No Way Out

[Peter McGuire]

Kevin Costner is my favorite actor - not for his performance in the movie "JFK", as you may suspect, but for his role in the film "No Way Out." I was captivated by that film, and how he had to avoid detection as a mole because of his involvment in a murder that he did not commit but was deeply saddened by. In the end, Yuri, as played by Costner, had to pin the crime on another.

There is also no way out for William Greer or the other agents on the scene of the Kennedy Assassination. The reason for this is that we can not only see what they did and didn’t do - but they actually admit to what they did, yet they go unpunished.

The following was originally written by a Greershootist, then modified by me; whom by the way at least correctly identify which direction the fatal shot had to come from - that is, more or less straight ahead or to JFK's left in order to have the fall out where it did. There is a through and through hole that originated from the front that does account for that.

Anyway:

The United States Secret Service are the nexus of the crime. They controlled the president and the crime scene--then they illegally controlled the prima facie evidence. The fact also remains that they were duty-bound to react during the assassination. Not only did they not react as trained and sworn, they actually did the extreme opposite as evidenced in the statements of the agents themselves.

SAIC Emory P. Roberts: Ordered the agents assigned to the rear positions of the presidents car to stay at Love field. He also recalled the only agent rushing to JFK's aid during the shooting and ordered the remaining team of agents in the follow up car not to move.

SAIC Roy Kellerman: Upon realizing JFK was clutching his throat, and that they were under attack, turned his back on the president and sat still.

SA William Greer: Turned to stare at JFK twice during the shooting, stopping the limo the second time while looking towards JFK at the exact moment the president receives the fatal head shot that blows him backwards in the car.

At a minimum, this legally documented evidence demanded an investigation into the agency's possible criminally negligent manslaughter or high treason, as so defined in law:

"Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs where there is an omission to act when there is a duty to do so, or a failure to perform a duty owed, which leads to a death. The existence of the duty is essential because the law does not impose criminal liability for a failure to act unless a specific duty is owed to the victim. It is most common in the case of professionals who are grossly negligent in the course of their employment. An example is where a doctor fails to notice a patient's oxygen supply has disconnected and the patient dies (R v Adomako)."

Edited October 11, 2010 by Peter McGuire

[William Kelly]

Kevin Costner is my favorite actor - not for his performance in the movie "JFK", but for his role in the film "No Way Out." I was captivated by that film, and how he had to avoid detection as a mole because of his involvment in a murder that he did not commit and was deeply saddened by. In the end, Yuri, as played by Costner, had to pin the crime on another.

There is also no way out for William Greer or the other agents on the scene of the Kennedy Assassination. We can not only see what they did and didn’t do - but they actually admit to what they did.

This was originally written by a Greershootist, and modified by me; whom by the way at least correctly identify which direction the fatal shot had to come from - that is, more or less straight ahead or to JFK's left in order to have the fall out where it did. There is a through and through hole that originated from the front that does account for that.

Anyway:

The United States Secret Service are the nexus of the crime. They controlled the president and the crime scene--then they illegally controlled the prima facie evidence. The fact also remains that they were duty-bound to react during the assassination. Not only did they not react as trained and sworn, they actually did the extreme opposite as evidenced in the statements of the agents themselves.

SAIC Emory P. Roberts: Ordered the agents assigned to the rear positions of the presidents car to stay at Love field. He also recalled the only agent rushing to JFK's aid during the shooting and ordered the remaining team of agents in the follow up car not to move.

SAIC Roy Kellerman: Upon realizing JFK was clutching his throat, and that they were under attack, turned his back on the president and sat still.

SA William Greer: Turned to stare at JFK twice during the shooting, stopping the limo the second time while looking towards JFK at the exact moment the president receives the fatal head shot that blows him backwards in the car.

At a minimum, this legally documented evidence demanded an investigation into the agency's possible criminally negligent manslaughter or high treason, as so defined in law:

"Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs where there is an omission to act when there is a duty to do so, or a failure to perform a duty owed, which leads to a death. The existence of the duty is essential because the law does not impose criminal liability for a failure to act unless a specific duty is owed to the victim. It is most common in the case of professionals who are grossly negligent in the course of their employment. An example is where a doctor fails to notice a patient's oxygen supply has disconnected and the patient dies (R v Adomako)."

So, why weren't there grand juries convened to determine if there were criminally negligent manslaughter in the cases of JFK, Tippit and Oswald, as there was in the case of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower killer?

Certainly there are reason for the Constitution not to be put into effect.

BK

[William Kelly]

Kevin Costner is my favorite actor - not for his performance in the movie "JFK", but for his role in the film "No Way Out." I was captivated by that film, and how he had to avoid detection as a mole because of his involvment in a murder that he did not commit and was deeply saddened by. In the end, Yuri, as played by Costner, had to pin the crime on another.

There is also no way out for William Greer or the other agents on the scene of the Kennedy Assassination. We can not only see what they did and didn’t do - but they actually admit to what they did.

This was originally written by a Greershootist, and modified by me; whom by the way at least correctly identify which direction the fatal shot had to come from - that is, more or less straight ahead or to JFK's left in order to have the fall out where it did. There is a through and through hole that originated from the front that does account for that.

Anyway:

The United States Secret Service are the nexus of the crime. They controlled the president and the crime scene--then they illegally controlled the prima facie evidence. The fact also remains that they were duty-bound to react during the assassination. Not only did they not react as trained and sworn, they actually did the extreme opposite as evidenced in the statements of the agents themselves.

SAIC Emory P. Roberts: Ordered the agents assigned to the rear positions of the presidents car to stay at Love field. He also recalled the only agent rushing to JFK's aid during the shooting and ordered the remaining team of agents in the follow up car not to move.

SAIC Roy Kellerman: Upon realizing JFK was clutching his throat, and that they were under attack, turned his back on the president and sat still.

SA William Greer: Turned to stare at JFK twice during the shooting, stopping the limo the second time while looking towards JFK at the exact moment the president receives the fatal head shot that blows him backwards in the car.

At a minimum, this legally documented evidence demanded an investigation into the agency's possible criminally negligent manslaughter or high treason, as so defined in law:

"Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs where there is an omission to act when there is a duty to do so, or a failure to perform a duty owed, which leads to a death. The existence of the duty is essential because the law does not impose criminal liability for a failure to act unless a specific duty is owed to the victim. It is most common in the case of professionals who are grossly negligent in the course of their employment. An example is where a doctor fails to notice a patient's oxygen supply has disconnected and the patient dies (R v Adomako)."

So, why weren't there grand juries convened to determine if there were criminally negligent manslaughter in the cases of JFK, Tippit and Oswald, as there was in the case of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower killer?

Certainly there are reason for the Constitution not to be put into effect.

BK

[David Andrews]

No Way Out is a swell modern thriller, with excellent supporting cast, directed by wise hack Roger Donaldson, the Australian who later made the decent mainstream Missile Crisis movie Thirteen Days with Costner.

Richard Case Nagell's spy life had as much tension and personal cost as the Costner character's.

Edited October 11, 2010 by David Andrews

[Peter McGuire]

No Way Out is a swell modern thriller, with excellent supporting cast, directed by wise hack Roger Donaldson, the Australian who later made the decent mainstream Missile Crisis movie Thirteen Days with Costner.

Richard Case Nagell's spy life had as much tension and personal cost as the Costner character's.

I did not know about Richard Case Nagell.

From Spartacus:

(9) James DiEugenio, review of Larry Hancock's Someone Would Have Talked (March, 2008)

I said that by 1975 Martino's information was pretty well known to serious investigators. But really, as Hancock relates it, it was known earlier than that. For by the end of 1968, all of the points -- except as noted -- were working axioms of the New Orleans investigation by DA Jim Garrison. To use just one investigator's testimony, researcher Gary Schoener has said that Garrison was "obsessed" with the Cuban exile group Alpha 66. At one time, he thought they were the main sponsoring group manipulating Oswald, and that they had pulled off the actual assassination.

One avenue by which Garrison was led to believe this was through Nagell. And one thing I liked about the book was that it summarized a lot of Nagell's testimony in more complete, concise and digestible terms than previously presented (see pgs. 39-58). In the first edition of Dick Russell's book, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Nagell's story wandered and got lost in a 900-page mountain consisting of much extraneous and tangential elements. Although Hancock leaves out some rather important details -- which I will mention later -- he does a nice job in distilling and relating its basic outlines. Between the two, because of who he was, his first person testimony, and some evidence he had, I believe Nagell's story easily has more evidentiary value.

Consider: Nagell actually tried to inform the authorities in advance. When they did not respond, he got himself arrested. He was then railroaded -- along with Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden -- because of his attempt to talk. He then wrote letters describing his knowledge to friends while incarcerated (see Probe Vol. 3 No. 1). He then revealed to Garrison assistant William Martin his specific knowledge of two of the Cuban exiles who were manipulating Oswald. One he named as Sergio Arcacha Smith. The other who he only hinted at had a last name beginning with "Q". This could be Carlos Quiroga, or Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero. Since Smith and Quiroga were known associates in New Orleans, I lean toward Quiroga. Nagell actually revealed that he had recorded their incriminating talks with Oswald on tape. Since he -- as well as Garrison -- did not know that Martin was a double agent, it is not surprising that the FBI later broke into his belongings and absconded with the tape, among other things. (Strangely, or as we shall see later, perhaps not, Hancock leaves this intriguing episode out of his book.)

Now since Garrison was the first law enforcement authority Nagell confided in directly, and the first person to take him seriously, the DA was clearly interested in the Cuban exile aspect. Especially since Nagell's information was being reinforced to him from multiple angles. For instance, David Ferrie's close friend Raymond Broshears was also quite specific with Garrison as to the importance of Sergio Arcacha Smith. And when Garrison tried to get Smith extradited from Texas, the local authorities, under the influence of Bill Alexander and Hugh Aynesworth, refused to cooperate. (It is puzzling to me that Hancock, who is so interested in the Cuban groups, seems to try to minimize the importance of Smith.)

One thing Hancock makes clear is how Nagell originally got involved in the JFK case. Like many foreign intelligence operatives, one of Nagell's ports of call was Mexico City. As certified by his friend Arthur Greenstein and an FBI memorandum, Nagell was there in the fall of 1962. And at this time, he began acting as a triple agent: "He represented himself to a Soviet contact as a pro-Soviet double agent, while secretly retaining his loyalty to the United States." (p. 54) It was in this pose that he became known to the KGB. When they approached Nagell they asked him to monitor a Soviet defector and his wife. The second mission they had was to infiltrate a group of Cuban exiles. The Russians had discovered a group of them in Mexico City making threats against President Kennedy for his actions at the Bay of Pigs. The Russians had garnered that part of the scheme was to blame the plot on the Cubans and Russians. This is something that, in the wake of the Missile Crisis, the Russians were desperate to avoid. From here, Hancock summarizes the stories of both Vaughn Snipes and Garret Trapnell, people Nagell suspected as being considered as pro-Castro patsies by the Cuban group (pgs 56-58). And it was this trail that eventually led Nagell to New Orleans and Oswald.

Edited October 11, 2010 by Peter McGuire

[John Dolva]

fwiw this doc has long puzzled me for various reasons while some trails have led to places that I can only speculate about what, if anything it means. (a keyword here, on some trails, is merchant marine.)

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd03/024363.png&otherstuff=3|17|1|128|1|1|1|23884|A

[Peter McGuire]

So, why weren't there grand juries convened to determine if there were criminally negligent manslaughter in the cases of JFK, Tippit and Oswald, as there was in the case of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower killer?

Certainly there are reasons for the Constitution not to be put into effect.

BK

That is a real good question, Bill. I know you have tried your best to get a Grand Jury convened. I think we need an explanation as to why there has not been a Grand Jury convened into these unsolved murders.

[David Andrews]

If you check Dick Russel's much improved second edition, you'll get the story of Nagell's involvement with the KGB in Mexico City, which has certain resemblances to the No Way Out drama.

[Peter McGuire]

Wasn't Charles Ives also an Insurance Salesman? Creative people, perhaps?

Dick Russell's book, The Man Who Knew Too Much, is on the way to me; $8 from Amazon.

(4) Jim Garrison, On the Trail of the Assassins (1988)

Nagell answered a few questions. Had he actually been in physical association with Lee Oswald? Right there with him? Yes, he replied. And with other men connected with Oswald? The answer was yes. Where did this occur? In New Orleans and in Texas.

I asked him whether these other men and Oswald all were working together on the project or whether the others were manipulating Oswald. He thought this question through at some length. Then he said that he did not pretend to have been close enough to know for sure, but his intuition was that the others had manipulated Oswald from the outset.

I asked him the names of the other men. He hesitated, but when the answer came, it was specific: Guy Banister, Clay Shaw, and David Ferrie.

With what organization were these men connected? Now he looked at me with a half smile and shook his head slowly. I pressed. Were they connected with the C.I.A.? "I cannot discuss or name any government organization," he replied. In spite of the troubles he had been through, he would not say a word about the intelligence community at large, with the single exception of the F.B.I.'s having ignored his warning letter about President Kennedy's murder. And that was the sum of Nagell's story. Beyond the precise parameters he had established he would not be budged a centimeter.

During most of my flight home I reflected long and hard on my Central Park meeting with Richard Case Nagell. I had studied him closely for all of the three hours or so we were together, and I was satisfied that weaving a fabricated tale was not in this man's makeup. On the other hand, there seemed to be no getting around the fact that his account was not easy to digest. I concluded that I would probably have to chalk up the Central Park scene to experience.

Many years down the road I found myself reading an account of Nagell's arrest by East German police as he attempted to cross back into West Germany. Richard Case Nagell definitely was not your basic insurance salesman.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Peter McGuire

[Peter McGuire]

(1) Richard Nagell, letter to J. Lee Rankin (20th March, 1964)

I informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation on September 1963 that an attempt might be made to assassinate President Kennedy. Was the Commission advised that the day before Mr. Kennedy visited Dallas, I initiated a request through jail authorities to the FBI asking that they contact the Secret Service in order to inform them of the same information?