Morley and Talbot on BBC-RFK Story

[Shane O'Sullivan]

I welcome this new evidence and am sure researchers will make up their own minds about the photographs but it's a shame David and Jeff did not share everything they found. I interviewed the senior CIA official who supplied the Joannides photos and he still believes that the man at the Ambassador is 'not incompatible with Joannides'. For the record, Bradley Ayers has seen the new Morales photos and also stands by his identification of Morales at the Ambassador. I will respond to this new evidence fully in my film.

But I have to say I find the tone of this article absurdly pompous, pitching Morley and Talbot against the mighty BBC. This was one independent filmmaker on limited resources following the evidence and intriguing the BBC enough to give me twelve minutes of airtime to give an honest assessment of available evidence and ask for clarification from the CIA. It has stimulated great debate and helped generate a lot of new information on these guys.

David and Jeff loftily complain of editorial standards and 'titillating charges' when the fact is my story left them just as intrigued and titillated as the BBC and they put their reputations on the line to get the New Yorker to fund further investigation. I remember David telling me they felt like Woodward and Bernstein, ready to hit the road to crack open the Kennedy assassinations. They sought my cooperation and I supported them by sharing everything I had. Not a word about this in their article, of course.

Before my Newsnight story aired, I asked Morley to show the Ambassador photograph to Joannides' daughter. Her response was a frosty 'no comment', which Morley said he found 'telling'. He then slagged off my story publicly the day after broadcast - presumably to appease the Joannides family - before later admitting he spoke too soon and answering the call of the New Yorker.

I find a number of startling omissions in this article. Huge weight is given to the death of a 'Gordon Campbell' who is clearly not the man Bradley Ayers knew at JM/WAVE. Morley omits several new positive IDs of Joannides, then cites a negative ID by Timothy Kalaris without telling us that Timothy's father George was the successor to Angleton as the Head of Counterintelligence. It does make you wonder.

Many inaccuracies, too. David Rabern was not a CIA operations officer and never identified Morales by name. All in all, there's interesting new information here, but it's weirdly skewed. David and Jeff are great reporters but this is not the whole story, or even the whole of their story. My film will be released in the US and UK before the end of the year and will address these issues in more detail.

[Wayne Smith]

My only comment is that I remain convinced that the man in the photos is Dave Morales. I knew him well and saw him often over a period of years. And given everything else I know and knew about Morales, I’d have had no reason to doubt that he’d have been there. The other two I didn’t know at all.

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hello all,

Bradley Ayers has today written a sworn statement clarifying his position on recent developments regarding David Morales and Gordon Campbell as they relate to his book 'The Zenith Secret' and his interview with me.

As Brad does not use the internet, he asked me to forward this to interested parties, so his thoughts on these matters can be noted for the record. I attach a PDF of his statement below. Brad's address is on there, so he's happy to hear from you if you have any questions or want to communicate with him about his book.

Cheers,

Shane

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hello all,

I have just launched the website for my completed feature-length documentary at http://www.rfkmustdie.com with links to the trailer, a Kennedy campaign ad and a new Facebook discussion group I have started on the case.

RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy is released on DVD in the US on Tuesday - Robert Kennedy's 82nd birthday, had he lived. It updates my investigation into the three CIA agents at the Ambassador while revealing who "Gordon Campbell" actually was and containing extended interviews with Wayne Smith, Ruben Carbajal and Robert Walton on David Morales; Bradley Ayers and David Rabern on Morales and Campbell; and Ed Lopez on George Joannides.

The heart of the film is a thorough re-examination of the other controversies in the case. Sandra Serrano is interviewed for the first time since the night of the shooting about the girl in the polka dot dress. We also hear from Vincent Di Pierro, who saw a polka-dot dress girl standing next to Sirhan in the kitchen; eyewitnesses Frank Burns, Paul Schrade and Evan Freed; defense investigators Robert Blair Kaiser and Michael McCowan; Sirhan's brother Munir and late attorney Larry Teeter; Bay of Pigs historian Haynes Johnson; and Dr. Herbert Spiegel of Columbia University, a world authority on hypnosis, who believes Sirhan was hypnotically programmed.

There's rare archive footage from the hotel that night, with more clips of "Morales" and "Campbell" and security guard Thane Eugene Cesar. There's also previously unseen footage of Robert Kennedy and Richard Helms; and film and audio interviews with Sirhan, including the hypnotic sessions in which defense psychiatrist Dr. Diamond tried to re-enact the shooting.

It's been a really fascinating investigation and, with the fortieth anniversary next June and William Pepper on board to represent Sirhan, I hope next year will see major progress in the case. I am now completing a book on the case to be published by Union Square Press next May, which will hopefully help this process.

Thanks to John for such a fantastic resource in developing this research and also to James for photos, Bill for support and Peter Fokes who first pointed out the "Richard Helms lookalike" in the footage.

All the best,

Shane