Richard Welch

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Richard Skeffington Welch (1929December 23, 1975), a Harvard-educated classicist, was a CIA Station Chief murdered by the radical leftist organization Revolutionary Organization 17 November. He had been stationed in Athens only a few months before he was murdered outside his home. He was outed by a magazine called CounterSpy edited by Timothy Butz.

Welch's murder lead to the passage of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, making it illegal to reveal the name of an agent who has a covert relationship with an American intelligence organization.

In 2003, fifteen defendants were convicted of Welch's murder.

By Presidential Order of U.S. President Gerald Ford, Welch was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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