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 WHO KILLED PRESIDENT KENNEDY AND WHY? POSSIBILITIES AND THEORIES

  By Kurt Rosenstadt, Erica Soderholm, Gisele Muller Anderson. Berlin, Germany

Photo: Oswald’s Passport Photo.

Who Killed Kennedy? That is the question! Why they killed Kennedy? This is the second biggest question! Nobody really knows except those who were involved. But who are those people who designed and executed the most famous and infamous assassination-plot-cover-up and enigmatic intrigue of the 20th century? There are so many theories and possibilities encompassing the “One Bullet Theory”, “The Three Bullet Theory”, “The New Orleans Connection”, “The Marseilles Connection”, “The Corsican Killers Connection”, “The Mafia Involvement”, “The Castro Involvement”, “The Jimmy Hoffa’s Group Connection”, “The FBI Hoover Cover Up”, “The Lyndon Johnson Involvement”, “The Oswald-KGB Involvement”, you name it and you will find a fertile terrain…fertile for all kind of possibilities, assumptions, accusations, finger pointing, theories, etc…In addition, coroners, forensic pathologists, criminologists on different sides of the fence and belonging to convergent and divergent political parties, views and interests have contradictory, confusing and alarming explanations, justifications and points of view. Politics, vendetta, revenge, conspiracy, personal interest, liquidation, political power, Mafia, drugs, international political intrigue fed the fabric of the assassination of President Kennedy. In brief, probably, nobody will ever know the truth.  What we are doing here, is presenting an expose, a collection of theories, findings and articles provided by experts in the field, as well theorists, accusers, politicians, investigators, investigation commission members, law enforcement members and alert observers. We are just reporting. You decide! Many of the articles and theories herewith published are not ours.  They were retrieved and collected from various reliable and questionable sources, articles, research and ideological juxtapositions. It is up to you to deduce and deduct your own conclusion (s). Public interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has never died down. People around the world want to know who killed the president and why and how he died.

They also want to know what the killer's hidden motives might have been, and whether he had acted alone. Their insistent questions led to the formation of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, a congressional group. In 1978, the House Select Committee came to a conclusion that many un-official investigators had already reached: that the president's slaying was the result of a conspiracy. As we have already seen, a conspiracy means that two or more persons were involved in a criminal act. Until that time, the Warren Commissioned Report, originally released in September 1964, was the only official one. The report stated that a solitary gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald was responsible. Working alone, he shot and killed the president. Oswald was soon captured and held by the Dallas, Texas, police for two days. Then Oswald himself was slain as he was being transferred from one jail to another. Oswald's slayer was Jack Ruby. The Warren Commission decided that Ruby acted for twisted emotional reasons and that he, too, acted alone. There was no conspiracy involved in either case. So said the Warren Commission. The House Select Committee's declaration of conspiracy inspired a rash of books and at least two movies, as well as several TV programs. New ones keep popping up, well into the 1990's. Each book and movie has asserted that its analysis is the only foolproof one. As yet, however, none of these has been accepted as offering all the right answers. Let's look at some of these accumulated ideas and theories, and perhaps come to some conclusions of our own. Bear in mind that some of these assertions and accusations sound highly believable. But remember, too, that no charges have been filed against anyone, and no arrests have been made. Will there be any in the future, you ask? Perhaps so; perhaps not This what appeared in cover-ups.com

Lyndon Johnson Aides Angry at History Channel JFK Documentary

On November 18, 2003, The Associated Press reported that The History Channel’s film that aired Monday alleges that then-Vice President Johnson and members of his staff were responsible for President Kennedy's 1963 killing, said LBJ Foundation Chairman Tom Johnson, no relation to the former president. "I do not know of a greater injustice to the reputation of a former president -- especially to be on The History Channel," Tom Johnson, who worked in the Johnson White House, said in an interview Tuesday. He and Jack Valenti, another former Johnson staff member and current president of the Motion Picture Association of America, issued a joint statement on behalf of the Johnson family and others. "Sadly, President Johnson and the staff members who are wrongly smeared by the conspiracy theorists are no longer alive to defend themselves," the statement said. "In televising this production, The History Channel has distorted history beyond recognition." It was the second recent TV project about a former president to draw criticism. CBS yanked its November miniseries "The Reagans" after supporters of former President Reagan said it distorted his legacy while he suffers Alzheimer's disease. The latest program aired as part of an umbrella series titled "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," a package of documentaries about various conspiracy theories regarding Kennedy's death, said channel spokeswoman Lynn Gardner.

The films in "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" series are from producer Nigel Turner and have aired before on cable TV, channel spokeswoman Gardner said. Monday's film, titled "The Guilty Men," was based in part on the book "Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K." by Barr McClellan, she said. "The History Channel does not say that any of these theories are correct nor does not in any way say that the theory in this program is correct," the channel said in a statement. "We are, however, presenting a point of view that has been meticulously researched. "By presenting different viewpoints we enable our viewers to decide to agree or disagree with them and to arrive at their own conclusions," the channel said. Kennedy was shot in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. The Warren Commission concluded Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin, but claims of more extensive plots continue to fascinate the public. "I'm puzzled, bewildered, that a distinguished enterprise like the History Channel would put on the air such garbage, such ugliness," Valenti said in an interview. "It makes one sick." Another former LBJ aide, journalist Bill Moyers, hadn't seen the program but called its premise "absurd." Liz Carpenter, who was press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, called the program "outrageous." Attorneys were being consulted but it was unknown if any legal action could be taken, Tom Johnson said.

Photo: Judge Burt Griffin, who in 1964 was the Warren Commission counsel investigating Jack Ruby. Photo is circa 1999.

The documentary was "exceptionally upsetting" to Johnson's widow, who recently suffered a stroke, and daughters Luci and Lynda, Tom Johnson said. President Johnson died in 1973. The family did not try to block the program's broadcast as in the case of organized Republican efforts against CBS' "The Reagans," Tom Johnson said. The Reagan drama was shifted to cable channel Showtime and is showing Nov. 30. "We left the decision on editorial content and accuracy up to the History Channel," Tom Johnson said.

 

 

 

 

The Men Who Killed Kennedy

Photo: Arlen Specter , author of the Single Bullet Theory

According to Dave Reitzes in his “Links and Views”: Nigel Turner's The Men Who Killed Kennedy premiered on England's Central Independent Television as a two-part documentary in October 1988. Three additional installments were filmed two years later, with a sixth episode added in 1995. Though the series was not widely seen in the United States at first, the first five installments were shown a number of times on the Arts and Entertainment cable channel (with Hilary Minster's narration replaced by the voice of Chicago broadcaster Bill Kurtis), and all six episodes have recently begun popping up (in somewhat edited form) on another cable station, the History Channel. Whether this is a good thing or not depends largely upon whom you ask.

 

Photo: Jack Brazil ."Sewer" theorist

Certainly, Turner's series is nothing if not controversial, even among conspiracy theorists, and even among those who served as some of the series' own sources of information. For example, when President (and former Warren Commission member) Gerald R. Ford and former Warren Commission legal counsel David W. Belin blasted The Men Who Killed Kennedy in the Washington Post in 1991 (in an article primarily about Oliver Stone's movie, JFK), none other than JFK assassination research pioneer (and on-screen interviewee for The Men Who Killed Kennedy) Harold Weisberg chimed in his agreement.

Photo: Harrison Livingstone -- conspiracy author.

It took 27 years," Weisberg noted dryly, "but David Belin, writing with Gerald R. Ford, has finally said one thing with which I agree: Nigel Turner's A&E series 'The Men Who Killed Kennedy' and Oliver Stone's current commercialization and exploitation of that great tragedy are both very, very bad."(1) . On the other hand, Gary Mack, one of two senior consultants for the first five episodes (and currently an archivist at Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum), is critical of certain aspects of the series as well as some of producer Nigel Turner's methods, but overall remains pleased with much of the finished product. Mack says: Neither [senior consultant Robert] Groden nor I were aware of the Corsican hit team theory [which was linked to Mack's "Badge Man" theory, and played a large role in Turner's overall conspiracy theory], developed primarily by Steve Rivele. The original 1988 British broadcast named the three hit men and accused them of killing Kennedy. One, [Lucien] Sarti, was dead, but the other two were still alive.

 

 

 

 

 Photo: Judge John R. Tunheim, Chair of the Assassination Records Review Board

One threatened to sue Central and had a good alibi. Central quickly produced a 30-minute "apology" program in which the "assassin" told his story. The guests included Groden, Robert Blakey, Howard Willens of the Warren Commission, and James Duffy. I was not invited. The moderator and all of the guests, except Groden, criticized Nigel for failing to do thorough research. Groden tried to emphasize the film's strong points. The "apology" program, taped in Washington, aired only in England. Parts one and two of "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" were then re-edited to remove the accusations, but the show's credibility was damaged. That was the real reason ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS lost interest in purchasing US rights from Central, even though all four initially wanted the series. While much of the original five-part production holds up well today, some is outdated or contradicted by new information. The version now appearing on the Arts & Entertainment and History channels was edited by Turner to include 6-7 minutes of commercial time in each part. The home video version, available only from A&E, is the full, revised British version.

 

Photo: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, in a circa 1953 photo.

Researcher Dave Perry, who, along with Gary Mack, was a consultant for the Discovery Channel's recent episode of Unsolved History: JFK - Conspiracy, writes that  Nigel Turner is the only "documentary" film producer-director I know of to receive a censure from members of British Parliament. Because of his research ethics there was also an attempt to remove British Central Television's ITV franchise based upon "penalties [for] inaccurate broadcasters." This was back in October of 1988 when the first The Men Who Killed Kennedy was flush with new assassination theories. It turned out Turner's claims about three Frenchmen he accused as assassins fell apart almost immediately. The French government provided Turner with irrefutable proof of the November 22, 1963 whereabouts of his two remaining living "assassins." Turner's response could be considered typical of a tabloid film maker when confronted with historical facts. "We expected this. People have had 25 years to come up with alibis." When asked why he didn't bother to interview one of his alleged assassins (Saveur Pironti) he claimed he couldn't because he thought, "It was too dangerous." Some investigators, such as author Anthony Summers, however, continue to believe the Rivele leads worthy of further investigation. Summers writes:  For those who wish to see no further progress in the Kennedy case, a much-trumpeted British television program . . . was a welcome event. Among its many follies, the program named as Gunman Two and Gunman Three two men whose names had come up during Rivele's discussions with [Christian] David, but who David had since specifically said were innocent. In the wake of the television program, one of the men produced a plausible alibi for November 22, and Rivele's exclusive story suddenly appeared -- however unjustifiably -- to have been exploded. Rivele's French publishers backed off, and no American publisher had been found as this book went to press. Rivele himself, disgusted with the Central TV fiasco, weary from years of non-stop investigation, turned to other work.

"I have not touched the case since 1988," Rivele recently confirmed. "David was released from prison a few years ago and is alive in France. I assume that [witness Michel] Nicoli is still alive. David's letter to his lawyer [discussed in the documentary] was obtained (I don't know how) by two researchers (one in Dallas, one in Paris), who promised to make it public last spring, but evidently were frightened out of doing so. They still won't share the contents with me." "I believe that Sarti was involved," he says, "but apparently I was wrong on the other two." (Rivele has since become a successful Hollywood screenwriter; his credits include Oliver Stone's Nixon.) Christian David, of course, is only one of literally several dozen convicted felons who have come forward with claims about John F. Kennedy's death over the years. Whether his tale merits any more credence than any of the others remains to be seen. Click here for a summary of Steve Rivele's story, as seen in The Men Who Killed Kennedy. Click here for some further information from Rivele's book, as yet published only in France. Meanwhile, a recent book, Triangle of Death: The Shocking Truth about the Role of South Vietnam and the French Mafia in the Assassination of JFK, by Bradley S. O'Leary and L. E. Seymour, alleges that Christian David lied with regard to many of the details he gave Rivele, but that there is nevertheless a kernel of truth to his story. Only time will tell whether Nigel Turner's audience will embrace a theory that places the blame for Kennedy's death squarely on the government of South Vietnam.

Photo: Steve Rivele, proponent of the theory that three Corsican assassins killed Kennedy.

THE MEN WHO KILLED PRESIDENT KENNEDY

Photo: Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade among reporters, microphones and cameras in late-night news conference on the evening of the assassination. Courtesy Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, Special Collections Division, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries

 

The research community remains divided about another theory at the center of The Men Who Killed Kennedy: Gary Mack's "Badge Man" hypothesis. As Dallas researcher Greg Jaynes points out, the features of the "Badge Man" image are remarkably well defined, while the edge of the white concrete wall, located some thirty-seven feet closer to the camera than the theorized position of "Badge Man," is captured in Mary Moorman's famous Polaroid snapshot only as a sea of gauze and fuzz. Of course, it is a photographic impossibility for objects further from the focal plane of the photograph to be in sharper focus than objects nearer to it. This strongly suggests that the image is an illusion resulting from photographic artifacts and/or light glimpsed through the trees in the background. One theory developed by Greg Jaynes holds that the image has an even more surprising explanation. . It was Gary Mack who was also responsible for the development of the theory that gunshots were preserved on a sound recording of the Dallas Police Department's November 22, 1963, radio transmissions. This theory has not fared well over the years, as several extensive, independent investigations ultimately concluded that not only are there no gunshots at all on the recording, but that it was made approximately one minute after the assassination, from a microphone on a police motorcycle parked a considerable distance away from Dealey Plaza.

Photo: Dallas Police Detective Jim Leavelle in March 1964, at time of Jack Ruby trial.

JFK Online is proud to present some of the actual reports of the acoustical investigations, complete and unedited, alongside links to other pertinent reports and evidence. Mack remains supportive of the story of witness Gordon Arnold, who passed away in 1997, having held firm to his pledge to permit no further public interviews beyond his filmed appearance in The Men Who Killed Kennedy. Many researchers, however, continue to be skeptical of Arnold's story, not only because he waited fifteen years to come forward with it, but particularly because no eyewitnesses corroborate his startling tale (is it really possible that all of those spectators who stormed the grassy knoll soon after the assassination could have overlooked, for example, a crying policeman robbing a uniformed spectator at gunpoint in broad daylight?) and no photographers clearly captured Arnold or his alleged confrontation with the police on film. Another controversial witness featured prominently in the documentary is deaf-mute Ed Hoffman. Some are quick to point out that Hoffman's story seems to have undergone a number of major and dramatic changes over the years, while others are quite sympathetic and supportive of Hoffman's tale. Yet another highly controversial witness who plays a large role in Turner's series is Beverly Oliver, who may or may not be the famous "Babushka Lady" captured in numerous films and photographs in Dealey Plaza.

 

 

THE MEN WHO KILLED PRESIDENT KENNEDY

Photo: Jack Ruby and his sister Eva Grant.

Some researchers remain supportive of Oliver's claims, while others are more critical. A portion of Oliver's story in her own words is also available online. What all of these witnesses have in common, of course, is their insistence that one or more shots originated from the grassy knoll. Listening to such witnesses, in fact, it seems inconceivable that there wasn't someone firing from such a location (though astute viewers will notice that these witnesses disagree strongly about precisely where on the knoll the alleged gunman was located). A different perspective is presented in an article by Jerry Organ, who believes no shots at all were fired from the knoll. Of course, The Men Who Killed Kennedy presents a great deal of evidence in support of the possibility that one or more shots came from the knoll area. For example, Robert Groden narrates one of his enlarged and stabilized versions of the home movie taken by Abraham Zapruder, which many people believe indicates a shot from the knoll.

There are several problems with this, however. For one thing, as Groden himself has noted in his book, The Killing of a President, the President's head is initially thrust forward for a fraction of a second, just prior to the more famous backward motion. This forward motion is invisible to the naked eye when the film is projected, but is clear and measurable in frame-by-frame studies. Another problem noted by Gary Mack(4) is that if one assumes the backward motion to have been caused by a gunshot, the trajectory indicated by this motion is incompatible with a shot from the grassy knoll, which would have actually been at an angle perpendicular to the President's limousine. The bottom line, as acknowledged even by some conspiracy theorists (such as Dr. David Mantik, featured in a new entry of The Men Who Killed Kennedy, "The Smoking Guns") is that the laws of physics require every action to have an equal and opposite reaction, which would mean that any gunshot responsible for a motion such as the backwards snap of John F. Kennedy's head in the Zapruder film would have likewise generated enough force to propel the gunman backwards with equal violence. No handgun, shotgun, or rifle is capable of generating such force. Or, as Dr. Mantik puts it, "I do not believe that a frontal shot, with any reasonable sized rifle or bullet, could produce the observed head snap -- too much energy is required."(5) The world-famous "back and to the left" head snap is simply irrelevant.

Photo: Oswald, with Detective M.G. Hall, is brought from his 5th floor jail cell to the third floor Homicide and Robbery Bureau on Saturday morning.

The Men Who Killed Kennedy also places great emphasis on the initial impressions of the physicians who attempted to save the President's life at Parkland Hospital in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. While many conspiracy theorists agree that the testimony of these witnesses deserves consideration, other researchers point out that the Parkland testimony is by no means as conclusive as some would have us believe. The fact of the matter is that the rear of President Kennedy's head is clearly visible in several frames of the Zapruder film subsequent to the head shot, and, as has been noted by such commentators as ardent conspiracy theorist David Wrone, the back of the head appears completely intact. Wrone observes, for example, that in two particular frames of the film, frames 337 and 338, exposed a little over one second after the fatal shot, "The back of President Kennedy's head, neck, shirt collar, and suit coat are seen in surprisingly sharp detail. There is no blowout of the back of the head. No hair is out of place on the back of his head; there is no blood on the back of the head, nor on his collar, neck, or jacket."(6

 

 

THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY

 

Photo: The women in Lee Oswald's life (from left to right): Mother Marguerite holding Lee's infant daughter Rachel, Mrs. Ruth Paine, toddler June Oswald, and wife Marina. Photo was taken in Mrs. Paine's kitchen on the morning after the assassination.

Explored at some length in The Men Who Killed Kennedy is the theory developed by researcher David Lifton (though, oddly, Lifton is not interviewed or credited within the program) that President Kennedy's body arrived for autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in a condition quite different than that in which it left Parkland. Lifton's theory has not garnered many supporters from the ranks of conspiracy researchers, though it does have a small and loyal following. Ironically, one of Lifton's strongest detractors is Dr. Cyril Wecht, coroner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and considered one of the world’s leading experts in forensic pathology -- and one of the most vociferous critics of the Warren Commission there has ever been. In fact, Dr. Wecht can be seen in The Men Who Killed Kennedy, passionately denouncing the government's handling of the assassination investigation and vehemently insisting that the end result is nothing less than a cover-up.

Wecht was one of the very first individuals with whom Lifton shared his body alteration theory, way back in 1971,(7) and Wecht is almost contemptuous in his dismissal of the hypothesis. "Lifton gets away with crap, and no one challenges him," Wecht says. "I could assemble a whole team of the best surgeons in the country and still not be able to accomplish in a day what Lifton says was done in a few hours. I have never bought his stuff. It can't be done."(8) Click here for a critical analysis of Lifton's overall theory. Click here to see what a practicing physician has to say about the medical issues raised by Lifton's claims.

Photo: Secret Service Agents and presidential staff struggle to carry John Kennedy's casket up stairs into Air Force One at Love Field.

 

 

 

 

THE  CONSPIRACY THEORY

Photo: Lee Oswald's room at 1026 N. Beckley, shown to LIFE photographer by landlady Gladys Johnson on the afternoon of the assassination .

One segment of The Men Who Killed Kennedy that has drawn a great deal of criticism from even devout conspiracy theorists is that dealing with claims that the man murdered on national television by Jack Ruby may not have been the real Lee Harvey Oswald. These allegations rely largely on the recollections of mortician Paul Groody, whose account has been the subject of several noteworthy studies, including an article by conspiracy theorist M. Duke Lane and a series of articles by Tracy Parnell. Even those who approve of much of the information presented in the first five installments of Turner's series tend to look less favorably upon the sixth. This is especially true of the segments dealing with Tom Wilson and Lt. Col. Daniel Marvin. While Marvin has a small coterie of believers (click here for articles by Marvin summarizing his story), most researchers are more skeptical. For example, Allan Eaglesham was actively assisting Marvin in preparing a book until he found Marvin changing elements of his tale that were being challenged. Unlike Marvin, whose story has not quite faded away, self-proclaimed photographic expert Tom Wilson has been categorically denounced as a fraud by virtually everyone. The bottom line: The Men Who Killed Kennedy contains a tremendous amount of intriguing information, but most researchers seem to agree it needs to be approached with the same skepticism one would apply to any other source.

THEORY OF THE CORSICAN CONNECTION: THE KILLER TRIADE

The Corsican assassination theory first came to light when the BBC television series The Men Who Killed Kennedy aired in 1988. Produced by Nigel Turner, one episode of the series dealt with one man's search for Kennedy's assassins. The man in question was Stephen J. Rivele, a California based writer (who is now a successful Hollywood screenwriter). Rivele's research began in 1984. Through his research he came into contact with Christian David, a former member of the Corsican heroin connection and the Latin drug network. Imprisoned at the time in the United States on a charge of drug trafficking, David agreed to give Rivele a certain amount of information regarding what he knew about the assassination, in return for Rivele's help in finding him an attorney. As Rivele stated on the series, at first Christian David was very reluctant to give him information, as he was obviously endangering his own life.

Photo: Christian David

 In their first meeting, after hours of prodding from Rivele, David finally stated that he was aware there had been a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. He also admitted that he was offered the contract in Marseilles in May or June of 1963, by the leader of the Corsican Mafia, Antoine Guérini. Every night David would go to Guérini's club in Marseilles, to meet people who owed him money.  On one such night Guérini called David into his office. He told him he had a contract on offer to kill an American politician. David asked what status the politician in question had. When Guérini said "le plus grosse légume" (the highest vegetable), David immediately knew who he meant. David went on to ask where the contract was to be carried out. When Guérini said it was to be done inside the United States, David passed on the contract, on the grounds that it would be too dangerous. Through a series of subsequent prison interviews with David, Steve Rivele slowly learnt more about the contract and how it was to be carried out. David had learned who had accepted the contract at a bar in Argentina, in 1965. When Rivele questioned David on who had accepted the contract, he responded by saying three men had carried out the assassination. Of course, David was very reluctant to give Rivele the names of the three men, on the basis that two of the three men were still alive, and that the Corsican Mafia has a code of silence and vendetta, meaning David would be killed if he revealed the names. He did however give Rivele the first name of one of the men (the deceased one). That man's name was Lucien.  

 

 

 

THE FOUR BULLET THEORY

 

Photo: Guérini

After much research by Rivele in France and other countries, he finally learned the man in question was Lucien Sarti, a member of the Corsican drug network. Rivele learned that Sarti was a dangerous man who would take enormous risks, and was even despised by his colleagues. However, he was also a highly skilled assassin. Sarti was killed in a police shootout in Mexico City, in 1972. Slowly, Rivele learned more about the contract from David. The assassins had been flown from Marseilles to Mexico City. They were then driven to the US border at Brownsville, Texas. They crossed the border using Italian passports, and they were picked up on the American side by a representative of the Chicago Mafia, with whom they conversed in Italian. After being driven to Dallas, they were set up in a safehouse so as to not leave any hotel records. They spent several days photographing Dealey Plaza, and at night they studied the photographs and arranged a mathematical crossfire. As for the location of the killers during the murder, David was reasonably specific that two of the men had been situated in buildings behind the President’s limousine, although he did not know which buildings. He did, however, specify that one was high and one was low. He stressed that one of the killers was “almost on the horizontal…you cannot understand the wounds unless you understand that one of the men was almost on the horizontal”. It is reasonable to assume that the two buildings in question were the Texas School Book Depository and the Dal-Tex building. Witnesses saw men on the sixth floor of the Depository and on a lower floor of the Dal-Tex building. David told Rivele that Lucien Sarti had been situated on the Grassy Knoll. Apparently Sarti had wanted to be located on the bridge above Elm Street, but discovered on the morning of the assassination that the bridge was guarded, forcing him to move onto “the little hill with the wooden fence”. Sarti took up a position behind this fence and fired one shot.

Photos from L to R: #1. The photo of the “Badge-man” taken at the photo of the assassination by Mary Moorman, Texas, USA. #2. Close-Up of the photo of the “Badge-Man”. Photo, below: Photo: Lucien Sarti.

David also specified that Sarti had used an explosive bullet. He said that Sarti was the only one of the three who used that kind of bullet, a remark which he refused to explain. It became apparent to Rivele why he had used an explosive bullet: it is more powerful, causes more damage to the body, and once it makes its impact there are no traces left of it.

David went on to say there were four shots fired:

 

 

 

THE ASSASSINS WERE PAID IN HEROIN

Photos: Sauveur Pironti.

David also said two of the shots were fired almost simultaneously. This description of the firing sequence is consistent with what the majority of witnesses in Dealey Plaza heard; most claimed to hear 3 or 4 shots. Examining the Zapruder film also suggests the shots were fired in this order. In the moment of panic which followed the assassination, the three were able to get away from Dealey Plaza and return to the safehouse. David made the specific point that the worst thing that you can do at a moment like that is to try to escape. And so they stayed in their safehouse for some ten days until things quietened down sufficiently, and then they were flown by a private plane from Dallas to Montreal. David said that the people who met them in Montreal were established contacts who were used to moving people in and out of the country. Finally, from Montreal they returned to Marseilles. Once Christian David had given Rivele a certain amount of information, Rivele posed to him the obvious problem with his story: David's personal lack of credibility. Rivele asked if there was anyone else alive who could substantiate his story; David thought for a moment, and then instructed Rivele to find a man named Michel Nicoli. A former heroin trafficker and member of the same networks David and Sarti had been affiliated with, Nicoli was now a United States federally protected witness and a government informant. His testimony for the American government had led to the imprisonment of many involved in the network.

 

Photos from L to R: #1. Roger Bocognani.  #2. Michel Tobin, the DEA official who put Steve Rivele in contact with Michel Nicoli.

After a search spanning several continents, Rivele almost by accident found the one man in the US government who knew where Nicoli was. This man was Michael Tobin, a high official in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Consequently, Rivele was able to persuade Tobin to put him in touch with Nicoli. Tobin told Rivele that in his thirty years experience in the DEA, Nicoli was the most reliable witness he had ever dealt with. He had never given the government false or misleading information, and Tobin said if Nicoli stated something, "you could go to the bank on it". Nicoli confirmed David's story, except two details, in which case he said he didn't know of them. Rivele was able to establish the last time David and Nicoli had seen each other was in 1972 in Brazil, when both were imprisoned.

On the question of payment, Rivele said: “Michel agreed with David that the assassins had been paid in heroin. And he went a bit farther. In my first conversation with him, he indicated that although he did not know it at the time, it was he who converted the heroin payment into cash for the assassins. He indicated at least initially, that the three men had appeared at his apartment in Buenos Aires in the months following the assassination with, as he put it, ‘a substantial quantity of heroin’. He was surprised because to his knowledge, it was the first time that any of the three of them had dealt in heroin. But given his reputation for not asking embarrassing questions, he simply agreed to convert the heroin into cash for them.” Rivele had this to say regarding the origins of the contract: “My own conviction at this point is that the contract probably originated with Carlos Marcello of New Orleans who placed it in Marseilles through his colleague Santo Trafficante, Jr. who had the closest relations with Antoine Guérini. Beyond that, it seems reasonable that Giancana of Chicago was involved if we accept David and Michel’s idea that the assassins were met at the border by representatives of the Chicago Mafia. And the fact that Sarti’s customers were primarily in New York, and the fact that the assassins evidently moved out of the United States through the Montreal corridor, which was very closely linked to the New York Mafia, also suggests that Gambino may have been involved.” Rivele questioned Nicoli about this: Rivele: In your view, why would they go so far to find assassins for such a job? Nicoli: In my opinion, to obliterate any traces; to fool the government. It’s more difficult to find foreign killers. It’s more difficult, in my view. Rivele conceded that the Mafia needed assassins who, if caught, could not be tied directly to the American Mafia. Assassins were needed who were not known to American police, and finally, assassins who could be counted on not to talk. After a certain time, Rivele agreed to hand over all he knew about the assassination to the FBI. Unfortunately the FBI took no apparent action on the material whatsoever. Rivele’s research was dismissed by the public when The Men Who Killed Kennedy aired, due to the fact that the two other men named (Sauveur Pironti and Roger Bocognani) came forward and provided solid alibis. This reaction caused the halting of the publication of Rivele’s French book on his investigation, Les Assassins de J.F. Kennedy. Eventually Rivele gave up on the investigation. As for Rivele's thoughts on the theory today, here is what he said: I have not touched the case since 1988; as my old friend Josiah Thompson says: it eats your soul. David was released from prison a few years ago and is alive in France. I assume that Nicoli is still alive. David's letter to his lawyer was obtained (I don't know how) by two researchers (one in Dallas, one in Paris), who promised to make it public last spring, but evidently were frightened out of doing so. They still won't share the contents with me. I believe that Sarti was involved, but apparently I was wrong on the other two. If I were working on the case today, I'd look at Paul Mondoloni of Montreal and a mafia type named Le Blanc, also out of Montreal, I think. Two points I would add: I saw a documentary TV show last year about the KGB's investigation of the assassination, and was amazed to learn that they came to the same conclusion as me. Second, I was contacted two years ago by a former CIA agent (who worked in the mind control program among others), who told me that I was right about the assassination. Small comfort but better than nothing.

 

 

 

 
THE THREE GANGSTERS SAGA

 

Photo: Lucien Sarti.

According to writer Steve Rivele, the president was assassinated by Marseilles gangsters financed by the American Mafia. At the very least this was discussed. L'Express opens the file. A storm of controversy erupts a few weeks before the twenty-fifth anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and a few days before the American presidential election. What does the Californian writer Steve Rivele seek, by showing a trio of Marseilles gangsters to be the assassins of Kennedy? His revelations, presented with great zeal by British broadcaster ITV caused a violent backlash in France…and certain skepticism in the United States. L'Express examines the case while exclusively publishing the most significant extracts of Rivele's book, to be published soon. Rivele's proposal? That Kennedy was assassinated on order of the heads of the American Mafia. His book claims there was a conspiracy to kill the President, as the House Select Committee found in 1978. But it adds that the killers were recruited, in Marseilles, by Antoine Guérini, the head of the Marseilles Mafia at the time, on account of his friend Santos Trafficante (head of the Mafia in Florida), Carlos Marcello (head of the Mafia in New Orleans), and others. Rivele's book, developed through an investigation which leads the reader from Cuba to the Belgian Congo, from Mexico to Canebière, does not mention the inaccuracies or the errors of his story. On which elements is the story based? One: proof, and two: witnesses. The proof: a conversation in a Buenos Aires restaurant, at the end of 1965, during which two of the guests claim to be the perpetrators of the assassination in Dallas. The witnesses: their two table companions, Christian David and Michel Nicoli. From false confidence in half-revelation, the latter will become the two nearly exclusive sources which feed - and direct - the research of the investigator.

English Translation of the Article published in the French Magazine “L’Express” Kennedy: The Investigation into Three Gangsters.

Who are they? Christian David. The man responsible for the existence of Rivele's book. He was called the Beau Serge in his younger years. A small-time hold-up man who became a secret agent, David was involved in the war of Algeria; the purpose of which was to kill Ben Barka. David then became a successful drug trafficker in the French Connection. He was then caught, imprisoned and tortured in Brazil. He was eventually brought to the United States in 1972. Twelve years of penitentiaries, solitary cells and psychiatric hospitals have withered the ex-Beau Serge rather badly by the time Rivele first meets him in prison. David desperately wants to escape the French justice system, which wants him dead for the murder of a Paris police chief. The other privileged advisor of Rivele is Michel Nicoli. He is rather well by comparison. A former accomplice of David in the French Connection, he was also tortured in Brazil. Nicoli became an informant for the American authorities and now lives under a new identity. David and Nicoli. It was them who told Rivele the names of the assassins of Kennedy: their two Buenos Aires buddies, Roger Bocognani and Lucien Sarti. And even the name of a third: Sauveur Pironti. Three men bound, since their youth, by a solid friendship. The name of Sarti appears in the files of organized crime only in 1966. After murdering a Belgian police officer, he fled to Latin America and became a hold-up man. He was also involved in the Mexican branch of the Latin Connection, the network assembled by the former collaborationist Auguste Ricord. Until April 30, 1972. That day, Sarti waits at the airport of Mexico City with a parcel of 100 kilos of heroin coming from Europe. The police intervene and Sarti is murdered in front of his wife. Less is known about Bocognani. Apparently he had a share in the Latin drug network. That leaves Pironti, known as Loule. At the beginning of the Sixties he was involved in dangerous racketeering in Paris before integrating into the Ricord network. After the death of Sarti, he reverted to less dangerous activities. He spent much time in the gaming rooms of the Marseilles area, in particular at Skating. He was not always lucky: one evening, he lost 2 million francs. For Rivele, the facts are clear. On November 22, 1963, the three are in Dealey Plaza. Pironti and Bocognani are posted behind the official convoy. Sarti kills the president from the front with an explosive bullet. Today, neither Sarti nor Bocognani are able to answer these charges. Pironti spoke out against Rivele's claims on Tuesday evening in Marseilles, at the end of the broadcast of the documentary. Holding up his military record, he showed that at on fateful date he was sailing on a minesweeper. And that Sarti and Bocognani were in prison. Pironti also threatened legal action. As eccentric as Pironti claims it to be, Rivele's scenario fits with the political context of the early Sixties, in the United States and in France.

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Publisher's note: The articles herewith published do not necessarily reflect or represent the opinions of the International News Agency, its employees and editorial staff.

 

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