When Webb's body was discovered last December, Bell says, this last item had been dumped in the trash. padding:0!important; And he finallyyou know, they finally left the country. Gary Stephen Webb was a Pulitzer prize winning American investigative reporter who exposed cocaine trafficking by the CIA.He wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, which initially backed his articles but later dropped him.Webb was put under pressure most certainly from the CIA under John Deutch for his reporting. Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie Penman. At the commemorative service for Webb, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento, Bell read out the letter Webb had written to his son Eric, now 17. Webb is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series, which appeared in The Mercury News in 1996. Gary Webb, 64, Oroville, Wash., died Oct. 30, 2021. The article suggested this was in retribution for Ross' testimony in the corruption case. [55] Webb eventually chose Cupertino, but was unhappy with the routine stories he was reporting there and the long commute. In February last year he was laid off by the State Legislature. [37], In 2013, Jesse Katz, a former Los Angeles Times reporter, said of the newspaper's coverage "As an L.A. Times reporter, we saw this series in the San Jose Mercury News and kind of wonder[ed] how legit it was and kind of put it under a microscope, and we did it in a way that most of us who were involved in it, I think, would look back on that and say it was overkill. Walter Bogdanich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who worked with Webb on The Plain Dealer, told American Journalism Review editor Susan Paterno "He was brilliant; he knew more about public records than anybody I've ever known. [42] The extent of the criticism, however, convinced Ceppos that The Mercury News had to acknowledge to its readers that the series had been subjected to strong criticism. He stayed home, playing computer games, and began smoking cannabis heavily. Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and his death that was ruled a suicide, is the common sense notion that this was clearly assassination true? Eli Tomac on track during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, March 3, 2023. He recently told the American Journalism Review (whose scrupulously researched piece, by Susan Paterno, is the only serious documentation of the Webb case I could find anywhere in the orthodox American media) that Webb's critics in rival newspapers, "quoted these CIA guys - who had a tremendous amount to hide - as though they were telling the truth. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles' allegations. "[72] California Representative Maxine Waters, who was Webb's strongest supporter in Congress after the "Dark Alliance" controversy broke, issued a statement after Webb's death calling him "one of the finest investigative journalists that our country has ever seen. Family and friends will gather to celebrate his life of 59 years at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2019, at Lamesa Continue Reading Leave a Message, Share a Memory The series follows the stories of several characters whose lives are fated to intersect including CIA operative Teddy McDonald who helps to secure guns for the Contras. By the late spring of 1996, Webb was ready to publish. The "Dark Alliance" series remains controversial. Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst with the George Washington University's National Security Archive, was one of the first to suggest that Webb had overplayed his hand in the Mercury News version of "Dark Alliance". Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. Gary-Webb TL, Walker EA, Realmuto L, Kamler A, Lukin J, Tyson W, Carrasquillo O, Weiss L. Translation of the National Diabetes Prevention Program to Engage Men in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods in New York City: A Description of Power Up for Health. [59], The first volume of the report found no evidence that "any past or present employee of CIA, or anyone acting on behalf of CIA, had any direct or indirect dealing" with Ross, Blandn, or Meneses or that any of the other figures mentioned in "Dark Alliance" were ever employed by or associated with or contacted by the agency. "He rang me up that day. In 1997 Ceppos was awarded the US Society of Professional Journalists' National Ethics Award. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". Meneses, an established smuggler and a Contra supporter as well, taught Blandn how to smuggle and provided him with cocaine. Five years ago, a tragedy occurred in American journalism: Investigative reporter Gary Webb - who had been ostracized by his own colleagues for forcing a spotlight back onto an ugly government scandal they wanted to ignore - was driven to commit suicide. His was the story of a man who gains information of wrongdoing, then, attempting to act in the public interest, seeks protection from his superiors, and the forces of law, and does not receive it. If he could have chosen his own epitaph, it might have been a line from the letter he posted to Bell, immediately before he killed himself: "I do not regret," Webb told her, "anything that I have written." Connie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. Their explosive report, which appeared in 1989, was either ignored, or marginalised, by the American press. Video courtesy of documentary FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM premiering on Al Jazeera America in early 2015. Carey ultimately decided that there were problems with several parts of the story and wrote a draft article incorporating his findings. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; But the tragedy had a deeper meaning. Who Is Gary Webb's Wife? He made that very clear. Attorneys' Offices. Webb's ex wife, Susan Bell told reporters that she believed Webb had died by suicide. He is survived by his loving wife, Wendie, of Elgin; grandmother, Eileen Carrier of Elgin;. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau, where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories. [65], After leaving The Mercury News, Webb worked as an investigator for the California State Legislature. "The second bullet," adds Bell, who has worked for more than 20 years in the area of respiratory therapy, "struck his carotid artery. and Drugs Has a Life of Its Own", "Pivotal Figures of Newspaper Series May Be Only Bit Players", "Tracking the Genesis of the Crack Trade", "Examining Charges of CIA Role in Crack Sales", "History Fuels Outrage Over Crack Allegations", "Ex-L.A. Times Writer Apologizes for "Tawdry" Attacks", "Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos' Letter to the Washington Post", "Washington Post response to Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos", "Despite critics, a good story Crack and the contras", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Epilogue", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Conclusions", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Are You Sure You Want to Ruin Your Career? But you say - dear God. It was also posted on The Mercury News website with additional information, including documents cited in the series and audio recordings of people quoted in the articles. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. Nobody who heads a government agency can let such an allegation stand.". By the autumn of 1997, on medication for clinical depression, he was given leave of absence from the paper. But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. Webb came home and put his belongings in order, dropping his Kentucky Post poster in the bin. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". He leaves behind the love of his life and adoring wife of 41 years, Anne Michelle Phillips. Webb took a modestly paid, low-profile job as an investigator with the California State Legislature. By: E&P Staff The death of investigative reporter Gary Webb has been confirmed as a suicide, according to a coroner's statement. [26] Other papers were slow to pick up the story, but African Americans quickly took note, especially in South Central Los Angeles where the dealers discussed in the series had been active. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. In addition, Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them. The third article, by Mitchell and Fulwood, covered the effects of crack on African-Americans and how it affected their reaction to some of the rumors that arose after the "Dark Alliance" series. Webb's research took a year, in the course of which he received death threats. I'm glad that I didn't dissuade him, because it was important to get the truth out but for Gary Webb, there was a very high price to pay." Vivian Corrie, a part of his liver in a life-threatening operation. On Dec. 9, 2004, the 49-year-old Webb typed out suicide notes to his ex-wife and his three children; laid out a certificate for his cremation; and taped a note on the door telling movers, who were . OR was he like Epstein? He placed his keys and ID cards on the kitchen table, together with a cremation certificate he had purchased for himself. "But that," pointed out Blum, who is now a Washington attorney, "in no way - in no way - diminishes the wrongness of what these bastards did. [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. Webb established incontrovertible links * between Ricky Ross and Blandn who, two years later, would betray Ross to the authorities. Webb joined the Mercury News in 1988, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His former wife, her voice lowered to a whisper, explains that Webb missed with the first shot (which exited through his left cheek). Gary Webb, (born August 31, 1955, Corona, California, U.S.died December 10, 2004, Carmichael, California), American investigative journalist who wrote a three-part series for the San Jose Mercury News in 1996 on connections between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S.-backed Contra army seeking to overthrow Nicaragua's leftist Noting that most of the activities discussed in the report had nothing to do with the people Webb reported on, Kornbluh told Schou, "I can't say it's a vindication. [44], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. He also stated "the series presented dangerous ideas" by suggesting "crimes of state had been committed" (i.e. [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report was released on July 23, 1998. He was born Sept.10, 1957 in Willcox, Ariz. to RG Webb and Winnie Mae Shelton. A January 1997 article in American Journalism Review noted that a 1994 series Webb wrote had also been the subject of a Mercury News internal review that criticized Webb's reporting. Pictured as a teenage fan: Gary Numan with Gemma, his now wife, getting his autograph in 1985 years before they got together Gary was 600,000 in debt, and on the verge of going under in. Am J Mens Health, 2018 Mar 1:1557988318758788. doi: 10.1177/1557988318758788. The collection, The Killing Game: Selected Stories from the Author of Dark Alliance, was edited by Webb's son, Eric. That was just the way he was.". [39] Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post's criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandn's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandn's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses. In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. Gary Webb (304) 778-2546: Jamie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. In an unprecedented move, the then CIA director John Deutch was dispatched to address community leaders in the Watts district of LA.