Gene Kelly

David It's absurd that you would contend that Oswald was not being "sheep-dipped". The purchase of the rifle and handgun is a clear first instance of prior sheep-dipping ... and Ruth Paine was right smack dab in the middle of it. The summer of 1963 in New Orleans is also telling, if you lay out the various milestones. The Clinton-Jackson incident is clearly an effort to create a false legend for Oswald; as is the McKeown rifle offer, the Odio visit, and the entire Mexico City charade: Ruth Paine Separates Lee and Marina ... The Oswald’s moved out of their Elsbeth Street apartment on March 3, 1963, to an upstairs apartment several blocks away at 214 West Neely Street. Marina invites Ruth Paine to visit her, and they exchange visits in March. Allegedly using the name of A. J. Hidell, Oswald orders a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver from Los Angeles on a form which he dated January 27th. Then, on March 12, he ordered a rifle from Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago under the name of A. Hidell. Oswald used the name "Alek James Hidell" on identification cards which he likely produced at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall. Both weapons are shipped on March 20th. Mrs. Paine invites the Oswald’s to dinner and takes them on a picnic on April 20th. When Lee was not present, the two women discuss their respective marital problems, and Marina discloses to Ruth that she is pregnant. On April 6th, Oswald is dropped by Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall because, in his supervisor's opinion, he allegedly did not get along with his fellow employees. New Orleans Oswald decides to move to New Orleans and on April 24, Ruth drives him to the bus station; he arrives and moves in with his aunt Lillian Murret. On May 9, Oswald completes an application for employment with William Reily Company; his employment at Reily lasts until July 19th, when he was let go. Marina leaves Dallas on May 10th and arrives on the 11th with Mrs. Paine, who stayed with the Oswald’s for 8 days. On May 14, Mrs. Paine leaves New Orleans to return to her home in Irving. Oswald starts a Fair Play for Cuba Committee chapter in New Orleans (of which he is the only member) - a group infested with informants and linked to David Phillips, James McCord and William Harvey. During the summer of 1963, Oswald frequents 544 Camp Street, an address on his Fair Play for Cuba literature, and a hub for right-wing, anti-Castro activities centered around the office of Guy Banister, as well as Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, Sergio Smith and intelligence-backed Cuban exiles. FPCC and Leaflets Also in the summer of 1963, Kerry Thornley steps into the picture in New Orleans where witnesses saw him with Oswald either in public or at Oswald’s apartment (plus Thornley picked up Fair Play for Cuba flyers for Oswald). June 16, 1963: LHO distributes FPCC literature at the Dumaine Street wharf. August 9, 1963: Bringuier confronts LHO when he sees him distributing FPCC literature on Canal Street. A scuffle ensues, and the two are arrested (LHO spends the night in jail). John T. Martin filmed Oswald while visiting New Orleans on August 9, 1963. Fourteen-year-old Jim Doyle shot this same leafleting incident in the 700 block of Canal Street (at which Oswald was arrested for "disturbing the peace"). This incident is not to be confused with Oswald's leafleting activity in front of the International Trade Mart exactly one week later on August 16, during which Oswald, Charles Steele, and an unknown Hispanic-looking guy passed out flyers for about twenty minutes and nobody was arrested. August 21st: LHO debates Carlos Bringuier and Ed Butler, members of a right-wing group, on a television program. Participating in the leaflet incidents and appearing on NO television was obvious sheep-dipping, which Oswald had to have understood (though its purpose may have been concealed from him). Clinton-Jackson In early September, Clay Shaw, David Ferrie and Oswald visit the villages of Jackson and Clinton to the north of New Orleans, after the anti-FPCC campaign in New Orleans. Oswald is unaware that he is being set up as one of the patsies. Oswald was first seen in Jackson, about 15 miles east of Clinton. Henry Palmer interviews him (away from the voter rally). Two personnel secretaries took Oswald’s application for a job at the East Louisiana State Hospital in Jackson … it appears the idea was to get Oswald's file into the system at the mental hospital, and then have them switched from the employment cabinet to the patient cabinet (his file subsequently disappeared even though it was seen by three people). The HSCA took a second look at the Clinton incident. On March 14, 1978, they took the testimony of Clinton town marshal John Manchester who said that he approached the black Cadillac from which Oswald had emerged that summer day in 1963 and, acting as the town's law enforcement officer, instructed the driver to identify himself and to produce his driver's license, The driver gave his name as "Clay Shaw from the International Trade Mart" and produced a driver's license which matched. The HSCA took John Manchester's testimony in "Executive Session" and kept this information secret from the American public for sixteen years. McKeown Rifle Offer On a Saturday morning in late September, two men arrived at McKeown's house. One man introduced himself as Lee Oswald (his friend was called Hernandez). Oswald said he was willing to pay $10,000 for four rifles, 300 Savage automatics and a telescopic sight. McKeown refused as he thought he was being set-up Mexico City Charade September 17th: LHO obtains a tourist card good for one visit to Mexico City from the Mexican consulate in NOLA. September 20th: Ruth visits the Oswalds, and Marina decides to return with Ruth for the birth of the baby; on September 23rd, both of them leave for Irving. September 25: LHO collects an unemployment check of $33 and leaves New Orleans by bus where the Mexico City charade begins. He allegedly takes three separate bus trips: leaving Houston early on the morning of the 26th and arriving in Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican border that afternoon; leaving Nuevo Laredo an hour or so later and arriving in Mexico City on the 27th. Oswald then registers at a hotel and makes his first visits to the Soviet and Cuban diplomatic compounds (where he was likely impersonated) Meanwhile, someone is laying the trail of an Oswald impostor going through north Louisiana in the fall of 1963 doing unforgettable things like walking out of saloons without paying a bill and arguing with other patrons. Sivia Odio Visit ... return to Dallas Silvia Odio receives a visit in Dallas on Friday September 27th; two individuals along with Oswald, one named "Leopoldo" with an odd forehead, doing the speaking, and seeking written letters of recommendation. Silvia observed Leopoldo's companion Angelo sitting in the front passenger seat of the car as they left. “Leopoldo” (likely Bernardo de Torres) phoned Odio the next day to tell her how “Leon” had talked about the need to murder President Kennedy, and that Leon” is “kind of nuts.”. Notably, the CIA did not allow the HSCA to ask de Torres (who later infiltrated Garrison’s investigation) questions about his activities prior to the assassination. Oswald returns to Dallas on October 4th (after an alleged failed attempt to go to Cuba or return to the Soviet Union) with no job, no money. Marina (eight months pregnant) is living in suburban Irving at the home of Ruth Paine, who only allows Lee to visit them with her and Marina’s approval. Employment at TSBD On the morning of October 14th, Ruth and Marina were having coffee at a neighbor’s house, which leads to Lee's finding work at the Book Depository. Just a week before, Oswald almost got a job as a typesetter trainee at a printing company ... far from what would be the motorcade route. October 15: Oswald takes a job at the Book Depository as a clerk (with William Shelley as his supervisor). November 19: The Dallas Times Herald publishes the schedule and route of JFK's upcoming visit to Dallas. There is simply no way that Lee Oswald ends up at the Book Depository by random happenstance. Gene

Good catch David ... the March 28th date aways sticks in my mind (but I sometimes confuse the year). FYI, I worked at TMI that Fall.

Sandy It's easy to confuse the two (plus there's also a Celso Hernandez). Robert McKeown was interviewed on March 28, 1978 (coincidentally, the day of the Three Mile Island accident) by the HSCA. That is where I got the Victor name from: Mr. PURDY - Approximately how old was Mr. Hernandez? Mr. McKEOWN - I imagine he was in his 40's. He was a distinguished looking gentleman. Mr. PURDY - Did he appear older than Oswald? Mr. McKEOWN - A little bit. You could say he was well-shaven, you know, clean-shaven. You could tell that he had a heavy beard. Mr. PURDY - Did Mr. Oswald defer to Mr. Hernandez in any way? Mr. McKEOWN - No, he just introduced him to me. Mr. PURDY - Did Mr. Hernandez introduce you as Carlos or Victor Hernandez? Mr. McKEOWN - I think it was Victor, yes, but I am not sure. Mr. PURDY - Was the man named Hernandez the man in the Cuban prison Carlos or Victor? Mr. McKEOWN - It could have been. Mr. PURDY - You say it could have been? Mr. McKEOWN - It could have been Carlos. He was not a Cuban, he was a Costa Rican. Mr. PURDY - You said before that you knew the man in prison so you believe you knew Carlos Hernandez. Mr. McKEOWN - It was not the same person. Mr. PURDY - Have you ever seen Mr. Hernandez and Oswald prior to this meeting? Mr. McKEOWN - No. Gene

Jim Interesting how the book came to be ... one might simply assume the book was a follow-on to a successful movie, to somehow make more profit. But it really evolved from a need to meticulously footnote for legal liability purposes. One thing that I've learned from reading your work is to carefully annotate with footnotes and references, especially when treading in controversial waters. I also apply this to judging the credibility of other authors ... if there are no references or footnotes, that's a red flag. Sources are just as important - if not more so - as facts. Gene.

Jim As I've read more about Garrison's investigation, based on Destiny Betrayed and the later files released, I've come to respect his findings and intuition more than ever. Not only his perseverance and courage, but investigative skills and instincts. Garrison describes all of the people surrounding Oswald as he ostensibly escapes as a "caravan" escorting him to the Texas Theater. I first began to have interest in the Tippit murder, when I read about Garrison's comment along the lines that the shooting of a police officer becomes a major event for law enforcement. I think Garrison characterized it as a "Code Blue" and he suggested that it was the perfect diversion (in the immediate aftermath of the assassination) for the actual assassins to get away from the Plaza ... and for blame to be focused on a cop-killer trying to escape (almost too pat to be true). This resonated with me and convinced me that there was more to the Tippit murder than met the eye. Fast forward to the recent EF thread about the 6th floor and Oswald's lunchroom encounter, it seems plausible that Bill Shelley's behavior in the TSBD that afternoon could be connected with Tippit's strange actions. Considering that Shelley was Oswald's supervisor and had been captured in a picture with him in New Orleans that summer, perhaps he was on the phone with Tippit (i.e., the Top ten call), directing him how/where to hunt Oswald. Shelley was apparently seen by newsman Frank McGee on a phone in the back lobby, and later stated he had called his wife right after the President was shot. In other words, Shelley releases Oswald and sends him off to the Texas Theater, tells Truly and DPD he is missing, and then sends Tippit off on a wild goose chase (and to his own death). Its admittedly speculative, but ... Gene

Paul I would imagine that Morales was too visible in the CIA JMWAVE hierarchy (and too smart) to allow himself to be seen with Oswald. He was certainly associated with the bad actors in this assassination story ... but he died young (at 52 years of age) in May 1978. He was a big intimidating individual, but he was considered to be an officer, and held a GS 15 rating which is pretty senior in government service. He was a section or branch chief, if I read his limited files correctly ... so I doubt that he would directly accompany a low-level dangle like Oswald. I often wonder if there was a cleanup operation going on by then, as the HSCA was unfolding, as Morales was considered to be a loose cannon (especially when drinking). Gene

Joe McBride is obviously credible ... these other guys are playing games

Carlos Hernandez remains my favorite for Oswald's companion ...

Thanks David ... Carlos Hernandez remains a person of interest for me. It seems the plotters exfiltrated the heavy hitters (i.e., Paladins) to Costa Rica, to take them out of the picture and away from official scrutiny. It's telling that by 1967, Hernandez was no longer involved in exile activities, and almost ironic that he simply ended up working for the Miami Herald as an accounting clerk. Any port in a storm, I guess ... he just faded into anonymity. This is an interesting thread, as it gets at the "heart" of the ground-level plotters and perpetrators and helps to put in perspective just who Oswald really was, and what he was up to. I am a big fan of your work ... you and Larry are doing the heavy lifting needed to unearth the "who's who" of the story. Gene

Bill It seems the Dale Meyers response is denigrating the work of several authors who are quite well respected and have done very good work in exploring the mysterious details of the JFK assassination (beyond just the Tippit murder). Meyer's response has an unprofessional tone and contains needless vitriol. This paragraph in particular didn't do much for me: His own 2018 article, “The Tippit Case in the New Millennium,” which in fact borrows heavily from the embarrassing writings and musings of John Armstrong, Bill Simpich, Joseph McBride and Farris Rookstool. I say embarrassing because you couldn't find four of the worst sources for truth and fact in the Tippit case anywhere on the planet. I know. I’ve written about what they’ve done with the case on this very blog and in my 1998 book With Malice – ad nauseum. Pick any aspect of the case – I dare you – and I’ll show you how they’ve avoided the truth and injected their own brand of crazy. Specifically, given the manner in which he 'criticizes' (which is a nice way to describe his tone and characterization) Joseph Mcbride's excellent book, it's difficult to put any stock in what Meyers writes. I'm OK if someone simply disagrees, but when they resort to ad hominem attacks and pile on adjectives in this manner, it convinces me that they're not credible: And if DiEugenio’s own article isn’t enough to convince you that Oswald is innocent of the Tippit murder, he suggests you read “a much longer treatment” by Joseph McBride. I can only presume that he refers to McBride’s book Into the Nightmare – a dizzying collection of irrational and illogical thought that defies description. I pointed out just a small fraction of McBride’s idiocy on this subject in a blog review you’ll find ... To submit that "JFK Revisited" is somehow flawed because it didn't address the Tippit story is disingenuous. Frankly, had Stone and DiEugenio included the Tippit aspect, I'm certain they would've exposed all the fallacies and inconsistences, and gotten much closer to the elusive "truth" than Dale Meyers has. Oliver Stone and James DiEugenio won’t deal with the Tippit murder because it is the snare that entrapped Lee Harvey Oswald. It was Tippit’s murder that made Oswald a prime suspect in the JFK assassination. How can anyone taking a serious ten-hour look at JFK’s murder ignore it? It's absurd that, in today's day and age, anyone can still defend the single bullet theory. But Dale Meyers seems to still cling to it as "fact" ... a position that itself, is difficult to respect: "As far as I’m concerned, my own work convinced me of the validity of that single shot. In fact, in my opinion, it’s the only viable solution given everything I know about the wounds, the trajectories and the physical evidence" I've spent a lot more than ten hours digging into all of the facts, disinformation, curious detail and back-stories of JFK's death, especially Tippit's murder ... there are far too many inconsistencies associated with Tippit's behavior and his controversial death, to accept that Oswald killed him. I would certainly agree that it was intended to 'entrap' Oswald and make him a suspect ... but there's far more to the story than Dale Meyers would have us believe. Nice try, but I don't buy it. Gene

I think Rachele's synopsis is how I would characterize young Lee Oswald: A youngster, who got himself in over his head. ... intelligent, but no genius. Clearly, the assassination was too big of a deal for one 24-year-old kid to do by himself. Lee is convicted based on a picture of him holding a rifle ... "look there’s the gun and the guy who did it, case closed." Too many loose ends for it all to be dumped on a kid; It was just too big of a deal.

Joe Not sure that I would reach the same conclusions about Marina that you have. All of this is purely speculative. She was only 22 years old (and possibly a KGB dangle). Lee wasn't much older, and just a kid ... both of them were being manipulated/used by older more sophisticated people who didn't have their best interests in mind. They were only a couple for about two years ... not much time to develop any semblance of a relationship. Gene

Pat I don't disagree with what you point out here. Needless to say, Lee Oswald was an enigma that we have all been trying to deconstruct and understand for a long time. When I get caught up in these analyses, it helps for perspective to remember that he was only in his early 20's, raised by a single mother, and a young adult when all of this transpired ... just a kid, really. He never knew his father - who had passed away from a heart attack before Oswald’s birth - and had a very small family (one brother named Robert and a half-brother named John). As a child, he lived in over twenty different residences, attended at least eleven different schools and never got past 10th grade. He joined the Marines at age 17 and served three years, where he was punished for accidentally shooting himself and improperly discharging his firearm while on patrol, and also managed to learn Russian before being discharged. He infamously defected to Russia in October 1959 - spent a few years in the Soviet Union - returned to the US in June 1962 with a pretty Russian bride (two years younger) and fathered two daughters (June and Rachel). The Oswalds briefly lived in Fort Worth, New Orleans and Dallas over a span of just 18 months before young Lee was killed. He had quite the collection of nefarious handlers, mentors and acquaintances in that controversial period of time ... one might say that he chose the wrong circle of friends. In a March 1995 interview of his daughter Rachel, she stated the following about the father she never knew: “I think Lee was this 24-year-old guy, this youngster, who got himself in over his head. Lee was intelligent, but he was no genius. I don’t know who else was involved, but clearly it was too big of a deal for one 24-year-old kid to do by himself. For example, right before the shooting someone asked my mother to take a picture of Lee holding a rifle, and then right after the shooting, the picture is confiscated, and everyone says, ‘Look there’s the gun, there’s the guy who did it, case closed.’ There are just too many loose ends for it all to be dumped on my father. It was just too big of a deal." Gene

Tom In the February 2017 article "Was Oswald a Serial Wife Batterer" published in Kennedys and King., the author speculates that the Warren Commission avoided taking testimony from Kleinlerer because he made certain observations about Marina (and her odd relationship with Lee) that were telling: I expressed to Mrs. Hall and to my friend George Bouhe, and to others that I thought that they were only worsening things because the Oswalds did not appear appreciative of what was being done for them. He acted as though the world owed him a living. I had the impression from time to time that Marina was pretending and acting.” Alexander Kleinlerer was born in Poland and had been confined in Buchenwald concentration camp. He lived in Czechoslovakia and then worked in France until he became a naturalized American citizen in May 1963. He was acquainted with the White Russian crowd and is quite the interesting character. An October 2016 EF Thread entitled "The Bouhe Files" highlights declassified HSCA records which describe an FBI report from December 1968, about an incident involving a former member of the 66th Military Intelligence Group, involving Kleinlerer: Kleinlerer did a great deal of traveling for Loma Industries, Fort Worth, where he was employed as a research engineer. Kleinlerer had told Mrs. Bloodworth that he did not particularly want to make his upcoming trip to France, and appeared to be worried about something, Kleinlerer further told Mrs. Bloodworth that he had two passports, one for the USA and one for France, and that while in France, he traveled under a different name I'm not too familiar with Mrs. Elena Hall. She was a member of the White Russian cabal (Anna Meller, George Bouhe, George deMohrenschildt, Max Clark, Elena Hall, Lydia Dymitruk and Igor Vladimir Voshinin) surrounding the Oswald's. She and her husband were apparently from New York and, when they separated, Kleinlerer apparently dated/courted her. So, I also don't put much stock in the second-hand comments of Elena Hall (another one of Oswald's character assassins). If you read Kleinlerer’s Warren Commission testimony, he really does a number on Oswald, painting him in the worst possible light (as a husband and a Communist). It was way over the top ... for example: We had just begun to discuss the matter of moving the next day when Oswald observed that the zipper on Marina's skirt was not completely closed. He called to her in a very angry and commanding tone of voice just like an officer commanding a soldier. His exact words were, "Come Here!", in the Russian Language, and he uttered them the way you would call a dog with which you were displeased in order to inflict punishment on him. He was standing in the doorway leading from the living room into another room of the house. When she reached the doorway, he rudely reprimanded her in a flat imperious voice about being careless in her dress and slapped her hard in the face twice. Marina still had the baby in her arms. Her face was red and tears came to her eyes. All this took place in my presence. I was very much embarrassed and also angry, but I had long been afraid of Oswald and I did not say anything. I did some digging on Kleinlerer and found out that, in March 2008, Dr. Michal Freda Kleinlerer and Dr. Jonathan David Shenkin were married at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the restaurant on the Rockefeller family’s Pocantico Hills estate in Tarrytown, N.Y. The bride was an orthodontist with practices in Bangor and Waterville, Maine. and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with two degrees from Harvard: a Doctor of Medical Dentistry and a Master of Medical Science in developmental biology. She was the daughter of Alexander Kleinlerer of New York and the late Nitza Kleinlerer. The Rockefeller connection is intriguing. Gene

Tom Neither George nor Jeannie deMohrenscildt witnessed the alleged abuse of Marina by Lee ... yet they promoted that story - effectively separating Lee and Marina (and turning them over to the Paines) - which became hearsay amongst the White Russian community. A February 2017 article in Kennedys and King, "Was Oswald a Serial Wife Batterer?" highlights the Warren testimony of Mrs. Donald Gibson, their daughter, with whom Marina initially stayed (she was the former Mrs. Gary Taylor): Mr. Jenner: Would you tell us about this lack of rapport between Marina and Lee Harvey Oswald? Mrs. Gibson: Well, they fought quite a bit. They fought in Russian, always verbally when I saw them, but when she was living with Mrs. Hall in Fort Worth, I was told that he beat her up on numerous occasions, physically assaulted her, and that Mrs. Hall and her, oh, I don't know what you would call him, her fiancée, Alex-- Mr. Jenner: Is that Alex, Alexander Kleinlerer? Mrs. Gibson: I guess so. I don't know his name. He was short, very dark, moustache, black moustache, European dresser, an accent, very much the gangster type in his looks, very oily looking, very oily in personality, actually a rather creepy customer. He spoke Russian fluently. I think he spoke quite a few languages fluently. He, I believe, was born or originated in Paris. I have no idea what his occupation was. But he did not get along with Lee at all. He had numerous arguments with him over Marina and how he beat her. Mr. Jenner: Tell us where this occurred? Mrs. Gibson: This occurred in Mrs. Hall's home in Fort Worth. Mrs. Hall and Marina were in the other room. Lee and Alex, and he was telling Lee off in no uncertain terms about how he beat up Marina, and about his whole outlook on life. He was really giving him a tongue lashing. Jenner: Had either you or your husband ever--did either you or your husband ever talk to Lee Oswald about his treatment of Marina? Mrs. Gibson: No; we never talked to him about beating his wife. Alexander Kleinlerer is the only person to apparently witness first-hand the abusive Oswald ... but he was never deposed by the Warren Commission. Gene

Maybe we should ask Judyth Vary Baker if Lee was abusive ... this entire debate is nonsense. It's like being asked: "when did you stop beating your wife?" (i.e., a loaded question ... a logical fallacy)

Jonathan I don't think young Peter Gregory was that familiar with Lee and Marina to be able to make the claims he offers ... but we must take his word for it (60 years later). He was the same age as Oswald at the time and visited them ostensibly to learn Russian from Marina ... which was also Ruth's "excuse" (which is dubious to say the least). He stated in a recent interview that he and his father visited the couple in their duplex and took language lessons in regular meetings that summer until mid-September. It's difficult for me to imagine Lee abusing Marina in his presence. Gregory proclaims that Oswald had all the characteristics to "kill a major political figure – the means, the motive, and the soul of a killer", and even psychoanalyzes their marriage: In the period from Oswald’s return to Texas with his wife Marina to their move to Dallas, I was the only one who broke through the cocoon in which Lee had Marina living. I saw them on a regular basis for conversation, shopping, and driving around Fort Worth. I observed Lee as a manipulative loner who concealed himself from others and guarded the strict boundaries he erected around his troubled marriage with Marina. Gregory defends the Warren report and insults anyone who dares to disagree with its conclusions - from his throne at the Hoover Insitute (the same place that the duplicitous Tom Bethell hung his hat): Instead, critics glom onto bits and pieces, and minor contradictions to build mountains out of molehills. Among the multitude of conspiracy theories is even one that places my father and me among the conspirators. At that point, he lost all credibility in my eyes. And yes ... this rumor that Lee abused Marina was in fact gossip among the White Russian community. I don't put much stock in it. Gene

John Mallon's statement that Ruth "represents a commitment to truth and history that I hope isn’t vanishing from American life” is absurd on its face. Given all that we now know about the short life of 24-year-old Lee Oswald, nothing sticks out as coming close to this characterization of him as wanting to make a "splash" or being capable of violence (unless one accepts the canards that he shot at Walker, abused his wife, and murdered Tippit). And with all of the subsequent information available from Garrison's investigation, legitimate research and books, and ARRB records - that more aptly speaks to truth and history - it's insulting to read such comments. Unfortunately, there are those who still subscribe to this nonsense. Paul Gregory - the son of the man who gave Oswald language lessons in Fort Worth - recently published "The Oswalds: An Untold Account of Marina and Lee". Gregory's father taught Russian at a Fort Worth library and was approached by Oswald for certification as a Russian translator in June 1962. His son, currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a scholar of Russian economics, had a brief acquaintance with Lee and Marina in the summer of 1962. Young Gregory recounts the familiar pretext of receiving language lessons from Marina (just as Ruth took in Marina to improve upon her Russian) - who he claimed spoke no English - and paints a rather dark picture of young Lee. Gregory asserts that Oswald would not allow Marina to learn English, yet he permitted her to teach Russian to him, which is how they became 'friends'. In recent interviews, he states the following: I show that Oswald had all the characteristics to kill a major political figure – the means, the motive, and the soul of a killer. I observed Lee as a manipulative loner who concealed himself from others and guarded the strict boundaries he erected around his troubled marriage with Marina. Oswald dreamed of going into the history books where he had learned from his mother that he belonged. He wished to pay back society for not recognizing his exceptionalism. He wanted to punish Marina for her ridicule of his ideas and her scorn of his manhood. We cannot believe that history can be changed by a random set of circumstances. It’s hard for people to accept that a “little guy” – Lee’s mother referred to him as “the boy” – of no known accomplishments could kill the most guarded person in America on his own. This same characterization has been used by both Ruth and Michael Paine (e.g., “I think it’s a lone wolf thing ... the opportunity presented itself to him, and he probably wanted to make a mark on society”). Unfortunately, the commitment in certain circles to defaming Oswald and distorting the historical record has clearly not vanished from American life ... the myth continues. Gene

The President is in a motorcade, with considerable protection ... what on earth is a SS agent doing nearby that's "off-duty"? Sounds awfully fishy to me.

Not to add a spoiler alert, but O'Neill paints a very different picture of Vincent Bugliosi. While Helter Skelter became a very successful crime novel, you will end up doubting the premise and official story. Pay particular attention to the Susan Atkins persona, and the fact that she was essentially an "actor". O'Neill interviewed Bugliosi, and had a relationship with Vince, who tried to convince O'Neill that he was wrong about him (i.e., Vince). Bugliosi threatened to sue O'Neill, but died in 2015, before the book was finally published. Once you consider what O'Neill shares about Bugliosi, it will put his fatuous tome Reclaiming History into better perspective. Gene

Pete The book is fascinating, and O'Neill (to his credit) stops short of making any dramatic conclusions. I corresponded with him for a while, and he told me it took almost 20 years for him to finish his investigative reporting. He began with the intent of simply by crafting an entertainment-related story that addressed how the Manson clan and Sharon Tate murder changed Hollywood ... but when he was done, he had uncovered unanticipated information about what really happened. And this led him down the path of CIA and their CHAOS and MKUltra projects, Jack Ruby and Joelyn West, and other troubling facts. Here is how he described his experience: "I’d faced multiple threats on my life. I don’t consider myself credulous, but I’d discovered things I thought impossible about the Manson murders and California in the sixties—things that reek of duplicity and cover-up, implicating police departments up and down the state. Plus, the courts. Plus—though I have to take a deep breath before I let myself say it—the CIA." Needless to say, there's a lot more to the Manson story than meets the eye. Here are some additional references worth reading, once you get into this: DiEugenio, J. (August 2019) “Vincent Bugliosi, Tom O’Neill, Quentin Tarantino and Tate/LaBianca”. Kennedys and King Garber-Paul, E. (August 2019) “What Do We Really Know About the Manson Murders?”. Rolling Stone Gilbert, Sophie (November 2017) “The Real Cult of Charles Manson”. The Atlantic Hedegaard, E. (October 2019) “The Last Manson Mystery: 50 years ago, Beausoleil murdered Hinman”. Rolling Stone Lansing, H. Allegra (June 2019) “The Manson Family: More to the Story” Weston, W. (June 2020) “Linkletter, Whitson, and Manson: Agents Provocateur for the Helter-Skelter Plot”. Zodiac Doubles. Mathis, M. (July 2017) “Tate Murders were a False flag and the Greatest Unknown Success Story of Project CHAOS”. Stimson, G. (October 2019) “Goodbye Helter Skelter: New Look at Tate-LaBianca Murders Weston, W. (June 2020) “Linkletter, Whitson, and Manson: Agents Provocateur for the Helter-Skelter Plot”. Zodiac Gene

Joe I actually spoke with Tom O'Neill, and we traded some email conversations. He was born/raised near where I live (in Philadelphia) and was familiar with my college (Villanova). His story of that book, and how it came to be, is quite a story in itself. he started out trying to simply understand the Manson murders, but his work took him into areas that he never anticipated or dreamed of. As I recall, he was an entertainment reporter in 1999 who began a three-month assignment from the film magazine Premiere to write about how the Tate–LaBianca murders changed Hollywood. It took him another 20 years to complete the work (he obviously missed his deadline) but continued to investigate the murders. This led him into the dark side of CIA's CHAOS project and twenty years of "meticulous research, hundreds of interviews, and fallings-out with publishers that led to financial and legal repercussions". I would highly recommend reading his book. Jolyon West was head of the UCLA Violence Project which was approved by Ronald Reagan when he was Governor of California, but later shut down by public protest. West was a CIA and military contractor, and an expert on multiple personality. He tried to set up the UCLA violence center and at the Vaccaville State Prison was implantation of brain electrodes in violent sex offenders. Very scary stuff... O'Neill demonstrates that Bugliosi was trying to eliminate the drug angle to rob the defendants of a diminished capacity defense, and to cut it out as a motive, to cut off that connection to the drugs/film/music scene. One writer compared what he did to the Warren Commission ... he threatened a witness with deportation unless he went along with the false narrative. O'Neill believes that Bugliosi should have been disbarred, which is why he threatened people. he also thinks that Bugliosi was blackmailed into his various legal antics by the federal government: “I don’t like to speculate,” offers O’Neill, “but some pretty serious researchers—and there are serious assassination researchers out there—are convinced that Bugliosi was, let’s just say, obligated to certain federal agencies, or had been for his entire career, to write a book like Reclaiming History, and to present a false narrative like he did in Helter Skelter.” Gene

Jim In the spirit of what Tannebaum and Sprague shared, it is quite a different strategy (from that of a normal detective or homicide investigator) when you are going up against intelligence agencies. Conventional procedures and investigative strategies simply don't work. I am reminded of a conversation that I had (in the mid-90's) with a gentleman who was an investigator in the agency that I worked for (the Nuclear Regulatory Commission). He had previously been a NYC criminal investigator, and later recruited to be an investigator with the HSCA. He knew that I was interested in the assassination and approached me to talk about it. He shared how utterly difficult it was to get anything out of the CIA (near impossible), and when you did get something, it couldn't be trusted as accurate. I asked him who did it ... he said matter of factly "the CIA". When I asked him how sure he was - since at the time I was skeptical and knew far less about the case - he replied, "I'd bet a year's salary on it". Being younger and naive at the time, it was difficult for me to believe our own government could be party to such a crime ...so I asked the classic question of "it's been more than 30 years ... why don't they just come out and tell us what really happened?" I will never forget his memorable reply: "What makes you think that is the worst thing that they've ever done ...?" Gene

Paul I hate to share this but can't resist. I once met Dylan when I was in graduate school, living in Teaneck NJ and attending Farleigh Dickinson University in 1973. One of my fellow students had an apartment in Manhattan and invited me to a party he hosted where Dylan was present. Bob sat all by himself and seemed withdrawn and unsociable. My friend asked us not to approach him More on point, Tom O'Neill's book "Chaos, Charles Manson the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties" is excellent. It covers Jolly West and some of Gottlieb's legacy, and also provides new perspective on Manson and his cult an MKUltra research project gone haywire. O’Neill also highlights that Vincent Bugliosi hid evidence and propagated the popular falsehood (in Helter Skelter) that the motive for these brutal crimes was to ignite a race war. O'Neill makes a credible case that Manson and the Family were being protected by law enforcement at a high level. He found records from UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute archives, showing that Dr. Jolyon West was a long-term contractor with Dr. Sidney Gottlieb and the MK-Ultra program ... techniques of mind control, automatic obedience, and the induction of amnesia and mental illness. Manson often visited his parole officer, one Roger Smith, at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic where Smith was running something called the Amphetamine Research Project, a study of the role that drugs played in psychotic violence. One of the people who performed studies that summer (on sabbatical from the University of Oklahoma) was Dr. Louis Jolyon West, a psychiatric researcher from Oklahoma. According to Tom O'Neill, West was never really clear about what he was studying there; he was vague and said he was going to write a book about LSD and its influence on youth. He was given an office at the clinic to recruit “hippies” to study for his LSD research. West actually created the blueprint for how they were going to operate/hide their research ... at prisons and universities and psychiatric hospitals, and other venues. In the Haight, West arranged for the use of house on Frederick Street where he set up what he described as a “laboratory disguised as a hippie crash pad” in June 1967, at the dawn of the summer of love. He installed six graduate students in the pad, telling them to dress like hippies and “lure” itinerant kids into the apartment. This “crash pad” was funded by the Foundations Fund for Research in Psychiatry, Inc. ... a front for the CIA. On the night of August 8, 1969, four Manson family members drove to the home of Roman Polanski where his 8-month-pregnant girlfriend, actress Sharon Tate, along with her friends, were murdered. The very next night, the same group set out to kill again … and snuck into the home of grocery store executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, murdering the couple. Toward the end of that summer, they murdered others who are less well known. The Monterey Pop Festival had been in the summer of 1967, and Woodstock would happen just one week after the alleged Tate murders. The alleged Tate murders were on August 9th and Woodstock would open August 15th. People's Park at the University of Berkeley, California, opened in April of 1969, and was used for anti-war speeches and gatherings. O'Neill relates several interesting back stories involving Terry Melcher, the son of Doris Day, and a producer for Columbia Records who managed The Byrds and Paul Revere and the Raiders. When Terry became serious with Candice Bergen in ’67, Mark Lindsay moved out and Candice moved in. Where the story gets more interesting is how Sharon Tate's murder was relayed to her personal photographer and friend Shahrokh Hatami by telephone, from an intelligence agent named Reeve Whitson, ninety minutes before the police were called to the scene. Whitson and Bugliosi then coerced Hatami’s testimony by threatening him with deportation. Sheriff interviews with witnesses were withheld from the defense team, and detectives claimed that important evidence was destroyed by their superiors (including a taped confession describing murders that were never discovered) which the LA district attorney’s office seizes before it could be heard. Reeve Whitson’s lawyer, Neil Cummings, said that he was in a 'top-secret arm of the CIA', even more secretive than most of the agency. Richard Edlund, a Hollywood special effects man, said: “He operated in the CIA – I believe he was on their payroll.” Others who alleged that Whitson was part of the CIA, include LAPD detective Mike McGann. Author John Irvin said he was “on the fringes of very far-out research” for the government, “not discussed openly because it verges on the occult.” Whitson's job, it seems, was to infiltrate hippie groups for intelligence purposes ... his social circle also included Curtis LeMay and Otto Skorzeny (obviously no ordinary longhairs). O'Neill and others also relate Robert and Art Linkletter to the story, including their participation in producing surf and folk music, and connections to Terry Melcher and the Manson family. Robert Linkletter is alleged to have been the Zodiac Killer. He also mentions an Island in Canada operated and run by Linkletter associates and frequented by Allen Dulles. Manson, JFK, Zodiac, Sirhan ‘, MLK all have a common Toronto/ Canadian link with drugs, musicians, hypnotic programming and mind altering for ongoing Intelligence Operations (see William Weston's June 2020 article "Linkletter, Whitson, and Manson: Agents Provocateur for the Helter-Skelter Plot"). Al of this coincided with CIA’s infamous CHAOS begun in 1967 and then expanded by Richard Nixon in 1969, directed by Richard Helms and run by James Angleton. It was characterized as going into its tightest security mode in July of 1969, the month before the Tate murders. The so-called War on Drugs was used for the same purpose at the same time. Mae Brussell concluded that all of these persons involved were agent provocateurs; appearing at a time to increase violence, in order to make law and order necessary to protect us from the hippies and anti-war demonstrators at large in our society ... and like Oswald, Sirhan and Ray, Charles Manson was a patsy. Tom O'Neill also connects some dots with Jack Ruby. West, at OU at the time of the assassination tried to insert himself almost immediately into the proceedings by petitioning Judge Joe Brown to examine Ruby for the court but was rebuffed. Three times West (in his files) referred to being told to do this, but never identified by whom. When Ruby was convicted of murder, he fired his attorney's and hired one of their team for the appeal; Hubert Winston Smith, a psychiatrist with a law degree ... one of his first actions was to bring in West for a reexamination of Ruby. Afterwards he claimed Ruby had an "acute psychotic break" in the last 48 hours ("a man completely unhinged who, hallucinated, heard voices.") Prior to West's visit, a half dozen psychiatrists found him "essentially compos mentis (i.e., sane)". Colleagues at OU described West as a "devious man", "egotistical" and a narcissist. O'Neill talked to Dr. Jay Shurley, West's friend of 45 years who worked with him, one of the few he interviewed to admit West was CIA. He asked if he thought West would accept an assignment to scramble Ruby's mind ... his gut feeling, was “yes". Gene

Jim Your review is cogent. Brandt has solid credentials but appears to be an amateur historian who doesn't understand the deeper truth about events like the Bay of Pigs and Kennedy's election. His instincts about the testimony of Jack Ruby and the importance of Earlene Roberts are well founded, especially who the two policemen were in that car outside her boarding house. But he isn't apparently adding anything new here. I agree with Calvin that the lack of citations, references and a bibliography are telling ... did he actually do any original groundwork (interviews of principals, independent investigation)? With all that we know today about the inconsistencies in the case, and the role of intelligence parties, Oswald's strange affiliations, the New Orleans and Mexico City intrigues, Tippit's murder - Brandt's thesis is pure speculation. Simply a spin on the official storylines that have since proven questionable. Perhaps Robert Blakey might find Brandt's story credible ... but I'll bet Dick Sprague and Rob Tannenbaum would not. This was no ordinary homicide, as both of those guys well recognized: We were trying to investigate like we would any other murder case,” Tannenbaum said, but added it was not possible to do so. He cited examples of evidence that disappeared, a CIA agent providing false testimony, and numerous other examples of improprieties which led him to believe that the “search for truth” in the case was going nowhere. Gene