STATE OF MIND

Say you’re a rich heiress and you think your son is trying to poison you. Or a big real estate developer with a gang of crack dealers standing between you and land value appreciation. What to do? Well, if you’re like some corporate execs and members of the international power-broker set, you call Gordon. That’s G. Gordon Liddy--TV actor, Timothy Leary’s debate opponent and, of course, convicted Watergate burglar--now founder of the 3-year-old Van Nuys-based G. Gordon Liddy Institute.

“We take on a great deal of cases that most law enforcement agencies don’t feel they can handle,” says Jim Amaresco, executive vice president of the operation. “These projects include unraveling conspiracies in boardrooms, bedrooms and foreign governments.” Recently, according to Amaresco, an L.A. computer company noticed an inexplicable drop in sales. They called in the Liddy Institute. Using a combination of high-tech eavesdropping and seat-of-the-pants detective work, the sting-for-hire operation netted a perp. The institute also operates a training facility in Florida that offers a six-day course called “The Executive Protector” in which wary businessmen, diplomats and bodyguards-to-be can learn “Submission/Pain Compliance” and “Assault Team Organization.” Despite his vast experience in the field, Liddy takes only a supervisorial role. “There’s nobody more committed to law and order than Gordon Liddy,” says Amaresco.