Live by the Sword

by Gus Russo

  In his later testimony, McHugh stated that Bobby Kennedy frequently phoned the autopsy suite, inquiring “about the results, about why the autopsy was taking so much time, and about the need for speed.” McHugh said that even after informing Kennedy that the autopsists would need a few more hours, Bobby called frequently to ask why it was taking so long.20 According to Captain John Stover, the Commander of the Bethesda Naval Medical School, Bobby went so far as to periodically visit the autopsy room during the procedure, further heightening the pressure on the investigators.21

  Dr. Boswell testified that JFK’s physician, Dr. Burkley, made it clear that he didn’t want a report on the adrenals. Burkley was in constant phone contact with Bobby and Jackie.22 An FBI agent present confirmed that, to this point, there was “no question that Burkley was conveying the wishes of the Kennedy family.”23

  The above accounts, taken together, demonstrate a family’s abnormal concern over the details of a murder autopsy. There is little doubt about the reason for the Kennedy family intrusions. It was indeed a coverup, but not of the assassination.

  During the 1960 primary campaign for president, questions about JFK’s health had been raised from many quarters, including that of Lyndon Johnson, then a Democratic rival for the party’s nomination. The American public, traditionally sensitive about the health of their candidates, was assured that Kennedy was in fine shape. They were further assured that rumors of his having Addison’s disease, about which the voters were particularly concerned, were incorrect.

  In fact, the assurance was entirely false. In recent years, it has been learned—from Kennedy’s own autopsists—that Kennedy’s adrenals had atrophied to the point where they had practically evaporated, leaving only a few trace cells behind.24 The Journal of the American Medical Association summarized the importance of this finding:

  The Nixon vs. Kennedy presidential election of 1960 was extremely close; a scant 0.17% (114,673) of voters separated the victor from the loser. The mental and physical health of a presidential candidate in 1992—or in 1960—is of great political concern to the electorate. But had the American people been told that one candidate had suffered for more than 13 years from an incurable, potentially fatal, although fully treatable disease and that there were potential serious adverse effects of treatment, would the election results have been different?25

  When asked about Kennedy’s adrenals in 1992, Dr. Finck curtly cut off this line of questioning, saying, “Don’t even ask. There were no wounds in the abdomen; the adrenal glands have nothing to do with the wounds and the assassination of the President.”26 Asked the same question, Dr. Humes answered, “I am not prepared to answer this question now. . . At some time in the near future, Jay [Boswell] and I will have to sit down and write for history our report on the condition of the President’s adrenal glands.”27 In 1996, Boswell admitted to the Assassinations Record Review Board that Humes in fact promised the Kennedy family attorney, Burke Marshall, “that we would not discuss the adrenals until all the members of the Kennedy family were dead.”

  Of even more potential embarrassment was the fact that JFK suffered from severe and persistent venereal disease—gonorrhea, specifically. Long-rumored, this fact became conclusive when the notes of JFK’s physician, Dr. William Herbst, were made available at the Kennedy Library in Boston in 1992. Those notes clearly reveal his treatment of Kennedy’s massive “gonococcal infections.”

  Herbst was originally called in 1950, after the renowned Lahey Clinic of Boston had failed to halt Kennedy’s VD infection. Not only did the clinic admit failure, but so did Herbst, who treated JFK for 10 years before passing the baton to Dr. Janet Travell, the new President’s personal physician. The available medical record shows that Kennedy continued to receive massive doses of penicillin (600,000 units at a time) throughout his presidency, including one injection on the very day of the Bay of Pigs invasion.28

  Thus, on the evening of November 22, decisions were made by Robert Kennedy to perpetuate the lie of JFK’s health history—a move that also served to consolidate the myth of Camelot. For years, this secrecy fed the flames of rumors about a government-based conspiracy. In 1998, after an exhaustive review of the events, the Assassinations Record Review Board concluded that, “[in] protecting the privacy and the sensibilities of the president’s family—the legacy of such secrecy has caused distrust and suspicion.”

  Before leaving the autopsy suite, Dr. Finck was specifically instructed by the Surgeon General of the Navy not to discuss the case without first coordinating with Robert Kennedy.29 That directive was bolstered two weeks later, on December 6, when Bobby Kennedy directed JFK’s personal physician, Dr. Travell (over her strong objections), that “all correspondence which deals with a personal medical matter should be regarded as privileged information, and should not go to the Central Files.”30

  The Flawed “Autopsy of the Century”

  It was under these extreme pressures that the overwhelmed autopsists proceeded. Political realities and personal considerations dominated. Much of the controversy that would later surround the JFK autopsy focused on the competence of Drs. Humes and Boswell. In fact, given what they were charged to determine, they were competent. “My orders were to find the cause of death,” Humes later recalled. And therein lies the crux of the controversy.

  There is a fundamental difference between a pathological autopsy (as performed by Humes and Boswell) and a legal-forensic autopsy performed in murder cases. Although Humes and Boswell determined the cause of death, a bullet to JFK’s head, they were not precise enough for medical-legal standards—which they weren’t told to consider. (In truth, the doctors should have been prescient enough to undertake this type of autopsy without being so directed.) As a result, the President’s head was not shaved, and the brain not sectioned. These procedures would have determined the exact point of entrance and trajectory of the fatal wound.

  The doctors made at least two other clear mistakes: First, they attempted to track the angle of Kennedy’s back wound with their fingers. Considered an unpardonable breach of medical protocol, this action made the wound impossible to accurately describe. Secondly, the Bethesda staff didn’t consult with the Dallas doctors prior to the autopsy. If they had, their initial impressions about the wound to Kennedy’s back, and their subsequent investigation, would have been very different. The Dallas emergency crew, in performing a tracheotomy, had obliterated the exit wound in the front of Kennedy’s throat. Therefore, those given the job of describing Kennedy’s wounds didn’t see even one of them. It wasn’t until a discussion the following day with Dallas that the Bethesda doctors realized their oversight.

  Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York Medical examiner, recently summarized the performance of the Bethesda physicians. “In 1963, there was little appreciation for the difference of the two very different types of autopsies available,” explains Baden. “There was the usual hospital one, which is what the President received, and there was the forensic one. Most people mistakenly thought a pathologist was a pathologist.”31

  Years later, when Dr. Pierre Finck testified about the disconcerting presence of the military at the autopsy, another conspiratorial thread was woven. According to some, Finck’s testimony is evidence of military control of the autopsy. What Finck may not have realized was that the military men were all aides to the dead President.

  In 1992, Dr. Humes recalled the scene: “The President’s military aides from the Air Force, Army, and Navy were all present, and they were all in dress uniforms, but they weren’t generals and their influence on the autopsy was zero,” Humes recalled. “The only high-ranking officer was Admiral Burkley [JFK’s personal physician] and he left shortly after the autopsy began to join Jackie and Bobby upstairs.”32 Dr. Finck recently expressed his agreement with Humes, saying, “I saw generals, but they did not interfere with the autopsy. There was no military interference.”33

  One final aspect of the Bethesda episode created an enduring mystery in the minds of many�
�another example of conspiracy talk that could have been quickly dispelled had Bobby Kennedy been interested in doing so. At the autopsy’s conclusion, President Kennedy’s brain, as well as tissue samples, were given to Dr. Burkley, who told Doctors Humes and Boswell that the president’s family intended to give it all to Bobby Kennedy for subsequent burial. In fact, the brain would move from one location to another, and finally, in 1972, was declared missing (as is discussed later, in Chapters Seventeen and Eighteen). Later, it would be alleged that “conspirators” made off with the brain in order to hide the fact that Kennedy was shot from the front, when, in fact, it was simply a matter of Robert Kennedy taking control of an unusual and somewhat chaotic situation.

  The Mysterious File

  Back at the Vice President’s Washington home, the new President, Lyndon Johnson, received a visit from CIA Director, John McCone. Former LBJ speech-writer Leo Janos relates what happened: “When Lyndon got back from Dallas, McCone briefed him” on the cause of the assassination, allegedly saying: “It was the Castro connection.” The information was contained in a file McCone brought with him to LBJ’s vice-presidential residence. In the days to come, more secret files on the possible “Castro connection” would be viewed and destroyed in Washington corridors of power.

  According to Janos, Johnson immediately called Senator Richard Russell, relayed to him McCone’s conclusion, and asked, “What do we do?” Russell replied, “Don’t let it out. If you do, it’s World War III.” Johnson swore Russell to secrecy, and proceeded to destroy McCone’s file.34 This would not be the last reference to a mystery file suggesting possible Cuban involvement in Kennedy’s murder.

  Under heavy guard, Lyndon Johnson was later observed off in a quiet corner of the first floor living room. He was staring at a painting of his deceased idol, and fellow Texan, former Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn. Johnson raised his glass of carbonated orange soda and said, “Oh, Mister Sam, I wish you were here now. How I need you.”35

  New Orleans

  Dave Ferrie, one of the foot soldiers in Bobby Kennedy’s secret war, was in court when news of the assassination reached New Orleans. Ferrie had been working in recent years as a legal assistant to attorney G. Wray Gil. “Dave had a photographic memory,” remembers friend Layton Martens. “Gil used him both in researching and pleading cases. Ferrie was very successful, winning over twenty cases for Gil.”36 On the morning of November 22, 1963, Gil was working for the local Mafia don, Carlos Marcello. Marcello was in the midst of fighting a series of deportation hearings instigated by Bobby Kennedy.

  After winning the court case, Ferrie met up with two young friends, Al Beauboeuf and Melvin Coffey. For three weeks, the three men had been planning a car-driving vacation into Texas. Much has been made about the conspiratorial possibilities of such a trip: Ferrie, the pilot, with links to 544 Camp Street, may have been preparing to fly the assassins out of Texas, the thinking went. The truth is far less suspicious.

  “Ferrie had said that if he won the case, he might be interested in purchasing a skating rink,” says friend Layton Martens, who stayed at Ferrie’s apartment while Ferrie and friends made the trip to the closest skating facility in Houston, Texas. “I was a former roller skating champion with dozens of medals,” says Al Beaubeouf. “I wanted to see how good I’d do on ice. I had convinced Dave that ice skating was going to be the next big thing—like disco became in the seventies. We had been planning the trip for a couple of weeks.”37 It should be noted that on May 10, 1967 Al Beaubeouf, like Layton Martens, took and passed a lie detector test on these issues.38

  “When Dave returned from the trip, he was in shock and disbelief over the assassination, as we all were,” says Martens, “but he had more pressing concerns—[D.A] Jim Garrison was after him.” By this time, District Attorney Garrison had spoken with local adventurer Jack Martin, who spun his tale that Oswald and Ferrie were acquainted. Although Martin eventually recanted much of his story, Garrison would continue to pursue Ferrie until Ferrie’s death in 1967. To many locals, it had the appearance of a vendetta. It may have been.

  “For years, Ferrie had been trying to put Garrison in jail,” says Martens. “Dave had helped Guy Banister compile ‘the bomb’ on Garrison. Garrison never forgave him for it.” According to Martens, “Banister and Dave Ferrie had ‘the goods’ on [D.A. Jim] Garrison, among other people. Banister called his file on Garrison ‘the bomb.’ He used to carry it around with him in his briefcase. It was almost a foot thick.”39 All former Banister employees interviewed agreed that the files contained political dynamite.

  But “the bomb,” however explosive, would never be used, because Garrison got his hands on it first. Martens recounts how the “bombshell” file came into Garrison’s possession. Ray Comstock of Garrison’s office entered Ferrie’s apartment after midnight on Sunday, November 25, 1963, “with no search warrant,” with Ferrie kept outside, forbidden from entering. “I was a witness to Garrison burglarizing Dave’s apartment,” says Martens. “[Police Officer] Ray Comstock had a gun pointed at my face. They arrested me on ‘suspicion,’ and held me incommunicado for three days.”40 Martens says the Kennedy assassination provided a convenient pretext for the true purpose of the raid: “They wanted Dave’s file on Garrison—’the bomb,’” Martens says adamantly.

  Ferrie was furious, according to his godson Morris Brownlee. Brownlee recalls, “Dave said Garrison’s allegations were ‘Goddamned ridiculous. Garrison’s people act like gestapos.’”41

  After Ferrie calmed down, the talk turned to the assassination. Brownlee recalls the discussion: “Dave thought it was a terrible thing. Dave was a very religious man, and very much into the idea of order. He equated the assassination to a high crime and anarchy.”42

  Like many others who had even minimal contact either with Bobby Kennedy’s secret war or with Lee Oswald, Dave Ferrie was about to begin a personal nightmare.

  Dallas: The Shooter in Custody

  ‘‘Honest people don’t hide anything, but you’re a deceiver. You’re always deceiving. You deceive everyone.”

  —Marina Oswald to Lee (in Russia), from a KGB surveillance tape43

  “I could see by his eyes that he was guilty.”

  —Marina Oswald, after visiting Lee in prison

  The Dallas Police Department’s interrogation of Lee Oswald started immediately. That weekend, he would be interviewed five times for a total of 12 hours. Both federal and local authorities participated in the process, but Oswald divulged next to nothing.

  Even before police realized that their Tippit murder suspect was the same man missing from the Depository, Homicide detective Jim Leavelle was alone with Oswald, asking routine questions. “He was sitting very quietly and didn’t seem outwardly perturbed about anything,” recalls Leavelle. “He answered my questions, but he didn’t tell me the truth. . . He said, ‘I didn’t shoot anybody.’”44

  Based on Oswald’s behavior when arrested at the theater, police were already fairly certain they had the man responsible for the Tippit slaying. Leavelle informed Oswald that the police could run a ballistics test on the pistol to prove Oswald killed Tippit—Leavelle was trying for a quick confession. Oswald countered, “Well, you’ll just have to do it.”

  Soon, however, it was determined that Oswald was the man missing from the Book Depository, and Leavelle removed his prisoner. The subsequent interrogations would be conducted under the direction of Dallas’ homicide chief, Captain Will Fritz.

  Will Fritz was a legend among local cops, especially revered for his prowess in conducting interrogations. Jim Leavelle remembers, “I once heard him get a confession on the telephone from a man in Cincinnati, Ohio—on a murder!” Leavelle says that Fritz embodied the “good cop” style of interrogation. He would use his good ‘ol boy charm to soften up his suspects, just before he blind-sided them. “He would let you know that you could trust him and he would do what he could to help you,” says Leavelle.

  The Cincinnati confession is a good example.
Leavelle says the suspect consistently denied any involvement. Fritz switched to inane topics like hunting and baseball. Then, when the conversation was rolling, Fritz slipped in, “By the way, was this the first time you killed anybody?”

  The man responded without thinking, “Oh, yes, but—” The line went dead. But it wasn’t long before Fritz had his all-important signed confession. Most observers felt Fritz’s style would eventually work on Oswald as well.

  Years later, critics would cite the lack of a stenographer, and the failure to tape record the interrogation sessions as proof of a police coverup. The fact is that the Dallas police had no taping system in 1963. Further, a stenographer would have been useless because Oswald wasn’t doing much besides nodding his head.

  Finally, according to the Assistant District Attorney at the time, Bill Alexander, “[The tapes] would have been inadmissible in any court.”45 (Although the landmark Miranda vs. Arizona decision, which mandated the reading of rights and the presence of an attorney, was not rendered until June 13, 1966, Texas law already contained similar provisions. Oswald had no lawyer present.) In the end, all that mattered was a signed and witnessed confession. Leavelle summarized:

  We did it the hard way. After we broke a man down, he would confess, then we had him reduce it to writing and sign it in front of witnesses, usually newspaper people—then he can’t go to court later and claim he was coerced. Besides, what’s the use of keeping a thousand words of conversation that you’re never going to be able to use? Another purpose of the interrogation was to indicate to police if they should be fanning out for accomplices.46