The sons of an American scientist who died under mysterious circumstances almost 60 years ago have filed a lawsuit demanding compensation for damages for the death of a parent. The US Central Intelligence Agency, for which the deceased researcher worked in the 1950s, is named as the defendant. The plaintiffs are convinced that the CIA killed their father when he learned too much.
Brothers Eric and Nils Olsen filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, AP reports. The amount of the claim was not disclosed, but the exact amount is expected to be determined during the proceedings.
Frank Olsen, a biological weapon expert, began working closely with the CIA in 1950. The researcher specialized in aerobiological weapons, developed for the needs of the American army during the Cold War. In 1953, Olsen went on business trips to Europe, during which he visited secret biological laboratories in Norway, Great Britain, and the Federal Republic of Germany.
As noted in the Olsen brothers' lawsuit, during this trip, their father witnessed "the most severe interrogations conducted by the CIA, during which people were killed with the help of biological weapons developed by him." After that, the sons of the scientist insist, he could no longer cooperate with the special service and decided to quit, as he informed some of his colleagues.
Immediately, CIA agents visited Olsen's house and explained to his wife that her husband could be dangerous for her and the children - it was not without reason that he decided to quit, because of nervous insanity, the lawsuit says. Four days later, Olsen fell out of a window on the 13th floor of a hotel in New York, where he stayed with a medical colleague from the CIA. The death was ruled a suicide due to the stress of doing a responsible job.
"Well, he's gone" - "It's a pity"
However, the family of the deceased and the public continued to ask questions, not fully believing the official statements. In the 1970s, when the CIA, as part of the reform, revealed old secrets and repented of past mistakes, the agency reported very strange information. It turns out that in 1953, nine days before Olsen's death, two agents mixed LSD into his drink during a business dinner.
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Since then, they began to believe that the scientist committed suicide under the influence of a psychotropic substance. The Olsen family was even invited to the White House, where President Gerald Ford personally apologized to them.
But even here the relatives of the researcher did not want to reconcile and for many years continued to conduct their own investigation. In the early 1990s, they even obtained the exhumation of the body, and subsequent examination showed that Olsen had been hit on the head before his death.
Other details have surfaced, indicating, perhaps, not so voluntary departure of the scientist from life. For example, the operator, who worked on the hotel's telephone line on the day of the investigator's death, reported that soon after Olsen's fall, someone called from the window from his room. And not the police or the ambulance. A man, presumably a CIA medic with whom he lived at the Olsen Hotel, said into the phone: "Well, he's gone." The voice on the other end replied, "I'm sorry."
A scientist working on secret projects was killed by the secret services when he became dangerous to them, the Olsen brothers are convinced. Having personally seen the cruelty of the CIA, moreover, using his own creations, the researcher no longer wanted to have anything to do with this, his sons believe. The CIA, according to the lawsuit, was afraid that a scientist disenchanted with the special service would begin to oppose it and inform its enemies - whether internal or even external - secret information.