Neil Purcell was the former chief of the [[Laguna Beach Police Department]] who served on the hiring board that gave [[Ronald Lister]] his job.[^1] Purcell offered a stark assessment of his former employee: "The man, in my opinion, is a lying, conniving, manipulative person who likes to play with people's minds. He's very evasive and loves living on the edge. He's the biggest bullshitter that has ever been placed on this earth." Purcell recalled that during Lister's tenure, "that silly son of a gun was in with - what do they call themselves? - the Royal Highnesses from Iran! Sporting Rolex watches for himself and his wife. Getting wined and dined by these people until finally they [the Iranians] were asked to leave this country. Anything. He threw out names and organizations. He's a very bright guy. As far as intelligence, he's very, very smart."[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"