James Richards

MacDonald also died during the early stages of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. He was only 59. Was he about to be called to appear before the HSCA? I have the email address of Macdonald's son. Do you think he is worth contacting?

James, do you have a photograph of Torbet Macdonald? (John Simkin)

Hi John,

I absolutely think MacDonald's son would be worth contacting. You just never know.

I also have some shots of MacDonald. His first name is Torbert by the way. My scanner isn't working at the moment but if you have any shots of JFK and Jackie's wedding, in the large group shots, MacDonald is second from the right in front.

James

Hi John,

I have been Googling Forrestal and he does indeed appear to have been involved with the 'MJ12' group.

The link below speaks about his death which includes an extention to UFO's.

FWIW.

http://keyholepublishing.com/Death%20of%20...20Forrestal.htm

James

As always, thanks, James. I'll check the spelling of his name. Do you by chance have his photo? (Tim Gratz)

Tim,

I don't have a photo of Lopez but I do have one of Miguel Casas Saez somewhere. My scanner is not working at the moment and I'll have to locate the image which could be anywhere amongst a stack of boxes.

Nothing like being organized.

James

One of the men who shot Kennedy was Miguel Casas Sayez. According to James Angleton, Casas was personally selected for the assassination by Raul Castro. (Tim Gratz)

Hi Tim,

I have the spelling as Miguel Casas Saez. He was also known as Angel Dominguez Martinez. There was also a family reference; a spin off like 'Migito' or something like that. Word is he was a fruit loop, a real loose head who was up for anything.

FWIW.

James

John,

Do you know if the James Forrestal mentioned is the same one who was supposedly mixed up with the 'Majestic 12' group?

James

Hi Al,

I have a source who is checking military flights out of Laos (plus the little airstrip on the Thai border) for the 9th onwards. If this is what I think it is, then I don't believe it will be on the record.

What I can tell you about Pakse Base Man is that he was CIA and was known as 'Jim'. I have not been able to put him and Conein together but it's not like anyone is volunteering information.

James

I think Bishop was in the thick of the things that we are interested in alright but I suspect he represents the off the books side of things. If there were any records on him before the BOP I suspect its in some files we won't see. Just as Victor Hernandez was officially booted out of the New Orleans area training camp (as far as the records on him go) but according to his own testimony went on to go on several missions into Cuba. If Bishop/O'hare was really working with Op 40 in its darkest political action/elimination side I don't expecteto find any memos... (Larry Hancock)

I think you are right, Larry. As far as rogue operations go, he may have been the 'go to' man for Morales. I have always suspected that Bishop/O'Hare was the man Morales used to recruit Vidal and Hargraves for Dallas.

As you say, I won't waste any energy looking for documents to back that up.

James

Larry,

The whole Bishop deal has me scratching my head a bit. I think we agree that Bishop was actually John Adrian O'Hare. We also have Hargraves saying that the photograph supposedly showing a uniformed Col. Bishop (Dick Russell's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much') was not actually him.

That aside, we have the connection between Bishop and Rolando Masferrer which is about as interesting as things get. We also have Bishop claiming he was flown to Dallas via military aircraft and was present at Parkland Hospital when JFK's body was there. Talk about being in the thick of it.

Regarding the FBI reports, I'll have to have a hunt around on your CD as I don't have your book on hand at the moment. You'll be pleased to know it is being passed around amongst some Australian military personnel in Indonesia at the moment. I know you would be even happier if they all purchased a copy for themselves but they don't make that much money.

James

Thanks, Larry.

I'm actually surprised that Bishop sat for polygraph tests in the first place. I do remember that some of his information seemed to back up what Richard Nagell was saying.

Interesting information regarding the McClaney raid. Did the documents actually name the Cuban informants?

James

Thanks, Larry.

I too seriously doubt that Robertson was present at these camps but I was pondering an extreme long shot given the unusual 'insurance' statement he made in Africa.

Cheers,

James

Thanks, Larry. Excellent stuff.

Regarding the alleged Tannenbaum film which I agree is highly unlikely, didn't Col. Bishop also claim to have seen a training film showing Oswald at a New Orleans camp?

James

It certainly looks like her. (Ron Ecker)

Yep, that is Evelyn Lincoln alright. Here she is below.

James

Hi David,

Interesting stuff. Regarding the two Americans at the camp, what would the chances be that Rip Robertson was one of them?

I ask because according to one of the mercenaries serving with Mike Hoare at the time, when Robertson arrived in the Congo with his troop of Cubans, he introduced himself by saying, "My name is Carlos and I'm in the insurance business."

This was obviously a joke but the insurance reference is interesting.

James

Hi Stephen,

Larry DeJoseph is a pretty interesting character. Not a lot is known about him but he was associated with Gerry Hemming and Frank Sturgis in the early 1960's. The photo below shows him at Paul Poppenhager's flight school. That is him in the black shirt. Hemming is on the far right and Sturgis is in the center of frame (white shirt partially obscured by the pedestrian).

The photos of he and Ferrie show them scouting a location for the Louisiana camp. I believe the relationship between the two and how it came to be might just prove significant.

James

I can ck the date, but believe it was an 1964 artical in the Pasadena, California, "Star News" stating that Oswald had met with the Castro agent "VEGA" in Mex.City. This likely the same Francisco Vega that put me through a two + hour sweat at Havana Hdqtrs. 1960. Vega later entered the U.S. illegally at New York,City. It was with great joy that I gave him to my Intelligence contacts. (Harry Dean)

Thanks, Harry.

Do you remember Vega's full name as being Francisco Vega Varela?

James

In the interview with Roy Hargraves which is printed in Larry Hancock's wonderful book, Hargraves mentions that a possible Oswald impersonator in Florida could have been a Castro agent by the name of Pina Randa.

I was wondering if any forum members have come across this name before as it is a new one for me?

This is certainly interesting given that also in Florida, Loran Hall was associating with a suspected Castro agent in Manuel Aguilar (a man Hargraves actually liked) and in California, Lawrence Howard was associating with Rene Valdez, another suspected Castro agent - a man Harry Dean was asked to monitor.

All that aside, if anyone has anything on Pina Randa, it would be greatly appreciated.

James

Hi Stephen,

Sorry to jump in here; I'm sure you feel like you are being swamped.

I was wondering if you have any details regarding the relationship between Ferrie and Larry DeJoseph?

BTW, welcome to the forum.

James

Do you know who the uniformed military man is, shown between Hughes and Johnson? (Ron Ecker)

Hi Ron,

That would be General Clifton.

Image below shows Clifton, Jesse Curry, Lady Bird and LBJ.

James

A group of Mexican-Americans were involved with the Cubans and acted as translators, some provided by Manuel Avila, who most probbaly knew Jack Ruby, also involved in ilegal arms sales. Avila was a honcho in the Mexican-Americamn community, and he employed J D Tippit, in a part-time security job.

Working for Avila gave Tippit knowledge of the Latin underworld and the fringe of the Cuban undergound. The Mexican-American group moved into the 3200 block of Harlendale about the same time that the Cubans moved into 3126 Harlendale. (Dixie Dea)

Linda Christopher, Tippit's niece, claimed she borrowed a Spanish language book from the library for her Uncle. Tippit returned it to her during the early morning of the assassination.

Now given that Tippit was working part time at the Stevens Park Theater, speaking Spanish or at least knowing what was being said around him would have been advantageous. However, since Tippit had supposedly been in the Theater's employ since 1956, he sure took his time getting around to it. Or was his interest in Spanish piqued by the activity around Harlendale?

It would also be interesting if there was a relationship between Manuel Avila and Manuel Orcarberrio from the Dallas chapter of Alpha 66.

James

So, are Joannide's fingerprints on this? IOWs CIA? And did this go out to other outlets that picked it up? Other papers? Was it published concurrently with the finding of the backyard pix that LIFE used in its article? I'm presuming the backyard photos were found shortly after LHO arrest. thoughts? (Christy Cox)

Christy,

I can only assume that Joaniddes was all over this but have nothing to back it up. The publication the article was printed in was the Trinchera which was the official publication of the Cuban Student Directorate. I have the front page somewhere but will have to hunt it down.

I don't know if it was published anywhere else but I doubt it, especially in anything mainstream as they had jumped all over the lone nut angle very quickly.

As far as the backyard photos go, my understanding is that on the afternoon of the 23rd, DPD found two images at the Paine's residence. One ended up with the Warren Commission, the other vanished.

Others came from Roscoe White's wife in about 1976 and from George DeMohrenschildt's possessions in about 1977. If I have that wrong then I'm sure a forum member will correct me.

James

James, when was this published and where on timeline does this appear with other similar articles on LHO published around the country?  Was it the first published piece (not just DRE) telling about the Oswald Russia episode and his lefty leanings?  Where does it fit with, say the discovery and subsequent publishing of the backyard pix? The LIFE expose on LHO?  Thanks as always.

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Christy,

The piece was published on the 23rd of November, 1963. I gather that Bringuier was very keen to get this out early. I guess while everyone else was glued to their television sets that weekend, Bringuier was locked away producing copy; unless of course it was already prepared but that means he would have known what was going to happen. Nah!!

James

3. Many of the Castro ran Oswald stories that came out after the assassination were shown to be false by the Warren Commission and the HSCA. What's worse, is that a number of these stories have been shown by writers such as Larry Hancock to have originated with the DRE, an anti-Castro Cuban group ran by the CIA. One of their propaganda chiefs was Carlos Bringuier, who just so happened to have had a (widely rumored to be staged) fight with Oswald in New Orleans. (Pat Speer)

Below is one of the first DRE publications supporting the Castro did it party line.

James

Given the discussion on Cliff Carter, I post the following image purely as a curiosity. It is a rarely published photograph taken just before the swearing in ceremony on AirForce One and before Jackie Kennedy's arrival. I would love to have been a fly on the wall.

Left to right, Judge Sarah T. Hughes, LBJ, Evelyn Lincoln (background), Homer Thornberry, Jack Brooks (arms folded), Cliff Carter and Bill Moyers.

James

Good stuff, John.

If I remember correctly, the Chinese successfully tested their first atomic bomb at the time of the Jenkins scandel which certainly would have helped to deflect attention.

James

I don't believe the persons who set up the assassination planned on using Oswald as a lone nut assassin, but to link one of the shooters to Castro, the USSR and communism. (Al Carrier)

I don't wish to divert this thread away from the excellent ballistics discussion but I believe Al's sentence above is something that should be isolated and absorbed completely.

To think beyond a lone nut conspiracy plan (now there's an oxymoron for you) helps one to place the assassination into perspective. To have an assassin connected to Castro puts the blame on Communism and I agree with Al that this is what was originally intended.

It also helps one comprehend why the sudden Oswald frame and subsequent cover-up was so sloppy.

James