‘He was afraid for his life’: Declassified JFK docs detail mysterious death of CIA whistleblower who threatened to reveal the truth

John F. Kennedy‘s assassination is one of the pivotal moments in 20th-century history and a milestone event in American politics. Even now, more than a half-century on from that fateful day in Dallas, the events inspire heated debate on what really happened and who’s to blame.

Last night a whole bunch of gasoline got poured on that debate with the declassification and release of 80,000 documents relating to JFK and his death, becoming available overnight via the National Archives. Historians, journalists, conspiracy theorists, and the just-plain-curious have descended on them like vultures on an antelope carcass, eager to strip the bones for as many new facts as possible.

There’s a lot to process, but one key theme running these documents is bound to set tongues wagging: that the CIA either had a direct hand in the assassination or at least was aware that Kennedy’s life was in danger and did nothing to prevent his death. One story in particular has raised eyebrows to the sky.

US Army Captain John Garrett Underhill Jr (aka Gary Underhill) was a CIA informant mentioned in a newly declassified memo relating to an article from the June 1967 edition of Rampart magazine. Underhill was a Harvard linguist and considered an expert in intelligence and defense, splitting his time by working for the state and as the military affairs editor at Life magazine.

Newly released JFK files tell a story about how Gary Underhill, who worked for the CIA, was found dead after he revealed to friends that the CIA was responsible for JFK’s assassination.

“The day after the assassination, Gary Underhill left Washington in a hurry. Late in the… pic.twitter.com/psZkYQ5COi

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 19, 2025

The declassified memo states that: “The day after the assassination, Gary Underhill left Washington in a hurry. Late in the evening, he showed up at the home of a friend in New Jersey He was very agitated.” It goes on to say Underhill insisted to friends he’d learned that “a small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination” and that “he was afraid for his life and probably would have to leave the country.”

Later, Underhill was due to be interviewed by Jim Garrison. He never got the chance to speak as, on May 8, 1964, Underhill was found dead in his home with a single bullet to the back of his head. The coroner ruled it suicide.

Sadly there are still a lot of redactions in the released documents and, for now at least, it appears there’s no smoking gun that reveals who pulled the trigger. But, while this information doesn’t reveal the truth of what happened to Kennedy, it certainly muddies the waters. Would a distinguished academic really kill himself by shooting himself in the back of the head? Did he know something that shady government figures were desperate to keep secret? What’s one more body in an ever-growing pile?

Maybe someday we’ll know the full truth but, for now, it seems the spider-web of JFK assassination theories has a few more compelling knots to unpick.