The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 was a conspiracy against the government, for the government, and by the government. We, Americans, all have to sit back and wonder if an elected official or a Godfather of the Mafia is running our country.
Who really has more power? With the assassination of President Kennedy we may have found our dreaded answer, and realized what our nation has become. The assassination of President Kennedy was one of mass conspiracy beginning on Capitol Hill and a tremendous double cross between Mafia and the government. It was fight for a strong hold on the oval office. Lyndon Johnson, Vice-President under Kennedy, with the help of Texas Governor John Connaly, conspired with Mafia to assassinate President Kennedy. The only undisputedly unmanipulated record of the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy is a reel of film shot by Abraham Zapruder during the motorcade through Dealey Plaza. The film shows the motorcade slowly winding through the plaza, passing behind a road sign, and coming out the other side with the President holding his throat. Soon after this is noticed, the side of the President’s head seems to explode, throwing his head back and towards Jacqueline. Then Jacqueline is seen trying to crawl out of the back of limousine, which is a convertible with no bulletproof top, towards the secret service agents running toward the car. Finally, the car speeds off down the highway, under a railroad bridge, and out of sight.
According to the Warren Commission’s report President John F. Kennedy was brutally murdered by two gun shot wounds to the head and thorax in front of scores of on lookers, in Deally Plaza, in the heart of Dallas, Texas. As the President’s motorcade turned onto Elm Street and progressed through Deally Plaza three shots rang out. The first gun shot sounded like a backfire from a car and was disregarded by the secret service as just that. The second shot struck the back of the President’s neck, exiting through his esophagus, and proceeded through Governor John Connaly’s shoulder, wrist, and ended by lodging its self in his left leg. Connaly was sitting directly in front of the president at the time of the assassination.
The bullet, found in nearly mint condition, from the second stated shot was recovered and labeled exhibit 399 (6)*. The third and fatal shot sent a missile striking the right side of the President’s head, causing it to burst open. The President’s car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital were President Kennedy was pronounced dead. Within a few hours of the assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald, a staff member at the Texas Schoolbook Depository over looking Delay Plaza, was incarcerated in a nearby cinema for the murder of police officer JD Tippet. The FBI and Secret Service found a Mannlicher-Carcano high powered rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas SchoolBook Depository, and linked it directly to Lee Harvey Oswald. After hours of interrogation, Lee Harvey Oswald, having not confessed to any crimes, was charged with the murder of police officer Tippet, and as being the sole assassin in the assassination of the President.
It was treated as an open and shut case. The next day Jack Ruby, a strip club owner in Dallas, shot and killed Oswald, the only prime suspect in the assassination, as police escorted him out of the Dallas police dept. to be transported to the county jail (6). The Warren Commission notes that during the autopsy an entrance wound bullet hole had been found on the back side of Kennedy’s neck, and is supported by sketches and the autopsy report of the wound. When photos of the autopsy, performed at Parkland Hospital, were released researchers found that the bullet hole the report had noted was, in fact, three to four inches lower on the back matching holes in the President’s clothing (3). With the release of the photographs of the autopsy and clothes, researchers have since noticed a saturated blood stain under the right * Parenthetical references are to sources numbered in the bibliography.
A second number refers to page number(s). A single number signifies a video, lecture, or interview without pages. lip of the collar of the shirt and two small slices, which overlap when buttoned, under where the bow tie would have been. The question remains as to what might have happened to the President’s body during the plane trip from Parkland to Bethesda Hospital.
What could have caused the photos from one autopsy to conflict so much with the records of another? The first suspicions came about when researchers noted that the Presidents body left Parkland hospital in a very nice casket but had arrived at Bethesda in a body bag and poor casket (7). Surgical differences too had been made to the body in that same time frame. In a comparison of autopsy records, Parkland recorded an egg-sized hole in the President’s head with a majority of the brain remaining, but Bethesda recorded no brain and a hole four times the previously recorded size (7). It is evident that the body had been manipulated to look as though the assassination could have been carried out by a single shooter (7). Records of the autopsies were also manipulated.
Commander James Humes, Commander in charge during President Kennedy’s autopsy, said that he had destroyed the original records of the autopsy, before the release of the Warren Report, after Oswald had died (7). Why would the government trouble themselves to manipulate the body to make the assassination look like it was performed by one shooter, when the time frame between each shot would make the accusation impossible?The Abraham Zapruder film allows 5. 6 seconds from the first shot, that hit the curb throwing pieces of concrete onto a bystander, to the last shot, which broke open Kennedy’s head, also known as the red-halo effect (3). The Warren Commission reported that the shot that went through both Kennedy and Connally entered through the back of Kennedy’s neck, out the esophagus, and struck Connally 1. 6 seconds later (6). Numerous military marksmen confirmed that the absolute quickest time anyone could reload and fire a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle would be 2.
3 seconds (6). With this fact in mind, and the knowledge of the Warren report saying that there were three shots fired, we now know that a single shooter is impossible. With the single shooter theory the film would have to allow 6. 9 seconds for the assassin to reload and fire as many times as was reported (6).
Many eyewitnesses to the assassination claim that they heard and saw shots fired from behind a wooden fence overlooking the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza. If there were other shooters, who were they?In questioning, a woman observing the motorcade said that she had seen two men in the upper level windows of the Texas School Book Depository, and only one man had a rifle (2, 209). Another observer, a man, said that he saw a man with a rifle in the six floor southwest window of the Texas School Book Depository with another unarmed man standing behind him just moments before the assassination (2, 209). Christian David, a French drug smuggler and, now, a highly trusted informer of international intelligence agencies, told Steve Rivele that he was offered a contract to kill President Kennedy, but turned it down due to the level of risk (8). The French assassins that accepted Kennedy’s contract were Rager Bocognari, Sauveur Pironti, and Lucien Sarti, who fired the frangible fatal bullet that caused Kennedy’s head to explode (8).
David described how many shots were fired, and where they ended-up. He said that one missed completely, one came from the back of Kennedy, one hit the man in the front seat, Gov. Connally, and two were fired almost simultaneously, hitting Kennedy in the head (8). Michele Nikoli, a wealthy French underlord, confirmed David’s statements, and described the shooting points from which the assassins where stationed. Lucien Sarti was stationed on the grassy knoll and the other two stations were The School Book Depository and the Dal-Tex building (8). After the assassination, the assassins resided in a safe house for ten days and were flown, privately, to Montreal, Canada, and paid, not with cash money, but heroin (8).
Nikoli said that he had converted the heroin into cash once the assassins had reached France (8). They were paid in heroin because it could not be counterfeited and it was untraceable. An eyewitness, standing only ten feet from the shooter on the grassy knoll, said that the bullet fired from the gassy knoll buzzed by his ear nearly rupturing his eardrum. He said that he had been filming the motorcade when he heard the shot, dove to the ground, and soon after, was kicked many times by a hysterical man who stole his film.
The next day the man was relocated by the military to a base in Alaska (8). There is a photograph, taken a fraction of a second after the fatal shot was fired, showing gun smoke on the grassy knoll. It also vaguely shows a man, who is believed to be holding a camera, standing in front of the smoke (8). A lady eyewitness by the name of Jean Hill also says that she heard shots from the grassy knoll (4). With three highly coordinated assassins, accepting a job of that magnitude could only mean one thing: Mafia. Could the Mafia have been so cautious as to station men to audit the job of each assassin? Directly following the assassination three “tramps” were arrested, who were found hiding in a box car with a clear view of the picket fence overlooking the grassy knoll (2, 208).
No records remain of their arrest, but press photos of the “tramps” were found and professionally analyzed. The conclusion of the analysis was that the men were only dressed as tramps, but were also well groomed and clean cut (2, 208). One man was said to have resembled Lee Harvey Oswald, the prime suspect in the murder of President Kennedy. Another was identified as Charles V.
Harrelson, a Dallas based hoodlum with connections to Carlos Marcello and Jack Ruby (2, 208). Records show that a man was taken into custody from the Dal-Tex building, and he was a Latin speaking man with no comprehension of English (2, 209). There is no account of his name or testimony. Jim Braden, a convicted embezzler, was taken into custody and placed in the building during the time of the assassination.
He was also noted as having a room at the hotel The Cabana. The hotel Cabana was visited by Jack Ruby, a Dallas strip club owner and right hand man for Carlos Marcello, the night before the assassination (2, 208). Jack Ruby, the man who killed Oswald in the Dallas Police Department, was a Dallas henchman for David Ferrie, Carlos Marcello’s right hand man (1). Ruby was a trusted go between for the Mafia (3). In fact, Ruby may have been in charge of carrying out the set up of Oswald after the assassination because reports had identified him as being in the Parkland hospital directly following the assassination (3). He is believed to have planted the “magic bullet” in the hospital while checking to see if the president had died (3).
Ruby knew Oswald, who had served in the Civil Air Patrol under David Ferrie (2, 216). Madeline Brown, Lyndon Johnson’s Texas lover, said that, in a nightclub in 1953, Jack Ruby had introduced her to Lee Harvey Oswald (3). So why would Ruby kill Oswald if he knew him? It may have been for the same reason that Tippet had been killed and found with two sets of bullets in him, none of which matched the gun that Oswald was carrying (3). It follows a particular pattern of the Mafia. If you are told to kill someone, and except the job, you have to finish the job or you will be killed (3). Officer Tippet had the opportunity to kill Oswald, hesitated, and was killed in return (3).
When the Mafia issued the contract, originally, it is a probable possibility that David Ferrie accepted it and offered an assistance spot to Oswald. Ferrie is the person who taught Oswald to shoot high-powered rifles during his account with the Civil Air Patrol (2, 216). Jim Garrison says that Oswald not only turned the contract down, but also tried to warn the government ahead of time by means of telex (3). This alone, based on the nature of the contract, would be motive enough for the Mafia to set him up as a patsy, and carry out his execution.
Carlos Marcello, Godfather of the Mafia in New Orleans and Dallas, said, in rage, that the Kennedy’s had had him kidnapped and left him in Guatemala (3). Marcello was under an extreme attack, by the government, for Mafia related crimes. Edward Becker, a private investigator, said that, in 1962 at his Churchill Farms estate, Marcello threatened to have Kennedy killed (2, 229). Although the godfather who had to grant permission to use Dallas as the assassination grounds, Carlos Marcello did not act alone (1). The means of which the assassins were paid brought Santo Trafficante into the equation.
Santo Trafficante, a Mafia boss who had accepted a contract on Fidel Castro’s life, hired three French assassins through Antoine Givenchy to kill Castro (8). Robert Mahue was hired by the CIA to be the go between for the government and the Mafia (8). Trafficante failed his mission and was imprisoned by Castro, but released by Fidel Castro’s brother Raul Castro (8). Raul released Trafficante for a payment in heroin, which was Trafficante’s cash crop. Trafficante was arrested because Fidel’s rebels had taken over the government in a successful revolution, and confiscated the extensive private holdings of the Mafiosi (3).
This is the most significant reason why Trafficante hated Kennedy. During the invasion by the CIA into Cuba to overthrow Castro, Kennedy did not send reinforcements to help the CIA, which could have stopped the rebels from ever seizing the Mafiosi’s estates (3). When John Kennedy began to run for the office of the Presidency Joe Kennedy called, again, on Mafia boss of Chicago, Sam Giancana to help his son win the election (3). The deal between Kennedy and Giancana was to have the votes thrown in West Virginia, which would win the Democratic primary elections for John Kennedy (3).
Kennedy, in turn, would have to return Joe Adantis to the United States (3). Adantis was a Mafia member who had previously been deported to Sicily (3). Giancana upheld his end of the deal and John Kennedy was elected President in the closest presidential race this country had ever seen. John Kennedy, however, did not live up to his father’s deal with the Mafia, but instead waged the biggest attack against organized crime in the history of the United States.
Bobby Kennedy, District Attorney appointed by his brother President John Kennedy, led the investigations against the Mafia. Giancana had been double-crossed and in retribution put a contract out on President Kennedy’s life (3). The Mafia must have thought that if they were to attempt the assassination of President Kennedy they would have to do it successfully and covertly with no direct connections between them and the assassination. If anything had gone wrong, they would face being permanently shut down by the Kennedy administration. The hired assassins chosen by the Mafia had no direct contact with the Mafia, would not talk, and were not known by the FBI (8). The Mafia had indisputable means and motives, but the opportunity just could not have happened without some pull from DC.
Could the Mafia and Vice-president Johnson have had a social contract on Kennedy’s life to get Johnson into office, and abolish the harsh investigations against the Mafia?Lyndon Johnson had hatred towards Kennedy that the public did not know about. He accepted the appointment to run for Vice-president under Kennedy, because he knew if he could get Kennedy out of office, he would be able to run the country as he saw fit (I, 187). He also knew that Kennedy had revered Hitler, and was leery about the actions of a President who respected a tyrannical psychopath. Johnson’s mistress, Madeleine Brown of Texas, said that during a temper tantrum Johnson said, after that day President Kennedy would never embarrass me again. That was not a threat, but a promise.
(3) President Kennedy allowed Lyndon B. Johnson to plan the trip through Texas since it was his home State (I, 185). The death route was against the secret service’s code that states that there are to be no turns 90 degrees or sharper because it would slow the motorcade and make to venerable (I, 186). The President’s Safety Advisor, Jerry Brunno, went to Texas to check the route (I, 186). During his stay in Texas he and Connally burst into a heated discussion about the route (I, 187). During the discussion, “Connally got on the telephone to the white house”, only allowing Bruno to hear one side of the conversation, and made it seem like the White House agreed to the route (I, 187).
Brunno later discovered, after talking with Connally, that the White House was against the route completely (I, 188). Kennedy, Johnson, and Connally were the only people to know the plans of the trip up until a few weeks before they arrived (I, 185). The Warren Commission painstakingly tries to justify the parade by saying that if it hadn’t taken the detour that it would make an illegal turn, but isn’t it known that parades exceed all traffic laws (I, 189). Johnson also had said on the plane that Bobby Kennedy advised him to be sworn in before takeoff, but Bobby Kennedy denied any such statement (7). The Mafia had the pull they needed to insure their longevity, and Johnson had his golden ticket to the Presidency with little chance of being caught for conspiracy. With these key points in place the largest, most controversial, and covert conspiracy against United States government ever, was executed with great precision leaving the public with a dead twenty four year old “communist” to blame.
I believe the most thought provoking aspect of the conclusions in my research of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is what I have noticed about the state of the world. The world in which we live is the most evil of any other time. It is often thought by ones self that he is far superior than the person in charge of him, but when murder becomes, not only a distant thought, but a means to become empowered, we must sit back think of what we have become. Bibliography1.
Anderson, Jack. “JFK, the Mob, and Me,” Investigative Reports. New York: Arts and Entertainment Network. 1992.
[ television documentary ]2. Davis, John H. Mafia Kingfish. New York: Penguin. 1989. 3.
McLean, John L. Lecture. Shawnee State University. Winter quarter. 1999. 4.
Miller, David Lee. “Time for the Truth,” A Current Affair. New York: STF Productions. 1992. [ television documentary ]5. Olgiati, Christopher.
Sam Giancana. London, BBC. 1996. [ television documentary ]6.
Selby, Chip. “Reasonable Doubt,” Time Machine. New York: Arts and Entertainment Network. 1988. [ television documentary ]7. Staab, Fred, ed.
“JFK: The Missing Evidence,” A Current Affair. New York: STF Productions. 1992. [ television documentary ]8.
Turner, Nigel. The Men Who Killed Kennedy. London: British Central Television. 1988.
[ television documentary ] Government Essays
