Who was behind the assassination?

Throughout my research into the JFK assassination, there are three groups of people whom I have come to believe deserve the most attention by researchers:

1). Those who wanted the Vietnam War to escalate into a full scale War

2).Those with anti-Semitic beliefs                                                          

3). Those who were either directly or indirectly connected to U.S. Army intelligence; namely the 112th Military Intelligence Group.

What I hope to accomplish in this essay is to demonstrate to the reader that the aforementioned groups were the ones most likely responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy. Although many researchers are of the belief that the conspirators desired the escalation of the Vietnam War, a much smaller proportion believe that individuals with ant-Semitic beliefs and/or those with either a direct or indirect connection to U.S. Army intelligence were involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the President. I have already discussed much of what follows at Greg Parker’s terrific research forum in separate threads. However, I felt that it was important to put it all into a single essay. Let’s begin with the evidence that U.S. Army intelligence were involved in the assassination, and were responsible (along with the FBI) for placing Oswald into the TSBD building; with the purpose of framing him for the assassination.

The 112th Military Intelligence Group and the TSBD

As most researchers of the assassination are probably aware, the man who owned the TSBD building at the time of the assassination was David Harold Byrd. Byrd was an Oil operator and co-founder of the Civil Air Patrol; the very same organisation which Oswald joined in July 1955.  One of Byrd’s acquaintances was Jack Alston Crichton. Crichton was a right-wing Oil and natural Gas industrialist from Dallas, Texas, who founded the 488th Military Intelligence detachment in 1956. The 488th Military Intelligence detachment was a reserve Army intelligence unit, which included several members of the Dallas Police Department. During an interview, Crichton remarked that there were “about a hundred men in that unit and about forty or fifty of them were from the Dallas Police Department” (See here). Two such members from the DPD were Deputy Chief George Lumpkin and detective L. D. (Don) Stringfellow; who worked in the DPD’s criminal intelligence section (I discuss the significance of this further on in the essay).

Crichton was also acquainted with George DeMohrenschildt; the man whom many researchers have described as Oswald’s best friend and “baby sitter,” and who was acquainted with Army intelligence officers such as Sam Kail (see here). What’s also important to bear in mind is that Crichton was the owner and co-director of the Dorchester Gas Producing company. One of the co-directors of that company was David Harold Byrd. Although this doesn’t prove that there was a direct connection between Army intelligence and the TSBD, the reader should take the following into account. On May 22, 1964, Jack Charles Cason; the President and Treasurer of the TSBD Corporation, wrote an affidavit in which he claimed the following “The Corporation acts as an independent agency for a group of thirty-three publishers to warehouse and distribute textbooks to the various schools in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico” (see here). When Lt. Colonel Robert E. Jones of the 112th Military Intelligence Group in San Antonio, Texas, testified before the HSCA, he made the following remark “The 112 MI group had seven regions under its operational control which encompassed a five-state area: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma” (see here).

As the reader can see, the TSBD Corporation covered the exact same five states as the 112th Military Intelligence Group. And as pointed out previously, David Harold Byrd was an acquaintance of Jack Alston Crichton; the man who founded the 488th Military intelligence detachment in Dallas, Texas. It is difficult to ignore the intriguing “coincidence” that the man who owned the TSBD building was acquainted with a man who was a founder of a reserve Army intelligence unit; and that the TSBD Corporation which had its offices inside that very same building covered the exact same five states as the 112th Military intelligence group. What’s also intriguing is that in 1948, Byrd became the Regional Coordinator (later renamed Regional Commander) of the Civil Air Patrol’s Southwest Region. The Southwest Region included the states of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas and Arizona (see here). As the reader can see, with the exception of Arizona, the Southwest Region of the CAP covered the same states as both the TSBD Corporation and the 112th MIG.

Oswald and the 112th Military Intelligence Group

But what exactly does this have to do with Oswald himself? Aside from the fact Oswald worked inside that building for the TSBD Corporation as an order-filler, let’s take the following into consideration. On the evening of November 23, 1963, Oswald tried to place a phone call to a John David Hurt or a John William Hurt from the DPD jail. The phone numbers of both men were written down on a piece of paper by Louise Sweeney/Swinney; who worked as a telephone switchboard operator for the DPD. Sweeney’s/Swinney’s colleague, Alveeta Treon, retrieved the piece of paper after Sweeney/Swinney purportedly through it into a waste basket. What’s important to bear in mind is that John David Hurt had worked for Army intelligence; and then Army counterintelligence, in Europe and Japan during World War II (see here, and here on page 12).

One must ask why Oswald would be trying to call a man connected to both Army intelligence and Army counter intelligence following his arrest for the assassination of President Kennedy. When we take into consideration the likelihood that Oswald was working for Army intelligence and/or counterintelligence, it seems likely that Oswald was trying to contact Hurt to ask for his help. Although John David Hurt denied knowing Oswald, his denial may have been because he thought that by acknowledging he knew Oswald, he would come under suspicion of being involved in a conspiracy with Oswald to assassinate the President. The reader should also keep in mind that Mrs Sweeney/Swinney denied that Oswald ever tried to call a John Hurt from the DPD jail. However, it’s quite likely that her denial was because she was threatened to keep quiet about it; as the implication of Oswald’s attempted phone call was that he was possibly working for Army intelligence and/or counterintelligence.

It is also important to keep in mind what Lt. Col. Robert Jones told the HSCA with regards to his role in the 112th Military Intelligence Group; “I was directly responsible for all counterintelligence, operations background investigations, domestic intelligence and any special operations in this area” (see here). If Jones’ testimony is to be believed, the 112th MIG was not only responsible for intelligence operations, but also counterintelligence operations. In my opinion, this reinforces the notion that Oswald was trying to call John David Hurt following his arrest. Let’s now take the following into account. As most researchers are probably already aware, Oswald’s immediate supervisor at the TSBD was William Hoyt Shelley. When Shelley testified before the Warren Commission, he claimed that he had “worked in defense plants a little bit during the war” before he started working at the TSBD in 1945 (WC Volume VI, page 327).

As researcher Greg Parker has pointed out, the FBI (at the behest of the U.S. Navy and Army) had informants working in defense plants (see here). The reader should also take note of the fact that Shelley was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) while he was enrolled at Crozier Technical High School in Dallas, Texas (see here). The significance of this is that as Greg Parker discovered; “The Army's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) had also instituted programs for training both Military Intelligence and...” (see here). With this information in mind, it is entirely possible (and even likely) that Shelley was an Army intelligence officer acting as an informant inside defense plants at the behest of the U.S. Army, prior to commencing work at the TSBD.

Finally, let’s take the following important bit of information into consideration. In volume two of his seminal book Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War, researcher Greg Parker writes about a plan being hatched by the national Civil Air Patrol in the late 1940s; “The plan released by the Pennsylvania Wing [of the Civil Air Patrol] indicated the organization was getting set to send selected CAP recruits to the Army Counter-Intelligence School at Holabird Signal Depot, Baltimore, Md. It declared that these recruits would be taught the Russian language, Russian military tactics, Russian politics and all characteristics of the Russian people.” As Parker has also discussed, the purpose of Oswald’s so-called defection to the Soviet Union was to deliver radar information to the Soviets to help with negotiations of a nuclear test ban treaty between the Soviets and the United States (see here). We should also keep in mind that in February 1959 (8 months before his arrival in the Soviet Union), Oswald was given an Army aptitude test to grade his fluency in the Russian Language (Warren Report, page 257).

Keeping in mind everything discussed above, the reader should ask him/herself the following question. What are the odds of it being just a coincidence that Oswald; someone who had joined the Civil Air Patrol (the very same organisation which had hatched a plan to send some of its recruits to an Army Counter-intelligence School where they would be taught the Russian language, Russian military tactics, Russian politics and all characteristics of the Russian people), ended up working in the building which was owned by the co-founder of that very same organisation? Furthermore, the reader should ask him/herself the following question. What are the odds of it being just a coincidence that Oswald; who had gone to work for a corporation inside that very same building which likely had ties to the 112th MIG, just happened to try and contact a man who had worked for Army intelligence and then Army counter-intelligence during World War II, following his arrest by the DPD? In my opinion, the odds of all of this being just a coincidence are extremely slim.

At this stage, the reader is probably wondering what any of this has to do with framing Oswald for the assassination of President Kennedy. Let’s now take the following into account. After Oswald was arrested by the DPD, a delegation of DCLU (Dallas Civil Liberties Union) members went to the DPD with the alleged intention of ensuring that Oswald’s legal rights were not being violated by the DPD. As researcher Greg Parker notes, the man who suggested the DCLU check to see that Oswald’s legal rights were not being violated was divorce attorney Grier Raggio. Raggio was one of the board of directors of the DCLU, who was also part of the delegation that went to the DPD (WCE 987). Raggio’s presence at the DPD following Oswald’s arrest was confirmed by Dallas district attorney, Henry Wade, during his testimony before the Warren Commission (WC Volume V, page 222).

Raggio had his divorce practice set-up inside the Rio Grande building in Dallas; the very same building in which the 112th MIG had its offices (see here and here). Although that’s not significant on its own, let’s take following into account. As Greg Parker explains here, after Raggio got drafted into the U.S. Army following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, he was rejected for Army intelligence training allegedly on security grounds. Furthermore, after Raggio was sent to the pacific theater, he sent home multiple letters complaining about the Army. On a final note, Raggio was accused of being a communist by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities committee). As most people reading this will probably agree, the 112th MIG would have (by all likelihood) carefully investigated every single individual and company who intended to occupy the same building as them for security reasons.

As most people reading this will also probably agree, the 112th MIG would have had a record of the fact that Raggio was rejected for Army intelligence training “on security grounds” and probably knew that Raggio sent home multiple letters complaining about the Army and that he was accused of being a communist by the HUAC. With all of this information in mind, it seems highly unlikely that the 112th MIG would allow Raggio anywhere near the Rio Grande building; unless he was working for them! If this was the case, then the letters Raggio sent home complaining about the Army and his rejection for officer intelligence training were probably just a ruse. What’s particularly important to note, is that as researcher Greg Parker writes, Raggio actually saw to it that Oswald did not receive legal help prior to his murder by Jack Ruby (this will be further explained in Volume 3 of Parker’s book). The reader should also note that Raggio’s wife, Louise, was Ruth Paine’s divorce attorney (the significance of which I return to further on in this essay).

Raggio’s wife was also acquainted with Lyndon Johnson, and was once an assistant district attorney for Henry Wade (see here). As most researchers are undoubtedly aware, after Johnson became President, he overturned President Kennedy’s decision to remove 1,000 U.S. military personnel from South Vietnam by the end of 1963; and eventually, drastically escalated the Vietnam War. As discussed in my essay Gerald Hill and the Framing of Lee Harvey Oswald (here), there is very good reason to believe that DPD Sgt. Gerald Hill framed Oswald for the murder of DPD officer J.D. Tippit by pretending to remove the gun most likely used to kill Tippit (WCE 143) from Oswald during his arrest inside the Texas Theater. Furthermore, as I discussed in the essay A few words on former DPD Captain, William Ralph Westbrook (here), Westbrook was likely involved with Hill in framing Oswald for Tippit’s murder; and that following his retirement from the DPD in 1966, Westbrook went on to become a Police advisor in South Vietnam.

Although several researchers are of the belief that the Tippit murder and the assassination were not related, there are several reasons to believe that they were related. Firstly, we should take into account the evidence that a wallet bearing identification for Oswald and his alleged alias, Hidell, was left in the vicinity of the Tippit murder scene. Secondly, as discussed in my aforementioned essay on Gerald Hill, there is very good reason to believe that contrary to Hill’s claim that he was on the sixth floor of the TSBD when Dallas deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney discovered the spent rifle shell casings there, he was on the sixth floor before Mooney discovered the spent shell casings, and that therefore, Hill knew in advance where they were. As mentioned previously, there is also good reason to believe that DPD Captain Westbrook; who went on to become a Police advisor in South Vietnam following the escalation of the Vietnam war by President Johnson, was involved in framing Oswald for Tippit’s murder. Finally, as discussed in my essay Did Larry Crafard kill J.D. Tippit (here), there is good reason to believe that Crafard (who was allegedly Jack Ruby’s multi-purpose employee at the Carousel club) was the shooter on the sixth floor of the TSBD, and the man who killed officer Tippit.

I return to Hill and Crafard further on in this essay. For now, let’s return to Jack Crichton. As discussed towards the beginning of this essay, Crichton knew both David Harold Byrd and George DeMohrenschildt; and was the founder of the 488th Military intelligence detachment in Dallas, Texas. When we take this information in conjunction with the evidence that Oswald was working for Army intelligence/counterintelligence, it is quite likely that Oswald knew Crichton. Following Oswald’s arrest on the day of the assassination, one of Marina Oswald’s translators at the DPD was Ilya Mamantov. Mamantov was a native Russian with ant-communist beliefs, who knew both Ruth Paine and George DeMohrenschildt (WC Volume IX, pages 104, 107, and 120). As researcher Lee Farley discusses here, Mamantov had likely mistranslated Marina’s words with regards to the rifle her husband allegedly owned following their return from the Soviet Union; to give the impression that the Soviets were involved with Oswald in a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.

During his testimony before the Warren Commission, Mamantov explained that it was Crichton and DPD deputy chief George L. Lumpkin who had asked him to be Marina Oswald’s translator at the DPD (ibid, page 106). As stated above, Lumpkin was a member of Crichton’s 488th Military intelligence detachment, and was also one of the occupants of the pilot car of the Presidential motorcade in Dallas on the day of the assassination. Another occupant of the pilot car was Lt. Colonel George Whitmeyer. Whitmeyer was in overall command of all Army reserve units in East Texas; this included Crichton’s 488th Military intelligence detachment in Dallas (see here). Although I don’t know exactly what significance there is to Lumpkin’s and Whitmeyer’s presence inside the pilot car, I nevertheless believe it is something important to keep in mind.

The reader should also keep in mind that Crichton was purportedly involved in the arrangements for President Kennedy’s visit to Dallas. Given the presence of both Lumpkin and Whitmeyer inside the pilot car, it seems likely that Crichton was in some way involved in the planning of the motorcade route. Many people reading this essay are probably wondering why Mamantov would admit during his testimony before the Warren Commission that Crichton and Lumpkin had asked him to translate for Marina Oswald if there was anything sinister about it. In my opinion, by admitting that Crichton and Lumpkin had asked him to translate for Marina, Mamantov probably thought that the Warren Commission wouldn’t suspect he was involved with Crichton, Lumpkin, and others in framing Oswald for the assassination of President Kennedy.

Oswald and the FBI

As implied at the beginning of this essay, the FBI was likely involved with Army intelligence in placing Oswald inside the TSBD. What follows are my reasons for believing this to be the case. As mentioned previously, in Volume two of his book Lee Harvey Oswald’s cold war, researcher Greg Parker writes about a plan being hatched by the national Civil Air Patrol in the late 1940s to send selected recruits of that organisation to the Army Counter-intelligence School in Baltimore, Maryland, where they would be taught the Russian language, Russian military tactics, Russian politics, and “all characteristics of the Russian people.” As Parker also writes in his book, the plan not only required the approval of the FBI for it to be implemented; but Colonel Philip F. Neuweiler (the commander of the Pennsylvania wing of the CAP) had asked the FBI for its cooperation in screening candidates for this training.

Furthermore, the plan required that the recruits report on individuals known to have “Communistic leanings or subversive tendencies” in the organisation at which they are employed. As we have already seen, the TSBD building was owned by David Harold Byrd; one of the co-founders of the Civil Air Patrol. Working inside that building with Oswald for the TSBD Corporation was Joe Rodriguez Molina. At the time of the assassination, Molina was employed at the TSBD as a credit manager (WCE 2036). Molina was a Mexican American; who was also one of the co-founders of the Dallas chapter of the American G.I. Forum (see here). For those who are unfamiliar, the American G.I. Forum was an organisation established to protect the rights of Mexican Americans. One of the members of the Dallas chapter of the American G.I. Forum was William James Lowery. As researcher Lee Farley explains here, Lowery was a long time FBI informant who had been reporting on Molina to the FBI.

As Farley writes, one of the FBI agents whom Lowery would provide information to was James Hosty. As most researchers of the assassination are probably aware, following his arrest on the day of the assassination, it was discovered that Oswald had Hosty’s name and phone number inside his address book. It is my belief that Oswald was informing on Molina to Hosty during his brief employment at the TSBD. In addition to what has already been discussed, let’s take the following into account. In late September, 1963, William Lowery publicly revealed that he was an FBI informant. This now surely meant that he could no longer be used as an FBI informant. On October 9, 1963, the FBI removed their FLASH (security watch) on Oswald; which they had issued following Oswald’s alleged defection to the Soviet Union. As far as I am aware, the FBI never provided an explanation as to why they cancelled the FLASH on Oswald. What’s most intriguing is that the FLASH was removed right between the time Lowery publicly revealed himself to be an FBI informant and the time Oswald obtained his job at the TSBD as an order-filler on October 15, 1963.

If Oswald commenced working for the FBI as an informant, then this would certainly explain why the FLASH was removed. What’s also most intriguing is that Lowery was running a shoe store named the Shoe Haven a mere three blocks to the West of the Texas Theater where Oswald was arrested. Although many reading this may believe that all of this was simply a coincidence, I believe it is unlikely that this was the case. The reader should also note that during an interview with the HSCA, Lowery remarked that he thought Oswald was coming after him when he allegedly ducked into the lobby of Hardy’s shoe store to hide from DPD squad cars after allegedly shooting officer Tippit (see here). It is my belief that Lowery made this comment to bolster the notion that Oswald did duck into the lobby of Hardy’s shoe store, by giving the impression that Oswald mistook Hardy’s shoe store for his own shoe store.

Let’s also take the following into consideration. One of the co-founders of the Dallas chapter of the American G.I. Forum was Felix G. Botello. As researcher Greg Parker points out, Botello was a member of an extreme militia group found with a large cache of weapons being sent to Mississippi to aid former Army general Edwin A. Walker during the racial riots there in October, 1962. As Parker also explains, weapons were disappearing from Army armories (see here). One such example is the theft of weapons from the National Guard Armory in Terrell, Texas, on November 14, 1963. The two men arrested by the DPD for possession of these stolen weapons were Lawrence Reginald Miller and Donnell Whitter/Whittier (see here). Curiously, Whitter/Whittier was a mechanic who had once serviced Jack Ruby’s car.

Although this is simply speculation on my part, given Oswald’s probable connection to Army Intelligence and Army counter-intelligence, I believe Oswald was lured into the TSBD by the conspirators under the pretense that he would be keeping an eye on Molina to see if he was involved in the theft of weapons from the aforementioned armories. I also believe the FBI were unwittingly working with the conspirators in placing Oswald into the TSBD; with their intention merely being to use Oswald to keep an eye on Molina with regards to any communist/subversive affiliations on his (Molina’s) part, and to report any such information to them. Before concluding this section, it is worth mentioning that former FBI agent Carver Gayton told HSCA investigators that James Hosty told him (Gayton) that Oswald has been a PSI (Potential/probationary security informant) for the FBI (see here). Although it is debatable as to whether Hosty would admit to such a thing, it is nevertheless something we should keep in mind.

Oswald before the TSBD

With the likelihood in mind that Oswald was part of the training being conducted at the aforementioned Army Counter-intelligence School in Baltimore, Maryland, let’s now consider the following. As most researchers are probably aware, in October 1962, Oswald began working at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall; a typographic services company in Dallas which had contracts with the U.S. Army Map services (see here), (WC Volume X, pages 168 and 191). What’s also noteworthy is that one of Oswald’s co-workers at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall in the photographic department was Dennis Hyman Ofstein. Prior to his employment at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall, Ofstein had served in the U.S. Army and the Army security agency; which was the signal intelligence branch of the U.S. Army (WC Volume X, pages 194 and 200). Curiously, Ofstein had studied the Russian language whilst serving in the Army security agency (ibid, page 200). At this point, the reader should recall that not only was Oswald fluent with the Russian language, but he was also given an Army aptitude test see how fluent he was with the Russian language prior to his so-called defection to the Soviet Union.

But just how did Oswald obtain his employment at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall? Let’s consider the following. When Marina Oswald testified before the Warren Commission, she claimed that that the person who helped Oswald obtain his job there was George Bouhe (WC Volume I, page 7). Bouhe was a Russian ancestry and a so-called leader of the “White Russian” group in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (WC Volume VIII, page 357). Prior to his immigration to the United States in 1923, Bouhe had worked for the American relief commission in Russia (ibid). One of the directors of the American relief commission with whom Bouhe was acquainted was Major General William N. Haskell (ibid). Following his resignation from the regular U.S. Army, Haskell went on to command the Army National Guard in New York in 1926 (see here). As the reader can see, Bouhe had connections to the U.S. Army. 

When Bouhe testified before the Warren Commission, he claimed that he first met Oswald in August, 1962 (ibid, page 358). Bouhe went on to tell the Warren Commission that Oswald had physically abused his wife sometime within the first two weeks of September, 1962 (ibid, page 365). In fact, several members of the so-called “White Russian” community who were acquainted with the Oswalds, such as Elena Hall and Anna Meller, claimed that Oswald had physically abused his wife (ibid, pages 386 and 395). Although Marina Oswald also told the Warren Commission that Oswald had physically abused her, unlike what Bouhe told the Warren Commission, Marina claimed that Oswald had abused her after they had moved in to their apartment on Elsbeth Street in Dallas (WC Volume I, page 10). The Oswalds were both living there in November, 1962.

What’s interesting is that on or about September 1, 1962, Ruth Paine separated from her husband Michael, due to what was described as “unkind, cruel, harsh and tyrannical treatment and conduct” by him beginning about six months prior to their separation (WCD 849, page 34).  Curiously, this corresponds to the period of time in which George Bouhe claimed that Oswald had physically abused his wife. Although the Oswalds allegedly first met Ruth Paine at the home of Dallas chemist Everett Glover on the evening of February 22, 1963, there is good reason to believe otherwise. Let’s consider the following. On November 30, 1963, the FBI interviewed Robert Stovall; the President of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall, concerning Oswald’s employment there. Stovall more or less told the FBI that when Oswald commenced his employment there, he claimed that his address was in Irving, which he later changed to a post office Box number “presumably in Dallas” (WCD 7, page 122).

As the reader may already be aware, Ruth and Michael Paine moved into their home at 2515 West fifth street in Irving, Texas in 1959 (WC Volume II, page 432). Let’s now take the following into account. From July 1952 to April 1954, Michael Paine served in the U.S. Army; after which he was transferred to the Army reserve “by reason of release of overseas returnees” (see here). Paine served in the Army reserve (inactive status) from April 1954 to July 1960. As many researchers have noted, Paine was employed by Bell Helicopter as a research engineer from about 1958 (WC Volume II, pages 385 and 386). The reader should keep in mind that Bell Helicopter manufactured Helicopters for the U.S. Army (such as the UH-1) which were used during the Vietnam War.

As we can see, Michael Paine was another person associated with Oswald who had connections to the U.S. Army. As stated previously, the woman who was Ruth Paine’s divorce attorney was Louise Raggio; who worked with her husband Grier inside the Rio Grande building in Dallas, where the 112th MIG also had their offices. As also stated previously, Grier Raggio was most likely working for the 112th MIG. Taking this into account with everything else discussed above, it is my belief that Ruth and Michael Paine were working with George Bouhe and the 112th MIG in placing Oswald at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall; and that contrary to what researchers have been led to believe, Oswald was living with Ruth Paine when he commenced working there. It is also my belief that the Paines and the Raggios were likely working together in placing Oswald inside the TSBD as part of the frame-up for the assassination. It is noteworthy that after the assassination, the Paines were once again living together; despite the allegation that Michael had subjected Ruth to “unkind, cruel, harsh and tyrannical treatment and conduct” (WCD 849, page 34). 

Gerald Hill and Larry Crafard

So far in this essay, I have mentioned several individuals who were (or likely were) connected to Army intelligence and the 112th MIG. I will now discuss two other individuals who I believe were connected to Army intelligence and the 112th MIG, namely; former DPD Sgt. Gerald Hill, and Jack Ruby’s so-called multipurpose employee, Larry Crafard. Let’s begin with Hill. I mentioned above that as I discussed in my essay Gerald Hill and the Framing of Lee Harvey Oswald, there is very good reason to believe that Hill framed Oswald for the murder of DPD officer J.D. Tippit by pretending to remove the gun most likely used to kill Tippit from Oswald during his arrest inside the Texas Theater. As a result, I believe that anything Hill had to say with regards to Oswald and the assassination should be treated as highly suspect.

On March 19, 1978, an article entitled Army apparently didn’t tell commission of Oswald’s alias was published in the Dallas Morning News newspaper. The article was written by Dallas Morning News reporter, Earl Golz. In the article, Golz discusses how the 112th MIG in San Antonio, Texas, first learned that Oswald allegedly used the name Alek James Hidell as an alias. In that very same article, Gerald Hill is quoted as saying the following with regards to how the 112th MIG learned that Oswald allegedly used that name as an alias “…in all probability Army intelligence got their information from [the Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas] who had it probably 10 minutes after we got back here (to the Dallas Police Department) with [Oswald]” (see here).

Hill’s remark was most certainly a falsehood. Consider the following. During his testimony before the HSCA, Lt. Colonel Robert Jones of the 112th MIG in San Antonio, Texas, made the following remarks as to how his unit learned that Oswald used the name Hidell as an alias; “…I would believe it was the middle of 1963 when he was arrested in New Orleans, and I had liaison with the New Orleans police and through our regional office in New Orleans, they provided me with his arrest, his activities and we carded him under both the name of A. J. Hidell and Lee Harvey Oswald” (see here). Jones was referring to Oswald’s arrest in New Orleans on August 9, 1963. Despite Jones’ claim, Greg Parker has shown that his claim was most certainly a falsehood (see here). It is my belief that Gerald Hill was the individual who informed the 112th MIG in San Antonio, Texas, that Oswald used the name Hidell as an alias shortly after he arrived at the DPD following Oswald’s arrest at the Texas Theater.

Let’s also consider the following with regards to Hill. When Hill testified before the Warren Commission on April 8, 1964, he claimed that on November 24, 1963, he travelled to San Antonio, Texas, to allegedly attend a “state board meeting of the Texas Municipal Police Association” (WC Volume VII, page 63). As mentioned above, Jones’ 112th MIG unit was in San Antonio, Texas. It is my belief that Hill travelled to San Antonio to provide the 112th MIG with false information on Oswald and the assassination. The reader may be wondering why Hill would tell the Warren Commission that he had travelled to San Antonio if this truly was the case. We should consider that Hill may have thought that the Warren Commission was already aware he had travelled to San Antonio, and therefore claimed that he travelled there for a meeting of the Texas Municipal Police Association as a cover for why he was actually there.

I previously mentioned that as discussed in my aforementioned essay on Hill, there is very good reason to believe that contrary to Hill’s claim that he was on the sixth floor of the TSBD when Dallas deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney discovered the spent rifle shell casings there, he was on the sixth floor before Mooney discovered the spent shell casings. In that essay, I also discussed that detective V.J. (Jack) Brian of the DPD was most likely lying when he told the Warren Commission that Hill was on the sixth floor when the spent shell casings were discovered (see under the subheading Did Hill Lie about his location?). In fact, as far as I am aware, Brian was the only law enforcement official who claimed to be with Hill on the sixth floor of the TSBD when the spent shell casings were discovered. Let’s now take a close look at Brian’s background.  

From June 1955, Brian worked as a detective in the criminal intelligence section of the DPD (WC Volume V, page 48). On January 1, 1964, Brian told the US Secret Service that he had interrogated James Powell; a special agent/officer of the 112th MIG in Dallas, after Powell was trapped inside the TSBD following the assassination. This was due to the fact that the DPD sealed off the building (see here).  When Brian testified before the Warren Commission, he was asked who was inside the DPD car with him after he left the TSBD. Brian remarked “Let me see, Lieutenant [Jack] Revill, myself, [detective Roy] Westphal, [detective O.J.] Tarver, and we gave a man a lift, and I don't remember whether he was a CID, I don't know the man, I don't remember whether he was a CIC agent or a CID or OSI, he was some type of, as I recall, Army intelligence man” (WC Volume V, page 57).

In the aforementioned article by Earl Golz, Golz writes that Lt. Jack Revill (who was in charge of the criminal intelligence section of the DPD) claimed that he gave a lift to an Army intelligence Officer from near the TSBD after the assassination; but he couldn’t remember if the officer’s name was James Powell. Although I can’t state this with absolute certainty, given that Brian had interrogated Powell inside the TSBD, Powell was by all likelihood the Army intelligence officer to whom Revill and Brian gave a ride following the assassination. With this in mind, it is curious that Brian told the Warren Commission he didn’t know “the man” who was in the car with him after he left the TSBD; despite knowing who Powell was as evident from his aforementioned interview with the Secret Service.  

The obvious question is why did Brian deny that he knew Powell when he testified before the Warren Commission? In my opinion, the most plausible answer is that Brian knew that individuals with connections to Army intelligence were behind the assassination, and that Brian himself was probably involved in the assassination. Let’s now consider the following. Captain W.P. Gannaway; who was in charge of the DPD’s special services bureau (which included the criminal intelligence section), was a reserve Lt. Colonel in the Army intelligence corps/service (see here and here). As Jack Revill told the HSCA, from 1960, the intelligence section of the special services bureau was physically moved to a building located at the Dallas State Fairgrounds (see here). Also located at the Fairgrounds (beneath the Dallas Health and Science museum) was the Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Bunker; a nuclear bomb proof “cellar” which contained “special communications equipment.”

According to researcher Russ Baker “On April 1, 1962, Dallas Civil Defense, with [Jack] Crichton heading its intelligence component, opened an elaborate underground command post under the patio of the Dallas Health and Science Museum” (see here). Provided this information concerning Crichton is accurate, and given that Gannaway was a reserve Lt. Colonel in the Army intelligence corps/service, it seems unlikely that Crichton and Gannaway didn’t know each other. We should also keep in mind that Crichton admitted during an interview that there were “about a hundred men in [the 488th Military intelligence detachment] and about forty or fifty of them were from the Dallas Police Department” and that one of those men was DPD detective L. D. (Don) Stringfellow of the Criminal Intelligence Section (see here). This makes it all the more likely that Crichton and Gannaway knew each other; and that detective V.J. Brian was a member of Crichton’s 488th Military intelligence detachment.

Although none of this proves that Gerald Hill was involved with Army intelligence and the 112th MIG, when we take into account the fact that Hill travelled to San Antonio, Texas (of all places) two days following the assassination, and that the officer who (by all likelihood) lied about Hill being on the sixth floor when the spent shell casings were discovered was connected to Army intelligence and Jack Crichton, it seems likely that Hill was also connected to Army intelligence and Crichton. In my aforementioned essay on Hill, I also explain that shortly following Oswald’s arrest, Hill falsely claimed during an interview with Bob Whitten of KCRA radio that Oswald had admitted to being an “active communist” (See under the subheading Hill’s possible motive). As several researchers have noted, detective Stringfellow was named as the source of information in a confidential cable on the night of assassination from Army intelligence in Texas to the U.S. strike command at MacDill Air Force base in Florida. 

According to the cable, information “obtained from Oswald revealed that he had defected to Cuba in 1959 and is a card-carrying member of the Communist Party” (see here). This information was false, since Oswald never defected to Cuba, and was not a “card-carrying member of the Communist Party.” It’s important to note that MacDill Air Force base in Florida had the capability of providing a swift retaliatory attack against Cuba.  Such a provocative cable may have led to an attack against Cuba by the United States; as it suggested that Oswald was involved in a conspiracy with Cuban Communists to assassinate the President. This could then have led to a war between the United States and the Soviets, in which nuclear weapons may have been used. If this was to occur, the Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Bunker at the Dallas State Fairgrounds would surely have been utilised.

As mentioned above, individuals of interest such as detective V.J. Brian had ties to the Dallas state Fairgrounds. Another individual of interest with ties to the Fairgrounds was Larry Crafard. During his testimony before the Warren Commission, Crafard claimed that when he arrived in Dallas, Texas, he went to work for an “outfit” located at the Fairgrounds called “How Hollywood makes movies” (WC Volume XIII, page 416). Crafard also told the Warren Commission that he enlisted in the U.S. Army in September, 1958, and was discharged in November, 1959, under honorable conditions (ibid, page 405). Taking this into account with the fact that Crafard was in close proximity to both the Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Bunker and the Criminal intelligence section of the DPD shortly before the assassination, it seems likely that Crafard was involved with Army intelligence. The reader should also keep in mind the evidence that Army intelligence was involved in the assassination and that there is good reason to believe that Crafard was the shooter on the sixth floor of the TSBD and the man who shot officer Tippit.   

Blaming the Jews

At the beginning of this essay, I mentioned that one of the groups of people whom I believe deserve the most attention by researchers is those with anti-Semitic beliefs. What follows are my reasons for believing this to be the case. As the reader may be aware, on the day of the assassination, an advertisement with a black border around it entitled “Welcome Mr. Kennedy” was printed in the Dallas Morning News newspaper. The advertisement asked President Kennedy to answer several questions; with the implication being that he was soft on communists (WCE 1031). The person whose name appeared at the bottom of the advertisement was Bernard Weissman. Weissman was a right-wing conservative of Jewish Ancestry, who served in the U.S. Army from August 1961 until August 1963 (WC Volume V, pages 489 and 500). Although the advertisement stated that Weissman was the chairman of “The American Fact-Finding Committee,” no such committee actually existed (WCE 1052).

Given that the advertisement appeared in the Dallas Morning News newspaper on the very same day that the President was assassinated, this may have led many people to suspect that Weissman; and by implication, the Jews, were behind the assassination. It is my belief that this was in fact the purpose of the advertisement. Let’s take into account the following. One of the financial contributors to the advertisement was Nelson Bunker Hunt; one of the sons of the eccentric oil billionaire, H.L. Hunt (WCE 1885). Both Bunker Hunt and his father held extreme right-wing and anti-Semitic beliefs, and were opposed to President Kennedy (see here and here). One individual of interest who was associated with the elder Hunt was Warren Hasty Carroll. As I discuss here, Carroll was a CIA analyst who was good friends with Larry Jones of CUSA (Conservatism USA) fame and had worked as a script writer for H.L. Hunt’s right-wing radio program, Life Line. Carroll also served in the U.S. Army signal corps (see here). As researcher Greg Parker discusses here, there is good reason to believe that Larry Jones was involved in the assassination.

There is also good reason to believe that Larry Jones was involved in placing the aforementioned advertisement into Dallas Morning News newspaper. Let’s consider the following. Despite telling the Warren Commission that Jones had left Dallas before he (Weissman) arrived in Dallas in early November, 1963, when senator John Sherman Cooper asked Weissman “Would you state now to this Commission the idea of printing this ad was conceived by you and Larry Jones – what is the other’s name?” Weissman failed to contradict Cooper by telling him that Jones wasn’t involved; thus indicating that Jones was involved (WC Volume V, pages 498 and 510). We have already seen that H.L. Hunt’s own son had contributed funds to place the advertisement into the newspaper. When we take into account the fact that Larry Jones was acquainted with Warren Carroll with the fact that Carroll worked for Hunt, we can see another connection between the anti-Semitic Hunt and the advertisement.

Let’s also consider the following. Jack Crichton was a trustee of the H.L. Hunt foundation, and in July 1963, he was elected the director of the foundation (see here). Furthermore, on the day following the assassination, Hunt met with Crichton and “other Army intelligence officers” to purportedly discuss the “first interrogation of Marina Oswald” (see here). Although there is no proof of this as far as I am aware, we should keep in mind that Hunt’s long time assistant, John Curington, claimed that he had seen Marina Oswald come down on an elevator from Hunt’s executive offices a few weeks following the assassination (see here). We should also keep in mind that as pointed out previously, Jack Crichton asked Ilya Mamantov to act as Marina Oswald’s interpreter at the DPD following Oswald’s arrest for the shooting of Officer J.D. Tippit.  

Another person of interest, who was well acquainted with H.L. Hunt, was Lt. George E. Butler of the DPD. At the time of the assassination, Butler was assigned to the Juvenile Bureau (WC Volume XIX, Batchelor Exhibit 5002). Prior to that, Butler was a supervisor in the intelligence unit. According to an article printed in the Oak Cliff Tribune on January 10, 1980, Butler was an avowed anti-communist and a friend and confidante of H.L. Hunt, who also handled personal investigative assignments for the Hunt oil company. According to that same article, Butler “was certain that Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife Marina were Communists agents, that Fidel Castro ordered the Kennedy killing, [and] that Oswald and Jack Ruby were probably in cahoots” (see here).  As I discuss below, Butler was also likely well acquainted with Sgt. Gerald Hill.

On December 9, 1963, Lt. Jack Revill and detective H.M. Hart of the special service bureau reported that Butler had advised them he had information that Oswald was the illegitimate son of Jack Ruby. As most researchers of the assassination are aware, Ruby was of Jewish ancestry. Since Oswald was framed for the assassination, the implication of Butler’s claim is that Oswald was part Jewish; and that the assassination was a Jewish conspiracy. Whilst some might find this to be an absurd notion, we should bear in mind that Butler was closely associated with the anti-Semitic H.L. Hunt, and claimed that he believed Oswald and Ruby were “probably in cahoots.” Revill and Hart also reported that Butler had information that Ruby had applied for a visa to Mexico at about the same time Oswald was allegedly there, and suggested that the Mexican Consul be contacted to confirm this information (see here).

Let’s now take the following into account. One of the news reporters at the DPD basement on the morning of November 24, 1963, when Ruby shot Oswald was Thayer Waldo. Butler was also present. When Waldo testified before the Warren Commission, he made the following remarks with regards to Butler’s demeanour just before Ruby shot Oswald; “What I wanted to say about Lieutenant Butler was that this almost stolid poise, or perhaps phlegmatic poise is a better word, that I had noticed all through even the most hectic times of the 22d and the 23d, appeared to have deserted him completely on the morning of the 24th. He was an extremely nervous man, so nervous that when I was standing asking him a question after I had entered the ramp and gotten down to the basement area, just moments before Oswald was brought down, he was standing profile to me and I noticed his lips trembling as he listened and waited for my answer. It was simply a physical characteristic. I had by then spent enough hours talking to this man so that it struck me as something totally out of character. Now, he may merely have had a bad night” (WC Volume XV, page 594).

As we can see, Waldo claimed that Butler was extremely nervous just before Oswald was brought down to the basement. The obvious question is why? I believe the most viable explanation is that Butler knew that Ruby was about to shoot Oswald. According to John Curington, on the day before Oswald was shot, H.L. Hunt ordered him (Curington) to “spy” on Police security surrounding Oswald; and that after he reported to Hunt that “there was no security around Oswald,” Hunt was delighted and elated (see here). Although this doesn’t prove by any means that Butler knew Oswald was about to be shot, it is nevertheless extremely curious that Hunt had asked his trusted assistant to report to him on Police security surrounding Oswald; and that according to Thayer Waldo, the man who was considered Hunt’s confidante was uncharacteristically nervous just before Oswald was shot.

Aside from his connection to both Hunt and the DPD, Butler was also the first President of the Dallas Police Association. The DPA is an organisation which was founded in 1959 to protect the rights of Dallas Police officers. Butler served as its first President from 1959 until 1964/1965 (see here). As mentioned previously, Gerald Hill told the Warren Commission that on November 24, 1963, he had flown to San Antonio, Texas, to attend a meeting of the Texas Municipal Police Association. In fact, Hill told author Larry Sneed that he was the secretary-treasurer of that organisation (Sneed, No More Silence, page 301). Although Hill’s obituary in the Dallas Morning News states that he served as the secretary-treasurer of the Dallas Police Association, this was most certainly an error (see here). What’s significant is that both Hill and Butler held high positions in organisations which represented the rights of DPD officers. With this in mind, it is difficult to believe that Hill and Butler were not well acquainted with each other before the assassination.

Let’s also consider the following. One of the past Presidents of the Dallas Police Association was DPD Officer Charles Terry Burnley. Burnley served in that position from 1973 to 1978. With this in mind, it is likely that Burnley was acquainted with Butler (and Hill for that matter) long before he became President of the DPA. In previous essays, I have argued that Gerald Hill was one of the Officers whom Earlene Roberts (the housekeeper at the rooming house on 1026 North Beckley avenue in Oak Cliff where Oswald was allegedly living at the time of the assassination) observed outside the rooming house in DPD squad car 207 (see here for example). As the reader may be aware, Roberts told the Warren Commission that one of the officers in the car sounded the horn just as Charles Burnely and an officer named Alexander would do (WC Volume VI, page 443).

The implication of Roberts’ claim is that Charles Burnley was one of the officers inside the car. As researchers such as Lee Farley, Greg Parker, Ed LeDoux, and I have argued, Oswald was not living at the aforementioned rooming house at the time of the assassination. In fact, as I argue in my essay Did Larry Crafard kill J.D. Tippit, there is good reason to believe that it was Larry Crafard who was living there, and that Hill (and quite likely Burnley) had given Crafard a lift from the rooming house to a location east of where officer Tippit was shot (see under the subheading Was Crafard living at 1026 North Beckley?). The implication of all of this is that Burnley was involved in the Tippit murder and the assassination; as both crimes were more than likely related to each other. Taking this into consideration with the strong likelihood that Butler was acquainted with both Hill and Burnley, it reinforces the notion that Butler himself was involved in the assassination.

Let’s now take a look at some other individuals of interest whom George Butler was associated with. One such individual was Earl William Lively Jr. Lively was a right-wing extremist who was ostensibly writing an anti-communist book which would “stress [the] pro-Cuban activities of Oswald.” According to Lively, Butler was assisting him in writing the book, and that he (Butler) was going to try and obtain any information the FBI provided the DPD in relation to Oswald for Lively (see here). Another individual of interest who was assisting Lively in writing the book was the extreme right wing attorney, Robert Morris. With this in mind, it is entirely likely that Morris was also acquainted with Butler. The significance of this is that Morris was apparently acquainted with Lawrence Howard of INTERPEN fame (see here). As I discuss in my essay Did Larry Crafard kill J.D. Tippit? there is good reason to believe that Howard was the dark complected man who gave Larry Crafard a lift from Dealey Plaza following the assassination in the Nash Rambler Station Wagon observed by Dallas deputy Sheriff Roger Craig (see under the subheading Was Crafard living at 1026 North Beckley?). It is also noteworthy that Howard had served in the U.S. Army (see here).

If what I have discussed previously has not convinced the reader that individuals with anti-Semitic beliefs deserve close attention, then the reader should also consider the following. On August 21, 1964, Larry Crafard informed the FBI that he had seen Bernard Weissman at the Carousel Club after they showed him (Crafard) photographs of Weissman (WCE 2430). Crafard also told the FBI that he had served Weissman drinks at the Club, and that he heard Ruby refer to Weissman by his name (ibid). As far as I am aware, no other employee of the Carousel Club claimed that they had seen Weissman at the Club. The implication of Crafard’s claim is that Weissman and Ruby were well acquainted. Taking into account the likelihood (as discussed previously) that certain individuals involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the President wanted to make it appear as though the Jews were behind the assassination in conjunction with the likelihood that Crafard was involved in the assassination, it is apparent that Crafard was intent on leaving the impression that the Jews were behind the assassination.    

But despite what Crafard claimed during his aforementioned interview, when he was interviewed by the FBI on August 27, 1964, he left the impression that he was now less certain that Weissman had been in the Carousel Club (ibid). However, the reader should consider that the FBI may have realised that Crafard’s claim suggested that Weissman and Ruby were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the President, and as a result, they faked Crafard’s latter remarks to make it appear as though Crafard is not a trustworthy source of information. Suffice it to say, it is my belief that Crafard was intent on leaving the FBI with the impression that Ruby and Weissman were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the President. On a final note, the reader should keep in mind that the man who provided Crafard with his alibi for the time of the assassination (Andrew Armstrong) had worked for the Holiday Hills Apartments which were owned by the Hunt Oil company (WC Volume XIII, page 304).

Closing comments

Throughout this essay, I have argued that the three groups of individuals who deserve the most attention by researchers are those with direct/indirect connections to Army intelligence and the 112th MIG, those with anti-Semitic beliefs, and those who wanted the Vietnam War to escalate into full scale war. Although I don’t pretend for even a second to have proven that these three groups were the ones behind the assassination, I nevertheless believe that this was indeed the case. Given the likelihood that many important pieces of evidence were destroyed over time, I don’t believe that the assassination of President Kennedy can ever be completely solved. However, through the research of highly talented and dedicated researchers such as Greg Parker and the fantastic team of researchers at the Reopen Kennedy Case forum, I believe we can come close to solving who was behind the assassination.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Greg Parker for his research and hard work which made it possible for me to write this essay. My appreciation also goes out to researchers such as Lee Farley; whose research and hard work also made it possible for me to write this essay. Over the next few months, I may add additional information to this essay through addendums. 


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