Chapter 5
The Assassination of John Kennedy
The assassination of President Kennedy can be considered one of a series of acts by the Power Control Group to regain the control they had lost when Nixon was defeated in 1960 and Kennedy threatened their existence. The evidence pointing toward intelligence involvement and the use of a variety of intelligence techniques in the assassination is substantial. Until and unless an investigation is conducted by a group with power and money equivalent to that of the Power Control Group, with the power to issue subpoenas and to protect witnesses, it will be very difficult to draw a completely accurate picture of the conspiracy to assassinate JFK.
As a substitute, this chapter is a "probable reconstruction" -- a scenario -- about who killed John F. Kennedy. Unlike the Warren Commission Report (another scenario), this report does not contain any physically impossible events, such as those connected with Commission Exhibit 399, the so-called "magic bullet."
This scenario is based on (1) evidence gathered between 1968 and 1975 by the Committee to Investigate Assassinations, Washington, D.C. and (2) evidence gathered between 1962 and 1975 by the author.
The purpose of this scenario is as a starting point for study and verification by researchers, by Congressional Committees, and by their members and staffs. This should be considered as a beginning hypothesis and scenario in contrast to the Warren and Rockefeller Commission scenarios.
The best evidence available indicates the following events occurred in the summer and fall of 1963 and culminated in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The basic evidence has been summarized in various articles published in Computers and People (formerly Computers and Automation) since May 1970.[1] This can be considered as a guideline scenario which adheres to and explains all of the known factual evidence.
How It Began
The conspiracy to assassinate John Kennedy began in a series of discussions held in New Orleans in the summer of 1963. The men in the discussions were extremely angry that Kennedy had stopped plans and preparations for another invasion of Cuba (scheduled for the latter part of 1963.) One of the instigators was David Ferrie, a CIA contract agent who had been training pilots in Guatemala for the invasion. Meetings held in Ferrie's apartment in New Orleans were attended by Clay Shaw, William Seymour and several Cubans. Plans for assassinating President Kennedy developed out of those early meetings. Others whose support was sought by the group included Guy Banister, Major L. M. Bloomfield, Loran Hall, Lawrence Howard, Sergio Arcacha Smith and Carlos Prio Socarras.
Oswald's Role
During this period in the summer of 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald was working for Guy Banister on some anti-Castro projects and used the Communist cover of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Oswald attended some of the meetings where JFK's assassination was discussed.
Oswald either approached the FBI or they approached him in the later summer of 1963, and he began to tell the FBI about the plans of the group to assassinate JFK. Oswald had been a secret informant for the FBI since mid-1962.
Mexico City
In September, the group moved the scene of their planning to Mexico City. There they solicited the assistance of Guy Gabaldin, a CIA agent. Meetings were held in the apartment of Gabaldin, attended by Shaw, Ferrie, Seymour, Gabaldin and Oswald on at least three occasions. Others were brought into the conspiracy at this point. These included John Howard Bowen (alias Albert Osborne), Ronald Augustinovich, Mary Hope, Emilio Santana, Harry Dean, Richard Case Nagell, and "Frenchy" (an adventurer who had been working with Seymour, Santana, Ferrie, Howard and others on the Cuban invasion projects in the Florida Keys). Fred Lee Crisman, Jim Hicks and Jim Braden (alias Eugene Hale Brading) were also recruited at this point.
Oswald, the Patsy
Oswald continued to inform on the group to the FBI in Dallas. In mid- to late September the assassination group decided to make Oswald the patsy in the murder. They had discussed the need for a patsy in the earliest meetings in New Orleans. Billy Seymour, who resembled Oswald, was selected to use Oswald's name and to plant evidence in New Orleans, Dallas and Mexico, which could later be used to frame him. In addition, another man under CIA surveillance in Mexico City also used Oswald's name in a probable attempt to make it appear that Oswald was headed for Cuba. His name may have been Johnny Mitchell Deveraux. His picture appears in the Warren Commission Volumes as CE 237.
Financial Support
The team needed financial support for the assassination. They received it from Carlos Prio Socarras in Miami, who brought more than 50 million dollars out of Cuba. They also received money from Banister, and from three Texas millionaires who hated Kennedy: Sid Richardson, Clint Murchison, and Jean DeMenil (of the Schlumberger Co.). The Murchison-Richardson contribution also included soliciting the assistance of high-level men in the Dallas police force. They were powerful members of the Dallas Citizens Council that controlled the city at that time.
Plans for Three Cities
The group in Mexico City planned to assassinate JFK in Miami, Chicago or Dallas, using different gunmen in each case. The Miami plan failed because the Secret Service found out about it in advance and kept JFK out of the open. The Chicago plan backfired when JFK cancelled his plans to attend the Army-Navy game at Soldiers Field in early November. The group set up two assassination teams for Dallas. One was in Dealey Plaza; the second was near the International Trade Mart where JFK's luncheon speech was to be delivered.
CIA Support
The best evidence of CIA (Deputy-Director of Plans) involvement is the fact that the majority of the known participants were contract agents or direct agents of the CIA. In Mexico City, the meetings were held in the apartment of Guy Gabaldin, a CIA (DDP) agent, working for the Mexico City station chief. Others attending the meetings who were CIA (DDP) contract or direct agents included Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, Albert Osborne, Harry Dean, Richard Case Nagell, Ronald Augustinovich, William Seymour, Emilio Santana and Fred Lee Crisman. It is likely (but not yet provable by direct evidence) that the group sought and obtained from the acting or permanent CIA station chief in Mexico, assistance or approval to go ahead with assassination plans. Tad Szulc claims that a CIA source can prove that E. Howard Hunt was acting station chief in Mexico City at the time of the Gabaldin apartment meetings (August and September 1963). Hunt has denied under oath before the Rockefeller Commission that he was in Mexico.
In 1967 Richard Helms told a group of CIA officials, including Victor Marchetti, that both Clay Shaw and David Ferrie were CIA (DDP) contract agents and that Shaw had to be given CIA protection and assistance in his New Orleans trial. This is a strong indication that Hunt and Helms gave "turn of the head" approval to the Shaw-Ferrie assassination plan as a minimum form of support.
Dallas
The assassination group, having failed in Miami and Chicago, moved an operational team into Dallas during the second week in November of 1963. Shaw, Ferrie, Gabaldin and other high-level plotters travelled in other directions, establishing alibis as planned. On November 22, Gabaldin was in Mexico City, Shaw was in San Francisco, and Ferrie was in New Orleans. The team moving into Dallas included Albert Osborne, William Seymour, Emilio Santana, Frenchy, Fred Crisman, Jim Hicks, Jim Braden, and a new recruit from Los Angeles, Jack Lawrence. There was also a back-up rifle team of Cubans to be used at a location near the International Trade Mart in the event something went wrong at Dealey Plaza.
Where the Teams Stayed
The teams stayed at two locations in Dallas for two weeks. One was a rooming house run by a woman named Tammie True. During this period final preparations for the assassination in Dealey Plaza were made. These included the collecting of and planting of evidence used to frame Oswald, the recruiting of the Dallas police participants, and the plans for the escape of the team members by car and by train. The riflemen selected were William Seymour in the Depository Building, Jack Lawrence and Frenchy on the grassy knoll, and Emilio Santana in the Dal Tex building. Jim Hicks was set up as radio coordinator and a man with each of the riflemen had a two-way radio. They were Jim Braden, Dal Tex; Fred Crisman, knoll; unidentified American (tall tramp), knoll; and a man in the TSBD Building. Osborne was in overall charge of the Dallas teams, but he did not go to Dealey Plaza. A fifth gunman, known to researchers as the umbrella man, was stationed on the street with an umbrella weapon furnished by the CIA. He was accompanied by another Cuban acting as a radio man.
Framing Oswald
The people involved in framing Oswald included Seymour (who used his identity), someone who posed for two pictures holding a rifle, a photographer who took the pictures and someone who superimposed Oswald's head on the two negatives. Also, someone who took Oswald's rifle from his garage and his pistol from his room, taking several bullets and shells with the pistol, fired three shells and one bullet through the rifle, and planted the rifle and rifle shells on the sixth floor of the TSBD and a rifle bullet at Parkland Hospital. The pistol shells were given to William Seymour for planting later on. The photographers also planted photos of General Walker's house and driveway to implicate Oswald in the Walker shooting.
Dallas Policemen Involved
The policemen involved were J. D. Tippit, who was to drive two of the assassins, Seymour and his radio man, away in his police car; Bill Alexander; Jerry Hill; Sergeant McDonald; Lieutenant Montgomery; Lieutenant Johnson; and Lieutenant Batchelor, who escorted Jack Ruby into the jail to murder Oswald.
McDonald was assigned to kill Oswald upon his arrest in the Texas Theatre. Jerry Hill was involved in that event as well as in the planting of evidence against Oswald in the TSBD Building. Montgomery and Johnson were involved in planting the paper bag as evidence against Oswald. Alexander and Batchelor were primarily responsible for making sure that Jack Ruby assassinated Oswald and that he didn't talk about it afterward. Alexander was present on every occasion when Ruby was questioned or interviewed in the jail, in spite of Ruby's efforts to have him removed.
Other Persons Involved in Framing Oswald
Also involved in framing Oswald were Marina Oswald; her lawyer, James Martin; and someone in the Dallas police force. She was talked into three points of false testimony: she said she took the two fake photos of Oswald with a camera she claimed was his. She fabricated, or was handed, the false story about Oswald's attempt to shoot General Walker and taking two pictures of Walker's house with the same camera. (Oswald did neither.) She told a false story about a falling out she and Oswald supposedly had and exaggerated his mean treatment of their children. There are good indications that these moves were made by the CIA operatives in the group who threatened to send Marina back to Russia. (Marina's uncle was a high-level officer in the KGB.)
Dealey Plaza
On the day of the assassination four men with rifles, accompanied by their radio men and several other team members, moved into Dealey Plaza. Seymour and a radio man entered the TSBD Building through the freight entrance and worked their way to the roof. Santana and Braden went into the Dal Tex building through the freight entrance on Houston St. and up a back staircase to the second floor. Lawrence, Frenchy, Crisman and the tall tramp took up two positions on the grassy knoll. Lawrence was inside the westernmost cupola after parking his car in the parking lot behind the knoll. Frenchy, Crisman and the tall tramp were near the fence. Jim Hicks was in the Adolphus Hotel a few blocks away, testing the two-way radio communication with the four radio men, until he proceeded to the Plaza and mingled with a large crowd (near the corner of Houston and Elm Streets). The umbrella man stood near the Stemmons Freeway sign on Elm Street accompanied by his radio man.
The other team members stationed themselves in the crowd (along Elm Street). After the shots were fired, they circulated through the crowd in front of the TSBD on Elm Street, on the grassy knoll, and behind the TSBD Building, identifying themselves as Secret Service agents and asking witnesses and officials questions to find out whether the assassins had been detected. There are clear photos of one of these men. One other man was at the corner of the wall on the grassy knoll.
The Shots
Upon a visual and oral signal from the man at the wall and upon a radio command from Hicks, the team fired its first round of shots. Crisman received the command from Hicks and caused Frenchy to fire a shot from a position behind the fence on the knoll, about twenty feet west of the corner of the fence. This shot missed. The umbrella man fired a shot using his small-bore umbrella gun. When this shot struck JFK in the throat, the dart paralyzed JFK and later presented by Commander Humes to the FBI.[2] The shot was fired at Zapruder frame 189: JFK was behind a large oak tree, hidden from the sixth floor window of the TSBD Building. On command from Braden, Emilio Santana fired his first shot two seconds later from the second floor window of the Dal Tex building at Z 225 after JFK came out from behind the sign in Zapruder's film. The shot struck JFK in the back about 5 3/4" down from the collar line, penetrated to a depth of about two inches and stopped. The bullet fell out of JFK's back somewhere in or at the Parkland Hospital, or perhaps travelled down inside the body of the President, and was never recovered.
William Seymour fired his shot from the west end of the TSBD Building upon command from his radio man between Z 230 and Z 237, after Santana's shot. He used a Mauser rifle with no telescopic sight. While he was aiming at JFK, he fired high and to the right, hitting John Connally in the back. The bullet travelled through Connally's chest and then entered his left thigh. The bullet fell out of his thigh in or near Parkland Hospital and was never recovered. Governor Connally's wrist was not hit at that time.
Jack Lawrence did not fire a shot in the first round because from his cupola position he did not have a clear shot.
Hicks gave a second radio command for another round of shots as JFK passed the Stemmons Freeway sign.
Emilio Santana fired his second shot between Z 265 and Z 275. The bullet narrowly missed JFK, passed over the top of his head and over the top of the limousine's windshield. It travelled on to strike the south curb of Main Street, breaking off a piece of concrete which flew up and hit James Tague. The bullet either disintegrated or flew into the area beyond the overpass. It was not found.
William Seymour may have fired a second shot which may have struck JFK in the upper right part of his head at Z 312. That bullet disintegrated.
Upon command from his radio man, Jack Lawrence fired his first shot from a pedestal on the west side of the south entrance to the western cupola on the grassy knoll. The shot may have hit Connally's wrist.
Frenchy fired the fatal shot through the trees from his position behind the fence.
The Lawrence shot or possibly the second Seymour shot produced a bullet fragment that passed through Connally's right wrist at Z 313. At that time his wrist was elevated and nearly directly in front of JFK's head, in such a position that Connally's right palm was facing JFK as the governor fell into his wife's arms. The fragment entered the front of his wrist and exited from the back.
Oswald's Actions
Lee Harvey Oswald started November 22, 1963 with the knowledge that there might be an attempt on JFK's life during the day. He had reported this possibility to the FBI in his informer's role five days earlier; he undoubtedly thought the FBI and Secret Service would be protecting the President. His communications with the assassination team had prepared him to meet with them in the Texas Theatre if anything happened that day. There is also a possibility he received a telephone call immediately after the shots, telling him to go to the theatre.
He had gone to his and Marina's rooms in Irving to pick up curtain rods for his bare windows in his Oak Cliff room. He carried the curtain rods in a paper bag on his way to work that morning with Wesley Frazier. He worked on the sixth floor of the TSBD as well as on the other floors that morning. He helped a crew of men lay a new floor on the sixth floor, move a large number of book cartons and school supplies over to the eastern side of the floor, including some cartons near the southeastern window that faced Elm Street.
Oswald went to the first floor of the building at approximately 12:15 p.m. and returned to the second floor lunchroom just before 12:30. He was drinking a coke there at 12:31 when Officer Baker and Mr. Truly, the building manager, encountered him while rushing up the stairs from the first floor. At the sight of Baker's gun drawn and seeing the commotion outside, he no doubt realized what had happened.[3] He immediately left the building via the freight platform entrance on the northeast side and travelled to his rooming house via bus and taxi. He picked up his pistol there and went directly to the Texas Theater where he met two of the assassination team and was sitting with them in the theatre when the police arrived. One of these men may have been William Seymour.
The Dallas police members of the team planned to shoot Oswald in the theatre while arresting him. When he was arrested he did not realize at first that he had been framed. When this began to become clear to him on Saturday, November 23, he remained confident that the FBI would get him out of the situation. After all, he worked for them!
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby, in addition to his Mafia involvements and other criminal activities, was also running guns to Cuba and carrying payoff money to other anti-Castro groups on behalf of various CIA-backed projects. His involvement in the assassination of JFK appears to have been minor, even though he knew about it in advance. In his night club Ruby met on several occasions with Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, and William Seymour.
The group decided to assassinate Oswald in jail after the police failed to kill him in the Texas Theatre. Alexander made arrangements to have Batchelor escort Ruby into the jail when it was known Oswald was being moved. They arranged an audible signal (an auto horn) to let Batchelor and Ruby know when Oswald was coming down an elevator into the garage. They came down an elevator opposite the one carrying Oswald.
Clay Shaw gave Ruby his instructions to shoot Oswald through Breck Wall. Shaw telephoned Wall from San Francisco and Wall called Ruby. He was told it was an official CIA-sponsored act, in the best interests of the United States, and that he would be out of jail in a few days after his capture.
Planted Evidence
The planting of the evidence against Oswald first began with William Seymour, who used Oswald's identity during September and October, 1963. Next, the faked photographs of Oswald were created. Two of the team members used a camera of their own to take the two pictures of General Walker's house and the two shots of one of the men supposedly in Oswald's back yard. They planted the pictures in Oswald's garage. Next, they stole Oswald's rifle from the garage prior to November 22, fired several shots from it, and preserved three shells, one bullet, and several bullet fragments.
They planted the rifle, the three shells, the bullet (399) and the bullet fragments in the TSBD, the hospital and the JFK limousine on November 22. They also took Oswald's pistol at some time prior to November 22, fired several shots from it and saved the shells. William Seymour, after shooting policeman Tippit, ran away in such a manner as to attract attention, throwing the shells from Oswald's gun into the air as he ran so that witnesses would see them. (The shells matched Oswald's pistol. None of the bullets matched.)
All of the work with Oswald's rifle, pistol, and the fake photos was probably done at the same time. The rifle, pistol and Communist newspapers had to be available together for the backyard photos. The faking of the photographs, the firing of rifle and pistol, the retrieval of the shells from rifle and pistol and of bullet 399 and the bullet fragments from the rifle all required enough time that the event occurred well in advance of the assassination.
Escape Plans
As mentioned before, plans were made for the team to escape by car, train, and airplane. Evidence shows:
A white car was parked straddling a log barrier behind the western cupola on the grassy knoll. It left that spot one minute after the shots were fired and drove eastward on the Elm Street extension in front of the TSBD.
A white station wagon driving west on Elm Street stopped at the foot of the grassy knoll at 12:40 p.m., ten minutes after the shots were fired. It picked up a man who looked like Oswald and drove under the triple overpass.
A railroad train carrying three "tramps" began to leave the freight train area west and north of the TSBD at around one o'clock, thirty minutes after the shots. The train was under the tower control of Lee Bowers and was stopped by him. The tramps were arrested.
A police car stopped in front of Oswald's rooming house and honked twice around 1:10 p.m.
Policeman Tippit's patrol car was far out of position in the Oak Cliff area near Ruby and Oswald's rooming houses. Tippit was shot by two men, one of whom was Billy Seymour.
A small airplane was sitting at the Redbird Airport, a location in the same direction as Oak Cliff, a little further out from Dealey Plaza. Its engines were running. It was ready for takeoff at 1 p.m.
David Ferrie went to Houston, Texas on the afternoon of November 22, driving at high speed through bad thunderstorms to get there. He was positioned at a pay telephone at an ice skating rink near the Houston airport, until receiving a phone call there. After that he returned to New Orleans.
Escape Routes
These escape plans were modified after the assassination. It became unnecessary for any of the Dealey Plaza participants to escape by airplane. The framing of Oswald and the failure of the Secret Service or FBI to detect any of the escaping gunmen or their assistants permitted these changes. One of the men in the Dealey Plaza -- probably pretending to be a Secret Service agent -- reported an "all clear" situation to Shaw in San Francisco. Shaw notified Ferrie that they didn't need an airplane to escape with while Ferrie was waiting in Houston. Ferrie changed his plans and drove back to New Orleans.
The gunmen who did escape followed these routes: Jack Lawrence got into his car parked behind the cupola and either drove or was driven back to his cover job location at the automobile agency. He left almost immediately afterward and travelled to North Carolina. Frenchy ran back to the freight car area and climbed into one of the box cars sitting on a siding northwest of the TSBD. He was arrested at 1 p.m. by Officers Harkness, Bass and Wise, but was released by Sheriff Elkins later in the afternoon. Santana walked out the back entrance of the Dal Tex building and may have joined Seymour in a white station wagon on Elm Street at 12:40 p.m. Seymour left the roof of the TSBD via a back stairway, exited from the freight entrance in the rear of the building, and walked on Houston Street past the Elm Street extension. He walked down the grassy knoll to Elm Street where he was picked up at 12:40 p.m. by the white station wagon.
The other Dealey Plaza participants, Crisman, a tall tramp, Braden and Hicks escaped by various means. Braden was arrested and released. Hicks drove home. Crisman and the tall tramp followed Frenchy's route into the box cars.
Tippit Shooting
David Belin of the Warren and Rockefeller Commission is fond of saying, "Lee Harvey Oswald killed policeman Tippit. Since the case against Oswald for the Tippit slaying is so strong, it follows that Oswald also shot the President." The case against Oswald in the Tippit murder is as weak as the case against him in the JFK assassination. The most important evidence showing that Seymour and another one of the assassination team shot Tippit is the fact that six witnesses, ignored by the Warren Commission, saw two men shoot Tippit. One of them resembled Oswald. They ran away from the scene in opposite directions. Seymour ran toward the Texas Theater, throwing the planted shells up in the air so that witnesses would see and recover them. (This act would convince most people that Oswald did not shoot Tippit.) The other assassin ran in the opposite direction. There is some indication that Seymour entered the theater in a manner to draw attention and then left before the Oswald arrest. While the shells recovered were found to match Oswald's pistol, none of the bullets recovered from Tippit's body matched.
Comments and Congressional Actions Needed
The above scenario comes much closer to explaining what happened to John Kennedy than either the Warren Commission Report or the Rockefeller Commission report. It matches the known evidence from the two prime sources, the Warren Commission files in the National Archives, and the evidence produced by the Garrison investigation (most of which was turned over the the Committee to Investigate Assassinations, Washington, D.C.).
However, without subpoena power, and with extremely limited resources, no group of citizens such as the Committee or Mark Lane's Citizens Commission can determine the ultimate truth about the assassination.
Only a properly constituted Congressional committee or group with resources and subpoena power, and with the power and courage to combat the Power Control Group involved in the assassination and its cover-up, whoever they may be, can reach the truth.
This chapter has been prepared as a guideline for such a committee, rather than as the ultimate solution.
It should be utilized in conjunction with two other documents already submitted to the four Congressional groups interested in the case. The groups are:
The Senate;
The House Special Committee on Intelligence;
Thomas Downing, Representative from Virginia, who introduced House Resolution 498 to reopen the JFK assassination investigation;
Henry Gonzalez, Representative from Texas, who introduced House Resolution 204 to reopen the assassination inquiries on John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and George Wallace.
The Two Documents
"Recommendations for the Senate and House Committee's Investigations of Illegal and Subversive Domestic Activities of the CIA and FBI", memorandum by Richard E. Sprague (submitted to them).
"The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: the Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Plans and the Cover-Up", by Richard E. Sprague, in People and the Pursuit of Truth, May, 1975.
The Assassination of John Kennedy
The assassination of President Kennedy can be considered one of a series of acts by the Power Control Group to regain the control they had lost when Nixon was defeated in 1960 and Kennedy threatened their existence. The evidence pointing toward intelligence involvement and the use of a variety of intelligence techniques in the assassination is substantial. Until and unless an investigation is conducted by a group with power and money equivalent to that of the Power Control Group, with the power to issue subpoenas and to protect witnesses, it will be very difficult to draw a completely accurate picture of the conspiracy to assassinate JFK.
As a substitute, this chapter is a "probable reconstruction" -- a scenario -- about who killed John F. Kennedy. Unlike the Warren Commission Report (another scenario), this report does not contain any physically impossible events, such as those connected with Commission Exhibit 399, the so-called "magic bullet."
This scenario is based on (1) evidence gathered between 1968 and 1975 by the Committee to Investigate Assassinations, Washington, D.C. and (2) evidence gathered between 1962 and 1975 by the author.
The purpose of this scenario is as a starting point for study and verification by researchers, by Congressional Committees, and by their members and staffs. This should be considered as a beginning hypothesis and scenario in contrast to the Warren and Rockefeller Commission scenarios.
The best evidence available indicates the following events occurred in the summer and fall of 1963 and culminated in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The basic evidence has been summarized in various articles published in Computers and People (formerly Computers and Automation) since May 1970.[1] This can be considered as a guideline scenario which adheres to and explains all of the known factual evidence.
How It Began
The conspiracy to assassinate John Kennedy began in a series of discussions held in New Orleans in the summer of 1963. The men in the discussions were extremely angry that Kennedy had stopped plans and preparations for another invasion of Cuba (scheduled for the latter part of 1963.) One of the instigators was David Ferrie, a CIA contract agent who had been training pilots in Guatemala for the invasion. Meetings held in Ferrie's apartment in New Orleans were attended by Clay Shaw, William Seymour and several Cubans. Plans for assassinating President Kennedy developed out of those early meetings. Others whose support was sought by the group included Guy Banister, Major L. M. Bloomfield, Loran Hall, Lawrence Howard, Sergio Arcacha Smith and Carlos Prio Socarras.
Oswald's Role
During this period in the summer of 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald was working for Guy Banister on some anti-Castro projects and used the Communist cover of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Oswald attended some of the meetings where JFK's assassination was discussed.
Oswald either approached the FBI or they approached him in the later summer of 1963, and he began to tell the FBI about the plans of the group to assassinate JFK. Oswald had been a secret informant for the FBI since mid-1962.
Mexico City
In September, the group moved the scene of their planning to Mexico City. There they solicited the assistance of Guy Gabaldin, a CIA agent. Meetings were held in the apartment of Gabaldin, attended by Shaw, Ferrie, Seymour, Gabaldin and Oswald on at least three occasions. Others were brought into the conspiracy at this point. These included John Howard Bowen (alias Albert Osborne), Ronald Augustinovich, Mary Hope, Emilio Santana, Harry Dean, Richard Case Nagell, and "Frenchy" (an adventurer who had been working with Seymour, Santana, Ferrie, Howard and others on the Cuban invasion projects in the Florida Keys). Fred Lee Crisman, Jim Hicks and Jim Braden (alias Eugene Hale Brading) were also recruited at this point.
Oswald, the Patsy
Oswald continued to inform on the group to the FBI in Dallas. In mid- to late September the assassination group decided to make Oswald the patsy in the murder. They had discussed the need for a patsy in the earliest meetings in New Orleans. Billy Seymour, who resembled Oswald, was selected to use Oswald's name and to plant evidence in New Orleans, Dallas and Mexico, which could later be used to frame him. In addition, another man under CIA surveillance in Mexico City also used Oswald's name in a probable attempt to make it appear that Oswald was headed for Cuba. His name may have been Johnny Mitchell Deveraux. His picture appears in the Warren Commission Volumes as CE 237.
Financial Support
The team needed financial support for the assassination. They received it from Carlos Prio Socarras in Miami, who brought more than 50 million dollars out of Cuba. They also received money from Banister, and from three Texas millionaires who hated Kennedy: Sid Richardson, Clint Murchison, and Jean DeMenil (of the Schlumberger Co.). The Murchison-Richardson contribution also included soliciting the assistance of high-level men in the Dallas police force. They were powerful members of the Dallas Citizens Council that controlled the city at that time.
Plans for Three Cities
The group in Mexico City planned to assassinate JFK in Miami, Chicago or Dallas, using different gunmen in each case. The Miami plan failed because the Secret Service found out about it in advance and kept JFK out of the open. The Chicago plan backfired when JFK cancelled his plans to attend the Army-Navy game at Soldiers Field in early November. The group set up two assassination teams for Dallas. One was in Dealey Plaza; the second was near the International Trade Mart where JFK's luncheon speech was to be delivered.
CIA Support
The best evidence of CIA (Deputy-Director of Plans) involvement is the fact that the majority of the known participants were contract agents or direct agents of the CIA. In Mexico City, the meetings were held in the apartment of Guy Gabaldin, a CIA (DDP) agent, working for the Mexico City station chief. Others attending the meetings who were CIA (DDP) contract or direct agents included Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, Albert Osborne, Harry Dean, Richard Case Nagell, Ronald Augustinovich, William Seymour, Emilio Santana and Fred Lee Crisman. It is likely (but not yet provable by direct evidence) that the group sought and obtained from the acting or permanent CIA station chief in Mexico, assistance or approval to go ahead with assassination plans. Tad Szulc claims that a CIA source can prove that E. Howard Hunt was acting station chief in Mexico City at the time of the Gabaldin apartment meetings (August and September 1963). Hunt has denied under oath before the Rockefeller Commission that he was in Mexico.
In 1967 Richard Helms told a group of CIA officials, including Victor Marchetti, that both Clay Shaw and David Ferrie were CIA (DDP) contract agents and that Shaw had to be given CIA protection and assistance in his New Orleans trial. This is a strong indication that Hunt and Helms gave "turn of the head" approval to the Shaw-Ferrie assassination plan as a minimum form of support.
Dallas
The assassination group, having failed in Miami and Chicago, moved an operational team into Dallas during the second week in November of 1963. Shaw, Ferrie, Gabaldin and other high-level plotters travelled in other directions, establishing alibis as planned. On November 22, Gabaldin was in Mexico City, Shaw was in San Francisco, and Ferrie was in New Orleans. The team moving into Dallas included Albert Osborne, William Seymour, Emilio Santana, Frenchy, Fred Crisman, Jim Hicks, Jim Braden, and a new recruit from Los Angeles, Jack Lawrence. There was also a back-up rifle team of Cubans to be used at a location near the International Trade Mart in the event something went wrong at Dealey Plaza.
Where the Teams Stayed
The teams stayed at two locations in Dallas for two weeks. One was a rooming house run by a woman named Tammie True. During this period final preparations for the assassination in Dealey Plaza were made. These included the collecting of and planting of evidence used to frame Oswald, the recruiting of the Dallas police participants, and the plans for the escape of the team members by car and by train. The riflemen selected were William Seymour in the Depository Building, Jack Lawrence and Frenchy on the grassy knoll, and Emilio Santana in the Dal Tex building. Jim Hicks was set up as radio coordinator and a man with each of the riflemen had a two-way radio. They were Jim Braden, Dal Tex; Fred Crisman, knoll; unidentified American (tall tramp), knoll; and a man in the TSBD Building. Osborne was in overall charge of the Dallas teams, but he did not go to Dealey Plaza. A fifth gunman, known to researchers as the umbrella man, was stationed on the street with an umbrella weapon furnished by the CIA. He was accompanied by another Cuban acting as a radio man.
Framing Oswald
The people involved in framing Oswald included Seymour (who used his identity), someone who posed for two pictures holding a rifle, a photographer who took the pictures and someone who superimposed Oswald's head on the two negatives. Also, someone who took Oswald's rifle from his garage and his pistol from his room, taking several bullets and shells with the pistol, fired three shells and one bullet through the rifle, and planted the rifle and rifle shells on the sixth floor of the TSBD and a rifle bullet at Parkland Hospital. The pistol shells were given to William Seymour for planting later on. The photographers also planted photos of General Walker's house and driveway to implicate Oswald in the Walker shooting.
Dallas Policemen Involved
The policemen involved were J. D. Tippit, who was to drive two of the assassins, Seymour and his radio man, away in his police car; Bill Alexander; Jerry Hill; Sergeant McDonald; Lieutenant Montgomery; Lieutenant Johnson; and Lieutenant Batchelor, who escorted Jack Ruby into the jail to murder Oswald.
McDonald was assigned to kill Oswald upon his arrest in the Texas Theatre. Jerry Hill was involved in that event as well as in the planting of evidence against Oswald in the TSBD Building. Montgomery and Johnson were involved in planting the paper bag as evidence against Oswald. Alexander and Batchelor were primarily responsible for making sure that Jack Ruby assassinated Oswald and that he didn't talk about it afterward. Alexander was present on every occasion when Ruby was questioned or interviewed in the jail, in spite of Ruby's efforts to have him removed.
Other Persons Involved in Framing Oswald
Also involved in framing Oswald were Marina Oswald; her lawyer, James Martin; and someone in the Dallas police force. She was talked into three points of false testimony: she said she took the two fake photos of Oswald with a camera she claimed was his. She fabricated, or was handed, the false story about Oswald's attempt to shoot General Walker and taking two pictures of Walker's house with the same camera. (Oswald did neither.) She told a false story about a falling out she and Oswald supposedly had and exaggerated his mean treatment of their children. There are good indications that these moves were made by the CIA operatives in the group who threatened to send Marina back to Russia. (Marina's uncle was a high-level officer in the KGB.)
Dealey Plaza
On the day of the assassination four men with rifles, accompanied by their radio men and several other team members, moved into Dealey Plaza. Seymour and a radio man entered the TSBD Building through the freight entrance and worked their way to the roof. Santana and Braden went into the Dal Tex building through the freight entrance on Houston St. and up a back staircase to the second floor. Lawrence, Frenchy, Crisman and the tall tramp took up two positions on the grassy knoll. Lawrence was inside the westernmost cupola after parking his car in the parking lot behind the knoll. Frenchy, Crisman and the tall tramp were near the fence. Jim Hicks was in the Adolphus Hotel a few blocks away, testing the two-way radio communication with the four radio men, until he proceeded to the Plaza and mingled with a large crowd (near the corner of Houston and Elm Streets). The umbrella man stood near the Stemmons Freeway sign on Elm Street accompanied by his radio man.
The other team members stationed themselves in the crowd (along Elm Street). After the shots were fired, they circulated through the crowd in front of the TSBD on Elm Street, on the grassy knoll, and behind the TSBD Building, identifying themselves as Secret Service agents and asking witnesses and officials questions to find out whether the assassins had been detected. There are clear photos of one of these men. One other man was at the corner of the wall on the grassy knoll.
The Shots
Upon a visual and oral signal from the man at the wall and upon a radio command from Hicks, the team fired its first round of shots. Crisman received the command from Hicks and caused Frenchy to fire a shot from a position behind the fence on the knoll, about twenty feet west of the corner of the fence. This shot missed. The umbrella man fired a shot using his small-bore umbrella gun. When this shot struck JFK in the throat, the dart paralyzed JFK and later presented by Commander Humes to the FBI.[2] The shot was fired at Zapruder frame 189: JFK was behind a large oak tree, hidden from the sixth floor window of the TSBD Building. On command from Braden, Emilio Santana fired his first shot two seconds later from the second floor window of the Dal Tex building at Z 225 after JFK came out from behind the sign in Zapruder's film. The shot struck JFK in the back about 5 3/4" down from the collar line, penetrated to a depth of about two inches and stopped. The bullet fell out of JFK's back somewhere in or at the Parkland Hospital, or perhaps travelled down inside the body of the President, and was never recovered.
William Seymour fired his shot from the west end of the TSBD Building upon command from his radio man between Z 230 and Z 237, after Santana's shot. He used a Mauser rifle with no telescopic sight. While he was aiming at JFK, he fired high and to the right, hitting John Connally in the back. The bullet travelled through Connally's chest and then entered his left thigh. The bullet fell out of his thigh in or near Parkland Hospital and was never recovered. Governor Connally's wrist was not hit at that time.
Jack Lawrence did not fire a shot in the first round because from his cupola position he did not have a clear shot.
Hicks gave a second radio command for another round of shots as JFK passed the Stemmons Freeway sign.
Emilio Santana fired his second shot between Z 265 and Z 275. The bullet narrowly missed JFK, passed over the top of his head and over the top of the limousine's windshield. It travelled on to strike the south curb of Main Street, breaking off a piece of concrete which flew up and hit James Tague. The bullet either disintegrated or flew into the area beyond the overpass. It was not found.
William Seymour may have fired a second shot which may have struck JFK in the upper right part of his head at Z 312. That bullet disintegrated.
Upon command from his radio man, Jack Lawrence fired his first shot from a pedestal on the west side of the south entrance to the western cupola on the grassy knoll. The shot may have hit Connally's wrist.
Frenchy fired the fatal shot through the trees from his position behind the fence.
The Lawrence shot or possibly the second Seymour shot produced a bullet fragment that passed through Connally's right wrist at Z 313. At that time his wrist was elevated and nearly directly in front of JFK's head, in such a position that Connally's right palm was facing JFK as the governor fell into his wife's arms. The fragment entered the front of his wrist and exited from the back.
Oswald's Actions
Lee Harvey Oswald started November 22, 1963 with the knowledge that there might be an attempt on JFK's life during the day. He had reported this possibility to the FBI in his informer's role five days earlier; he undoubtedly thought the FBI and Secret Service would be protecting the President. His communications with the assassination team had prepared him to meet with them in the Texas Theatre if anything happened that day. There is also a possibility he received a telephone call immediately after the shots, telling him to go to the theatre.
He had gone to his and Marina's rooms in Irving to pick up curtain rods for his bare windows in his Oak Cliff room. He carried the curtain rods in a paper bag on his way to work that morning with Wesley Frazier. He worked on the sixth floor of the TSBD as well as on the other floors that morning. He helped a crew of men lay a new floor on the sixth floor, move a large number of book cartons and school supplies over to the eastern side of the floor, including some cartons near the southeastern window that faced Elm Street.
Oswald went to the first floor of the building at approximately 12:15 p.m. and returned to the second floor lunchroom just before 12:30. He was drinking a coke there at 12:31 when Officer Baker and Mr. Truly, the building manager, encountered him while rushing up the stairs from the first floor. At the sight of Baker's gun drawn and seeing the commotion outside, he no doubt realized what had happened.[3] He immediately left the building via the freight platform entrance on the northeast side and travelled to his rooming house via bus and taxi. He picked up his pistol there and went directly to the Texas Theater where he met two of the assassination team and was sitting with them in the theatre when the police arrived. One of these men may have been William Seymour.
The Dallas police members of the team planned to shoot Oswald in the theatre while arresting him. When he was arrested he did not realize at first that he had been framed. When this began to become clear to him on Saturday, November 23, he remained confident that the FBI would get him out of the situation. After all, he worked for them!
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby, in addition to his Mafia involvements and other criminal activities, was also running guns to Cuba and carrying payoff money to other anti-Castro groups on behalf of various CIA-backed projects. His involvement in the assassination of JFK appears to have been minor, even though he knew about it in advance. In his night club Ruby met on several occasions with Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, and William Seymour.
The group decided to assassinate Oswald in jail after the police failed to kill him in the Texas Theatre. Alexander made arrangements to have Batchelor escort Ruby into the jail when it was known Oswald was being moved. They arranged an audible signal (an auto horn) to let Batchelor and Ruby know when Oswald was coming down an elevator into the garage. They came down an elevator opposite the one carrying Oswald.
Clay Shaw gave Ruby his instructions to shoot Oswald through Breck Wall. Shaw telephoned Wall from San Francisco and Wall called Ruby. He was told it was an official CIA-sponsored act, in the best interests of the United States, and that he would be out of jail in a few days after his capture.
Planted Evidence
The planting of the evidence against Oswald first began with William Seymour, who used Oswald's identity during September and October, 1963. Next, the faked photographs of Oswald were created. Two of the team members used a camera of their own to take the two pictures of General Walker's house and the two shots of one of the men supposedly in Oswald's back yard. They planted the pictures in Oswald's garage. Next, they stole Oswald's rifle from the garage prior to November 22, fired several shots from it, and preserved three shells, one bullet, and several bullet fragments.
They planted the rifle, the three shells, the bullet (399) and the bullet fragments in the TSBD, the hospital and the JFK limousine on November 22. They also took Oswald's pistol at some time prior to November 22, fired several shots from it and saved the shells. William Seymour, after shooting policeman Tippit, ran away in such a manner as to attract attention, throwing the shells from Oswald's gun into the air as he ran so that witnesses would see them. (The shells matched Oswald's pistol. None of the bullets matched.)
All of the work with Oswald's rifle, pistol, and the fake photos was probably done at the same time. The rifle, pistol and Communist newspapers had to be available together for the backyard photos. The faking of the photographs, the firing of rifle and pistol, the retrieval of the shells from rifle and pistol and of bullet 399 and the bullet fragments from the rifle all required enough time that the event occurred well in advance of the assassination.
Escape Plans
As mentioned before, plans were made for the team to escape by car, train, and airplane. Evidence shows:
A white car was parked straddling a log barrier behind the western cupola on the grassy knoll. It left that spot one minute after the shots were fired and drove eastward on the Elm Street extension in front of the TSBD.
A white station wagon driving west on Elm Street stopped at the foot of the grassy knoll at 12:40 p.m., ten minutes after the shots were fired. It picked up a man who looked like Oswald and drove under the triple overpass.
A railroad train carrying three "tramps" began to leave the freight train area west and north of the TSBD at around one o'clock, thirty minutes after the shots. The train was under the tower control of Lee Bowers and was stopped by him. The tramps were arrested.
A police car stopped in front of Oswald's rooming house and honked twice around 1:10 p.m.
Policeman Tippit's patrol car was far out of position in the Oak Cliff area near Ruby and Oswald's rooming houses. Tippit was shot by two men, one of whom was Billy Seymour.
A small airplane was sitting at the Redbird Airport, a location in the same direction as Oak Cliff, a little further out from Dealey Plaza. Its engines were running. It was ready for takeoff at 1 p.m.
David Ferrie went to Houston, Texas on the afternoon of November 22, driving at high speed through bad thunderstorms to get there. He was positioned at a pay telephone at an ice skating rink near the Houston airport, until receiving a phone call there. After that he returned to New Orleans.
Escape Routes
These escape plans were modified after the assassination. It became unnecessary for any of the Dealey Plaza participants to escape by airplane. The framing of Oswald and the failure of the Secret Service or FBI to detect any of the escaping gunmen or their assistants permitted these changes. One of the men in the Dealey Plaza -- probably pretending to be a Secret Service agent -- reported an "all clear" situation to Shaw in San Francisco. Shaw notified Ferrie that they didn't need an airplane to escape with while Ferrie was waiting in Houston. Ferrie changed his plans and drove back to New Orleans.
The gunmen who did escape followed these routes: Jack Lawrence got into his car parked behind the cupola and either drove or was driven back to his cover job location at the automobile agency. He left almost immediately afterward and travelled to North Carolina. Frenchy ran back to the freight car area and climbed into one of the box cars sitting on a siding northwest of the TSBD. He was arrested at 1 p.m. by Officers Harkness, Bass and Wise, but was released by Sheriff Elkins later in the afternoon. Santana walked out the back entrance of the Dal Tex building and may have joined Seymour in a white station wagon on Elm Street at 12:40 p.m. Seymour left the roof of the TSBD via a back stairway, exited from the freight entrance in the rear of the building, and walked on Houston Street past the Elm Street extension. He walked down the grassy knoll to Elm Street where he was picked up at 12:40 p.m. by the white station wagon.
The other Dealey Plaza participants, Crisman, a tall tramp, Braden and Hicks escaped by various means. Braden was arrested and released. Hicks drove home. Crisman and the tall tramp followed Frenchy's route into the box cars.
Tippit Shooting
David Belin of the Warren and Rockefeller Commission is fond of saying, "Lee Harvey Oswald killed policeman Tippit. Since the case against Oswald for the Tippit slaying is so strong, it follows that Oswald also shot the President." The case against Oswald in the Tippit murder is as weak as the case against him in the JFK assassination. The most important evidence showing that Seymour and another one of the assassination team shot Tippit is the fact that six witnesses, ignored by the Warren Commission, saw two men shoot Tippit. One of them resembled Oswald. They ran away from the scene in opposite directions. Seymour ran toward the Texas Theater, throwing the planted shells up in the air so that witnesses would see and recover them. (This act would convince most people that Oswald did not shoot Tippit.) The other assassin ran in the opposite direction. There is some indication that Seymour entered the theater in a manner to draw attention and then left before the Oswald arrest. While the shells recovered were found to match Oswald's pistol, none of the bullets recovered from Tippit's body matched.
Comments and Congressional Actions Needed
The above scenario comes much closer to explaining what happened to John Kennedy than either the Warren Commission Report or the Rockefeller Commission report. It matches the known evidence from the two prime sources, the Warren Commission files in the National Archives, and the evidence produced by the Garrison investigation (most of which was turned over the the Committee to Investigate Assassinations, Washington, D.C.).
However, without subpoena power, and with extremely limited resources, no group of citizens such as the Committee or Mark Lane's Citizens Commission can determine the ultimate truth about the assassination.
Only a properly constituted Congressional committee or group with resources and subpoena power, and with the power and courage to combat the Power Control Group involved in the assassination and its cover-up, whoever they may be, can reach the truth.
This chapter has been prepared as a guideline for such a committee, rather than as the ultimate solution.
It should be utilized in conjunction with two other documents already submitted to the four Congressional groups interested in the case. The groups are:
The Senate;
The House Special Committee on Intelligence;
Thomas Downing, Representative from Virginia, who introduced House Resolution 498 to reopen the JFK assassination investigation;
Henry Gonzalez, Representative from Texas, who introduced House Resolution 204 to reopen the assassination inquiries on John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and George Wallace.
The Two Documents
"Recommendations for the Senate and House Committee's Investigations of Illegal and Subversive Domestic Activities of the CIA and FBI", memorandum by Richard E. Sprague (submitted to them).
"The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: the Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Plans and the Cover-Up", by Richard E. Sprague, in People and the Pursuit of Truth, May, 1975.
Vastaukset 10
Vanhimmat
Kennedyn murha hämmentää edelleen
Kohta on kulunut kolmekymmentä vuotta siitä, kun kohtalokkaat laukaukset kajahtivat Dallasin Dealeyn aukiolla ja surmasivat presidentti John F. Kennedyn. Varmaa tietoa syyllisestä ei vieläkään ole.
Salamurhaa tutkimaan nimetty Warrenin komissio nimesi ainoaksi syylliseksi Lee Harvey Oswaldin. Kaikki eivät kuitenkaan ole hyväksyneet virallisen tutkimuksen tuloksia. Epävirallisia tutkijoita onkin kymmenittäin, ja teorioita syyllisistä melkein yhtä monta.
Oliver Stonen elokuva JFK herätti uudelleen kiinnostuksen Kennedyn murhaan.
Yhdysvalloissa äskettäin julkistetut salaiset paperit saattavat tuoda lisää valaistusta asiaan. Mutta ne saattavat myös sotkea asiaa entistä enemmän, koska oikeiden todisteiden ja monien tekaistuiksi uskomien todisteiden määrä kasvaa.
Mitä tapahtui?
Kotielokuvista ja valokuvista voidaan nähdä, kuinka presidentti auton ehdittyä Teksasin koulukirjavaraston ohi Elm-kadulla nostaa kädet kaulalleen ja kääntyy kohti vaimoaan. Sitten hänen päänsä räjähtää veripilveksi. Samassa autossa matkustanut kuvernööri John Connally haavoittuu myös vaikeasti.
Kuvatodisteista näkyy, kuinka ensimmäisen laukauksen kajahdettua autoa kuljettanut salaisen palvelun asiamies lyö jostain syystä jarrut päälle ja melkein pysäyttää auton. Sitten hän vilkaisee taakseen, ja vasta tappavan laukauksen osuttua lähtee kiihdyttämään kohti sairaalaa.
Kun presidentti on julistettu kuolleeksi, hänet sijoitetaan arkkuun ja lennätetään pois Dallasista. Varapresidentti Lyndon B. Johnson vannoo virkavalan presidenttiä kuljettavassa Air Force Ykkösessä.
On myös esitetty, että Kennedyn ruumis ei olisikaan ollut arkussa, vaan hänet olisi pantu Persianlahden sodassa kuuluisaksi tulleeseen ruumissäkkiin ja lennätetty jollain toisella koneella ruumiinavaukseen. Jotkut tutkijat väittävät, että tämä mahdollisti vammojen muuttamisen yksinäiseen surmaajaan sopiviksi.
Laivaston sairaalassa suoritetaan ruumiinavaus, jonka alkuperäiset muistiinpanot on tuhottu ja jossa tunnelma oli monien kertoman mukaan kummallisen kireä. Myös esimerkiksi presidentin aivot ovat jollain lailla kadonneet, eikä niitä voida siis tutkia osumien selvittämiseksi.
Suurin osa murhaa tutkineiden päätelmistä perustuu selkeiden todisteiden puuttuessa todistajalausuntoihin ja valokuva-aineistoon. Näitä käytti hyväkseen myös Warrenin komissio.
Yksi ainoa ampuja?
Komission päätelmä, että Oswald ampui kolme laukausta yksin, vaikuttaa uskomattomalta. Hän olisi käyttänyt postimyynnistä hankkimaansa Mannlicher-Carcano kivääriä, joka asiantuntijoiden mukaan on kivääriksi huonolaatuinen.
Aluksi ilmoitettiinkin, että kirjavaraston kuudennesta kerroksesta löydetty kivääri oli loistoluokan Mauser. Lisäksi Oswald komission mukaan ampui kolme tähdättyä laukausta alle kuudessa sekunnissa. Se olisi ollut melkoinen suoritus Oswaldilta, jonka ampumataitoa armeija-aikana kuvataan heikoksi.
Afrikassa ammattimetsästäjänä toiminut Alexander Lake (joka ei liity millään lailla murhatutkimuksiin) kertoo muistelmissaan olleensa aikoinaan Afrikan ennätysmies kivääriammunnassa.
Lake oli ampunut yksitoista napakymppiä liikkumattomaan maaliin 36 sekunnissa, eli yhteen laukaukseen oli mennyt yli kolme sekuntia. Hän oli käyttänyt Lee-Enfield sotilaskivääriä, joka on aivan eri luokan ase kuin Mannlicher-Carcano. Oswald olisi siis ampunut paremmin kuin ammattimetsästäjänä huippuluokan kiväärimieheksi osoittautunut Lake.
Taikaluoti
Ainoa tapa, jolla Warrenin komissio pystyi selittämään kolmen laukauksen riittävän, oli Arlen Spectorin taikaluotiteoria. Kyseessä olisi yksi ainoa luoti, joka kääntyili ilmassa useaan eri suuntaan lävistäen sekä presidentti Kennedyn että kuvernööri Connallyn useasta kohdasta.
Kyseinen luoti löydettiin Parklandin sairaalasta paareilta käytännöllisesti katsoen vahingoittumattomana. Kokeissa tutkittiin millaiseksi luoti menisi tällaisen matkan tehtyään. Jo yksikin osuma litistäisi luodin tunnistamattomaksi.
Lisäksi todisteet viittaavat siihen, että paarit, joilta 'taikaluoti' löydettiin, eivät olleet samat paarit, joilla Kennedy oli kuljetettu ensiapuhuoneeseen.
Useampia laukauksia
Yhdysvaltain kongressin salamurhaa tutkiva komitea sai vuonna 1979 todisteita siitä, että Dealeyn aukiolla oli ammuttu useampia laukauksia. Partiopoliisin auki jääneestä mikrofonista saatua tallennetta tutkimalla asiantuntijat päättelivät, että aukiolla oli ammuttu vähintään neljä ja mahdollisesti jopa yhdeksän laukausta.
Tämä tulos sopii paljon paremmin yhteen tiettyjen tosiseikkojen kanssa. Eräs valokuva osoittaa, että ainakin yksi luoti oli tunkeutunut nurmikkoon kadun varrella, josta poliisi sen löysi. Alikulkusillan luona seissyttä James Tagueta raapaisi luoti poskeen. Lisäksi on olemassa todisteita, joiden mukaan ainakin yksi luoti osui katuun.
Mutta parhaiten äänitodisteet tukivat käsitystä, että rautatien kupeessa olleelta ruohikkoiselta kumpareelta oli myös ammuttu laukauksia. Monet todistajat kertoivat nähneensä savua kumpareen luota. Monet myös kertoivat kuulleensa sieltä laukauksia.
Todistaja Jean Hill kertoi jopa rynnänneensa kohti kumparetta, jonne hän oli nähnyt miehen juoksevan. Ennen kuin Hill ehätti kumpareelle saakka nähdäkseen miehen paremmin, poliisiksi esittäytynyt mies pysäytti ja pidätti hänet.
Jo pelkästään aukiolla otetuista kotielokuvista tunnetuin, Zapruderin ottama, näyttää kuinka presidentti Kennedy paiskautuu taaksepäin tappavan luodin osuessa. Takaapäin koulukirjavarastosta, jossa Oswaldin uskotaan olleen, ammuttu luoti olisi heittänyt Kennedyä eteenpäin.
Suomalainen TV-tuottaja Timo T. A. Mikkonen kertoo muistelmissaan nähneensä suurennoksia kuvasta, jossa kumpareella seisova mies tähtää kohti autosaattuetta. Samaan viittaa niinsanottu mustan koiran kuva Nixin kotielokuvassa, jossa kumpareella näkyy tumma kyyristynyttä koiraa muistuttava hahmo. Se on selitetty varjomaiseksi muodostelmaksi, jota ei kuitenkaan kotielokuvan myöhemmissa ruuduissa näy.
Salamurhasta on myös esitetty teoria, jonka mukaan Dealeyn aukiolle olisi järjestetty väijytys alistamalla se ristituleen kolmesta suunnasta: koulukirjavarastosta, Dal-Texin rakennuksesta ja ruohikkoiselta kumpareelta. Oliver Stonen JFK-elokuvassa esitetään nimenomaan tämä mahdollisuus.
Salainen palvelu epäonnistui
Yhdysvaltojen salaisen palvelun tehtävänä on pitää presidentti hengissä hinnalla millä hyvänsä. Se tutkii etukäteen jokaisen paikan, jossa presidentti liikkuu, tarkkailee epäilyttäviä ihmisiä ja varmistaa presidentin kaikenpuolisen turvallisuuden.
Pahimmassa tapauksessa salaisen palvelun asiamiehen on asetettava presidentin suojaksi oma ruumiinsa ja henkensä. Mutta marraskuun 22. päivänä 1963 Dealeyn aukiolla Dallasissa salainen palvelu epäonnistui surkeasti tehtävässään.
Salaisen palvelun miehet kulkivat presidentin auton takana parin autonmitan päässä. Ensimmäisestä Kennedyyn osuneesta luodista tappavaan laukaukseen, olkoon laukauksia sillä välin kuinka monta hyvänsä, ehti kulua melkein kuusi sekuntia. Ja muistetaan, että presidenttiä kuljettanut auto käytännössä pysähtyi ensimmäisen laukauksen jälkeen.
Hyväkuntoinen asiamies juoksee varustuksessaankin pari autonmittaa kahdessa sekunnissa. Sekunnin verran kuluu reagoimiseen ennen liikkeellelähtöä, ja kenties sekunti presidentin autoon hyppäämiseen ja hänen suojelemiseensa omalla ruumiillaan. Aikaa oli kokonaista kuusi sekuntia, mutta yksikään salaisen palvelun asiamies ei toiminut kyllin nopeasti.
Hämmennys jatkuu
Lee Harvey Oswald surmattiin, ennen kuin hän ehti kertoa oman tarinansa oikeudessa. Monet muut todistajat ovat kuolleet tapaturmaisesti tai surmattuina. Tärkeitä todisteita on kadonnut. Kenties nyt julkistetut paperit, joita tietojen mukaan on kilokaupalla, tuovat jotain valoa tähän salaperäiseen murhaan.
Oliko Oswald pettynyt ja katkeroitunut mies, joka yksin surmasi Yhdysvaltojen nuoren presidentin? Koska Oswald oli oleskellut Neuvostoliitossa, oliko KGB sekaantunut asiaan, kuten jotkut väittävät? Vai oliko murhan takana mafian ja kuubalaisten salaliitto? Onko Yhdysvaltojen omilla tiedusteluelimillä jotain tekemistä murhan kanssa?
Nämä kaikki ovat kysymyksiä, jotka eri tutkijat ovat vuosien mittaan esittäneet. Varmoja vastauksia ei ole saatu, eikä mahdollisesti saada nyt julkistetuista asiakirjoistakaan. Siksi väittely ja keskustelu murhan syistä, tekijöistä ja suoritustavasta jatkuu varmasti edelleenkin.
Joka tapauksessa on selvää, että Yhdysvalloissa Dallasin Dealeyn aukiolla ammutut laukaukset muuttivat meidän kaikkien kuvaamme maailmasta. Jotakin särkyi silloin peruuttamattomasti, eikä maailma enää koskaan ollut samanlainen kuin sitä ennen.
Siksi ei kenties olekaan tärkeää tietää vastausta kysymyksiin kuka, miten ja miksi. Tärkeämpää onkin ehkä miettiä, kuinka salamurha vaikutti kaikkeen siihen, mitä sen jälkeen on maailmassa tapahtunut. Mutta se on jokaisen tehtävä itse omassatunnossaan.
...Yhdysvaltain kongressin salamurhaa tutkiva komitea ..
..juuri tuohon.
"Koska Oswald oli oleskellut Neuvostoliitossa, oliko KGB sekaantunut asiaan, kuten jotkut väittävät?"
Oswald oli CIA:n agentti ja toimi myös FBI:n lukuun. Jiiihaaaaa!
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/LHO.html
siitä on oli neljäkymmentä vuotta. eikä koskaan saada varmuutta kuka teki ja miksi.
Tosi on että tuskin sekään koskaan paljastuu....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination
Aika mielenkiintoista se, että myös Suomi kytkeytyi mukaan JFK:n murhatutkimuksiin.
Olen tiivistänyt tähän seuraavaan eri lähteistä kokoamani tiedot:
OSWALD, KENNEDYN MURHA ja SUOMI
Yhdysvaltain presidentti John F Kennedyn murhaajana pitkään pidetyn Lee Harvey Oswaldin vaiheita on tutkittu vuosikymmenien aikana hyvin perusteellisesti. Tutkimuksissa on selvinnyt, että “presidentin tappajan” ja pienen pohjoisen maan tiet risteytyivät toisiinsa vuoden 1959 lokakuussa. Asiasta on kerrottu ensi kerran murhaa tutkineen Warrenin komission raportissa vuonna 1964 (Luku XIII: Lee Harvey Oswaldin biografia, Neuvostoliiton aika). Oswaldin (muutto)matka USA:sta Neuvostoliittoon suuntautui Helsingin kautta. Oswald viipyi Suomessa muutaman päivän 10. – 15.10.1959.
Warrenin komission todistusaineistossa numerolla 228 on dokumentti... Oswaldin hakemus 3/4/59 opiskelemaan Albert Schweitzer Collegeen Sveitsiin ajalle 12.4. – 27.7.1960. Hakemuksessa Oswald kertoo aikomuksestaan osallistua Sveitsin jälkeen lyhyelle Turun yliopiston järjestämälle kesäkurssille, minkä jälkeen hän palaisi Yhdysvaltoihin.
{Warren} Commission Exhibit 228
APPLICATION FORM
To: Albert Schweitzer College, Churwalden/Gr., Switzerland
I herewith apply to attend the Study Course from April 12, 1960 to June 27, 1960
...
Plans to be pursued after the period at the Albert Schweitzer College (educational, vocational, profressional):
“ To attend the short summer course of the University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Then to return to America and pursue my chosen vocation.”
Matka
Lee Harvey Oswald vapautuu armeijan palveluksesta 11. syyskuuta 1959. Jo 4. syyskuuta hän oli hakenut passia aikomuksenaan lähteä opiskelemaan Eurooppaan Albert Schweitzer Collegeen, jonne hän on jättänyt hakemuksen jo edelliskeväänä. Syyskuun 17. päivänä hän täyttää lomakkeita matkatoimistossa ja kertoo aikeenaan viipyä ulkomailla noin kaksi kuukautta.
Oswald lähti matkaan aikaisin aamulla 20. syyskuuta 1959 New Orleansista. Oswald nousi rahtihöyry SS Marion Lykesiin, jossa oli hänen lisäkseen vain kolme muuta matkustajaa. Matka New Orleansista le Havreen Ranskaan maksoi 220,75 dollaria.
Laiva saapui Ranskaan lokakuun 8. päivänä. Oswald leimautti passinsa vielä saman päivän iltana, mutta nousi rahtialus Liberten kannelle vasta seuraavana aamuna ja matkusti kanaalin yli Englantiin saapuen Southamptoniin 9.10.1959 iltaseitsemän-kahdeksan aikoihin. Myöhään illalla Oswald saapui Lontooseen, missä hän yöpyi ja matkusti Lontoon (nykyisin Heathrow) lentoasemalle todennäköisimmin junalla. Englannin tulliviranomaisille Oswald ilmoitti viipyvänsä Britanniassa viikon, minkä jälkeen hän matkustaisi Sveitsiin.
Mutta jo 10.10. hän nousikin Lontoossa lentokoneeseen ja matkusti Suomeen.
Oswald saapuu Suomeen
Oswaldin matkan vaiheista tässä yhteydessä on esitetty vuosikymmenien aikana lukuisia arvailuja. Warrenin komission mukaan Oswald ei ole voinut käyttää 10.10. ainoaa suoraa yhteyttä Lontoosta Helsinkiin, koska aikataulut eivät täsmäisi. Finnairin (Aero) lento Lontoosta lähti klo 14.20 ja laskeutui Seutulaan klo 23.35 paikallista aikaa. Warrenin komission mielestä Oswaldin olisi ollut täysin mahdotonta selviytyä lentokentän tullimuodollisuuksista, matkatavaraselvityksistä ja matkasta Helsingin keskustaan sekä kirjautumisesta Hotelli Torniin saman vuorokauden puolella. Warrenin komissio oli selvittänyt hotellin tiedostoista tai viranomiaisille toimitetuista matkustajakorteista, että Oswald oli kirjautunut Torniin 10.10. ennen puoltayötä.
Moni tutkija on esittänyt arvailuja, että Oswald on saattanut saada Lontoon ja Helsingin väliselle matkalle apua yhdysvaltalaisilta sotilas- tai tiedustelulähteiltä. Salaliittoteoriaan uskovat tutkijat pitävät tätä yhtenä osoituksena sille, että Oswaldin matka Neuvostoliittoon olikin korkeiden amerikkalaisten hallitusviranomaisten junailema ja että Oswald olisikin lähetetty Eurooppaan CIA:n agenttina.
Amerikkalainen tutkija Chris Mills on selvittänyt Oswaldin Suomen matkan vaiheita. Hänen mukaansa mitään sotilaslentoja ei ole lähtenyt Lontoosta kyseisenä päivänä (olisivatko sotilasviranomaiset edes kertoneet sitä Millsille?). Millsin mukaan on mahdollista, että Oswald on lentänyt Lontoosta ensin Kööpenhaminaan tai Tukholmaan, mistä on ollut jatkoyhteydet Helsinkiin aikataulullisesti riittävän ajoissa Oswaldin ehtiä Hotelli Torniin vielä 10.10.
Mills pitää häpeällisenä sitä, että Warrenin komissio ei ole tutkinut kyseisen päivän lentojen matkustajaluetteloita, jotka olisivat olleet käytettävissä vielä vuonna 1964.
Loppupäätelmässän Mills pitää kaupallisen lennon todennäköisyyttä suurena, mutta toteaa samalla, että suurimmat vastausta vailla olevat kysymykset kuuluvatkin: a) miksi Oswaldin piti valita juuri tämä reitti ja b) miten tämä matka rahoitettiin (Oswald oli juuri armeijasta vapautunut tyhjätasku).
19-vuotias Lee Harvey Oswald tuli Suomeen lentäen Lontoosta lauantaina 10.10. 1959. Oswaldin passissa on lähtöleima Lontoosta 10.10. ja tuloleima Helsinkiin samalle päivälle. On todennäköistä, että hänen lentonsa tuli konetta vaihtaen joko Kööpenhaminan tai Tukholman kautta, saapumisajan ollessa joko 17.05 tai 17.35. Oswald kirjoittautui samana iltana Hotelli Torniin, mutta vaihtoi seuraavana päivänä Bulevardilla sijaitsevaan hotelli Klaus Kurkeen.
Warrenin komission murhatutkimusten aikana selvitti CIA myös tätä Oswaldin matkaa Ranskan ja Englannin kautta Suomeen.
Hyvin pitkään on ollut täysi mysteeri se, miten Oswald on voinut ehtiä 10.10. Lontoosta Helsinkiin kun suoria lentoja ei tuona päivänä ollut. Ihmetystä on herättänyt myös se, että CIA ei selvittänyt Lontoon ja Helsingin välisten lentojen matkustajalistoja, jotka olisivat olleet käytettävissä vielä tuolloin eli vuonna 1964. Tai jos se selvittikin niin miksi siitä ei kerrottu Warrenin komissiolle? Vai oliko samalla lennolla Oswaldin kanssa joku sellainen henkilö, jota ei ole haluttu paljastaa?
Neuvostoliittoon
Oswald marssi tiistaina 13. lokakuuta Neuvostoliiton konsulaattiin Ratakadulle ja anoi turistiviisumia. Kaikissa tähänastisissa virallisissa selvityksissä on kerrottu Oswaldin jättäneen viisumianomuksensa heti ensimmäisenä Suomeen saapumisensa arkipäivänä eli maanantaina 12.10.1959.
Oswaldin viisumihakemus on edelleen Venäjän arkistoissa. Sen toi julkisuuteen entinen KGB-kenraali Oleg Nechiporenko vuonna 1993 julkaistussa kirjassaan “Passport to Assassination”.
Eräs merkillisyys tässä tapauksessa on se, että Oswaldin passimerkintöjen mukaan hänen viisumihakemuksensa on hyväksytty ja leimattu passiin keskiviikkona 14.10. vain vajaa vuorokausi hakemuksen jättämisen jälkeen kun yleensä noina kylmän sodan vuosina viisumihakemukseen vastattiin aikaisintaan viikon kuluessa sen hakemisesta. Miten ihmeessä amerikkalaiselle, vihollismaan edustajalle, on myönnetty viisumi noin pikaisesti? Moni muistaa vielä hyvin 1980-luvun lopulta, miten meidän suomalaisten hakiessa viisumia Neuvosto-Viroon piti päätöstä odottaa useita päiviä.
Oswald nousi Helsingin rautatieasemalla Moskovan junaan torstaina 15.10.1959, ylitti Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton rajan Vainikkalassa ja saapui syksyiseen Moskovaan perjantaina 16.10.1959.
Oswaldille Helsingissä myönnetty turistiviisumi oli tarkoitettu vain pikaista, muutaman päivän matkaa varten ja oli voimassa 20.10. saakka. Ennen lähtöään Helsingistä oli Oswald lunastanut Intouristin toimistosta 10 kappaletta ostonkuponkeja (tourist vouchers), kukin hinnaltaan 30 US dollaria. 300 dollarilla oli tuohon aikaan Neuvostoliitossa valtava ostovoima.
Niin, poistuminen Neuvostoliitosta piti tapahtua 20.10.1959, mutta se viivästyi “jonkin verran”. Oswald palasi Neuvostoliitosta suoraan Yhdysvaltoihin, Fort Worthiin vasta toukokuussa 1962. Eikä Oswaldin tarvinnut palata yksin. Hänen kanssaan muutti Yhdysvaltoihin Neuvostoeverstin tytär Marina, Oswaldin vasta vihitty vaimo.
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Tuota... sattuuko jollakin olemaan tietoa siitä, että CIA:n virkailija Helsingissä Oswaldin loikkauksen aikoihin olisi ollut Dulles tai Cabell? Tai joku muu jonka nimi nousi esille JFK:n myöhemmissä murhatutkimuksissa? muistelen lukeneeni sellaisesta jostakin.
joutunut tiukkaan syyniin palattuaan takaisin Neuvostoliitosta? No, Oswald ei joutunut, vaan otettiin avosylin vastaan.
päällikkö, mutta sai kenkää siinä vaiheessa, kun aikoi haastaa valallisiin todistuksiin CIA:n väkeä. Kaveri pääsi liian lähelle totuutta ja hänet oli erotettava.
Robert Kennedy palkkasi JFK:n murhan jälkeen ranskalaiset (puolueettomat tutkijat) tutkimaan veljensä murhan.
Tulokset on nähtävissä kirjassa (netissä ilmaisena) "Farewell America". Tapahtumainkulku on miltei sama kuin Spraguen kirjassa.
http://www.jfk-online.com/farewell00.html
Kannattaa lukea. Sisältää asiaa, eikä WC:n jaarituksia.
Washingtonin haukat ja sotateollisuuden edustajat päättivät Kennedyn kohtalosta. JFK.n katsottiin olleen liian heikko suhteessa Neuvostoliittoon ja kommunismiin. Yhdysvallat ei alistu vihollisilleen vaan murskaa heidät. Tätä oppia sovelsi välittömästi Kennedyn kuoleman jälkeen maan johdon ottanut Varapresidentti Lyndon B. Johnson. Zapruderin kuvaama kaitafilmi osoittaa Kennedyn auton joutuneen ristituleen Dealey Plazalla. Filmiltä voi nähdä selvästi, että viimeinen laukaus joka osuu Kennedyä päähän, repii hänen päälakensa irti ja kallon palasia ja osia aivoista lentää matkustamon jalkatilaan. Tästä syystä en ymmärrä miksi niin moni Kennedyä hoitanut lääkäri vannoo, että hänen takaraivossaan oli noin 12 senttiä halkasialtaan ollut reikä. Edestä tulleesta laukauksesta ei liene epäilystäkään mutta jos katsoo filmiä oikein tarkkaan, huomaa että Kennedy heilahtaa laukauksen voimasta vasemmalle vaimonsa suuntaan eikä taaksepäin. Itseasiassa ihminen ei yleensäkään horjahda ammutuksi tultuaan taaksepäin niin kuin elokuvissa. Laukausten jälkeen Kennedyn auton takakontin päälle syöksynyt turvamies Clint Hill on kertonut, että Jacqueline Kennedy oli pitänyt miehensä päätä kasassa koko matkan Parklandin sairaalaan.