Adele Edisen

[David Andrews]

I don't challenge Bill overall, but I'm convinced that "LHO" knew that the Paines were intel ops: "Now everyone will know who I am..."; plus the depth of the Paines' involvement and interest in the "Oswald" couple. I don't know if Marina knew before the assassination - but how could "Oswald" not know?

I think he knew that DeMorenschildt was a handler also. Sides shifted and were concealed - but does a spook not know a spook, or associate with many who aren't spooks? The question is, how many of these spooks were overtly out to get Kennedy, and what did "Oswald" know about that?

Edited December 23, 2009 by David Andrews

[William Kelly]

One of the most important figures in the events surrounding the assassination of JFK is Adele Edisen.

In April, 1963, Edisen met Jose Rivera at a biomedical scientific conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The conference had been organized by the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology. Rivera told Edisen that he been on the faculty of the biochemistry department at Loyola University in New Orleans, and that he was now living in Washington. Edisen was planning to visit Washington and so Rivera suggested she she telephone him when she arrived in the city.

Edisen arrived in Washington on 22nd April, 1963. She telephoned Rivera and had dinner with him at Blackie's House of Beef restaurant. During the meal Rivera asked Edisen if she knew Lee Harvey Oswald. He also talked about the Carousel Club (owned by Jack Ruby) in Dallas.

The following evening Rivera gave Edisen a tour of Washington. When they passed the White House he asked Edisen, "I wonder what Jackie will do when her husband dies?" After Edisen replied "What!", Rivera said, "Oh, oh, I meant the baby. She might lose the baby."

During the tour Rivera made several comments about John F. Kennedy. Edisen later reported: "He asked me if I saw Caroline on her pony Macaroni, and all kinds of crazy nonsense, and I was beginning to think I was with an absolute madman.... Rivera's part of the conversation at times was difficult to follow, but many of his statements, such as the reference to 'Jackie,' seemed deliberately placed. When he spoke of President Kennedy, Rivera was extremely critical of Kennedy's position on civil rights. Rivera made many disparaging remarks about black people and the civil rights movement."

Later that evening Rivera asked Edisen to carry out a couple of tasks when she arrived home in New Orleans. This included contacting Winston DeMonsabert, a member of the faculty at Loyola University. He then asked her to call Lee Harvey Oswald at 899-4244. "Write down this name: Lee Harvey Oswald. Tell him to kill the chief." Rivera then said, "No, no, don't write that down. You will remember it when you get to New Orleans. We're just playing a little joke on him."

Edisen phoned this number in early May and was told by the man who answered that there was no one there by the name of Oswald. Later, when she called again, the same man answered, saying that Oswald had just arrived but was not there at the time. Instead she spoke to Marina Oswald and asked her if she might call again in a few days to speak with her husband when he was at home. Marina only spoke Russian to Edisen but seemed to understand her request because she replied, "Da". The next time she phoned she got Oswald, but he denied knowing Jose Rivera. Edisen asked Oswald for the address where the telephone he was speaking on was located. Oswald gave her an address on Magazine Street. She did not give Oswald Rivera's message.

Edisen was concerned that Rivera might be involved in a plot against President John F. Kennedy. She decided to contact the Secret Service in New Orleans and spoke to Special Agent Rice. According to Edisen, "After giving my name, address and telephone number to him, I told him I had met a man in Washington in April who said some strange things about the President which I thought they should know. It was my intention to go there and tell them about Rivera and his statements, but I began to think they might not believe me, so I called back and cancelled. Agent Rice told me they would be there any time I would care to come in."

Two days after the assassination Edisen arranged a meeting with Secret Service Agent John Rice. Also at the meeting was Orrin Bartlett, Liaison Special Agent of the FBI: "Mr. Rice was seated at his desk, and I was seated to his right, and the FBI agent remained standing most of the time. I believe he may have taped it because every time Mr. Rice got up from his desk, there was a partition over there, for example, and there was a phone there which they used even though there was a phone on the desk, which I didn't understand, but apparently there was some reason for that. So every time Mr. Rice got up to answer the phone or to use the phone, I noticed his hand would do this, and I would either hear a whirring, a mechanical sound like a tape recorder or something. It may have been audiotaped."

Edisen told them the story of how she met Rivera in Atlantic City and Washington in April. She also supplied the agents with Rivera's office and home telephone numbers. Edisen later claimed that: "Agent Rice asked me to call them if I remembered anything else, and requested that I not tell anyone I had been there to speak with them. I understood this to be for my own protection as well as for their investigation. Both agents thanked me for speaking with them."

Edisen contacted Rice a few days later and he told her, "Don't worry. That man can't hurt you." Edisen assumed that Rivera had been arrested and that she would be called as a witness before the Warren Commission. "When the Warren Report was published, I was mystified and dismayed by the conclusion that Oswald acted alone, and that Jack Ruby acted alone, for my experiences told me otherwise."

http://www.spartacus...k/JFKedisen.htm

Thanks to Martin Hay for pointing out the valuable records compiled by Howard Weisberg that are being posted on line at Hood College in Maryland.

http://jfk.hood.edu/index.shtml?browse.php

Among the records from the Secret Service is this report that mentions SAIC SS NO John W. Rice and is signed with the signature of Orrin Bartlett, which reinforces the idea that in the aftermath of the assassintion, Bartlett and Rice were together and collaborated in their investigation of the assassination, as Adele Edsen has maintained.

http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Secret%20Service%20Reports/SS%20Reports%2037.pdfj

BK

[Guest Tom Scully]

Is that what you think this is, Bill, Orrin Bartlett's signature? It looks to me like Bartlett's name was written by

and then initialed by an administrative assistant. The document originated from the LA office of the SS, the first page mentions John Rice, and the second page is as pictured. We seem to be motivated in opposite directions, I've informed you of where I am coming from, and why. However I'll go in whatever direction my instinct and persuasive information takes me. The research in this area seems to have stalled and I've given a lot of thought to why that is and how to get it moving again.

I thought I had selected the optimum way to follow up on the leads I had developed. It hasn't worked out, and I think there will only be one opportunity to attempt to gain the cooperation of someone who I think can provide valuable information about the relationship of SAIC Rice and SA Bartlett and their activities on Sunday, 24 November, as well as on Rice's trip to Barksdale AFB and his sidetrip to check out a Jack Martin on 22 November. Time's A Wastin'.

http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Secret%20Service%20Reports/SS%20Reports%2037.pdf

Maybe David Von Pein would be kind enough to interpret the handwriting and render

his expert opinion on whether or not it was all written by one person.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Tom Scully