aircraft. I figured they were CIA spooks. When you see people like that on a military base in the early morning, unloading, I say that's CIA. It's an assumption on my part, but it is based on a preponderance of evidence."

Apparently, the Marine Corps Inspector General knew something about the misuse of former government aircraft, too. In January 1991, Lieutenant General Davison, the Marine Corps IG, arrived at MCAS El Toro, skipped the entrance conference with Brigadier General Tom Adams, El Toro's Commanding General, and went immediately to Building No. 53. He asked for the data processing file on civilian aircraft (containing records for refueling and other servicing of civilian aircraft at El Toro). The file had been purged.

According to Dr. Sabow, Colonel Sabow would have known of the legal' shipment of weapons to Central America, but not the use of these aircraft to illegally carry cocaine into the U.S.

After the IG arrived at El Toro, Colonel Sabow was relieved of command for a minor infraction of carrying personal items to his son while making a routine flight on board a military aircraft.

"Retired Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Major General J.K. Davis said that any pilot who had ever flown in the military would be canned had they been held to the same standards as the allegations against Colonel Sabow," according to David Hoffman in "Semper Fidelis: "The Story of Colonel James E. Sabow." See: http://www.american-buddha.com/semper.fidelis.htm#fn2.

Dr Sabow said that when Colonel Sabow learned of the illegal shipment of cocaine in January 1991 from Colonel Joseph Underwood, his immediate boss and Chief of Staff, MCAS El Toro and next door neighbor, he objected and told Underwood that he would chose to tell all at a courts martial rather than retire early under a cloud. In refusing to retire early, Colonel Sabow unknowingly signed his own death warrant.

Sara Sabow said that the night before her husband was killed Colonel Underwood, pointing his finger in Colonel Sabow's face said, "You will never see a courts-martial." He was right. Colonel Sabow was murdered the next morning.

Forensic Evidence

As part of his effort to document the scientific support for murder Dr. Sabow and Bryan R. Burnett, Meixa Tech, Cardiff, Ca, wrote a paper entitled, "Pathological and Physiological Principles of Instantaneous Death: How It Can Help Distinguish Suicide from Homicide" as part of the effort to document the murder of Colonel Sabow. See: http://colonelsabow.com/home.html.

In the paper's abstract, Dr. Sabow and Burnett wrote that: "The body of a Marine Corps officer was discovered lying on a 12 gauge shotgun in the backyard of his home. Naval Investigative Service personnel identified an intraoral wound and immediately informed the base commander and the victim's family that the death was a suicide. The following day an autopsy was performed and death certificate issued, designating death as suicide. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to distinguish the difference between instantaneous and sudden death and its application in distinguishing homicide from suicide and, secondly, to propose that the death certificate in any unwitnessed traumatic death should be considered a preliminary document until there is comprehensive evaluation of all evidence. The correct conclusion of death in this case requires understanding of physiologic principles which determine when death is instantaneous as opposed to sudden. If the initial trauma to the officer was the shotgun wound, then death had to have been instantaneous. However, autopsy results, skull x-rays and crime scene evidence demonstrate that death was sudden but not instantaneous. The initial trauma was a fatal blow to the back of the head causing a depressed skull fracture behind the right ear. Therefore, the manner of death was homicide not suicide."

Evidence supporting homicide:


Crime Scene, MCAS El Toro, January 22, 1991
CIRCUMSTANTIAL

Talked on phone at 8:20 AM with Capt. McBride
Watching tv when received anonymous phone call at 8:30 AM
Death occurred between 8:34 AM and 9 AM
Placed tv on "mute"
Took dogs from backyard and put them in garage
FLIGHT RECORDS-no take-offs from 8:30-9 AM
Next door neighbor "didn't hear shotgun blast"
Underwood greets visitor at Sabow front yard at 9:15 AM, states "Sabow not at home" later states "I was going over to see Col. Sabow"
Between 9:20-9:30 wife discovers body in yard
Feels large swelling on back of head
Runs next door, yells "Jimmy is dead".
Col. Underwood runs to gate between yards and observes body about 40 to 50 feet away
Calls Gen Adams, says "Jimmy is dead. He shot himself in the mouth".
Joan Underwood yells,"Joe, this has gone too far!"
PHYSICAL

Blood evidence-volume, stain and pattern
Body and gun position
Lump on back of head, blood clot between skull and scalp
Depressed skull fracture
Total destruction of brainstem
Lungs filled with aspirated blood
Fingerprint evidence
OTHER

No suicide note
devout Catholic
loved family
financially stable


Intimidation Tactics Used on Others

The use of intimation to scare people has been used since the beginning of time. Cain may have even resorted to this before killing Abel.

Gary Null in an internet article, "The Strange Death of Colonel Sabow" described documentation sent to Dr. Sabow from a Marine Corps source that supports the attempt to intimate Dr. Sabow and the Colonel's widow during the March 9th meeting:

"The most damaging evidence was a five-page hand-written summary by Wayne Rich. By this time, David knew that Rich was an Assistant Attorney General from Washington, who replaced Colonel Lucas at the March 9 meeting. These notes were written by Rich during a telephone conversation with the deputy SJA in Washington, Colonel Lang, on the day before the El Toro meeting, and included statements such as: "We are about to try to convince Sabow's brother that his brother was a crook and so big a crook…â"

"The packet also contained an order from one legal officer to another regarding the investigation of ways to have Dr. Sabow's medical license revoked."

"There was also a copy of a memorandum written by the head legal officer, SJA Colonel Lucas. The memorandum was in reference to the peculiar behavior of Lieutenant General Hollis Davison, the Inspector General of the Marine Corps, during an investigation into Colonel Sabow and Colonel Underwood at El Toro from January 10 until January 17, 1991, days before the murder. Lucas talked about the repetitiveness of the Inspector General's questions, and his peculiar behavior while conducting his interviews. The last paragraph of Lucas' memorandum stated that he put this into his personal files to protect himself for the future. He stated that if the Inspector General's behavior became public, it would be very bad for the Marine Corps."

"There was also a memorandum from Captain McBride to Colonel Lucas. The memo reported conversations between McBride and Dr. Sabow. This order was from Rich or Adams ordering McBride to divulge confidential information, and violated the trust of the attorney-client relationship."

"The packet also included transcribed responses of "witnesses" interviewed by the IG in an attempt to depict Colonel Sabow's misconduct. There was a glaring omission in the transcription–the questions asked of those "witnesses." Dr. Saboow learned that at least one person interviewed, Major Bob Friend, would not sign the transcript because the statements did not reflect his responses.

Tosh Plumlee, the former CIA pilot who told of drugs into El Toro, knows from experience the intimidation tactics used to keep you from talking. In a 2006 interview with Nick Schou of the OC Weekly, Tosh said he's been beaten, shot at, and stopped on the street by strangers who flashed 'badges' who told him. "We just want to let you know that you're being investigated for making false allegations against the government."

After being attacked in Evergreen, Colorado, Tosh said, "I got pretty well beat up and the Evergreen Police Department never showed up Plumlee says. "And I drove home and that's when I see my house is on fire." Neighbors were able to retrieve Plumlee's dogs from the house, but most of his belongings—inncluding his documents and partially written manuscript—went up in fflames. "There was a hole in the window, and accelerant was all over the place," he says. "It was firebombed. Who was behind it? Was it the CIA? The Cubans? I have no idea."

The ultimate intimation is death. Tom Wade, the young Marine sergeant who reported the file purged to the Marine Corps IG in January 91, was later transferred to a base in Florida and killed execution style with two shots to the back of his head on Christmas Eve several years later. His six year old daughter was found by an elderly couple the next morning, crying in the back seat of her father's car. Nothing was taken from his car or his person. A follow-up call to the local police by Dr. Sabow revealed that Tom Wade's apartment was sealed by military authorities who cited national security as the reason for securing the area for several days.

In November 1996, a patient of Dr. Sabow signed an affidavit stating that she had been pressured by someone claiming to be a DEA agent who told her that if she agreed to assist them in the prosecution that no charges would be brought against her for alternating prescription refills. She refused to cooperate since Dr. Sabow had not don't anything wrong. Portions of the affidavit are redacted to protect the identity of the patient and others:

"…I am presently a patient of John David Sabbow, M.D. I have been a patient of Dr. Sabow's for these purposes as far back as l994."

"In March of 1994, I received a prescription form Dr. Sabow, which I subsequently altered so as to increase the number of refills that I could obtain from the drugstore. In In JuIy of 1994, I needed to speak to Dr. Sabow and he was out of town. I then went to the emergency room and they gave me a prescription which I subsequently altered also. However, I took the prescription from the emergency room to the drug store and the druggist on duty….notted that I had altered the prescription…called the emergency room physician and subsequently the police. I was arrested. When my case came before Judge…he dismiissed the charges for a failure to properly state a violation of a crime. A month later, I received a letter indicating that the matter had been dropped."

"A year later in 1995, I received a telephone call from a gentleman representing himself as a DEA agent. He claimed that I had witnessed a crime and wanted to know if he could come to my house to discuss the same. I consented and gave him directions to my home. He showed up with another agent and once they got into my home, one agent took my husband in one room and another agent took me in another room and began to interrogate me."

"They indicated that they had a list of all of the prescriptions that I have obtained in the last five years. The list was quite lengthy. On the list, they had certain prescriptions circled or identified."

"The agents then advised me that I had five possible felonies and that if I wanted to assist them in the prosecution of Dr. Sabow, they would see to it that no charges were brought against me. I told the agents that I could not enter into such an agreement because if I did so, I would be lying. I am not addicted to any medication. Even if I were, it would not be Dr. Sabow's fault and I so informed the agents."

"In December of 1995, I received a telephone call from the…sheriff asking me to come intoo his office. When I arrived, I was presented with a warrant for my arrest."

"I posted a $750 bond and in April of 1996, the matter was resolved when I plea bargained and eventually pled guilty to one of the two counts. By this time, the state had identified and discovered the alterations that I had made on the emergency room prescription, as well as on the prescription I received from Dr. Sabow. I was fined and put on two years, probation. It was my understanding in the plea bargain that a plea of guilty would take care of any and all prior offenses that had to do with prescription drugs and or narcotics. In November of 1996, I was again contacted by the same DEA agents. They came to my home; however, this time when they asked for permission to come in, I refused. we conducted our conversations and business on the front porch. The DEA agents again informed me that they had access to at least five felonies concerning drugs and that I was in no position to refuse to assist them since they were cognizant or aware of the fact that I was presently on probation. The agents again advised me that they wanted my assistance so as to get Dr. Sabow (who is the individual they claim had prescribed the medication and caused my alleged addiction). I again told them that I would have no part in this type of discussion and I asked them to leave."

Justice Dept. Gives California Jurisdiction

The U.S. Department of Justice is content with the official questionable suicide finding and passing off the jurisdictional responsibility to State of California, even though the crime was committed on Federal property.

The State of California and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appear to be playing a kind of jurisdictional musical chairs and the only one left standing is Dr. Sabow.

It's obvious that neither the state of California or the DOJ wants anything to do with investigating the murder of Colonel Sabow. The Orange County coroner performed the autopsy and signed the death certificate in January 1991. The cause of death was suicide according to the coroner.

Subsequent investigation by a number of independent medical experts of the forensic evidence concluded that homicide was the cause of death.

The California Bureau of Investigation under the Attorney General's office advised Dr. Sabow on December 26, 2002, that "as you are aware a determination was made several years ago the state of California has no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation as the result of Colonel Sabow's death having occurred on property under the jurisdiction of military authorities."

Almost 5 years later, the DOJ in a letter of July 6, 2007, to Congressman Duncan Hunter passed the buck back to the California Attorney General. According to the DOJ, "…the investigation of hhis death appears to be a state matter and not within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. Dr. David Sabow may wish to direct his inquiry to the Attorney General's Office for the State of California and other state law enforcement authorities for further assistance."

Attorneys Agree Colonel Murdered

Michael A. Jacobs, attorney and retired supervisor of the Orange County District Attorney's Homicide Trials Division, believes that homicide is supported by the (1) compressed fracture to the right rear occipital skull and the resulting hemorrhaging beneath the skull and (2) the large amount of aspirated blood found in the alveoli of Colonel Sabow's lungs. Mr. Jacobs concluded in a letter to Congressman Duncan Hunter that "Colonel Sabow's death could not have been a suicide but had to have been a homicide inflicted by the hands of another."

Additional support comes from Lt. Col. Anthony Verducci, a Marine Corps JAG [attorney] who was stationed at MCAC El Toro in a letter to Dr. Sabow stated that, "I have reviewed x-rays, crimes scene photos, and letters submitted by forensic pathologists and other experts about Col. Sabow's death…thesematterials lead me to believe that Colonel Sabow did not die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound [my emphasis]. As a Marine, former prosecutor, and citizen, I believe that an impartial law enforcement agency must review this case."

Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General has a well deserved reputation for taking on tough issues. Jerry Brown, check your voice mail. Dr. Sabow and other scientists are willing to provide whatever information you need to conduct an independent investigation of Colonel Sabow's death. Colonel Sabow's death may be a cold case' but, there's no statute of limitation on murder.
Tosh, I'm interested to know if Operation Watch Tower was in any way connected to the continuing drugs flights that resulted in Colonel Sabow's death?

As you know Watch Tower was circa 1975/6 - some 15 years earlier. The sense I have is that this covert operation was the beginning of the rot, but, of course, drugs had by that time already been streaming into domestic US military bases via the "long silver train" of the Vietnam war.

However, the war in South-east Asia came to an official close in April 1975. According to the affidavit of Colonel Edward Cutolo, Watch Tower commenced in December 1975 - just 8 months later. Can this be coincidence or was it simply the case of switching hemispheres to keep a good thing going and ensure the black budget for covert and off-the-books operations continued without cessation?

Back in the 1970's Colombia had barely been heard of in regard to the drugs traffic. Until then addiction in the US was centred on heroin use, resulting from the South-east Asia war drug flow. As can be seen from the linked timeline, cocaine seizures only begin in earnest in November 1975. From 1975 onwards it is all cocaine and Colombian cartels.

Since 2002 the focus has switched again. But only in part. The latin and central American cartels are now thoroughly entrenched. But now we have a new war in Asia; Afghanistan, and consequently the heroin trade there has been revitalized and has, in fact, blossomed since that date.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/...rugs/cron/
I am deep inside the border in Mexico. I only have spoty cell phone around here. I can not stay to long on line, because of the "bad Guys" However I just received this from a source about Col Sabow... I have not had time to scan it. I will get back to you when I am in a better place. Tosh

http://salem-news.com/articles/march0320...der-ro.php

WARNING; the following is EXTREM GRAPHIC. I only post it to show some what we are up against down here


Fw: vulcher munchies! caution EXTREME graphics!
Wed, March 3, 2010 1:52:29 PM
From:
Robert Plumlee <wplumlee2006@yahoo.com>
View Contact
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

BUITRES.PDF (3362KB)

Tosh this download is very EXTREME GRAPHIC. I only forwarded it to show what we are up against down here in southern Mexico and also around Juarez.. Do not view this on a full stomach.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From:xxx Fask Force -7
Sent: Wed, February 10, 2010 7:48:31 AM
Subject: vulcher munchies! caution EXTREME graphics!


Subject: vulcher munchies! graphic!


they do things differently down here in this world
-----
NEW REVELATIONS IN DEATH OF COL SABOW
HIGHLY-DECORATED MARINE AT EL TORO WAS
"MURDERED" SAYS EX-CIA CONTRACT PILOT WHO
FLEW GUNS AND DRUGS INTO CALIFORNIA MCAS
"SOMEONE KILLED SABOW AND STAGED CRIME TO
LOOK LIKE A SUICIDE," MIKE JACOBS, FORMER
CHIEF OF ORANGE COUNTY DA'S HOMICIDE SQUAD
DISCLOSES - BREAKS 15-YEAR SILENCE TO COME
FORWARD WITH FACTS ON WHAT HAPPENED TO
MARINE OFFICER - SAYS SOMEONE COVERING UP
HOW AND WHY COLONEL WAS "SUICIDED"



It's been 15 long years since Col. James Sabow was shotgunned to death in the backyard of his quarters at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in California, but at last, the remaining pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place.

MilitaryCorruption.com has learned two men have come forward to say they believe the highly-decorated USMC pilot was killed. One, a former CIA contract pilot, who admits he once ran guns and drugs into the now shutdown installation; the other, a former chief of the Orange County District Attorney's Homicide Squad.

The pilot, William "Tosh" Plumlee, says "Sabow was murdered," while top cop Mike Jacobs calls the military investigation a "whitewash" and flat-out declared "someone killed Sabow and staged the crime to look like a suicide."

MAINTAINING THE LIE - WHY WON'T THE MARINE CORPS COME CLEAN?

The latest revelations in the bizarre death of one of the Marine Corps best pilots of the Vietnam War, puts the top brass in an untenable position. To admit that justice was not served in 1991 and the official story that Sabow committed "suicide," (see our "related stories box" below for full details on the case), would greatly hurt the Corps' public image. However, to continue to "deny and lie" in the face of overwhelming circumstantial and forensic evidence the death had to be a homicide, could damage the Marines even more in the long run.

There's a famous saying in the Corps that "no wounded is ever left behind." What then, shall we do about an outstanding senior officer like Col. Sabow, who flew over 200 missions over North Vietnam in an A-6 Intruder? Isn't it about time the Marines admit a terrible crime was covered up and Sabow lost his life because he was about to "blow the whistle" on drug-running activities at the once-bustling military air station? We think so.

The Marines certainly owe that much to Sally, Col. Sabow's widow, as well as his family, including the dead officer's loyal brother, Dr. David Sabow, who has waged a long and courageous battle to find out the truth of what really took place.

WEEKLY NEWSPAPER REPORTER DIGS OUT THE DETAILS

Most of the media have forgotten the Sabow case by now, but one enterprising reporter has been instrumental in digging out the facts in this matter and locating both Plumlee and Jacobs. That man is Nick Schou. In a series of hard-hitting articles in the Orange County Weekly (http://www.ocweekly.com) he has expertly laid out the details of how the colonel was "suicided." When the truth is finally known, and the USMC apologizes to the Sabow family for putting them through an unspeakable hell, Schou is a sure bet for a top journalism award.

We too, at MilitaryCorruption.com, have been absolutely determined, over the past six years, in exposing how the military covers up murders and calls them "suicides" when a real investigation might prove embarrassing and inconvenient. Whether it's the strange death of USAF Col. Philip Shue in Texas, or the obvious slaying of Navy Chief Petty Officer Tom Traylor in California, and we have investigated both cases at length, our findings to date can be found using the "search" button under the masthead of MilitaryCorruption.com on the web site's "jump page."

It is unconscionable that the Pentagon would allow these abuses to continue. Not only is the reputation of fine men and women besmirched by labeling their suspicious deaths "suicide" when the evidence points elsewhere, but the families of the deceased are also victimized - sentenced to a lifetime of pain and humiliation, as well. This must stop. An honest accounting of what's happened so far is remote, however, as long as a slimy megalomaniac and political neo-CON like Donald Rumsfeld continues to disgrace the office of secretary of defense.

COMING FORWARD TO SPEAK OUT AT LAST

Plumlee was too scared to talk to investigative reporter Schou when the California newsman first contacted him in 1996.

The fear in the pilot's voice was noticeable as he stammered into the telephone, "I can't talk to you, this is all classified."

The veteran CIA contract pilot from Panama City, Fla.said he might go straight to federal prison if he talked. But that was then, and this is now. His children are through college and the nearly 70 year-old expert at jockeying a loaded aircraft in and out of tight spots around the globe was at last ready to give his views on how Col. Sabow died.

"There was talk about drugs going into El Toro," Plumlee said. "A lot of pilots talked about it." He told Schou crates of weapons were unloaded off his unmarked plane at El Toro and the cases could have easily contained drugs.

As to Sabow, known as a straight arrow who would tolerate no misconduct of any type on his watch and would certainly turn in fellow Marines if he suspected they were involved in drug smuggling, Plumlee confirmed the colonel was high in the chain-of-command at El Toro when the special flights took place.

"There's no way he couldn't have known about it, he would have had to have been briefed. I think he was murdered."

A TOP HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR BREAKS HIS 15-YEAR SILENCE

Jacobs suspects foul play as well, and he was in a key position to know.

"I've always believed that someone killed Sabow in broad daylight and staged the crime to look like a suicide," he told the Orange County Weekly. While the veteran cop won't guess as to why Sabow was murdered - he says his investigation "never went that far" - he says "somebody is covering up a cold-blooded murder."

"After you look at the evidence, it's quite compelling that it wasn't a suicide," Jacobs said. "It looked to me . . . like a whitewash and possible cover-up. Why won't the government do something? This guy (Col. Sabow) was an honorable man with a good military record, and to sweep what happened to him under the carpet really says something about our government."

Jacobs is highly-skilled at working homicide cases. He's conducted more than 250 of them in his long career and contends the crime scene photos (whichMilitaryCorruption.com has seen) "suggest foul play."

A "STAGED" CRIME SCENE AND A COVER-UP OF MURDER

"Even an amateur would view the scene as staged. A person who shoots himself with a shotgun does not fall forward," Jacobs said. "The manner in which the weapon was found underneath him and the positioning of the hands and the chair - the whole thing looked staged."

[In our earlier stories, MCC pointed out the colonel's fingerprints were nowhere on the weapon he supposedly used to fire the fatal round into his mouth. There was a large amount of aspirated blood found in the colonel's lungs - meaning Sabow had to have taken a few deep breaths after shooting himself in the head. Dr. David Sabow and other neurological experts who reviewed the evidence said those breaths would be impossible for a man like the colonel, whose brain stem - including the medulla - had been destroyed in the shotgun blast. The shocking lack of blood at the scene suggest the officer had been knocked out and was lying on the ground when the shotgun was fired. X-ray photographs showed a depressed skull fracture, suggesting the colonel had been struck from behind.]

Jacobs told Schou one of his former detectives, a Marine Corps veteran with decades of experience investigating homicides, agrees Sabow was murdered. But the detective has asked to remain anonymous. What he told Jacobs was revealing: "There's no evidence Sabow was suicidal," he said. "There's no suicide note . . . nobody at Naval Investigative Service conducted the investigation as a homicide. They immediately treated it as a suicide."

Why? To conceal the fact that a USMC colonel had been murdered in the backyard of his own living quarters at El Toro MCAS? Perhaps it was to cover-up drug-trafficking that was going on and believed to be known about at the highest levels of the Marine Corps.

"AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?" A SALUTE TO DR. DAVID SABOW

In the Book of Genesis, the Old Testament, in the Holy Bible, the story is told of Cain and Able. The first-born of Adam and Eve, the brothers quarreled when Cain grew jealous of Able's favor in the eyes of God.

The evil Cain slew his sibling with a rock and hid the body. It was the first murder in recorded history. When God asked Cain where Able was, Cain replied: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

We honor Dr. David Sabow here, a man who never lost his love for his slain brother, Col. James Sabow, and who, someday, will be blessed with solving this case and bringing those responsible to justice.

Confined to a wheelchair and in poor health, the South Dakota-based physician never loses sight of his ultimate goal. Even faced with threats to his life, the determined and dedicated Midwesterner refuses to back off.

He has spent many thousands of dollars out of his own pocket trying to get to the bottom of the case. Dr. Sabow has had to endure indignities unspeakable from politicians, phony "investigators," opportunists, and out-and-out liars who have tried to block his path every step of the way.

We are inspired and awed by this man's courage and high degree of character. If you, dear reader, had a brother with even a part of the loyalty and devotion this man has shown, you can call yourself blessed indeed.

MilitaryCorruption.com "salutes" Dr. David Sabow as a unique American who gives us all hope in knowing there are still people of his caliber that exist. May God bless him and lead him to ultimate victory.
I had never heard of Colonel Sabow prior to the John Patrick Bedell (Jesus Fucking Christ..what is it with the three name thing?) but it is intriguing in that it seems to tie into the entire Ollie North drugs for guns thing that was going down at that particular time in history and Danny Casolaro was also 'suicided' that year if I recall. While the real story of Bedell has yet to come out other than it was very convenient for an establishment under siege as of late and looking for any excuse to affix the 'terrorist' label to anyone who dares to question the American Reichstag Fire I find it very interesting that the drugs and guns smuggling angle by military and intelligence figures was something that the guy was into. Also the reference to the hostile takeover after JFK was slaughtered like a fucking animal in Dallas shows that the bastards are terrified that the truth is getting out.

Now the serious danger of all of this is going to be unleashed by that dastardly Heimat Security Kommittee chaired by our very special friend Joseph Lieberman with the coming crackdown on "enemy belligerents" which means me and the rest of you lovely people here at DPF who dare to call bullshit on all of these fascist lies.

I would strongly suggest that all of us start to really put in some time in exposing the Octopus itself before we are strangled by it.

Just my two cents

EE
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