01-02-2010, 01:43 PM
Who killed Jonathan Moyle? A British journalist and the Iraqgate factor.
By Barraclough, Colin
Publication: Columbia Journalism Review
Date: Thursday, July 1 1993
A British Journalist and the Iraqgate Factor
Friends and colleagues may never know whether Danny Casolaro - the investigative journalist found dead in a motel room in Martinsburg, West Virginia, two years ago - killed himself or was murdered (see "The Octopus File," CJR, November/December
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1991). This is not the case with his British counterpart, Jonathan Moyle, the twenty-eight-year-old editor of the British trade journal Defense Helicopter World. In March 1990, he was found hanging in a closet in a hotel room in Santiago, Chile, where he had been covering the Santiago air show as a guest of the Chilean air force. Chilean police listed the case as a suicide and British officials told journalists that Moyle had died accidentally in the course of a bizarre erotic act.
But seventeen months later, following pressure from Moyle's father and further examination of the evidence, a Chilean judge reopened the case and pronounced the cause of death as murder. Moyle, it turns out, had been drugged, suffocated with a pillow, injected in the heel with a lethal substance, then strung up in the closet. So Moyle's friends and colleagues know how he died. The remaining question is, Why was he killed?
Much of the speculation centers on Carlos Cardoen, a Chilean arms manufacturer and procurer for Iraq President Saddam Hussein. Moyle's father, Anthony, believes that two telephone warnings his son received during the last week of his life came from a Cardoen aide. He thinks his son may have been eliminated to keep secret Cardoen's role in Iraqgate, the West's clandestine rearming of Iraq. Cardoen vehemently denies any involvement.
Other journalists in Santiago at the time confirm that Moyle indeed interviewed officials from Cardoen's company and several officers from the Chilean air force. What none can confirm is whether he was looking into any link with Iraq. Investigative journalists in Britain keep pursuing this link because, without it, they believe, Moyle's death makes little sense.
There is no question that Cardoen had dealt with Iraq for many years. As far back as 1987, The New York Times reported that he had made a fortune by selling cluster bombs to Iraq during its eight-year war with Iran. The U.S. has been investigating him in connection with the illegal export of zirconium for such bombs. With the war winding down in the late 1980s, Cardoen began searching for a new product. What he discovered was helicopters. Congressional papers detail how Cardoen tried to manufacture a cheap attack helicopter from a customized Bell Jet Ranger, one of the world's most readily available commercial helicopters. By March 1990, he was ready to offer it at international arms bazaars; Moyle may have seen his mock-up displayed on the Cardoen stand at the Santiago air fair - a display that created a buzz of interest among potential third-world clients. According to defense industry sources, Saddam Hussein ordered more than fifty.
At the time, few Americans had heard of Saddam. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, which propelled his name to the front pages, was still four months away. The Iran-Iraq war had ended only two years before, leaving Iraq's military in tatters. But Saddam was rebuilding quickly, supported by billions of dollars the United States and its allies had secretly sent to Baghdad (see "Iraqgate: The Big One That (Almost) Got Away," CJR, March/April). Some of the goods for this buildup had passed through Cardoen's hands in Santiago - a fact that, at the time of Moyle's visit, had yet to be discovered. It was not until November 1992, when three executives of machine-tool manufacturer Matrix Churchill were charged by British authorities with illegally passing militarily useful goods to Iraq, that evidence emerged showing that Britain had passed high-tech products to Iraq via Cardoen.
The fact that Jonathan Moyle's name appeared on certain Matrix Churchill court documents led his father to conclude that the British government knew more about his son's death than it would admit. Politicians from the opposition parties have even accused the government of a cover-up. Though the British foreign secretary, Douglas Hurd, raised Moyle's murder in a January meeting with his Chilean opposite number, neither government seems particularly eager to push the case vigorously.
Indeed, the only official investigation into Moyle's death still underway is in Chile, but the presiding judge has 2,000 other cases on his docket. Jorge Trevino, the Moyle family lawyer, is pushing for the appointment of a special investigator who could devote himself exclusively to this case.
By Barraclough, Colin
Publication: Columbia Journalism Review
Date: Thursday, July 1 1993
A British Journalist and the Iraqgate Factor
Friends and colleagues may never know whether Danny Casolaro - the investigative journalist found dead in a motel room in Martinsburg, West Virginia, two years ago - killed himself or was murdered (see "The Octopus File," CJR, November/December
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1991). This is not the case with his British counterpart, Jonathan Moyle, the twenty-eight-year-old editor of the British trade journal Defense Helicopter World. In March 1990, he was found hanging in a closet in a hotel room in Santiago, Chile, where he had been covering the Santiago air show as a guest of the Chilean air force. Chilean police listed the case as a suicide and British officials told journalists that Moyle had died accidentally in the course of a bizarre erotic act.
But seventeen months later, following pressure from Moyle's father and further examination of the evidence, a Chilean judge reopened the case and pronounced the cause of death as murder. Moyle, it turns out, had been drugged, suffocated with a pillow, injected in the heel with a lethal substance, then strung up in the closet. So Moyle's friends and colleagues know how he died. The remaining question is, Why was he killed?
Much of the speculation centers on Carlos Cardoen, a Chilean arms manufacturer and procurer for Iraq President Saddam Hussein. Moyle's father, Anthony, believes that two telephone warnings his son received during the last week of his life came from a Cardoen aide. He thinks his son may have been eliminated to keep secret Cardoen's role in Iraqgate, the West's clandestine rearming of Iraq. Cardoen vehemently denies any involvement.
Other journalists in Santiago at the time confirm that Moyle indeed interviewed officials from Cardoen's company and several officers from the Chilean air force. What none can confirm is whether he was looking into any link with Iraq. Investigative journalists in Britain keep pursuing this link because, without it, they believe, Moyle's death makes little sense.
There is no question that Cardoen had dealt with Iraq for many years. As far back as 1987, The New York Times reported that he had made a fortune by selling cluster bombs to Iraq during its eight-year war with Iran. The U.S. has been investigating him in connection with the illegal export of zirconium for such bombs. With the war winding down in the late 1980s, Cardoen began searching for a new product. What he discovered was helicopters. Congressional papers detail how Cardoen tried to manufacture a cheap attack helicopter from a customized Bell Jet Ranger, one of the world's most readily available commercial helicopters. By March 1990, he was ready to offer it at international arms bazaars; Moyle may have seen his mock-up displayed on the Cardoen stand at the Santiago air fair - a display that created a buzz of interest among potential third-world clients. According to defense industry sources, Saddam Hussein ordered more than fifty.
At the time, few Americans had heard of Saddam. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, which propelled his name to the front pages, was still four months away. The Iran-Iraq war had ended only two years before, leaving Iraq's military in tatters. But Saddam was rebuilding quickly, supported by billions of dollars the United States and its allies had secretly sent to Baghdad (see "Iraqgate: The Big One That (Almost) Got Away," CJR, March/April). Some of the goods for this buildup had passed through Cardoen's hands in Santiago - a fact that, at the time of Moyle's visit, had yet to be discovered. It was not until November 1992, when three executives of machine-tool manufacturer Matrix Churchill were charged by British authorities with illegally passing militarily useful goods to Iraq, that evidence emerged showing that Britain had passed high-tech products to Iraq via Cardoen.
The fact that Jonathan Moyle's name appeared on certain Matrix Churchill court documents led his father to conclude that the British government knew more about his son's death than it would admit. Politicians from the opposition parties have even accused the government of a cover-up. Though the British foreign secretary, Douglas Hurd, raised Moyle's murder in a January meeting with his Chilean opposite number, neither government seems particularly eager to push the case vigorously.
Indeed, the only official investigation into Moyle's death still underway is in Chile, but the presiding judge has 2,000 other cases on his docket. Jorge Trevino, the Moyle family lawyer, is pushing for the appointment of a special investigator who could devote himself exclusively to this case.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.