Ion Mihai Pacepa, Key Cold War Defector, Dies at 92 A general in the Romanian intelligence service, he later revealed the corruption and cruelty behind his country’s Communist regime. He died of Covid-19. Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, a top Romanian intelligence official, detailed the corruption and cruelty of his country’s leadership after he defected.Credit...Agerpres March 16, 2021 This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others . Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, a senior Romanian intelligence official and an adviser to his country’s president, Nicolae Ceaucescu, arrived in Bonn, West Germany, one day in June 1978 on a diplomatic mission. Mr. Ceaucescu had given him a message for the German chancellor — and orders to devise a plan to assassinate an American journalist who covered Romania.