The very first time I became aware of Judyth Vary Baker was from Gerry Patrick Hemming about 10 years ago. He asked me if I would be willing to hear her out in a face to face interview. Other than it involving the assassination of JFK, Gerry supplied very little by way of a clue as to what the subject matter to be discussed would be about. Gerry knew that when I am conducting primary research (particularly eyewitness interviews) I always prefer to first form my own conclusions—independent of the judgments of even those whom I respect the most. Therefore he didn’t offer nor did I solicit his opinion of her credibility. I knew we could discuss that at a later date—compare notes, etc.
So, I agreed to meet with her—at her expense. She would be responsible to travel literally across the country and meet with me in a predetermined, busy, public location—which ended up being a sufficiently, but not too crowded restaurant—in the greater Los Angeles area. Little did I know, but this interview would take the better part of the entire day.
I was my normal charming self. For those of you who don't know me, that means I was ruthless in my bluntness; somewhat insensitive or at least dispassionate; and I was not sympathetic to her story at all. I was very much skeptical as soon as she told me the outline of her account. And, frankly, I didn’t give a damn about some extra-marital affair that she was alleging to have had with Lee Harvey Oswald. Against my own will, however, I found Judyth to be credible. She held up under my scrutiny—and I pulled no punches in my relentless attempt to “crack” her.
Then something happened. The importance of her story began to emerge and most of it had little to do with Lee Harvey Oswald. Don’t misunderstand, that was the least interesting part to me. I am unable to determine how important the affair was to the big picture, how much information she was privy to about the plot, but I did find her various relationships with others that have already been discussed on this forum to be much more relevant. Oschner, Rivera, Ferrie, et al. After the interview she and I stayed in touch for years, exchanging information, and she answered my questions without hesitation as far as I could tell.
Rather than re-hash the details of her story over again in this post, I would prefer to merely say that when all the smoke cleared, I believed her. I didn’t always arrive at the same conclusions as she did based on the same evidence, but the EVIDENCE is just that: EVIDENCE—and it needs to be treated as such.
Judyth participated on another JFK forum, but received an undeserved, negative, harshly critical, less-than-welcome there. That was most unfortunate. I attempted to defend her and was involved in many battles with other friends and well respected researchers. I stand by my original assessment, and I support her.
It is not constructive to dismiss the EVIDENCE offered by a witness simply because we don’t find them likeable or we find them otherwise objectionable. If a critic finds a witness less than credible, it seems that the critic needs to demonstrate why before summarily rejecting the witness, let alone rejecting the EVIDENCE! The dismissal of the “bathwater with the baby” is not a play on words in this case. It is difficult to debunk the EVIDENCE she has provided because it is so strong. That evidence “means something” and possibly leads somewhere. I am not in a position to suggest that everyone believe her story, agree with all of her conclusions about what the evidence means, or even personally like her. However, I would hope that honest researchers would find it beneath them to conduct their inquiry in a manner rife with ad hominem declarations.
Those who suggest that I and others, by virtue of being males, were placed “under her spell” – are mistaken. We are no longer in high school boys and girls. This is a serious subject, a serious witness, providing serious evidence.
A note to Judyth: Thank you for your sincerity and courage.