Maurice Brooks Gatlin: The “Strange Death” and Parapolitical ties of a Banister-linked attorney

/ Carter McLellan

Author: Carter McLellan – Date: January 27, 2026

CONTENT

  1. Early Life 1903-1930
  2. Law Practice 1931-1950
  3. Parapolitical Activities 1950-1965
  4. The “Strange Death” May 31, 1965
  5. Notes

Early Life 1903-1930

The principle figure in this article, Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Sr., was born on January 12, 1903, in Century, Escambia County, Florida, USA.1 His father was John Marshall Gatlin (1864-1927).2

Gatlin, who was probably raised as a Catholic and likely moved to New Orleans early on, was known to have graduated from Loyola University and Tulane University Law School.3 He was married twice, and had a daughter, Rose Gatlin (1929-1998) in 1929, as well as a son, Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Jr., at some point.4

Law Practice 1931-1950

Gatlin started practicing law by 1931.5 I currently don’t have much of any information regarding his legal practice in the 1930s to 1940s. Perhaps if I obtain more information I will update this section in the future. In any case, this gap is probably highly important in understanding the development of Gatlin’s activities.

He likely was married to Bernadette O’Dowd (1908-1984) in this period. A Catholic, she was also a graduate of Tulane and Loyola University Law School and worked as a legal secretary at Gatlin’s law firm.6

It is known, that Gatlin was a member of multiple Bar associations, including: Inter-American Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, and Criminal Courts Bar Association.7

Parapolitical Activities 1950-1965

We see that by the early 1950’s, Gatlin was already involved in Latin American affairs and the domestic political scene. On December 13, 1953, a CIA report records that Gatlin called an OO (Operations Officers) Office informing them that riots were imminent in Guatemala, adding that he thought some CIA representatives there might be in danger. “He suggested,” the report explains, “that he be furnished the names of agents who were posing as members of the Communist organization so that he could prevent their being assassinated in error.”8 Even more intriguing is that Gatlin suggested to the CIA’s OO Office that he be given $75,000 to fund the assassination of 15 top Communist leaders in Latin America.9

Evidently dabbling in domestic politics, in 1954, Gatlin ran in the New Orleans Democratic primary in opposition to Hale Boggs for a seat in the US House of Representatives, but was defeated.10

Around 1955, Gatlin was introduced to Carlos Marcello by a John S. Waterman with regard to a coin vending venture in Guatemala. Gatlin apparently had some involvement in Marcello’s attempt to go to Guatamala. He introduced Marcello to the brother-in-law of the former president of Guatemala named Castelle Armes (phonetic) whose name was Satarinio. Furthermore, Gatlin with apparent contacts in Europe, also introduced Marcello to a Belgian named John Decaux, who was a friend of this Satarinio.11

By the late-1950’s, Gatlin was reportedly involved in conning a Dominican Republic Consul General in New Orleans, one Eduardo A. Morales, out of “relatively large sums” of money.12 Gatlin evidently was into some pretty shady business. He has been described by some accounts as being “insane”, and used multiple aliases.13

Of high import to Gatlin’s parapolitical activities are the various reports describing Gatlin as the legal counsel or secretary of an organization called the “Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean,” founded possibly in the early 1950s. That group has also been called the “Anti-Communism Committee of the Americas”, where he has been reported as the sole member of that national group, but with another report indicating that he was head of the Caribbean Division.14 The organization was believed to have been connected to the World Anti-Communist League.15 One report alleges that the organization was involved in the 1954 Guatemala coup to overthrow the Arbenz government.16

There is conflicting reporting about who exactly was involved in this Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean. One indicating that Gatlin was the sole member, while Guy Banister has been described as the head of the organization. Yet, Banister reportedly denied being involved in it. One report indicates that Gatlin himself had claimed otherwise. One member was said to have been Felix Rodriguez, who reportedly joined in 1958. What we do know for sure is that Banister was a client of Gatlin and even wrote in a letter describing Gatlin as the general counsel of the Anti-Communist Committee of the Americas.17

We can gather from Banister’s 1960 letter that Gatlin was keenly interested in the Cuba situation and rise of Fidel Castro. He advised against supplying weapons to Castro on the basis that he was likely a communist. One report claims that Gatlin had “scotched” a deal being pursued by Jack Ruby to sell jeeps to Castro.18 On July 22, 1961, Gatlin was awarded the Ruben Dario medal, which was presented to him by Nicaraguan Consul General Reynaldo Chavez, on behalf of Nicaraguan President Luis Somoza. He was awarded for his efforts against communis, and for helping stop the flow of arms shipments from New Orleans to Castro.19

More evidence of Gatlin and Banister’s activities together surfaces with the allegations of a certain Jerry Milton Brooks, who linked both men, alongside Banister associate Hugh F. Ward, to the Minutemen.20 In March 1961, Brooks called the New Orleans FBI office stating to be in touch with Gatlin and Banister, and at their insistence had written to the Communist Party HQ in New York earlier that month and called and spoke with the secretary. He inquired about membership and subscribed to several publications at the insistence of Gatlin and Banister.21 Also among Gatlin’s domestic activities included him reportedly being the attorney of American Nazi Part chief George Lincoln Rockwell.22

As hinted earlier, Gatlin appears to have been involved in some heavy parapolitical activities not only in Latin America, but also in Europe. According to Brooks, sometime in 1962, Gatlin had boasted about being a “transporter” for the CIA, including moving $100,000 of CIA money to the French paramilitary group OAS, which was trying to assassinate President Charles De Gaulle. More specifically, this was believed to have been arranged by Banister on behalf of the Italian Centro Mondiale Commerciale in Rome.23 It is also interesting to note the report that Gatlin was allegedly tied to West German intelligence General Reinhard Gehlen, who was a key figure in the early Gladio network and reportedly supported the OAS.24 This reporting, although evidently unproven, is entirely consistent with Gatlin’s interaction with the CIA a near decade prior, where he suggested the CIA provide him with funds for the “assassination of 15 top Communist leaders in Latin America.”25

The “Strange Death” May 31, 1965

Not much is currently known to me of what Gatlin’s activities were around and after the Kennedy assassination. It has been reported that he met with a certain Albert Osborne on October 10, 1963.26 In any case, Gatlin is firmly cemented in the New Orleans parapolitical environment around Guy Banister, who in turn had links to Lee Harvey Oswald. Furthermore, Gatlin was linked to parapolitical activities across Latin America since the 1950s, and had apparent connections into the European Cold War environment, particularly in connection to the OAS attempts on Charles de Gaulle, not to mention Permindex-CMC and the CIA. All of this is to say that Gatlin was a key interlocking figure, and not much attention seems to have been put on him.

Gatlin falls into a pattern of “strange deaths” in the aftermath of the JFK assassination. Immediately there was a wave of such cases in Dallas, but also this phenomenon started occurring in New Orleans by 1964. Probably the earliest was the plane crash in Mexico involving Hugh Ward and former Mayor DeLesseps Morrison. On June 6, 1964, Guy Banister died from a heart attack at the age of 64. In July, 1964, Dr. Mary Sherman (ties to Banister-Ferrie-Oswald-Ochsner) was killed in what is today an unsolved murder case.

It’s not exactly clear what Gatlin was up to in this latter period from 1964 to 1965. But in May 1965, he attended a meeting of the Inter-American Bar Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA. In the early morning of May 28, 1965, Gatlin fell 6 stories from the San Juan Hotel.27 There is inconsistent reporting as to how Gatlin started to fall. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Jr., stated that a coroner’s report attributed his death to a heart attack, which resulted in him falling over a railing.28 However, a follow up on this was done years later by a man named Alan L. Fitzgibbons in 1984. He wrote to the Puerto Rican police and vital statistics office with regard to the case of Gatlin. The police responded that their records of the investigation were routinely destroyed in 1975 (Note: why didn’t Garrison or the HSCA obtain this documentation), but did include a copy of the medical examiner’s autopsy report, which attributed his death to suicide, while drug and alcohol tests were negative.29 Various others simply state that Gatlin was pushed or thrown out of the building.30

So what actually happened? Did Gatlin suddenly experience a heart attack and fall over a railing in the middle of the night? Did he jump over the railing? Or, was he pushed or thrown over it? The inconsistent reporting, combined with the timing, at the very least strikes as odd.

Notes

  1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232554926/maurice-brooks-gatlin ↩︎
  2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19295049/john_marshall-gatlin ↩︎
  3. May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’ ↩︎
  4. *) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/632805/rose-evans;
    *) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/233496418/loraine-cummins Loraine;
    *) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232555026/bernadette-gatlin ↩︎
  5. May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’ ↩︎
  6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232555026/bernadette-gatlin ↩︎
  7. May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’ ↩︎
  8. MEMO NO. 8: GARRISON AND KENNEDY ASSASSINATION (IDENTIFIES 30 PERSONS). ↩︎
  9. ibid. ↩︎
  10. May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’ ↩︎
  11. *) FBI File 46-42600 on Carlos Marcello, Vol. 3, Serial 127-168;
    *) FBI File 46-42600 on Carlos Marcello, Vol. 1, Serial 1-59
    mffpdf_240583.pdf ↩︎
  12. MEMO NO. 8: GARRISON AND KENNEDY ASSASSINATION (IDENTIFIES 30 PERSONS). ↩︎
  13. ibid., “FBI reports on him cite sources who knew him well as saying that he was insane and should have been committed. He duped Eduardo A. Morales, Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New Orleans, out of relatively large sums in the late 1950’s. Morales seems to have considered him an agent representing the interests of Trujillo, although GATLIN was no so registered with the Department of Justice. GATLIN used the aliases Edward FAIRCHILD, James COCHRANE, Robert WATSON, and Charles EVERETT. A typical episode occurred in November-December 1957, when GATLIN went to Eugene, Oregon, because he had a theory that Jesus De Galindex (commonly believed to have been kidnapped in New York by Trujillo henchmen) was hiding out among the Basque sheep-herders there. On 2 December 1957 GATLIN presented himself to an FBI special agent in Eugene and said that “if he was found dead in Eugene it was murder, not suicide.” ↩︎
  14. *) May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’, “He had also served for a time as the New Orleans representative of the Anti-Communist Committee of the Americas.”;
    *) MEMO NO. 8: GARRISON AND KENNEDY ASSASSINATION (IDENTIFIES 30 PERSONS)., “Gatlin was not legal counsel to the “Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean” but to the “Anti-Communism Committee of the Americas”. FBI reporting clearly indicates that GATLIN was the sole member of this national group.” Banister reportedly claimed not to have been a member of the group, but Gatlin reportedly claimed otherwise.;
    *) ADMIN FOLDER-D6: HSCA ADMINISTRATIVE FOLDER, ASSASSINATION MATTERS VOLUME IV, ““It is to be noted that the files of the New Orleans Office show that MAURICE BROOKS GATLIN, now deceased, was an attorney in New Orleans who was the head of the Anti-Communist Committee of the Americas, Caribbean Division.”;
    *) https://isgp-studies.com/misc/death-list/articles/1965_05_Maurice_Brooks_Gatlin_death, (cites an August 31, 1960 letter from Banister to Guy Johnson), “My client in the above entitled matter [Fidel Castro – Purchase of War Supplies] is Mr. Maurice Brooks Gatlin, General Counsel, Anti-Communist Committee of the Americas.” ↩︎
  15. 1982-07-07-bernard-fensterwald-deposition-on-jfk-assassination-permindex-cmc-french-connection.pdf ↩︎
  16. ibid. ↩︎
  17. https://isgp-studies.com/ngo-list-foundations-and-think-tanks-worldwide ↩︎
  18. 1968-01-ramparts-william-turner-the-garrison-commission.pdf, “According to [Ray] McKeown, Ruby “had an option on a great number of jeeps which were in Shreveport, Louisiana, and he desired to sell them to Castro at a very profitable figure.” McKeown agreed to arrange the introduction, but once again Ruby failed to follow through. The reason may have been that Maurice Brooks Gatlin of the New Orleans-based Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean scotched the deal. Minutemen defector Jerry Brooks discloses that the minute Gatlin found out that Ruby proposed to sell Castro 100 jeeps, he warned the venturesome night club owner to call it off. Gatlin may have detected signs that the new Cuban Premier was about to surface as a communist.” ↩︎
  19. On July 22, 1961, Gatlin was awarded the Ruben Dario medal, which was presented to him by Nicaraguan Consul General Reynaldo Chavez, on behalf of Nicaraguan President Luis Somoza. ↩︎
  20. 2001, William Turner, Rearview Mirror, cites Jerry Milton Brooks as the sources, “That left Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Sr., an attorney associated with Banister, on Brooks’s list of key Minutemen in Louisiana.” ↩︎
  21. ADMIN FOLDER-D6: HSCA ADMINISTRATIVE FOLDER, ASSASSINATION MATTERS VOLUME IV ↩︎
  22. https://isgp-studies.com/ngo-list-foundations-and-think-tanks-worldwide ↩︎
  23. *) 1982-07-07-bernard-fensterwald-deposition-on-jfk-assassination-permindex-cmc-french-connection.pdf, “[Jacques] “Soustelle and the OAS were financed in part by Ferenc Nagy and Texas money via Centro Mondiale Commerciale in Rome, with Maurice Gatlin (Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean) acting as a courier on one occasion, all of which was known to U.S. intelligence agencies. (cites: 35 Paesa Sera, March 6, 1967; The Kennedy Conspiracy, Paris Flammonde, p. 222) … The same [close relations with the OAS] is true of the Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean, which operated out of New Orleans, and which, in 1954, had engineered the overthrow of the Arbenz government in Guatemala. In fact, Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Sr., legal counsel to the League, is alleged to have delivered in 1962 the sum of $100,000 to a group in Paris for the assassination of de Gaulle. (cites 41: The Fish is Red, William Turner, 1981, p. 205) This has been confirmed by Gatlin’s younger associate Jerry Milton Brooks. Brooks also said that Gatlin bragged of being a “transporter” for the CIA. Gatlin also had close ties with General Gatlin [Gehlen], chief of W. German Intelligence, who helped the OAS on occasion. Gatlin fell or was pushed to death at the El Panama Hotel in Puerto Rico in 1964. … It is believed that Banister arranged for the $100,000 which Gatlin took to the OAS. … Permindex and CMC were alleged to have financed a 1962 attempt at Petit Clamart on the life of de Gaulle by Colonel Bastien-Thiry, et al. (cites 43: Flammonde, ibid.; see also Cabal) The financing is alleged to have been $200,000, part of which was transported by Maurice Gatlin.” Indicates the Houma explosives dump of Schlumberger Co. served as staging area for munitions for anti-de Gaullist activities in 1961-1962, which included breaking off French Departments in the Caribbean (Martinique, Gaudeloupe, etc.) and turning them into anti-Gaullist states, such activities closely “allied” to those of Banister-Gatlin Anti-Communist League of the Caribbean;
    *) 1968-01-ramparts-william-turner-the-garrison-commission.pdf, “The other associate [of Guy Banister] was Maurice Brooks Gatlin, Sr., legal counsel to the Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean. Jerry Brooks said he had once been a sort of protégé of Gatlin and was in his confidence. Brooks believed Gatlin’s frequent world travels were as a “transporter” for the CIA. As an example, he said, Gatlin remarked about 1962, in a self-important manner, that he had $100,000 of CIA money earmarked for a French right-wing clique that was going to attempt to assassinate General de Gaulle; shortly afterwards Gatlin flew to Paris.”;
    *) 1981-11-04-eir-permindex-cmc-jfk-oas-report.pdf, “According to findings of the SDECE, $200,000 in black market revenues were channeled into Banque de la Credit Internationale accounts maintained by Permindex. Among the sources of those funds was the Bank Hapoalim, the Israeli banking institution owned by the Histadrut, which Major Bloomfield was the chief Canadian fundraiser. Those funds passed onto the New Orleans station chief of the FBI’s Division Five, Guy Bannister. From New Orleans, Bannister deployed one of his agents, Jerry Brooks Gatlin [appears to be a mix up between Jerry Milton Brooks and Maurice Brooks Gatlin], directly to Paris with a suitcase full of cash for hand delivery to the OAS generals. In 1966, at the very outset of the Garrison investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy, Gatlin-who operated a Permindex-Division Five front called the Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean-died when he was thrown out of a sixth floor window in a San Juan, Puerto Rico hotel.”;
    *) https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKbannister.htm (cites: 2001, William Turner, Rearview Mirror), “According to [Jerry Milton] Brooks, Gatlin served as legal counsel to the ACLC. In fact, Brooks had been a kind of protege of Gatlin. The attorney’s passport was stamped with visas of countries around the world. In Brooks’s estimation, he was a “transporter” for the CIA. On one occasion Gatlin bodaciously told Brooks, “I have pretty good connections. Stick with me-I’ll give you a license to kill.” Brooks became a firm believer in 1962 when Gatlin displayed a thick wad of bills, saying he had $ioo,ooo of CIA money earmarked for a French reactionary clique planning to assassinate General de Gaulle. Shortly thereafter Gatlin flew to Paris, and shortly after that came the Secret Army Organization’s abortive ambush of the French president.” ↩︎
  24. 1982-07-07-bernard-fensterwald-deposition-on-jfk-assassination-permindex-cmc-french-connection.pdf ↩︎
  25. MEMO NO. 8: GARRISON AND KENNEDY ASSASSINATION (IDENTIFIES 30 PERSONS). ↩︎
  26. 1981-11-04-eir-permindex-cmc-jfk-oas-report.pdf ↩︎
  27. *) May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’, “… Gatlin died in San Juan Puerto Rico, Friday night after suffering a heart attack which resulted in his falling six stories from a hotel there, his son said Sunday.
    A coroner’s report, said Maurice B. Gatlin, Jr., attributed his death to the heart attack. Mr. Gatlin fell over a sixth floor railing at the hotel to the ground, Gatlin Jr. stated.
    Mr. Gatlin, 62, was attending a meeting of the Inter-American Bar Association in San Juan.”;
    *) 1982-07-07-bernard-fensterwald-deposition-on-jfk-assassination-permindex-cmc-french-connection.pdf, “Gatlin fell or was pushed to death at the El Panama Hotel in Puerto Rico in 1964 [1965].”;
    *) https://www.newspapers.com/image/1251506586/?match=1&terms=%22Maurice%20Brooks%20Gatlin%22;
    *) https://www.newspapers.com/image/620729128/?match=1&terms=inter-american%20bar%20association%20san%20juan%20hotel ↩︎
  28. May 31, 1965, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ‘Heart Attack Kills N. O. Attorney in Puerto Rico: M. B. Gatlin Then Falls 6 Stories From Hotel’ ↩︎
  29. https://isgp-studies.com/misc/death-list/articles/1965_05_Maurice_Brooks_Gatlin_death, Cites a letter of Alan L. Fitzgibbon to Harold Weisberg in April 1984 ↩︎
  30. *) 1968-01-ramparts-william-turner-the-garrison-commission.pdf, “The search for Gatlin, however, was likewise futile: in 1964 he fell or was pushed from the sixth floor of the El Panama Hotel in Panama during early morning, and was killed instantly.”;
    *) 1981-11-04-eir-permindex-cmc-jfk-oas-report.pdf, “In 1966, at the very outset of the Garrison investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy, Gatlin-who operated a Permindex-Division Five front called the Anti-Communism League of the Caribbean-died when he was thrown out of a sixth floor window in a San Juan, Puerto Rico hotel.” ↩︎

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