MYSTERY SHROUDS SLAIN DND WORKER

November 13, 1998

Mystery shrouds slain DND worker

Body unidentified in Cuban morgue for 7 months

By BRAD HUNTER -- Ottawa Sun A Department of National Defence employee was gunned down in Cuba months ago, but his body was only identified this week.
Ali Radmanesh, 55, of Ottawa, was shot twice in the chest April 6 in Havana's notorious red-light district at the beginning of a 10-day trip to the island, the Sun has learned.
It took Cuban police nearly seven months to identify the body of Radmanesh.
Local police and friends said the Iranian immigrant was a member of a group called Friends of Cuba and had a high security clearance at National Defence. He appeared to be well-off financially.
When Radmanesh's corpse was discovered in a seedy Havana neighbourhood there was no identification on the body. Ottawa-Carleton police looking into a missing person report tracked Radmanesh's last movements to Cuba. A cousin flew down to the island and positively identified the body Monday.
When contacted early in the week by a Sun reporter, DND denied one of their employees was missing. But last night officials acknowledged that Radmanesh was a civilian staffer, but would provide no other information about him.
Regional police said DND informed them Radmanesh was missing back in mid-May.
DND regulations require any employee travelling to Cuba to be briefed before leaving and debriefed when they return to Canada. It is not known whether Radmanesh told his boss about the trip.
Radmanesh had worked in the intellectual property section of DND for a little more than two years. Prior to that he was employed by the biological and chemical unit.
Foreign Affairs said last night they were looking into the Cuban police's handling of the affair.
Regional police were informed of Radmanesh's disappearance by DND brass on May 15 and Sgt. Mike Seed of the missing persons section traced the victim to Cuba.
Radmanesh left from Mirabel Airport in Montreal on April 5 or 6, and was scheduled to return April 17, said Det. Len Alcorn of the major crime unit .
Two Italian men were slain in the same area around the same time Radmanesh's body was found.
"He had been planning to stay at the Atlantico Hotel in Havana but he never booked in," Alcorn said.
Police in Havana said so far there is no motive and no suspects in the murder of the man who immigrated to Canada several years before the overthrow of the Shah of Iran.
Ottawa-Carleton Staff Sgt. Bob Pulfer said that while police suspected the man in the Cuban morgue was Radmanesh, identification "wasn't to our satisfaction."
"His cousin from Toronto, a doctor, identified him. He knew him well and sponsored him to come into the country in the early 1970s," Pulfer said, adding that the rest of the dead man's relatives still live in Iran.
Alcorn described the whole affair as "bizarre."
"Especially in the fact that he works for National Defence," the detective said.
After Cuban police informed Foreign Affairs that they had a body in their morgue that might be Radmanesh a meeting was held between members of the major crime unit, DND, RCMP, Interpol and Foreign Affairs in October. That helped solve the riddle of Radmanesh's disappearance.
"Cuban officials were not forthcoming with anything," Alcorn revealed. "We went through proper diplomatic channels and finally someone we had faith in identified the body."
Most neighbours on Pixley Pte. in Alta Vista where Radmanesh owned a modest two-storey brick and aluminum siding townhouse did not know him. One said that most of the residents had moved in since his disappearance. They said DND officials made a visit to the house early yesterday carrying stainless steel cases.
One man who knew him well, and asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions, said the owner of four townhouse units kept to himself.
The friend said Radmanesh was always impeccably dressed.
"He was a nice guy, very mild mannered," the man said, shaking his head. "It's taking a hell of a long time to sort out his affairs and I'm anticipating it will go on for a while."