Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation Into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination

by Richard Belzer

  Suicide

  Actual Circumstances

  George de Mohrenschildt was the key link between Lee Harvey Oswald and the CIA, as well as connecting him to extremely conservative Texas oil millionaires rumored to be involved in the JFK assassination.

  Inconsistencies

  Numerous and dramatic (see text that follows)

  44

  George de

  Mohrenschildt,

  March 29, 1977

  Decades after his death, the story of George de Mohrenschildt is still so explosive that Vincent Bugliosi, author of Reclaiming History, ordered the TV camera operators to immediately stop filming the second that Jesse Ventura calmly mentioned that de Mohrenschildt was a part of the CIA. You can watch it online: “Jesse Ventura vs. Vincent Bugliosi.”1 It’s a pretty short match, proving quickly that Ventura can still wrestle.

  Mr. Bugliosi is the type of author who can wipe out large portions of our forests with a 1,648-page book on the JFK assassination, yet reach the ridiculous conclusion that Oswald acted alone. And that’s not just our opinion; it is the opinion of a vast majority of Americans—bringing to mind the words of flamboyant attorney, Dean Andrews (portrayed memorably by John Candy in Oliver Stone’s film, JFK):

  He’s got the right ta-ta, but the wrong ho-ho.2

  George de Mohrenschildt was a sophisticated businessman, descended from Russian royalty, who was a CIA asset used for various tasks. One of those tasks, as attorney Mark Lane puts it, was that “he was the babysitter for Lee Harvey Oswald for the CIA.”3 A CIA Case Officer named J. Walton Moore was apparently de Mohrenschildt’s “handler” from the CIA.4

  Jackie Kennedy, wife of JFK, was also very close to George de Mohrenschildt; in fact, she called him “Uncle George.”5

  CIA business assets operate in much the same way as their media assets; they provide raw intelligence on matters of interest to the Agency. As de Mohrenschildt himself put it, the CIA helps him “win” an oil contract in Turkey, he then later reports back to the CIA about everything he knows about the business people and leaders whom he met while doing business there.6

  George Herbert Bush knew de Mohrenschildt well, too . . . yes, that Bush. George de Mohrenschildt was the uncle of Bush’s roommate at Andover, and then Bush and de Mohrenschildt were members of the same clubs in Texas.7 In fact, Bush’s phone number was found in de Mohrenschildt’s address book. Gaeton Fonzi, Special Investigator for the House Select Committee on Assassinations, verified that de Mohrenschildt’s address book contained entries for “Bush, George H.W. (Poppy)” and also for “Zapata Petroleum, Midland,” Texas.8 Bush was one of the founders of Zapata, and many FBI and CIA veterans have substantiated that Zapata provided help to the CIA for its anti-Castro intelligence operations.9

  1 “Jesse Ventura vs. Vincent Bugliosi”; excerpted from Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, “The JFK Assassination,”, 2010, Episode 5, TruTV: http://youtu.be/I7P9z5Hcp8U

  2 “1967 INTERVIEW WITH DEAN ANDREWS”; the clip is an obvious “hatchet job,” a thinly veiled attack on Jim Garrison, but one worth enduring to see Andrews in action and can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/cD3CdA7Ad-I, excerpted from “THE JFK CONSPIRACY: THE CASE OF JIM GARRISON” (Documentary), NBC Television, 1967.

  3 Mark Lane, in: “G. de Mohrenschildt–The Security Alarm,” excerpted from Inside Edition (with Bill O’Reilly), CBS Television, accessed 26 Nov. 2012: http://youtu.be/37dtEpvyUJU

  4 Russ Baker, Family of Secrets (Bloomsbury Press: 2009).

  5 John Simkin, “George de Mohrenschildt: Biography,” Spartacus Educational, accessed 26 Nov. 2012: http://

  www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKdemohrenschildt.htm

  6 John Simkin, “George de Mohrenschildt: Biography”

  7 Ibid.

  8 Gaeton Fonzi, The Last Investigation (Thunder’s Mouth Press: 1993); Baker, Family of Secrets.

  9 Wikipedia, “Zapata Corporation,” accessed 26 Nov. 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapata_Corporation

  U.S. Army Brigadier General Russell Bowen wrote that there was a cover-up of Zapata’s CIA connections:

  Bush, in fact, did work directly with the anti-Castro Cuban groups in Miami before and after the Bay of Pigs invasion, using his company, Zapata Oil, as a corporate cover for his activities on behalf of the agency. Records at the University of Miami, where the operations were based for several years, show George Bush was present during this time.1

  As far as things held in common, Bush and de Mohrenschildt also shared oil wealth and the CIA. Before he became President, Bush was Director of the CIA, and before becoming CIA Director, was involved in supporting anti-Castro intelligence operations on behalf of the Agency. Like de Mohrenschildt, the oil business was a perfect “cloak” for those intelligence activities:

  The CIA was using companies like Zapata to stage and supply secret missions attacking Fidel Castro’s Cuban government in advance of the Bay of Pigs invasion. The CIA’s codename for that invasion was “Operation ­Zapata.” In 1981, all Securities and Exchange Commission filings for Zapata Off-Shore between 1960 and 1966 were destroyed. In other words, the year Bush became Vice President, important records detailing his years at his drilling company disappeared. In 1969, Zapata bought the United Fruit Company of Boston, another company with strong CIA connections.2

  It has also been established that de Mohrenschildt provided intel to Military Intelligence; specifically the 112th MIG (Military Intelligence Group) in San Antonio, Texas—the same 112th from which Colonel Robert Jones, the afternoon of the same day as the assassination of JFK, immediately provided files on “Lee Harvey Oswald/Alek Hidell”; an act which precipitated war planes being launched against Cuba until they were called back hastily.3

  James Southwood was a U.S. Military Intelligence veteran with a Top-Secret security clearance. Two months before the assassination of President Kennedy, Southwood received “a very important assignment” at the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion: to provide all documentation possible on “Lee Harvey Oswald, a.k.a. “Harvey Lee Oswald” and “Alek James Hidell.” The request also sought “any/all information on Jeanne and George de Mohrenschildt.”

  And, as Southwood explained it to author, Dick Russell:

  All the information I had about Oswald had been given to the 112th by George de Mohrenschildt.4

  1 Russell S. Bowen, The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family Exposed (America West: 2000)

  2 Ken Biggs, “George H. W. Bush,” accessed 27 Nov. 2012: http://famoustexans.com/georgebush.htm

  3 James P. Hosty Jr. & Thomas Hosty, Assignment Oswald: From the FBI agent assigned to investigate Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the JFK assassination (Arcade Publishing: 1997).

  4 Dick Russell, The Man Who Knew Too Much: Hired to Kill Oswald and Prevent the Assassination of JFK (Carroll & Graf: 2003).

  We researched this case in detail and we found three highly relevant tracks of information that have been completely ignored in mainstream media:

  • CIA agent Hugh Huggins’ did “special work” for the Kennedys.1 We paid close attention to his revelations about the little “visit” he paid to de Mohrenschildt right after the assassination of President Kennedy and at the specific direction of Attorney General Robert Kennedy;

  • His close friend, Willem Oltmans, revealed that de Mohrenschildt admitted to him—in detail—that he had been the “go-between” for the assassination, between big Texas oil millionaires, unhappy CIA agents, and Lee Harvey Oswald; and, of dramatic significance;

  • A tape recording was made of the killing.

  Taking them one at a time, here’s a quick outline of what Hugh Huggins, a CIA agent used by the Kennedy brothers for very special assignments, had to say about it.

  • Huggins also stated he knew George de Mohrenschildt to be a veteran CIA contract agent.

  • Huggins obtained information for his investigation by using a variety of methods, which apparently included breaking two of George de Mohrenschildt’s fingers to inspire
the level of cooperation he demanded.2

  • Huggins concluded that planning and organization for the assassination were clearly performed by George de Mohrenschildt and David Ferrie, both of whom were veteran CIA players; and that George de Mohrenschildt was actually present in Dallas on the day of the assassination, even though his alibi states otherwise.3

  • Huggins stated further that the death of George de Mohrenschildt by shotgun was actually murder, not suicide.4

  Most research on the matter has been about whether or not (or how closely) de Mohrenschildt was in cahoots with the CIA. Few have dared venture into the realm of his actual involvement in the assassination. Yet the evidence leads in that direction and Huggins may have been right about de Mohrenschildt’s involvement. Willem Oltmans, a friend of de Mohrenschildt, clearly implied there was a link. What Oltmans said was startling, in that de Mohrenschildt had “confessed to being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.”5

  Oltmans claimed that de Mohrenschildt had admitted serving as a middleman between Lee Harvey Oswald and H. L. Hunt in an assassination plot involving other Texas oilmen, anti-Castro Cubans, and elements of the FBI and CIA.6

  1 Bill Sloan, JFK: Breaking the Silence (Taylor Publishing: 1993).

  2 Sloan, JFK: Breaking the Silence

  3 Ibid.

  4 Ibid.

  5 Simkin, “George de Mohrenschildt”

  6 Ibid.

  So, according to a direct source, George de Mohrenschildt said he acted as the go-between for the setting up of the JFK assassination as the liaison between Texas billionaires (H. L. Hunt) and renegade CIA agents. That’s a pretty big bombshell. As his mental health declined rapidly, de Mohrenschildt then denied that—Oltmans said he just changed his story.

  I am responsible. I feel responsible for the behavior of Lee Harvey ­

  Oswald . . . because I guided him. I instructed him to set it up.1

  As one might imagine, there were a lot of people who wouldn’t be too thrilled about hearing him say that to a Congressional committee.

  On March 29, de Mohrenschildt gave an interview to author Edward Jay Epstein, during which he claimed that in 1962, Dallas CIA operative

  J. Walton Moore had given him the go-ahead to meet Oswald. “I would never have contacted Oswald in a million years if Moore had not sanctioned it,” de Mohrenschildt said. “Too much was at stake.”2

  Rapid Demise

  There’s more than one way to silence a witness. And when we looked into the rapid demise of George de Mohrenschildt, what we found was extremely disturbing; including electroshock “treatments” and injections of drugs that a suspicious doctor refused to identify—even to de Mohrenschildt’s wife—when she noticed the dramatic and rapid decline of her husband and the accompanying mental delusions he began suffering, Jeanne de Morenschildt attempted to intervene. But the doctor refused to allow her to see what he was doing and even began yelling at her for questioning him.3

  For such a suave and sophisticated socialite, de Mohrenschildt’s mental and physical decline was so incredibly rapid that it bears further examination. To the disbelief of old friends, he went from a solid, extremely confident man to virtually a human “vegetable”; and it didn’t take long, either.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. The man had changed drastically . . . he was nervous, trembling. It was a scared, a very, very scared person I saw.4

  The change in de Mohrenschildt’s demeanor was 180 degrees different; diametrically opposed to the man he had been:

  The wife of de Mohrenschildt, Jeanne, put all the blame for her husband’s sudden decline on a very suspicious doctor. It all apparently started with a bout of bronchitis. George de Mohrenschildt suffered from chronic

  1 Ibid.

  2 Wikipedia, “George de Mohrenschildt,” accessed 26 Nov. 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Mohrenschildt

  3 Marrs, Crossfire

  4 Simkin, “George de Mohrenschildt”

  bronchitis and, in the spring of 1976, had a case of it that was worse than usual. From some friend or acquaintance—Jeanne could not recall whom—George had heard about a doctor who was newly arrived in Dallas that was supposed to be good, and went to see him for an office visit. It was then that his real troubles began.1

  Jeanne said after several trips to the new doctor, Charles Mendoza, by late spring or early summer, the bronchitis was gone but she noticed abrupt and dramatic personality changes in her husband. He became paranoid and began making wild claims. And instead of getting better, it seemed to be getting rapidly worse, until finally she confronted George’s new doctor:

  When I confronted (Mendoza) with this information, as well as asking him exactly what kinds of treatments and medications he was giving George, he became very angry and upset. By then, I had become suspicious and started accompanying George on each of his visits to the doctor. But this physician would not allow me to be with George during his treatments. He said George was gravely ill and had to be alone during treatments.2

  Dr. Mendoza was apparently giving George some type of special injections—he refused to say what they were—as well as some expensive drug prescriptions.

  George’s condition deteriorated so rapidly that he was checked into a mental hospital and given electroshock therapy.

  I have become convinced that this doctor, in some way, lies behind the nervous breakdown George suffered in his final months.3

  Not much is known about the mysterious Dr. Mendoza:

  The doctor is indeed mysterious. A check with the Dallas County Medical Society showed that Dr. Mendoza first registered in April 1976, less than two months before he began treating de Mohrenschildt, and at the same time the House Select Committee on Assassinations was beginning to be funded.4

  And just as quickly as the mysterious Dr. Mendoza had appeared, he vanished:

  Mendoza left Dallas in December, just a few months after de Mohrenschildt refused to continue treatments at the insistence of his wife. Mendoza left the society a forwarding address that proved to be nonexistent. He also left behind a confused and unbalanced George de Mohrenschildt.5

  1 Marrs, Crossfire

  2 Ibid.

  3 Ibid.

  4 Ibid.

  5 Ibid.

  It is known, though, that George de Mohrenschildt was never the same again—he never recovered mentally. Something clearly happened to him and no one knew what that something had been.

  I was absolutely shocked, because I knew de Mohrenschildt as a man who wins tennis matches, who is always suntanned, who jogs every morning, who is as healthy as a bull.1

  Highly Suspicious Death

  George de Mohrenschildt was subpoenaed to testify before the Congressional committee investigating the assassination, and died the day before he was scheduled to testify.

  There is plenty of evidence that de Mohrenschildt was being seriously harassed and felt very threatened:

  Oltmans told the HSCA: “He begged me to take him out of the country because they are after me.”2

  George de Mohrenschildt felt he was being “hounded” by federal agents and feared for his life.

  On September 5, 1976, de Mohrenschildt wrote a polite but panicked letter to his old friend, George H. W. Bush, who was Director of the CIA at the time. He asked Bush for his assistance “to remove the net” of the surveillance nightmare surrounding his life. These were his exact words:

  You will excuse this hand-written letter. Maybe you will be able to bring a solution to the hopeless situation I find myself in. My wife and I find ourselves surrounded by some vigilantes; our phone bugged; and we are being followed everywhere. Either FBI is involved in this or they do not want to accept my complaints. We are driven to insanity by the situation. I have been behaving like a damn fool ever since my daughter Nadya died from (cystic fibrosis) over three years ago. I tried to write, stupidly and unsuccessfully, about Lee H. Oswald, and must have angered a lot of people—I do not know. But to punish an elderly man like myself and my highly
nervous and sick wife is really too much. Could you do something to remove the net around us? This will be my last request for help and I will not annoy you anymore. Good luck in your important job. Thank you so much.3

  For whatever it’s worth—or not worth—Bush answered back with a vague, formal letter that basically said he didn’t know what de Mohrenschildt was even talking about.

  The House Select Committee on Assassinations became very interested in taking testimony from George de Mohrenschildt. Robert Tanenbaum, Committee Counsel,

  1 Ibid.

  2 Simkin, “George de Mohrenschildt”

  3 Baker, Family of Secrets

  listened intently to what Willem Oltmans told him about de Mohrenschildt’s connections to the case and where he could be located. Tanenbaum, to his credit, responded with urgency, telling Oltmans:

  We will have an investigator there tomorrow.1

  And true to his word, Tanenbaum did. Special Investigator Gaeton Fonzi appeared the next day to try to interview him for the Committee. George’s daughter had been staying at a luxurious villa near Palm Beach, Florida, and George had been staying there also.

  On the morning of March 29, 1977, Gaeton Fonzi, the committee’s Miami-based investigator, arrived at the villa in Manalapan. He was told by de Mohrenschildt’s daughter that her father was meeting with journalist Edward Jay Epstein at a Palm Beach hotel, but would be back that night. At 1:00 p.m., de Mohrenschildt left by car and returned to his temporary residence. By 2:21 p.m., he was dead. Authorities determined the time by listening to a tape on which de Mohrenschildt’s daughter was recording a TV soap opera while she was at work.2