John Rosselli and the ARRB

[James DiEugenio]

According to the Rappleye biography, Rosselli appeared three times before the Church Committee.

Twice before the whole committee and once with the Hart/Schweiker sub committee.

Have these been declassified?

Because I do not recall anyone talking about them.  Not even Malcolm.

Also, unless I made an error, the Rappleye book says John was in Phoenix and LA in the days surrounding the assassination.

So Larry, what is the source for him being in Vegas?

 

 

[Ron Bulman]

Hi Jim.  I don't see Larry looking in so I thought I'd share this.  From Lee Server's Hansome Johnny.  Pg. 417.  The book has a bibliography and index but no page, chapter or end notes.  The source is reputedly FBI files.  To summarize and quote . . .

"Johnny and (Maury) Friedman planned a trip to Arizona and Washington DC for the third week of November."  Business/pleasure, "Or maybe the other way around."  Accompanying them, two call girls, per FBI, one $2000, other a new car.  11/16/1963 all departed 6:55 AM AA flight 70 to Phoenix.  9:32 checked in to hotel Scottsdale, stayed two days.  Planned next leg to confer with unnamed congressman was "postponed", the women were told.  At 12:45 PM on the 18th all four went by limo to Sky Harbor airport.  Women ticketed to LA on AA.  JR & MF ticketed on Bonanza 1:50 flight to Las Vegas.  Johnny registered at the Desert Inn.  "Seen that evening in conversation with Ruby Kolod, the DI's co-owner."  

"The FBI's records show no further account of his activities - or the report has gone missing - from November to November 27."

Interesting given Tipping Point puts Ruby in Vegas on 11/18-19/1963 per a LV sheriff's report and one by the FBI.

[Larry Hancock]

Thanks Ron,  you beat me to it on the sources.  It should be noted that the FBI surveillance on Roselli was so tight that they monitored his personal car in LA daily and also had a watch on him (among others) at arrivals and departures at the Vegas airport. Roselli was aware of all this which is why he even fed a bogus line to one of his girlfriends who was an FBI source in conjunction with that trip by he and his buddy to Arizona.

Beyond all that we also have an anecdotal report from a lawyer whose partner told him that on Sunday he received a call from Vegas by someone whose voice he recognized because they had met before and that the call had to do with obtaining a lawyer for Ruby - he identified the caller as Roselli and it was made clear to him that the payments would need to be fed though Ruby's brother so that nobody would find out who was paying for Ruby's defense.  All third party of course - this is in SWHT - and I did get some confirmation from the law partner.  No way to firm it up but it was more indication that Ruby's act against Oswald was unplanned and as with many other aspects whatever the plan had been it had unraveled the afternoon of November 22 and Ruby had been called in as a last ditch effort to make sure Oswald was not going to be talking - or go to trial. 

 

[Joseph Backes]

Jim,

Roselli - testimony 9/22/75

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1338#relPageId=1&search=Rosselli_testimony

 

[Joseph Backes]

Jim,

Roselli - 4/23/76

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1445#relPageId=1&search=Rosselli_testimony

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks to everyone, nice job.

There might be one Rosselli testimony missing which was before the entire committee with Goldwater etc.

And thanks for that Ron, as the Rappeleye book did not have the info abut the Las Vegas trip.

So it looks like Rosselli was in Phoenix, LA, Vegas, and then in LA again over the several days preceding and after the assassination.

And if Larry's info is correct, Vegas so the FBI could not tape his calls.

I have come to the conclusion  that Johnny was killed because he was testifying before the Senate and the Mob really did not like that.

Trafficante was given the contract.

But if Larry is correct, it might be that he endangered their end of the JFK hit, which was back up in case Oswald survived the Texas Theater.  Which he did.

But I have to say, the surveillance on Rosselli was almost as total as on Giancana. Which makes it hard to believe they were actually in on the plot.

Edited April 28, 2023 by James DiEugenio

[Ron Bulman]

22 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

"The FBI's records show no further account of his activities - or the report has gone missing - from November to November 27."

I left out two digits.  He was conveniently missing from the FBI's surveillance from 11/20-11/27.  After Vegas, with Ruby there on Tuesday the 19th, he disappeared from their radar from Wednesday the 20th before the assassination until Wednesday 27'th after the assassination.  A full week.  Tight surveillance from LA to Phoenix to Vegas then gone, disappeared.  After his work with the CIA on assassinating Castro.  Recommended by Maheu, Harvey's overnight guest at his home later.

Ruby gets back to Dallas and has money.  At the bank, tells his lawyer he can pay off his years long thousands of dollars (in 1963!) tax debt, something about a new apartment in Turtle Creek, an exclusive area in Dallas.  An employee takes money out of the a/c vent in his club per his instruction.  Stories of money found in his car and his apartment but not reported.

I've wondered if he was a functionary in the set up.  Paid for his services on the 18th/19th.

Then called in to service by the code of Omerta after the 22nd?  By . . . Who?

[Benjamin Cole]

8 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

I left out two digits.  He was conveniently missing from the FBI's surveillance from 11/20-11/27.  After Vegas, with Ruby there on Tuesday the 19th, he disappeared from their radar from Wednesday the 20th before the assassination until Wednesday 27'th after the assassination.  A full week.  Tight surveillance from LA to Phoenix to Vegas then gone, disappeared.  After his work with the CIA on assassinating Castro.  Recommended by Maheu, Harvey's overnight guest at his home later.

Ruby gets back to Dallas and has money.  At the bank, tells his lawyer he can pay off his years long thousands of dollars (in 1963!) tax debt, something about a new apartment in Turtle Creek, an exclusive area in Dallas.  An employee takes money out of the a/c vent in his club per his instruction.  Stories of money found in his car and his apartment but not reported.

I've wondered if he was a functionary in the set up.  Paid for his services on the 18th/19th.

Then called in to service by the code of Omerta after the 22nd?  By . . . Who?

RB--

My memory is you are right on this score. Rosselli either evaded surveillance, or the records have disappeared, from 11/20 though 11/27. 

My guess is the LHO biography-build and legend was beyond anything the Mob could do, nor the post-JFKA cover-up. That was government work. 

But could Mob gunsels be involved in the actual JKFA and also the LHOA? 

Some characters, such as Eladio Del Valle and Hermininio Diaz, evidently worked in that large grey zone inhabited by mobsters, drug dealers and the CIA. If they were the triggermen, was it a "Mob hit" or a "CIA assassination"?

Even Antonio Veciana was imprisoned on drug charges. Was he totally innocent? Who knows? Mobbed up? 

Ruby was mobbed up and rubbed out LHO. 

There were literally thousands of CIA assets in the US in 1963, due to the Cuban situation. Cuban exiles, informants, activists, American mercenaries and 400 officers in the CIA Miami Station alone. Former US military guys, and yes, mobsters. 

Rosselli may have had pre-JFKA insights. His disappearance during 11/20 through 11/27 is remarkable, as is his murder before he was to testify before the HSCA. 

Rosselli was told to keep Ruby on standby? 

 

 

[James DiEugenio]

Ron,  then how does Rappleye place him in LA in the days after with Exner?

Was that due to the coverage on Exner?

[Larry Hancock]

I can't give the source from memory, its one of the biographies, but the author apparently tracked down a story that in his last testimony Roselli had mentioned true names for some of the Cubans who had been involved in  the early poison plots....although it was in closed session, staff members talked about that and work got back to Miami that Johnny was slipping with age and might say something even more dangerous during his next round of interviews....which led to his being killed by some of the individuals he had worked with directly in the earlier days, people he thought had secrets to protect but without knowing they had come suspect he might make get carried away with his story telling next time around when he was going to get asked about the Harvey period of time in 62/62  rather than the earliest days of the poison plots during the initial Cuba project period back in 60/61.. 

[Ron Bulman]

Garroted, legs cut off, stuffed in a perforated oil drum found floating in a bay on the coast of Florida by fishermen because the bloated body lifted it.  No more HSCA testimony.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Ron Bulman

[Pat Speer]

44 minutes ago, Larry Hancock said:

I can't give the source from memory, its one of the biographies, but the author apparently tracked down a story that in his last testimony Roselli had mentioned true names for some of the Cubans who had been involved in  the early poison plots....although it was in closed session, staff members talked about that and work got back to Miami that Johnny was slipping with age and might say something even more dangerous during his next round of interviews....which led to his being killed by some of the individuals he had worked with directly in the earlier days, people he thought had secrets to protect but without knowing they had come suspect he might make get carried away with his story telling next time around when he was going to get asked about the Harvey period of time in 62/62  rather than the earliest days of the poison plots during the initial Cuba project period back in 60/61.. 

Some years back, I bought a Cd-rom or DVD I don't remember from the Lancer website which included the transcripts to dozens of Church committee interviews. I believe the Rosselli interviews were included. I know that most if not all of these were put online at the MFF shortly thereafter. But I seem to recall that Rosselli's last interview--the one that presumably got him killed--was not included. 

I'm hoping Larry can refresh my memory. Has the transcript to Rosselli's final interview ever been made public? 

[Ron Ecker]

Tosh Plumlee claimed that he flew Roselli into Dallas on the morning of November 22.

Just thought I would throw that in.

 

[Larry Hancock]

Pat, as far as I know the last testimony Roselli gave was in the link Joe posted above:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1445#relPageId=10&search=Rosselli_testimony

He does mention his contacts with Cubans in 62/63 but gives no real details - although it was suggested he did say a bit more and mention a couple of names in private conversation with staff lawyers not on the record and that was what he was being called back to elaborate on.  As you see in the testimony they had really let him dance away from details of the 62 activities in particular.

In this testimony he also described being in Vegas on November 22. 

[James DiEugenio]

Where does he say that Larry?

You know, in reviewing all this stuff, what a story. 

I mean, Capone sends him to Hollywood, friends with Harry Cohn, insurance and union rackets, gets busted, then the Chicago guys send him to Vegas and he arranges deals for hotels and casinos, and then meets Maheu, who enlists him in the plots to kill Castro.  Meets with Harvey for second phase.

Tries to retire buts get called back and testifies under oath, talks too much and gets murdered.

You could make a true story out of his life which would be more entertaining than a fiction Mafia film.