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The Long, Strange Trip of CIA "Outlaw" Thor Hansen

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thor hansenOne of the most bizarre criminal trials in United States history just came to a close in March with the deportation of Thor Hansen, outlaw biker, country singer and self-proclaimed terrorist trainer for the CIA. It took place in Florida, land of madness, and stretched over three decades. Buckle in - this is going to be a bumpy ride.

Born in Oslo, Norway, Thor Holm Hansen's parents uprooted the family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1950. His father was violent and abusive, and eventually young Thor was removed from his custody and put into a home. His criminal record started to pick up steam in his teens, being charged with securities fraud, rape, aggravated assault and more.

This behavior brought him to the attention of the Outlaws, a national motorcycle club that's the main rival to the Hell's Angels. Hansen was patched into the club in the 1970s and rapidly became a major player in the group's various criminal activities, including protection rackets, drug smuggling and more. He also had a real way with the ladies, especially the rich ones like Ritchey Farrell, a heiress to the Maxwell House coffee fortune, who he married.

Things looked rough for Hansen in 1978, when he was finally brought to trial for the gruesome execution of a traitorous Outlaws member. Even though witnesses saw Thor at the scene with a smoking shotgun, the jury couldn't come to a verdict and a mistrial was declared. Hansen's lawyer worked out a plea bargain that included deportation back to Norway. But one thing you'll learn about Thor Hansen is that he doesn't give up easily.

Amazingly enough, just a month after he was shipped back to Europe, Hansen is pulled over for a busted taillight - back in Florida. Through a series of legal machinations and bureaucratic SNAFUs, Hansen managed to stay in the States to see the birth of his daughter Nancy in 1979. And that's the year things start to get really weird.

One night, Ritchey recalls Hansen coming back to their apartment wild-eyed, claiming that he's just met with the CIA. The spy agency told him that they can help him with his immigration issue if he helps them with a little problem they're having down in Haiti. That problem was Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier (pictured, left), a debauched dictator who was driving the country down the toilet at the expense of its starving citizens. Obviously the United States couldn't explicitly do anything about it, but a group of concerned citizens sure could.

In 1981, Lantana, Florida residents found themselves with some strange new neighbors. A ranch house on five acres was suddenly occupied by a cadre of Haitian men doing military exercises with broomsticks and wooden guns. The story they told was that they were filming a movie called Swamp Rats. And who owned the production company behind the film? Thor Hansen, that's who. Just weeks later, the ranch's owner evicted the group, who left behind a horrible mess and dozens of empty whiskey bottles.

Later that same year, Thor Hansen headed to an Italian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale with one of his girlfriends. But this was a business dinner - he met two men there and exchanged two ounces of cocaine for $53,800 and a dismantled frag grenade. He promised them six more ounces for a hundred more grenades. And then the men - who were DEA agents - cuffed him and took him into custody.

Hansen's case went to trial on May 18th, 1981. But he wasn't there for it. Just minutes before he was scheduled to appear in court, he simply walked out of the courthouse and escaped, taking a sailboat to the Bahamas and flying from there to Norway. He claims that a CIA double agent had told him that his family would be in grave danger if he went to court, so to save their lives he fled the country. He was found guilty in absence and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

thor hansenMost fugitives keep a pretty low profile when they're on the run. Thor Hansen is not most fugitives. When he finally returned to Norway, he started dressing all in black, dating Italian porn stars and releasing country music singles. He also wrote a book about his adventures to that point, called Outlaw Biker. It's a fascinatingly weird document, filled with tales of freebasing with Gary Busey and Jan Michael Vincent and rambling tales about how the CIA set him up.

The Haitian coup? It almost happened. A number of the other collaborators were caught in 1982 when the Coast Guard intercepted two boats headed for the island. They carried crews of 15 men armed to the teeth with rifles, pistols, grenades and a staggering 17,000 rounds of ammunition. Some of Hansen's collaborators, including prospective Haitian president Roland Magliore, were arrested in conjunction with the attempted attack.

In 1997, Hansen was finally nabbed in Belgium and extradited to the States to serve his sentence. He spent seven years in prison, filing multiple lawsuits against everybody responsible for his conviction - lawsuits that he claimed to have won, even though they were all thrown out of court. Bizarrely enough, his sentence only served the cocaine deal, and he wasn't charged with bail jumping before he returned to Norway and his music career.

In 2012, Hansen finally returned to the United States. He'd received a phone call from his daughter Nancy, who told him that she desperately needed $500. Knowing that she'd become involved with drugs, Hansen refused to send the money and instead flew here to find her. He was immediately captured at the airport and made to stand trial for his 1981 bail jump. Once again, he tried to expose the CIA conspiracy he alleged had set him up, and once again a judge found no proof that any of his allegations were true.

Instead of jail time, Thor Holm Hansen was once again deported to Norway. He intends to appeal the ruling, but we're doubtful it'll change anything. But what really happened at that camp in 1981? Who funded the training of that small Haitian expatriate army? The best theory we have is that Hansen may well have been working for the government, but went into business on his own with the cocaine deal and got burned doing it. The CIA, obviously, isn't talking. When you're trying to find the truth and dealing with professional liars, it can be a tricky business indeed.

 

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