Dallas County DA's office finds cache of JFK memorabilia

[Dawn Meredith]

There is a good article re Dallas DA Craig Watkins' efforts to secure justice on the front page of the February 19, 2008 "USA Today" (re use of DNA to exonerate those wrongfully convicted). Mr. Watkins looks like an interesting fellow.

I think the only interesting part of this story IS the DA. He not only appears- to me- to be interesting, but also interestED. Perhaps....could he be a Garrison in the making? (Or am I reading in way too much from that little clip?).

Dawn

[Dawn Meredith]

This seems to be the important part of Craig Watkins' statement:

Now two documents that really stick out in this safe include an alleged conversation between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald. Now we are going to make those copies available to you. And in fact this is a copy of a transcribed conversation between Mr. Ruby and Oswald at the Carousel Club.

Now we don't know if this is an actual conversation or not. But what we do know is that as a result of this find, it will open up the debate as to whether or not there was a conspiracy to assassinate the President.

Another interesting document that we found in that safe was a contract signed by the (then) current DA Henry Wade for a movie production deal. This contract was signed on April 27, 1967 and it would have made Mr. Wade a rich man. But we don't know why this movie was never produced.

The assumption being made is that the conversation was part of a film script (Countdown to Dallas) that Henry Wade was working on. However, Michael Hogan has pointed out on another thread, that Countdown to Dallas was a proposed documentary on the assassination. If that is the case, the Oswald-Ruby conversation is not part of a script.

Craig Watkins said these documents will be available to researchers. It seems to me that researchers need to take a close look at this contract. Who signed the contract? Did they make documentaries or feature films? Watkins said the contract suggested that Wade would have become a "rich man" if the film was made. Maybe he was offered even more money that stated in the contract not to make the film.

Thanks BK for that transcript. There are several things in this press conference that give me hope. Call it a hunch, an excess of idealism, or like Obama is saying "the time has come for change". Withouth the turth of the Kennedy assassination made public there can be NO meaningful change. This DA says he is interested in the truth. Let's see if he means that.

Dawn

[William Kelly]

Here's a response from Greenville/Hunt County, where "the blackest land and whitest people" can be found.

http://www.heraldbanner.com/local/local_story_050011025.html

<H2 class=storytitleblack>Hunt County highlighted during JFK press conference</H2>By BRAD KELLAR

Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE—

Former Hunt County District Attorney Cameron McKinney had no connection to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, according to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, despite Watkins highlighting a letter written by McKinney during a nationally televised Monday morning press conference.

The event was held to detail a list of items and documents, which once belonged to former Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and related to the 1963 assassination, which Watkins’ office was making public for the first time. Among the items were several letters written by McKinney to Wade from the early 1960s.

Watkins told the Herald-Banner that the letters written by McKinney held no connection to the assassination, including one letter upon which Watkins focused during the conference.

“There were several letters in there,” Watkins said. “There was an abundance.”

Watkins said he highlighted the letter because he believed it exemplified the racial attitudes in America at the time of the assassination. The particular letter from McKinney was written on the Hunt County letterhead of the time, which included the famous — some would say infamous — slogan which also used to grace the former sign which once rose above Lee Street; “The Blackest Land, The Whitest People.”

The letter in question included a congratulations from McKinney to Wade for something not mentioned during the press conference.

Watkins said that the letters, while not having anything to do with the assassination, also contained the type of language and dialogue which revealed the “negative view of African Americans” held by many prosecutors of the time.

“We just pointed that out as something representative of the whole file,” Watkins said.

McKinney served as Hunt County District Attorney between 1961 and 1969. Now 83 and living in Austin, McKinney said he didn’t recall any letters he may have written, but didn’t deny writing them.

“Henry Wade and I were good friends,” McKinney said, adding the phrase on the letterhead was the slogan of the City of Greenville at the time, as it supposedly represented the richness of the soil (The Blackest Land) and the purity of the residents (The Whitest People), as described by the late local historian W. Walworth Harrison.

“I did inquire about the origin of the slogan,” McKinney said, adding it was the county auditor at the time who explained the meaning to him, by presenting a copy of an article which ran in the Herald-Banner about the sign.

“He pulled it out and read it to me,” McKinney said.

Larry Jones of Austin is a former dispatcher for the Greenville Police Department and investigator for former District Judge Paul Banner who said he knows McKinney, noting how McKinney and Wade were indeed close.

“They were just old friends from the District Attorney’s Association,” Jones said, adding he was mystified as to why Watkins focused on the letter during a press conference which had been billed as an event to release information, in part, regarding a purported transcript between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Oswald’s killer, nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

“It is just odd they kept that letter from Cameron,” Jones said.

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.

[Charles Drago]

The assumption being made is that the conversation was part of a film script (Countdown to Dallas) that Henry Wade was working on. However, Michael Hogan has pointed out on another thread, that Countdown to Dallas was a proposed documentary on the assassination. If that is the case, the Oswald-Ruby conversation is not part of a script.

Craig Watkins said these documents will be available to researchers. It seems to me that researchers need to take a close look at this contract. Who signed the contract? Did they make documentaries or feature films? Watkins said the contract suggested that Wade would have become a "rich man" if the film was made. Maybe he was offered even more money that stated in the contract not to make the film.

My guess is that the film was to have been falsely characterized as a documentary, that Wade would have served the function of the false authority from which an entirely fabricated "transcript" would draw its bona fides, and that the project went south, as they say, when the notion of producing a limited hang-out was rejected by conspirators on the grounds of lack of need.

(Of course these efficient killers of kings were wise enough to keep this stash intact; a strategically timed future release might reap the benefits of confusing and otherwise misdirecting investigators-to-come.)

Technically, John, the "transcript" was precisely a script component: a fictive construct disguised as a genuine document and inserted into a larger cinematic fabrication.

Of course researchers must take a close look at the contract and all other components of this newly discovered cache of materials. Forensic examinations of documents, films, still photos, etc. -- including the boxes they're in and the safe itself -- must be conducted.

In the meantime, let's do what we can to keep the material off the Sixth Floor.

[William Plumlee]

The assumption being made is that the conversation was part of a film script (Countdown to Dallas) that Henry Wade was working on. However, Michael Hogan has pointed out on another thread, that Countdown to Dallas was a proposed documentary on the assassination. If that is the case, the Oswald-Ruby conversation is not part of a script.

Craig Watkins said these documents will be available to researchers. It seems to me that researchers need to take a close look at this contract. Who signed the contract? Did they make documentaries or feature films? Watkins said the contract suggested that Wade would have become a "rich man" if the film was made. Maybe he was offered even more money that stated in the contract not to make the film.

My guess is that the film was to have been falsely characterized as a documentary, that Wade would have served the function of the false authority from which an entirely fabricated "transcript" would draw its bona fides, and that the project went south, as they say, when the notion of producing a limited hang-out was rejected by conspirators on the grounds of lack of need.

(Of course these efficient killers of kings were wise enough to keep this stash intact; a strategically timed future release might reap the benefits of confusing and otherwise misdirecting investigators-to-come.)

Technically, John, the "transcript" was precisely a script component: a fictive construct disguised as a genuine document and inserted into a larger cinematic fabrication.

Of course researchers must take a close look at the contract and all other components of this newly discovered cache of materials. Forensic examinations of documents, films, still photos, etc. -- including the boxes they're in and the safe itself -- must be conducted.

In the meantime, let's do what we can to keep the material off the Sixth Floor.

This waqs posted in another thread today. I think it will also fit in this thread for those who might not have read it in the other:

"... Charles. I think now your right on. I have just been told by a retired detective of the Dallas P.D., as well as a retired Sgt., that some of the photos and even some fingerprints are in that collection. That there are "..MORE than just a movie script in those boxes..". Also, I was told by a different source whose father worked for Wade, that the FBI is now taking a second look ..'and that some in the DoJ are interested in launching their investigation as to WHY this material has been kept secret for so many years...,that other documents from investigative units between Dallas and Ft Worth are also lost somewhere in Ft Worth's files, which connected south Texas crime interest to the case ('Texas Mafia, although not said) "The movie contract was an after thought and used as a distraction". (not sure of just how this was meant) I have been sworn not to use any names at this time, because some of my sources think they will be called to testify, if and when????.

When I have my meetings in Dallas and south Texas, I will ask those questions your interested in. "Dallas officials are thinking about opening their own investigation into this". (if you remember, the FBI took the investigation away from local and it went into the black hole of federal and much of the HARD evidence concerning Texas's involvement in the assassination was with held with the nod of some in Washington DoJ and the WH) I hope you understand I have "ticked" some of the "Old Boys" off recently. Their throwing up their baby food and spitting cruse words.

P.S I just got off the telephone from a Dallas source: "... Bob. if you have anyway of getting information to the right people then try to get them to write to Dallas authorities requesting an investigation into this find, overwhelm them if you can.., before all this is again lost. I feel the time is right. I know some are trying to buy the rights to this information and lock it up again..".

Sounds like a good idea to me. Perhaps that would block any thing going to a museum or being purged or sorted out.

On another note. I asked about photos of the south plaza, an area I am very much interested in, and I was told there were pictures of the south knoll taken at the time of the shooting. Who took those pictures I do not know, but I was told that Life Magazine had one of them after they bought it from one of the people who took it... Perhaps Peter Lemkin can fill in at this point. I think he knows how this photo came into being. This particular photo also can be found in Gary Shaw and Harris's book "Conspiracy", published in 1976.

This post has been edited by William Plumlee: Today, 09:56 AM

[William Plumlee]

The assumption being made is that the conversation was part of a film script (Countdown to Dallas) that Henry Wade was working on. However, Michael Hogan has pointed out on another thread, that Countdown to Dallas was a proposed documentary on the assassination. If that is the case, the Oswald-Ruby conversation is not part of a script.

Craig Watkins said these documents will be available to researchers. It seems to me that researchers need to take a close look at this contract. Who signed the contract? Did they make documentaries or feature films? Watkins said the contract suggested that Wade would have become a "rich man" if the film was made. Maybe he was offered even more money that stated in the contract not to make the film.

My guess is that the film was to have been falsely characterized as a documentary, that Wade would have served the function of the false authority from which an entirely fabricated "transcript" would draw its bona fides, and that the project went south, as they say, when the notion of producing a limited hang-out was rejected by conspirators on the grounds of lack of need.

(Of course these efficient killers of kings were wise enough to keep this stash intact; a strategically timed future release might reap the benefits of confusing and otherwise misdirecting investigators-to-come.)

Technically, John, the "transcript" was precisely a script component: a fictive construct disguised as a genuine document and inserted into a larger cinematic fabrication.

Of course researchers must take a close look at the contract and all other components of this newly discovered cache of materials. Forensic examinations of documents, films, still photos, etc. -- including the boxes they're in and the safe itself -- must be conducted.

In the meantime, let's do what we can to keep the material off the Sixth Floor.

This waqs posted in another thread today. I think it will also fit in this thread for those who might not have read it in the other:

"... Charles. I think now your right on. I have just been told by a retired detective of the Dallas P.D., as well as a retired Sgt., that some of the photos and even some fingerprints are in that collection. That there are "..MORE than just a movie script in those boxes..". Also, I was told by a different source whose father worked for Wade, that the FBI is now taking a second look ..'and that some in the DoJ are interested in launching their investigation as to WHY this material has been kept secret for so many years...,that other documents from investigative units between Dallas and Ft Worth are also lost somewhere in Ft Worth's files, which connected south Texas crime interest to the case ('Texas Mafia, although not said) "The movie contract was an after thought and used as a distraction". (not sure of just how this was meant) I have been sworn not to use any names at this time, because some of my sources think they will be called to testify, if and when????.

When I have my meetings in Dallas and south Texas, I will ask those questions your interested in. "Dallas officials are thinking about opening their own investigation into this". (if you remember, the FBI took the investigation away from local and it went into the black hole of federal and much of the HARD evidence concerning Texas's involvement in the assassination was with held with the nod of some in Washington DoJ and the WH) I hope you understand I have "ticked" some of the "Old Boys" off recently. Their throwing up their baby food and spitting cruse words.

P.S I just got off the telephone from a Dallas source: "... Bob. if you have anyway of getting information to the right people then try to get them to write to Dallas authorities requesting an investigation into this find, overwhelm them if you can.., before all this is again lost. I feel the time is right. I know some are trying to buy the rights to this information and lock it up again..".

Sounds like a good idea to me. Perhaps that would block any thing going to a museum or being purged or sorted out.

On another note. I asked about photos of the south plaza, an area I am very much interested in, and I was told there were pictures of the south knoll taken at the time of the shooting. Who took those pictures I do not know, but I was told that Life Magazine had one of them after they bought it from one of the people who took it... Perhaps Peter Lemkin can fill in at this point. I think he knows how this photo came into being. This particular photo also can be found in Gary Shaw and Harris's book "Conspiracy", published in 1976.

This post has been edited by William Plumlee: Today, 09:56 AM

I just received a question from Dallas. "Why do you think the material recently found in a vault in Dallas was kept secret for all these years?".

My reply: "Well it was not because of the JFK matter or a cover up in that direction, in my opinion. The Dallas Police Department at one time from the late thirties until the early sixties had over half of its force connected or associated in some way with the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), minutemen, etc, and within those boxes is a lot of information that shows the attitude of Dallas P.D. toward the Blacks of Dallas.

To read those pages and reports today is very alarming and sickening. A black man was hung in Oak Cliff in 1948 while the DPD watched from a distance. " Let the little n bastard rot". It was said. On another example at a place near Bauchman Lake near Northwest Highway at Love Field and Lemmon Ave a young white lady was found raped and murdered and left under the bridge. She had been dating a Dallas Police office at the time. Within 48 hours there was an arrest, a black man, he was tried for the crime, convicted, in less than three days and executed at Huntsville Texas within the following year. Texas justice of the time. Thats the reason those boxes were with held by the many many people that knew about what was in that vauld and safe. There is some information on background concerning Roscoe White, that was not turned over to the FBI in 1988. Information concerning JFK is in those boxes, but the real reason was as I have stated. To release those documents and notes would be bad for Dallas and its Growth image.

[Bernice Moore]

William: ""On another note. I asked about photos of the south plaza, an area I am very much interested in, and I was told there were pictures of the south knoll taken at the time of the shooting. Who took those pictures I do not know, but I was told that Life Magazine had one of them after they bought it from one of the people who took it... Perhaps Peter Lemkin can fill in at this point. I think he knows how this photo came into being. This particular photo also can be found in Gary Shaw and Harris's book "Conspiracy", published in 1976. ""

Within "Cover-Up " Shaw, Harris, 1976...same book you refer to, but the title is Cover-Up.....the photos were taken by Jim Murray...

He ran over to that side, and took the two below.......From the south side, approximately ten minutes after the assassination, the photo

you refer to is on page 126, ..none appear

within the book, of the south side during the assassination..

There are none that we have of the south side, during the assassination, other than the Zapruder.....???..

The two appear below ....the top one below,not showing the transport truck, is the one printed within said book...

FWTW......

B.......

Edited February 21, 2008 by Bernice Moore

[William Plumlee]

William: ""On another note. I asked about photos of the south plaza, an area I am very much interested in, and I was told there were pictures of the south knoll taken at the time of the shooting. Who took those pictures I do not know, but I was told that Life Magazine had one of them after they bought it from one of the people who took it... Perhaps Peter Lemkin can fill in at this point. I think he knows how this photo came into being. This particular photo also can be found in Gary Shaw and Harris's book "Conspiracy", published in 1976. ""

Within "Cover-Up " Shaw, Harris, 1976...same book you refer to, but the title is Cover-Up.....the photos were taken by Jim Murray...

He ran over to that side, and took the two below.......From the south side, approximately ten minutes after the assassination, the photo

you refer to is on page 126, ..none appear

within the book, of the south side during the assassination..

There are none that we have of the south side, during the assassination, other than the Zapruder.....???..

The two appear below ....the top one below,not showing the transport truck, is the one printed within said book...

FWTW......

B.......

Thanks Bernice; Your photos are taken from the south knoll looking north, sometime after the shooting. The photo I mentioned is taken from the north side ( north knoll) looking south and was taken by Cancellara just a few seconds after the fatal shot.

There was another book by Gary Shaw and Harris published in 1976, title "Conspiracy". and it has the Cancellara (?) photo taken from the north knoll facing toward the south knoll about ten seconds after the shots were fired. (that photo has been posted on the forum many times. Perhaps some can repost that picture, uncroped.

I'll get the IBN and the address of the publisher. I have copy #648 of the first publishing of 3000 copies. When I get back to my office I will updated this post for you with that information. Shaws book was the first publishing of the 'South Knoll" picture which ??shows where Sergio and I were standing. And too, that was the first time I saw the Cancellar photo and I pointed out to Shaw and Bernard Finsterwald Jr., at the time of our meeting in Denver Colorado (1980-81) where we were standing at the time of the shots. Again Thanks for the postings of the other pictures and information. Hang in there...

BERNICE:

You were right on the name of the book being "Cover UP; The Governmenttal Conspiracy To Conceal The Facts About The Public Execution Of John Kennedy". by J. Gary Shaw with Larry R. Harris". It was produced, published and copyrighted by J. Gary Shaw in 1976. P.O. Box722, 105 Poindexter Dr, Cleburne, Texas 76031. (self published)

"... There are none (pictures) that we have of the south side, during the assassination, other than the Zapruder.....???.. ..".

The picture I made reference to is found on page 126 (top picture) above the Tyler picture on same page. The following page 127 is a full page overhead view of the Plaza. The picture on page 126 was taken by Cancellara on the north side faceing south toward the south knoll. It shows the 'forked tree' that some have said are legs but are really the shadow of the fork tree. We were in the shadow of the fork tree at the time of the shooting. I think page 155 shows Cancellara takeing the south knoll picture.

Edited February 21, 2008 by William Plumlee

[Chris Courtwright]

Tosh -

Thanks always for your man-on-the-ground insights w.r.t. how things fit into the Texas political context relative to the times. I very much enjoy your posts on this forum.

Have you considered that while there certainly may be a lot of truth in all this about the racist background of law enforcement in and around Dallas in 1963 (and certainly the current DA emphasized this point during the news conference), that this may have morphed into sort of a straw-man cover story as to why this cache of materials has been concealed for more than four decades?

How can we be sure that there are not materials that would have been "new" or relevant to the Warren Commission in the 1960s or House Select Committee in the 1970s when sensitivities about the racial history being an impediment to Dallas' economic growth would not have been nearly as pronounced?

Who was the DA in the 1990s who violated federal law by not turning these materials over the ARRB? Should his pension be revoked if he is still alive? (Yes.)

If there are relevant documents that could have enhanced our historic understanding, especially given all of the publicity during the ARRB's tenure (didn't they even travel to Dallas for a meeting to try and get all extant documents from public agencies?) it's hard to imagine the DA sitting there and refusing to acknowledge that he had at least 15 boxes of materials based on his subservience to the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and how the release might have imperilled economic development. I would tend to ascribe far more sinister motives to ALL Dallas DAs who knew about these materials. There was some indication that some of Oswald's clothing was included. For all we know, the ability to test it for DNA may be gone if it has been mouldering in a cardboard box in an office safe for 45 years. This is an entirely unacceptable breach of the public trust, imho.

I just received a question from Dallas. "Why do you think the material recently found in a vault in Dallas was kept secret for all these years?".

My reply: "Well it was not because of the JFK matter or a cover up in that direction, in my opinion. The Dallas Police Department at one time from the late thirties until the early sixties had over half of its force connected or associated in some way with the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), minutemen, etc, and within those boxes is a lot of information that shows the attitude of Dallas P.D. toward the Blacks of Dallas.

To read those pages and reports today is very alarming and sickening. A black man was hung in Oak Cliff in 1948 while the DPD watched from a distance. " Let the little n bastard rot". It was said. On another example at a place near Bauchman Lake near Northwest Highway at Love Field and Lemmon Ave a young white lady was found raped and murdered and left under the bridge. She had been dating a Dallas Police office at the time. Within 48 hours there was an arrest, a black man, he was tried for the crime, convicted, in less than three days and executed at Huntsville Texas within the following year. Texas justice of the time. Thats the reason those boxes were with held by the many many people that knew about what was in that vauld and safe. There is some information on background concerning Roscoe White, that was not turned over to the FBI in 1988. Information concerning JFK is in those boxes, but the real reason was as I have stated. To release those documents and notes would be bad for Dallas and its Growth image.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Chris Courtwright

[William Kelly]

Showing safe's contents is part of DA's openness policy

<H5 class=vitstorydate>12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, February 19, 2008</H5>By DAVID TARRANT / The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-jfk_19met.ART.State.Edition1.4622342.html It sounded like a Geraldo Rivera TV stunt.

An old safe is discovered in a Dallas courthouse. Once opened, its contents reveal a secret cache of files related to the death of President John F. Kennedy. There is an assassin's gun holster, brass knuckles and a transcript of a "smoking gun" conversation to kill the president.

To top it off, the existence of the safe and its contents are revealed in a news conference on Presidents Day.

It wasn't a Geraldo stunt, but a dead-serious Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins talking about what he discovered locked in a safe on the 10th floor of the Frank Crowley Courts Building.

Mr. Watkins said Monday that he learned of the one-ton, 6-by-6-foot safe shortly after winning election in fall 2006. Previous district attorneys were also told of the safe but chose to keep mum, he said.

The first black DA in Dallas history, Mr. Watkins said he decided to go public as part of an effort to run an open administration and break from the past.

"Our motto has always been that everything is open. We have nothing to hide. So we're making public everything that we have found in the safe," he said during the news conference a floor above where the safe was found.

From where he stood, Mr. Watkins could look out a window overlooking the site where Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.

News that a secret treasure-trove of documents related to the Kennedy assassination was first broken by The Dallas Morning News in its Sunday editions. Monday's news conference attracted several dozen members of the news media, both local and national. Mr. Watkins said he anticipated that his office would get calls from around the country and the world.

Dialogue debateOne file that immediately generated controversy was the transcript of an alleged conversation between Kennedy's presumed assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby, the man accused of killing Oswald.

The conversation, which assassination experts have been quick to dismiss as fictitious, depicts Oswald and Ruby huddled at Ruby's downtown Dallas strip joint, the Carousel Club, plotting to kill Kennedy because the mafia wanted to "get rid of" his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, told The News last week that the conversation could not have happened because it was well-documented that Oswald was in Irving at home with his wife the evening that the conversation was supposed to have taken place.

Mr. Watkins said he didn't know whether the alleged conversation was real or fake.

"But what we do know is that it will open up the debate as to whether or not there was a conspiracy to assassinate the president," he said.

Another document certain to draw interest is a purported movie contract showing the signature of Henry Wade, district attorney at the time of the Kennedy assassination. The contract, dated April 1967, "would have made Mr. Wade a rich man," said Mr. Watkins, who did not divulge the contract's amount. He also said he didn't know why the movie was never made.

Mr. Watkins stood by a table stacked with more than a dozen cardboard boxes of files. Another table displayed the brass knuckles and holster believed to have belonged to Ruby.

The trove included personal letters to and from Mr. Wade and clothing that probably belonged to Ruby and Oswald, Mr. Watkins said.

Not everyone was surprised by Mr. Watkins' discovery.

"The fact that Henry Wade kept documents in his office was well known. Whether there's anything new in it or not, we'll just have to wait until we can look at them and see," Mr. Mack said.

Toby Shook, a former Dallas County prosecutor for more than 20 years, said he didn't know about the safe but that his boss and Mr. Watkins' predecessor, Bill Hill, did.

"Bill Hill was told there was a safe – that there's a file on the old Jack Ruby case. I don't think he thought it was important. His priorities were running the office and successfully prosecuting cases," said Mr. Shook, who opposed Mr. Watkins in the race for district attorney in 2006.

Mr. Hill did not return a phone call for comment.

One expert who devoted years of his life researching the Kennedy assassination sounded underwhelmed at the discovery.

Vincent Bugliosi, author of last-year's 13-volume book, Reclaiming History, said he was highly skeptical that the courthouse safe contained anything that would significantly alter the known facts of the case.

Mr. Bugliosi's research led him to conclude that Oswald acted alone, and he couldn't conceive of any legitimate document that would prove otherwise.

"If you know the Earth isn't flat, then you're not concerned about looking at any evidence that someone says shows it might be flat," he said.

Mr. Bugliosi also said that if prosecutors in Mr. Wade's office had evidence that Oswald and Ruby had met, they would have had no motive to keep it quiet. "It would be the opposite. It would have made it easier to convict Ruby," he said.

Mr. Bugliosi says the transcript of the alleged Ruby-Oswald conversation was based on a letter to the FBI by Dallas lawyer Carroll Jarnagin, who said he saw the two men conversing at the Carousel Club on Oct. 4, 1963, and then transcribed the conversation more than two months later.

Mr. Wade later gave Mr. Jarnagin a lie-detector test, which he failed. Mr. Wade said "the needle went off the charts," according to Mr. Bugliosi.

Mr. Watkins' office hasn't completed scanning the information found in the safe; about 90 percent has been finished.

Once that's done, his office plans to donate the information to a third-party institution, possibly The Sixth Floor Museum.

Race relationsMr. Watkins said he had another motive for making the information public. The documents also reveal the climate of race relations that existed in the criminal justice system and the country in the early 1960s, he said.

"You see that racist tone that goes throughout our criminal justice system in the 1960s," he said.

Brandishing a letter written in 1964 from the Hunt County district attorney to Mr. Wade, Mr. Watkins noted that the letterhead included the slogan: "The blackest land and the whitest people."

Noting that it was Black History Month, Mr. Watkins said that the letter "tells you how far we've come in criminal justice, not only in this state but in this country.

"This is why we have to bring credibility to the criminal justice system – because there was a time when a person's color mattered more than his guilt or innocence."

-- Regards, TOM BLACKWELL, PO Box 25403, Dallas, Texas 75225 http://DemocraticResearch.Org s to Tom Blackwell for passing this along:

Edited February 21, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

DMN writer suggests Dallas DA promoted conspiracy theories

When DA spoke of JFK, he misspoke for Dallas

12:00 AM CST on Thursday, February 21, 2008

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/DN-blow_21met.ART0.East.Edition1.45e4340.html

"Irresponsible" is a strong word, and I hate to use it. But it's the word that came to mind after Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins' news conference this week.

I'm talking about the casual way he pumped up conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

And let's be clear right at the start. Let's say what the district attorney should have. Absolutely nothing revealed from the DA's "treasure-trove" sheds the slightest new light on the president's murder.

Instead of saying that, however, Mr. Watkins blithely brushed aside questions of truth or relevance. "But what we do know," he said at the news conference heard around the world, "is that this will open up the debate as to whether or not there was a conspiracy to assassinate the president."

Well, yes. If the district attorney in Dallas, Texas, predicts that newly discovered material will reignite conspiracy theories, it most surely will.

And true to that irresponsible, ill-informed prediction, how about this headline? "John F. Kennedy 'assassins' plot revealed.' "

A plot revealed? Good grief. Not even close. Yet that's the story Great Britain got Tuesday from London's Daily Telegraph.

The Web site for an Iranian news service showed a bit more restraint: "Plot to assassinate JFK revealed?" it asked.

The International Herald Tribune, the English-language newspaper read around the world, headlined its story: "Conspiracy buffs may feast on JFK documents."

And for this worldwide blitz of misinformation, we have our very own district attorney to thank. If he or his staff had done just a smidgen of research, that news conference would have never been called.

This whole matter got off to a bad start. The DA's staff went in search of Kennedy material because it had heard that the gun Jack Ruby used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald might be in an office safe.

Wrong. A 30-second Google search would have revealed that the gun was held for years by Ruby's executor and ended up being sold into private hands.

Furthermore, a similar Google search would have immediately shot holes in the ballyhooed "transcript" of an alleged conversation between Ruby and Oswald.

Mr. Watkins unveiled it Monday like a stunning new find. The truth is that it has been sitting in the Warren Commission report all these years – thoroughly discredited as the fevered imagination of a Dallas lawyer with a big drinking problem.

It's Warren Commission Exhibit 2821. You can look it up.

"It was thoroughly debunked at the time," said Kennedy assassination expert Gary Mack, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Do you suppose Mr. Watkins might call a news conference to say: "Never mind."

Don't count on it.

I hate to criticize Mr. Watkins. I think he has done a good job as district attorney. I admire his willingness to do things differently.

But he has to realize that his words now carry the weight of his office – including his half-baked views on the Kennedy assassination.

He told me Wednesday that he has never believed Oswald acted alone. "I believe in conspiracies," he said. "I think that's just too simple of an explanation."

But he also admitted that he has never studied the matter. "Just all the stuff I see on TV," he said. "I never have delved into it. I just think there's got to be more to it than that."

Let's hope he's not prosecuting crimes based on hunches rather than investigation.

Precisely because he knows so little about the assassination, Mr. Watkins said he chose not to state the obvious at the news conference – that the transcript is clearly bogus. "I never believed it," he said. "People just don't talk like that. But I didn't want to give my opinion of it."

Mr. Watkins is still fairly new to the job. And maybe there's a good lesson for him here:

When you don't know much about a subject, don't call a news conference to announce it.

Thanks to Tom Blackwell for passing this on. Tom doesn't speak for Dallas either- BK Regards, TOM BLACKWELL, PO Box 25403, Dallas, Texas 75225 http://DemocraticResearch.Org

BTW, this article was written by Steve Blow. He doesn't speak for Dallas either.

Steve Blow

HOMETOWN: Tyler, Texas EDUCATION/CAREER TRACK: Tyler Junior College and the University of North Texas. Worked as a reporter at the Fort Worth Press and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Joined The Dallas Morning News in 1978. Worked as a reporter until 1989, when I began writing the column.

MOST UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB: Probably flying in a fighter jet with the Blue Angels. Somewhere in the midst of that looping, zooming, twirling flight, I remember thinking, "I love my job."

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME: In college, I worked in a funeral home. (It was more lively than you might expect.)

IF I HAD TWO SPARE HOURS, I WOULD: See a movie, preferably one with lots of laughs and not a single gun battle.

THE SECRET TO A GOOD NEWS COLUMN IS: Introduce the reader to a person worth knowing. Or put into words the reader's own thoughts. Or best of all, offer a view that differs from the reader's, but in a way that intrigues, not antagonizes.

I think Dallas DA Craig Watkins is certainly a person worth knowing-BK

Edited February 21, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Plumlee]

For some reason I could not reply to Chris's question because of "quotes" did not match. ??? This is my reply to that question.

Chris's question:

"... Tosh -

Thanks always for your man-on-the-ground insights w.r.t. how things fit into the Texas political context relative to the times. I very much enjoy your posts on this forum.

Have you considered that while there certainly may be a lot of truth in all this about the racist background of law enforcement in and around Dallas in 1963 (and certainly the current DA emphasized this point during the news conference), that this may have morphed into sort of a straw-man cover story as to why this cache of materials has been concealed for more than four decades?

How can we be sure that there are not materials that would have been "new" or relevant to the Warren Commission in the 1960s or House Select Committee in the 1970s when sensitivities about the racial history being an impediment to Dallas' economic growth would not have been nearly as pronounced?

Who was the DA in the 1990s who violated federal law by not turning these materials over the ARRB? Should his pension be revoked if he is still alive? (Yes.)

If there are relevant documents that could have enhanced our historic understanding, especially given all of the publicity during the ARRB's tenure (didn't they even travel to Dallas for a meeting to try and get all extant documents from public agencies?) it's hard to imagine the DA sitting there and refusing to acknowledge that he had at least 15 boxes of materials based on his subservience to the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and how the release might have imperilled economic development. I would tend to ascribe far more sinister motives to ALL Dallas DAs who knew about these materials. There was some indication that some of Oswald's clothing was included. For all we know, the ability to test it for DNA may be gone if it has been mouldering in a cardboard box in an office safe for 45 years. This is an entirely unacceptable breach of the public trust, imho. ...".

Plumlee reply:

(my speculation)

I feel that there was or is information in those boxes pertaining to JFK that was withheld and the Dallas Police KKK and other profiling reports and information of a negative nature was put into it or vice versa, perhaps to confuse the issue or hide from the FBI and local enforcement. We have late fifties and early sixties Dallas information thrown in with JFK information as well as Rosco White's information all neatly in one place lost for years... kind of like a "Junk Drawer", Remember too, that Dallas was trying to rebuild its image after the assassination and was spending millions on new developments to attract new business to Dallas.

Edited February 21, 2008 by William Plumlee

[Chris Courtwright]

Thanks, Tosh.

I think we are saying the same thing: that some of this racist stuff could have been salted in among the relevant JFK stuff over the years so as to provide cover for its not being released.

The most benign interpretation I can come up with is that I think there's some indication that the Dallas cops and DA were very upset when the FBI swooped in and absconded with much of the evidence. Some of it could have been held back sort of passively-aggressively (to teach Hoover, et al, a lesson) until at some point later in the 60s they realized they should have turned it over to the FBI or Warren Commission.

I can also come up with a number of less benign interpretations.

By the way, do you have any recollections of anti-Castro soldiers of fortune named Richard Tullis or Charlie Waters who operated in and around Dallas in the late 50s and early 60s? I tried to pm you, but that feature is not working for you.

Thanks in advance for all your help with these things!

Regards, Chris

[William Plumlee]

Thanks, Tosh.

I think we are saying the same thing: that some of this racist stuff could have been salted in among the relevant JFK stuff over the years so as to provide cover for its not being released.

The most benign interpretation I can come up with is that I think there's some indication that the Dallas cops and DA were very upset when the FBI swooped in and absconded with much of the evidence. Some of it could have been held back sort of passively-aggressively (to teach Hoover, et al, a lesson) until at some point later in the 60s they realized they should have turned it over to the FBI or Warren Commission.

I can also come up with a number of less benign interpretations.

By the way, do you have any recollections of anti-Castro soldiers of fortune named Richard Tullis or Charlie Waters who operated in and around Dallas in the late 50s and early 60s? I tried to pm you, but that feature is not working for you.

Thanks in advance for all your help with these things!

Regards, Chris

The assassination should have been a Dallas investigation and the Texas Rangers as an independent investigative arm should have been brought in to protect the evidence, at the time. However, LBJ and Hoover would have never allowed this to happen. I think today with this new find they (the Rangers) should be brought into this to protect what evidence is perhaps in those boxes today, as well as any new evidence that has been discovered over the years. And they should work with this DA and reopen this case and let Dallas now do its own investigation... perhaps set up an independent research committee of knowledgeable experts to work with the DA's office and review all the past and present evidence and see where it leads.

[Bernice Moore]

William: ""On another note. I asked about photos of the south plaza, an area I am very much interested in, and I was told there were pictures of the south knoll taken at the time of the shooting. Who took those pictures I do not know, but I was told that Life Magazine had one of them after they bought it from one of the people who took it... Perhaps Peter Lemkin can fill in at this point. I think he knows how this photo came into being. This particular photo also can be found in Gary Shaw and Harris's book "Conspiracy", published in 1976. ""

Within "Cover-Up " Shaw, Harris, 1976...same book you refer to, but the title is Cover-Up.....the photos were taken by Jim Murray...

He ran over to that side, and took the two below.......From the south side, approximately ten minutes after the assassination, the photo

you refer to is on page 126, ..none appear

within the book, of the south side during the assassination..

There are none that we have of the south side, during the assassination, other than the Zapruder.....???..

The two appear below ....the top one below,not showing the transport truck, is the one printed within said book...

FWTW......

B.......

Thanks Bernice; Your photos are taken from the south knoll looking north, sometime after the shooting. The photo I mentioned is taken from the north side ( north knoll) looking south and was taken by Cancellara just a few seconds after the fatal shot.

There was another book by Gary Shaw and Harris published in 1976, title "Conspiracy". and it has the Cancellara (?) photo taken from the north knoll facing toward the south knoll about ten seconds after the shots were fired. (that photo has been posted on the forum many times. Perhaps some can repost that picture, uncroped.

I'll get the IBN and the address of the publisher. I have copy #648 of the first publishing of 3000 copies. When I get back to my office I will updated this post for you with that information. Shaws book was the first publishing of the 'South Knoll" picture which ??shows where Sergio and I were standing. And too, that was the first time I saw the Cancellar photo and I pointed out to Shaw and Bernard Finsterwald Jr., at the time of our meeting in Denver Colorado (1980-81) where we were standing at the time of the shots. Again Thanks for the postings of the other pictures and information. Hang in there...

BERNICE:

You were right on the name of the book being "Cover UP; The Governmenttal Conspiracy To Conceal The Facts About The Public Execution Of John Kennedy". by J. Gary Shaw with Larry R. Harris". It was produced, published and copyrighted by J. Gary Shaw in 1976. P.O. Box722, 105 Poindexter Dr, Cleburne, Texas 76031. (self published)

"... There are none (pictures) that we have of the south side, during the assassination, other than the Zapruder.....???.. ..".

The picture I made reference to is found on page 126 (top picture) above the Tyler picture on same page. The following page 127 is a full page overhead view of the Plaza. The picture on page 126 was taken by Cancellara on the north side faceing south toward the south knoll. It shows the 'forked tree' that some have said are legs but are really the shadow of the fork tree. We were in the shadow of the fork tree at the time of the shooting. I think page 155 shows Cancellara takeing the south knoll picture.

********

Hi Wiliam.

Yes the Murray's as stated were taken approx.10 minutes after.....

I just came back, to let you know, after digging out the book, that the second photo, Murray's with the Transport truck is also within ,on page 146......

The Cancellare you mention is there on page 126...above the first Murray............it is a poor copy photo as all are within, but the best they could do at the

time, too bad they did not use, a much better paper....but .......it is there....but it is

also cropped....according to full one I have......

..Which..I have posted here in the past .....for you, so you probably have it.....

Yes. I believe it to be Cancellare seen on page 155...taking the photo......that is a Rickerby photo....the one in Cover-Up is also blown and cropped.......

You will see the differences...................the first of both are cropped, as seen in Cover-Up, the second, the full as I have them.....

The Cancellare's and the Rickerby's......

Tosh when I get to it, I shall scan the Cancellare for you from Cover-Up, it is cropped as I have shown but it does not have the light, streak on the

left......then you can see it for yourself........

B.........

Edited February 22, 2008 by Bernice Moore