Turley and Martin make a convincing case that Thomas Merton’s death in Thailand in 1968 was not an accident but murder. Less convincing but highly plausible is their theory that his death was the result of a CIA assassination.
The authors lay out in detail the multiple, contradictory stories that have been spun from the first day to the present of how and why Merton died. Perhaps most importantly, they successfully debunk the death-by-electrocution hypothesis and show when and how the its various versions were concocted. Multiple circumstances described by various persons at the time are reported in detail, which give substantial support to the case for Merton having been murdered. To say positively how Merton did die, however, is impossible today, due to an almost complete lack of reliable evidence—an admittedly suspicious circumstance. No autopsy was conducted in Thailand or the US. Thai police conducted no investigation. Key witnesses are uncooperative, missing, or dead.
Was Merton assassinated then? The book makes the unremarkable case that the CIA was certainly capable of such an act, especially in Thailand where it had a major presence due to the Vietnam War going on a short distance away. Merton certainly espoused ideas contrary to American military and foreign policies, was in contact with leading anti-war dissidents, and was being monitored by the FBI. The authors muddy the waters by referencing various conspiracy theories related to the deaths of John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Vincent Foster, and others.
The book is unable, however, to make any direct connection between Merton’s death and the CIA or other US government agencies. Remarkably, the authors were apparently unaware that such a connection had been made by theologian and author Matthew Fox. In his 2016 theological biography of Merton, A Way to God, Fox expresses his suspicion that Merton was murdered and reports conversations he had with two former CIA agents who had been in Southeast Asia at the time. Asked pointblank whether the CIA killed Merton, one agent refused to “affirm it or deny it”, while the other agreed it was entirely possible. Then just recently, in his own review of this book (posted here and on his own website), Fox says he spoke to a third agent who came straight out and answered, “Yes.” As close to a smoking gun as we’ll probably ever get.
Writing within a few days of the fiftieth anniversary of Merton’s death, I’m at a loss to know what to make of all this. 1968 was a horrible year and this adds yet another dimension to that tragic period. Was Merton’s death an intricate plot directed from Langley? Or did he die because he naively walked into the hyper-militarized and paranoid lion’s den that was Thailand of that era? I suspect the latter, but we may never know.
In any case, Turley and Martin are to be sincerely thanked for their labors debunking the notion that Merton’s death was natural or any kind of accident. It now seems almost certain that his death was, instead, malicious and intentional, silencing him for what were perceived to be offensive and dangerous ideas and behavior. Many words have been used to describe this remarkable man. Now, as the book title says, Thomas Merton must also be known as a martyr.
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