by Joan Mellen
p. 70: Gaudet saw Banister and Oswald deep in conversation: Buras and Leap interview Gaudet: HSCA 180-10070-10274. 004826. January 18, 1978.
p. 70: Gaudet was persuaded that the Agency knew Lee Harvey Oswald: Interview with William Gaudet by Bernard Fensterwald and Allan Stone. May 13, 1975. AARC. HSCA’s five page interview with Gaudet at Waveland would be restricted until 1996, when it was finally declassified by the Assassination Records and Review Board.
p. 70: Peña saw Oswald enter the building: Interview of Orestes Peña by Martin J. Daly and William Brown. January 20, 1978. 180-10097- 10491. HSCA 014118.
p. 70: Delphine Roberts remembered: Delphine Roberts finally talked—to Robert Buras for the House Select Committee, and to authors Anthony Summers and Earl Golz.
p. 70: checked this man out: Delphine Roberts interviewed by Buras and Delsa, July 6, 1978.
p. 70: “he’s with us”: Summers, p. 229.
p. 70: Delphine suspects that Oswald has a relationship with the FBI: Anthony Summers’ interview notes with Delphine Roberts, AARC.
p. 70: George Wilcox: Wilcox recognized that it was Oswald he had seen after the assassination. He recognized Ferrie after Jim Garrison’s investigation became public. Later he spoke to historian Michael Kurtz. Interview with Michael Kurtz, February 5, 2001.
p. 70: Banister and Oswald appear at LSU: Interview with Michael Kurtz, February 5, 2001. See also: Testimony of Dr. Michael Kurtz, June 28, 1995, ARRB. Kurtz, Crime of the Century: The Kennedy Assassination from a Historian’s Perspective (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1982), pp. xxxix, 203. The perspective of this book is actually the one CIA first considered using for the cover-up: that Fidel Castro organized the murder of President Kennedy.
p. 71: Mary Banister saw Oswald’s leaflets in Guy Banister’s possession: Ross Banister interviewed by Bernard Fensterwald, August 11, 1978. AARC.
p. 71: “rather stupid”: Bernard Fensterwald interview with Ross Banister, August 11, 1978. AARC.
p. 71: “Oswald worked for Banister”: Tommy Baumler interviewed by Bernard Fensterwald and Gary Shaw. December 30, 1981. AARC.
p. 71: Vernon Gerdes has seen Oswald, Ferrie and Shaw together: Only when he went to work as an investigator for Steven Plotkin would Gerdes admit he saw Oswald, Ferrie and Banister together: Memorandum on the letterhead of Steven Plotkin. April 7, 1967. Memo begins, “On April 7, 1967, Plotkin was interviewed in Morrison’s Cafeteria by Mr. Salvatore Panzeca and Robert A. Wilson. . . .” Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. The Wegmann papers. NARA.
p. 71: “one of them is mine”: Memorandum. George Higginbotham. 4-12-68; 4-16-68. Signed Barbara Glancey Reid. NODA. NARA. “Close-mouthed”: Garrison appended these lines to his copy of Reid’s memo of her meeting with Higginbotham.
p. 71: “you must have seen Oswald up there”: Jim Garrison in telephone conversation with Sam Newman. Reported by William Gurvich to Clay Shaw’s lawyers. Tape #3. Gurvich Conference. August 29, 1967. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. NARA. For the tangle of Newman’s conflicting stories, see Memorandum. November 7, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Tom Bethell. Re: Unidentified Men at 544 Camp Street. NODA. NARA.
p. 71: “some prior knowledge”: HSCA. April 6, 1978. Brengel was originally interviewed for Jim Garrison by Cliency Navarre & Kent Simms. Re: Interview Mrs. Mary Helen Brengel. To: Louis Ivon. June 1, 1967. NODA. NARA.
p. 71: no ordinary citizen: Interview with Robert Buras, May 29, 2002.
p. 71: police report on the pistolwhipping: “Detailed Report.” Item No. K-12634-63. Signed by Lieutenant Francis Martello. NARA. See also Garrison’s notations on the police report dated July 12, 1969. “Who was attorney?” Garrison writes beside Guy Banister’s statement that his attorney told him not to comment. NODA. NARA.
p. 71: “god damned lie”: Jim Garrison, Coup D’Etat, chap. 3, p. 6. AARC.
p. 72: “Now all we have to do is kill Earl Warren”: Joseph Newbrough interviewed by William Davy, April 3, 1995. Courtesy of Mr. Davy.
p. 72: “I wonder why Bobby wasn’t included”: Jack Martin and David Lewis affidavit to Jim Garrison. February 20, 1968. NODA. NARA.
p. 72: “I’m glad”: Brengel became a Garrison source as she spoke to Cliency Navarre & Kent Simms, Garrison investigators: See Memorandum. June 1, 1967. To: Louis Ivon, Chief Investigator. Re: Interview Mrs. Mary Helen Brengel. NODA. See also Letter by Mary Helen Brengel, May 14, 1967. Available as HSCA document 007546. Originator: Citizen. From: Brengel, Mary H. To Daly, Martin. 5 pages. NARA.
p. 72: “Guy Banister is a key”: Memorandum. October 28, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. NODA. NARA.
p. 72: Banister’s obituary: “Banister Found Dead at Home,” Times-Picayune, June 7, 1964. Section 1, p. 1.
p. 72: “natural causes”: Police Report is signed by Sgt. C. L. Drumm and Det. David Kent. 06-06- 64. Item #F3764-64. It was also signed by the platoon commander, James Kruebbe. Available as HSCA document 005966.
p. 72: “if I’m dead in a week”: GUY JOHNSON. May 21, 1969. Interview with Bernard Fensterwald. AARC.
p. 72: the shot came in through the window: Interview with Allen Campbell, June 10, 2002.
p. 72: Allen Campbell removes files: Interview with Allen Campbell, July 10, 2002. Interview with Daniel Campbell, June 8, 2002.
p. 72: “Guy’s been shot”: Interview with Phyllis Kritikos, June 29, 2001. Lichtblau immediately called Phyllis’ mother, Mrs. Trudy Weinert.
p. 72: Delphine believes “Guy Banister and David Ferrie were murdered”: Report by Robert Buras. Interview with Delphine Points Roberts. August 27, 1978. 12:30 p.m. “It was made to look like a natural death,” Roberts told Earl Golz. Interview with Golz. December 20, 1978. AARC. Jim Garrison reserved his judgment: “I must emphasize that . . . this is hearsay,” he wrote to Jonathan Blackmer on August 16, 1977. “As a former D.A. in this Parish, I personally would have to give the deciding weight to the written version of the Coroner’s office.” Then he added, it was the same Coroner’s office which ruled that David Ferrie died of natural causes. HSCA 013523. Kent Courtney’s view: Interview with Guy Johnson by Bernard Fensterwald, May 21, 1969. AARC.
p. 72: Bolton Ford and Dumas Chevrolet: the Bolton Ford and Dumas Chevrolet sightings: Memorandum. May 9, 1967 To: Jim Garrison. From James L. Alcock. Re: Fred A. Sewell, Interview With. May 2, 1967 at 4:15 A.M. NODA. NARA. See also CD 75, p. 677, 678. November 25, 1963. Interview of Oscar W. Deslatte with Special Agents William F. McDonald and W. J. Danielson Jr. at New Orleans. See also: Memorandum. February 14, 1968. To: Louis Ivon. From: Kent Simms. Re: Interview one FRED SEWEL [sic] Fleet & Truck Manager, Stephens Chevrolet, 840 Carondelet Street. NODA. NARA. For Oswald’s attempts to purchase a car at Dumas and Milnes Chevrolet. United States Department of Justice, FBI. Report of SA Leonard F. Johnson. December 14, 1963. Commission No. 179. Bureau file No. 105-82555. See also: To: GF from JG: Re: New Orleans Activities Re: “Oswald” in 1961 and 1962. Courtesy of Gaeton Fonzi. See also: anonymous letter beginning, “In early January of 1961 I went to New Orleans. . . .” NODA. NARA.
p. 73: the vice president of Bolton Ford called the Bureau: FBI. To: SAC, New Orleans. From: Supvr. Paul R. Alker. November 25, 1963. Re: Lee Harvey Oswald. 89-69-94. NARA.
p. 73: “Betty Parrott’s” description of Joseph Moore: For description of “Joseph Moore”: Memorandum. December 18, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. RE: INTERVIEW WITH “BP”. IN RE: FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC CUBA. NODA. NARA. “BP” is “Betty Parrot,” who lived with William Dalzell, and was a Regis Kennedy informant. Betty tells the FBI that Sciambra has contacted her: FBI teletype. To: Director. From: New Orleans. Urgent. May 9, 1967. 124- 10237-10438. 89-69-3018. NARA.
p. 73: No “Mr. Call” existed at the Bureau: Interview with Warren de Brueys, July 14, 2001.
p. 73: McAuliffe denies to Jim Garrison that he ever heard of the incident: Statement and Interrogation of Martin L. McAuliffe Jr. in the office of the District Attorney on Tuesday, May 9, 1967.
NODA. NARA.
p. 74: Jack Martin was treated at Baptist Hospital: Police Report signed by Lieutenant Francis Martello. Item No. K-12634-63.
p. 74: “Do you have many girlfriends?” Scene at Guy Banister’s office, and its aftermath, interview with Thomas Edward Beckham, March 31, 2002. Unless otherwise indicated, statements from the point of view of Thomas Edward Beckham are from interviews, March 30 and 31, 2002.
p. 74: desecrated the Jewish cemetery: Beckham interview. See also Rough Notes of Interview with Jules Kimble: “Head of Ku Klux Klan Intelligence Bureau for the state of Louisiana.” Transcript is signed “Charlie.” Courtesy of Joseph A. Oster.
p. 75: Shaw sets Tommy up with a Cuban girl: Interview with Robert Buras, April 15, 2002.
p. 75: Batista is a partowner: Memo Written by David Chandler. 4 pages. Undated. AARC.
p. 75: Rockwell will be seen at Dixie’s Bar of Music: E-mail from Daniel Campbell, December 1, 2002.
p. 75: “only for short periods”: Jack Martin interview with L. J. Delsa and Robert Buras.
p. 76: Howard works for the CIA: Interview with Gerald Patrick Hemming, June 2, 2002.
p. 76: Pancho Villa: HSCA description. 006058. From: Palmer, Betsy.
p. 77: Oswald’s summer trip to Mexico City: Interview with Thomas Edward Beckham. Other evidence includes a reference by Dean Andrews to Oswald’s “Mexican whore,” included in a Harold Weisberg memorandum, and the testimony of two Australian women on a bus from Monterey to Mexico City, to whom, on September 26, 1963, Oswald recommended the Hotel Cuba as a comfortable place where he had stayed “several times before.” Warren Commission. Volume XXV, Commission Exhibit No. 2194, p. 21. Interview by FBI of Miss Patricia Clare Resheligh Winston. December 18, 1963. There are also references to Oswald’s having been in Mexico City in July in the files of Richard Case Nagell.
p. 77: Oswald has written to Governor Connally: Lee H. Oswald to Secretary of the Navy, John B. Connally Jr. January 30, 1961. Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XIX, p. 248.
p. 78: Thomas Edward Beckham is corroborated in his seeing Oswald at Thompson’s restaurant: Memorandum. May 28, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with Paul Taylor. NODA. NARA.
p. 78: de Brueys stands just inside the doors of the International Trade Mart: “Jesse Core and Alberto Fowler.” Memorandum by David Chandler. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Box 4, folder 59. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
p. 78: After handing out leaflets in front of the International Trade Mart, Lee Harvey Oswald enters the building and walks past the elevators to the rear of the building: Memorandum February 14, 1967. To: Jim Garrison from Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with Mrs. Carlos Márquez. NODA. NARA.
p. 78: Jack Dempsey offers Oswald a beer: Interview with Jack Dempsey, May 20, 1998.
CHAPTER 6
p. 79, Epigraph: “I knew I was dancing”: Joe Manguno, “Was Jim Garrison Right After All?” p. 28.
p. 79: Banister sent Burglass in his place: Interview with Allen Campbell, July 10, 2002.
p. 79: Ruby is a regular at the Monteleone: Memorandum: From: Regis L. Kennedy. Subject: Betty Parent. November 26, 1963. 89-69-131. Ruby file: 44-2064. NARA.
p. 79: hotbed of international intrigue: Interview with Daniel Campbell, June 8, 2002.
p. 80: Ruby is treated for cancer at the Ochsner clinic: Interview with then St. Landry Parish assistant district attorney, Morgan Goudeau, August 5, 2003. Goudeau had been campaign manager for John F. Kennedy in Southern Louisiana.
p. 82: one of the maps Tommy took to Dallas is found in Oswald’s room: “Handful Views Oswald Burial” by Jules Loh. Times-Picayune, November 26, 1963, Section 1, p. 8.
p. 82: “was going to kill the bastard”: See LHN Church of God of Light. Signed: Rev. Ray Broshears; Interview of Raymond Broshears, Conducted by Steve Jaffe, James Alcock, and Louis Ivon. No date. NODA. NARA; Memorandum To: Jim Garrison. From: Steven J. Burton. Subject: Rev. Raymond Broshears. March 21, 1968; Thomas Edward Beckham to Brother Ray, July 6, 1968. NODA. NARA.
p. 82: Civello close to Patrick T. Dean: See John H. Davis, Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (New York: McGraw, Hill Publishing Company, 1989), p. 207, 527. Interview with Thomas Angers, May 6, 2003. Interview with Morgan Goudeau, August 5, 2003.
p. 82: Campisi had bragged: Conversation with Morgan Goudeau, August 19, 2003.
p. 83: a diagram: Jimmy Johnson, “New Orleans Story.” Interview with an unnamed questioner. NARA.
p. 83: “a building ten stories high”: Walter Sheridan interview with Jimmy J. Johnson. Index 37. NARA.
p. 83: Bootsie Gay at the office of G. Wray Gill: Mrs. Clara Flournoy Gay to F. Edward Hebert. 13 pages. Tulane University Library. Papers of Clara Flournoy Gay. See also: Bootsie Gay to F. Edward Hebert, April 22, 1963; F. Edward Hebert to Mrs. Clara Gay, May 2, 1963; Memorandum. April 24, 1969. to: James L. Alcock. From: Captain Frederick A. Soule Sr. Re: Interview with Clara Flournoy “Bootsie” Gay. Under Item #2. Al Clark Interview. NODA. NARA. See also: To: Jim Garrison. From Harold Weisberg. Re: Interview with Al Clark and Clint Bolton, Dixieland Hall. NODA. NARA. See also: Jim Garrison, Memorandum to L. J. Delsa and Bob Buras. Re: Material allegedly seen at Wray Gill’s office following assassination.” October 20, 1977. NARA. Bootsie Gay visited Gill’s office on Tuesday, although she told Garrison investigator Frederick Soule it had been the Saturday after the assassination. In a letter to Congressman Hebert, however, Gay writes that she went to Gill’s after she read in the newspapers that the district attorney’s office was holding David Ferrie for the FBI and the Secret Service.
p. 84: “we have just come from New Orleans”: Warren Commission. Vol. XI, p. 372.
p. 85: Jack Martin a “nut”: FBI. To: SAC. From: SA Regis L. Kennedy. November 25, 1963. 89-69- 167. NARA.
p. 85: Nelson Delgado: Mark Lane describes how the FBI attempted to undermine Nelson Delgado’s testimony: Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission’s Inquiry into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J. D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966), p. 389. See also: FBI Memorandum. To: Mr. W. C. Sullivan. From: Mr. W. A. Branigan. Subject: Mark Lane. Security Matter—C. August 22, 1966. NARA. Under FBI pressure, Delgado changed his story, now insisting that Oswald “must have qualified” on the rifle range, even as, earlier, he had said Oswald had falsified his score; Nelson Delgado recants: FBI. To, Director, FBI. From: Murphy, John T. February 11, 1964. 124-10025-10160. Agency file: 105-82555-1873. NARA. Delgado, the FBI wrote for the record, was “exaggerating his acquaintanceship” with Oswald: Memorandum. To: W. C. Sullivan. From: W. A. Branigan. Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald. Internal Security— Russia—Cuba. June 16, 1964. 124- 10034-10263. 105-82555-4154. NARA.
p. 85: “crying need for recognition”: James J. Rowley, Treasury Department, US Secret Service, May 5, 1964 to Mr. J. Lee Rankin. RE: Rev. Walter J. McChann Interview. Commission No. 854. April 23-24, 1964. File No. Co-2-34-030, 100-10461-7749. Origin: Chief’s Office. NARA.
p. 85: Garrison was a “nut”: Interview with Warren de Brueys, January 15, 2000.
p. 85: having accused the FBI of persecuting her: Memo. Report on Sylvia Odio. May 31, 1967. NODA. NARA. Odio concluded that the Warren Commission did not wish to believe her. Memo. 1/18/76 To: Dave Marston. From: Gaeton Fonzi. Courtesy of Mr. Fonzi.
p. 85: Jim Garrison’s investigation: Odio would be interviewed by Gaeton Fonzi for the HSCA. She reiterated that she had seen “the real Oswald” on that Thursday, September 26th, 1963, and no double, no imposter: See: Memorandum. To: Troy. From: Gaeton. July 27, 1976. Courtesy of Gaeton Fonzi. See also: Memorandum—February 9, 1978. To: G. Robert Blakey. From: Gonzales & Fonzi. Subject: Sylvia Odio. Re: Photo Identification Book. Courtesy of Gaeton Fonzi. Oswald’s appearance in Mexico City is riddled with ambiguity. David Atlee Phillips had requested of his asset Antonio Veciana that Veciana’s cousin Guillermo Ruiz, working for Cuban intelligence
, state that he and his wife met Oswald in Mexico City on that date. Ruiz would be paid a large amount of money. Ruiz was on his way to Havana, and it remains unknown whether he would have complied. See Gaeton Fonzi, The Last Investigation (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1994), p. 143.
p. 85: Augustin Guitart: “I do not feel that she is insane”: Statement of Dr. Augustin Guitart. Dated January 1967. NODA. NARA.
p. 85: proof of the plot: Sylvia Meagher, Accessories after the Fact: The Warren Commission, Authorities & The Report (New York: Vintage Books, 1976), p. 376.
p. 85: “testimony of Sylvia O”: FBI Memorandum. From: SA Hughes. February 23, 1967. 124- 10167-19145. 89-69-1604. NARA.
p. 86: a permissive father: “What purpose did that serve?” Interview with Lyon Garrison, May 23, 1998. His daughter, Elizabeth, calls him a district attorney who did not believe in punishment: Interview with Elizabeth Garrison, January 5, 1998.
p. 86: “CIA had some knowledge”: This document in de Torres’ FBI file contains a list of those members of Brigade 2506 with whom CIA had a relationship: FBI. To: D. J. Brennan. From: W. O. Cregar. Subject: Cuban Prisoner Exchange ISA -Cuba. January 11, 1963. Subject: Bernardo Alvarez, Handling of Returned Playa Giron Prisoners. 124-90012-10009. HQ. Agency file: 105-99200-205. See also: FBI. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, Miami. April 3, 1961, 124-90012- 10013. HQ 105-89923-158 NARA. De Torres was also Military Affairs Secretary of an association of veterans of the Bay of Pigs (AVBC), not shy about pursuing acts of sabotage against Cuba: Report No. CS DB-312/01134-66. April 22, 1966. CIA. Released as FBI 124-90012-10022. HQ 105-121847- 28. NARA. CIA is sharing its information reports with FBI here.