Thursday, June 24, 2021

Everything is a Rich Man's Trick JFK to 9/11

 

JFK Assassination: A LOOK AT THE DEATHS OF THOSE INVOLVED* Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster from Assasination Files

 

A LOOK AT THE DEATHS OF THOSE INVOLVED*

Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster

[Editor's Note: The claim that many persons who had
personal knowledge of the assassination of JFK have met
untimely deaths is reviewed by the authors, who provide
a overview of the evidence. It appears that many who
had personal knowledge of the assassination of JFK
have indeed met untimely deaths.
]

In the three-year period which followed the murder of President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, 18 material witnesses died - six by gunfire, three in motor accidents, two by suicide, one from a cut throat, one from a karate chop to the neck, three from heart attacks and two from natural causes.



An actuary, engaged by the "London Sunday Times," concluded that on November 22, 1963, the odds against these witnesses being dead by February 1967, were one hundred thousand trillion to one. The above comment on the deaths of assassination witnesses was published in a tabloid companion piece to the movie "Executive Action," released in 1973. By that time, part of the mythology of the Kennedy assassination included the mysterious deaths of people who were connected with it. By the mid-1960s, people in Dallas already were whispering about the number of persons who died under strange or questionable circumstances.
Well into the 1980s, witnesses and others were hesitant to come forward with information because of the stories of strange and sudden death which seemed visit anyone with information about the assassination.

Finally, in the late 1970s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations felt compelled to look into the matter. But aside from discrediting the "London Sunday Times" actuarial study, the Committee was unable to come to any conclusion regarding the growing number of deaths. The Committee said it could not make a valid actuarial study due to the broad number and types of persons which had to be included in such a study.
In response to a letter from the Committee, "London Sunday Times" Legal Manager Anthony Whitaker stated:
Our piece about the odds against the deaths of the Kennedy witnesses was, I regret to say, based on a careless journalistic mistake and should not have been published. This was realized by The Sunday Times editorial staff after the first edition - the one which goes to the United States...- had gone out, and later editions were amended. There was no question of our actuary having got his answer wrong: it was simply that we asked him the wrong question. He was asked what were the odds against 15 named people out of the population of the United States dying within a short period of time, to which he replied -correctly - that they were very high. However, if one asks what are the odds against 15 of those included in the Warren Commission Index dying within a given period, the answer is, of course, that they are much lower. Our mistake was to treat the reply to the former question as if it dealt with the latter - hence the fundamental error in our first edition report, for which we apologize.
This settled the matter for the House Committee, which apparently made little or no attempt to seriously study the number of deaths which followed the JFK assassination.

Jacqueline Hess, the Committee's chief of research for the JFK investigation, reported:
Our final conclusion on the issue is that the available evidence does not establish anything about the nature of these deaths which would indicate that the deaths were in some manner, either direct or peripheral, caused by the assassination of President Kennedy or by any aspect of the subsequent investigation.
However, an objective look at both the number and the causes of death balanced against the importance of the person's connection to the case, still causes raised eyebrows among those who study such a list.

In this section, people who were connected - no matter how tenuously - with the assassination and who are now dead are listed according to date of death. This is dealing only with deaths, not with the numerous persons - such as Warren Reynolds, Roger Craig, Richard Carr or Richard Case Nagell - who claim to have been shot at or attacked.
This section has been entitled "Convenient Deaths" because these deaths certainly would have been convenient for anyone not wishing the truth of the JFK assassination to become public. Of course, it is impossible to state with any certainty which of these deaths resulted from natural causes and which did not.

Because so many of the these deaths involve persons either working with or connected with the CIA or other domestic intelligence services, the Agency has gone to some lengths to discredit the idea of mysterious deaths plaguing assassination witnesses.
A 1967 memo from CIA headquarters to station chiefs advised:
Such vague accusations as that "more than 10 people have died mysteriously" can always be explained in some rational way: e.g., the individuals concerned have for the most part died of natural causes; the (Warren) Commission staff questioned 418 witnesses - the FBI interviewed far more people, conducting 25,000 interviews and reinterviews - and in such a large group, a certain number of deaths are to be expected.
Yet it is now well established that the CIA was developing a wide-range of lethal techniques for disposing of people dating back to the early 1950s.

Testifying before the Church Committee in 1975, CIA technicians told of a variety of TWEP technology - Termination With Extreme Prejudice - including liquid botulinum toxins and a pulmonary-embolism-causing pill which cannot be detected in a post-mortem examination.

One recently-declassified CIA document, a letter from an Agency consultant to a CIA officer, states:
You will recall that I mentioned that the local circumstances under which a given means might be used might suggest the technique to be used in that case. I think the gross divisions in presenting this subject might be:

1.   bodies left with no hope of the cause of death being determined by the most complete autopsy and chemical examinations

2.   bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate accidental death

3.   bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate suicidal death

4.   bodies left with residue that simulate those caused by natural diseases.

The letter goes on to show that undetected murders do not have to be the result of sophisticated chemicals. It states:
There are two techniques which I believe should be mentioned since they require no special equipment besides a strong arm and the will to do such a job. These would be either to smother the victim with a pillow or to strangle him with a wide piece of cloth such as a bath towel. In such cases, there is no specific anatomic changes to indicate the cause of death...
While is obvious that the CIA - and hence the mob through operatives who work for both - has the capability of killing, it is less well-known that the Agency has developed drugs to induce cancer. Recall that Jack Ruby died of sudden lung cancer just as he had been granted a new trial.

A 1952 CIA memo reported on the cancer-causing effects of beryllium:
This is certainly the most toxic inorganic element and it produces a peculiar fibrotic tumor at the site of local application. The amount necessary to produce these tumors is a few micrograms.
Local law enforcement officers and coroners are simply not equipped, either by training or by inclination, to detect deaths induced by such sophisticated means. They look for signs of a struggle, evidence of a break-in, bruises or marks on the victim. With no evidence to the contrary, many deaths simply are ruled suicide or accident. Others are ruled due to natural causes, such as heart attack.

It is interesting to note how the deaths are grouped. Many of the earliest deaths came during the time of the Warren Commission investigation or just afterwards. Some significant deaths also took place in the late 1960s as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison was launching his own investigation. Other suspicious deaths occurred during the mid-1970s, as the Senate Intelligence Committee was looking into assassinations by U.S. intelligence agencies. And finally, another spate of deaths came around 1977, just as the House Select Committee on Assassinations was gearing up its investigations.
These deaths are listed in chronological order. An asterisk (*) means the death is a particularly suspicious one. They also are grouped according to which investigation was being conducted at the time.

The area of convenient deaths leads one into a well of paranoia, yet the long list of deaths cannot be summarily dismissed.

Obviously, many of these deaths - particularly in recent years - can be ascribed to the passage of time. But others cannot - especially when viewed in context of the assassination inquiries taking place at the time.
Read for yourself and consider...When does coincidence end and conspiracy begin?
https://www.blogger.com/null

List of Deaths

 

Date

Name

Connection with case

Cause of death

11/63

Karyn Kupicinet

Tv host's daughter who was overheard telling of JFK's death prior to 11/22/63

Murdered

12/63

Jack Zangretti

Expressed foreknowledge of Ruby shooting Oswald

Gunshot Victim

2/64

Eddy Benavides

Lookalike brother to Tippit shooting witness, Domingo Benavides

Gunshot to head

2/64

Betty MacDonald*

Former Ruby employee who alibied Warren Reynolds shooting suspect.

Suicide byhanging in Dallas Jail

3/64

Bill Chesher

Thought to have information linking Oswald and Ruby

Heart attack

3/64

Hank Killam*

Husband of Ruby employee, knew Oswald acquaintance

Throat cut

4/64

Bill Hunter*

Reporter who was in Ruby's apartment on 11/24/63

Accidental shooting by policeman

5/64

Gary Underhill*

CIA agent who claimed Agency was involved

Gunshot in head ruled suicide

5/64

Hugh Ward*

Private investigator working with Guy Banister and David Ferrie

Plane crash in Mexico

5/64

DeLesseps Morrison*

New Orleans Mayor

Passenger in Ward's plane

8/64

Teresa Norton*

Ruby employee

Fatally shot

6/64

Guy Banister*

x-FBI agent in New Orleans connected to Ferrie, CIA, Carlos Marcello & Oswald

Heart attack

9/64

Jim Koethe*

Reporter who was in Ruby's apartment on 11/24/63

Blow to neck

9/64

C.D. Jackson

"Life" magazine senior Vicepresident who bought Zapruderfilm and locked it away

Unknown

10/64

Mary Pinchot

JFK "special" friend whose diary was taken by CIA chief James Angleton after her death

Murdered

1/65

Paul Mandal

"Life" writer who told of JFK turning to rear when shot in throat

Cancer

3/65

Tom Howard*

Ruby's first lawyer, was in Ruby's apartment on 11/24/63

Heart attack

5/65

Maurice Gatlin*

Pilot for Guy Banister

Fatal fall

8/65

Mona B. Saenz*

Texas Employment clerk who interviewed Oswald

Hit by Dallas bus

?/65

David Goldstein

Dallasite who helped FBI trace Oswald's pistol

Natural causes

9/65

Rose Cheramie*

Knew of assassination in advance, told of riding to Dallas with Cubans

Hit/run victim

11/65

Dorothy Kilgallen*

Columnist who had private interview with Ruby, pledged to "break" JFK case

Drug overdose

11/65

Mrs. Earl Smith*

Close friend to Dorothy Kilgallen, died two daysafter columnist, may have kept Kilgallen's notes

Cause unknown

12/65

William Whaley*

Cab driver who reportedly drove Oswald to Oak Cliff (The only Dallas taxi driver to die on duty)

Motor collision

1966

Judge Joe Brown

Presided over Ruby's trial

Heart attack

1966

Karen "Little Lynn" Carlin*

Ruby employee who last talked with Ruby before Oswald shooting

Gunshot victim

1/66

Earlene Roberts

Oswald's landlady

Heart attack

2/66

Albert Bogard*

Car salesman who said Oswald test drove new car

Suicide

6/66

Capt. Frank Martin

Dallas policeman who witnessed Oswald slaying, told Warren Commission "there's a lot to be said but probably be better if I don't say it"

Sudden cancer

8/66

Lee Bowers Jr.*

Witnessed men behind picket fence on Grassy Knoll

Motor accident

9/66

Marilyn "Delila Walle*

Ruby dancer

Shot by husband after 1 month of marriage

10/66

Lt. William Pitzer*

JFK autopsy photographer who described his duty as "horrifying experience"

Gunshot rule suicided

11/66

Jimmy Levens

Fort Worth nightclub owner who hired Ruby employees

Natural causes

11/66

James Worrell Jr.*

Saw man flee rear of Texas School Book Depository

Motor accident

1966

Clarence Oliver

Dist. Atty. Investigator who worked Ruby case

Unknown

12/66

Hank Suydam

Life magazine official in charge of JFK stories

Heart attack

1967

Leonard Pullin

Civilian Navy employee who helped film "Last Two Days" about assassination

One-car crash

1/67

Jack Ruby*

Oswald's slayer

Lung cancer (he told family he was injected with cancer cells)

2/67

Harold Russell*

Saw escape of Tippit killer

killed by cop in bar brawl

2/67

David Ferrie*

Acquaintance of Oswald, Garrison suspect and employee of Guy Banister

Blow to neck (ruled accidental)

2/67

Eladio Del Valle*

Anti-Castro Cuban associate of David Ferrie being sought by Garrison

Gunshot wound, ax wound tohead

3/67

Dr. Mary Sherman*

Ferrie associate working on cancer research

Died in fire (possibly shot)

1/68

A. D. Bowie

Asst. Dallas District Attorney prosecuting Ruby

Cancer

4/68

Hiram Ingram

Dallas Deputy Sheriff, close friend to Roger Craig

Sudden cancer

5/68

Dr. Nicholas Chetta

New Orleans coroner who on death of Ferrie

Heart attack

8/68

Philip Geraci*

Friend of Perry Russo, told of Oswald/Shaw conversation

Electrocution

1/69

Henry Delaune*

Brother-in-law to coroner Chetta

Murdered

1/69

E.R. Walthers*

Dallas Deputy Sheriff who was involved in Depository search, claimed to have found .45-cal. slug

Shot by felon

1969

Charles Mentesana

Filmed rifle other than Mannlicher-Carcano being taken from Depository

Heart attack

4/69

Mary Bledsoe

Neighbor to Oswald, also knew David Ferrie

Natural causes

4/69

John Crawford*

Close friend to both Ruby and Wesley Frazier, who gave ride to Oswald on 11/22/63

Crash of private plane

7/69

Rev. Clyde Johnson*

Scheduled to testify about Clay Shaw/Oswald connection

Fatally shot

1970

George McGann*

Underworld figure connected to Ruby friends, wife, Beverly, took film in Dealey Plaza

Murdered

1/70

Darrell W. Garner

Arrested for shooting Warren Reynolds, released after alibi from Betty MacDonald

Drug overdose

8/70

Bill Decker

Dallas Sheriff who saw bullet hit street in front of JFK

Natural causes

8/70

Abraham Zapruder

Took famous film of JFK assassination

Natural causes

12/70

Salvatore Granello*

Mobster linked to both Hoffa,Trafficante, and Castro assassination plots

Murdered

1971

James Plumeri*

Mobster tied to mob-CIA assassination plots

Murdered

3/71

Clayton Fowler

Ruby's chief defense attorney

Uknown

4/71

Gen. Charles Cabell*

CIA deputy director connected to anti-Castro Cubans

Collapsed and died afterphysical at Fort Myers

1972

Hale Boggs*

House Majority Leader, member of Warren Commission who began to publicly express doubts about findings

Disappeared on Alaskan plane flight

5/72

J. Edgar Hoover*

FBI director who pushed "lone assassin" theory in JFK assassination

Heart attack (no autopsy)

9/73

Thomas E. Davis*

Gunrunner connected to both Ruby and CIA

Electrocuted trying to steal wire

2/74

J.A. Milteer*

Miami right-winger who predicted JFK's death and capture of scapegoat

Heater explosion

1974

Dave Yaras*

Close friend to both Hoffa and Jack Ruby

Murdered

7/74

Earl Warren

Chief Justice who reluctantly chaired Warren Commission

Heart failure

8/74

Clay Shaw*

Prime suspect in Garrison case, reportedly a CIA contact with Ferrie and E. Howard Hunt

Possible cancer

1974

Earle Cabell

Mayor of Dallas on 11/22/63, whose brother, Gen. Charles Cabell was fired from CIA by JFK

Natural causes

6/75

Sam Giancana*

Chicago Mafia boss slated to tell about CIA-mob death plots to Senate Committee

Murdered

7/75

Clyde Tolson

J. Edgar Hoover's assistant and roommate

Natural causes

1975

Allen Sweatt

Dallas Deputy Sheriff involved in investigation

Natural causes

12/75

Gen. Earle Wheeler

Contact between JFK and CIA

Unknown

1976

Ralph Paul

Ruby's business partner connected with crime figures

Heart attack

4/76

James Chaney

Dallas motorcycle officer riding to JFK's right rear who said JFK "struck in the face" with bullet

Heart attack

4/76

Dr. Charles Gregory

Governor John Connally's physician

Heart attack

6/76

William Harvey*

CIA coordinator for CIA-mob assassination plans against Castro

Complications from heart surgery

7/76

John Roselli*

Mobster who testified to Senate Committee and was to appear again

Stabbed and stuffed in metal drum


1977 - A Terrible Year For Many

The year 1977 produced a bumper crop of candidates for listing under convenient deaths connected to the JFK assassination - including the deaths of six top FBI officials all of whom were scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Topping this list was former number three man in the FBI William C. Sullivan, who had already had a preliminary meeting the investigators for the House Committee. Sullivan was shot with a high-powered rifle near his New Hampshire home by a man who claimed to have mistaken him for a deer. The man was charged with a misdemeanor - "shooting a human being by accident" - and released into the custody of his father, a state policeman. There was no further investigation of Sullivan's death.
Louis Nichols was a special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover as well as Hoover's liaison with the Warren Commission. Alan H. Belmont also was a special assistant to Hoover. James Cadigan was a document expert with access to many classified assassination documents, while J.M. English headed the FBI laboratory where Oswald rifle and pistol were tested. Donald Kaylor was the FBI fingerprint expert who examined prints found at the assassination scene. None of these six Bureau officials lived to tell what they knew to the House Committee.
Other key assassination witnesses, such as George DeMohrenschildt and former Cuban President Carlos Prio Soccaras, died within weeks of each other in 1977, just as they too were being sought by the House Committee.
The ranks of both organized crime and U.S. intelligence agencies were thinned by deaths beginning in 1975, the time of the Senate Intelligence Hearings, and 1978, the closing months of the House Committee. Charles Nicoletti, a mobster connected with the CIA-Mafia assassination plots, was murdered in Chicago, while William Pawley, a former diplomat connected with both organized crime and CIA figures, reportedly committed suicide.
Adding official confirmation to rumors that "hit teams" may have been at work was a "Time" magazine report that federal agents had initiated a nationwide investigation into more than 20 gangland assassinations constituting what agents believed was an "open underworld challenge to governmental infiltration of Mafia activities."

One FBI source was quoted as saying:
Our main concern is that we may be facing a revival of the old "Murder, Inc." days.
A "New York News" story concerning this official fear of roving assassination squads even mentions the death of Sam Giancana, who was killed one day before he was to testify about MOB-CIA connections and while under government protection.

Just as the House Committee was gearing up its investigation into the JFK assassination, the news media reported the following deaths:

Date

Name

Connection with case

Cause of Death

1/77

William Pawley*

Former Brazilian Ambassador connected to Anti-Castro Cubans, crime figures

Gunshot ruled suicide

3/77

George DeMohrenschildt*

Close friend to both Oswald and Bouvier family (Jackie Kennedy's parents), CIA contract agent

Gunshot wound ruled suicide

3/77

Carlos Prio Soccaras*

Former Cuban President, money man for anti-Castro Cubans

Gunshot wound ruled suicide

3/77

Paul Raigorodsky

Business friend of George DeMohrenschildt and wealthy oilmen

Natural causes

5/77

Lou Staples*

Dallas radio Talk Show host who told friends he would break assassination case

Gunshot to head,ruled suicide

6/77

Louis Nichols

Former No. 3 man in FBI, worked on JFK investigation

Heart attack

8/77

Alan Belmont

FBI official who testified to Warren Commission

"Long illness"

8/77

James Cadigan

FBI document expert who testified to Warren Commission

Fall in home

8/77

Joseph C. Ayres*

Chief steward on JFK's Air Force One

Shooting accident

8/77

Francis G. Powers*

U-2 pilot downed over Russia in 1960

Helicopter crash (He reportedly ran out of fuel)

9/77

Kenneth O'Donnell

JFK's closest aide

Natural causes

10/77

Donald Kaylor

FBI fingerprint chemist

Heart attack

10/77

J.M. English

Former head of FBI Forensic Sciences Laboratory

Heart attack

11/77

William Sullivan*

Former No. 3 man in FBI, headed Division 5, counter- espionage and domestic intelligence

Hunting accident

1978

C.L. "Lummie" Lewis

Dallas Deputy Sheriff who arrested Mafia man Braden in Dealey Plaza

Natural causes

9/78

Garland Slack

Man who said Oswald fired at his target at rifle range

Unknown

1/79

Billy Lovelady

Depository employee said to be the man in the doorway in AP photograph

Complications from heart attack

6/80

Jesse Curry

Dallas Police Chief at time of assassination

Heart attack

6/80

Dr. John Holbrook

Psychiatrist who testified Ruby was not insane

Heart attack but pills, notes found,

1/81

Marguerite Oswald

Mother of accused assassin

Cancer

10/81

Frank Watts

Chief felony prosecutor for Dallas D.A.

Natural causes

1/82

Peter Gregory

Original translator for Marina Oswald and Secret Service

Natural causes

5/82

Dr. James Weston

Pathologist allowed to see JFK autopsy material for HSCA

Died while jogging, ruled natural causes

8/82

Will H. Griffin

FBI agent who reportedly said Oswald was "definitely" an FBI informant

Cancer

10/82

W. Marvin Gheesling

FBI official who helped supervise JFK investigation

"Long illness"

3/84

Roy Kellerman

Secret Service agent in charge of JFK limousine

Unknown

Following names are the recently known deaths, almost all died of natural causes:

Date

Name

Connection with case

Cause of Death

10/92

Jim Garrison

Former District Attorney of New Orleans, only one who sued in the JFK assassination case

Natural causes

?/94

Perry Russo

witness who told he had seen Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie talking about the killing of JFK

Unknown

01/95

Rose Kennedy

Mother of John F. Kennedy

natural causes

01/95

L.C. Graves

wrested Ruby's revolver away from him after shooting Oswald

natural causes

2/95

Irving L. Goldberg

Judge who advised L. B. Johnson on transition of power

natural causes

3/95

Philip L. Willis

Dealey Plaza Witness, photographer

Leukemia

5/95

Evelyn Norton Lincoln

JFK's personal secretary

natural causes

5/95

Phil L. Barleson

Defender of Ruby

Heart attack

11/95

Richard Case Nagell

CIA agent who claimed he uncovered a "large operation" aimed at killing JFK

heart disease

12/95

James W. Altgens

Dealey Plaza Witness, press photographer

natural causes

1/96

Ralph W. Yarborough

Dealey Plaza witness, rode in motorcade

natural causes

7/96

Melvin Belli

Lawyer of Jack Ruby

Suffering stroke and pneumonia

8/96

Charles Brehm

Dealey Plaza Witness

Unknown

9/96

McGeorge Bundy

Top aide to JFK and LBJ

Heart attack

10/96

Rufus Youngblood

Agent who shielded LBJ during the JFK murder

Cancer

10/96

Larry Ray Harris

Researcher

Car accident

10/96

Lawrence Brantley

Sold Jack Ruby the gun used to kill Oswald

Complications from surgery

Text by Jim Marrs
Dates by Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster


(c) 2002 Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster

 

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