The Jfk Assassination: A Researcher’S Guide

By Don Becker

Revised February, 2011

I called the book a researchers guide for a reason. This book is a compilation of the material I read about the assassination, but in a totally different format. Easy to read; direct and to the point. I tried to give as much information as possible. Obviously I could not possibly put all the information in one book, so I was a bit selective in the data I recorded. It contains numerous aspects of the case and nearly every line will lead the researcher to the source of the information so they can continue to look into that particular topic.

When I started my research, my goal was to prove Lee Harvey Oswald did not murder John Kennedy. By the time I proved Oswald did not shoot Kennedy, I noticed Oswald did not shoot Tippet either.

Noting where he was seen before the shooting and where he was after the shooting will prove he was not at the window at 12:30pm; I will prove my point. I determined Oswald did not have time to get into position to do the shooting. The motorcade was scheduled to pass the Book Depository at 12:25 pm. Oswald was in the lunch room at 12:15 and Bonnie Ray Williams was on the 6th floor, alone, until 12:20. A good sniper would have been in position well in advance of his preys expected arrival, which Oswald was not. But wait theres more. . .

Looking at some of the evidence from a totally different perspective, I was able to prove, a conspiracy. I compared the wounds, with the Bullet count, and the time statistics of the rifle. I assure you no one has looked at it from this viewpoint. The closest any author came to mentioning this concept was Harrison Livingstones book, High Treason.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 31, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452075846

Don Becker

Don Becker comes from a middle class, Catholic family, from Missouri. The Beckers are a proud American family fully supportive of our Military. Patriotism is a major part of his life. He proudly served in the US Air Force for just over 22 years, with part of his service being in Desert Storm. Although a graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Business Management degree, his real interest is in American History and politics. Don now resides in Missouri with his wife, Benita. They are the proud parents of one son, one daughter, and eight grandchildren. He encourages his grandkids to learn and understand our countrys history, working with them often so they grow up to be good American citizens.

Book preview

Contents

Forward

Preface

CHAPTER ONE

Organizations & People

CHAPTER TWO

Oswald Articles

CHAPTER THREE

Secrets

CHAPTER FOUR

Commissions

And

Panels

CHAPTER FIVE

1963 Line of

Presidential Succession

CHAPTER SIX

TimeLine to the JFK Assassination & Beyond

CHAPTER SEVEN

Conspiracy Theories

CHAPTER EIGHT

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Sources

Forward

Whenever I mention to people I study the John F Kennedy assassination the first question they ask is; Did Oswald do it?? and the next question is; Then who did?? I think I can answer the first question with about 90% certainty. If you just look at the timeline you will see that Oswald did not have the time to execute three precision shots and get down to the lunchroom in time to encounter Officer Marion Baker and TSBD superintendent, Roy Truly, about 90 seconds after the first shot.

Although I have been looking at any article I found concerning the assassination for many years, I really started doing personal research on the issue about 10 years ago. Originally I started making notes for myself, then one note lead to another, until I had over 100 pages of notes. I started out trying to determine if Oswald really did it, so I figured if I put events in a chronological order it would help lead to the truth. This, and Warren Hinckle’s book Deadly Secrets, is what led to my decision to create a timeline on the whole assassination. I then decided to add the source of my information for future reference. Once the family found out about my project they suggested writing a book. Finally, it became a Chronological Resource Guide of the John Kennedy Assassination in hopes other researchers, or history students, might use it to learn more about the assassination. Adding the reference to each entry allows the reader to look up further information on that entry. I listed all my references in the back of the book. Some of the entries may have Becker?? attached to it. This is a comment or question from me.

I admit some of the time-line items may contradict themselves which is part of the reason for the timeline. It illustrates the confusion, misinformation, and deception of the evidence in the investigation. For example, the biggest areas of confusion: the whereabouts of Oswald from Noon to about 1:30 on 22 November 1963, the arrival of the president’s body at Bethesda Naval Hospital, and the bogus autopsy. But keep in mind the whole event is full of confusion & contradictions. This is the primary reason nobody has been able to solve this mystery. It appears the main conspirators did a good job with their misinformation campaign. I also had to distinguish between Dallas time and Washington DC time. I did this by identifying Washington DC time with EST (Eastern Standard Time).

If you can track where Oswald was between noon & 1:30 you’ll see that he was not on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository at 12:30. Oswald was seen in the second floor lunch room at 12:15 and again about 90 seconds after the first shot. Keeping mind, the motorcade was scheduled to pass the TSBD at 12:25. A good sniper would have been at the sniper’s nest and ready several minutes before the target arrived and, assuming the weapon came into the TSBD unassembled, re-assembling the rifle would take at least 10 minutes, yet Oswald was in the lunchroom eating lunch, as seen by Carolyn Arnold at 12:15. Most people think Officer Baker encountered Oswald 90 seconds after the last shot. In actuality, he was on his way to the TSBD after the first shot. Officer Baker testified before the Warren Commission that when they did the re-enactments they timed it from after the first shot to the time he met Oswald as about a minute & thirty seconds. There would not have been enough time for Oswald:

1. To get off 3 good shots,

2. Hesitate for a moment to ensure the third shot hit its mark.

3. queeze out of the sniper’s nest, between boxes and a wall

4. Wipe off the rifle: I have not read of any cloth being found to wipe off fingerprints.

5. Hide it on the other side of the building allegedly under 4 55-pound boxes,

6. Run down 4 flights of stairs, and not pass Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles also going down the stairs, from the fourth floor.

7. Appear calm when he met Officer Baker, with his gun pointing at Oswald, and building superintendent Roy Truly.

8. And we are not positive if Oswald had a soda in his hand when approached by Officer Baker, on the second floor (area of more confusion); if so, it would make it more unlikely Oswald was on the sixth floor at the time of the shooting. It would take almost 30 to 45 seconds to get out change and buy a soda from the machine.

It is highly questionable if he was even near the Tippit murder scene. But first you have to determine the definite time of the Tippit shooting. T. F. Bewley says he encountered Tippit’s body at 1:10 pm. Domingo Benavides called the murder in to the Police dispatcher, using the police radio, at 1:16 pm. The official time of the murder was 1:15 pm. The shooting took place on E. 10th Street and N. Patton Ave. Oswald left his boarding house at 1026 Beckley at 1:04 PM and was seen standing at the bus-stop across the street, by his landlady, right after he left. Assuming Oswald was at the North-bound bus stop for at least 1 minute, he would have 5 minutes to get to 10th & Patton, shoot Tippit, drop his shells, and leave before being seen by Bewley. The shooting was Three tenths of a mile south west of Oswald’s house. Then he goes a half mile east to the Texas Theater, arriving at 1:40 pm. So, the Warren Commission would have us believe Oswald goes three tenths of a mile out of his way, to shoot Officer Tippit, then takes 30 minutes to get to the Texas Theater which is only a half mile east of the murder location. As Kurtz says: Sounds like he was more in a hurry to kill Tippet than to flee the crime and get to the Texas Theater. Question: If Oswald was headed to the Texas Theater, for what ever reason, why did he go out of his way to 10th & Patton??

The Bethesda episode indicates two bodies arrived within minutes of each other, in two different containers, by two different modes of transportation, both supposedly the President’s body. Two different witnesses give different versions of the arrival of the President’s body to the Bethesda morgue. Who was the other body??

The autopsy of the President’s body at Bethesda, conveniently performed by unqualified doctors and controlled by the military, was anything but normal. Normal autopsy procedures were not followed and those that were, were not thorough. The doctors did not trace all the bullet paths, such as the back and throat wounds, and they failed to maintain their integrity by standing by their actual findings. They also failed to converse with the Parkland doctors who first tended to the president, which is probably normal procedures. By not telling the truth, they allowed the Warren Commission to lie to the American people.

One of the statements I heard and read was; If it were a big conspiracy, how can so many people keep it quiet?? In actuality, not counting the witness information the authorities suppressed or changed, there were a couple people who claimed to be actually involved in the assassination: Roscoe White and Jim Sutton for example. Roscoe White is now dead and James Sutton is in prison under the name James Files. The Warren Commission would not let Jack Ruby tell his story. David Ferrie was ready to talk and was murdered. Rose Cheramie talked, nobody listened, and she was murdered. John Roselli was murdered just before testifying in front of the Senate. So people were ready to talk but it was too late or the authorities did not want to hear it.

On November 22, 2013, it will be fifty years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In those fifty years numerous books & articles have been written supporting a conspiracy or the lone gunman theory. These books and articles have added to the information and misinformation baseline already started by events and articles from before and after the assassination. We have come to the point where we do not know what we can believe regardless of the source. After fifty years the research is not a matter of justice, because regardless if you were to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who was involved in the Crime of the Century or possibly in American History, justice would not be served. The truth will not change history and nobody will be prosecuted. The best you can hope for is the clearing of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone assassin. But even with this revelation, the history books have already been written and students have already been taught the wrong conclusion: Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman who assassinated President John F Kennedy.

The Warren Commission signed Oswald’s Death Warrant as the lone assassin before their investigation started. Thanks to men like J. Edgar Hoover setting the pace by stating three shots were fired and Oswald was the man doing the shooting, the Warren Commission did not investigate any other possibilities. For the commission to be legitimate, the name Oswald should not have been a subject of its own. This issue alone discounts the commission as a credible investigative body. Due to the Commission’s failure to prove ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ that Oswald acted alone and their creation of the bogus ‘Single Bullet Theory’, the search for the truth was left to concerned citizens doing the research the commission should have done.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act Assassination researchers have been able to release thousands of documents revealing more evidence supporting one cause or another depending upon the interpretation and publishing of the information. Unfortunately most of these documents have been sanitized before release and may not construe the correct information leaving the document to interpretation, thus adding to the misinformation problem already surrounding the case. But even with the sanitation of documents, and some misinterpretation, a little more of the truth leaks out and may add to another researcher’s piece of the puzzle.

Jim Marrs, in his book Crossfire, made a comment implying Lee Harvey Oswald was the ‘Patsy’ of the assassination. He said if you look at the evidence compiled against Oswald on the surface, there is no doubt he was the lone assassin. But when you analyze the evidence, as Jim Marrs does in his book, you’ll see the DA did not have a case and the Warren Commission was way off base. If Oswald had a competent lawyer and he went to trial, it would have gotten kicked out of court. They could not put Oswald at the scene of the assassination or Tippit’s murder. The Dallas police, the FBI, the CIA, and the Warren Commission made such a farce of the testimonies by trying to mold the testimonies & evidence to incriminate Oswald that they lost sight of the truth and the truth would have set Oswald free. The mishandling of most of the evidence would have made it inadmissible in court and allowing all witnesses to testify instead of just those who had incriminated Oswald, he would have walked out of court a free man. So it doesn‘t appear to be a ‘Simple Case of Murder’ after all and the case would definitely not be closed.

If it is just a simple case of murder by a lone nut you have to ask yourself several questions:

• Why is the evidence and investigation material archived until the year 2039??

• The rifle was first identified as a Mauser by competent officers, and then the DA identified the weapon as a Mauser. The rifle was identified as a 7.65 Mauser for over 24 hours. Even news men were calling the weapon a 7.65 Mauser. Then somehow it was identified as a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, even though the first rifle had 7.65 Mauser stamped on the barrel of the rifle. How can the officers identifying the weapon first been mistaken??

• Why was Officer J. D. Tippit murdered??

* Food for thought:

• Kennedy, 46 years old, 6 foot tall, 170 Lbs, Blue eyes, Reddish brown hair

• Tippit, 39 Years old, 5 foot 11 inches, 175 – 180 Lbs, blue eyes, Black hair

• Why did the Warren Commission lie to the American public by creating the Magic Bullet theory knowing it was infeasible??

• Why did the Warren Commission refuse to take note of Jack Ruby’s association with Organized crime??

In closing, I was wondering what would happen if this same event would happen today. How would the media report the news?? Would it be covered up successfully?? And would Marina Oswald have grounds to file a wrongful death suit against Texas and the Dallas police Department for the death of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Preface

The first five chapters is a preliminary introduction to various agencies, issues, and people pertaining to the assassination. The information is a precursor to what will be in the timeline. I did not include every person of interest; I leave that to Michael Benson’s book Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination. On the other hand I did not include some of the main characters in this event: Lee Oswald, Marina Oswald, etc. because we already know who they are.

The information in these sections will not be found in any other single book. I dug a littler deeper into the subjects than most authors. For instance, I give complete specifications on the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle which will prove Oswald could not have carried the rifle into the Texas School Book Depository the way he was to have done. Oswald was supposed to have carried the weapon into the TSBD, cupped in his hand and under his armpit. You’ll find out the rifle was too long for him to carry it in that way. I also describe different types of bullets so you understand the difference between frangible and non-frangible bullets, which is important when discussing this subject.

We’re also going to discuss the various agencies and organizations with motive to be a part of a conspiracy against President Kennedy. You will see some of the organizations had people and interest in common. And the elimination of the President would be in their best interest. In some cases an agency may think taking President Kennedy out of office, by any means, may be in the best interest of our country. When Julius Caesar was assassinated, it was suppose to be in the best interest of Rome.

Most authors would put this information in the rear of the book so you can refer to it as needed. I decided to put it in the Preface so you have background material before you read the timeline. I cannot emphasize enough how confusing this issue can be if you don’t have some preview information before reading through the assassination events.

I also included events that happened I felt I should elaborate upon: Autopsy findings, the Warren Commission, people information, and little tidbits of trivia. This section can be very educational for information beyond the JFK Assassination.

As I stated earlier I am hoping others will use this book as their starting point to research the assassination. And hopefully if you see an area of interest, you can utilize the identified resources to gain more information or to clarify the particular event. And possibly you will be able to move the public closer to solving this mystery.

The information in these first chapters plus the timeline should provide a first-stop-shop for anyone wanting to research the issue. Hopefully this will prepare you for the events, issues, and people you encounter when you go back in time, through the Crime of the Century, and beyond.

CHAPTER ONE

Organizations & People

The Anti-Castro Cubans:

• Motives

* JFK Refused Air Support for the Bay of Pigs Operation. (Roberts, p. 29)

• Operation Codename ‘Zapata’

• Loss of 120 men killed and 1180 captured by Castro’s forces. (Roberts, p. 28)

• Cubans lost loved ones, a cause, and their country

• Manuel Artime

* Cuban exile leader (Who, p. 18)

* Friend of E. Howard Hunt

• Worked with Hunt on CIA & Mafia schemes to assassinate Castro.

• Delivered, for Hunt, the first hush money payments to the Watergate burglars.

• Carlos Bringuier

* Havana trained lawyer and a former official of the Castro government. (Weisberg, p. 266)

• Defected in May 1960.

* Represents himself as having excellent contacts with the FBI and other police agencies. (Weisberg, p. 266)

• Rolando Cuebela.

* First contacted the CIA in January 1961. (Kurt, p. xlvi)

* Code name ‘AM/LASH’ (Livingstone, p. 276) (Kurtz, p. xlvi)

* CIA assassin (Who, p. 95) (Livingstone, p. 276)

* Was given equipment to kill Castro by CIA agent Desmond Fitzgerald. (Who, p. 95)

• Homer S. Enchevarria (Kurtz, p. 237)

* Cuban exile (Dankbaar, p. 20)

* Chicago-based anti-Castro activist.

* Told a Secret Service informant that his organization had plenty of money and would conduct an illegal arms sale as soon as we take care of Kennedy. (Kurtz 2, p. 214)

* Often voiced his hatred for the Kennedy Administration. (Kurtz 2, p. 214)

* Associated with Juan Francisco Blanco-Fernandez. (Kurtz 2, p. 214)

• Military director of the Cuba Student Directorate.

* Knew Chauncey Holt, Charles Harrelson, and Charles Rogers. (Dankbaar, p. 20)

• Virgilio R. Gonzalez. (Roberts, p. 132)

* Member of ZR/Rifle, the Executive Action Assassination Team.

* Member of Nixon’s Operation 40

* Watergate burglar

• Quentin Pino Machado (Kurtz, p. 236)

* Cuban diplomat

* Known as a dangerous terrorist

* Planned to escort Oswald from Texas to Cuba via Mexico after he shot the president.

• Eugenio Rolando Martinez, (Roberts, p. 132)

* Member of ZR/Rifle, the Executive Action Assassination Team.

* Member of Nixon’s Operation 40

* Watergate burglar

• Felix Rodriquez, (Roberts, p. 132)

* AKA Max Gomez

* Served as CIA helicopter pilot in Vietnam during the PRU/Phoenix Program.

* Responsible for tracking down and apprehending Che Guevara in Bolivia

* Apprehended later as part of the Watergate Operation.

• Sergio Arcacha Smith

* Leader of the Anti-Castro group the Friend of Democratic Cuba until 1962. (Kurtz 2, p. 160)

* Had his office at 544 Camp St. (Who, p. 424)

* Said he was not in Dallas during the assassination.

• Antonio Veciana

* Head of the militantly anti-Castro exile organization, Alpha 66. (Kurtz 2, p. 165)

* Said CIA case officer, Maurice Bishop, introduced him to Oswald in September 1963. (Kurtz 2, p. 165)

The Central Intelligence Agency:

• Motives

* JFK threaten to disband the CIA (Roberts, p. 31) (Oglesby, p. 6).

• If the CIA believed that the defense of their Agency and their nation required the elimination of President Kennedy because he was about to dismantle their organization, one could comprehend, that their concept of self-defense required them to use deadly force. (Lane 1992, p. 93)

• National Security Memorandum 55, 56, & 57, in theory, eliminated the ability of the CIA to wage war. (Lane 1992, p. 100)

• The CIA would not be permitted to initiate any operations requiring greater firepower than that generated by handguns. (Lane 1992, p. 100)

* JFK Refused Air Support for the Bay of Pigs Operation. (Roberts, p. 29)

* JFK made a pact with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to stop the assassination attempts against Castro. (Giamarco)

* When Kennedy learned the CIA had ignored his direct orders he sent the FBI and local law agencies to close down the agency’s s training camps in Florida and Louisiana. (Giamarco)

• Assassin Team codename ‘ZR/RIFLE’. (Roberts, p. 53) (Marrs, p. 209)

• Within months of the assassination, the CIA had adapted the device for many uses - including hiding it in an umbrella. (Giamarco)

* When the umbrella was closed, nothing showed. When it was open, the bearer would hold it over his head and on the center rod of the umbrella there was a small wire-like piece that was his end of the sighting mechanism, as he sighted toward the object with one umbrella rib-tip directly in line. The nylon dart - just one - was located in a small tube that was aligned with the sighting mechanism. (Giamarco)

• James Jesus Angleton (Piper, p. vii)

* Chief of Counterintelligence (Who, p. 15)

* Called Bill Sullivan, #3 man in the FBI, and rehearsed the questions and answers they would give to the Warren Commission. (Who, p. 15)

* Totally loyal to the Israeli Mossad

• Bob Bennett

* Alias Bill Rogers, Rex Beardsley, Larry Allen. (Dankbaar, p. 305)

* Tosh Plumlee’s handler.

• Gave orders to Plumlee on 22 Nov. 1963.

• Richard M. Bissell

* Former Deputy Director of Plans

* Top planner of the CIA/Mafia assassination plots against Castro. (Who, p. 41)

* Initiated the recruitment of underworld figures for the Castro hit in August 1960. (Who, p. 41)

* Fired by President John Kennedy because of the Bay of Pigs incident. (Roberts, p. 30)

• General Charles Cabell

* Former Air Force (Who, p. 68)

* Former Deputy Director of the CIA.

* Fired by President John Kennedy because of the Bay of Pigs incident. (Roberts, p. 30)

* Openly called JFK a traitor. (Dankbaar, p. 33)

* Brother, Earle Cabell, was Mayer of Dallas in 1963. (Benson, p. 207) (Who, p. 68)

• Was in charge of the security for Kennedy’s visit and the motorcade route. (Dankbaar, p. 33)

* Was involved with Robert Maheu in plots to kill Castro. (Who, p. 68)

• Robert Maheu was an intermediary between CIA Security Director Sheffield Edwards and crime boss Sam Giancana. (Who, p. 272)

• Christian David

* WI/Rouge

* Agent of ZR/Rifle

* Named Lucien Sarti as one of the men who shot JFK. (Who, p. 100)

* Says the three assassins were members of the Corsican Mafia. (Who p. 100)

* Says two assassins were in buildings to the rear of the president. (Who, p. 100)

• One high & one low

* Four shots (Who, p. 100)

• First from the rear, striking Kennedy in the back

• Second shot from the rear hitting Connally

• Third shot fired by Sarti, from behind the wooden fence, caused JFK’s fatal head wound.

• Fourth shot, from the rear, missed the car entirely.

• Allen Dulles

* Former Director of the CIA

• Fired by President John Kennedy because of the Bay of Pigs incident. (Roberts, p. 30)

* Brother of John Foster Dulles

• Former Secretary of State (Who, p. 118)

* Known enemy of JFK. (Who, p. 118)

* Later became member of the Warren Commission

• David Ferrie (Piper, p. viii) (Waldron)

* CIA Contract Operative

* Pilot

* Associated with Carlos Marcello

* Worked with Bannister & Varona’s Cuban exile group.

* Civil Air Patrol instructor for Lee Harvey Oswald

* La. DA Jim Garrison’s chief suspect. (Marrs, p. 502)

* Known to have suffered from hypertension. (Marrs, p. 503)

* Right-wing extremist (Kurtz, p. 203)

* Oswald and Ferrie frequented the Napoleon House bar (Kurtz, p. 203)

* Actively participated in anti-Castro organizations. (Kurtz, p. 203)

* Smuggled supplies to anti-Castro rebels in Cuba. (Kurtz, p. 203)

* Extreme anti-communist fanatic. (Kurtz 2, p. 163)

* Found dead on 02/22/1967. (Marrs, p. 502)

• Autopsy performed by Dr. Nicholas Chetta. (Ray, p. 213)

• Apparent suicide

• Died of a massive brain hemorrhage.

~ CIA assassination technique

• Finger nail file to the roof of the mouth and into the brain.

• Desmond Fitzgerald (Livingstone, p. 276)

* Chief of the CIA’s Cuba division

* Masqueraded as a US Senator and told Rolando Cubela that Castro’s overthrow would be fully supported by the US.

• This was shortly after John and Robert Kennedy had been working secretly through Ambassador Attwood to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

• William Harvey

* In charge of CIA-Mafia plots to kill Fidel Castro. (Who, p. 176)

* During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he actually tried to precipitate a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. (Kurtz, p. xlv)

• Sent ten commando teams into Cuba to engage in sabotage and assassination.

• Fired by Robert Kennedy for his grossly irresponsible actions.

• Richard Helms

* CIA Deputy Director for Plans. (Who, p. 178)

* Personally persuaded Lyndon Johnson to appoint former CIA director Allen Dulles to the Warren Commission. (Kurtz 2, p. 173)

• E. Howard Hunt, Aka; Edward Warren, Edward Hamilton, David St. John.

* Codename ‘Eduardo’. (Roberts, p. 50)

• Operation Zapata

• Operation 40 case officer. (Roberts, p. 50)

* Worked closely with General Charles Cabell, deputy Director of the CIA (Benson, p. 207)

* GS-15 CIA Staff Officer

* Testimony by ex-CIA contract operative Marita Lorenz placed Hunt in Dallas, Texas on 21 November, 1963. (Piper, p. vii)

* Owned the Newman building. (Roberts, p. 50)

• Location of 544 Camp street:

• �Address on Oswald’s Fair Play for Cuba pamphlets had on them.

• Location of 531 Lafayette Street.

• Address of the Banister Detective Agency

* Liaison to the anti-Castro Cuban exiles. (Piper, p. vii)

* Testimony by ex-CIA operative, Marita Lorenz placed Hunt in Dallas, the