COVERUPS! Number 25 Gary Mack, Editor and Publisher March 1986

At a distance of only three city blocks, the witness's position, at the extreme left of the picture, offered an ex- cellent, unobstructed view of people behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll.

A SPEECHLESS GRASSY KNOLL WITNESS by Jim Marrs It is a strange irony that the one person who ap- the railroad tracks at the north end of the Triple Under- parently witnessed two men with a rifle behind the pass. That second man, Ed recalls, was wearing light picket fence on the grassy knoll at the time of the Ken- coveralls and a railroad worker's hat. nedy assassination was unable to tell anyone what he When the second man caught the rifle, he ducked saw. He has been deaf since birth and, as is common behind a large railroad switch box, one of two at the with that disability, cannot speak; however, this did not site, and knelt down. He then disassembled the rifle, prevent him from attempting to alert authorities to placed it in a "soft brown bag" (which matches the what he saw. description of the traditional railroad brakeman's tool Although he did tell his family and close friends, and bag), and quickly walked up the tracks in the general- even reported them to the FBI, the man's observances direction of the railroad tower. have remained publicly unknown. Finally, in the sum- The man in the overcoat, meanwhile, turned and ran mer of 1985, he told the following story which, ironical- back along the fence, stopped about midway and calm- ly, has been substantially confirmed by FBI ly proceeded toward the corner of the fence. documents. Only a first name will be used. Unable to hear, Ed was at a loss to understand the Ed was 26 years old on November 22, 1963 and about puzzling movements of the two men. noon time was driving toward downtown Dallas on Seconds later, Kennedy's car came into sight Stemmons Expressway when he noticed numerous through the Triple Underpass. Ed saw the people people lining the road (a fact few would know without slumped down in the rear seats and realized something having been there). Suddenly remembering that Presi- terrible must have happened. As the limousine turned dent Kennedy was to motorcade through the city, he onto the Stemmons access ramp just a few feet below parked his car just off the shoulder north of the Texas his position, he decided to alert the authorities to what & Pacific Railroad bridge over the highway. he had seen. After waiting a few minutes, he walked south along He ran down the slope waving his arms trying to the shoulder to where Stemmons crossed over Elm make them understand when one of the Secret Service Street west of the Triple Underpass. From this vantage agents in the followup car aimed a machine gun at his point, with a limited view into Dealey Plaza, Ed was ap- face. Ed stopped, threw up his hands and watched proximately 200 yards west of the parking lot behind helplessly as the motorcade raced by on its way to the picket fence on the grassy knoll; in fact, he was Parkland F:ospital. almost on a straight line with the fence and at about Greatly upset over what he had seen, Ed looked the height of the first floor of the Texas School Book around for help and spotted a Dallas Police officer on Depository. the railroad overpass above Stemmons. He walked Being unable to hear and not able to see the motor- toward him waving his arms, but the officer, unable to cade, Ed's attention was caught by some movement understand, just waved him away. (The police had sta- behind the fence. He saw a man running west, toward tioned an officer on that side, Earl Brown, and when him, wearing a dark suit, tie and overcoat. And he was contacted recently by researcher Gary Mack, Brown carrying a rifle. had no recollection of the event.) As the man reached a metal pipe railing at the west Unable to get help, Ed returned to his car and drove end of the fence, he tossed the rifle to a second man by to the rear of the Depository hoping to locate the man 2 with the rifle in the brown bag. He was unsuccessful. legal authorities responsible for such an investigation. By now virtually desperate, Ed drove to the Dallas Despite this gentle attempt to keep Ed quiet, he con- FBI office, but found no one there other than a recep- tinued to tell his story to fellow workers at a Dallas tionist. He left his name and address before heading area electronics firm where he has been continuously for the Dallas Police Department, but the Bureau never employed since prior to the assassination. On March responded. 25, 1977, one of Ed's supervisors, who understood sign One of Ed's relatives, an uncle, worked for the Dallas language, phoned the Dallas FBI office. He said he felt Police; Ed naturally assumed this man could help, but that the Bureau did not fully understand what Ed tried he found the station was sealed off and the officer on to say in 1967 and that he should be interviewed again. the door refused to let him in. At this urging, an unidentified FBI agent talked with Ed Thwarted at every effort, Ed finally went home where on March 28, 1977 and even accompanied him to the his parents, also deaf-mutes, urged him not to get in- site on Stemmons Expressway. volved and to remain quiet. He did, until the following This time, with his supervisor acting as translator, week, when he saw his uncle at a family Thanksgiving Ed was able to give more details. He thought he saw a function. puff of smoke near where the two men were standing Despite his parents' warnings, Ed told his story to and added that both men had run north into the rail the policeman,' who assured him that Federal road yards. authorities were investigating the case and that, in Although the FBI agent took photographs of the area fact, the assassin had already been caught and unfor- illustrating Ed's descriptions, the Bureau showed no tunately murdered. So, reassured that the case was ap- interest in pursuing the evidence. On the cover sheet of parently solved, Ed didn't immediately consider telling the report to Director J. Edgar Hoover, the agent wrote his story to anyone else. "On Pages 71-76 of the 'Report of the President's Com- But as the years went by and he became more and mission on the Assassination of President John F. more aware that the official version of the assassina- Kennedy,' the witnesses at the Triple Underpass are tion didn't include the two suspicious men with a rifle discussed, but the Warren Commission's investigation behind the picket fence, Ed gave in to his own feelings has disclosed no credible evidence that any shots were and those of a few close friends who learned what he fired from anywhere other than the Texas School Book had witnessed. On June 18, 1967, Ed returned to the Depository building. In view of the above, the Dallas Of- Dallas FBI office. fice is conducting no additional investigation..." Apparently he again had trouble communicating, for Several months after Ed first became known to this agent Will Griffin's report states Ed "said he observed writer, researcher J. Gary Shaw filed Freedom of Infor- two white males, clutching something dark to their mation Act requests with the FBI. He received 17 chests with both hands, running from the rear of the pages, including Ed's letter to Ted Kennedy and the Texas School Book Depository building. The men were senator's reply. The agents' reports were repetitious, running north on the railroad, then turned east, and (he) incomplete and often highly inaccurate. No photo- lost sight of both of the men." graphs were enclosed. Griffin added "Approximately two hours after the Late last summer Ed agreed to be videotaped at the above interview...(Ed) returned to the Dallas Office of various locations and, while much of the area is now the FBI and advised he had just returned from the spot overgrown with vegetation, he could certainly have on Stemmons Freeway where he had parked his auto- seen what he still claims. Several copies of the tape mobile and had decided he could not have 'seen the have been made for safekeeping. men running because of a fence west of the Texas Not long thereafter, this researcher met with a for- School Book Depository building. He said it was possi- mer North Texas police intelligence officer. After ble that he saw these two men on the fence or some- relating Ed's story, this man smiled and said "Did he thing else." give you the men's names?" Whether or not Griffin understood Ed correctly, he "How could he have known their names," I scoffed. talked with Ed's father and brother one week later. "Do you know who they are?" Both said Ed loved President Kennedy and had told his He smiled and nodded. "One of them, the one who story to them just after the assassination. They also caught the rifle, is in a Texas prison right now," he said, according to Griffin's July 7 report, he "has in the said. past distorted facts of events observed by him." "Would that be Charles Harrelson?" I queried. (Remember, though, that Ed's father had urged him not He nodded affirmatively (see Coverups 1 for the Har- to get involved and not to tell anyone, so there was ap- relson/Tall Tramp/assassination issues). parent motivation to downplay his son's story.) I then asked this former policeman where he got the Officially, this was the end of any investigation at information about Harrelson being involved in the that time; but Ed now says one of the FBI agents told assassination, and he said that several years ago he at- him to keep quiet about what he had seen or "You tended a security conference up north and that he was might get killed." told about Harrelson by an agent of the Secret Service! Ed did stay quiet until October 3, 1975, when his in- terest was rekindled by talk of reopening an investiga- tion into Kennedy's death; his response was a letter to FWST 1-114.-86 Senator Edward Kennedy. Experts in deafness and sign language who have King day doesn't move Ray seen the letter say it is typical of deaf people who try to KNOXVILLE. Tenn. — James Earl Ray says he knows little about Martin Luther King Jr.. the write the way they sign. Although quite disjointed, the civil rights leader he was convicted of assassinat- ing. and is ambivalent about the national holiday letter briefly mentioned what he had seen and added in King's memory. that his uncle and father said he would be in great "The government passed a law making the holiday." Ray said M an interview with the Knox- danger from the CIA or other persons if he told what he utile Journal. "It's a political thing. It don't make knew. any difference to me. I'm not really concerned about it." • In what reads like a form letter, dated November 19, Ray. 57, is serving 99 years for the murder of Ted Kennedy wrote that "We have always accepted the King in Memphis in 1968. findings of the Warren Commission" and any decision to re-examine the death would have to come from the 3

SIGNIFICANT DOUBT ABOUT "REASONABLE DOUBT" by Gary Mack Lyndon Johnson said it best when, with Editor. Thompson, formerly with the Di- wounds were altered, the Secret Service the wisdom of attaining the Presidency after gest, was the Editor-In-Chief, the top spot could have had a legitimate reason: to gain seeing and hearing his predecessor gunned beneath the Board of Directors. an extra half hour for some sort of explor- down, he was given the Report by Earl War- When Digest upper management changed atory surgery in the interest of that great ren and thoughtfully responded "It's, uh, after the death of cofounder Lila Wallace, bureaucratic catch-all: national security! very heavy." Thompson "resigned" and was replaced by That bogus explanation is extremely suspi- So, too, is this much awaited work which Kenneth 0. Gilmore, better appreciated by cious and tells a lot about the kind of book chapter by chapter builds a case for a Fidel critics as the ghost writer for Gerald Ford's Reasonable Doubt really is. This researcher Castro conspiracy in which one gunman, not book about his Nixon pardon called "A is a journalism graduate and has worked di- Oswald, fired three shots from the Depos- Time To Heal." Ford, of course, served on rectly and indirectly, as both supervisor and itory window in 5.6 seconds. And the hapless the Warren Commission and admittedly employee, with broadcast news organiza- patsy? He was executed by mob front man leaked information during the investigation tions since 1965. A good investigative re- Jack Ruby before revealing his own, unex- to the FBI. Gilmore was the person who porter would do any, or all, of the following plained involvement in the plot. decided the Digest would not publish studies to determine whether or not David's In 555 pages, "investigative reporter" Henry's book, even though it had created theories may be correct. Henry Hurt has written, in my opinion, one the project, had paid a hefty advance and ex- First, he would review all tape, film and of the most disappointing and misleading penses, and pledged to provide assistance audio recordings made at Andrews Air Force "major" works ever 6ublished in the 22-year even after Henry found a new publisher. Base to determine if a third helicopter could aftermath of the Kennedy assassination. Also missing is any indication that Henry have flown the body away. Particular atten- Reasonable Doubt is very carefully, cleverly has been a long-time employee of the Digest tion would be spent on NBC newsfilm, dis- constructed and communicates far more and remains one of its Roving Editors. covered by David after publication, of a than what at first appears to be a straightfor- None of this background is mentioned in craft's running light moving and flashing ward, investigative effort. Reasonable Doubt, so the general redder is along the underside of Air Force 1 as it rolled Naturally, the book is geared to the gen- robbed of the realization that this work, in to a halt. eral reader, one who knows little, if any- all likelihood, represents a very Conservative Second, he would study all available docu- thing, about the significant questions raised viewpoint. Reader's Digest is not known to mentation on the airplane itself. The plane's over the years. In appearances on a promo- rattle the cages of American government in- lower deck was loaded with the very latest tional tour, Henry has been saying he took stitutions, and yet the critics have consistent- computer and communications equipment, "everything ever written" about the case ly uncovered significant evidence pointing to and it seems logical to assume there would be and synthesized it, thus implying that his the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and other or- several ways to get down there from the up- book contains the only important questions ganizations as being in the forefront of the per deck; in fact, the President's bedroom worthy of consideration. In fact, the general continuing conspiracy and coverup. That might have had an entrance. reader will also assume, incorrectly, that this viewpoint is also absent from Reasonable Third, he would attempt to question all book includes most of the new information Doubt. Only in connection with Oswald is Air Force 1 passengers David didn't talk to. relevant to the case. That is emphatically not government malfeasance seriously consid- Some Kennedy people stayed in the back of the apparent purpose of Reasonable Doubt. ered, and that seems to be limited to deeds the plane at all times and would presumably Missing entirely is the acoustics evidence revealed during government investigations. have first-hand knowledge of whether the and aftermath, the Oswald exhumation and Once this background is considered, cer- body was removed at any time. alleged illegal withholding of the photos and tain patterns begin to appear. One is the con- Fourth, he would go to Dave Powers, video tapes of the examination, the Um- stant repetition, by different phrases, that JFK's longtime friend and curator of the brella Man, the controversial "backyard many of the questions can never be an- JFK Library near Boston and ask about the photos," evidence that convicted hit man swered. Frustrating as this case is, the critics alleged secret meeting he headed to discuss Charles Harrelson was the Tall Tramp, Billie continue their work because answers can be the sensational charges raised in Best Evi- Sol Estes' fifth amendment excuse when ask- found, dnd it is just not possible to know dence. ed if LBJ was involved in the JFK assassina- what can or cannot be learned. But the gen- Fifth, he would contact the Secret Service tion, and many more intriguing develop- eral reader will be overwhelmed with how and ask for their official response to David's ments that confirm again and again that much is supposedly beyond our grasp. charges. Even a "No comment" reply has there are hot leads for any legitimate in- Another pattern is Henry's use of a seem- significance. vestigation. Even the "Man In The Door- ingly logical explanation for a suspicious Henry apparently did none of those. And way" photo issue, which has been con- event without presenting the complete story isn't it interesting that after five years not clusively resolved by Robert Groden, is ig- or relevant contradictory facts. For example, one person has come forward to say "I was nored. he seems content that Oswald's Raleigh, there and it didn't happen." Of all the peo- The very first paragraph of the Acknowl- North Carolina phone call was incoming, yet ple who were in a position to know, and who edgments firmly establishes a deceptive I told Henry of direct proof, both on film knew and loved John Kennedy, not a one premise: that Henry Hurt has tapped the shot before Oswald's death and from a live has felt outraged enough to publicly deny critical community and presented the "sal- witness, that according to a Dallas Police of- any of David's major assertions. ient points" of our work. There is no way ficial, the call was outgoing. When an investigative reporter has the for the casual reader to know from the book He also seems satisfied that Dallas patri- time and resources to pursue a story, he goes that most researchers believe the Castro arch H. L. Hunt was the recipient of Os- out and gets answers. A person who dreams theory to be a deception promulgated by wald's "Dear Mr. Hunt" letter and didn't up excuses, under the guise of "an investiga- members of the intelligence and anti-Castro even mention that E. Howard Hunt was a tion," is something else. communities. much more likely candidate. Henry admits to knowing virtually noth- But once aligned with the critics, Henry And Henry's treatment of Charles Harrel- ing about the Kennedy assassination as late. makes no effort to differentiate his theories son is almost laughable: he ignored three as fall 1981, yet Reader's Digest sent him on from ours. Again, the general reader is given years of research indicating Harrelson was research work for Edward J. Epstein's no reference point from which Henry's be- almost certainly the Tall Tramp and concen- Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey liefs can be evaluated. trated instead on his known admission to Oswald in 1977. His assignment was to talk In fact, the second paragraph of the Ack- having killed JFK. Henry's source for ex- with as many of Oswald's Marine Corps nowledgments further obscures a significant oneration of Harrelson was brother Claude, buddies as could be found, but how could reference point: Reader's Digest. Henry identified in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Henry have known what information was, or thanks Fulton Oursler, Jr., Edward T. and never retracted, as a former FBI agent. was not, important? Thompson and Sissi Maleki for their help But the integrity of Reasonable Doubt is For those who have not read Reasonable and support; the general reader, noting they best revealed in Henry's treatment of David Doubt, you now have the necessary back- are the first three people listed, will assume Lifton's "Best Evidence." Henry took four ground to really understand this incredible they are key personnel at publisher Holt, pages to summarize, and rave about, David's book. As for me, I won't hesitate to offer Rinehart and Winston. basic work, offered absolutely no contrary my opinion at every possible opportun- Yet the truth is that Oursler is the Deputy evidence, and, in one absurd paragraph, ity—that's a concept even Reader's Digest Editor-In-Chief, the number two man, at decided that if the body had been moved would support. Reader's Digest; Maleki is a Digest Research from one casket to another, and if the 4 DAILY NEWS Wed waday March 1906 FW Author Wins $120 that this has now been de- stroyed or suppressed by the Report put out Police Department. (it) leads me Million Libel Suit to suspect that there is more to this story than the Police De- partment put in its report that By LEONARD SANDERS was put out today." David Atlee Phillips, member of a well known Fort Worth family, has won frill retraction and an out-of-court on RFK killing The commission, at a packed settlement in his $120 million. four-year libel suit hearing at Parker Center, unan- against the authors and publisher of imously recommended that a 1980 book, "Death in Little new data in LAPD summary Bradley appoint City Archivist Washington." Hynda Rudd, City Librarian Phillips, also an author, was chief By JEFF SNYDER Wyman H. Jones and Dr. Amar- of the Western Hemisphere desk at and FRANK GREENWALT he was a child. jit S. Marwah, president of the the Central Intelligence Agency owvol..ismowmws In addition, the report cov- Cultural Heritage Commission, upon his retirement in 1975. ered the lengthy investigations to the committee. Under terms of the agreement. the The assassination of Robert into various tips received by po- Bradley pledged to follow the amount of the settlement was not F. Kennedy was carried out by lice after the assassination, in- commission's recommendations disclosed. Sirhan B. Sirhan, acting alone, cluding many people who came and said he would appoint other "It's a sum suitable to us," Phillips and there was no evidence of a forward and claimed to either people to the committee, which said. conspiracy in the 1968 slaying know or be the infamous "girl also would establish a timetable In the book, authors Donald Freed of the senator at the Anbassa- in the polka dot dress" who sup- for the release of the remaining Leonard seeders and Fred S. Landis alleged that dor Hotel, according to a police posedly was seen talking to documents. Phillips directed a coverup operation to hide supposed of summary of the investigation Sirhan before Kennedy was "I'li act as quickly as I can," links between the CIA and the 1976 assassination released Tuesday. shot. Bradley said later while attend- Orlando Letelier. A former foreign minister of Chile, "Sirhan Sirhan fired the fatal A witness, whose statements ing a political event at Olvera Letelier was killed in Washington. shots that killed Senator Rob- later were discounted by police, Phillips had retired from the CIA approximately 18 Street in downtown Los AnT months before the Letelier assassination. ert F. Kennedy and wounded claimed also to have heard the les. Further, the authors alleged that Phillips was five others." the report con- "girl in the polka dot dress" run Sirhan was captured in the "Maurice Bishop," identified as a CIA officer supposed- cluded about the June 5. 1968, out of the Embassy Room area hotel pantry just after the shots ly in contact with Lee Harvey Oswald before the slaying. after the shooting and shout, that felled Kennedy and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A "This was established be- "We shot him. We shot him. others were fired. He was tried photograph of Phillips reproduced in the book bore the yond any doubt by We just shot Senator Kenne- before a jury in Los Angeles Su- caption, 'The other Lee Harvey Oswald." eyewitnesses and physical evi- dy." perior Court and convicted Contacted at his home in Bethesda, Md., Phillips in- dence." the report said. "There A young woman who authori- April 17, 1969. dicated that the "symbolic part" of the agreement was was no evidence of a conspira- ties believe was the "girl in the His writings that were found of prime consideration. cy in the crime." polka dot dress" testified at in his home reveal the assassi- The agreement calls for a full-page advertisement in The conclusions arrived at in Sirhan's 1969 trial. Police, ac- nation plan and express hatred a "major media magazine," publishing the retraction. the report were made in Febru- cording to the summary re- for Kennedy's pro-Israeli The advertisement is scheduled to appear in a forthcom- ary 1968, prior to the start of leased Tuesday, discounted var- stance. ing issue of Publisher's Weekly. Sirhan'a trial. ious rumors that she was The publisher of "Death in Washington," Lawrence Sirhan was sentenced to die Hill & Co. of Westport, Conn., issued a statement: "In Paul Schrade, a Kennedy involved in any conspiracy. in the gas chamber on April 23, campaign adviser and former The whole report also dis- light of the foregoing statements by the authors, the 1969. However, his sentence publisher expresses its regret that the book as publish- union official, criticized the counted any theories of a con- later was changed to life impris- summary released by the Los spiracy, including a "second ed contained the statements now retracted by the onment after the California Su-. authors." Angeles Police Commission. gun" scenario advanced by sev- preme Court struck down the Schrade contended the remain- In one of his own books, "The Night Watch: 25 Years eral writers and private investi- death penalty law in 1972. described the difficulty of ing 50,000 pages of actual inves- gators. Included in the report of Peculiar Service," Phillips Sirhan has been denied parole reconciling what he deemed a necessary and honorable tigative files could contain evi- were accounts of all the theo- profession with the dire impressions of the CIA his seven dence of a conspiracy and a ries. along with the investiga- eight times. His next hearing before the Calfornia Parole children received from the media during the Vietnam second gunman. tive efforts and the police con- era. "First of all, they want their clusion that they were in error. Board is scheduled for March A native of Fort Worth, he is the author of two other one-gun theory the only theory The heavily censored, 1,453- 27. books, 'The Great Texas Murder Trials," an examina- on record," Schrade said. page summary was released af- The report released by the tion of the T. Cullen Davis cases, and "The Carlos Con- "They're trying to protect that ter years of pressure from sev- police commission concluded tract," a novel based on the international terrorist and they don't want it ques- eral fronts and led by Schrade: that Sirhan acted with premedi- known as Carlos. tioned by anyone. who was shot in the head in the tation and was legally sane He has founded a legal action fimd, Challenge, Inc., "I think the public has a right gunfire that also wounded four when he fired the bullets into to help former intelligence officers and other former to know these things and I others. Kennedy at close range. government officials to bring libel suits. The fund cur- think the files ought to be Police commission members rently is supporting two other cases involving former opened quickly," he added. handed or to Mayor Tom Police commission Vice Presi- U.S. officials. In addition, Phillips is pursuing legal ad Schrade said he would decide Bradley the task of screening dent Barbara Schlei said the de- tire in London, where some of the offending material in the next few days whether to and releasing the remaining lay in releasing the summary was "picked up" and republished. go to court to get the rest of the 50,000 pages of investigative occurred because the commis- Acknowledging that the settlement was not a total vic- sion wanted to establish guide- tory, Phillips added, "I think I was exonerated to the investigative file. files that Schrade and others extent that I think our system does or should allow ex- "Under the Public Records have been seeking for almost 18 lines protecting privacy for the years. They also asked the may- eventual release of the actual oneration." Act, we have a right to make a investigative material. He explained: "It's a very difficult line, whether you're request for the records," he or to appoint a special commit- a lawyer, a journalist, or an intelligence man, to know said tee to screen the remaining doc- Daily News staff writer John just where that line is between the First Amendment Kennedy, a U.S. senator from uments and decide when — or if Namibia also contributed to this and the practice of secret operations." New York, was gunned down as — they should be made public. story. he walked through the Ambas- "You are doing a public rela- sador Hotel pantry after declar- tions gesture by providing this FWST 10-21-85 (edited) ing victory in California's Dem- summary," said Schrade, now ocratic presidential primary to a an American Civil Liberties Un- crowd of about 2,000 supporters ion organizer who lives in the Book offers inside look at TV in the hotel's Embassy Room. Hollywood Hills. "I'm very optimistic about this He was 42. Schrade contended that the country ... because when you see what coun- Slrhan. now 41. was arrested actual investigative documents tries are doing to people like me for just saying immediately. contain a statement from an something, and ... when you see what I'm get- The summary contains a FBI investigator indicating ting in this country for doing the same thing, you there may have been a second tend to think that It's not a bad place. The thing graphic account of the killing about this country is if you attack the establish- from eyewitnesses, but dis- gunman at the hotel because ment and do It well, they make you a member of closes few, if any, new details several extra bullets were the establishment immediately!" about the assassination or the found lodged in a door jam. So said philosopher Art Bachweld to 60 Min- KSWITT GIVES good dish, meet of It funny, lengthy investigation. However, he claimed evi- utes like how Lyndon leanness once made him run • • • along behind the presidential car, and why 60 It also describes various peo- dence pointing to a second gun- THIS IS just one of many delightful and dew Minutes and the FBI both poured over photos of ple and groups, including those man, including X-rays and the dingguotes made by the famous in the forthcom the crowd that surrounded Gov. George Wal- with Arab, possible communist door jam, has been destroyed. lag book by CBS producer Dos Hewitt. The lace when be was shot, trying to discover If one or right-wing ties, with which "1 don't know that there was memoir, to be published by Random Houses' the man therein could have been G. Gerdes Liddy. two guns firing in there," end of November, landed Minute By Minute. It is He tells why Bobby Kennedy wasn't interested Sirhan might have been associ- Hewitt's own slangy, breezy, often thoughtful in examining any "conspiracy theory" in the ated. Sirium, who lived with his Schrade said after Tuesday's account of his life and times, especially as chief- death of President Kennedy (because Hewitt family in Pasadena, is Palestini- police commission hearing. tain of the most famous news-documentaryM• thinks RFK didn't believe there was a conspire. an. His family fled Jordan when "But when there is evidence terview show In television history. cyl. 5 been instrumental in introducing Mari- lyn to the Kennedy brothers, helped to "sanitize" her home after her death, THE MONROE REPORT removing notes, papers and diaries News staffers at ABC-TV cry `cover-up' when their bosses kill a 20/20 that might have linked her to the politi- cians. No records were found, though magazine segment on Marilyn Monroe's links to Jack and Bobby Kennedy Marilyn was known to be an inveterate Py.OPL* 10-21-85 scribbler. The truth remains elusive. 0 Sources for the stories—a maid, neighbors, friends—give often incon- sistent accounts. Last week Arledge told the New York Times that the 20/20 segment "set out to be a piece which would demonstrate that because of alleged relations between Bobby Kennedy and John Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe the Presidency was compromised be- cause organized crime was involved." He said he axed the finished product because it did not "live up to its bill- ing"—it was "gossip-column stuff." Summers. who was interviewed by 20/20. differs. "As a lone reporter," he says. "I was both interested and ap- prehensive to see what 20/20 would do with its vast resources and dollars. I found they carried (the investigation) even further than I did." "It was a superb job of reporting," insists Hugh Downs. "If'we had Wt was said/sumsIsm. says Hugh Downs. Ceerweeneset Sylvia Chase, says Gerald° Barbara Walters reportedly expressed her zeroed in on the owner of an oil com- of the canceled Monroe documentary. Rivera. "double-checked the segment." dismay to Arledge about his spiking the story.' pany. it would not have been called sleazy. I believe a dead President be- longs to history, and history should be hen the decision came accurate." Rivera likens ABC's action down. Barbara Walters, Ger- to the cover-ups 20/20 is itself used aldo Rivera and Hugh Downs W to exposing. "If a politician did this," stood together on the set of ABC's he says, "we'd all do an exposé. But 20/20. Linking arms to symbolize their it happened within our own ranks." unanimity, the trio of TV news person- —Written by William Plummer, reported alities vowed to protest the network's by Jane Hall, Ron LaBrecque and last-minute decision to kill an investi- Susan Vaughn gative segment on the mysterious cir- cumstances surrounding the 1982 These developments occurred both death of Marilyn Monroe, complete before and after publication of with interviews about the movie the People story - 10/1).: Summers queen's alleged affairs with both John and Bobby Kennedy. If the three were told AP the cancellation was a disturbed by upper management's result of biased news management move to yank the Monroe segment, and political pressure." Smith they and those who worked on the re- port were outraged by ABC News chief told 4P Arledge did call the pro- Roone Arledge's remark to columnist gram "sleazy journalism" and "I Liz Smith that the minldocumentary even asked him 'Is that what you was "a piece of sleazy journalism." really want to say?'" 10/5: Smith CONTINUED reported Ethel Kennedy "got awf- ,6$C-TV News West Roane Anodes (with ully angry with ABC when they Ethel Kennedy in 19731 says hie friendship with the Kennedy* had nothing to do with his killing allowed...Sirhan...on Nightline." ins segment on Marilyn (lett photographed 10/8: The Los Angeles County Board . a month before her Aug. 4, 1962 death). of Supervisors asked for a grand jury investigation of HM's death. Arledge has since claimed that he friends with a number of people. But Summers' book is both a biography 10/9: Arledge agrees to meet with was misquoted, but the damage was just last night he said, 'I wouldn't cen- and a detective tale that seeks to es- Downs, Walters, Chase and pro- done. "That remark was off base," sor anything because it would offend a tablish what really happened during says Downs. "I don't associate myself friend. I've already offended half the Marilyn's last days and hours—wheth- ducer Av Westin. 10/10: ABC says with sleazy reporting." "I'm appalled," friends I have.' " er she was murdered (as the darkest the cancellation was made by the adds Rivera. "I think that story was a Case closed? Hardly. Network em- legend has it). took her own life (the of- entire top echelon of ABC News, solid piece of TV reporting. They are ployees say that the Monroe portion ficial version) or simply overestimated including Arledge, adding that the not going to get away with this. It's go- was one of 20/20§ most ambitious her capacity for the barbiturates that ing to be a major controversy." projects and that it had been thorough- killed her. Summers ends up plumping premise was judged inadequately It already is. The report was sup- ly researched. Sylvia Chase. whom TV for the last and least melodramatic of supported. 10/12: Smith reports posed to have aired September 26 Guide has called "the most trusted the three. But he also speculates in- insiders deny others were involved (originally 28 minutes in length, the woman on TV," was the correspon- triguingly on long-standing rumors that in the decision. 10/21: Geraldo segment was cut to 17 and finally to 13 dent, and the report was co-produced Teamster boss Jimmy Hotta had Mon- minutes), then was postponed to Octo- by Stanhope Gould. who earned a roe's home bugged, tape-recording Rivera, saying "the recent frict- ber 3, then killed. Arledge has been 1972-73 news Emmy. ABC sources say -Marilyn's evenings of dalliance with ion accelerated (my) decision," attempting ever since to both hold his that Arledge. who generally lets exec- Jack and Robert Kennedy. Hotta sup- quit 20/20 and ABC. 10/27: LA grand ground and pacify the disrupted net- utive producer Av Westin call the shots posedly planned to blackmail Bobby to jury foreman can Cordova, after work. Normally a mild-mannered com- on 20/20, approved the Monroe inves- get him to ease up on his war against pany man, Downs has said that he "will tigation, then had objections to the 26- the Teamsters and organized crime. considering the new allegations, not be involved in a cover-up for the minute segment. A shortened version According to staffers who have seen asks for a special prosecutor to company." Rivera has been even more was ready f or broadcast, but just be- the canceled ABC report, the TV ver- help the grand jury. 10/28: Cordo- outspoken. "The decision," he says, fore airtime Arledge yanked it. In fact, sion went even further. The 20/20 seg- va fired by LA District Attorney "smacks of cronyism, though I can't says one staffer, "Sylvia Chase was in ment is said to have inclUded on-air In- prove that." the studio getting her hair and makeup terviews with men who say they did The Ira Weiner, allegedly because of The suggestion is that the network's done when it was canceled." bugging on Hoff a's orders. complaints by jurors he was making many connections to the Kennedy The stillborn segment was, accord- Interestingly, the BBC has complet- unauthorized statements on their family influenced the decision to snuff ing to Downs. "a deeper incursion into ed a parallel documentary called The the controversial segment. Arledge, the Kennedy mystique than we've ever Last Days of Marilyn Monroe. sched- behalf. 10/10: Smith reports Life for instance. is a longtime friend of seen." By most reports, however. the uled to air in Britain on October 25 (and magazine killed it's JFK/WN cover Ethel Kennedy, Bobby's widow. Jeff legwork for the 20/20 piece was large- in the U.S. on Seiec TV on October 201. and major report by it's own re- Rune, 33. an Arledge assistant, is mar- ly, if indirectly, done by British author that covers much of the same ground. porters because "everyone was wor- ried to Courtney Kennedy. 29. the fifth Anthony Summers. 42. A former BBC Like Summers, the 88C documenta- of Bobby's 11 children. David Burke. correspondent, co-author of The ry reportedly contends that Bobby king off the same material." vice-president of ABC News. is a for- File on the Tsar and author of Consoir- Kennedy. who wanted to break off 10/11: Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who did mer aide to Ted Kennedy. Arledge de- acylabout the assassination of JFK). their relationship. visited Monroe on the MK autopsy, called for a new clines to comment on these charges. Summers has just published Goddess: the last day of her life. Summers' book investigation so the new evidence Queried on the matter. Maurie Pert. ' The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe and the BBC also speculate strongly Press representative for the program. (Macmillan, 618.951. The 20/20 staf f re- that Kennedy brother-in-law Peter can "be confirmed or negated." says. "It is known that (Arledge] is portedly followed the book closely. Lawford, who lived nearby and had 11/8: Reiner says there isn't even 6 murdered a "bare suspicion" MN was FWST 1-28-86 Chairman Albert Leddy said it and recommended no new investigat- had been "a difficult decision," ion was needed. 11/22(1): LA grand stressing that the board wanted to jury says "(we) will not pursue treat Sirhan the same as any other the "arilyn "onroe case any furth- prisoner. Sirhan bid "We wished (also) to assure the er" and had no explanation. 12/2: safety of the people of California," Arledge reveals CBS also declined Leddy said. "The offense was car- to do the NM story. 12/16: Sylvia ried out in a cruel and callous man- Chase quits 20/20 and ABC, saying for parole ner. The crime was an attack on the democratic system of the United the NM decision was not a factor.. States." 1/27: Roone Arledge promoted to Sirhan. who will have another Group President of ABC News & hearing next year, apologized to the Sports, a new position created by is rejected parole panel during a hearing. but a Cap Cities, Inc., the new owner Associated Press prosecutor argued that Sirhan of ABC. "eanwhile, Summers is SOLEDAD, Calif. — Sirhan Sirhan should not be freed because his was denied parole for the eighth crime was -an enormous offense working on new material to be time Thursday. against the American people." added to the upcoming paperback The parole board called the 1968 "I'm sorry it happened." said version of "Goddess." murder of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Sirhan. 42. "I wish it had never hap- "an attack on the democratic system pened." of the United States." sr The convicted assassin. flinched as Los Angeles Deputy District At- the ruling was announced. His eyes torney Larry Trapp told the panel, appeared to fill with tears as he lis- the eighth to consider freedom for sacRalloH Amiga )Itio tened to the board's statement. Sirhan since he first was eligible for which called for him to undergo in- parole in 1975, that it should "send Sunday, March 30, 1986 tensive psychiatric testing and out the message this is a crime that MEMORY LANE: 1a1981, therapy and to be transferred to the will never be tolerated or treated state medical facility at Vacaville.50 with mitigation." Pi...ideas Reagan was shot and ( wounded by Ake W. Hinckley Jr. miles east of San Francisco. Kennedy was appearing at a cam- The three-member panel deliber- paign event at a Los Angeles hotel at the Washington Hilton HoteL ated for 2% hours. At S rha Ws previ- during his bid for the 1968 Demo- ous hearing, a different board took cratic presidential nomination just three minutes to reject his bid. when he was slain.

man in the whole United States to shoot rne, B Who I'd pick Oswald. I saw that man shoot, and OOK there's no way he could have ever learned to shoot well enough to do what they accused W

him of." ORLD/TH Killed But Hurt is less persuasive when he seeks to assemble an alternative scenario. Every- one in his story has a purpose, every event a

larger meaning. There is little room for WASH E President chance, for serendipity, for the random man- ner in which most people lead their lives. And the only major piece of new evidence Kennedy? in Reasonable Doubt is singularly unconvinc- INGT ing. This is the testimony of one Robert Wil-

fred Easterling, who has told Hurt at great P ON REASONABLE DOUBT length of his role in a conspiracy to kill the An investigation into the president. According to Easterling, he was Assassination of John F. Remedy approached at the Habana Bar in New Or- OST/F By henry Hurt leans in Febrary 1963 by one Manuel Riv-

Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 555 pp. $19.95 era, apparently an agent for the Cuban gov- EBR By J. Anthony Lukas ernment, who prornised to pay him well for his help in the assassination. It was Rivera UA himself who did the shooting. Easterling ARELY A MONTH after John says, but the elaborate plan involved firing RY Kennedy's assassination, I arrived Oswald's rifle into a barrel of water to obtain 1 in Christchurch. New Zealand, on a bullets which could later be used to mislead 6 B reporting trip for The New York investigators; an Oswald "clone" Who made 1986 , Times. Since breaking news was hard to himself conspicuous at the Tex .3 Book De- come by in that fair, bucolic land. I was de- pository both before and after the assassina- lighted to stumble on a small group of expa- tion; and a large wooden box used to smug- triate Americans, who had gone there to es- gle the real death weapon out of the De- cape the threat of nuclear war in the North- pository some time later. ern Hemisphere. One night at their bunga- UM,101.19.0POOMMIl Years later, Rivera's younger brother, low on the city's edge, the conversation The assassin's view through a telescopic gun sight this puture was taken from the same Francisco, encountered Easterling in San turned to the president's death. It was from window in the Texas Book Depository uith the auto in approximately the same position as WO President Kennedy's car Pedro Suls, ficeduras. After drinking for them that I first encountered profound dis- several hours at a hotel bar, Francisco told trust of the official version. And their suspi- Lee Harvey Oswald was solely responsible into which the government kept slipping the Easterling that he had seen his picture on cion went far beyond the assassination itself for killing Jack Kennedy. "familiar manipulation of facts to build a case the wall of Raid Castro's den. To prove this. to encompass the very agencies charged Hurt takes pains to emphasize that he is against Oswald.- and finally the Warren he pulled from his pocket a small portfolio of with investigating the crime, the integrity of not part of the grassy-knoll crew. that band Conunision's "flagrant disregard for the Photographs showing the items on Raul's the Ametiom system itself. of stalwart conspiracy theorists whom I first truth." wall—pictures of Easterling, Oswald. Ruby, "So what are you really saying?" I finally encountered in New Zealand. A roving editor David Ferrie, Manuel Rivera and still an- asked in some exasperation. "That the CIA. for Readers Digest, he has written an earlier HERE (S ample reason, of course. other of a Cnsch-made rifle attached to a the Texas oil industry and the South Viet- book about a Soviet defector and has a con- to doubt the commission's re- wooden board, above a mahogany plaque Ur namese government joined hands to kill the tinuing interest in the intelligence communi- ceived wisdom. Hurt is most con- scribed "Kennedy 1963." president?" "Possible." said an intense ty. But his only previous work on the Ken- vincing in his meticulous dissec- By Hurt's own description, Easterling is "a young Midwesterner. "That's what you have T nedy assassination was research for Edward tion of its scenario. Although little of his ma- terribly sullied witness." Pasts of his story to understand. Anything is possible." Jay Epstein's Legend: The Secret World of terial is fresh, he skillfully marshals existing are "obviously preposterous" He 4 "a mul- I thought of that conversation the other Lee Harvey Oswald. Hurt concedes that, like data to expose gaping lacunae in the argu- tiple felon, an ex-convict, a raging alcoholic, day when I finished Reasonable Doubt, Henry many Americans, he had "a general feeling ment. The bungled autopsy, for example. a diagnosed psychotic and schizophrenic,- Hurt's major new study of the Kennedy as- that the official version seemed illogically still astonishes after all these years. Cyril who has been committed to mental institu- sassination. After 555 pages exhaustively simplistic," but insists that during his early Wecht, a former president of the American tions an several occasions. Yet Hurt chas- analyzing the two-gunman theory, the labors on Reasonable Doubt he "fully ex- Academy of Forensic Medicine, may not tises the FBI for failing to take Easterling's "magic bullet," Officer Tippet's clipboard. pected that at any moment I would encoun- have been exaggerating much when he de- story seriously. David Ferrie's alibi, Jack Ruby's long dis- ter that single, unalterable piece of evidence clared, "This is the kind of examination that In the final analysis. Hurt concedes. "It is tance phone calls, Clay Shaw's whips and that left no question that Oswald was the would not be tolerated in a routine murder not possible to prove that Easterling's con- chains. I could come to only one rational con- man who killed Kennedy." case by a good crew of homicide detectives fession is true." Indeed. "it is useless, if not clusion: anything is possible. Perhaps, but his suspension of judgment in most major cities of America." foolish, to attempt to argue conclusively in If one accepts Henry Hurt's analysis. the didn't seem to last very long. Throughout The ballistics studies seem just as slip- favor of a particular theory. . Too much only scenario which is virtually impossible is this volume. Hurt is openly contemptuous of shod. There remain good grounds to doubt pertinent evidence is the Warren Conunission's conclusion: that the conventional version. He writes of the either missing, de- Osvrald's ability to perform such remarkably stroyed. or languishing under seals of na- "gross incompetence" of the president's au- fast and accurate shooting with his old. tional security. Hope for a final answer must J. Anthony Lukas is a Pulitzer Prize-tanning topsy; the "whole corrupt package" of evi- clumsy Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, or for that reporter. His latest book is "Common Ground: be held in abeyance until the day when there dence in Officer Tippit's shooting; the matter with any weapon. Sherman Cooley. is full access to those secrets." A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three "whole dismal debacle" of the destruction of an expert hunter who served with Oswald in American Families.- In the meantime, anything and everything military records: the "quicksands of deceit" the Marine Corps. said, "If I had to pick one is possible. •

7 APRIL 3-17, 1981 THE FLINT VOICE The Strange Murder of Officer Tippit Dale Myers, a local radio announcer pit scene within the allowed time. pistol." and businessman, has spent the past five The commission staffers argued that it No doubt, Hill was surprised 20 years conducting an independent in- was indeed possible, based on the minutes later, when he and fellow of- vestigation into the assasination of testimony of Domingo Benavides, who ficers arrested Lee Harvey Oswald at the President John Kennedy. One element is alleged to have reported the shooting Texas theater and discovered that he was of that investigation has dealt with the on Tippit's police radio at 1:16 p.m. armed with a .38 pistol: which wasn't murder of Dallas police officer J.D. However, the commission failed to equipped to fire automatic ammunition. Tippit an hour after Kennedy was shot. study the tape recordings of the Dallas Eight months later, when the Warren The Warren Commission declared that police radio and instead relied on Commission released its report, it was Lee Harvey Oswald shot Tippit. Myers, Benavides' testimony and an F.B.I. revealed that the shells recovered by though, has obtained documents transcript of the Dallas police tapes. police at the Tippit shooting scene were through the Freedom of Information Careful study by this researcher pistol shells, and that they were fired in Act that shed a new light on this in- reveals that the shooting was actually Oswald's handgun to the exclusion of all cident. reported by T.F. Howley; not Benavides, other weapons!!! and that this occurred at 1:17:34 p.m., a Careful study of this incident raises By Dale Myers minute and a half later than the official even more questions concerning the ONE OF THE most overlooked and time. shoddy handling of the only solid link Benavides' own testimony (and tape) under-researched aspects of the between Oswald and the death of J.D. recordings back him up) also indicate assassination of President John F. Ken- Tippit. Officer Tippit that 3 or 4 minutes elapsed between the nedy has been the murder of Dallas Initially, doubts were voiced by doubt on the conclusions of both govern- time Tippit was shot and the time it was Patrolman J.D. Tippit. researchers, when Warren Commission ment committees, as well as shedding reported to police by Howley. Tippit was killed while alledgedly at- staffers discovered that the slugs light on initial reactions to the Kennedy Following months of careful study, it tempting to arrest Lee Harvey Oswald, recovered from the body of Tippit did and Tippit killings by police officials. was determined that Tippit stopped• and forty-five minutes after the murder of not correspond to the shells discarded at Shortly after 1:00 p.m., thirty minutes then wai shot, by a man sometime bet- the president. the scene. following the assassination of President ween I:11 p.m. and 1:14 p.m. The death of Officer Tippit is what Under further questioning by Warren Kennedy, Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit In the course of this phase of the in- lead to the arrest of Oswald, who wasn't Commission staff investigators, Detec- was cruising the 400 block of 10th street vestigation, a startling discrepancy was charged with the Kennedy assassination tive Gerald Hill denied stating over the in the Dallas suburb of Oak Cliff. discovered. until eight hours later. police radio that the shells shown to him According to the "official" record, Almost two minutes of time is unac- Staff investigator for the Warren by J.M. Poe were "automatics." Tippit stopped a man walking along the counted for on channel-one of the Commission, David Bella, stated in 1964 Staff investigators dropped the mat- residential street and following a brief Dallas police tapes. that the Tippit shooting was the "Roset- ter, and never checked the Dallas police conversation through the vent window The discrepancy falls between 1:12 ta Stone" of the case against Oswald. tape recordings which prove that Hill of his patrol car, Tippit emerged to fur- and 1:14 p.m.; during the crucial With so much emphasis on the Tippit did make that statement. ther question the suspect. As Tippit ap- moments when Tippit was gunned murder, it is puzzling that so little in- The 1964 investigation also fails to proached, the man withdrew a gun from down. vestigative research was dedicated to it clarify the "chain-of-evidence" regar- underneath his jacket and fatally shot Investigators have often questioned by the Warren Commission and more ding the spent cartridges. the officer four times. why Tippit did not advise the dispatcher importantly, the House Select Commit- Under questioning, Warren Com- Following the Warren Report prior to leaving his patrol car, a stan- tee on Assassinations. mission researchers learned that the release, assassination researchers im- dard police procedure. Two years of exhaustive research by police officers who handled the shells mediately charged that Oswald could Two minutes of missing tape raises the this investigator, and the release of could not identify them. not possibly have covered the distance speculation that Tippit may have, in previously suppressed documents throw between his rooming house and the Tip- Two months later, the F.B.I.- was fact. radioed the dispatcher with called in to clear up the matter, and relevant information. while questioning Officer Poe, Fort Worth STAR-TELEGRAM eai v rum 11-17-67 Evidence unearthed by this researcher discovered that Poe could not find his indicates a gunman other than Oswald. identifying initials on either of the shells Several witnesses at the scene told in- he is credited with handling at the Tippit vestigators that two men were seen near scene, and later turned over to crime lab Tippit's patrol car during the shooting. officer W.E. Barnes. Oswald's Mother As one left the scene on foot, the Barnes told the F.B.I. that the same other jumped into a light-colored shells were the two given to him by Poe automobile and drove off. on the afternoon of November 22nd. Additional research revealed a curious Even though the chain of evidence Asks Disinterment set of transmissions broadcast over the had been broken, the matter was drop- city police and the sheriff department ped and the F.B.I. relied on the By BILL HENDRICKS Her sorts body is encased in Mrs. Oswald sends many radios shortly after the shooting. testimony of W.E. Barnes in its report to Mrs Marguerite Oswald a heavy concrete vault. buried telegrams to officials; includ- Less.than ten minutes after Tippit fell the commission. said Thursday night that she at Rose Hill Burial Park. ing President Johann. dead, Dallas City Police and Sheriff Oswald was arrested and in police wants to exhume the body of Mrs Oswald said she has no Most recently, she sent a Deputies were told to be on the look out custody a little more than five hours her son, accused presidential idea how to go abed getting telegram to Sen. Robert Ken- for a white Pontiac station wagon, wan- before being formally arraigned on a assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Lee Harvey's body exhumed. nedy, brother of the late pres- ted in connection with the Tippit charge of murder in connection with the Site made this revelation in She lives in a modest brick ident. slaying. killing of Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit. the course of an interview at house at NU Byers. In the telegram. Mrs. Os- City police officers later reported that her home. If police had possession of spent shells Mrs Oswald said she is es- wald made reference to an ar- the same car was also wanted in connec- "I would now like to ask to tranged from her two other ticle written by the senator matching the revolver taken from tion with the assassination of President have my aon's body ex- sons. Lee Harvey's widow and and published In Look maga- Oswald at the Texas theater: why was humed." she said. her grandchildren. zine. "What We Can Do to Kennedy, and had been seen at a service there such a long delay in charging him Mrs. Oswald, who observed She lives alone with her End the Agony of Vietnam." station, occupied by two white males with Tippit's slaying? her 60th birthday July 19. said only companion a young Ger- The telegram to Kennedy who had a shotgun or a rifle laying in the Investigation reveals that all four she belie%es an esamination man Shepherd. named Fritz. stated, "There can be no back seat. shells allegedly recovered at the Tippit of Lee Harvey's remains Setts •Ssavealrs' peace until the truth is told The most interesting aspect of the scene were not in police possession until wnWdsomeahatdiscredit "I'm the mother of this boy about the tragedy in Dallas." mysterious "white automobile" is the a few minutes prior to Oswald's official portions of the Warren Re- 1 Lee Harvey) and I'm suffer- Mrs. Oswald talked u she fact that two police agencies connected port. arraignment. ing." she said. . paced about the living room the Kennedy and Tippit murders She explained: Mrs. Oswald, who worked Considering the fact that the F.B.I. — a copy of the famous Whis- through persons other than Oswald. The Warren Report contains as a practical nurse before tler painting of his mother sit- was unable to connect Lee Harvey among its M refer- her son became history. has ting in a rocking chair hang• almost 30 minutes prior to the arrest of Oswald to the assassination of J.F.K. ences to two scars said to be not held a lob since the assas- ing on a wall On another wall the man who, later, would be formally until the day after his arrest, the deadly on Oswald's body. One is a sination. is a plaque inscribed: charged with both killings. importance of all the shenanigans slash mark, said to have been She has not sought work, "My Son: Lee Harvey Os- Witnesses to the shooting reported to revolving around the Dallas police han- self inflicted, on Oswald's left Mrs. Oswald said, because wald Even after his death police that they saw the suspect drop wrist. And there is a gunshot dling of the Tippit case is reflected in the she believes no one would has done more for his country several shells at the location as he fled, - wound, said to have been the Warren Commission testimony of Ted want to employ her. than any other living human and indeed, police recovered 4 shells result of Oswald's acciden- She has earned her living Callaway: being " during the course of the afternoon. tally discharging a weapon by auctioning "Lee's letters" 'Mr " Detective Jim Leavelle met us s. ()wild often seemed Patrolman J.M. Poe was given two while in the Marines and other "personal" items. near tears and at one point and took us into this room where they No Such Scars Mrs. Oswald said she sold exclaimed. -I'm a• victim of spent cartridges shortly after Tippit's showed us the lineup... and Jim told us, Mrs Oswald said she Is two letters about six weeks the assassination " murder, by eyewitness Domingo 'When I show you these guys... see if convinced there are so such ago for 5150 each . Shevontinued. "I should not Benavides. you can make a positive iden- scars What happens when the let• have to suffer being the Several minutes later, homicide detec- tification...We want to try to wrap him "I think now would be the tern are all sold' mother of an assassin unless tive Gerald Hill was shown these shells time to exhume this . (Oswald) up real tight on killing this of- boy's "I I on t know," she it is proved " body and see if he has these by Poe. Walking to a nearby patrolcar, ficer. We think he is the same one that answered. Finally. she said, "I'm wait- Hill called the dispatcher: "The shells at shot the president. But if we can wrap scars." Mrs Oswald said Mn Oswald said she has ing for you to say how good I theicene indicate that the suspect is ar- him up tight on killing this officer, we Mrs Oswald explained that devoted all her time to an in- look .Everyone has " med with an automatic .38 rather than a have got him." she meant she believed now is vestigation of the assassina- Mrs Oswald named two "the time" because the fourth tion. other news reporters who. she anniversary at the usasaina- Many Telegrams said had remarked about her lion of President Kennedy is She has read several vol. appearance next week. Nov. tames about the tragedy. 8

(This article is an excerpt from a long profile on Bob Schieffer, then a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now with CBS News.)

November 3, 1985 Slle Eui...efor ,, ,, :NAm called the newspaper to make sure should have written it all, but I "I almost interviewed Oswald," it really happened." didn't. I tempered it. How can you he says. But as he accompanied Mrs. One woman called and asked if be hard on someone whose son has Oswald in to a meeting with her • someone could drive her to Dallas. just done something like that?" son, an FBI agent realized he was a In 1963, he was home sleeping "Look lady," Schieffer barked The Dallas police assumed reporter and chased him off. when his mother called to tell him into the phone. "This isn't a taxi Schieffer was a Fort Worth police It took several months for President Kennedy had been shot. service. The president's been shot." officer and he didn't correct them. Schleifer to recover from the assas- Though he'd been working late the "I know," she said, "I think my "I always wore a hat, the same Dick sination. "It was emotional burn night before, Schieffer jumped out son is the man who shot him." Tracy hat the cops wore. I told them out," he says. "You can't imagine of bed and drove to the Star-Tele- It was Marguerite Oswald. I wanted to stay with Mrs. Oswald so how people in Fort Worth and Dal- gram Borrowing a car and a driver, they gave me an office . . . with a las felt." "Just as I got to the parking lot, it Schieffer drove Oswald's mother to phone." But Schieffer says he also came over the radio that Kennedy Dallas. While hundreds of reporters learned a lesson in good reporting. was dead," Schieffer remembers. "I "She was the real villain," he scrambled to nearby buildings in "Whenever I talk to journalism liked him a lot and I felt so badly." says. "The first thing she said was search of pay phones, Schieffer qui- classes, I always tell them to wear a He lielfed them answer phones. that people would feel sorry for etly gathered information from the hat," he says with a laugh. "That old "People just couldn't believe what Oswald's wife and give her a lot of Star-Telegram reporters and called snap-brim got me into a lot of they saw on television so they money and she wouldn't get any. I it in to the newspaper. places."

BRIrFS....The aerial photograph on page 1 makes Harris or the WP review of Reasonable Doubt.... the freeway/underpass area look much bigger than John P Adamcik, 28-year veteran of the Dallas it really is; researcher Larry Howard videotaped „Police, died around January 1; he was one of the rd at the places where he stood, from Officer. 'officers who searched the Paine home on 11/22 Brown's location and the suspects' location - and 11/23....Also dead is Newton T. ("Dolly") all are completely convincing....Reasonable Fisher, a retired assistant chief with the Doubt, which has yet to be reviewed by the local Dallas Police, of Alzheirer 's disease early in papers, has received decidedly mixed reviews DaAerber 1985; on 11/22, Fisher, who knew both nationally and is not yet on the best seller 9:* and Tippit, headed security at Love Field lists....According to a reporter in Robert rast- and confiscated newsfilm shot by WBAP-TV erling's hometown, "Cowboy Bob" had repeatedly photographer Jimmy Darnell. Saying "That's sac- tried to interest him in becoming his book agent religious" to film the coffin being loaded onto so "we can make a lot of money"; later, he all- Air Force 1, Fisher demanded Jimmy's closeup egedly bragged he was negotiating a $25,000 fee film and he, a newcomer to news, turned it over with Reader's Digest. The reporter, who has an - it has never been found, even though the interesting connection to Lee Harvey Oswald, has station, at my request, filed an FOI with the agreed to write his account, which included Bureau; contacted in 1982, Fisher told me he warnings to Henry Hurt about vasterling's lack had no recollection of the incident, but some of credibility, for the next newsletter (dated station personnel recall it vividly....A recent either April or "ay)...."arina Oswald Porter's episode of Twilight Zone ("Profile In Silver") suit to gain custody of the videotapes and still dealt with what may have happened if the ass- photographs of the exhumation study, after two assination had been thwarted (motorcade footage years, was scheduled for "arch 17, but.an un- in Dealey Plaza appeared to be an alternate available witness, researcher "ary Ferrell, take from the CBS docudrama Rub." and Oswald); forced a postponement to August 4; both of us CBS has canceled the series, so try to catch had agreed to testify for "arina....Thanks to the rerun - but prepare yourself for the head- Frank Krstulja for several RFK clips (with one shot knocking the President forward: or more also set for next issue), and to Larry COVERUPS! A normally bimonthly publication dedicated primarily to the responsible study of the JFK assassination and related events, including new developments and reprints of significant historical articles. En- tire contents copyright 1986. Subscription price in the US and North America is $1 per issue, $1.25 elsewhere. All back issues are the same price. Video tapes are available to subscribers only. Within the US, personal checks must clear before anything is sent; elsewhere, only money orders for US funds are accepted. One or m issues are given to contributors whose material is published. Your subscription will expire with the iss next to your name/address.

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