The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

rTMlPTNM ATI THE A ombmed ommuntfatmns FINAL EDITION SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1977 IMtlCE orture Your Day former rows Claim Saturday if I i I i i Prison By Cubans In Vietnam Partly cloudy through Sunday with little chance of rain. High today and Sunday near 80. Low tonight 55 to 60. Details, weather map, Page B-10. The star-struck among us will have a chance to study star legends and distinguish various constellations at a camp-fire program tonight in Alms Park at its new nature center.

Binoculars and marshmallows welcome. No admission charge. Thorsness said he was breaking his silence about the Cubans because he believes the American peo-ple should know about Cuban atrocities at a time when the United States Is moving to resume diplomatic relations with the Fidel Castro regime. The leader of tne torture team, according to Thorsness, was a Spanish-speaking white man with an encyclopedic knowledge of American cars and slang whom the prisoners dubbed "Fidel." He said ''Fidel" had a subordinate, nicknamed "Chlco" by the prisoners. Neither man ever said he was from Cuba, but there was little doubt in the prisoners' minds they were Cubans, Thorsness said.

-APLwrprx)ro Groucho Marx eye-rolling, leering, moustachioed comedian died Friday Friday three Cubans beat another prisoner, identified as Air Force Col. Earl Cobiel, into what he described as a catatonic state. He said Cobiel died after refusing to eat and apparently losing all interest in life. The story of the Cubans came to light when Thorsness, who made an unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. George S.

McGovern In 1074, contacted Rep. Bruce Caputo about it Caputo has asked Defense Secretary Harold Brown and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance for a full report on the allegations. THORSNESS SAID when he was freed from prison In 1073, Defense Department officials told him not to discuss any purported Cuban Involvement in the prison camps, apparently not to endanger any Americans who still might be in Vietnam. But the Pentagon announced last Tuesday it will begin a final review of the status of the 631 U.S. servicemen still listed as missing in action and the 31 who were thought to be POWs because "there Is no credible evidence" any of them are still alive.

Groucho Dies At 86 After Long Illness I cm New York News WASHINGTON Several former American prisoners of war (POW) In Vietnam contend they were tortured by a team of Cubans while at a North Vietnamese prison camp known as "The Zoo," Just outside Hanoi. Leo K. Thorsness, a retired Air Force colonel and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, was one of the POWs at the Zoo. He told the JVew York News in an Interview "He was withering on the vine until she entered his life," said a relative. Other witnesses said she badgered him with insults and curses, but friends said she was keeping him alive by her stimulating effect.

'Like Meeting Of 1 JACK BOMAR of Mesa, AtIzl, a retired Air Force colonel and former POW who was tortured by Fidel for a year, agreed. "There was no doubt that Fidel was a Cuban," he told The News. As an example, Bomar said he once asked his Vietnamese guard to "bring the Cuban," and the guard Association' If If 'I Ml LOS ANGELES (AP)-Groucho Marx, whose leering grin and impudent manner brought him the longest career of the irreverent Marx Brothers comedy team, died Friday at age 86. Officials at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center said Marx died p.m. (EDT) of pneumonia.

The comic, whose career spanned more than half a century, had been hospitalized for the past two months with a respiratory ailment HE LAPSED into critical condition earlier in the day and slipped in and out of consciousness until his death. As his condition deteriorated, his doctor, family and longtime com- On Page B-IO. Titan of comedy panion Erin Fleming stood watch at his side. "Groucho's Just having a nice little dream now," Miss Flemming said in a telephone Interview shortly before his death. "He's Just going to have a nap and rest his eyes for centuries," a distraught Miss Fleming told The Associated Press.

MARX HAD been In fair condition for weeks as he slowly recovered from a bout with pnuemonltls, but on Wednesday his vital signs be-came erratic, hospital spokesmen said. Early Friday, he began to lose consciousness and his condition worsened, spokesman Larry Baum said. Baum said Marx was being fed intravenously and was having oxygen administered. Present at the bedside with Miss Fleming were Groucho's son, Arthur, his grandson, Andrew and a few other members of the lmmedi- ate family. The bushy-browed, mustachioed SS comic and his brothers Chlco, Oummo and Zeppo de veloped a style of wise-cracking, zany comedy which delighted vaudeville and movie audiences for more than 50 years.

Groucho went on to star as quizmaster on his own radio and television series after his brothers either retired or went Into other businesses. A seamy courtroom battle over his conservatorship put Groucho back in the news In recent months, at a time when he was In and out of the hospital for treatment of his various ailments. Erin Fleming, a pretty former actress who attached herself to Groucho in 1970 and was his constant companion, battled Groucho's son, Arthur, over the care of the aged comedian. Miss Fleming, 58 years his Junior, was hired as his secretary and single-handedly brought him out of retirement for a triumphant 1972 appearance at Carnegie Hall. Arthur Marx, however, pictured her as Groucho's grim tormentor, who latched on to Marx for his money.

returned with FkleL Bomar is convinced Fidel, whose knowledge of American automobiles seems to have impressed the POWs he came In contact with, actually went to school or had lived in the United States in pre-Castro days. Bomar said he believed Fidel, who received VIP treatment from the North Vletnmese, was brought to the Zoo in 1968 to demonstrate how to "break" the POWs and get them to publicly "confess" to being war criminals. Ten men, Including Bomar, were chosen for a "complete submission" program of beatings run by Fidel. Bomar said after the POWs had been returned from Hanoi, the Pentagon quietly opened an investigation of the alleged Cuban involvement, occasionally sending photos and sketches of possible "Fidels" for his Inspection, but he could not make a positive identification. Defense and State Department spokesmen said their investigators were never able to prove any Cubans were Involved.

enquirer (Fred Strauh) Photo The bomb material-diverting allegations were triggered by a find-. ing in 1965 that the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. at Apollo, near Pittsburgh could not account for 382 pounds of enriched uranium. It takes about 22 pounds of such uranium to make a bomb. The company contended the material was simply lost In pipes and refuse over a number of years.

THE ATOMIC Energy Commission, ERDA's predecessor, announced then that on the basis of investigations by its own staff and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, plus Information turned over by Intelligence agencies, that -there was no conclusive proof the material had been diverted. The company was sold 1i' the Atlantic Richfield Co. in 1967, which sold It to the Babcock and Wilcox Corp. in 1971. Officers of the present company say they have found no records from the days of the alleged diversion.

Time For Fun! How trivial can we Look in today's classified sec-l tion and seel You could be the I lucky winner ot $75, $25 or $10 in The Enquirer's Trivia Touri namenL Contest details, ruies, en try form, answers IN- CLUDINQ MYSTERY' QUESTION ANSWER) are iff -the classified section Turn to it see how much really know about trivial Answer to MYSTERY QUES-TION in CLASS 51 A TODA Yl'. Ir? ilcv lix Smile Fellow down the street has a self-propelled lawn mower that takes off so fast he calls himself a grasstronaut. fMro Workers at the University of Cincinnati and General and Holmes Hospitals accept one-year contract by 6-1 margin. PageC-1. The president of the International Typographical Union predicts a day when all graphic arts are united in one union.

Page C-2. Warren County Sheriff Roy Wallace Is arraigned as deputies fill courtroom in show of support. Page C-3. Nation The worldwide search for a will left by Howard Hughes ends, but the battle over the industrialist's multimillion-dollar estate Is far from flnished.Page A -6. Elvis Presley's tomb becomes a shrine three days after his death.

Page A-8. World The West German government, disagreeing with critics, says neo-Nazi activities are well under control. Page D-8. People Today If you need to ask what the Cincinnati Blue Book is, then you certainly don't belong in it Page D-l. Teenagers trust doctors and clergymen but not business or advertising executives.

Page D-2. Sports Marv Hubbard, whose seven years with Oakland were capped by the Super Bowl championship, is now a Detroit Lion, just In time to do battle with the Cincinnati Bengals at Pontlac tonight Page B-l. Entertainment Bill Haney and other impersonators of Elvis Presley have become the hottest acts in show business. Page D-4. Business The Reds, Procter Gamble and Indian Hill are for sale in a new board game created expressly for Cincinnati.

Page B-6 In Our Opinion If Secretary of State Vance does nothing but get acquainted in Peking, the nation's interests will be well served. Editorial, Page A-4. Index Four Sections 137TH YEAR, No. 133 Action D-2 B-6-9 D-l ClassifiedB-12-16, C-4-16 A-S Comics A-7 D-3 Dear Abby D-2 Deaths. 8-12 Editorials A-4 Errt'nmnl D-4-5 D-2 (jraham D-6 Health D-2 D-3 Horse D-3 Jumble D-3 People Today 0-1-3 Races.

6-4. 5 D4-8 Restaurant Guide 8-10. 11 Society D-3 Sports B-l-5 Extra. C-3 TV-Radio A-6 B-10 Word D-3 Local and Area News, Pages C-t-3 Hearth Costs Series, Page C-3 court Friday that the judge said it looked like a sheriffs' meeting. They pleaded not guilty.

Photo, related stories on Page C-3. WARREN COUNTY 8herif Roy Wallace, charged with six counts of official misconduct, and his wife, Elda, charged with bribery, were accompanied by so many uniformed supporters as they went to the county common pleas CIA Says Israelis Got Missing Uranium Buckeye Sheriffs in 1966 that there is no proof of such a diversion. The CIA's evidence is based on "deductive analysis" of a web of relationships and activities that have convinced the CIA investigators that a Pennsylvaniai firm diverted the nuclear material, the source said. The Israeli government has denied knowledge of any such diversion. House Investigators are trying to find out first whether the material was diverted to Israel and, if it was.

OSU performed the research, according to Edwin M. Crawford, vice president for public affairs. Lapham, in the letter to OSU President Harold L. Enarson, said most of the researchers were not aware of the CIA sponsorship. Crawford said OSU officials were surprised to learn of the school's Involvement and will ask the CIA for more information.

He did not specl- Against Elderly their "kicks" kicking the elderly. In, some cases, the elderly are victimized by relatives. Enquirer reporters George Hahn and Neal Leavitt have investigated crime against the elderly and have written a three-part series which begins in tomorrow's Sunday Aided OSU Mind Control Study, CI A Says WASHINGTON (AP)-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) investigators say they're convinced that VS. nuclear bomb-making material was diverted to Israel but ihey can't prove it, sources said Friday. One congressional source said the CIA's "circumstantial evidence is really overwhelming but (they can't) take it the final step and prove it in a court of law." THE SOURCE said the CIA investigators came to their conclusion despite a government finding "Also, I am not sure of the CIA's definition of mind control.

We have had and continue to have many research projects here that Involve psychology and psychiatry," Merriman said. CIA general counsel Anthony H. Lapham said in a recent letter that OSU was one of 80 institutions where the experiments were conducted. Lapham did not say who at Series Probes Crimes The despicablllty of a crime is often determined by the victim. A certain class of Clncin-natlans Is victim to despicable crime-robbing, beating and raping elderly citizens.

One suspect In a crime against an elderly person told police some young people get whether the U.S. government might have been involved. AN ENERGY and Research Development Administration officii says the agency stands by the lCtl6 finding that there is no conclusive proof the nuclear material was diverted anywhere. The House investigations are being conducted by the interstate energy and power subcommittee chaired by Rep. John D.

Dlngell (D-Mlch.) and the interior energy panel chaired by Rep. Morris K. Udall fy what Information would be sought, but said "ultimately we need to know" the names of the researchers at OSU. CIA DIRECTOR Stansfield Turner told a Senate committee earlier this month that recently discovered records indicate the CIA supported 189 nongovernment researchers and 149 such experiments. The project was code named MKULTRA.

It Included tests of the LSD and a so called knockout drug, Turner said. Crawford added later that Turner told the Senate committee the CIA channeled funds to universities through a foundation. The universities then used the funds to get matching federal research grants. "We have no knowledge of what research was conducted or who conducted it," Crawford said. "The CIA said only that we had a person or persons Involved In the project" COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)-The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has notified Ohio State University that the agency secretly sponsored mind control research at the university during the 1950s and 1960s.

William Merriman, an OSU spokesman, said Friday that the university does not know what re search the CIA was referring to, or who might have been Involved in it He added that the university does not know if the CIA ever was involved In any research project at OSU, if any so-called mind control projects ever have or are being conducted at the university, or if any experiments with LSD or other hallucinogens have or are being conducted at OSU. "ONE OF the problems Is that most of the administrators currently at the university were not here during those years. And thousands of projects were conducted during those years and since then," Merriman said. 11.