Michael Paine

[Paul Trejo]

Yes, Larry, I know I need more information -- and I would indeed be proud to get better information than Joan Mellen about this, but I don't have it -- yet.

For the time being I'm satisfied with Joan Mellen's statement to speculate that:

(1) Guy Banister and his people (including Carlos Marcello, David Ferrie, Clay Shaw, Jack S. Martin, Fred Crisman, Thomas Beckham and Lee Harvey Oswald) had access to top secret, classified information about JFK's plans to use William Atwood with Fidel Castro about peace; and

(2) This information could only have come from CIA people working within the Cuban Exile community in New Orleans, with a special focus on David Morales.

Now -- given this speculation based on the readings from Joan Mellen, Bill Simpich and yourself, Larry, I will make one further speculation to bring this scenario back around to the theme of the current thread, namely, Michael Paine.

IMHO, Ex-General Edwin Walker knew all about these activities within Guy Banister's circles -- Edwin Walker moved within Guy Banister's circles in Louisiana -- circles that included Kent and Phoebe Courtney, States Rights Parties and (White) Citizens Councils.

Is there any other data that lets me link Dallas residents so closely with the secret world of Guy Banister in New Orleans? Yes, namely, data about Jack Ruby.

Seth Kantor gave us a portrait of Jack Ruby as a naïve but flamboyant strip-joint owner. But that portrait crashed into oblivion on the night of Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest in Dallas on 11/22/1963, when District Attorney Henry Wade was telling a room full of reporters that Oswald was a member of the "Free Cuba Committee."

Jack Ruby interrupted those proceedings to correct the District Attorney: "That's the, Fair Play for Cuba Committee," said Jack Ruby with confidence.

DA Henry Wade stood corrected by Jack Ruby. WHAT?? This is supposed to be a naïve, flamboyant strip-joint owner? How in the WORLD would Jack Ruby know more about Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans than the Dallas District Attorney?

This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it illustrates a point -- that some people in Dallas knew a lot about what was going on with Guy Banister's NOLA operation. Jack Ruby was one. Edwin Walker was another.

This is where Michael Paine fits in. Let's look at the small circle of Michael Paine, the yuppie engineers of Dallas, all liberals and haters of their close neighbor, Ex-General Edwin Walker.

Michael Paine knew, IMHO, that Edwin Walker was the villain of the piece -- and he had tried (along with Volkmar Schmidt, George DeMohrenschildt and others) to convince Lee Harvey Oswald that Edwin Walker was THE ENEMY. This was why Oswald tried to shoot Walker back in April.

When JFK was finally killed, and Lee Oswald was blamed -- the person who connected the dots most clearly at that moment was none other than Michael Paine -- this is my current theory.

I hope we can find somebody to ask Paine about Walker. The many questions that the WC attorneys asked Paine about Walker were superficial -- unworthy of cross-examination.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 4, 2014 by Paul Trejo

[Robert Howard]

Recently I came across an allegation regarding Michael Paine which I had never heard of before. It was from Buchanan's book Who Killed Kennedy, in which he references, "Michael Paine, a Bell Helicopter engineer who had once toured Europe as a singer." see page 135. Obviously, not a profound revelation, but I thought it was interesting considering that the Paine's had a proven interest in madrigal singing. Moreover, an item like this could be fact checked via newspaper archives, and if it were true could hopefully provide additional information besides the usual knowledge of Allen Dulles connection to the Forbes family, ie Mary Bancroft.

Also, pro-Warren Commission authors, in this case, Thomas Mallon points out, referencing page 121 of William Manchester's Death of A President......that Ruth Carter Johnson [daughter of Amon Carter,] became the surprised recipient of John Kennedy's last telephone call.........." This was due to the placing of famous artworks that had been placed in the Kennedy's suite at the hotel. Mallon goes on to write in his interview of, now, Ruth Carter Stevenson [page 202], "Did she herself help set things up at the Hotel Texas?" I ask. "Hell, yes, I was over there! They'd just washed all the carpets and we were all in stockinged feet." Mrs. Stevenson was on familiar ground; her brother and sister-in-law, during the first weeks of their marriage, while waiting for their own house to be ready, had lived in the same suite now being prepared for the Kennedy's. This same couple, later on, had employed a local woman, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, as a babysitter, until they decided she was too odd a character and, as Mrs. Stevenson puts it, "discontinued her." At the time of the assassination, Mrs. Oswald, who had angrily failed at various retail jobs, was working as a practical nurse.

On November 21, a Secret Serviceman who looked at the haul of art being brought into the hotel remarked to Mrs. Stevenson: "It's sort of valuable, isn't it." She recalls telling him. "Yes, but we don't worry about things like that here in Fort Worth. [The] paintings were probably covered with blankets."

Anyway, I thought it was interesting. It sort of made me think about the phrase "household names," and how the term is relative to whose "household" one is referring to.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Robert Howard

[Paul Trejo]

Interesting catch, Robert. Michael Paine once toured Europe as a singer. One wonders about the year (probably the late fifties) and the style of music he would have sung (probably Folk music), and whether he was a star or part of a larger group.

If it was Folk music, I wonder if there was any connection at all with Pete Seeger, or with Peter, Paul and Mary -- famous left-wing stars of the era.

I, for one, have little trouble tuning out the continual, noisy static about the Paines' famous relatives. It proves nothing, IMHO, and suggests very little.

I would at this point revive my hopes that somebody out there could contact Michael Paine and ask him for a mind-dump about Ex-General Edwin Walker, a man who lived in Dallas at the same time that Michael Paine lived in Dallas -- and the man who Marina said Lee Harvey Oswald tried to kill.

What were the full politics of Michael Paine regarding the full politics of Ex-General Edwin Walker?

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

[David Andrews]

Paul, can you briefly outline how Walker, the JBS, and any other associated conspirator (Rousselot, Gabaldon, etc.) profited from the assassination, personally or politically?

Edited January 28, 2015 by David Andrews

[Paul Trejo]

Paul, can you briefly outline how Walker, the JBS, and any other conspirator (Rousselot, Gabaldon, etc.) profited from the assassination, personally or politically?

Well, David, it's my understanding that the conspirators to murder JFK did not plan to profit financially from the act. It was, in their warped vision, a purely Patriotic act.

There would have been some long-term, long-odds possible benefits in the financial area, but only as a side-effect of the political victory -- if it had been successful.

The dice-roll of the JFK murder was similar in motive with the dice-roll of the Ole Miss riots. If Edwin Walker had been successful at Ole Miss, then JFK would have backed down, James Meredith would have gone to Harvard instead of Ole Miss, and Edwin Walker would have had a good chance at running for President of the USA in 1964.

That was probably Walker's main motive. As US President, Walker would have invaded Cuba, killed Fidel Castro, and returned Cuba to business as usual under some American puppet regime. Walker would have also waved the nuclear threat under the nose of the USSR, making Barry Goldwater look like a timid schoolboy.

That was Walker's ultimate goal.

The same with the JFK murder. Walker and his cohorts -- including Guy Banister and the New Orleans team, but also John Rousselot and the Los Angeles team -- wanted the American People to believe that the FPCC had killed JFK.

If the USA had bought that whole FRAMING job that Guy Banister had worked so hard to accomplish from April 1963 through September 1963, then the USA would have invaded Cuba.

That was the payoff. It was a POLITICAL payoff. It was patriotic in motivation.

Yes -- some people would have benefitted financially. Cuban businessman for example, and other Americans who did business in Cuba. These people would have been thankful to the American right-wing, and would have used part of their money to elect more and more right-wing people into power.

That was Walker's motivation, IMHO. If he had been successful, then Walker himself might have even had a chance at getting some political power himself (although he knew he could never be President again, after his bitter defeat at Ole Miss).

Yet beyond that, there was a psychological "profit." Edwin Walker, according to his personal papers, believed that JFK and RFK were out to kill him. They had already thrown him into an insane asylum (this was on 1 October 1962).

Walker had a guilty conscience about Ole Miss -- even many of his JBS supporters abandoned him on that call. Worse, Edwin Walker lied to a Grand Jury to get himself acquitted of all charges for his crimes at Ole Miss. (This is also proven by his personal papers.)

Yet because he lied to the Grand Jury and was acquitted, Walker's lawyers (Clyde Watts and Robert Morris) insisted that he now file lawsuits against every USA Newspaper that had printed the TRUTH about his behavior at Ole Miss.

This also added to Walker's guilty conscience, because he spent four years suing newspapers, and winning about 10% of his cases, giving him about $3 million in lawsuit winnings (all on appeal).

So, he lied to the Grand Jury, and now he was lying to judges all over the USA.

By getting the USA to invade Cuba (by killing JFK and blaming it on the Cuba's FPCC), Edwin Walker would have eased his conscience by doing something PATRIOTIC for the USA.

That's how I read the motives, David. All the people who helped Edwin Walker in this conspiracy had the same motives -- it was not money. It was partly Patriotic, and partly REVENGE.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited January 28, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Jon G. Tidd]

Michael Paine and Ruth Paine are to me the most interesting of the cast of characters. Not so much for what's known about them but for what's not known.

Insofar as the assassination is concerned, they appear to me always to have told consistent stories. Stories that are hard to believe. A cloud of suspicion hangs over each of them. Yet one struggles to understand why they were so committed to pin the JFK murder on Marina's husband.

For me it doesn't suffice to say Michael and Ruth were CIA-connected, and the CIA did it. Even if the CIA did do it, who was instructing Michael and Ruth? Who was their case officer? I can't buy George DM as case officer. I can't buy James Hosty either even though he had a pretext for visiting Ruth. If Michael and Ruth had ceded control to a third person, that person has remained in deep shadow.

The overarching question is, what were their true beliefs, true principles, true values?

[David Von Pein]

"Who can believe these people [Ruth and Michael Paine]? Both of them as phony as three dollar bills." -- James DiEugenio

jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2013/04/dvp-vs-dieugenio-part-87.html

------------

Edited January 29, 2015 by David Von Pein

[Paul Trejo]

Michael Paine and Ruth Paine are to me the most interesting of the cast of characters. Not so much for what's known about them but for what's not known.

Insofar as the assassination is concerned, they appear to me always to have told consistent stories. Stories that are hard to believe. A cloud of suspicion hangs over each of them. Yet one struggles to understand why they were so committed to pin the JFK murder on Marina's husband.

For me it doesn't suffice to say Michael and Ruth were CIA-connected, and the CIA did it. Even if the CIA did do it, who was instructing Michael and Ruth? Who was their case officer? I can't buy George DM as case officer. I can't buy James Hosty either even though he had a pretext for visiting Ruth. If Michael and Ruth had ceded control to a third person, that person has remained in deep shadow.

The overarching question is, what were their true beliefs, true principles, true values?

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER. SEE BELOW:

I'm in firm agreement with you on this point, Jon.

I think Michael and Ruth Paine were hiding a deep, dark secret -- all of their lives. However, I sincerely doubt it had ANYTHING to do with any relationship with the CIA or the FBI or any Intelligence Agency.

IMHO, the life-long secret that the Paines kept close to their vests was the same secret that J. Edgar Hoover wanted everybody to keep secret -- namely, the leadership of Ex-General Edwin Walker in the murder of JFK.

IMHO, the Paines not only had reason to believe that Edwin Walker was behind the Dallas assassination, but they also played a role in motivating Edwin Walker -- by conspiring to have Walker killed.

This isn't just my made-up scenario -- we have evidence from two people -- George De Mohrenschildt, an oil exploration Professor in 1963, and Volkmar Schmidt, an oil engineer for Magnolia Oil Company in 1963.

Volkmar Schmidt took Michael Paine into his home when Michael was separated from Ruth. So we know they were compatible on a personal basis -- both were Liberals, politically. Both hated Edwin Walker.

Volkmar Schmidt admitted over and over again (including to our own Bill Kelly of the EF) that he tried to convince Lee Harvey Oswald that the great danger of the world in 1963 was Ex-General Edwin Walker. It was Volkmar Schmidt who first told Lee Oswald that Edwin Walker was like Adolf Hitler, and if somebody had killed Adolf Hitler before WW2, it would have spared the whole world a lot of suffering.

Lee Oswald later gave that same rationalization to Marina, when she demanded to know why Lee shot at Walker.

Volkmar Schmidt made a public performance of convincing Lee Harvey Oswald about the evil of Edwin Walker. This was at a party of Dallas engineers and their wives. Michael and Ruth Paine were a part of that circle. They gave their tacit approval to the proceedings.

George De Mohrenschildt wrote a booklet to the HSCA before he (allegedly) committed suicide. In this booklet (entitled, I'm a Patsy! I'm a Patsy!) George says that he would regularly run-down Edwin Walker to Lee Harvey Oswald, calling him "General Fokker." (As many writers have noted, Lee Oswald respected and admired the rich, sophisticated George De Mohrenschildt, and wanted to please him.)

That's why, after the Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday 11 April 1963 that somebody tried to murder Edwin Walker at his home on 10 April 1963, George and Jeanne De Morhrenschildt immediately suspected it was Lee Harvey Oswald.

At 10PM on Saturday 13 April 1963, George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt woke Lee and Marina out of bed with a ruse of giving baby June an Easter bunny for Easter Sunday. While George kept Lee busy in conversation, Jeanne searched their apartment until she found a rifle with a scope on it. She exclaimed this to George, and George made joke about it... and then they left, never to see the Oswalds ever again.

The Warren Commission has three different versions of this story -- and had to call witnesses back to get the story straight and finalized. IMHO, THIS STORY IS THE KEY TO THE JFK MURDER.

Based on this attempted murder, which the personal papers of Edwin Walker mark as the reason Edwin Walker was obsessed with Lee Harvey Oswald for the rest of 1963, we find the motive for the JFK murder, because Edwin Walker had convinced himself that JFK and RFK sent Lee Harvey Oswald (and one other assassin) to his home to murder him that night.

Michael and Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission that they knew nothing about this. But Volkmar Schmidt (who was not called to testify before the Warren Commission) had told the truth. Once we can get Michael and Ruth Paine to admit their knowledge of the circumstances of the attempted murder of Edwin Walker, we can finally begin to solve the mystery of the JFK murder.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

CORRECTION: I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION AFTER SPEAKING WITH RUTH PAINE, ELEVEN MONTHS AGO. I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS POST, BUT A FRIEND SAW IT IN AN ONLINE THREAD, SO HERE ARE THE CORRECTIONS, AS EXPLAINED TO ME BY RUTH PAINE:

(1) Ruth Paine went to one and only one Dallas Engineer's party, at Everett Glover's apartment, with his roommate Volkmar Schmidt, and that was on 22 February 1963.

(2) At that time Ruth and Michael were divorced. They interacted very little. Everett Glover tried to get them back together. But Michael Paine had a cold, and did not attend that party.

(3) Volkmar Schmidt did not run his Anti-Walker processing on LHO at that party.

(4) George and Jeanne DeMohrenschildt brought Lee and Marina Oswald to this party, and this was the first time that Ruth had never met any of these four people.

(5) Lee Oswald took the center of attention, as the young Dallas engineers (who spoke only English) wanted to know everything about the USSR. Lee enjoyed being in the limelight.

(6) In the meantime, Marina Oswald, who spoke only Russian, also had baby June with her. It was fairly late, and baby June was cranky, as it was her bedtime.

(7) Everett Glover let Marina use his empty bedroom to help baby June get to sleep. Jeanne DeMohrenschildt accompanied Marina, and Ruth Paine asked to accompany them.

(8) Ruth spoke only a little bit of conversational Russian. She knew Russian grammar well enough to teach young boys from a textbook -- but she had few conversational skills.

(9) Marina was very kind and patient with Ruth, and gently corrected her grammar here and there. Ruth decided she wanted to have Marina as her friend.

(10) Ruth and Marina exchanged contact information. Lee and Marina had no telephone, so Ruth was pleased to send letters back and forth to Marina. That's when it all started for her.

(11) That was all there was to that party, for Ruth Paine. She never went to another Dallas engineer's party after that. She did begin a correspondence with Marina Oswald at that point. They were both young mothers of very young children, and they were both college educated -- so they had that in common. They were both very busy with childcare.

(12) Ruth Paine never saw the DeMorhenschildt's again until 1967, when Jim Garrison would subpoena Ruth Paine and the DeMohrenschildt's for his trials against Clay Shaw.

Now, as for Michael Paine, I have not spoken with him, yet I have since learned what many people already know, namely that in 1993 Michael told Dan Rather that he had seen one of Oswald's Backyard Photographs (BYP) on April 2, 1963, on the evening that he first met the Oswalds and gave them a ride to and from dinner at Ruth Paine's house.

This is my current opinion on the matter -- I want to know more about what Michael Paine knew, and when he knew it, with regard to LHO and General Walker.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

P.S. For those who may not yet know -- the basics of my position have been confirmed by Dr. Jeff Caufield in his recent, 900-page book, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy (2015). Highly recommended.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Paul Trejo

[David Andrews]

Paul - Ruth Paine's CIA connections have been circumstantially established some time ago. Do some research into the pro-Castro group files she was keeping in her home, her involvement in spying on anti-Contra groups in Central America, her daughter's long estrangement from her on the grounds of her intelligence involvement..

Do you believe that Schmidt and DeMohrenschildt put Oswald up to shooting Walker without intelligence influence? Could they afford to be named if Oswald was caught? Do you believe that DeMohrenschildt fingered Oswald to the WC without intelligence influence?

Should we really believe that Oswald shot at Walker at all, based on the word of Schmidt, DeMohrenschildt, and Marina Oswald?

[Paul Trejo]

Paul - Ruth Paine's CIA connections have been circumstantially established some time ago. Do some research into the pro-Castro group files she was keeping in her home, her involvement in spying on anti-Contra groups in Central America, her daughter's long estrangement from her on the grounds of her intelligence involvement..

Do you believe that Schmidt and DeMohrenschildt put Oswald up to shooting Walker without intelligence influence? Could they afford to be named if Oswald was caught? Do you believe that DeMohrenschildt fingered Oswald to the WC without intelligence influence?

Should we really believe that Oswald shot at Walker at all, based on the word of Schmidt, DeMohrenschildt, and Marina Oswald?

Well, David, I would dispute the "establishment" of the claims that you make about Ruth Paine.

(1) The pro-Castro files found at her home belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald -- that's my understanding. Oswald got them from Guy Banister. That's my theory.

(2) The charge that Ruth Paine spied on anti-Contra groups in Central America is, at the mildest, unproven.

(3) Ruth Paine's daughter's long estrangement from her wasn't based on any grounds of Intelligence Agency involvement, but was based on Ruth's emotional shut-down due to keeping secrets about the JFK murder. IMHO, the secrets she keeps are about Ex-General Edwin Walker, and her possible role in the attempt on Walker's life in Dallas on 10 April 1963.

(4) Yes, I believe the Volkmar Schmidt and George De Mohrenschildt (and possibly Ruth and Michael Paine, and also several other young, liberal Dallas engineers) put Oswald up to shooting Edwin Walker -- ENTIRELY without Intelligence Agency influence.

(4.1) Their motive was entirely political -- based on Liberal Politics. The CIA might have thought of Walker as a pest, but he wasn't an "enemy" to them.

(5) You ask, David, if I "believe that DeMohrenschildt fingered Oswald to the WC without intelligence influence." Yet I don't believe that De Mohrenschildt fingered Oswald to the WC at all -- De Mohrenschildt told the WC from the start that Lee Harvey Oswald was INNOCENT of the murder of JFK, and that he was FRAMED.

(5.1) Or, if you mean that De Mohrenschildt "fingered" Oswald to the WC about the shooting at Walker -- then no, I don't see any Intelligence Agency influence in that whatsoever.

(5.2) Actually, Marina was the first person (in the WC saga) to tell the Intelligence Community that Lee Harvey Oswald was Walker's shooter on 10 April 1963. Marina told this to the FBI on 3 December 1963 (as I recall). In that report, she named George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt as witnesses after-the-fact.

(5.3) THAT is why the FBI called George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt to testify to the WC. NO OTHER REASON. They didn't volunteer. They were subpoenaed. They were FORCED to testify under oath.

(5.4) Unlike many (or most) JFK researchers, I believe that George De Mohrenschildt told the TRUTH to the WC -- with one problem -- his story about the discovery of Oswald's rifle failed to match specific details in the stories of Marina and Jeanne.

(5.5) The confusion was about the joke that George made about the shooting -- when did he make it, and what were the exact words he used, and who laughed, and when. Silly little details like that. But WC wanted them all sorted out.

(6) I personally believe that Oswald shot at Walker. The photographic evidence we have of the shooting -- including the photographs of Walker's home, and the faked Backyard Photographs, with the signature of Oswald and the inscription, "Hunter of Fascists, ha-ha" on the back of the one in the possession of the De Mohrenschildt's -- is all believable to me.

(7) IMHO -- it is precisely because so many JFK researchers failed to accept the Walker shooting testimony that has prevented the JFK research community from solving the JFK murder after fifty years.

(8) It's like our policy on Cuba -- when it hasn't worked for fifty years, it's probably a good idea to change it.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited January 29, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Jon G. Tidd]

Paul Trejo,

Let's assume your entire basic argument is correct except that Edwin Walker isn't the guy. Just for argument's sake.

Who in your estimation becomes the lead perp in this case?

[David Andrews]

(4) Yes, I believe the Volkmar Schmidt and George De Mohrenschildt (and possibly Ruth and Michael Paine, and also several other young, liberal Dallas engineers) put Oswald up to shooting Edwin Walker -- ENTIRELY without Intelligence Agency influence.

So - these young Dallas engineers, with careers and in some cases families to protect, plus George DeMohrenschildt who surely had other associations to protect, put screw-loose, no-career Lefty Lee up to shooting Walker.

Screw-loose Lefty Lee with his own kid and a Russian wife to protect by ratting them out if he were caught in flagrante?

If this happened, or even apart from this, who was the second man seen fleeing the scene? Who provided the car seen driving away?

Edited January 30, 2015 by David Andrews

[Paul Trejo]

Paul Trejo,

Let's assume your entire basic argument is correct except that Edwin Walker isn't the guy. Just for argument's sake.

Who in your estimation becomes the lead perp in this case?

Well, Jon, if (and only if) Edwin Walker was only an innocent bystander in this core event of Dallas in 1963 (which I regard as long odds) then I would have to fall back on the second top man in my theory, namely, Guy Banister.

As most people know, Guy Banister was Jim Garrison's original first choice (after his interviews with Jack S. Martin and David Ferrie). I propose that Guy Banister and Edwin Walker were very close political partners, as members of many of the same political organizations in the South. These two were the topmost conspirators in my theory.

Even the CIA rogues who snuck away from the CIA to help them out, still reported to these two, IMHO. Even the Cuban Exiles and their American helpers, like Gerry Patrick Hemming, Loran Hall and Larry Howard -- reported to these two, IMHO.

So, if (and only if) I had to take General Walker out of the equation, then I would name Guy Banister as the head honcho. Yet that doesn't fly very well, because Guy Banister lacks many key qualities -- he didn't have enormous support among young US Army veterans on the right, and he didn't make speaking tours all over the USA, and he didn't know Dallas like the back of his hand, the way that Edwin Walker did.

But there's my answer to your hypothetical question, Jon -- Guy Banister.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited January 30, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

TREJO: (4) Yes, I believe that Volkmar Schmidt and George De Mohrenschildt (and possibly Ruth and Michael Paine, and also several other young, liberal Dallas engineers) put Oswald up to shooting Edwin Walker -- ENTIRELY without Intelligence Agency influence.

So - these young Dallas engineers, with careers and in some cases families to protect, plus George DeMohrenschildt who surely had other associations to protect, put screw-loose, no-career Lefty Lee up to shooting Walker.

Screw-loose Lefty Lee with his own kid and a Russian wife to protect by ratting them out if he were caught in flagrante?

If this happened, or even apart from this, who was the second man seen fleeing the scene? Who provided the car seen driving away?

Well, David, it's not so cut and dried. None of these young Dallas engineers openly stated that they wanted Edwin Walker dead. They only implied it.

Remember what Volkmar Schmidt said on video in response to this: "I certainly didn't tell Lee Oswald to go out and shoot Edwin Walker. But I may have put the idea into his head."

The psychological experiment of that Dallas engineer's party in early February, 1963, was something like this. Volkmar Schmidt and George De Mohrenschildt (and Michael Paine and their other Dallas pals) were sick and tired of hearing Lee Harvey Oswald complain about the Bay of Pigs. They felt that they knew politics much better than this loud-mouthed Marine. So, Volkmar Schmidt said words to this effect:

"Listen, guys, both my parents were psychologists, and so as a kid I learned a few tricks in psychology. I'm sure I can change Oswald's mind about JFK and the Bay of Pigs. All I need to do is find a different object for him to transfer his hostility. Remember how Edwin Walker led the riots at Ole Miss last September, and then he was acquitted by a Grand Jury only last week? We all hate this guy, right? Well, I can make Oswald shut up about the Bay of Pigs, and direct his hostilities against a real villain -- Edwin Walker -- so that he won't bother us so much."

Those were the sorts of words that Volkmar Schmidt told his liberal Dallas engineer pals -- and they all thought it was a great idea. They all went to that party in early February, and watched carefully in a circle as Volkmar Schmidt FOR HOURS worked on Oswald's objections and beliefs (as I read the record).

I don't know the exact words used -- but these are implied by Volkmar and George in their writings and interviews on this topic. I'm pretty close to the historical facts here.

Only a few days after this psychological session, Lee Harvey Oswald sprung into action. NONE of the Dallas engineers expected this part. They were talkers, not men of action. Oswald bought weapons, made photographs of Walker's house, made Backyard Photographs with fakery and plausible deniability, and then eventually executed his plans.

When the morning news reported that somebody tried to kill Edwin Walker at 9PM on 10 April 1963, all these young, liberal Dallas engineers were astonished. They immediately suspected that Oswald was the shooter. We know this was true of George and Jeanne (the eldest at that party) so it fell to them to confirm it with their own eyes -- which they did.

But the rest of the young Dallas engineers quickly denied everything -- they went about their lives as if nothing happened -- EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE ACCOMPLICES. By refusing to tell the police and the DPD what they knew, they also became accessories after-the-fact.

They were criminals. George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt just skipped the country and fled to Haiti. (They had an alibi, namely, that they had already planned to move to Haiti.) But they never contacted the Oswalds, "their dear friends," ever again.

I say that Michael and Ruth Paine -- exactly like George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt -- also knew in their heart of hearts that Lee Oswald tried to kill Edwin Walker. They knew in their heart of hears that they had a DUTY to AMERICA to tell the police or the FBI about their knowledge and suspicions right away. They FAILED to do that. This is their life-long secrecy with regard to the JFK murder. It shines through like a spotlight in their Warren Commission testimony.

Now, David, you also ask -- who do I think was the second shooter? Edwin Walker at one point thought the second shooter was Michael Paine -- this is what Walker suggests to the Warren Commission. Later Walker will guess that it was Jack Ruby.

But IMHO, the second shooter was possibly Roscoe White. I say this because Jack White (no relation) who was a photographic expert, claimed that the Backyard Photographs were made with the face of Lee Oswald, but the BODY of Roscoe White. The body has Roscoe's flat chin, lumpy right wrist, thick neck and one-legged stance.

Oswald and White knew each other in the Marines, and Oswald had photos of White in his possession, just as Roscoe White had a THIRD pose of Oswald in a Backyard Photograph in his possession, revealed decades later.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited January 30, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Mark Knight]

I tend to think of De Mohrenschildt's departure for Haiti as more related to his role as a CIA informant. April 10, 1963 was the Walker shooting; April 14th was Easter Sunday.

I think you're leaving out April 26th: http://www.defend.ht/history/articles/events/4080-april-26-1963-duvalier-s-massacre

There was a lot going on in Haiti and the Dominican Republic that day....odd time to be planning a "vacation" there: http://www.windowsonhaiti.com/windowsonhaiti/warwh.shtml

History doesn't occur in a vacuum...I tend to think that De Mohrenschildt was "assigned" to Haiti at this particular time.