Hit List-- The Systematic Murders of JFK Witnesses

[Jim Hargrove]

The list of suspicious deaths looks pretty lengthy to me.  For example, within a year of the JFKA, Karyn Kupcinet was murdered, Eddy Benavides was shot in the head (he was the lookalike brother to closest Tippit shooting witness Domingo Benavides), a number of people died who seemed to know Oswald associated with Jack Ruby, including Bill Chesher and Hank Killam.  I’d certainly add to the list Guy Banister, Mary Pinchot, and, just slightly later, Rose Cheramie and Dorothy Kilgallen (as well as Kilgallen’s friend Mrs. Earl Smith, who died two days later).  There are others, but I doubt direct proof of an association to the assassination will ever be made.

OTOH, the number of deaths occurring around the time the HSCA was getting organized defies easy excuses.  Six top FBI officials died within a 6-month period right around the HSCA’s creation.  John Simkin wrote about these suspicious deaths in an EF post on April 18, 2005.  Here’s what he wrote: 

When the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities and Select Committee on Assassinations began investigating Kennedy's death in the 1970s the deaths of potential witnesses increased dramatically. This included several criminals with possible links to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Those who were killed or who died in suspicious circumstances during this period included Malcolm Wallace (1971), Lucien Sarti (1972), Charles Willoughby (1972), Thomas Davis (1973), Richard Cain (1973), Dave Yarras (1974), Sam Giancana (1975), Jimmy Hoffa (1975), Roland Masferrer (1975), Johnny Roselli (1976), George De Mohrenschildt (1977), Charlie Nicoletti (1977) and Carlos Prio (1977).

William Sullivan, the main figure in the FBI involved in the Executive Action project, and the person in the FBI who investigated Oswald, was shot dead near his home in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, on 9th November, 1977. Sullivan had been scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Sullivan was one of six top FBI officials who died in a six month period in 1977. Others who were due to appear before the committee who died included Louis Nicholas, special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover and his liaison with the Warren Commission; Alan H. Belmont, special assistant to Hoover; James Cadigan, document expert with access to documents that related to death of John F. Kennedy; J. M. English, former head of FBI Forensic Sciences Laboratory where Oswald's rifle and pistol were tested and Donald Kaylor, FBI fingerprint chemist who examined prints found at the assassination scene.

Several important figures in the Central Intelligence Agency died before they could give evidence to the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigations. William Harvey, head of the ZR/RIFLE project, died as a result of complications from heart surgery in June, 1976. William Pawley, who took part in Operation Tilt, died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. David Morales, who some believe organized the assassination, died aged 53, on 8th May, 1978.

John Paisley was deputy director of the Office of Strategic Research. On 24th September, 1978, John Paisley, took a trip on his motorized sailboat on Chesapeake Bay. Two days later his boat was found moored in Solomons, Maryland. Paisley's body was found in Maryland's Patuxent River. The body was fixed to diving weights. He had been shot in the head. Police investigators described it as "an execution-type murder". However, officially Paisley's death was recorded as a suicide.

According to the journalist, Victor Marchetti, Paisley was a close friend of Yuri Nosenko. Marchetti also claimed that Paisley knew a great deal about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was murdered during the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation because he was "about to blow the whistle".

[Mark Ulrik]

19 minutes ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Eddy Benavides was shot in the head (he was the lookalike brother to closest Tippit shooting witness Domingo Benavides)

What is it about his death that you find suspicious?

[Bill Fite]

38 minutes ago, Jim Hargrove said:

OTOH, the number of deaths occurring around the time the HSCA was getting organized defies easy excuses.

Those on your list are the ones that I think are most suspicious, especially the FBI agents and Richard Case Nagell.

IIRC: One of the FBI agents that died just before giving testimony was the agent who collected the photos and movies of the murder.

Edited March 7 by Bill Fite

[Jim Hargrove]

45 minutes ago, Mark Ulrik said:

What is it about his death that you find suspicious?

Mark,

Of the witnesses to the Tippit killing, Benavides was the closest.  He worked as a barber and told the WC and another interviewer that the killer looked like Oswald but "I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline was sort of--looked like his hairline sort of went square instead of tapered off and he looked like he needed a haircut for about 2 weeks.”

As we can see, the hair on the back of Oswald’s head was tapered, instead of  being squared off as barber Benavides remembered, suggesting someone who looked like Oswald—but was not Oswald—was involved in the shooting.
 

TSBD employee Roy Lewis said of Oswald, “We would tease him about it because his hair would be growing down the back of his head,” not squared off as Benavides testified.

Benavides also testified that the Tippit killer unloaded spent cartridges from his gun one at a time, although the pistol taken at the Texas Theater had an extractor that ejected all the shells simultaneously.

I also believe, but cannot prove, that Benavides saw two more Dallas cops at the Tippit murder scene at the time of the murder but was too afraid to say so.  If memory serves, Benavides also told someone that he believed his brother’s shooting was meant for him, but I’d have to search for that reference.
 

[Mark Ulrik]

13 minutes ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Mark,

Of the witnesses to the Tippit killing, Benavides was the closest.  He worked as a barber and told the WC and another interviewer that the killer looked like Oswald but "I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline was sort of--looked like his hairline sort of went square instead of tapered off and he looked like he needed a haircut for about 2 weeks.”

As we can see, the hair on the back of Oswald’s head was tapered, instead of  being squared off as barber Benavides remembered, suggesting someone who looked like Oswald—but was not Oswald—was involved in the shooting.
 

TSBD employee Roy Lewis said of Oswald, “We would tease him about it because his hair would be growing down the back of his head,” not squared off as Benavides testified.

Benavides also testified that the Tippit killer unloaded spent cartridges from his gun one at a time, although the pistol taken at the Texas Theater had an extractor that ejected all the shells simultaneously.

I also believe, but cannot prove, that Benavides saw two more Dallas cops at the Tippit murder scene at the time of the murder but was too afraid to say so.  If memory serves, Benavides also told someone that he believed his brother’s shooting was meant for him, but I’d have to search for that reference.
 

I don't think I've heard that before. But why wait until almost a year after he testified?

[Jim Hargrove]

1 hour ago, Mark Ulrik said:

I don't think I've heard that before. But why wait until almost a year after he testified?

Despite the evidence Edward Benavides was killed in 1965, there is also considerable evidence that he was killed in February 1964, before Domingo testified to the W.C.  Note, for example, Point 1 in the letter below from none other than G. Robert Blakey stating the date of death for Edward was February 1964.

[Mark Ulrik]

2 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Despite the evidence Edward Benavides was killed in 1965, there is also considerable evidence that he was killed in February 1964, before Domingo testified to the W.C.  Note, for example, Point 1 in the letter below from none other than G. Robert Blakey stating the date of death for Edward was February 1964.

I'm sorry but Blakey was just following the recommendations in a CRS report citing Penn Jones as the source of the claim that Eddy was murdered in February of 1964. The CRS researcher was unable to find any mention of such a murder in the DMN between February 10th and 20th of that year.

ANALYSIS OF REPORTS AND DATA BEARING ON CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEATH OF TWENTY-ONE INDIVIDUALS CONNECTED WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

it has been clear since at least 2010, when the late Jean Davison located the relevant article, that 1965 is the correct year.

Jean Davison, alt.assassination.jfk newsgroup post, 4/3/2010

The Not-So-Mysterious Death of Eddie Benavides
 

[Jim Hargrove]

Mark,

Nevertheless, Blakey stated unequivocally: "Edward Benevides – Date of  death : February 1964.”  I said in my post above that there was “evidence that Edward Benavides was killed in 1965….” and I meant it.  But John Simkin posted an excerpt from a Ramparts magazine article from November 1966, which stated that Edward was killed in 1964 (perhaps incorrectly) and went on with the following, which I sincerely doubt is totally bogus:

Domingo's father-in-law, J.W. Jackson, was so unimpressed with the police investigation of Eddy's death that he launched a little inquiry of his own. Two weeks later Jackson was shot at in his home. The assailant secreted himself in the carport, fired once into the house, and when Jackson ran outside, fired one more time, just missing his head. As the gunman clambered into an automobile in a nearby driveway, Jackson saw a police car coming down the block. The officer made no attempt to follow the gunman's speeding car; instead, he stopped at Jackson's home and spent a long time inquiring what had happened. Later a police lieutenant advised Jackson, "You'd better lay off of this business. Don't go around asking question; that's our job." Jackson and Domingo are both convinced that Eddy's murder was a case of mistaken identity and that Domingo, the Tippit witness, was the intended victim.

Jean Davison was a Warren Commission supporter.  I still consider the Benavides killing suspicious.  

[Mark Ulrik]

18 minutes ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Mark,

Nevertheless, Blakey stated unequivocally: "Edward Benevides – Date of  death : February 1964.”  I said in my post above that there was “evidence that Edward Benavides was killed in 1965….” and I meant it.  But John Simkin posted an excerpt from a Ramparts magazine article from November 1966, which stated that Edward was killed in 1964 (perhaps incorrectly) and went on with the following, which I sincerely doubt is totally bogus:

Domingo's father-in-law, J.W. Jackson, was so unimpressed with the police investigation of Eddy's death that he launched a little inquiry of his own. Two weeks later Jackson was shot at in his home. The assailant secreted himself in the carport, fired once into the house, and when Jackson ran outside, fired one more time, just missing his head. As the gunman clambered into an automobile in a nearby driveway, Jackson saw a police car coming down the block. The officer made no attempt to follow the gunman's speeding car; instead, he stopped at Jackson's home and spent a long time inquiring what had happened. Later a police lieutenant advised Jackson, "You'd better lay off of this business. Don't go around asking question; that's our job." Jackson and Domingo are both convinced that Eddy's murder was a case of mistaken identity and that Domingo, the Tippit witness, was the intended victim.

Jean Davison was a Warren Commission supporter.  I still consider the Benavides killing suspicious.  

Blakey was only asking for information, but an answer might have had evidentiary value. Did he receive any? Where did the 2/64 date come from, if not from Penn Jones, for example via the CRS report?

The father-in-law story is pretty remarkable, but it sounds like the police officer was offering sound advise.

Btw, you're a Two Oswalds theorist. No offense intended, of course.

[Robert Reeves]

On 3/6/2024 at 11:09 PM, W. Niederhut said:

Peter Janney also identified the suspected assassin in the Mary Pinchot Meyer case, as I recall.

 

If you can believe Steve Pieczenik, he says Cord Meyer had his wife killed.

"Take the case of JFK, dissipate, indecisive, pot-smoking,  LSD –tripping President who threatened the perceived military strategy of ‘strategic force’ so the CIA, the military and other organizations conveniently assassinate him.  A conspiracy?  Not really!  It’s a fact that many of you can read about in several books. 

  This particular assassination I knew personally about because one of my operatives, Cord Meyer,  a brilliant disillusioned CIA operative had his ex-wife Mary Pinchot, the  free-spirit who introduced JFK to Pot, LSD and Peace Movements, murdered on jogging path in Georgetown.  Yup, his own wife.

  But let’s not dwell on the details of whether I am right or wrong."

from https://pieczenik.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-third-soft-military-coup-general.html

I believe he is talking about Cord Meyer's time as London CIA station chief 1973/75 . When Pieczenik says ''one of my operatives'', Pieczenik was, at the time, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.  At the State Department under Kissinger. 

Slightly going away from the murder of Mary Meyer, but remaining on the assassination of JFK. Steve Pieczenik is thought to have overseen the kidnap and murder of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. There's a lot of proof Pieczenik did this at the behest of his State Dept boss Kissinger. This isn't just some Alex Jones wacko buddy (Pieczenik has appeared on Alex Jones' show many times).

Steve Pieczenik is no joke when it comes to assassination/murder talk.

Italian Politician Sergio Flamigni wrote a book about the kidnap and assassination of Aldo Moro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Flamigni and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_and_murder_of_Aldo_Moro

Sergio Flamigni links the assassination of Aldo Moro and many other high profile slayings in Italy during the 60's and 70's directly to the JFK murder.

"EIR: Why was Moro murdered? What was his policy?

Flamigni: The idea of “national solidarity” was the matrix of all of Moro’s policy. He comes from a region, Apulia, where he witnessed the widespread poverty among peasants. His mission in politics was to put an end to that poverty. Moro represented what is otherwise called the “social doctrine of the Church.” In his life and political career, his early friendship with Cardinal Montini, later Pope Paul VI, counts for a lot. He first applied his idea of “national solidarity” in the center-left governments, in 1964. This was the government alliance between the Christian Democracy and the Socialist Party, on a clear pro-Western orientation. He was the mastermind of that project, but let somebody else, [Amintore] Fanfani, lead the government. At the same time, Moro’s desire for Italy’s independence showed itself in his foreign policy: During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Moro denied Henry Kissinger the use of military bases on Italian territory. Kissinger was furious about that. In the new phase that opened in 1976, Moro developed EIR April 3, 1998 International 73 his solidarity concept to include all constitutional forces for an independent policy. The new center-left would include, this time, Berlinguer’s PCI. Again, he was the mastermind of the project, but had somebody else, [Giulio] Andreotti, lead the government.

EIR: Did Moro’s center-left project intersect Kennedy’s policy?

Flamigni: I would say, yes. In 1961-62, Kennedy sent advisers to Rome and gave the okay, on the condition that the center-left would stay clearly in the pro-Western camp. The real shift occurred after the Cuba crisis. Moro’s foreign policy was a development of Kennedy’s; Moro’s policy is also the same as that of Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italy’s national oil industry, who was murdered in 1962, shortly before he was to meet with Kennedy.

EIR: Kennedy, Mattei, and Moro were assassinated. Is there a single thread linking the murders?

Flamigni: I have examined the question. I have compared Moro’s murder to the Mattei and the Kennedy cases. Why did they not do with Moro what they did with Mattei and Kennedy? I mean, a “simple” murder. No, they kidnapped him and kept him such a long time in prison, knowing well that, in the end, they would have him killed anyway. Well, with Mattei, everything went through his person. Eliminate him, and you eliminate his policy. But had they killed Moro on the Via Fani, he would have become a martyr and his policy, his “historical compromise,” would have been strengthened. But the aim was to dismantle all the work Moro had done. His work was dismantled in 55 days of national suffering. During those days, the national solidarity was broken. A split occurred among the political parties on how to deal with the terrorists, who posed unacceptable demands to the state, and promised, in exchange, to free Moro. They would not have freed him, of course; Moro’s sentence was written from the first day. But they succeeded in destroying his policy. I think that the final aim of the forces that deployed the Red Brigades terrorism was to destroy Italian institutions. The terrorists proclaimed that they wanted to destroy the heart of the state. At that moment, the DC and the PCI were the largest forces among those that had written the Italian Constitution, at the end of the war. In the Constitutional Congress, the PCI, in particular, made fundamental choices, accepting a democratic order, something that the Red Brigades characterized as “betrayal.” In writing the key passages of the Constitution, Moro had played a key role, through his direct collaboration with PCI leader Togliatti. So, I think that there is a “parallel convergence,” to use an expression invented by Moro for other purposes, between terrorism and the old oligarchy that has never accepted that Constitution."

From https://www.gerograssi.it/cms2/file/casomoro/B163/0958_002.pdf

This is another of those rabbit holes you find yourself in with the JFK assassination. Steve Piecnezik's glib boast of knowing Cord Meyer had his wife killed triggered me into researching the possibility.

Edited March 8 by Robert Reeves

[W. Niederhut]

4 hours ago, Robert Reeves said:

If you can believe Steve Pieczenik, he says Cord Meyer had his wife killed.

"Take the case of JFK, dissipate, indecisive, pot-smoking,  LSD –tripping President who threatened the perceived military strategy of ‘strategic force’ so the CIA, the military and other organizations conveniently assassinate him.  A conspiracy?  Not really!  It’s a fact that many of you can read about in several books. 

  This particular assassination I knew personally about because one of my operatives, Cord Meyer,  a brilliant disillusioned CIA operative had his ex-wife Mary Pinchot, the  free-spirit who introduced JFK to Pot, LSD and Peace Movements, murdered on jogging path in Georgetown.  Yup, his own wife.

  But let’s not dwell on the details of whether I am right or wrong."

from https://pieczenik.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-third-soft-military-coup-general.html

I believe he is talking about Cord Meyer's time as London CIA station chief 1973/75 . When Pieczenik says ''one of my operatives'', Pieczenik was, at the time, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.  At the State Department under Kissinger. 

Slightly going away from the murder of Mary Meyer, but remaining on the assassination of JFK. Steve Pieczenik is thought to have overseen the kidnap and murder of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. There's a lot of proof Pieczenik did this at the behest of his State Dept boss Kissinger. This isn't just some Alex Jones wacko buddy (Pieczenik has appeared on Alex Jones' show many times).

Steve Pieczenik is no joke when it comes to assassination/murder talk.

Italian Politician Sergio Flamigni wrote a book about the kidnap and assassination of Aldo Moro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Flamigni and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_and_murder_of_Aldo_Moro

Sergio Flamigni links the assassination of Aldo Moro and many other high profile slayings in Italy during the 60's and 70's directly to the JFK murder.

"EIR: Why was Moro murdered? What was his policy?

Flamigni: The idea of “national solidarity” was the matrix of all of Moro’s policy. He comes from a region, Apulia, where he witnessed the widespread poverty among peasants. His mission in politics was to put an end to that poverty. Moro represented what is otherwise called the “social doctrine of the Church.” In his life and political career, his early friendship with Cardinal Montini, later Pope Paul VI, counts for a lot. He first applied his idea of “national solidarity” in the center-left governments, in 1964. This was the government alliance between the Christian Democracy and the Socialist Party, on a clear pro-Western orientation. He was the mastermind of that project, but let somebody else, [Amintore] Fanfani, lead the government. At the same time, Moro’s desire for Italy’s independence showed itself in his foreign policy: During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Moro denied Henry Kissinger the use of military bases on Italian territory. Kissinger was furious about that. In the new phase that opened in 1976, Moro developed EIR April 3, 1998 International 73 his solidarity concept to include all constitutional forces for an independent policy. The new center-left would include, this time, Berlinguer’s PCI. Again, he was the mastermind of the project, but had somebody else, [Giulio] Andreotti, lead the government.

EIR: Did Moro’s center-left project intersect Kennedy’s policy?

Flamigni: I would say, yes. In 1961-62, Kennedy sent advisers to Rome and gave the okay, on the condition that the center-left would stay clearly in the pro-Western camp. The real shift occurred after the Cuba crisis. Moro’s foreign policy was a development of Kennedy’s; Moro’s policy is also the same as that of Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italy’s national oil industry, who was murdered in 1962, shortly before he was to meet with Kennedy.

EIR: Kennedy, Mattei, and Moro were assassinated. Is there a single thread linking the murders?

Flamigni: I have examined the question. I have compared Moro’s murder to the Mattei and the Kennedy cases. Why did they not do with Moro what they did with Mattei and Kennedy? I mean, a “simple” murder. No, they kidnapped him and kept him such a long time in prison, knowing well that, in the end, they would have him killed anyway. Well, with Mattei, everything went through his person. Eliminate him, and you eliminate his policy. But had they killed Moro on the Via Fani, he would have become a martyr and his policy, his “historical compromise,” would have been strengthened. But the aim was to dismantle all the work Moro had done. His work was dismantled in 55 days of national suffering. During those days, the national solidarity was broken. A split occurred among the political parties on how to deal with the terrorists, who posed unacceptable demands to the state, and promised, in exchange, to free Moro. They would not have freed him, of course; Moro’s sentence was written from the first day. But they succeeded in destroying his policy. I think that the final aim of the forces that deployed the Red Brigades terrorism was to destroy Italian institutions. The terrorists proclaimed that they wanted to destroy the heart of the state. At that moment, the DC and the PCI were the largest forces among those that had written the Italian Constitution, at the end of the war. In the Constitutional Congress, the PCI, in particular, made fundamental choices, accepting a democratic order, something that the Red Brigades characterized as “betrayal.” In writing the key passages of the Constitution, Moro had played a key role, through his direct collaboration with PCI leader Togliatti. So, I think that there is a “parallel convergence,” to use an expression invented by Moro for other purposes, between terrorism and the old oligarchy that has never accepted that Constitution."

From https://www.gerograssi.it/cms2/file/casomoro/B163/0958_002.pdf

This is another of those rabbit holes you find yourself in with the JFK assassination. Steve Piecnezik's glib boast of knowing Cord Meyer had his wife killed triggered me into researching the possibility.

Robert,

     I'm glad that you brought up the case of Mary Pinchot Meyer in the context of Hit List.

     CIA man, Wistar Janney, (Peter Janney's father) called his friend, Ben Bradlee, (Mary Meyer's brother-in-law) "shortly after lunch" to tell him that Mary Meyer was dead.  James Angleton, a close friend of Janney, also knew around noon that Meyer had been killed.  But the police didn't identify Meyer's body, or issue an APB or announcement about Meyer's death until about 6:00 PM.

     It was an expert assassination-- a shot to the back of the head at point-blank range, followed by a point-blank shot to the heart-- by an assassin using the alias, "William Mitchell."

     When Ben Bradlee and his wife, Toni, (Mary's sister) later went to Mary Meyer's apartment, James Angleton was already in the apartment, reading Meyer's diary-- which he confiscated.

      

     

     

Edited March 8 by W. Niederhut

[W. Niederhut]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:07 PM, Mark Ulrik said:

Blakey was only asking for information, but an answer might have had evidentiary value. Did he receive any? Where did the 2/64 date come from, if not from Penn Jones, for example via the CRS report?

The father-in-law story is pretty remarkable, but it sounds like the police officer was offering sound advise.

Btw, you're a Two Oswalds theorist. No offense intended, of course.

Mark,

    Thanks for deflecting attention away from the crucial details about the Domingo Benavides case with your trivial straw man argument about the conflicting dates of his brother's murder.  Do you have an idiom about "red herrings" in Denmark?  🤥

    Belzer, et.al., have a brief chapter on the Benavides case on pgs. 97-99 of the 2013 edition of Hit List.

   The gist of the case is that Domingo Benavides clearly identified Tippt's killer as someone other than Oswald.  He subsequently received multiple threats about his witness testimony, and he changed his story after his brother was shot in the head.

    Belzer's conclusion was that the murder of Eddy Benavides could not be definitively linked to the JFK assassination, but that Domingo Benavides had, obviously, been a victim of repeated witness intimidation.

    Thanks, again, for sharing your invaluable insights about the case.

    

Edited March 9 by W. Niederhut

[Jim Hargrove]

4 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

The gist of the case is that Domingo Benavides clearly identified Tippt's killer as someone other than Oswald.  He subsequently received multiple threats about his witness testimony, and he changed his story after his brother was shot in the head.

    Belzer's conclusion was that the murder of Eddy Benavides could not be definitively linked to the JFK assassination, but that Domingo Benavides had, obviously been a victim of repeated witness intimidation.

Amen.  As David Walsh’s piece in the November 1996 Ramparts article stated:   

Domingo [and his father-in-law J.W. Jackson] are both convinced that Eddy's murder was a case of mistaken identity and that Domingo, the Tippit witness, was the intended victim.

It is important for all of us to understand that, although witnesses to the Tippit killing have substantially different accounts, many of these witnesses were actually quite far away.  Domingo Benavides was the closest, just a few feet away.

[Bill Brown]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:22 AM, Jim Hargrove said:

The list of suspicious deaths looks pretty lengthy to me.  For example, within a year of the JFKA, Karyn Kupcinet was murdered, Eddy Benavides was shot in the head (he was the lookalike brother to closest Tippit shooting witness Domingo Benavides), a number of people died who seemed to know Oswald associated with Jack Ruby, including Bill Chesher and Hank Killam.  I’d certainly add to the list Guy Banister, Mary Pinchot, and, just slightly later, Rose Cheramie and Dorothy Kilgallen (as well as Kilgallen’s friend Mrs. Earl Smith, who died two days later).  There are others, but I doubt direct proof of an association to the assassination will ever be made.

OTOH, the number of deaths occurring around the time the HSCA was getting organized defies easy excuses.  Six top FBI officials died within a 6-month period right around the HSCA’s creation.  John Simkin wrote about these suspicious deaths in an EF post on April 18, 2005.  Here’s what he wrote: 

When the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities and Select Committee on Assassinations began investigating Kennedy's death in the 1970s the deaths of potential witnesses increased dramatically. This included several criminals with possible links to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Those who were killed or who died in suspicious circumstances during this period included Malcolm Wallace (1971), Lucien Sarti (1972), Charles Willoughby (1972), Thomas Davis (1973), Richard Cain (1973), Dave Yarras (1974), Sam Giancana (1975), Jimmy Hoffa (1975), Roland Masferrer (1975), Johnny Roselli (1976), George De Mohrenschildt (1977), Charlie Nicoletti (1977) and Carlos Prio (1977).

William Sullivan, the main figure in the FBI involved in the Executive Action project, and the person in the FBI who investigated Oswald, was shot dead near his home in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, on 9th November, 1977. Sullivan had been scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Sullivan was one of six top FBI officials who died in a six month period in 1977. Others who were due to appear before the committee who died included Louis Nicholas, special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover and his liaison with the Warren Commission; Alan H. Belmont, special assistant to Hoover; James Cadigan, document expert with access to documents that related to death of John F. Kennedy; J. M. English, former head of FBI Forensic Sciences Laboratory where Oswald's rifle and pistol were tested and Donald Kaylor, FBI fingerprint chemist who examined prints found at the assassination scene.

Several important figures in the Central Intelligence Agency died before they could give evidence to the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigations. William Harvey, head of the ZR/RIFLE project, died as a result of complications from heart surgery in June, 1976. William Pawley, who took part in Operation Tilt, died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. David Morales, who some believe organized the assassination, died aged 53, on 8th May, 1978.

John Paisley was deputy director of the Office of Strategic Research. On 24th September, 1978, John Paisley, took a trip on his motorized sailboat on Chesapeake Bay. Two days later his boat was found moored in Solomons, Maryland. Paisley's body was found in Maryland's Patuxent River. The body was fixed to diving weights. He had been shot in the head. Police investigators described it as "an execution-type murder". However, officially Paisley's death was recorded as a suicide.

According to the journalist, Victor Marchetti, Paisley was a close friend of Yuri Nosenko. Marchetti also claimed that Paisley knew a great deal about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was murdered during the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation because he was "about to blow the whistle".

 

"Eddy Benavides was shot in the head (he was the lookalike brother to closest Tippit shooting witness Domingo Benavides)"

 

Great.  Finally.

Please post the photo you have seen of Eddie Benavides.

Thanks.

🙄

 

[Mark Ulrik]

15 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Thanks for deflecting attention away from the crucial details about the Domingo Benavides case with your trivial straw man argument about the conflicting dates of his brother's murder.  Do you have an idiom about "red herrings" in Denmark?  🤥

What year Benavides' brother was killed is hardly trivial. When you're in the business of killing or intimidating witnesses, it usually makes the most sense to do it before they testify. Maybe it works differently in the US. Have you read Benavides' WC testimony? Did you find anything in there that might have irked the conspirators to the extent that hard measures needed to be taken? I didn't think so.