Thomas Graves

Whoever wrote the above letter probably confused the gay "Brass Rail" for the mafia "Gold Rail" which was owned by the most feared hitman on the west coast, Frank "The Bomp" Bompensiero, and two close relatives of LA mafia boss Jack Dragna. --Thomas dead link removed

Whoever wrote the above letter was confusing the still-existing gay "Brass Rail" bar (in the Hillcrest area of San Diego) with the no-longer-existing, Mafia-owned, downtown San Diego "Gold Rail" bar, which was owned by the most feared hitman on the west coast, Frank "The Bomp" Bompensiero, and two close relatives of LA mafia boss Jack Dragna. FWIW, a couple of years ago I spoke with a manager of the Brass Rail and asked him if the bar had ever been owned by a couple of Hungarians. The answer was "No." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bompensiero http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1999/mar/11/cover-fateful-check-us-grant/ Tommy

So these clever conpiracists allowed their patsy to roam around at leisure during the shooting? What if he had gone outside and was captured in a photograph taken during the shooting sequence? That would have scuppered their cunning plan. I'd be amazed if they hadn't thought of that. Maybe Oswald was told by his handler to wait inside for a phone call. --Thomas

Does anyone know if James ever got around to ID-ing this guy? Personally, I think it is Chauncey Holt, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. --Thomas

John, Regarding the photos in your post # 11, are you sure about the year (1959)? I thought it was 1963. --Thomas

Robert L. Clark was a former law partner of Maury Hughes. At the time of the WC's investigation, Arvey's former law partners, David Bazelon was chief judge of the DC appellate court, and Paul Ziffren was a year away from seeing his son Ken appointed by Earl Warren as his law clerk. The 1964 candidate for president was close to one of the four Chicago hoodlums Maury Hughes had worked to parole from federal prison.: John McCain's and Barack Obama's political careers owed much to James Hensley, associated with Bioff's wire service and Flamingo Casino crony, Kemper Marley, and in Obama's case, to Lester Crown. It was no accident that Bush V.P. Dan Quayle's grandfather, Eugene Pulliam, refused to publish the research gathered by the I.R.E. reporters convened to find the murderers of Pulliam's own reporter, Don Bolles.: bump

bumped I guess my theory that Ferrie miss-dialed the number to the Del Charro and reached a bank instead doesn't make much sense. If he had tried to call the Del Charro (but called the bank by mistake), it's reasonable to assume that the next call on his list would have been from him to the correct number for the Hotel Del Charro, but it wasn't. The very next call on Ferrie's phonecall list was from someone in San Diego. His phonecall to the bank in La Jolla on 4/19/62 was apparently the only time he called anyone in La Jolla from that phone. So now I'm wondering why he called that bank... --Thomas Here's the list of Ferrie's phone calls that shows the La Jolla call: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ferriephone.txt edited, bumped

Really? Where's the "J" in "Senator Ole Banstoffsen, Washington"? Also, I count 31 letters versus 22. (But I must confess I never was very good at math...) --Thomas

Thanks John, IMHO, your photo of JTM shows that, except for his ears, he does strongly resemble LHO. Thanks for the photos of Dial Ryder, too. I remember the name from somewhere. I'll have to read up on him. --Thomas

Huh??????????? If Masen hadn't been smiling in the photo, he would have resembled LHO even more. --Thomas

That's great information, Bill, but can you or anyone else tell me how to go about finding a photo of JTM on the Internet? Maybe I just don't know how to go about finding it on the DPUK website... Thanks, --Thomas That's a negative. OK, Bill, thanks anyway. In "Deep Politics and the Death of JFK", Peter Dale Scott says that eight ATF agents, including Frank Ellsworth, were some of the earliest law enforcement types to reach the sixth floor, and also that, according to FBI agent James Hosty's testimony to the Select Committee fourteen years later, Ellsworth had indicated at the time of the assassination that he had been in the Grassy Knoll area and that, for some reason, he had identified himself as a Secret Service agent to someone on the Grassy Knoll (perhaps to police officer Joseph M. Smith?). I wish I could find a photo of Ellsworth as well as Masen. James, are you out there? Bernice? Robin? Jack? --Thomas

That's great information, Bill, but can you or anyone else tell me how to go about finding a photo of JTM on the Internet? Maybe I just don't know how to go about finding it on the DPUK website... Thanks, --Thomas

Hi Dixie, Larry, Jack, Robert, James, et al Would someone please re-post John Thomas Masen's photo? Thanks --Thomas

I'm confused. Obviously there is a law in Dallas against selling merchandise in a city park without a permit. So how can there not be a process for getting a permit? How could it be against the law to drive without a driver's license if there was no process for getting a driver's license? Who would have one? The answer is should be obvious: The city is not permitted to issue a permit to a person who does not have a permit.

Let's see if this works: http://www.blackopradio.com/The%20Chicago%20Plot%20by%20Edwin%20Black.pdf --Thomas P.S. Any ideas as to identity of the guy with "large build, an extremely large head, mangy hair, and wearing a short waist-jacket"? One of the Cubans, perhaps?

Emphasis added by Thomas Graves. Fascinating post; overdue for a bump. --Thomas

Whoever it is in the film, he seems frustrated and disappointed at not getting to go with the others, doesn't he? If it was Lawton, then where is Rybka? Gone fishing? (Czech speakers will get the pun.) --Thomas

Do we know if anyone ever asked Oswald how he got from his rooming house to the Texas Theater, and if so, what his response was? Thanks, --Thomas

I think Ruby got Oswald's attention by pulling his revolver out. --Thomas

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