Deaths of Witnesses

[John Simkin]

Another important death was Eddy Raymond (Buddy) Walthers. He joined the Dallas Police Department in December, 1955. He was promoted through the ranks, but a colleague, Roger Craig, claimed that Walthers success was a result of the close relationship he enjoyed with Bill Decker, the sheriff of Dallas. Craig later wrote: "Walthers... had absolutely no ability as a law enforcement officer. However, he was fast climbing the ladder of success by lying to Decker and squealing on his fellow officers."

Walthers was on duty in Dealey Plaza on 22nd November, 1963, and was the first police officer to question James T. Tague, who was cut by a flying object during the assassination. In Rush to Judgment, Mark Lane claims that "Walthers spoke with Tague and, examining the ground nearby for bullets, found a mark on the curb. Teague said, 'There was a mark quite obviously that was a bullet, and it was very fresh'. The piece of curb itself, exposed to the elements for three-quarters of a year, was at last taken away to the FBI laboratory."

Soon after Walthers interviewed Tague he was seen by witnesses with two men. A sequence of photos show one of the men picking something up out of the grass and then putting it in his pocket. Some researchers claim that these men were FBI or CIA agents. Walthers initially claimed a bullet was found. However, he later changed his mind and said it was actually a piece of JFK's head. Some researchers have suggested that it was a bullet that could not be linked to Lee Harvey Oswald that was being placed in the agent's pocket.

According to Michael Benson (Who's Who in the JFK Assassination) when Jack Ruby was arrested for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, his possessions were searched and among them was Walther's signed permanent pass to the Carousel Club.

In his book, When They Kill A President, Roger Craig claims that: "Buddy had a powerful hold on Decker. I base this on the fact that Buddy's popularity with Decker greatly increased after the assassination."

Attempts were made by Jim Garrison to persuade Walthers to testify at the Clay Shaw trial. In June, 1968, Walthers reported a bombing outside his home in Oak Cliff. It has been suggested that this was an attempt to warn him off talking to investigators such as Garrison about what he knew about the assassination of John JFK. The Shaw trial was due to take place in February, 1969.

On 10th January, 1969, Bill Decker sent Buddy Walthers and Alvin Maddox to a motel to question Walter Cherry, an escaped convict and a man suspected of a double murder. When the two detectives entered the room Buddy Walthers was shot dead by Cherry.

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

[John Simkin]

Another important witness to die during the aftermath of the assassination was Earlene Roberts. On 14th October, Roberts rented a room to Lee Harvey Oswald.

Roberts testified before the Warren Commission that Oswald arrived home at around 1.00 p.m. on 22nd November, 1963. He stayed only a few minutes but while he was in the house a Dallas Police Department car parked in front of the house. In the car were two uniformed policemen. Roberts described how the driver sounded the horn twice before driving off. Soon afterwards Oswald left the house.

Roberts also testified that she thought the police car's number was 106. Some researchers have suggested that it might have been the car being driven by J. D. Tippit (number 10). However, the Dallas Police denied they had any cars in that area at 1.00 p.m. on 22nd November.

In an article published in Ramparts, David Welsh claims that Roberts was subjected to intensive police harassment. "They visited her at all hours of the day and night, contacted her employers and identified her as the Oswald rooming house lady. As a result she was dismissed from three housekeeping and nursing jobs in April, May and June of 1964 alone; no telling how many jobs she lost after that."

Earlene Roberts died of a heart attack in Parkland Hospital on 9th January, 1966.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKrobertsE2.htm

[John Simkin]

One of the most interesting stories involves Richard Randolph Carr who actually survived several attempts to kill him.

On 22nd November, 1963, Carr was working on the seventh floor of the new courthouse building on the corner of Houston Street in Dealey Plaza. Just before President John F. Kennedy was shot Carr saw a heavy-set man with horn-rimmed glasses and a tan sport jacket on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository.

After the shooting Carr saw the man emerge from the building. Carr followed the man and later told the FBI: "This man, walking very fast, proceeded on Houston Street south to Commerce Street to Record Street. The man got into a 1961 or 1962 gray Rambler station wagon which was parked just north of Commerce Street on Record Street." This evidence corroborated those claims made by Roger Craig. Both Carr and Craig described the driver of the car as being dark-skinned.

Carr's story was not believed by the authorities. The Warren Commission did not call him as a witness nor was he mentioned in any of their published evidence. A FBI agent told him that: "If you didn't see Lee Harvey Oswald in the School Book Depository with a rifle, you didn't see it." Later, several members of the Dallas Police Department raided his house in the middle of the night. They claimed that they were looking for stolen goods but he was not charged with any offence.

Carr also received threatening phone calls telling him to leave Texas. He moved to Montana. Later he found dynamite taped to his car ignition. Just before he testified in the New Orleans trial of Clay Shaw a gunman attempted to kill him. Another attempt on his life took place in Atlanta. This time he was stabbed but he managed to kill one of the two men who attacked him.

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

[John Simkin]

Karyn Kupcinet is another whose death has been linked to the Kennedy assassination. I am not convinced but it is an interesting story.

Irv Kupcinet was a well-known journalist and television talk show host. He knew Jack Ruby in Chicago in the 1940s. According to W. Penn Jones (Forgive My Grief, 1966) Kupcinet kept in contact with Ruby and discovered that he was involved in a plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. Jones argues that Kupcinet passed this information on to his daughter Karyn. In his book, Forgive My Grief, Jones reports that "a few days before the assassination, Karyn Kupcinet, 23, was trying to place a long distance telephone call from the Los Angeles area. According to reports, the long distance operator heard Miss Kupcinet scream into the telephone that President Kennedy was going to be killed."

Karyn Kupcinet's body was discovered on 30th November, 1963. Police estimated that she had been dead for two days. The New York Times reported that she had been strangled. Her actor boyfriend, Andrew Prine was the main suspect but he was never charged with the murder and the crime remains unsolved.

Some researchers have claimed that there was a strong link between the death of Kupcinet and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was argued that the conspirators were trying to frighten Kupcinet from telling what he knew. Irv Kupcinet rejected this idea. He wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times (9th November, 1992): "The NBC Today Show on Friday carried a list of people who died violently in 1963 shortly after the death of President John F. Kennedy and may have had some link to the assassination. The first name on the list was Karyn Kupcinet, my daughter. That is an atrocious outrage. She did die violently in a Hollywood murder case still unsolved. That same list was published in a book years ago with no justification or verification. The book left the impression that some on the list may have been killed to silence them because of knowledge of the assassination. Nothing could be further from the truth in my daughter's case."

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

Karyn Kupcinet

[John Simkin]

I have made several postings about the violent deaths of witnesses to the JFK assassination. However, I suspect very few of these deaths in the 1960s had anything to do with the assassination.

Why for example would the conspirators have had to kill these witnesses? One of the reasons why they are seen as suspicious deaths is because they had already spoken out about what they knew about the events in Dealey Plaza. Their deaths only drew attention to the fact they were saying things that were different to what was in the Warren Commission report. It is possible that several important witnesses were killed in the 1960s. However, their names would not have been linked to the assassination and therefore we are unaware of this.

For example, whatever happened to the gunmen who actually fired the shots? I think there is a very good chance that these men were Cuban exiles (probably members of Alpha 66). If I had organized the assassination I would have been very keen to get rid of these men as soon as possible. My strategy would have been to give them another job soon after they killed JFK. One possibility is that they were sent to Cuba to assassinate Fidel Castro. I would then have tipped off the Cuban security services they were coming and where they would be. I suspect the gunman were executed in Cuba in 1964.

However, I do believe that several of the deaths in the 1970s were linked to the Kennedy assassination. This is as a result of the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities and Select Committee on Assassinations investigations. The deaths of Sam Giancana (1975), Jimmy Hoffa (1975), Johnny Roselli (1976), William Harvey (1976), George De Mohrenschildt (1977), William Pawley (1977), Charlie Nicoletti (1977) and Carlos Prio (1977) are all probably linked to the fact they were likely to be called before Senate committees.

In Anthony Summers’ book, Conspiracy, he reports that the HSCU manages to obtain the records of an FBI wire tap on Santo Trafficante. On the tape, Trafficante was heard to say “now only two people know who killed Kennedy and they aren’t talking.” Obviously Trafficante was one of these. Who was the other person who was not talking? My guess was that it was David Sanchez Morales. He was to die soon afterwards on 8th May, 1978. When Trafficante died in 1987 the chances of ever finding who killed Kennedy came to an end. However, that is not to say it is impossible to find out who organized the crime of the century.

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

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

[Justin Martell]

I just wanted to say hello and thank you all for the best website I have found on the net. I am admittedly a novice when compared to all of you. Is George Dem not on the list because of his tape recorded suicide. I have read that somewhere and cannot remember where. I have read a number of books on the assassination including: High Treason, Heritage of stone, The last investigation, Oswald and the CIA and the book that started it all for me Coincidence or Conspiracy? I have also thouroughly searched Michael Griffiths site and JFK murder solved. Anyway getting back to George Dem. I have also read that he was reportedly acting strange after seeing a new doctor and possibly was injected with something that would induce suicide has anyone also heard of this. If so what is your take? I will try to remember where it was I read these things but I have returned the books to the library. Sorry for any errors or typos. I was born in 1976 so I am playing catch up on all of this stuff. Thanks again for this wonderful site.

[John Simkin]

I just wanted to say hello and thank you all for the best website I have found on the net. I am admittedly a novice when compared to all of you. Is George Dem not on the list because of his tape recorded suicide.

Welcome to the forum. I look forward to reading your postings. Don’t be afraid to ask any questions. We have enough experts here to answer most questions that come up.

However, I have to admit I have never heard of George Dem. His name does not appear in any of my books on the subject. There does not seem to be anything on him on the web either.

[Justin Martell]

I was excited to post something on this site and didnt have a book by me to get the spelling right so I put George Dem. I was referring to George De Mohrenschildt. Any info on what i posted would be great. Thanks again.

[John Simkin]

I was excited to post something on this site and didnt have a book by me to get the spelling right so I put George Dem. I was referring to George De Mohrenschildt. Any info on what i posted would be great. Thanks again.

George De Mohrenschildt, the son of a wealthy noble, was born in Russia on 17th April, 1911. After the Russian Revolution his father, Sergius Alexander von Mohrenschildt, was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks. In 1921 he was sent to Siberia but managed to escape with his family to Poland. His wife died soon afterwards from typhoid fever.

While a young man De Mohrenschildt left Poland and after travelling around Europe. He later claimed that he was involved in a pro-Nazi plot to kill Joseph Stalin. De Mohrenschildt reached the United States in 1938. The British intelligence services warned the American government that they suspected that De Monrenschildt was working for German intelligence.

De Mohrenschildt went to work for the Shumaker company in New York. He worked under Pierre Fraiss who was connected with French intelligence. De Mohrenschildt agreed to collect information on people involved in "pro-German activity". In 1939 he went to work for Humble Oil, a company founded by Prescott Bush.

In 1941 De Mohrenschildt went to work for his cousin, Baron Maydell, and his company, Film Facts, in New York. Maydell was also known to have pro-Nazi sympathies. During this period he made a documentary about the resistance movement in Poland. He also failed in his attempt to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

After the Second World War De Mohrenschildt settled in Dallas where he worked for the oil millionaire, Clint Murchison. During this period he got to know Jackie Kennedy.

Ruth continued to live in Irving and at a party in February, 1963 she was introduced to Marina Oswald and Lee Harvey Oswald by George De Mohrenschildt. On 24th April, 1963, Marina and her daughter went to live with Ruth Paine. Lee Harvey Oswald rented a room in Dallas but stored some of his possessions in Ruth Paine’s garage. Ruth also helped Oswald to get a job at the Texas Book Depository.

In October, 1962 De Mohrenschildt became friends with Lee Harvey Oswald in Fort Worth. He suggested that Oswald should move to Dallas. In February, 1963 he introduced Marina Oswald and Lee Harvey Oswald to Ruth Paine. On 24th April, 1963, Marina and her daughter went to live with Paine. Oswald rented a room in Dallas but stored some of his possessions in Ruth Paine’s garage. Ruth also helped Oswald to get a job at the Texas Book Depository.

In 1963 De Mohrenschildt moved to Haiti. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy De Mohrenschildt was recalled to America to testify before the Warren Commission. He was asked about the claim of Marina Oswald that he knew about Oswald's attempt to kill General Edwin Walker. After giving evidence he returned to Haiti.

De Mohrenschildt returned to the United States in 1977. He approached Edward Jay Epstein complaining that he was short of money. Epstein offered him $4,000 for an interview. During their talks De Mohrenschildt admitted that in 1962 he had been contacted by J. Walton Moore, who was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency in Dallas. De Mohrenschildt was asked by Moore to find out about Oswald's time in the Soviet Union. In return he was given help with an oil deal he was negotiating with Papa Doc Duvalier, the Haitian dictator. In March 1963, De Mohrenschildt got the contract from the Haitian government. He had assumed that this was because of the help he had given to the CIA.

On 29th March, 1977, Epstein and De Mohrenschildt, broke for lunch and decided to meet again at 3 p.m. George De Mohrenschildt returned to his room where he found a card from Gaeton Fonzi, an investigator working for the Select House Committee on Assassinations. George De Mohrenschildt's body was found later that day. He had apparently committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth.

For sources on the case see:

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

[Lee Forman]

John Kennedy/Kennedy Family: Folder of notes and manuscripts regarding the George deMorenschildt "suicide" much of the material between Dick Sprague and R. B. Cutler. About a dozen pieces, some stapled with attachments, some are copies and many are also originals. Lays out a scary scenerio about the information deMorenschildt had and why they feel he was killed. Some of this theory has not seen the light of day beyond this folder. $100.00

http://amres.com/catalogs/PLKS.asp#Mjr1

Looks very interesting, but also makes me wonder if this is just a con.

If someone wants to 'bite the shell casing' and has an extra $100, be my guest.

- lee

[Lee Forman]

While I'm on the subject of stuff for sale...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3912358788

Purported to be a first generation Dallas Police Department Dictabelt on CD.

- lee

Price Reduced---$21.95---Dallas Police Department tapes on CD .This is a 3 CD set of the transmissions made by the Dallas Police Department pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy, and events surrounding it, on November 22, 1963.

In 1976, while on the faculty of East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce), I designed and taught a course on audio. As I developed the new syllabus I consulted with a colleague from the Physics Department of the university. This colleague, who was a former FBI agent in the Dallas area, was asked, as I recall, by the DPD to transfer their transmissions related to the President Kennedy visit, his assassination, and the events immediately following from dictabelt to audio tape. In 1963 the dictabelt was the storage medium. For some reason unknown to me, the signal was on the belt in reverse. As I understand it, because the special techniques required to make the transfer were within my colleague's area of expertise, he was asked to make the transfer. Through him I came into possession of 1st generation audio tapes of the transmissions from Channel 1 and a portion of Channel 2. From these tapes I have copied the audio with no alteration, editing, or processing. I have continued over the years to honor the request of my colleague to remain anonymous concerning this audio.

Two channels were to be used by the DPD: Channel 1 for the activities of the Kennedy visit and motorcade and Channel 2 for all other activities. However, a motorcycle policeman in the motorcade had his mike button open for several minutes (upwards of 20) making it difficult to use Channel 1 for transmissions. The open mike was transmitting for the entire time, and sounds purported to be the gunfire that killed the president are heard. (The first track on CD 1 (Channel 1) isolates about minute which includes the gunfire). This audio was instrumental in future investigations and reconstructions concerning the crime. My graduate students in the course subsequently used a spectrum analyzer to analyze what is supposed to be the gunfire. I can make their results of the analysis available.

Since Channel 1 was not sufficient to handle the transmissions, the DPD started using Channel 2 as well as they swung into action to clear the president's path to Parkland hospital, to find the killer or killers, to run down a variety of false leads and nuisances, and finally to capture the killer of one of their own.

I have recorded the audio from these tapes onto 3 CD's. On track one of the 1st CD is the first shot at 19 sec, followed by what appears to be three more shots. On successive tracks can be heard sirens, a reference to the stuck open mike button, and the report of Officer J.D.Tippit being shot.

CD 2 contains the APB on Oswald after he shot Officer Tippit; pursuit of Oswald, recovery of the white jacket, and the capture of Oswald in the Texas Theater, etc.

CD 3 contains portions of the transmissions on Channel 2 pertaining to the assassination and the clearing the route to Parkland Hospital.

This CD set will be of interest to historians, collectors of JFK memorabilia, and to anyone who wants a deeper insight to the sad event.

This is a Dutch Auction--For a limited time I will make copies of the three CD set available for $21.95 per set plus $6.00 shipping and handling.

[Anthony Frank]

Quote by John Simkin on April 29, 2004; "I have made several postings about the violent deaths of witnesses to the JFK assassination. However, I suspect very few of these deaths in the 1960s had anything to do with the assassination.

Why for example would the conspirators have had to kill these witnesses? One of the reasons why they are seen as suspicious deaths is because they had already spoken out about what they knew about the events in Dealey Plaza. Their deaths only drew attention to the fact they were saying things that were different to what was in the Warren Commission report."

The conspirators who killed Kennedy were pathological killers. They also got a kick out of killing Members of Congress. Their focus was killing, death, and destruction.

When someone opened their mouth, they looked at it as a good excuse to kill them. It's that simple. No need to ask why they killed the witnesses.

Tony

Edited July 10, 2004 by Anthony Frank

[Robert E. Cox]

John Simkin wrote: "Rose Cheramie was found unconsciousness by the side of the road at Eunice, Louisiana, on 20th November, 1963. Lieutenant Francis Frudge of the Louisiana State Police took her to the state hospital. ..."

John:

For the record, it was Francis Fruge (without the "d"), or, more likely, Frugé (with the accent) and pronounced Froo-GHAY by his widow during a brief conversation I had with her a few years back. He was one of those Cajun Country citizens down in Louisiana, where the language, and names, still bear influences from your good pals across the channel.

You've gotta be careful with these names -- spell one wrong and somebody from the Posner Posse will add it to their store of strawmen, to be propped up and shot down whenever the need to change the subject arises. And be especially careful with "Cheramie." You're liable to get a brusque correction from the Posse's official spellchecker, Dave Rietzes, who has been insisting, diligently, for years, that IT'S CHERAMI, for pete's sake, WITHOUT THE "E." Of course it was one of many aliases used by Melba Christine Marcades-- probably made up for a poster at a strip-club's entrance. Dear old Melba herself probably didn't know how to spell it. Perhaps Rietzes has spoken to the guy who painted the sign...I don't know. But, be forewarned.

rec

[John Simkin]

John Simkin wrote: "Rose Cheramie was found unconsciousness by the side of the road at Eunice, Louisiana, on 20th November, 1963. Lieutenant Francis Frudge of the Louisiana State Police took her to the state hospital. ..."

John:

For the record, it was Francis Fruge (without the "d"), or, more likely, Frugé (with the accent) and pronounced Froo-GHAY by his widow during a brief conversation I had with her a few years back. He was one of those Cajun Country citizens down in Louisiana, where the language, and names, still bear influences from your good pals across the channel.

You've gotta be careful with these names -- spell one wrong and somebody from the Posner Posse will add it to their store of strawmen, to be propped up and shot down whenever the need to change the subject arises. And be especially careful with "Cheramie." You're liable to get a brusque correction from the Posse's official spellchecker, Dave Rietzes, who has been insisting, diligently, for years, that IT'S CHERAMI, for pete's sake, WITHOUT THE "E." Of course it was one of many aliases used by Melba Christine Marcades-- probably made up for a poster at a strip-club's entrance. Dear old Melba herself probably didn't know how to spell it. Perhaps Rietzes has spoken to the guy who painted the sign...I don't know. But, be forewarned.

rec

Thank you for this information. I have changed the name on the web page. I have also noticed this tactic used by McAdams & Co. Although they are very reluctant to acknowledge their own mistakes.

Another strategy is to highlight any unusual opinions that the researcher might hold about other subjects (aliens, UFOs, Moon landing, etc.). I suppose the impression they are trying to give the impression that JFK conspiracy theorists are cranky and are willing to believe any crazy idea.

However, they tend to ignore people like Larry Hancock who is always careful to stick to the documented evidence. In many ways, I think McAdams & Co are doing us a favour. They keep us on our toes. They are forcing us to behave as responsible historians. That is how it should be. Far too many of us have been guilty of falling into the trap set for us.

[John Simkin]

In earlier postings I have commented on the deaths of witnesses and reporters. I also pointed out the deaths of six top FBI officials who died in a six month period in 1977.

The CIA also lost several people. In 1963 Desmond FitzGerald was in charge of the CIA's Cuban Task Force. In this post he personally organized three different plots to assassinate Fidel Castro. According to Dick Russell, FitzGerald had a meeting in France with a Cuban code-named AM/LASH, finalising a plan to eliminate Castro, at the same time John F. Kennedy was assassinated. FitzGerald died of a heart attack while playing tennis in Virginia on 23rd July, 1967.

Winston Scott was the CIA's station chief in Mexico. Scott retired in 1969 and wrote a memoir about his time in the FBI, OSS and the CIA. He completed the manuscript, It Came To Late, and made plans to discuss the contents of the book with CIA director, Richard Helms, in Washington on 30th April, 1971. Four days before the agreed meeting Scott died of a heart attack.

Michael Scott told Dick Russell that James Angleton took away his father's manuscript. Angleton also confiscated three large cartons of files including a tape-recording of the voice of Lee Harvey Oswald. Michael Scott was also told by a CIA source that his father had not died from natural causes. Scott eventually got his father's manuscript back from the CIA. However, 150 pages were missing. Chapters 13 to 16 were deleted in their entirety. In fact, everything about his life after 1947 had been removed on grounds of national security.

Several important figures in the Central Intelligence Agency who were involved in the anti-Castro operations died before they could give evidence to the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigations. William Harvey, head of the ZR/RIFLE project, died as a result of complications from heart surgery in June, 1976. William Pawley, who took part in Operation Tilt, died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. David Morales, who some believe organized the assassination, died aged 53, on 8th May, 1978.

John Paisley was deputy director of the Office of Strategic Research. On 24th September, 1978, John Paisley, took a trip on his motorized sailboat on Chesapeake Bay. Two days later his boat was found moored in Solomons, Maryland. Paisley's body was found in Maryland's Patuxent River. The body was fixed to diving weights. He had been shot in the head. Police investigators described it as "an execution-type murder". However, officially Paisley's death was recorded as a suicide.

According to the journalist, Victor Marchetti, Paisley was a close friend of Yuri Nosenko. Marchetti also claimed that Paisley knew a great deal about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was murdered during the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation because he was "about to blow the whistle".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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