by Joan Mellen
p. 59: Oswald did: Testimony of Professor Revilo Pendleton Oliver. Warren Commission Hearings. Volume XV, p. 720.
p. 59: Oswald in Baton Rouge with Kent Courtney: See Michael L. Kurtz, Crime of the Century: The Kennedy Assassination from a Historian’s Perspective (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1982), p. 203. Details are scant in this account.
p. 59: “Leon”: Courtney introduces Oswald as “Leon”: Michael Kurtz, “Lee Harvey Oswald In New Orleans.” Louisiana History (Winter 1980), p. 17.
p. 59: Kent Courtney to Hon. J. Edgar Hoover. Subject: The assassination of President Kennedy— A Telephone Call from Mrs. Marguerite Oswald to Kent H. Courtney. October 28, 1964. Northwestern State University at Natchitoches. Watson Library. Cammie G. Henry Research Center. Courtney collection. 3-I-1.
p. 59: “the entire matter of the assassination is very serious”: FBI. To: Director. From: SAC, Miami. March 10, 1967. 124-10167-10201. 89-69-1659. NARA.
p. 59: “no quarrel with Jim Garrison”: Interview with Juan Manuel Salvat, November 16, 1999.
p. 59: “you have Lee Oswald”: Interview with Irvin L. Magri Jr., July 15, 2002. Magri was present at the Larry Howard taping of Lt. Francis Martello, who then made this revelation. This Howard was working at the turn of the 1990s as a researcher for filmmaker Oliver Stone. Interviews with Bill Rester, July 15 and July 16, 2002. Both Magri and Rester were present at the interview where Martello relayed the story of the note to Howard. According to Magri, Martello said he would release the original of the note in exchange for a brand-new Lexus automobile.
p. 59: Oswald asks to see Warren de Brueys: Interviews with William Walter and L. J. Delsa, January 12, 2000.
p. 59: William Walter took the call: Interview with William Walter, January 5, 2000. See also William Walter’s testimony before the Select Committee on Assassinations, March 23, 1978. 5542345. 70 pages. Box 249. Agency file: 14029. NARA. See also: Affidavit from Mark Lane before the Orleans Parish District Attorney, January 30, 1968. NODA. Outside Contact Report, November 10, 1977. Jim Garrison interviewed by Robert Buras and Lawrence Delsa. 005193. HSCA.
p. 60: “for some security purpose”: Interview with William Walter, August 13, 2001.
p. 60: to attend a barbecue: Interview with Robert Buras, December 13, 2002. De Brueys eventually conceded that the length of Quigley’s conversation with Oswald demonstrated that the FBI had “an official interest” in Oswald and that he was a “security subject” but denied that he himself knew Oswald: HSCA testimony of Warren C. de Brueys. 189-101117-10136. 014716. Box 280. March 3, 1978. 94 pages. Executive Session. NARA. In exchange for his loyalty, the FBI reprimanded de Brueys for revealing Orestes Peña’s name as an FBI informant to HSCA. Harold N. Bassett, Assistant Director, Records Management Division to Mr. Warren C. de Brueys. June 23, 1978. FBI 124-10273-10188. 62-117290- 1024X1. NARA. Ungrateful to the FBI, CIA counter intelligence chief James Angleton disingenuously testified to the Church Committee of his distress that the Bureau had failed to turn its Oswald files over to the local police before the assassination: Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. June 19, 1975. Testimony of James Angleton. SSCIA. 157-10014-10005. 01-H-05. NARA. Warren de Brueys denies that he knew Lee Harvey Oswald: Interview with Warren de Brueys, January 15, 2000. See also: To: Director, FBI (Attention: Intelligence Division, W. O. Cregar). From: SAC, San Juan. United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities. Re: Interview of SAC Warren C. de Brueys by SSC Staff Members and Senator Richard S. Schweiker. Observations and Comments of SAC de Brueys. FBI. 124- 10273-10172. HQ. 62- 116395-1300X. NARA. See also as above HSCA testimony of Warren C. de Brueys. See also: CBS REPORTS: “The American Assassins,” Part II.
p. 60: Lieutenant Francis L. Martello is interviewed in Volume X of the Warren Commission hearings. Martello insists that he gave the note which he, in fact, kept, to Mr. Vial of the Secret Service. Commission Exhibit No. 827, however, is not the note Oswald gave Martello, but a facsimile, and somewhat inaccurate. Copy of the original note, courtesy of Lieutenant Martello’s son.
p. 60: “no mentality at all”: Jim Garrison at the New Orleans conference. September 1968.
p. 60: “Harvey Lee Oswald,” a transposition used by Army and Naval intelligence: see Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics II: The New Revelations in U. S. Government Files, 1994- 1995 (Dallas: Lancer Publications, 1996), p. 88.
p. 61: Carlos Bringuier learns of Jim Garrison’s investigation from David Ferrie: Interview with Carlos Bringuier by Robert A. Wilson at the office of Southern Research Company. March 31, 1967. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. “This is a free country”: Carlos Bringuier to Mr. E. Willis, Chairman, House Committee on Un-American Activities. April 2, 1967. FBI 89-69-2001. NARA.
p. 61: Ferrie carries a loaded rifle: From: Billings to Haskell. February 14, 1967. “David William Ferrie.” Box 4, folder 48. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Georgetown.
p. 61: the FBI refuses to give Garrison its 1963 reports on Ferrie: See FBI. From: Director. To: SAC, New Orleans. 62-109060-4344. December 23, 1966. NARA. The government file on Ferrie revealed he had violated the Neutrality Act flying missions into Cuba.
p. 61: “mention or overhear”: FBI. From: Director, FBI. To: SAC, BU. 124-10264-10286. HQ. 62- 116395-1102. November 25, 1975. 2 pages. NARA.
p. 61: FBI installs a wiretap: Interview with William Walter, January 3, 2000.
p. 61: “outside the Bureau”: Memorandum. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, Dallas. Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald aka (Deceased) December 15, 1966. NARA.
p. 61: “bright blue eyes”: Jim Brown, Central Intelligence Assassination (Unpublished). pp. 208- 209. AARC.
p. 61: “the real Oxford”: Interview with Patricia Chandler, May 22, 1998.
p. 61: Bethell had in fact been in New Orleans during the summer of 1963: Jim Brown interview with Bernard Fensterwald, November 23, 1970. AARC. The Tom Bethell Diary for February 9, 1968 (excerpts from a “Diary Kept While Working in the District Attorney’s Office during the Investigation of Kennedy’s Assassination”). AARC.
p. 61: government-subsidized shipping: Interview with Numa Bertel, May 19, 1998; Interview with William Alford, May 28, 1998.
p. 61: “unscrupulous rascal”: FBI. To: Mr. Wick. From: M. A. Jones. February 28, 1967. 124-10047- 10089. 62-109060-4586. NARA.
p. 61: “character assassins and blackmailers”: To: Lang for Billings. From: Byers (in New Orleans). March 6, 1967. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Box 4, folder 49. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
p. 62: Gurvich provides phone numbers: Jim Garrison interviewed by Jonathan Blackmer. 1977. HSCA.
p. 62: “like a Greek bearing gifts”: Jim Garrison describes the arrival of William Gurvich in Playboy. Vol. 14, No. 10. October 1967, p. 68.
p. 62: Garrison allows Gurvich to use his own private office: Gurvich Conference. August 29, 1967. Tape 2. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. NARA.
p. 62: “I don’t trust Gurvich”: Roundtable discussion, September 1968. pp. 35-36.
p. 62: “You’re making a big mistake”: Interview with Joe Oster, June 30, 2000. Gurvich was a plant: Interview with William Alford, May 28, 1998.
p. 62: Billings flies to New Orleans: Interview with Richard N. Billings, August 2, 2000. See also Diary of Richard N. Billings. AARC.
p. 62: Garrison writes to Billings back in New York: Jim Garrison to Richard N. Billings, December 26, 1966. AARC.
p. 62: Ferrie had flown Oswald to Cuba: Memo from David Chandler to Richard N. Billings. Undated. ARRC.
p. 62: Jim Garrison is studying Gill’s telephone records: Richard N. Billings, The Case for a Conspiracy (V): The Anatomy of the Investigation. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Georgetown.
p. 62: telephone matches between Oswald, Ruby and Ferrie: See Garrison memo: “Time, Place and Number Correlations (Ruby, Ferrie, Oswald and Shaw).” NODA. NARA. See also: Memorandum. April 18, 1967. To: Special Investigation File. From: Jim Garrison.
Re: Long Distance Calls—Ruby. NODA. NARA.
p. 63: “Oswald was there!” Interview with Dr. Harold Lief, May 25, 1999.
p. 63: a biography of Lee Harvey Oswald: See “Notes re: Oswald in ’63.” Handwritten by Jim Garrison. NARA.
p. 63: “play the infiltrator”: Interview of William E. Wulf. March 1, 1968. 3:00 p.m. by Gary Sanders. Transcribed March 6, 1968. NODA. NARA.
CHAPTER 5
Title: “Menagerie” is Jim Garrison’s term: See “Banister Menage & Cubans,” written in ink at the top of a December 18, 1967 memo, “Interview with ‘BP’ in Re: Friends of Democratic Cuba.” NODA. NARA.
p. 65, Epigraph: “What number Camp?”: Interview with Cubans by Mr. Jim Garrison, Mr. Fowler, et al., December 26, 1966. Harry Connick collection of the papers of Jim Garrison. NARA.
p. 65: “Where is Clay Bertrand?” Re: Smith Case #1. General Questions. NODA. NARA.
p. 65: “That’s Clay Shaw”: p. 36, line 11: David Chandler identifies Clay Shaw: Notes of Richard Popkin. AARC. See also: Memorandum: July 9, 1971. Richard Popkin, “Re: Matters Concerning the Garrison Investigation.” AARC.
p. 65: “a bit of an agent provocateur”: Interview with Gordon Novel, January 16, 2000.
p. 65: Shaw was actually well known to have frequented Cosimo’s: among those who witnessed Shaw going in and out of Cosimo’s was a Mrs. Jeanne Kelton: Memorandum. April 11, 1968. To: Louis Ivon. From: Gary Sanders. Re: Mrs. Jeanne Kelton. Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald and Clay Shaw. NODA. NARA. Dan Campbell, working as a bartender at Cosimo’s, recalls how boys would come over from Shaw’s house at 1313 Dauphine, a stone’s throw away, and carry back a pitcher of whiskey sours.
p. 65: “drinks and a chess game”: Statement of Layton Patrick Martens, W/M, December 23, 1966. NODA. NARA.
p. 66: Moo Moo was now faced: Memorandum. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Smith Investigation. My interview with Clay Shaw, 12/23/66. Memorandum is dated February 9, 1967. NODA. NARA.
p. 66: Shaw jokes about being a suspect: Garrison Series III January 30, 1969. “Garrison vs. Shaw: The Big Melodrama in New Orleans” by Hugh Aynesworth. Newsweek Feature Service. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. NARA.
p. 66: Dauenhauer reveals that Shaw lied: Memorandum. February 10, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Smith Investigation—Interview with Mr. J. B. Dauenhauer, Director of the Trade Mart. NODA. NARA.
p. 66: Marochini, Lewallen and Propinquities: See: Memorandum. March 6, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: James L. Alcock and Richard V. Burnes. Re: Dante A. Marochini. NODA. NARA. See also: “CAP and ITM correlations”: Handwritten note by Jim Garrison in “Garrison (II): The Power of Public Disclosure,” by Richard N. Billings. AARC. See also: Memorandum. March 6, 1967. To: Lou Ivon. From: James L. Alcock. Re: Truth verification of Dante Marochini’s Statement. NODA. NARA.
p. 66: “legitimate Cuban”: Richard N. Billings diary. Notes 444. AARC. See also: Jim Garrison to Richard N. Billings, December 28, 1966.
p. 66: For the story of Alberto Fowler: Interview with Antonio Navarro, June 16, 2001. For a portrait of the young Alberto, see Antonio Navarro, Tocayo (Westport, Connecticut: Sandown Books, 1981). He had even given Castro permission to build a tank on the family estate: Interview with George Fowler, January 4, 2000. Fowler is Alberto’s nephew. See also: “Cuban Blames Stevenson for Bay of Pigs Disaster,” Times- Picayune, April 18, 1971, Section 1, p. 72; see also: Prisoners tell . . . the real story of the Bay of Pigs,” U.S. News & World Report. January 7, 1963, p. 39; Burton Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1992), pp. 432-433.
p. 67: “something other than it appears to be”: Notes from Alberto Fowler. Written in Jim Garrison’s handwriting. Undated. NARA.
p. 67: Tony Varona is the source for the CIA intending to appoint Alberto head of the CRC in New Orleans: New Orleans conference, September 21, 1968, p. 32.
p. 67: “Jim, I didn’t kill him”: Interview with George Fowler, January 4, 2000.
p. 67: “hardly pro-Castro”: The Clay Shaw diary. March 24th, p. 2. Papers of Clay Shaw. NARA.
p. 67: Fowler calls Jim Garrison “Big Jim”: Interview with Alberto Antonio Fowler, December 9, 1999.
p. 67: “one of my great discoveries”: Jim Garrison interviewed by Jonathan Blackmer, Gaeton Fonzi, and L. J. Delsa, July 1977. Available on cassettes from NARA.
p. 67: Post Office boxes: See: Memorandum. To: Archives (Indicated Files). From: Jim Garrison. Re: Post Office Boxes (Undated). NODA. NARA.
p. 67: “he’s not with anybody who’s not with the CIA”: “The Spy Who Was Left Out in the Cold: Was Jim Garrison Right After All?” by Joe Manguno. New Orleans magazine. June 1976, p. 28.
p. 67: Oswald’s Marine records: Unit Diary. 1498. 4 Sep 59. Diary No. 240-59. NARA. 247-59, 11 Sep 59. 1512. 975. 13 May 57; Diary no. 62-57, etc.
p. 68: “cooperative contact”: CIA Record Number 104-10069-10051. Agency file: 80T01357A. July 28, 1970. Title: Information on Edward Scannell Butler, III. NARA.
p. 68: leave Free Voice of Latin America. William R. Klein to Jim Garrison. May 4, 1967. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Box 2, folder 24. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
p. 68: Marinus Van der Lubbe: Eugene A. Sheehan, “Oswald: Prelude to Assassination,” New Orleans magazine. January 1967, p. 24.
p. 68: Joseph Rault and CIA: See CIA. To: Chief, WH. From: Chief of Station, JMWAVE. Subject: TYPIC. Contact Report—IDEN *A. Signed Andrew K. Reuteman. May 19, 1965. 104-10104-10107. 80T01357A. See also: To: Director, Domestic Contact Service. Att’n: Operational Support Staff (Musulin). From: Chief, New Orleans Office. June 27, 1967. Subject: Case 49364—Garrison Investigation. Ref: DC/CI/R & A. Memorandum dated 19 June 1967. NO 249-67. Signed. Lloyd A. Ray. NARA.
p. 68: “it’s almost semantics”: Jim Garrison at the New Orleans Conference. September 21, 1968. Round Table Discussion, p. 87.
p. 68: a conduit for company money: Joseph Newbrough interview with Bernard Fensterwald, August 16, 1978. AARC. See also Joseph Newbrough interviewed by William Davy.
p. 68: money flowed: Anthony Summers interview with Delphine Roberts, Banister’s mistress and secretary, in Not in Your Lifetime: The Definitive Book on the J.F.K. Assassination (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 230.
p. 68: Banister sends Tommy Beckham to the camps: HSCA Notes. sub. Office New Orleans. NARA.
p. 69: Banister is close to the CIA field office: Interview with Allen Campbell, June 10, 2002.
p. 69: “foreign positive intelligence”: CIA. Memorandum For: File. Subject: The Lee Harvey Oswald Case. 8 March 1967. Document number: 1338-1052. NARA.
p. 69: Banister’s cohort were all CIA-connected: See Chapter Three: Newbrough was with CIA. L. J. Delsa and Robert Buras interview with Jack S. Martin; Dalzell is CIA: HSCA 180-10070-10358. Agency file: 008269. (PT 18). Memorandum: October 30, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with Vernon Gerdes. NARA. Regarding Dalzell working under cover as a petroleum consultant: FBI, To: Director. From: New Orleans. November 3, 1967. 124-10071-10326. 89-69-3575. NARA. William Dalzell admits he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency: Select Committee on Assassinations. Interview with William Dalzell. 064559. December 9, 1977. NARA. See also: HSCA re-interview of Dalzell, January 26, 1978, by William Brown. NARA.
p. 69: jeeps to Cuba: Information Report: Office of Naval Intelligence. 2 September 1960. 110-6-210- 58. From: Office In Charge: DIO, 8ND. topic: Economic Matters—Cuba. Document prepared by James S. Jack Jr. NARA.
p. 69: cleared them first with Guy Johnson: Banister clears the hiring of Bergeron with Guy Johnson: Guy Banister to Guy Johnson, January 5, 1959. AARC.
p. 69: “intelligence for sale”: Dan Campbell interviewed by James DiEugenio. September 9, 1994. Courtesy of Mr. DiEugenio.
p. 69: Guy Johnson brought Sergio Arcacha Smith: Robert Buras and Lawrence Delsa, Interview with Jack S. Martin. Re: Association with Mr. Sergio Arcacha
Smith. December 5, 1977. HSCA 005211. NARA.
p. 69: Phillips’ role in the Houma operation is described by Gordon Novel in his deposition for his libel suit against Jim Garrison and Playboy magazine. Novel was among those who were involved in the Schlumberger burglary. AARC.
p. 69: David Atlee Phillips fears that Jim Garrison will discover that CIA is behind the Belle Chasse training camp: Memorandum For Chief, CI/ R & A. Subject: Garrison investigation: Belle Chasse Training Camp. Reference: CI/R & A Memorandum Dated 26 October 1967. WH/C 67-336. 104-10170-10261. Agency file: 80T01357A. NARA.
p. 69: Banister chats with Hoover: Robert Buras and L. J. Delsa, interview with Joe Oster. January 27, 1978. HSCA. NARA.
p. 69: Regis Kennedy visits Banister: Undated notes of Hoke May. AARC.
p. 69: Banister is very close to G. Wray Gill: Interview with Allen Campbell, July 4, 2002.
p. 69: Jack Martin has introduced George Lincoln Rockwell to Guy Banister: Interview with Thomas Edward Beckham, corroborated by Vernon Gerdes. Memorandum. October 30, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with Vernon Gerdes. NODA. NARA.
p. 69: Thompson drives up to Banister’s in his black Cadillac: Interview with Allen Campbell, June 10, 2002; Allen Campbell interviewed by Jim DiEugenio.
p. 69: little detective work: Interview with Lawrence Guchereau, June 2, 2000. After the assassination, Banister had trouble paying his rent: Joe Newbrough interview with Bernard Fensterwald, August 14, 1978.
p. 70: Clay Shaw in full female drag: Delphine Roberts interview with HSCA. August 27, 1978.
p. 70: Banister meets frequently with Clay Shaw: Interview with Allen Campbell, June 10, 2002.
p. 70: the file on Oswald is kept isolated: Delphine Roberts interview with Robert Buras and L. J. Delsa, July 6, 1978. HSCA. NARA.
p. 70: “Allen, don’t worry”: Interview with Allen Campbell, June 10, 2002.
p. 70: Dan Campbell sees Oswald at Banister’s: Dan Campbell interviewed by Jim DiEugenio; Memorandum. May 14, 1969. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Shaw Leads II (Dan Campbell. NODA. NARA. See also: Memorandum. May 14, 1969. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew Sciambra. Re: Shaw Leads II (Al Campbell). NODA. NARA. Allen Campbell’s memo confirms that the Campbell brothers were at the Bethlehem Orphans Home at the same time as Oswald. Allen, never called “Al,” laughs and says that Moo Moo told him far more than he revealed himself.