by Joan Mellen
p. 106: Ferrie tells Lardner he did not know Oswald: Statement of George Lardner. February 22, 1967. Questions are by William Gurvich. NODA. NARA. See, for example, the photograph of Ferrie and Oswald together at a CAP cookout and included in this book.
p. 106: David Ferrie’s “suicide notes” are available in the Garrison papers. NARA.
p. 106: under the microscope: Richard N. Billings interview with Dr. Nicholas Chetta. March 2, 1967. AARC.
p. 106: Krasnoff was at the scene: Interview with Irvin L. Magri Jr. February 17, 2002.
p. 106: city dump: Conversation with Alvin Beaubouef, March 12, 2002.
p. 106: “the conditions under which the District Attorney of New Orleans”: Memorandum. July 9, 1971. Re: Matters Concerning the Garrison Investigation by Richard Popkin. AARC.
p. 106: “poison! poison!” Interview with John Volz, May 21, 1998.
p. 106: “slipshod”: Letter from Dr. Martin Palmer to Joan Mellen, June 18, 2001. Interview with Martin Palmer, August 9, 2002.
p. 107: Chetta reports to the FBI: FBI. To: SAC, NO. From: SA Donald L. Hughes. February 23, 1967. 89- 69-1445. NARA.
p. 107: Jim Garrison wondered whether Ferrie committed suicide with PROLOID: Memorandum. December 11, 1967. To: Jim Alcock. From: Jim Garrison. Re: Autopsy of David Ferrie. NODA. NARA.
p. 107: drugs could cause an aneurysm: Memorandum. April 7, 1967. To: File—Ferrie’s Death. From: Jim Garrison. Re: New Drugs Which Can Cause an Aneurysm.” NODA. See also: Memorandum to File: Ferrie’s Death. April 7, 1967. From: Jim Garrison. Re: Physicians and Druggists. NARA.
p. 107: “all burned up”: Interview with Dr. Frank Minyard, January 8, 1998. The autopsy protocol reads: “There is a small area of dryness of the inner aspect of the upper lip on the right side. This area measures 3/4 in. in length and is somewhat reddish brown in color. There is a less defined area on the lower lip immediately inferior to the lesion in the upper lip.” Autopsy Protocol. Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office. Name: David W. Ferrie. Date & Time of Death: 2-22-67 at 1:00 p.m. Date & Time of Autopsy: 2-22-67 at 3:00 p.m. Classification of Death: Natural. The protocol is signed by Ronald A. Welsh, M.D., Pathologist. Note the impossible time of death: Jimmy Johnson discovered Ferrie’s body before noon.
p. 107: “traumatically inserted”: Minyard makes this statement in Stephen Tyler’s documentary, He Must Have Something.
p. 107: “eggshell cranium”: Dan Campbell interviewed by Jim DiEugenio, September 19, 1994.
p. 107: “weakened arterie”: To: Jim Garrison. From: Barbara Reid and Joel Palmer. Re: Conversation with Morris Brownlee. October 8, 1968. NODA. NARA.
p. 107: Dr. Dimitri Contostavlos: See Dr. Dimitri L. Contostavlos to Richard A. Sprague, November 18, 1976. HSCA 000479. Assistant medical examiner when Richard A. Sprague was Philadelphia district attorney, Contostavlos contacted Sprague about Ferrie when he became chief counsel of the House Select Committee. Also: Interview with Dr. Dimitri L. Contostavlos, August 19, 2001.
p. 107: before midnight: James and Wardlow, Plot or Politics, p. 40.
p. 107: “major inconsistency”: as reported in the Times- Picayune, and in FBI report: To: Director. From: New Orleans. February 23, 1967. 124-10256-1-188. 89- 69-1448. NARA.
p. 107: Robert F. Kennedy telephones Dr. Chetta: See Edward T. Haslam, Mary, Ferrie & the Monkey Virus, p. 18.
p. 107: “gales of history”: Playboy interview with Jim Garrison, p. 176.
p. 107: “I don’t want to rule out anything”: Life magazine dialogue at Garrison press conference on Ferrie death. February 22, 1967. Papers of Richard N. Billings, Box 4, folder 48.
p. 108: “a fun time for Dave”: Interview with John Wilson, November 28, 2000.
p. 108: “natural causes verdicts” and Nicholas Chetta; “just like a prostitute”: Tape of Jack Martin with L. J. Delsa and Robert Buras. February 25, 1978. Tape recording.
p. 108: the death of Del Valle: Memo 2/1476. To: Dave Marston. From: Gaeton Fonzi. Courtesy of Mr. Fonzi.
p. 103: Del Valle: FBI. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, Miami. August 1, 1966. Subject: Eladio Ceferino del Valle Gutierrez. 100-27851-11- 27. NARA. See also: “Friend of Murdered Miami Man Tells His Story Exclusively for Enquirer Readers” by Diego Gonzales Tendedera, and “Miami Murder Linked to JFK Plot” by Charles Golden, National Enquirer. Vol. 41, No. 34. April 30, 1967. See also James and Wardlow, p. 46.
p. 108: Kennedy “must be killed”: “JFK & the Cuban Connection,” by Dick Russell. Electronic Assassinations. Newsletter, Issue #2. Russell is quoting General Fabían Escalante in Cuba.
p. 108: promised to help Alberto Fowler: The message from del Valle to Jim Garrison came in a telephone call to Alberto Fowler from Bernardo de Torres: Memorandum. February 26, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Louis Ivon. Re: Telephone conversation with Alberto Fowler. NODA. NARA.
p. 108: Houston suspected: Lawrence Houston ponders the death of del Valle: Lawrence R. Houston to Honorable J. Walter Yeagley. Re: United States District Court, Southern District, Florida. United States v. Rolando Masferrer, et al. AARC.
p. 109: General Escalante, Tony Cuesta and Del Valle: See Dick Russell, The Man Who Knew Too Much (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003 (revised edition), pp. 458-460.
p. 109: Charlie Ward: Interview with Lou Ivon, May 27, 2001.
p. 109: “we don’t have the wherewithal”: Interview with John Volz, May 21, 1998.
p. 109: Memorandum for file: 8 February 1973. Subject: Ferrie, David W., signed Bruce L. Solie DC/SRS. Approved for release 1993/CIA Historical Review Program. NARA .
CHAPTER 8
p. 111, Epigraph: “He was hardly Joe Smith”: Jim Garrison to Jonathan Blackmer, September 14, 1977. NARA.
p. 111: “substantial reward”: “Long Proposes Federal Reward to Assist Probe.” Times-Picayune, February 25, 1967, p. 6.
p. 111: almost thirty thousand dollars: See Bethell diary. Sunday, February 11th. AARC.
p. 111: Nor did Rault and Shilstone view their own CIA connections as a contradiction. Shilstone was a friend of Lloyd A. Ray and Hunter Leake: Memorandum To: Director, Domestic Contact Service. Att’n: Operational Support Staff (Musulin). From: Chief, New Orleans Office. Subject: Case 49364—Garrison Investigation. Ref: DC/CI/R & A. Memorandum dated June 19, 1967. NARA.
p. 111: a “civic effort”: “The Garrison Investigation: How and Why It Began.” New Orleans magazine, p. 50.
p. 111: “snow job”: “Garrison’s Financiers Tighten Purse Strings,” Los Angeles Times. June 11, 1967. Section A, p. 18.
p. 111: Avery Spear sends a contribution: Avery Spear to Jim Garrison. March 3, 1967. NARA.
p. 111: McKeithen sent $5,000 from a special fund, and another $10,000 in January of 1968, requesting no accounting: “Governor Won’t Query Garrison,” Times- Picayune, February 1, 1971, Section 1, p. 1. See also: Jim Garrison to Honorable John J. McKeithen, January 30, 1968.
p. 112: “murder of Martin Luther King”: FBI memorandum. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, New Orleans. Subject: MURKIN (code name for the murder of Martin Luther King). 124-10269-10044. 89-69-4032, 4033. NARA.
p. 112: Joseph Sylvester checks up on Joe Rault: April 13, 1967. Searched by Jean B. Hearn, Clerk. NARA.
p. 112: Korns checks the law with respect to Truth and Consequences contributions: Memorandum to Jim Garrison. From: Louise Korns. Undated. NOPL.
p. 112: “$9,032”: “Garrison Spends $9,032 Donated by T and C Group,” Times- Picayune, June 10, 1967. Section 1, p. 1.
p. 112: “they didn’t meet anymore”: Jim Garrison at the New Orleans conference.
p. 112: Raymond Cummings, testimony and polygraph: Memorandum. To: Jim Garrison. From: William Gurvich. Subject: Raymond Cummings—Interview With. Interviews were on February 25th and 26th, 1967. NODA. NARA.
p. 112: Jacob could not be trusted: Notes appended to memorandum. Subject: Raymond Cummings.
p. 112: “possibly good lead”: Garrison’s note is written on an Office of the District Attorney, Parish of
Orleans Rackets Division cover sheet, attached to a copy of the Jacob polygraph. NODA. NARA.
p. 112: Clyde Malcolm Limbough: Memorandum. March 6, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: James L. Alcock. Re: Clyde Malcolm Limbough. NODA. Found in Papers of Richard N. Billings, Box 2, folder 29. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
p. 112: E. Carl McNabb joins the Garrison investigation: Interview with E. Carl McNabb. See also: Notes: Bill Turner. 8/5/76 by Gaeton Fonzi. NARA.
p. 113: Ferrie demonstrates his acquaintance with Perry Russo: Statement of David William Ferrie. 10 pages. Pages of Richard N. Billings, Box 1, folder 3. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
p. 113: Moo Moo was to write two memos of his interviews with Perry Russo. Moo Moo wrote up the memo of Russo taking sodium pentothal in New Orleans on February 27th, before he wrote his memo of the Saturday, February 25th, interview with Russo in Baton Rouge. The events described in the sodium pentothal session make it clear that Russo had already identified Clay Shaw from his photograph at the first meeting in Baton Rouge. The visit to Baton Rouge itself was written up by Sciambra out of chronological order, then backdated to Monday, February 27, 1967.
p. 114: “Your boy’s been shot!” Perry Raymond Russo interviewed by William Davy, August 31, 1994.
p. 114: “I knew the guy”: Perry Russo interviewed by Peter Whitmey. Taped Interview. August 6, 1990.
p. 114: Russo’s timetable: 9:30 a.m. that Monday. See Perry Raymond Russo recorded interview on January 29, 1971, with William Gurvich. MCC.
p. 114: Buras sketches “Clem” Bertrand: Interviews with Robert Buras, January 24, 2002; January 28, 2002.
p. 115: “to add to what they already had”: Interview with Louis Ivon. January 12, 2000.
p. 115: “there’s not a chance at all”: For Dr. Chetta’s reactions to Russo’s sodium pentothal session, see Billings’ notes marked 1919 and 1515 as well as Dick/Nancy 222222. Papers of Richard N. Billings.
p. 115: Moo Moo drove Russo: as testified to by Perry Raymond Russo at the Preliminary Hearing held on March 16, 1967.
p. 115: chiseled face: Perry Raymond Russo interviewed by William Davy, August 31, 1994.
p. 115: in bed with Shaw and Ferrie together: Interview with Perry Rousseau [sic] by Jack N. Rogers. June 10, 1967. Papers of Jack N. Rogers.
p. 115: Lewallen had denied that he had seen Shaw and Ferrie together: Memorandum. February 20, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: James L. Alcock. Re: James R. Lewallen. NODA. NARA.
p. 115: Oster found a levee board policeman who saw Shaw and Oswald together: FBI Airtel. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, New Orleans. March 2, 1967. 124-10253-10049. 89- 69-1543. NARA.
p. 115: Oster told both Ivon and the Bureau that Shaw was Bertrand: FBI teletype. February 25, 1967. To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, New Orleans. Re: New Orleans teletype dated February twenty four nineteen sixty seven. 124-10241-10130. 89-69-1503. NARA.
p. 115: Shaw lies when he says he didn’t know Dean Andrews: Memorandum. February 9, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Smith Investigation—My Interview with Clay Shaw 12/23/66. Interview with Gordon Novel, confirmed in Steve Plotkin: Interview on April 7, 1967, by Salvatore Panzeca and Robert A. Wilson. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann. NARA. Interview with Gordon Novel: Novel says he told Garrison that he and Andrews had met with Shaw.
p. 116: Mrs. Jeff Hug corroborates: FBI. To: Director and Dallas. From: New Orleans. May 7, 1967. 124- 10237-10414. 89-69-2089. NARA.
p. 116: “lone, grim, meditative figure”: See Traffic Manager (“The Shipper’s Guide”). Vol. 42, No. 11. November 1967, p. 27.
p. 116: “detonate a chain reaction”: Richard N. Billings, “The Case for a Conspiracy (V): Anatomy of the Investigation.” Papers of Richard N. Billings.
p. 116: Bernard Giquel’s notes of his interview with Jim Garrison on February 28, 1967, are available in the papers of Richard E. Sprague, Special Collections, Georgetown University.
p. 116: “designated as a person not to be contacted”: FBI Memorandum. To: All Agents. From: SAC, New Orleans. 89-69-1549. March 1, 1967. NARA.
p. 116: Division 5: Branigan of Division 5 enlists Bob Lenihan: FBI Memorandum. To: File. From: SAC. 89-69-1516. March 1, 1967. NARA.
p. 116: Shaw receives his subpoena: See The Clay Shaw Diary, “The Arrest.” See also: Memorandum. March 1, 1967. To: Louis Ivon. From: Detective Lester Otillio. Re: Clay Shaw. NODA. NARA.
p. 116: “for questioning”: Interview with Lester Otillio, September 27, 2001.
p. 117: “very nervous”: Interview with Lynn Pelham, September 16, 2001.
p. 117: “three witnesses proving you knew Dave Ferrie”: The Clay Shaw Diary, “The Arrest.”
p. 117: photographs of various Cubans: Interview with Salvatore Panzeca, June 4, 2000.
p. 117: not uncommon to offer a polygraph: Interview with John Volz, June 13, 2001.
p. 117: his homosexuality an open secret: Interview with Iris Kelso, May 19, 1998. Kelso was a States-Item reporter who knew Shaw socially. The FBI had no difficulty in tracing Shaw’s homosexuality back to when he was fifteen years old: FBI. HQ 124- 10299-10023. Cr 190-5414.2. To: Mr. Powers. From: A. H. McCreight. Subject: FOIA Requests (51) of Dean G. Farrer. May 3, 1977. NARA. The report reads that Shaw had a “sadistic, masochistic and homosexual character”: March 2, 1967. Radio teletype. To: Bureau/Dallas/New Orleans. From: San Antonio. 021926. Lee Harvey Oswald, AKA IS-R-Cuba. 00: Dallas. 89-69-1534. NARA. The Bureau also had a call from a busboy named Myron Shaw, who said Clay Shaw had whipped him on a number of occasions and was “queer for beatings.” Memorandum to SAC. From: Roy Simon, Clerk. March 14, 1967. 89-69- 1675. NARA.
p. 117: Shaw had assembled his lawyers long before his arrest on March 1st: Interview with Jack Dempsey, May 20, 1998.
p. 117: “Está maricón?” Interview with Salvatore Panzeca, June 4, 2000.
p. 117: Gurvich insists on making the announcement of Clay Shaw’s arrest: Interview with Numa Bertel, October 9, 2000. “It’s my birthday”: Interview with Numa Bertel, May 19, 1998.
p. 117: Ivon uses information about Sciambra’s first meeting with Russo in his search warrant, despite the fact that Sciambra’s description of that meeting had not yet been written. Author Joe Biles has noted this fact.
p. 118: Habighorst has never heard the name Clay Bertrand: Interview with Lou Ivon, May 27, 2001.
p. 118: “what names?”: Office of the District Attorney. January 23, 1968. Statement of Aloysius J. Habighorst. Re: Fingerprinting and Facts Contained on Fingerprinting Card. (Bearing No. 125-388. New Orleans Police Department). NODA. NARA.
p. 118: pale green silk: description of Clay Shaw’s house is from Richard N. Billings, 55555. . . . Shaw. AARC.
p. 118: many hands: Alford describes the scene in “He Must Have Something.”
p. 118: the black gown bore whip marks: FBI teletype. To: Director. From: New Orleans. March 2, 1967. 62-169060-4654. NARA.
p. 118: “Let’s dust and lift”: Interview with William Alford, May 28, 1998.
p. 118: the list of items taken from Shaw’s house on March 1st is available at NOPL.
p. 118: white satin linings that had never seen a pavement: Interview with Irene Dempsey, May 25, 1999. Dempsey was secretary to Dr. Robert Heath, head of the psychiatry department at Tulane.
p. 119: “sadistic, homosexual abnormality”: Interview with Dr. Robert Heath, May 25, 1999. Jim Garrison repaid Heath for the favor, and when Heath wanted to study the effect of marijuana on the brains of monkeys, Garrison secured the marijuana for research on human subjects. Heath was experimenting with injecting the blood of schizophrenics into sane people with electrodes on their heads to measure the reaction, in an effort to determine whether and to what degree mental illness was physically based, rather than environmentally induced. Garrison contacted Attorney General Jack P. F. Gremillion and helped Heath gain access to volunteers from Angola. Heath was well-respected, and Russell Long called him for help with his uncle, Earl Long, when Lon
g had taken to sleeping with a gun under his pillow and urinating in an empty soft drink bottle on the floor of the state legislature.
p. 119: “I don’t want that factor”: Interview with Numa Bertel, February 6, 2001.
p. 119: “Phi Beta Kappa sadist”: Notes of Richard N. Billings, 17 17 17.
p. 119: “the mysterious death or killing”: Griscom Morgan to Tom Bethell. January 28, 1967 [the context suggests 1968, however]. NARA. Regarding the LIFE investigation: “a queer was flogged to death:” To: Dick Billings, LIFE From: Ben Cate, Houston. March 31, 1967. Papers of Richard N. Billings. Box 2, folder 21.
p. 119: “using wine bottles”: Memorandum. March 6, 1967. To: Louis Ivon. From: Al Oser. Re: Investigative Leads. NODA. NARA.
p. 119: among the first people Shaw notified: Letter to Jim Garrison. January 1968. Anonymous. Crisman has the same sexual preference as Shaw: Memorandum. February 19, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: William Boxley. Re: Interview with Bob Lavender. NODA. NARA. That Crisman was in New Orleans twenty-four times, that Crisman was the person Shaw did indeed call when he realized he was in trouble, has been confirmed by Thomas Edward Beckham.
p. 119: “a terribly cynical and corrupt man”: Playboy (October 1967), p. 68.
p. 119: “I have more in common with Clay Shaw”: Interview with Joseph Wershba, July 14, 2000.
p. 119: “fruit fly”: To: Jim Garrison. From: Robert Head. Re: The House of Bultman. Barbara Glancey Reid. 5568. NARA.
p. 119: “Is this another Wilmer?” Interview with H. John Bremermann, July 30, 1999.
p. 120: “personal fear”: Notes on Clay Shaw. Barbara Reid file of the papers of Jim Garrison. Harry Connick files. NARA.
p. 120: David Chandler invents a story about Donald V. Organ calling Clay Shaw: Lang for Haskell for Billings. From: Chandler, New Orleans. “FYI only, his attorney—Don Organ— the day after Shaw’s arrest informed Shaw he would be pleased to defend Shaw, free of charge”: Papers of Richard N. Billings, Box 2, folder 14. The story is false: Interviews with Donald V. Organ.
p. 120: “a one-eyed nigger Jew:” Interview with Mrs. Lenore Ward, August 7 and August 8, 1967.
