Thread by @DanaDooDah

Casolaro Family Values: From Westchester With Love 🧵

I've realized there's no good place to start & this is going to be an ongoing rabbit hole for me, though my primary focus is Danny's younger sister & his father's side of the family.
I'll start with his sister, Lisa Casolaro, who's life seems just as mysterious as it was brief.

Elizabeth "Lisa" Ann Casolaro was born on May 9th, 1953 & died at only 18.
All 'official' obituaries state she passed away in Santa Barbara County, California.
Danny's Wikipedia & the archive in the next post state otherwise.

Per the family, Lisa went to the Haight-Ashbury district & overdosed.
I was only able to locate the fire that destroyed Danny's mother's home in 1970.

Thank you @TrueDaretoDefy for locating this archive: nick-mail.net/marginalia/ins…

@TrueDaretoDefy I believe it's important to remember that Michael Riconosciuto was reported to be an informant in Haight Ashbury & has an extensive history in manufacturing drugs...among other things.

@TrueDaretoDefy Something missing from all discussion about Lisa is her marriage to James Edward Driscoll.
They got their marriage license on 10/02/70, a little over a year before her death.
When James remarries, he does list himself as a widower.
He died a little over 2 years after Danny.

@TrueDaretoDefy Eventually, I'll come back to James' family as they seem pretty plugged into what many of us refer to as "The Octopus".

Now, I want to move on to Danny's parents.

@TrueDaretoDefy The family headstone would have you believe that Danny's parents were still married upon his father's passing (his birth date is also incorrect, which I will show).
This is a lie & it's my opinion this is because of who his father ended up marrying, but let's start here:

@TrueDaretoDefy Danny's mother's obituaries are all generally the same, though they inaccurately list her & Dr. Joseph Daniel Casolaro being married at the time of his death.
legacy.com/us/obituaries/…

@TrueDaretoDefy Danny's parents got divorced on 12/28/1973.

@TrueDaretoDefy Dr. Casalaro's FindAGrave oddly shows false/conflicting information - including his birthday and listing Frances as his spouse but showing the accurate newspaper obituary on the left.

@TrueDaretoDefy Dr. Joseph Daniel Casolaro was born on January 2nd, 1921.
Note the divorce filing above matches this, as do all census records for the senior Casolaro household.

@TrueDaretoDefy The accurate obituary lists 'Ellen' as Dr. Casolaro's widow, and states his body will be interred in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.

@TrueDaretoDefy The Washington Post provided the most accurate obituary of Dr. Casolaro, stating that he & Frances were indeed divorced, and includes the hot tea: that Casolaro helped found Bionetics Research Laboratory.

@TrueDaretoDefy & as a reminder, Dr. Casolaro's father Maurice/Mario was a famous composer from Yonkers, who happened to own a bar called 'Jockey's Tavern'.

@TrueDaretoDefy Now, back to Dr. Casolaro's actual wife upon his passing:
Ellen Jean (Hall) Gualtieri.
They were married on 01/02/1974 & they both list it as their second marriage.

Ellen's first husband was no stranger to Casolaro.

@TrueDaretoDefy First, let's identify her husband:
Bernard VanDenburg Hall.
I'll come back to him at another time.
It's also interesting to note that Ellen's sister is listed as Mrs. Harold Higgenbotham of London, England.

@TrueDaretoDefy Ellen's husband & Dr. Casolaro opened two (seemingly unrelated, but now apropos re:Iran Contra) businesses together in August of 1970.
The companies were dissolved in June of 1972.

@TrueDaretoDefy Ellen & Bernard were divorced 3 weeks before the companies were dissolved.

@TrueDaretoDefy Dr. Casolaro died on 04/30/1982.

Ellen married Leon B. Kellner the following year.

Leon B. Kellner seems like either a strategic or ironic choice for her, depending on your perspective.

@TrueDaretoDefy Leon B. Kellner is one of the US attorneys named in Iran-Contra.

@TrueDaretoDefy His obituary (obviously) paints his career in a much more favorable light & Ellen described him as 'the most generous person' in her life.

@TrueDaretoDefy & while I've yet to trace just exactly what business Ellen's former husbands (Bernard & Casolaro) were doing with International Bio-Medical Services, Inc., Dr. Casolaro's Bionetics is easy to find.
What role he had in its founding, I've yet to confirm outside of his obituary.

It would seem that Danny discovered his family's role in the Octopus, from Vietnam to the Haight to Litton (Bionetics) making night-viewing equipment for Cabazon Arms.
Michael Riconosciuto should be suspect #1 when discussing anything Casolaro.
Stay 'noided, y'all. 🤠