---
alias:
- James P. O'Connell
- Jim Olds
born: 1917-02-19
category: Intelligence & Government
created: 2026-09-21
died: 1992-02-15
location: McLean, Virginia
summary: FBI agent turned CIA security officer who as Johnny Roselli's case officer
  from September 1960 carried the Castro poison plot, rose to deputy director of security,
  and in 1968 vetted James Earl Ray's lawyer.
tags:
- Person
- JamesOConnell
- CIA
- CIAOfficeOfSecurity
- JohnnyRoselli
- AssassinationPlots
- FBI
updated: 2026-09-21
---

James Patrick O'Connell was born in [New York](/places/new-york-city/) in 1917 and graduated from St. John's University in 1939. He served with the Navy in the Atlantic, was a special agent of the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) from 1946 to 1951, and joined the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) as a security officer in 1951.[^1]

### Roselli

In September 1960 [Sheffield Edwards](/people/sheffield-edwards/), the director of security, put O'Connell to the operation against [Fidel Castro](/people/fidel-castro/) arranged through [Robert Maheu](/people/robert-maheu/). Under the name Jim Olds he was introduced to [Johnny Roselli](/people/johnny-roselli/) and was his case officer from September 14, 1960, until May 1962, when [William Harvey](/people/william-harvey/) took him over. Roselli brought in [Sam Giancana](/people/sam-giancana/) and [Santos Trafficante](/people/santos-trafficante-jr/). Poison pills from the agency's technical division went to [Cuba](/places/cuba/) by way of Juan Orta and later Tony Varona. Edwards recorded the operation for Attorney General Robert Kennedy on May 14, 1962.[^2][^3]

### Deputy Director of Security

By 1968 O'Connell was deputy director of security. On October 15 of that year he signed the [Office of Security](/organizations/cia-office-of-security/)'s memorandum on [Arthur Hanes](/people/arthur-hanes/), the former mayor of Birmingham then representing [James Earl Ray](/people/james-earl-ray/), recording Hanes's service as a confidential correspondent from 1952 to 1959 and his part in recruiting Alabama Guard pilots for the Bay of Pigs. He retired in 1973 with the Intelligence Medal of Merit, worked as a security consultant, and died at Arlington on February 15, 1992.[^1][^4]

[^1]: "Obituaries," *Washington Post,* February 17, 1992.
[^2]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Family Jewels," memorandum of Howard J. Osborn, Director of Security, May 16, 1973, with attachments, pp. 00012-00014.
[^3]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963,* vol. X, Cuba, document 337, memorandum for the record by Sheffield Edwards, May 14, 1962, with source note.
[^4]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, memorandum for the record, "HANES, Arthur J.," October 15, 1968. Record 104-10117-10312, National Archives.