The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination (33 page)

The Warren Commission claimed that all the shots that hit JFK came from the Texas School Book Depository. But witnesses saw more than one man on that floor, and most said neither resembled Oswald, who had recently started working there.

But some witnesses saw shots from the Grassy Knoll, including JFK’s two closest aides in the limo directly behind JFK’s. Several Dallas deputies encountered men behind the knoll and behind the Book Depository who claimed to be secret Service agents, but no real agents were on the ground in Dealey Plaza.

This almost pristine slug is called by some the “magic bullet.” For the “single bullet theory” to work, and for Oswald to have fired all the shots that hit JFK and Governor John Connally, this bullet had to hit JFK in the back, supposedly exit his throat, then dive down and shatter four inches of Connally’s rib before smashing into his wrist bones and plowing into his thigh.

In addition to the improbability of the “magic bullet,” this autopsy sheet—and JFK’s shirt and suit coat—all show that JFK was shot in the back almost six inches below the top of his collar, as you can see in the figure on the right. yet, for the “magic bullet” theory of the Warren Commission to work, that same bullet had to emerge from JFK’s throat, just below his Adam’s Apple, which is higher than the back wound—which would have made it impossible for the bullet to then dive down and hit Governor Connally.

One of the six government investigating committees to look into aspects of JFK’s assassination was the Senate Church Committee, in 1975. Before former Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana (left) could testify about the CIA-Mafia plots, he was murdered on June 19, 1975. Jimmy Hoffa (right) had been leaking information to the Committee, and he was murdered on July 30, 1975. Santo Trafficante was linked to both murders.

Johnny Rosselli (left) kept being forced to testify to the Church Committee, and shortly after his last meeting with Trafficante, Rosselli’s body was found dismembered and floating in an oil drum near Miami. Chicago hitman Charles Nicoletti (right)was murdered on March 29, 1977, the same day Oswald’s best friend in Dallas, the anti-Communist George DeMohrenschildt, committed suicide. Both died before they could testify to the House select Committee on Assassinations.

HSCA

The local DRE chapter in New Orleans was run by a Cuban exile named Carlos Bringuier. While the DRE was a real organization managed by the CIA, the New Orleans chapter was tiny. FBI files indicate that it had only one delegate, Bringuier, and that its activities “were limited to propaganda-type efforts . . . in any available channel of the news media.” Oswald first approached Bringuier on August 5, in his clothing store, offering to help train “anti-Castro guerilla fighters.” Bringuier, an acquaintance of David Ferrie, was suspicious of Oswald and declined his offer.

Four days later, on August 9, Oswald returned to the area to promote himself publicly as proudly pro-Castro. As Dr. McKnight points out, “Oswald had noted in his address book the concentration of Cuban exile stores” in the area of his demonstration, and “if he wanted to make sure to attract Bringuier’s attention, he was in the very heart of New Orleans’ [exile] community.” Oswald was handing out “Hands off Cuba” flyers “and wearing a placard round his waist
with ‘Viva Fidel’ written in large black block letters.” Oswald soon engaged in a confrontation with Bringuier and two friends. Oswald provoked Bringuier by dropping his hands and putting “his face close to the enraged, burly Cuban, and taunt[ing], ‘OK, Carlos, if you want to hit me, hit me.’ At that point in the confrontation the police arrived and arrested all four men for creating a public disturbance.”

A New Orleans police lieutenant who talked to Oswald after his arrest later testified to the Warren Commission that Oswald “seemed to have set them [the exiles] up, so to speak, to create an incident.” The police lieutenant also said that Oswald “liked the President,” a sentiment shared by most people who ever heard Oswald mention JFK. A police sergeant observed that Oswald “knows very little about [the Fair Play for Cuba Committee] that he belongs to and its ultimate purpose or goal.” A New Orleans attorney later testified to the Warren Commission that “Oswald had told him he was being paid to hand out pro-Castro leaflets on the streets of New Orleans.”

However, Oswald’s arrest and subsequent trial were “prominently reported in the New Orleans papers” and on TV, which seems to have been the goal for both David Atlee Phillips—who was trying to build Oswald’s pro-Castro credentials so he could get into Cuba—and Banister, who wanted to make Oswald look like a pro-Castro Communist.

In addition to Guy Banister, two other Marcello connections are evident upon close inspection of Oswald’s August 1963 incident. John Martino’s son told a former Congressional investigator that in August 1963, Martino “saw Lee Harvey Oswald passing out pro-Castro leaflets in New Orleans.” That is around the time that witnesses place Martino with Carlos Marcello and Guy Banister. Historian Kurtz cites the former Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department as
saying that Martino “met with Marcello himself at the Town and Country Motel,” where Marcello had his office.

A close associate of Carlos Marcello’s lieutenant Nofio Pecora arranged Oswald’s release from jail, as documented by the Director of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. It’s interesting that Jack Ruby had called Pecora just six days earlier.

According to historian Dr. John Newman, Oswald’s August 12 trial “was well attended by local television and newspaper reporters.” Only four days later, evidently unworried about being attacked or arrested again, Oswald once more passed out pro-Castro leaflets on a New Orleans street. Though unemployed, Oswald “reportedly hired two helpers, paying them $2 apiece to help pass out his pro-Castro leaflets.” One of the men, who appeared Hispanic, has never been identified. Oswald passed out leaflets “for only a few minutes, yet the demonstration was filmed by WDSU-TV.”

On August 17, 1963, a WDSU radio host contacted Oswald and invited him to be interviewed on a weekly radio show. The radio personality “admits he had been briefed by the FBI on Oswald’s background.” Oswald came across as very intelligent and well informed. On August 21, the WDSU radio host moderated a radio debate between Oswald, Carlos Bringuier, and Ed Butler, who worked with the anti-Communist propaganda group INCA (which included Oswald’s former employer at the Reilly Coffee Company). Oswald was again articulate and did well in the debate—until he was confronted on the air about his defection to Russia, which he had not mentioned. Oswald was apparently not prepared for that, which seems odd since his defection was well publicized. However, the subject had the effect of discrediting the Fair Play for Cuba Committee to the listening public, which is what David Atlee Phillips had been trying to do
for more than two years. According to author Dick Russell, “after the taping, Oswald popped into the WDSU-TV studio for a quick interview” and said “on film that he was a Marxist.” That was good for helping Phillips build Oswald’s pro-Castro persona, but that footage would be played endlessly after JFK’s murder, cementing in much of the public’s mind that Oswald was a dangerous Communist.