"If there was an eye to the storm," Katz wrote, "if there was a mastermind behind crack's decade-long reign, if there was one outlaw most responsible for flooding LA's streets with mass-marketed cocaine, his name was Freeway Rick. Gary was preceded in death by his mother and father, Donna and James Webb of Carpentersville. Sue remarried two years ago. The Tragic 2004 Death Of Investigative Journalist, Gary Webb Gary Hays Webb, 78, passed away on Monday May 9, 2022, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center, Neenah. His death was especially traumatic to the family since - as the coroner said - it could not be established whether he died instantly, or bled to death. Dec. 13, 2004. Webb's reports prompted three official investigations, including one by the CIA itself which - astonishingly for an organisation rarely praised for its transparency - confirmed the substance of his findings (published at length in Webb's 1998 book, also entitled Dark Alliance). "[77], Webb's reporting in "Dark Alliance" remains controversial. Ross was also released early after cooperating in an investigation of police corruption, but was rearrested a few months later in a sting operation arranged with Blandn's help. Work with a bunch of drug dealers to run guns? Bell and her children helped Webb prepare 50 packages containing cuttings and his CV which they sent out to newspapers all over the US. Tomac is used to good feelings when it comes to Daytona. Part of what makes OConnors article so compelling are the candid thoughts of Webbs former wife Sue Stokes. Webb, Bell explains, had written four letters explaining what he was about to do - one to her, one to each of their three children - and mailed them immediately before he killed himself. in Central America", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Webb&oldid=1138520387, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 03:36. The series provoked outrage, particularly in the Los Angeles African-American community, and led to four major investigations of its charges. [43] He did this in a column that appeared on November 3, defending the series, but also committing the paper to a review of major criticisms. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021 Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie. Voices: The Gary Webb saga still has lessons today The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. He wrote well. In February, Gary Webb gave his ex-wife. "[80], Not all writers agree that the Inspector-General's report supported the series's claims. He told me: 'If I can't do what I want to do, what's the point?' And he finallyyou know, they finally left the country. * The agency's response was to try to prevent him from getting his doctorate, then block his advancement in the academic world. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. We were dismissed as a bunch of nuts." In a 2013 article in the LA Weekly, Schou wrote that Webb was "vindicated by a 1998 CIA Inspector General report, which revealed that for more than a decade the agency had covered up a business relationship it had with Nicaraguan drug dealers like Blandn. 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. [81], Peter Kornbluh, a researcher at George Washington University's National Security Archives, also does not agree that the report vindicated the series. 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. [20] The website artwork showed the silhouette of a man smoking a crack pipe superimposed over the CIA seal. "He was crying. Instead, he found work in 1978 as a reporter at the Kentucky Post, a local paper affiliated with the larger Cincinnati Post. WRITTEN IN PAIN - Los Angeles Times When Gary originally broke this mind blowing story, the arrogant authority's assumed they could simply ignore him and hope he'd go away. At that time, Webb (pictured) was best known for the controversial three-part CIA 1996 expose he wrote the San Jose Mercury News called "Dark Alliance: The Story Behind the . A secret deal allowed drugs to go unreported by the DCI. [46] Overholser was harshly critical of the series, "reported by a seemingly hotheaded fellow willing to have people leap to conclusions his reporting couldn't back up." Webb was born in Corona, California. [34], The Los Angeles Times devoted the most space to the story, publishing a three-part series called "The Cocaine Trail." Few reporters I've known could match his nose for an investigative story. margin: 0 45px; 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. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. "By the end of his life he was just in a lot of pain," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell. "Ross," his report went on, dealt "on a scale never before conceived," with "a staggering turnover" of "50 to 100 kilos of cocaine a day". He really did believe that," she says. . Webb made his early reputation as a reporter with the Plain Dealer before going on to fame and turmoil at the San Jose Mercury News. The Mercury News reporter came under sustained attack from the weightier US newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and, especially, the Los Angeles Times, infuriated at being scooped, on its own patch, by what it saw as a small-town paper. The character reporter Irene Abe is said by fans of the show to be a stand in character for the real life Gary Webb. He was so depressed. The Los Angeles Times and other major papers published articles suggesting the "Dark Alliance" claims were overstated and, in November 1996, Jerome Ceppos, the executive editor at Mercury News, wrote about being "in the eye of the storm". [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. A Celebration of Life will be . I ask Bell. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com font-weight:500; Moreira - a senior news producer for Canal Plus - has established a reputation for courage and independence of mind in his own foreign reporting, and was recently described by Le Monde as "the Che Guevara of news media". Watkins and Debbie (John) Foutch; grandchildren, Makenzie and Ashlynn Fogg. His wife is Sue Webb (m. 1979-2000) Gary Webb Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. When his body was found, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was on the DVD machine, and his favourite CD, Ian Hunter's live album Welcome to the Club, was in the CD player. After Ceppos' column, The Mercury News spent the next several months conducting an internal review of the story. This did not happen in Webb's case. "Exactly," replied Kornbluh, who - referring specifically to the LA Times, said he is "baffled as to how they could be so gullible. By the end of September, three federal investigations had been announced: an investigation into the CIA allegations conducted by CIA Inspector-General Frederick Hitz, an investigation into the law enforcement allegations by Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Bromwich, and a second investigation into the CIA by the House Intelligence Committee. Dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island, Florida. When removal men arrived, on the morning of 10 December 2004, they found a sign on his front door, which read: ''Please do not enter. Gary Webb (Investigative Journalist) Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family Gary Webb and 'Kill the Messenger': Reporter played by - cleveland Unable to get work from any major US newspaper, he spent the four months before his death writing for * a free-sheet covering the Sacramento area. Gary Webb - Lake Ridge Chapel & Memorial Designers . [67], Webb later moved to the State Assembly's Office of Majority Services. Vivian Corrie, a part of his liver in a life-threatening operation. Webb, according to Bell, was a man who, more than most, found that his mood and self-esteem fluctuated in accordance with his professional fortunes. But while calling the flaws in the series "unforgivably careless journalism," Overholser also criticized the Post's refusal to print Ceppos' letter defending the series and sharply criticized the Post's coverage of the story. "[74] Mary Anne Sharkey, Webb's editor at The Plain Dealer, told writer Alicia Shepard in 1997 that Webb was known as 'the carpenter' "because he had everything nailed down. Gary Webb: More Pieces In The Suicided Puzzle - Pt 1 - Rense It noted that Blandn and Meneses claimed to have donated money to Contra sympathizers in Los Angeles, but found no information to confirm that it was true or that the agency had heard of it. The first effect of the onslaught was to ease the pressure on the CIA. "[55] In June 1997, The Mercury News told Webb it was transferring him from the paper's Sacramento bureau and offered him a choice between working at the main offices in San Jose under closer editorial supervision, or spot reporting in Cupertino; both locations were long commutes from his home in Sacramento. Many writers discussing the series point to errors in it. Ricky Ross (drug trafficker) - Wikipedia font-size: 34px; Webb's series was published on the Mercury News's fledgling website, but it wasn't exactly an instant sensation. "Although Ross had become a millionaire by 1984," Katz now wrote, "the market was so huge by then that even a dealer of his stature could seem dwarfed How the crack epidemic reached that extreme, on some level," he continues, "had nothing to do with Ross". Gary Webb Obituary (1954 - 2021) - Dorr, MI - Grand Rapids Press [68], In August 2004, Webb joined the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly newspaper, where he continued doing investigative writing. The story had little immediate impact. "I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. "Gary was 18 and I was 16 when we first met and started dating in Indianapolis," said Sue Stokes. The Man Who Exposed The Crips, Bloods & CIA Connection to - YouTube Working in San Jose would have meant daily contact with what Bell describes as "people he did not want to be with". Film of this encounter survives. "He definitely was depressed. After the publication of "Dark Alliance," The Mercury News continued to pursue the story, publishing follow-ups to the original series for the next three months. Webb, one of the boldest and most outstanding reporters of his generation, was the journalist who, in 1996, established the connection between the CIA and major drug dealers in Los Angeles, some of whose profits had been channelled to fund the Contra guerrilla movement in Nicaragua. "He was sleeping more, he hated to get up in the morning, he started having a lot of motorcycle. He was born at Emmanuel Hospital in. 'It's just good vibes': Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac in tight Supercross The article resulted in a lawsuit against Webb's paper which the plaintiffs won. Webb put in a call to Robert Parry. Gary Webb Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family 2) The series's estimate of the money involved was presented as fact instead of as an estimate. My wife has kept me grounded for . [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. Gary Webb | Obituary | The Daily Item A time of fellowship and remembrance is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers. Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. The Death of Gary Webb - Beyond Chron He was born Sept.10, 1957 in Willcox, Ariz. to RG Webb and Winnie Mae Shelton. His own paper, the Mercury News, criticized the series in 1997 without providing many specifics. Gary Webb's painstaking investigation and the incindiary conclusions he drew from it were based mostly on public records, as detailed in the "notes on sources" section in "Dark Alliance", including: undercover audio tapes, declassified government documents from the CIA, DEA, FBI, L.A. Sheriff's Department, files from the Iran-Contra . He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. [31] In their front-page article, reporters Roberto Suro and Walter Pincus wrote that "available information" did not support the series's claims and that "the rise of crack" was "a broad-based phenomenon" driven in numerous places by diverse players. Herhold: Thinking back on journalist Gary Webb and the CIA In August of 1996, investigative journalist Gary Webb broke the biggest story of his life. I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. Gary Webb: Murdered For Exposing The Truth - A New Kind Of Human Every year since investigative journalist Gary Webb took his own life in 2004, I have marked the anniversary of that sad event by recalling the debt that American history owes to Webb for his. "They had him writing obituaries," she said. Because Blandn cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he spent only 28 months in prison, became a paid government informant, and received permanent resident status. According to Schou, the investigation "confirmed key chunks of Webb's allegations." It was an amazing scoop - but one that would ruin his career and drive him to suicide. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. Gary Webb - Biography - IMDb Look at the way the US press reports on Iraq. "Do not quote me. A revised version was published in 1999 that incorporated Webb's response to the CIA and Justice Department reports. Call 911 for assistance. But the report was correct. Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" Returns to the Internet - Narco News [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. [22], The lede of the first article set out the series' basic claims: "For the better part of a decade, a San Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency." And it ruined that reporter's career. [66] Contemporary discussions of the series are discussed in the section on, Webb 2011, "Caltrans Ignored Elevated Freeway Safety. Some editors regarded him as stubborn to the point of insolence. Evidence Begins To Indicate Gary Webb Was Murdered - BSNEWS According to a description of Webb's injuries in the Los Angeles Times, he shot himself with a .38 revolver, which he placed near his right ear. He was laid off in February 2004 when Assembly Member Fabian Nez was elected Speaker. Gary Webb's Ex-Wife Set to Attend New York Premiere By Richard Horgan October 8, 2014 Cleveland Plain Dealer film critic Clint O'Connor had a solid feature the other day about Kill the. Gary was born May 5, 1954, to his parents Worley and Margaret Webb, who preceded him in death as well as his brother, David Webb. When he was engaged, he worked hard. ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. The article suggested this was in retribution for Ross' testimony in the corruption case. Webb's ex-wife, Sue Bell, discounted theories Tuesday that her husband had been murdered, saying the 49-year-old Webb had been distraught for some time over his inability to get . Webb worked for several newspapers including The Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009. Cooper and Mariah were engaged before they finally tied the knot. "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. [63]Dark Alliance was a 1998 Pen/Newman's Own First Amendment Award Finalist, 1998 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, 1999 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award Finalist, and 1999 Firecracker Alternative Booksellers Award Winner in the Politics category. padding:0!important; He concluded, "How did these shortcomings occur? His victory in the event last year gave him . "Gary Webb was left to fend for himself. Man Donates Liver To Ex-Wife - CBS News Gary Webb Obituary (1944 - 2022) - Portland, OR - The Oregonian [51], The editors met with Webb several times in February to discuss the results of the paper's internal review and eventually decided to print neither Carey's draft article nor the articles Webb had filed. Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb How Kill the Messenger Will Vindicate Investigative Journalist Gary Webb Melinda Welsh September 29, 2014 This one has all the ingredients of a dreamed-up Hollywood. I first heard about Webb eight years ago, I tell Bell, from the Paris-based journalist Paul Moreira. In 1997 Ceppos was awarded the US Society of Professional Journalists' National Ethics Award. Emma Lee Webb of Crossett, Arkansas | 1947 - 2023 | Obituary Although Blandn's cartel was undoubtedly one of the first to bring crack to LA, Webb was almost certainly suffering a rush of blood when he described the group as "the first pipeline" into the city. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department began its own investigation into the "Dark Alliance" claims.[30]. Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. Then, in August the same year, the first of three instalments of "Dark Alliance" appeared. He was a former member of Bethlehem . 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. [48] Despite the controversy that soon overtook the series, and the request of one board member to reconsider, the branch's board went ahead with the award in November. In addition, Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them. margin-top: 10px; [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. A perceptive, engaging woman of 48, she has turned an adjoining study into a small shrine to her late husband, who would have celebrated his 50th birthday five weeks ago. But Ian Webbknows all too well the emotions that come with that experience. Gary Webb FRCPC Obituary (1943 - 2021) - Legacy Remembers In the final few months of his life, Bell says, Webb became increasingly withdrawn. Ricky Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross (born January 26, 1960) is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. . Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. Gary is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Barbara; their son, Jeff; his nephew, Christopher (Stephanie) Webb; niece, Sara (Gary) Dugan; and . The CIA, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of Gary Webb - The Telegraph We had this huge team of people at the L.A. Times and kind of piled on to one lone muckraker up in Northern California." Gary Webb, MD, FRCPC, FACC - The Donohue Funeral Homes Inc. How the Press and the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career At the end of March, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to present the internal review findings in a column. [9], Webb's first major investigative work appeared in 1980, when the Cincinnati Post published "The Coal Connection," a seventeen-part series by Webb and Post reporter Thomas Scheffey. "Do you think that a part of him did this out of revenge?" GARY WEBB: His wife's office was burglarized. The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. Jack Blum, who was the lead investigator for Senator John Kerry's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, which produced a highly damning 1989 report on drug-smuggling in the guise of national security, is one of several commentators to have questioned aspects of Webb's original reporting. Gary Webb: Vindicated - Narco News And the importance of exposing them. Susan Bell: a shameful secret history - The Independent [3], Webb was born in Corona, California. The reports of the three federal investigations into the claims of "Dark Alliance" were not released until over a year after the series's publication. And yet, for all his Easy Rider tendencies, he was also a dedicated family man with an extraordinary appetite for researching minutiae. The story they printed was just awful. [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. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. One article, dealing mostly with the response of the Los Angeles Black community to the stories, described the series's evidence as "thin". Gary Webb, friends say, was a far more combative character than either the Mercury News's executive editor Ceppos or page editor Garcia. He said: 'No. When it did, beginning with The Washington Post, it shocked Webb's critics as much as his many admirers. An investigative journalist, Webb became interested in the covert activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. [13] Webb then moved to the paper's statehouse bureau, where he covered statewide issues and won numerous regional journalism awards. Gary is survived by his wife of 48 years, Beverly Webb; children Margaret . "People told me that," she says. There were no offers. "It sounds crazy," says Bell, "but having his motorbike stolen was the last straw. Gary Webb : Murdered For Exposing The Truth - Educate Inspire Change [72] A New York Times profile of Webb in June 1997 noted that two of his series written for the Cleveland Plain Dealer had resulted in lawsuits that the paper had settled. The whole business, I suggested to Blum, has echoes of a classic Alfred Hitchcock plot. We're well aware that they/it (the cia) did do it. Webb disagreed with this conclusion.[1][2]. Dark Alliance - Dark Alliance The link between drug-running and the Reagan regime's support for the right-wing terrorist group throughout the 1980s had been public knowledge for over a decade. Do not quote me on anything.". When Webb's body was discovered last December, Bell says, this last item had been dumped in the trash. [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. border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; Jimmy Webb's battle with ex-wife Patsy Sullivan continues - New York Post The claim that the drug ring of Meneses-Blandn-Ross sparked the "crack explosion" has been perhaps the most criticized part of the series. ", She pauses: "That said, he did sleep with a gun under his bed.". "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. Webb's research took a year, in the course of which he received death threats. He died by suicide on December 10, 2004. The response from the American press took two months to arrive. Emma Lee Webb, age 75, of Crossett, AR passed away Monday February 27, 2023, in her home surrounded by her family. Unfortunately, the railroading of Gary Webb had begun and he was run over. "They use the giant corporate press rather than saying anything directly. Shortly before his death, his motorcycle had been stolen (it was recovered by his family after his death). Ceppos initially defended Webb, and reportedly showed up at an in-house party wearing a military helmet. This is why Webb's "Dark Alliance" series is an essential source, a primary text that every journalism student should study.