Phillip Arthur Thompson

[drdoogief]

Cheri,

Thompson only played a small part in your book as a bit player in the bigger story, but this guy's story is fascinating. I consider myself one of only a handful of people who have any idea the role that this guy played in the dirty history of this country during the 1970's and 1980's, but even I have only uncovered a small fraction of his activities.

What is your take on him? In particular, what was his role with the Cabazons and what in his history lead him to be part of this organization? I know that he hooked up with Nichols through his association with Alan Michael May, but everything about his past prior to ending up in Indio points to him being merely a criminal (though he had intelligence connections).

Also, what do you know about his claim to have worked in the Nixon White House as part of the "Intelligence Evaluation Committee"? Do you know who he answered to in the Nixon administration? May? Liddy?

If any of this is "too hot" to answer here in this forum, please PM me - Rachel can vouch for my authenticity. Thanks.

[stormbird]

drdoogief

I didn't focus on the background of Philip Arthur Thompson (P.A.T.) in The Last Circle (TLC) because when writing a book (or even an article) it becomes confusing for the reader to keep track of too many names. In fact, I only included about 50% of my research in the book, because the book would have been 1,000 pages long if I'd inserted everything I learned.

The story of P.A.T. is long and convoluted, so I kept it simple in TLC. I only included excerpts from documents or from law enforcement people, and didn't research P.A.T. further. You might want to contact Rachel Begley (Desertfae). Rachel did a huge amount of research on P.A.T and she can fill in the blanks.

Thanks for joining the Ark-Forum and offering comments. Welcome!

[drdoogief]

Yes, PAT was certainly not calling the shots in Indio, so he was properly relegated to a minor role in your book. (As it was, there were so many "important" people mentioned in your book I found myself keeping notes during my reading to keep track of the "players".)

Rachel and I have shared notes concerning Thompson - it was she who originally made me aware of his activities. Rachel is also one of those "handfull" mentioned before.

What I find most fascinating/horrifying about PAT is he seems to have had two distinctly different criminal career paths - one as an intelligence/mafia goon and one as a serial sexual predator/killer. It would be as if they discovered that John Gotti was also the Son of Sam. I am not aware of any other person who fits this pattern. Thompson seems unique in this aspect.

Thanks for your comments and for a well-written book detailing this travesty of recent US history.