Tannenbaum's homicide investigators

[Evan Marshall]

anybody aware of any comments or statements by the veteran homicide dick's Tannebaum brought to Washington?

[Dawn Meredith]

[quote name='Evan Marshall' date='May 24 2007, 09:34 PM' post='103572']

anybody aware of any comments or statements by the veteran homicide dick's Tannebaum brought to Washington?

Not sure I understand this question Evan. Gaeton Fonzi covers the wonderful Bob Tannenbaum in some debth in The Last Investigation.

Do you mean statements he may have made since HSCA?

Dawn

[Evan Marshall]

[quote name='Evan Marshall' date='May 24 2007, 09:34 PM' post='103572']

anybody aware of any comments or statements by the veteran homicide dick's Tannebaum brought to Washington?

Not sure I understand this question Evan. Gaeton Fonzi covers the wonderful Bob Tannenbaum in some debth in The Last Investigation.

Do you mean statements he may have made since HSCA?

Dawn

no, any statements by the homicide guys he hired for the House Committee-I've read several of his statements

[Michael Hogan]

Andy at Last Hurrah carries this:

(4975) Tannenbaum, Robert K, with Jim DiEugenio: INTERVIEW BY JIM DIEUGENIO, MAY 26TH 1996 Los Angeles 1999, 1st ed. Oversize, LSC, Fine cond.., 29 pgs., Deals with Tannenbaum's tenure as Deputy Chief Counsel of HSCA ... $14.00 ... SALE PRICE ... $8.00

http://www.lasthurrahbookshop.com/sale.html

Edited May 28, 2007 by Michael Hogan

[Evan Marshall]

Andy at Last Hurrah carries this:

(4975) Tannenbaum, Robert K, with Jim DiEugenio: INTERVIEW BY JIM DIEUGENIO, MAY 26TH 1996 Los Angeles 1999, 1st ed. Oversize, LSC, Fine cond.., 29 pgs., Deals with Tannenbaum's tenure as Deputy Chief Counsel of HSCA ... $14.00 ... SALE PRICE ... $8.00

http://www.lasthurrahbookshop.com/sale.html

read it-thanks

[J. Raymond Carroll]

anybody aware of any comments or statements by the veteran homicide dick's Tannebaum brought to Washington?

I'm not sure that the HSCA ever did very much of what a real homicide investigator like yourself would do. Fonzi's Miami investigation you know about, and the HSCA did find Tippit witness Jack Tatum, but offhand I cannot think of much else that would qualify for your definition of homicide investigation.

I don't think much of anything was accomplished during Tannenbaum's tenure, and I have never seen any indication that Tannenbaum or his people had even read very much about the case. When the going got tough, Tannenbaum got going, and he didn't stop until he reached the safety and comfort of Beverly Hills.

Tannenbaum went on to a successful career as a crime novelist, drawing upon his experience as an assistant DA in Manhattan. It recently emerged, however, that Tannenbaum's novels were actually written by his cousin and that Tannenbaum was paid for allowing the use of his name as "author."

For a discussion of Tannenbaum's literary career, check this link.

http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/a_writers_l...el_gruber_.html

[Evan Marshall]

anybody aware of any comments or statements by the veteran homicide dick's Tannebaum brought to Washington?

I'm not sure that the HSCA ever did very much of what a real homicide investigator like yourself would do. Fonzi's Miami investigation you know about, and the HSCA did find Tippit witness Jack Tatum, but offhand I cannot think of much else that would qualify for your definition of homicide investigation.

I don't think much of anything was accomplished during Tannenbaum's tenure, and I have never seen any indication that Tannenbaum or his people had even read very much about the case. When the going got tough, Tannenbaum got going, and he didn't stop until he reached the safety and comfort of Beverly Hills.

Tannenbaum went on to a successful career as a crime novelist, drawing upon his experience as an assistant DA in Manhattan. It recently emerged, however, that Tannenbaum's novels were actually written by his cousin and that Tannenbaum was paid for allowing the use of his name as "author."

For a discussion of Tannenbaum's literary career, check this link.

http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/a_writers_l...el_gruber_.html

the fact that experienced Homicide Dicks were there even for a brief period may have been extremely valuable

[William Kelly]

David Talbot's Brothers (p. 382-383)

"...Soon after he was hired as the deputy chief counsel of the HSCA in December 1976, Robert Tanenbaum came to see Richard Schewiker in his Senate office. The Assassinations Committee was picking up the investigation where Schweiker and Hart had left it, and Schweiker was going to hand over his JFK file to the recently formed panel. Tanenbaum was a thirty-three-year-old, streetwise product of the legendary New York DA Frank Hogan's office, where he had one every one of his murder cases, rising to become deputy chief of the homicide bureau. When the young prosecutor was recruited by the chief counsel of the Assassinations Committee, Richard A. Sprague, he made clear that he would only take the job if he could treat the JFK investigation like one of his New York homicide cases - with no political compromises, no interference. Sprague, the former district attorney of Philadelphia, assured Tanenbaum that he had the same philosophy and the two men began assembling an aggressive team - including investigative reporter Gaeton Fonzi, an experienced holdover from the Schweiker subcommittee, and Cliff Fenton, a savvy, black homicide detective whom Tannenbaum brought with him from New York."

"But as soon as Tanenbaum began talking with Schweiker that day, he realized he had been very naive. There was no way that this case would follow the usual steps of a homicide investigation. 'First of all,' Schweiker told Tanenbaum, after aksing all staff members to leave his office, 'you should know that they're going to stonewall you.' While the young prosecutor was trying to absorb this staratling idea - that duly elected representatives of teh American people should expect to be defied by forces more powerful than themselves - Schweiker told him something even more shattering. 'In my judgement,' the senator said, 'the CIA was invovled in the murder of the president.'"

"Tanenbaum physically recoiled. 'When I heard that, every capillary in my body went into electrified shock,' he recalled. 'This was a United States senator telling me this!'"

"That night, Tanenbaum took the Schweiker file home to the townhouse near American University he had rented after moving to Washigton. He and Cliff Fenton pored over the stack of papers until three in the morning. When they finally finished, Fenton got to his feet and made his way to the door, with Tanenbaum following him outside. Standing on the brick sidewalk in the early morning chill, the homicide cop looked at his boss and sad, 'We are in way over our heads. And there's no Frank Hogan here to protect you.' Tanenbaum knew he was right."

"Nonetheless, the prosecutor plowed forward. He and Sprague began to subpoena CIA officials, bringing them before the House Committee to undergo aggressive questioning for the frist time about the assssination of President John F. Kennedy. When Tanenbaum irst jointed the committee, he had no strong opinions about the case - for years, he had assumed the Warren Commission got it right. But as he and his investigators dug deeper, he came to the same conclusions of those in a long line of Washington insiders, from Bobby Kennedy to Richard Schweiker. 'The more we looked into it, the most productive area of investigation was clearly the CIA - namely, those operatives who had worked with the anti-Castro Cubans.' Tanenbaum said in an interview."

I talked briefly with Tanenbaum after he gave a talk at an early COPA confernce in DC. I was sort of taken aback by his clean-cut, carismatic looks, not the New York "streetwise" sense Talbot attributes him.

I simply asked him why he had to write a fictional novel, when like Fonzi, the story of the Kennedy assassination doesn't need fiction, as sticking with what actually happend is fascinating enough.

He just shrugged and walked off.

Now I understand that he didn't even write the fiction.

And Tanenbaum did have a Frank Hogan to back him - Richard Sprague, who when he was fired as the HSCA chief counsel said, "Congress is not the place to investigate a homicide."

BK

[J. Raymond Carroll]

The fact that experienced Homicide Dicks were there even for a brief period may have been extremely valuable

You might expect that, but I fear you would be disappointed.

One of Harold Weisberg's most frequent laments, and perhaps the truest thing he ever said, was that -- in the case of John F. Kennedy's murder -- ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS FAILED US.

If I interpret Harold correctly, he intended to include ALL the institutions of law enforcement. Do you think he did not intend to include Homicide Dicks?

[Evan Marshall]

The fact that experienced Homicide Dicks were there even for a brief period may have been extremely valuable

You might expect that, but I fear you would be disappointed.

One of Harold Weisberg's most frequent laments, and perhaps the truest thing he ever said, was that -- in the case of John F. Kennedy's murder -- ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS FAILED US.

If I interpret Harold correctly, he intended to include ALL the institutions of law enforcement. Do you think he did not intend to include Homicide Dicks?

have no idea what he considered and local cops may not have made his radar

if would be foolish not to take a look

Edited May 29, 2007 by Evan Marshall

[William Kelly]

The fact that experienced Homicide Dicks were there even for a brief period may have been extremely valuable

You might expect that, but I fear you would be disappointed.

One of Harold Weisberg's most frequent laments, and perhaps the truest thing he ever said, was that -- in the case of John F. Kennedy's murder -- ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS FAILED US.

If I interpret Harold correctly, he intended to include ALL the institutions of law enforcement. Do you think he did not intend to include Homicide Dicks?

have no idea what he considered and local cops may not have made his radar

if would be foolish not to take a look

Hey, there are Good Coppers and their are Bad Coppers, and it has nothing to do with how many people you arrest or convict, but those who break the law and are given a blind eye by Bad Coppers on the take.

Richard Cain, Joe Cody and Patrick Dean were Bad Coppers, while Roger Craig, Fuge in Louisiana, and Evan Marshall are examples of Good Coppers.

The local law enforcement then and now is in no position to investigate the homicide of a president without the assistance and cooperation of a Task Force of cooperating state and federal agencies.

They all can't be on the take.

BK

[Evan Marshall]

The fact that experienced Homicide Dicks were there even for a brief period may have been extremely valuable

You might expect that, but I fear you would be disappointed.

One of Harold Weisberg's most frequent laments, and perhaps the truest thing he ever said, was that -- in the case of John F. Kennedy's murder -- ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS FAILED US.

If I interpret Harold correctly, he intended to include ALL the institutions of law enforcement. Do you think he did not intend to include Homicide Dicks?

have no idea what he considered and local cops may not have made his radar

if would be foolish not to take a look

Hey, there are Good Coppers and their are Bad Coppers, and it has nothing to do with how many people you arrest or convict, but those who break the law and are given a blind eye by Bad Coppers on the take.

Richard Cain, Joe Cody and Patrick Dean were Bad Coppers, while Roger Craig, Fuge in Louisiana, and Evan Marshall are examples of Good Coppers.

The local law enforcement then and now is in no position to investigate the homicide of a president without the assistance and cooperation of a Task Force of cooperating state and federal agencies.

They all can't be on the take.

BK

my reason for asking is that almost revery witness has a speck of gold them and some the mother loade and don't know it-had very few cases where I had no idea who the killer was-mostly did not have enough for court

[Robin Finn]

It's been over 10 years since I read Tanenbaum's novel about his HSCA time,but didn't he write in it about a film that had been discovered showing LHO in Louisiana with other suspects in the case? Then he was less certain about what the film showed when he testified before the ARRB and more certain when he was interviewed by PROBE Magazine.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

Then he was less certain about what the film showed when he testified before the ARRB and more certain when he was interviewed by PROBE Magazine.

I know I'm a lazy sod, Robin: Any chance you could post links?

Thank you.

[Robin Finn]

Here is a link to the PROBE interview:

Tanenbaum Interview