← Kill List
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- [00:00]
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We want to send a massive, genuine, heartfelt thank you to everyone who listened to Kill List. We're really so grateful that you've taken this long journey with us down the rabbit hole. And now that you've reached the end of the show, there's another podcast that we think you'll love and it's called To Classified Mysteries with Luke Lamona. Just as someone might foolishly believe that they're safe plotting murder on the dark web, governments too can fall into the trap of thinking their covert operations will remain forever in the shadows. Whether pulling back the curtain on buried secrets from the darkest corners of history or exposing shocking truths behind powerful institutions, Redacted is your next heart pounding and revelatory podcast that will change how you see the world. I'm about to play you a preview of redacted Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamonag. Follow Redacted on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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In early January 1961, 19 year old Marita Lawrence landed in Havana, Cuba. She had spent the past six weeks back home in New York City planning the death of a man she had once loved but now hated. He was charismatic. He was powerful. He was also the Prime Minister of Cuba. His name was Fidel Castro. Marita met Fidel on her dad's yacht the previous summer, and it was love at first sight. But two months after the whirlwind romance began, Marita got pregnant. Fidel had seemed thrilled at the news, and Marita had never felt so in love. But a few months later, Marita fell mysteriously ill after drinking her morning glass of milk. She blacked out and woke up several hours later in a hospital. The doctor told her she'd miscarried and lost the baby, but every fiber of Marita's being knew that this was a lie. Someone had drugged her milk and then the doctor had terminated her pregnancy, and Marita was sure Fidel was the one who had given the orders. She felt violated and heartbroken as she fled back home to New York in late 1959. And that was when the CIA approached her and convinced her that Fidel was a poison that would contaminate the free world if left unchecked. He had to go. In the Havana airport, Marita deboarded her plane and headed toward customs. She was hugging her purse tightly under her arm. Inside was a jar of cold cream where two pill capsules given to her by the CIA lay hidden. The capsules were filled with a grayish powder poison she was going to slip into Fidel's drink That night, the CIA agent had promised her that Fidel wouldn't feel any pain. He would just go to sleep and never wake up. Still, the thought made Marita's stomach turn. But she had made her choice. She was going to stick to it. An hour later, her taxi pulled up in front of the Havana Hilton. Marita still had the key to Fidel Castro's private suite, so she walked past the front desk attendant and the armed guards outside his door. She tried to move steadily, even though her heart was pounding out of her chest. She let herself in. Fidel wasn't there yet, but his security guard told her he would be back soon. Marita steeled her nerves and took the jar of cold cream into the bathroom. She unscrewed the lid and fished out the poison pills. But to her horror, the plastic pills had melted into soggy little lumps. In a panic, Marita dumped the pills into the toilet and flushed. But the pills just floated back up. She flushed again and again, but they kept bobbing back to the surface. It was like something out of a nightmare. On her fourth attempt, the toilet refused to flush at all. She felt her face grow hot. She took a deep breath. She needed to think a way out of this mess. She was going to get herself killed if she didn't get rid of the poison pills, and fast. Outside the door, she heard the deep voice of Fidel Castro calling her name. She froze, said a silent prayer, and flushed the toilet again. By some miracle, the pills stayed down. Marita blotted her eyes and rushed out to meet him. When she saw Fidel, she felt weak in the knees. She had tried hard to kill all the love she'd once felt for him. But looking at him now, with his signature beard and his green army fatigues, she couldn't help but feel some of the old warmth come creeping back. Fidel pulled Marita in for a kiss, but then his eyes grew cold and he asked her why she'd been hanging around with, quote, all those Miami people. Her heart skipped a beat. She knew that he meant the CIA agents, which meant he knew what she'd been up to and why she was here now. Marita struggled to find words as tears filled her eyes. And to her horror, Fidel drew his gun out of his holster. But he didn't point it at her like she'd expected. Instead, he handed her the gun handle first. Go ahead and kill me, he said. But Marita stayed frozen to the spot. The CIA could never have dreamed of a more perfect scenario. Here was Fidel Castro completely unprotected, vulnerable, an open target. And here was Morita being offered a murder weapon. And yet she couldn't do it. And Fidel seemed to know it. He smiled at her. And then he said, no one can kill me. No one. From Ballin Studios and Wondery, I'm Luke lamanna, and this is Declassified Mysteries, where each week we shine a light on the shadowy corner owners of espionage, covert operations, and misinformation to reveal the dark secrets our governments try to hide. This week's episode is called 634 Ways to Kill Fidel Castro.
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Listen to redacted to Classified Mysteries with Lute Lamona early and ad free on Wondri Plus. Join Wondri plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.