Name Ian Spiro | ||
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Died November 8, 1992, Colorado Desert | ||
Ian Stuart Spiro (14 December 1946 – 8 November 1992), was an international businessman and commodities broker—as well as a CIA-Contracted intelligence operative, who, in the 1980s was instrumental in U.S. and British supported Middle Eastern intelligence-gathering, high-level hostage negotiation, and surreptitious foreign-policy deal-making. He died suspiciously in 1992.
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Death
On November 5, 1992, Spiro's wife, Gail Spiro, 41, his daughters, Sara, 16, and Dina, 11—as well as their son, Adam, 14, were found shot to death in their beds in their luxurious, rented home in the Covenant section of Rancho Santa Fe, California, north of San Diego. Each had been shot in the head, execution-style—with a large caliber handgun as they slept. For the ensuing three days, Spiro was the only suspect in the slaying; the story dominated the national news, and a global manhunt was quickly under way.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, Spiro was found dead behind the wheel of his SUV in a rocky canyon on the western edge of the Anza-Borego Desert. It was subsequently found that he died of cyanide poisoning. The case was officially declared a murder-suicide—ostensibly sparked by pressure from the family's alleged financial problems. Circumstances—as well as documented evidence—have continued to cast a large shadow-of-doubt on the case, and show a potentially high-percentage chance of organized and well-planned foul play. Contrary to standard San Diego County protocol, by court order, autopsy reports were sealed.
Hoping to find new leads, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department—who had primary jurisdiction in the matter—enlisted the aid of retired detective Tim Carroll in order to explore different angles as well as to take a fresh look at the case.
Possible espionage connection
Subsequent evidence showed that Spiro had worked for British Intelligence and the CIA—and that his family may have been killed in retaliation for his reported involvement in Middle Eastern espionage, as well as working directly for Oliver North on the Iranian weapons-for-hostage deals, The October Surprise, and/or their attempts to free Western hostages in Lebanon.
Shortly before his death, Spiro was working with CIA asset Michael Riconosciuto for the purpose of collecting documents to present to a Federal Grand Jury that was conducting hearings into the sordid Inslaw Affair. During this period, he told friends that he was receiving death threats by phone from either CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) operatives, or Mossad. At the time, he related that he was not sure which of the two agencies was behind the threats. In his book The Other Side of Deception, former Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky states that Ian Spiro had stolen some money from Mossad which was used to pay Hezbollah hostage takers to free western hostages. Ostrovsky states that Spiro had taken some of the ransom money for himself and that Mossad tortured him to reveal the whereabouts of the hidden money but he ended up dying during the torture.
His brother-in-law believed the CIA or Mossad was involved in his death.