Murder: True Crime Stories - MYSTERY: The Octopus: A Journalist Who Knew Too Much

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy investigates the mysterious death of journalist Danny Casolaro, who was found dead in a West Virginia hotel room in 1991 just as he claimed to be on the verge of exposing a vast global conspiracy he called “the Octopus.” Danny believed powerful government officials, intelligence agencies, and criminal networks were secretly connected through stolen software, covert weapons programs, and international corruption. After his death was ruled a suicide, his most critical files vanished—fueling decades of suspicion. Was Danny unraveling under pressure, or was he silenced for getting too close to the truth? If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Murder True Crime Stories to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Crime House original podcast, serial killers and murderous minds, we're diving into the psychology of the world's most complex murder cases. From serial killers to cult leaders, deadly exes, and spree killers, we're examining not just how they killed, but why? Is it uncontrollable rage, overwhelming fear? Or is it something deeper? Serial killers and murderous minds is a Crimehouse Studios original. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday.

Follow wherever you get your podcasts. This is Crime House. Secret weapons, psychedelic drugs, government cover-ups, and one journalist who was determined to expose it all. If you've been on social media in the last few years, you've probably heard about the Roman Empire trend. It started when women began asking the men in their lives how often they thought about the Roman Empire.

The answers were surprising. Lots of men said they thought about it every single day. Since then, the trends evolved to refer to anything you just can't let go of. Whether it's a person, a topic, or an idea, your Roman Empire is that one thing you're obsessed with. Well, back in July, 1991, journalist Danny Casillero had a very specific Roman empire. He called it the octopus. Here's an explanation in his own words. With its tag team compartments, its exploitation of hundreds of people, and its formidable stealth,

the octopus will help to unravel the most compelling puzzles of the 20th century. End quote. To this day, we're not sure what those puzzles were, or the octopus, for that matter. But Danny claimed they held the key to exposing some of the most powerful men in the world as criminals. Most people who heard about the theory thought Danny had a few screws loose. But then just a few weeks after going public with his suspicions, Danny was found dead. It didn't seem like a coincidence.

All of a sudden, people started wondering if Danny was actually on to something. Maybe his death wasn't an accident. Maybe he was murdered because he knew too much. Welcome to the octopus. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. You don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon,

and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder, True Crime Stories, a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Thank you for being part of the crimehouse community. Please rate, review, and follow the show. And for early, add free access to every episode, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Welcome back to another episode of Murder Mystery Friday. where I'm covering unsolved cases with questions that I can't get out of my head. The ones where the evidence points in multiple directions and every theory feels like a possibility. Today, I am diving into one of the most bizarre cases you've probably never heard of. The Octopus murders. On August 10, 1991, 44-year-old Danny Casillero was found dead in a West Virginia hotel room. There was a brief suicide note beside his body, but his friends and family didn't buy it. They immediately suspected foul play.

Danny was a freelance writer and investigative journalist, and before he died, he swore he was working on something big. According to Danny, there was a mysterious group he called the octopus. Each tentacle supposedly referred to one of eight powerful ex-government officials who were secretly influencing global politics. After Danny's mysterious demise, his co-workers tried to learn more about the octopus, but decoding it would prove nearly impossible. Many of Danny's notes on the conspiracy had suspiciously vanished when he died. And in the decades since, countless investigators have wondered,

was Danny really onto something? Or was it all just the ravings of a madman? All that more coming up. Danny Castellero was always a colorful character. He was born in 1947 to a large and wealthy family. His dad, Joe, was a prominent doctor who could afford to raise his child. children in an exclusive suburb outside of Washington, D.C. Danny grew up riding horses on their property and attending the best schools money could buy.

And although he had everything he could possibly want, Danny wasn't content to stay in D.C. He wanted to travel, to go on adventures and see the world. But Danny did more than just talk about his dreams. In 1963, the 16-year-old. old left home and explored South America on an ill-fated treasure hunt. A few months later, he returned without any riches, but a lot of stories. For the moment, it seemed like Danny's itch for adventure had been scratched. After returning stateside, he settled into a life that was a little more conventional.

Danny went back to school and enrolled at Providence College in Rhode Island in 1968, and the 21-year-old graduated with a degree in English. At some point, he also started dating a woman named Terrell Pace. They married in 1968, the same year he graduated and bought a home in D.C. A year later, they had a son named Trey. From the outside, it looked like Danny had it all. He was handsome, charismatic, and deeply in love. He had family money to fall back on and hobbs.

like boxing and horse racing. Most people expected him to spend his days taking it easy. But just because Danny was comfortable didn't mean he was satisfied with the status quo. He spent the next decade working as a freelance writer, digging into exciting, unconventional stories. He published a novel called Ice King about mountain climbing. He wrote for a slew of newspapers and magazines, including the World News, the London Sun, the National Enquirer, and others.

He even did some investigative journalism about Chinese drug smugglers and Cuban spy networks operating in the U.S. But just as his career was really taking off, his personal life was falling apart. In 1978 or so, his 10-year marriage ended in divorce. It seemed like the split was mutual, but 31-year-old Danny was. still heartbroken. Instead of spiraling, he put all his anxious energy into his work. Around the same time, Danny founded and edited several trade journals that focused on stories about the emerging computer industry in D.C. He did that for the next decade, but eventually

Danny got bored. He wanted to do something important, something transformative. So in the spring of 1990, the 43-year-old went back to his roots and returned to investigative journalism. He was determined to break a huge story. That's when some friends told him about the Inslaw case. Innslaw was a Washington, D.C. software company founded by a couple named Bill and Nancy Hamilton. Their flagship program was called promise. It was an early case management system designed for prosecutors, and it was way ahead of its time. By pressing a single key, an attorney could find out about someone's prior convictions,

known associates, and the status of court appeals, and basically most things they might need to know about a defendant. By 1982, the program was pretty sophisticated. In that same year, the U.S. Justice Department happened to be overhauling its computer system. Promise was a perfect fit for the prosecutors in the DOJ. Bill and Nancy won a massive $10 million contract to tailor the software to the department's specific needs. They were ecstatic. This was their big break,

and they worked hard to meet the government's specifications. But the Justice Department didn't hold up its end of the bargain. Eventually, Bill and Nancy turned in a trial run of the software. The Justice Department was supposed to try it out, then either pay out the contract or return the program. Instead, they kept it and refused to pay up. With all the money they'd poured into the program, Bill and Nancy's company was forced into bankruptcy.

The case took years to resolve. But in 1988, a bankruptcy judge ruled that Bill and Nancy were telling the truth. He determined the Justice Department never intended to actually pay for the software. Instead, they stole it by trickery, fraud, and deceit. The Justice Department was ordered to pay Bill and money. and Nancy $8 million. The government appealed and lost the following year. Then, in 1990, just one day before the deadline to return the software, the department

won a second appeal. Bill and Nancy were ruined, and now they wouldn't get their product or the money they were owed. They asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, but it would be a long time. before they got any results. In the meantime, it was up to journalists like Danny to keep the story alive. Danny wanted to learn more about the Hamilton's and Inslaw. He found it hard to believe that Justice Department had gone so far just to bankrupt a small

software company. Bill and Nancy suspected it was coming at the command of one man. the guy named Earl Brian. He'd served in Ronald Reagan's cabinet while Bill and Nancy's trial was going on, so he may have known about the Hamilton's powerful software. And when they went into bankruptcy, Earl's company came in with an aggressive buyout offer for Inslaw.

Bill and Nancy were convinced that Earl had orchestrated it all so he could bankrupt their company, buy their software at a bargain rate, and sell it himself. Eventually, Danny agreed with the Hamilton's. He was certain he'd found the scoop of a lifetime. He continued speaking to Bill and Nancy, trying to learn as much as possible,

and before long, they introduced him to another source who could prove their theory, a man named Michael Ricone Shudoh. If you take him at his word, Michael was a child prodigy and computer expert who became a weapons designer and then platinum miner. But according to the government, he was a drug dealer. Of course, Danny was wary of Michael, so he did what any good investigative journalist would do and researched him. He found some evidence that Michael really was the child prodigy he claimed to. be. Back in 1960, when Michael was just 12 years old, a local paper in his hometown of Tacoma,

Washington called him a modern da Vinci. Four years later, he made headlines for building some kind of underwater house, complete with a working television and radio. Before his junior year of high school, he was invited to work as a summer research assistant at Stanford for for a Nobel laureate. The scientist remembered him vividly decades later. He said, quote, You don't forget a 16-year-old youngster who shows up with his own Argonne Laser.

So Michael might have been some kind of genius. But he was a troubled one. In 1973, the 25-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison for manufacturing psychedelic drugs and jumping bail. He insisted he was forced into making the drugs, but there's no evidence to support his claims. After Michael got out of prison, his life was a little harder to track,

but apparently his engineering skills outweighed his criminal history because, according to Michael, he worked on a secret project at the Cabazon Indian Reservation in Southern California. Michael alleged the American government had built a facility on the tribe's land to develop high-tech weapons. The reason he knew this? Apparently, Michael was the research director for the weapons company the government had hired.

The tribe's legal status supposedly protected the research and helped keep it secret. But Michael said one of the technologies was similar to a... nuclear bomb. And that wasn't all. As Michael told it, he met a lot of powerful government officials while working on the reservation, including high-ranking CIA agents. And this was when Michael's story came full circle back to Bill and Nancy Hamilton. These agents allegedly sent Michael on a variety of missions in the 80s. These included everything from collapsing a shady bank, lobbying on Capitol Hill, and laundering money through NASA. Michael didn't provide any proof of these activities, and honestly, I'd love to hear what you think, because I know it definitely sounds like a stretch,

but one specific story seemed to have a kernel of truth. Michael claimed that one of his secret missions was related to Bill and Nancy Hamilton and their promise program. Michael said he was hired by the government to install a back door in Bill and Nancy's software, which would make sense, given his hacking skills. Michael claimed the plan was for the government to sell the program to other countries, then use the secret back door to access their files. If they're That was true. It meant the U.S. wasn't just trying to spy on its allies. It was planning to hack into government computers around the world. When Danny heard that, he was floored. If this got out, it could ruin the U.S.'s reputation. Not only would it violate several international laws, but it could potentially damage U.S. relations with other countries.

He'd had a feeling he was on to something. He just didn't know it would be this explosive. And the discovering the truth would come at a massive cost. You don't need AI agents, which may sound weird coming from service now, the leader in AI agents. The truth is, AI agents need you. Sure, they'll process, predict, even get work done autonomously. But they don't dream, read a room, rally a digital. team, and they certainly don't have shower thoughts, pivotal hallway chats, or big ideas. People do.

And people, when given the best AI platform, they're freed up to do the fulfilling work they want to do. To see how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. By the end of 1990, 43-year-old Danny Castellero felt like he was getting close to cracking what he called the most explosive investigative story of the 20th century. What started with a software dispute had spun into a series of loose connections between a few powerful people and some major scandals. It's a lot, so let's recap quickly. Danny believed the U.S. Justice Department stole some valuable software from Bill and Nancy Hamilton, then deliberately drove their company into bankruptcy. At the time, the dispute was still being litigated. While Danny

waited for the courts to make a decision, he got to be able to. got in touch with another source, a man named Michael Reconaschudo. Michael made a lot of unbelievable claims about his life, but for Danny, the most important was that he'd been recruited by the CIA to hack into the Hamilton's software. At first, it was hard to believe, but Danny was able to verify parts of his background. Even if Michael wasn't being completely honest, Danny felt there were, of truth there. He became even more certain when Michael introduced him to a man named Robert

Nichols. He was the next person in the conspiracy theory chain. Robert has been described as a real-life James Bond figure. He was handsome and resembled Hollywood legend Clark Gable. He was also mysterious and very rich. He ran a company called Meridian International Logistics, which had interests all over the world. His business did everything from medical research to weapons manufacturing. In the early 80s, he reportedly planned to work with Michael Rikonishuto on creating some innovative explosives, but the two had a falling out early on in their relationship. Robert said he caught Michael brazenly lying about his supposed

inventions. After that, their partnership collapsed. But Michael had a very different perspective. According to him, Robert was the devil. He claimed Robert was involved with organized crime groups like the Japanese Yakuza and the Gambino crime family in New York. Even so, Michael thought Danny should talk to him. If anyone knew the government's darkest secrets, it was Robert. When Danny tracked him down, Robert adamantly denied the more conspiratorial elements of Michael's story. He said he never had any contact with the mafia or the yakuza. But he did admit that the FBI suspected him of being a money launderer for the criminal underworld. However, he insisted it was all a misunderstanding.

As for his work with Michael, Robert didn't want to discuss it. But he did speak at length for hundreds of hours on the phone about other things. He didn't confirm what Michael said about promise, but he did warn Danny that his investigations were genuinely dangerous. Michael had been telling Danny that too. Despite their personal issues, the men agreed that Danny was getting close to some powerful people with some very dark secrets, the kind that could put his life at risk.

Instead of backing off, Danny only dove in further. The stories of secret weapons, shadowy shell companies, and hacked software seemed to make him feel like he was in a spy movie. For months, he devoted practically all his time to unraveling the conspiracy. He spent hours a day on the phone with sources, making detailed notes and collecting huge boxes of files that he stored in his basement. We aren't sure if he was able to confirm Michael's story about hacking into promise, but there were several other things he learned that could ruin careers and lives.

And by early 1991, he wanted to share his discoveries with the world. He dreamed of writing a book about The Octopus, which he said was a secret cabal of eight men or so. He believed these individuals were connected to major political scandals and influenced global politics in secret. He pitched his book to several publishers as a bombshell investigation with global implications. A lot of his friends were worried he was getting in too deep. By this point, his entire life revolved around the octopus. He didn't tell them any specific details about who was involved or what they were doing, but he made it very clear that the octopus was bigger than anyone realized.

Still, no one thought Danny was outright crazy. he was a smart, committed guy who often bounced his theories off those closest to him. Generally speaking, people saw Danny's octopus in the same way he viewed Michael Reconasuto. Hard to believe, but with something real at its heart. And in the spring of 1991, Danny got one step closer to closing the loop. There was finally some more progress in the promised software loss. lawsuit. On March 21st, Michael submitted a sworn affidavit to the Attorney General handling the Inslaw case. He claimed that while he was working on the Cabazon Indian Reservation, he was given

an illegal copy of the promised software by a man who worked in Ronald Reagan's cabinet. He claims that man was none other than Earl Brian. Now, this is where it all comes full. circle. Remember, while he was working on the reservation, Michael said he had a hand in a lot of shady endeavors. One of his biggest claims was that he helped engineered the so-called October surprise of 1980. In 1979, 66 Americans were taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Iran. The crisis lasted 444 days. It seriously impacted Jimmy Carter's presidency and played a major role in the 1980 election between him and Ronald Reagan. Many believe that Carter's failure to resolve the crisis caused him to lose his chance at re-election. After Reagan took power, he swiftly brought an end

to the hostage crisis, but some, including the president of Iran, claimed that he secretly delayed the release of the hostages while Carter was still in office. In other words, critics believed Ronald Reagan sabotaged the hostage negotiations to make sure Carter would lose the 1980 election, and that Reagan would then look like the hero. The October surprise is a conspiracy of its own, and it took Danny pretty far away from his original investigation, but this was the essence of the octopus, seemingly disconnected events that were all tied together.

In the 90s, the U.S. Congress held inquiries into the October surprise and determined there was no credible evidence to support the accusations, but there were many people who stood by the claims, one of those being Michael Rikonishudo. In fact, he told Danny that he'd played a major role. in the October surprise. He said he'd traveled to Iran and paid the government $40 million to delay the release of the hostages personally. His alleged co-conspirator was Earl Brian.

That's the same businessman who tried to buy out Bill and Nancy's company during their bankruptcy. Michael said the U.S. government gave Brian the stolen. promised software as a reward for engineering the October surprise. However, it's important to note that Earl Bryan denies all of this and disputes essentially everything Michael says. It's all pretty nuanced and convoluted, so it's easy to see how Danny Castellero felt like he was in over his head. But he knew Earl Brian was the next link in his chain, another tentacle of the auction. octopus. Somehow, the same man was connected to both the Iran hostage crisis and the bankruptcy of a small software company. And Danny was convinced that Michael was telling the truth in his affidavit.

He thought that Earl had convinced the Justice Department to steal the promised software from Inslaw. While Danny tried to get in contact with Earl, Michael was dealing with his own drama. Apparently, someone had tried to stop him from ratting out Earl Bryan. In his sworn affidavit, Michael also claimed a Department of Justice official named Peter Vedniks had threatened him. According to Michael, Peter didn't want him to cooperate with the investigation. He warned that if he did, Peter would find a way to retaliate against him. Maybe Michael was telling the truth because just a week after he gave his sworn affidavit, Michael was arrested for manufacturing and selling methamphetamine.

The tentacles were at war with one another. As far as we know, Danny was never able to speak to Earl. Meanwhile, Michael claimed he was framed. He said he wasn't manufacturing drugs. he was trying to create a new process for refining platinum ore. It just so happened that the chemicals he used were also the precursor ingredients for crystal meth. By that point, Danny wasn't sure what to believe, but he was starting to think Michael and Robert were right.

The work he was doing was dangerous. He told family and friends he was getting anonymous death threats. The callers never explicitly told him to stop investigating his story. Usually they would simply tell him to drop dead, then hang up. Danny was understandably getting nervous. He was afraid the people close to him might get hurt, and he once told his brother that if he wound up dead, it wasn't. An accident.

Even then, he didn't stop working. In August 1991, Danny said he was close to a breakthrough. After over a year of research, he was on the verge of breaking the software story and exposing everyone involved in the octopus. Friends described him as euphoric. He had an upcoming trip to Martinsburg, West Virginia. He didn't travel often, but he said this would be worth it. He was going there to meet a major new source for his book.

Danny was excited about the trip, but also incredibly exhausted. He repeatedly complained to his brother and friends about the phone calls he'd been getting. It had been happening every night for the last three months. His housekeeper Olga confirmed the story. She said she answered the phone many times to hear heavy, breathing, or cryptic threats on the other end of the line. Of course, none of that slowed Danny down. On Tuesday, August 6th, 44-year-old Danny Casolero left for Martinsburg.

He brought a black leather tote bag and a suitcase packed with information about the octopus. While in West Virginia, he continued his usual frantic work. He called sources, made appointments, and took tons of notes. One thing he didn't do was talk on the phone with Bill Hamilton, the founder of Inslaw Software. That was unusual. According to Bill, they'd spoken nearly every day since Danny had started working on the story. But on Wednesday, August 7, Danny didn't return his call. On Thursday, a friend confirmed that he met with Danny down in March.

But Danny still didn't call Bill back. By Friday, Bill was getting worried. And he wasn't the only one. Another one of Danny's friends expected him to call Friday night and was disappointed when he didn't. The only person Danny spoke to that evening was his niece. According to her, the conversation was very brief, but he seemed fine. Meanwhile, back at his house the creepy calls were escalating. His housekeeper picked up the phone at least five times on Friday, April 9th. Almost all the calls were death threats. Like many of Danny's friends, she tried and failed to get in contact with him. At about 12 p.m. the following day on Saturday, August 10th, 1991, cleaning staff knocked on Danny's hotel room door. He didn't answer. They retrieved the master key and unlocked the door. Danny was nowhere to be seen, but his things were still scattered about the room. And when they went into the bathroom, they finally found Danny. He was lying in the bathtub, covered in blood. Beside him was.

a beer can, a razor blade, and a three-sentence-long suicide note. In it, Danny reportedly apologized to his loved ones for taking his own life. At 44 years old, he was dead. And so was the biggest story of his life. Even more suspicious, the files Danny always carried with him, The ones about the octopus were nowhere to be seen. The question was, what happened to them? If you haven't listened to murder with my husband yet, you're missing out. Do you ever want to unload on your friend or significant other about true crime, but they're not about it? Well, every week, true crime obsessed wife, Peyton, discusses a new case with her husband, Garrett, who can't

stand this obsession with true crime. Together, they cover one detailed true crime story, but with two wildly different reactions. She loves it and he hates it. With over 50 million downloads and over 2 million followers on social media, this is a podcast that has something for everyone. So if you're a true crime lover, tune in to murder with my husband and try to convince the true crime hater in your life to listen with you. You can listen to murder with my husband now on Apple.

podcasts or anywhere you listen to your podcasts or watch on YouTube. On August 10th, 1991, 44-year-old Danny Castellera was found dead in his hotel room in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was taken to a local funeral home where a coroner examined his body. She found no signs of a struggle and determined the cause of death was blood loss. There were 12 deep cuts along his arms and wrists. She ruled that Dan Danny had died by suicide. After that, the funeral director embalmed the body. And then something strange happened.

After cleaning staff found Danny dead, they immediately alerted the Martinsburg police. Besides the suicide note, the razor blade in the beer can, officers also discovered Danny's wallet. It contained his ID and the hotel room was registered under his name. Clearly, they knew his identity, and yet, no one informed the Casillero family that Danny had died until the following morning, August 11th. Around 9.30 a.m. that day, a Martinsburg detective called Danny's mother to break the news. Shortly afterward, Danny's younger brother, Tony, spoke to the police, too. He told them Danny was a journalist and that he'd recently received death threat. He also asked if Danny's briefcase and notes were found along with his body.

The detective informed him there hadn't been paperwork of any kind in the hotel room. When Tony requested an autopsy, the officer told him that Danny's body had already been embalmed. Doing that before consulting the family was technically illegal. And while it didn't make an autopsy impossible, it did make it a lot more difficult. Tony found all of this deeply suspicious. None of Danny's family or friends thought he was experiencing suicidal thoughts before his death. So even though the note appeared to be written in his own handwriting,

many relatives thought he'd been forced into writing it, especially given the way he died and the gashes on his body. They knew for a fact that he hated the sight of needles in blood. With all the questions surrounding his death, the Martinsburg PD launched an investigation. For Danny's relatives, this wasn't ideal. After all, this was the same police department that had waited a day to tell them Danny had passed away.

Even so, they were happy someone was taking them seriously. Detectives interviewed everyone who'd come across Danny in his final hours. They discovered that from 3 to 5 p.m. on August 9th, the day before he was found dead, he ate shrimp cocktail and drank some beers at a local seafood restaurant. The bartender there described him as depressed. Danny allegedly told the man he'd had a rough night. according to Danny's brother, he was supposed to meet with his source that day.

As far as we know, he never did. Maybe that was why he was upset. After putting back a few beers, Danny stopped by a pay phone and called his niece. Their conversation was brief. Apparently, he didn't mention anything concerning, and he didn't explain whether or not he met with the source. Then at 10 p.m., he grabbed him. grabbed a coffee at a nearby convenience store.

That was the last time anyone saw Danny alive. From there, detectives did a more thorough search of his hotel room. Investigators took some fiber samples, lifted fingerprints from the bathroom mirror, and rechecked the windows for signs of forced entry. None of it bore any fruit. There were still no signs of foul play, no incriminating footprints, and no files about the octopus either. The lack of evidence through the rumor mill into overdrive.

Some relatives and fellow journalists claimed he was killed. They theorized he was murdered by the mafia, an international assassin, or some shadowy intelligence agency. While Robert Nichols shied away from speculation, Michael Rikonishudo insisted Danny was assassinated by the very people his story was about to expose. But if the goal was to cover up the octopus, killing Danny only did the opposite. After his death, journalists all over the country dove into the case.

They believe the octopus held the key to solving Danny's death. Although many of his most important files were missing, he still had a basement full of stray notes and transcripts of interviews. In the fall of 1991, not long after Danny died, journalists flocked to his home in D.C. to examine his surviving files. For many, it was personal. During his 20-year-long writing career, Danny had made friends with a lot of reporters. For others, it was a matter of solidarity.

Whether or not they bought into his biggest claims, many people believed he was onto something, and if there was even a small chance foul play was involved, that was a potential threat to any investigative journalist. Their suspicions only grew when they learned about his final months. According to Danny's friends and family, he'd experienced some unsettling coincidences. For example, shortly before his death,

he reportedly met a former Special Forces operative at a restaurant who was involved in the Promise Software case. Out of the blue, the man offered to introduce Danny to an official who was in the Justice Department at the time of the scandal. Running into such a helpful source felt, like more than luck. Not too long after that, he apparently met a very friendly woman at a party. She went back to his house that night and seemed to know a little too much about his investigation for his comfort. She reportedly told him that she was connected to a former CIA official

who Danny believed was part of the octopus. While these stories trickled out in the press, Martinsburg investigators continued to look into his death. Despite repeated searches, they were never able to recover any of his lost files. However, they did determine that the blade that killed him was sold out of state. And that suggested that either Danny brought it on his trip with a specific plan in mind, or it came from someone else. They also finally performed an autopsy on the embalmed body. While there was no smoking gun, a few facts stood out.

An antidepressant was found in his blood and urine, though he was never officially prescribed the medication. The examiner also uncovered evidence of multiple sclerosis and incurable autoimmune disease. Investigators suggested this as a possible motive, that, he'd ended his life rather than deal with the pain of MS. Initially, his friends and family dismissed the idea. To their knowledge, Danny didn't even know he was sick. He'd never complained to them about any symptoms. But a few months after his death, a friend discovered that Danny had previously spoken to a nurse

about MS and brain diseases. Plus, there were some notes in his files about biological weapons that could could inflict brain damage, something like mad cow disease but for humans. Unlike everything else in his notes, it was inconclusive and hard to follow, but his writing, coupled with the conversation with the nurse, suggested one of two things. Either Danny knew he had MS, or he was experiencing symptoms that led him to believe he was being poison.

In early 1992, the Martinsburg, police ended their investigation and ruled that Danny died by suicide. The official story convinced many, but skeptics thought things looked suspicious. After all, Danny was definitely receiving death threats. He was also in contact with powerful people and had no issue accusing them of shady behavior straight to their faces. Well, since then, conspiracy theories have run. un-rampant. And the problem is there's nothing concrete. All the reporters who combed through Danny's basement files were left frustrated and confused. Like them, you might be struggling to understand what or who the octopus even is. And the truth is, we really don't know. In his book

proposal, Danny described it as an international cabal, a group. of about eight men, each one a tentacle, who were trading drugs, money, and weapons all over the world. But who exactly are they? And while we can't confirm their identities, we can speculate. At most, we know the names of only two or three. One was probably Earl Brian,

the businessmen who once served in Ronald Reagan's cabinet. Remember, Danny believed Earl convinced the Justice Department to steal the promise software from Inslaa. A second possibility was Robert Nichols. Although he was one of Danny's sources, he was also allegedly laundering money for organized crime. The third may have been Michael Reconasuto, the man who claimed to have engineered the 1980 October surprise for Ronald Reagan. But we're still not sure if Danny thought Michael was, a tentacle or a puppet for the more prominent members of the octopus. Then there are more tenuous potential connections.

The director of the CIA under Reagan was William Casey. Danny's research connected him to the hostage scandal and possibly some other operations he was investigating. The final name that occasionally gets thrown into the conspiracy is Robert Maxwell. You might recognize him as the father of Galane Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and partner to Jeffrey Epstein. Outwardly, Robert Maxwell was a British media tycoon

who embezzled millions from his company's pension funds. But according to investigative journalist Seymour Hirsch, he was also an intelligence operative working for the nation of Israel. Some speculate that he illegally sold a hacked version of the promise software to other countries. Like Danny Casillero, he died in 1991 under suspicious circumstances. Unfortunately, we can't confirm that any of these people were part of the octopus. While Danny shared some of his ideas with friends, he never went into much detail. He always held back the juiciest secrets for the book he never got to write.

All we have are drafts of his proposal to publishers, but no actual manuscript. It's possible that Danny didn't have a unified conspiracy theory at all. Even friends agree he was a theatrical person, and he wasn't above exaggerating his career accomplishments to make an impression. But that's a little hard to square with the hundreds of hours he poured into his investigation. He was meticulous, not diluted. From what investigators have gathered, his claims weren't pure nonsense. In most cases, there was at least something to back them up.

All we know is that if Danny really did break the case, there's no longer any proof of his conclusions. he definitely took a stack of files and notes to Martinsburg. If someone killed him, they must have taken those. With the files gone, we only have bits and pieces of his conspiracy backed up by circumstantial evidence at best. Decades later, the octopus remains a mystery. Because Danny's notes encompass such a wide variety of dead, disconnected events and scandals.

It has created a kind of conspiracy theory chain reaction, and some people believe the men who make up the octopus are still pulling the strings today. It's a chilling thought. Danny said these men were motivated by money, fear, and greed above all else. If he was right, it paints a dark picture of our future. And with Danny Casillero gone, who will stop it.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder, True Crime Stories. Come back next time for the story of another murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad-free. We'll be back on Tuesday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Protofsky, Lori Marinelli, Tara Wells, Sarah Camp, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. What drives a person to murder? Find out from a licensed forensics.

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