Did the INS pick up Jean-Rene Souetre in Dallas?

[Steve Thomas]

1 hour ago, Allen Lowe said:

two things -

 

2) This may seem strange to ask, but I think is completely logical: Did Souetre/Mertz or whoever else was supposedly involved from the French side speak English? Has anyone ever confirmed that he/they/it did?

 

Allen,

According to the supporting Memorandum filed by Bernard Fensterwald in the lawsuit brought by Gary Shaw in 1981,

https://archive.org/stream/nsia-SouetreJean/nsia-SouetreJean/Souetre%20Jean%20063_djvu.txt

 

“In addition to his native French, Souetre speaks almost perfect English, 
Spanish, and German”. 

Steve Thomas

[Allen Lowe]

17 minutes ago, Steve Thomas said:

Allen,

According to the supporting Memorandum filed by Bernard Fensterwald in the lawsuit brought by Gary Shaw in 1981,

https://archive.org/stream/nsia-SouetreJean/nsia-SouetreJean/Souetre%20Jean%20063_djvu.txt

 

“In addition to his native French, Souetre speaks almost perfect English, 
Spanish, and German”. 

Steve Thomas

thanks.

[Leslie Sharp]

7 hours ago, Allen Lowe said:

two things -

1) I have never trusted Albarelli since, in A Secret Order, he expressed a belief in the ridiculous "twist" party that LHO was supposed to have attended. This is one of the dumbest theories of LHO's pre-assassination actions. It didn't happen.

2) This may seem strange to ask, but I think is completely logical: Did Souetre/Mertz or whoever else was supposedly involved from the French side speak English? Has anyone ever confirmed that he/they/it did?

I continue to be wary of supposed recountings of events like LaFitte's diary because they are just too perfectly designed to fit into the plot - they too perfectly satisfy our desires, so many years after the fact, to sum everything up into neat and tidy organizational explanations and to thus confirm our theories.

@Allen Lowe, rejecting a real time private record of the plot as it unfolded because it's "too good to be true" seems somewhat illogical. Arguing, in court, that the government — the prime suspect for many in the assassination research community — is withholding the smoking gun, and waiting for its release is not only equally illogical, it's patently absurd.

Lafitte made no effort to profit from the "too good to be true" datebook, nor did he pursue Hank or any other investigative journalist to advance a fraud, or a collector like Major Ganis to hawk his hoax.  Albarelli literally stumbled on to the Lafitte records, employing old-fashioned (he would cringe!) gumshoe detective skills. 

As he explains in ASO, Albarelli interviewed June Cobb for literally dozens and dozens of hours over a period of several years; he also tracked her claims by interviewing those she reported to and confirmed that her version of events in MC as she knew them was accurate and stood the test of time.  

Who have you interviewed to debunk the "twist" party, or who have you relied on for said debunking? Does Hank's journalistic reputation rest on that one event in A Secret Order which, as all who have studied it know, includes a copious amount of detail that stands the test of time?  

Fred Litwin read nine pages of Coup in Dallas and tossed it aside because we dealt critically with Permindex. Are you similarly concerned that the twist party confirmed Oswald in MC? If you read Coup, you will know that Lafitte kept a record of that period of Oswald's life related to the plot for Dallas, including his presence in MC on the alleged dates.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

10 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Ron,

Dates of early release:

Lajos Marton was released from the Saint Martin de Re prison on March 22, 1968. Also released from Re on that same day were:

https://deltas-collines.org/galerie/QQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Pierre Magade (involved in the attack on de Gaulle at Petit-Clamart)

Raymond Mura (who escaped from the St. Maurice l'Ardoise prison camp with Jean-Rene Souetre in February of 1962)

Gerard Baudry

Armand Belvisi

Dominique Cabannes de Laprade (released from Sante)

Andre Canal ("The Monocle" - Head of Mission III of the OAS)

etc,. etc., etc,...

The list goes on.

There was no "deal".

Steve Thomas

 

 

 

@Ron Bulman, (apologies for the triangulation, but Steve apparently is unwilling to communicate with me directly)  I would ask Steve how the release of others in 1968 is evidence that Lajos Marton wasn't cut a deal (by certain sympathetic officials in a position to do so) on November 20, 1963? 

If Mr. Marton is cognizant enough to be interviewed on the 60th anniversary of Petit Clamart and continues to espouse loyalty to the ideological "forces" that drove him to participate, why hasn't he issued a public statement in response to the continued claims that he traveled to MC?

I should note, obviously if Mr. Marton contacts me personally, and provides concrete evidence other than his own "word for it" of his whereabouts, we will publish an apology.

 

Similarly, if anyone in the Souetre family is in a position to provide substantiated evidence of his whereabouts on November 22 — following close scrutiny of said evidence, we would respond accordingly.

Edited July 1, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

Where are Bailey and Norwood's official INS Reports?

[Ron Bulman]

On 7/1/2023 at 6:51 AM, Steve Thomas said:

The list goes on.

There was no "deal".

Steve Thomas

 

I tend to agree Steve, I was trying to keep an open mind, as it was not impossible.  But the likelihood does seem small.  The likelihood Souetre played some role in the assassination after reading Coup does seem likely though.

If he landed on a direct flight from Spain in Mexico City on 11/12/63 with two accomplices would passports for Matron and Varga been perfect cover for him and them.  What?  They're in prison.

Other suspects for such a ruse are mentioned from my reading.  Though not implicated in the book for such.  Wish I was in Colorado this time of year instead of Texas.

 

[Leslie Sharp]

3 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I tend to agree Steve, I was trying to keep an open mind, as it was not impossible.  But the likelihood does seem small.  The likelihood Souetre played some role in the assassination after reading Coup does seem likely though.

If he landed on a direct flight from Spain in Mexico City on 11/12/63 with two accomplices would passports for Matron and Varga been perfect cover for him and them.  What?  They're in prison.

Other suspects for such a ruse are mentioned from my reading.  Though not implicated in the book for such.  Wish I was in Colorado this time of year instead of Texas.

 

@Ron Bulman, If I can jump in here as coauthor of Coup in Dallas which you reference: as you know, we don't speculate Soutre was in the US; we know he was because Lafitte makes it clear in his 1963 datebook.

Of course it is possible Marton and Varga were aliases for those traveling with Souetre.  However, Hank referred to them based on the conviction his source was solid, that Hungarian revolutionaries [FNU] Varga and Lajos Marton who in August 1962 had made an attempt on de Gaulle's life in a similar plot to Dealey, traveled with Souetre to MC and into the US.

Adding to the tragedy for those who cared deeply about Hank is the loss of his relevant notes and documents which he had yet to incorporate in the endnotes to our manuscript; the Marton - Varga citation was a critical and unfortunate omission.

I posit that Hank's source was no less solid than undated photos of a country-club prison, Marton's own words, or records maintained by French authorities — which as I have now confirmed included not just sympathizers, but active Vichy government officials, including Jean Népote — listed in at least one QJ/WIN document and the head of INTERPOL which in 1963 was still riddled with N-azis tied directly to Reinhard Gehlen. In 1963, these "former" Vichy officials were only one degree removed from the strategist for the Dallas plot to assassinate Kennedy, Otto Skorzeny who tapped OAS Capt. Jean Souetre as a lead mechanic.

We then factor in Harlon B. Carter, who as head of SW Region of the INS including Dallas had control over Howell Norwood and Virgil Bailey and was responsible for the Texas Mexican border in 1963. Bailey and Howell were responsible for detaining two "French" citizens in Dallas; their official reports have never been made public.

Harlon Carter knew as a close comrade in the Border Patrol, sharpshooter Charles 'Boots' Askins — a military attaché at the US Embassy in Madrid where he liaised directly with Otto Skorzeny in the early '50s. Askins is named in the Lafitte datebook within hours of the names Souetre and Col. Jack Canon - another psychopath and expert marksman who served as Charles Willoughby's head of the Z. Org in Korea. Willoughby features in a half dozen Lafitte datebook entries.

Returning to convicted assassin Marton, according to an article published in Hungary Today on the anniversary of the Revolution, at 90+ he remains unrepentant for his role in Petit Clamart. The article goes on to reveal that he remains convinced America was the enemy of Hungarian "democracy," an assertion that is utterly laughable when one considers autocrat Viktor Orbán has been the PM of the country since 2010. (of interest to those who follow the trajectory from 1963 to the current political crisis in America: Just last month, May 23, 2023 —  Hungary's nationalist leader Orbán said he "wants Trump to win U.S. election" — CNBC reporting. Hungarian-American Sebastian Gorka, Trump's deputy assistant in 2017, served as advisor to Orbán in 1998. Gorka hosts the podcast "America First with Sebastian Gorka". You can't make this stuff up. I've wondered if the vigorous defense of Marton on EF is somehow a reflection of current political sympathies 

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Allen Lowe]

On 7/1/2023 at 6:26 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

@Allen Lowe, rejecting a real time private record of the plot as it unfolded because it's "too good to be true" seems somewhat illogical. Arguing, in court, that the government — the prime suspect for many in the assassination research community — is withholding the smoking gun, and waiting for its release is not only equally illogical, it's patently absurd.

Lafitte made no effort to profit from the "too good to be true" datebook, nor did he pursue Hank or any other investigative journalist to advance a fraud, or a collector like Major Ganis to hawk his hoax.  Albarelli literally stumbled on to the Lafitte records, employing old-fashioned (he would cringe!) gumshoe detective skills. 

As he explains in ASO, Albarelli interviewed June Cobb for literally dozens and dozens of hours over a period of several years; he also tracked her claims by interviewing those she reported to and confirmed that her version of events in MC as she knew them was accurate and stood the test of time.  

Who have you interviewed to debunk the "twist" party, or who have you relied on for said debunking? Does Hank's journalistic reputation rest on that one event in A Secret Order which, as all who have studied it know, includes a copious amount of detail that stands the test of time?  

Fred Litwin read nine pages of Coup in Dallas and tossed it aside because we dealt critically with Permindex. Are you similarly concerned that the twist party confirmed Oswald in MC? If you read Coup, you will know that Lafitte kept a record of that period of Oswald's life related to the plot for Dallas, including his presence in MC on the alleged dates.

 

 

there was a well-known actor who was supposedly at that party who was interviewed and denied it ever happened or that Oswald was anywhere near there, and the woman who supposedly sponsored it was known as a CIA-connected informant. No, I don't have chapter and verse, this was exposed years ago as a complete fraud. Really, no one takes it seriously any more, and at this point I cannot re-trace the de-bunking, but the twist party idea is just beyonf idiotic. As for LaFitte, I just don't believe it, and there is not a single credible researcher - Simpich, DiEugenio, Talbot, Morley, Scott - who takes it seriously. You can keep chasing it, but at the end you will be back where you started, with nothing. And I am sorry, it is too good to be true, which means it is a contrived confirmation of everything some people want to hear. It is no more real than Judith Baker.

[Allen Lowe]

On 7/4/2023 at 3:42 AM, Leslie Sharp said:

@Ron Bulman, If I can jump in here as coauthor of Coup in Dallas which you reference: as you know, we don't speculate Soutre was in the US; we know he was because Lafitte makes it clear in his 1963 datebook.

Of course it is possible Marton and Varga were aliases for those traveling with Souetre.  However, Hank referred to them based on the conviction his source was solid, that Hungarian revolutionaries [FNU] Varga and Lajos Marton who in August 1962 had made an attempt on de Gaulle's life in a similar plot to Dealey, traveled with Souetre to MC and into the US.

Adding to the tragedy for those who cared deeply about Hank is the loss of his relevant notes and documents which he had yet to incorporate in the endnotes to our manuscript; the Marton - Varga citation was a critical and unfortunate omission.

I posit that Hank's source was no less solid than undated photos of a country-club prison, Marton's own words, or records maintained by French authorities — which as I have now confirmed included not just sympathizers, but active Vichy government officials, including Jean Népote — listed in at least one QJ/WIN document and the head of INTERPOL which in 1963 was still riddled with N-azis tied directly to Reinhard Gehlen. In 1963, these "former" Vichy officials were only one degree removed from the strategist for the Dallas plot to assassinate Kennedy, Otto Skorzeny who tapped OAS Capt. Jean Souetre as a lead mechanic.

We then factor in Harlon B. Carter, who as head of SW Region of the INS including Dallas had control over Howell Norwood and Virgil Bailey and was responsible for the Texas Mexican border in 1963. Bailey and Howell were responsible for detaining two "French" citizens in Dallas; their official reports have never been made public.

Harlon Carter knew as a close comrade in the Border Patrol, sharpshooter Charles 'Boots' Askins — a military attaché at the US Embassy in Madrid where he liaised directly with Otto Skorzeny in the early '50s. Askins is named in the Lafitte datebook within hours of the names Souetre and Col. Jack Canon - another psychopath and expert marksman who served as Charles Willoughby's head of the Z. Org in Korea. Willoughby features in a half dozen Lafitte datebook entries.

Returning to convicted assassin Marton, according to an article published in Hungary Today on the anniversary of the Revolution, at 90+ he remains unrepentant for his role in Petit Clamart. The article goes on to reveal that he remains convinced America was the enemy of Hungarian "democracy," an assertion that is utterly laughable when one considers autocrat Viktor Orbán has been the PM of the country since 2010. (of interest to those who follow the trajectory from 1963 to the current political crisis in America: Just last month, May 23, 2023 —  Hungary's nationalist leader Orbán said he "wants Trump to win U.S. election" — CNBC reporting. Hungarian-American Sebastian Gorka, Trump's deputy assistant in 2017, served as advisor to Orbán in 1998. Gorka hosts the podcast "America First with Sebastian Gorka". You can't make this stuff up. I've wondered if the vigorous defense of Marton on EF is somehow a reflection of current political sympathies 

 

here we go; the fake Twist Party:

from Arnaldo Fernandez:

"The info provided by Thomas was pure crap. The story of the twist party (Castro intelligence agent Sylvia Duran instructing Oswald to kill Kennedy in a party that included Garro herself and the notorious red-hair Cuban negro invented by Gilberto Alvarado) was told by Thomas´ friend, Mexican writer Elena Garro, and dismissed by the FBI due to flagrant lies and inconsistencies, like all the other allegations of red conspiracies in Mexico City made by Alvarado and also Pedro Gutierrez, Salvador Diaz-Verson, Vladimir Rodriguez Lahera, Antulio Ortiz Ramirez, Marty Underwood…
Shenon put Garro´s crap in his fact-free analysis on the Castro connection. See “Philip Shenon’s Crap Detector”, by Arnaldo M. Fernandez and Jim DiEugenio, at http://www.ctka.net/2015/Shenon%27s%20Crap%20Detector.html"

[Leslie Sharp]

5 hours ago, Allen Lowe said:

there was a well-known actor who was supposedly at that party who was interviewed and denied it ever happened or that Oswald was anywhere near there, and the woman who supposedly sponsored it was known as a CIA-connected informant. No, I don't have chapter and verse, this was exposed years ago as a complete fraud. Really, no one takes it seriously any more, and at this point I cannot re-trace the de-bunking, but the twist party idea is just beyonf idiotic. As for LaFitte, I just don't believe it, and there is not a single credible researcher - Simpich, DiEugenio, Talbot, Morley, Scott - who takes it seriously. You can keep chasing it, but at the end you will be back where you started, with nothing. And I am sorry, it is too good to be true, which means it is a contrived confirmation of everything some people want to hear. It is no more real than Judith Baker.

@Allen Lowe

I can draw from Albarelli's ASO for his thorough investigation of the Thomas episode, chapter and verse, to counter your "well-known actor" who was supposedly at the party who was interviewed by someone, and the woman who was CIA-connected informant. Why would anyone take your challenge seriously with the "supposedlies" and the "someones", when Albarelli lays out chapter and verse the interviews by name, and  documents he relied on. His professional approach should supersede the drivel you've posted here.

 

As a matter of interest, why is the "twist party" such a thorn in your foot?  I'm attempting to understand what seems to be an undertow to your coming out publicly to follow this specific incident and attack Albarelli?

 

Are you arguing that Oswald was never in Mexico City? Or are you using the incident to discredit Hank's investigation in the whole, not dissimilar to Fred Litwin who uses the lack of sufficient footnotes (in his subjective opinion) to the Permindex section of Coup to discredit a 700+ page book?

I also wonder how comfortable Simpich, di Eugenio, Talbot, Morley, Scott are with you speaking on their behalf?  How very unprofessional of you. Pulling out that obnoxious stop suggests to me you're on a mission.

 

I have conferred personally with Simpich, Morley, and Scott and am well-aware of each position on the datebook. (Hank's history with di Eugenio on this very forum is sufficient explanation for me to  understand di E's ghosting of Coup. Talbot's disinterest has yet to be transparent but the moccasin telegraph in this community is flooded with professional jealousy.) They all three have indicated that obviously if the datebook is professionally authenticated they will be compelled to consider the content seriously.  

Jeff Morley has actually reviewed the physical instrument (datebook) and is familiar with the obstacles to authentication.   I'll refrain from filling you and others in on the complexities involved. Suffice to say, in late 2013, Hank shared the following with Jeff; in other words, Jeff has known about the Lafitte datebook for a decade.  Lafitte's August 1963 entries  dovetail directly with Morley's working  hypothesis which he rolled out again in the lead up to the December 2022 drop, that the remaining unreleased files will confirm that in August of 1963, Joannides initiated an operation directly involving Oswald (paraphrasing).

One can read between the lines for themselves, but it should be on public record that Albarelli picked up a lead, followed it, secured a datebook with entries that either corroborate Morley's hypothesis, or will be corroborated by Morley's successful resolution of the hypothesis; either way the datebook is authentic. Which came first is a matter for future deliberation but I suspect Hank tilled the soil, not the other way around.

from:		Hank Albarelli<hankalbarelli@icloud.com>
to:		leslie sharp <lesliemsharp17@gmail.com>,

date:		Jun 5, 2018, 10:44 AM
subject:		found this today-- sent to Morley a few years ago...

 

Joannides & Lafitte in New Orleans, 1963

' . . . While writing my book on Olson’s murder, A TERRIBLE MISTAKE: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments [Trine Day, 2009], of which Lafitte played an integral and deadly role, I could not avoid learning about a number of provocative connections between Monsieur Lafitte and Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Not the least of these connections was that Lafitte, using an assumed named, throughout the 1960s lived in New Orleans. Indeed, in an incident that caused a flap at CIA headquarters in December 1969, the FBI arrested Lafitte in New Orleans. Briefly detained, he was released after a number of discrete phone calls from Capitol Hill were made to FBI headquarters. At the time of his arrest, Lafitte worked as the head chef at the Plimsoll Club, then part of the International Trade Mart.  

 

Portions of Lafitte’s date books for his New Orleans years are revealing of his dealings with various CIA officials, including at least 3 apparent meetings with CIA Western Hemisphere Division employee, George Efythron Joannides. Interestingly, Lafitte’s second encounter with Joannides occurred the second week of August 1963, just days after Lee Harvey Oswald’s Friday, August 9 arrest for provoking a disturbance through leafleting for his Fair Play for Cuba Committee New Orleans chapter. Lafitte’s handwritten notations for Friday, August 16, 1963 read: “… at Antoines room— Martello, Joanides [sic] & Labadie. Quigly [sic] interview Oswald over street demonstration. Call Holdout.” Another notation, made 6 days later reads: “Talk Joanides Cuba—refers to K Organization in Mexico— similar setup now. [D]iscuss with King, ask George and Charles about Havana, Mexico trips…” 

 

NOTES: “Antoines room” is thought to be Antoine’s, a well-known New Orleans restaurant that hosted meetings and gatherings in a number of private rooms. There are several references to Antoine’s in the date books.  “Martello” appears to be a reference to New Orleans Police Department officer, Lt. Francis L. Martello; not to be confused with Francis “Monk”  Martello. Lt. Martello interviewed Oswald in the New Orleans lockup on August 10, 1963. “Quigly” is perhaps a misspelling of the name Quigley. FBI SA John L. Quigley also interviewed Oswald in New Orleans jail. “Labadie” is a known alias, as in Jean Labadie, that Lafitte used often in New York City, but it is also the surname of Stephen J. Labadie, a special agent for the FBI. “Holdout” is unknown; perhaps it is a code-name for a program or confidential informer. “King” is most likely J.C. King, CIA Western Hemisphere director, but could possibly be William Harvey, as some CIA associated people occasionally and mockingly referred to Harvey as “King.” “George and Charlie” are believed to be FBN officials.'

Copyright © 2013—H.P. Albarelli Jr. 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

3 hours ago, Allen Lowe said:

here we go; the fake Twist Party:

from Arnaldo Fernandez:

"The info provided by Thomas was pure crap. The story of the twist party (Castro intelligence agent Sylvia Duran instructing Oswald to kill Kennedy in a party that included Garro herself and the notorious red-hair Cuban negro invented by Gilberto Alvarado) was told by Thomas´ friend, Mexican writer Elena Garro, and dismissed by the FBI due to flagrant lies and inconsistencies, like all the other allegations of red conspiracies in Mexico City made by Alvarado and also Pedro Gutierrez, Salvador Diaz-Verson, Vladimir Rodriguez Lahera, Antulio Ortiz Ramirez, Marty Underwood…
Shenon put Garro´s crap in his fact-free analysis on the Castro connection. See “Philip Shenon’s Crap Detector”, by Arnaldo M. Fernandez and Jim DiEugenio, at http://www.ctka.net/2015/Shenon%27s%20Crap%20Detector.html"

It is your prerogative to determine, subjectively, which investigator you place faith in.  I'm surprised you didn't weigh more carefully the extensive research included in Albarelli's A Secret Order; or did you, and the scales tipped to Fernandez and Shennon and di Eugenio all three of whom have their own unique detractors?

Edited July 7, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

On 7/1/2023 at 10:14 AM, Steve Thomas said:

Allen,

According to the supporting Memorandum filed by Bernard Fensterwald in the lawsuit brought by Gary Shaw in 1981,

https://archive.org/stream/nsia-SouetreJean/nsia-SouetreJean/Souetre%20Jean%20063_djvu.txt

 

“In addition to his native French, Souetre speaks almost perfect English, 
Spanish, and German”. 

Steve Thomas

@Allen Lowe Allen, can I ask why you ask?

[Leslie Sharp]

@Allen Lowe " . . .  continue to be wary of supposed recountings of events like LaFitte's diary because they are just too perfectly designed to fit into the plot - . . . "

Dick Russell, student of the assassination for decades and esteemed author on the topic, analyzed a significant number of entries from Pierre Lafitte's 1963 datebook on behalf of the well-regarded Australian documentary film company contracted to produce a 6-8 part series based on Albarelli's investigation.  

For those who have been discouraged to even consider Coup in Dallas based on certain Amazon reviews — provided by some who have never even read the book and one in particular who lauds himself as a professional yet posted an analysis of a physical instrument (datebook) he has never laid eyes on both the EF and on Amazon — as well as the community moccasin telepraph which we all know includes some pretty toxic entities prone to resorting to threat if for instance Coup makes traction (one in particular who left a voice mail chant,  the datebook will never see the light of day, bitch  —  the following was provided by Dick for publication in the Front Matter of Coup in Dallas:  
 

[note: I have no hesitation moving Dick's concluding paragraph here:   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.]
 

DR writes,

Let me here offer my insights into some of the names and dates in the datebook, and their potential significance in revealing the identities of the perpetrators behind what’s been called “the crime of the century.” I should add that the datebook also contains references to individuals whose names have not appeared before in assassination-related documents. From the datebook, it can only be concluded that Lafitte was directly involved with a number of people covertly connected to the assassination. 

SOUETRE. This clearly is Jean Rene Souetre, whose name appears in a number of entries between April 25 and December 4. It appears that Souetre was part of a “kill squad” who showed up for meetings in New Orleans, Madrid, and Mexico City prior to the assassination. Souetre’s name first appeared in the “assassination literature” following a 1977 release of CIA documents, which stated that “he had been expelled from the U.S. at Fort Worth or Dallas 48 hours after the assassination . . . to either Mexico or Canada.” According to what the FBI told a Souetre acquaintance whom I interviewed, he’d been “flown out that afternoon by a private pilot . . . in a government plane.” Souetre was a known hitman for the OAS, a terrorist group in France that had targeted President de Gaulle. 

WILLOUGHBY: Until my first book came out in 1992, assembling circumstantial evidence linking retired General Charles Willoughby as a possible “mastermind” of the assassination, no one had raised such a possibility before. The datebook cites the far-right General Willoughby numerous times, specifying: “Nov 22 – Willoughby backup – team [with a strikethrough of the word team] squad – tech building – phone booth/bridge.” Prior to that, an April 12 entry states: “Willoughby soldier kill squads.” 

SILVERTHORNE: That same datebook entry says: “Silverthorne – Ft. Worth – Airport – Mexico.” The name of Joseph “Joe” Silverthorne did not appear publicly until the late 1970s, when CIA officer William Harvey’s handwritten notes about the agency’s QJ/WIN assassination program was released. Silverthorne was a pilot who traveled “for a certain federal agency” to “countless countries” for “reasons best left unsaid,” according to author Albarelli’s 1996 interview with him.

ANGLETON: Listed in the datebook by his last name as well as initials (JA and JJA), the then-head of Counterintelligence for the CIA appears to have been involved in “high-level gathering in DC'' during which “Lancelot planning” was discussed. The Lancelot reference is to a plot to kill JFK. The datebook’s final mention of James Angleton, (December 5, 1963) states: “JA – CLOSE OUT LANCELOT.” Angleton’s name was not generally known until the mid-1970s, when he was forced out of the CIA following revelations that he’d organized an illegal domestic spying program. 

GEORGE W.: The several references in the datebook, including one (August 29) regarding “shipment of LSD for New Orleans & Dallas – Texas laws?” are clearly referencing George White. He was a key operative in the CIA’s top-secret MKULTRA program to control human behavior using drugs, hypnosis, and other means. He worked undercover for the same narcotics agency as Lafitte. White’s name never came to light until 1977 during a congressional investigation. 

TOM D.: Also referred to in several entries, this was Thomas Eli Davis, Jr., first mentioned in 1978 in the assassination literature as having trained anti-Castro Cubans and had been acquainted with Jack Ruby. The September 27 entry about Mexico City says: “Oswald – Comercio Hotel – meet with Tom D. at Luma.” It was stated by the Warren Commission that Oswald had been to the Comercio; the Hotel Luma was first mentioned in my 1992 book as a meeting point. The September 29 datebook implies (“Tom at embassy – done”) that Davis, who resembled Oswald, had impersonated him in visiting either the Cuban or Russian embassies in Mexico City. 

CRICHTON: The name of Jack Crichton, who was connected to Military Intelligence and arranged the first translators for Marina Oswald after the assassination, appears several times in datebook entries in advance of the assassination. 

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. 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 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. 

[INDENT - BULLETED LIST[HC1] ] 

(Dick continues)

·        There was a high-level conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy involving meetings in and officials from Washington, D.C., as well as in other parts of the U.S., Mexico City, and Madrid.

·       That Lee Harvey Oswald was just as he claimed after his arrest – a patsy set up to take the fall (“October 25: Oswald set in place,” meaning that he was set in place in Texas School Book Depository building.November 9: “On the wings of murder. The Pigeon way for unsuspecting Lee.”) 

·       That Oswald’s rifle was apparently planted ahead of time: (“November 20: rifle into building – yes/ok/DPD”) DPD stands for Dallas Police Department. 

·       That the shooting of police officer J. D. Tippitt after the assassination was apparently not part of anyone’s plan: November 22: “O Tippett [sic] (why?) – ask JA who is Tippet?”

·       That Jack Ruby did not metamorphose out of nowhere to kill Oswald. The name “Ruby” appears in June 7 and October 30 entries. 

·       That a cover-up was in place prior to the assassination that included a legal team (Robert Storey and Judge Duvall) as well as a translator for Marina Oswald. 

·       That a Dallas airport previously speculated as a rendezvous point for escaping assassins was listed in the datebook on November 24. “Red [Bird] Airport.”

·       That the plan involving Oswald was in place for some time. On September 16: “T. says L.O. is ‘idiot’ but w[ill] be used regardless. Set-up Complete.” On October 5, JFK’s visit to Dallas was announced in the press. The next day, the datebook says: “Oswald – issue (!). Check with Caretaker.” On October 16, Oswald went to work at the Book Depository. 

·       There are references to Oswald traveling to Mexico City in late September. Some have questioned whether he actually went there. The datebook indicates that he assuredly did, but also that Tommy Davis was there simultaneously.

·       Prior to this, apparently Oswald was being shadowed in New Orleans. “May 10: T. says tail LO – No direct contact.” Oswald had moved to New Orleans on April 24.

·       The name of WALKER appears more than once, initially concerning the shooting attempt on his life that Oswald was later accused of. “April 7 – Walker – Lee and pictures. Planned soon – can he do it? Won’t.” (it’s possible that the word is Wait.) The indication is, someone was setting up Oswald to do this, but he didn’t want to. The shot was fired at Walker on April 10. Later references indicate that General Walker was in fact aware of, if not in on, the plot to kill JFK: 

• Other extreme right-wingers are notated at different times: Mitch WerBell, a known arms dealer; Otto Skorzeny, ex-Hitler operative living in Madrid; Willoughby compatriot Pedro del Valle.
• Two mentions of SHAW, in connection with New Orleans, most likely Clay Shaw, named by Jim Garrison as a co-conspirator in 1967. 

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Edited July 8, 2023 by Leslie Sharp