Pete Mellor

Joe, "Everyone's going to know who Jack Ruby is soon", is what he said to the bell-boy as he signed the back of the card.

Ron, D.P.U.K. recently had a Zoom presentation with U.S. researcher Chris Gallop. He told us that his Grandfather was a bell-boy working in the Adolphus Hotel, where Ruby would often enter to pass out his business card to tout for customers for his Carousel Club just across the street. So, Chris' Grandfather knew Ruby by sight and shortly before the big event JR came into the Adolphus and passed the bell-boy his business card. Jack then signed it on the reverse side saying something like "everyone's going to know who Jack Ruby is soon." When Chris became interested in the JFK case years later, Grandaddy gave him an old envelope containing Ruby's signed business card. A cute piece of memorabilia he has in a glass case which he displayed to us on the Zoom session.

My son bought me a copy of Armstrong's 'Harvey & Lee'. Overall the biography of LHO is well covered. But, I've never swallowed the two mothers stuff or the two little boys groomed for clandestine work for CIA. Too near the twilight zone.

Gerry's original photo shows the '63 County jail building, circled in red on the right side of the picture. The building stands on the corner of Main & Houston & next to the County Records Bldg., on Houston. The Dallas sheriff's office was also in the County Jail bldg., with their car park behind the north knoll., where gunfire, gun smoke & smell of gunpowder was detected on the 22nd., when Decker's men were taking no part in the security detail for JFK's visit, just stood on the sidewalk on the corner of Main & Houston to see the parade pass. Situated on the 6th floor of the County jail was a holding cell where on the 22nd John Powell along with around 20 inmates are reported as observing two men on the 6th floor of the TSBD, prior to the arrival of the motorcade. The men in brown clothing seen by Powell so clearly he could observe the adjusting of the rifle's scope.

I agree James. ....and 'just one more thing', I've long thought that Greg Doudna is the nearest thing to Lieutenant Columbo that we have in this Forum!

Or, to see if it was really LHO and not a replacement sent to the U.S. to spy on them. It is an interesting thought, especially considering Marina has been described as a 'swallow' by Soviet agency in Minsk. We know Marina was previously in Leningrad hooking into U.S. defector Webster. Did U.S. intelligence know of this by the 24th Nov? Quite possibly if Marina's address book had been scrutinised over the previous 48hrs. As Gerry states above, The Russians seem to be good at producing doubles.

Not sure what you are getting at. What information do you think could be revealing with regards to the location of a cremation? It was at the Ferncliff Crematorium, Hartsdale, N.Y. Attended by Yoko's employed security guard Doug McDougall. Disturbingly, after years of close shadowing of Lennon and suspected phone tapping by the FBI, Yoko employed McDougall who was ex-FBI. Interestingly, he and other security personnel, all managed by Yoko, all not on duty on 8th December.

I've never read Goldman, so my only comment would be, how does he know the first two shots caught Lennon in the back and spun him around. The Roosevelt surgeon & nurses describe 4 entries from the front from relatively close range, upper left chest. Are those bullet holes in the vestibule glass too low. With these doors opening inwards I wonder how Chapman's shot position could cause these holes. The kicker is that this was another open and shut case, the perp admitted his guilt on site and so it seems the NYPD didn't require any detailed follow up investigation. Hence the anomalies and confusions today.

Thanks for that Pamela. It's interesting that at 17:30 the Lennon's limousine failed to turn up to take them to the Record Plant, so they had to share a cab with others. This is when Chapman got his copy of Double Fantasy signed, photographed by Paul Goresh. David's book just states that the driver of the limo back from the Record Plant is unknown. Also interesting in that Hoffman piece is this:-"Where's Lennon?" Cullen asked. The rock star was crumpled inside a nearby vestibule, blood pouring from his chest. There were bullet holes in the glass; Cullen went to Lennon's side as Spiro cuffed the gunman. That is not where Lennon was according to David's book....in the back office of the concierge area, with testimonies and photographs showing blood on the floor. It remains strange that hollow points were causing entry & exit wounds. Whatever went on at the Dakota, I find 'Mind Games' the best publication to date on Chapman's biography, pre and post December 1980.

On November 12 this year, after Aynesworth was admitted to the UT Southwestern emergency room, doctors determined he had suffered a stroke months before. After a week at the hospital and a week in rehab, he returned home on November 25. Earlier this month, his wife, Paula Aynesworth, decided he needed to enter hospice care. He died Saturday at home. Aynesworth was 92.

I reckon that's the idea. Jack Jones' book is a waste of paper.

Who was driving Lennon that night remains a mystery. However, I've read that the Dakota driveway is too tight for a large limo's easy ingress & egress. I've stood outside the Dakota myself in the 90's and seen the arrival of people exiting a limo on the street & walking across the sidewalk into the entranceway, so it's probably the usual thing, then and now.

Season's greetings from this side of the water.

There were four witnesses who saw Chapman and doorman Perdomo after shots were heard. All four place Chapman at the left side of the entrance of the driveway (the doorman booth side). Perdomo & Chapman also stated same. Chapman also said he was twenty feet away from Lennon when he fired shots. Why were two different types of bullets recovered from John's autopsy, 1 x hollow point & 1 x 38cal?

The limo was on the street. According to statement Yoko walked down the driveway, followed by Lennon.

& that's the million dollar question David. Well, one of a few million dollar questions. Was Lennon seeking help when he entered the vestibule? Chapman standing at his shooting position just inside the entrance could not have hit John in the front, nor caused the bullet holes in the glass doors. What caused the bullet holes low down in the glass vestibule doors? If the Roosevelt hospital medical statements of Lennon's gunshot wounds are correct, i.e. shots entering left front upper chest, from relatively close range, causing vital arteries to his heart to turn into 'mush' that in their opinion would cause instant death, then how did John walk up steps, through another door into the concierge's area and on into security office to say "I've been shot"? If Chapman was using 'hollow point' bullets how did three of the four hits exit Lennon's back? Exactly how did Jay Hastings' shirt front get covered in blood? Where exactly, in front or behind or towards the courtyard, was Yoko when John was hit? Why do all the statements given by the Dakota staff etc., not concur with each other? Yet, in spite of all the unanswered questions, anomalies and non-investigation of this open and shut case, the world knows that Chapman shot Lennon, no question about it.

That's my guess Sandy, that CIA or their assets in MC were the ventriloquists.

Sandy, I must admit that I sit on the proverbial picket fence where M.C. is concerned. It has been aptly described as a swamp. Alvarado & Garro are intel ventriloquist dummies for me. What Laurent Guyenot wrote in his book 'The Unspoken Kennedy Truth', if true, is revealing. "On May 23rd., 1963, Angleton had distributed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and heads of 15 other U.S. agencies, a 27 page document about Cuban subversive activities. The document titled 'Cuban Control & Action Capabilities' contains the following problem to be solved:- An American citizen for example, can enter Mexico with a tourist card, not even a passport, and obtain a separate visa to Cuba from the Cuban consulate in Mexico City. He can go to Cuba and return supplied with a new tourist card obtained in Cuba without any indication that he has ever been there." Guyenot continues, Angleton was prescient, that is exactly what the supposed defector Lee Oswald was supposed to attempt to do four months later. The paper reveals Angleton's personal interest in the Cuban consulate in Mexico City in mid '63.

Paul, Lennon's autopsy report has never been publicly released. The autopsy was performed by Elliot Gross, who replaced Michael Baden (he of HSCA medical panel) in 1979. Gross had a very controversial career to say the least, allegations of misleading causes of death and concealment of evidence and accusations of corruption, leading in 2003 to a ban in performing autopsies. Gross' reported conclusions concerning entry and exit wounds on Lennon's body were not in agreement with the surgeon and two nurses who worked on John at Roosevelt hospital.

I have read Fenton Bresler's 'Who Killed John Lennon' + Jack Jones' 'Let Me Take You Down' + John Wiener's 'Gimme Some Truth' + Phil Strongman's 'John Lennon-Life, Times & Assassination' + Strongman & Parker's 'John Lennon & The FBI Files'. Having just finished reading 'Mind Games' I can say that I have learned more solid facts on John's assassination than all the previous publications put together. I strongly recommend David Whelan's book. Why? Because of the glaring similarities, or as per the title of this thread states, the disturbing parallels of political executions of the 1960's. Particularly the killing of RFK. I have always found Chapman's biography strange, to say the least, but I have learned a lot more of his links with nefarious characters and associations. Yet, in this open and shut case, there is so much that remains an unexplained mystery. As for the Dakota scene itself, the medical evidence, the ballistics, the bullet holes in vestibule doors all show that Chapman could not have killed Lennon. 2 + 2 does not make 4 in this case. The official narrative is impossible. Therefore we are looking at a programmed patsy-assassin as per Sirhan. I know this is open for those who will compare this to fake moon landings etc. I would invite those to read Whelan's solid investigation and report their interpretations of his work, rather than ridicule the book simply because the world knows that Chapman shot Lennon.

Who was the 'Leon' that visited the Odio apartment? As Fonzi wrote:-The visit was more likely on September 25,26, or 27. If it were, then Oswald, judging from evidence developed by both the Warren Commission and this committee, had to have had access to private transportation to get to Dallas from New Orleans a situation that indicates possible conspiratorial involvement. Who was the imposter reported by Hoover as using Oswald's birth certificate while LHO was in Russia? Who hitched a lift with Ralph Yates? Who was the crazy Oak Cliff rifle range shooter? Who was the Lincoln Mercury test drive person who caused the salesman to write the name Lee Oswald? Who was creating a scene at the Dobbs House restaurant, identified as Oswald, while LHO was working at the Depository? Answer these questions and we can then look at Calloway's fleeing cop killer.

Gil, Your usual thorough summation of the legal process. Which I note has not been challenged by the Oswald guilty advocates. Please excuse my deviation from your topic, but knowing of your law enforcement background I have a general question, not related to this case, but which I have read. Being from U.K., ballistics is not a subject I am familiar with. Q1) Do U.S. police forces use hollow point bullets? Q2) Do these type of bullets fragment upon hitting a victim and therefore do not penetrate a body? (So that a 2nd innocent person is not hit.)

Paul, Thanks for the heads up on Robbie's OotB., Very interesting to hear D.W. Looking forward to this book dropping through my letterbox.

Det., R.D. Lewis arrived at DPD and immediately went to the ID Bureau offices. He removed his coat and was quickly briefed on the subject. He was told that Frazier lives close to Oswald's wife, worked at the TSBD with Oswald, and gave Oswald a ride to Irving on weekends. They also tell him that 'Homicide is pretty sure that Oswald is the man they want, but the Frazier kid is something else.' They tell him that they wonder if Frazier is an accomplice and that is why he appears so scared. And isn't that what Fritz wants to know? Is this just an ordinary guy, or part of something bigger? (The Day Kennedy Was Shot-Bishop p609) Stovall admitted to WC Attorney Joseph Ball that he was present during the polygraph. He explained "in our polygraph room we've got a two-way mirror there and in another room behind it, so that the officer that is investigating the case, if he wants to, can watch the examination being given, and you can hear the questions and the answers." When Det. Lewis later described at least five people in the room, this is what he meant. They were all behind the mirror, not standing beside Frazier's chair.

Today, the 43rd anniversary of John's killing, David Whelan's three year investigation of this mindless event has culminated in the publication of his book 'Mind Games: The Assassination of John Lennon', which is available on Amazon in paperback price $20. According to the book's rear cover, "Whelan's investigation uncovered evidence which proves that Chapman was a mind-controlled patsy enabling a second shooter to assassinate Lennon as he entered his Dakota residence. Whelan concludes that nefarious individuals and hidden organisations conspired to kill John Lennon." To quote Sean Ono Lennon "Pacifist revolutionaries are historically killed by the government, and anybody who thinks that Mark Chapman was just some guy who killed my dad for his personal interests is insane, I think, or very naive, or hasn't thought about it clearly." As this thread, raised by Mr Whelan claims, 'Disturbing Parallels' between Lennon's killing and other political executions of the 1960's, I would recommend reading this book. Apple tv has produced a series 'John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial' which raises the spectre of the CIA’s mind-control program, MK-ultra which is covered. Including the fact that a CIA MK-ultra control consultant, Milton Kline, was allowed access to Chapman through his defence team. Previously unseen archive footage of Milton Kline is then shown. Manchurian Candidates, Kline states: “you could train them to use firearms indiscriminately, you could train them to shoot people with very little feeling or thought. With no hesitancy. With no concern”. Among the many disturbing aspects of this case which David Whelan highlights in his book are the statements from the Roosevelt Hospital staff who worked on Lennon, Dr. David Halleran says John Lennon was shot four times in his left front chest, with three bullets coming out of his left back - at close range. Chapman was 25 feet behind Lennon. Disturbing parallels with Sirhan.