Leo Damore

[John Simkin]

Can anyone provide me with anymore information on Leo Damore?

Damore was working for The Cape Cod News in July 1969 when Mary Jo Kopechne died at Chappaquidick. He began investigating the role played by Edward Kennedy in her death. He obtained a contract and a large advance from Random House to write a book about Chappaquidick. However, as a result of pressure from the Kennedy family, the contract was cancelled.

In 1978 Damore published The Crime of Dorothy Sheridan. This was followed by In His Garden : The Anatomy of a Murderer (1983). Damore's book on Mary Jo Kopechne, Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up, was finally published by Regnery Gateway in 1983.

Damore than began investigating the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer. In an article that appeared in the New York Post Damore claimed that he believed that the Central Intelligence Agency had something to do with the death of Meyer. He pointed out that on the night of the murder James Angleton and Ben Bradlee were in Mary's home looking for her diary. He added: "She (Meyer) had access to the highest levels. She was involved in illegal drug activity. What do you think it would do to the beatification of Kennedy if this woman said, 'It wasn't Camelot, it was Caligula's court'?"

Damore's book on Meyer was never published. Leo Damore committed suicide in October 1995.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdamore.htm

[Mel Ayton]

Can anyone provide me with anymore information on Leo Damore?

Damore was working for The Cape Cod News in July 1969 when Mary Jo Kopechne died at Chappaquidick. He began investigating the role played by Edward Kennedy in her death. He obtained a contract and a large advance from Random House to write a book about Chappaquidick. However, as a result of pressure from the Kennedy family, the contract was cancelled.

In 1978 Damore published The Crime of Dorothy Sheridan. This was followed by In His Garden : The Anatomy of a Murderer (1983). Damore's book on Mary Jo Kopechne, Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up, was finally published by Regnery Gateway in 1983.

Damore than began investigating the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer. In an article that appeared in the New York Post Damore claimed that he believed that the Central Intelligence Agency had something to do with the death of Meyer. He pointed out that on the night of the murder James Angleton and Ben Bradlee were in Mary's home looking for her diary. He added: "She (Meyer) had access to the highest levels. She was involved in illegal drug activity. What do you think it would do to the beatification of Kennedy if this woman said, 'It wasn't Camelot, it was Caligula's court'?"

Damore's book on Meyer was never published. Leo Damore committed suicide in October 1995.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdamore.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

John,

Here's a couple of links which I suppose you've already accessed:

http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/truecrime/damore.html

http://www.sevenstories.com/book/index.cfm...1430&fa=reviews

As to the Mary Meyer murder :here's an excerpt from my book "Questions Of Controversy" (2001)

Mary Meyer

The preponderance of evidence strongly suggests that Kennedy had an affair with Mary Meyer, sister-in-law of ‘Washington Post’ editor, Ben Bradlee. Meyer was an artist who lived in Georgetown in Washington D.C.. Her affair with the President lasted two years. In 1964, a year after the President’s assassination, she was murdered as she walked along a tow-path next to the Potomac river. Meyer’s killer, according to police reports, grabbed her from behind and in broad daylight shot the 42 year old just once under the cheekbone. Her killer escaped and Meyer died instantly.

A number of authors have tried to tie the murder in with attempts by government agencies to keep the affair with President Kennedy secret. They have also attempted to explain her death as an effort to silence her because she purportedly knew about a conspiracy to murder the President.

The story gained some credence through the investigation of the case by best-selling author, Leo Damore, and JFK conspiracy author, John H. Davis. They suggest that Mary Meyer had been told by JFK shortly before his death that there was a conspiracy to assassinate him. Kennedy also purportedly told Meyer that the conspirators were people who were close to him. The conspirators allegedly decided Meyer had to be silenced before she could reveal what she knew about JFK’s assassination.

The ‘Meyer Conspiracy’ proponents, Damore and Davis, researched the story in the early 1990s. Damore said he persuaded many government officials to talk for the first time about the case and they agreed that Mary Meyer was murdered because she knew too much. They said that some very powerful people feared that Meyer knew the ‘real secret’ of the JFK assassination.

One of Damore’s sources was a retired police detective who had worked on the case in 1964. (10) He said that the murder was the work of a professional assassin and that the federal government was involved. The federal government, apparently, had put pressure on the police department to close the case quickly.

The simple facts of the case are quite different. (11) An African-American male, Raymond Crump, was spotted near the murder scene, and was arrested and charged with Meyer’s murder. The evidence against Crump was strong. Witnesses near the scene of the attempted rape or mugging heard shots; one of them, Henry Wiggins, identified Crump as the man who stood over Meyer’s body shortly after the shots had been fired. Crump had been arrested approximately ¾ of an hour after Mary Meyer had been killed. He had been hiding in some bushes near the scene of the crime. He lied to police officers and had fresh cuts and bruises on his body. However, a jury acquitted Crump in the face of overwhelming circumstantial evidence due mainly to an inept prosecutor. The case came down to a choice between believing Crump who appeared to be a quiet and reverent soul, and witness Wiggins who had been a war veteran and former military policeman. It would appear that the trial had been a precursor to O. J. Simpson’s; race had played an important part in the proceedings.

Mary Meyer, who was single at the time of her affair with the President, had been married to CIA officer, Cord Meyer. They divorced in 1956. Ben Bradlee, who was married to Mary’s sister Toni, did not know at the time that his sister-in-law was having an affair with his friend John Kennedy.

In his autobiography, Ben Bradlee (1995) relates the story from his viewpoint. On the night of the murder he got a call at his home from Anne Truitt, Mary’s artist friend and then wife of James Truitt, ‘Newsweek’s’ Tokyo correspondent. Mary had told Anne to retrieve her diary in which she documented her affair with the President, in case anything happened to her. The next morning Ben and Toni went to Mary’s house and once inside they discovered CIA counter-espionage chief, James Angleton, was there. No diary was found. But later in the day the Bradlees found it at Mary’s art studio which was directly across a dead-end driveway from the Bradlee’s house. They again discovered Angleton who was picking the lock of the studio. Embarrassed, Angleton walked off. Toni found the diary an hour later. The diary confirmed that Mary had been having an affair with JFK even though his name was never mentioned. The diary was given to James Angleton under the assumption it would be destroyed. However the diary was not destroyed until some years later. (12)

There have been contradictory accounts of how the diary was found but there is no credible evidence to support the theory that Mary Meyer had been murdered to silence her. If ‘government agents’ had indeed killed her then why would they leave a witness at the scene to identify the real culprits? Would the killers not have been afraid that the man arrested for the murder might reveal their true identities?

The Meyer diary has been used by other authors, notably Nelly Bly (1996) in her book ‘The Kennedy men’, to support one story or another which seeks to label Kennedy as a drug user. In a ‘National Enquirer’ article in 1976, James Truitt stated that Mary Meyer had revealed her affair with Kennedy to him. He went further and stated that Meyer and Kennedy had smoked marijuana.

Timothy Leary (1983) enhanced this story in his book ‘Flashbacks’. Leary embellished it by contending that Mary Meyer was consulting him in 1962 about how to conduct LSD sessions. Meyer had, purportedly, told Leary that she had a friend who was a ‘very important man’ who also wanted to try the drug. Leary maintained that after the assassination, Meyer talked of people who were upset about a ‘peace-loving’ president, who were turned on by drugs, and who had been done away with because they could not control him any longer. However, Leary admitted to author, Nina Burleigh, that he had no proof that Meyer had introduced the President to LSD and said he was not sure whether it was true or not. He did claim to have introduced Marilyn Monroe to the drug. (13)

There is a central problem with Leary’s story. Leary did not mention Meyer in any of his books until ‘Flashbacks’ more than 20 years after he had supposedly met her. Leary was a lifelong radical who took every opportunity to challenge the establishment. It stretches the imagination to assume he would not have revealed scandalous events about the American government. Furthermore, many of his books are autobiographical. Given the astounding nature of his revelations, it is simply incredulous that he did not write about these events long before 1983. In short Leary’s retroactive storytelling is simply not credible.

There are other reasons why Leary’s claims should be rejected. Kennedy’s lifestyle throughout his 46 years has been well chronicled by numerous sources, including family friends and others who knew him well. Kennedy did not smoke and was only a social drinker. If Kennedy had taken LSD and smoked marijuana in the White House it would have been totally out of character.

On the other hand there is strong evidence that President Kennedy took amphetamines but it is unlikely he did so knowingly. (14) It was the medical malpractice of the day and not at all unusual. These drugs were perfectly legal in 1963 and steroids were not known to be carcinogenic. According to J. Edgar Hoover biographer, Richard Gid Powers (1987), the FBI Director may have received ‘vitamin shots’ laced with amphetamines. (15) Dr Max Jacobson, along with others like Dr Janet Travell, was hired by Kennedy to treat his ailing back. Jacobson had invented an elixir and injected his patients with ‘vitamin shots’. The shots boosted the patient’s energy and confidence and in general filled them with a sense of well-being. The concoction, which was sent by Robert Kennedy for laboratory testing turned out to be a mixture of vitamins, steroids and amphetamines.

Max Jacobson travelled with President Kennedy to the first summit meeting with Kruschev in Vienna in June 1961. At this time Kennedy was having severe pain in his back. He had strained it whilst planting a tree in Ottawa the previous May. When told by his brother that the mixture was dangerous, Kennedy said that he did not care if it was ‘horse’s piss’ as long as it relieved his back pain with no obvious side effects. (16) After years of ineffectual treatment for his back it is no wonder that he insisted on the treatment continuing up to the time of his death in November 1963. And there is compelling evidence from Jacobson’s family that the doctor supplied the ‘elixir’ to Jacqueline Kennedy long after she left the White House. (17)

[John Simkin]

As to the Mary Meyer murder :here's an excerpt from my book "Questions Of Controversy" (2001)

Did you actually get this book published? How did they let this thing through? Was it a vanity publisher?

In 1964, a year after the President’s assassination, she was murdered as she walked along a tow-path next to the Potomac river. Meyer’s killer, according to police reports, grabbed her from behind and in broad daylight shot the 42 year old just once under the cheekbone. Her killer escaped and Meyer died instantly.

Mary was actually shot twice. The evidence suggested she had been killed by a professional hitman. The first bullet was fired at the back of the head. She did not die straight away. A second shot was fired into the heart (from behind). The evidence suggests that in both cases, the gun was virtually touching Mary’s body when it was fired. As the FBI expert testified, the “dark haloes on the skin around both entry wounds suggested they had been fired at close-range, possibly point-blank”.

The ‘Meyer Conspiracy’ proponents, Damore and Davis, researched the story in the early 1990s. Damore said he persuaded many government officials to talk for the first time about the case and they agreed that Mary Meyer was murdered because she knew too much. They said that some very powerful people feared that Meyer knew the ‘real secret’ of the JFK assassination.

One of Damore’s sources was a retired police detective who had worked on the case in 1964. (10) He said that the murder was the work of a professional assassin and that the federal government was involved. The federal government, apparently, had put pressure on the police department to close the case quickly.

The simple facts of the case are quite different. (11) An African-American male, Raymond Crump, was spotted near the murder scene, and was arrested and charged with Meyer’s murder. The evidence against Crump was strong. Witnesses near the scene of the attempted rape or mugging heard shots; one of them, Henry Wiggins, identified Crump as the man who stood over Meyer’s body shortly after the shots had been fired. Crump had been arrested approximately ¾ of an hour after Mary Meyer had been killed. He had been hiding in some bushes near the scene of the crime. He lied to police officers and had fresh cuts and bruises on his body. However, a jury acquitted Crump in the face of overwhelming circumstantial evidence due mainly to an inept prosecutor. The case came down to a choice between believing Crump who appeared to be a quiet and reverent soul, and witness Wiggins who had been a war veteran and former military policeman. It would appear that the trial had been a precursor to O. J. Simpson’s; race had played an important part in the proceedings.

This is outrageous. Your suggestion that he only got off because he was black is deeply racist (“a precursor to O. J. Simpson’s; race had played an important part in the proceedings”). The reason Crump got off was because he was innocent, not because he was black.

The evidence against Crump was weak not strong. The jury had no option but to find him not guilty.

The prosecution case was that they cordoned off the land where the murder took place and therefore the killer was unable to escape from the scene of the crime. As they arrested Crump by the canal it was argued that he must be the killer. There were several problems with this defence. First of all, Crump’s lawyer, Dovey Roundtree, was able to show that the police had not in fact cordoned off the canal towpath within minutes of the murder.

The second problem was the gun. If Crump had been trapped within the confines of this small area, what had he done with the gun? Despite an extensive search of the area no gun could be found. This included a two day search of the tow path by 40 police officers. The police also drained the canal near to the murder scene. Police scuba divers searched the waters away from where Mary was killed. However, no gun could be found. Nor could the prosecution find any link between Crump and any Smith and Wesson gun.

Police tests were unable to show that Crump had recently fired a gun. There were no trace of nitrates on his hands or clothes.

During the trial Wiggins was unable to positively identify Raymond Crump as the man standing over Meyer's body. (I noticed the way how you attempted to persuade your readers to your view of the killing by describing Wiggins as a "war veteran and former military policeman").

The prosecution was also handicapped by the fact that the police had been unable to provide a crediable motive for the crime. For example, what evidence have you that Crump tried to rape her? Not that pathetic prosecution claim that his flies were undone. We also know that no money was taken from the body so robbery did not appear to be a motive.

There have been contradictory accounts of how the diary was found but there is no credible evidence to support the theory that Mary Meyer had been murdered to silence her. If ‘government agents’ had indeed killed her then why would they leave a witness at the scene to identify the real culprits? Would the killers not have been afraid that the man arrested for the murder might reveal their true identities?

We now know the full details of how the diary was found. We now know that James Angleton and Ben Bradlee were desperate to get hold of this diary. Why was Angleton allowed to keep the diary? Did it not belong to Mary’s children? Why was it destroyed?

You seem to be very naive about how contract killers work. Wiggins posed no threat to this killer. He was unable to get a good view of the killer (as he admitted in court). Nor can contract killers ever be linked backed to government agencies. Even the person involved in arranging the “hit” would be a freelance without any obvious links to the CIA.

Have you read C. David Heymann’s The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club (2003). In February, 2001, the writer, Heymann, asked Cord Meyer about the death of Mary Pinchot Meyer: "My father died of a heart attack the same year Mary was killed, " he whispered. "It was a bad time." And what could he say about Mary Meyer? Who had committed such a heinous crime? "The same sons of bitches," he hissed, "that killed John F. Kennedy."

[Mel Ayton]

My book was published by a University Press, not a Vanity Press.(I thought you were the mature member who advised his forum members to avoid insults, sneers etc?)

Practically every book I have read has at least one small factual error in it.My book was 'passed' after reviews from another two Universities.If you are implying that every book containing a factual error is not worthy of publication you are mistaken.The list is endless.It is when a book makes numerous factual errors that cause for concern is justified - ergo Matthew Smith's 'Conspiracy' (2005).I have listed 10 factual errors and numerous 'errors of omission'.

And, Yes, I do admit an error for the number of shots, an oversight on my behalf when covering a related subject in my book which did not take priority within the chapter.I researched the story using secondary sources, including a newspaper report which was obviously in error.I did use Nina Burleigh's book which gives the correct description of the murder.Unfortunately, I stuck to the original report.

As far as the modus operandi for the murderer is concerned - to imply it was a 'contract hit' without proof is pure conjecture.Guesswork simply doesn't cut it, you may as well allege Oswald's shooting Tippit in the head was a 'contract hit'.Are you implying that every victim shot in the head can be judged to be a contract hit ?

Two experienced investigative journalists, Philip Nobile and Ron Rosenbaum, who interviewed Angleton and Detective Crooke, came to the conclusion that 'no one has ever pointed to a better suspect than Ray Crump.'Roberta Hornig of the Washington Evening Star knew more about the case than the jury was allowed to hear and was also convinced of Crump's guilt.She knew that Crump made many contradictory comments.She was convinced the prosecutor had 'blown the trial'.(And lack of gun residue can be readily explained by Crump's jumping into the canal.)

This is not a racist statement but it reflects Nina Burleigh's view that race played a part in the trial.I take it you haven't read her book (A Very Private Woman)? Perhaps you can write to her publisher and accuse her of being 'racist'.

If you limit your reading to books which continually take the conspiracy angle you will miss out.Please read Nina Burleigh, inform your readers about her conclusions in order to to give a balanced view, then carry on speculating.

[John Simkin]

If you limit your reading to books which continually take the conspiracy angle you will miss out.Please read Nina Burleigh, inform your readers about her conclusions in order to to give a balanced view, then carry on speculating.

I have of course read Nina Burleigh's book. She has carried out some interesting research although I do not always agree with her conclusions. To be fair, she has an open-mind about Mary's killer. However, I am much more impressed with one of her major sources, Peter Janney. He is a member of the Forum. This is what he had to say on the Mary Pinchot Meyer thread:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3520

My perspective about the JFK Assassination, the assassination of Mary Pinchot Meyer (who was JFK's last true love), and The Warren Commission, as well as a number events has been informed largely by my growing up in Washington, D.C. My father was career CIA and as a family we were in close proximity with many of the controversial power broker people in Washington at the time (i.e. Ben Bradlee, Kay Graham, James Jesus Angleton, Tracy Barnes, Richard Helms,etc). I knew these people; I was friends with many of their children. I witnessed many, many things in regard to what was going on at the time.

Like many of you, I have spent a number of years being overwhelmed with what Hollywood director called "the crime of the century," which was the assassination of JFK. I have met privately with Stone and talked with him about a number of things.

I also knew Mary Pinchot Meyer and her family. Mary's husband, Cord Meyer, worked together at the CIA. Our families were quite close; her middle child Michael was my "best friend" at age 9 when he was killed by a car crossing the street at dusk. My mother and Mary Meyer were college roomates at Vassar, along with Scottie Fitzgerald (F. Scott Fitzgerald's only daughter) and several others.

Since 1976, I have made it my business to get to the bottom of Mary Meyer's murder. There have been three attempts by authors to write books about Mary Meyer. The first attempt, and by far the most thorough, was made by author Leo Damore. Damore created a legendary reputation as a dogged, thorough researcher with the publication of his book Senatorial Privilege. This was the definitive book about Ted Kennedy and the death of Mary Jo Kopeckne. Damore brought that same tenacity to his research on Mary Meyer, all of which I currently own. It was Damore who solved the crime about who actually murdered Mary Meyer, and I will go into that later. Damore committed suicide in 1995 and his book, Burden of Guilt, was never published ( I have several of his manuscripts). John Davis, a well-respected author and JFK researcher, then tried to pick up some of Damore's research and tried to write his book about Mary. He never finished it (though I have his manuscript). When asked by a close friend why he did not finish it, he replied, "I wanted to live..." meaning that his life had been threatened. Davis has since had a bad stroke and is barely coherent. Nina Burleigh, as many of you know, has so far written the only book about Mary Meyer. There is another book, however, in the works by authors Myrna Firestone and Don Shannon who will claim that the CIA was responsible for Mary Meyer's death. I have talked to them, but they did not want to reveal anything to me.

The question, with regard to Mary Meyer's assassination, is why was it necessary to take her out? What did she know that could have proven to be so important and potentially embarassing to any number of people in the government and particularly the CIA?

[Guest John Gillespie]

Peter,

Greetings. I hope the Firestone/Shannon book sees a shelf life. Thank you for the information. A good friend, former M.I., told me that a program or documentary had been attempted for TV called "The Death Of Mary Meyer." Do you know anything about that?

Also, if any of the manuscript(s) by the great Lou Damore can somehow be placed here it would be wonderful.

Many Thanks,

John Gillespie

[John Simkin]

Namebase entry for Leo Damore:

http://www.namebase.org/xdal/Leo-J-Damore.html

Burleigh,N. A Very Private Woman. 1999 (292-3)

Executive Intelligence Review 1998-11-06 (67)

Stich,R. Defrauding America. 1994 (542)

Stich,R. Drugging America: A Trojan Horse. 1999 (469)

Thomas,K. Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader. 1995 (84)

Vanity Fair 1993-09 (197, 200, 225)

Washington City Paper 1990-12-14 (26-7)

Washington Times 1993-04-07 (A1, 6)

Washington Times 1995-10-06 (A7)

[Peter Janney]

I want to comment on Mel's input and the discussion between Mel and John here. There are a number of things to elaborate on. Since I now own all of Damore's manuscripts for his book on Mary Meyer (which was to be entitled "Burden of Guilt" ) as well as all of his research for this book, I believe that Damore actually solved the murder (assassination) of Mary Pinchot Meyer.

I will return shortly to elaborate about this.

Edited August 16, 2005 by Peter Janney

[Guest Stephen Turner]

OJ Simpson was found not giulty because of his wealth and celebrity, not his race. a poor black man would by now be on death row awaiting execution. I am not aware that Crump had either money or fame. For Mel to suggest otherwise flies in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, simply check out American prison statistics if you need proof of this...Steve.

[Pat Speer]

I am a used book store addict. Over the last few years, in book store after book store, I have seen dozens of copies of of a special pressing of Leo Damore's Senatorial Privilege. In this pressing, the book is only about 80 pages long. I have seen similar special pressings of books by former Treasury Secretary William Simon, and of the speeches of Ronald Reagan. It seems clear the Republican Party was behind the circulation of these special pressings. Does anyone know if Damore was witting to this act, and if he'd received funds from any right wing "think tank" to write his book in the first place?

[Guest Tom Scully]

(quote name='Mel Ayton' date='Jul 15 2005, 09:35 AM']As to the Mary Meyer murder :here's an excerpt from my book "Questions Of Controversy" (2001)

(/quote]

Did you actually get this book published? How did they let this thing through? Was it a vanity publisher?

(quote name='Mel Ayton' date='Jul 15 2005, 09:35 AM']In 1964, a year after the President's assassination, she was murdered as she walked along a tow-path next to the Potomac river. Meyer's killer, according to police reports, grabbed her from behind and in broad daylight shot the 42 year old just once under the cheekbone. Her killer escaped and Meyer died instantly.

(/quote]

Mary was actually shot twice. The evidence suggested she had been killed by a professional hitman. The first bullet was fired at the back of the head. She did not die straight away. A second shot was fired into the heart (from behind). The evidence suggests that in both cases, the gun was virtually touching Mary's body when it was fired. As the FBI expert testified, the "dark haloes on the skin around both entry wounds suggested they had been fired at close-range, possibly point-blank".

(quote name='Mel Ayton' date='Jul 15 2005, 09:35 AM']The 'Meyer Conspiracy' proponents, Damore and Davis, researched the story in the early 1990s. Damore said he persuaded many government officials to talk for the first time about the case and they agreed that Mary Meyer was murdered because she knew too much. They said that some very powerful people feared that Meyer knew the 'real secret' of the JFK assassination.

One of Damore's sources was a retired police detective who had worked on the case in 1964. (10) He said that the murder was the work of a professional assassin and that the federal government was involved. The federal government, apparently, had put pressure on the police department to close the case quickly.

The simple facts of the case are quite different. (11) An African-American male, Raymond Crump, was spotted near the murder scene, and was arrested and charged with Meyer's murder. The evidence against Crump was strong. Witnesses near the scene of the attempted rape or mugging heard shots; one of them, Henry Wiggins, identified Crump as the man who stood over Meyer's body shortly after the shots had been fired. Crump had been arrested approximately ¾ of an hour after Mary Meyer had been killed. He had been hiding in some bushes near the scene of the crime. He lied to police officers and had fresh cuts and bruises on his body. However, a jury acquitted Crump in the face of overwhelming circumstantial evidence due mainly to an inept prosecutor. The case came down to a choice between believing Crump who appeared to be a quiet and reverent soul, and witness Wiggins who had been a war veteran and former military policeman. It would appear that the trial had been a precursor to O. J. Simpson's; race had played an important part in the proceedings.

(/quote]

This is outrageous. Your suggestion that he only got off because he was black is deeply racist ("a precursor to O. J. Simpson's; race had played an important part in the proceedings"). The reason Crump got off was because he was innocent, not because he was black.

The evidence against Crump was weak not strong. The jury had no option but to find him not guilty.

The prosecution case was that they cordoned off the land where the murder took place and therefore the killer was unable to escape from the scene of the crime. As they arrested Crump by the canal it was argued that he must be the killer. There were several problems with this defence. First of all, Crump's lawyer, Dovey Roundtree, was able to show that the police had not in fact cordoned off the canal towpath within minutes of the murder.

The second problem was the gun. If Crump had been trapped within the confines of this small area, what had he done with the gun? Despite an extensive search of the area no gun could be found. This included a two day search of the tow path by 40 police officers. The police also drained the canal near to the murder scene. Police scuba divers searched the waters away from where Mary was killed. However, no gun could be found. Nor could the prosecution find any link between Crump and any Smith and Wesson gun.

Police tests were unable to show that Crump had recently fired a gun. There were no trace of nitrates on his hands or clothes.

During the trial Wiggins was unable to positively identify Raymond Crump as the man standing over Meyer's body. (I noticed the way how you attempted to persuade your readers to your view of the killing by describing Wiggins as a "war veteran and former military policeman").

The prosecution was also handicapped by the fact that the police had been unable to provide a crediable motive for the crime. For example, what evidence have you that Crump tried to rape her? Not that pathetic prosecution claim that his flies were undone. We also know that no money was taken from the body so robbery did not appear to be a motive.

There have been contradictory accounts of how the diary was found but there is no credible evidence to support the theory that Mary Meyer had been murdered to silence her. If 'government agents' had indeed killed her then why would they leave a witness at the scene to identify the real culprits? Would the killers not have been afraid that the man arrested for the murder might reveal their true identities?

We now know the full details of how the diary was found. We now know that James Angleton and Ben Bradlee were desperate to get hold of this diary. Why was Angleton allowed to keep the diary? Did it not belong to Mary's children? Why was it destroyed?

You seem to be very naive about how contract killers work. Wiggins posed no threat to this killer. He was unable to get a good view of the killer (as he admitted in court). Nor can contract killers ever be linked backed to government agencies. Even the person involved in arranging the "hit" would be a freelance without any obvious links to the CIA.

Have you read C. David Heymann's The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club (2003). In February, 2001, the writer, Heymann, asked Cord Meyer about the death of Mary Pinchot Meyer: "My father died of a heart attack the same year Mary was killed, " he whispered. "It was a bad time." And what could he say about Mary Meyer? Who had committed such a heinous crime? "The same sons of bitches," he hissed, "that killed John F. Kennedy."

The information I am posting is intended to introduce uncertainty, seemingly absent, and a departure from my expectations of a researcher's perspective. Ray Crump was indicted for the shooting murder of Mary P. Meyer, and found not guitly beyond a reasonable doubt by what some described as an "all black jury," reported not to have been advised as to whether or not the prosecution would seek the death penalty in the event of a verdict of guilty.

I am arguing that it is not reasonable, considering available information, to be as certain of Ray Crump's innocence, as John seemed to be in his old post, or conversely, of Crump's guilt. I maintain it is reasonable to suspect Crump was the shooter, or to argue that he was not. Since Crump was apprehended near the scene of the crime and was uncooperative and untruthful in his responses to invesitgators and even to his own defense attorney, I believe it is unreasonable to believe Crump was "framed." In a criminal trial, Crump had and did exercise his right not to testify in his own behalf. I am not considering his decision not to testify as an indication of guilt.

Woman Artist Shot To Death On Stroll In Washington .Robbery...

‎Toledo Blade - Oct 12, 1964

WASHINGTON, OH 13 Georgetown artist Mary Pinchol Meyer was shot to death ... of Cord Meyer, OHIO, a writer employed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Artist Shot To Death In Washington .

‎Sarasota Journal - Oct 12, 1964

As WigRins got out of his truck he heard two shots. ... Meyer was the form er wife of Cord Meyer Jr a . writer employed by the Central Intelligence Agency He was

Georgetown Artist Killed In Robbery .

Eugene Register-Guard - Oct 13, 1964

Meyer was shot to death Monday as she took a sunny afternoon walk along the ... er wife of Cord Meyer a writer employed by the Central Intelligence Agency

Crime and publicity: the impact of news on the administration of ...

books.google.com Alfred Friendly, Ronald L. Goldfarb - 1967 - 335 pages

Page 188

14. On occasion, it is the legitimate reports published about the victim of a crime that may raise prejudice against the eventual defendant.

Here are excerpts from a newspaper story of October 13, 1964, about one of Washington's most publicized recent murder

cases: Mary Pinchot Meyer, a Georgetown artist with "a hundred thousand friends," was shot to death yesterday as she walked along the towpath of the C&O Canal. She had often walked the same path with Mrs. John F. Kennedy.

Mrs. Meyer, 43, was a niece of Gifford Pinchot, twice Governor of Pennsylvania and chief of the Forest Service under President Theodore Roosevelt.

Her father, Amos Pinchot, a leader in the Bull Moose Party, was the brother of Gifford Pinchot. . . .

William Walton, chairman of the Fine Arts Commission, said Mrs. Meyer was "one of the most beautiful women I have

ever known" and said her painting was "full of promise." He described her work as "feminine, glowing and lyrical."

Mrs. Meyer was a close friend of the John F. Kennedys from the days when Mr. Kennedy, then a Senator from Massachusetts, lived near her N Street studio. Her other friends included writers, artists, Government officials and newspapermen.

Page 193

... And as long as it is conceded that the press may report the circum- stances of the crime and the arrest, the solution of postponement would have done little if anything to prevent potentially prejudicial publication in the cases of the sailer Ramirez (#10), the jewel thief Pearson (#11), the football coach's wife, Mrs. Moore (#12), and Crump (#14), the

Page 194

man accused but acquitted of killing the Washington artist. It can be argued that in all these cases, and surely also in the Rees and Seabee cases, much of the potentially prejudicial publication could have been postponed ( although what could have been avoided was less prejudical than what could not have been). Yet some of the results suggested that in these, as in what must be a multitude of other similar instances, the potential prejudice was immaterial (Mrs. Moore pleaded insanity), or not influential, as with Crump and the case of Mrs. A , discussed in Chapter 4, where the juries acquitted. There remains the case of the Alexandria woman, Mrs. Powers ( #13), where potential prejudice arose from an ancillary act of her counsel, a suit for payment of her husband's life insurance,....

http://www.washingto...7-124624-9371r/

Monday, February 27, 2006

Georgetown mystery

Speculation surrounding one of the nation’s capital’s more mysterious “unsolved” killings — the 1964 slaying of CIA wife and socialite Mary Pinchot Meyer, purported mistress to John F. Kennedy and sister-in-law of Ben Bradlee of The Washington Post, as she walked along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath in Georgetown — resurfaced during a recent dinner conversation with famed Washingtonlawyer Robert S. Bennett.

It so happens that Mr. Bennett, personal attorney to former President Clinton in the Paula Jones case and, more recently, to reporter Judith Miller in her court standoff in the CIA-leak investigation, was a young law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Howard F. Corcoran when Mrs. Meyer’s accused killer — a black man named Raymond Crump Jr., who ultimately was acquitted by his jury — stood trial in Washington.

Conspiracy theories surrounding Mrs. Meyer’s slaying have run the gamut: from her personal relationship with Mr. Kennedy, to CIA concerns about a detailed diary that she’d kept, even far-reaching suggestions that she tried LSD — supplied to her by friend and drug guru Timothy Leary — with the president at the White House.

But Mr. Bennett, a partner with Skadden Arps in Washington, leaves little doubt about who, in his opinion, was the triggerman who twice shot Mrs. Meyer at point-blank range, once in the head and once in the heart, as she was taking an afternoon stroll along the Georgetown path.

He told Inside the Beltway that as quickly as ex-football star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, he picked up the telephone and called Mr. Bradlee, telling the Post editor that the O.J. verdict rekindled memories of another surprise, if not cruel judgment — the one that freed Mr. Crump in the killing of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Meyer.

Henry Wiggins, a car mechanic at a nearby gas station on M Street, testified that he’d heard a woman yell, “Someone help me, someone help me,” followed by two gunshots. Running to the wall above the towpath, he reported seeing a black man standing over the woman’s body.

No weapon was ever found. Mr. Crump, whose spirited defense was led by well-known Washington defense lawyer Dovey Roundtree, claimed he’d been fishing along the Potomac River at the time of the shooting, although police found no fishing pole or tackle in his possession.

http://www.pbs.org/w...s/blacksoj.html

Analysis how the black community viewed O.J. and the verdict

Kerman Maddox, Los Angeles businessman and community activist.

…What happens today when the conversation turns to O.J.?

… I'll give you an example. Within our family, as we got together for the holidays, things were so bad in our family -- and I come from a large, loving family, two parents, seven kids -- things were so bad in our family because we were so divided. I was the only one who thought he was guilty other than my brother, who is a cop. Everybody else was convinced that he had nothing to do with it, and my father just thought that I had lost my mind. …

And of course my father's an older man, he's a dark-complected man, and he's from the South, so his life experiences have been different from mine. He talks about an incredibly racist criminal justice system and an incredibly racist military. So my father was convinced, based on his life experiences, that O.J. Simpson had nothing to do with it. He was framed, it was a mockery, and it was all about Mark Fuhrman and planting evidence, and things like that. So my family is united in their opposition to me and my position. … But that just gives an indication of how divided even families were in the black community when one person -- in this case, me -- felt he was guilty and everybody else felt he was innocent.

Is that still true today?

It's not as bad today. I think a lot of people today, now that they look back on it, think he had something to do with it. And many people even admit, "Yeah, I think he's guilty." But they still like the verdict, and many of them will not admit that publicly. There are a lot of black people in this town that have told me privately, "You know, I agree with you. I think he did it, but I'll never tell anybody that." Because there's this kind of like racial code or something, this camaraderie, there's a line: If you cross that line, somehow you're not in sync with the thought process in the black community. You're not loyal, or you're a sellout. …

Six Murders, Six Mysteries—and Their Killers May Never ... - People

www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20067074,00.html

Nov 8, 1976 – Dovey Roundtree, an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a crack ... The all-black jury found Crump not guilty.

http://articles.cnn....oldman?_s=PM:US

September 16, 1996

"Simpson was acquitted of murder charges on October 3 and cannot be tried for the murders again in a criminal court. In the civil trial as in the murder trial, the plaintiff will be trying to prove Simpson murdered his exwife and her friend, with several key differences.

First, the standard of proof is lower. In a civil trial, the plaintiff in this case the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman must prove Simpson committed the murders by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning the jury may decide for the plaintiffs if they determine that there is at least a 50.1 percent probability that Simpson is responsible.

In the murder trial, the state had to prove Simpson committed the murders beyond a reasonable doubt, meaning that jurors had to be all but positive Simpson committed the murders to convict him. This time, jurors need not come to a unanimous decision, and only nine of the 12 jurors need to agree for a verdict to be reached.

Second, Simpson can be required to testify during the civil trial. In the murder trial Simpson was not required to take the stand and the jurors were not allowed to hold his decision to remain silent against him.

In the civil case Simpson will be compelled to testify if called to the stand or forfeit the case. He has already given attorneys 10 days worth of testimony in depositions that can be used at trial.

If the jury finds for the plaintiffs, Simpson will have to pay unspecified damages for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. A verdict for either side would be a moral victory. For Simpson it would add weight to his acquittal last year. For the families, it would be a counterbalance to the acquittal. Fred Goldman, the outspoken father of Ron, has called the civil suit his sons last opportunity for justice."

How can John display such certainty in his post?

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ... - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=162087282X

Peter Janney - 2012 - Biography & Autobiography

24 There had been no evidence that Ray Crump had traces of nitrates on his

hands. ... In their zeal to pin the murder on Crump, and in their certainty that he was the man they were looking for, the police hadn't bothered to test his hands for traces of nitrates. Yet no one except Dovey Roundtree seemed to question how a

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ... - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=162087282X

Peter Janney - 2012 - Biography & Autobiography

...The following day, the prosecution called its final witnesses. Agent Warren Johnson, an

FBI firearms expert, told Hantman there were no powder burns or nitrates on Crump's hands or clothing

because he had been in the water that day. Roundtree, however, had already ......

Was Crump familiar with the area where he claimed he fell into the river while fishing? Did he hear the shots that were fired at Mary Meyer? Does any proof exist that a woman named Vivian was with Crump near the time Mary Meyer was killed, besides the uneven and changing claims of Crump and his attorney, Dovey Roundtree? Was Roundtree ever able to locate alleged alibi witness, Vivian? Did Crump know where Vivian lived and did he withhold her location from Roundtree? Where is the affidavit Roundtree claimed she persuaded Vivian to sign attesting to Crump's alibi claims? Is there not even the provision of a last name of Vivian by Roundtree, especially given the contradictions in her book vs. in interviews with Burleigh, allegedly with Damore, with Janney, and with Zalin Grant, and the lack of an affidavit itself,

beyond an assertion by Roundtree? Why are these claims asserted by any third party and apparently accepted as fact?

Disclaimer : I was led to these discrepancies by a poster on another forum and I found all of the following examples, verified them and I am posting them to eliminate the diversion used several times on another thread by members who wanted to marginalize them based on criticism intended to avoid the actual information presented as follows, addressing reliabiltiy and consistancy of statements made by Ray Crump, Jr. and his defense attorney, Dovey Roundtree.:

A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential ...

books.google.com Nina Burleigh - 2009 - 380 pages - Google eBook - Preview

Confirmed by Dovey Roundtree to the author. 33. Dovey Roundtree says that toward the end of his trial, Crump told her he had been on the towpath with a prostitute, drinking. Roundtree was never able to find the woman.

http://www.pythiapre...ales/Meyer.html

MARY MEYER: A HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS DEATH

By Zalin Grant

....I got a copy of the trial transcript and studied it closely. I talked to various people involved in the case, and walked the towpath where she was killed. I followed the police investigation and collected documents.

Then on November 3, 1993 I had a long interview with Dovey Roundtree at her Washington office, although I decided not to write my article at that time.....

....She was tough in questioning Crump about what he had been doing on the towpath. He told police he had been fishing and had fallen in the water. But he didn’t want to tell her what he had really been doing and she had to pull it out of him.

He had missed the truck that would take him to his morning construction job, he told her finally, and he decided to stop by the home of a girlfriend to see if she was interested in doing something.

The girl had a car and they bought a six-pack of beer and a small bottle of gin and drove to the park, where they had sex. That had happened before, same girl, same place. He drank so much that he fell asleep and the girl took her car and went home and left to him to get back by trolley.

Dovey knew this might make a good alibi if she could find the girl. But she also knew it would squeeze the soul of his poor mother if this came out at trial. When Ray told her he didn’t want to involve the girl she decided not to push it further.

(Tom Scully asks: Wouldn't it amount to malpractice for a defense attorney not to make the court aware of, and to seek a subpoena for the compelled (if the witness is uncooperative) testimony of an alibi witness identified by the defendant in a criminal trial in which a finding of guilt could result in the death penalty?)

Justice Older Than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree - Page 195 - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=160473132X

Katie McCabe, Dovey Johnson Roundtree - 2009 - Biography & Autobiography

....Her first name was Vivian, and she'd been with him on the day of the murder, he

told me when I began pressing him about the crazy fishing story he'd told police....

...I pretty nearly turned the city of Washington inside out, looking for that woman—

or rather, my assistant, Purcell Moore, did.

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ...

books.google.com Peter Janney - 2012 - Google eBook - Preview Trying to conceal his affair with Vivian, he had put himself in jeopardy with police. For Roundtree, the immediate priority was to find Vivian, his only alibi. She did so with the assistance of her private investigator, Purcell Moore. But Vivian made

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ...

books.google.com Peter Janney - 2012 - Google eBook - Preview

Ray Crump, Jr. had been picked up by his girlfriend, Vivian,

in her car "very early that morning," shortly after eight. Crump was playing hooky from work. That morning, Crump and Vivian didn't have enough money for a motel room. Crump had likely been spotted by the CIA team early that morning, as he and Vivian began walking out from the Georgetown entry point of the towpath to some predetermined area he was familiar with from earlier fishing trips to the area. It was still probably two to three hours before the murder would take place.....

.....The next thing he knew he was trying to get himself together and he slipped and fell into the water.

That scared him. He almost drowned. He didn't know how to swim. He was really trying to find his way out of the dang place. He wasn't familiar with that area at all. And he sort of roamed around. And then he heard something like an explosion.

Justice Older Than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree - Page 192

books.google.comKatie McCabe, Dovey Johnson Roundtree - 2009 - 259 pages - Preview

....Had he heard gunshots? Had he heard screams? Had he seen or heard any sound at all that told him something was wrong? He answered each of those questions in the negative, growing more frightened all the time.

A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential ... - Page 234 - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=0307574172

Nina Burleigh - 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 380 pages

At his arraignment Crump told the fishing story again and added that he had

heard shots. "I don't know what happened myself. l almost got shot myself."9

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ...

books.google.com

Peter Janney - 2012 - Google eBook - Preview

... of his right to counsel and to a preliminary hearing, but he declined to schedule the hearing. “I don't know why I'm here,” Crump blurted out. “I was down there fishing and lost my rod. I almost got shot myself.”42 Crump was held without bail

Edited September 4, 2012 by Tom Scully