New Information on Oswald in Mexico City

[Bill Simpich]

 

I'm going to address two of the issues flagged in this thread.  They belong in print someday - all the more reason to discuss it here.

First, I agree that the transcripts of the September 28 and October 1 calls have weird phrasing and a stilted tone.   I believe it is because the persons impersonating Oswald and Duran didn't really know what to say.

The Oswald and Duran characters were fishing, they didn't really know what the Oswald character had said to Duran on the 27th or what the Oswald character had said to the Soviets on the 28th.

It's also not impossible that the transcripts  simply made up - although I don't know if anyone would make up conversations that were that "awkward".   My analysis is in Chapter 5 of my book State Secret - but that's the gist of it.

Secondly, the two photos posted by Matt Allison were part of a query made by the HSCA on 7/30/78, asking who these two men were, I refer to these as the "HSCA photos". These two men were Nikolai Leonov and Ernesto Lehfeld Miller.

(I've posted about this previously on the "blond-haired Oswald" thread years ago.)  

I agree that the man in the HSCA photos to the left is Nikolai Leonov.  

This set of photos dated Oct 2 1963, at 12:05 pm, taken at the Soviet consulate minutes before the so-called Mystery Man, at numbers 6 and 7, shows the man listed as "LEON".  Photo 7 is the full photo that Matt and David posted above.

https://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=4490&relPageId=3

The man to the right in the HSCA photos is Ernesto Lehfeld Miller, an architect and a friend of the Duran family who used to borrow their car.

Take a look at the CIA's photo strip of the Cuban embassy on Sept. 26. See Miller's photos shown in the fourth column, first two photos, marked "24" and "23"?

The CIA's log of the Sept 26 photos for items 23 and 24 states that "man was sent (from the Cuban embassy to the Cuban) consulate".

Sylvia Tirado Duran identified Miller as the man depicted as #26 and #27 in the aforementioned photo book 7549. Duran said that he was an architectural designer and friend of her architect husband - "Ernesto Lefel" (that would be Ernesto Lehfeld Miller) (#26 and #27). As I read elsewhere - I don't have it here - Miller used to borrow her husband's car.  He may have been coming to borrow or return the keys. 

I have wondered about the timing of Miller's visit, and whether it was used in any way.   It is not well-known that the Cuban diplomat Theresa Proenza - who was falsely set up by the CIA as a CIA agent - which got her thrown into prison as part of the CIA's AMROD operation to split the Castro regime) stated that she saw Oswald in the Embassy although he wanted a visa - she couldn't understand why he didn't go to the Consulate. 

As a hypothesis, MIller's visit may have been used as the basis for the FBI's third-hand claim that Oswald threatened to kill JFK - Castro had heard this story too, and couldn't understand why Oswald would have made this threat in the embassy, saying "Nobody comes to an embassy for a visa - they go to the Consulate."  See http://vault.fbi.gov...rt-59-of-1/view (pp 58-59)

The Cuban embassy was the very place MIller was photographed on Sept. 26 - Chapter 5 of my book discusses this threat.

I went to the National Archives and read the depositions of Silvia, her then-husband Horacio, and the whole family - they all identified Ernesto Miller as the man after looking at the photo, and they testified that he would regularly borrow Horacio's car. 

A line of inquiry I have been mulling over for awhile is that Horacio and Ernesto were both architects, and the intelligence documents have a fair amount of discussion about the 7th Congress of the International Union of Architects between September 27-October 3.   A CIA agent within the architects was quizzing Teresa Proenza about this conference - Proenza was a close friend and ally of Silvia Duran.   

My conclusions are that Silvia Duran told the truth and never saw Oswald after the 27th.  I also believe that someone was trying to make Silvia and Oswald look bad - that's why the phony call of the 28th. 

Miller's visit on the 26th may have been used to make Silvia look bad in some way - or maybe Proenza confused the American-looking Miller with Oswald - or it may be a completely innocent encounter.   We have no evidence that Leonov was "up to anything" on October 2 - but Goodpasture's false statement made it look that way.

I discussed in State Secret that Goodpasture lied by writing in her October 8 memo that the Mystery Man photo was taken on October 1.  It was actually taken on October 2, just a few minutes after that Leonov photo.  She falsely tied the Mystery Man photo and the Oswald phone call together to be on the same day.  She was making up a story of her own.

[David Josephs]

2 hours ago, Paul Jolliffe said:

What evidence do you have that our "Oswald" was directly in contact with a FBI agent/handler that fall?

I usually hate being tautological... but, Hoover covering for extensive CIA lies, for years now, yet specifically in the Mexico construct... leads me to ask what other reason makes sense...?  Hoover simply had to allow for a lone nut trip to and from Mexico at the same time he was “caught” doing his job by Odio when being set up for a shooting....

I wish I had a better answer for you... seems he was working thru Bannister and that office... what was mailed, what was dropped off... and then the handoff to Dallas, ... to me agents like Nat Pinkston, Dolan in Chicago.... and many others.. were actively protecting their FBI... Hoover’s FBI...   

That name will make for an interesting research project.....  it still may have been US Military in guise of FBI informant... FBI Agent....

Be fun... 

[Matt Allison]

Being only one year removed from the missile crisis, it seems to me that LBJ, and by extension Hoover as well, had honest, genuine concern about a nuclear war breaking out because of the assassination. In their minds, job #1 for them was to keep that from happening. Hoover was simultaneously engaging in CYA after Hosty decided to blab away while inside DPD headquarters, which led to Jesse Curry going in front of reporters and throwing the FBI under the bus.

 

[Eddy Bainbridge]

I don't see the argument being made that two separate groups were using Oswald. It may be one group who makes a mistake; Oswald needs to be sheepdipped as an Assasin in Mexico and actualy required to attend the Odios. These two events require coordination if the risk of discovery is high. Less so, if the flaws in the Mexico story remain hidden.

Edited January 19, 2020 by Eddy Bainbridge

[Sandy Larsen]

On 1/19/2020 at 10:39 AM, Bill Simpich said:

 

I agree that the man in the HSCA photos to the left is Nikolai Leonov.

 

 

Bill,

Cuban officials held a news conference at the 1978 Havana Youth Festival where they stated that the CIA had withheld from the Warren Commission a surveillance photo of a man posing as Oswald as he exited the Cuban consulate in Mexico City. They shortly thereafter published the photo. Isn't the photo on the left above the same as the the one published by the Cubans? (Source)

 

[Greg Kooyman]

On 1/17/2020 at 2:57 PM, Matt Allison said:

So I believe the pictures below were given by the Cuban government to the HSCA. The one on the left certainly appears to be Nikolai Leonov. Considering that he was well known to the Cuban government, I'm not sure what message Castro was telegraphing by giving it to the HSCA and saying it was from their surveillance of Cuban embassy visitors.

I used to have background on the person on the right, but I don't remember the details, so can someone fill that in?

Not to throw a monkey wrench into the mix here, but didn't someone identify the person on the right as an individual named Claude Barnes Capehart?

Here's the thread I seem to remember that discussed this..

 

Ok, had I read Bill Simpich's post before sending this, I would have realized he identified the man on the right.  Sorry for the confusion...

Edited January 21, 2020 by Greg Kooyman
previous post made mine irrelevant.

[Bill Simpich]

Bill,

Cuban officials held a news conference at the 1978 Havana Youth Festival where they stated that the CIA had withheld from the Warren Commission a surveillance photo of a man posing as Oswald as he exited the Cuban consulate in Mexico City. They shortly thereafter published the photo. Isn't the photo on the left above the same as the the one published by the Cubans? (Source)

 

Actually, these images were released by the HSCA on 7/30/78, two days before the Cuban 11th International Youth Festival began on 8/1/78.

At the Cuban event, Azcue and others testified - and addressed these photographs - but it was the HSCA that released them.  

You can see a CIA note at the bottom of the page:  "Committee has asked for help in identifying people in the pictures - even if Committee did release them without authorization, don't we now have obligation to provide identification to them?"  At least one handwritten scrawl appears to say "yes" - but the CIA did not help.

 

 

 

[Bill Simpich]

Here are the photos released by the HSCA on 7/30/78, with the references to the CIA camera systems and the times the photos were taken - 10/2/63 for Leonov, and 9/26/63 for Miller.   These photos had been obtained by the HSCA back in April 1978.   See here for further info on the photos.   Further description of the photos can be found here.  LILYRIC and LIMITED were the CIA cameras on the Soviet embassy - LIERODE focused on the Cuban embassy.

[Matt Allison]

Since he was big cheese over at the Russian Embassy it seems like Leonov would have already been known by the Cubans, right? Wouldn't it be kind of a weird move to have him chosen for an op in which to impersonate someone? 

[Matt Allison]

... as in, he walks in and goes "Hi I'm Lee Oswald and I want a visa to go to Cuba",

and they say, "uh, no dude, you're not, you're Nikolai Leonov and you work down the street..."

[Larry Hancock]

Matt, we discussed this a bit on my blog....thing is that Leonov was third secretary and we don't know all his duties but we do know some of them actually involved political action to the extent of supporting Russian efforts working with communist revolutionary groups inside Mexico.  That was a really serious deal in the early sixties, they were quite militant, well armed and a significant threat although not much is written about it these days.  So his diplomatic profile might have been relatively low....and Duran would not have attended diplomatic events, not even sure Ascue would have attended anything were Russians were present.  As I noted, relations between Moscow and Castro were strained after the missile crisis and Castro was seriously moving against the communist parties inside Cuba.

Its a good point and it deserves investigation but that also means some deep digging into Soviet diplomatic/political action activities in Mexico at that point in time.

[Bill Simpich]

Matt, I am not suggesting Leonov impersonated Oswald in any way.

I think Goodpasture tried to pretend that Leonov and the Mystery Man were connected in some way.   She took a phone call (where I do believe LHO was impersonated) on Oct 1 and a photo of the Mystery Man at 12:30 or so on Oct 2 and made the false claim that they both occurred on Oct. 1 and the false insinuation that the Mystery Man was Oswald.

It is of interest that Leonov left the embassy at 12:05 and the Mystery Man at 12:30 and that may have helped inspire her thinking among her peers.

As stated in State Secret, I think all this was grist for a molehunt designed to figure out who made the phony Sept 28 and Oct 1 phone calls.

I think the HSCA was interested because Leonov superficially resembled Oswald (doesn't everybody?) on October 2 - and because they wanted to know who was the guy who looked like an American at the Cuban Embassy on Sept 26.

[Paul Brancato]

38 minutes ago, Bill Simpich said:

Matt, I am not suggesting Leonov impersonated Oswald in any way.

I think Goodpasture tried to pretend that Leonov and the Mystery Man were connected in some way.   She took a phone call (where I do believe LHO was impersonated) on Oct 1 and a photo of the Mystery Man at 12:30 or so on Oct 2 and made the false claim that they both occurred on Oct. 1 and the false insinuation that the Mystery Man was Oswald.

It is of interest that Leonov left the embassy at 12:05 and the Mystery Man at 12:30 and that may have helped inspire her thinking among her peers.

As stated in State Secret, I think all this was grist for a molehunt designed to figure out who made the phony Sept 28 and Oct 1 phone calls.

I think the HSCA was interested because Leonov superficially resembled Oswald (doesn't everybody?) on October 2 - and because they wanted to know who was the guy who looked like an American at the Cuban Embassy on Sept 26.

Bill - I’ve read your book but can’t recall if you knew or had an opinion as to who designed the molehunt. 

[Matt Allison]

Bill- oh I know you're not, I was referring back to the original post in the thread in which it was discussed that Leonov's physical appearance and manner were a match for Azcue's description of the visitor on the 27th.

Btw all of this makes me think that the twist party story and supposed tryst with Duran had to also be a pre-decided part of the MC fabrication.

[Anthony Mugan]

Following on from a discussion over on Larry Hancock’s blog I became interested in the date of the photograph used in Oswald’s Cuban visa application, as this appears to have been an old photograph. The photograph of Oswald on his visa application for Cuba from September 1963 can be seen in Warren Commission Exhibit CE 2564

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0422b.htm

 

A copy of the photograph can also be seen, perhaps more clearly, at CE 2788:

 

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/html/WH_Vol26_0107a.htm.

 

In this photograph Oswald is dressed smartly in a shirt and tie with a V-neck sweater. His hair is cut relatively short with no trace of a receding hairline. Given the debate concerning the possible impersonation of Oswald at the Cuban consulate, with the description of the visitor as being significantly older (35-37 years of age) and shorter than Oswald (around 5 foot 7 inches or less), as well as being blonde by both Consul Azcue and Silvia Duran, a question arises as to the origin of this photograph.

 

It is clear from the absence of a receding hair line that the photograph was not taken in September 1963. Oswald’s June 1963 passport photograph shows a receding hair line and a very different hairstyle.

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0346b.htm

 

The receding hairline can also be seen in several photographs from New Orleans in August 1963, including this police ‘mug-shot’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald#/media/File:Oswaldneworleans.jpg

 

Looking at earlier pictures of Oswald we find that most earlier time periods are also inconsistent with Cuban visa application photo. He is clearly older in this photo than when he was in the Marines, during which time he tended to have a severe crew cut. His 1959 passport photograph (WC CE 946) is also not a good fit

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh18/pdf/WH18_CE_946.pdf

 

The ‘defector’ photograph from late 1959 is interesting, with a similar shirt and tie and sweater (under the jacket) but the hair style does not look quite right.

http://www.russianbooks.org/oswald/moscow4.htm

 

Many of the photographs of Oswald in Russia show him with longer hair, such as this one with Marina (circa 1961)

http://www.russianbooks.org/oswald/pavel1.htm

and this one with Marina’s uncle and aunt

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/367887863290245841/

 

In an interesting group photo with friends in Russia, Oswald is wearing similar clothes to those in the Cuban visa application (the different levels of contrast in various photos makes identification difficult, see, for example, how the apparent hair colour varies considerably in some photographs). He also has relatively short hair in this photograph (taken in Minsk), although possibly slightly longer than in the visa application photograph. The exact date of this photograph is not known to this writer at this time.

 

In February 1962 Oswald had a very different hairstyle, seen here shortly after the birth of his first daughter, June.

 

Oswald appears to have quite short hair by the time the family left Russia in May 1962, but the clarity and angle of the photograph makes the length difficult to determine precisely, it could be consistent with the visa application photograph in terms of overall style

 

In what would appear to be the closest match to the Cuban visa application photograph we see the Oswald family in what, from June’s appearance, would be in mid-1962 with a very close match of hairstyle for Oswald to his Cuban visa application photograph.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=qD%2bxhDbp&id=F7611A0DBD1B1203780329F744977A9AD3C00301&thid=OIP.qD-xhDbp78w3JyoxZo9fWAAAAA&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.guim.co.uk%2fimg%2fmedia%2fa4311a053d387f25a7ce90dc53e9295232ee8869%2f0_88_2394_2991%2fmaster%2f2394.jpg%3fwidth%3d300%26quality%3d85%26auto%3dformat%26fit%3dmax%26s%3d3a45e29b4b062c7faf87170431707802&exph=375&expw=300&q=lee+oswald+marina+and+june+1962&simid=608005697367836071&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

 

The famous ‘backyard’ photos of Oswald holding his rifle from the spring of 1963 are also possibly consistent with the hairstyle, but not clear enough for this writer to fully assess in terms of the hairline and seem too close in time to June 1963, when the receding hairline was very clear.

In short, the visa application photograph appears to have been taken significantly earlier than June 1963 as there is no receding hairline. The similarity to the mid-1962 family photograph in terms of hairstyle and Oswald’s general appearance suggests a similar timeframe, and probably after February 1962 (see the image of Oswald and Marine with the new born June). The relatively smart clothing and the plain background, together with the passport sized image suggest a passport type photograph taken for some identification purpose (but he used his 1959 passport to return to the west in 1962).

The wearing of a sweater suggests a time and place that was not particularly hot (such as Texas in mid-summer would be, for example). These factors and the possible similarity to the image of the Oswalds setting off on a train from Russia may be consistent with a photograph taken in Russia shortly before their departure but at this stage an image taken for an unkown purpose shortly after their arrival in the west cannot be ruled out at this time.

 

Considering the possible time range of March 1962 to early 1963 for the visa application photograph, further work will consider what documentation Oswald may have needed to leave Russia and immediately after his return.

Any thoughts or suggestions for other evidence that could further narrow this range of possible dates down would be very gratefully received.