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The Strange Death of Dr. Mary Sherman


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With its associated links, a treasure trove of a story, if that's really the way one ought to describe an ugly mess in every regard.

I would feel a bit better about Ed Haslam's work if he would produce some documentary evidence that a "Judith Vary Baker" actually had been visiting faculty at Tulane in the time he describes in his various editions. Even that proof, however, isn't going to get anyone to the bottom of the Sherman death nor the Ochsner Clinic activities. But it would be an advance on certainty.

Edited by David Andrews
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This article shows what I've mentioned out here many times before. The alleged Ferrie-Sherman connection is so weak that it may not exist at all.

For many of us, when a book makes a striking claim, we go to the source notes to check for ourselves if the info is accurately reported. When Haslam's Mary, Ferrie and the Monkey Virus came out in 1995, I looked carefully for source material for his most basic claim, that Ferrie even knew Dr. Sherman. A close reading shows that Haslam presented almost nothing to support this. Something his mother said. Something Garrison said in a men's magazine. I challenge readers to go through his current edition and find convincing evidence for any of his theories. I have fairly inquired of many of Ferrie's former associates and none recall Sherman in any way. Steve Tyler, mentioned in the article, has done far more research than Haslam and disagrees profoundly with his claims. Sherman was murdered in her apartment, not elsewhere; There was no linear particle accelerator in any New Orleans facility at that time; Sherman's murder was not connected with the Warren Commission. Haslam is not a good source of information on any of these questions.

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How can you possibly make a blanket statement like that?

Especially when the bulk of Garrison's files are gone forever, thanks to Harry Connick.

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Jim -,really admire your work, and wish we had those files. But in there absence, do you think Mr. Roy is correct on the lack of substantive proof of the relationships that Haslam asserts between Ferrie and Dr. Sherman?

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In his Playboy interview, Garrison said that such was the case.

When he first said that way back in 1967, very few people knew what the heck he was talking about.

In fact, I would wager that 99 per cent or more of the public had no idea of it.

But he also said that Ferrie had a treatise on cancer in his possession at his death. Since it did not turn up, everyone doubted it.

Well, it did finally turn up, through the ARRB. And the efforts of Peter Vea, one of the very few researchers in DC who went through the Garrison files as released by the HSCA. The presence of that very advanced treatise coupled with what Nicky Chetta says his Dad saw in Ferrie's apartment, well, its provocative is it not? (See Haslam, p. 46) And what his Mom told Ed about the doctors at Tulane? (p. 49)

That is all direct evidence.

Now, do I buy the stuff about Judy Baker that Ed tacked on in this version? No I don't, and in some ways I like the earlier version of the book more.

But I give Ed credit, I mean his efforts have gotten this case the attention it deserves. I mean, he even had the New Orleans press talking about it. And this is the NOTP, the sworn enemies of JG: Snyder, Rosemary James etc.

That story would not have run without Ed's work.

Edited by James DiEugenio
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Part of being a CTer is “Coincidence Theory”

 

My wholly unscientific “Coincidence Theory” equation is this: Related Coincidences x 4 = too remarkable to ignore

 

In that vein there is an interesting set of coincidences that could point to another relationship between Dr. Mary and Mr. Ferrie.

 

In Billy Sol Estes book, “A Texas Legend” he names two strange fellas as having a remarkable link to the assassination. John Liggett and Jay B. Peck. You can “google” both these guys and see many researchers “take” on Billy’s story. In the lexicon of JFK assassination research there is no mention of either of these individuals until Billy Sol brings them up. There is, therefore, no chance (that I can find), that Billy read about these guys during his incarceration and then later included them in his tale.

 

A lot of researchers have the Liggett story wrong. Billy claimed that Liggett, a mortician and reconstruction “artiste”, worked on a corpse after the assassination to produce fake autopsy photos. That’s not an unreasonable requirement. It seems though that Liggett was a deeply disturbed individual with a penchant for murdering women, sexually mutilating their corpses and burning their bodies to destroy evidence. In 1968, Liggett, according to accounts was with J.B. Peck in J.B.’s bedroom when J.B. decided to kill himself with a gunshot to the chest. Liggett then walked out and announced the “suicide” to J.B.’s wife who was in the living room. Six years later in 1974, Liggett would attempt to kill J.B.’s wife with a hammer and apparently thought he had done so but she survived despite being left for dead and set on fire. This led to his capture and death during an escape attempt.

 

Liggett’s mother in-law and ex-wife claimed Mr. Ferrie had visited Liggett weeks prior to the assassination and that Liggett had connections to Jack Ruby.

 

Which brings me back to J.B. Peck.

 

It’s been said that Jay Bert Peck was a distant cousin of LBJ, a LBJ look-a-like and sound-a-like. Billy Sol claimed that Peck doubled as LBJ so that LBJ could join the Murchison Party before the assassination. Peck was a Garland Texas Sheriff so he was certainly a “local”.

 

I thought that this was probably a bogus claim - the weakest link. I thought wrong.

 

There was one claim that Peck and been cast as LBJ in a movie, “The Wrecking Crew”: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065225/

 

The cast lists (if you click on “Full Cast” link) J.B. Pick as “The President” and J.B. Pick is close but not actually J.B. Peck. J.B. Pick has a short bio elsewhere on IMDB and he is listed as having been born in England so my assumption was that this was another dead end. I next acquired the movie and watched it. The President appears in one short scene, the shot is from behind and he’s sitting at a desk. Just a hint of the neck and side of his face is shown. It looks remarkably like LBJ, nonetheless.

 

He has one short line, “No, that is all”. My reaction “holy s%#@“ that sounds just like LBJ!

 

So I dug deeper. and found this:

 

 

Edited by Chris Newton
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It's difficult to believe from pictures of Peck, such as the one above, that he could have been used to fool reporters and others into thinking Johnson was in the room with them, as has been said. Maybe in the next room, or 100 yards away, or on the phone, or from behind as in the Dean Martin movie. But not full-frontal Lyndon.

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David,

I agree somewhat. But I also find it curious that this anecdote comes from Billy Sol Estes who is clearly an insider to some of LBJ's Texas wheeling and dealing.

A little more on Peck; He was noted to sing and play guitar on some Dallas radio shows. Apparently wrote a song called "Pedernales River" (the river that flowed next to LBJ's ranch). He also had retired from Garland's Sheriff Office and was holding an administrative position with Clint Murchison Jr.'s Dallas Cowboys in 1967.

Estes claims, in his book, that LBJ wasn't happy that Peck had gone "public" with his "doubling" and LBJ had utilized Liggett to shut him up for good.

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Also, "J. B. Pick" in the Dean Martin movie credits is a misspelling. J. B. Peck, who is actually in the movie (if only from behind) is not the other J. B. Pick that IMDB associates with English film.

IMDB is full of mistakes because it's researched by twenty-year-old kids, well known for being the bane of our crumbling civilization.

Edited by David Andrews
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Also, "J. B. Pick" in the Dean Martin movie credits is a misspelling. J. B. Peck, who is actually in the movie (if only from behind) is not the other J. B. Pick that IMDB associates with English film.

Yes, I got that. It could be a simple mistake, other researchers have put more onerous connotations such as an attempt by Valenti to obfuscate. I think it's just an error, examples of which follow: I found three newspapers with copies of the same AP story about J.B. Peck. The clip and photo I posted above was the only one to get the name right (and it's the best version of the photo). The other papers had "J.B. Beck" and "B.B. Peck" as the LBJ cousin. One little AP story, three spellings. Go figure.

Edited by Chris Newton
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