CURRENT THEORY - SUMMARY SCENARIO
In the Matter of the Murder of Harold Eugene Vest
on 27 Jun 1946 in Gainesville, TX

This document is strictly confidential.  It is designed to document an independent assessment of the facts and theories surrounding the death of Harold “Buddy” Eugene Vest on June 28, 1946 in order to discover the truth.  This document necessarily includes a significant amount of personal information – some of which may not be accurate – in order to analyze investigative leads.  This document and its information are not designed to impugn anyone.  Readers must understand that many of the statements in this summary are not factual, but rather are opinions, impressions and speculations based on assumptions and interpretations of existing and necessarily incomplete information.  Further, the information contained in this summary is not warranted to be accurate and we assume no responsibility for damages arising from the publication, distribution, use of, or reliance on any such information.  This document is being provided confidentially in order to further the investigation.  It is a living document, and as such remains subject to change without notice. 

CASEY: AFTER THE MURDER¹⁸

James Louis Casey took leave from his job as a radar instructor at Ward Island, Corpus Christi, Texas at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, 27 Jun 1946. He listed as his leave contact address as 10714 ½ Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, CA c/o G.E. Rees, Jr. The house was owned by Lewis Murphy. We are still trying to identify Rees.¹⁹

Casey was granted 15 days leave “plus 6 days travel time”.  The military services do not grant travel time for leave unless it involves a transfer of duty stations. The time granted to Casey is presumed to be time granted to perform official U.S. government business during the period from 27 Jun to  18 Jul, when he returned to duty at his post at Ward Island. 

On 4 Jul 1946, Casey was admitted to the St. Louis Naval Air Station dispensary with the diagnosis: fracture, simple, mandible (Jaw). Casey was released from the dispensary on 9 Jul. Casey returned to Ward Island from leave at 8:52 a.m. on  18 Jul. There is no evidence of whether Casey visited Rees in California.

On 3 Nov 1946, Casey was involved in a motorcycle incident. State Highway Patrolman Jimmie Huntsman reported Casey drove head-on into an automobile owned and operated by C.O. Morrison of Portland, TX .²⁰ The accident happened on Highway 181 between Corpus Christi and Portland at 11 p.m. He was admitted to the US Naval Hospital with a fractured right leg.²¹

Following his discharge from the Navy on 18 Aug 1947, Casey went to work as civilian radar repair technician at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. On 15 Jan 1950, Casey entered Texas A&M, where he studied math, electrical engineering and German. He graduated on 20 May 1952 with a degree in mathematics.

In June 1952, Casey went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he reportedly was assigned to Wiesbaden, Germany – where he wore the uniform of an Air Force officer as cover. He may have been involved in wire-tapping the Russian military telephone communication lines from a tunnel spanning from the west to East Germany. The tunnel was located near a radar station in the American sector.

Subsequently, Casey was also reportedly involved in U-2 spy plane operations aimed at aerial surveillance of Russian military installations in the mid to late ’50 s. Later, he was reportedly involved in the Bay of Pigs operation in the early 1960s. He reportedly was with the U.S. Embassy in London in 1972.