"The Assassination & Mrs. Paine" comes out this month

[W. Tracy Parnell]

The Assassination and Mrs. Paine-Back and to the Left? ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

[James DiEugenio]

14 hours ago, Allen Lowe said:

Jim, isn’t it true that Ruth heard of another possible job after Oswald was already accepted at the book depository, but never told Oswald about it? I wish she had been confronted about this in the film. If it is true, it’s pretty damning, since from what I’ve heard this other job paid more.

Yes, to my knowledge that is true. (Douglass, pp. 171-73)

According to Max, it was the stuff in the Douglass book about Ruth Paine that started him on his road to making the film.  In this case, its the Robert Adams stuff, that the TEC had a. job that paid quite a bit more as a baggage handler at Trans Texas Airways. And Adams left a message that he wanted Oswald to call him back. When no one did, he called the Paine home again the next morning.  At this time he learned that Oswald had taken another job. So Adams crossed his name off the list for the other job.

When she was confronted with this issue by the Commission, she first denied it was her, then she vaguely recalled it, but then she said that her recall was from Lee. (p. 172)

Which begs the obvious question: if Adams never talked to Lee, which the record says he did not, then how did Lee get the info in the first place.  And if he had, why would he not have taken the higher paying job?

I don't know why Max did not query this one, except that maybe Ruth had an out.  She could have said that it was Marina who answered the phone.  My reply would have been, Marina failed to pass a message to Lee about a job?

[James DiEugenio]

I should add Allen, in that section of the Douglass book, Jim hits the reader with three key pieces of information about the Paines.

1. Garrison's grand jury questioning of Ruth about her sister.

2. The whole Robert Adams call about the other job.

3. Marina's questioning before the New Orleans grand jury about Ruth, and the SS saying she was too sympathetic to the CIA.

In retrospect, one can see how that trio would have had a cumulative impact on Max.

Edited June 22, 2022 by James DiEugenio

[Gene Kelly]

Jim

I was not aware of the backstory about Cliff Shasteen, the Irving barber who cut Oswald’s hair in the fall of 1963, accompanied by a 14-year-old boy. Then, that same boy appeared by himself a few days before the assassination and ranted about the benefits of one world government and the plight of “have nots” in society.  None other than Bill Hootkins, the one and only student at St. Marks that Ruth Paine tutored in Russian that fall. This certainly appears to be a staged vignette to create an impression - and ensure that this impression would be made known after the assassination. Young William - the erstwhile actor - was apparently practicing as a provocateur, and smearing Oswald as a communist by association (the barber Shasteen was obviously impressed).

Young Hootkins' HS yearbook indicates that he loved singing the chorus to the Russian opera "Boris Gudunov", where the main character was suspected of regicide, one of the characters is named Marina, and the Catholic Church looms large.

Ivan the Terrible's son, the eight-year-old Tsarevich Dmitriy Ivanovich, dies under mysterious circumstances and an investigation, ordered by Godunov and carried out by Prince Vasiliy Shuysky, determines that the Tsarevich, while playing with a knife, suffered an epileptic seizure and died from a self-inflicted wound to the throat. Dmitriy's mother is banished with him to Uglich by Godunov, but claims he was assassinated. 

A pretender to the throne appears in Poland, claiming to be Tsarevich Dmitriy, but believed to be in reality one Grigoriy Otrepyev. Upon conversion to Roman Catholicism, he gains the support of the Apostolic Nuncio Claudio Rangoni. Obtaining a force of soldiers, he marches on Moscow. The False Dmitriy's retinue includes the Jesuits Lawicki and Czernikowski, and monks of the Chudov Monastery. The Russian boyars oppose Dmitriy's Polish and Catholic alliances, and he is murdered shortly after wedding Marina Mniszech.

Marina dismisses everyone. Alone, she sings of her boredom of Dmitriy, and of her thirst for adventure, power, and glory. The Jesuit Rangoni enters, bemoans the wretched state of the church, attempts to obtain Marina's promise that when she becomes Tsaritsa she will convert the heretics of Moscow (Russian Orthodox Church) to the true faith (Roman Catholicism), and encourages her to bewitch the Pretender. When Marina wonders why she should do this, Rangoni angrily insists that she stop short of nothing, including sacrificing her honor, to obey the dictates of the church. 

Geez ... you just can't make this stuff up!  After leaving St Mark’s, young Bill studied no less than astrophysics and Mandarin at Princeton (his father, Seymour Hootkins, was in the oil and gas business). 

In her Warren Commission testimony, Ruth Paine described the entry of Hootkins’ contact details in her address book as being of just “mild significance” ... she then abruptly cuts Attorney Albert Jenner off regarding the phone number. Jenner is asking about Ruth’s address book, and a certain Globe Parcel Service, an address given to her by her Russian tutor, a service which will help send parcels to people behind the Iron Curtain. He then asks about the reverse of the G page, and the facing page of the H page, where Hootkins name occurs:

Mrs. PAINE: Mild significance in that the name of my one Russian student appears here, Bill Hootkins.

Mr. JEXNER. And his telephone number …

Mrs. PAINE. Is there; yes.

Mr. JENNER. Next would be-there are some empty pages. We better record that fact. The reverse side …

Mrs. PAINE. They are not in your exhibit.

Later during Ruth's March 21, 1964, WC testimony, Jenner asks about the barbershop incident, and her response is dishonest and deceptive: 

Mr. JENNER - All right. We have a report, Mrs. Paine, and you might help us with it on this subject, of a barber in your community, who recounts to the FBI that in his opinion Lee Harvey Oswald or what he thinks a gentleman who was that man, came to his shop reasonably regularly and had a haircut on Saturday, on Saturdays, and accompanying him was what he judged to be a 14-year-old boy. Do you recall Lee Oswald ever obtaining a haircut over any weekend while he was at your home?
Mrs. PAINE - No. 

Mr. JENNER: Some local barber seemed to think that Lee had called regularly on Fridays or Saturday morning at the barber shop. Your impression of that is that that was not Lee who did that.

Mrs. PAINE. That is my impression.

Mr. JENNER. In any event, you don’t recall him ever buddying with or having a 14year-old boy with whom he went around while he was in Irving?

Mrs. PAINE: I certainly do not recall.

Mr. JENNER. Would your recollection be to the contrary, that he did not?

Mrs. PAINE. My recollection is distinctly to the contrary. 

It also appears that the FBI investigation of the kid in the barbershop was token, and consisted of asking Ruth if she had any idea about who it was. Her response to the FBI was misleading and classic Ruth-speak:

“She has no child even as old as school age and knows of no boy of about 14 with whom Oswald was ever associated in the neighborhood”.  

This Hootkins anecdote can be added to that long list of "coincidences" associated with Ruth Paine.

Gene 

[James DiEugenio]

I am surprised that you are the only one who picked up on this Gene.

I really think it is both fascinating, and important.

Greg Parker does a lot of original work in his studies. Stuff that is off the beaten path.  And this is what I pointed out in my review of his book.  This is a perfect example.

If Greg is right about this, as i think he is, it is  important since it happened BEFORE the assassination.

Greg says that Hootkins visited Shasteen probably twice with Oswald.  But then, out of the blue, he may have visited Shasteen alone.  And the future actor put on a pro Marxist, anti capitalist show that was so obvious the FBI had to discount it, and Ruth had to try and brush off his name being in her address book.  Can you imagine doing such a thing in a  middle class, Andy of Mayberry barber shop in 1963?  In Texas! Sort of like Mike Paine at Luby's with SMU students,  playing the pro Castro sympathizer.

Again, if Greg is right, what else could it have been except a staged scene made so Shasteen would remember Oswald. And again, if Greg is right, who else could have put Hootkins up to it?

Edited June 22, 2022 by James DiEugenio

[James DiEugenio]

Here is my very brief synopsis of what Greg has written about this Shasteen episode.

There is one other example of this possible activity that could have been used. Cliff Shasteen was a barber who cut Oswald’s hair a few times in the fall of 1963. Cliff said that Oswald was accompanied twice by a 14 year old boy who did not get his hair cut or say anything. But strangely, this boy appeared by himself a few days before the assassination. Once there, he began to rant about the benefits of one world government and the plight of “have nots” in society. Shasteen was taken aback, because he knew he was not a local kid. The youth never returned. (Click here for details)

Greg Parker did a fine job of inquiring into this odd, but notable occurrence. Greg deduced that the description fit future actor Bill Hootkins perfectly. Who had access to both Hootkins and Oswald? Ruth Paine tutored Hootkins in Russian that fall. Bill’s mother told the Bureau that Ruth would pick her son up and take him to St. Mark’s—an upper class, private school where Ruth worked at—for lessons. Hootkins’ contact information was in Ruth’s address book. Did Ruth take young Bill to Irving instead?

Please click through in the link above to read the long version by Greg.

Edited June 22, 2022 by James DiEugenio

[W. Tracy Parnell]

19 hours ago, Allen Lowe said:

Jim, isn’t it true that Ruth heard of another possible job after Oswald was already accepted at the book depository, but never told Oswald about it? I wish she had been confronted about this in the film. If it is true, it’s pretty damning, since from what I’ve heard this other job paid more.

 

[Denny Zartman]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:32 PM, James DiEugenio said:

This is the extended series that I have been talking about, led by the Florida attorney Carol Hewett, but also featuring work by Steve Jones and Barbara LaMonica.

It was published in the mid nineties at Probe, which I edited at that time.  IMO, it constituted a milestone in the literature. It would have been even better, and longer, but Carol was stricken with cancer, although she did eventually recover. Carol was an aces researcher who never got the credit she deserved.

Thomas Mallon wrote his book about the Paines in part as a reaction to this work.  Which tells you something.

https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/carol-hewett-steve-jones-and-barbara-la-monica-dissect-the-paines

 

 

Thanks for compiling and sharing this. It's excellent work. I'm learning a lot from it.

[Gene Kelly]

And Ruth flat-out denied it during her WC testimony ... a bold-faced lie:

Mr. JENNER: Some local barber seemed to think that Lee had called regularly on Fridays or Saturday morning at the barber shop. Your impression of that is that that was not Lee who did that.

Mrs. PAINE. That is my impression.

Mr. JENNER. In any event, you don’t recall him ever buddying with or having a 14year-old boy with whom he went around while he was in Irving?

Mrs. PAINE: I certainly do not recall.

Mr. JENNER. Would your recollection be to the contrary, that he did not?

Mrs. PAINE. My recollection is distinctly to the contrary. 

Albert Jenner leads the witness (" ... your impression is that that was not Lee") and she evades and in essence takes the 5th by stating "I do not recall", when asked about the 14-year-old boy (i.e., Hootkins).  What a performance ... the terms palter, prevaricate and dissemble come to mind. 

Gene

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks for that Denny.  I always thought it was a very good series, very informational and original.

I hope everyone reads that series on the Paines..  

[James DiEugenio]

Gene, if you read what Greg has to say about her testimony, I think its even worse than that..

[Paul Brancato]

19 hours ago, Gene Kelly said:

And Ruth flat-out denied it during her WC testimony ... a bold-faced lie:

Mr. JENNER: Some local barber seemed to think that Lee had called regularly on Fridays or Saturday morning at the barber shop. Your impression of that is that that was not Lee who did that.

Mrs. PAINE. That is my impression.

Mr. JENNER. In any event, you don’t recall him ever buddying with or having a 14year-old boy with whom he went around while he was in Irving?

Mrs. PAINE: I certainly do not recall.

Mr. JENNER. Would your recollection be to the contrary, that he did not?

Mrs. PAINE. My recollection is distinctly to the contrary. 

Albert Jenner leads the witness (" ... your impression is that that was not Lee") and she evades and in essence takes the 5th by stating "I do not recall", when asked about the 14-year-old boy (i.e., Hootkins).  What a performance ... the terms palter, prevaricate and dissemble come to mind. 

Gene

This Hootkins story is fascinating. There was someone else who might have buddied around with him and might have been mistaken for Oswald - Michael Paine. 

[Gene Kelly]

Paul

The pieces start to come together when you read what Bill Simpich wrote - in "The JFK Case: The Twelve Who Built the Oswald Legend: Part 12: The Endgame”, AARC Library - about the barber Cliff Shasteen, and several other individuals with memorable Oswald encounters:

What is particularly interesting is how even J. Lee Rankin, the general counsel of the Warren Commission, was forced to conclude in the last month of the investigation that something in the Oswald story was deeply wrong. At the beginning of September, counsel Rankin wrote a four-page memo to Hoover, telling him that the Commission needed to review the evidence around several individuals: The grocer Leonard Hutchison, the barber Cliff Shasteen, the auto salesman Albert Bogard, and the gun owner Garland Slack. The backstory involving all four of these men led right back to the Paines. It would have been hard for Rankin to ignore it.

Most of this can be found in WC testimony, FBI memos and a September 1, 1964, Rankin letter to Hoover.

Gene

 

[James DiEugenio]

That is a really interesting observation by Rankin.  

I guess he did not realize that by sending it to Hoover, he was sending it down the river.

Or maybe he did.

[Denny Zartman]

12 hours ago, Gene Kelly said:

Paul

The pieces start to come together when you read what Bill Simpich wrote - in "The JFK Case: The Twelve Who Built the Oswald Legend: Part 12: The Endgame”, AARC Library - about the barber Cliff Shasteen, and several other individuals with memorable Oswald encounters:

What is particularly interesting is how even J. Lee Rankin, the general counsel of the Warren Commission, was forced to conclude in the last month of the investigation that something in the Oswald story was deeply wrong. At the beginning of September, counsel Rankin wrote a four-page memo to Hoover, telling him that the Commission needed to review the evidence around several individuals: The grocer Leonard Hutchison, the barber Cliff Shasteen, the auto salesman Albert Bogard, and the gun owner Garland Slack. The backstory involving all four of these men led right back to the Paines. It would have been hard for Rankin to ignore it.

Most of this can be found in WC testimony, FBI memos and a September 1, 1964, Rankin letter to Hoover.

Gene

 

I'd like to read that piece by Bill Simpich. I respect his work. I'm always curious to learn more about these Oswald encounters.

The barber shop story certainly is mysterious. I don't really know what to make of it other than that it was one of a series of impersonations or schemes to implicate Oswald ahead of time. In some aspects the barber shop story resembles the Odio incident.

One of the many things that caught my eye in the articles @James DiEugenio posted was the theory that the backyard photos might have been originally created to implicate Oswald in the Walker attempted shooting. Do you or James have an opinion on that?

I can't help but wonder if that might be a clue to the Mauser/Carcano mystery.