Was Oswald an Intelligence Agent?

[Thomas Graves]

...I suppose they could definitely be the same but the amateur artist in me gives an astounding "no" off the bat lol...I mean they look like two different inidividuals. Tilsted back head doesn't produce too much a difference in appearance of the same person does it? (at least significantly) I don't mean to forcefully push the dual Oswald theory here (there seems, on the surface good evidence or arguments for that, despite counterclaims to such a theory) but perhaps in 6 years one's appearance could change depending on the age prior to the 6 years. The Fain question is a very good one and also, does anyone have any idea who that CIA recruiting officer was who probably recruited Oswald in the 50s? (I had notes written about this from Jim D's Destiny Betrayed 2md Ed but have since lost them...) he would be a key individual as far as Oswald's intelligence history is concerned as well.

I also had to look twice to convince myself that the two photographs of OSWALD you posted were the same person. Yet when I noted that the photos were taken years apart, with different cameras, by different photographers, I could see the similarities. A lot can happen in four years. Any weight change can make a big difference. Also, viewing the top of the nose is far different from viewing the bottom of the nose. Here's a couple of photos from a famous person -- Judy Garland -- only a four years apart, I believe -- by two different cameras. One might think they aren't the same person.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo garland_14.jpggarland_17.jpg

It's very obvious that these are photos of Arlene and Lee Ann.

--Tommy

Edited February 25, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Let's suppose some intelligence organization -- CIA, ONI, Guy Bannister, whoever -- recruited Oswald to infiltrate pro-Castro Cubans. Or if you wish, anti-Castro Cubans.

The LAST thing that organization would do is have Oswald hang around with Guy Bannister.

The only thing I can figure is that possibly Bannister supported the leafletting efforts of Oswald in order to flush out some street level Castro supporters. Supporters who wouldn't connect Oswald to Bannister. This seems like a waste of time and money to me, but who knows how Bannister thought.

The idea that someone financed or otherwise encouraged Oswald's summer 1963 NOLA leafletting in order to set up Oswald as JFK's assassin is unbelievable. The idea someone tried to gain advantage from what Oswald was inclined to do, leafletting, is believable. But this idea doesn't necessarily point toward conspiracy to kill JFK.

Yet, someone observing Oswald at a distance might have perceived him as a useful person. A person who openly engaged in pro-communist activities. A person who was being watched by the CIA and FBI. A person who could be induced to move from Point A to Point B. A person who resented "authorities".

Going from memory here but I believe that fourteen year-old amateur photographer James "Jim" Doyle (since deceased) observed Oswald's being watched closely and and being photographed by a man using an "exceedingly expensive" camera the day Oswald, Bringuier, and two other Cubans were arrested on August 9, 1963. Doyle said that the man with the camera kinda stuck out because he was wearing a grey suit on a hot New Orleans day when all the other men wear wearing short-sleeved shirts.

Also, in the notes made by a journalist (Billings?) who "helped" Jim Garrison in his investigation there is reference to a "shepherd," apparently spotted at Oswald's leafletings, including at Oswald's brief Maison Blanche Building leafleting by, of all people, Carlos Bringuier and his young sidekick Miguel Cruz, and that the "shepherd" was wearing a coat and tie and sunglasses and was taking pictures of Oswald. Billings wrote that, according to Garrison, the "shepherd" had a 1-inch scar on his left eye brow. Billings or Garrison apparently wondered whether or not this same "shepherd" dude might have been the driver of the "tan station wagon." I assume that what they are referring to is the station wagon that Orest Pena or one of his friends saw (a couple of days after the notorious Oswald-vomiting-the-lemonade-on-the-bar incident at Pena's bar in New Orleans) in which car was riding the commie-speaking Mexican-looking dude who had accompanied Oswald into the bar a few days or nights earlier.

http://www.jfk-online.com/billings4.html

In the Jim Doyle film you can see a tall, athletic-looking man wearing a grey suit and scratching the back of his neck while standing, with his back to the camera and right in front of it, watching Oswald who is walking past him and apparently wearing his "Viva La Fidel" sign, as reported by Doyle's younger sister, who also witnessed the event. To see the guy I'm talking about, go to 3:58 of this youtube video:

I believe you can see the same man wearing the same suit in photos and / or films taken a few minutes after the assassination, watching the goings-on in front of the TSBD.

--Tommy

expanded and bumped for Jon G. Tidd

Edited December 2, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Trejo]

Guy Banister was a private investigator, not a politician.

A politician is someone who tries, and maybe succeeds, to get elected to a public office by the electorate of his neighborhood, town, city, region, county, state, or country.

The real question should be, "Was Guy Banister a materialistic private investigator?"

LOL

--Tommy

Obviously, Tommy, you don't know much about Guy BANISTER.

BANISTER ran for office multiple times in New Orleans. His political platform was always the same -- to roll back the Brown Decision for the racial integration of Public Schools in Louisiana.

BANISTER ran with support from his local "States Rights Party", alongside Kent Courtney and Edwin Walker, with additional support from local White Citizens Councils.

Sincerely,

--Paul Trejo

Edited February 25, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[David Josephs]

1 ) Do you think Oswald associated with Guy Banister or people who were close to him? If so, with whom?

2 ) Do you think Oswald rented, or tried to rent, an office at 544 Camp Street?

3 ) Do you have an opinion as to whether or not Oswald stamped some of his FPCC fliers and Corliss Lamont pamphlets with the Camp Street address?

4 ) If so, why do you think he did that? And last but not least.........

5 ) Did you finish writing your book?

Thanks,

--Tommy

1) There are enough people who claim a Banister-Oswald relationship that it is possible that there was one. On the other hand, some of the claimants are not impressive: I'm not sure the Campbell brothers really knew Banister. I don't know why Delphine Roberts changed her story so dramatically in 1978. I have so many reservations about the tales told by Prof. Michael Kurtz, that I can't accept his claims without corroboration. You see my point??

2) Yes, I do think Oswald probably arranged to rent an office at 544 Camp, and when Newman and Arthus found out the purpose, they begged out of the deal. And that they "misremembered" to the authorities after the assassination.

3) Yes, like I said above, Russo printed an Oswald FPCC flyer with the stamp in his "Live By The Sword." Inquiries indicated that the flyer originated with Frank Martello's widow.

4) I don't know. I think he really expected to have an office there, at one time.

5) Getting close! I've been spurred on by several factors: A friend who simply has been gently pushing, another researcher who has traded some great Ferrie stuff with me, and the unauthorized use of a lot of my material by a crazy person. I've adopted the Rick Nelson philosophy about the Ferrie project: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."

Hi Stephen et al...

1) I notice you do not mention Gaudet related to 544 Camp, Bannister and Oswald... Is he not a reliable witness to Bannister-Oswald?

2) Was it necessary for Oswald to actually rent the space if Bannister is already there and he was working with/thru him and his associates?

3) Other than Russo there does not seem to be any "544 Camp" flyers, only the Corliss pamphlet and his stamp kit (below is a report of th3e SS trying to distance Oswald from 544 Camp)

4) Seems to me that he was playing with the stamp kit for a variety of reasons over that summer... He had stamped his PO BOX and MAGAZINE addresses and evidently 544 CAMP as well. That his stamp kit was used to stamp the Corliss book with Camp Street should give the SS a little evidence that he was associated with that address.

I have not looked into CAMP as deeply as you and look forward to reading the work you've done...

Does the fact that most everyone involved with these flyers was US intelligence and that the flyers were in direct opposition of Oswald's stated intentions to the same people who he tells "Hit me" - as an anti-Castro supporter - not give us enough reason to associate Oswald with Bannister's little operation? Facinating stuff... thanks Stephen

DJ

1) I only mentioned three selected examples of people who could have been good witnesses but weren't. Gaudet seems like a good witness. My only reservation is that he said nothing until 1978.

2) I'm not talking hypotheticals. Oswald said he rented an office, and Newman and Arthus were just cagey enough to make me think that he really had tried to do so. But hypothetically, if Oswald was an agent, yes, he'd likely rent an office and conceal any Banister connection.

3) I first saw an LHO flyer with the 544 stamp in one of Groden's books, but people told me it was just a prop from the Stone film. When I noticed the one in Russo's book, whom I consider more responsible, I asked him the source and he said it was Martello's widow.

4) Yeah, the SS and the FBI were concerned and mystified by the 544 stamp, at different times. (I asked an SA in the NO FBI office about the quick investigation of the 544 stamp in the days immediately after the assassination; He said it "never occurred to them" that it might be associated with Banister).

When you say "most everyone involved with these flyers was US intelligence," who do you mean?

1) Sibert and O'Neill didn't say anything until 1997 or so, nor were even questioned until the HSCA in 1978 (MD85, 46, 155) does that mean what they had to say was any less valuable or revealing?

Many, many witnesses to Dallas and New Orleans did not speak out right away... thankfully some finally did.

Gaudet not only puts these men together but holds the tourist visa number just prior to Oswald's for what amounted to a single day's visit...

2) Well you definitely know these details better than I so I'll go with your telling of it. Adding statements like "he'd likely..." is good speculation based on what you know...

Curious - when and where does Ozzie say he rented an office, or is this only Newman and Arthus telling of the story to the HSCA? (I see multiple mentions of Mr. Gay's HSCA testimony yet not the testimony itself)

As I read the HSCA related to Newman and Gay and 544 Camp it just reeks with FBI mumbo jumbo and denials that make little sense. No one sees him at "544 Camp" while no one is ever asked about Lafayette.

The committee learned that the Newman Building occupied the corner lot facing Lafayette Square. On one side its address was 544 Camp Street.(22) Its other entrance was addressed 531 Lafayette Street.(23) It was a three-story granite structure owned and operated by Sam Newman as a rental income property for commercial offices.(24). (23 is Newman's HSCA testimony that I also cannot find...)

Newman told the committee he had great difficulty renting space in the building.(25) Consequently, there were few tenants there in the summer of 1963. The Camp STreet address was the main entrance to offices for two workers' associations: the Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America.(26) It was also the entrance that led to the quarters of the building's janitor, James Arthus.(27) There was only one office at the Lafayette Street address, that of Guy Banister Associates, a private investigative firm.(28) The offices once rented by the Cuban Revolutionary Council at 544 Camp Street still lay empty.(29) "Mancuso's," a small coffeeshop, was located on the ground floor with its own entrance onto the corner of Camp and Lafayette Streets.(30) (again #28 refers to Newman's testimony)

I know you said you were writing a book (on this?) so maybe you could share why you feel that way about Newman (Did you speak with Gay?)

3) Creating the 544 Stamp after the fact would not be too hard. What I find interesting is the "4907 Magazine" was what stamp set was left as.... We know it was set to HIDELL and PO BOX 30016,

The stamp kit was also not initialed by the DPD so where it was and what was created by it is anybody's guess.

4) Bannister was associated with 531 Lafayette instead of Camp... at least according to the HSCA telling of it.

"Intel" in New Orleans:

Ordered and picked up flyers: Thornley/Osborne

Paid to distribute flyers: Charles Steele Jr (Dallas T-14)

Those who interact with Ozzie related to the FPCC flyers: Bringuier, Quiroga, Aracha Smith, Richard Davis II, Bannister

Delphine and Ferrie and Banister's brother Ross all say that Ozzie was there that summer and worked with Guy and others. The SS does its best to say he wasn't there - to me alarm bells go off anytime the government is so certain about facts we come to know to be false... there is also no reason to believe that only Oswald used that stamp kit.

DJ

Edited February 25, 2015 by David Josephs

[Stephen Roy]

DJ

I'll respond when I have more time later, but let me ask: Do you think it is reasonable to start with a presumption of innocence for Oswald?

[David Josephs]

DJ

I'll respond when I have more time later, but let me ask: Do you think it is reasonable to start with a presumption of innocence for Oswald?

Innocence related to what exactly Stephen? He is most definitely innocent of being a Lone Nut without connections to US intelligence.

In the law we prove guilt after insisting upon the presumption of innocence... so yes, I believe it is our duty to begin with the presumption of his innocence until there is proof he was not.

I also begin with the assumption that nothing offered as evidence is worth anything until it can be authenticated and/or corroborated and to what level.

If the evidence which attempts to put C2766 into his hands cannot be authenticated - or in fact shows the opposite to be true - what's the point of discussing how good a rifle it is or how good a shot he'd be with it when it was simply a prop in the conspiracy?

I think the fact that Oswald is handing out FPCC flyers while in the company of anti-Castro US intel assets (and flipflopping his outward support as need be) suggests to me that Oswald was doing what many, many men of his age were asked to do for their country, spy and let the FBI/CIA/Military Intel know what you find. Be part of campaignes to discredit leftist orgs... go to Russia and tell us what you see....

What presumptions do you make at the start of your investigations?

I look forward to your reply as the summer of 63 dovetails into Mexico City and the work I'm doing on that trip... I am of the opinion our Ozzie was in Dallas at Odio and remained in Dallas until the call to Marina on the 4th.

Edited February 25, 2015 by David Josephs

[Stephen Roy]

If I read correctly, you're saying yes, start with a presumption if innocence for Oswald, yes?

[Thomas Graves]

1 ) Do you think Oswald associated with Guy Banister or people who were close to him? If so, with whom?

2 ) Do you think Oswald rented, or tried to rent, an office at 544 Camp Street?

3 ) Do you have an opinion as to whether or not Oswald stamped some of his FPCC fliers and Corliss Lamont pamphlets with the Camp Street address?

4 ) If so, why do you think he did that? And last but not least.........

5 ) Did you finish writing your book?

Thanks,

--Tommy

1) There are enough people who claim a Banister-Oswald relationship that it is possible that there was one. On the other hand, some of the claimants are not impressive: I'm not sure the Campbell brothers really knew Banister. I don't know why Delphine Roberts changed her story so dramatically in 1978. I have so many reservations about the tales told by Prof. Michael Kurtz, that I can't accept his claims without corroboration. You see my point??

2) Yes, I do think Oswald probably arranged to rent an office at 544 Camp, and when Newman and Arthus found out the purpose, they begged out of the deal. And that they "misremembered" to the authorities after the assassination.

3) Yes, like I said above, Russo printed an Oswald FPCC flyer with the stamp in his "Live By The Sword." Inquiries indicated that the flyer originated with Frank Martello's widow.

4) I don't know. I think he really expected to have an office there, at one time.

5) Getting close! I've been spurred on by several factors: A friend who simply has been gently pushing, another researcher who has traded some great Ferrie stuff with me, and the unauthorized use of a lot of my material by a crazy person. I've adopted the Rick Nelson philosophy about the Ferrie project: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."

Hi Stephen et al...

1) I notice you do not mention Gaudet related to 544 Camp, Bannister and Oswald... Is he not a reliable witness to Bannister-Oswald?

2) Was it necessary for Oswald to actually rent the space if Bannister is already there and he was working with/thru him and his associates?

3) Other than Russo there does not seem to be any "544 Camp" flyers, only the Corliss pamphlet and his stamp kit (below is a report of th3e SS trying to distance Oswald from 544 Camp)

4) Seems to me that he was playing with the stamp kit for a variety of reasons over that summer... He had stamped his PO BOX and MAGAZINE addresses and evidently 544 CAMP as well. That his stamp kit was used to stamp the Corliss book with Camp Street should give the SS a little evidence that he was associated with that address.

I have not looked into CAMP as deeply as you and look forward to reading the work you've done...

Does the fact that most everyone involved with these flyers was US intelligence and that the flyers were in direct opposition of Oswald's stated intentions to the same people who he tells "Hit me" - as an anti-Castro supporter - not give us enough reason to associate Oswald with Bannister's little operation? Facinating stuff... thanks Stephen

DJ

1) I only mentioned three selected examples of people who could have been good witnesses but weren't. Gaudet seems like a good witness. My only reservation is that he said nothing until 1978.

2) I'm not talking hypotheticals. Oswald said he rented an office, and Newman and Arthus were just cagey enough to make me think that he really had tried to do so. But hypothetically, if Oswald was an agent, yes, he'd likely rent an office and conceal any Banister connection.

3) I first saw an LHO flyer with the 544 stamp in one of Groden's books, but people told me it was just a prop from the Stone film. When I noticed the one in Russo's book, whom I consider more responsible, I asked him the source and he said it was Martello's widow.

4) Yeah, the SS and the FBI were concerned and mystified by the 544 stamp, at different times. (I asked an SA in the NO FBI office about the quick investigation of the 544 stamp in the days immediately after the assassination; He said it "never occurred to them" that it might be associated with Banister).

When you say "most everyone involved with these flyers was US intelligence," who do you mean?

1) Sibert and O'Neill didn't say anything until 1997 or so, nor were even questioned until the HSCA in 1978 (MD85, 46, 155) does that mean what they had to say was any less valuable or revealing?

Many, many witnesses to Dallas and New Orleans did not speak out right away... thankfully some finally did.

Gaudet not only puts these men together but holds the tourist visa number just prior to Oswald's for what amounted to a single day's visit...

2) Well you definitely know these details better than I so I'll go with your telling of it. Adding statements like "he'd likely..." is good speculation based on what you know...

Curious - when and where does Ozzie say he rented an office, or is this only Newman and Arthus telling of the story to the HSCA? (I see multiple mentions of Mr. Gay's HSCA testimony yet not the testimony itself)

As I read the HSCA related to Newman and Gay and 544 Camp it just reeks with FBI mumbo jumbo and denials that make little sense. No one sees him at "544 Camp" while no one is ever asked about Lafayette.

The committee learned that the Newman Building occupied the corner lot facing Lafayette Square. On one side its address was 544 Camp Street.(22) Its other entrance was addressed 531 Lafayette Street.(23) It was a three-story granite structure owned and operated by Sam Newman as a rental income property for commercial offices.(24). (23 is Newman's HSCA testimony that I also cannot find...)

Newman told the committee he had great difficulty renting space in the building.(25) Consequently, there were few tenants there in the summer of 1963. The Camp STreet address was the main entrance to offices for two workers' associations: the Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America.(26) It was also the entrance that led to the quarters of the building's janitor, James Arthus.(27) There was only one office at the Lafayette Street address, that of Guy Banister Associates, a private investigative firm.(28) The offices once rented by the Cuban Revolutionary Council at 544 Camp Street still lay empty.(29) "Mancuso's," a small coffeeshop, was located on the ground floor with its own entrance onto the corner of Camp and Lafayette Streets.(30) (again #28 refers to Newman's testimony)

I know you said you were writing a book (on this?) so maybe you could share why you feel that way about Newman (Did you speak with Gay?)

3) Creating the 544 Stamp after the fact would not be too hard. What I find interesting is the "4907 Magazine" was what stamp set was left as.... We know it was set to HIDELL and PO BOX 30016,

The stamp kit was also not initialed by the DPD so where it was and what was created by it is anybody's guess.

4) Bannister was associated with 531 Lafayette instead of Camp... at least according to the HSCA telling of it.

"Intel" in New Orleans:

Ordered and picked up flyers: Thornley/Osborne

Paid to distribute flyers: Charles Steele Jr (Dallas T-14)

Those who interact with Ozzie related to the FPCC flyers: Bringuier, Quiroga, Aracha Smith, Richard Davis II, Bannister

Delphine and Ferrie and Banister's brother Ross all say that Ozzie was there that summer and worked with Guy and others. The SS does its best to say he wasn't there - to me alarm bells go off anytime the government is so certain about facts we come to know to be false... there is also no reason to believe that only Oswald used that stamp kit.

DJ

Goin' from memory here again, but regarding whether or not Oswald ever told anyone about his renting an office, I believe that FPCC headquarters received a letter from Oswald (I don't know if it was Harvey, Lee, or Henry) about one week before he was arrested in New Orleans (on August 9. 1963) in which he said that he had taken the liberty of renting a small office at an unspecified location in New Orleans, but had had to move out after only three days because he was informed that the office (or maybe several offices; I don't remember the details) in whichever building his office was situated was / were going to be "remodeled" or "renovated" or something like that.

So how's my old memory doin' here, folks?

--Tommy

Edited February 25, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[David Josephs]

Okay Tommy, I'll do your work this time... but it sure would be nice if you could take a few minutes and post the references... the VT LEE exhibits in the WCR were not hard to find - if one knows where to look.

this reply from VT LEE suggests to Oswald that an office would NOT be a good idea due to the public nature of such an office. That a POBox and work out of home or some undisclosed place is better.

http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0268a.htm

He then states - "against your advice I have decided to take an office from the very beginning" http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0269b.htm

Oswald: "even if the office stays open only for one month, more people will find out about the FPCC" http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0271a.htm

Oswald says, "I rented an office as I planned and was promptly closed three days later for some obscure reason by the renters. They said something about reconsidering it"

http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0272b.htm

One would think if there was an actual rental, there would be some evidence... a new lease, utilities changeover, something.

And this does not negate Bannister being listed at 531 Lafayette with no one at 544 Camp...

(Note: the signatures of VT Lee and Lee Oswald are incredibly similar, no?)

Edited February 25, 2015 by David Josephs

[Thomas Graves]

Okay Tommy, I'll do your work this time... but it sure would be nice if you could take a few minutes and post the references... the VT LEE exhibits in the WCR were not hard to find - if one knows where to look.

this reply from VT LEE suggests to Oswald that an office would NOT be a good idea due to the public nature of such an office. That a POBox and work out of home or some undisclosed place is better.

http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0268a.htm

He then states - "against your advice I have decided to take an office from the very beginning" http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0269b.htm

Oswald: "even if the office stays open only for one month, more people will find out about the FPCC" http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0271a.htm

Oswald says, "I rented an office as I planned and was promptly closed three days later for some obscure reason by the renters. They said something about reconsidering it"

http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0272b.htm

One would think if there was an actual rental, there would be some evidence... a new lease, utilities changeover, something.

And this does not negate Bannister being listed at 531 Lafayette with no one at 544 Camp...

(Note: the signatures of VT Lee and Lee Oswald are incredibly similar, no?)

Excellent work, Jo Jo!

I knew I could motivate someone to do it.

Looks I kinda jogged your memory and /or motivated you to answer your own question, didn't I.

BTW, Love the caveat -- "If one knows where to look." LOL

Ever read the bit where Tom Sawyer gets the other kids to paint the fence for him on the pretext that it was so much fun?

Well, did you have fun, Jo Jo? Come on, admit it.

Keep up the good work,

--Tommy

"And I'm as honest as a Denver man can be."

Edited February 26, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[David Josephs]

Thanks TG....

Any time you need a crutch navigating around the internet, you just let me know...

I come in from Memphis
where I learned to talk the jive
When I get back to Memphis
be one less man alive
Good Mornin Mr. Benson
I see you're doin well
If I had me a shotgun
I'd blow you straight to Hell

[Thomas Graves]

Thanks TG....

Any time you need a crutch navigating around the internet, you just let me know...

I come in from Memphis

where I learned to talk the jive

When I get back to Memphis

be one less man alive

Good Mornin Mr. Benson

I see you're doin well

If I had me a shotgun

I'd blow you straight to Hell

Yeah, Jo Jo.

That way I'll have enough time to read Lee and Harvey and Henry , too.

To use your clever Education Forum "expressions," I really love that sh!t. I think it really kicks A$$ !

LOL

--Tommy

PS Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck outside of Memphis with the Mobile blues, again.

(Yes, Jo Jo, I know I got it backwards.)

Edited February 26, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Trejo]

If I read correctly, you're saying yes, start with a presumption if innocence for Oswald, yes?

Hmm, let's see now. Starting with a presumption of innocence for Oswald, our friendly jurist would seek to know the answers to a few odd questions:

(1) Why did Oswald leave work after the JFK murder, go directly to his rooming house and obtain a pistol?

(2) Why was Oswald so close to the murder of JD Tippit (fairly close to his rooming house) that he was counted as a suspect?

(3) Why was Oswald sitting alone in a movie theater with a loaded pistol?

(4) Why was Oswald's MC rifle found on the 6th floor of the TSBD building?

(5) Why were at least some of the bullets of the actual JFK assault found to match Oswald's MC rifle?

So, yes, let's start with the presumption of innocence on the part of Oswald -- but then let's not simply accept a "shrug" to any of these common-sense questions.

Also, let's not forget the temper of the times in 1963 -- and remember the words of Dallas DA Henry Wade, who said words to the effect of, 'I've sent men to the electric chair on less evidence.'

A presumption of innocence must still be followed by an able defense against hard questions from the prosecution.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited February 26, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Stephen Roy]

1) Sibert and O'Neill didn't say anything until 1997 or so, nor were even questioned until the HSCA in 1978 (MD85, 46, 155) does that mean what they had to say was any less valuable or revealing?

Many, many witnesses to Dallas and New Orleans did not speak out right away... thankfully some finally did.

Gaudet not only puts these men together but holds the tourist visa number just prior to Oswald's for what amounted to a single day's visit...

2) Well you definitely know these details better than I so I'll go with your telling of it. Adding statements like "he'd likely..." is good speculation based on what you know...

Curious - when and where does Ozzie say he rented an office, or is this only Newman and Arthus telling of the story to the HSCA? (I see multiple mentions of Mr. Gay's HSCA testimony yet not the testimony itself)

As I read the HSCA related to Newman and Gay and 544 Camp it just reeks with FBI mumbo jumbo and denials that make little sense. No one sees him at "544 Camp" while no one is ever asked about Lafayette.

The committee learned that the Newman Building occupied the corner lot facing Lafayette Square. On one side its address was 544 Camp Street.(22) Its other entrance was addressed 531 Lafayette Street.(23) It was a three-story granite structure owned and operated by Sam Newman as a rental income property for commercial offices.(24). (23 is Newman's HSCA testimony that I also cannot find...)

Newman told the committee he had great difficulty renting space in the building.(25) Consequently, there were few tenants there in the summer of 1963. The Camp STreet address was the main entrance to offices for two workers' associations: the Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America.(26) It was also the entrance that led to the quarters of the building's janitor, James Arthus.(27) There was only one office at the Lafayette Street address, that of Guy Banister Associates, a private investigative firm.(28) The offices once rented by the Cuban Revolutionary Council at 544 Camp Street still lay empty.(29) "Mancuso's," a small coffeeshop, was located on the ground floor with its own entrance onto the corner of Camp and Lafayette Streets.(30) (again #28 refers to Newman's testimony)

I know you said you were writing a book (on this?) so maybe you could share why you feel that way about Newman (Did you speak with Gay?)

3) Creating the 544 Stamp after the fact would not be too hard. What I find interesting is the "4907 Magazine" was what stamp set was left as.... We know it was set to HIDELL and PO BOX 30016,

The stamp kit was also not initialed by the DPD so where it was and what was created by it is anybody's guess.

4) Bannister was associated with 531 Lafayette instead of Camp... at least according to the HSCA telling of it.

"Intel" in New Orleans:

Ordered and picked up flyers: Thornley/Osborne

Paid to distribute flyers: Charles Steele Jr (Dallas T-14)

Those who interact with Ozzie related to the FPCC flyers: Bringuier, Quiroga, Aracha Smith, Richard Davis II, Bannister

Delphine and Ferrie and Banister's brother Ross all say that Ozzie was there that summer and worked with Guy and others. The SS does its best to say he wasn't there - to me alarm bells go off anytime the government is so certain about facts we come to know to be false... there is also no reason to believe that only Oswald used that stamp kit.

DJ

1) I find it peculiar that Gaudet would not have volunteered such info in 1963 or 1964, and even more peculiar when he didn't volunteer it to Garrison in 1967-9. I also find a few things in his HSCA statement questionable, but that's for another time.

2) I think Tommy already answered this, but Oswald indicated n his FPCC letters that he rented an office, and there is the stamp. Both Newman and Arthus made some odd statements about people wanting to rent an office. All I have is a feeling that Oswald told the truth and that Newman was too embarrassed to admit renting to him.

BTW, the documents available online (including MFFoundation) constitute only a bit more than half of what's available. SOme stuff needs to be ordered from NARA.

3) Nothing to add

4) I know people really want to glom together 544 Camp and 531 Lafayette, but contemporaneous stationery, ads and other materials make clear that Banister moved to Lafayette in 1960, and THAT was his address. (And it was not, BTW, at the same time Arcacha's Cubans moved.)

Your answer to my "intel" question is why I asked about presumption of innocence. If we rightly start with a presumption of innocence for Oswald, we should start with a presumption of innocence for people like Banister, Arcacha and Ferrie. If we're going to dismiss various witness allegations about Oswald's involvement, we shouldn't be blindly accepting ANY allegations against the others without critically examining the source. I don't know what connection Arcacha, Davis and Banister had with Oswald's flyers, and I don't know where you source the Ross Banister and Ferrie allegations.

[Stephen Roy]

If I read correctly, you're saying yes, start with a presumption if innocence for Oswald, yes?

Hmm, let's see now. Starting with a presumption of innocence for Oswald, our friendly jurist would seek to know the answers to a few odd questions:

(1) Why did Oswald leave work after the JFK murder, go directly to his rooming house and obtain a pistol?

(2) Why was Oswald so close to the murder of JD Tippit (fairly close to his rooming house) that he was counted as a suspect?

(3) Why was Oswald sitting alone in a movie theater with a loaded pistol?

(4) Why was Oswald's MC rifle found on the 6th floor of the TSBD building?

(5) Why were at least some of the bullets of the actual JFK assault found to match Oswald's MC rifle?

So, yes, let's start with the presumption of innocence on the part of Oswald -- but then let's not simply accept a "shrug" to any of these common-sense questions.

Also, let's not forget the temper of the times in 1963 -- and remember the words of Dallas DA Henry Wade, who said words to the effect of, 'I've sent men to the electric chair on less evidence than this.'

A presumption of innocence must still be followed by an able defense against hard questions from the prosecution.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Correct. That's why I used the word "start." Do you think we should start with a presumption of innocence for, say, Banister?