Thomas Graves

Tommy, what scrambled my time track was that I was measuring time using the official Warren Commission Hearings. Sylvia Odio was among the last witnesses for the Warren Commission -- during the final week of July 1964. It was during the final weeks of the Warren Commission hearings that Commission members demanded follow-up questions about Sylvia Odio, before they would sign off on the final results. Therefore, the FBI scrambled to get the answers -- and why they picked up Loran Hall is still unexplained. Anyway, they did, and he confessed to being at Sylvia Odio's doorstep during the final week of September 1963 with Larry Howard and an American (William Seymour). However, when the FBI asked Larry Howard and William Seymour to confirm that story -- both men loudly objected and denied everything. (There was a rumor told around Jim Garrison's investigation that Howard and Seymour threatened to kill Loran Hall.) A few days later, Loran Hall reversed his own story to the FBI. Even though J. Edgar Hoover knew all this, he still took Loran Hall's first story to the Warren Commission, claiming that Sylvia Odio's testimony was merely a case of "mistaken identity" -- of mistaking William Seymour for Lee Harvey Oswald, and therefore the case could be closed out. Based on Hoover's deliberately false memo, the Commission members accepted this story, and it is the story we find in the Warren Report today. That was the time-track as it actually happened. Sorry about my mis-statement above. Still -- I have exactly the same questions. Why did the FBI pick up Loran Hall in the first place? Also, why did Loran Hall confess at first? Do you have an opinion about that? Best regards, --Paul Trejo [emphasis added by T. Graves] More than a year ago you were rhetorically demanding to know why the FBI had interviewed Loran Hall "immediately" after Sylvia Odio had officially stated that Oswald had visited her with two other men. From your post on this thread on 11/01/12: " [W]hen Sylvia Odio told the Warren Commission about that September 1963 visit by Leopoldo, Angel and Leon in December 1963, she told them she could not identify anybody except Lee Harvey Oswald in that trio. Yet the FBI immediately picked up Loran Hall for questioning. Why in the world was that? " But the amount of time at issue wasn't the two months which you mistakenly believed in (the period of time between Odio's WC testimony and the FBI's questioning of Hall) and which you had the audacity to call "immediate." It was nine months. Which only goes to show that you are, at times, not only ignorant of the "facts" that you so willingly propound, but that you are more than willing to "spin" them to what you think is your advantage. Your claiming that Odio said that Leopoldo had an "athletic" - rather than a "thin" - build also comes to mind.

[...] WHY DID LORAN HALL CONFESS AT FIRST? AND WHY DID THE FBI PICK UP LORAN HALL ALMOST IMMEDIATELY? Paul, Sylvia Odio was questioned by FBI agents James P. Hosty and Bardwell D. Odum on December 18, 1963. See page 369: http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/pdf/WH11_Odio.pdf But not until nine months later on September 16, 1964, did Loran Eugene Hall "confess" to having visited Odio. What's so "almost immediately" about that? --Tommy

Tommy, I noticed on the Spartacus site, that there is speculation (inspired by Joan Mellen, evidently) that Bernardo De Torres was "Leopoldo" and Edwin Collins (whom you picture with Torres above) was "Angelo." I gather that you might favor that speculation, because Edwin Collins seems closer to the Height and Weight as the "Angelo" that Silvia Odio described. HOWEVER -- Silvia Odio also described Angelo as MEXICAN looking, stocky, with ruddy skin, with hair all over his body, and a hairy chest (perhaps his chest hair protruded from his undershirt). Edwin Collins does not look MEXICAN (at least to this Mexican-American he doesn't) he looks CUBAN. His skin is not ruddy. Also, he's not stocky. Also, he's not hairy all over. Also, his hair does not appear to be "shiny black" (like most Mexican hair) as Silvia described it. All these other descriptions match Larry Howard whose photo can be seen here: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhowardL.htm I think tThat's a late picture of him, so he's probably fatter there than in 1963. Comments? Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, It's interesting to me that you are speculating on what you think I might have been trying to imply. The only reason I included the top photo of Bernardo De Torres (which happens to include Collins) was because it shows that Bernardo De Torres was tall and thin and had an unusual hairline, too. Just like Sylvia Odio described "Leopoldo" -- about thirty years old, tall, thin, and with an unusual hairline. I agree with you that Eddie Collins could not have been "Angelo." (Sorry to take some wind out of your sails.) I suppose that Collins could have been "Leon Oswald" with his funny little mustache, perhaps, but not "Angelo." --Tommy

[...] There are just too many people who fit any given height-and-weight combo. You also underestimate the plain fact that some people are really not very good about guessing height and weight. [...] Paul, Do you really think there were a lot of Cuban exiles who were 1) about thirty years old, 2) at least 6 feet tall, 3) weighed only 164 pounds, and 4) had a memorably unusual hairline? I don't. And regarding your insinuation that Sylvia Odio was "one of those people who are just not good at guessing height and weight," she did say that "Leon Oswald" was about five-ten. --Tommy

OK, Tommy, I can see your point. But I must admit that this is a serious problem for the Loran Hall and Larry Howard theory. It is very clear that Larry Howard was not 5'7" and 170 pounds. So, given that data, we have a mismatch. This leaves us with the problem of Loran Hall. In other words, with this development, we must now posit that Loran Hall didn't take Larry Howard with him to Silvia Odio's apartment along with Lee Harvey Oswald -- instead, Loran Hall took a DIFFERENT person along, for whom we have no identification. This person looked Mexican, had shiny black hair, was hairy all over his body, spoke Spanish fluently, and some English, and was 5'7" and 170 pounds. This doesn't remind me of Quarito at this time. I am willing to guess that Loran Hall took a DIFFERENT person along with himself and Lee Harvey Oswald to visit Silvia Odio on the final week of September 1963. Yet it seems to me that Loran Hall is still a suspect for two solid reasons: (1) the FBI picked him up quickly in this case; and (2) Loran Hall confessed that he was at Silvia Odio's doorstep during the final week of September 1963. So, that would explain why Silvia Odio was unable to identify Larry Howard from any photos the FBI showed her -- but it would not explain why she failed to identify Loran Hall from photos. Either that, or Silvia Odio was lying to save her life. The combination of Hall and Howard was fitting, because they were so often seen together, and because (except for height and weight) Howard fit Odio's description well. The 'war names' that Hall and Howard used were 'Lorenzo' and 'Alonzo' respectively. This is also different from 'Leopoldo' and 'Angelo,' except for the initials. This also remains an issue. It also remains significant that the HSCA Deposition of Silvia Odio was not published with the HSCA 12 volumes. Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, You say, "Except for height and weight, Howard fit Odio's description well." That's like saying, "If you disregard the size difference, a chihuahua could be mistaken for a Great Dane." Now, regarding "Lorenzo"-- Sylvia Odio said several times that he was tall and thin. She specifically said, "He must have been six feet," and when asked how much she thought he weighed, she said "He was thin, about 165 pounds." In my mind, her saying that Leopoldo "must have been six feet" is the same as "he was at least six feet" in September of 1964, Loran Hall was 5'11.5" and weighed 215 pounds, so he was definitely not definitely not "thin" and can be eliminated him from consideration. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=47745&relPageId=156 So, who do we know from the Cuban Exile community who was at least six feet tall but weighed only 165 pounds? Well, the following document shows a 6'2" Cuban who was born in 1934 in Havana, who moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1955 to play professional baseball, and who was later captured at the Bay of Pigs. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=52134&relPageId=31 The next page of the same Spanish-language document shows that this guy weighed only 164 pounds. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=52134&relPageId=32 Oh yeah, and he had an unusual hairline as can be seen in several photographs. His full name is Bernardo Gonzalez De Torres Y Alvarez. We know him as Bernardo De Torres. Based on the physical resemblance alone, I think Bernardo De Torres was "Leopoldo." Now, if I can just prove that Bernardo De Torres owned a totally-rad... I mean red ... car in 1963... --Tommy

These are all excellent questions, Tommy, and of course the answer is unclear. I'll offer an amateur guess based on Spanish ESL psychology: In the Spanish culture, IMHO, the more important persons are regarded as "taller". This is a family oriented culture, and the Father is the most important and always the tallest (in the ideal and colloquial world). Then the mother (while the kids are young) until the oldest male is taller than she, The oldest sibling is often the next most important (after they surpass their mother in height). It may seem very ancient and agricultural, but I've seen these language patterns before. Size means importance. (We see this in ancient art, for example -- the Pharaoh or King is represented as enormous, and the people are represented as half-size. Size meant importance.) Remember, too, that the entire world was watching the LEE HARVEY OSWALD drama. Oswald was arguably the most important person of the whole year. So, it might be that Silvia Odio recollected Larry Howard as less important as the others: 1. Because Larry Howard hardly spoke 2. Because Larry Howard was not good-looking 3. Because Larry Howard was neither a Cuban nor an American 4. Because Larry Howard hardly spoke 5. Because Larry Howard was not LEE HARVEY OSWALD Silvia Odio's testimony also suggests -- "I don't pay attention to how many inches tall a person is!! I can give you my best recollection, but don't hold me to this." She wasn't measuring the men as they stood before her. She wasn't guessing their weight, either. Also, women lie about their own weight all the time, so it's harder to establish weight under those circumstances. What do Spanish women notice? i. They notice faces. ii. They notice clothes. iii. They notice race and ethnicity iv. They notice good-looking versus plain-looking v. They notice youth versus old age. One might argue that Spanish women would only notice height or weight if it was VERY noticable. I think that Silvia Odio casually tossed out heights and weights because they weren't precise to her (as she admitted) and she was pressured to say SOMETHING. I am more interested in her recollection of their faces, and the words they said. Now -- Gaeton Fonzi will not presume that Leopoldo was Loran Hall. That's fine. BUT WHY DID LORAN HALL CONFESS AT FIRST? AND WHY DID THE FBI PICK UP LORAN HALL ALMOST IMMEDIATELY? Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, Horse feathers! Of course Sylvia Odio was not the kind of person "who pays attention to how many inches tall a person is." No one is. But it is human nature to notice if a stranger who comes to your apartment at night is taller than you or shorter than you. And in this case, she noticed that Leopoldo was significantly taller than her, she noticed that the "not very tall" Leon was about 4" taller than her, and she noticed that Angelo was "short," in fact he was so "short" that he appeared to be two or three inches shorter than the not-very-tall "Leon," giving Odio the impression that "Angelo" was only about 5' 7". Recap: Stylvia Odio didn't just tell the Warren Commission that "Angelo" was "short," she actually said that he was "two or three inches shorter than Leon," and "five feet seven, something like that." http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/pdf/WH11_Odio.pdf What's so hard to believe about her ability to notice and remember the relative heights of three strange men who were at her doorstep for fifteen or twenty minutes? She said that "Leopoldo" was "tall," that "Leon" "wasn't very tall," and that "Angelo" was "short." When asked how tall they were, she said "six feet," "five foot ten," and "five foot seven," respectively. Do you actually think that Odio was in the habit of comparing the relative status, power, and attractiveness of people in terms of "two or three inch" and "four inch" increments? LOL FWIW, I've found something that Sylvia told the Warren Commission that day which directly contradicts your "Spanish ESL Psychology" theory: "There was a tall one. Let me tell you, they both looked very greasy like the kind of low Cubans, not educated at all." http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/pdf/WH11_Odio.pdf Obviously, by "tall one" Sylvia Odio was referring to Leopoldo's physical stature, not his cultural or social qualities. --Tommy PS If you read Sylvia Odio's Warren Commission testimony you'll see that, other than having an occasional problem with verb tenses, her English language skills are better than most of the members of this forum. LOL

Tommy, all this is intriguing. By the way, to see a picture of Loran Hall with hair "receding at the temples" and also a "full Castro beard," you can see these by scanning through this YouTube audio of Loran Hall's 1963 speech, "Cuba Betrayed." Here is the URL: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daWtQYlydQ] Silvia Odio was not going to volunteer this information to the FBI -- but she had already told it to two people (not counting her family) before the JFK murder, namely, her confidante, Lucille Connell, and her psychiatrist, Dr. Burton Einspruch. Connell was the one to alert the FBI on the day after the JFK murder, so Silvia Odio had no moral choice but to tell what she knew. The FBI and the HSCA also questioned Dr. Einspruch and generically concluded that Silvia Odio was credible. So did Gaeton Fonzi. But there was other evidence -- she had written to her father a few days later, who was in a Cuban prison. It was months before she received a reply -- because that is how Cuba prisons did business back then. Her father's reply (in December) confirmed her story. Gaeton Fonzi was satisfied that Silvia Odio told the truth; and also she is intelligent, educated, and level-headed (under her life circumstances). I don't doubt her. She SAW Lee Harvey Oswald at her doorstep during the final week of September 1963, accompanied by two Latinos -- Leopoldo and Angelo. The only real question is about the actual identity of Leopoldo and Angelo. I probably would not have guessed it was Loran Hall or Lawrence Howard -- Silvia Odio never said it was them. But the FBI picked up Loran Hall (for some bizarre reason) and Loran Hall confessed that he was at her doorstep around the time in question! That, to me, is rock-solid evidence. I'm convinced -- based on that alone. NOW -- the details also begin to fit in. The lies of Loran Hall and Larry Howard are predictable -- given that Silvia Odio's story is actually TRUE. With these extra pieces -- involving Celio Alba and William Seymour, the details come to light, and the pieces ACTUALLY FIT. As for the license plate -- One could easily use paint to make a "1" an "F" and to make a "7" look like a "1" from a distance. In any case, I agree with you that we have a match on the car and plates. As for the height of Larry Howard -- it is fairly easy for somebody to "fudge" about both his height and his weight, when it comes to sports or to the military. More evidence is needed. According to Harry Dean, Larry Howard was definitely shorter than Loran Hall. Also, in the Spanish ESL idiom, the word "short" can often be used to mean "shorter". Finally -- I've been trying like a madman to find this document that you cited: "Deposition of Silvia Odio, May 2, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 6 (J.F.K. Documents 009088)". I scoured all 12 HSCA volumes and realized that it is not contained in them! That floored me. Why is it missing from those volumes? It's cited in those volumes, but not included in them. "Got to be good-looking 'cause he's so hard to see!" Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, If the 5'11" Larry Howard http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Manuscripts%20And%20Books/OINO%20Appendix/Pages%20561-565.pdf was "Angelo," why would Sylvia Odio tell the Warren Commission that he ("Angelo") was about 5'7" http://www.history-m...f/WH11_Odio.pdf ? That's a discrepancy of four inches! She also said that "Angelo" weighed about 170 pounds, but the FBI report has Howard at 222 pounds in September of 1964. That's a difference of fifty-two pounds! Was Sylvia Odio lying? If she was lying, it means we can't believe any of her descriptions of the three men. Was Sylvia Odio mistaken? Ditto. Not only did Sylvia Odio specifically state that "Angelo" was <quote> about 5' 7" <unquote>, she also said that "Angelo" was two or three inches shorter than "Leon Oswald" (whom she said was about four inches taller than her). Since Sylvia Odio described herself as being 5'6", this means "Leon Oswald" was about 5'10" and "Angelo" was about 5' 7". http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/pdf/WH11_Odio.pdf --Tommy

Douglas, I agree with you. I would think the more experienced a CIA officer / agent is, the better he or she is at their job, as long as their nerves hold up and they don't "get burnt out" (or "burned" for that matter). --Tommy

Paul, I don't think the trailer had to accompany Hall's Oldsmobile everywhere the Oldsmobile went in Dallas. If Hall and Howard visited Odio in a "totally rad" blue Oldsmobile (or a borrowed red car for that matter), and if the trailer wasn't with them, it's possible that it was at John Thomas Masen's house or shop so that he could convert the contents - the rifles - to full auto. Or perhaps they put the trailer in storage somewhere after delivering the rifles to Masen. Anyway, it's kind of a hassle towing a trailer all the time like that, especially in a city, so why do it unless you absolutely have to? Regarding Hall's car, according to this 9/23/64 FBI report, Larry Howard said they towed the trailer from LA to Dallas with Loran Hall's 1956 Oldsmobile. http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Manuscripts%20And%20Books/OINO%20Appendix/Pages%20561-565.pdf But a FBI report dated September 4, 1964, says that when Hall was arrested by the DPD on October 17, 1963, he was driving a 1955 Oldsmobile with Florida license plates (1WF67110). The license plates were different from, but very similar to, the plates Hall claimed were on it when he registered it at the Lawnview Motel on September 28, 1963, (1W167710). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=92721&relPageId=4 So, long-story-short, it looks like Hall was driving a Blue (2-tone blue and white?) 1955 Oldsmobile with Florida plates in Sept-Oct of 1963... On a different topic, the FBI report says that Larry Howard described himself to the FBI as having been 5'11" tall and weighing 200 pounds in September of 1963 (he was up to 222 pounds at the time of the interview).. The 5'11" self-description of Larry Howard is interesting because Sylvia Odio told the Warren Commission that "Angelo" was two or three inches shorter than "Leon Oswald" - whom she described as being about four inches taller than her (she was 5'6"), making "Leon" about 5'10". She said that "Angelo" was "short" and weighed about 170 pounds. She said she guessed that he was about 5'7," so obviously this short, mysterious "Angelo" couldn't have been the 5'11" , 200 lb. Larry Howard. [see page 387] http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/pdf/WH11_Odio.pdf In the same FBI report, Howard described "Cellios Albas" (our Celio Sergio Castro Alba) as being 5'10" (we've seen other reports that he was 5'9"), 160 pounds, and having light brown hair. So not only was he also too tall to be "Angelo," but his hair was the wrong color, too. It's interesting to note that in the FBI report, Larry Howard claimed that he, Hall, and "Cellios Albas" all had full beards when they were in Dallas, but Sylvia Odio didn't say anything to the Warren Commission about "Leopoldo" or "Angelo" having a beard. The FBI report on the arrest of Loran Eugene Hall and the detention of William Seymour by the DPD on October 17, 1963, says that Hall had a Castro-like beard at that time. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=92721&relPageId=6 --Tommy

Actually, Tommy, I agree that fear was a motive of Silvia Odio, once she realized that the Warren Commission had no intention of protecting her -- and instead would prefer her to withdraw her claims as soon as possible. Loran Hall said he finally spoke to Jim Garrison in 1968 because of two assassination attempts he personally survived on his own life. Harry Dean says that Larry Howard told Harry that he wanted to kill Loran Hall, who was a "big mouth." It seems likely that both Larry Hall and William Seymour tried to kill Loran Hall for putting so much heat on them with regard to the Silvia Odio incident. These were violent men. They had young families to support, and their job was to be mercenary soldiers against Fidel -- at a time when the USA passed Laws (Neutrality Act) to protect Cuba from Raids. They were being pinched, and the last thing they wanted was light and publicity. It seems to me that insofar as Loran Hall called Silvia Odio out of the blue a few days after the "Odio Incident," then he clearly was able to get her phone number with no problem. Once it became clear that she was going to talk to the FBI about the two Latinos at her door with Lee Harvey Oswald, it seems likely that both Loran Hall and Larry Howard would call her up and threaten to kill her if she identified them. This -- to me -- is a viable explanation for the fact that Silvia Odio could identify no photographs the FBI showed her -- but within a couple of days the FBI had Loran Hall in the interview chair. (By the way, Loran Hall's hair was receding at the temples -- he had lots of hair, but it was beginnig to recede at the temples in 1963. We have photographs.) So, yes, Silvia Odio would be frightened to quickly identify these men, and her memory would be reticent regarding various details, including the car. Also -- Gaeton Fonzi references Silvia Odio's HSCA deposition (Doc 009088, May 2, 1978) but I've never been able to find an online version -- not even at the Mary Ferrell site. I wonder if I can scan it in from hardcopy -- I'll look into that. Finally -- we need to consider the English/Spanish colloquial aspect of Silvia Odio's testimony. There are psychological factors, cultural one-upmanship, and so on, to consider when interviewing somebody whose second language is English. First-language idioms -- even figures of speech -- are often issues in such interviews. Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, So you agree with me that Silvia Odio could have very well told the truth more fully and more accurately in 1978 than she had in 1964. Good. So, what about the red car Silvia Odio saw the three men get into, as she allegedly stated in her 1978 HSCA deposition, as summarized, reported, and referred to in HSCA Report, Volume X? http://www.maryferre...12&relPageId=30 Is "red car" just a screwed-up "figure of speech" made by a non-native English speaker or just an example of "cultural one-upsmanship" that somehow made its way into her HSCA deposition? The fact that Silvia Odio saw them get into a red car, not Loran Hall's blue Oldsmobile (the blue color of which we know thanks to Tom Dunkin, and which make - Oldsmobile - was confirmed by Hall himself when he registered it with its license plate number at the Lawnview Motel in Dallas on September 28, 1963) leads me to wonder if Hall and Howard visited Odio after all... --Tommy

[...] Silvia Odio told the Warren Commission in 1964 that although she saw "Leopoldo, Angel, and Leon" leave her apartment in a car, she couldn't describe the car. She said that the driver was the tall, thin, 36-year-old looking "Leopoldo" who she said had a very receding hairline at the temples. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=45&relPageId=382 In 1978 Odio allegedly stated in a deposition for the HSCA that she saw the three men get into a red car that was parked in the driveway in front of the apartment. She said she couldn't see who was driving but that "Angel" was sitting in the passenger seat, thereby leaving open the probability that her 1964 testimony that "Leopoldo" was driving was correct. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=1212&relPageId=30 Odio's HSCA deposition is known as "Deposition of Silvia Odio, May 2, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 6 (J.F.K. Documents 009088)". Does anyone know if this deposition is viewable online, or does one have to go to the National Archives to read it? Thanks, --Tommy PS If Odio really did say in 1978 that the car was red, there are a couple of plausible reasons why she didn't say that in 1964: 1) She couldn't remember in 1964 but it had "come to her" by 1978 (maybe because her sister told her?) 2) She could remember the color of the car in 1964, but at that time was too afraid to identify the three men more than she already had. PPS We already know that Tom Dunkin witnessed Loran Hall and Bill Seymour driving a 1950-ish, blue Oldsmobile towing a trailer full of weapons in Glades County, Florida, on October 24th, 1963, and that Hall and Seymour told him they'd driven all night. Edited

[...] Silvia Odio told the Warren Commission in 1964 that although she saw Leopoldo, Angel, and Leon leave in a car, she couldn't describe the car. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=45&relPageId=382 But in 1978, Odio allegedly stated in a deposition for the HSCA that she saw the three men get into a red car. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=1212&relPageId=30 Odio's HSCA deposition is known as Deposition of Silvia Odio, May 2, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 6 (J.F.K. Documents 009088). Does anyone know if this deposition is viewable online? --Tommy

Paul, So when are you going to interview 83-year-old Celio Sergio Castro Alba in prison to fill in the details of what he did in El Paso, Texas, while waiting for Hall and Howard to return from Juarez, Mexico (as he claimed)? Did Hall and Howard leave the Oldsmobile and the trailer full of weapons with Celio Castro in El Paso, or just the trailer, or neither? How long did he have to wait for them to return? Did he stay at a motel in El Paso? At the YMCA? (That's where the young boys and girls were.) They they leave the weapons with John Thomas Masen, in Dallas, for him to convert to full auto? How did Hall, Howard, and / or Castro travel from Dallas to Florida? By bus? Does Celio Castro know to whom the "blue, 1950-ish Oldsmobile" belonged (used by Hall and Seymour to tow the trailer into Glades County, Florida, on October 24, 1963, as reported by Tom Dunkin)? Was it the same car that Hall, Howard, and Castro had used to tow the trailer from Los Angeles to Dallas? Does Celio Castro have a bad leg (as Hemming claimed)? Did he like Lee Harvey Oswald? --Tommy

Greg, This is what my computer tells me about a minute after I click on the audio recording link in your post: "The connection has timed out. The server at assassinationofjfk.net is taking too long to respond." --Tommy Edit: NM. Now it's working. Thanks for posting it.

Paul, Here it is: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=1020151 --Tommy PS Regarding the Oldsmobile and the trailer, photographer Tom Dunkin wrote this in his1967 memorandum about the Interpen bust at No Name Key: "Hall and Seymour, with 1950-ish blue Oldsmobile and a rectangular, wooden, home-build two-wheel trailer appeared at Glades Country [Florida] Democrat Office on Thursday 24 October 1963. Hall at that time unknown to me." http://cuban-exile.com/doc_076-100/doc0090.html FWIW, I did a little "research" on e-bay, and it looks like the license plate was from Florida circa 1960. Tommy, nice work. We have documented evidence that Loran Hall was in Dallas again on 28 September 1963, with two others. Who were they? We don't know, but the Motel clerk thought they were Americans -- or perhaps the Latino-looking one was Larry Howard (a Mexican-American) and Loran Hall was one of the American-looking ones. It depends on the eye of the beholder. The pieces can still fit. Hall and Howard could have been with Lee Harvey Oswald at the doorstep of Silvia Odio on 25 September 1963, drove down to Mexico that same night (using money they got from Gabaldon some days earlier, when they got their paramilitary supplies). Their trailer load of supplies from Harry Dean and Guy Gabladon was not with them at that time (otherwise Silvia Odio would have noticed it). Probably it was with Lester Logue or Robert Morris in Dallas, or with some other JBS member. After dropping Oswald off at DACA in Mexico City late on 26 September 1963 (or early on 27 September 1963) they drove back to Dallas, and picked up WIlliam Seymour, as well as their trailer load of paramilitary supplies. Then, on 28 September 1963, they rented these Motel rooms. It was definitely Loran Hall, because of the address he gave them (Monterey Park, California) as well as the phone calls that he made (including to Lester Logue and Robert Morris in Dallas). We have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Robert Morris (who was one of Edwin Walker's lawyers, helping to sue US newspapers for libel against Walker -- for telling the truth about Walker during the riots at Ole Miss on 30 September 1962). We also have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Lester Logue. So -- not only do we have Loran Hall and Larry Howard definitely on the road together in Dallas during the final week of September 1963, the times still fit for us to postulate their interaction with Lee Harvey Oswald that week, in a side-trip to Mexico City. They evidently left Oswald in Mexico, and Oswald took the bus back to the USA. Nice work, Tommy. Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, What makes you think that Hall and Howard "picked up William Seymour" in Dallas when they allegedly "drove back from Mexico" around September 28, 1963? What evidence do you have that Seymour was even in Dallas around that period of time, other that Hall's claim in his 16th of September, 1964, FBI interview in which he allegedly said that he and Howard and Seymour had visited Silvia Odio in late September, which was denied by Howard and Seymour, and retracted by Hall himself only four days later? Most importantly, Seymour was able to prove that he wasn't there. He was interviewed by the FBI and they established that he had been working for Beach Welding and Supplies Company, Miami Beach, Florida at the time when it was suggested that he had visited Silvia Odio. Here is the FBI report: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=515428 How does it help your theory, anyway, to have William Seymour in Dallas in late September? Doesn't it make more sense to believe what Hall and several other people including the Cuban exile Celio Sergio Castro Alba have said over the years -- that Hall and Howard (both with full beards), and Celio Castro (without beard and known as "Quarito" or "Wahito") rendezvoused in Los Angeles around September 11, raised some supplies, redeemed Hemming's 30.06 from Dick Hathcock on September the 18th, and then towed a trailer loaded with medical supplies and weapons to Dallas the next day, at which point they either drove LHO to Mexico City, as you claim, or slept in their car and / or stayed at the Dallas YMCA until they rented a room at the Lawnview Motel on September the 28th, staying at said motel through October the 3rd, at which time they left the trailer full of weapons in Dallas (perhaps so that John Thomas Masen could convert the rifles to "full automatic") and then went back to Florida, perhaps by bus. But if they did go back to Florida by bus, why did they do that? Why didn't they drive Hall's car, instead? It's well known that Hall was arrested a couple of weeks later in Dallas for possessing pep pills, and that Seymour was detained during the incident, but that was later, on October 16th or 17th, after Hall and Seymour had driven back to Dallas from Florida, in a bluish, 1950-ish Oldsmobile, perhaps, to retrieve the trailer with its precious cargo. I think it was Hall and Howard who both appeared to be "American" to the manager of the Lawnview Hotel on September 28, because they both had full beards, and it's reasonable to assume that Celio Sergio Castro Alba appeared to be "Latin" to her because he was clean-shaven compared to Hall and Howard, and he must have spoken Spanish to Howard and Hall (whereas they spoke English to each other) because he (Castro) spoke very little English. Regarding Celio Castro's skin color, we know that at least Castro wasn't light complected because he was described by the FBI as having a "medium" complexion. Celio Castro confirmed in the interview that he and Hall and Howard had stayed at a motel near a highway in Dallas. The description he gives of the motel's location jibes with google maps depiction of 5405 Lawnview Avenue, Dallas, although there is no motel there now, just an empty lot, but you can tell from the street view that something used to be there. Rotate the "street view" about 180 degrees and you can see the (iron) bridge in the distance which I think Castro was referring to. Also note from the google map that 5405 Lawnview Avenue is just across the highway from Tenison Hill Golf Course and is also near what Larry Howard described as a "Memorial Park" (cemetary). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=47745&relPageId=148 All of this leads me to believe that Loran Hall and Larry Howard and Celio Castro did stay at the Lawnview Motel in Dallas from 9/28/63 through 10/3/63. What's intriguing is where they stayed and what they were doing before that. Larry Howard said they stayed at a motel for about ten days, starting on around September 20th, but the motel's records showed that they stayed there for only six days, starting on September 28... If Hall and Howard and Lee Harvey Oswald were at Odio's on the night of September 25, would Hall and Howard have had enough time to drive Oswald to Mexico City and get back to Dallas by the 28th? In order to get back to Dallas by the 28th, they certainly couldn't have spent much time in Mexico City supervising / monitoring Oswald, so why even go there for such a short time? Another way of looking at it is why was it so important for them to return to Dallas so quickly? I found four photos on Flickr of the empty lot and old signs of the Lawnview Motel: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crowt59/559082011/in/photostream/ FWIW, the FBI report says they towed the trailer to Dallas with Hall's black 1956 Pontiac. And, interestingly, the FBI report contradicts what Hemming told Weberman about Celio Castro. Hemming said he was 71 years old in 1963, but the FBI report says he was born in Cuba on September 28th, 1931, making him exactly 33 years old on 11/28/63. Lastly, Celio Castro is described in the report as being 5' 9" tall and weighing 160 pounds at the time of the interview (9/28/64), and clean shaven as of September, 1963 (sic). --Tommy Edit: Here are two Florida mugshots, taken several years apart, of a "Cello Castro," (AKA Celio Sergio Castro and Celio Sergio Castro-Alba) and a "Cello Sergio Castro." Note that his birth date is the same on both mugshots, 7/28/31. http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=13396 http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Florida/Monroe-County-FL/Cello-Sergio-Castro.1709294.html The dates of the photos are confusing, but note that one of the mugshots says he was arrested in 1990 and 2007 for basically the same crime, and the other mugshot says he was arrested in 2002. Note that it says this imprisoned Celio Sergio Castro was 5'9" and that he was born 7/28/31, exactly two months off from the 9/28/31 reported for our Celio Sergio Castro Alba in his 1964 FBI interview, above. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do;jsessionid=5B9F878BF4AD76D4454FD1D496C14BCE?docId=47745&relPageId=148 The FBI report says that our Celio Castro was 5'9" in 1964 and that he was living in Florida in 1963. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but note that this guy committed his crimes in Florida. Hmmm. I think it's our guy, the guy who accompanied Hall and Howard from L.A. to Dallas in September of 1963.. --Tommy Edit: Here are two Florida mugshots, taken several years apart, of Celio Sergio Castro Alba. In the first one he's called "Cello Castro," (AKA Celio Sergio Castro and Celio Sergio Castro-Alba) and in the second one he's called a "Cello Sergio Castro." Note that his birth date is the same on both mugshots, 7/28/31. http://offender.fdle...?personId=13396 http://mugshots.com/...ro.1709294.html The dates of the photos are confusing, but note that one of the mugshots says he was arrested in 1990 and 2007 for basically the same crime, and the other mugshot says he was arrested in 2002. Note that it says this imprisoned Celio Sergio Castro was 5'9" and that he was born 7/28/31, exactly two months off from the 9/28/31 reported for our Celio Sergio Castro Alba in his 1964 FBI interview, above. http://www.maryferre...5&relPageId=148 The FBI report says that our Celio Castro was 5'9" in 1964 and that he was living in Florida in 1963. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but note that this guy committed his crimes in Florida. Hmmm. I think it's our guy, the same guy who accompanied Hall and Howard from L.A. to Dallas in September of 1963.. --Tommy

Wow, Tommy, did you see what I think I saw? "Quarito," who was Larry Howard's alibi against the sworn testimony of Silvia Odio (claiming that "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" were at her doorstep with Lee Harvey Oswald during the final week of September 1963) has given us a new twist on that alibi! Quarito said that while Loran, Larry and he were on the road from Los Angeles to Dallas (starting ~9/18/63) Loran and Larry decided to drop him off in El Paso! This, then, would free Loran and Larry to scurry to New Orleans to pick up Lee Harvey Oswald, and then meet SIlvia Odio at her doorstep on 9/25/63, and then deposit Oswald in Mexico City (perhaps to meet Gabaldon on the 26th or 27th) and then return to Texas in time to pick up Quarito and the trailer and then register with the Lawnview Motel in Dallas on 9/28/63 (as the register clearly shows). These new pieces make the story of Silvia Odio more plausible -- and they also make the story of Harry Dean more plausible. It's too early to draw conclusions, but I want to thank you again for your digging up these FBI artifacts about Quarito. Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, Would you really have Hall and Howard drive all the way from El Paso, Texas, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to "pick up" Oswald on the 24th or 25th, and then take him to Dallas for the "Odio Incident" on 9/25/63, and then take him to Mexico City, arriving there on the 26th "or the 27th?" Really? Never mind the fact that Hall and Howard have to go back to El Paso to retrieve the trailer and Hemming's rifle and their compatriot Celio Castro at some point, and they also have to be at the Lawnview Motel in Dallas on the 28th... Way too much running around and not enough time, IMHO. --Tommy

Paul, You may have missed this in my earlier post, so I reiterate: Paul Trejo: But the ten days [at the motel in Dallas] that Larry Howard mentioned seems to be an attempt to cover over the trip of driving Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City! The Motel records do not verify his story! Tommy: Good point. It sure seems that Howard was trying to cover something up, timewise. There's a huge discrepancy between arriving at the motel "around the 20th" but not registering there until the 28th. In this context it should be pointed out that Celio Castro told the FBI on 9/24/64 that while the trio was on its way from Los Angeles to Dallas (starting around September 18th, 1963), the "fun-loving" Loran Hall and Larry Howard decided to spend some time in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico while he waited for them in El Paso (presumably with the weapons-laden trailer). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=47745&relPageId=149 --Tommy PS Mixing "fun" in Juarez with towing a trailer full of weapons sounds like a strange (and implausible) combination of activities to me. Regardless, Oswald was alleged to have crossed the border at Laredo on the afternoon of 9/26/63, and to have taken a bus from there to Mexico City. And as you know, Ciudad Juarez and Laredo are several hundred miles apart...

[Tommy's responses in green] [...] ... Celio was only one of many mercenary buddies in this group related to Interpen and Gerry Patrick Hemming. It could have been any of them. IT what? The Cuban exile known as "Quarito" or "Wahito"who accompanied Hall and Howard from Los Angeles to Dallas in September could have been any of them? [...] I thought Loran Hall redeemed Hemming's 30.06 from Dick Hathcock in early November, not September. [...] See below. [...] Most interesting, Tommy, is your question about what they were doing before that Motel stay. Why would guys who had the job of running paramilitary supplies from Los Angeles to Miami on a continual basis stay anywhere for ten full days? Good question. [...] But the ten days [at the motel] that Larry Howard mentioned seems to be an attempt to cover over the trip of driving Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City! The Motel records do not verify his story! Good point. It sure seems that Howard was trying to cover something up, timewise. There's a huge discrepancy between arriving at the motel "around the 20th" but not registering there until the 28th. In this context it should be pointed out that Celio Castro told the FBI on 9/24/64 that while the trio was on its way from Los Angeles to Dallas (starting around September 18th, 1963), the "fun-loving" Loran Hall and Larry Howard decided to spend some time in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico while he waited for them in El Paso (presumably with the weapons-laden trailer). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=47745&relPageId=149 Paul, Regarding the timing of "The Unforgivable 30.06 Redemption," the following is from From Weberman's Nodule 13: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/weberman/nodule%2013.htm When Loran Hall, LAWRENCE JOHN HOWARD and Celio Castro left Los Angeles for Dallas around September 18, 1963, they stopped at the offices of Private Investigator and soldier-of-fortune Dick Hathcock. The FBI: To: SAC Los Angeles (89-75) From S.A. Jerome K. Crowe Date November 23, 1963. Subject: Assassination of President Kennedy. Re: Memo of Robert H. Matheson, Jr. dated November 23, 1963. Richard Hathcock, Allied International Detectives, Suite 310, 6605 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, advised Roy Payne is his associate in the above enterprise. Hathcock advised as follows: He, Hathcock, has known one Dick Whatley for several years. Whatley, to the best of Hathcock's information, currently resides at 3350 NW 18th Terrace Miami, Florida,, Whatley is a male Caucasian. [...] Approximately one year ago, JERRY PATRICK, whose true name is JERRY HEMMING, a male Caucasian, approximately 30 to 31, 6' 4", 230 pounds, well built, curly brown hair, handsome, and Lorenzo Pascillo, aka Lorenzo Hall and Skip Hall, a male Caucasian, 35 to 40 years old, 5' 11", 175 to 180 pounds, black hair, mustache, ruddy complexion from Wichita, Kansas, came into Hathcock's office which was then located at 6715 Hollywood Blvd. stating that they were broke and that they knew Dick Whatley, and Whatley had sent them to him. They had with them a set of golf clubs, and a 30-06 Johnson semi-automatic with a Bushnell, variable powered scope. Hathcock loaned them $100 - $50 on each item and it was his understanding that they were to pick up the articles as soon as possible. Hathcock only saw JERRY PATRICK once after that and that was approximately one week later when he came to his office. Several months ago, since the men did not retrieve the articles, Hathcock sold the golf clubs. On September 18, 1963, Lorenzo Hall came in with $50 and retrieved the rifle. Shortly thereafter Hathcock received a telephone call from JERRY PATRICK, who was then residing at 2450 N.W. North River Drive, Miami, Florida, inquiring as to whether Hathcock still had the rife. Hathcock told him he had given the rifle to Hall for $50 and this seemed to irritate PATRICK to some extent. Since then Hathcock has sent the receipt he received from Hall for the $50 to PATRICK to convince him he had returned the rifle. On the day Hall retrieved the rifle, he sold him a Bolex Motion Picture Camera with telephoto lens which was then the property of Hathcock. Hall paid by two checks - one drawn on the Citizen's Bank on the account of the Committee to Free Cuba in the amount of $350 and another in the amount of $150 on the account of a resident of La Habra. Hathcock gave Hall back $100. _____________________________________________________________________________ Remember that photographer Tom Dunkin wrote in a 1967 memorandum that Loran Hall and Bill Seymour arrived in Glades County, Florida, on October 24th, 1963, in a blue 1950-ish Oldsmobile and towing a trailer full of weapons. Dunkin also reported that Hall had a 16 mm Bolex camera with a telephoto lens, which must have been the same camera and lens that he'd bought from Dick Hathcock on September the 18th in Los Angeles. Tom Dunkin: "Hall and Seymour, with 1950-ish blue Oldsmobile and a rectangular, wooden, home-build two-wheel trailer appeared at Glades Country [Florida] Democrat Office on Thursday 24 October 1963. Hall at that time unknown to me. Hall showed me on of what he said were some 20 m-14 rifles, or the Urriaga conversion of M-1's to M-14 type. Hall also said he had, if I recall correctly, some 20,000 rounds of .30 caliber ammunition, plus one 20 millimeter Finnish cannon. He also had a 35mm Honeywell Pentax camera, and a 16mm Bolex, with two 25 mm lenses, one of which he insisted was wide-angle, and a 3-inch telephoto lens, if I recall correctly." If Hall redeemed Hemming's rifle on the same day that he bought the Bolex, then Hall obviously didn't redeem the rifle in November since Dunkin saw the Bolex on 10/24/63. --Tommy

Paul, Here it is: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=1020151 --Tommy PS Regarding the Oldsmobile and the trailer, photographer Tom Dunkin wrote this in his1967 memorandum about the Interpen bust at No Name Key: "Hall and Seymour, with 1950-ish blue Oldsmobile and a rectangular, wooden, home-build two-wheel trailer appeared at Glades Country [Florida] Democrat Office on Thursday 24 October 1963. Hall at that time unknown to me." http://cuban-exile.com/doc_076-100/doc0090.html FWIW, I did a little "research" on e-bay, and it looks like the license plate was from Florida circa 1960. Tommy, nice work. We have documented evidence that Loran Hall was in Dallas again on 28 September 1963, with two others. Who were they? We don't know, but the Motel clerk thought they were Americans -- or perhaps the Latino-looking one was Larry Howard (a Mexican-American) and Loran Hall was one of the American-looking ones. It depends on the eye of the beholder. The pieces can still fit. Hall and Howard could have been with Lee Harvey Oswald at the doorstep of Silvia Odio on 25 September 1963, drove down to Mexico that same night (using money they got from Gabaldon some days earlier, when they got their paramilitary supplies). Their trailer load of supplies from Harry Dean and Guy Gabladon was not with them at that time (otherwise Silvia Odio would have noticed it). Probably it was with Lester Logue or Robert Morris in Dallas, or with some other JBS member. After dropping Oswald off at DACA in Mexico City late on 26 September 1963 (or early on 27 September 1963) they drove back to Dallas, and picked up WIlliam Seymour, as well as their trailer load of paramilitary supplies. Then, on 28 September 1963, they rented these Motel rooms. It was definitely Loran Hall, because of the address he gave them (Monterey Park, California) as well as the phone calls that he made (including to Lester Logue and Robert Morris in Dallas). We have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Robert Morris (who was one of Edwin Walker's lawyers, helping to sue US newspapers for libel against Walker -- for telling the truth about Walker during the riots at Ole Miss on 30 September 1962). We also have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Lester Logue. So -- not only do we have Loran Hall and Larry Howard definitely on the road together in Dallas during the final week of September 1963, the times still fit for us to postulate their interaction with Lee Harvey Oswald that week, in a side-trip to Mexico City. They evidently left Oswald in Mexico, and Oswald took the bus back to the USA. Nice work, Tommy. Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, What makes you think that Hall and Howard "picked up William Seymour" in Dallas when they allegedly "drove back from Mexico" around September 28, 1963? What evidence do you have that Seymour was even in Dallas around that period of time, other that Hall's claim in his 16th of September, 1964, FBI interview in which he allegedly said that he and Howard and Seymour had visited Silvia Odio in late September, which was denied by Howard and Seymour, and retracted by Hall himself only four days later? Most importantly, Seymour was able to prove that he wasn't there. He was interviewed by the FBI and they established that he had been working for Beach Welding and Supplies Company, Miami Beach, Florida at the time when it was suggested that he had visited Silvia Odio. Here is the FBI report: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=515428 How does it help your theory, anyway, to have William Seymour in Dallas in late September? Doesn't it make more sense to believe what Hall and several other people including the Cuban exile Celio Sergio Castro Alba have said over the years -- that Hall and Howard (both with full beards), and Celio Castro (without beard and known as "Quarito" or "Wahito") rendezvoused in Los Angeles around September 11, raised some supplies, redeemed Hemming's 30.06 from Dick Hathcock on September the 18th, and then towed a trailer loaded with medical supplies and weapons to Dallas the next day, at which point they either drove LHO to Mexico City, as you claim, or slept in their car and / or stayed at the Dallas YMCA until they rented a room at the Lawnview Motel on September the 28th, staying at said motel through October the 3rd, at which time they left the trailer full of weapons in Dallas (perhaps so that John Thomas Masen could convert the rifles to "full automatic") and then went back to Florida, perhaps by bus. But if they did go back to Florida by bus, why did they do that? Why didn't they drive Hall's car, instead? It's well known that Hall was arrested a couple of weeks later in Dallas for possessing pep pills, and that Seymour was detained during the incident, but that was later, on October 16th or 17th, after Hall and Seymour had driven back to Dallas from Florida, in a bluish, 1950-ish Oldsmobile, perhaps, to retrieve the trailer with its precious cargo. I think it was Hall and Howard who both appeared to be "American" to the manager of the Lawnview Hotel on September 28, because they both had full beards, and it's reasonable to assume that Celio Sergio Castro Alba appeared to be "Latin" to her because he was clean-shaven compared to Hall and Howard, and he must have spoken Spanish to Howard and Hall (whereas they spoke English to each other) because he (Castro) spoke very little English. Regarding Celio Castro's skin color, we know that at least Castro wasn't light complected because he was described by the FBI as having a "medium" complexion. Celio Castro confirmed in the interview that he and Hall and Howard had stayed at a motel near a highway in Dallas. The description he gives of the motel's location jibes with google maps depiction of 5405 Lawnview Avenue, Dallas, although there is no motel there now, just an empty lot, but you can tell from the street view that something used to be there. Rotate the "street view" about 180 degrees and you can see the (iron) bridge in the distance which I think Castro was referring to. Also note from the google map that 5405 Lawnview Avenue is just across the highway from Tenison Hill Golf Course and is also near what Larry Howard described as a "Memorial Park" (cemetary). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=47745&relPageId=148 All of this leads me to believe that Loran Hall and Larry Howard and Celio Castro did stay at the Lawnview Motel in Dallas from 9/28/63 through 10/3/63. What's intriguing is where they stayed and what they were doing before that. Larry Howard said they stayed at a motel for about ten days, starting on around September 20th, but the motel's records showed that they stayed there for only six days, starting on September 28... If Hall and Howard and Lee Harvey Oswald were at Odio's on the night of September 25, would Hall and Howard have had enough time to drive Oswald to Mexico City and get back to Dallas by the 28th? In order to get back to Dallas by the 28th, they certainly couldn't have spent much time in Mexico City supervising / monitoring Oswald, so why even go there for such a short time? Another way of looking at it is why was it so important for them to return to Dallas so quickly? I found four photos on Flickr of the empty lot and old signs of the Lawnview Motel: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crowt59/559082011/in/photostream/ FWIW, the FBI report says they towed the trailer to Dallas with Hall's black 1956 Pontiac. And, interestingly, the FBI report contradicts what Hemming told Weberman about Celio Castro. Hemming said he was 71 years old in 1963, but the FBI report says he was born in Cuba on September 28th, 1931, making him exactly 33 years old on 11/28/63. Lastly, Celio Castro is described in the report as being 5' 9" tall and weighing 160 pounds at the time of the interview (9/28/64), and clean shaven as of September, 1963 (sic). --Tommy Edit: Here is a 2011 Florida mug shot of a "Cello Castro," AKA Celio Sergio Castro and Celio Sergio Castro-Alba. http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=13396 Note that it says this Celio Sergio Castro was 5'9" in 2011 and that he was born 7/28/31, just two months off, exactly, from the 9/28/31 DOB reported for our Celio Sergio Castro in his 1964 FBI interview, above. The FBI report says that our Celio Castro was 5'9" in 1964 and that he was living in Florida in 1963. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but note that this guy committed his crimes in Florida. Hmmm. I think it's the same guy --Tommy

[...] As for the room and board of the traveling trio, if you find solid evidence, that would be pleasantly surprising. [...] Paul, Here it is: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=1020151 --Tommy PS Regarding the Oldsmobile and the trailer, photographer Tom Dunkin wrote this in his1967 memorandum about the Interpen bust at No Name Key: "Hall and Seymour, with 1950-ish blue Oldsmobile and a rectangular, wooden, home-build two-wheel trailer appeared at Glades Country [Florida] Democrat Office on Thursday 24 October 1963. Hall at that time unknown to me." http://cuban-exile.com/doc_076-100/doc0090.html FWIW, I did a little "research" on e-bay, and it looks like the license plate was from Florida circa 1960.

OK, this is interesting. If Loran Hall was an FBI informant -- which I consider possible on some level -- this is a plausible explanation for how the FBI came to pick up Loran Hall so quickly. The FBI had questioned Sylvia Odio on 22 July 1964 about the two Latinos she saw with Lee Harvey Oswald at her doorstep one evening during the final week of September, 1963. Odio could not identify a photograph of any suspect the FBI showed her, and she did not know their names. She did give a description; late 20's, 5'11'', athletic build, dark curly hair, but thinning at the temples. Yes, Loran Hall fit that -- but that description could have fit hundreds of Cuban Exiles. I'd guessed that Loran Hall was an FBI suspect in the JFK murder somehow -- and I'm still not discounting that. But this new theory is plausible and should be affirmed or eliminated. I mean -- even Lee Harvey Oswald was a low level source of data for the FBI (according to Dallas DA Henry Wade and Attorney General Waggoner Carr, which might explain why Oswald recieved small amounts of cash from Western Union every so often). Descriptions of Loran Hall (e.g. from Harry Dean) he was usually hard up for money (like Oswald). So it's likely he would have sold information to the FBI if he had it -- after all the FBI were the good guys. Hall moved in Cuban Exile circles, including paramilitary groups, and there was a time when the FBI was asked to shut down some of their camps and collect data about them. (Lee Harvey Oswald might also have been selling this same sort of data to FBI agents for petty cash). So, in this plausible scenario -- the FBI was searching for "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" based on Sylvia Odio's testimony. They happened to ask Loran Hall, one of their known information sources -- and out of the blue Loran Hall confessed that it was himself and Larry Howard at her doorstep -- but not Lee Harvey Oswald. That is possible -- it explains the quick turnaround. But it doesn't explain the confession itself, does it? I mean, why put himself and his friends at risk? It sounds as if Loran Hall was caught by surprise by this line of questioning. What do you think? Best regards, --Paul Trejo Paul, Where did Silvia Odio say that Leopoldo had an "athletic build?" I thought she said that he was "tall" and "thin." --Tommy PS As you know, it's believed that the Odio Incident occurred on September the 25th, 1963. It's also believed that Loran Hall and Larry Howard and Celio Castro left Los Angeles with a trailer full of medicines and weapons (and Hemming's 30.06) on or about September 19th, bound for Dallas. I just stumbled into a FBI report from 8 October, 1964 about a Mrs. Giser, manager of the Lawnview Motel in Dallas, who said her records indicated that Loran Hall, accompanied by another bearded "American" and a "Latin," were registered at that motel from September the 28th through October the 3rd, 1963, and that they were pulling a trailer behind an Oldsmobile with license plate 1W167710 (state unknown). Now I'm wondering where Hall and his two companions were staying on the 25th? At the Dallas YMCA? In the car? At Lester Logue's? At General Walker's? None of the above?

He's obviously limping, John. --Tommy

So you don't think there's anything wrong with his left leg, John? LOL --Tommy

This sequence must have been taken several minutes after the assassination, as there are so many people leaving the Grassy Knoll area already. The interesting thing is that Dark Complected Man was filmed walking down the sidewalk in the general direction of the Triple Underpass a couple of minutes after the assassination, so if it's the same guy he must have doubled back, huh? Interesting limp. Maybe he was a wounded anti-Castro "Bay of Pigs" veteran? Nah, he probably just sprained his ankle chasing after a suspect in the railway yard. (Just kidding) --Tommy Edit: I don't think the guy limping across the grass is DCM because he splays his left foot out while walking, whereas DCM seems to turn his left foot in, as seen at 2:15 of this video by Gerda Dunkel: Question: Could the guy limping across the grass be Celio Sergio Castro Alba, aka "Quarito" or "Wahito?" Celio Castro was a friend of Larry Howard's and both Hall and Howard told the FBI, at different times, that Castro was with them in Dallas in late September of 1963. Gerry Patrick Hemming told A. J. Webberman that Celio Castro was 71 at the time but acted 40, was a stoned cold son-of-a-gun, and had a bad leg from being wounded during the Machado Revolution. --Tommy edited and bumped But now I'm starting to have second thoughts and I'm coming around to thinking that the guy limping across the grass is DCM because when you watch him in slow motion (starting at 3:07 in the video) you can see that his left leg pivots or swings in such a way that his left foot is actually turned inwards at the end of a stride or gait. This could explain why DCM's left foot is turned inwards at 2:15 in the video.

This sequence must have been taken several minutes after the assassination, as there are so many people leaving the Grassy Knoll area already. The interesting thing is that Dark Complected Man was filmed walking down the sidewalk in the general direction of the Triple Underpass a couple of minutes after the assassination, so if it's the same guy he must have doubled back, huh? Interesting limp. Maybe he was a wounded anti-Castro "Bay of Pigs" veteran? Nah, he probably just sprained his ankle chasing after a suspect in the railway yard. (Just kidding) --Tommy Edit: I don't think the guy limping across the grass is DCM because he splays his left foot out while walking, whereas DCM seems to turn his left foot in, as seen at 2:15 of this video by Gerda Dunkel: Question: Could the guy limping across the grass be Celio Sergio Castro Alba, aka "Quarito" or "Wahito?" Celio Castro was a friend of Larry Howard's and both Hall and Howard told the FBI, at different times, that Castro was with them in Dallas in late September of 1963. Gerry Patrick Hemming told A. J. Webberman that Celio Castro was 71 at the time but acted 40, was a stoned cold son-of-a-gun, and had a bad leg from being wounded during the Machado Revolution. --Tommy edited and bumped