28-10-2010, 05:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 28-10-2010, 06:22 AM by James H. Fetzer.)
One of Charles' questions concerns Bradley Ayers, whom I have known now for at least 15 years, probably longer. He is one of the most principled men I have ever known. I have no doubt of his absolute honest and integrity, which has caused him to be extremely stubborn and difficult to work with from time to time -- a complaint that I suspect has been said of me as well. I would be willing to go into any court of law and swear to Brad's character, his truthfulness and his candor. [I wrote the foreword to his book, THE ZENITH SECRET (2006), incidentally.]
As for the identities of the shooters, obviously this is treacherous water. Johnny Roselli, by the way, apparently told Joe Bonanno's son, Bill (in prison) that he had been "left out to dry" in Dealey Plaza and had had to make his way through the sewers back to a dry river bed, where he was picked up and flown out. The host of "Erskine Overnight" has quoted him about this many times and, as I recall, had interviewed him. I'm not sure I buy it but, as Bonanno said on the show, he was a serious man, who was one of the mobsters at the St. Valentine's Day massacre.
James Files, of course, has identified himself as one of the shooters, although I am inclined not to believe him (even if I am intrigued by his suggestion of the use of a Remington "Fireball" as one of the weapons that may have been used). He said that Charles "Chuckie" Nicolleti had invited him to participate the morning of the assassination. And Jack Ruby was a mob man. If either Roselli or Files or Nicoletti was involved, then at least one mobster was a shooter apart from Jack Ruby, about whom there is no doubt. But Ruby was not a shooter in Dealey Plaza.
On page 365 of "Dealey Plaza Revisited: What Happened to JFK?", http://www.und.edu/instruct/jfkconferenc...pter30.pdf I identify six shooting locations -- where there might have been one more on the grassy knoll, in which case six could turn out to have been seven. As far as I have been able to determine, however, all of the wounds can be accounted for on the basis of shooters at the six locations I identify (by building on the prior -- and quite brilliant -- work of Richard Sprague. Those I believe to have been firing the shots were (my best guesses):
(1) Harry Weatherford, Deputy Sheriff, from the top of the County Records Building (the shot to his back);
(2) Anthony "Tony" Izquierdo, anti-Castro Cuban, from the Dal-Tex (the missed shot that injured James Tague, the shot that hit the chrome strip, and the back-of-the-head shot);
(3) Frank Sturgis, CIA, from the west side of the TSBD (one to three shots at John Connally);
(4) Roscoe White aka "Badgeman", Dallas Police Department/CIA, from the pergola area (a close shot that missed, possibly to avoid harming Jackie);
(5) Jack Lawrence, USAF, from the above-ground sewer opening on the north side of the Triple Overpass (the shot to his right temple that blew his brains out the back of his head); and.
(6) Malcolm "Mac" Wallace, LBJ's personal hit man, from the above-ground sewer opening on the south side of the Triple Overpass (the shot that passed through the windshield and hit JFK in the throat).
The back and throat shots were the first, where the bullet passing through the windshield made the sound of a firecracker. The back-of-the-head shot and the shot to his right temple were probably the next-to-last and last shots, on my scenario, where the miss that hit the chrome strip of the windshield MIGHT have been a later missed shot. But in offering these as my "best guesses", I know that there are as many differing opinions on this as there are students of the assassination. I will not be surprised by those who contest my suggestions.
Because I value criticism as our most important means for improving our research and state of knowledge, I would not only welcome differences of opinion on this matter -- where I also agree with Lois Gibson that Charles Rogers, Charles Harrelson, and Chauncey Holt were "the three tramps", just to hang out there a little bit further -- but would welcome discussion of my chapter. If Harrelson actually was one of the shooters (which I do not happen to believe), then he would have been another mafia hitman who was involved in the assassination,
Which is perhaps a longer answer to his question than Charles had expected to receive.
As for the identities of the shooters, obviously this is treacherous water. Johnny Roselli, by the way, apparently told Joe Bonanno's son, Bill (in prison) that he had been "left out to dry" in Dealey Plaza and had had to make his way through the sewers back to a dry river bed, where he was picked up and flown out. The host of "Erskine Overnight" has quoted him about this many times and, as I recall, had interviewed him. I'm not sure I buy it but, as Bonanno said on the show, he was a serious man, who was one of the mobsters at the St. Valentine's Day massacre.
James Files, of course, has identified himself as one of the shooters, although I am inclined not to believe him (even if I am intrigued by his suggestion of the use of a Remington "Fireball" as one of the weapons that may have been used). He said that Charles "Chuckie" Nicolleti had invited him to participate the morning of the assassination. And Jack Ruby was a mob man. If either Roselli or Files or Nicoletti was involved, then at least one mobster was a shooter apart from Jack Ruby, about whom there is no doubt. But Ruby was not a shooter in Dealey Plaza.
On page 365 of "Dealey Plaza Revisited: What Happened to JFK?", http://www.und.edu/instruct/jfkconferenc...pter30.pdf I identify six shooting locations -- where there might have been one more on the grassy knoll, in which case six could turn out to have been seven. As far as I have been able to determine, however, all of the wounds can be accounted for on the basis of shooters at the six locations I identify (by building on the prior -- and quite brilliant -- work of Richard Sprague. Those I believe to have been firing the shots were (my best guesses):
(1) Harry Weatherford, Deputy Sheriff, from the top of the County Records Building (the shot to his back);
(2) Anthony "Tony" Izquierdo, anti-Castro Cuban, from the Dal-Tex (the missed shot that injured James Tague, the shot that hit the chrome strip, and the back-of-the-head shot);
(3) Frank Sturgis, CIA, from the west side of the TSBD (one to three shots at John Connally);
(4) Roscoe White aka "Badgeman", Dallas Police Department/CIA, from the pergola area (a close shot that missed, possibly to avoid harming Jackie);
(5) Jack Lawrence, USAF, from the above-ground sewer opening on the north side of the Triple Overpass (the shot to his right temple that blew his brains out the back of his head); and.
(6) Malcolm "Mac" Wallace, LBJ's personal hit man, from the above-ground sewer opening on the south side of the Triple Overpass (the shot that passed through the windshield and hit JFK in the throat).
The back and throat shots were the first, where the bullet passing through the windshield made the sound of a firecracker. The back-of-the-head shot and the shot to his right temple were probably the next-to-last and last shots, on my scenario, where the miss that hit the chrome strip of the windshield MIGHT have been a later missed shot. But in offering these as my "best guesses", I know that there are as many differing opinions on this as there are students of the assassination. I will not be surprised by those who contest my suggestions.
Because I value criticism as our most important means for improving our research and state of knowledge, I would not only welcome differences of opinion on this matter -- where I also agree with Lois Gibson that Charles Rogers, Charles Harrelson, and Chauncey Holt were "the three tramps", just to hang out there a little bit further -- but would welcome discussion of my chapter. If Harrelson actually was one of the shooters (which I do not happen to believe), then he would have been another mafia hitman who was involved in the assassination,
Which is perhaps a longer answer to his question than Charles had expected to receive.