1975 or 1976 - Roland Vincent Carnaby begins working
for and/or with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
1997 - Alan Premel is recruited by the CIA. That
same year, Carnaby's private security firm shows a profit of $18
million. Carnaby marries his second wife, Susan, on Nov. 10, 1997 in Las
Vegas after a five-year courtship.
2001 - Alan Premel sues the CIA for $41 million
dollars and was awarded an undisclosed amount in late 2005. The story is
that he was fired for his relation to porn film actress Lara Madden and
his public defense of her. Madden, though, doesn't really make the news
until 2004, when she is sued for stealing the name of a high school
classmate for her porn career.
However, other accounts say he didn't beginning dating
Madden until after he left the CIA.
With
all of it behind him he started dating former Porn Star Syvette Wimberly
which broke his name in the news when Premel came forward on the record
to defend her. Forced to leave his office as an analytical role Premel
finally stepped away from the Intelligence Community in July 2007.
2002 - Roland Carnaby recruits Alan Premel to
work for his private security firm in Houston, TX. A press release below
refers to Carnaby and Premel "sharing the reigns" from 2004 to
2007.
2003 - Alan Premel starts
Intelligence Kids in 2003 when Johhny Michael Spann, former CIA
officer was killed in Afghanistan. ("And
you thought this only happened to Katie Holmes",
SwanShadow.com, July 12, 2007)
2004 - Lara Madden,
25, began her adult-film career using the name of her high school
"best friend" Kristen Syvette Wimberly. The two met in ninth
grade at Kingwood High School. According to the lawsuit, they "were
friends but eventually that friendship ended due to conflict." ("Suit:
Porn Star Took Old Friend's Name" - Associated Press,
Jul 10, 2007)
November 2005 - Premel wins an undisclosed
settlement from the CIA for his firing in 2001. Premel later claims it
was $40 million, a figure of which I am skeptical, since it's only $1
million less than the $41 million Premel was demanding.
Jun. 26, 2007
- The real Kristen
Wimblery sues Lara Madden for using her name to launch a career in
porno films. The lawsuit, filed June 26 in Harris County District Court,
seeks unspecified damages, but Kent Schaffer [Madden's attorney] said
Madden will agree to stop using the name if that's all the plaintiff
wants.
Jan. 29, 2007
- Alan Premel signs up with RottenTomatoes.com, a movie review site,
using the name "Godspy" and describing himself as a Houston
business owner "just getting into movie reveiws and game reviews..
A sucker for romantic comedies, but craves action and respects truly
well written and researched movies."
Aug. 18, 2007
- Alan Premel writes a
movie review for the 3-part 1999 documentary "Inside the
CIA", one of his 10 reviews:
"A powerful
Documentary filmed on location at The Central Intelligence Agency. Very
accurate and educational if i was on the outside wanting to look into
CIA. To learn about the makings, see the inside of the OHB and some
brief snippets from Camp Peary which i was amaezed [sic] to see had made
it into the documentary. I would highly recommend this video series to
anyne [sic] considering a serious career within the US Intelligence
Apparatus or within any Intelligence apparatus for that matter."
Oct.
10, 2007 - Alan Premel makes the news when he's seen
sharing drinks with actress Reese Witherspoon at the
Los Angeles premiere of her new movie, Rendition - in which she
co-stars with Jake Gyllenhaal - at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California on October 10, 2007.
"A thriller that centers on Isabella El-Ibrahimi, the American
wife of Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi, who
disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. Isabella
desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst at a
secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his
assignment as he becomes party to the man’s unorthodox
interrogation."
She arrived at the premiere alone but was later seen having a drink
with at the after party with Alan Premel, the CIA officer who just
recently left CIA for an entertainment career of his own as both a
writer and artist. Will Reese play in his CIA movie ‘Way of the
Ghost’. Only time will tell.
At the premier Premel and Witherspoon did not arrive together. Alan
Premel arrived with socialite Allyson Ivey Macarthur, a
granddaughter of General Douglas Aacarthur. The two arrived at the
premier and were reported talking with her later in the evening.
Dec. 2007 - Carnaby's private security firm takes a huge
write-down ($80.4 million) after more than 10 consecutive quarters of
sequential revenue growth. Profits increase every year and the
company now has 248 licensed contract officers working for the firm
globally, and $297 million in classified contracts over 5 continents.
Those figures are up from the firms $18 million in 1997.
To maintain momentum, Mr. Premel, using $40 million from a settlement
with CIA, purchased a private lending company in Houston as well
as acquiring a private shipping business and a private internet
ticketing business.
There were missteps: Last year, the firm took a $80.4 million
write-down for its purchase of a private airline business in DC,
Houston and Vegas. And threats loomed when [with?] recruitment of
some of the firm’s top and most talented officer’s [sic]. To keep
top talent, Mr. Carnaby and Mr. Premel
kicked in an extra $2.4 million for salaries and bonuses to keep the
firm afloat. (Source: Alan Premel press release - below - Feb. 12, 2008)
Privately, I have been told that Carnaby held Premel responsible for
the bad decisions that over-extended the company, since he had placed
Premel in charge of general administration. Premel suddenly left in
2007, but Carnaby reportedly feared that Premel had weakened the company
with the intention of stepping in and taking it over, pushing Carnaby
out.
Dec. 2007 - Alan Premel testifies before Congress
with explicit and incriminating details on the ultra secret program
known as 'Extraordinary Rendition' and torture and interrogation methods
known as 'waterboarding'.
2008
Jan. 25, 2008 - Alan Premel, a former defense
intelligence and civilian intelligence analyst from both DIA and CIA,
will be heading a newly formed private global intelligence firm, Aspyr
Global. Premel is a known philanthropist and self made
multi-millionaire [only as a result of a large CIA lawsuit settlement in
2005] with a multitude of businesses in Houston and
Washington DC. Premel, at 32, "has made a name for himself as one of the
leaders and people to keep our eyes on in the coming decades." A
"battle
hardened and battle tested CIA war hero from a little known covert CIA
war in the Balkans against the Chechens", Premel "emerged as a hero" and
recipient of the CIA's highest honors in including The Legion of Merit
Medal, The Distinguished Intelligence Cross, and the Intelligence Star.
[NOTE: This sounds like a self-promoting press release
(see Feb. 12, 2008 below) that could only have been written by Premel
himself.] Like other known samples of Premel's writing, it is also
riddled with typographical/grammatical errors and incomplete
sentences. Premel is somewhat known for being a self-serving
"glory hound" since leaving his job (partnership?) with
Carnaby.
Feb. 12, 2008 - Roland Carnaby retires from his
un-named private security firm. This press release is believed to have
been written by Alan Premel, considering the (probably inflated) praise
heaped upon Premel below. This seems typical of much of Premel's
writings; he keeps a very high profile and likes to see himself praised
in print. Though Premel was no longer with the company, the press
release seems to be making a pitch to name Premel as the new president
of the firm.
Parts of the release seem to possibly damage Carnaby's
firm - such as a warning that fees will be increased after Carnaby
leaves and claims of a serious business downturn after Premel's
departure. This reinforces the belief that it was Premel who wrote the
self-serving press release without authorization from Carnaby, possibly
in an attempt to push Carnaby out the door and take over the company for
himself.
One of the CIA’s former
counter-terrorism chiefs and pioneers in covert operations, Roland
Carnaby retires.
In the past few months, Mr. Carnaby,
who has led a private intelligence firm in
Houston, Texas has been delegating more and more daily
responsibilities to his lieutenants and is completing his succession
planning, say people familiar with the matter. A decision about his
departure could come within weeks, though the situation remains fluid,
say these people.
Alan Premel, 32 years old, whom CIA recruited in 1997 and whom Carnaby
personally recruited in 2002 to work with the private intelligence
firm in Houston has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed him,
added these people. A spokesperson familiar with the retirement plans
stated that Premel and his current worries with the US Senate over
allegations and ties to the CIA’s Rendition program and his recent
resignation from CIA amid a slew of disclosure cases pulls him out
of the race for President and chief of such a power position within
the intelligence community.
The departure of Mr. Carnaby, 52, would
mean the loss of CIA’s most experienced, talented and high profile
clandestine officers in management. Few executives who helped pioneer
the commercialization of private intelligence
and private security firms have remained on top for as long, except
for some who can also claim founder titles, such as Patriot Oil, and
Pan-American Shipping and Consulting Group.
Mr. Carnaby’s retirement would come at a critical point for CIA. Any
efforts to reverse the slow-down at his private firm could involve
drastic changes that may be more palatable under a new CEO like Premel.
Mr. Premel, at CIA, was very instrumental in many changes at CIA as a
successful supervisor in the Balkans. His management experience at CIA
is 25 years behind Carnaby’s but with the firm already warning
investors in recent months that it will be raising fees in the absence
of Mr. Carnaby.
Mr. Premel wrestled with how to reverse the declining momentum
before having to exit left stage last summer from the firm after his
public disclosure. The firm’s third quarter numbers, a key barometer
of the firm’s health fell 63% without Premel. Before leaving he
implemented some changes that were never fully set into motion causing
the down-turn after his sudden departure.
The timing of Mr. Carnaby’s retirement is of his own choosing,
say people familiar with the situation, unlike Premel’s
pre-mature departure which came 20-years too soon say experts. Not
long after he joined CIA, Roland Carnaby
declared that no one person should stay in the same cover in covert
operations more than two years. A standard practice used by the firm.
This philosophy has accredited the firm with a lot of success, claims
Mr. Premel in his interview with CNN’s David Ensor late of
last year.
Under James Pavitt and Roland
Carnaby, the firm has become the intelligence
community’s most successful private consulting business on
counter-terrorism, security consulting and intelligence
gathering where they pioneered a way for private officers to carry
out day to day functions in the field, relay them back to CIA, DoD,
DIA or other foreign agencies.
In 2004, Mr. Premel streamlined a way for collecting, compiling and
disseminating vast amounts of data and breaking it down by himself.
The process which is only done by one person, Mr. Premel himself is
[sic - does?] the work of what 7-9 officers would typically do.
When Carnaby and Premel shared the
reigns from 2004-2007, they have delivered more than 10 consecutive
quarters of sequential revenue growth. Profit increase every year and the
company now has 248 licensed contract officers working for the firm
globally, and $297 million in classified contracts over 5 continents.
Those figures are up from the firms $18 million in 1997.
To maintain momentum, Mr. Premel, using $40 million from a
settlement with CIA, purchased a private lending company in Houston
as well as acquiring a private shipping business and a private
internet ticketing business.
[NOTE: If the $40 million figure is true - and I have reason to
doubt it - this would be the first time the settlement amount has been
disclosed, probably in violation of the settlement terms made in 2005.
There were missteps: Last year, the firm took a $80.4 million
write-down for its purchase of a private airline business in DC,
Houston and Vegas. And threats loomed when [with?] recruitment of
some of the firm’s top and most talented officer’s [sic]. To keep
top talent, Mr. Carnaby and Mr. Premel
kicked in an extra $2.4 million for salaries and bonuses to keep the
firm afloat.
Mr. Carnaby has long planned for his
eventual exit, say people familiar with the matter. He often rotated
top officer’s into different operational roles as a way to groom
potential successors and to give the board a slate of candidates from
which to choose.
In his departing emails to friends, firm and CIA colleagues, Mr. Carnaby
wrote how much he was pleased by the professionalism and careers of
each and all of the persons who have served under him and with him
during his 32-year tenure in the US Intelligence
Community.
"Covert
Operations & Pornography", Papparazzi Press, Feb.
12, 2008
April 28, 2008 - "Federal sources close to
this case" have claimed Carnaby had proof a "suitcase
nuke" had arrived inside the U.S. from Israel on Tuesday. He was
chasing the device and the Israelis who had it.
April 29, 2008 - Carnaby is shot in the back and
bleeds to death while laying face down on the interstate with his hands
handcuffed behind him. The medical examiner rules it homicide.
Police Wednesday were still trying to fit together the series of
events that ended when Carnaby was shot by officers who surrounded his
vehicle after a chase that ended near the Galleria.
During the chase, Carnaby called a friend on his cell phone. The
friend, whom police have not identified, was supposed to have lunch
with Carnaby that day.
"The guy was telling him, 'You need to pull over. You need to
do what the officers are telling you,' " said Capt. Steve Jett,
commander of HPD's homicide division. "His answer was, 'I
can't.' "
"Was
it a spy, or would-be spy, in that SUV?",
the Houston Chronicle, May 1, 2008
This is pure speculation on my part, but if -
and, yes, that is a big if - Carnaby was chasing a suspected
terrorist, Mossad or not, who had a nuclear suitcase bomb, he would not
have wanted to be pulled over just for a traffic ticket. He would have
had gravely more important matters requiring his urgent and
uninterrupted attention - stopping a terrorist attack on a Houston
refinery.
If he was assigned to an internal, or domestic, matter
of national security, it could explain why he was carrying CIA
identification. Obviously, if you're stationed overseas in hostile
territory, you don't want to be caught with papers that would seal your
death warrant if captured. But if you're in the United States,
such ID might come in handy if you needed to get out of just such a
situation, in a hurry, as Carnaby found himself the day of his death.
Police don't know why Carnaby felt unable to comply with the
officers' demands. He appeared shaky and nervous when pulled
over for speeding on Texas 288 near West Orem. He presented a card
identifying himself as a CIA employee.
The card was laminated and bore the seal of the espionage agency.
Police said they are waiting for federal officials to determine if
the document was legitimate or a fabrication.
Investigators said the three weapons discovered in his car
appeared to be Carnaby's and were legally owned. One pistol was under
the passenger-side floor mat while a second was between the
seats. A pistol-grip shotgun was on the floor board of the back
seat. Jett said a round was in the shotgun and the safety was off.
"All he would have to do was reach over the console and pick
it up," Jett said.
The officers told investigators they feared for their safety when
he reached back into the Jeep for what turned out to be a
"shiny" personal assistant-cellular phone.
Jett said there is video and audio that backs up the officers'
contention that Carnaby acted "erratically," before making a
"very quick overt move" toward an officer.
He said the HPD would probably seek to prevent release of the audio
and video until the investigation concludes.
"Was
it a spy, or would-be spy, in that SUV?",
By LINDSAY WISE, DALE LEZON and MIKE TOLSON
The Houston Chronicle, May 1, 2008
Reporters Mike Glenn, Stewart M. Powell and Matt Stiles
contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
This report came in - in a round-about way - from a
Houston resident who shed some light on interesting aspects of the case
not generally available to non-local residents. The correspondent wishes
to remain anonymous.
I wanted to just mention some odd things about his death
to you, but not post them in the general public just yet. [Permission is
now granted]
I live in the Houston area, and had the television on
that day in the background. Right before 11:00 a.m., the newscaster
broke in with "We've got breaking news to tell you about. We've
been following this high-speed chase for an hour and a half so far, and
we want to bring it to you now."
Here's my questions so far on this:
1. I had been flipping between stations KHOU, KTRK and KPRC and nobody
was showing this story, but right at 11:00 a.m., all THREE stations
automatically have it on. Like they were all told to do so right then.
2. All three of these stations will break in with their "Breaking
News!" stories at the drop of a hat, with the most mundane of
stories. Why was this not brought to our attention earlier? Why did all
three stations wait an hour and a half?
3. Right as all three stations break their regular programs and go to
this "breaking news" story, Roland Carnaby suddenly pulls over
and the story unfolds right before our eyes, as if on cue.
4. The short 2-second part of the video that showed the supposed
"high-speed" chase didn't look very high speed to me. Nor did
it look like heavy traffic, that the news was saying finally forced him
to pull over.
5. I don't think there was a high-speed chase, I don't think the cops
were chasing him for an hour and a half. I think it's very curious that
all three major TV stations in Houston apparently had copters following
this guy, as well as 4 HPD choppers, (Can you imagine that? 7 choppers
following this guy, for a supposed traffic enforcement violation? It was
like he was O. J. Simpson or something, who actually got treated much
better than this guy did, and O. J. supposedly was being followed
because he murdered someone. This guy was being followed for what
reason, really?
6. On the video tapes shown, the scene showed only one true HPD Traffic
Enforcement vehicle, but plenty of other white unmarked police cars,
including two pulled up next to this SUV. I didn't think unmarked cars
could participate in chases, and I thought HPD had just instituted a new
policy where they don't conduct high-speed chases that could endanger
innocent civilians, because they have accidentally killed too many with
their high speed chases before.
7. In the tape, you can clearly see two men dressed in camouflage pants,
with brown or black tee shirts on that have some kind of badge hanging
down. These two men are carrying assault rifles. Who are they and why
are they there?
8. When the SUV is finally stopped, Officer C.A. Foster comes running up
on the passenger side and starts bashing in the passenger side front
window. There is no bullhorn, no siren, no one trying to talk to the guy
inside the SUV, just immediate use of force.
9. Alongside Officer Foster is Officer A.J. Washington, who when the
glass is finally broken, sticks his gun inside the SUV at Roland Carnaby.
I think this is when Roland got shot. I think Officer Washington shot
him while he was inside the car. I also saw Officer Foster & Officer
Washington reaching inside the car, and not down towards the car door,
but across like to the seat or possibly trying to get Roland's
Blackberry.
10. Officer Washington then runs around to the driver's side door, and
pulls it open. When Roland starts to step one foot out, Officer
Washington grabs the door and shoves it hard back at Roland, causing him
to stumble and fall. If he still had possession of his Blackberry, he
may have dropped it at this point and when reaching down to retrieve it,
the cops (over 7 of them on the videotape) converge and open fire.
11. I believe Roland was already dying when he emerged from his SUV.
12. One of the guys dressed in camo, who had been calmly standing off to
the side, while the shooting was going on, then calmly walks over with
the handcuffs, and handcuffs a lifeless body.
13. Right after Roland stumbled out of the SUV, he rolled slightly
toward the back driver's side tire, and for some reason, the cops
dragged his body up by the driver's side door. Then camo guy put cuffs
on him.
14. After the cuffs were put on Roland, the cops get up and walk away,
leaving Roland to bleed out alone on the hot freeway concrete alone.
They calmly walked away, like they had just finished a meal and were
leaving a restaurant.
15. I read a comment on the chron.com where people have been commenting
like crazy over the last few days, most all of the comments are insane
praise over the shoot, which is scary as a citizen reading that crap,
but one comment thanked KHOU for having such a good video of the whole
event. I went to all three TV stations websites, and KHOU was the only
one showing everything very clearly. The others were shaky, grainy or
obscure. The damning part of the video to me was seeing Roland stumble
(I think he was already shot) out of the SUV and then fall to the
ground. I don't think any of those cops there felt threatened at all.
Roland looked like he was drugged, drunk or shot as he fell out of the
SUV and fell. Today, when I again checked the KHOU website and
re-watched the tape, part of the tape has now been obscured and the part
where Roland stumbled out of the SUV has been edited out. The other TV
stations have edited theirs too, to be un-useful to the average viewer
looking for answers.
16. One of the cops after seeing Roland laying on the ground dying,
claps his hands together, like YES! We got him! Why anyone who was not
threatening to them would be treated like a common criminal gunned down
in broad daylight is beyond comprehension.
17. I also think the denials being given by David Adler and Steve Jett
and Harold Hurtt are interesting to watch without the audio turned on.
If you watch their facial expressions, you can tell just by looking at
their body language and face, that not only are they lying, but that
they're scared. What are they afraid of? Who are they afraid of?
18. If Roland wasn't CIA, why did the CIA immediately and simultaneously
deny any knowledge of him and announce that someone will be arriving
from Langley, VA. to "ASSIST" the HPD with their
investigation?
19. Why is the family lawyer being retained a CIA lawyer that
investigated the assasinations of both JFK & MLK? Why not Rusty
Hardin or some other media hungry attorney from Houston?
20. I know someone in the restaurant business who said Roland dined at
his fine dining restaurant 3-4 times a week, with very important local
officials, and was very well-liked and well-respected in the Houston
area. Something happened here that doesn't pass the smell test, even to
a casual observer like me. If Roland was CIA in any form, and he hung
around expensive restaurants, and car dealers and the Port of Houston,
which just recently started accepting tankers of LPG, maybe he was doing
work to protect the Port. Now that he's gone, I'm worried and watchful,
but worried.
May 1, 2008 - Deborah Palfrey (the "D.C.
Madam") is found hanging in a shed at her mother's home in Florida.
The death is ruled a suicide, despite her repeated insistence in many
interviews - as well as statements from someone who had just talked to
her hours before, that she would not commit suicide. In fact, she
was afraid she would be murdered and it would be made to look
like suicide. She said so!
If Palfrey was indeed a client of Carnaby's and was
depending on him for protection, and if he were unable to contact her in
the 72 hours before they both died, then there is certainly some
grounds for looking deeper into the Palfrey-Carnaby connection.
