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From "CROSSFIRE" by Jim Marrs
ISBN 0-88184-524-8
Copyright (c) 1989 by Jim Marrs
First published by Carroll & Graf 1989
Reprinted without permission
CONVENIENT DEATHS
In the three-year period which followed the murder of President
Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, 18 material witnesses died - six by
gunfire, three in motor accidents, two by suicide, one from a cut
throat, one from a karate chop to the neck, five from natural causes.
An actuary, engaged by the London Sunday Times, concluded that on
November 22, 1963m the odds against these witnesses being dead by
February 1967, were one hundred thousand trillion to one.
The above comment on the deaths of assassination witnesses was published in
a tabloid companion piece to the movie _Execution Action_, released in 1973.
By that time, part of the mythology of the Kennedy assassination included the
mysterious deaths of people who were connected with it.
By the mid-1960s, people in Dallas already were whispering about the
number of persons who died under strange or questionable circumstances. Well
into the 1980s, witnesses and others were hesitant to come forward with
information because of the stories of strange and sudden death that seemed to
visit some people with information about the assassination.
Finally, in the late 1970s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
felt compelled to look into the matter.
But aside from discrediting the London Sunday Times actuarial study, the
Committee was unable to come to any conclusions regarding the growing number
of deaths. The Committee said it could not make a valid actuarial study due
to the broad number and types of persons that had to be included in such a
study.
In response to a letter from the Committee, London Sunday Times legal
manager Anthony Whitaker stated:
Our piece about the odds against the deaths of the Kennedy witnesses
was, I regret to say, based on a careless journalistic mistake and
should not have been published. This was realized by The Sunday Times
editorial staff after the first edition - the one which goes to the
United States... - had gone out, and later editions were amended.
There was no question of our actuary having got his answer wrong: it
was simply that we asked him the wrong question. He was asked what
were the odds against 15 named people out of the population of the
United States dying within a short period of time, to which he replied
- correctly - that they were very high. However, if one asks what are
the odds against 15 of those included in the Warren Commission Index
dying within a given period, the answer is, of course, that they are
much lower. Our mistake was to treat the reply to the former question
as if it dealt with the latter - hence the fundamental error in our
first edition report, for which we apologize.
This settled the matter for the House Committee, which apparently made
little or no attempt to seriously study the number of deaths that followed
the JFK assassination.
Jacqueline Hess, the Committee's chief of research for the JFK
investigation, reported:
Our final conclusion on the issue is that the available evidence does
not establish anything about the nature of these deaths which would
indicate that the deaths were in some manner, either direct or
peripheral, caused by the assassination of President Kennedy or by
any aspect of the subsequent investigation.
However, an objective look at both the number and the causes of death
balanced against the importance of the person's connection to the case, still
causes raised eyebrows among those who study such a list.
In this section, people who were connected - no matter how tenuously -
with the assassination and who are now dead are listed according to date of
death.
This is dealing only with deaths, not with the numerous persons - such as
Warren Reynolds, Roger Craig, and Richard Carr - who claim to have been shot
at or attacked.
This chapter has been entitled "Convenient Deaths" because these deaths
certainly would have been convenient for anyone not wishing the truth of the
JFK assassination to become public.
The CIA has gone to some lengths to discredit the idea of mysterious
deaths plaguing assassination witnesses.
A 1967 memo from CIA headquarters to station chiefs advised:
Such vague accusations as that "more than 10 people have died
mysteriously" can always be explained in some rational way: e.g., the
individuals concerned have for the most part died of natural causes;
the [Warren] Commission staff questioned 418 witnesses - the FBI
interviewed far more people, conducting 25,000 interviews and
reinterviews - and in such a large group, a certain number of deaths
are to be expected.
Testifying before the Church Committee in 1975, CIA technicians told of a
variety of TWEP technology - Terminate With Extreme Prejudice - that cannot
be detected in a postmortem examination.
One recently declassified CIA document, a letter from an Agency consultant
to a CIA officer, states:
You will recall that I mentioned that the local circumstances under
which a given means might be used might suggest the technique to be
used in that case. I think the gross divisions in presenting this
subject might be:
(1) bodies left with no hope of the cause of death being determined by
the most complete autopsy and chemical examinations
(2) bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate accidental death
(3) bodies left in such circumstances as to simulate suicidal death
(4) bodies left with residue that simulates those caused by natural
diseases.
The letter goes on to show that undetected murders do not have to be the
result of sophisticated chemicals. It states:
There are two techniques which I believe should be mentioned since
they require no special equipment besides a strong arm and the will to
do such a job. These would be either to smother the victim with a
pillow or to strangle him with a wide piece of cloth such as a bath
towel. In such cases, there are no specific anatomic changes to
indicate the cause of death...
While it is obvious that the CIA - and hence the mob through operatives who
work for both - has the capability of killing, it is less well known that the
Agency has developed drugs to induce cancer.
Recall that Jack Ruby died of sudden lung cancer just as he had been granted
a new trial.
A 1952 CIA memo reported on the cancer-causing effects of beryllium:
"This is certainly the most toxic inorganic element and it produces a
peculiar fibrotic tumor at the site of local application. The amount
necessary to produce these tumors is a few micrograms."
Local law-enforcement officers and coroners are not equipped, either by
training or by inclination, to detect deaths induced by such sophisticated
means. They look for signs of a struggle, evidence of a break-in, bruises,
or marks on the victim.
With no evidence to the contrary, many deaths are ruled suicide or accident.
Others are ruled due to natural causes, such as heart attack.
It is interesting to note how the deaths are grouped. Many of the
earliest deaths came during the time of the Warren Commission investigation
or just afterwards.
More deaths took place in the late 1960s as New Orleans District Attorney
Jim Garrison was launching his investigation. Other suspicious deaths
occurred during the mid-1970s, as the Senate Intelligence Committee was
looking into assassinations by U.S. intelligence agencies. And finally,
another spate of deaths came around 1977, just as the House Select Committee
on Assassinations was gearing up its investigation.
These deaths are listed below in chronological order. An asterisk means
the death is a particularly suspicious one. They are also grouped according
to which investigation was being conducted at the time.
The possibility of convenient deaths leads one into a well of paranoia, yet
this long list cannot be summarily dismissed.
Obviously, many of these deaths - particularly in recent years - can be
ascribed to the passage of time. But others cannot - especially when viewed
in the context of the assassination inquiries taking place at the time.
Read for yourself and consider... When does coincidence end and conspiracy
begin?
List of Deaths
Date Name Connection with Case Cause of Death
11/63 Karyn Kupcinet* TV host's daughter who was Murdered
overheard telling of JFK's
death prior to 11/22/63
The Warren Commission Investigation
12/63 Jack Zangretti* Expressed foreknowledge of Gunshot victim
Ruby shooting Oswald
2/64 Eddy Benavides* Look-alike brother to Tippit Gunshot to head
shooting witness, Domingo
Benavides
3/64 Betty McDonald* Former Ruby employee who Suicide by hanging
alibied Warren Reynolds in Dallas jail
shooting suspect
3/64 Bill Chesher Thought to have information Heart attack
linking Oswald and Ruby
3/64 Hank Killam* Husband of Ruby employee, Throat cut
knew Oswald acquaintance
4/64 Bill Hunter* Reporter who was in Ruby's Accidental shooting
apartment on 11/24/63 by policeman
5/64 Gary Underhill* CIA agent who claimed Gunshot in head,
Agency was involved Ruled suicide
5/64 Hugh Ward* Private investigator working Plane crash in
with Guy Banister and David Mexico
Ferrie
5/64 DeLesseps Morrison* New Orleans mayor Passenger in Ward's
plane
8/64 Teresa Norton* Ruby employee Fatally shot
6/64 Guy Banister* Ex-FBI agent in New Orleans Heart attack
connected to Ferrie, CIA,
Carlos Marcello and Oswald
9/64 Jim Koethe* Reporter who was in Ruby's Blow to neck
apartment on 11/24/63
9/64 C.D. Jackson Life Magazine senior vice Unknown
president who bought Zapruder
film and locked it away
10/64 Mary Pinchot Meyer* JFK mistress whose diary was Murdered
taken by CIA chief James
Angleton after her death
1/65 Paul Mandal Life writer who told of JFK Cancer
turning to rear when shot in
throat
3/65 Tom Howard* Ruby's first lawyer, was in Heart attack
Ruby's apartment on 11/24/63
5/65 Maurice Gatlin* Pilot for Guy Banister Fatal Fall
8/65 Mona B. Saenz* Texas Employment clerk who Hit by Dallas bus
interviewed Oswald
?/65 David Goldstein Dallasite who helped FBI Natural causes
trace Oswald's pistol
9/65 Rose Cheramie* Knew of assassination in Hit/run victim
advance, told of riding to
Dallas with Cubans
11/65 Dorothy Kilgallen* Columnist who had private Drug overdose
interview with Ruby, pledged
to "break" JFK case
11/65 Mrs. Earl Smith* Close friend to Dorothy Unknown
Kilgallen, died two days
after columnist, may have
kept Kilgallen's notes
12/65 William Whaley* Cabdriver who reportedly Motor Collision
drove Oswald to Oak Cliff (the only Dallas
taxi driver to
die on duty)
1966 Judge Joe Brown Presided over Ruby's trial Heart attack
1966 Karen "Little Lynn" Ruby employee who last talked Gunshot victim
Carlin* with Ruby before Oswald shooting
1/66 Earline Roberts Oswald's landlady Heart attack
2/66 Albert Bogard* Car salesman who said Oswald Suicide
test drove new car
6/66 Capt. Frank Martin Dallas police captain who Cancer
witnessed Oswald slaying,
told Warren Commission,
"There's a lot to be said,
but probably be better if I
don't say it."
8/66 Lee Bowers, Jr.* Witnessed men behind picket Motor accident
fence on Grassy Knoll
9/66 Marilyn "Delilah" Ruby dancer Shot by husband
Walle* after one month
of marriage
10/66 William Pitzer* JFK autopsy photographer Gunshot, ruled
who described his duty as suicide
"horrifying experience"
11/66 Jimmy Levens Fort Worth nightclub owner Natural causes
who hired Ruby employee
11/66 James Worrell, Jr.* Saw man flee rear of Texas Motor accident
School Book Depository
1966 Clarence Oliver D.A. investigator who Unknown
worked Ruby case
12/66 Hank Suydam Life magazine official in Heart attack
charge of JFK stories
The Garrison Inquiry
Date Name Connection with Case Cause of Death
1967 Leonard Pullin Civilian Navy employee who One-car crash
helped film _Last Two Days_
about assassination
1/67 Jack Ruby Oswald's slayer Lung cancer (He
told family he
was injected with
cancer cells.)
2/67 Harold Russell* Saw escape of Tippit killer Killed by cop in
bar brawl
2/67 David Ferrie* Acquaintance of Oswald, Blow to neck,
Garrison suspect, and ruled accidental
employee of Guy Banister
2/67 Eladio Del Valle* Anti-Castro Cuban associate Gunshot wound,
of David Ferrie being sought ax wound to head
by Garrison
3/67 Dr. Mary Sherman* Ferrie associate working on Died in fire
cancer research (possibly shot)
1/68 A.D. Bowie Assistant Dallas D.A. Cancer
prosecuting Ruby
4/68 Hiram Ingram Dallas deputy sheriff, close Cancer
friend to Roger Craig
5/68 Dr. Nicholas Chetta New Orleans coroner who ruled Heart attack
on death of Ferrie
8/68 Phillip Geraci* Friend of Perry Russo, told of Electrocution
Oswald/Shaw connection
1/69 Henry Delaune* Brother-in-law to coroner Murdered
Chetta
1/69 E.R. Walthers* Dallas deputy sheriff who Shot by felon
was involved in Depository
search, claimed to have found
.45-cal slug
1969 Charles Mentesana Filmed rifle other than Heart attack
Mannlicher-Carcano being taken
from Depository
4/69 Mary Bledsoe Neighbor to Oswald, also Natural causes
knew David Ferrie
4/69 John Crawford* Close friend to both Ruby and Crash of private
Wesley Frazier, who gave ride plane
to Oswald on 11/22/63
7/69 Rev. Clyde Johnson* Scheduled to testify about Fatally shot
Clay Shaw/Oswald connection
1970 George McGann* Underworld figure, connected Murdered
to Ruby friends; wife, Beverly,
took film in Dealey Plaza
1/70 Darrell W. Garner Arrested for shooting Warren Drug overdose
Reynolds, released after
alibi from Betty McDonald
8/70 Bill Decker Dallas sheriff who saw bullet Natural causes
hit street in front of JFK
8/70 Abraham Zapruder Took famous film of JFK Natural causes
assassination
12/70 Salvatore Granello* Mobster linked to Hoffa, Murdered
Trafficante, and Castro
assassination plots
1971 James Plumeri* Mobster tied to mob-CIA Murdered
assassination plots
3/71 Clayton Fowler Ruby's chief defense attorney Unknown
4/71 Gen. Charles Cabell* CIA deputy director connected Collapsed and
to anti-Castro Cubans died after
physical at Ft.
Myers
The Church Committee Investigation
Date Name Connection with Case Cause of Death
1972 Hale Boggs* House majority leader, member Disappeared on
of Warren Commission who began Alaskan plane
to publicly express doubts flight
doubts about findings
5/72 J. Edgar Hoover* FBI director who pushed "Lone Heart attack (no
assassin" theory in JFK autopsy)
assassination
9/73 Thomas E. Davis* Gun runner connected to both Electrocuted
Ruby and CIA trying to steal
wire
2/74 J.A. Milteer* Miami right-winger who Heater explosion
predicted JFK's death and
capture of scapegoat
1974 Dave Yaras* Close friend to both Hoffa Murdered
and Jack Ruby
7/74 Earl Warren Chief justice who reluctantly Heart failure
chaired Warren Commission
8/74 Clay Shaw* Prime suspect in Garrison Possible cancer
case, reportedly a CIA
contact with Ferrie and E.
Howard Hunt
1974 Earle Cabell Mayor of Dallas on 11/22/63, Natural causes
whose brother, Gen. Charles
Cabell, was fired from CIA by
JFK
6/75 Sam Giancana* Chicago Mafia boss slated to Murdered
tell about CIA-mob death plots
to Senate Committee
1975 Clyde Tolson J. Edgar Hoover's assistant Natural causes
and roommate
7/75 Allan Sweatt Dallas deputy sheriff involved Natural causes
in investigation
12/75 Gen. Earl Wheeler Contact between JFK and CIA Unknown
1976 Ralph Paul Ruby's business partner Heart attack
connected with crime figures
4/76 James Chaney Dallas motorcycle officer Heart attack
to JFK's right rear who said
JFK "struck in the face" with
bullet
4/76 Dr. Charles Gregory Governor John Connally's Heart attack
physician
6/76 William Harvey* CIA coordinator for CIA-mob Complications of
assassination plans against heart surgery
Castro
7/76 John Roselli* Mobster who testified to Stabbed and
Senate committee, was to stuffed in metal
appear again drum
1977 - A Terrible Year for Many
The year 1977 produced a bumper crop of candidates for listing under
convenient deaths connected with the JFK assassination - including the deaths
of six top FBI officials all of whom were scheduled to testify before the
House Select Committee on Assassinations.
Topping this list was former number-three man in the FBI, William C.
Sullivan, who had already had a preliminary meeting with the investigators
for the House Committee. Sullivan was shot with a high-powered rifle near
his New Hampshire home by a man who claimed to have mistaken him for a deer.
The man was charged with a misdemeanor - "shooting a human being by
accident" - and released to the custody of his father, a state policeman.
There was no further investigation of Sullivan's death.
Louis Nichols was a special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover as well as
Hoover's liaison with the Warren Commission. Alan H. Belmont also was a
special assistant to Hoover. James Cadigan was a document expert with access
to many classified assassination documents, while J.M. English headed the FBI
laboratory where Oswald's rifle and pistol were tested. Donald Kaylor was
the FBI fingerprint expert who examined prints found at the assassination
scene. None of these six Bureau officials lived to tell what they knew to
the House Committee.
Other key assassination witnesses, such as George DeMohrenschildt and
former Cuban president Carlos Prio Soccaras, died within weeks of each other
in 1977, just as they, too, were being sought by the House Committee.
The ranks of both organized crime and U.S. intelligence agencies were
thinned by deaths beginning in 1975, the time of the Senate Intelligence
Hearings, and 1978, the closing months of the House Committee.
Charles Nicoletti, a mobster connected with the CIA-Mafia assassination
plots, was murdered in Chicago, while William Pawley, a former diplomat
connected with both organized crime and CIA figures, reportedly committed
suicide.
Adding to rumors that "hit teams" may have been at work, a Time magazine
article reported that federal agents had initiated a nationwide investigation
into more than 20 gangland assassinations constituting what agents believed
was an "open underworld challenge to governmental infiltration of Mafia
activities."
One FBI source was quoted as saying: "Our main concern is that we may be
facing a revival of the old `Murder, Inc.' days."
A New York News story concerning this official fear of roving
assassination squads even mentions the death of Sam Giancana, who was killed
one day before he was scheduled to testify about mob-CIA connections and
while under government protection.
Prior to the House Committee investigation into the JFK assassination,
the news media reported the following deaths:
Date Name Connection with Case Cause of Death
1/77 William Pawley* Former Brazilian ambassador Gunshot, ruled
connected to anti-Castro suicide
Cubans, crime figures
3/77 George Close friend to both Oswald Gunshot wound,
DeMohrenschildt* and Bouvier family (Jackie ruled suicide
Kennedy's parents), CIA
contract agent
3/77 Carlos Prio Former Cuban president, Gunshot wound,
Soccaras* money man for anti-Castro ruled suicide
Cubans
3/77 Paul Raigorodsky Business friend of George Natural causes
DeMohrenschildt and wealthy
oilmen
5/77 Lou Staples* Dallas radio talk show host Gunshot to head,
who told friends he would ruled suicide
break case
6/77 Louis Nichols Former number-three man in Heart attack
FBI, worked on JFK
investigation
8/77 Alan Belmont FBI official who testified to "Long illness"
Warren Commission
8/77 James Cadigan FBI document expert who Fall in home
testified to Warren Commission
8/77 Joseph C. Ayres* Chief steward on JFK's Shooting accident
Air Force One
8/77 Francis G. Powers* U-2 pilot downed over Russia Helicopter crash
in 1960 (he reportedly
ran out of fuel)
9/77 Kenneth O'Donnell JFK's closest aide Natural causes
10/77 Donald Kaylor FBI fingerprint chemist Heart attack
10/77 J.M. English Former head of FBI Forensic Heart attack
Sciences Laboratory
11/77 William Sullivan* Former number-three man in Hunting accident
FBI, headed Division 5,
counterespionage and
domestic intelligence
1978 C.L. "Lummie" Lewis Dallas deputy sheriff who Natural causes
arrested Mafia man Braden in
Dealey Plaza
9/78 Garland Slack Man who said his target was Unknown
fired at by Oswald at rifle
range
1/79 Billy Lovelady Depository employee said to be Complications
the man in the doorway in AP from heart attack
photograph
6/80 Dr. John Holbrook Psychiatrist who testified Heart attack, but
Ruby was not insane pills, notes found
1/81 Marguerite Oswald Mother of accused assassin Cancer
10/81 Frank Watts Chief felony prosecutor for Natural causes
Dallas D.A.
1/82 Peter Gregory Original translator for Natural causes
Marina Oswald and Secret
Service
5/82 Dr. James Weston Pathologist allowed to see Died while
JFK autopsy material for jogging, ruled
HSCA natural causes
8/82 Will H. Griffin FBI agent who reportedly Cancer
said Oswald was "definitely"
an FBI informant
10/82 W. Marvin Gheesling FBI official who helped Natural causes
supervise JFK investigation
3/84 Roy Kellerman Secret Service agent in charge Unknown
if JFK limousine
--- end