by Joan Mellen
p. 250: nothing to do with the assassination: Tom Bethell would conclude the opposite, that Hemming spoke or revealed that Hall, Howard and Seymour were all guilty, Tom Bethell to Edward J. Epstein, July 25, 1967.
p. 250: “working Oswald on the assassination of Castro operation”: Interview with Gerald Patrick Hemming, October 22, 1999.
p. 251: Hemming and Hargraves know that de Torres was working for CIA during the Garrison investigation: “Intrigue at No Name Key” by Tom Dunkin, Back Channels, Spring 1992. Available at
p. 251: five foot eleven inches tall: Memorandum, May 8, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Steven J. Burton, Re: Interview of Gerald Patrick Hemming Jr., NODA, NARA.
p. 251: Hemming visits Gleichauf: CIA, March 17, 1967, Attn: John McConnell, Subject: Possible repercussions from Abortive Haitian Invasion, F-9-08-8.
p. 251: targeting his own assets: Memorandum For: Deputy Director for Plans, Subject: Interlocking relationships Between BROWN/ SLAFTER and GARRISON. WH/C 67- 313, signed by William V. Broe, Chief, Western Hemisphere Division.
p. 251: Patrick was an informer for the CIA: June 5, 1968, Memo of Conversation with Manolo Aguilar—Also Present Sgt. Gus Zenoz of the Miami Police Force as Interpreter, Subject: Aguilar, Manuel (NMN), Date: 19 June 1970, File no. 062-28- 2671. Aguilar appeared to be an associate of Loran Hall. From: G. Zenoz, policeman 1/c Intelligence Unit to: C. H. Sapp, Detective Sgt. Intelligence Unit, 11-1-63, Subject: Jerry Patrick.
p. 251: Hemming tells CIA he is with Naval Intelligence: Priority Contacts/ Washington, Attn: OSS (Musulin), Subj. Case: 49364 (Garrison Case), Ref: Washington 77887 of 8 Sept 67 To: ODD (Musulin) from Lohmann. “Case 49364 (Gerald Patrick Hemming Jr., aka Jerry Hemming) re: a call from Hemming 19 Jan 62 concerning a .45 automatic pistol confiscated by the sheriff’s office. . . .”
p. 251: Hemming applies for regular employment with CIA and is turned down: Richard L. Rininger to Robert W. Rust, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida, undated, 1977, “Mr. Hemming has been a voluntary informant for this Agency . . . our records do not reflect that Gerald Patrick Hemming was ever employed by the Central Intelligence Agency in any capacity, or that he was ever used as an agent or in similar capacity,” HSCA 01007 OS7 0371-1. This, of course, was false: see Wesley G. Currier to Director, Central Intelligence Agency, January 19, 1977, Re: U.S. v. Gerald Patrick Hemming: Memorandum For: General Counsel, Attention: Mr. Richard L. Rininger, From: Edward Jones, Deputy Director of Security, Personnel Security and Investigations, Subject: Gerald Patrick Hemming. 9 February 1977; Memorandum For: General Counsel, Attention: Edmund Cohen, From: Robert A. Barteaux, Chief, Information Processing Group, through O/SA/DO/0, Subject: Records Check in the Name Gerald Patrick Hemming, NARA; Frederick McCann. Memorandum For: O/SA/DO/), From: ISS/PICG (McCann), Subject: Gerald Patrick Hemming, Reference: OGC 77- 1816. 21 March 1977.
p. 251: Hemming does not get the job with AID: FBI report of Norman E. Bliss. 9/14/67, Office: Miami, Florida, bureau file: 151-3208, field office file: 151–186. “The informant is MMT-1 (Howard K. Davis) and his source is Robert K. Brown, who had learned that Hemming had met with Dick Watley and Roy Hargreave [sic] and the three “reportedly got in touch with Jim Garrison.”
p. 251: CIA, surveilling Garrison’s office, checks up on Hemming, From: OSS (Musulin), To: Contacts Los Angeles/ Miami, September 8, 1967, 104-10189-10053, 80T01357A, NARA. The visit to Garrison inspires the CIA to check out the entire INTERPEN group, Memorandum no. 5, Subject: Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination, 7 August 1967, Reference: CI/R & A memorandum of June 20, 1967, subject as above.
p. 252: Robert K. Brown: To Chief, WH Division, From: Chief of Station, JMWAVE, Subject: Garrison Investigation of Assassination, January 4, 1968, NARA.
p. 252: CIA admits to the Bureau that Hemming is a source: To: Chief, Personnel Security Division, OS, From: Chief, Contact Division, 00. 27 August 1964, Subject: Hemming, Gerald Patrick—Per- mission to Reveal Identity of a US citizen as a Source of this Agency to the FBI, signed James R. Murphy. CIA turned over to the FBI all reports of which subject was the source, 25 August 1964, at the request of FBI with the promise that the information will not be divulged w/o prior written consent of CIA. See also 4 October 1961, To: Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Attention Mr. S. J. Papich, From: Deputy Director (Plans), Subject: United States Citizens Who Wish To Volunteer for the Liberation of Cuba. Helms says: “They made the decision to fight for Cuba because they consider that the men directing the United States government are ‘incompetent and incapable of action.’” Hemming’s CIA contacts occurred both before and after the Bay of Pigs, CIA, 5 April 1961, Acting Chief, “contact division for chief, Los Angeles office: “His information in the past has been reasonable and he may have some pertinent comments on the current situation.”
p. 252: the Director of Naval Intelligence inquires of Hoover what information he has on Hemming: FBI, November 2, 1961, To: Director of Naval Intelligence, From: John Edgar Hoover, Subject: Gerald Patrick Hemming, Internal Security-Cuba, 105-86406.
p. 252: Defense Investigative Program: Naval Intelligence Service, W. B. Jepson to Mr. Allen H, McCreight, Chief, Freedom of Information, Privacy Act branch, January 30, 1978, NARA.
p. 252: Michael Laborde’s visit to Jim Garrison: See Memorandum For: Chief, LEOB/SRS, Subject: Highlights on the Cast of Characters Involved in Garrison’s Investigation, December 28, 1967, NARA. Michael Laborde named Alberto Fernández Hechavarría to Garrison: Memorandum For: Deputy Director for Plans: Subject: Interlocking Relationships between Brown/ Slafter and Garrison, signed by William V. Broe, Chief, Western Hemisphere section, WH/C 67- 313, NARA. Laborde tells Loisel and Ivon about Hemming: see Enclosure 14, Memo no. 5—Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination, August 7, 1967, 42 pages, 104-10404-10442, RUSS HOLMES WORK FILE, NARA. Garrison’s investigators met with young Laborde four times: see FBI, To: Director, FBI, From: SAC, New Orleans, July 18, 1967, 124-10046-10313, 62- 109060-5583, NARA.
p. 252: “do whatever he can to help you”: Memorandum, July 29, 1967, To: Jim Garrison, From: William R. Martin, Subject: FRANCISCO (Frank) BARTES, NODA, NARA.
p. 252: “I created smoke myself”: Fonzi Notes, taped interview— Gerry Patrick Hemming, 2/6/76.
p. 252: “add to the confusion”: Memo 6/5/77 To: Tanenbaum, From: Fonzi, Re: Weberman/ Hemming.
p. 252: William Cuthbert Brady: To: Jim Garrison, From: Bill Turner, Subject: Contact by Former CIA Agent, January 9, 1968. See also Memorandum, January 15, 1968, To: Louis Ivon, From: Jim Garrison, Re: CIA Aspects/William Cuthbert (or Cusbert) Brady, NODA, NARA.
p. 252: “proficient riflemen”: Memorandum, January 26, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Stephen Jaffe, Re: Interview with Jim Rose, Santa Barbara, Cal.—January 3, 1968.
p. 253: Rolando Masferrer is “the most dangerous man in the United States”: Memorandum, January 26, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Stephen Jaffe, Investigator, Re: Interview with Jim Rose, Santa Barbara, California, January 3, 1968, NODA, NARA.
p. 253: “his first choice”: Memorandum, January 26, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Stephen Jaffe, Re: Interview with Jim Rose, Santa Barbara, Cal.—January 3, 1968.
p. 253: “put on the next flight to New Orleans”: Interview with E. Carl McNabb, July 10, 1999.
p. 253: AMCARBON-3: CIA had a number of media assets on the Herald and other papers, all with the cryptonym CARBON. If a Herald reporter was vehemently anti-Castro, the CIA would try to recruit him. As a former agent explained to Taylor Branch, the CIA would give these reporters “access to the station . . . feed them information and give them a career out of handouts. The guys learn not to hurt you. Only occasionally do you give them a big lie and then only for a good reason. The paper was always willing to keep things quiet for us”: See “The Kennedy Vendetta” by Taylor Branch and George Crile III, Harper’s magazine, August 1975, p. 53, 56.
p. 253: “c
onfidential informant”: CIA, Subject: Bohning, Donald Dean, 14 June 1968, CIA connections of Bohning, NARA, signed: Paul F. Gaynor, Chief, Security Research Staff/OS.
p. 253: Bohning is approved by the DDP on July 31, 1967: CIA, 104-10170-10160, JFK, 80T01357A, Title: Donald Dean Bohning, Postponement attached to April 2, 1967: Donald Dean Bohning, OS # 813 709, Release date of this document, handwritten, August 15, 2002.
p. 253: AMCARBON-3 reports on the visit: CIA, 104-10435- 10003, RUSS HOLMES WORK FILE, From: JMWAVE, To: Director, March 29, 1968, Title: Cable: following information volunteered by AMCARBON-3, NARA.
p. 253: Rose visits Bohning: “This guy called me”: Interview with Donald Bohning, November 16, 1999. It was indeed Bohning whom Jim Rose visited, see CIA, 104-10116- 10119, 80T01357A. Memorandum no. 9 (Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination, June 5, 1968): “Bohning asserted he was contacted on 28 March 1968 by a Winston Smith who claimed to be investigating Rolando Masferrer for Jim Garrison.” NARA.
p. 253: JMWAVE watches “Winston Smith” (Jim Rose): JMWAVE 1849, 100-300-17, 29 March 1968.
p. 253: Rose met with Lawrence Howard: Memorandum, March 20, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Stephen Jaffe, Re: Interview with Jim Rose About His Anti-Castro Acquaintances, NODA, NARA.
p. 253: “he’s too smart for that”: To: District Attorney Jim Garrison, From: Bill Turner, February 28, 1968, Subject: Oswald—Florida Aspects, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: Garrison might find his “seven” Cubans among Masferrer’s group: Lawrence R. Houston to J. Walter Yeagley, OGC 67-1993, 20 October 1967, Re: U.S. District Court, Southern District, Florida, United States v. Masferrer, et al., NARA.
p. 254: Masferrer works with Rose: Memorandum, April 9, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: Winston Smith, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: a mail drop in Austin, Texas: Memorandum: April 15, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: Winston Smith, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: “CIA probably involved”: Memo 12/8/75, To: Dave Marston, From: Gaeton Fonzi.
p. 254: a short, skinny guy: Interview with Gerald Patrick Hemming, August 16, 2002.
p. 254: Schlafter is the #2 man: Memorandum, April 22, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: Winston Smith, Subject: Man arrested in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: Jim Rose wants to go to New York to meet the “man with the scar”: Memorandum, March 28, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: W. Smith, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: Masferrer then hesitated: Memorandum, April 2, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: Winston Smith, Subject: Status of Miami visit, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: Masferrer identified the man with the scar: Memorandum, March 28, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Gary Sanders, Re: W. Smith, Subject: Almondo [sic] Masferrer, NODA, NARA. One of the intermediaries between Rose and Masferrer was a Guatemalan named Major Nameo Elirque Bianchi: Memorandum, April 15, 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From Gary Sanders: Re: Winston Smith, Subject: The Man with the Scar, NODA, NARA.
p. 254: “thick-necked Latin”: Jim Garrison to Richard Gerstein, April 16, 1968, NARA.
CHAPTER 16
p. 255, Epigraph: “not very highly regarded by the Mafia”: Jim Garrison Memorandum, April 17, 1968, To: Donald V. Organ, From: Jim Garrison, Re: Life magazine, NODA, NARA.
p. 255: “the director likes to do things for Sandy”: Interview with Richard N. Billings.
p. 255: Richard Billings takes Smith to New Orleans: interview with Jim Garrison. Available at AARC.
p. 255: “never heard of him”: Jim Garrison, Coup d’Etat, unpublished manuscript, pp. 16ff. Projected chapter on charges of a Mafia connection to the assassination.
p. 256: assistance of Aaron Kohn: As Kohn admitted, “We did assist Life”: Memorandum, September 20, 1967, MCC.
p. 256: David Chandler then informed to the Bureau about Billings’ interview with Garrison: August 23, 1967, SAC. SA Patrick J. Collins Jr., Carlos Marcello, aka AR, 89-69-3466.
p. 256: Bonoura and Giarrusso were partners in a security company: E-mail from Robert Buras, November 3, 2002.
p. 256: “Big John’s already got his”: Interview with John R. Rarick, February 3, 2001.
p. 256: Phelan helped in the effort: Phelan reports to Kohn about the $5,000 line of credit, Investigative Report, June 15, 1967, Reported by Aaron M. Kohn, MCC.
p. 256: Never any proof that he took the $5,000: Interview with Richard N. Billings, August 2, 2000.
p. 257: Smith refuses to name his sources: Interview with Richard N. Billings.
p. 257: “He’s not in today”: Interview with Richard N. Billings.
p. 257: close to Deke: De- Loach called Smith “a good friend of the Chicago office”: FBI, To: Mr. Mohr, From: C. D. DeLoach, March 16, 1965, Subject: Proposed Article by William W. Turner for “Playboy Magazine” captioned “The FBI and Organized Crime” (C7-455829-502). Smith was also called “a great admirer of the Director”: see FBI, March 16, 1965, To: Director, FBI, Attention: Asst. Director C. D. DeLoach, Crime Records Division, From: SAC, Chicago, Proposed Article by William W. Turner for “Playboy Magazine” captioned “The FBI and Organized Crime, 62-455829-5024, NARA.
p. 257: Media reports on the Life magazine charges: The Clarion Herald wrote that Garrison “had a $5,000 credit at the gaming tables,” October 5, 1967. Another publication that took up the charge that Jim Garrison was protecting organized crime was the Wall Street Journal: see “DA on the Griddle; New Orleans Critics Say Garrison Neglects Fight against Rackets, Too Busy with JFK Murder,” by Herbert Lawson and Dennis Farney, February 9, 1968, p. 1.
p. 257: “it has something to do with Sheridan”: “Petition for O’Hara Ouster,” States-Item, September 25, 1967.
p. 257: “Garrison and the Mafia”: FBI Memorandum, June 10, 1967, 124-10263-10026, 89-69-3167, 3168. The source is Joe Holstead, news director of channel 3, KATC television.
p. 257: McKeithen blinks: “McKeithen Vows Crime ‘War’ in Louisiana,” States- Item September 27, 1967. See also McKeithen Begins Crime Crack Down,” State- Times (Baton Rouge), September 27, 1967, p. 1. See also “Gambling in Louisiana Will Halt—McKeithen,” Times-Picayune, September 28, 1967, p. 1.
p. 257: David Chandler seeks relief: See David L. Chandler v. Jim Garrison, et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans Division, NOPL. Chandler was interviewed by The Driftwood, the LSU student newspaper, “Life Reporter Chandler Speaks Out on Jim Garrison, Organized Crime,” undated.
p. 257: “bribery”: Chandler told Tom Bethell he had an assignment from Esquire, and that Life was planning another article, Memorandum, October 9, 1967, To: Jim Garrison, From: Tom Bethell, Re: David Chandler, NODA, NARA. Neither materialized.
p. 258: “let him sit out there”: Interview with Sharon Herkes, June 10, 2000.
p. 258: Pershing testifies: “Bar Owner Testifies at Hearing on Crime,” States-Item, September 21, 1967, p. 1.
p. 258: Novel informs to the FBI: FBI, October 13, 1967, To: Director, From: SAC, WFO (Washington field office), 124-10071-10315, 89-69-3551, 3552, NARA.
p. 258: ruling on the “electronic” slot machines: “‘Big Tent’ Held Gaming Device Slot Subject to Seizure, High Court Says,” Times-Picayune, June 30, 1962, section 1, p. 3.
p. 258: Gervais had admitted that he lied: “Garrison Claims Gervais Admitted Lying in Probe,” Times (Shreveport), November 28, 1967.
p. 258: “Mafia branch of the Agency”: Jim Garrison to Jonathan Blackmer, July 15, 1977, HSCA.
p. 258: “beyond the bounds of reason”: “The Murder Talents of the CIA,” by Jim Garrison, Freedom (April–May 1967), p. 15.
p. 258: Mother Theresa and Pope Paul: Jim Garrison to Mr. Louis Sproesser, December 30, 1985, Papers of Jim Garrison.
p. 258: Blakey advises Life: Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), p. 149.
p. 258: Would Organ help him to sue Life magazine? Jim
Garrison Memorandum, April 17, 1968, To: Donald V. Organ, From: Jim Garrison, Re: Life magazine, NODA, NARA.
p. 259: a public figure suing: Interview with Donald V. Organ, August 29, 2000.
p. 259: “we know a good deal of this”: Incident at Look was relayed by attorney and author William Pepper, September 6, 2001. Admittedly this story comes third-hand.
p. 259: “we know who the bastards are”: Billings’ Diary, p. 146.
p. 259: Garner rejects the advice of Aynesworth: Interview of Darrell Garner with Ken Elliott, June 27, 1967; interview with Darrell Wayne Garner by Mark Lane, December 14, 1967, NODA, NARA.
p. 259: Jim McPherson meets Dago Garner: Interview with Jim McPherson, January 9, 2000.
p. 260: Curtis Crafard: The name has been changed, so that it is now “Craford,” interview with Curtis Craford, January 5, 2002, and Edward Craford, January 8, 2002. See also Memo on Crafard, 2 October 1968, To: Jim Garrison, From: Wm. C. Boxley, Re: Larry Crafard. See also Shirley Craford to Peter Whitmey, April 19, 1989.
p. 260: check made out to Jack Ruby: Memo 9/9/76, To: Troy, From: Gaeton, NARA.
p. 260: “I think he’s a professional killer”: Notes-Garrison-Tatel, 6/28/76, by Gaeton Fonzi, NARA.
p. 260: “hit man”: Curtis Crafard interviewed by Peter Whitmey, December 8, 2001.
p. 260: “we get good leads”: Jim Garrison at the New Orleans conference, September 1968.
p. 260: “light housekeeping”: Jim Garrison to Gaeton Fonzi, June 28, 1976, NARA.
p. 260: “heavily involved”: Interview with Edward Craford, January 8, 2002.
p. 260: Aynesworth reports to the Shaw defense team: Hugh Aynesworth to Edward F. Wegmann, August 22, 1967, Papers of Edward F. Wegmann.
p. 260: Garrison must be giving Garner money: Transcript of taped conference with William Gurvich 8/29/67, September 6, 1967, Papers of Edward F. Wegmann.
p. 261: “money don’t mean that much to me”: DA office taping of call from Dago Garner, NARA.
