Larry Hancock

Hi William, there are several things about the document that interest me and I would like to verify its provenance - which is why I needed the NARA document number. I'm also curious if Berenice has a separate source or took it from your site, that could help locate it at NARA and see if there are any other related memos such as a reply from State to Hoover. Some of the things that interest me are the fact that Hoover seems to be writing the memo to the State Dept in regard to some advice from the State Department to the FBI's Cuban Affairs coordinator in Miami - I'd like to know more about the FBI having a Cuban Affairs Coordinator in Miami as that is new to me. Also, after reading hundreds of FBI reports which shield the identify of their "sources and informants" with numbers such as T-3 etc I'm sort of interested in Hoover's disclosure to the State department of names and details of FBI sources within other agencies - especially the fact that these are supposedly employees of CIA nd DIA. It just seems atypical of Hoover who was not normally free with information - it's also sort of strange to have a CIA employee volunteering information to the FBI rather than passing it through his own agency - plus giving his actual name since normally CIA folks even use crypts in internal communications other than personnal matters, expecially field agents/case officers. If you could share the source of the document or if you have a NARA cover sheet for it I'd certainly appreciate seeing it. -- thanks, Larry

Bernice, do you have a RIF number for that document - part of it looks very familiar to me but the bottom part does not. I'd like to see if I can veryify it in the CIA segregated files or in a NARA search but a RIF number would really speed that up. Thanks, Larry

John, I have to say I do find the Stockdale incident very interesting but there is a lot of speculation going on without some important data. First, nothing in Adele's background mentions his earlier association with Hancock in Automatic Vending (even though Hancock was apparently a pall bearer at Stockdale's funeral). There is no mention of his other vending machine venture that got him into legal trouble concident with his appointment as ambassodor and we have no details about that or how it ever came out? It is a bit unusual to see someone give up an appointment as Ambassador - that usually costs plenty of money in campaign contributions, what was going on with Stockdale's businesses and finances that brought that about? As a close friend of JFK and a former business associate of Hancock it is very possible that Stockdale felt very badly about the Baker Serve U Corp scandal which was doing so much damage to the Administration - Stockdale could easily have ended up even being called as a witness on that. One of the big open issues that never got resolved was Hancock's real role in Serve U Corp beyond being apparently no more than a front for the company and not really involved in its business affairs. There is just a lot that we don't know about things that may have been affecting Stockdale in late 1963, aside from the murder of a close friend. One of the questions that crossing my mind is why no reporter did a better job with the Stockdale death, especially given his known association with some of the people involved in the exploserve Serve-U corp scandal? Another is why he was apparently talking to lawyers right before his suicide? I'm certainly not suggesting Stockdale might not have had some suspicions (although I really have a problem with him knowing anything specific about a threat to JFK and keeping it to himself for months). In any event, if he shared anything with the Kennedy family I find it very consistent that they gave him no response at all. There is a clear pattern of Kennedy family participation quashing any real investigation of conspiracy and in acutally removing evidence - that has been documented elsewhere. There is a scenario that does explain that and I have addressed it in my book, it involves the secret war on Cuba, the Castro assassination attempts and national security. Whether or not we will ever know more about that than we do now is a good question, there are some good researchers pursuing that angle though. On Stockdale, it's surely a lead worth pursuing but somebody needs to go back to the basics and investigate Frates, Gaither, Stockdale's personal and business situation etc. I just don't think we have enough data for conclusions. -- Larry

Hi William, here goes: 1) Martin may call Cain a hitman, I would be interested in specifics of any murders linked to him; in any case that would still not necessarily qualify him as a skilled rifle class marksman which he would need to be as a DP shooter. 2) I'm familiar with Escalante as a source and with his remarks on Diaz Garcia, I was not aware of any specific remarks he made about a Cain/Garcia meeting and will go back to look for that...thanks. Actually I would find that very consistent though in that both men are very reasonable candidates for the first Roselli organized Castro attempt. Putting them together in 63 would be another story though, we have data on Garcia then which puts him in the right places with the right people...I'd like to see something on Cains movements in 63. 3) That's a good photo showing the construction site, problem is that is is a very long way to make out facial details including glasses in a person looking out a window several blocks away; as I said, I've gone there by myself and with others and just don't find that level of detail believable although I really would like to have Carr as a data point. I'd like to see further work trying to duplicate all of Carr's observations done in DP, it deserves some real field work. -- Larry

Sorry, I see that you did cite the newspapers as sources but were there any others than the articles you referenced? I was also curious as to whether or not the articles made it clear why Stockdale might have contacted that particular reporter - John B. McDermott - did they have a history with each other, something of the nature that might cause Stockdale to consider the reporter as a confidant? -- thanks again, Larry

Thank you for posting these details... could you give us some sources and references for them as I find them fascinating and would like to read further in the source material. -- Larry

Well William, I surely wouldn't dispute the problems with gathering hard evidence; I still need to see a) some evidence that Cain was skilled with a rifle and had been practicing enough in 1963 to have passable skills, the same thing I would need to see for Roselli. Aside from that though, I'm very open to the Diaz Garcia connection with Cain early on, I think there is some very good evidence to tie Diaz Garcia to the Dallas plot - as I elaborate in my book - and I would love to see anything concrete you have on the early Garcia/Cain meeting and any association after that. In fact I'd love to see any details that you might have on Garcia in 1963. As to Carr and his observation, I'm afraid that his report or any other commentary about it has to face up to the reality of what can be observed from the site he claimed; if you or anyone else can go to Dallas and confirm that by actual experiement I would be the first to jump in line to use Carr as a data point. So far what I've done on the ground in Dallas just doesn't allow me to do so. -- Larry

John, I don't know that I've posted on Cain here before - Lancer forum participants can probably save the time of reading this though. At this point there are a good number of CIA, FBI and Chicago PD documents available on Cain which give an view into his Cain's politics and activities including his attempts to provide information to the CIA (which were declined) and to the FBI and CPD (where he was used as an informant, particularly on Cuban exile activities in Chicago). He had clearly been working with exiles on the NE side of Chicago from the early days after the Castro victory all the way through the genisis of the Sierra organization (he was reporting on that to the FBI in 1963 and even associated Roselli with it). On the other hand as far as I can tell thre is no concrete evidence that he was a praciticed or skilled marksman (which his half brother confirmed to us in comments last November in Dallas), a trainer of Cuban exiles military or a shooter in Dallas. Personally I have a real problem matching him to the description given by Carr because I have a real problem with the detail Carr relates given his distance. In my view Carr's statement on this individual is as open to question as Brennan's description of the expression on the face of the man in the 'snipers nest'. On the other hand there is some very suggestive information including that provided by his brother that Cain was used as an asset in the very earliest Giancana organized assassination plot against Castro...operating through Miami with a cover as a newsman and then on into Cuba. It's also clear that the connections and associations Cain had earlier developed while trying to start an intelligence/security company in Mexico were of value to Giancana when he left Chicago to pursue opportunities outside the U.S. Going to Mexico City with Cain made a lot of sense for Giancana. Beyond that, I'm eagerly awaiting his brothers book. -- Larry

John, I certainly do not see Phillips as either the organizer of the Dallas conspiracy nor as the prime mover in building any sort of a frame of Lee Oswald. My current belief is that Phillips was very likely manipulating Lee Oswald in a relatively minor role in a new CIA propaganda project targeting the FPCC outside the United States, specifically in Mexico. As to the mechanics of that and whether it involved Oswald himself, an impersonator or perhaps even both are beyond me.... several different scenario's are possible. I think it's pretty safe to say that whatever the plan was it was built on the "performance" and image that Oswald had built in NO only a short while before and which had been well documented by Phillips covert "media network'. There is also some reason to think that this game involved CI/SIG assets in MC and at HQ which were independent of the other MC office staff. Whatever it was though became hugely dangerous for Phillips and the CIA as a whole after Nov. 22. At a minimum, Phillips - as others in the CIA and FBI and individuals in New Orleans - knew there was a lot more to Oswald than the official Lone Nut story. It's also pretty clear that Phillips jumped on the "lets tie Oswald to Castro" bandwagon with the whole Alvarado incident (which Phillips undoubtedly knew to be bogus) and had the nerve to cover up his games in MC (his letter to the FBI stating that as of February 64 the CIA had full photo files on every American entering the Cuban embassy in Sept and Oct of 63 is raw hubris, almost daring them to ask for the photos of Oswald going in and out). The fact that such photos were never provided certainly does raise the issue of an imposter or of an Oswald associate/handler. Whether or not Phillips had shared information on Oswald in advance with Morales, whether or not he had signed up for some propoganda/media role in promoting Castro as a conspiracy sponsor is an open question. Remember, his speciality was propaganda/media control/counter intel not black ops or tactical matters, he had no military experience at all. I think it's safe to say that Phillips knew all along that the WC story was bogus, at a minimum he knew there had been a conspiracy and that his final words point in the right direction. Beyond that it's also important to remember that much of his work - such as with Veciana - was on his own initiative. He was not Veciana's CIA case officer, his manipulation of Veciana and Alpha 66 and other groups he was in contact with was at on his own agenda and generally directily opposed to that of Headquarters and certainly the Administration. Sorry for the rambling, it's a big subject and certainly not one I have any final word on beyond what I've sketched out above. -- Larry

John, neither Stockdale nor Smathers was an officer or a stockholder or seemingly involved in any way with Serve U - Bakers vending company. Both Smathers and Stockdale of course were politically connected in DC, Stockdale very active in Democratic politics. There is speculation that either of them or Smather's associates could have introduced Baker to Hancock who did become Serve U President. Stockdale and Hancock had been running a vending machine company in Florida - Automatic Vending - which seems sort of a model for Serve U, focused on govt. contracts. However Stockdale did not join Serve U and took a Kennedy appointment as Ambassador to Ireland. Upon his return to Florida he became consultant to another vending machine company which had contracts at Cape Canavaral. Shortly after his JFK appointment, Automatic Vending had been sued for improper actions in getting a contract at Aerodex but the suit was eventually dismissed. All in all there is nothing to indicate that either Stockdale or Smathers had any ties to Serve U and Stockdale's friends seem to have felt his suicide immediately following Kennedy's death was personal grief due to his identification and admiration with/for JFK. If there is something more mysterious about it nobody has connected any real dots to date and the speculation seems to be built entirely around the timing of his suicide. That's about all I can find on the subject, Larry

Hi John, here goes" 1) As far as I can tell Black was being investigated along with Howard Foundries on charges of kickbacks or some sort of bribery in regard to a government contract. I have found no evidence that this led to any criminal convictions but I don't know the exact outcome or conduct of the investigation. I do know that this was going on in 1964 at the time in which Black was convicted on tax evasion but had his conviction thrown out over the issue of the illegal FBI wire taps. Black remained very influentical through the early 70's and later maintained an apartment at the Watergate Hotel during the time of the Congressional investigations. Roselli stayed with Black during some of his time giving testimony. 2) I don't know when or if Black died; I do know that Rappleye and Becker interviewed him extensively following his 1990 release from serving time over tax evasion and that they got as about as much as he is likely to say - he did deny the warning call to Roselli that had been reported by Edith Daigle. 3) As to Stockdale, I don't think he was President of Serve-U-Corp, he had been involved in Florida with another vending machine operation along with Gene Hancock who did become Serve-U-Corps President (although as far as investigators could tell he really didn't do anything and the stockholders handled all the paperwork). The best source for all this and the ins and outs of Serve U Corp is a little paperback The Bobby Baker Affair by G.R. Schriebier - he went through all the Committee paperwork on the investigation and did a lot of digging. -- Larry

John, I'll try to address your points and not miss anything. First, Black certainly did not implicate Johnson in any testimony however Black did launch his own leagal nitiative based on the fact that the FBI had placed wire taps on him illegally and he aggressively used this action as a tool to avoid any statements at all. Of course given that the investigators never located the evidence of the Johnson meeting with the Baker/Black/NA folks the issue might have only come up if Black and introduced it. Given that the investigation was essentially gutted upon Johnson's assuming the Presidency it became a moot point in any case. I was aware of the Torbett information but as with virtually everything in Torbett it's hard to use it as a reference since there are no sources. Roselli's time in Guatamala is covered in pages 148-155 of All American Mafioso which I heartily recommend. The authors had a great deal of difficulty exploring this period but point out that whatever role Roselli was playing, his apparent sponsor was Standard Fruit (the same Standard Fruit that sponsored the INCA propaganda efforts out of New Orleans). Apparently Roselli assisted Standard Fruit in political and labor competition against its rival United Fruit. Of course all this was circa the late 50's after the earlier CIA regime overthrow and after Roselli's activities in Havana. I think it might be a mistake to see him as working with the CIA on any official basis there although he certainly might have taken advantage of some personal connections. It appears it was about big money though as most of Roselli's "consultant" work was... As to the Black interview you mentioned, no I haven't seen that and in truth I didn't pursue the Howard Foundries incident beyond Johnson's obvious concern about it as mentioned in the Johnson tapes. -- Larry

John, Antii has some good dates there....actually I've looked into this myself, partially because of John Martino's remark that they did have advance details of the motorcade and that was important to them. However, the whole route thing is no great mystery in my opinion. The President's plane had to land at Love field, every major public appearance in Dallas involved a motorcade down Main street and that brings you into Dealey Plaza. So from the beginning it was safe to plan for an attack on Main or in DP, which is why the Oswald impersonator showed himself at so many places on Main both before and after Oswald got the job in the TSBD e.g. Oct 4 at the Adolphus, Oct 31 at the Statler Hilton, Nov. 7 at the Allright Parking Garage and Nov. 16 at the Southland Hotel. The only real variable was how the motorcade would exit the Plaza and that depended on the location of the luncheon, finding out that as early as possible and finding out the sequence and personnel in the cars were the final pieces of the puzzle . However after Nov. 18 there was no longer an issue of making it look like Oswald was setting up for Main street, the issue became one of framing him in the TSBD since the President was known to be going down Elm to Stemmons. As Antti points out there were articles several days before with a verbal description of the streets to be taken including Houston and Elm and although one newspaper carried a wrong map, another carried a correct one. However as soon as the luncheon location became known known the overall route was relatively easy to figure out. Something much harder to get would have been details on vehicle sequence, vehicle occupants, exact placement of security cars, etc. The individual with an inside track on all that was Jack Puterborough, backed up by Cliff Carter, Johnson's closest aide. ....Larry

Ron, do a yahoo map search with that street address and you wil find the Cabana was immediately ajacent to Stemmons - off the south side of the access road and probably not too far from where the "Volkand" photo was taken on Stemmons. Undobutedly it had a wonderful view of the highway and downtown Dallas. There's no way to ever prove it but certainly it would have been an ideal place to monitor and control the car bomb...with zero risk. -- Larry

From some initial feedback and a Dallas historical link it appears the Cabana was right off Stemmons - in fact the locals talk about it being "on Stemmeos". It was quite the place circa 63/64...reportedly the Beatles stayed there while on tour in 1964. Much later it became - for a time - the "Bill Decker Jail" for minor offense prisoners...hmmm.... No specifics yet but it seems likely some rooms did have a good view of the freeway. --Larry

Ron, you've got the location correct I think....I recall seeing pictures and I'm sure it was at least two story. Whether or not it had a good view of Stemmens is a fascinating question....I bet someone on the Lancer Forum would know. And Lee, there should be a high enough quality photo of that vehicle off Stemmens to answer your question, I had always thought it was a semi Tractor but now that you mention it I'm no longer sure. Whatever it is it certainly is in a fine position. Larry

Greg, to the best of my knowledge nobody has really spent any time with Larry Jones, Dick Russell gives a fair amount of attention too the CUSA guys in his book The Man Who Knew Too Much and you might want to take a look at that. Dick also mentions that Look magazine interviewed Schmidt pretty extensively about their whole CUSA plan, who was involved, strategy etc. so you might check the Look back issues. Dave may be able to tell you more but of course our usual problem is that nobody not directly associated with Oswald was considered a suspect for criminal investigation - not even employees in the TSBD....or somebody like Jack Lawrence. Which means if a researcher has't pursued it there's nothing in the record from a criminal investigation perspective (which the WC obviously was not...not a DA or practicing prosecuting criminal lawyer in the crowd as I recall). Sorry I can't be of help. -- Larry

Thanks Bernice, indeed the roadway right beyond the overpass is clear of everything but people....certainly no security in that long stretch there though. But more importantly as you show, once the limo moved on to Stemmens itself there were cars right beside the roadway. A shaped charge in one or more of those vehicles would have been terribly effective if operted by radio and there could even have been more than one -- the motorcade cars would have still been going relatively slowly at that point. Hemming has always said the car bomb was just beyond the overpass but of course that could describe the ramp or right on Stemmens itself. P.S. the AR15 you described was the only weapon beyond a pistol in the whole motorcade and as I recall it was set for single shot not even semi-automatic. Interestingly enough that weapon is the subject of one of the major problems with Cliff Carter's testimony - he claims to have seen the SS man holding it up immediately after the first shot and scanning the TSBD, claims Hickey simply could not get a clear shot at Oswald. All of which is patently untrue and proven so by many photographs.... ... Larry

Hi Antti, I'd agree that there are certainly no cars parked under or immediately beyond the overpass....although it's interesting to note that there was a "stalled" pickup on Elm just inside DP until only a short while before the motorcade arrived, the DPD did monitor it and the owners got it towed away - probably just a coincidence but if the DPD had let it stay there it would have been in a perfect position. There are photos looking back from Stimmins to the underpass as the motorcade is emerging and those should be checked throughly - I have not yet seen a car parked immediately beyond the underpass though. I suspect that the most interesting areas to examine would be the Stemmins freeway access ramp and then the areas immediately adjacent to Stemmins. There are also local press and newspaper photos of some of that area, I don't know that anyone has done a good job of searching that out but I think you will find some cars parked adjacent to the freeway with people waiting for the motorcade. Another possiblity would have been the road leading into the trade center, off Stemmins. I doubt there are any photos of that exit ramp or of the Trade Center entrance but that would have been a back up in case the entire DP attack had to abort. And nobody had ever really researched the train coming over the overpass a few minutes after the motorcade passed - that is an option albeit a tricky one due to timing but susipicious in that there were concrete orders from the SS to stop all train traffic over bridges on the route for 30 min before and 30 min after the planned transit time. Finally, one area that is totally open to speculation is the road beneath the overpass itself. There were sidewalks passing under there but very little foot traffic. A bomb concealed under there would have been terribly effective....interestingly it appears that the dark complected man walked on down that way after the attack and may have gone down that sidewalk. Unfortunately it's about 39 years too late to really investigate the backup I'm afraid, which leaves it pure speculation. P.S. Which leaves us also the report from Love field that a group of men with guns were seen there after the assassination - nothing more and no follow up radio traffic, as big a loose end as the man walking west down the railroad track with a gun, the suspicious car found out that direction and towed etc. -- Larry

Lee, as per a "last ditch" plan the only evidence we have is anocdotal plus the fact that we do know that car bombs were a common MO for later attacks against Castro in Latin America - as described by Veciana. By anocdotal I mean Hargraves remarks, Hemmings remarks and general third party gossip. However another alternative used by some of these folks were bazookas and in one case in Latin America they even equipped a DC3 with heavy weapons for an attack on Castro at an airport. As to what it would have/could have been in Dallas. Pure speculation but I'm inclined to think car bomb, I don't know that we have any photos showing cars parked immediately beyond the overpass but I think there are pictures showing cars pulled off Stemmins further on. The guys in DP might simply have used a radio to let the back up team be ready with the car bomb if JFK was not clearly killed by the rifle attack. Given the lack of preparation and training for the SS at the time it probably would have worked. Your point on the acceleration of the limo, I think that occured where Greer slowed or stopped to have an exchange with the DPD car and then hit the gas afterwards taking the lead. --Larry

John, in regard to the actions of Shaw and Bannister, in general I think both acted out of sheer panic. Both had known Oswald, both had been seen in his company by small numbers of individuals, both had probably said things about JFK in the company of said individuals that sounded really serious on the evening of November 22. Bannister got drunk and did something stupid and Shaw just did something stupider - trying to get Oswald a lawyer might have been his only shot at trying to make sure Oswald did not talk at all on the stand (lawyers are very good at that, note how well it worked in the Wallace and Estes cases). The fact that Shaw also made a totally unscheduled leg from SF to Washington state has always suggested to me that he was so upset that he may have been positioning himself to flee the country depending on what Oswald started saying or what a quick investigation would turn up in New Orleans... a quick, serious investigation that is. Garrison certainly did not start with Shaw, his initial investigation started with mysterious people associated with Oswald in New Orleans...primarily Cubans. His first major investigation was in Miami where he eventually ended up using de Torres as an investigator and de Torres early press statements really helped blow that part of the investigation. You'll find the clippings on that on the book CD. It was only after this phase I of Cubans and CIA connected individuals like Santana blew apart that he stared shifting - although the major direct which got him hung up on the West Coast right wing came from Howard who was even more helpful in working with Garrison than Hemming, Hargraves and de Torres. Isn't it amazing that all four folks from Miami inserted themselves early on into the Garrison investigation? Of course both CIA and FBI had their own concerns, FBI probably more so due to their association with Oswald himself....just look at the missing Oswald files in New Orleans and the Presidendial orders relieving de Burys from having to testify fully. And it was clearly Justice and the FBI that provided direct aid and support to Shaw's defense team. Of course they had another motiviation as well, a really through investigation of Bannister might have turned up the MO of the FBI using "retired agents" security companies for most of their counter intelligence projects....a methodology probably more effective than CIA front companies. Anyway, enough rambling, hopefully some of that got close to your questions. -- Larry

Lee, thank you very much for the comments. Now I'll try to respond on your questions/points as best I can: 1) I belive there is a case for Johnson's pre-knowledge as an "accessory" with pre-knowledge. I've written six chapters detailing that case which is contingent upon three or four specific pieces of evidence. However I'm waiting for some further shake out on certain of those pieces before publishing it and hoping that occurs. It all boils down to the Estes tapes, Kyle Brown's statements about the Cliff Carter meeting, the Wallace fingerprint and any one of the three validating Loy Factor. 2) Honestly in regards to the Minox film, the situation is so confused over the cameras, the films, the photos etc that I'm not sure it's ever been resolved; if the WC or HSCA published any detailing of those films which proved who took each photo, where and when I've not seen it. Clearly they tried to imply that many of them were taken by Michael Paine while he was overseas in the military while others were taken by Oswald on his assignments in the Far East. But then again FBI would like us to think he didn't own a Minox? Anyway, I'd love to have someone educate me on that....no answer from me. 3) I'm not sure the big issue on the LBJ tape is reconstruction or whether it is interpretation. There are some serious challenges that some of the material in the published transcripts are either inaccurate or not very good transcription - that was a big bone of contention which surfaced last year. Thanks to Rex Jackson we do however know of one very precise tape erasure very similar to Watergate and in that case the LBJ library has supposedly explored restoration or at least was considering it. Check Rex's site at historymatters for a fascinating article on that. 4) There is more to Haiti but whether it involves gambling concessions or something more convoluted is a mystery....if we knew why George D, Haiti and Martin Marrietta are in Howard Burris' date book we might understand it. Right now the subject could be another book all by itself but not one I'm young enough to tackle...grin. 5) The prominent Texans going to DC for the funeral are listed; we have their names and they were all State officials who went on behalf of the gov - not private citizens as I recall and certainly not "those" citizens. 6) The uniformed officer who approached Mabra was recognized by Mabra as DPD which raises the issue of an actual DPD officer having been hired or blackmailed into providing cover on the knoll. Mabra actually stopped talking to researchers when it became clear that no officer was officially assigned back of the fence in the rail yard. 7) Hargraves reaction appears more likely to the fact that it was unknown to him that Martino had indeed confessed a minor role in the conspiracy and any elements of it; he was the first to do so and I think that shook Hargraves a good bit. Hargraves and Robert Hemming - Gerry's brother - broke off for a call back to Gerry at that point. You will notice that from that point they divert Noel from any further elaboration of Martino's comments. 8) The Raoul thing would seem to be an issue of whether or not one of the Cuban exiles involved in Dallas might have gone off to do some free lancing. We know they were all extremely anti-Communist and it may well be that given MLK's positions on Viet Nam and his association with JFK and RFK, it represented another opportunity for what was seen to be an anti-communist action.....but that's another story entirely, as would be a connection to RFK's murder. 9) In regard to the train, radios etc. This is sheer speculation but when you look at some of the blow ups of the "Cuban" on elm it is rather clear that he has something stuffed in his jacket and somethin in his back pocket as well. Could it be a radio...or a radio transmitter for a bomb in a car, a train, planted in the overpass? Sheer speculation... 10) The reference to men in DP found dead with guns in their hands may be to the fact that the shooters were selected in a manner that any of them who might have been killed or captured would have had a believable cover-story that they were either deep cover Castro agents (such plants were wll known) or simply a well paid Castro shooter. This scenario extends to the car buying incident you mentioned where the Oswald impersonator is clearly setting Oswald up not as some Castro political activist but rather as somebody who is expecting big money for doing a job. 11) On the research and follow up - that is certainly a good suggestion. You will find that much of the material in my errata/news sheets is specifically related to further research on points called out in the book...like the Red Bird DC3 incident...and there have been a few very aggressive volunteers who have stepped up to work some of the points. I'd love to have something more formal but just have not had a venu or sufficent interest yet. -- let me know what I missed in the reply, Larry

Boy you are quick James, yes that's exactly what I ended up with...looks like either lamb chop or more possibly a bunny. However if you get Tasks much higher quality images you see with no doubt that it's a white flower boquet. -- Larry

The "lamb chop" footage is the footage from Love field that I was talking about having still framed myself. It is black and white and not great quality and I was as convinced as Wallace that it was a toy - until I saw the high quality photo that I described. It truly does look like a doll in the news footage but that's because of the quality. I don't know if Wallace ever got the other photos or not. About all I can do is suggest that you take a look at the book and I think you will be persuaded we are talking about Jacke holding a boquet of white flowers and not "lamb chop", although that would have been a neat solution. In any event, Jean certainly did not make up the white object. -- Larry

John, as far as I know that "white stuffed animal" was never actually verified and indeed it is probably a mistake. For a time I bought in to it myself and did some photo enhancement from the news movie footage that seems to show a white bunny rabbit toy. However that was from a very poor quality copy of the footage and Richard Trask resolved the whole issue in his second book, That Day In Dallas. On page 29 of that book you will see that while passing off the plane Jackie must have been given a small boquet of white flowers - which she is holding under the red roses she was given immediately upon debarking. She appears to have taken both the large rose boquet and the smaller white flower boquet to the limo and it is very likely the sort of "clumpy" white flowers that Jean saw in the car....at a distance it does look sort of like one of those "rag" toys, a dog or bunny. I'm petty sure that's what Jean saw...it would really stand out in the car due to being bright white and actually gives some support to her being a good witness for detail even if she could not be sure in a quick glance exactly what it was. -- Larry