---
aliases:
- Richard Wilker
- Richard E. Wilker
category: Intelligence & Government
created: 2026-05-17
summary: Former CIA agent who served as technical director for Pyramid International
  Security Consultants' weapons operations in El Salvador.
tags:
- Person
- Intelligence
- UnitedStates
- ElSalvador
- 1980s
- ContraWar
- DarkAllianceInvestigation
title: Richard Wilker
updated: 2026-05-17
---

Richard E. Wilker was a former Laguna Beach resident described by arms manufacturer [Tim LaFrance](/people/tim-lafrance/) as an ex-CIA agent who served as the "technical director" on [Pyramid International Security Consultants](/organizations/pyramid-international-security-consultants/)' security proposal to the Salvadoran government.[^1] Wilker was a key link between [Ronald Lister](/people/ronald-lister/)'s weapons operations and the CIA.

### Role with Pyramid International

Wilker appears as the technical director on Pyramid's proposal for a security project to the Salvadoran defense ministry. The biography section of the proposal boasts that the company had "technicians with the Central Intelligence Agency in physical security for 20 years."[^1]

LaFrance described how he met Lister through Wilker: "Wilker had heard about my stuff from the Agency. He said he had a friend who wanted to talk about a deal. I called to check and Langley said he [Wilker] was still working for the Agency. So I started doing business with Lister and Wilker." LaFrance said Lister was not officially a CIA employee; "He wasn't getting a paycheck from them. He may have said he did but his connection was... with Wilker. Very few people ever work directly for the Agency."[^1]

### Intelligence Connections

Former CIA officer [John Vandewerker](/people/john-vandewerker/), who once employed Wilker as a salesman, said he knew Lister and Wilker were involved in some business activity in [El Salvador](/places/el-salvador/). "It was kind of touchy... as far as getting out of the country and all that kind of stuff." Vandewerker's name was found in the notebooks of investigative reporter [Danny Casolaro](/people/danny-casolaro/) after his death, in connection with the goings-on at the [Cabazon Indian Reservation](/places/cabazon-indian-reservation/).[^1]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"