Joannides & Lafitte in New Orleans, 1963 — H. P. Albarelli Jr. @2013

[Leslie Sharp]

11 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

I'm reading slow, a few pages at a time trying to take it in.

I think I told you that a skilled woodworker who has been studying the assassination for four decades said, it's like working a fine piece of wood ... you gotta make a first pass, then another, then another.

[Leslie Sharp]

@Michael Griffith as promised, this is the first of several rebuttals found on the EF thread, "the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle" in response to Steve's assertion that Lajos Marton and Laszlo Varga could not have possibly been with Jean Souetre in mid-late November 1963: 

@Steve Thomas Before outlining in detail those [who were] in authority who could effect the release or escape of recently incarcerated known assassins in 1963, the following excerpts — resulting from a simple word search of Coup in Dallas for the term “escape” — reflect lax prison conditions (as evidenced in the prison attire in undated photos of Lajos Marton & Laszlo Varga which have been presented in this discussion as proof they couldn’t have crossed the MX – US border), porous prison systems and international borders, and apparent weak attempts to recapture escapees. [relevant phrases in bold.]         

 

·       Following their arrest, Souetre and Brousse were transferred, first to the prison de Maison Carrée in France, then back to Algeria, where they and the others arrested with them were tried before a military tribunal on December 17, 1961. The press referred to this group as Souetre’s “First Algerian Marquis.” 

Four days later, they were sentenced to three-to-four years in a detention camp at Saint Maurice l’Ardoise; however, the sentence was suspended and replaced with an administrative detention of indeterminate length. Apparently, the terms of confinement were somewhat generous because, in January 1962, Souetre was allowed to marry Josette Marcaihou of Aymeric. Four days later, they were sentenced to three-to-four years in a detention camp at Saint-Maurice l’Ardoise]. However, the sentence was suspended and replaced with an administrative detention of indeterminate length. Indeed, the camp’s commander, General Claude Clement, attended the ceremony. [under dispute.] Souetre and his new wife enjoyed a confined honeymoon, but days later the newlywed soldier escaped the camp along with seventeen others. After his escape, Souetre quickly assumed a leading role in planning the OAS attack on General de Gaulle at Petit-Clamart. De Gaulle escaped unharmed. Very much involved in the August 22, 1962 attempt to kill de Gaulle were Souetre’s close associates Laszlo Varga, Lajos Marton, along with Hungarian Gyula Sari, and Corsican born Francois Duprat, identified as one of the lead architects of Holocaust denial in France.

About a month after escaping, Souetre emerged in Feb–March 1962 living in Spain, and from there he often traveled to Portugal. On several occasions at this time Souetre approached CIA officials and tried to persuade them to provide the OAS with backing as the best and most “viable alternative to communism” in France. As we have seen, there are at least two declassified CIA documents that purport to outline these meetings. Meanwhile, his new bride, provided false identity papers, had joined him in Madrid but because of his continued OAS activities, she soon left him, returning to France where she filed for a divorce. Due to her use of false documents in Spain, her divorce was interrupted by her falsification of papers. Having paid the fine for the offence, she was released, the divorce was finalized, and Josette Marcaihou disappeared from history. 

 

·       Brousse -- Influential member of the Committee of the Association of Mayors of France and Overseas, in charge of the Youth and Sports Commission, member of the steering committee of the Council of European Municipalities, he joined Algerian War and became head of the SAS of Masséna. Opposed to the Algerian policy of France, he was the animator of the first "French Algeria" maquis, in the territories of Mostaganémois, with as companions Sheikh Si El Hadj Tekouk Ben Tekouk Senousssi, Captain Souetre, commandos of the air, and René Villard, Algerian civil leader of France-Resurrection. Arrested, placed in solitary confinement, he escaped and went into exile. 

 

·       Pierre Lafitte would also cross paths with Filliol—who like Lafitte would use at least twenty aliases—when in 1944 he was associated with the SS Waffen Charlemagne Division, a French unit aiding the National Socialists in their occupation of France. It is reported by surviving members of Lafitte’s family that he was with the SS Brigadefuhrer Krukenenberg in April 1945, just prior to its being moved to Berlin to defend Hitler in his final bunker days, but independent confirmation of this remains elusive. There is no evidence that Lafitte was ever captured, let alone brought to trial; however, at the end of World War II, Filliol was tried in absentia and sentenced to death. His sentence was never carried out because he escaped to Spain and fascist dictator General Francisco Franco refused to extradite the killer. 

 

 

·       The New York Times article is a bit off about General Giraud not having popular support. Indeed, Giraud was a national hero who had served in the French army for forty-six years, through both world wars. American diplomat Robert Murphy said of Giraud, “This extraordinary old soldier had a brilliant service record as a young officer in North Africa. He knew the country well, and he knew Arabs well and was generally respected by them. Giraud was somewhat of a specialist in escape.”    

 

·       Lafitte, operating under the alias Jean Pierre Martin, visited Martino in prison on at least one occasion in 1961. This is known only because of a notation made by George Hunter White: “Pierre to see Martino Cuba—call Rene.” [Rene being Pierre’s wife.] A subsequent notation by Lafitte reads: “Siragusa re Martino Cuba.” This pertains to former OSS officials and Federal Narcotics Bureau agent Charles Siragusa, who was approached by the CIA in 1960 about contracting American Mafia figures in Cuba, and elsewhere, to help three CIA employees imprisoned with Martino to escape. It is thought that perhaps Siragusa contacted White and Lafitte for help with this request. 

 

 

·       Of those named by Trafficante, readers are already familiar with Loran Eugene Hall, understood to have known alleged assassination bagman John Martino; Lucien Rivard, whose 1965 daring escape from prison in Canada would make headline news in the US as a known narcotics smuggler operating out of Havana; and Leslie Bradley, trained pilot and self-described soldier of fortune who had been arrested for plotting and participating in an invasion of Nicaragua meant to embarrass Fidel Castro. According to FBI documents, “Cuban authorities charged that the [Nicaragua] plot was hatched on orders from the United States (CIA) to discredit the Castro regime.” The lesser-known individual identified by Trafficante as “Hudson,” was also involved in that failed plot. Deitsch writes that Hudson was an alleged “British Journalist,” sometimes called Carlos Juan Wilson-Hudson who “reportedly worked for Batista.” We know with certainty that he was known to Pierre Lafitte as J. Wilson-Hudson a.k.a. JW-H. Before delving into this obscure character identified by Trafficante as being present in Trescornia when Ruby visited the prison, it is important to place that imprisonment in context.

 

·       A February 26, 1962 exposé “Neo-National Socialists Linked to Algeria French” by correspondent Waverley Root, then living in Paris, published in The Washington Post, reveals that European extremists—known as Ultras—in Algeria were “now tied in with the worldwide clandestine neo-National Socialist organization which has existed ever since the end of the war, built around a core of Hitlerites who escaped post war justice. The head of this international National Socialist underground has always been believed to be Madrid’s man of mystery, Otto Skorzeny, the SS trooper who rescued Mussolini from his captors.” More chilling, Root continues, “Skorzeny is reported to maintain contacts with former National Socialists scattered throughout the world, especially in Latin America and the Middle East. They have not given up hope that National Socialistsm may yet triumph throughout the world, and they seem prepared to lend their aid in any desperate venture of like political ideology which might achieve a Rightest authoritarian government anywhere.” (emphasis added.)

Root’s informed sources said that “two of four defendants in the trial escaped and made their way to Spain.” The trial he refers to was the result of the arrest of those involved in the 1957 bazooka attack on General Raoul Salan. The far-right extremists were convinced that the general wasn’t fully on their side to halt the movement toward independence from France in Algeria. All charged with the attack had been found guilty. Among them was Doctor René Kovacs, who was sentenced to death in absentia following his escape. A physician by training, Kovacs was born in Algeria of [notably for our purposes] Hungarian parents. Along with his aide, Joseph Ortiz, a restaurateur, and fellow far-right extremist, the two fled to Spain. 

[Paul Brancato]

In the paragraph about Lafitte visiting Martino in prison I think you might have made a mistake - did George Hunter White make that note about ‘calling Rene’? 

[Leslie Sharp]

4 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

In the paragraph about Lafitte visiting Martino in prison I think you might have made a mistake - did George Hunter White make that note about ‘calling Rene’? 

Pretty certain.  Let me check.  I know Rene called George about Lafitte on occasion.

Are you referring to the following?

Lafitte, operating under the alias Jean Pierre Martin, visited Martino in prison on at least one occasion in 1961. This is known only because of a notation made by George Hunter White: “Pierre to see Martino Cuba—call Rene.” [Rene being Pierre’s wife.] A subsequent notation by Lafitte reads: “Siragusa re Martino Cuba.” This pertains to former OSS officials and Federal Narcotics Bureau agent Charles Siragusa, who was approached by the CIA in 1960 about contracting American Mafia figures in Cuba, and elsewhere, to help three CIA employees imprisoned with Martino to escape. It is thought that perhaps Siragusa contacted White and Lafitte for help with this request. 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

13 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Pretty certain.  Let me check.  I know Rene called George about Lafitte on occasion.

Are you referring to the following?
 

Lafitte, operating under the alias Jean Pierre Martin, visited Martino in prison on at least one occasion in 1961. This is known only because of a notation made by George Hunter White: “Pierre to see Martino Cuba—call Rene.” [Rene being Pierre’s wife.] A subsequent notation by Lafitte reads: “Siragusa re Martino Cuba.” This pertains to former OSS officials and Federal Narcotics Bureau agent Charles Siragusa, who was approached by the CIA in 1960 about contracting American Mafia figures in Cuba, and elsewhere, to help three CIA employees imprisoned with Martino to escape. It is thought that perhaps Siragusa contacted White and Lafitte for help with this request. 

@Paul Brancato that's a direct quote which also appears on pg. 437 of Albarelli's "A Terrible Mistake."

[Leslie Sharp]

" . . . But one of the most extraordinary associations in the annals of crime is the carefully guarded relationship between the federal government and one of the most amazing underworld figures of the age." — Bob Considine

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Michael Griffith]

14 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Thanks, Mike,

Apparently you didn't follow my rebuttal of Sundberg's arguments regarding Marton via Steve Thomas's posts on a separate Ed Forum thread. I know you were in receipt of his emails last summer, as well as the Mar 24 in which he actually threatened me with a lawsuit, couched in "concern". He also advised others on that mailing list to drop any pursuit of Marton Lajos lest they are subjects of a suit as well.  I find that unconscionable professionally, but I'm intrigued Sundberg is so concerned about this line of inquiry to suggest Hank was/we are indeed onto something.
 

@Steve Thomas  subsequently (thus far) refuses to engage any further with me.  I'll track down the details I shared with Steve and post them here, but I trust you're cognizant that I wouldn't want this thread which is focused on Hank's Joannides & Lafitte in New Orleans, 1963 to be hijacked.  

If the Joannides files represent the smoking gun that Mr. Morley alluded to back in December 2021, more boldly than he ever has, one would ask why Hank's revelation wasn't taken more seriously years ago.  [Note. I've yet to identify that Hank proposed the Joannides article for wide publication other than on jfkfacts.org. He was in 'hot pursuit' of the clues Lafitte left behind and may have thought at the time that Jeff's was the best and only forum suited for the Joannides angle of his investigation.] 

Fair enough. I'll just go check out the other thread that you mentioned. Thanks.

[David McLean]

 

Q — is this the Lafitte in question?  Good discussion, me thinks we are getting somewhere giving flesh to names and places and connections while not denying older findings and hypotheses, thanks to all

[David McLean]

Note that the given month and date in Date of Birth, Oct 13, is the date In 1307 Phillip IV of France ordered the arrest of Jacques de Molay and other Knights Templar, followed on November 22 by Pope Clement then ensconced in Avignon issuing a papal bull  condemning the order throughout Christendom (Wikipedia’s summary).  Whew…

[Leslie Sharp]

10 hours ago, David McLean said:

 

Q — is this the Lafitte in question?  Good discussion, me thinks we are getting somewhere giving flesh to names and places and connections while not denying older findings and hypotheses, thanks to all

Thank you, David, and alas someone on the forum realizes that aspects of the Lafitte story comport with much of what is now accepted fact in the case. I believe that because Hank uncovered evidence of international support and direct involvement in the Dallas plot, Coup demands the community do a rethink and that's unsettling. He also insisted that the batch of records within the Skorzeny Papers purchased by Major Ganis represent a seismic shift in resolving the cold case murder investigation because they reflect a trajectory from WWII, the Cold War, to Dallas.

Yes, this is "the" Pierre Lafitte" who maintained a residence in Armonk, NY.  

Re. Armonk: there are many high strangenesses and synchronicities in Hank's investigation, but the Anita Ehrman coincidence continues to intrigue.  A.L. Ehrman, mentioned in a July 30 Lafitte datebook entry, was a former Hearst News reporter who landed a job at the Washington Post but worked only six months before leaving for reasons not yet determined. She was found dead in her DC apartment on July 29. George Hunter-White and Rene are both noted in the July 30 entry as well, with a notation they were in DC. Anita covered the Algerian war for independence from France on the ground in Algeria.

Following her death, Anita's family established a foundation and a local recreation center in her honor, in Armonk, NY, a short drive from the Armonk address you see here. Her father was a principle partner in Lehman Bros. for decades, and sat on the board of Wirt Davis's Dallas bank which morphed into Republic National Bank of Dallas.

Phil Graham, editor of the Washington Post, died by suicide on August 3, just five days after Anita was found dead. Grant Stockdale allegedly threw himself off a building on December 2, ten days after the assassination. It's difficult to ignore the string of deaths and the 1-2 degrees of separation  reflected in the following excerpt. [note: Hank and I had not made the Erhrman connection before he passed away.]

Among the[ Amb. Grant] Stockdales’ guests, in the spirit of céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes) at Phoenix Park, Dublin, were Otto and Ilse Skorzeny. The Skorzenys had purchased a 155-acre estate named Martinstown House, in Curragh, County Kildare in June 1959. Stockdale was acutely familiar with the "former" N-azi SS officer who often visited with various American businessmen in meetings held in the American Embassy in Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin, including military officers and intelligence officials, as well as various embassy staff members throughout 1960, 1961, and 1962. Former embassy personnel vividly recall Skorzeny coming to the embassy on a near “weekly basis.” Evidence also reveals that the Skorzenys were occasional dinner guests joining the ambassador and his wife, and that Ilse Skorzeny was a frequent visitor to Miami, Florida. As we learn in a later chapter in pursuit of the Skorzenys’ time in Ireland, the SS officer had been an active participant in aiding arms trafficking to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). 

When the Serve-U Corporation scandal involving Democratic operative Bobby Baker [whose girlfriend Carole Tyler died in a plane crash in May of 1965] finally exploded, under pressure from his close friend President Kennedy, Grant Stockdale reluctantly resigned his post in Ireland in July 1962.

Stockdale’s Friends, Phil Graham and Frank Wisner

Just three weeks before the first clear reference to Ellen Rometsch in his diary, Lafitte writes on May 26:

L.O. – Wisner

Vosjoli   DC   JA

 

Then on June 16, Lafitte first acknowledges Ella by name in an entry that reads, “Ella acting classes – who?”  

Four days later, on June 20, Lafitte makes a note to cable OS (Otto Skorzeny), preceded by the name Wisner. The note reads in full:

Wisner - cable / OS

NYC / Wash D C

 

On July 28, 1963, the project manager of the assassination of President Kennedy makes a note that George [Hunter-White] and/or Otto Skorzeny would talk to [Grant] Stockdale about P. [Phil] Graham and the prospects that Graham would end up at Chestnut Lodge, in a duplicate fashion of Frank Olson’s journey toward death some ten years earlier. [Two days later, Lafitte makes a note, " A.L. Ehrman"]

George / OS talk

to Stockdale about P. Graham

(George says Chestnut Lodge) - dupe –

 

Operation Mockingbird

 

Philip Graham, a wartime graduate of the US Army’s Intelligence School at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, served as an intel officer in the US Airforce in the Pacific theater during the war. In 1940, he married Katherine Meyer, the daughter of Eugene Meyer who owned The Washington Post. After the war, and following graduation from Harvard Law School, Graham replaced his father-in-law as publisher at WaPo and eventually became co-owner of the newspaper, serving as president and chief executive officer as well as chairman of the board of directors of Newsweek magazine. 

Over time, in his capacity as a rising star in print media, Graham developed a close friendship with Senator Lyndon Johnson of Texas, and a young senator from Massachusetts, John Kennedy. In fact, it is said that he was instrumental in shaping the Kennedy-Johnson 1960 Democratic ticket. He was also known to be close with a good many other Senators, especially his high school chum George Smathers, as well as Representatives and federal officials. Among them were division heads at the CIA, including Frank Wisner of the Office of Policy Coordination. By the 1960s, any upheaval in Phil Graham’s life, personal or professional, would become the business of Frank Wisher.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

9 hours ago, David McLean said:

Note that the given month and date in Date of Birth, Oct 13, is the date In 1307 Phillip IV of France ordered the arrest of Jacques de Molay and other Knights Templar, followed on November 22 by Pope Clement then ensconced in Avignon issuing a papal bull  condemning the order throughout Christendom (Wikipedia’s summary).  Whew…

I like how you think!  

It's entirely plausible to speculate Jean Pierre Lafitte opted for that birthdate deliberately.  Thus far, to our knowledge Pierre didn't have an official birth certificate and we know that he reinvented himself throughout his life.

I don't suppose you've also tracked the deaths by blows to the head of significant historical figures over the centuries, beginning with the Merovingian king Dagobert? Years ago, prompted by a deep dive into de Molay because my father was the head of the de Molays in our small town, I came across a series of what I think of as esoteric  assassinations that involved fatal blows to the head. (AND the guy standing closest suffered severe injuries to the arm. Nothing new under the sun?) Ó'Cinnéide is Gaelic for "Helmet Head" and as you likely know, the O'Kennedys were High Kings of Ireland for an extended period.

And, taped inside the 1963 Lafitte datebook is a Lincoln penny with a clean hole through the top of his head. . .  and a Reich coin and a Hitler stamp, all to suggest Pierre had an esoteric bent.

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Paul Brancato]

Has anyone ever asked former Florida Senator Bob Graham what he knows about half brother Phil Graham’s death? Bob certainly suspected something amiss with 9/11. Phil Graham had some kind of public meltdown shortly before his death. Do you recall that? Something about JFK’s girlfriends? 
what was Ilse Skorzeny doing in Miami? Any idea? 
who is Ella?

[Leslie Sharp]

35 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Has anyone ever asked former Florida Senator Bob Graham what he knows about half brother Phil Graham’s death? Bob certainly suspected something amiss with 9/11. Phil Graham had some kind of public meltdown shortly before his death. Do you recall that? Something about JFK’s girlfriends? 
what was Ilse Skorzeny doing in Miami? Any idea? 
who is Ella?

The Ellen Rometsch "Affair" with JFK was about to break nationally. Lafitte's datebook indicates he was intricately involved, including arranging for passports, and aware if not responsible for setting up acting classes for her.

The inference is that Ilse Skorzeny knew the Stockdale's well enough from her frequent visits to Phoenix Park  to visit them in Miami when they returned to the States.

The Ehrman death is most likely a critical key to the mystery, considering Lafitte notes that Otto and Stockdale were discussing Graham on July 28, Graham had been Anita's editor at the WaPo, and Anita is in the datebook on July 30.  Reports indicate that although she was found on the 29th, it was likely she died on July 28.

A. L. Ehrman had reported on the ground from Algeria during the final months of the war for independence.  Those who have read Coup carefully will recognize the potential significance of that, considering OAS assassins were involved in the murder of Kennedy in Dallas.

 

PS. Graham's melt down occurred in Phoenix, AZ at a media convention.   I've never read a transcript of what precisely he shouted to the crowd other than it was related to JFK,  peccadilloes, and the crowd they ran with. (see Sy Hersh.)  I've read that Graham himself had his own secrets. We know that Anita Ehrman was in the press pool for Jackie's trip to Japan, her father was well connected in the social and business world of NYC, and it's entirely possible she knew Jack and Jackie personally through her stint in Japan and that she was then introduced to their friends, including the Bradlees who in turn landed her a job at WaPo.  

Is it pure coincidence Lafitte references George Hunter-White on the same day as Ms. Ehrman, in DC? And, I've not noted previously, SA Milton Kaack is referenced on the same day.

Research in progress ...

Edited April 5, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

@Tom Gram @Michael Griffith @Greg Doudna (see previous comment for context)

A. L. EHRMAN: This July 30 entry clearly refers to Anita L. Ehrman, a foreign correspondent whose body was found that day in her Washington apartment.[Note: I believe Dick Russell is mistaken and that Ehrman was found on the 29th.] The only other reference to this appears in my 1992 book, citing a notebook seized from Richard Case Nagell by the FBI on September 20, 1963 but not released until 1975. That entry says: “ANITA L. EHRMAN. 7-30-63 WASHINGTON, D.C.” Nagell was involved with Oswald in an assassination plot. 

_____________________________

 

I believe that this datebook [maintained by Pierre Lafitte] fills in many gaps about what really happened on November 22, 1963, and in the months leading up to it. This will be particularly evident to students of the assassination.  — Dick Russell, author of thirteen [and counting] books including The Man Who Knew Too Much, On the Trail of the JFK Assassins, and They Killed Our President! with Jesse Ventura.

. . . 

In summary, it is possible from this datebook to piece together many things about the assassination that could be merely educated guesses until now. I believe, presuming the datebook is verified as having been written by Lafitte in 1963, that this constitutes probably the strongest evidence that has ever come to light of a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. — Dick Russell

 

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

 

According to the Lafitte records, Jean Souetre was brought on board by Otto Skorzeny.  

We're considering the strong possibility of an overlap with George Joannides, via ZRRifle, and Jean Souetre via QJ/WIN. If so, we have further evidence to support the argument that this was an international operation and that Skorzeny was not a simple "tactician" working for THE C.I.A.

If elements of the OAS which had not yet been fully disbanded were involved, and if de Gaulle had gotten wind of the plan and did nothing to interfere, we're looking at a decades-long major rift in US-French relations with reverberations across Europe and NATO. Is this why the Souetre/INS files remain under lock and key? Is there correlation with the Joannides files?

Further, we now have several candidates — including a QJ/WIN operative within the highest echelon of INTERPOL — who could have affected a furlough for Hungarians Marton and Varga in order for them to travel with Souetre, all the way down to DFS Mexico City.  The vehement resistance to Hank's investigation by some — including active members on Ed Forum — is perplexing to say the least.