Roland Bernard "Bud" Culligan

The strange saga of Bud Culligan has all the hallmarks of a Robert Ludlum novel.

Culligan claims he was a contract hit-man for the CIA from 1943 to 1990. He claims that in this time he was responsible for the assassination of 117 individuals at the behest of the U.S. government.

The infamous "Culligan List" consists of some big names :

-Patrice Lumumba

-Rafael Trujillo

-Dag Hammerskjold

-Jose Fuentes

-King Farouk

-Gamal Nasser

-Ngo Dinh Diem

Culligan was first brought to the attention of investigators by Col. L. Fletcher Prouty, a name that is very well known to those investigating the JFK hit.

Culligan also figures into the JFK hit in an indirect way;

In one of his affidavits (More on this to come) Culligan stated that the assassins of JFK were paid a large sum of cash and were given special privileges by the CIA. Three members of this hit-team were apparently attempting to blackmail the CIA for more cash. Culligan was called in and met with these three men in Miami, he informed them that he was preparing a hit-team to do an assassination in a South American country and for them to meet him in Guatamala to set up the logistics.

In Culligan's words:

"They were demanding more money and what they got was me."

Apparently Culligan and two others met with these men and dispatched them in Guatamala.

Culligan also claims that two surviving members of the JFK hit-team are E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis.

Unfortunately there is nearly no information about Culligan on the web and his autobiography "Highway Into Hell" is impossible to find. The book was published in Brussels, the CIA apparently prevented publication and distribution within the U.S.A.

The popular Matt Helm spy series was supposed to be inspired by Culligan's exploits.

Culligan was embroiled in a court battle with the CIA in which he claimed loss of recognition, loss of retirement, and several million dollars in damages.

141 felony charges had been lodged against Culligan in Oregon, Rhode Island, New Mexico and Florida.

Apparently the reason Culligan went public about his life was because the CIA refused to allow him to retire from duty.

As with all these shady inhabitants of the intelligence netherworld, Culligans claims are unverifiable.

The facts are that Culligan has indeed filed four Federal lawsuits against the CIA.

For a very interesting article on Bud Culligan and actor Steven Seagal read "Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader" by Kenn Thomas.

Steamshovel Press

Does anyone know what has become of Culligan? I first read of him in 1995 in the above stated publication. If anyone has any further information they can add it would be appreciated.

[edit on 7-5-2006 by Beelzebubba]

This is the only site I can find mentioning Culligan:

CIA man Bud Culligan claims he killed Nasser for the CIA.

Article link

In 1976, Roland "Bud" Culligan sought legal assistance. After serving the CIA for 25 years, Culligan was angry. He had performed sensitive operations for the company and felt he deserved better treatment than to be put in jail on a phony bad check charge so the agency could "protect" him from foreign intelligence agents. He had been jailed since 1971, and now the agency was disavowing any connection with him. His personal assets had mysteriously vanished, and his wife Sara was being harassed. But Culligan had kept one very important card up his sleeve. He had kept a detailed journal of every assignment he had performed for the CIA. He had dates, names, places. And Culligan was a professional assassin.

Article link (this article has excellent information on Culligan describing his E.A.'s)

Culligan matter-of-factly described five other EAs. But when he told of Hammarskjold, it was out of sequence and in a different tone than the other descriptions:

The E.A. involving Hammarskjold was a bad one. I did not want the job. Damn it, I did not want the job.... I intercepted D.H’s trip at Ndola, No. Rhodesia (now Zaire). Flew from Tripoli to Abidjian to Brazzaville to Ndola, shot the airplane, it crashed, and I flew back, same way.... I went to confession after Nasser and I swore I would never again do this work. And I never will.

These files remain restricted at the National Archives, withdrawn by the CIA, unavailable to researchers. Not even the Review Board could pry forth the tape Culligan made in jail detailing his CIA activities. And no wonder. Want to hear one of Culligan’s bombshells? In the list of Executive Actions Culligan detailed, three related to the Kennedy assassination. Culligan wrote that he was hired to kill three of the assassins who had participated in, as he called it, the "Dallas E.A." Apparently, the three were asking for larger sums to cover their silence. Culligan recruited them for a mission and told them to meet him in Guatemala. When they showed up, he killed all three.

Amazing stuff and worthy of more research.

These files remain restricted at the National Archives, withdrawn by the CIA, unavailable to researchers. Not even the Review Board could pry forth the tape Culligan made in jail detailing his CIA activities. And no wonder. Want to hear one of Culligan’s bombshells? In the list of Executive Actions Culligan detailed, three related to the Kennedy assassination. Culligan wrote that he was hired to kill three of the assassins who had participated in, as he called it, the "Dallas E.A." Apparently, the three were asking for larger sums to cover their silence. Culligan recruited them for a mission and told them to meet him in Guatemala. When they showed up, he killed all three.


I have a copy of said "unavailable" tape. I would be willing to trade a copy for more information on Bud Culligan.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


Greetings Anonymous Poster,

Unfortunately I doubt that many people out there can give you what you seek. I have been searching for Culligan's autobiography (Highway Into Hell) for a good while now, all to no avail. Other than the Steamshovel Press article concerning Culligan and Steven Seagal, I can offer you no other information. Even Jim Marrs seems to have little information on the man.

Would it be too much to ask for some tid-bits of information, concerning the "Unavailable Tape?" I am sure that if you were to offer a transcript of the tape to Mr. Marrs, he would utilise it in a fashion that would be beneficial to all interested in the Culligan saga.

Here is link to the thread involving Jim Marrs:

"Bud" Culligan: The Hitmans Hitman



[edit on 20/5/2008 by Beelzebubba]

I will attempt to make a transcript but that tape is quite long and of poor quality. Some parts are indiscernible.

Why do you need to know?

I have a picture of 'Bud' Culligan from around 1953. Before I provide any more information than that, I have to ask why you need any more details than you already have?

-Garmhac-

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


I am the grandson of roland bernard culligan. what??????????????????do u [email protected]

reply to post by Beelzebubba
I came to know "Bud" Culligan either in the late eighties or early nineties when he was lodged in the Curry County Jail, Gold Beach, Oregon, and I was the jail chaplain. We became friends and Bud related all of his adventures to me. I did his discharge papers from WWII as a 2nd Lt. Furthermore, I saw an invitation to his retirement party from the U.S. Air Force as a brigader general. He said that he had wanted to retire then, but was forced back into the CIA and eventually retired from the service as a Lt. general. When he was released from jail he came to my house and departed (hitched hiked?) to what he later told me was Medford, Oregon to fly back to Florida to be with his wife Sarah. Supposedly, I'm in his will for one million dollars. We used to correspond fairly regularly up until ten or so years ago. The last I heard he was still in Florida, and if alive he'd be close to 86 now. He had many a tale. I verified some of them, but others I could not. Hope this helps and I hope that Bud is still alive and kicking. By the way, Sarah confirmed much of what Bud had to say. She certainly believed him.i

why would you like to know his whereabouts?

I think this is probably the obituary and find-a-grave location for Roland Bernard "Bud" Culligan. Looks like he died in Thursday Sept 16th, 2010 in Florida:

www.legacy.com... (Obit)

www.locategrave.org...

www.stignatiuspb.com... (do "find" for culligan)

I couldnt find an obit for his wife "Sarah" so she might still be alive. From what i've found online she's 82.


Sure would be fascinating to find a copy of his book. I searched online and definitely couldn't find it. Maybe the CIA destroyed all the copies of it? Has anyone in the EU been able to find a copy in Europe?

reply to post by Beelzebubba
Yes, I have meet Bud and Sarah Culligan. I used to speak with Bud on a somewhat regular basis about 10 years ago. He lived behind the Publix's shopping center near my Apartment. He often walked with me at the local park in the morning before work. He would share stories of his grand adventures with me. Most of his stories seemed too tall to believe. I decided to end the curiosity by inviting him and his wife Sarah to join me for an office meeting at Charles Schwab. I was in Investment Advisor at the time. I had Bud bring photos and stories of his life to the meeting. I also invited an Investment Manager that had extensive History knowledge to help poke holds in his stories. I later learned that his stories were remarkably accurate and most likely true. I stayed in touch by phone with Bud after I had been downsized by the firm. It surprised me that I never felt fear around him and yet he claimed to murder over 100 people. I have not been in touch with either Sarah or Bud more many years. His assets are not allowed in the US and he was worth Billions. (yes with a B). Sarah wanted nothing to do with the assets and frawned at the thought of me working to help Bud deliver the funds to the US for her. She lives a very modest life. I was not aware until this evening that Bud may have passed away. I will have to look into this further. I wish I had recorded our conversations. He was the most interesting person I ever met.

reply to post by TBenson
I would like to know if anyone knows where Sarah Culligan might be. I knew the Culligans about 10 years ago. I took a drive down the road to see if I could find any truth to the story that Bud had passed away. He did indeed pass back in September of 2010. He is at the Northwood Funeral Home in Palm Beach Gardens. I learned that the Culligans moved from their home in Palm Beach Gardens several years ago. I guess I just want to know if Sarah is ok, and being taken care of by somone. I hope she lives the rest of her days in peace. I was told when Bud was young he was doing target practice in the Military and showing off his ability to shoot. He claimed he wished he had kept his mouth shut, because the wrong people noticed his skills and hired him (against his will) to do as he was told, for the rest of his life. Anyway, he would love that people are chatting about him and finally asking questions about his life. I was told his book was never going to be allowed to be published for political reasons. He did have a journal. He brought it with him the last time we met. He had kept a record of every event in his life. He showed us pictures of him in uniform when he was young. I am sure he has that journal locked up safe in a bank volt, somewhere. I only wish I had taken him more seriously at the time. The stories were just so hard to believe. I also wish I could remember more of our conversations. The journal he kept is all that is left of his stories. If his stories were true, he claimed to be the last man standing of his group for hire.

America was at peace because "Uncle Bud" was fighting on our behalf. I should have "Googled" him sooner. I did not have a clue about some of the information and misinformation in cyberspace. He was a Patriot above all… The most important lesson I ever learned from him was "never forget who comes first when giving it all for God and country". He passed away in 2010 and Sara probably moved to N Georgia and should be left in peace.. she deserves a lot more than that. He and my grandfather said the book was never released. The majority of his journal is intact and copies have been dispersed to trusted relatives and brothers. He spent some time at "Raven's Rest" near Jamaica and at several addresses in S Florida. I would have included some photos but there is no way I see to attach here. I would love to do the forensic audio repair on the tape one member said is available… this is what I do professionally. He did sue the CIA in 1991-92 (filed 29/1/92) and won his case on 22/12/92…including the right to publish in 2012 and 40 million dollars. I have a copy of his 35 million dollar check (so do others) It took quite a while for him to collect and he claimed to have to payoff the DNC with 5 Mil to get ot released by WJClinton on 2/1/98 ( jan 2,1998). The lived in N Palm Beach at this time. When I was in my 20's he told me of being arrested for killing JFK… For a while he was my "Crazy uncle Bud"…and I was an idiot for not believing all he told me. GOD BLESS HIS MEMORY AND HIS BROTHERS… LIVING AND DEAD !