Robert Howard

ATTORNEY DANIEL SHEEHAN'S AFFIDAVIT Now comes Attorney Daniel P. Sheehan, and having been duly sworn hereby swears and affirms that the following facts are true: 1. I am a duly licensed attorney at law, admitted to practice before the State and Federal Courts of the State of New York in both the Northern and Southern Districts of New York. 2. I am duly licensed and have been admitted to practice before the Courts of the District of Columbia, both local and Federal and I am in good standing before both the Bar of New York and the Bar of the District of Columbia. 3. I have practiced law before the courts of New York and numerous other states in our nation since 1970, having served as counsel in some 60 separate pieces of litigation in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Mississippi. 4. I graduated from Harvard college in 1967 as an Honors Graduate in American Government, writing my Honors Thesis in the field of Constitutional Law, and was the Harvard University nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship from New York in 1967. I graduated from Harvard School of Law in 1970, having served as an Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights)Civil Liberties Law Review and as the Research Associate of Professor Jerome Cohen, the Chair of the International Law Department of Harvard. 5. While at Harvard School of Law, I served as a summer associate at the State Street law firm of Goodwin, Proctor and Hoar under the supervision of Senior Partner, Donald J. Hurley, the President of the Boston Chamber of Commerce and Massachusetts Senatorial Campaign Chairman for John F. Kennedy. At this firm I participated in the case of BAIRD v EISENSTAT, under Roger Stockey, General Counsel for the Massachusetts Planned Parenthood League (establishing the unconstitutionality of the Massachusetts anti)birth control law) and in the Nevada case, under Charles Goodhue, III (establishing the constitutional right to bail in criminal extradition cases, including capital cases). While at Harvard School of Law, I authored "The Pedestrian Sources of Civil Liberties" in the Harvard Civil Rights)Civil Liberties Law Review and I served under Professor Milton Katz, the President of the International Law Association, as the Chairman of the Nigerian Biafran Relief Commission responsible for successfully negotiating the admission of mercy flights of food into Biafra in 1968. 6. While serving as a legal Associate at the Wall Street law firm of Cahill, Gordon, Sonnett, Rheindle and Ohio under partner Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines directed the Phoenix Project in Vietnam, in 1974 and 1975, which carried out the secret mission of assassinating members of the economic and political bureaucracy inside Vietnam to cripple the ability of that nation to function after the total US withdrawal from Vietnam. This Phoenix Project, during its history, carried out the political assassination, in Vietnam, of some 60,000 village mayors, treasurers, school teachers and other non)Viet Cong administrators. Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines financed a highly intensified phase of the Phoenix project, in 1974 and 1975, by causing an intense flow of Vang Pao opium money to be secretly brought into Vietnam for this purpose. This Vang Pao opium money was administered for Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines by a US Navy official based in Saigon's US office of Naval Operations by the name of Richard Armitage. However, because Theodore Shackley, Thomas Clines and Richard Armitage knew that their secret anti)communist extermination program was going to be shut down in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand in the very near future, they, in 1973, began a highly secret non)CIA authorized program Thus, from late 1973 until April of 1975, Theodore Shackley, Thomas Clines and Richard Armitage disbursed, from the secret, Laotian)based, Vang Pao opium fund, vastly more money than was required to finance even the highly intensified Phoenix Project in Vietnam. The money in excess of that used in Vietnam was secretly smuggled out of Vietnam in large suitcases, by Richard Secord and Thomas Clines )) and carried into Australia, where it was deposited in a secret, personal bank account (privately accessible to Theodore Shackley, Thomas Clines and Richard Secord). During this same period of time between 1973 and 1975, Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines caused thousands of tons of US weapons, ammunition, and explosives to be secretly taken from Vietnam and stored at a secret "cache" hidden inside Thailand. The "liaison officer" to Shackley and Clines and the Phoenix Project in Vietnam, during this 1973 to 1975 period, from the "40 Committee" in the Nixom White House was one Eric Von Arbod )) an Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs. Von Arbod shared his information about the Phoenix Project directly with his supervisor Henry Kissinger. Saigon fell to the Vietnamese in April of 1975. The Vietnam War was over. Immediately upon the conclusion of the evacuation of U.S. personnel from Vietnam, Richard Armitage was dispatched, by Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines, from Vietnam to Tehran, Iran. In Iran, Armitage (the "bursar" for the Vang Pao opium money for Shackley and Clines' planned "Secret Team" covert operations program), between May and August of 1975, set up a secret "financial conduit" inside Iran, into which secret Vang Pao drug funds could be deposited from Southeast Asia. The purpose of this conduit was to serve as the vehicle for secret funding by Shackley's "Secret Team," of a private, non)CIA authorized "Black" operations inside Iran )) disposed to seek out, identify, and assassinate socialist and communist sympathizers )) who were viewed by Shackley and his "Secret Team" members to be "potential terrorists" against the Shah of Iran`s government in Iran. In late 1975 and early 1976, Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines retained Edwin Wilson to travel to Tehran, Iran to head up the "Secret Team" covert "anti)terrorist" assassination program in Iran. This was not a U.S. government)authorized operation. This was a private operations supervised, directed and participated in by Shackley, Clines, Secord and Armitage in their purely private capacities. At the end of 1975, Richard Armitage took the post of a "Special Consultant" to the U.S. Department of Defense regarding American military personnel Missing In Action (MIAs) in Southeast Asia. In this capacity, Armitage was posted in the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. There Armitage had top responsibility for locating and retrieving American MIA's in Southeast Asia. He worked at the Embassy with an associate, one Jerry O. Daniels. From 1975 to 1977, Armitage held this post in Thailand. However, he did not perform the duties of this office. Instead, Armitage continued to function as the "bursar" for Theodore Shackley's "Secret Team," seeing to it that secret Vang Pao opium funds were conducted from Laos, through Armitage in Thailand to both Tehran and the secret Shackley bank account in Australia at the Nugen)Hand Bank. The monies conducted by Armitage to Tehran were to fund Edwin Wilson's secret anti)terrorist "seek and destroy" operation on behalf of Theodore Shackely. Armitage also devoted a portion of his time between 1975 and 1977, in Bangkok, facilitating the escape from Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and the re)location elsewhere in the world, of numbers of the secret Meo tribesmen group which had carried out the covert political assassination program for Theodore Shackley in Southeast Asia between 1966 and 1975. Assisting Richard Armitage in this operation was Jerry O. Daniels. Indeed, Jerry O. Daniels was a "bag)man" for Richard Armitage, assisting Armitage by physically transporting out of Thailand millions of dollars of Vang Pao's secret opium money )) to finance the re)location of Theodore Shackley's Meo tribesmen and to supply funds to Theodore Shackley's "Secret Team" operations. At the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Richard Armitage also supervised the removal of arms, ammunition and explosives from the secret Shackley)Clines cache of munitions hidden inside Thailand between 1973 and 1975 )) for use by Shackley's "Secret Team". Assisting Armitage in this latter operations was one Daniel Arnold, the CIA Chief of Station in Thailand )) who joined Shackley's "Secret Team" )) in his purely private capacity. One of the officers in the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, one Abranowitz came to know of Armitage's involvement in the secret handling of Vang Pao opium funds and caused to be initiated an internal State Department heroin smuggling investigations directed against Richard Armitage. Armitage was the target of Embassy personnel complaints to the effect that he was utterly failing to perform his duties on behalf of American MIAs, and he reluctantly resigned as the D.O.D. Special Consultant on MIA's at the end of 1977. From 1977 until 1979, Armitage remained in Bangkok opening and operating a business named The Far East Trading Company. This company had offices only in Bangkok and in Washington, D.C. This company was, in fact, from 1977 to 1979, merely a "front" for Armitage's secret operations conducting Vang Pao opium money out of Southeast Asia to Tehran and the Nugen)Hand Bank in Australia to fund the ultra right)wing, private anti)communist "anti)terrorist" assassination program and "unconventional warfare" operation of Theodore Shackley's and Thomas Cline's "Secret Team". During this period, between 1975 and 1979, in Bangkok, Richard Armitage lived in the home of Hynnie Aderholdt )) the former Air Wing Commander of Shackley`s "Special Operations Group" in Laos )) who, between 1966 and 1968, had served as the immediate superior to Richard Secord, the Deputy Air Wing Commander of MAG)SOG. Secord, in 1975, was transferred from Vietnam to Tehran, Iran. In 1976, Richard Secord moved to Tehran, Iran and became the Deputy Assistant Secretary of defense in Iran, in charge of the Middle Eastern Division of the Defense Security Assistance Administration. In this capacity, Secord functioned as the chief operations officer for the U.S. Defense Department in the Middle East in charge of foreign military sales of U.S. aircraft, weapons and military equipment to Middle Eastern nations allied to the U.S.. Secord's immediate superior was Eric Van Marbad )) the former 40 Committee liaison officer to Theodore Shackley's Phoenix program in Vietnam from 1973 to 1975. From 1976 to 1979, in Iran, Richard Secord supervised the sale of U.S. military aircraft and weapons to Middle Eastern nations. However, Richard Secord did not authorize direct nation)to)nation sales of such equipment directly from the U.S. government to said Middle Eastern governments. Instead, Richard Secord conducted such sales through a "middle)man", one Albert Hakim. By the use of middle)man Albert Hakim, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Secord purchased U.S. military aircraft and weapons from the U.S. governament at the low "manufacturer's cost" )) but sold these U.S. aircraft and weapons to the client Middle Eastern nations at the much higher "replacement cost". Secord then caused to be paid to the U.S. government, out of the actual sale price obtained, only the lower amount equal to the lower manufacturer's cost. The difference, was secreted from the U.S. government and Secord and Albert Hakim secretly transferred these millions of dollars into Shackley's "Secret Team" operations inside Iran )) and into Shackley's secret Nugen)Hand bank account in Australia. Thus, by 1976, Defendant Albert Hakim had become a partner with Thomas Clines, Richard Secord and Richard Armitage in Theodore Shackley's "Secret Team". Between 1976 and 1979, Shackley, Clines, Secord, Hakim, Wilson, and Armitage set up several corporations and subsidiaries around the world through which to conceal the operations of the "Secret Team". Many of these corporations were set up in Switzerland. Some of these were: (1) Lake Resources, Inc.; (2) The Stanford Technology Trading Group, Inc.; and (3) Companie de Services Fiduciaria. Other companies were set up in Central America, such as: (4) CSF, Investments, Ltd. and (5) Udall research Corporation. Some were set up inside the United States by Edwin Wilson. Some of these were: (6) Orca Supply Company in Florida and (7) Consultants International in Washington, D.C.. Through these corporations, members of Theodore Shackley's "Secret Team" laundered hundreds of millions of dollars of secret Vang Pao opium money pilfered Foreign Military Sales proceeds between 1976 and 1979. named in this federal civil suit to be placed under oath and asked about their participation in the criminal "enterprise" alleged in this Complaint is probative of the criminal guilt of the Defendants of some of the crimes charged in this Complaint. Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs' Counsel, The Christic Institute, possess evidence constituting "probable cause" that each of the Defendants named in this Complaint are guilty of the conduct charged. If further detailed evidence is required by the Court to allow the Plaintiffs to begin the standard process of discovery in this case, the failure to place it in this Affidavit is the function of the short time allowed by the Court for the preparation of this filing )) it is not because the Plaintiffs lack such evidence. Daniel P. Sheehan Subscribed and Sworn to before me this day of December, 1986 Fascinating! It is easy to see why the "Sheehan Affadvit" resulted in the hammer coming down, none too lightly on the Christic Institute, my first reaction on seeing this with my own eyes, is that this country is in urgent need of a "mechanism" for lack of a better word to deal with a largely 'compartmentalized' independent media that is only appreciated by those who are not mesmerized or duped by Murdoch's "Fox News," etc., that seems so benign and trustful towards our government and the myriad N.G.O.'s, (Non-Governmental Organizations) that are carrying out their agenda's right before the eyes of a largely (unsuspecting 'still'?)American public. Said mechanism, which is only necessary, due to the conspicuous absenceof any semblance of accountability by the body politic not just Republican's but Democrat's as well, is a result of the same type of 'moral relativism,' or process of rationalizing acts which are inherently against the 'common good' as far as the American people are concerned. Example: America ostensibly, is a democracy in which the Constitution is the 'guiding light' for the principles of how the government 'acts' to reflect the will of the governed. According to the Constitution, "We the People" are not 'the servants' of this country, our elected officials are, yet, I stipulate, that this realization in Washington has become an anachronism, and just as much in the case of many of the American people. Having said that, to return to the original point. Such a mechanism ideally would be a grass roots campaign to 'restore authentic Constitutional Law as a working principle in American government.' Gerry Hemming articulated some of the examples of how 'the law' can be circumvented to allow individuals within the government to go scot-free for 'crimes committed in the past' including the assassination of a President if one is well versed in the current legal system, I believe they would find his contention is absolutely correct. Not that it would be 'well recieved.' I will go a step further, and before I do I ask the members of the Forum to approach the question with an open mind; Many Forum members may be familiar with the use of the "Executive Order" by the Executive branch over the last 60 or 70 years. Although I am not a lawyer, the concept (while hopefully in the beginning was brought into being for a 'good reason') of a Presidential Order was rarely used initially, but if one were to view the number of times it has been used by successive Presidential administrations in terms of a graph it would look very much like a graph of the price of oil, comparatively speaking over the last 35 years. In other words, by the Bush-Clinton Era it was being used on a very elongated scale compared to the past, for purposes that do not square with 'how our government should operate, within the context of the constitution, itself. In its current context, the ability of a sitting President to issue an Executive Order, is an abomination to the entire idea of constitutional government, yet nary a word is spoken about it. Does that make me 'paranoid' to raise the point, I will say no, it makes me one of those who does not blindly trust individual persons 'who happen to be in the highest echelons of power' as to their personal integrity when it comes to 'the governance of this country according to the constitution, both now and in the future. What would stop, not just President Bush but any President in the future, Democrat or Republican from issuing an Executive Order declaring 'martial law' in the United States? Under the current system of government, nothing would. (Never mind that it would result in, chaos, but ultimately whose 'chaos' would it be? Does this seem like a good thing to members of the rest of the Forum? I would like to know. Leadership in this country, I submit is an anachronism, across the board. When a politician has the balls to stand up and start doing something to rectify some of the injustices that are being perpetrated against the American people, then I will respond accordingly. Final Thought concerning the "mechanism" referrred to above, if one is not found soon the same pattern of the American people operating in what is "an information vacuum" (see Iraq, and every other scandal of the last 30 years) will result in a status quo' finalizing what is rapidly becoming "Orwellian in nature."

Tim, your ability to articulate your views notwithstanding, your admonition not to 'impugn other people's motives' comes off as hypocritical at best. If there was a listing for 'thread-hijacker' in Webster's it would have a picture of you next to it. One recalls the maxim 'quality over quanity, having literally thousands of posts on this forum, and many of them articulate and well stated, it is beyond conjecture that you are less than objective in where your view on the assassination ultimately come back to the culprits as being Castro, (something the government has unsuccessfully been trying to do ever since Nov 22) and now the "Mob" albeit with enough of a dose of the CIA thrown in to keep it appealing) I will simply expound on this theme in saying "starting a thread entitled 'The Mob Did It' is such a poor exercise in intellectual thought that it borders on insulting to members of the Forum and is beneath your skills. You may wax eloquently in your posts etc., but your lack of sincerity in 'researching' the various elements of the JFK Assassination and other sordid events of the American Century are patently obvious, despite your protestations to the contrary. Actually it is interesting, because in many way's the 'dance' that frequently takes place on the Forum is in my opinion a 'microcosm' of today's media. The essence of today's 'intellectual debate' in America is soundbite politics ("Your either with us or with the terrorists,") mixed with a healthy dose of George Orwell while thinking people who care about fundamental concepts such as democracy are basically labeled as "not one of us." In this case I will be proud to admit I am not one of the many American's 'whistling in the dark.' In my opinion being labelled or called "anti-American" in the current political atmosphere, is a 'badge of honor.' Virtue is its Own Reward

How would one go about locating a copy of the Sheehan affadavit?

FWIW, I have a copy of "Man Against the Mob" By William E. Roemer, Jr., which I purchased recently while doing research into the JFK/Mob angle. It is hard to get a gauge on it, as far as his credibility on the JFK assassination, to tell you the truth it seemed pretty interesting to me until he "gives his take' on what went down on 11/22/63. As someone once said "You Be the Jury." "I don't subscribe to the post-assassination theories....If there had been any connection to the Chicago families. I am quite sure we would have known about it. I firmly believe just what the Warren Commission found after exhaustive investigation using the FBI, CIA and all the other investigative bodies at its command. I believe it was the work of a lone, demented gunman, Oswald and that Ruby's motivation in killing Oswald was just what he claimed- his anguish over the killing of the charismatic leader of our country." After I reached that passage, I quit reading the book as it would be impossible for me to accept anything written in it as being very believable. Period.

Actually the US is one of the toughest countries to get medication approved Robert - That warning was directed at women who are or might be pregnant. Obviously any medication taken by a pregnant woman will reach the fetus. Such warnings are common. Doctors normally ask women of childbearing age if they are [or might be] prenant before perscribing medication. I accept your premise, but what I am getting at is that the disclaimers in general (to me, and other people I have spoken with about this, (who by the way are generally not that interested in conspiracy theories, in general,) have a consensus that "who would want to take this stuff, when the 'potential?' side effects seem practically as bad as what they are ostensibly supposed to treat?" It presents the concept that maybe the main premise to it all is more about making a buck, as opposed to doing what was formerly known as the 'common good' What is your view?

Speaking of Cat Steven's n/k/a Yousef Islam. Peace Train is a great song, and while I admit I did not follow the story closely, I did find the fact that he was 'denied access to the United States awhile back' a little disconcerting to say the least. The man as far as I know, is not affiliated with "Al-Qaeda" (if anyone has CREDIBLE information to the contrary, please let me know) and not allowed to come to the "land of the brave, and home of the free." What is one to make of this 'move' by the Bush administration? A sincere desire to protect our country from 'terrorists?' or something entirely different. As an aside; last night while posting on the forum (with the T.V. on, which I was not watching, but could hear) there was a commerical for some new medication. I didn't catch the name of it, but at the end of the spot, you know the 'disclaimer part,' I heard the words, "may be harmful to unborn children." Is it just me or are we entering a 'brave new world' where any medication that has a remotely useful purpose can be approved by the F.D.A. as long as the disclaimer 'doesent say.' 'Side effects may include instantaneous death?' Just wondering.

Today is the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, as previously mentioned. I have already posted on this topic so I don't want to be redundant; but, I have a niche for researching and accumulating every bit of information I can about topics 'close to my heart.' The JFK Assassination, the Beatles (together and solo) and the geopolitical world of the last 100 years are at the top of the list. If one would like to peruse some of the most informative Lennon material ever to hit the print media, I would suggest (not necessarily in this order) The book "Lennon Remembers" Jann Wenner 1970 interview. The 1980 Playboy interview with John and Yoko (either Nov. or Dec. issue) Musically speaking "The Compleat Beatles - Updated Version) This book is a compendum of every song that the Beatles ever played listing the instruments and musicians used on each song, plus an assortment of equally compelling stuff. Lennon book's (Hard to Find) "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works" AND the non-Beatles Movie he appeared in Directed by Dick Lester "How I Won the War." I believe that this movie, is a incredible flick to watch, it is a combination comedy/drama circa WW2. Lennon made this movie around 1967 before the recording sesions for Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane and also around the time that their manager Brain Epstein died." John's character name is "Musketeer Gripweed." imdb.com link for same http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061789/ There is a surreal scene at the end that makes IMO watching the whole movie worthwhile Final thought: Out of all the quotes John left us with, I think the best ones are lyrics from his first solo album entitled 'Plastic Ono Band' - 1970 Which is his "Highway 61 Revisited?" It is also very stark and intense. "Genius is Pain" - Some people criticize John for his knack or disposition towards making off-the cuff remarks, see 'The Beatles are more popular than Jesus,.' 'The freaks on the phone, won't leave me alone so don't give me that brother, brother' brother (although the latter is actually a line from "I Found Out" Which also includes "I seen through junkies, I been through it all I seen religion from Jesus to Popel Don't let them fool you with dope and cocaine No one can harm you, feel your own pain" My reaction is that there is something about death that is almost a canonization process in American (and elsewhere?) culture. Look at Marilyn, JFK, MLK Jr., RFK, Malcolm-X from the 1960's alone. Sociologists and media types might (rightfully?) ask would the legacy of these individuals be as valued if they hadn't died in the manner/way they did? JFK and MLK, Jr. are still controversial topics to make such comments even 43 and 37 years later. But that's just my opinion. Absolutely Final Comment - I would rather have been remembered for advocating love and peace, than dropping an atomic bomb or inventing it. Robert

Can you say "the pot calling the kettle black"?

My initial reaction to Ramsey Clark's activities these day's is. Q. What happens to a member of the 'Old Guard" who aids and abets the biggest coverup of the last 43 years, and then has an 'extremely delayed attack of conscience'? A. He 'joins the opposition, and becomes marginalized' by being "out of the mainstream of American culture," but not necessarily in that order. Which goes to prove what a wise man once said - "Virtue, is it's own reward."

Correctomundo, on both counts.

I have and still do, have a tremendous respect for the members of this Forum and the Forum itself, but I do believe there has been a deterioration in the 'level of debate' lately. It is so epidemic in our culture these day's that 'personal accountability' in many, many cases these day's in regards to allegations founded in fact are reposnded both in the field of politics and culture in general, are not met with responses to the same but with a counter-charge. Before I joined the Forum, I was, and still am, a member of the JFK Lancer Forum, there was a period when there was a certain individual who wreaked havoc there although his MO was being an apologist for the WC to the point that he made Gerald Posner look slovenly in comparison. (If one has any curiousity about this go to the reviews for the Warren Commission 26 volumeson Amazon.com and look for the most extreme positive review and you will find out what mean. He eventually was banned from the JFK Debate because he was such an agitator, and so forth). I am old fashioned in the sense that "I may disagree with what your'e saying but I defend your right to say it." Diversity in viewpoints, is an essential hallmark of civilized debate, it is only when the debate becomes un-civilized when I have a problem with it. John Simkin, I believe has bent over backwards, to be democratic about a similar situation that has unfolded here, the only point I would like to make is that there has only been one person on the Forum the last 2 months, that has been 'over the top' in the sense that if you don't agree with said viewpoints you and your motives are treated with disdain 'which would be an understatement, to say the least. Final word: If it walks like a duck, quack's like a duck, and has feathers, it is a duck. I would ask other members of the Forum, if the level of debate the last 2 months has been what it was previously, and at the very least maybe the threads on the JFK Debate have taken a tilt towards 'Alice in Wonderland' in some cases?

Good points Owen. Whatever our perceptions are, and what we have managed to understand concerning the events that unfolded, I think at a minimum there was a large host of folks that placed the blame squarely on Kennedy. Phillips included. I would imagine them extending beyond extreme right-wing sectors of the exile community. I read somewhere, (I hate beginning a post like this) it may have been in Pierre Salinger's memoirs, that JFK did not cancel the airstrikes in support of BOP, but his last act (with regards to same) was authorizing the airstrikes, and that afterwards McGeorge Bundy rescinded Kennedy's authorization, which resulted in the famous account of Charles Cabell calling the White House in the pre-dawn hours on X-day urgently trying to get Kennedy to immediately re-authorize the air strikes, I believe the story is that Dean Rusk took Cabell's call (s)? and refused to wake JFK up. I certainly think there are more than one 'version' on the record as to how this event actually went down. I have always felt that the 'official version' was slightly suspect, which, in turn is due to the fact that in the future you have E. Howard Hunt attemping to 'forge Kennedy's signature' on documents authorizing the assassination of Diem, and also the CIA's Regis Blahut attempting to steal material from a safe which contained material being scrutinized by the HSCA. Damn, how the hell anybody would take the CIA's word about anything having to do with JFK is beyond me. And I also endorse the assertions of some members of the Forum that the BOP was a 'setup' to make Kennedy look like a fool in the same vein (and by the same people?) as Eisenhower's Peace Summit with Khrushchev that imploded because of the 'downing' of Power's U-2. Which by the way, there are also assertions (IMO correct) that the U-2 was not 'shot down by the Sov's,' but was sabotaged by placing explosives on it before it had ever taken off from base.

Hello Dawn, Sorry about being so tardy in response, but yes, as John has pointed out, it was Bill Davies. At those first early COPA organizational meetings, I sat between Bill Davies and Peter Dale Scott at tables arranged in a square so we all faced each other - about 30 people, also including Jim Lesar, Dan Alcorn, John Judge, John Newman, and others. I drove down from Atlantic City with Robert C., a Cherry Hill N.J. police Lt. The meetings were held over two days, and during breaks for lunch or afterwards we all walked around the corner to the Hawk & Dove bar. I talked with Davies, who was then from California, more than any of the others, a very mellow guy, though I don't know what happened to him. The American reporter injured in the bomb explosion in Central America was Tony Avirgan, and the target of the bomb was Sandinesta Commander Zero, a non-communist who fought the Contras. Although the Christic Institute failed, I think their legal tactics worked and that they should be reapplied to the political assassinations in the United States. BK Does anyone have more than a passing interest of the prospect of inviting Peter Dale Scott to visit the Forum to answer questions about his new book "Drugs, Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Indochina" I believe this book will be the definitive work on the 'dynamics' of what has been gradually taking place in this country over the last five years i.e. foreign policy especially or, rather the fact that our countries neo-con foreign policy seems synonymous with the conceptualization of a 'third millenium version of the crusades'; I would, like to hear what ideas he has (as well as anybody else, for that matter) on making the ideas expressed in this thread part of the 'intellectual debate' in this country regarding 'our future,' when the extreme right or whatever you wan't to call the "neo-con cabal" which is at the wheel of American foreign policy more or less successfully passes itself off as 'mainstream' to the "Great Unwashed." The current intellectual debate, at least in the print media between left and right, between those opposed to the neo-conservative agenda and those who advocate it, remind me of a political version of the "Phony-War" or drôle de guerre, as the French put it.

I may be mistaken, but I believe Anthony Summers recent epic Sinatra "The Life" makes reference to a Sinatra Jr trial transcript, but I wouldn't swear to it.

And the poem's concluding question: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" And the poem's concluding question: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" JFK, Jack Zangretti and the Sinatra Jr. Kidnapping (A Second Look) By Gerhard Poszner After 43 years, recent releases of two JFK-assassination related books have brought November 22, 1963 back into the public arena, for the first time since Gerald Posner’s widely hailed Case Closed was released over a decade ago. Joan Mellen’s A Farewell To Justice’s debut cratered or so it seems, after a “footnote controversy” proved to be for JFK researchers what Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” was for last years Super-Bowl audience. Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK seems to have gained a great deal of interest with its revelation of a Kennedy brothers plans for a 2nd Cuban invasion, (The ill-fated Bay of Pig’s invasion being the first) which was to have taken place on December 1, 1963. It is the contention of the authors Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartman that the Mafia was privy to this information, as well as revelations of another assassination attempt, which was to have taken place in Miami Florida only day’s before Dallas. Both books seem to provide enough material to keep those fascinated by the story that won’t go away, to keep the debate flowing. There have been, to those familiar with the assassination, allegations of perhaps as many as over a hundred “mysterious deaths” somehow related in some way to November 22, 1963, either individuals who knew Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby or were associated with the various investigations we have all come to be familiar with; the much-maligned 1964 Warren Commission, subsequent deaths in the 1960’s, with special emphasis on New Orleans around the time of the even more maligned Clay Shaw trial headed by New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison, up to the late 1970’s House Select Committee’s JFK investigation, when individuals such as mobster John Roselli, Oswald’s “friend” George DeMohrenschildt and even the FBI’s William Sullivan met sudden deaths. It has to some degree been conceded that DeMohrenschildt’s death was an “apparent suicide” after initial suspicions of foul play, although his widow Jeanne has stated in the past that she does not believe her husband “committed suicide.” Now many researchers of JFK’s assassination have been able to separate the myth from the reality. Some, by no means all, prefer to point out that there is a “short list” of ten or so individuals whose death’s even after all these years have not been resolved, (including the ‘big one’ in Dallas) and most importantly, circumstances demand the assertion that their “untimely demise” took place not only under very suspicious circumstances, but had a “short circuiting effect” in resolving conclusively the case that is known as the “Crime of the Century.” Indeed, it would be incumbent upon anyone who has studied, or at least kept up with the now 43 year old saga, to realize that several deaths, including the above-cited examples, have conclusively extended debate on the elusive “conspiracy angle, at least in the eyes of those who believe there was a conspiracy, giving added credence to the dissenter's, and not to the benefit of those who side with the Warren Commission and Gerald Posner. On Saturday November 23, 1963, Jack Zangretti, the manager of a $150,000 modular motel complex near Lake Lugert, Oklahoma, remarked to some friends that “Three other men, not Oswald, killed the President.” He also stated that “A man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow and in a few days a member of the Frank Sinatra family will be kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination.” Two weeks later, Jack Zangretti was found floating in Lake Lugert with bullet holes in his chest, and he had been dead for about two weeks. Is the death of Jack Zangretti, one of those cases? The kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. took place on a Sunday December 8, 1963, little over two-weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Two men, Barry Worthington Keenan, and Joseph Clyde Amsler who were both twenty-three, knocked on the door at Frank Junior’s Harrah’s Lodge in Reno Nevada. Frank was having dinner with Joe Foss a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The two men were posing as hotel room service attendants, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, and a .45-caliber pistol. After entering his suite, they bound and gagged Joe Foss and then carried Frank Sinatra Jr. at gunpoint, to a waiting car, a 1963 White Impala, but not before robbing Sinatra Jr. of $11 and Foss of one dollar. Sinatra was scheduled to perform at 10:00 PM that evening. Driving through a blizzard, they eventually holed up in a rented house in Los Angeles, after barely escaping detection at a police roadblock. The son of the music icon Frank Sinatra had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. Eventually Joe managed to struggle free and called Harrah’s press agent, who then called the Reno police. Frank’s manager Tino Barzie, called the elder Sinatra at his Palm Spring’s home. The legendary singer chartered a plane and immediately flew to Reno, where he was met by the District Attorney of Washoe County at the time, Bill Raggio. From there, the two were joined by four FBI agents based in Nevada as well as Mickey Rudin and Jim Mahoney, Sinatra’s attorney and publicist respectively. Frank Sinatra, through an intermediary Peter Lawford contacted Attorney General Robert Kennedy pleading for help in getting his son back, and RFK promised to do everything he could to get his son back to him safely. The blizzard had made Lake Tahoe inaccessible by car or plane, so Frank set up headquarters at the Mapes Hotel in Reno. Others who came to the Sinatra camp there included Jack Entratter and Jilly Rizzo. Sinatra called his ex-wife Nancy then his parents in New Jersey; then waited sixteen long hours before he heard from his sons captors. The first call came at 4:47 P.M. on Monday Dec.9th it would be followed by six more until the nightmarish saga ended. Another member of the group, who had kidnapped Frank Jr., called to tell Frank Sr. his son was safe his name was John Irwin, forty-two years old; he said that there would be another phone call soon. When the ransom call came, Frank said to them “You can have anything, a million dollars….anything!” Inexplicably, the kidnappers asked for only a paltry sum in comparison, $240,000 in used bills. “Fine, fine, anything, okay,” Sinatra responded. “We’ll make another phone contact about the exchange, discretion will be the demeanor.” Irwin said before hanging up. Frank called Al Hart, to setup the payoff to the kidnappers. Hart was President of City Nat’l Bank of Beverly Hills. Sinatra then flew to L.A., and stayed with his ex-wife in Bel-Air. Reporters were outside to cover the biggest kidnapping since the Lindbergh baby in 1932. After Hart put the money together at the Bank, Sinatra and a lone FBI Agent delivered it in a brown paper bag per the kidnapper’s complex instructions. Fifty-four hours later, on December 10, Frank Sinatra, Jr. was released, two miles from his mother’s home in Bel-Air. A police patrolman who recognized him placed him in the trunk of his car, in order to avoid reporters. A grateful father Frank Sr. gave the policeman a thousand dollars. The three kidnappers were captured the next day, with most of the ransom money, as well. The kidnapping had been predicted before it happened, an unusual occurrence to say the least. Complete with a sinister link to the mysterious Jack Zangretti, who, in turn was ostensibly a link in the events of November 22, 1963, the whole affair seemed right out of the Twilight Zone, the trial was in many ways simply a continuation of the bizarre chain of events. Barry Keenan constructed a strange defense, alleging that the whole affair was simply a hoax perpetrated by the leader of the Rat Pack’s son, in an effort to boost his singing career. The jury did not treat Keenan’s defense as being believable in any manner, as all three men were sentenced to life in prison. However, Keenan’s defense while not helping during the trial, created a pseudo-folk tale type of legacy, which dogged the younger Sinatra for years afterwards. When Britain’s Independent Television News took the allegations and broadcast them as gospel, the elder Sinatra sued them for libel and collected, according to Frank Sinatra, Jr. Years later, Keenan himself admitted his defense was simply a ploy, and as it turned out had went to school with Nancy Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board’s ex-wife. It would be interesting to know whether one of the kidnappers John Irwin, was related to Philip Irwin a private investigator who had been involved in the investigation regarding Joe DiMaggio and Frank Sinatra’s alleged mistaken break-in of the apartment of Florence Kotz, (an apparent victim of mistaken identity). This took place the evening of November 5, 1954, when DiMaggio believed that Marilyn Monroe was having a lesbian affair. Sinatra was eventually subpoenaed and forced to testify to a State Senate Committee about the incident, the botched break-in which came to be known as the “wrong-door raid, apparently took place in an attempt to obtain evidence of marital infidelity by Marilyn to use against her in their upcoming divorce trial. Philip Irwin had went on record as saying that much of Sinatra’s testimony was false, and was subsequently “severely beaten” and as a result tried to meet with Sinatra to tell him that he had not leaked the story which had made the “headlines,” and which strongly aroused the curiosity of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. Afterwards during a subsequent State Senate Committee hearing investigating activities of private investigators March 1957 see FBI Files FOIA 55 pages. Ironically, according to Sinatra’s testimony, Philip Irwin was one of the two investigators DiMaggio had hired to locate Marilyn’s alleged lover in the first place, (the other investigator was Barney Ruditsky.) Although Sinatra had his own attorneys he did nothing to improve his reputation for being tied to the Mafia, when he called and obtained help in the case from renowned mob attorney Sidney Korshak, a man who was reputed to be able to settle “problems” with just a couple of phone calls. Sinatra was represented by the law firm of Martin Gang and Mickey Rudin of Gang, Kopp & Tyre. And so the story goes, but what about Jack Zangretti? Of him, very little is known, the original allegation concerning Zangretti’s foreknowledge of Ruby’s shooting of Oswald and the indeed, day’s later kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. appears to have been the result of information obtained by Penn Jones Jr. a famous figure to those well-versed in conspiracy theories, but who had been known to pull a few rabbits out of the hat, so to speak. A search of the internet revealed nothing more than the fact that Jack Zangretti was, according to the United Kingdom’s Lobster magazine “a minor mob figure.” But after digging, I hit the motherlode, the story had apparently was from a publication which was printed by one of the first, maybe even the first JFK researcher, a man who lived in Midlothian, Texas (near Dallas) named Penn Jones’s the publication was called “Forgive My Grief” Issue Volume 4. The sub-heading read New Information on Strange Death No. 72 (although the number 72 seemed odd, I surmised maybe there had never been an original entry for Zangretti or this “update” was an addendum to an original story, if there indeed was an original story, I was unable to find it after perusing the previous three issues, anyway.) May 31, 1973; and had what appeared to be an entire article which included the paragraph from above I had found on the internet. It read: “In late 1962 a group opened a $300,000 restaurant and nightclub with all gambling facilities called THE RED LOBSTER, built in a cotton patch near Lake Lugert between Altus and Hobart, Oklahoma. The facility was equal to many Las Vegas Clubs. A $ 150,000 modular motel complex was added and almost complete by November 22, 1963. Some of the rooms were occupied on weekends by persons arriving in chauffeured limousines. These people were stylishly dressed, and the men were accompanied by beautiful women. We are told the license plates were from the surrounding states, plus Arizona, Colorado and Kansas. On Saturday November 23, 1963, Jack Zangretti, the manager of a $150,000 modular motel complex near Lake Lugert, Oklahoma, remarked to some friends that “Three other men, not Oswald, killed the President.” He also stated that “A man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow and in a few days a member of the Frank Sinatra family will be kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination.” Two weeks later, Jack Zangretti was found floating in Lake Lugert with bullet holes in his chest, and he had been dead for about two weeks. Early in 1964 foreclosure procedures began, and the motel was moved in 1966 to Frederick Oklahoma. The nightclub and restaurant were torn down, now only the foundation remains at the site.” As an aside to the Zangretti story, below it there was the following. Recently on Public Television, Earl Warren stated: “There has been no evidence of any kind developed to contradict what was in our reports…..We have never been able to find one witness to add to what we found at that time…..” If Justice Warren will convene a Grand Jury, we can produce witnesses to contradict his report. [italics mine] In light of what the American people have learned about the Warren Report, despite the best efforts of the “Warrenati” what I dubbed the so-called “journalists” who have made a career out of being apologists for every event of political intrigue that has bobbed to the surface of the media eye over the last 43 years; the words were like an dagger to the heart. Earl Warren’s “comment” reminded me of the plethora of lies, half truths and cover-ups that have hovered like unseen figures over the Ghosts of November, JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, the Dallas newspaper reporters who had gathered in Jack Ruby’s apartment, and…..well you get the idea. Wow! If there was ever an article that seemed to include not so veiled references to organized crime, this would appear to fit the heading. So the question remained, why was this seemingly “very important” lead relegated to the dustbin of history? I continued my search. Barry Keenan, who on the surface appears as the ringleader of the kidnappers resurfaced in 1998. It seems that his sentence which was officially “life in prison plus 75 years” was worse than it sounded. His sentence was “eventually reduced,” and he left prison and appears to have done pretty good for himself. In 1998 he was pitching a proposal to develop a casino resort at Deer Island, (near Gulfport) Mississippi, when his involvement in the Sinatra kidnapping became known to the local populace. A subsequent article stated that “an addiction to painkillers (after an automobile accident) in addition to financial problems” was one of the reasons that he had decided to participate if he was not actually the “main man” in the 1963 kidnapping. That same article stated that before declaring bankruptcy in Texas in 1986 over the oil bust there, his net worth was a cool 17 million dollars, and it appears to have only gotten better. By 1997 he was a “consultant” to the ongoing attempt to build the casino complex on Deer Island, and eventually nailed down the casino deal there with help from his partner Now in 2005, Barry Keenan at age 65, has ostensibly made it to the “top of the heap.” Apparently, the last ten years Barry has made quantum leaps into the casino business, in a March 2005 interview with The Midland Telegram Reporter, Keenan stated he has helped develop five casinos in Biloxi, Mississippi and for native-American tribes in Palm Springs, San Bernardino, Commerce and San Diego California, and was only in the spring of 2005 an “advocate” for a bill that was then pending in the Texas Legislature which would legalize gambling in the Lone Star State. After some haranguing, the bill was shelved, but it will no doubt not be the last word as far as gambling coming to the Lone Star State In the interview Keenan, in response to arguments that gambling foments organized crime and prostitution and has destructive social effects says those are “myths” opponents use to fight it. It’s reassuring that America can put that issue behind us, now that we know conclusively that gambling has no harmful effects on society. In conclusion, on December 5th 2005 I contacted via e-mail Craig Roberts who years earlier had written “JFK: The Dead Witnesses” this book contained a near identical passage to Penn Jones May 1973 article on Jack Zangretti, he wrote to tell me that he had confirmed the story of the Red Lobster near Lake Lugert and the subsequent death and discovery of Zangretti’s body from Lake Altus-Lugert in 1994, unfortunately, the police officers and officials who had been with the local police there, at the time of the case, had long since died or retired. The famous “quotation” expressing foreknowledge of those dark events from “a man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow, to a member of the Sinatra family being kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination,” seems to be an elusive phantom. I thought how even visiting good old Lake Altus-Lugert would probably be fruitless, as far as obtaining verification of the infamous? quote. Has the potential for verification of the quote went down the same rabbit hole, where other hopeful leads went, Gaeton Fonzi’s interview with George DeMohrenschildt that never took place, or the footlocker filled with evidence of Richard Case Nagell’s contacts with Oswald? Does anybody know how to get a hold of those Sinatra Jr. trial transcripts? To see information regarding how Barry Keenan successfully challenged the “Son of Sam Bill” see http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_229.pdf.

From my perspective, anyone who seriously intends to research this matter needs, at the very least, a good understanding of the Warren commission. It is impossible,or imprudent to attempt a rebuttal of work that you have not bothered to familiarise yourself with.I also think any serious researcher needs to read Posner, if only to see how its done. Steve. Steve, you would require that of someone? I would liken that to being a prisoner at Abu Ghraib. LOL. No, your point is well taken.

Texas seems to have a real penchant for being the dwelling of 'unsavory characters.' - Mark Twain (Not)

After 43 years, recent releases of two JFK-assassination related books have brought November 22, 1963 back into the public arena, for the first time since Gerald Posner’s widely hailed Case Closed was released over a decade ago. Joan Mellen’s A Farewell To Justice’s debut cratered or so it seems, after a “footnote controversy” proved to be for JFK researchers what Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” was for last years Super-Bowl audience. Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK seems to have gained a great deal of interest with its revelation of a Kennedy brothers plans for a 2nd Cuban invasion, (The ill-fated Bay of Pig’s invasion being the first) which was to have taken place on December 1, 1963. It is the contention of the authors Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartman that the Mafia was privy to this information, as well as revelations of another assassination attempt, which was to have taken place in Miami Florida only day’s before Dallas. Both books seem to provide enough material to keep those fascinated by the story that won’t go away, to keep the debate flowing. There have been, to those familiar with the assassination, allegations of perhaps as many as over a hundred “mysterious deaths” somehow related in some way to November 22, 1963, either individuals who knew Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby or were associated with the various investigations we have all come to be familiar with; the much-maligned 1964 Warren Commission, subsequent deaths in the 1960’s, with special emphasis on New Orleans around the time of the even more maligned Clay Shaw trial headed by New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison, up to the late 1970’s House Select Committee’s JFK investigation, when individuals such as mobster John Roselli, Oswald’s “friend” George DeMohrenschildt and even the FBI’s William Sullivan met sudden deaths. It has to some degree been conceded that DeMohrenschildt’s death was an “apparent suicide” after initial suspicions of foul play, although his widow Jeanne has stated in the past that she does not believe her husband “committed suicide.” Now many researchers of JFK’s assassination have been able to separate the myth from the reality. Some, by no means all, prefer to point out that there is a “short list” of ten or so individuals whose death’s even after all these years have not been resolved, (including the ‘big one’ in Dallas) and most importantly, circumstances demand the assertion that their “untimely demise” took place not only under very suspicious circumstances, but had a “short circuiting effect” in resolving conclusively the case that is known as the “Crime of the Century.” Indeed, it would be incumbent upon anyone who has studied, or at least kept up with the now 43 year old saga, to realize that several deaths, including the above-cited examples, have conclusively extended debate on the elusive “conspiracy angle, at least in the eyes of those who believe there was a conspiracy, giving added credence to the dissenter's, and not to the benefit of those who side with the Warren Commission and Gerald Posner. On Saturday November 23, 1963, Jack Zangretti, the manager of a $150,000 modular motel complex near Lake Lugert, Oklahoma, remarked to some friends that “Three other men, not Oswald, killed the President.” He also stated that “A man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow and in a few days a member of the Frank Sinatra family will be kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination.” Two weeks later, Jack Zangretti was found floating in Lake Lugert with bullet holes in his chest, and he had been dead for about two weeks. Is the death of Jack Zangretti, one of those cases? The kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. took place on a Sunday December 8, 1963, little over two-weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Two men, Barry Worthington Keenan, and Joseph Clyde Amsler who were both twenty-three, knocked on the door at Frank Junior’s Harrah’s Lodge in Reno Nevada. Frank was having dinner with Joe Foss a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The two men were posing as hotel room service attendants, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, and a .45-caliber pistol. After entering his suite, they bound and gagged Joe Foss and then carried Frank Sinatra Jr. at gunpoint, to a waiting car, a 1963 White Impala, but not before robbing Sinatra Jr. of $11 and Foss of one dollar. Sinatra was scheduled to perform at 10:00 PM that evening. Driving through a blizzard, they eventually holed up in a rented house in Los Angeles, after barely escaping detection at a police roadblock. The son of the music icon Frank Sinatra had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. Eventually Joe managed to struggle free and called Harrah’s press agent, who then called the Reno police. Frank’s manager Tino Barzie, called the elder Sinatra at his Palm Spring’s home. The legendary singer chartered a plane and immediately flew to Reno, where he was met by the District Attorney of Washoe County at the time, Bill Raggio. From there, the two were joined by four FBI agents based in Nevada as well as Mickey Rudin and Jim Mahoney, Sinatra’s attorney and publicist respectively. Frank Sinatra, through an intermediary Peter Lawford contacted Attorney General Robert Kennedy pleading for help in getting his son back, and RFK promised to do everything he could to get his son back to him safely. The blizzard had made Lake Tahoe inaccessible by car or plane, so Frank set up headquarters at the Mapes Hotel in Reno. Others who came to the Sinatra camp there included Jack Entratter and Jilly Rizzo. Sinatra called his ex-wife Nancy then his parents in New Jersey; then waited sixteen long hours before he heard from his sons captors. The first call came at 4:47 P.M. on Monday Dec.9th it would be followed by six more until the nightmarish saga ended. Another member of the group, who had kidnapped Frank Jr., called to tell Frank Sr. his son was safe his name was John Irwin, forty-two years old; he said that there would be another phone call soon. When the ransom call came, Frank said to them “You can have anything, a million dollars….anything!” Inexplicably, the kidnappers asked for only a paltry sum in comparison, $240,000 in used bills. “Fine, fine, anything, okay,” Sinatra responded. “We’ll make another phone contact about the exchange, discretion will be the demeanor.” Irwin said before hanging up. Frank called Al Hart, to setup the payoff to the kidnappers. Hart was President of City Nat’l Bank of Beverly Hills. Sinatra then flew to L.A., and stayed with his ex-wife in Bel-Air. Reporters were outside to cover the biggest kidnapping since the Lindbergh baby in 1932. After Hart put the money together at the Bank, Sinatra and a lone FBI Agent delivered it in a brown paper bag per the kidnapper’s complex instructions. Fifty-four hours later, on December 10, Frank Sinatra, Jr. was released, two miles from his mother’s home in Bel-Air. A police patrolman who recognized him placed him in the trunk of his car, in order to avoid reporters. A grateful father Frank Sr. gave the policeman a thousand dollars. The three kidnappers were captured the next day, with most of the ransom money, as well. The kidnapping had been predicted before it happened, an unusual occurrence to say the least. Complete with a sinister link to the mysterious Jack Zangretti, who, in turn was ostensibly a link in the events of November 22, 1963, the whole affair seemed right out of the Twilight Zone, the trial was in many ways simply a continuation of the bizarre chain of events. Barry Keenan constructed a strange defense, alleging that the whole affair was simply a hoax perpetrated by the leader of the Rat Pack’s son, in an effort to boost his singing career. The jury did not treat Keenan’s defense as being believable in any manner, as all three men were sentenced to life in prison. However, Keenan’s defense while not helping during the trial, created a pseudo-folk tale type of legacy, which dogged the younger Sinatra for years afterwards. When Britain’s Independent Television News took the allegations and broadcast them as gospel, the elder Sinatra sued them for libel and collected, according to Frank Sinatra, Jr. Years later, Keenan himself admitted his defense was simply a ploy, and as it turned out had went to school with Nancy Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board’s ex-wife. It would be interesting to know whether one of the kidnappers John Irwin, was related to Philip Irwin a private investigator who had been involved in the investigation regarding Joe DiMaggio and Frank Sinatra’s alleged mistaken break-in of the apartment of Florence Kotz, (an apparent victim of mistaken identity). This took place the evening of November 5, 1954, when DiMaggio believed that Marilyn Monroe was having a lesbian affair. Sinatra was eventually subpoenaed and forced to testify to a State Senate Committee about the incident, the botched break-in which came to be known as the “wrong-door raid, apparently took place in an attempt to obtain evidence of marital infidelity by Marilyn to use against her in their upcoming divorce trial. Philip Irwin had went on record as saying that much of Sinatra’s testimony was false, and was subsequently “severely beaten” and as a result tried to meet with Sinatra to tell him that he had not leaked the story which had made the “headlines,” and which strongly aroused the curiosity of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. Afterwards during a subsequent State Senate Committee hearing investigating activities of private investigators March 1957 see FBI Files FOIA 55 pages. Ironically, according to Sinatra’s testimony, Philip Irwin was one of the two investigators DiMaggio had hired to locate Marilyn’s alleged lover in the first place, (the other investigator was Barney Ruditsky.) Although Sinatra had his own attorneys he did nothing to improve his reputation for being tied to the Mafia, when he called and obtained help in the case from renowned mob attorney Sidney Korshak, a man who was reputed to be able to settle “problems” with just a couple of phone calls. Sinatra was represented by the law firm of Martin Gang and Mickey Rudin of Gang, Kopp & Tyre. And so the story goes, but what about Jack Zangretti? Of him, very little is known, the original allegation concerning Zangretti’s foreknowledge of Ruby’s shooting of Oswald and the indeed, day’s later kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. appears to have been the result of information obtained by Penn Jones Jr. a famous figure to those well-versed in conspiracy theories, but who had been known to pull a few rabbits out of the hat, so to speak. A search of the internet revealed nothing more than the fact that Jack Zangretti was, according to the United Kingdom’s Lobster magazine “a minor mob figure.” But after digging, I hit the motherlode, the story had apparently was from a publication which was printed by one of the first, maybe even the first JFK researcher, a man who lived in Midlothian, Texas (near Dallas) named Penn Jones’s the publication was called “Forgive My Grief” Issue Volume 4. The sub-heading read New Information on Strange Death No. 72 (although the number 72 seemed odd, I surmised maybe there had never been an original entry for Zangretti or this “update” was an addendum to an original story, if there indeed was an original story, I was unable to find it after perusing the previous three issues, anyway.) May 31, 1973; and had what appeared to be an entire article which included the paragraph from above I had found on the internet. It read: “In late 1962 a group opened a $300,000 restaurant and nightclub with all gambling facilities called THE RED LOBSTER, built in a cotton patch near Lake Lugert between Altus and Hobart, Oklahoma. The facility was equal to many Las Vegas Clubs. A $ 150,000 modular motel complex was added and almost complete by November 22, 1963. Some of the rooms were occupied on weekends by persons arriving in chauffeured limousines. These people were stylishly dressed, and the men were accompanied by beautiful women. We are told the license plates were from the surrounding states, plus Arizona, Colorado and Kansas. On Saturday November 23, 1963, Jack Zangretti, the manager of a $150,000 modular motel complex near Lake Lugert, Oklahoma, remarked to some friends that “Three other men, not Oswald, killed the President.” He also stated that “A man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow and in a few days a member of the Frank Sinatra family will be kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination.” Two weeks later, Jack Zangretti was found floating in Lake Lugert with bullet holes in his chest, and he had been dead for about two weeks. Early in 1964 foreclosure procedures began, and the motel was moved in 1966 to Frederick Oklahoma. The nightclub and restaurant were torn down, now only the foundation remains at the site.” As an aside to the Zangretti story, below it there was the following. Recently on Public Television, Earl Warren stated: “There has been no evidence of any kind developed to contradict what was in our reports…..We have never been able to find one witness to add to what we found at that time…..” If Justice Warren will convene a Grand Jury, we can produce witnesses to contradict his report. [italics mine] In light of what the American people have learned about the Warren Report, despite the best efforts of the “Warrenati” what I dubbed the so-called “journalists” who have made a career out of being apologists for every event of political intrigue that has bobbed to the surface of the media eye over the last 43 years; the words were like an dagger to the heart. Earl Warren’s “comment” reminded me of the plethora of lies, half truths and cover-ups that have hovered like unseen figures over the Ghosts of November, JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, the Dallas newspaper reporters who had gathered in Jack Ruby’s apartment, and…..well you get the idea. Wow! If there was ever an article that seemed to include not so veiled references to organized crime, this would appear to fit the heading. So the question remained, why was this seemingly “very important” lead relegated to the dustbin of history? I continued my search. Barry Keenan, who on the surface appears as the ringleader of the kidnappers resurfaced in 1998. It seems that his sentence which was officially “life in prison plus 75 years” was worse than it sounded. His sentence was “eventually reduced,” and he left prison and appears to have done pretty good for himself. In 1998 he was pitching a proposal to develop a casino resort at Deer Island, (near Gulfport) Mississippi, when his involvement in the Sinatra kidnapping became known to the local populace. A subsequent article stated that “an addiction to painkillers (after an automobile accident) in addition to financial problems” was one of the reasons that he had decided to participate if he was not actually the “main man” in the 1963 kidnapping. That same article stated that before declaring bankruptcy in Texas in 1986 over the oil bust there, his net worth was a cool 17 million dollars, and it appears to have only gotten better. By 1997 he was a “consultant” to the ongoing attempt to build the casino complex on Deer Island, and eventually nailed down the casino deal there with help from his partner Now in 2005, Barry Keenan at age 65, has ostensibly made it to the “top of the heap.” Apparently, the last ten years Barry has made quantum leaps into the casino business, in a March 2005 interview with The Midland Telegram Reporter, Keenan stated he has helped develop five casinos in Biloxi, Mississippi and for native-American tribes in Palm Springs, San Bernardino, Commerce and San Diego California, and was only in the spring of 2005 an “advocate” for a bill that was then pending in the Texas Legislature which would legalize gambling in the Lone Star State. After some haranguing, the bill was shelved, but it will no doubt not be the last word as far as gambling coming to the Lone Star State In the interview Keenan, in response to arguments that gambling foments organized crime and prostitution and has destructive social effects says those are “myths” opponents use to fight it. It’s reassuring that America can put that issue behind us, now that we know conclusively that gambling has no harmful effects on society. In conclusion, on December 5th 2005 I contacted via e-mail Craig Roberts who years earlier had written “JFK: The Dead Witnesses” this book contained a near identical passage to Penn Jones May 1973 article on Jack Zangretti, he wrote to tell me that he had confirmed the story of the Red Lobster near Lake Lugert and the subsequent death and discovery of Zangretti’s body from Lake Altus-Lugert in 1994, unfortunately, the police officers and officials who had been with the local police there, at the time of the case, had long since died or retired. The famous “quotation” expressing foreknowledge of those dark events from “a man named Ruby will kill Oswald tomorrow, to a member of the Sinatra family being kidnapped just to take some of the attention away from the assassination,” seems to be an elusive phantom. I thought how even visiting good old Lake Altus-Lugert would probably be fruitless, as far as obtaining verification of the infamous? quote. Has the potential for verification of the quote went down the same rabbit hole, where other hopeful leads went, Gaeton Fonzi’s interview with George DeMohrenschildt that never took place, or the footlocker filled with evidence of Richard Case Nagell’s contacts with Oswald? Does anybody know how to get a hold of those Sinatra Jr. trial transcripts? To see information regarding how Barry Keenan successfully challenged the “Son of Sam Bill” see http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_229.pdf.

You are absolutely right Howard, there are many "places" that are dealing with Ruby and Oswald. I only wanted to answer Tim's request if there are any infos on that, why it was made so late, to get the name Mattox into the right context and finally to give some infos about the mentioned restaurant. George Pardon, my faux pax

Tim, think this is part of the Rosco White story, and Mattox is Attorney General Jim Mattox (see below), George RUBY, OSWALD MEETING In another curious twist to the case, Mattox said late Monday he is interested in pursing the White story because he was once told by his mother, a waitress at Campisi's Egyptian Restaurant in Dallas, that Ruby frequented the restaurant and that she thought she saw Ruby and Oswald eating dinner there together once. The restaurant owner, the late Joe Campisi, testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978 that he didn't see Oswald in his eatery, Mattox said. Mattox said he believes he has jurisdiction in the case, and he would interview White and his associates "to see what they've got and let them explain it to me." "The key to the thing, of course, is, if the FBI acknowledges seeing the diary," Mattox said. "The only thing to do is to get a look at the diary or acknowledgement (by the FBI) that it existed." "This is not a solution to the John Kennedy case," Fensterwald said after Ricky White told his story. "It's information we think is important, and we think it's true. Even if what is said here today checks out, the case is not solved. We still don't know who planned it and paid for it and basically what the shooting was about. The best we can hope for is to get out of this an idea of who the actual assassins were." It may be difficult for Mattox or anybody else to do much with the case without the Roscoe White diary, which disappeared in 1988. The leather bound journal talked about the assassination and the aftermath, said Ricky White, adding that he and his mother read it. Roscoe White died of injuries sustained in an explosive fire in 1971. His widow, Geneva, is critically ill and, according to family members, unable to be interviewed. At the risk of sounding condescending, which I do not mean to be, assertions whether pro or con, that Ruby and Oswald were linked are actually quite extensive. I will suggest a few "places to go" if one really wants to explore the topic. Go to maryferrell.org and insert "Ruby Oswald" in the search function. Go to the City of Dallas - JFK Archive on the Internet (don't have URL handy Google it., and be prepared to spend some time there) there are extensive 'reports' by individuals circa 1964 that Ruby and Oswald knew each other. I believe although I am not sure that some of this material may not be in the Warren Report, (which I believe enhances, rather than casts aspersions upon same) John Armstrong's research into "The Two Oswald's delves into this area as well. Ron Lewis Book about Oswald, (although I do not assert or deny his 'credibility.') One "Ruby/Oswald" book is written by someone with a connection to Ruby, in some form and does not appear to me to have been written with any other purpose than to quash those allegations whether True or False. But that's 'my opinion.' I am also sure that there are numerous posts on the Forum concerning this "allegation" in the vault, so to speak. BUT! The most intruiging assertion I have ever read about concerning "Ruby and Oswald" concerns a story that I read on one of the many JFK Forum's (not this one, I don't think) which stated (source unknown Penn Jones, perhaps) that there were 'several Southwestern Bell Employee's (provided telephone service to Dallas 1963, now SBC Communications,) who contacted the Dallas Police Department stating that there was a 'special phone line' in which Oswald and Ruby spoke via telephone over an extensive period of time before 11/22/63. The allegations were not only never investigated, but the SW Bell Employee's who made this information known were "transferred' to a location quite far from Dallas, Permanently. As to the last paragraph, I do not even pretend to know whether this is a bogus story or true, just added 'for the record.' Then you can be up to date on the vast realm of material on 'that subject.'

I had to write something on this, as I have always been a "Lennon" fan. Reading the members post has made me reflect as well, not just on "what I was doing" when John died but the allegations and strange events associated with his deranged assassin Mark David Chapman. I hope Mark David Chapman "never gets out" because he certainly is "a killer of the dream" to borrow a phrase and there arent (to my knowledge) any "second shooters" and other "possible participants" that I know of. Remember Love: I definitely "remember" what I was doing that Monday Night Dec 8 1980, only 10 day's earlier I had went to see the "Beatlemania" Production that had run in New York and was touring the country (It was the closest thing to the 'real thing' as you could get IMO), so John and the other Beatles had even been on my mind that very day, which contributed to the surreal nature of the event. A friend and I were immersed in a conversation with Monday Night Football playing on TV in the distance. We both 'thought' we heard Howard Cosell say something about John Lennon, then seconds later he announced that John had been shot to death. I was something of a rock n roller at the time, and the local rock stations were asking fans to wear a black armband the next day as "a way to show our solidarity (a word I would be hearing again in the 80's Gdansk, Welesa, Pope JP2) and affection" which I, and all of my friends did without hesitation. I remember taking a few verbal jabs from my boss (I was 23) and then later that night went to a Park where there was a memorial service for John formerly (Winston) n/k/a Ono Lennon. It was most definitely a deeply moving event, and at least in Dallas, Texas there were many young people to whom this event was to them what "JFK in 1963" had been to an older generation(s). Strange that only a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went to see Paul McCartney here in Dallas. (As an aside, I think "blaming the Beatles" for America's discovery of cannabis etc., was a real 'cop-out' by the older generation. As if....as Wayne Campbell would say.) I heard about the 'conspiracy theory account' of John's death later, and was skeptical. I knew that John had been proven right about his allegations that he had been under surveillance, and been tapped by the FBI, but I didn't think in the same terms then as I do now, I will leave it at that. My final thought about the piece posted about John's death is there is certainly an element of 'manufactured Manchurian Candidate potential as far as MDC, yeah and the three name thing (Q. what the hell is that all about? A. A sense of 'other-ness,' Peter Gabriel - "Not one of us, no your not one of us.") I will throw some gas on the fire by reminding everyone that (41 - GHWB) was apparently more than just casual acquaintances of the Hinckley family, I think there is even a book about the link between the two families written in Posner-speak. Restoring a working American society where the government at least 'gives lip service' to the concept of the Constitutional concept of governance, begins with an informed American electorate. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN unless the "Fairness Doctrine" abolished under Reagan is restored, legislation is introduced making it a serious crime for U.S. Intelligence asset's or agents to write or assist in writing "lies and dis-information." That would be a nice start. "It's up to me and you" Instant Karma's gonna get you, gonna knock you off your feet, better recognize your brothers, everyone you meet....Cause we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the Sun." - John Lennon "Instant Karma" Northern Songs Ltd. 1970

I have recently been in contact with Craig Roberts (who wrote JFK: The Dead Witnesses along with John Armstrong) he told me that at one point he had confirmed the story of the death of Jack Zangretti, who was the "owner or operator" of the Red Lobster, (Tim, I do not think it was the chain; Sorry, I couldn't resist) as well as the fact that the Red Lobster did in fact exist) with the local Sheriff's office . That was all the information that I was able to confirm. He is currently devoting his time to other non-JFK projects. How difficult would it be to obtain a copy of the trial transcript of the Sinatra kidnapping case, it would be very compelling to see if the prosecution ever asked Keenan, Amsler and Irwin if they knew or had been in contact with Zangretti, or "others unknown." Anyone?

Credit Penn Jones with the Zangetty aka Zangretti "story?" That is the only "link" I know of between the two. If you will notice in the "mysterious deaths" aspect of the JFK Assassination the Zangretti story is very brief, after doing some digging it seems that no-one has done much research into this alleged? person. If anyone has anything I would certainly be all ears.

I am not touching this with a ten-foot pole, but to say that when individuals like Gordon Novel and Breck Wall become part of the "celebrity circuit," it makes me shudder. P.S. But I do have a sort of addendum to this post. Barry Keenan (who in the "real world" orchestrated the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr on December 8, 1963) who was released from prison in or around 1967 and is the central character in "Stealing Sinatra" (starring the omnipresent William Macy) seems on the fast track to fulfilling his childhood dream of being an important politician, he has ostensibly made millions in the casino gambling industry as an owner/consultant of same, and has even gotten involved in trying to influence legislation here in the home of "Dubya" to legalize gambling here as in Las Vegas and other places. Q. "Daddy, is it true that organized crime and the Mafia no longer exist in America?" A. "Why of course son, ever since John Gotti was put away, the only criminal structures that exist in America are the Russian and Asian gangs., (And of course, the thug's in Washington).

_______________________________________ Tim Gratz, "biased??" IMVMHO, Thomas _______________________________________ _____________________________________________ I fully agree, John, but I'm afraid that not only will Gratz believe Russo's theory whatever anyone else says, but also that he believes Russo's theory whatever Russo himself says... FWIW, Thomas _____________________________________________ I find Thomas Graves comments reassuring that someone is paying attention to Tim's "abandoning?" the "Castro Did it" theory to the new and improved "Mafia Did It" theory. Tim: Contact People magazine I am sure they would love to put this on the cover. With apologies to those who are in love with Ultimate Sacrifice. When any Forum member doubts that the noble purpose of this Forum, I suggest they look at the "Members" JFK Debate listing. It IS a literal "whose who in JFK assassination lore." Peter Dale Scott, who postponed his newest work, to concentrate on research related to 9-11 and subsequent events ala "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael Ruppert is one of the few authorities in JFK research who is "NOT" a member of the Education Forum/JFK Debate. Having said that "Ultimate Sacrifice" is IMO well researched and is part of the record of "credible books re JFK assassination," BUT and it is a big one, that has been articulated on this Forum by many; My problem is not the research but the premise. "New research indicates that there was a planned invasion of Cuba scheduled for Dec 1, 1963. Organized Crime figures knew this and eager to 'reclaim Isle of Cuber,' assassinate JFK, subsequently 'de facto invasion of Isle of Cuber' never happens.' Is reluctance to accept authors premise illogical? In the year 2005 those individuals who want the Crime of The Century resolved are now being faced with the unenviable task of doing so while individuals come out of the woodwork to "reveal" they were on the grassy knoll, flew into Dallas day before assassination; not to "solve the Crime of the Century" but to make some money, and/or create a "scenario where authentic research is at best, problematic". There have even been (gasp) allegations that dis-information artists deliberately "work" on websites that involve analysis of "controversial events in American History." I would ask Forum members "Do you think that people were coming forth in 1865 to admit "they were conspiring with John Wilkes Booth?" No, the reason why is that they would have been hanged along with "Booth's confederates." But claims of associations with a conspiracy to kill JFK find a very disinterested audience from Washington. (See House Select Committee on Assassination's recommendations to Justice Dept. regarding JFK Assassination). In the 1960's while "mainstream media" was nodding, affirmatively that Mr. Katzenbach's "suggestion" that "the public must be convinced that LHO did not have confederates," ad naseum......had been implemented successfully, there was a small band of "American's" - Mark Lane, Sylvia Meagher, William Turner, Penn Jones, Harold Weisberg etc...who were sincerely trying to discover the truth about November 22, 1963. For their efforts threy were mocked, attacked as Communist's, ridiculed as morons etc...While the historical record proves that they had done more than the Warren Commission did when it came to the "really deep waters" of what was at the heart of Nov. 22, 1963. In the year 2005, what is really sad is the same media shell game continues, the "Operation Mockingbird" intrigues seem to have quadrupled exponentially, and a entire generation of American's don't even care about Nov. 22 1963. But "We shall never surrender" Is Gerry Patrick Hemming's next revelation about "Justice for the Crew of the Thresher and the (near)Connally assassination? See Dallas Police Dept. Archives, Box 4