Archives West Finding Aid

On June 1, 1981, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were murdered in their union office in broad daylight. Domingo and Viernes, both 29 years old at the time of their deaths, were Filipino American union activists who fought against racial discrimination in fish canneries and corruption within their union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 37. They were also members of the Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong (KDP) [English: Union of Democratic Filipinos], an organization of Filipino Americans and supporters who opposed the Marcos regime in the Philippines and fought for socialism in the US. In April 1981, Gene had traveled to the Philippines to meet with opposition leaders and deliver money on behalf of the KDP. In May 1981, a month before the murders, Silme and Gene had successfully passed a resolution in the ILWU that would establish a committee to investigate the state of labor rights in the Philippines.

Gene Viernes died on the spot, but Silme Domingo managed to chase his attackers out of the building and name them to a firefighter across the street. He died from his wounds the next day. The murders were committed by members of the Tulisan, a Filipino American gang that ran gambling operations in the canneries in Alaska and bribed Local 37 president Tony Baruso for favorable dispatch assignments. Gene had recently been elected dispatcher of Local 37 and had introduced a new dispatching system based solely on seniority as part of the effort to rid the union of corruption. Due to the fact that most of the Tulisan gang members would have been sent to their preferred canneries in spite of the new system, as well as the fact that Silme and Gene did not intend to stop the gambling operations in the canneries, a theory emerged early on that the murders had been organized by a more powerful force with the intention of appearing as a dispute over dispatch.

Following Silme’s death, family and friends established the Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes (CJDV). Withey, a progressive lawyer and friend of Silme and Gene, led the legal team. After an eight-year investigation and lawsuit, the CJDV proved that the murders had been carried out on behalf of the Marcos regime with US government knowledge and had been arranged by Baruso. The lawsuit also exposed the large surveillance network of both the Marcos dictatorship and US intelligence agencies on anti-Marcos groups and left-wing organizers in the US.

Trials against members of the Tulisan gang began in the months following the murders. Jimmy Ramil and Ben Guloy, the two assailants who shot Silme and Gene, were tried in August and September 1981 and sentenced to life in prison. At the end of the trial, LeVane Forsythe appeared as a surprise witness and gave a perjured testimony attempting to discredit earlier witnesses and throw off the trial. Forsythe was discovered to be an FBI agent who had previously given a perjured testimony in the infamous Howard Hughes “Mormon Will” lawsuit, which the prosecution ultimately used to discredit him. After interviewing him following the trial, Withey became convinced that he was at the scene of the murders, implying that the FBI had prior knowledge, but his reasons for being there were unclear.

In April 1982, Tulisan leader Tony Dictado was tried for his involvement in the murders and also sentenced to life in prison. Despite compelling evidence of Baruso’s involvement, the King County prosecutor’s office refused to pursue the case any further. In 1983, Teodorico Dominguez (nicknamed Boy Pilay after his limp), another Tulisan member who Silme had implicated on his deathbed, was arrested and interrogated by Seattle Police. In spite of the CJDV’s urging to offer Pilay a plea bargain to testify against Baruso, he was released three days later due to a “lack of evidence.” He was murdered two months later.

With Dictado convicted, the case was considered closed by local law authorities, but the CJDV continued to search informally for links between the murders and the Marcos regime. In 1982, an internal Defense Intelligence Agency circular naming the top five Philippine intelligence heads operating in the US was leaked to the press. This proved the CJDV’s theory that the Marcos regime had a network of spies in the US that were likely behind the murders. The theory was further solidified by documents obtained by the CJDV through Freedom of Information Act requests, proving that US intelligence agencies regularly shared information with the Philippines despite knowing that the Marcos regime sent agents to operate against its US-based opponents. What remained unknown, however, was specific information about how the spy network operated and how the murders were paid for.

In 1982, the estates of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes filed a civil lawsuit against Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the Republic of the Philippines, and various US intelligence agencies and officials for their alleged roles in the murders. Within days, the lawsuit against the Marcoses was dismissed on the grounds of head of state immunity, and the US government dismissed itself claiming national security immunity. The Philippines’ motion to dismiss was denied, but a stay was imposed on all proceedings. By the time the Ninth Circuit ruled that discovery could begin, the political situation in the Philippines had changed. Opposition to Marcos had increased globally following the assassination of Senator Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, Jr. in 1983. The Philippine government’s attempts to assert state immunities after the overthrow of Marcos were denied, and they ended up settling the case for a confidential amount.

After the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, the CJDV made a motion to reinstate the Marcoses as defendants, which was granted on the grounds that they were no longer protected by head of state immunity. Marcos was served with a subpoena upon his arrival in exile in Hawaii. One document obtained was an itemized list of expenditures from an intelligence slush fund used for “special security projects” under the control of Dr. Leonilo Malabed using a false company out of San Francisco, the Mabuhay Corporation. Upon this discovery, a motion was granted to add Malabed as a defendant, alleging that he had operated the slush fund used to pay for the murders.

Through the subpoenaed documents, the CJDV was able to prove that Malabed had used the slush fund to pay Baruso for the murders. Baruso’s bank and travel records showed that he had attended a pro-Marcos rally in San Jose and stayed in a hotel close to the Philippine consulate in San Francisco on May 17, 1981, two weeks before the murders. The rally had been organized by Malabed, and a witness later confirmed that Baruso and Malabed knew each other. The Mabuhay Corporation statement of expenses showed a $15,000 expenditure for a “special security project” on May 17. Of the $15,000, approximately $10,000 was traced to Baruso’s bank account, and the remaining $5,000 to the hit men. In the six months following the murders, Baruso’s bank account records showed cash deposits that amounted to over $9,800, in addition to his usual income. This evidence was transformative in solidifying the case.

Subpoenaed Philippine intelligence documents obtained after the overthrow of Marcos showed that leaders of the Kilusang Mayo Uno and New People’s Army were heavily surveilled, and Gene Viernes had been surveilled as well when he met with their leaders in 1981. The documents also showed that the Marcos regime had extensive intelligence reports on members of the US-based anti-Marcos movement, including Gene and Silme. Though there was no “smoking gun” with a direct order to murder discovered, the combination of these documents, the financial records showing payments to Baruso from the Mabuhay Corporation, and supporting witness testimonies proved to the jury that the murders were paid for and carried out on behalf of the Marcos regime.

The trial began in November 1989, a few months after Marcos’ death. In December 1989, the federal jury awarded $15.1 million from the Marcos estate to the Domingo and Viernes families. Malabed was subsequently ordered by a judge to pay $8.3 million in damages. Malabed and Imelda Marcos appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but a settlement was reached before the court could decide the case. Tony Baruso was tried and found guilty for his role in the murders in 1991, and he spent the rest of his life in prison.

Following Baruso’s conviction, the only remaining party not brought to justice was the United States government. In particular, the reasons for LeVane Forsythe’s presence at the murder scene and his perjured testimony remained a mystery. The case was reopened in 2015, and Michael Withey and filmmaker Sharon Maeda began filing FOIA requests for materials related to Forsythe and the FBI’s role in the murders. After the FBI refused to release many of its materials, Withey and Maeda filed a FOIA lawsuit in 2018. Withey published a book about the murders and pursuit for justice titled Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in 2018.

Timeline of the case:

April 1981: Gene Viernes travels to the Philippines to meet with leaders of the Kilusang Mayo Uno and New People’s Army and deliver $2900 cash (later distorted to $290,000 by US intelligence agencies) from KDP fundraising.

May 1981: Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes successfully introduce a resolution at the ILWU convention to create a committee to investigate the situation of the labor movement in the Philippines.

June 1, 1981: Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes are murdered at the Local 37 headquarters. The Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes is formed.

August-September 1981: Trial of assailants Jimmy Ramil and Ben Guloy, resulting in life imprisonment.

September 1981: The CJDV legal team begins filing FOIA requests, resulting in the release of thousands of pages of documents showing the surveillance of the KDP and anti-Marcos activists and the sharing of intelligence with the Philippine government.

April 1982: Trial of Tulisan gang leader Tony Dictado, resulting in life imprisonment.

1982: Families of Domingo and Viernes file a civil lawsuit against Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the Republic of the Philippines, and the US government, alleging a conspiracy to violate civil rights. The US government is quickly dismissed from the case by a judge, and Marcos claims head of state immunity.

January 1983: Murder of Tulisan gang member Teodorico Dominguez (Boy Pilay), believed to be part of a cover-up.

August 1983: Murder of Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. at the Manila airport.

September 1986: People Power Revolution in Philippines results in the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship and election of Corazon Aquino as president of the Philippines. The Marcos family flees to Hawaii.

1986: Marcos is readded as a defendant in the CJDV’s civil lawsuit following his removal from power. Documents from the Marcos family, Tony Baruso, and Dr. Leonilo Malabed are obtained via subpoena, showing that Baruso traveled to San Francisco to meet with Malabed after the 1981 ILWU convention and the Mabuhay Corporation was used to pay Baruso for the murders.

1987: Cindy Domingo and Michael Withey travel to the Philippines to obtain documents showing the extensive repression against the Philippine labor movement, surveillance of Gene Viernes during his trip, and monitoring of anti-Marcos activists in the United States.

September 28, 1989: Death of Ferdinand Marcos.

November-December 1989: Trial of Domingo v. Marcos, resulting in $10 million award from federal jury.

1991: Families reach a settlement agreement with Marcos and Malabed families out of court.

1991: Trial of former Local 37 president Tony Baruso, resulting in life imprisonment.

2015: Michael Withey and Sharon Maeda file FOIA requests for information about LeVane Forsythe and the role of the FBI in the murders.

2018: Withey and Maeda file a FOIA lawsuit against the FBI for withholding documents. Withey publishes a book, Summary Execution, about the case.

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.